What is on my desk?

After seeing a couple of blog posts about "What is in my bag" I thought I would do a wee spin off on this and show everyone in blogging world - what is on my desk!

I am pretty lucky to have my own desk meaning I can try and personalise it throughout the year. (Wait 'til you see it at Christmas).

Favourite Things this Friday

Hello Readers!

As you might have noticed I have been playing around with the title of this post. Let me know what you think!

This post also comes from the amazing technology of scheduling posts as I am at TITP this Friday!

So here are my favorite things this Friday

Favourite things Friday.

Well here we are at the end of another week. I've been working from home today (yipppeeee) because my car has its MOT (booo! fingers crossed it passes).

So here are my favorite things of this week....

Rings!
I've bought quite a few rings last week and also found a new found love for some of my old pieces. Check them out....

Maybe don't wear them all at once :/

Birthdays!
It is my lovely friend Kirsty's birthday today! (Happy Birthday!) So we are heading out for some eating and drinking in the lovely capital of Edinburgh. I love seeing my friends...it is always like old times when we get together. (Me and Kirsty have been friends for about 7ish years. (Still unsure when we would categorise our friendship starting but 7 years is pretty good!)

Bloglovin'
Forever late to the bandwagon I have just discovered Bloglovin'! (I know...I know) If you enjoy reading blogs then this is the place for you to be. You can follow blogs (just like Twitter) and when you log on all the new posts are there for you to catch up on! Brilliant eh!

Pageviews
Wow! Last time I checked my page views were up to 719  views! This is amazing considering I started this blog about 6 weeks ago! I genuinely thought no one would want to read my blog but it seems to be they do! (*jumps for joy*). If you have any suggestions for what I should blog about please let me know. I am still getting on my feet but please keep coming back to have a read about what I have been up to!

Fun Blogs this week:
 Cocktails and Daydreams
Fleur de Force



Have a lovely weekend! Look out for some more posts next week!

Steph
<3

Massive Summer Haul

Guess what lovely readers! This is my first haul post! *woooooooooo*

If you are new to the blogging scene and not sure what "haul" post is then here is the low- down.

Women's Bodies

On the back of my most recent article called “Keeping Fit” I noticed a kind of media furore about weight loss, dieting and general ogling at celebrity women’s bodies.

Yep…it’s summer. The time of year where frenzied paparazzi’s will follow celebrities around “trying” to obtain that gold dust photo of them looking fat.

How sick is this right?

Surely celebrities have the right to look fat? Not at all they should uphold constant standards of beauty and to never look in the least bit…(dare I say it) normal. (pffft give me a break)

I was absolutely astounded at the harassment Kelly Brook recently received because she looked fat. That’s right! Kelly sexy Brook! Kelly Brook has one of the most enviable bodies (in the world) and even she can’t go on holiday and relax like the rest of us.

I was horrified at comments about her “jelly belly” and “wobbly bits”. I see not very many people complaining when she has a tight bra and knickers set on and looks “flamin’ hot”.(please note there is a little bit of nudity in this article…it is the Sun after all) (P.S I think the title infuriates me the most)

Some of the comments were actually awful! Most of them from a mix of men and women commenting on her weight and the size of her body. One said: “I think Kelly is lovely but to be honest! When she gets back from hols she needs to hit the treadmill. Too many tortilla's and corn chips, me thinks.” Another said: If she could lose 4 stone i would be interested, nice nips though.” And finally, “Mama Mia???? Mama mammoth more like. This is what you get when your photoshopper is on holiday. It's safe to say there's better photos of you about Kel.”

Many of the comments tried to stick up for Kelly stating: “She’s a real women” “Real women and real curves in the right places”. However, it began to get me thinking about the information that is played out in the media.

For example (not this particular one) some articles have stated that she is a size 10. I’m now not so convinced that this is her true size. Could I have been hypnotized by images that have been photo-shopped?

This morning (01/07/13) Anthea Turner was speaking to Lorraine Kelly about the influence of photo shopping. She has completed an article for the Sun (I love the Sun don’t you? Trying to campaign for women’s rights and then throwing a lovely page 3 girl in front of you…Grrrr) where she shows an image of her normally and finally one that has been photo shopped. The difference is pretty extreme but I think it makes a valid point that pictures in magazines can’t always be trusted.

*Ahem* listen up guys! All women do not look like page 3 models! Most of us don’t have flat stomach, pert bums, smooth thighs or even luscious lips. This is a mad world we live in!

On the back of this I started to think about the influence of these images and how this must be making young women (and me!) feel. Personally, I’m pretty OK with my body. We all have stuff we don’t like and I KNOW I will never be like Lucy from TOWIE or a Victoria Secrets model. And you know what, I’m fine with that. As long as I am fit, healthy and fit into my clothes I don’t mind.

My Blogilates instructor Cassey Ho also wrote about this on her blog stating that your only competition should be yourself not other women! Pretty powerful huh?

Anyways, I hope this maybe incites you to think about your views to photo shopping and images online? How does this make you feel?

Enjoy your week

Steph

Keeping fit....

Hi everyone!

Hope you are doing well!

Today I'd like to share with you my exercise plan that I have been completing over the month of June. Check it
out...

Favourite Friday Things...

I feel this might become a feature (*looks proud*)

So here it goes my favorite things this Friday...

Wimbledon -  What has been happening at Wimbledon? I have been tweeting about this earlier in the week and very proud of my hash tag #federerfail. (Good eh!?) This is one of my favorite times of the year with Mum and I booking off next weekend to watch the women and men's final!

Bikinis- I have just purchased two bikinis from H&M for my holiday in August. With one of them being in the Sale! Good times! Hopefully they fit!

Pay Day - Yes it is that wonderful day again!

Mother India - If you are in Glasgow anytime soon you should head here! I had the Lamb Rogan Josh which was amazing.

Glastonbury- I will be spending this weekend and the next week scrolling through photos of celebrities getting ideas for T in the Park. 

Hope you have an amazing weekend!

<3 Steph 

Weekend Antics

Hello lovely readers!

I hope you had a lovely weekend!

I certainly did as I was whisked off to Glasgow by the BF. We had such a fab weekend relaxing, shopping and visiting various Irish bars.

A couple more things....

Howdy everyone,

Hope you are gearing up for a great weekend. I certainly am! I'm off to Glasgow this weekend with the BF and will be spending some of my hard earned cash on clothes and make-up! Post to follow!

So I won't be blogging over the weekend but will be back to full blogging capacity by next week. A couple of things I thought you readers might be interested in are these cool links....

Some new blogs I've been lovin'.....

Kirstie's Blog
Andrew's Blog

Plus this article that caught my eye about feminism...
Feminism in schools

Have a lovely weekend readers and we will catch up soon!

Steph

Fun in the Bone Household!

Ahhhh my wee family unit! We do have some really good times in the Bone household. So good in fact that everyone always enjoys my stories about what we have been getting up to and the dramas that have unfolded. I hope you do too...

Top 5 places in Fife

I love love love Fife. It is one of the most diverse counties (I'm slightly bias)! Fife tends to get quite a bad reputation. I'm not denying that there is some deprevation here and there but I want to share my top 5 places with you....

Brownie Camp

This weekend I filled my time by going to Brownie Camp with 24 Brownies.

It was great fun but very very hard work. The girls had loads of activities to keep them entertained whilst I completed marathon runs of Chinese Whispers and Heads Down Thumbs Up.

On the Friday night I didn't get much sleep, as the girls were up until about 2am and then woke at 6/7am. Pffffft!

I was knackered. However, it was one of the best weekends I've had in a while. I also picked up some useful tips for TITP.


Let me know in the comments what your tips are for camping/festivals.


Steph <3

Halfway through the year

So here we are in the middle of June.

How the hell did that happen? I'm pretty sure I was still wearing my penguin Christmas jumper 2 weeks ago. :P ;)

At the beginning of January I set myself the challenge of creating New Years Resolutions. To be fair I try to choose 1 every year but it never seems to work out. So this post is an "update" shall we say on my resolutions for 2013.

Keep Calm and Walk on!

If you missed my first blog about the Moonwalk 2013 you can read it here..

The big day had arrived. It was Saturday 8th June and I was going to be walking 26.2 miles starting at midnight. WHAT WAS I THINKING!!!!!!!!!!!

But it was all for charity and that was the main thing.

I have to admit I was very nervous on Saturday. I managed to try and get as much rest during the day as possible. I spent most of the day in the garden on a sun lounger eating bananas and drinking LOADS of water.

Trying not to laugh as Mum takes a photo of me "relaxed"

I arrived at Leith Links at about 8:30 and seen the large pink tent where we were to gather before we set off on our walk. It was really frustrating to sit about when all you wanted to do was to get walking. However the entertainment was great and my favourite was the warm up section.

So here it is my mile for mile commentary of the night (sort of).

Moonwalk 2013

Some of you may or may not know that I took part in the Edinburgh Moonwalk 2013 last Saturday (8th June). So this post is dedicated to my training efforts over the last 14 weeks.

What is the Moonwalk?
For about 3 weeks I managed to convince my Dad that I was Michael Jackson "Moonwalking" for 26.2 miles. - ha!
However, the Moonwalk is a powerwalking challenge that takes place overnight. Walkers begin between 11.30pm and midnight and walk the different distances on offer.
New Moon - 6.55 miles- This is really for those who are not ready for the half or full moon but also for those under 16. We had a few 10 year olds taking part which was lovely!
Half Moon -13.1 miles- This is still a major challenge but good for those who want to build up before the main event.
Full Moon - 26. 2 miles - A full marathon. The goal is to complete 14 minute miles and the challenge in 6 hours. However, it isn't a race so you can finish at any time.
Over the Moon - 52.4 - Sheer Madness I tell you. This is two marathons back to back on the same day. You must complete this challenge in 14 hours.

We also had three land challengers who had completed the London Moonwalk 4 weeks ago, then the Edinburgh and finally they were jetting off to Iceland Moonwalk the following Saturday.

Hats off to all of them....

Pin It Forward UK

Hi everyone!

As ever I am sometimes slightly late to the bandwagon and stumbled across this little campaign. To help launch Pinterest in the UK this handy wee hashtag has been created.

Already I have found loads of new blogs and pinterest accounts!

So, I've been using Pinterest for about 6 months now and as an avid crafter I use it for inspiration for new projects and gifts I can make!

Busy Busy!

The last couple of weeks have been super busy!

As some of you might know I have been training for the Moonwalk 2013 in Edinburgh.
The Moonwalk is a great event which helps to raise money for research into Breast Cancer. Women and Men can both enter however you MUST wear a bra for the event. You can compete in the Half Moon 13 miles or Full Moon 26.2 miles....OUCH! For more info check out here

I am taking part in the Full Moon

All work and no play...makes Steph a very dull girl!

The title of this post is quite misleading as I do feel I have quite an active social life, however this post is based on my general observations of full-time work.

I have been in my current job for 9 months and I was pretty lucky to have landed myself in a well-paid graduate job. Read my post A Year after Graduation to find out how I managed that!

However, I have already noticed that there are a few, shall we say, "issues" that a university education does not prepare you for before you enter into the world of work.

Here we go...

A year after Graduation!

My social media is currently being bombarded with friends, who are still at university, celebrating the end of exams and essays.

It began to get me thinking about the 11 or so months after I had graduated.

At this point last year, I had finished all my coursework and exams and was working away in my part-time job trying to earn as much money as possible.

I was nearly ready to hand the keys back on my beloved Dundee flat and head off back to Fife, to live with my parents.

I had no graduate job lined up, no masters or post-graduate and things were starting to look pretty bleak money wise.

Welcome!

I've really struggled with what my introductory post should look like. I mean what do you put in it?

I did carry out some extensive research on this (e.g google....pretty shameful) and most of the articles said:

Be yourself, write what you want to write, express your feelings and some more soppy stuff like that.

So instead I'll give a small introduction to my life as it stands now...

I've recently (I say recently, it was nearly a year ago) just graduated from the University of Abertay Dundee with a honours degree in Sociology. (oooooo fancy). For those of you who have no idea what Sociology is I'd suggest googling it as I could spend my whole blog explaining it.

(Graduation Day 2012)

I now live back in Fife with my parents and my younger brother James. You'll be hearing a lot about them in this blog with their crazy antics and habits. Plus, my BF (boyfriend) will be on the scene occasionally throughout.

I work for a project called LIFT OFF that aims to inspire young people to enter higher education. We do loads of fun things like running residentials and events in and out of school. However, explaining the ins and outs of what I do day to day could be quite boring. Here's a link if you want to know a bit more www.lift-off.org.uk

Finally, this blog will be based on a number of things that I am currently interested in at the moment. I am a huge crafter finding myself continually addicted to pinterest and ebay. Santa recently bought me a sewing machine so I am working my way through a number of projects on this.

I love to create and make and I'll be posting some of my creations on here along with my commentary on life in general.

So come join me on my quest to writing a blog.

P.S I love pastel colours and anything flowery