Food, food and more food.

Blog every day in May : Day 21 (aka Day 4 for me!)


A selection of my favourite archived blog posts. I don't have many archives yet so I thought I'd go through my favourite posts by other bloggers. These all turned out to be recipes that I want to try so get ready for lots of pics of yummy looking food.


1. Japanese vegetable pancakes from Smitten Kitchen. I try and kid myself that these are healthy.

2. Spring pizza from How Sweet it is. In fact most pizzas will do it for me.

3. Goat Cheese guacamole from Shutterbean. Goats cheese and avocado in one bowl! Amazing!

4. Anything from Joy the Baker. Particularly if it involves rhubarb.

5. Steak, avocado, cheese. An epic sandwich courtesy of The Londoner.

Basically I just love looking at pictures of amazing food and salivating at my computer screen. Although I am yet to actually recreate any of these recipes. Maybe one day!

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To move or to stay??

So I have been overly pathetic at the 'Blog Every Day in May' Challenge. I'll have to rename my personal challenge to 'Blog Three Days in May.' But today's topic has reignited my interest in the whole project.
The challenge today is to talk about a struggle in your life at the minute. In all honestly I can't really complain about anything right now, particularly as I know of people going through much worse times. But I have one struggle that has been weighing on my mind for months.

Sometime before Christmas my PhD supervisor announced he was getting a new job in Bradford. I, along with two of my colleagues, have a decision to make : do we follow him to Bradford or stay put where we are.

Automatically the logical decision is to move. I mean realistically how am I supposed to finish my PhD without my supervisor.

But Bradford is 4 hours away from where I have built my life. I like where I currently work, I love where I am living and the people I'm living with, I have a lot of friends from home and uni within 30 mins from where I am now, and most of all my boyfriend is only 20 mins away. If I move this will all change.


My mind flicks between deciding to go and then deciding to stay about 10 times a day. Travelling will be expensive, moving will be a faff, I'm worried about being in a city where I know nobody and potentially renting with a group of people I don't get on with. And as my boyfriend starts as a junior Doctor in August he will be working crazy hours which  limits how often we can see each other even more.

Moving is a big risk when I'm more than happy where I am. But not moving may be a massive risk towards my PhD. It's only 15 months. I'm sure it'll fly by. No doubt I just need to man up and move. But it's a pretty scary prospect either way.

Argh! I can't decide!!!!!!






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30,000 feet of nothingness and moving toilets

I skipped Day 2 of the 'Blog Every Day in May' official challenge. But I did still blog so I'm going to let myself off the hook.

Today the topic is 'what makes you uncomfortable'. I've chosen a mix of things, the majority of which I think most people will agree with.

Knowing I HAVE to ask/answer a question. 

It's not fear of public speaking. I'll happily give a presentation that I've prepared. It's being put on the spot that makes me uncomfortable. The fear of sitting in lecture theatres as the lecturer scans the audience for his next prey. Similarly knowing you have to ask a question, like at the end of presentations. I can never think of anything to ask despite listening intently the whole way through. It then becomes my problem that they told me everything I wanted to know. Not fair.

'Give an interesting fact about yourself'

I just don't get why it is ever necessary to have to do this when you're in group of new people?! There's so much pressure to think of something interesting. I always draw a blank. And going off some of the other answers I've heard to this question there a lot of people in agreement on this one.

Aeroplanes. 

I'm sure it's not possible but I'm convinced that one day during take off the plane will just stop going forwards and start heading backwards at death-inducing speeds. Any slight bump while we're flying scares me, full on turbulence induces a terror that the plane will suddenly drop to the floor. And once we're at 30,000 feet I will without fail at some point during the flight think about the fact that there is 30,000 feet of nothingness underneath me. I just can't deal with that.

Going to the toilet on transport. 

Trains, aeroplanes, boats (not that I often find myself on a boat). I will literally put it off until the very last minute to try and avoid this at all costs. I don't think there's anything wrong with wanting to use stationary toilets.

The sound of people eating.

I hate it. It makes me squirm and goes through me so much. It doesn't even have to be something noisy like crisps. In fact that's more bearable to me than the quieter foods which emphasise the noise of the actually eating. The teeth, the chewing, the swallowing. Eugh. I hate it. I have often left a room to get away from the sound of eating.

PDA's.

I'm not talking about a quick peck. I'm talking about couples lying on the sofa together literally entwined. Particularly when you're alone with them. Particularly if you can hear them kissing. (This is very similar to 'the sound of someone eating' situation). Put each other down. Please.



I hope this hasn't just come across as a massive rant! It wasn't supposed to.... But there you have it. A concise list of my biggest pet peeves.

Victoria x

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How the conversion happened... My Life So Far

On Nadine's blog this morning she had written 250 words about her life. This was linked to another blog Story of My Life by Jenni who has set herself the challenge of blogging every day in May and has invited others to join in. I've been pretty rubbish at blogging lately I thought I'd set myself the challenge. There are topic titles for every day which makes it easier as that's one of the main reasons I don't blog often (lack of ideas!)

So Day 1.... The Story of My Life (in 250 words)

Questionable Hawaiian shirt circa 1993

1.  I was born in 1990, grew up in a village called Uppermill near(ish) to Manchester with my 2 parents and 2

    sisters. I have a pretty big extended family. I love it when we’re ALL together.  All 20-odd in one house. We

    have shout, we laugh, we get WAY TOO competitive. It’s carnage but it’s great.

2.   I had 3 best friends at primary school, one moved to Florida. But I still keep in touch with all of them,

    however intermittently.

3.   I started Blue Coat Secondary School. I met my best friend on the very first day and gradually our group

    grew. There are now 9 of us. They have given me some of my best memories over the past 10 years.

4.  I moved to Southampton in 2008 for uni after applying because apparently there’s much nicer weather in the

    South (advice from my Dad).While at uni I met the best group of girls. We lived, studied and partied together

    for 3 years. I miss those days.

5.  I met Ally. We got together in second year of uni, completely unexpected, so much so that some of my friend

    literally laughed in my face when I told them. But we’re still here 3 and a bit years later. He's one of the

    reasons I'm still in the South.

6.  I’m currently doing a PhD in Reading. Also keeping me in the South (for now). It’s tough. I struggle to find

    motivation sometimes. I feel like a fraud and that I’m not really clever enough to be doing it.

Who knows what’s next.

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