Twenty facts.

As I'm sure you've seen them around, I don't think I need to explain the concept, and will just hop straight onto the "twenty facts about me" trend. I know it tends to be a Youtube thing, but I haven't quite the voice for video. Instead, please find attached some of the more amusing Photobooth shots I've taken over the past few months.

1. I am currently sat underneath two duvets, in tracksuit bottoms and a massive jumper, listening to The Big Bang Theory emanating from the living room. Fashion goes out of the window when you've been dancing till three am. My whole body protests against movement, so I'm letting it win for the moment.

2. When I first arrived in Liverpool I hated it. Now it's coming close to overtaking London as my favourite city of all time.

3. In my time, I have learnt German, French, Japanese, Russian, and Latin. I guess English counts as well.

4. I have danced since the age of four. Lessons fizzled out during GCSEs, but I miss it more than I could possibly describe.



5. My mum wanted to call me Helen, my dad wanted to call me Dakota. So I was called Rebecca.

6. The first thing I ever bought with my first paycheque was a Chanel lipstick, a dark pink called number 19, and I'm wearing it in most of these photos...

7. That first job was at Fat Face. I may have left when I started at university three years ago, but I'm still in regular contact with a lot of the people I met there, and Harriet's coming to visit in just over a week!

8. Ain't no one coming between me and hummus. No one.

9. The subjects I studied to A Level were English Literature (duh), History, German, and Fine Art - so artsy!

10. I was a vegetarian for just over a year just to see if I could do it. The only things I tripped up on were eating marshmallows once, and vodka jelly, but I'm still pretty impressed with myself.

11. My all time favourite film is Breakfast at Tiffany's. Sometimes I just have to put that on, switch on the fairy lights, and have a good ol' cry.

12. My favourite book, however, is a lot more difficult to choose. Up there have to be The Picture of Dorian Gray, Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and His Dark Materials (those three books had the world's biggest impact upon my childhood).

13. I have gained grade five in singing. My "talents" are now wasted on mumbling along to Example.

14. I would do stupid things for Arctic Monkeys. In fact, I have. I travelled to Sheffield from Essex with two friends and got the first train home after staying out all night.

15. I'm a little bit of a hoarder, and form sentimental attachments to the weirdest of things. But why should I throw away that shoebox?

16. I wouldn't say that I'm a perfectionist, but I'm never content with anything I've achieved, even if I receive praise from others.



17. I love to write. That's one of the reasons I started this blog, as a way in which I could share words on a personal platform. I find that university is conducive to finding places to publish work, so I've been helping out a lot with Ellipsis and The Tab (links on the left, somewhere), as well as writing in a less structured manner for other people.

18. I think that Britain is amazing. As I can't afford holidays abroad, I'm trying to make the most of my friends living away from home to stay with them. Next weekend I'm heading to Sheffield, and then there's York in a fortnight.

19. Some people from Real Life (yep, it exists!) may not understand why I blog, but I really do think that it's given me the best opportunities (more coming up on that one soon...), and the absolute best friends.

20. OUR DOMINO'S HAS JUST ARRIVED!!

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People call me superstitious, well they better watch their tongue.

Kitted jumper: c/o Next. Pleather dress (worn underneath): £19, Republic. Necklace: gift. Ring: £2.50, Forever 21. Shoes: Stylistpick. Lipstick: Topshop Mischief.

I'd almost forgotten what it felt like to feel my toes, but then the clouds parted and we finally had a little ray of sunshine! Although, admittedly, it's still bloody cold, and a coat was certainly necessary for a quick wander into town. Thankfully my new Next jumper, which I purposefully purchased a few sizes too big, kept me cosy, as I sneaked into Thornton's to pick up a sweet treat for my flatmate.

Exams are over (can I get a hell yeah) so now I'm getting stuck into the reading lists of my final semester's modules. I feel like there's not anything of particular interest to talk of seeing as my life for the past couple of weeks has been spent either waiting for the kettle to boil or under my duvet, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of adventures to share over the next few weeks!

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Light reflects from your shadow.

Wide-brimmed hat: £15, Marks and Spencer. Tartan Scarf: £8, ebay. Sailor coat: £63, Topshop. Ghost jumper: £56, JW Anderson x Topshop. Blouse: Miss Selfridge. Corduroy circle skirt: American Apparel, via ebay. Bag: French Connection. Wellies: Hunter.  Necklace: Urban Outfitters. Creepy face: model's own.

I don't really like snow. I like the idea of it, the stillness in the air, and the blanketed whiteness of the landscape, but, clumsy as I am, the higher likelihood of falling over isn't one I look forward to. Thankfully this year I had some sensible footwear (yes, mum), as I'd won a pair of Hunter wellington boots in Char's giveaway a couple of months ago. They, so far, have helped me stay upright and salvage some amount of dignity that this season otherwise seems intent upon destroying.

Right now, my life would ideally be spent revising for my seventeenth century novel exam on Friday, but I have been led astray a couple of times for friends' birthdays, and have somehow found myself throwing myself on my bed around 3am wondering why I went out without tights on. But I promise I'll be back to reading Sense and Sensibility with a good cup of Yorkshire Tea (brand of choice, just so you're aware) once I've clicked publish.

ps, don't forget about my giveaway.

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You lift my heart up when the rest of me is down.

Green blazer: Glamorous. Scarf: £8, ebay. T-shirt: Topman (old). Embroidered skirt: £14, Primark. Bag: French Connection. Shoes: 50p, Russell and Bromley, via ebay.

Sunday heralded snow for Liverpool. Heedless of this, Clarity and I headed a few stops along the northern line to Crosby, for a wander along the seafront. Normally a destination for summer days, we were certainly very chilly as we headed further up the coast, taking shelter in a pub for a bite to eat, giving us strength for the homewards walk. Crosby's shore is lined with sculptures of iron men looking forlornly across the Irish Sea, a little eerie in the January fog, but a pull for tourists (and students!) nonetheless. Antony Gormley's Another Place was installed to showcase the North's natural beauty, and brought us out to an area of Merseyside that neither of us had ever had the intention of exploring beforehand. Admittedly I hadn't the foresight to wear sensible footwear (well done coco), and they've since left a sandy mess in my bathroom, but Clarity had a good paddle on my behalf! But right now I'm snuggled up on the sofa in our living room with a rather large mug of tea, Amy applying for jobs, me writing articles and designing pages for Ellipsis, feeling a lot warmer, and pretty content before exam stress rears its ugly head.

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Ball so hard.

1. City of Romance.

2. Hôtel de Ville.

3. My hostess.

4. Musée d'Orsay.

5. Snap!

6. Crocodile.

7. Les Puces de Saint-Ouen.

8. How could you not?

9. Oh right, yeah, because there are so many stairs.

10. Cité Université - our home for a week.

11. Windswept atop the Arc de Triomphe.

12. Galeries Lafayette's Christmas tree (and the perfect Sessun coat, but that's another matter).

13.Parisian sunset.

Here are a few visual aids to remembering seven days in Paris. The trip consisted of seemingly never-ending supplies of stairs, dancing to eighties anthems, lots of pastries, eating camembert for the first time, plenty of parisian sunrises, trips to Shakespeare and Company... It did rain an awful lot, though, I'll try to avoid that next time.

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Montmartre.

Sailor coat: £63, Topshop (old). Breton t-shirt: £30, Aubin and Wills. Jeans: £13.50, Topshop (now deceased). Boots: Stylistpick. Tartan scarf: £8, ebay. Hat: £10, vintage. "R" necklace: gift, Urban Outfitters. Cross-body bag: French Connection.

Blurry photos courtesy of Brad's media GCSE

The past week has been a very dull blur of word documents and consuming magnitudes of tea, but my dissertation has finally been submitted - hoorah! I'm sure third year university students will appreciate the stress, and the sudden excess of relief when you hand over your hand-bound copies. No outfit posts from that time, unless you want to see my incredibly fashionable primark jammies?

These photos feel like relics from a past age, but they were barely taken a month ago. One of the more cultural exploits from my trip to Paris was a wander up the hill to the Sacré-Cœur. We viewed the parisian vista at twilight, slowly watching all the lights below flicker on. It would almost have been romantic had we not all been singing a bizarre One Direction medley with the few snatches of songs we actually knew. After all, when in Paris... A little photo diary is in the works, so prepare yourself for plenty of cringe-y tourist photos!

xxx

ps, don't forget about my giveaway!

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Giveaway(!!)

This has been in the pipeworks for a while, it has to be said. A mixture of the unreliable postal service and being terribly busy this academic year has meant that lots of emails flicking back and forth have only just made it here.

A couple of months back I reached the one thousand follower mark. I'm not a big fan of the word (in my own english student way, I always think it ought to be renamed "readers"), but it honestly does mean a lot to me that anyone commits to having my little blog appear on their feeds. So, in true "I've just got my birthday money, let's do this" fashion, I've prepared not one but two thank you's for you jolly wonderful people.

prize one: spring/summer

Well, it wouldn't be a proper giveaway if it weren't themed, eh? Whenever I think of Summer, I think (read: dream) of travelling to exotic locations. I headed off to Cath Kidston to pick up a luggage tag and make-up bag, and Sunglasses Shop have kindly agreed to let the winner pick a pair of SXUC sunglasses - you've got to look after your peepers, after all.

prize two: autumn/winter

Who doesn't like to snuggle up under their duvet with a good pair of socks? I'm a sucker for Topshop's offerings, so got two frilly pairs in my favourite colours. My favourite online jewellery brand Elsie Belle (I'm sure you've seen me wearing my masquerade necklace, as I wear it all the time) have donated a teapot necklace and leaf bracelet, two things I associate with this time of the year.

to enter:

As this is a giveaway for readers, you must be following via either Google Friend Connect (that box on the left) or Bloglovin'.
Just leave a comment saying which prize you'd prefer, and like the relevant company on facebook (Sunglasses Shop and Elsie Belle)

For extra entries you can:
Follow me on twitter...
...tumblr...
and ...instagram
As well as liking on facebook.
You can also tweet something, linking back to this post and mentioning @rebeccacohen.

Whatever you do, just write it in a comment, and I'll add it to a spreadsheet, or something geeky. Extra point if you tell a really bad joke.

Open to international readers, and closes 6th February 2013.

I think that's got pretty much everything covered. All that I have left to say is good luck!

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Still she sits, young while the earth is old.

Two-tone blouse: c/o Mina UK. Jeans: Cheap Monday. Leopard print boots: £27, Topshop. Charm necklace: gift, Schmuk UK. Black bracelet: gift (from Harriet!), Marc by Marc Jacobs. Lip polish: Topshop Rhubarb.

First things first, happy new year! I celebrated by heading a few stops along the DLR to a friend's (there may be an outfit post if I can bear to put that playsuit on again, I did wear it for about eighteen hours straight, after all, so would you really want to see that?), and deciding that sleep wasn't worth it. The amount of times I've considered creating a blog based upon my adventures is numerous, but I think they're best left as anecdotes to be told on special occasions. 

On one of the rainier days of the year gone by, I headed off to the Tate Britain for the first time (I know, I know) to see the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition. Named "Victorian Avant-Garde", the collection promised to display the works of the Brotherhood thematically, documenting the movement through its various stages, from medievalism to the first Aesthetes. Ignoring all the notes I made for my dissertation (s i x d a y s), my ticket let me pour over Millais' "Ophelia", and I finally got to be in the same room as Rossetti's "Lady Lilith", which is one of my favourite paintings of all time. Weighed down with postcards and the accompanying book, I was certainly one happy lady stood soggy on the Victoria line.

To think, the above two paragraphs are describing the same person...

xxx

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