August 2008 Archives

When I was 15 or 16, my dream was actually to become either an interior designer or an architect. Around the age of 17, my (technical) drawing teacher was so impressed with my skills, that she told me I should absolutely become an architect. Then, for a whole lot of reasons, some to do with my mother being convinced I would be unable to get a job as an architect, some to do with the fact that I spent some time with a friend of my parents' who's worked in NGOs/aid for twenty years, I abandoned that dream and decided Development Studies was the thing for me.
I realise now, possibly too late, that it might have been a mistake. One big realisation of the last few months has been that, fundamentally, I do not want to work for an NGO. The UN, the European Parliament, DfID, maybe, but most definitely not NGOs. So in some ways I've come to believe that the I shouldn't have done the undergrad and postgrad courses I've done. This is not to say I didn't enjoy them or I wasn't good at them - I'm not stupid, I know that much, and consequently I've done very well in my discipline (even though not even well enough to be able to do a PhD in Oxford, not that I would want to!). But I do feel like there is a basic passion lacking, something is missing.
On the other hand, like my parents before me, I am extremely passionate when it comes to decoration, furniture, and generally things that make houses pretty. Hence my excitement about the new flat, and the fact that it comes unfurnished, which gives me the freedom of making a home for M and I (limited by money, of course, but better than nothing!).
So I've just spent the afternoon preparing inspiration boards of what I want our future flat to look like; the look will have to be built over time, since we won't be able to buy some things immediately (but you can bet I'll start saving ASAP for those few designer pieces!).
A bit of an explanation: the living, dining and study areas will all actually be in one, big room, which also will have the kitchen at one end. Basically it'll just be one big open plan living space. The bedroom, on the other hand, is separate, and is actually relatively big (big enough for the furniture in the board anyway!).


I wonder if I'll ever make anything of this passion. Probably not know, but who knows what'll happen in the future... In the meantime I'm enjoying this whole new flat business enormously. And have just had the piss taken out of me heavily by the lovely RJ, who thanks to me now feels like a normal human being.

My continued absence from here has been due to our flat-hunting, which was entirely depressing for a while as we found an awesome place and were later completely screwed over by the owner - who didn't reply to our application through the estate agent for a week, to then decide she was going to rent it out to someone who had never seen it but only wanted it for a couple of months because she was undecided about whether she wanted to sell it or not (dumbass, does she even know what a recession is? the flat is going to be worth even less by the time this tenant moves out...). But well, we were quite disappointed for a couple of days, and kept looking, until we found a lovely place which is 10 minutes from our college (so we can walk down whenever we feel like it to see out friends), in an awesome Victorian building... Look!

The photos don't actually do it justice. The kitchen and the living room (which are both in the image above) are actually all one gigantic room, which is going to be our living room/dining room/study, and on top of that there's a very decent sized bedroom (big enough to have a big wardrobe to fit all of our clothes, a double bed, and a big chest of drawers). It's a basement flat but the windows are actually all level with the ground (no limited view), and all you can see are the trees and greenery outside the house. It is oh so pretty!
It also comes unfurnished, as you can see from the pictures, which means we'll have to buy tons of furniture. We have a few things (a couple of small side tables, a two-seater sofa, a tv bench, and a cute small office drawer unit), but definitely not enough for a flat! So a big trip to Ikea will be on the cards... I've spent the last three days planning everything, and I feel like I should make an inspiration board of the kind of look I'm thinking of at the moment...
We're also not moving in until the 2nd of October, when I come back from India We're moving out of here on the 7th of September, and I'm leaving on the 11th - we'll stay with friends for those few days, and then M (who is already working for a consultancy here in Oxford) will stay with people for the duration of my trip to India. I feel guilty about making him live out of a suitcase, but he'll pretty busy with work and it also means we'll be saving some money on rent.
So yes, it is official, we're staying in Oxford for at least another year. This means that after spending the weekend setting up our new flat when I come back from India, I will be looking for work - most likely temping, at least initially.
It feels all very grown up - but it's going to be so much fun! I can't wait to have my own space (a real flat, not one we rent off our college!) to play with. I cannot wait for October to come (it's not like the weather is going to be that much worse anyway... This summer, as usual, has been pretty rubbish in rainy England).
Now I need to vegetate on the sofa for a bit, because I've been feeling like I'm coming down with the flu all day. Sigh.

Apparently, now I'm 24 I'm in my mid-twenties rather than my early twenties.
A bit depressing. Or exciting? I'm not sure. :)
Had a good pre-birthday party last night (to accommodate for people going places today), complete with silly music, shots at midnight, and cupcakes covered in 24 candles in lieu of cake. :) There were far too many people I would have wanted there missing, but you can't have everything (especially with a summer birthday, as I've learnt the hard way!).
And now what?

Many good things are happening. My ticket to India is booked, and the flat-hunting here in Oxford is going well. More news soon... And possibly photos! But now I have to go back to watching the Mighty Boosh, i.e. one of the best tv series in the history of the world.
Plus I have finally changed my tongue bar to a smaller one, and it's all healed up now! It looks awesome...
[p.s. comments are working again! Sorry for not noticing they weren't working in the first place...]