I've spent my last £1.49 on a garden wire

Having quite much time lately, I've been visiting many galleries, cafes and parks. Getting a coffee or tea out somehow works very motivational and I'm still not sure if it's a good or a bad sign.
What I've learned today is that you shouldn't buy a garden wire if you're not going to use it in the garden. It is way too thick but I made and I will make use of it in different ways. I definitely took the next step in my experimenting journey. One more thing: it actually is possible to cut a garden wire with scissors.

I've seen some impressive exhibitions during the last month. The Whitworth Gallery has an amazing collection of work of one of the most recognisable contemporary artists, Cornelia Parker. Some of her works led me to exploring wire drawing art and even on the web search there are some incredibly good wire sculptures and drawings.

I never was the dictionary definition of an "artist" and probably never will, but creation definitely makes me feel like I'm a bigger part of this world.

Graze Box

Hi! A few days ago I bumped into a NatureBox advertisement and review and thought that it might be something worth trying - however, they only do NatureBox in the US (and perhaps Canada?). I went on to look for something similar to NatureBox and I found Graze, "healthy snacks by mail". I thought, why not, let's check it out. I'm usually quite distrustful when it comes to "great online deals", as usually the offers are very cheap at the beginning and then require to pay more money with every month. I registered with a promo code, which offered me my first, fifth and tenth box for free. I had nothing to lose, so I ordered a breakfast box, which I got on Wednesday.

The breakfast box contains four packets of musli/granola/porridge and you can customise your preferences on the Graze website (you can bin ingredients that you don't like or are allergic to and choose which cereal you want to get 'as soon as possible'). I chose these four and they sent me exactly the ones that I wanted so I was quite happy about that. The size of the portions is bigger than I expected. Until now I've had two of the different flavours and I absolutely loved the Dark Chocolate&Orange Granola! One portion is really satisfying and I wasn't hungry until about 2pm.

The nutritional values are nice as well, for example the Chocolate&Orange Granola contains a lot of pumpkin seeds, almonds, orange peel and oats and it all sums up to 346 kcal, which is good for the first meal of the day.

I've seen some negative reviews before and, as I wrote at the beginning of the post, I was starting to get a bit worried and ask myself if I'm not just throwing my money away. I'm really happy to say that I'm satisfied with my box and I'll be continuing subscription - it's also possible to change between boxes, so maybe I'll try something different soon? For now, if you're wondering if you should make an order, I would recommend trying the box and if you don't like it, you can cancel the subscription at any time. It's not something you can't live without, but it's definitely something that you're happy to see when you come home and for me it works as a nice surprise after a long day.

If you want to give it a try, you can get your 1st, 5th and 10th boxes for free with the promo code N6MCZ5KMU or by entering the website through this link: https://www.graze.com/uk/p/N6MCZ5KMU.

Have you ever tried Graze? What is your opinion? Have you tried any other boxes? Let me know what you think about it!

xx Julia

Blue jean baby

I'm so glad it's finally weekend. The weather is amazing, which means more going out, running, walking and smiling. I've already had three exams, it's only three more left now. I actually like to spend time on campus so I usually go to study there and not at home (they've got some nice benches in the sun, 1-0). I also got my old little Bamboo Fun tablet sent to me recently (I first got it for Christmas about 6-7 years ago, so long ago!) so I can finally add some personal messages to my graphics. I still need to get myself some proper camera, my phone one doesn't do the right job at all. Anyway, here are my two favourite vintage items that I got myself recently.

Short dungarees - COW Vintage, Manchester

Levi's 501 jeans - Pop Boutique, Manchester

Spring Running Challenge

Winter depression is officially over, as we've just witnessed the day when I got a little sunburn - the summery weather encourages to go outside and it is my favourite time of the year. It is also the exam period, so some of us are probably getting a little stressed out. I'm not usually great at dealing with stress, but running is one thing that helps me relax.

Speaking of which, I am setting up a 30km running challenge on Nike Running, which starts on the 1st of June and will last for the whole month. It's suitable for both beginner runners, as well as those who already have some running experience. You can join the challenge right now by adding me to your friends on Nike+, I will then send you an invitation to the challenge. The game will be set up on the 26th of May, so let me know before the 25th of May if you want to participate.

If you don't have Nike Running on your phone yet, it's free to download for both iPhones and Android phones and you can easily set up an account. To join the challenge:

1. Add me to friends on Nike+
2. Let me know in a comment that you've added me so that I know who's who

How to find me?

There is a link to my Nike+ on the top of the blog, which will direct you to my profile. Alternatively, search for Julia_Str on Nike+.

Why running?

Running is a great opportunity to increase your fitness and physical and mental health - it helps to reduce stress and is very good for your body and skin.

Remember!

There is one important rule in running - always do your best and a little more, however you have to listen to your own body. Especially if you've never been running before, start slowly and carefully.

xx Julia

Hello!

This time of the year is quite stressful and the weather doesn't really help here. I sometimes wish I could go back to the past when people used to go out every weekend and talked and laughed together.

I get this kind of feeling like I need to re-organize some things (probably sort my life out) so here I go with a to-achieve list:

1. Write down my thoughts here instead of drowning in them or telling them to inappropriate people.
2. Sleep more.
3. Draw more.
4. Write and sing more.
5. Take more photos (a Fujifilm Instax Mini is an absolute number one wish).
6. Read more (Murakami's Elephant has been Vanishing for good 3 weeks now).
7. Less social media? I'm an example of a paradox, if you compare this to the beginning of this post.
8. Do more yoga.
9. Run more often (7 out of 15km completed this month!).
10. Get more clothes that aren't necessarily black (if you open my wardrobe you get instantly sucked into a giant black hole of my black t-shirts).
11. Buy a last minute trip to Spain - never been!

This eleven is probably an OCD nightmare but I really needed to include my travelling goal. I'll post the documentation and my experiences here, it's kind of motivational and maybe some of you will find it interesting so here we go.

It's study time and I need to get some work done. Good luck to everyone doing their A-levels and having their exams next week!

xx Julia