This Week’s Inspiration…

So, considering I don’t do enough posting at the moment, I figure the best way to get things going again is to give myself another challenge – a kind of ‘once a week’ thing where I share what I’ve been inspired by or have found interesting, or have learnt about each week. Since it’s Sunday, I’ll probably call it a Sunday night thing – but having said that, I might post on Fridays sometimes – who knows?

Anyway, this week, what has inspired me? I finally came a proud owner of a iPhone 4, after lots of rubbish issues with Orange and UKmail (their courier service). If you ever upgrade your phone via Orange online, please use the ‘collect in store option’. UKmail are one of the worst couriers in the UK – and I have no idea why Orange and T-Mobile use them. If you look for reviews on the internet, they basically have lots of complaints.

Apart from these woes, I am in love with my phone. It is beautiful – and the touchscreen works like a dream. I had a touchscreen phone three years ago (LG) but it didn’t work as well as this. Of course, what makes the iPhone 4 even more wonderful is the apps. I’m addicted to Instagram already, and even though the camera is only 5 megapixels, the photos are good quality and you can always sharpen them using the myriad camera and photo apps available. The only thing that bothers me about the iPhone is that the covers are so expensive, and the contracts are expensive too.

This week, I had a little wander around Cambridge again with my sister, Mum and Gran. Cambridge is one of those places it is difficult not to fall in love with – it has a curious mix of old charm and a modern buzz. It’s a great place to just wander and go down side streets and explore the shops and go window shopping. The Waterstones which is housed in what used to be The Dorothy Ballroom, still has the old round windows. This is where my parents met, and my sister and I had a browse around the books (heaven) and had lunch at the cafe on the second floor (where the round windows are). Then we popped down the road to Lilac Rose, one of those boutiques that sells vintage style jewellery with an abundance of birds, bicycles and cameos. It is a little overpriced, but still very pretty, and a good place to buy presents for people.

My sister and I also did a bit of shopping for our jewellery business – we’re making our own business cards and tags. We both have a lot of ideas about how to make things more personal for our customers, and we’ve finally come up with a name that means something to us and sounds unique. I think it’s been a long journey, but we’re now sorting things out and making it all work for us. Part of the problem was not having much of a direction or brand identity – you know, that particular thing where you decide what sort of ‘look’ and ‘style’ fits what you’re making and what you want to show to the world. I’ll keep you posted about our relaunch – maybe some of what we make will interest you!

I’m also looking forward to Christmas – we put the tree and decorations up today. It feels more exciting this year for some reason – maybe just because I’m feeling more positive about things. Last year was a little strange, even though I had a great Christmas up in Edinburgh with Dan’s family. We both got ill around the time though, so spent most of Xmas with horrible colds and coughs! Here’s hoping I don’t contract anything to stop me from enjoying the festivities.

I still haven’t completely finished my novel; but I’m determined to finish the last few chapters before the end of the year. That way, the first draft will be done and dusted and I can leave it for a bit and concentrate on other things before going back to it and starting the lengthy editing process. This week is going to be hectic, but I’m looking forward to it – to getting my teeth into some projects and making the most of the last month of the year.

So, to wrap it up, these are the photos from this week:

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ~ Steve Jobs.