TEENAGE DIRTBAG

A week ago today I turned 19. In celebration of only having a year left of being a teen, I thought I'd share some of my recent accomplishments with you, and things that I hope to achieve in the future - kind of like a New Year's resolution post, but a very late one.

1. Last September I began studying fashion journalism at university. This was quite a big deal for me as this is something I have always wanted to do, but I never believed it would happen. It was never made aware to me that fashion journalism was an option at university. I was told it was either "fashion" or "journalism" - never a combination of the two. I didn't want to make clothes, and I didn't want to write about the news. I wanted to combine them both and WRITE ABOUT FASHION. Now I can say, that I DO write about fashion and I'm loving it. Not only has being at university let me study something I love, it has made me more independent, as I now have to do all my own cooking and cleaning. I have also met some amazing people who I hope to stay friends with for a very long time. I hope that studying this degree will open up more opportunities for me in the world of fashion and that I'm not scared to take them!

2. I spent my 2012 Christmas and New Year in some of the most amazing countries. I travelled to Hong Kong, New Zealand, Australia and Singapore with my family for about a month. Among lots of amazing site seeing, in Hong Kong we went to the Ozone bar; in New Zealand we visited Hobbiton and spent Christmas lunch in the Sky Tower; in Australia we went to the blue mountains, climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and welcomed in the New Year watching the fireworks off the bridge; and in Singapore we visited the botanical gardens. Each of them are beautiful and fascinating in their own way and I really hope to not only go back to those places, but to travel more in general. The world is a beautiful place and I really want to see as much of it as possible!

3. I have started playing hockey again! I was always a sporty child and very competitive one at that! Hockey has always been my favourite sport to play, so why did I stop playing in the first place? When I was 14 I was diagnosed with scoliosis, which is essentially a curvature of the spine. After my diagnosis, I couldn't play sport anymore because it hurt my back too much. This deeply upset me as I felt sport was part of my identity, and not being able to play made me loose some of what made me, me. I had the operation to straighten my spine when I was 16 and had finished my GCSE's in the hope that I wouldn't have back pain anymore and would be able to play again. Without going in to too much detail, the first six months after my operation was an extremely difficult time for me emotionally as well as physically. It has been a long time coming, (five years to be precise!), but after everything, the operation was definitely worth it as now I have joined the hockey society at my university. I have gained so many amazing friends and even though I'm not a very good player and have lost a bit of my competitiveness, (it has been five years!), I am so glad that I am able to exercise and keep fit again.

4. Starting this blog: ANNA IN VENTURE. I started out on Tumblr, but eventually knew that I had to get a "proper blog" if I wanted to make something of it. I haven't even had this blog for one year yet and I'm already so happy with the support of the community. Truth be told, I don't have that many followers, but for me, it's not about that. It's about writing, and about writing about whatever I want. This blog has given me the platform to do just that. Yes, of course it would be nice to gain more followers but I'm already amazed at how many readers that I currently have. If you are reading this right now or have ever read any of my posts, I would just like to say a massive "thank you".

Celebrating my 19th birthday - with free champagne of course!
What I'm Wearing
Dress - Miss Selfridge
Necklace - River Island

Lots of love,
Anna x