New job, new start

 

I'm very happy, as I now have a job! I'm working at the Guardian in their student section and am loving it. 

I'm also moving to a new flat in Angel. It will be my first time living in North London, and best of all, I will be able to walk to work.  Second best thing is that I have already spotted two frozen yoghurt places within walking distance of my flat. 

The flat is being repainted and will be ready in 2 weeks. I'm looking forward to moving in and making it feel like home. With this in mind, I've started a project at the Guardian where I'm asking for people to share photos of how they've decorated their university bedroom.

Home is important to me and even if I'm living in a tiny room in student halls I like to make it feel like my space. 

Here are some pics from my previous uni bedrooms:

Can't wait to decorate my new room! Share your pictures with me HERE.

New job, new flat, new start.

Libby

Goodbye London College of Fashion

London College of Fashion Graduation

One happy graduate

It started with pink and ended with pink. On Tuesday I graduated with a First Class Honours in Fashion Journalism from the London College of Fashion. I spent the day in a bright pink dress to match the pink hood and trim on my gown. A mortarboard and smile were my accessories. 

My best friend helps me with a wobbly mortarboard

Juliette came all the way from Paris for the occasion

My mum and I

Practising my smile for when I collect my degree

During the ceremony designer Oswald Boateng was presented with an honourary degree. He took to the stage and gave a speech that I will always remember: “Lots of people ask me how you get to my position. Well the dedication that you have all put into completing your degrees is the answer. Carry that with you and it will be you on this stage.”

Boateng’s words inspired me, but so did seeing my friends and peers take to the platform to collect their degrees. As I collected mine I thought back over my three years at university.

My final day at the London College of Fashion

Libby's London College of Fashion Highlights

LONDON

Studying at the London College of Fashion gave me the opportunity to move to one of the best cities in the world. Being a student in the capital was an incredible experience. The city that once daunted me is now the place that I call home.

My first room in London, Hackney 2010

Lights, camera, action

I have always wanted to be a writer, but when it came to the second year of my degree I decided to specialise in broadcast journalism. Before university I had never picked up a video camera, but I was (and still am) intrigued by the changes taking place in journalism.  With even traditional print publications developing their online content and working with moving image, I wanted to broaden my skills. I have now filmed, edited and presented a broad range of subjects (including a film about a city farm, a documentary about clothing issues faced post-mastectomy, and my final project film about unpaid internships in the fashion industry). 

 New York New York

During my second year at university I went to New York to interview David Jay, photographer behind The Scar Project. Travelling by myself and meeting such interesting people gave me a huge amount of confidence and taught me that distance isn't an insurmountable barrier.

Project P&G

One of my favourite units on my degree was an industry project, in which we did research for corporate client Procter and Gamble. Working on a ‘live’ project was a great experience. I particularly enjoyed presenting our findings to P&G at Burlington House. 

3 is the magic number

My third year at university was by far my favourite. It was also the most challenging, but working on an individual project with which I had such a strong connection (my final year was spent investigating unpaid internships in the fashion industry) drove me to produce work that I am proud of. The flexible timetable of the final year allowed me to work part time at Intern Aware, a great learning process that had me giving talks at universites and Parliament.

Third year also meant a huge amount of one on one support from staff. 

“Things do not change, we change” (said Henry Thoreau)

After three years of studying I have changed in more ways than I could have imagined before starting my degree. Although I am still interested in fashion (why people wear what they wear fascinates me), I have opened my eyes to other interests and options. I have discovered broadcast journalism, which I love. I have spoken out about the immoral use of unpaid labour and become a stronger person for it. But despite all these changes and my career shift away from fashion, I am still glad I studied at the London College of Fashion.

When I was a school student living in my hometown of Gillingham and tearing pages from Vogue, I dreamt of studying at the London College of Fashion. I am proud for following through the dream I had when I was 16, but also for shaping my experience at university in such a way to fit new dreams too.

And in the end it was probably fate that I study at the London College of Fashion. The college colour is pink. 

Libby

Trulli Scrumptious

A week in the sunshine and I'm still as pale as a potato

A few weeks ago I was lucky enough to go on holiday with my good friends, staying in a Trulli in Puglia, Italy.

The Trulli houses remind me of a Hobbit home or a beehive. Being 5ft4 was suddenly a blessing when faced with low stone ceilings.

On a visit to a local town we stumbled across this prize winning cake displayed proudly in a shop window.

With white-washed walls and blue skies we could have been in Greece rather than Italy, although there were the constant reminders dotted around the town...

... like this Italian flag...

 

...and the Italian wedding we stumbled across in a large old church.

 
Being in Italy the holiday involved much eating (and drinking). Pizza and pasta and jugs of wine, but also pastries filled with custard and jam from the local pasticceria.

Being lucky enough to have our own pool at the villa, many an evening was spent sipping prosecco by the poolside.

Perhaps the tasty treat I miss most of all is the great slabs of watermelon that would dribble pink juice down to your elbows as you ate.

All in all a Trulli scrumptious holiday.

Libby

Inside my suitcase

I'm going on holiday! And I'm very excited.

I wasn't planning on going away this year, but when my good friends invited me to Italy with them I looked outside at the rain and booked some last minute flights. I leave tomorrow.

After a long year of university work and campaigning, a few days spent doing absolutely nothing will be a delicious luxury, like eating pudding for breakfast.

I am craving warmth and Italian food (juicy flat peaches that ooze when you bit into them, salty proscuitto and plump tomatoes, ICE CREAM...), and the company of my dear friends.

I spent today packing. I am trying to pack light - I want the refreshing feeling of disappearing with as little baggage as possible (physical and otherwise).

Here's what's going in my suitcase...

Red bikini

I love this cherry red bikini because it's simple and flattering and makes me feel like I should be dancing around in a Special K advert. In a really good way.

I bought it in M&S, not somewhere I was expecting to find sexy swimwear, but I was so impressed on a recent visit there that I was tempted to buy the whole holiday department. Their things are well made and substantial enough for curves, unlike the versions I saw in Topshop that looked as though they were made from dental floss.

I also have a green swimming costume from Marks and Sparks that I love to bits.

Pink bikini

I couldn't resist this bikini from Victoria's Secret, emblazoned with the title of my book, and mismatch flamingo bottoms. Flamingos are my favourite.

Shoes! (And passport)

Holiday reading...

And holiday writing...

My current perfume, that smells like a flowershop.

Lovely L.K Bennett shoes, nabbed for £40 in a discount outlet in Shepton Mallet near my Dorset home.

And PANTS, of course.

 

Have a good week. Ciao! 

Back to Blogging

I'm sorry I've been a bad blogger. Here's a smile. (Me at a recent BBQ competition. Which I WON)

Yes it's been a long time since I blogged.

Things have been pretty busy in Libbyland recently, what with turning 21 (it was hard work. It took me several days to recover) and finishing my university degree (I got a First!! Have a look at my showreel here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=yf2PukrMthc) and campaigning hard for fairer, paid internships. I've done some writing for the Guardian and have been tweeting away (most recently at Tesco Customer Care, after a horrible experience made me angry to the value of a £10 'good will' gift voucher that is now on its way to me.)

Have a look at my shiny updated website, www.libbypage.info, to see what I've been up to.

Despite all the exciting serious things going on in my life at the moment, I think it's time to get some pink and sunshine back into it too. I am of the strong opinion that a woman can love both campaigning and cupcakes, and that you can be a strident feminist and still love to bake and rock a pair of killer red wedges (my latest purchase).

So on this blog I am going to try and celebrate the sunny side of life (as well as probably sharing the occasional rant, because that's just me).

"And if you couldn't be loved, the next best thing was to be let alone." L.M Montgomery

L.M Montgomery said that the next best thing to being loved was to be let alone. I must admit I can understand where she was coming from. You can do what you like, when you like, and no one is going to tell you that it's inappropriate to eat cake for breakfast. (Yes, I ate cake for breakfast this morning.)

I am lucky enough to be loved (here's us, having just won an international BBQ competition representing France in honour of my best friend Juliette. We baked a cake on the BBQ). But one of my favourite things to do is still to spend time by myself in cafés eating cake, or in bookshops strolling through the aisles and tucking up in a corner like a cat. I think the best combination in life is to be loved, whether by a partner, family, friends, your pet poodle or all of the above, but to still enjoy time spent happily alone.

One of my favourite lovely lonely London spots is Woolfson & Tay in Southwark, a delicious independent bookshop with equally delicious cake served in the adjoining café. This slice was raspberry, rose and pistachio and tasted as good as it looked.

This week I received feedback from my final university project (a film about unpaid internships) and found out that I've got a First in my degree.

Unfortunately my friends were all busy that evening, but that wasn't going to stop me from celebrating.
 
I headed to the Southbank, where I spent my evening enjoying the late sunshine. Children were playing in the fountains and the sound of laughter and chatter made me smile.

I stumbled across live music at the Southbank Centre (one of my favourite spots in London), spent well over an hour in Foyle's, bought two books (Franny and Zooey, J.D Salinger and The Pursuit of Love, Nancy Mitford) and bought dinner from the food stalls outside the Southbank Centre.

Then I headed back to my flat and watched the sun setting like melting pastels out my window, glass of wine in hand.




All in all it was a pretty perfect evening.


You don't have to be lonely when you're alone (and you don't have to be alone to be lonely).

Libby