The English Mademoiselle Diaries

Edit by me. (Images from Google Images)

I read this book a year or so ago, but I have only just got around to watching the film and it spurred me to re-read this gorgeous book. There is nothing I don't love about this book, and for me at least the film did it justice, which I very rarely think. I never thought I would cry a second time over the book, but I did, not full on sobbing but there were tears and a tissue involved.

"I sit, I watch, I understand, I am a Wallflower."

I found myself thinking about Stephen Chbosky's characters long after I finished the book, both the first and the second time through. For me that is not only a sign of a good book but that the ideas that the author represents through their words still ring true for both society and for me on a personal level. I connected with it in that in so many ways I am just like Charlie, socially nervous/anxious I tend to take a back seat, I sit, I watch, I understand, I am a Wallflower. I blend in because it is easier that way, it is something I am hoping to change, I am not like that for the same reason Charlie is though. The sign of a good author for me is can you relate to character traits in all of the characters that they weave into existence, and the answer is yes for this book.

XO, Miriam

P.s. I am in love with the soundtrack, especially The Smiths.

The photo card says: "You're my cup of tea" and it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland so it has been added to my wall.

Lately I have be wondering about my blog, and what it is for now I have completed the CAS programme section of the IB. I considered whether it could go in new directions, or if it should be removed entirely. I came to the conclusion that it shall go in new directions, ones that suit me not the few people who read my blog. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate them reading, but I believe that for me at least having a blog should be for me.

Now I have decided to get back into blogging for me more than I have over the past few months, and for that I need to be more comfortable with myself both internally and externally, which I hope I will be able to achieve more easily when I have finished my exams. I also want it to be a place to recorded my thoughts and internal monologues that I keep in a neat on the outside but scruffy on the inside journal. There is no time like the present to begin a new way of thinking and therefore typing.

So here goes nothing important to everyone but me:

I guess this is something I have always wanted to do, cover up "that" school logo, with it's obnoxious motto. But I also know that "that" school and it's logo shaped me to be who I am today, whether that be good or bad.

"This world is all so real and fake. Only what you experience is real, what you see with your eyes and believe in your heart, everything else fades into nothingness compared to those memories of what you have done." - mon journal intime

Blurred images and unrealistic ideas of what I should be to "fit in" hide under this bowler hat. All of those stupid, crazy, fansical (is that even a word?) dreams that spill out on to pages of paper filled with in and ideas of my own personal wonderland fill my head when I take myself away from people where I sit nervously, never knowing how to act or what to say.

//Tee - Zara//Blazer - School//Trousers - Fat Face// Hat - Topshop//

XO, Miriam

Hooray for the Tales of Beedle the Bard, I was re-reading this, earlier and I was actually reading it during the picture talking process...

I find that it is easier to style skorts if they are in neutral tones and colours, so when I bought mine I went for the white, to hopefully show of a tan this summer! I have styled this skort before but I find it quite difficult so this is for my own benefit really to try and find outfits that work with a skort. So today I paired it with a shirt that has the cutest collar I have ever seen, and this amazing fluffy jumper that I bought at a market stall in Bath. Basically I find it easiest to throw on a shirt and jumper, I really must step out of my comfort zone....

I just wish that is was warmer so I could wear it without tights, and some cute sandals but I will wait until summer for that!

XO, Miriam

It has been such a long time since I last picked up a book to read for pleasure and not for studying purposes, so to ease my self back into my previous reading habits over the next month or so of exams I am sticking to relatively easy reads. Basically not Lolita or anything by Kahled Hosseini. Naturally I went for a John Green book, having read both the Fault in Our Stars and Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns seemed like a great place to start.

Despite loving John Green as both an author and as a human being, I was not anticipating this book to be as good as either of the ones I had read previously. But by the end of nearly 6 hours of reading that had all changed, this rivals Looking for Alaska for the top spot of my favourite John Green books. This is a gorgeous story about obsessions, society and hope. It made me dream of all the things I want to do, where I want to go and how I want to live my life. Are all the barriers that we perceive to be real actually there or can we just walk straight on through just like Quentin and Margo Roth Spiegelman?

For the test of a whether a book is good or not is if I keep thinking about the characters after I finish reading, or inbetween reading stints like they are real people that I know and have known for year. I am aware that I don't live in Florida but Quentin does and so did I for a week or so, all I could think about was what happened to them after the end of the book, so just like a good post-modernist play I left with more questions than I had answers. I like that in a book, something that makes you think and reconsider your own life choices. Paper Towns did that for me, along with taking me away from the daily grind of revision and work to somewhere else to explore someone else's life and mind.

So thank you John Green for this book, I am sure I will read it again this summer when I am sat inside on a rainy day with nothing else to do. Like Harry Potter this is book I will come back to again and again. Have a gold star, a virtual hug and a cup of tea or coffee depending on your preference.

XO, Miriam

So yesterday I spent the day with my boyfriend who from now on will be known as S. Near by his family has some fields so naturally we went exploring, and the perks of living in almost the middle of nowhere means that you very rarely bump into other people.

You tend to forget just how big your local town is, well I do. I live in a village with no public transport and I forget that the town that I work in is so large and well connected to the city in which I study. I guess my perceptions with change when I hopefully head of to university in the autumn.

I hate climbing trees, I did make it up today even if I only stayed there for all of 2 minutes...

So S and I have been together for just over a year now, and as we couldn't see each other until yesterday I had no clue that he had bought me this Doctor Who t-shirt. So now I know I don't need to go to university because I am a fully qualified intellectual Time Lord I guess I don't have to continue doing far too many past papers and hours of revision, right?!

//Jacket - Peter Storm//Hoody - Saltrock(S lent it to me)//Tee - From S//Jeans - Topshop//Wellies and wellie socks - Hunter//

I hope you had a great weekend.
XO, Miriam

So April has begun with the last coursework deadline for the IB, then it will be a month of revision... I just hope that it is sunny so I can make notes and read up on topics outside. However it is Easter this month so that means chocolate! Not much though I am trying to eat clean and workout at the moment to de-stress, as I find that get worked up a lot easier when I don't! Besides the nearly endless college work I have been loving the colour pink, which is a bit of a shock as I tend to stick to blue when it comes to colour, but don't these look so good:

If you have read this space on the internet before you will know that I wear these tights at every opportunity, you cannot tel from the picture but that have the silhouettes of Paris' most famous monuments. and go really nicely with short skirts and shorts, of which I own plenty. (Only because I was gifted long legs)

So instead of blogging and going on fancy day trips like a lot of blogger do on their weekends I have been working as a lifeguard and swimming teacher, not new to me of course, but I am working extra at the moment to make up for the fact I won't be around in June. And naturally I have been revising my french by reading this funny little book, which I might do a review of in English and French.. maybe. I have only made it through one chapter in a week as I have to look up words but regardless of whether the book is good I really enjoy reading in another language.

I nearly knocked over the tripod several times while shooting this outfit. I have done a similar thing before with different dress also from Hollister, layering it over an old school shirt to almost create a new dress, I have also layered skirts and jumpers with dresses here and here. And having worn school uniform for so long I just couldn't resist being super preppy by wearing my brogues which I believe to be from Clarks.

XO, Miriam

I try to avoid the "Florals... for spring? Groundbreaking" at this time of year, one because I love large print floral items of which I own none, and I prefer more free flowing patterns or colour blocking. Or in this outfits case just all grey. Nevertheless I adore the simplicity of the outfit, with just enough skin on show to remind me that the sun is shining.

I admire the work my parents put into our vegetable patch(es) they look so green and vibrant even at this early stage, and the produce that we get to enjoy is amazing. Especailly the blackcurrants we had 5 bucket full last year, we got very inventive and ate far too much of my mums blackcurrant ice cream... is there such a thing as too much ice cream?

This ring is pretty new to my collection, I discovered it last week in Topshop while I was browsing and I couldn't resist, it reminded me of the Princess and the Frog fairytale that I read endlessly as a child. The label said "midi-ring" but I find that it looks better on my little finger, plus I would be afraid to lose rings if I wore them above the knuckle.

My dog want to join in, I am just glad he didn't knock over the tripod!

The endless question as to whether dandelions are a weeds or a flowers, I love picking them when they have gone white and blowing the fluff in to the wind on long summer afternoons, after I have made daisy chain crowns for my sister and I.

If anything I like this photo just because it has made me realise how far I have come since the start of the year fitness wise, this morning I could the start of a 6 pack when I tensed. No matter how many necklaces I own this one will always be worn over everything else, the chain is held on with a bracelet charm and some knots, but it fits nicely. I wore it with this ensemble to add a touch of colour but not too much.

XO, Miriam