What Sophie Said

It seems an appropriate day to share a story about my dad. Soon, I'll fill you in a bit on why there's been two weeks of silence... but right now it's a space for a story about my dad. Or rather, a story about my dad and me. Of both of us, of a period of 15 months where we were both father and daughter, and boss and employee. When I first graduated, I worked for my dad for just under a year and a half, and in that period we learned a lot about each other and about ourselves. Not only were there new boundaries to navigate, and the need to establish that line between work time and family time, but I was in a period where I was struggling. Towards the end of university was when my anxiety first decided to properly rear its head, and the Sophie that was working with dad then was not the Sophie of now or the Sophie of six months before. I was cautious. I was apologetic, I had forgotten what my talents were, where my strengths lay and how strong I could be. We wer...

Before moving to London I had my own flat. A whole flat of my own things, and a space that was fully my own. Now I’m in London, rent costs mean I’m in a shared house, and there’s a lot of adjusting that’s had to be done! The main differences / difficulties I’ve found are in another post , but I wanted to show some of the ways I’ve tried to make my new space homely, and personal to me. When you’ve got limited space, it can be difficult to avoid feeling crowded and cluttered. I’m lucky in that my room is spacious, but it’s still only one room. I tried to make sure I brought enough things with me to give my room those personal touches, without displaying everything I’d had in my flat and ending up drowning in ‘stuff’ there was no room for. I had a pretty ruthless clearout before moving, so was quite restrained with the amount of decorative ‘bits and bobs’ I brought with me. One reason was car and room space, and the other was that I didn’t know how much storage space I wo...

A relaxing Sunday post felt necessary today, after another busy old week. The first full week back to work is always a tough one, and I was ready for a slow weekend! My dad’s birthday, back in October, offered a perfect excuse to head home for the weekend, and one of the things we did was a woodland walk from Hare Hill to Alderley Edge and back, pausing for cake in the middle of course. I wanted to share some of these pictures because it was the most beautiful day: sunny yet chilly. Where are your favourite outdoor spaces?

Before moving to London, my only experience of living with strangers was in my first year of university, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience. Before my move to London in August this year, I had been living alone. I loved living alone. The freedom. The space that was totally my own. The chance to be ‘selfish’ – as in, to do what I wanted, at whatever time I wanted. Not having to run plans past anyone. Not having to share any rooms or cooking equipment. Not having to think twice about having friends over. Being able to wander round the house or cook or shower at all times, on those nights I can’t sleep. Can you tell I miss it? I absolutely loved living on my own. However, that’s just not an option now I’m in London. And don’t get me wrong, my living situation could be much worse than it is. My room is big, my rent is reasonable (BY LONDON STANDARDS), and the other people in the house are friendly. I’m also the only one who uses the...

Just a quick post tonight as I'm trying to sort through a lot of things all at the same time, and get some work done for my marketing course. So. Here's what's on my mind. My baby sister is moving to MADRID. Well she's not a baby, she's 18, but that's not really the point... I'm unbelievably hugely excited for her, and she will have the most incredible time... But yesterday dad booked her one-way flight to Madrid for September and I suddenly felt a little bit funny in my tummy. That's a whole other country. You have to go on a plane to get there. Isn't that weird? She's always been in my house, or down the road, or a short train away when I was at university. It's going to take some adjusting, and dad has begun to call her 'Kittypleasedontgo'. She's flying out on Sunday for a month, then coming home for a month, and then it's the big move! She's an adventurer and an explorer and I know she'l...

Just a quick post to tell you that today I am EXCITED. That is because one of my favourite pals is coming home! You may remember our trip out for her birthday? Well she's just done 10 weeks of volunteering in Honduras and is now back/in the air on the way back... She's off to walk Hadrian's Wall next, but we then have lots of summer plans to get on with!  Which got me thinking yesterday... isn't it interesting how different some friends can be? Laura has done 10 weeks in Honduras and is going to do 6 months in Peru. Emily graduated and buzzed off to live in France. Jagoda is Polish, and always whizzing back and forth between York and Poland. Anthea has lived in South Africa, Singapore, Germany, and now the UK. Jen boogied on down to live in Cambridge. I'm fully aware this isn't a different country, but it feels like MILES away when she used to live a couple of minutes away! And then there's the homebirds. Alice...