another hello and a re-introduction

Firstly, I need to apologise for the unexpected hiatus. Earlier this year, I was re-deployed to help with the stresses put on the NHS but the pandemic and since then, I've been trying to recover my mental health. It really has taken its toll on me personally. This isn't me asking for sympathy or trying to make a big deal of what happened; it is purely how it has affected me personally and why I have not been blogging. 

I'm slowly recovering though and I am keen to get this ball rolling again. My love for stationery is still ever present and was rejuvenated earlier on this year when I met a few colleagues who seemed to love it as much as I do! 

Anyway, with this new start, it felt like a good time to do a re-introduction?

So, hello - I'm Angela and here is my re-introduction.

P.S. Please do not judge my junk food choices - I know they are terrible! 

a break

Hello! Over the last six months' or so, I've been evaluating if regular blogging is feasible anymore. A lot has happened in my personal life and I think the time has come for me to stop blogging weekly but just blog as and when there is something to talk about. I no longer buy shedloads of ink and am actually thinking of selling the majority of my fountain pen collection.

Furthermore, this blog was started when I was studying and until I really decide on which specialty to go into, I don't see any regular studying for the foreseeable future.

This isn't the end of Paper Lovestory - I do love blogging but I feel I've lost my way a bit. There are a few more scheduled posts coming up in the next few weeks but after that, the posts may become few and far between; or until I get my mojo back :-)

If you're a regular reader, thank you for coming on this journey with me. I have grown a lot in the almost eight years since I started this blog. If you're a new reader, hopefully my motivation for blogging will return soon!

hello! a re-introduction

A new year and after a brief unexpected hiatus, the intention is to start blogging again regularly. I do feel like I lost my way with blogging over the last year so I've taken that time out to re-focus on what this blog is really about. Paper Lovestory started out as a blog about stationery and then a blog about being a university student whilst at medical school but then things went a bit downhill. Now, we're returning to the roots and we're back to stationery, pens and all things relating to paper, though there may be sprinklings of other lifestyle posts too.

Anyway, to re-introduce myself with this new start!

Hello! I am Angela, a twenty-something girl who lives in London but grew up in the country. Two degrees later, I now work as a junior doctor within the National Health Service (NHS).

Fountain pens and ink are a huge love of mine - I definitely own too many pens and bottles of ink (then again, is there such a thing...?). Another love are notebooks and all things relating to paper. It may be because of my Hong Kong heritage that has fuelled this as stationery shops over there are very different to shops here in the UK. They are usually small, family-run stores, crammed to the rafters with stationery with aisles narrower than a plank of wood.

This is essentially what this blog is about. A twenty-something girl working as a doctor who has a huge amount of love for stationery. If this sounds like something you can get onboard with then I welcome you on this journey with me :)

hello!

Apologies for an unexpected hiatus! Things have been busy - I recently moved into my own place so have been sorting all of the admin out from that end.

This is a post to just say that the plan is to resume blogging with full force in the new year :) I think I lost my way a bit with blogging so hopefully a new year will rejuvenate the blogging part of my brain.

Have a very merry Christmas and a lovely new year!

a re-introduction: hello, I'm Angela!

Paper Lovestory has been running for over six years now (seven this July!) - something I still find incredible and am especially proud of. It's not been easy, juggling everything, but blogging is still something I find fun to do. It's been a while since I've done one of these posts so I thought I'd reintroduce myself today via an A-Z (with a few omissions!). Does anyone remember those A-Z maps that used to be around? Most of us now use our smartphones to get us around but I still remember my mum digging out her A-Z from her handbag whenever we got lost on a day trip to London.

Anyway, here goes!

Angela - That's my name! I'm just a girl in my mid-twenties who loves make-up, fashion, stationery and staying organised :)

Blue blood - My sister and I were born and raised in the Highlands of Scotland and if anyone ever asks, I have always felt more Scottish than anything. This was reinforced by a trip to Edinburgh back in November of 2016 when my sister and I both felt extremely comforted by the sound of copious Scottish accents. More embarrassingly, the only national anthem I know all the words to is Flower of Scotland.

Cosmetics - Make-up is something I absolutely love playing with whenever I can. I never used to understand it but over the last two years or so, I love how it can enhance and also bring out my best features. Let's not forget how much confidence a well-made-up face can add too.

Dresses (and skirts) - I'm a huge fan of dresses and skirts and I'm usually in one or the other on a daily basis. Dresses or skirts that have pockets? Sold.

Exercise - Sport is a big part of my life; from watching it to playing it, I try and be as active as I can. Often, this means working out at home due to my ridiculous lifestyle at the moment but when I can, I fit in some social squash with friends.

Friends and Family - Both are so important to me and I regard my closest friends as an extension of my family. It's such a clichéd statement but I honestly wouldn't be who and where I am without them.

Geek - Knowledge is something I've always liked to have - general, useless, medical; you name it, I want to know it. Quiz shows are my guilty pleasure and I just love it when I get a question right (especially on University Challenge)!

Happiness - I'm constantly on the pursuit for happiness. The realisation that sometimes, taking a light-hearted approach to things can make all the difference has made me much happier and less stressed. As I've got older, I've become more laid back and I'm no longer someone who obsessively plans every last detail down to the T.

Instax - Taking photos and having them come out immediately is just so much fun! Sometimes, it's nice to have a physical momento of a memory rather than have to look at one on a phone screen.

Korean Beauty - This post is an example of my obsession!

Languages - Since I returned from my trip to Stockholm in August of 2016, I've been learning Swedish like a Scandi-obsessed fiend on Duolingo. Languages are something I love learning and with the motivation of the desire to work in Sweden for a year, I'm hoping this is one I'll achieve fluency in.

Medicine - This is a huge part of my life so obviously had to be included. This academic year, I've tried to learn not to let it be such a big part of my life and actually, it's meant I've been a lot happier as a result.

Non-alcoholic - Though I do like the odd cocktail, I try and stay teetotal most of the time. It's not actually that hard for me as once I've said I'll do something, it's usually adhered to (call me stubborn!).

Organised - Think it's fair to say I'm a pretty organised person. The amount of times I've heard 'you're the most organised person I know' - well, let's just say if I had a pound for each time that was said, I'd be a millionaire now. (Insert monkey-covering-their-eyes emoji here.)

Piercings - Ear cartilage piercings are something I adore and would like more of in the future, though I'm quite happy with my two at the moment. The two I got both mean something to me so we'll see if I have any other life-changing events in the future that might need celebrating in this manner...

Quiet - Though a recent Myers-Brigg test put me at 55% extroverted (when three years ago, I was apparently introverted), I do get told that I can be quiet when on placement. Though I'm also told this isn't a bad thing, it's something I'm working on - to get the right level of being vocal without being overbearing.

Reading - Books are something that play a big part in my life. I set aside a reading time of at least half an hour each day and I often have two or three books on the go.



Scarves - Scarves are a major weakness of mine - I have way too many but I do love how they can finish can outfit perfectly. My favourite one is a cashmere blanket scarf I bought in Edinburgh last year - it reminds me of that weekend trip (where my sister and I had the most fun) and is super soft and cosy.

Television - My Netflix is dominated by TV shows with films rarely making an appearance. How I Met Your Mother, Gilmore Girls and Grey's Anatomy are my favourites (Grey's isn't on Netflix here in the UK but it is still a show that I watch religiously).

Workaholic - One thing that makes me feel on edge is the feeling of not being productive. If I'm sitting around doing nothing, it can frustrate me so I always try and make sure I'm doing something which has an end goal I can visualise. I'm working hard to change this about me though as it often means that watching TV in silence is quite hard for me!

So you'll notice J, U, V, X, Y and Z are all missing - that's because I failed to find anything that worked for those letters :) It was pretty fun writing this post and I hope you enjoyed reading it too :)

blog sixth birthday (where does the time go?)

Can you believe it? Six years...? I always thought that, on the whole, I was fickle and had a short attention span but now I can maybe say that this isn't true. Right?

Anyway, this is a short post to say thank you to everyone who's ever visited or read my ramblings - I've met some lovely people on this blogging journey and I hope to meet many more in the near future. I get my pass/fail exam results today so with them pending, I may potentially only one year of being a proper student left. However, a career in medicine involves continuous learning so I'm sure I'll find things to blog about for the foreseeable future :)

throwback thursday: to a time when my handwriting wasn't cursive

Two and a half years ago, I started medical school and back then, my naivety believed that I'd have time to keep all my notes super neat. If you look at my Instagram now, all my notes are written in cursive and with joined up handwriting but back then, everything was printed. Today, this is a 'Throwback Thursday' back to that time.

Back in first year, I even had time to use washi tape for headings - a rare feature now. This notebook was the very first one I filled at medical school and though the handwriting isn't my neatest, it is an example of how I initially envisaged all my notebooks would look like.

Some things that haven't changed are the fact that I wrote purely in note form with clearly demarcated headings.

How times change, eh? A bit of a different Throwback Thursday but I thought it would be nice to reflect on how my notes looked when I was a bit less realistic and a bit more of a dreamer. 

the results of my daily listing challenge #paperlovestory30days

At the end of October, I shared a daily listing challenge that I would be doing (it took me so long to come up with a variety of thirty prompts. Thank you to those of you who took part - it was so nice seeing all your lists!) and I thought I'd put all of the daily lists/journal entries into one blog post.

Journaling/listing for thirty days in a row is a pretty good achievement and felt like a nice way to round off 2015 before the mayhem of Christmas took over. I've loved seeing all your entries on Instagram :) I usually do one of these a few times a year but this is the first time I've shared the prompts I've used. 

Do you do these kind of challenges on a regular basis? :)

new to the blog? hello and welcome (& a few highlights)

Hello and welcome if you're a new (or relatively new) reader of Paper Lovestory :) I've been blogging on here for over five years now and to read five years' of blog posts is a little scary. Therefore, I thought I'd do a mini re-introduction of myself and feature a few blog posts that help explain what this blog is about.

A Little Bit About The Author
So, hello there! I'm Angela and I'm a 25 year old medical student. I took the long route to medschool by doing a degree in Biochemistry first. Exams permitting, I'm now just under two years to becoming a doctor and I've been showing this journey from second year of Biochemistry, up until now. My aim is to continue doing so :)

I've chosen a few blog post highlights that are my particular favourites from the different things I blog about.

* A favourite topic of mine is stationery. I once suggested twenty-two ideas for notebook usage and lately, I've really gotten to appreciate and love fountain pens.

* As a university student, I also like sharing study-related posts and images. One of my favourite university-related posts is this one, where I talk about categorising and condensing huge topics. For other posts from the same category, click here for the university tag, and here for the studyblr tag. The difference between the two tags is that the studyblr one is usually more pictorial.

* Since April 2012, I've featured my weekly planner pages every Sunday. A particular favourite of mine is this one from week #157.

* One other thing I like doing is try and be creative in as many ways as possible - though I'm not the most creative person in the world, I don't see this as a barrier. One of these ways I try and be creative is in my diary or in my study notes. These next two posts are going back in time a bit now so the photo quality isn't as good:

1. keeping creative diary pages
2. more ways to be creative in your planner

* Finally, I'm a complete and utter bookworm (I'm someone who prefers to curl up in bed, in my PJs, with a good book rather than spend it frittering away money in a sweaty club where strangers don't understand the concept of personal space and grind against others... However, I'm partial to a nice pub with a lovely beer garden!). On here, you'll find regular book reviews - at the moment, they are every two months or so but they may be upgraded to monthly if time allows/I read enough to warrant more regular posts!

Two favourite books of mine that I read this year are: My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga and Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.

So, this is what Paper Lovestory is about in a nutshell. Are there any topics you'd like me to cover in the future? :) Feel free to tweet me @paperlovestory too - I'm not overly active on Twitter but I do try! One of my aims this year was to make a Youtube video but I'm just too camera shy to have the courage to do that so maybe next year (when I grow a pair)?

five blog tips for the busy

Whenever I mention to people that I blog alongside medical school, sport and part-time work, they always seem impressed that I manage to find the time to do so. It's flattering but with a bit of time management, it's quite simple to keep up a blog. And I thought I'd share five things that I do to try and ensure that new content comes out once a week. :)

1) The schedule feature will be your new best friend.

Honestly, this is the only way I manage during busier times e.g. exam time, busy placements. Sometimes, you'll feel inspired and will want to blog for two or three hours solid: make use of these times and schedule in posts for the next few weeks' or so.

2) Have a list of features that occur on a regular basis.

In the image below, you'll see some regular features that I do from time to time on here. 'My Week' happens every Sunday but some other features don't happen on such a regular basis: e.g. 'what's in my bag'. These posts are reserved for once every six months or less and they are useful for when you're going through 'blogger's block'.

3) Write posts around photos you've taken. 

Occasionally, I've taken photos of things without having a blog post in mind. I then go back to these photos and write a post around them. Another option is to trawl through your Instagram posts and do a round-up post of your life from the past month/few months, etc.

4) Make use of national holidays/landmark days within the year.

Christmas and New Year lend themselves really well to blog posts. New Year's is obviously a great time to talk about resolutions. If you're going away on holiday, take pictures and talk about that.

5) Blog regularly and have a rough editorial calendar.

I don't have a proper editorial calendar but I do a rough one where I try and organise blog posts for the next year (yes, really). This way, I have a plan to fall back on if I ever get stuck on things to blog about. I write down the dates I want to get a post out and then below it all, some other blog post ideas (as you can see below).

Obviously, these are some rough tips and they may not work for you. :) Do you have any tips to keep up with blogging? :)

a fine line between personal life and blog life

Paper Lovestory has been going for over five years now and it is the longest I've ever blogged for. When I first started, I wasn't too worried about revealing personal information because I didn't think many people would be that interested in what I had to say! But as time as passed, I've had to be more careful with how much and what aspects of my personal life is talked about. You may have already noticed that fair bit in my weekly planner pages is blurred out but I am also wary of talking about the more private parts of my life in too much detail.

However, running a lifestyle blog without revealing some of the more personal bits of information isn't technically a lifestyle blog anymore. So where do we draw the line?

At the moment, I'm unsure. I feel that I reveal enough to be comfortable with the majority of the content I post but at the same time, I'm sure I could also reveal a bit more without compromising the 'boundaries' of my personal life.

Do you blog? If so, where do you stand on this? If you don't, what's your opinion of it as a reader? :)

fifth blog giveaway winners & a discount code!

Hello! So, just over two weeks' ago, we hosted a giveaway in conjunction with lovely online store that is The Fox and Star and today, I'm pleased to announce the winners with the aid of the Rafflecopter engine below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway As stated in the T&Cs, the winners have seven days to let me know of their delivery address otherwise a new winner will be drawn (I've already email you both!).

Thank you to everyone who entered and commiserations if you didn't win. However, I do have a little treat from Ari at The Fox and Star. She has kindly offered all Paper Lovestory readers a little discount code.

To get 10% off your order, just enter 'PAPERLOVE10' when checking out. Thank you to Ari for her generosity with the giveaway and discount code :) The code will remain active until Friday the 14th of August, so ready... Get set... Go! With your orders.

happy 5th birthday, blog (and a little giveaway)!

Five years ago today, this blog was born and I was a mere, nineteen year old who had just finished my first year of a university degree. Fast forward to now and this blog is still here and running (though there were some patches of inactivity during my first degree).

I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's joined me on this journey: you readers (who I still can't believe actually choose to read my weekly ramblings), sponsors and companies/brands I've worked with and my friends and family for supporting me. Writing a blog is pretty nerdy but I've enjoyed every moment and I can't imagine giving this up. Though I may have to post less frequently in the next two years, I don't intend to give this up anytime soon.

Anyway, to celebrate five years, I've got a two sets of prizes to giveaway as sponsored by The Fox and Star.

1) A Weekly Times planner and a Livework clouds pen
2) A Monthly Times planner and a Livework clouds pen

To enter, all you have to do is follow the instructions below using Rafflecopter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
Good luck!

Terms and Conditions

This giveaway is hosted in conjunction with The Fox and Star and Angela (here at Paper Lovestory). 

The giveaway is open from the 27th of July 2015 at 00:00 hours until the 10th of August 2015 00:00 hours. 

You may tweet once a day for an additional entry, provided it is done through the Rafflecopter engine. Entrants must be aged 16 or over to take part. 

Entrants under 16 must have their parents permission to enter.

If you win, you are agreeing to send me your postal address so that your prize can be posted to you. 

You have seven days from the announcement of the winners to send me your address, otherwise a new winner will be drawn. 

There will be two winners - one for each prize. 

Only entries through the Rafflecopter engine will be valid. 

Delivery of the prize is the handled by The Fox and Star, not by myself (Angela at Paper Lovestory).

This giveaway is open worldwide. 

how I prevent blogger's block

Last year, I managed to post pretty consistently - one or two blog posts a week with 'my week' every Sunday, I thought I did pretty well. However, I did go through phases of blogger's block but I also had bouts where I wanted to do nothing but blog; with ideas swimming about in my head to an extent that I had to sit down and write them all down before they all evaporated into thin air!

Because of all these ideas, I often have ideas that mean I have blog posts planned for the next three or four months and so, I don't feel as pressured to have to keep forcefully churning out posts. This, in turn, ensures that I enjoy running this blog :) If I feel like blogging about something spontaneously, I can rearrange these scheduled posts so that my current one can go live sooner.

So, this is how I do it. Firstly, I write down ideas at the back of my planner. I have a few ideas that are generic - i.e. 'top five' which made me write the 'five underrated pens' blog post and Pen Addict came up with an amazing variant of this (I take no credit for it, by the way!). There are also other blog post ideas which are not so generic but I think would fit in well with my blog - hence why they are blurred out. It is hard to come up with original post ideas but just by looking around you and your environment, anything is possible. If you work in an office environment for example, you could talk about jazzing up your desk at work or even your commute in and how you make it productive. Genuinely, ideas are everywhere, you just have to open your eyes to it. However, remember to bear in mind that not all ideas will make it onto your blog as maybe they don't make the cut, take way too much effort than they are worth or are just rubbish - and that's okay!

These ideas are then transferred to my weekly planning pages and are marked clearly by the prefix 'blog:'. I don't always get them written in a timely manner but again, going back to what I said earlier in that I have ideas scheduled for three to four months in advance (yes, I really am that anal about the organisation of this blog), it doesn't matter too much.

And finally, if I'm on a break (in the below picture, it was my Christmas and New Year holiday break), I can schedule in one or two days which are solely dedicated to this blog. This can mean writing posts, taking pictures or even sorting out some of the behind the scenes stuff!

I really do enjoy blogging and although it looks like I take it to an extreme here, it is necessary for me to fit it in with my lifestyle. My life is a student can get pretty hectic at times and not having to worry about my blog from time to time is a really nice feeling because this blog really is my baby! Plus, I just really like sharing some parts of my life that, I hope, you find interesting :)

Finally, one other thing I've stopped caring about are numbers. If you write with the sole purpose of getting one million followers, then I think it's quite probable that you'll lose interest in blogging quite quickly. Although this blog is still very little, it's always nice to read comments from readers and connecting with them - I do try and reply to as many as I can but sometimes, medschool takes over and I can't reply as often as I'd like and I do apologise for this! Through this blog, I've connected with such lovely people through Twitter and Instagram and that's the reason why I carry on blogging.

ten of my guiltiest pleasures

We all have things we love doing when no-one else is around and there are always things we do that others may judge us for but that doesn't mean we don't enjoy them. I thought I'd share the things that qualify as my guilty pleasures :)

1) Binge watching rom-coms on Netflix.

There are so many silly chick-flicks on Netflix that it would be rude not to. And watching something that doesn't require my full attention means I can have it on in the background whilst doing some light study. It's got to the stage now where I get recommended silly films on my Netflix account!

2) People watching...

What can I say? People are fascinating and sometimes when out and about, with nothing to do, I find myself watching people as they walk past or when I'm on the bus and someone gets on. It also enables me to think about myself and how others would see me if the role was reversed - and I think it helps me be a better person as I do often walk around with a frown on my face if my commute or day has been particularly stressful.

3) Kinder Bueno

For some reason, I attribute the Kinder brand with children - most likely because of their Kinder eggs? However, as I've embarked on a gluten-free diet (for health reasons, as recommended by a doctor - not for faddy reasons), I've not had a Kinder Bueno since December so maybe it'll stay a childhood brand for me :(

4) Rollercoaster Tycoon 2

I fancy myself as a bit of a businesswomen in my spare time and Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 proves this. Or so I'd like to think. It was one of those games I played when I was about twelve and managed to master and now that I'm a bit older, I'm finding that I'm still enjoying the game just as much!

5) Nutella. Straight from the jar...

This is probably something I shouldn't have confessed to... But come on, I can't be the only one?! Even my mum doesn't know I do this (and I live at home with my parents! But luckily, I'm the only one who eats Nutella in this house).

6) Wearing sunglasses everywhere in the summer.

Not only do they provide eye protection, they also make me feel a bit glamorous and mysterious (because, I am anything but either of those adjectives).

7) Looking at pictures of cute Pomeranians.

On Instagram and Google Images, I like searching for cute pictures of Pomeranians. They are just so minute and perfect that I would love to have one. Unfortunately, I don't have the time to walk one, nor the time to look after one (or the cash to afford vet bills necessary for a pet!). Last year, I went through a phase where I would spam my friends on WhatsApp with pictures of them

8) Dancing and lip syncing to songs in my PJs. And also singing (badly) with friends!

One of my friends and I went through a phase of singing 'Do You Wanna Build A Snowman' from the Frozen soundtrack back when the film was released. One of us would sing one line (out of the blue) and then the other one would sing the next and so on. We once did this down a corridor at uni where we thought we were alone but then another one of our friends appeared from around the corner and just goes, 'what the f***, guys?', which made us all laugh!

For me, singing is a whole lot of fun but I think if you had to listen to me sing, you'd think otherwise. I'm pretty much tone deaf but that doesn't stop me - life is too short to feel self-conscious about something so silly :)

9) Spending a whole day in PJs.

I rarely get the chance to spend a whole day in pyjamas anymore and it's something I definitely miss doing once in a while. Bra off + PJs or camisole and leggings on = bliss!

10) Wearing a bit too much mascara, 'by accident'.

Mascara is the only bit of make-up I wear on a regular basis and usually, it's quite subtle. However, once in a while, I get a bit too heavy-handed and apply a bit too much accidentally on purpose because why not?


Although I don't usually write posts like these, I really enjoyed writing this one. Do you have any guilty pleasures that you're not too embarrassed to share? :)