21 Totally Awesome Things About Having Guy Best Friends

AS ILLUSTRATED WITH NEW GIRL MEMES

1. You can ditch the bitchy conversations 

This leaves room for more pressing subject matters, such as the likelihood of dolphins obtaining superior intelligence and taking over the world. (It's called the Dolpocalypse people- it's real and it's coming for us all.) 

2. They're better than girls at being your personal carer when you've had too many jagerbombs and are starting to embarrass yourself

Will stay with you for hours if necessary to prevent chunks of vomit getting stuck in your hair.

3. They are even willing to make you a bacon and egg sandwich the morning after. 

 There for you when you physically can't move off of the sofa and need greasy food, stat.

4. You can pretend they're your boyfriend when the creepy guy is trying to hit on you in the club 

Sexual predators of the club scene beware.

5. They're super easy to be around 

 Maximum laughter with minimal effort.

6. You Can Go Full on Primal Around Food

Being ladylike is no longer a thing with tomato ketchup all over your face.

7. Shopping is Easy 

If they like it and it's cheap, they'll get it. Boom. Let's eat.

9. Honesty Really is the Best Policy 

If they say you look nice, they mean it. If they say you're being a bitch, they mean it. And you probably are.

10. Together, you could be potential criminal masterminds

Like Bonnie and Clyde but way cooler.

11. They Make Good Wingmen 

Surprisingly have good taste in other men.

12. You finally have someone to share your love of Marvel, Star Wars and Adventure Time with 

 Woo Nerd-Fest!

13. You Learn the Art of Being Lazy 

They convince you that watching Netflix and eating Doritos can be a productive way to spend your day.

14. They are literally the only person you could live with without wanting to kill them in their sleep. 

They don't leave their shit everywhere and make your tea how you like it. A flatmate match made in heaven.

15. Arguments are rare and hilarious 

Ends with you just pulling faces, yelling "shut upppp," to one another and realising how stupid you both sound. Hysterical.

16. Equal Rights 

It's a "I'll down that shot of questionable alcohol if you will" kind of situation. If you do it together, then it doesn't seem like such a bad idea at the time.

17. Guys say the Funniest Things 

Like messaging you with the urgent matter that they've accidentally shaved their sideburns off. But that's another story for another day,

18.  You Do Things in sync and it's weird and possibly supernatural 

It's crazy how we finish each other's sandwiches.

19. The Need for a new Boyfriend becomes unnecessary 

You may be single and alone but at least your guy friend can't break up with you. Win.

20. They Can be Super Supportive

Sometimes they give such good advice that you have to go away for a while and process that nugget of genius. 

21. You're kind of stuck with them 

Whether you've been friends for two months or two years, you can expect to be stuck with each other for a while. In the best way.

Be sure to check back soon for more 'How To' guides, reviews and my genius ramblings.

As always, thanks for reading!

Georgia

x

Confessions of a Social Media Addict

I downloaded Pinterest the other day. It was possibly the worst and best mistake of my life. I stayed up for two hours one night ‘pinning’ pictures of cats doing funny things, floral skirts and moody boys from angsty teenage bands. Why? It’s not because I don’t have a million and one other things to do, it’s because I literally can’t tear myself away from social media.

Snapchat took away it’s ‘Best Friend’ feature this week, a visible list of people you and other fellow snappers Snapchat most frequently. I was distraught, obviously, like many other Snapchat users, how else where you going to keep tabs other people’s relationships now?

It truly is a sad day when you come to the realisation that you count Twitter bird logos in your sleep and keep your phone next to your bed, just in case one of your friends sends you a snapchat of the Netflix programme they’re watching- you know, ground-breaking stuff.

To tell you the truth, no, I don’t care that you died your hair pink, and no, I don’t care that that it’s snowing where you are at the moment- that white stuff that falls from the sky, yeah, I’ve seen it before. I just like to be in the know- as in, I don’t care if you have that “cheeky Nando’s,” but if you do, I’d like to know about it please.

The same with Facebook- so called ‘friends’ that I probably wouldn’t know if I fell over them, I still can’t bring myself to delete from my virtual life. No, I couldn’t give two hoots about that mean girl I used to go to school with having her hundredth child, or has since gained a lot of weight- it just makes me feel better about myself.

I narrate my whole life over Twitter, which is totally unnecessary thinking about it. No one cares that my food shop is arriving tomorrow and no one cares that my lunch consisted of a donut and coffee that one time (although it did get ‘favorited’ by four people, just saying.)

I find myself trying to concentrate on a lecture that in an ideal, social media free world, I would find very interesting. But where there is a pen in one hand, there is also a phone in the other- with WhatsApp open, sending useless dolphin emojis and hysterical made up words to my flatmates.

Pinterest is just the final nail in the coffin really. Although my ‘boards’ are quite creatively named if I do say so myself (‘Cats: Masters of the Universe’ being my personal favourite) – there are only so many cat pictures one can take, if you can believe that to be possible.  

Now I’ve got that off my chest, I can also say it’s not only me. I’m not the only crazy internet lady around here. The people with their laptops open in lectures are either on Facebook, internet shopping or playing a really intense game of Tetris. And when there is that awkward pregnant pause in a conversation, people turn to their trusty smartphones for comfort- pretending to do something urgently important but are really scrolling through Kendall Jenner’s Instagram feed.

The, what I like to call ‘Professionals of Society’ seem to think we are in fact, obsessed with social media. But, hey, I could’ve told you that- so what is the psychology behind it all? Social psychologist Larry Rosen, writing for Psychology Today, states “We have not sunk to the level of psychiatric disorder like Obsessive Compulsive Disorder but we are not far away. Just watch people in the world around you. If you are watching a young person who is not looking at his or her phone keep watching. Soon that phone will come out of the pocket or purse, most likely without having gotten an alert or notification but being driven by a combination of pleasure and anxiety.”

If this is true, we have turned into the generation of insistence- we need constant stimulation from our digital friends and crave instant gratification in order to make us feel better about ourselves. And we love it. Don’t pretend that when you get over 11 likes on a ‘selfie’ you posted on Instagram, your next thought isn’t “someone hand me that damn modelling contract!”

Nothing we do matters any more unless someone else knows about it. Who cares that you had an amazing, once in a life time experience at Glastonbury if you don’t chronicle it in your Snapchat story? Who cares that you’re expecting unless you post weekly updates about the progress of your pregnancy?

So, yes my name’s Georgia and I’m a social media addict. It’s not something I’m proud of, there’s a chance it could be driven by crippling anxiety, but that’s not going to stop me telling you what I ate for dinner tonight via Twitter (…it was spaghetti Bolognese- come on, how could you not be interested?)   

Talking of which, fancy following me on Twitter and Instagram? Click on the links to right. 

More 'How To' guides, reviews and other miscellaneous material coming soon! 

As always, thank you so much for reading!  

How To #19: How Not to Diet

January should be a time of recovery and restoration from the madness (or lack thereof) of the festive period. Instead, some moron decided January was a time where we embark on some insane health and fitness craze, where we end up hating ourselves for the entirety of the month because we ate that one mini cheesecake left over from the Christmas party (just me? Awkward.)

Like many others, I jumped (or rather, clambered lazily) onto the diet bandwagon. Because, well you kind of have to because society sucks. Now, I’m no scientist, but I’ve learnt a thing or two about how not to diet since going along with this "healthy eating" madness at the start of January, which I’m going to share with you lucky people. Note that my tips are based on no scientific or factual research whatsoever, I’m just bored.

DON’T: Adopt a “waste not, want not” mantra when it comes to food. I hate wasting food- to me it’s the equivalent of a gym membership or leaving a £10 note in the back of a cab- A TOTAL WASTE OF MONEY. I’ve been brought up on the notion that wasting food meant you were contributing to world hunger, because DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY STARVING AFRICAN CHILDREN WOULD KILL TO EAT THE FOOD YOU’VE JUST CHUCKED IN THE BIN? Thus, as heart breaking as it is, you need to let go of those Christmas tree shaped shortbreads.

 *p.s. I don’t know why I’m capitalising everything- food just makes me emotional.

DON’T: Go on a crash diet. I’ve tried. Life may be going swimmingly for a few days living off of coffee and cornflakes, but as soon as someone offers you a chocolate digestive, you cave in because it would be just plain rude to refuse food. The aftermath of this involves crying and eating another biscuit to ease the pain.

DON’T: Spend hours looking at pictures of Jourdan Dunn on Instagram. Although she is only one example of a near perfect human being, looking at anyone’s unachievable figure for too long is dangerous. You just end up hating Jourdan Dunn for being so goddamn perfect and yourself for being… well, not.

DON’T: Join the gym. Because everyone joins the gym in January and ends up dropping out by February. Therefore, this trend can only imply that joining the gym in February means that you’re much more likely to stick at it and pass for Nicole Scherzinger’s twin by March. Common sense really.

DON’T: Have a breakdown one Wednesday evening and randomly turn up to a Weight Watchers meeting. You’ll only end up embarrassing yourself by saying “my name is Georgia and I have a problem with biscuits and £1.50 jägerbombs…wait, this isn’t AA? Oops.” *hangs head in shame*

DON'T: Watch "Weighing Up the Enemy," a dieting programme where contestants part with their hard earned cash with the promise of winning it back providing that they lose more weight than their competitor. Apparently based on totally legit research by Yale University adapted by Dr Christian Jessen to exploit people's January body blues and make us all feel disgusted with ourselves. Well played Channel 4, well played. 

DON’T: Organise an ordering of Indian and Nando’s with your flatmates via Twitter, even though you’re fat. And poor. Plus, what you agree to on Twitter is basically law binding so there is no escaping the Sunday night Indian. Ever.

DON’T: Work your way through an entire box of nearly stale Christmas biscuits whilst writing a blog post on dieting. Oops. 

Happy frickin' January. 

Love Georgia x 

Check back soon for more 'How To' guides, reviews, and meaningless rambles of the world according to Georgia. 

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram by clicking on the tabs to the right. 

Email me your how to questions at georgiasunshine429@gmail.com 

As always, thank you so much for reading! 

Why New Year's Resolutions Were Made to be Broken

If you’re sitting there hungover and bloated from your New Year’s celebrations, swearing to yourself that you’ll cut down on the booze this year, you may want to ask yourself a few questions first.

How likely are you to stick to your resolutions? How realistic are they? (You may want to scribble out that round the world trip now.) And perhaps most crucially, why do we even make these resolutions that were, let’s face it, made to be broken?

The origins of the New Year’s resolution actually goes back donkey’s years- the ancient Romans began each year by making promises to lead a better life to Janus, the god after whom January is named. Fast forward a few thousand years and the New Year resolution was turned into a Western tradition by, who else- our good old friends across the pond. America’s obsession with self-improvement meant that many resolutions centred on the individual and ways of “bettering” yourself. The US government even has a website offering tips on ways to keep the most popular New Year’s resolutions including losing weight; volunteering more; stopping smoking; eating better and saving money.

Despite this tradition, statistics show that making New Year’s resolutions have actually fallen out of favour. A CBS News poll in 2013 reported that 68%of Americans don’t make New Year’s resolutions, and that those under 30 are also more likely to make them. As for keeping them? We’re not too great at that either, with just one in 10 of us achieving our goal and most of us throwing in the towel as early as January 23^rd, according to Professor Richard Wiseman from the University of Hertfordshire.

I used to make New Year’s resolutions religiously; the ones cropping up the most being writing a book (never made it past the first chapter) and getting fit (forever a work in progress.) Now, I know I’m never going to be as talented as J K Rowling or as fighting fit as Gwyneth Paltrow, so why do we bother? Laurie L. Dove, a writer for howstuffworks.com, claims “they are a method of erasing the errors of the past year,” and that they are a “means of cataloguing our personal dissatisfactions.”

I suppose from a psychological perspective, as humans we are always looking to better ourselves. In this competitive age where everyone is in the pursuit of happiness, we are just looking to be the best person that we can be, even though we all know that that is easier said than done. In my experience, you often can’t make certain things in your life happen, often they just, well, happen.

Yes, New Year’s resolutions are a ridiculous tradition. Yes, you’re probably going to be too skint to go on that once in a lifetime holiday. And by now you’ve probably formed too close a relationship with Netflix and Cadbury to start a love affair with the gym and lettuce. But it’s the human sense of hope that makes New Year’s resolutions worth doing. New Year’s resolutions were made to be broken, but hey, this might be your lucky year…


Writing your New Year’s Resolutions? Before you do, here are the 25 of the most commonly broken New Year’s Resolutions of 2014 according to List 25:

25. Lose Weight
24. Exercise
23. Quit Smoking
22. Quit Drinking
21. Get a new job
20. Get out of debt
19. Save money
18. Eat Healthier
17. Get organized
16. Spend more time with family
15. Manage stress better
14. Enjoy life to the fullest
13. Stop procrastinating
12. Travel
11. Improve a relationship
10. Learn a new language
09. Get more sleep
08. Spend less time on Facebook
07. Spend less time watching TV
06. Clean out old belongings
05. Cycle more (instead of driving)
04. Run a half or full marathon
03. Try an extreme sport (most commonly bungee jumping)
02. Do something for charity
01. Having a baby

Coming soon: More 'How To' guides and Netflix reviews!

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As always, thank you so much for reading!

Love Georgia x 

Your Christmas Dilemmas Solved!

True it’s the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s also filled with more stress and drama than you can shake a candy cane at. As it’s also a time of good will and all that, I answer your Christmas dilemmas. Kind of like an agony aunt but drunk and disorderly.

 Do I really need that second mince pie?

The short answer is yes, yes you do. Everyone knows that food eaten over Christmas doesn’t actually count. It’s the only time of year where you don’t have to cower in shame as you work your way through the majority of the Quality Street box. I’m also pretty sure there’s an unofficial rule that states exercise and ‘healthy eating’ (whatever the hell that is) is banned during the holidays. If you don’t have a stomach cramps and can physically remove yourself from your seat after dinner, you’re doing Christmas wrong.

How do I keep from dying of embarrassment due to the antics of drunken relatives?

I personally think that drunken relatives are hilarious. They’re only embarrassing if people outside of your family know you’re related to them. Obviously, it depends on the extent of the embarrassment. Singing loudly to ‘Fairytale of New York’ is all well and good, but when Uncle Jim starts pelting mince pies at passers by, it’s time to lay off the Bailey’s.

How do I keep a straight face whilst opening really awful presents?

Showing gratitude for a present that you really, really didn’t want is an art which takes years to perfect. The best guide to adhere to is as follows: 1. Don’t stare at the gift for too long, it makes it seem like you’re inspecting it with the hope of finding something nice to say about it, which can be near enough impossible in the worst case scenarios. 2. Don’t make passive comments such as “oh, um…thanks Aunt Jean,” instead show how enthusiastic you are about being the proud new owner of that post it note holder, e.g. “Now I finally have somewhere to put my post it notes!” If this plan falls through and they suspect your dislike, just yell “ABORT, ABORT” and get out of there as quickly as possible.

The In-Laws

Not being married myself, I can’t help you much on this one. I think the general consensus is to keep your head down, awkwardly laugh at the Father- in laws sometimes racist jokes and pretend not to die inside every time the mother in law asks when you’re giving her grandchildren.

Board Games vs. TV

Both enticing prospects, but when you’re only options are Monopoly or the EastEnders Christmas special, you wondered why you bothered making an effort in the first place. Board games are more likely to end in a break out of World War III, but vegetating in front of the TV is mind numbing and kind of defeats the object of this so called “family time.” A happy medium is to watch TV whilst playing board games, then when you get bored of your Dad cheating at Scrabble, you can pretend to be a character in Downton Abbey for a little bit.

Boxing Day Sales- Yay or Nay?

In other words, would you rather spend your Boxing Day elbowing vicious shoppers in M&S or eating the entirety of a Cadbury’s Milk Tray in your onesie? Thought so. Moving on.

Do I risk doing the bulk of my shopping on Christmas Eve?

Approach this with extreme caution. If you’ve ever been out shopping on Christmas Eve, it’s like a parade of last minute Joes running around House of Fraser like headless chickens pleading with the sales assistants “What do you mean you've run out of Chanel no.5?!” More than likely, the most gift worthy item you’ll find on Christmas Eve is a sausage roll from Greggs.

How do I cope with post-Christmas blues?

The emotional process of post-Christmas blues is like mourning the death of your dead hamster, its life was fleeting- it scuttled around quickly and ate too much, but you enjoyed it whilst it lasted. January is awful, there’s no doubt about it. I personally think that we should be allowed to stay in bed for this entire month to recover from the festive period, but until I am elected Prime Minister, you’re going to have to stop wearing your Christmas jumper and listening to I Wish it Could be Christmas Everyday on repeat well into January.

Have a very Merry Christmas and a fabulous New Year! 

Love Georgia x 

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Time to SHIFT!

One of the reasons that I have the tendency to be a tad lazy with this blog, (apart from the fact that procrastination takes up way too much of my time) is my involvement with SHIFT, an online journalism project written and produced by myself and other talented young journalists. With a new article everyday, SHIFT aims to encourage a shift in topic, opinion and perspective amongst its readers. So if you are dying to read more of my ramblings, as well as some proper serious journalist-y style articles visit our website, like us on Facebook  and follow us on Twitter.

Thank you guys for your support!

Love Georgia
x

Diary of a Fresher: 10 Things Every Fresher has Learnt since Starting University

1.       The Distance From your Bed to Your Lecture Room seems so far away:

Remember that 7:00 am bus ride/walk you used to take in order to get to school? Braving the cold, the wind, the ice- whatever the weather? Now, the sun is shining and your lecture room is 5 minutes away- yet the prospect of moving from your bed seems as daunting as being asked to climb Mount Kilimanjaro. So you decide to give it a miss, where the furthest distance you’ll be making all day is reaching for the TV remote.

2.       All sense of motivation has evaporated:

When you arrived at university, you were pumped and ready to go. You were going to work hard and you weren’t going to miss any lectures or seminars. Now you’ve found that left to your own devices, you can barely bring yourself to write the date on the top of your page. You’ll find yourself asking questions such as “why am I here?” and “what’s the point?”- not forgetting the constant dilemma about should I/should I not go to my lecture. The answer is usually no, and the guilt plagues you for the rest of the day. But hey, at least you were able to catch up on that episode of Breaking Bad.

3.       The concept of meal times have become non-existent:

So you roll out of bed at 11:00 and have a lecture at 13:00. Is it breakfast or lunch time? If you have a cereal does that count as breakfast? What if you have cereal now and then a cheese toastie at 12:00? Or is that too soon to eat lunch? Just some of the many thought processes of the topic that most occupies the student mind: food. As a general rule, follow the “three hour rule,” a product of my flatmate’s ingenious where you leave at least 3 hours in between each meal. So then you don’t feel like a pig.

4.       Cards Against Humanity is hilarious whilst drunk:

If you weren’t aware, Cards Against Humanity is a popular card game amongst students where players match a black card and a white card to make a funny/totally inappropriate sentence. Played sober it’s funny, played with a double vodka and coke in hand it’s hysterical- to the point where you may have to go away for a while.

 

5.       You’ve become a bit too comfortable around your flatmates

It seems like yesterday you were all sat round a table- forced to make conversation with each other, because by some cruel twist of fate- you’ll be living with these people for the next year. Now you all feel comfortable making inappropriate sex jokes and lounging around in your Team Edward PJs (just me? Okay…) you’ve all started to communicate via strange noises and useless emojis on Whatsapp. It’s a bizarre social set up, but it works.

 

 

6.       You’ve starting using phrases you never have before

Like anywhere, if you stay in one place for too long, you pick up a few things along the way. Words that you hate yourself for saying but you still say them at every opportunity; my personal favourites being “legit” as in legitimate. This is used to question everything e.g. “are you legit having pizza for breakfast?” See also “misc” as in miscellaneous, to describe anything ‘other’; e.g. “what biscuits are in the tin?” to which you answer “misc.”

7.       Everything can be prepared in the microwave

Your Mother taught you that the only use for the microwave was heating up leftovers and the occasional Chicago Town pizza. At university, the microwave is your go-to, because nobody’s got time to figure out how the hob works. From carrots to scrambled egg- it turns out almost everything can be cooked in a microwave. The dream is to prepare an entire roast dinner using only a microwave. Watch this space.

8.       Late at night is the most efficient time to write that gazillion word essay. Due tomorrow.

You’ve spent most of the day procrastinating and musing over that pile of work looming over you thinking “I’ll do it later.” Eventually, it gets to 10pm and you figure you should probably make a start on that essay that’s worth 60% of your grade. In these situations, you will realise that the library is your friend. You may as well move some supplies into the library in the meantime because you won’t be leaving any time soon. The record for time spent in the library at my university is two days straight. 0/10- would not recommend.

9.       McDonald’s is inevitably where you’ll end up after a night out.

You swore you wouldn’t do it, but after one too many jägerbombs and dancing until your thighs burn, you’re suddenly ravenous- and handy enough, McDonald’s is just around the corner. Without thinking twice, you’ve gone and ordered a Big Mac Meal, a strawberry milkshake, a McFlurry and a fruit salad bag, you know- just to balance all the junk out. And all you’re left with is a full stomach and no money left for the taxi home. Oops.

10.   University is surreal

It’s like this odd miniature society where you’re semi independent, but also have a cleaner that comes to do your kitchen every Monday. You whinge about lectures, you moan about essays and sometimes you just want to drop out and go home. But part of you also loves it- and doesn’t ever really want to leave.

 

This article is part of the "Diary of a Fresher Series"  as a product of  SHIFT UK, an online magazine encouraging a shift in topic, opinion and perspective. For more "Diary of a Fresher" articles as well as other brilliant articles, visit http://shiftukonline.wordpress.com/