Back in the day I decided to study Modern Foreign Languages as a university student. Although I am yet to live my dream of taking my morning coffee on some sunny balcony in Provence, bringing a bit of French language or culture into my daily life still brings me a lot of pleasure. As a…

This morning I met the most adorable little puppy. Long spaniel ears, big chocolate eyes, silky grey fur and a little white tipped tail. My friend had been going through a rough time and her husband had brought the puppy home as a surprise hoping to cheer her up. This sounds much more romantic when…

It was after deleting my Instagram app that I began to think about some of the “subconscious” impacts of my social media scrolling. The break from Instagram seemed to correspond with a drop in my desire to shop.  I was not a massive spender but probably lost hours trying to track down a certain style…

2019 was “Climate Emergency”. 2018 was “Toxic”. 2017 was “Youthquake”. This year, given the “phenomenal breadth of language change and development in 2020”, Oxford Dictionaries were unable to sum the past 12 months with one single word. Instead, they’ve opted for several “Words of an Unprecedented Year”.  “Unprecedented” itself is a word that has seen…

The Danish concept of hygge, an untranslatable feeling of ‘cosy contentedness” has crept its way into our parlance in recent years. Many of us may even have received a book about it for Christmas 2016. This year you may find something new in your stocking. The past 12 months have seen the rise of Niksen. A…

It’s been the longest, shortest year. December is almost knocking on our doors and with it the looming spectre of Christmas. What would the “looming spectre of Christmas” look like? I’m seeing a giant Santa, or maybe a gargantuan snowman. Don’t get me wrong, I like Christmas, I even had mince pies this week! I…

Amsterdam to Paris in 90 minutes. New York to Washington in 30 minutes. The first successful passenger test on Richard Branson’s Virgin Hyperloop have brought these lightning journey times one step closer to reality.  To put it into context, that’s twice as fast as a commercial flight from Washington to NYC, and four times faster than a…

Earlier this week I sat down and watched the final of the Great British Bake Off. The scary thing? This is the eleventhyear that I’ve partaken in this ritual. Cup of tea, some kind of snack (you need the snack, you cannot watch all that cake without a snack) and an hour of cosy warmth. This…

Looking for some straightforward ways to up your eco-credentials? Take a look at a few of these apps and websites that put sustainability at the heart of their mission… Last year Greenpeace named the UK as the “epicentre” of fast fashion in Europe, with each person buying an estimated 26.7kg of clothing every year. This compares to an average…