The point of university

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I just read an interview with Lena Dunham in Rookie, and it had this perfect quote about college (university) in it:

Your job is to learn and to become a better version of yourself

It's not original, but it sums up for me the advantage and luxury you have when going to university. You get to learn to be yourself, but with a whole load of safety structures built around you. My brother is currently stressing about where he should apply for, and I keep trying to say that it doesn’t really matter. It’s going to make a massive difference to the rest of your life, but it ways you can’t possibly fathom right now. Choose somewhere and make the most of the opportunities (or don’t). You have SO MUCH TIME at university.

I wanted to write something about how much of a luxury university is. How appalling it is that not everyone gets to go, and how unfair the whole thing is but I can’t because it gets me into a well of despair and I want to go and curl up in a duvet. I can’t do that because I’m not at university and I don’t have the time.

All the pretty things: Oh My Clumsy Heart

Oh My Clumsy Heart is an independent online jewellery shop that first caught my eye when someone posted the Bertha (above) on instagram.

I bought the Baby Bertha and absolutely love it. It 'jazzes up' the most boring of outfits, and you know when you're talking about 'jazzing up' you're on to a good thing.

The rest of the collection is a mixture of similar quartz necklaces in different colours and effects, and elegant geometric designs. I tend to steer clear of the latter, as I think they've got a bit overdone and in all the high street shops. But the ones here are lovely, and having seen them at the Crafty Fox market recently, I can vouch that they're done to a very high quality.

OMCH also offers a subscription box, which is a lovely idea for a (generous!) gift. Called Little Gems, you can buy a one, three or six month subscription, giving you a 20% discount on RRP. I'd also recommend signing up to the mailing list, as you get a discount and exclusive sale options. My challenge is not going on and buying everything.

designjunction

Part of the London Design Festival, designjunction is about the most glamorous trade show I've ever been to.

Sort of trade show, sort of public show, it's intended to showcase the best contemporary furniure, lighting and product design. Mainly, you wander around thinking 'oooh pretty'.

The bottom floor was by far my favourite. The top two floors had lots of lovely furniture, but it was far too expensive to ever be a serious consideration. The bottom floor had lots of smaller stands selling accesories and gift type bits. They also had a couple of live demonstrations happening, which meant that I got to cut crystal using a diamond. It was strangely soothing.

My friend and I got most excited about the Minalima design stand. We spotted the Harry Potter posters first, and got immensely excited when we realised they'd done all the paper props for the films. We then spotted the 'Collective Nouns' posters, which I'd previously seen at the Southbank Centre design shop. Both Miraphora Mina (she sounds like a Potter character!) and Eduardo Lima were there, which meant my friend was able to get the book she bought signed by both of them. I ended up buying a box of flash cards, which I plan to use as gifts and posters. My favourite is the 'E' of course (above). An embarrassment of pandas is just too cute.

The other interesting part was a 'year of the bus' Transport for London pop up restaurant. It looked lovely, but the menu wasn't particularly appealing so we gave it a miss. Of course, I couldn't resist the limited edition gin from the East London Liquor Company. We haven't cracked it open yet, but the bottle is lovely. I'll report back.

All in all, it was a very pleasant evening. The one regret I had was not buying one of these beautiful Storytiles, from a dutch designer. They were so pretty, but I just couldn't justify buying yet more prettiness, when there are about six prints I haven't managed to get up in the house yet! Next time...