Hello 2011 and Year of the Rabbit.

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Tomorrow, February 3rd, marks the start of the Chinese new year. Saying goodbye to the ferocious Year of the Tiger, and hopefully welcoming a much calmer Year of the Rabbit.

After January 1st turned into such a disaster for me, getting home at 3am, to start throwing up the whole way through the night, sleeping on the bathroom floor as I couldn't find the strength to move and even when I did, it was only to throw up again. Viral gastroenteritis is not pretty! And then, almost a week later, I find my self ill again with bronchitis. All in all, not the best of starts. Will not miss January. Needless to say, didn't even start my New Years resolutions.

I'm sincerely hoping that tomorrow can be the start of a fresh outlook, positive thinking and a much better grip on the hectic-ness that is my life. Apparently, YOTR recognises persuasion rather than force as a means of change, and the lifestyle of this year will be pleasure filled and relaxed - sounds good to me! I'm hoping this means I get to grips with juggling the 7 different assignments I'm working on right now, and not stressing out twice a day over it. I still have no replies from UCAS which I can't help but finding frustrating. And as I have set my heart on getting into the University of Westminster after spending the day in London last week, I've set the bar high. Eeek! I have fallen head over heels with London; everything about it, city life in general, there's just so much to do! The place is enormous and I even love that you have to use the Underground to get everywhere. Royal Academy of Arts was good, finalllly got to see Susie MacMurrays Widow dress which looked incredible in real life :) And the Design Museum near Tower Bridge was brilliant, definitely recommend going there if you're interested in fashion design, I picked up a few ideas and techniques I am really excited to try out!

Anyway, back to what I was talking about, according to Christopher Yu and BeautyandtheDirt, for this New Year, these tips will give you the luckiest start for the of the Year of the Rabbit:

1. On February 3rd, relax – don’t sweep or clean. If you sweep on that day it is believed that you are sweeping your good luck away.
2. Do clean before the New Year to get rid of the old year (guess I'm cleaning my apartment today then, right?)
3. Get your hair cut before New Year’s Eve to keep your good luck after the start of the New Year. (check! Mine was cut on Saturday)
4. Resolve differences with people you know. (This one, I should definitely put on my to do list.)
5. Wear new clothes and shoes.
6. Wear and use the color red as it brings luck this year.
7. Eat candy to bring sweetness for the New Year. (Any excuse!)
8. Open your windows to let good luck in.

I don't normally buy into superstitious stuff, but I'm doing this. I need all the luck in the world for London.

p.s. Did anyone watch the first episode in the new series of Secret Diary of a Call Girl last night? Really enjoyed it, hopefully this serious will match the rest of them! Loved that they played the interview with Brooke Magnanti, the writer of the infamous Belle De Jour blog after as well :)

Snowed in.

And I am brunette! (Daft webcam photo, bedhead etc. but it's the only one I've got atm.)

So yeah, interesting week. It's been ridiculously cold and snowed A LOT. I'm counting about 6 inches right now. Public transport has come to a complete standstill, college has been cancelled and I got stuck in Huddersfield on the way back from Manchester yesterday and had to go all the way back to Leeds to get to Wakefield which was pretty stressful to say the least.

Oh, speaking of Manchester! as I mentioned, I went to the UCAS Convention yesterday. It was pretty much, about 50 uni's and companies trying to sell themselves in a huge room, giving out free stuff, prospectuses and helping you decide where you'd like to go. It was really good actually. Zara didn't end up going as she was in London looking at uni's instead so it was just me, Nicola and Aaron. It was £2 in, which it was easily worth. Came out with about 7 canvas/hessian bags packed with stuff like pens, pencils, other stationary bits and bobs, badges, prospectuses and loads of interesting information on the universities which was helpful.

I'm in 2 minds about what I'm going to do. I've narrowed it down to a few:

Batley school of Art & Design - where I'm at now, which is lovely and little, close to home, fees aren't rising, with more face to face time than most courses and I know is a fantastic place to study already and is running the perfect course for me! My first choice at any rate and means I wouldn't have to move out of my apartment, or if I did, would only be a short drive away.

Heriot Watt University - in Scotland, where the university fee's haven't gone up. Was really impressed with there stall at the show, but there website is disappointing and unhelpful. They'd ran out of prospectuses at the show, and couldn't find any on the website so, no idea about that one now.

Winchester School of Art in Southampton - which sounds like a great uni and the woman really sold it to me, but not entirely convinced about the place.

Leeds College of Art - Where both my sisters are. And close to home. Leeds is kinda pricey to live in though.

Anddd, University of Westminster - Pretty impressive uni. Vivienne Westwood and Christopher Bailey from Burberry went there, but, well, Christopher Bailey also went to Batley School of Art & Design. And my tutor Susan says he sends someone every year to our end of year fashion show.

There's a few more, but I've got the idea in my head to stay at Batley school of Art and do my Top-up/Masters degree a bit further afield. It's far too complicated all this really. Be glad when it's over!