Here are a few things I have been recently eyeing for quite sometime online: 

1. Summer Fridays dream lip oil - 'Blush dreams' 

Lip oils are all the rage and have been for quite sometime, I love the look of this one and have seen it floating around on Instagram. It looks perfect for when you want a little something on your lips and being able to apply it without needing a mirror is always a bonus for me. 

2. BYFJ - Naila abaya 

I absolutely love the Winter 23 collection from BYFJ which includes their thicker winter abayas that can be worn as an abaya or a coat on top of your abaya or clothes. This one in particular is super timeless with a built-in wrap-around scarf. 

3. Daisy - triple bead chain bracelet 

Now as someone who is slowly starting to build her silver jewellery collection after being a gold girlie for as long as I can remember to match with my wedding bands, I love the look of this elegant triple bead bracelet from Daisy. They have it in gold too, which is beautiful. 

4. H&M - textured slingbacks 

These look so pretty for the upcoming spring months and because of the small kitten heel they look incredibly comfortable to wear. I like how they are quite simple in texture and colour because it just means you can wear them with so much more, dressy or casual. 

5. Mango - double strap bag 

I like the minimalist structure of this bag and it most definitely gives The Row Margaux bag vibes with the clean leather look and long strap handles. This is a lot smaller than that bag, nonetheless, it looks great for pairing with daytime or evening outfits. 

Instagram 

If you are like me and you like purchasing books whether its hardback or not to simply read when you have a little time or on your commute to work then these are perfect, bearing in mind that they are most definitely law related but also provide a different perspective to the legal world as we know it. 

Firstly, 'Unlawful killings' by Her Honour Wendy Joseph QC, this I simply found when browsing through the books in WHSmith. Just flicking through this book quickly was enough to entice me to purchase it and start reading it as soon as humanly possible. With each chapter set out as a trial, unfolding horrific but mostly tragic details, the book takes you through five separate cases. 

Secondly, 'People like us' by Hashi Mohamed, this I discovered after attending an online qualifying session with Middle Temple, where he discussed his book and read a little passage from it too. It was incredibly inspiring watching a muslim barrister speak about his journey to the Bar. 

Thirdly, 'In Black and White' by Alexandra Wilson, now I am sure this book might be easily recognisable simply because of how well it was portrayed in the media. This tells the story of a young barrister's story of navigating race and class in a broken justice system, as described by herself. This truly does open your eyes in a world that is still typically male dominated despite the neverending strive for diversity at the Bar. 

Instagram 

 

Peach cobbler, it's one of those things you've always seen on TV shows but never tried. Well, at least I had not, not until I made one using this super simple recipe I found online, with my take on it obviously because when do you ever follow a recipe properly down to every last detail? This is probably one of my go-to comfort recipes for this winter when I am craving something sweet, simply because of how easy it is and who doesn't love all things cinnamon? 

Here's the list of ingredients you will need for the peach filling:

- A can of tinned peaches

- 100g of brown sugar 

- 50g of granulated sugar 

- A splash of lemon juice 

- 1tsb of plain flour or cornflour 

- 1tsp of ground cinnamon 

- A dash of flaky salt 

Here's the list of ingredients you will need for the cobbler topping: 

- 200g of plain flour (you can use self raising flour but I didn't have any). 

- 1 tsp of baking powder (as I used plain flour).

- 50g brown sugar 

- 50g granulated sugar 

- 150ml whole milk 

- 100g unsalted melted butter 

- 1sp of ground cinnamon (opntional) 

How to make it: 

- Preheat your oven to 170-ish degrees Celsius. 

- As we're using tinned peaches, you can just add all those peach filling ingredients to the peaches once they have been drained and mix until they are all combined. 

- For the cobbler topping, combine the plain flour, baking powder, both the sugars and cinnamon and then add in the milk and melted butter. You should now have a batter which is slightly thick and smooth in consistency. 

- Use an oven dish or tray and pour out the peach filling and then pour over the batter filling carefully on top and let it even out itself. 

- Now let it do its thing in the oven and bake for around 25 minutes until the cobbler is golden in colour, you will notice the peach filling bubbling and caremalise which is exactly what you want. 

- Let it sit for a bit before serving a slice which some vanilla ice cream or even some clotted cream as per your liking. 

- Enjoy! 

It has been over a year since I last posted on here. Why, you may ask? There is no simple explanation but this past year has been a whirlwind to say the least. It was one of the busiest, most stressful, and most eventful years to this date and I am grateful for every single thing that has happened. While I will not detail every single thing that has happened this year (simply because you would get bored) I shall tell you about what has single handedly consumed me this year. 

From my older posts you may have gathered that I am studying to become a barrister. What no one tells you is that the bar course is probably one of the most hardest and gruelling things you will do in becoming a barrister (until you get to pupillage applications and tenancy, another whole ballpark) and studying online (the cherry on top of this cake) only makes your life much more difficult. I have one exam left and so help me god I WILL GET CALLED TO THE BAR THIS YEAR! Nonetheless, there is light at the end of the tunnel all you need is faith, a lot of resilience, and a really good support system. 

I turned 22 last year, it was bittersweet, I celebrated my birthday whilst finishing off the last bit of my masters. My masters project started out as being this one issue I wanted to examine, domestic abuse in relation to the pandemic, but in reality it was far too large to write up 8k words on. I managed to streamline my vision by thinking about its use in practice and decided upon the use of special measures in court for domestic abuse victims amidst the pandemic. One thing I can say for sure is I will not miss education, but that's because it never really truly stops. 

After completing my last set of exams I began job hunting and applying with the intention of wanting to leave my part-time job. While it had served me well it was no longer relevant to my next stages in life. As someone who's sole focus was education for a large chunk of my life, whilst working part-time, finding a job was not on my list of priorities. That was until handing in my last assignment for my course, from having absolutely no free time to having 5 days free was extremely new and slightly unsettling. I buried myself in countless job applications, another painfully long and daunting experience but it paid off eventually. 

I began doing things I simply did not have the time for before because of studying full time, little things like reading more books. I managed to read 8 chapters of Alexandra Wilson's 'In Black and White' over the course of a few hours, it may not seem like much but for me it was amazing! I look forward to this year because there is so many things I want to do, both related and unrelated to my career. 

October has left just as quickly as it arrived. Now almost 2 months into my BTC I am eagerly awaiting my exam dates. I intend on writing a whole post on the Bar Course and how I have found it so far because damn that has been stressful to say the least! 

As someone who has found it extremely difficult to work at home I have been dragging myself to coffee shops to spend a few hours doing work and it helps (not so much my coffee intake but you win some you lose some). From having to complete my undergraduate degree from home and now also my postgraduate a change of scenery makes the world of a difference. 

My Blackstone's Criminal Practice book arrived and I have to say navigating this was a lot harder than the Whitebook. When it comes to textbooks I prefer having a hard copy even if it weighs a ton the only downside to these books is that the paper is extremely thin so every time I turn a page I am faced with the fear of tearing it. 

I had some amazing food at Tamatanga and Giggling Squid. Good food is truly one of life's greatest gifts. When I am not doing work for my Bar Course, or working I am eating and I cannot lie trying new food is something I look forward to. 

I received the most thoughtful graduation gift ever from my cousin. It has my name and degree engraved into it, you better believe I am keeping this bottle for life. The fact that I have graduated still feels surreal, maybe it is because of the lack of the ceremony, but apparently the ceremony is likely to go ahead in January so we shall see how that unfolds. 

I had the most stressful oral advocacy session last week. My laptop felt the need to update minutes before my session and I forgot to backup my files onto OneDrive so there I was dressed in my blazer, shirt and pj bottoms frantically emailing my tutor. But thank god I managed to get my skeleton argument in front of me (one of the perks of performing last I guess). 

I ate runny eggs on toast a few too many times. My go-to is toasting the bread in a pan with some butter, frying the egg until the whites cooked but the yolk is still runny and then topping it off with either some spring onions or spinach and then seasoning with salt, pepper and a generous amount of chili flakes. Oh I also managed to find another bird ring and replaced my old one. 

This month has been hectic to say the least but also one of the best! Here are a few photos from the past few weeks. I ate out a little more than I probably should have, bought my first car, and started the Bar Training Course. 

The Bar Course has been more intense than I originally anticipated. Unlike undergraduate law there was no 'introduction week' and it was all guns blazing. Personally I feel like I have done more work and reading in these first three weeks of studying than my law degree. My White Book also got delivered and knowing that they are £725 each makes me want to cry ever so slightly. I had my first oral advocacy session where I had to prepare for a bail application before the Magistrates' Court and it went a lot better than I expected considering I prepared on the day. Despite being slightly overwhelmed by the workload I have thoroughly enjoyed studying so far and quite frankly cannot wait to continue and hopefully qualify. Speaking of qualifying I have booked myself onto a qualifying session centered around the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Instagram | Twitter | BlogLovin' 

 

As some of you may know I start the BTC, the Bar Training Course, this month. And for any aspiring barristers you are more than familiar with the several things you must do before commencing the course. One of the several requirements is to pass the Bar Course Aptitude Test to determine whether or not you are 'fit for the Bar'. It is based on the Watson-Glaser test designed to test logic, critical thinking and reasoning. It costs an extortionate £150 and personally in my opinion it is pointless. Nevertheless, here are a few things I did to prepare for the test. Bear in mind I prepared a few days before my test and managed to pass. 

1. TalentLens practice test. This test provides you with example questions and answers along with the explanation as to why the answers are what they are. This is by far the closest practice test online that mirrors the actual one. Unfortunately this is the only test online, I tried searching for more and I quickly learnt the sources to practice are extremely scarce. 
2. Watson-Glaser practice tests. Instead of searching for BCAT tests what you can do is practice using the W-G tests online as they are more accessible but ensure the question and answer style is similar to the BCAT. 
3. YouTube videos. The ones I found the most useful were by CareerVidz. There are two videos, one outlining the types of question and the second one revealing answers to questions from the first video. I found it helpful to watch and pause the video answer the questions myself and then going back to check if they were correct or incorrect and the reasoning behind each one. 
4. The RED model. This is the 'recognizing assumptions', 'evaluating arguments' and 'drawing conclusions' from the information provided to you. This is extremely helpful and can be memorized quickly and referenced to when taking the test, so make use of it. 

The last time I sat down to take photographs and write up a blog post was in March. A lot has happened since then. Here's my run through of what I did during the past few months. It might be a long one so grab a coffee or two.