30 Things We'd Tell Our 14-Year-Old Selves

This year we both turn 21. We’ve lived together for a year and a half now and are pretty close, we share basically everything – including our mood swings. Deep conversations (or DMC’s if you’d prefer) are a common habit of ours and today we found ourselves compiling a list of things we would tell our 14-year-old selves. 

So here it is, agree or disagree? Can you think of more? Leave a comment, we’d love to know!

1. Pull your skirt down

2. Stop using dream matte mousse

3. Throw your Jane Norman bag away. Now

4. You really don't need 6 layers of mascara

5. It is not OK to have holes in your tights

6. Cross-the-body bags will give you severe back ache in a few years

7. Lunchtime is for eating not a chance to re-do your make-up

8. Go and get your eyebrows done professionally. You will suffer for the over-plucking

9. Don’t let the sole of your shoe fall off before you buy new ones

10. Your mum is right. That friend will screw you over

11. Quality over quantity. This refers to friends, layers of mascara…

12. Eat as much pizza as possible, fast metabolism is a temporary gift

13. Stop moaning. That homework is not real work, do it and then go out.

14. You do not love him

15. Friendships aren't based on time. Just because you've known them the longest, doesn't mean they are the most important.

16. Do not stop playing netball just because your friends have

17. Do not stop anything just because your friends have

18. That lip gloss does not make you look “sassy”

19. Your mum’s cooking is not crap

20. Stop holding your fringe with a clip

21. On the subject of fringes, a gap is not the end of the world

22. Stick-on fake nails do not look real. At all

23. Claire’s Accessories does not count as jewellery

24. And Charlie does not count as perfume

25. Lambrini is not wine and Vodka should be mixed

26. Only speaking over text does not count as a relationship. You will not call him an “ex” when you’re twenty.

27. Your natural hair colour is fine

28. Be prepared for your friends to really let you down. But chill, you will find friends that really do care

29. Not everyone sticks to “treat others how you like to be treated”. Remember that.

30. And lastly, relax. You’re doing better than what you think you are

Long Distance Relationships: The Arguments

They say making up with your partner is the best part of fighting. Some couples even enjoy arguing because the making up is so enjoyable. This, I can tell you, is because of the wonder that is make-up sex. So what do you do when your boyfriend is thousands of miles away? When the chance of intercourse is zero and instead you get a lousy ‘sorry’ text.

It’s tough. Long distance relationships are tough. I didn’t realise just how important reassurance is in a relationship until my boyfriend moved away. Normally, it would just come from being in their presence. You argue, you both say sorry, cuddle, kiss, you know the rest. A new conversation begins and all memory of an argument is gone. Nobody prepares you for that to change, or at least nobody warned me.

It’s as if there is no proper end to a fight if you aren’t stood in front of each other. As a whole, a lack of reassurance can put a lot of pressure and anxiety into a relationship. Normally, your partner would call and ask if you want to go for dinner, or if you want to chill and watch that film you've been raving about for weeks. Suddenly everything revolves around words. Yes, you can send a nice card or present via post and remind them that you’re thinking of them, but how many students can afford £7.50 postage (Seriously, do Royal Mail not offer student discount?)

If you said this to me a two years ago, I would say that I’m not the kind of person who needs reassurance. I would say that I don’t need my boyfriend to tell me he’s missing me or he saw something that day and it reminded him of me. But long distance relationships are a whole new world, a world where suddenly “actions speak louder than words” is pretty much irrelevant. It’s time to man up and say your feelings out loud. Misunderstandings are frequent and communication really is important. We all know how easy it is to interpret a text wrong, and we’ve all had an argument spiral out of control because your tone of voice was ‘stressy’.

It’s important to take the time to not only check your messages before you send them, but make sure the relationship is of equal sides. Remember that your partner isn’t a mind reader, and sometimes it’s nice to wake up to a ‘hey! you need to watch this film, I know you’d love it’. Be careful not to jump the gun, and most importantly – make time for each other. Just because you cannot physically be together, doesn't mean that you stop making time for them. Find a time that you can both have a proper conversation, whether it be on the phone or on Skype.

Its tough (I’ve said that, haven’t I?), but it is worth it. It just takes a lot of getting used to, and a lot of moaning along the way..

Kirsti 

That first week of freedom

It's getting to that time of year where many of you will be preparing to enter the next stage of your life and head off to university. Believe us, we know it's daunting.

While some feel that it is right for them to stay at home, we both wanted to move to a whole new place, and were probably tempted by halls more than university itself.

Right about now you're probably picturing yourself in each of the locations you visit, are excited about the prospect of getting away from your boring old town and equally as petrified about the strangers you will be living with.

Now it's probably worth mentioning that our story isn't quite like others. We are both studying advertising, and entered the wonderful world of Facebook to 'virtually meet' beforehand. As we nattered away about all our uni woes and worries, we were completely unaware that we would be not only in the same flat, but the rooms next door. After the initial squeals were over and done with we were just relieved that not everyone around us was a complete stranger.

While this is pretty unusual, and we were extremely lucky, it's important to note that most people you will meet when moving in are friendly, and won't be strangers for long. No seriously, wait until the next morning where you are all hungover and feel as though you've known each other forever.

In fact this whole friendly feel will stick through at least the whole of freshers, and if you're lucky even longer. But what people don't warn you about, is that what you are going through is what students refer to as the 'honeymoon period'. Like a relationship, everyone is happy to please at first. Do each others washing up here and there, have the standard 'family fajita night' and feel like you know everything there is to know about your flatmates sex life through playing 'I have never'.

This does fade. This is normal.

And while we don't want to dampen your thoughts of the 'fabulous freshers' (because if we could back, believe us we would!), I guess we just want you to enjoy it while it lasts. You're finally free from your parents, it's completely acceptable to cook a pizza at three in the morning and not get out of your pjs all day. The clubs are just at the bottom of the lift, and there will be that one night when you are so drunk that you end up back in your bed before midnight, don't worry we've all been there.

So yes you will be nervous, and probably cry when your parents leave (no? just us?) but freshers is the time of your life and every moment of it should be spent either drunk or hungover. That being said there will come a time when you realise that you didn't need to rush out of home so fast, and you will eventually appreciate it more than you ever have before.

I guess what we are trying to say is that you will absolutely love uni, and your new life, but we wouldn't be us if we didn't warn you of the moans that follow.