Of Interest || December

As I was writing the title of this post I accidentally wrote November instead of December and it's just now hit me how few days are left in 2014.

I've found quite a few wonderful websites since my last "of interest" post so I figured it was time for another. Do you want to get dropped anywhere in the world, go on a book treasure hunt or listen to the sound that knowledge makes? Read on.

1 // GeoGuessr

 I think I could spend the entire day on this thing. Basically what it is is a website that uses google maps to pretty much "drop" you in some random location in the world. You then have to search around your location to see if you can find any clues (signs, buildings etc.) that might help you work out where you are. When you think you know you take a guess and get a certain number of points depending on how close your guess was to where you actually are. My favourite thing about it is just getting to explore these random locations that are seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

2 // Book Crossing

Have you ever wondered how far something could travel around the world in the hands of strangers? Wonder no more. On this wonderful website you can label a book with a sticker which prompts the next person to receive it to put the unique code into the database. Each time this happens the book is tracked so you can follow its movements anywhere in the world. It's pretty simple, you can download a sticker from the website or even have a look to see if there's any books that have been left near you just waiting to be found!

3 // Listen to Wikipedia

There's something so soothing about this. Click on the link (in the heading) and have a listen. Each time you hear a bell noise it is a piece of knowledge being added to a wiki page, each time you hear a string pluck it is knowledge being removed. The more information has been added or removed, the deeper the pitch of the note. I love it.

Have you discovered any wonderful things over the past few months?

x Erin

DIY || 2015 Planner (Template Download)

Oh it's been far too long since I've done a craft/DIY post, but I'm so excited about this one! As I'm sure we're all well aware, 2015 is approaching us at the speed of light, so I've been starting to draw up my monthly calendars to at least try and start the year organised.

Every year I get myself a planner that I can organise myself in, but if you've ever gone on a planner hunt you'll know that it's almost impossible to find one that has everything you want in it. Do I want a planner with a monthly view or one with a weekly view? Why is there no space to write in this one? Why does this one have 100 extra pages of nonsense? WHY CAN'T I DECORATE IT MYSELF? So this year I decided to stop moaning and challenge myself to make my own, filled only with the things that I want in there, and so my 2015 planner was born!

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this took me an entire day to make. For the whole day I did nothing else but type up each individual page and order them in a way that would print correctly with two pages to a piece of paper and double sided. What did I get myself into! But I actually strangely enjoyed the challenge...

Here's the things I put in my planner:

- Year view calendar

- 2 spaces to write New Year's resolutions (2015 at the front and 2016 at the back)

- "Seasonal Goals" pages: One page at the beginning of each season with a quote relating to that season and a space to write goals

- Monthly view calendar at the beginning of each month (feat. my own handwriting!)

- To Do List at the top of each week

- 4 pages for notes (2 in the middle and 2 at the back)

- Moon phases as well as a reminder on the days when there will be an eclipse

I kept it very minimalistic so there's plenty of room for stickers and random drawings around the edges.

Although it took a long time to make I am so so happy with how it turned out, there's something 10x more special about owning something when you made it yourself! I can't wait until next year to start using it! I thought maybe some of you would like to give making your own planner a go too, so I've uploaded a template for a planner for you to download and use. There's even two files: one for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere and one for the people who live in the Southern Hemisphere, just so the seasons are correct! Plus, the hard work of creating the pages has been done for you, so you have no excuse!

Northern Hemisphere Template

Southern Hemisphere Template

If you download the templates you might notice that it looks like the pages are all out of order, I promise they're not! This is because the planner is split into 5 sections: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring & Summer 2016 (Or the other way around if you live up in the North). Once they're printed, everything should make sense! Each lot of 4 pages relates to one piece of paper, so when you print them they'll sit correctly. You should set your printer to print 2 pages on each side of the paper and double sided (It'll be 20 pieces of paper in total).

Once they're all printed fold your pages in half and use the page numbers to make sure they all sit in the correct order. You should be left with 5 sections that look like the ones in the bottom right photo.

To stick everything together I used this technique that I blogged about in January (here's a video if you need more guidance) But you could also staple your sections or anything else that will keep your planner together! Personally I think it'd be such an awesome gift idea to give someone a planner you made on your own, if only there was a gift-giving celebration coming up...

I've got doubts that anyone will try to make this, but if you do please let me know and I'd love to see photos! (tag @thehalfwaypoint on instagram)

Are you as excited for 2015 as I am?

x Erin

Recipe || Pumpkin Pie

Alright, let's all just take a minute to prepare ourselves for the thing of beauty that is about to follow. I'll admit, I've never had pumpkin pie before and I had no idea what to expect with this one but OH MY GOODNESS was it delicious. Plus it didn't require baking and it's vegan (unless you decide to add a scoop of ice-cream like my dad did ;).  Basically all you need to know is that I've been parading round like I've become an instant top chef because of how much of a hit it was. It does take a little time but it is so worth it!

I forgot to mention that you should add in the vanilla essence after you take the filling off the stove!

The pie was absolutely scrumptious and definitely something I'll be making again in the future, the family's already hinted at wanting it for Christmas Day!

Is pumpkin pie a common thing in any of your lives? Or were you just as freaked out as I was wondering how pumpkin could possibly make a sweet dessert?

x Erin

Find the original recipe here.

Welcome Stella

I thought I'd use today's post to introduce you to my newest family member. Stella's part tortiseshell part tabby with a penchant for chasing anything that moves. She's also impossible to photograph unless she's falling asleep, she'd much rather be giving the lense nose kisses than having photos taken.

Outfit || December

Before I begin I just wanted to say a massive thankyou to everyone who left feedback on this post. It meant a lot that so many of you took time to write such thoughtful comments.

A few weeks ago now I got a package containing this gorgeous dress from Carly. I'd originally planned to take outfit photos for it a while ago but that didn't turn out and somehow morphed into this post, but I'm glad it did because it gave me time to work out what I wanted to do with it. Now don't get me wrong, I loved the dress on its own (you can see what it looked like originally in the middle picture of the collage just up there ^^) but to me it felt like a blank canvas, like I'd been given this gift so it could call out to me to make it my own. I'd considered doing embroidery on it, but I wasn't sure what I wanted, and then a few days ago I realised what it was I was wanting to do.

Armed with a pair of scissors I snipped straight through the middle of the thing, momentarily mourning the loss of what it used to be before sucking it up and getting on with it. I turned the bottom half of the dress into a maxi skirt (which may be my new favourite or a close tie with this one) and the top into a little crop top with a white floral trim on the bottom of it. Now I am completely and utterly head-over-heels in love with it! My first two piece set and I feel like I've stepped out of the 60's when I've got it on.

But that's not even the best bit, the best bit is that there's an endless number of outfits I can create with just these two pieces. Almost all of my other skirts go wonderfully with the top and I can pair the skirt with a number of other shirts/singlets too! What's not to love?? (It also passed the twirl test)

I can't wait to wear this outfit in more and see how many other combinations I can create with it!

x Erin

Soul || Getting Connected & Disconnected

Let me begin this post by saying that I think technology is great. Especially the internet. How else would I be able to share my work with such a wide audience or make great friends who live on the opposite side of the world? How could I have learnt about so many important things that aren't talked about elsewhere? The answer is I couldn't have, and because of that, I think technology/the internet is great.

But I also think there's a line between using the internet for educating and communicating and using it just because you can, because you no longer know how to live your life without it in your fingertips at every opportunity.

I fear I am crossing that line.

Whenever December rolls around I immediately start thinking about New Year's Resolutions, about the steps I can take towards being the person who currently only exists in my imagination. The person I one day want to become. This year my thoughts are based a lot on the way I spend my time and whether or not it's productive. I have to be honest with myself and admit that most of the time it's not.

My thoughts were first triggered by this quote:

“We live in an age where we feel guilt whenever we have to cut someone off but the reality is that some relationships do need to die, some people do need to be unfollowed and defriended. We aren’t meant to be this tethered to the people in our past. The Internet mandates that we don’t burn bridges and keep everyone around like relics but those expectations are unrealistic and unhealthy. Simply put, we don’t need to know what everyone else is up to. We’re allowed to be choosy about who we surround ourselves with online and in real life, even if it might hurt people’s feelings.”

It struck a chord in me quite literally and I spent the next 10 minutes unfollowing people who were never really friends to begin with, people I only followed in the first place because we went to school together etc. I no longer had any connection to them and only kept them (or more accurately their profiles) around to keep tabs on their life. Were they happier than me? Were they having more adventures than me? Were they succeeding where I had failed? I realised I just needed to stop caring. So what if that girl I had English with 2 years ago is travelling the world? It has absolutely no affect on my ability to live life, so why was I spending my time living vicariously through the lives of others?

Once I did all this it felt like a weight I didn't know I was carrying had been lifted off my shoulders. I no longer needed to spend a chunk of my day worrying over the life of someone else. By disconnecting I was becoming more connected. To me, to the things I wanted to do, and it was exciting!

I started looking for other places to start disconnecting. I turned my phone off during the day, I stopped checking instagram over breakfast and started reading books instead. I started to become more conscious of my life rather than scrolling through every day only to watch it end and wonder where the time went. So when I spent a weekend with a friend who spent more time texting and "snap-chatting" others than talking to the people in front of her, I realised what a big step I had taken away from technology.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm still pretty sucky at it. I often find myself aimlessly scrolling through tumblr, or waiting to see if any new notifications pop up on my phone that I had missed while I was sleeping, but I'm hoping that a fresh year gives me the push I need to stop using technology as a distraction from real life. Eventually I have to accept that you cannot download a worthwhile life from the internet, you have to get out and create it yourself.

This isn't supposed to be some "oh look at me I'm so inspirational" post. Not at all. It's simply me trying to untangle my thoughts and hoping maybe it will help untangle some of yours. 

I'm not giving up on technology, after all I absolutely love blogging and all the other wonderful things the internet has to offer. I just want to be more mindful of how I use it, and whether or not by connecting to it I am disconnecting from myself.

If you took the time to read all this, thankyou so much. I know it isn't my usual kind of post but it did take me a long time to put together so I hope you liked it! There's so much more I could waffle on about but I think I'll just leave it at this.

I would really love to hear your thoughts
x Erin