Hi, I’m Amelia and welcome to my page of little joys!

Now, you may have to bear with me a little here, this is my very first entry and it may be quite lengthy as I go into the details of what we’re all doing here.

I’m a recent graduate in English Literature from the Uni of Warwick (sorry to sound like LinkedIn) and although Warwick may not be renowned for its social life, I had the absolute best time with all my best friends and boyfriend, Alex. Admittedly, it’s difficult being back at home, being so far away from friends, not to mention the sudden adult responsibilities like getting a real big-girl job. I live on the edge of London, with Mum, Step-Dad, little brother Harry and the pets. I also have another little brother who’s living in Swansea for uni, a big sister who recently moved to Chelmsford and Dad who lives in Milton Keynes. We’re a big clan, which I love, but it also comes with a good deal of chaos.

Since graduating in July, I’ve tried my best to stay positive and hopeful amidst the doom scrolling on LinkedIn and endless job applications – I think the number has just entered triple figures. However, with every rejection email and awkward interview my desperate grip on optimism begins to loosen.

So, to make myself feel better, I turned to the numbers because how bad can they be?? Well, as it turns out; they can be pretty bad! A study done by ‘the home of student and graduate labour market information’, Prospects Luminate, tell us that only 48.4% of 2024 English Literature graduates were working full time after 15 months. 15 MONTHS! And of that 48.4%, the chosen career paths were predominantly split between education professionals, clerical and secretarial clerks, and retail/hospitality workers. None of which I really have any desire to be, although I have not quite figured out what I want nor what I am meant to be just yet.

I am always returning to Sylvia Plath’s fig tree metaphor in The Bell Jar, in which Esther Greenwood envisions her life branching off before her and reflects;

“From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked… I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig-tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing meant losing the rest.”

Similarly, at times I fear that my indecision will cause my eventual (hopefully metaphorical) starvation because I can see myself enjoying so many careers. Most often, I see myself as a journalist with wild dreams of being a prodigy of Gabby Logan or Louis Theroux, but I also want to go to culinary school, or learn about events management, or abandon the whole notion of work life and travel somewhere no one will ever find me. So, rather than panicking, here I am, writing about all the things I love, in the hopes that they will materialise and preserve themselves in my life, like some kind of fig jam.

As the title suggests, this page will focus on the little things that bring me joy on a small, day-to-day level and can maybe inspire others to focus on the little things when the big things are a bit overwhelming. Mostly, I’ll be talking about a few main categories:

Sports – I’m an Arsenal fan! So you may see some content on that, but aside from football I also love golf and rugby.

Alex motivates my love for golf (along with Justin Rose) – we can’t really bond over football because he’s a spurs fan :/. As I’m writing this I’m cheering on Europe in the Ryder Cup – what a weekend we’re having!! Eventually, I’m hoping to have lessons and get good enough to actually be able to play with Alex, but at the moment I think it would be more frustrating than fun for both of us. Last but not least, rugby is arguably one of the pest sports to watch, a day out to Twickenham is one of the best there is. My dad and brother are rugby obsessed and we’ve been part of our local rugby club for almost ten years now, I still work there occasionally and help with events and it’s always good fun.

Food – I am obsessed with food content creators on every platform, particularly @cripanddip, @savourygirl, and @whatwillycooks – who I met once at a nightclub I worked at, pretty cool although I got quite awkward.

As you can see, I eat out quite a lot and cook even more. I like going the long way around making meals, partly because I love making my life more difficult but mostly because I love the process; extracting the absolute best out of every ingredient and then watching other people enjoy what I make. My recipes are usually fairly time consuming but I think you get out what you put in. I love anything salty and savoury – not a trace of a sweet tooth here!

Recently, I’ve taken over as Christmas Day head chef (I have an apron and everything) and it is the part of Christmas I look forward to the most, so you may also see some of my Xmas cooking soon!

Travel – I like to think I’m quite well travelled, I’ve been to 13 countries across two continents and I’d love for those numbers to grow!

One of my favourite experiences was visiting Russia and staying with a lovely family in Moscow, and then catching the train to St.Petersburg. Although I had to cut my trip short due to the first wave of Covid lockdowns (I went in March 2020), it was a dream to learn about the history of such a fascinating country still recovering from a communist dictatorship – but actually I learnt that many of the older generation thought life was better before the USSR became Russia. Anyway I’m getting side tracked! Hopefully I’ll be able to share a few more trips and journeys, extending my list a little.

Music – I’m lucky enough that my big sister is involved in the music industry and so I often get to go along to shows and events in London. Some of the stand outs have been:

• The Last Dinner Party – My favourite band rn
• Stevie Nicks – So surreal I got to see her irl
• Wunderhorse – Not a huge, complicated production but they are so talented (Plus the song Teal makes me cry every time)
• JLS – went with my bestfriend Morgan to live out some childhood nostalgia
• The Killers – my all time favourite live performers (seen them five times)

There may be some more to add to this list soon and I’m hoping to take you guys along – keep an eye out for those posts!

So that’s me, and those are all my favourite people and things. I’d love for you to stick around if you also fancy trying to keep the little joys alive!

Love, Amelia xxx