About

My name is Katherine Bull, (Harriet being my middle name and the title of my blog) I am a twenty-one year old... human.

I was trying to think of a nice little title to put there like 'Blogger' or 'Fashionista' instead of human, but that's not really true. I am a fashion conscious and style orientated person. From a young age I experimented with different looks and styles, and I love that. I still experiment now. I like to joke that I'm a 'Goth', and maybe that's the key inspiration for my looks (thanks Tim Burton) but I do love to dress up as well. I love to do my hair and make up, I love tying my hair up in Princess Leia buns and wearing big floaty flower dresses and heels. So maybe I could have 'Style Enthusiast' but that's not all of me.

I am also a barista. That's right I make coffee for a living. No, not like the people behind the counter at your local Starbucks - I make coffee. I make beautiful coffee. I love it. I love the satisfaction of pulling the perfect espresso. I love the smell of freshly ground coffee and the texture of silky, smooth milk. I love all the different coffee beans you can get, from all the different countries in the region between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. I get excited when a particular bean has a unique and identifiable flavour, like juicy red apples, or rich dark chocolate. I love my store. I have been working for this particular coffee chain for a year now. I've been a barista since I was sixteen, first for a local independent business, then for a huge national chain, and now for a fabulous little company called Coffee #1. I am the assistant manger of their 50th store. I am so pleased and proud to be part of such a fantastic store and have an incredible team, and to be frequented by some of the loveliest customer on the face of the planet. I love my job. So maybe I could have put 'Workaholic' or 'Coffee Lover', but there's still more to me than that.

I'm also an artist. I know, I know, it sounds super pretentious, but I am. I use watercolour and ink as my main mediums. I tend to paint witches, aliens, skulls, and flamingos - we'll come back to flamingos. I decorate my walls with them, I get them printed and give them out to people as cards. I also make Gods Eye weavings using bamboo from my Dad's garden and wool to create geometric wall art. I'm a photographer as well. This is what I studied all through school and college and really is what I thought I'd end up doing. Maybe I still will. I tend to create fairytale style surrealist photos. Imagery that can tell a story in one look. This is where my passion for the art form is. But I've also photographed my fair share of weddings. So maybe I could have said 'Photographer' but I'm not done yet.

I'm also a dreamer. This is where that flamingo comes back into play - and the barista thing. Yes I love my job, and I'm hoping to be a trainer with Coffee #1 within the year. However I would be lying if I said that was my dream. All of those things I love about my job, I want for my own, and then I want to throw in a load more. I want to open my own little coffee shop. The Neon Flamingo will be a cozy little coffee shop with the best speciality beans from around the globe, extracted and brewed to perfecting, all served by skilled baristas. It will also serve cocktails, independent pale ales, craft beers and so much more. I'd love it to do hot food as well, I'm even toying with a little idea of 'Churros Chosedays' but that's all one day in the future. So maybe I should have put 'Fantasist'. But there's still more. 

I'm also a writer. I mean I write blog posts, you can see that here. But I've also written articles for magazines, written short stories, tried to write long ones - though so far none worth finishing. I enjoy using words to create a new world full of people and ideas that are independent from ours. I read a lot of fantasy novels so maybe thats where this obsession with other worlds has come from. I've recently read (for the 100th time) The Chronicles of Narnia  by C.S. Lewis, I followed that with The Hobbit and then with The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkein. At Christmas I finished reading A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin - or at least finished as much as I could. So now I'm steaming through The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwall which is a fascinating mix of historical facts and gripping fiction. So maybe I could have said 'Author' or 'Book Worm'.

I am also about 100 other things. I am a sister to a gorgeous 18 year old girl, who is so independent and clever that I think I look up to her more than she looks up to me. I am a daughter to two of the most loving and thoughtful parents I'm sure to have ever existed. They support me in absolutely everything I do. I'm a girlfriend to a computer geek who saves tv shows for me that we watch together even though we sometimes have to go weeks without seeing each other. I'm a friend to anyone who has ever needed me like that. I am a nerd who can correctly quote the most commonly mis-quote line of cinematic history (it's 'No, I am you father' not 'Luke, I am your father'). I get super excited about new Marvel films, and new films or TV shows from anything I've ever read. I love all things sci-fi. I spend an unhealthy amount of my paycheque on make up, and usually when I lose something, you can guarantee it's under a new eyeshadow palette I bought at the weekend. I am constantly torn between a desire to lose weight and to order a triple stack waffle burger with bacon, cheese, curly fries and crispy chicken strips.

I am all these things, and then some, and by next week I'm sure I'll be something more. In six months from now I'll have a whole new paragraph to add in. In five years I'll have a whole section dedicated to running my own business and all the trials and tribulations that come with that - you know, if The Neon Flamingo takes off, of course. So how do I sum myself up in one word that encompasses everything I am or will be? A word that says 'this is me'. A word that neatly wraps up blogger / fashionista / style enthusiast / barista / coffee lover / workaholic / artist / photographer / dreamer / believer / crafter / author / book worm / sister / daughter /girlfriend / manager / make up addict / nerd all at once?

My name is Katherine Harriet Bull, I am a twenty-one year old project.