Cake and Coffee Day is a longstanding tradition in the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Birmingham, but raising money for charity is my own personal twist. 
This year we chose to donate to Plan UK's "Because I am a Girl" campaign. This fund helps girls to attend school, stay in school, and develop skills that can make them financially independent. We raised £52, which is almost enough to provide a girl with school supplies for a year in Sierra Leone:)

As you may have gathered, I feel very strongly about supporting women in physics, and the sciences in general. This takes for granted that there are women being educated to a very high standard. Most of the young women in this campaign haven't even got elementary education under their belts, so helping them to finish school is paramount. Plan UK writes:

With education, skills and the right support, girls can make choices over their own future and be a huge part of creating lasting change. An educated girl is...

• ...less likely to marry and to have children whilst she is still a child.
• ...more likely to be literate, healthy and survive into adulthood, as are her children.
• ...more likely to reinvest her income back into her family, community and country.

Click here for more information on how to get involved or make a donation.

You may have noticed that I have changed the design of my website... I was feeling like it was getting a bit dated, and wanted something clean and zen-like. This was largely inspired by my husband's website revamp (see www.danielgmacleod.com), which is now very zen. 
You may have also noticed my affinity for purple. I have no comment on this. It just is.

I am not a religious person, but I love Christmas time :) When my dad was here visiting for a week, we thoroughly explored the German Market with my husband Dan, and discovered that the vegetarian food consisted of crepes and a potato mushroom melange. It was definitely an improvement from last year!

Edinburgh also has a lovely Christmas market which has skating! Birmingham should really jump on that bandwagon and do more wonderful wintery activities, other than eat sausages in the rain...

In physics related news, I am scrambling to write a paper before Christmas so that I can write a different one after. 
Rush rush rush... but first, hot chocolate. Oh yeah.