What I Got For Christmas

23:05
Helloo!
It's been quite a while hasn't it? I've been so busy with work and uni that my poor blog's been a bit neglected over the past couple of months. Nevermind eh? 

I thought I'd end the slight radio silence by sharing what I got for Christmas with you. It was a bit of a weird Christmas, with me working in York on both Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Only having one day at home really did make it more special in a way, although I missed seeing the Lindstedts for our annual Christmas Eve get together! 

I was a really lucky girl this year and got some absolutely lovely presents this year from my Mam and Dad, Gran and Aunty Karen, Nana and Aunty Kayleigh, and Sam and his Mam. 

The biggest surprise I got from my Mam and Dad was my gorgeous Cath Kidston Folk Flowers Wheeled Business Bag. I wasn't expecting it at all and I was so grateful. It'll be great for travelling home on the train with all my dissertation work this year. 

I also got quite a few Bath/Body/Skincare/Makeup bits and bobs this year. Firstly, the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish is my new favourite cleanser, so Sam's Mam got me the Liz Earle Skincare Discovery gift set (incl. the Hot Cloth Cleanser, Instant Boost Skin Tonic and two muslin cloths.) I also got the Gentle Face Exfoliator and Intensive Nourishing Treatment Mask from my Mam and Dad but forgot to include them in the photo. I now also have a little stash of Snow Fairy related goodies from Lush thanks to my Nana's present of the Christmas Candy Box and Little Snow Fairy gift sets. 
I asked for Urban Decay's Naked palette last year but it was out of stock, so my Mam was super organised this year and bought it in advance. I was over the moon. As well as that I got a new Benefit Dandelion blusher, a basket of Faith In Nature essentials and a bright pink Tangle Teezer. 

This year marked the start of my obsession with Castle - I managed to get through seasons 1 to 6 over the summer and may or may not have watched it whenever I've seen it on TV since then - so for Christmas my Mam and Dad I got the season 1-6 box set AND the first book of the Nikki Heat series. (The series of books inspired by the novels Castle writes in the show.) Not gonna lie, I'm so excited to read it. 

Probably the biggest surprise this year was this gorgeous Rotary watch from Sam. I didn't know he'd bought it for me and I couldn't believe it when I opened it. I've now got no intentions of asking for a Michael Kors watch for my 21st now, this one is so beautiful that I don't need one. 

And finally, what would Christmas be without a ton and a half of chocolate? 


(P.S. My photos are a bit weird, I took them on my new phone which, after a move from IOS to Android yesterday, I'm not entirely sure how to use properly yet!) 

♥

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3rd Year Bucket List

17:00

This weekend marks the beginning of reading week at uni, where hard working students are allowed time to catch up on reading or work on essays, without the interruption of lectures, while the last batch of third years graduate in the Minster. Or you know, spend a week at home with family or binge watch TV shows on Netflix. Probably the latter. 

For the last two years I've spent this week at home, but seeing as I'm at work and have a mountain of uni stuff to do I'm staying in York. 

I did think, however, that this would be a good time to share my Third Year of Uni Bucket List with you - and see how many I've managed to tick off in the first few months back at uni. I had planned on sharing it at the beginning of term, but after finding out I'd be losing out on quite a bit of student finance, I figured I'd never get much of it done. Lo and behold, there'd been a mix up with my application, so I get a little bit more than I thought I would. Thankfully I kept hold of my list and I've managed to tick off more than I thought I had - some of which I've already told you about, so I won't ramble on too much about them!

1.Go out during Freshers' week
 This year me and my housemates went out for the first time during Freshers' week, and I'm so glad we did. We even went on the bar crawl, except we started off in Stone Roses and missed out a few in the middle. I only went out 3 nights - I don't think I would have survived the whole week - but it was still more than I'd been out in my first two years of uni put together! 

2. Get a job
Yes! I FINALLY have a job: I'm a Christmas Temp at Debenhams. I've only had my training, and my first proper shift isn't until Tuesday. But I think I've done alright so far, and everyone seems lovely. I'm really glad I ended up there. 

3. Visit the Minster

4. Go to the Cath Kidston Sudent Night
Yep, for the third and final year I went to the Cath Kidston Student Night in York. I saved up some money from babysitting over the summer to spend, and you can see what I got in this post. 

5. Do something for Halloween
This year, Sian suggested we have a party for Halloween - which meant I finally got to realise my dream of dressing up as Poison Ivy, the Batman villain. More photos here. 

6. Have Christmas dinner with my housemates

7. Go to at least one Archies' day

8. Have afternoon tea somewhere nice

9. Do some work in the library
I'm generally reserving commentary for things I've managed to do, but I'm putting it out there now that it's not looking likely that I'll do much work in the library. Its too busy and I spend more time thinking about buying hot chocolate from the Costa there than actually doing any work!

10. Go out for my 21st

11. Join the History Society again
I joined the society last September because my friend Laura is on the committee and I probably needed to get out more. I really enjoyed being part of the society, so I joined again this year when I got back to uni. I haven't been to a lot of socials - purely because I've got a lecture that finishes right before they start and I've been at home quite a lot when there's been trips and other events on. But I will try to go to as many as I can before the end of third year.

12. Go to the Sports and Societies Dinner

13. Go to Summer Ball

14. Go on a Ghost Walk
One of the History Society events that I did manage to make it to. I'd wanted to go on a Ghost Walk for ages, but I wanted someone to go with me. It was really good, and I only had to pay £4 (which was even better!) 


15. Go on a River Tour


I'm quite proud of how many I've done, and hopefully I'll have managed a few more by the time Christmas comes around! Except maybe working in the library. 

♥

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Halloween

10:46
 Just a few photos from the Halloween party me and my housemates had on Friday night. We scoured Poundland for some decorations and Sian even made jelly shots (which I arranged into the shape of a spider, but forgot to take a picture of.) I dressed up as Poison Ivy from the Batman universe (and kind of wish it was acceptable to go around in fancy dress all the time!) and I even straightened my hair, which none of my friends in York had seen before. 
 It was my first day at work on Saturday though, so I didn't get to drink much, but I'm still really glad that we had the party. (Even if I was ridiculously nervous about work by the end of the night!)







♥


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Last Week I...

08:38
This was originally supposed to be a 'This Week I...', posted on Sunday but I had a guest in the form of Sam so I didn't end up getting it done. I decided to post it anyway, and I'm thinking about making it a weekly thing. (Although I'm not sure I lead an exciting enough life to keep it up, haha!) I'll see how it goes.

So, last week I...

WENT...to the student lock in at Cath Kidston in York. 
I've been to the lock in at Cath Kidston every year that I've been at university and I was a little bit sad that this was the last one I'll be going to in York. Over the summer I saved some money from babysitting my mam's friend's little boy, and I kept it specifically for the Cath Kidston night. 
I knew exactly what I wanted for myself (after talking it through with my mam on the phone that afternoon) and was also instructed to buy two bags for my aunty, who wanted to take advantage of the 20% discount offered at the student nights. Here's what I ended up with: 

Clockwise L-R from top left:
1. Bits for me: London Buses Small Zipped Handbag, Folk Flowers Folded Zip Wallet & Clifton Rose A6 Diary. 
2. Folk Flowers Folded Zip Wallet
3. Button Spot & Mews Ditsy, and Folk Flowers & Button Spot Reversible Folded Messenger Bags. 
4. Limited edition bag for spending over £40, which I gave to my housemate Hannah because I won't use it. 

SAW...Pride at York Picturehouse. 
This might actually be a contender for my favourite film that I've seen all year. Me and Hannah have been planning on seeing this since we got back to York but only just got round to it. The film is about the gay and lesbian support for Welsh striking miners and their community during the 1980s, to put it briefly. We went last Wednesday because it was cheap ticket day at the Picturehouse and I could use my Orange Wednesday code to get us in for £2.75 each. Being the thrifty students that we are we also took our own popcorn (expertly prepared by Hannah) and drinks. 
It was an amazing and inspiring film that's stayed with me since we saw it. For anyone who hasn't seen it, you should definitely march down to your nearest cinema and see it straight away. Unless, y'know, its 12am and you should really be sleeping like I should be... 

LISTENED TO...A playlist named 'Playlist'
I had a job interview last week and made myself a quick playlist to listen to on the way there to psyche myself up for it. Songs included: 
You're Not Alone - The Enemy 
How Good It Was - The Courteeners
Ready To Go (Get Me Out Of My Mind) - Panic! At The Disco 
Of All The Gin Joints... - Fall Out Boy
and No Tomorrow - Orson
(I don't know where I managed to dig that last one up from, but it's such a good song!)

ATE...Nandos.
Like I said, Sam came to stay in York this weekend and we continued our tradition of Friday tea at Nandos. It felt like forever since I'd been (probably the last time we were in York together) and it was ridiculously yummy...so yummy that I ate more than my share of the chips. Sorry Sam! 

and finally, 
GOT...A JOB!
Yes, you heard it here first, (or not if you saw on Twitter or Facebook) I finallllly managed to get a job! My interview was for a Christmas Temp job at Debenhams in York, and on Thursday I got a phone call to say I'd been successful!
I was so over the moon, and I don't even care that I've got to work Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.  I'm just happy that I'll be able to afford to buy people Christmas presents this year...and maybe one or two things for myself at some point. 

Have you been up to anything exciting recently?

♥


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Ed's Easy Diner Sunderland

08:00
This weekend I was home for the first time this term. I actually arrived back in Sunderland on Wednesday night, went to Newcastle with my Mam on Thursday and did some work in Sunderland uni's library on Friday, before meeting Sam in town for a quick look that night (and accidentally persuading him to buy a PS4...oops). While we were in The Bridges we noticed that Ed's Easy Diner was finally open. We've both been dying to try the one in the Metrocentre, so we were over the moon to find out that Sunderland now has one. On Saturday we made plans to go there for dinner before my train left on Sunday.



When we arrived we were greeted by this lovely cutout, but didn't have to wait long before we were shown to our seats by an actual human. 

Inside it was amazing. Like stepping back into the 1950s...or at least what you'd imagine a 1950s diner to look like anyway! From the red seats, to the checkerboard theme, to the mini jukeboxes along the counter (the proceeds from which all go to charity) it was very cool. There were loads of things I wanted to take photos of but it was a bit busy and I didn't want to look weird!  


First we ordered our drinks, both deciding on a Fountain Favourite - with a choice of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Fanta or Sprite. They were pretty big glasses - bigger than Nando's, for example -  and you can ask for free refills, which for £2.65 I didn't think was too bad. 


When we eventually made up our minds, Sam ordered the Smokey Joe's hamburger (a hamburger with cheese, onions and BBQ sauce) and I chose the Chilli Dog (hotdog topped with chilli con carne & onions, as well as the cheese sauce for an extra £1). We both also chose the 'Ed's Plate' option, where you get your main, fries, onion rings and coleslaw. 



I was quite impressed with the size of the Chilli Dog, and there were just enough fries so I wasn't stuffed after eating them. I'm not usually a fan of onion rings, but the ones we had were lovely. They were nice and crispy, rather than greasy and soggy like ones I've had in the past. 



There are a million and one things I now want to try from their menu, including ‘Ed’uardo's Fiesta hamburger, practically all of their chicken dishes, and the Atomic American Fries. 
I was really sad that I didn't have time to try one of their desserts and milkshakes, everything sounded so yummy. Especially the 'Brownie Points' chocolate brownie & ice cream and either the Butterscotch or Mint Ed's Shakes. 


I'll definitely be going back to Ed's if I can when I'm next at home, even if it is only for a dessert and milkshake! 
Have a look at their amazing menu for yourself here.

♥



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The Last 10 Photos In My Camera Album

08:00
I was out of action for most of last week with a bout of Freshers' flu, which I'm yet to see the back of,  and my first week of lectures for third year, so I didn't manage to get a post up *sad face*

Now, I'm not sure where I saw the idea for this post but I remember thinking it was a really good one. The idea is to post the last 10 photos taken, in this case on my phone, without deleting and with as much or as little explanation as I want to include. 

So here it goes...

1. I sent this photo to my aunty to show her that Heinz had brought out a new soup - how dull does that sound?! We'd both tried a couple of their others and I got a little bit excited when I saw they'd brought out a chorizo flavoured one. As it turns out I didn't really like it much, but there you go. 


 2. This could be the best picture I've ever taken, ha. There was a no delete rule after all!
I took this before I headed to the library on Thursday to get out one of the books on the reading list for my Victorian module. I didn't actually end up taking it out, instead I stayed in the library and made my notes there because there was only one copy and I thought I'd be nice. The next day the chapter was put up online, so I needn't have bothered, but it probably would have taken me longer to finish making notes with the millions of distractions at home. 

3. This was a Snapchat I sent to Sam on Friday that I accidentally saved to my phone. The caption was 'Who needs Costa?' 
Galaxy Ripple hot chocolate with marshmallows though ♥

4. Another picture I sent to Sam, He bought me that book not so long ago because it's about a Suffragette and I'm doing the Women's Suffrage Movement for my dissertation. And it was signed by the authors! I finished it a couple of days ago and I really enjoyed it. Plus the sources listed at the back really helped me in looking for some secondary literature for my dissertation. Entertaining and academically beneficial - I'm such a nerd. 

4. Aww, I took this photo after posting the next photo on Facebook and receiving a comment from my aunty about how there were no pictures of her in sight. So I sent her this to show her that there was a picture of her, just up on the pinboard on my other wall. 

5. This was a present from two of my friends for my 18th birthday. I meant to bring it down to York last year to put up but I forgot, so I made sure it was packed in the car when I came back a couple of weeks ago. I love having it up in my room, and it does cheer me up when I look at it. 
Plus I love how pretty my Ikea fairy lights look!

6. Me and my housemate Hannah on the Battle of the Halls bar crawl last Sunday. This was taken in the toilets of Society - and yes, we are wearing practically the same outfit. It was a complete coincidence, but a bit weird when she came downstairs and was wearing essentially the same thing!


7. Me and Ellen in The Stone Roses Bar. This was the first time I'd been to Stone Roses and it was amazing. Firstly, I discovered that a treble vodka and Fanta Fruit Twist is amazing, and for students is only £2.50, woo! Secondly, the place is pretty damn cool. Anywhere that has pictures of Tom from The Enemy, The Courteeners, The Beatles and The Who (and of course The Stone Roses, but I don't really know anything by them) is my kind of place. And obviously the music was amazing. I've never heard The Enemy on a night out, let alone Little Man Tate. That place actually made my night and I'll definitely be going back at some point!

8. Me and Hannah, Stone Roses, same night. 

9. Hannah and Ellen, Stone Roses, same night. 

10. This is from my first night back in York this term. We got tickets for the UV Paint Party at Salvation and it was the first time I'd ever been to one. I really like this photo, but the Kopparberg in my hand was £4.50 which I didn't like so much. I'll take £2.50 trebles over that any day! 

♥











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Third Year Uni Goals

08:00

At the minute I'm in the middle of a huge internal panic. Something along the lines of: 
"Oh my god, I'm in my third year of uni. I've got so much to do. I need to do research. I need to be organised. Soon enough it'll be Christmas and I'll need to start revising. Then it'll be February and I'll be 21. OH MY GOD I'm nearly 21."
And term hasn't even officially started yet.

So, instead of letting myself panic, I decided to make some goals that will (hopefully) keep me a bit more organised and, well, a little bit more sane. 

1. Don't over-stress about your dissertation. 
I decided this should be number 1 because I've already started worrying about it. Well, more about the fact that I've got to travel home to do my research, as well as going to uni, doing work for my other modules and looking for a job. (I'm looking at you Student Finance.) I'm sure after Christmas I'll start panicking about the small matter of writing 12,000 words, but for now that's not worrying me too much. 
So, I'm going to try not to stress about it as much as I can. Everyone is in pretty much the same boat, and worrying about it all the time won't make it get done any faster. 

2. Do the reading before lectures!
I've started every term so far with the best intentions to do the recommended reading before I go to lectures. And I usually do well for the first few weeks. But somewhere between assignments, making cake and watching TV with my housemates I eventually forget about it. Which has led me to spend more lectures than I'd like to admit staring blankly at the powerpoint, making notes about people and things I've never heard of.  That, and finding answers to discussion points from Wikipedia during seminars. Not ideal. 
This year I'm definitely going to try and keep up with the reading. I'm hoping using Timeful to plan out my day when I'm not at uni might help me find time to do so. 

3. Start assignments/revision early.
I usually start the research for my assignments pretty early, but I sometimes leave the bulk of the writing until the last minute. I've never done badly in an essay, but starting to write my essays earlier would be a whole lot less stressful. 
My real problem is with revision. For some reason since I left college I've started to think that the Christmas holidays is enough time to revise for the January exams. It's not. 
After a couple of disappointing marks when we got our results for last year's exams, I promised myself that I'd start things earlier this year. And I fully intend to.

4. Make the most of being at uni. 
Pretty self explanatory really. This is my last year of being in full time education for the time being. I don't want to regret not doing more once I've left uni. So I'm going to try and make the most of the time I've got left in York before I leave uni and have to be a grown up. (Not that I'm ever planning on really growing up of course!). 

♥


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Glasgow Summer Sessions 2014

09:39
As you might know, The Killers are one of my favourite bands in the world. I've seen them live quite a few times and think they're amazing, but my Dad wasn't totally convinced. That was until we saw them headline Sunday night at T in the Park last year. So, when he found out that they were headlining the second Glasgow Summer Sessions gig, supported by Miles Kane and The Courteeners, he bought tickets straight away. I was so excited, with my holiday and afternoon tea already planned in August, a trip to see The Killers was the icing on the cake. 


OOTD - New Courteeners tee





I love Miles Kane, we also saw him at T in the Park last year and that was the only time I'd ever seen him live. I was over the moon when he was in the line up. His set was so good, and I think the highlights were definitely Don't Forget Who You Are and Come Closer. 

Love this photo!




The Courteeners are another of my favourite bands. I must have seen them five or six times and they're brilliant. Seeing them in Glasgow was mental though. Before their set the crowd seemed to double, and it was packed. I don't usually mind it when people go a bit nuts at gigs, but during their first couple of songs I couldn't actually stay on my feet because I was being pushed around so much, I'm only little you know! My sister ended up falling over and I almost had someone stand on my leg. Which scared me a bit because I remember being at a gig and hearing about a girl who'd had her leg broken because she'd fallen over and someone had stood on it. Once we moved out of the way a bit it wasn't bad, but their set kind of passed me by and I didn't like the atmosphere much.


Now, once The Courteeners' set had finished I was ridiculously hungry - we hadn't eaten since two - so we headed out of the crowd to get something to eat. All that was on offer was chips and burgers etc,  and I was so hungry that I'd started to feel a bit ill. I ate my chips but they only made me feel worse.

 I hate being ill at gigs - I powered through The Panic! At The Disco Fiasco of 2012 but had to leave when I was bad at You Me At Six. Sadly, this ended up being more like the latter. I tried to stay as long as I could, but ended up sitting in the First Aid tent while my Dad and Hannah watched The Killers outside, until my Dad decided we needed to go.

I was gutted that I missed The Killers - especially when I found out the next day that they'd covered Don't You Forget About Me by Simple Minds - and I felt really bad that my Dad and sister had had to leave too. I did get to hear A Dustland Fairytale and From Here On Out (accompanied once again by Brandon asking the crowd if they'd brought their dancing shoes), both of which I love live, but sadly I didn't get any photos from their set.

But Brandon Flowers has a new solo album coming out next year, and has recently suggested that the band are only taking a break. So hopefully I'll get to see them soon, and make up for The Missed Killers' Set of 2014.
♥


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Afternoon Tea At The Vintage Powder Room And Tea Shop

09:23
I wasn't back from my holiday long before I was off on my second bloggers' outing. This time, me and Kayleigh met Chloe and Lisa and headed to The Vintage Powder Room in Whitley Bay for afternoon tea with Shivani and Emma, who were meeting us there. The Vintage Powder Room is amazing. Not only is there a gorgeous tea room, they also have a 1950s Hollywood Glamour inspired powder room with a whole load of beauty treatments on offer. It might be the cutest place I've ever seen.  

The powder room was our first stop, as Chloe had booked to get her hair done and Kayleigh was getting her nails done. Inside they had the coolest Marilyn Monroe wallpaper, white dressing tables and a rail of vintage dresses. With the makeovers, hairdos and manicures on offer, it would be the perfect place for a hen parties, or even a birthday party. While we waited we drank pink lemonade, dashed around taking photos and chatted to Laura, the beautician who was doing Chloe's hair and Kayleigh's nails. (I say 'we', but I'm still a little on the shy side so the others did most of the talking - I'm great at listening though!) 














Once Laura was finished, Chloe's hair and Kayleigh's nails looked lovely, and we then headed into the tea room for our afternoon tea. As a North East blogger it feels like some sort of crime to say this but I'd never been for afternoon tea before, so I was totally in awe of the table full of food that awaited us. There were smoked salmon & cream cheese and cucumber finger sandwiches, scones with butter, jam and cream (plain scones, thank god - I absolutely hate fruit scones!), meringues filled with jam and cream and the most amazing individual sized Victoria Sandwiches. Seriously, every time I look at the photos of them my mouth starts watering! We also had leaf tea served in cute vintage style teapots, cups and saucers as well as coffee and pink lemonade. For my first time having afternoon tea, I was really impressed with everything, and at £12 per person I wasn't complaining!











I'm so glad I went, it was a really nice day and I was so happy that I had my first afternoon tea in such a lovely place! It was nice meeting Emma and Shivani, and getting to know Chloe and Lisa a little better. (But next time I will talk more!) I think there are plans for some more similar outings, but as I'm heading back to York next week I'm gutted that I'll probably miss them! I might just have to plan some dissertation research trips to coincide with future cake dates... 


♥



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