Road to University! Week NineFollow my blog with Bloglovin

Too cool for school...yeaa,
maybe not.

Well hasn't the weather suddenly taken a turn for the worst. It's so depressing! It also doesn't help that I have two coats, neither of which protects from the rain. The one I'm wearing at the minute, which is the thinner of the two, doesn't have a hood but my other coat isn't helpful as, 1. Isn't waterproof and 2. Should only be worn in arctic conditions. So I'm turning up to most of my lectures looking like a drowned rat. What a great way to make friends.

Sorry about not posting last week but I'm not gonna lie, I couldn't be bothered. It was a mixture of a pile of work and listening to Connor Maynard's 'RU Crazy' on repeat...don't judge.

I thought, seeing as though the weeks are becoming repetitive and I'm in the same routine I would write about something else so you (and I) don't get bored. So, this week it's all about FOOD! I mean I can't go wrong because who doesn't like food!

Here's a run down of the meals I've had this week:

 Tuesday- Chicken and ham pancakes
Made by my mum and dad and stored in my freezer this is one of the best meals in the world! A pancake day pancake stuffed with chicken and ham in a mushroom sauce covered in cheese and cooked until crispy. Just nom.

 Wednesday- Toad in the hole
This has become my wednesday staple as ever since I've been here I've had it every wednesday. How can you go wrong with a fried onion yorkshire pudding and sausage!?! The only problem is that it takes me about an hour to make as I work at the speed of a snail and I just get too excited!

 Thursday- Sausages and gravy with cheese and herb scones
Yes, this is a bit of a weird combination but (insert foodgasm noise here). It's all so good! Whats even better is that it didn't take me that long to make and it was just so delicious!

 Friday- Garlic pizza toast (and a sneaky bacon sandwich!)
So easy to make and sometimes i just have a craving for it. Probably takes 10 minutes to make overall and is a quick substitute for actual pizza. As for the bacon sandwich, the bacon was cooking and it was a moment of weakness!

Saturday- Stuffed chicken wrapped in shortcrust pastry
This has to be one of the proudest moments of my ENTIRE life! I made everything, the pastry, the stuffing I even butterflied the chicken to get the stuffing inside. It tasted so good! So proud.

Hope you enjoyed this little look at my diet, not the best but as long as it tastes good I don't really care! Hope there's a lot of food envy and see you next week!

Road to University! Week Eight

I'm feeling that this blog may need a name change but then it would 'disrupt the flow' and my OCD tendencies may go into overdrive so I might just leave it as it is. 

My lectures this week were introductory ones to the modules we'll be studying for the rest of the year and it's made me really excited for the course! This week are the start of my seminars so I'll see if I'm still as enthusiastic, but I had one yesterday and I enjoyed it SO much! Is that sad? Oh well. 

My Tea- thought it
was a nice picture

I'm starting to understand two things this week:
1. Why people have money problems.
2. Why people go to a campus university so they are a safe distance away from a city centre to not murder their purse on a daily basis. 

It's good that I am close to the centre as I am only 5 minutes away from my lectures and all the walking means that I don't have to consciously think about doing exercise (which is probably the best perk...I hate exercise). But it just means that if I'm bored I just think "Hmm..Costa is only 5 minutes away, it wouldn't kill my purse, I'll just go and have one small decaf mocha latte". This then turns into a drink, a packet of crisps and either toast or a muffin depending on what time of the day it is. Somebody please stop me.

Venus Fly Trap

Threadbare

I don't improve the money problems by going to a student lock in, into a packed Topshop, grabbing things that I've been eyeing up for weeks and literally sprinting to the till before anyone tries to steal it from me, which would never happen but you never know. Here are my purchase, and before you wonder if I went to any other shops, I couldn't do it to myself.

 I can't explain how much I love this bag. It's just so beautiful and green! In other news the freshers ball was last Sunday and it was really good. My only issue is that my shoes are ridiculously gorgeous but also quite uncomfortable after extreme dancing so it wasn't a late one. But Matt Edmondson and and Wretch 32 turned up and gave some good performances.

So I'm looking forward to another week of learning and working and I'll see you next week! I'll leave you with a picture of Wretch. 

Road to University! Week Seven

Hola again! As if it's week seven! Time seems to be flying by but I don't seem to have done anything at all! Hopefully, since my course starts this week, I'll be given some work to do so I can do something other than have the urge to bake. 

So, today (Tuesday) I didn't have any lectures, or seminars or anything on at all so i took a walk into the centre of Nottingham, which basically means that I walked 2 minutes down the road to buy some mushrooms from Tesco and try not to buy excessive amounts of things I don't need in River Island. 

Oh, and Jameela Jamil
came to Oceana...
no big deal.

Today's day off, however, was a well deserved day of rest from yesterdays full on day! We were all sent out into the centre of Nottingham to ask random passers by what their opinions were on the George Osborne's new 'work in benefits' scheme. After about an hour things were going well, me and my partner Demi were halfway through the amount of people that we needed and we were feeling pretty good. Then, we were interviewing an 81 year old woman and about halfway through a man came up to us and started telling us how he hated journalists and that we were the 'scum of the Earth', etc. Demi continued to talk to the woman whilst the man was explaining to me how he had just been let out of prison...today. Yeah, this was when i started to get concerned. so after about a 10 minute rant he told me to follow him over to a bench, which I did because I was so creeped out, where he pulled out a chalk drawings. the first one he pulled out was of a dog and he said 'This is you, the journalist. A dog that just snaps at peoples heels trying to get the story, just talking rubbish...' cue him showing a picture of a rubbish bin. This was when things started getting too strange so we left him to it and went and hid in Primark.

I think that the moral of this story is don't talk to ex-convicts...yes it's that simple. See you next week where there may be more university related stories! 

Road to University! Week Six

Well I'm finally here! It's the start of the next 3 years of my life and I'm really excited to get cracking. Now that I'm here I can see myself here. I'm looking forward to getting my room fully sorted and properly settling in.

Army night!

As of writing this I've been out 4 nights in a row with tonight being my night off, otherwise I'll fall asleep in the middle of the street. So far, so good and still a lot more to go! Just one problem though...I can feel a cough coming on, and when I get a cough, I really get a cough. There are two stages to my illness:
1.The pathetic "this isn't really a cough but I have to get it out of my system" cough, which usually generates looks of why bother you're not even ill, and
2.The dangerous "seriously I'm about to cough up a lung someone please help me" vomit cough, which could be seen to get an even worse response as some people think it's too forced and you're attention seeking.

Hopefully it won't get any worse but I sincerely doubt it.

So far my room is feeling pretty cosy with my bright green furnishings and every leaflet I've been given telling me to go to such and such club on such and such night I have stuck on my wall making a 'leaflet collage' if you will. I can't wait until I've finally found a place for everything so it feels like a proper home away from home. Also I've been very lucky that my flat mates are amazing and I'm really looking forward to getting to know them in the next year!

Although my finances so far haven't been a problem, I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that I don't over spend and forget to budget...and buy food!

So, by next week freshers will have finished, I'll have started my course and things will be getting real! Hopefully my illness will be gone so i will be able to fully enjoy my experience. See you next week!

Road to University! Week Five

Okay, this is the week. The week! It's come around so fast and I don't think I'm ready! As per I've left everything until the last minute and I still need to sort through all of my stuff, ahh! Since I've just been buying things and adding it to the huge pile I haven't gone through it until recently and I now realise I think I have way too much! I think I have about 4 wooden spoons, which seems pointless as I won't be entering the bake off anytime soon. 

Okay so I've just packed all of my things and I currently have 4 plastic boxes, 1 cardboard box, 1 Ikea bag, 1 tesco bag and 2 suitcases! I think I underestimated how much I've bought and how much I already have. It's way too much! But I think that that's everything now and I don't need to buy anything else, *fingers crossed*. 

I'm really sorry that this weeks blog has been short and sweet but not much has really happened this week other than general uni prep and packing. I had my last shift at work but I'm going back in December and I had my little leaving party with my friends and it was really cute. Today (tuesday) I'm going to visit my friend Megan which is exciting and then I move on Friday...EEEEK!

So to all of you that are going to university or starting something new good luck and I hope it all works out and goes to plan. See you next week where I'll show you around my new home! Bye!

I'll leave you with the attractive pictures for my student card ^_^

Road to University! Week Four

So it's dawning on me that late next week I'll be in my new home with 5 strangers preparing to start a new chapter in my life. AHHH!!! I haven't decided whether I'm excited or nervous so I've settled on nervcited (which really should be a word!). 

This week has been all about the finishing touches. I've been buying the final things I need, finding out what I need to do the day I arrive and keep checking the 'congratulations' email to make sure that I actually have been accepted and that I actually am going to university! 

I realised that I'm buying all of these new things that I'm going to be taking but I don't actually know what out of my things I'm going to be taking. So I've been having a little thinkle and I still don't know! I want to take everything but I can't so I'm going to have to majorly cut down which is going to be hard. Something I'm going to miss from my current bedroom are my framed magazine collages so I've customised something I am allowed to take with me to remind me of home. My dad gave me this pen pot and it was clear so I just collaged a piece of paper and slotted it in. I think it looks really good (if I do say so myself!).

I mentioned in my first post that for my course I had to read at least two newspapers a week and keep up to date on the newsy websites. I think I've taken it a bit to the extreme. This picture shows this weeks bundle of fun which should keep me occupied for a few days! As well as these I seem to be forever on the BBC news and the Halifax Courier websites constantly pressing refresh. Safe to say I'm fully up to date with all things Syria.

Yesterday a little package of excitement came through my letterbox. Nottingham Trent university sent me all of the things I'll need to know for freshers and I'm starting to get super excited! I can't stop reading through all of the societies, freshers nights, trips, etc. EEEEK! If anyone else is as excited as me please let me know because I feel like an idiot typing the excitement by myself!

So, this time next week I'll be super nervcited! Hopefully this week I'll do something a little bit more interesting to share! See you next week!

Road to University! Week Three

Happy Tuesday! Two weeks to go, AH! I think it's starting to sink in now that I'll be leaving my lovely purple bedroom behind to move to a blinding lime green one (the blindness is completely self inflicted!). Over the past few weeks I've been  slowly preparing myself with the skills I'll need whilst I'm at university. I already feel like a domestic goddess, sat here with my cappuccino after cleaning the bathroom, with a load of washing in the machine. 

This week the burning question has been 'What am I actually going to eat!?'. I really like to cook and bake anyway (just remembered bake off is on tonight, excited!) but whenever I cook a meal there's always someone there to help me with measurements and whether it looks right. So I've decided to take the plunge and just go for it! If it turns out wrong then I'll just try again! 

These are Rosemary and cheese scones which I made to go with a beef and ale stew my parents made. They are so yum and are a recipe from Paul Hollywood's bread. I've made them with help before but this was my first time completely unassisted. They were really easy to make and probably took me 45 minutes all together including cooking time. I think that the instructions are full proof and are really nice warm and I think could be really nice with soup. I also had them cold for my lunch the next day with butter on and they were delicious! I think they'd be a really good thing to make in bulk and take on the go or when I can't be bothered to make something.

These lilac little things are earl grey cupcakes. The recipe is once that I found on the internet from the Hummingbird Bakery. Normally I enjoy making cupcakes but this recipe was really strange and the cakes came out really dense. But the icing was really nice and earl grey-ey so next time I think I might make a normal cake but with this icing. But to say they took me about 2 hours to make they turned out okay...? I think I might just make some normal chocolate ones tomorrow to build up my baking self esteem. Is that normal?

This bowl of what looks like vomit is actually what I had for my lunch today, so don't judge. It's pasta with a tomato sauce. I've been practising making sauces loads this week because when I'm at uni that's probably what I'm going to be eating all of the time! I think I've got the hang of making pasta which is good because there was a point where I was eating raw pasta.

So I think that I had a pretty productive week this week! It was really yummy as well! I also found out that I can take my coffee machine with me, yey! So happy, I don't think I could actually live without it! So I'll leave you with a picture of my baby and I'll see you next week!

Road to University! Week Two

Another week of preparing for university has passed and I can happily say that it's been very productive! My little collection of spoons and tissues has exploded with things I didn't even know existed never mind that I needed. It's really exciting, but it's at the point now where I can barely walk to my wardrobe, and I need to get dressed! Also I've still got a ton more stuff to buy!

So since this week has been mostly about collecting the essentials (and some not so essentials!) I thought I'd share some of the important items and what they're for to help some of you who are going to university or even just moving into a place of your own if you didn't really know what you needed to buy. I'll warn you now...it's very green.

This is probably the best example to me not having a clue to the type of things I need. My auntie bought me this in a 'university bundle' after passing my exams (it's great cause everything is green!). This is a floor and surface cleaner that is in a gel like form. Is it bad that I didn't think I'd have to clean floors...and/or surfaces...don't judge me. It's in a handy size and smells quite nice for a floor cleaner so this might make cleaning fun (heres hoping!). Also I know it's going to work well as I know that Flash are a good floor cleaning brand so my new floors and surfaces will be getting quality!


These products are also things that I know we have in my house but I didn't even think I would need it! The products on the left are J-cloths, but much nicer as they match my green theme instead of being blue and stripy. I know, I have a problem. Thinking about it now, I actually use these to wipe up crumbs and stains a lot so I'd be pretty lost without these. On the right there is a febreze, New Zealand scent spray. I've heard from all of the adverts that it's used to make the air in a room smell nice but I've never actually used one and seen one used. Does that make me smelly? I don't think so. 

So when I was thinking of things to buy for my flat and room, these things as well as the obvious bedding and decoration spring to mind. I really enjoy cooking and baking (which will be explained more in next weeks post as I hope to be blitzing the kitchen) and whenever I go into shops like Lakeland I literally have a baking orgasm...seriously. I'm hoping to do some baking whilst I'm there, even though I know I'm going to be busy, I'm determined to bake! As you can see I still kept the green theme in my silicone cupcake tray, but sometimes it's hard to keep it going! The cutest thing in my little 'cook's collection' is my onion dome (the plastic domed container on the right). I just think it's super cute! It's to use when I chop half an onion to save the rest for later. I love onions so I think I'm going to get a lot of use from this.


These things are going to be my saviours in freshers week! Ibuprofen for all of the headaches, Rennies for all of my bloated needs and vitamin C so I'm not a zombie. But, you know, always..drink..responsibly..? (Go crazy!)


So that's the end of this week's post! Hope it helped some of you with some of the things that you might need to buy before moving into a place of your own. Have a good week and I'll see you later!

            My room is literally an IKEA

Road to University! Week One

It's been 5 days since I found out my results and I am beyond excited to start university, but I never actually realised how much there was to do! In less than a month I'll be heading off to Nottingham Trent to study Print Journalism and everyone will see my sexy face everywhere (jokes!). 

I never really realised what a huge deal it was moving out, being by myself in the big wide world. It's like I am ready to be on my own, to have my own space (and new things!), but at the same time I don't have a clue how TO live on my own. I mean I can bake and decorate 12 cupcakes no problem, but when I attempt to cook pasta it's like chewing on plastic, delicious! However, I have a month to perfect the issues so who knows, i might be a pasta making pro by the time I leave!

For me, this week on the 'road to university' has been all about celebrating my results and making sure I confirm my place so I don't turn up in September and they've given my place away (which knowing me would probably happen). So excited to move into my new room in Gill Street South as it's brand new so it'll be squeaky clean when I move in! I've checked my confirmation emails probably a hundred times to make sure I've not missed anything, and I haven't although I'm still not convinced. Also this week I had my claim to fame after being featured in the Halifax Courier. Only my picture but still, better than nothing at all. I do think that my face is at it's best when I'm in mid speech...not.

For my course induction I've been given the task of reading many, many newspapers and keeping up to date on all things current. So far I think I'm doing quite well, however I have noticed that the news in my local area isn't too exciting, but I'm persevering! Some of the things I've found out from reading the different types of newspapers, like The Observer compared to the Daily Mirror, has made me really excited for the course. I cannot wait to get cracking! However, I still feel like there is a long way to go and I need to make the 10 'o' clock news seem more exciting. 

Probably the BEST thing about going to university for me was that it was an excuse to buy my very first laptop! I know, I'm very selfish. I already have an iPad but I have always wanted a macbook and thanks to a long serving savings account my dreams came true! The only problem is that I think I may be slightly addicted...don't judge me. I'm not the most 'tech savvy' though so I had to be told by multiple people the amount of memory I need and if I need an external hard drive or not, so whilst they were sorting that out, I was picking out a pretty case (I went with turquoise in case you wondered). I just need to remember that when I actually get to university I need to use my laptop for all the right reasons, and not get addicted to minesweeper which I've already downloaded...

So congratulations to all who passed and are going in the same direction I am. I can tell it's going to be an amazing journey and I hope that you come along for the ride!