Gingerbread men

Yesterday I did a spot of Christmas baking with some friends. After much deliberation of what to bake we decided on gingerbread men as they are Christmassy, fairly easy to make and extremely yummy! The recipe we used is http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/christmas_gingerbread_84244 and it worked out perfectly! :)

December

So this time last year I hadn't been feeling very festive, however this year is a different story! Since the 1st December i've been way too into Christmas. From going to three Christmas markets, Christmas ball at Uni, decorating my room, baking, getting an advent calender, watching Christmas films, Christmas shopping and of course eating lots of Chocolate! I finished uni today for the holidays and I get a whole month off so cannot wait to see my friends and family and have much needed catch ups with everybody! After a stressful couple of weeks it's nice to be at home in my own bed even though all of my friends are going out tonight celebrating the end of term and my friends 21st Birthday and I desperately want to be there!!

                                         Some photos from the past few weeks :)

The Black Keys

Last night I went watching the black keys at the MEN arena with my boyfriend Jamie, my brother Daniel and best friend Laura. I got my brother tickets as part of his Christmas present and he loved it! The Maccabees supported them who were really good and the black keys were amazing! We had standing tickets and were right at the front which was really cool. I had never been standing at the MEN before and being a shorty at 5'2 was a bit scared that I was going to get squashed but thankfully I didn't! Overall it was a really fun night! :) 

Maya Angelou

'I've learned that people will forget what you said & what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.' - Maya Angelou 

Bastille

I recently bought tickets for me and my best friend Hannah to go and watch Bastille live next year. We are already so excited even though it is still quite a while off. We stumbled across this cover they did of What would you do by City High, it's amazing! :)

Nirvana

I absolutely love Nirvana! If only Kurt Cobain were alive today, the things I would do to him!

Hibernation

The weather outside is so terrible at the moment, cold, wet and miserable! I now understand why animals get fat and hibernate during the winter months. It's such a struggle to get up everyday and treck to my lectures or library, even though I live on campus and it only takes less than five minutues! It could be much worse though, I could live off campus and have to get the bus like last year! To my friends, if I don't see you for a while it's because I'm snug in bed with a brew and a good book! 

Saint Augustine

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~Saint Augustine 

I think that everyone should go on an adventure at least once in their lifetime! :)

Wanderlust

For some reason I cannot stop listening to this song! :)

A lovely weekend

This last weekend was really lovely! I went home from uni to see my cousins, one who had just turned 18 and the other had just returned from a holiday in Australia! It was really nice hearing all of his stories from his travels, I NEED to go travelling there asap! I then ventured over to Leeds to visit my boyfriend for the rest of the weekend. In the morning I baked some yummy shortbread biscuits and then headed off for my train. We had a chilled weekend watching films, going for a lovely stroll and we went bowling! On the Monday evening we went to revs for tea and then to watch Frank Turner play at the o2 academy, he was amazing! Such a good gig, and because we were on the balcony I actually got to see the whole thing rather than get squashed and pushed around which was a nice change! I got to meet up with one of my best friends Claire too who's at uni in Leeds, we had a wander around the German Christmas markets which has really got me looking forward to Christmas now :)

Geeks

                              Dressed up as geeks for my friends 21st birthday :)

Foals - Inhaler

Into the wild

If you have never seen this film before what have you been doing with your life?! It is amazing! I watched it about 2 years ago after a friend recommended it and this summer I read the book which was also incredible. It is based on a true story about a man who gives up all of his wordly possessions and sets of on an adventure travelling America, basically as a tramp, meeting weird and wonderful people on the way until he reaches his final destination of Alaska. It is quite an emotional story but one that I think many can relate to as he shows that you don't actually need material possessions in your life such as money or a nice car etc to make you happy. Watch it and enjoy! :)

Twin Atlantic

For part of my best friends birthday present I got her tickets to go and watch Twin Atlantic. We had been to see them around this time last year and seeing as they're one of our favourite bands we were due another trip to one of their gigs. As usual it rained, and I mean poured it down, which is nothing new for going to a gig in Manchester so to keep from the wet and cold we went to costa coffee and tried the Christmas drinks. We had Crème brûlée lattes and honeycomb hot chocolate, so so yummy! Supporting them were Dead Sara who we had never heard of but were quite good and Charlie Simpson. As Twin Atlantic came on we got pushed really close to the front and got a lovely view of Sam McTrusty :P We took my little cousin with us (I say little, she's nearly 18!) and I had to hold on to her throughout the gig so we didn't lose each other. As various mosh pits formed around us it became apparent that we'd have to join in and have a little mosh which was fun, apart from when an extremely sweaty guy literally wiped his sweaty back on my face! How cheeky! Afterwards we had to sprint along Oxford Road to get our train back home, we only just made it! It was such a good night and definitely one of the best gigs I've been to this year! :) 

Halloween

I absolutely love Halloween! Getting dressed up in a scary costume and freaking people out is fun! It's also my best friends birthday on Halloween so we always get to have some sort of party. This year was extra special as it was her 21st so of course we had a massive party to celebrate and then went out in town. The night was so much fun although I have been nursing a horrific hangover for the majority of today. Was totally worth it though :)

The xx - Angels

Cool Dudes

                                                                      :D

....

'Never being able to say the word "Mummy" again in your life sounds like a small thing. However, for many, including me, it's now just a word- hollow and only evoking memories' Prince William, 2009.

Plum Clafoutis

Last weekend me and my boyfriend made a yummy plum clafoutis. I had never attempted to make one before and it turned out to be really easy and really delicious! I adapted the recipe from here- http://www.abrowntable.com/2012/08/damson-plum-clafoutis.html 

The finished product :)

Bastille - Flaws

The Lumineers- Ho Hey

My new American flatmate Matt showed me this song, I cannot stop listening to it! :)

The Girl

Summer is coming to a close (3)

So having been away for around 7 weeks I had one day at home again then we were off to Denmark for a hockey weekend. My brother and my cousin played in a European tournament and their team came 2nd overall. It was a huge achievement considering it was a senior tournament and their first season as a senior squad! The city we stayed at was called Aarhus and was lovely and everyone was really friendly! Three of us girls went to have a wander around and stumbled across a gathering of people, after being slightly confused as to what was going on a lovely Danish lady explained that they were waiting for the European Capital of Culture 2017 to be revealed. Aarhus won and so we got to celebrate with all of the locals which was really cool! :)

After an exhausting 2 months I had a few relaxing weeks at home seeing family and friends and then my boyfriend took my to Edinburgh for the weekend, we went to the zoo and got to see the giant pandas!! 

By being so busy this summer and going to see all of these beautiful places I have definitely caught the travelling bug! I think my next destination has got to be Australia and South East Asia. First I have to go back to uni and finish my degree, I move back this weekend and only have one year left! It's quite exciting and also quite sad, time has flown by too quickly!

Summer is coming to a close (2)

After returning home from Florida I had one day at home before setting off on an amazing month long adventure with my two best friends Hannah and Laura! We went inter-railling around Europe, meeting some friends along the way and also making friends with lots of interesting people. We had been planning the trip for over a year and it definitely lived up to what we hoped it would be like! We started off in Amsterdam and the route we travelled saw us go through Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Zagreb, Split, Hvar, Ancona, Rome, Venice, Pisa, Nice and last stop Barcelona! We stayed in each city between 1-3 nights and my favourite places has got to be Prague and also all of the places we visited in Croatia. 

Between the three of us we probably have over 1000 photos so i've just picked the best ones that sum up the adventure :)