Got the lurgy (yet again)

So I've been moaning for a while about various illnesses and although people wouldn't believe it I've actually been I'll for two months now. I had tonsillitis then a chesty cough then a stomach bug and now a cold, chesty cough and tonsillitis again, woo! Now I do my best to ignore it but as you can imagine, it's kind of boring now.
It's rather unusual to be ill at Christmas AND new year with two different things. Anyway, I have had a good festive season despite it all, involving a lot of time spent on the sofa.
My intention for new year is to see how little I can get ill, I'm not usually one for resolutions but this seems like a good idea.
So as I get back to my normal eating habits and lay feverishly on the sofa, I'll hope for the best.
Happy 2012 everyone, I hope it's a good year for everyone.

And yes, my iPhone is amazing!

My lovely Christmas presents, oh and I also got 3 scarves!

My new fluffy friend

Merry Christmas

Unfortunately the usual over-indulging this Christmas was cancelled this year due to a stomach bug I acquired on Christmas eve.

However,
I am now the proud owner of an 
iPhone 4S


and lots of other lovely things, that is all (for now).

Festive Times

I've been having a lovely time recently! I've been home from uni a week now, I have worked a lot but have been really enjoying my job and catching up with everyone.


I went to a Birthday party on Thursday at work and went next door to play with the boys on the Wii (can't call it babysitting anymore!) on Friday.


I was off this weekend and went to pick out a Christmas tree in the snow with my Dad, then I decorated it with old and new decorations. All alongside Micheal Bublé!

My favourite decoration, rather oddly, is a gold chair!

Yesterday my Dad died my hair for me (he's a perfectionist so does it well!). I went for a brighter red than last time and I love it! 

Last night was the staff Christmas party at work so I curled my new hair and we went tenpin bowling. It was good fun, although I went downhill after winning my first game I came third in the next two. After our chicken, fries and burger platter we went back to the pub for free drinks and exchanged secret santa presents.

Everyone opened theirs one by one and had to guess who it was from. I got a perfume set from someone that I actually only met yesterday for the first time! There was some really funny presents and lots of alcohol presents!

This is the present I got for my secret Santa, Socks, Chocolate and Hot Chocolate, she loved it!

Another busy week this week leading up to christmas, I'm working a lot including christmas eve. Tomorrow I'm going with friends to Birmingham Christmas market and for some last minute christmas shopping, on Wendnesday I have a baking date with Ivy to attempt to make some christmas goodies.

I've been drinking lots of these in the cold weather.

How kind are they to us? We have a new PURPLE dress for work, i love it!

I hope everyone else is having a lovely build up to their Christmas. I'm very excited for another family Christmas!

Home Sweet Home

After the most hectic end of term Ever I have arrived home! After starting placement and having tonsillitis I got more ill and ended up coming home for a few days for some TLC. But then it was back to uni for the last week of school, two assignments and an exam. Illness and stress meant I was counting down the days to come home more than ever.

On Friday (when it was all over) me and the housemates cooked our house Christmas dinner which was delicious!

Then exchanged our secret santa presents and I got a lovely Cath Kidston journal and a Starbucks Christmas mug. We spent the rest of the night playing the 'Gender Wars' game that I got for my secret santa.

Oh and my inhaler, due to a laughter induced coughing fit!

I spent yesterday morning packing and cleaning then drove back to a lovely warm house. After a few hours I was off for my first shift at work since August which was strange. Lots of new people had started but I instantly felt welcomed again and was invited to the Christmas party. I found out my shifts for the next few weeks and they're perfect, not too many, not too little and only working Christmas eve, holiday-wise.

Today I'm having a relaxing day, the first day in a while where I haven't had something to do. I have all my Christmas presents bought and most wrapped so I'm getting excited and can start planning time seeing friends over the break from uni.

It feels so good to be home and to have made it through the first term of 3rd year!

Listography- Top 5 Gadgets

This is a good topic for me :)

1. Laptop- of course! I seriously could not live without the internet or my laptop, for work, for play and everything else.

2. Smart Phone - namely the iPhone, my most wanted gadget.

3. Digital Camera- I love experimenting with photography and capturing moments that I do not want to forget.

source

4. Straighteners- a need for me! Without them I would be unhappy, unfortunately.

5.Microwave- I've been very lazy recently and very appreciative of dinner that can be cooked in 5 minutes. Unfortunately, the microwave cake didn't turn out too well so I think an oven would be a close 6th place. Oh and a kettle.....

a pizza microwave? yes please!

25 Things I like about myself

The wonderful Ivy did this lovely post and I thought It'd make me feel good :)

01. My Mum is my best friend. I can only hope to be so close to my children, she's always there for me and we have lots of fun. I love her.

02. I love my family. I love spending time with my grandma and my parents, My dad is amazing and they always make me happy.

03. I am cheerful. Generally people laugh with (or at) me.

04. I am sociable. I will talk to anyone and this means I have a lot of friends which I love.

05. I am confident. I don't hold back.

06. I can drive. I don't need to rely on anyone else, I can just pop in my car.

07. I am independent. I don't feel like I'm a burden to anyone else because I'm happy doing things alone.

08. I'm not too hard on myself. I will let myself have a break, like now for example, I feel really poorly in bed so I thought this would be more beneficial than uni work.

09. I can work hard when I need to. Like my GCSE's and A Level's for example.

10. I am positive. I think this helps me in getting things done, getting jobs .etc. because I assume 'I can'. I generally look on the bright side of everything.

11. I have wonderful friends. I will walk away from friendship if it's not good for me. But the friends I have, old and new, are awesome.

12. I love my university course. I cannot wait to be a Primary School teacher!

13. My hair. I have very curly, thick hair. Sometimes I like this, It styles quite well, straight or curly.

14. My hair colour. My hair is brilliant at absorbing hair dye, for example, I dyed my hair red a year ago and when I wear it down it is still obviously red without an obvious line where it has grown out.

15. I am immature and proud. I love to watch Disney movies and be taken back to childhood. I'll be the one in the shop buying stickers and a Disney princess cup!

16. I can cook and bake. When I feel like it, it turns out pretty well.

17. I am creative. Not in the skilled painters way but I think of original ideas and sometimes like to make things.

18. I'm a geek. I love gadgets.

19. I'm tidy. I like to live in a neat place where everything has a space.

20. I can spoil myself. I'm good at buying myself little things that cheer me up.

21. I'm productive. I get satisfied by ticking off lists.

22. I'm easily amused. Even if I really want to be sad, I can't. People can always cheer me up.

23. I don't let money hold me back. As a student I will go out for meals,nights out and go shopping in M&S Food (not all the time!) because I want to!

24. I help others. Whether It's giving to charity, being an emotional support to a friend or babysitting for mum's friends, I don't  mind.

25. I like my own space sometimes. I can now be in my own company and  be happy (something I couldn't do as a child).

There we go, that was difficult and I may have repeated myself but it made me feel better. :)

Listography- Randoms

I intended to do a 'HAPPY 100th POST!!!' but since I missed it, Happy 102nd Post!


Anyway, this week's listography is- Top 5 Randoms.


The random things that I love are-


1. The sound of the rain, under my umbrella and on the window at night. And when I'm really in the mood I love the feel of the rain and I just want to dance outside and get soaked, but only sometimes.

source

2. I love the smell of Christmas, my house smells like Christmas every time I go home through the uni year. I think the best way to describe it is spice, nature and warmth.

source

3. Having a mental list of everything I need/want to do when I get on the computer. After checking facebook, blogger and my emails and searching whatever else I feel very satisfied.


4. I get so excited when I wake up on a day when I have no plans whatsoever. When I have no where to go and  no work to do, the possibilities are endless (even if I have already slept for half the day)!


5. Seeing a sad baby out and about on the street or the bus and trying to make it laugh by pulling faces. I get this from my dad, he is much more successful because all babies see are his big black glasses. However, I have fun trying!

source

Quizzalicious

Play along please :)


Be Rich or Famous? Rich, I like things, not paparazzi.


Have an amazing shoe collection or an amazing make up collection? Shoes. Much more noticeable, plus you can see them without looking in the mirror.



Be able to Sing or be able to Dance? Sing. Because dancing stupidly like an idiot is too fun, singing badly isn't fun for anyone else.


Receive a bouquet of flowers or a box of chocolates? Flowers. I buy myself enough chocolate.

Go without Brushing your teeth for a year or go without Washing your hair for a year? Ew...Neither. Unless I decided to get dreadlocks.


Drink Coffee or Tea? Tea. Of course.

Converse or Stillettos? Converse. I wish I could wear heels because they're sexy.

Be a fairy or a mermaid? Tough one...a fairy I think.

Have your dream House or your dream Car? House. Because then I can decorate it.

Ask or Answer? Answer. I like talking about myself a bit too much...

Laugh or smile? Laugh, it's so refreshing.

Dear Friends *insert favourite TV program*,

I love you,

Love, me.

Would you rather skip Christmas or skip your Birthday? Christmas. I love the family times at Christmas but birthdays are more personal.

See a movie at the cinema or at home? at home. more cuddly :)

Spend or save? Spend! It feels so good.

Have a picnic at the park or on the beach? At the Park. No one wants to eat sand, the smell of the grass reminds me of good times. 

Happy :)

Today I feel Happy. This is unusual as I have just woken up after a night out, however, it was a brilliant night out with all my best primary ed friends!
Also, it is Saturday, It is my first proper weekend at uni for a while and that feels good. I feel free, I had nothing to get up for, work to do but nothing major to panic about and I can do what I like with my day.
I have been feeling ill the last few days after the Doctor told me that I am ill (long story) but i'm on my way to recovery.
I also had a fantastic night on Tuesday (dressed as a beast) for another 21st but didn't feel quite so relieved when I had to get up for uni on Wednesday.

Plans for the weekend:
-Bit of work
-Chill
-Gym
-Avoid going to the City because it WILL result in......

and   

should I?

Reading week? They should call it Eating Week

So this week has been my reading week for uni and I've had a lovely time out and about and have done lots of eating out, namely-
Wetherspoons
Chiquitos
Fish and Chips
Frankie & Benny's
Ben & Jerry's
Curry night
& Las Iguanas!

Anyway, other than eating I went to visit my good friend Bizzle last weekend because it'd just been her 21st Birthday. We had an awesome (slighty halloween-y) night out and went on a ghost walk. She lives in Lancaster which I'd never been to before and is very nice.

Halloween-y goodies in a cookie shop

Then I stayed in Preston with my Grandma until Wednesday and I got spoilt. We went to Southport where I won a nail varnish on the pier and did some browsy home shopping.

Then I headed back to my uni house and got on with the work I had to do and was very productive. Also, since I've been back I've bought two fancy dress costumes for this week (photo's to follow, maybe), been to the gym and been to a firework display.
I love wrapping up warm for Bonfire Night and watching the fire!

GymTastic!

I had a lovely weekend at home, I got thoroughly spoilt! We had a bit of retail therapy, caught up on some useful things.

The highlight was a trip to our village pub which has just opened and the food was surprisingly very delicious, I had Chicken! Yes, chicken, on the bone! It was herb coated, with mushrooms, creamy sauce on cheesy risotto. Very enjoyable.

I also got sent home with lots of food and some printer cartridges, oh and a belly full of veggie sausage and mash and yummy apply crumble and custard.

Since I got back I was determined to get into this exercise malarkey so I went to Zumba yesterday. It was good fun, I felt a little silly but didn't mind because I was on my own.

Tonight I went to the gym and did my special routine that the induction man gave me which was...hard! Then I went swimming but that didn't last very long. My muscles are definitely exhausted at the moment. Anyway, off to the Pub quiz (to lose) wish us luck!

I'm booking in for Zumba tomorrow too :)

Feeling pretty proud of myself to be honest.

Lunge!

Optimistic

I've bitten the bullet and bought a gym membership.
It was pretty expensive compared to other gyms because it has a pool but it's only the local leisure centre. I know I don't have the motivation to just go to a gym but I intend to combine it with swimming which I love and try out some classes.
I would like to try Zumba, Aqua Zumba and maybe 'Funky Dancing'.
I have my Induction tomorrow which I'm a little worried about because I've never had one and will have to admit how low my fitness level really is.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited to go a few times a week and should be motivated by the money going out of my account! I'm not too optimistic, I've already frozen December and January because I'll be at home and then straight onto placement which is far too busy for the gym.
But for now: Fitness!

Sugar Coated Temptation

After going back to my housemate's house this weekend for Birthday celebrations I am suffering from an overdose of sugar!


Friday was amazing, too much alcohol was consumed and my new heels were far too uncomfortable but a good time was had by all, especially the birthday girl (BG).


After driving back on Saturday we went to a Mongolian BBQ with self service veg, meat, sauces and spices. It was really cool, I went a bit OTT on the spices the first time but the second was delicious. Oh and the puddings.....yummy. I had black forest ice cream with cherry brandy and BG had After Eight Medley with mint ice cream and menthol liqueur.
After her parents surprised her with a game of 10 pin bowling and I did pretty well in the second game (after breaking a thumbnail) and was pretty proud of myself!


Sunday was BG's proper Birthday. We went swimming at a posh gym which was nice then had a buffet lunch and Chocolate ganache cake! 


On the drive home we popped to my house to see my parents. They'd been to a chocolate exhibition in London on Saturday so gave me some lovely presents and some biscuits to bring back. I weighed myself while I was at home to find I could do without them really!

Thanks Mum and Dad!

The coffee cake isn't going down too well!

We got BG a ball of sweets!

Since coming home I've gone a bit sugar crazy, cake to use up, BG's sweeties and my chocolatey gifts. I think I'll need to go swimming a few times this week, I did inquire about joining a local gym with a pool but somehow for £65 a month I don't think so!
Anyway, No need to feel guilty really, food is meant to be enjoyed, right?

Exciting Weekend Ahead

Today I went into a school to teach an Art lesson to year 1's, it was so funny to see how much chalk they got all over themselves! However I did make a huge mistake, I didn't bring enough black paper! So half the children had A3 paper and half had A4 when we cut some in half. Thankfully they didn't notice.

On Sunday it's my housmate's 21st Birthday so tonight it's Party Time! We've been on a wild goose chase this week to get people to sign a little book with a message and stick a photo in and we shall present that to her tonight with her other presents. We also got her a globe shaped sculpture made of sweeties (picture to follow later). Anyway the second huge mistake I made was I bought her a coffee cake for her birthday. I was sure she had told me she fancied it the other day but apparently I was wrong, she wanted carrot cake and has never heard of a coffee cake. Let's hope she likes it (or is drunk enough to not tell the difference)!

I'm heading back to her house tomorrow to go for a Mongolian meal with her and her family so that will be nice.

Update

Me and the housemates went to the Goose Fair on Friday night and had a crazy ride on the Waltzers which caused neck ache and we went on another ride which was quite possibly the scariest ride ever! It went upside down and round and round giving an amazing view of all the rides lit up but it seemed to go on forever. 

Yesterday, I found this website http://pinterest.com/ and it made me smile.

Then 6 of our friends came round and we had a lovely chat and played Articulate.

Today I went into town and bought this duvet cover....

 

I'm trying to phase out all the baby pink in my uni room so it's more grown up and matches my room at home. I would like to buy some pretty cushions now and have my eye on this rug and matching cushion in Next.

Tonight we're talking about going to some pubs and bars for cocktails which should be good. So that was my weekend, What did you do this weekend?

Back to Student Life

After the overdue Italian themed posts yesterday I can tell you what's going on with me.
I returned to uni last Tuesday and was very pleased with the house and my new room, it's pretty. Me and my housemates spent last week lazing and went out one night, did some shopping.etc.
Uni started this Monday so it was back to early starts and very busy buses driving past us in the mornings. After all the excitement the internet being installed yesterday, being slighty emotional about breaking up with my boyfriend a couple of weeks ago and my mood jumping from hyperactivity to tiredness- i got ill. Last night my voice disappeared and my glands swelled up to the size of golf balls and it hurt to swallow so I headed to bed.
Feeling a little better today but it was an excuse to eat soup and break the ice cream ban since Italy (for medicinal reasons, obviously!).
Sure I'll be fine in a few days, ice cream has healing qualities, you see.

The Beautiful Language

Some random Italian....

Dai!:  ”Come on!/Give me a break!/Stop it!” pronounced 'Die', It's quite funny to hear kids who are being slow are annoying say 'dai!' to each other.

 Basta!:  ”Stop!/That's enough” Pretty much to stop kids fighting or to get them to listen.

Che schifo: “Gross!” Literally means “how disgusting”, the kids said it a lot about the food, something I want to bring back home!

Allora…: “Okay…/So…/Well…”  thinking time basically, before a sentence. Particularly amusing when used by the kids before speaking English.

Cin cin!  : “Cheers!”  Pronounced “chin chin".

Preggo: "you're welcome/after you" Very confusing really as you think people in the lift are saying 'you're welcome' before you've said Grazie!

Pronto: "Ready" used when answering the phone instead of ciao like "I'm Listening".

Sono Piena: "I'm Full!"

The Real Italy

I apologise for the delay in writing this post but as I have just regained my internet connection and am missing Italy so I thought I would share some fondness.


Living in host families I learnt about the culture, the food that they really eat and some of the language that you might not pick up in the classroom.

The Italians are very family orientated, my first family were a young couple and I saw both sets of grandparents at least twice in 7 days. The mum in my second host family was one of 5 sisters who collectively took ownership of their parents house when they died. It was a farmhouse with chickens and lots of fruit and veg growing, the sisters met there 3 or 4 times a week and cooked and ate together with children, grandchildren, family and friends.


so, onto the food. Italians eat a lot!


Breakfast: Usually cake, toast and nutella and more cake. And no milk to drink to my disappointment. The italians obviously found it very strange that I didn't drink coffee and tea was not an option :(


Lunch: They usually eat a big lunch, my first camp was packed lunches but a lot of the children had leftover dinner and veg from the night before. I normally had sandwiches (panino) and lots of snacky things- crackers, biscotti .etc. In my second camp it was canteen food which was two courses, pasta or rice to start and meat or cheese and veg for seconds.


Dinner: They eat pasta every day, sometimes twice a day. They eat it as a starter but offer you loads so don't fill up on it because there is always more! seconds is normally cooked veg (cold!) and protein like mozzerella, prosciutto, aubergine parmigiana  and frittata. Occasionally the mum would cook pizza, authentic homemade delicious pizza.


After visiting many restaurants I actually found the nicest food was in host families, the pizza and pasta were not as good, even in less touristy areas. 


Dessert: fruit generally, crostini (pastry with jam, basically) or GELATO! 


Gelato= AMAZING! I ate so much and do not regret it all, the host families even buy home tubs from the gelateria's not the supermarket.


Favourite flavours:
Nocciola- Hazelnut praliney
Amarena- Sweet vanilla with cherries
Pistacchio
Stracciatella- vanilla and chocolate pieces
Zuppa Inglese 'English Soup'- what the italians think of trifle, custardy flavour, cherries, chocolate, biscuit, cake!
And this amazing nameless chocolate and black cherry ice cream in Venice.

Delicious Pistacchio and chocolate bun :)

All Autumnal!

Since coming home I have found England very cold and my wardrobe situation very limited. I decided I needed Jumpers- autumn/winter jumpers along with other essentials like shoes and jeans. My favourite hoodies had all seen better days and I wanted fashionable upgrades.

So Yesterday I woke up to another day of not liking anything I had to wear that was actually appropriate for the weather so I asked Mum to take me shopping. I didn't have high expectations because shopping even when in extreme need (or want) is not always successful. But I was quite excited because after some internet browsing on the Republic website I did have my eye on a few things.

So we got to town and I went into Republic, very quickly picked up an arm full of things to try on (some seen online) and was happy! I went to the till with a hoodie to replace my favourite at home, a jumpery thing with a nice collar and built in T shirt (hard to explain, sorry) and an impulsive floaty going-outy shirt. With my 20% student discount they turned out pretty reasonable.

Then, in a good mood I headed to Primark and got a cropped jumper (with bicycles on) and a grey top to go under it. Then I found two very cheap pretty necklaces, one gold, one silver which I decided would go nicely.

I then found a cheap shoe shop and got some grey biker boots to replace my peeling ones. Then I decided that was probably enough spending and excitement for one day and went home feeling very pleased.

Today, wearing my new floaty top, we went to visit my Grandma in Lancashire and went out for lunch which was lovely. Then we headed to a retail park with a TKMaxx. After my success yesterday I was just happy to browse without much intention until I found some jumpers and couldn't resist another cropped polka dot one. Mum then found a designer grey hoodie with green on and promised to buy it for me if I threw out another old one, so that was a deal!

I'm very pleased with my new collection of clothes and am excited to wear some new outfits and styles. I feel prepared for Autumn/Winter and should be able to stay warm now. Tomorrow I need to start packing for uni and throwing out some rejects- fun!

I'm Home!

I arrived home from Nice yesterday after an AMAZING 5 weeks in Italy!
Here is a brief itinerary...

I arrived in Nice and stayed for one night in a hostel. I explored the beach but didn't really fall in love with Nice.

Then I met some girls and we caught the train to the orientation in San Remo. We had a week at orientation- preparing us to work at camps. They taught us the games and songs and gave us lots of information. I met lots of interesting people from English speaking countries all over the world and made lots of friends. We spent a lot of time swimming, eating out and drinking and dancing.

Then I found out that my first camp would be in Vicenza, a small town in between Venice and Verona. I traveled with another girl from orientation who became my travel partner for the month! We met the other tutors there and I met my host family, a young  couple with 2 children. They were amazing, very lovely and accommodating and they bought me a lovely necklace when I left.
The first camp was really good but tiring in 40c heat. We had lots of fun water games and messy games. We also did a show for parents at the end and I dressed children up as Egyptian mummies and Pyramids!

Then I moved on to my second camp (still with Lauren) which was 2 weeks long in Piacenza near Milan. My family were a couple who had 3 girls aged 9, 11 and 15 and they were nice. The camp was super organised and we had trips to a farm, a swimming pool, a river cruise and a dam. The theme was being eco friendly so our show was about recycling, I rewrote the Spice Girls song 'If you want to be my lover' to 'if you want to be a Hippy'. I went on the train to Milan at the weekend but it rained all day so we ended up shopping in expensive Italian shops.

Then the camps were over for the summer and me and Lauren were off to a hostel in Florence for 3 nights. We explored on foot and saw lots of beautiful buildings and Piazzas (squares). The next day some other tutors met us at the hostel and we went to Pisa for the day on the train which was good. However, we did witness a girl jump off the tower and commit suicide.....
One night we also went on a night out in Florence which was fun but the Italian men were very strange!

Then we headed to Venice on the train for four nights in a hostel that gave us dinner (well, pasta). It was beautiful, definitely my favourite place. We looked around and got lost in a non-touristy bit but it was lovely. We met some Spanish girls in the hostel and got the boat to Morano, the island famous for glass blowing. Me an Lauren also got the train to Verona and saw the Colosseum and the house of Juliet.

Then we made the 8 hour train journey back to Nice and spent the night in a hostel before Lauren flew in the early hours. I looked around Nice and found the beautiful touristy part with a market and decided I like it better than I had originally thought. It's a shame I was speaking Italian though!

I had an amazing time and fell in love with Italy (and the food!) and definitely intend to go back to teach next year. I would also love to learn more of the language after learning odd vocab living in the families. I'm so glad I went, I met some amazing people and saw some amazing places!