Awesomnosity

I had a visit this weekend from the wonderful Izzy Bee, a friend from home. I had a lovely time doing lots of fun and indulgent things, we went to my union on the friday night and I had a very good night, I hope Bizzle did too and liked all my housemates and friends.

Then after a lazy lie in we ventured into the city and I found some vintagey different shops that I hadn't found since freshers and some shops and cafes that I didn't know were there so that was fun! Then after a cookie and some tea we went to see Gnomeo and Juliet.

I had seen adverts for the film and although it seemed funny, I have to admit I half expected it to be silly and childish. But I did enjoy it, particularly identifying all the familiar voices (Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Julie Walters) and particular lawnmower advert which was hilarious! (you'll know if you see it)

Although all this 3D business is a bit over used now, Toy Story 3 and this film really don't need it, it doesn't add much!

We then went to McDonalds (I admit a slip of the vegetarianism!) and then back to watch Toy Story 3 on DVD since Biz hadn't seen it.

And this is where it's going to sound like I'm obsessed with food....and that's because....I think I am. I LOVE FOOD!

On Saturday night we did a rather strange shop at ASDA so we could make a really awesome cake, Iz had bought her peace cake mould and our aim was to make a colourful, striped peace cake!

We made a simple sponge mix then split the cake mix (rather unevenly) into three to add colouring to put it into the mould in layers.

After a nerve wracking bake in the oven the red had expanded and the cake looked odd.....

After putting it back in for the middle to be cooked we turned it out and were pleasantly surprised...

However, it was a wierd texture and rather springy on the outside and in the sunken sections. Anyway, we were ready to ice, we went for red buttercream but underestimated the proportions and got it a bit runny. We decorated with daisies.

and the inside....

well, never mind! I'm sure it got brighter once it'd been in the fridge because I took a piece to placement today and stood out :)

My housemate also made a cake, a carrot cake but from a mix. With the cream cheese icing she made it was delicious and outdid our cake (but she cheated!). All in all, It's going to be a cake filled few days.

On sunday we went to  Las Iguanas for lunch, I went for a couple of tapas dishes (and a few of Iz's curly fries)- Nachos and a mushroom Quesadilla- Delicious!


We then went to a tea shop in the backstreets of the city that we had found the previous day but it had been full, we managed to get the last seat. Lee Rosy's Tea has a wall of loose leaf teas in lots of flavours i've never seen before, I went for chocolate truffle and it was a very odd experience, like tea with an aftertaste, not hot chocolate like I was expecting! Anyway I plan to go again to try Vanilla, Caramel cream and loads of the other flavours and Definitely their cheesecake because it looked amazing, we were just too full!


All this dining has made me very excited to run my own teashop/ cupcakery one day, I can't stop thinking about it! I think I might need to improve my cake making skills first though, sometimes my spontaneity creates failure!

5 things that make me feel good

Daffodils-
I've always liked daffodils, they're so bright and cheery. They also remind me of spring and my birthday. I bought some from ASDA yesterday for £1 and they make me smile everytime I look over to the window.

My Bed- I love my bed! Today I made the most of my reading week by having a massive lie in, I then got up and changed into clean pyjamas and didn't get properly dressed all day.

Pampering Myself- I have been treating myself to Lush bubble bars and love how they make my baths smell lovely and go a funny colour. Running a steaming hot bath and listening to relaxing music sets me up for a good night's sleep.

Laughter- I convinced my housemate to buy a face mask with me and I intended to put this picture in the 'pampering myself' section but it actually ended up being more of a laughing fit because my housemate picked a strange colour which made her face look like it was melting! I'm not sure how relaxing it was but our faces are soft and mine smells nice (hers, not so much!).

Gilmore Girls is number five, just because I love watching it with my mum!

Domestic Bliss (nearly!)

I had a lovely time at home with my parents this weekend, On Sunday I decided I fancied doing some baking and cooking.
The first thing I baked was a Banana Bread, a family favourite. A recipe I had cooked millions of time in many variations, some had  gone well, others hadn't. I stuck to the usual recipe and it all seemed to be going well and came out of the oven like this.

However, It quickly sunk and the consistency changed to that of a brick. The realisation then came that I had used plain flour instead of self-raising and not remedied it with baking powder. I have done this many times before but thought I was out of the habit by now, I really must pay more attention.

I then decided to make Oat Biscuits, another recipe we'd used a lot at home and I was a fan of. Thankfully, these went well and I'm enjoying one now with a cup of tea :)

Still in the mood, I decided to make tea for my parents. I decided on a simple but delicious starter of cream cheese, smoked salmon and olives (but not for me).

I had already prepared the sauce for my homemade Spaghetti Bolognaise from my own recipe (thought up as I went along). I have to say it was delicious, It tastes best with Quorn mince and this time I added carrot, mushrooms, pepper and onion.

Although I have to say I'm not a huge fan of the low fat cheese my mum bought, tastes like feet :/

If anyone would like the recipe for any of these please let me know.

Happy times to follow Sad times...

I've had two very stressful days so as I am having a moment free of stress I thought it would be a good time to write a blog :)

So, This was my Tuesday: I went to  placement, got stressed having to repeat every word a million times in a writing activity with the children. It wasn't an awful day but we had to stay late for staff meeting and then I got stuck in traffic. Then...someone crashed into my car. I stopped at a traffic jam and the person behind me didn't! I sat in shock in the car then got out to see the damage. It would have been alright if the driver had accepted responsibility but apparently him and his friend were incapable of doing that and shouted at me. They blamed me and asked me for money on the spot, I was not happy. I drove home with a cracked, indented bumper and a number plate half hanging off.

I then spent the whole evening stressing to my parents asking them what to do and didn't get any work done at all. I also super glued my registration plate back on stuck my fingers together, but with a combination of margerine (read it on the internet) and a hot shower, it came off.

Wednesday was slightly better but only because no-one crashed into my car! Another stressful day of tiredness, acheyness, children's injuries and more writing activities. 

However today was better, I had a seminar this morning which was fun because me and my friends bitched about the course, various lecturers and I made a football and a pyramid with maths resources. Then I stayed in uni to do some work, had a cake and some lunch with my friends. I had a tutorial giving me more work but managed to not get stressed because I have a week to do it.

I then came home and managed to fix the light on my car that was hanging by a wire in front of my reg. I checked my e.mails and found out I have a place this summer teaching children in Italy! I'm now very excited to hand my assignment in tomorrow, have two hours of lectures then go home to be looked after! 

Let's hope next week runs a lot smoother....

Valentines Gift :)

Dream a little Dream.

Incase anyone was wondering, I had a dream last night that I was visiting a foundation stage unit of a school (one that I have already visited before in a dream) and in one of the free choice areas there was a smoothie bar. Just thought I'd share with you the most delicious smoothie ever....(I could taste it)

Currant Juice
Raspberry Juice
Sultana Juice
Fizzy Vimto

It had a lovely pink froth on the top. So if you're ever in the dream world you know where to find a good smoothie, if you're in the real world and can find Currant and Sultana juice then go for it! There was a sign up saying 'NOT Raisin juice due to Allergies'

Yes I have wierd dreams.

Movie Night!

Yay! After going out last night (which was brilliant) I had a lazy day today and got my assignment finished (well, nearly...). So we invited some friends over for a movie night, we went to Blockbuster and picked 'Buried' and 'Going the Distance'.

The boys insisted we watched Buried first and we found that the whole film was set in a coffin, no change of scene at all. Wierd and Boring at times, which lead to us talking through it quite a lot. Anyway it was quite cleverly done and I did kind of enjoy it, shame the ending was rubbish.

Then we watched 'Going the Distance', one that me and Loz picked because we're both in a long distance relationships. Anyway, I realised in the first few minutes that it was a film I'd wanted to see so my mum had ordered off lovefilm and I'd already watched it at home! I tend to do that a lot. Anyway It was quite a good rom com, but with a few wierd parts. The ending, again, was a let down.

Anyway, We had lots of giggles and snacks so it was fun. This weekend is turning out well to say all I had planned was lots and lots of work!

Today in Pictures...(try and work it out)

Although I haven't quite pulled all of my hair out yet!

All Things Edible.

Today's blog: I'm considering being a food blogger!


My parents came to see me at Uni on Sunday and took me to a Vegetarian restaurant that my mum had found on the internet called Alley Cafe (she's really good at doing this and finds lots of new places!). She had the directions and I realised why I'd never noticed it before, it was down a little alley and then up some stairs and it didn't really look like anything at all.

We got up there to find a bar, bench area and a few tables, I looked at the specials menu and was intrigued by lots of the choices, it was nice to go somewhere with my kind of food! I decided on a veggie breakfast (because I'd been craving one), infact my mum and dad both had the same. I tried veggie bacon for the first time, which was kind of nice, just like smokey flavoured Quorn slices, and was glad to see mushrooms and a delicious hash brown on my plate.
They also offered a Sunday roast which would have been a surprise to order really, it looked like the Wetherspoons veggie roast when I saw someone else who'd ordered it but a little more interesting. I was also intrigued by their cocktail menu and was tempted to have a hot chocolate with a shot of Cointreau but it didn't seem appropriate. I decided I'd like to go to the bar one night with my flatmates but I doubt it's their kind of thing.

After browsing around the shops for hours we decided it was definitely time for cake we decided to go back to the Alley Cafe! We had all been tempted by the chocolate peanut butter cheesecake on the specials, and the brownies and rocky road! We shared two cheesecake slices and it did not disappoint, it was AMAZING! I was very surprised when I was told (by a waitress with dreadlocks, like many people in the cafe!) that it was made with tofu, something I have also never tried. Unfortunately, the cafe is not really in my student price range and none of my flatmates are veggie so I probably won't be a regular but it's nice to find somewhere new!


http://www.alleycafe.co.uk/


Also, on the food front. I bought a huge box of 340 teabags yesterday to feed my habit. I have just finished my second cup of tea after making two at once to keep me going!
Definitely loving this site right now- http://www.lovetea.co.uk/

The little things...

After another very busy day at placement and the occasional head explosion of the work load of the past week at uni and the workload of placement- I AM EXHAUSTED!


So i've decided to cheer myself up by telling you the things I have to look forward to and the things that make me feel better-


1. I'm going to go to Asda tonight and buy sweeties and chocolates because it's impossible to be healthy as a teacher (in my opinion) because I just need energy! Also, because the oranges I got the other day taste like metal and the carrot I had yesterday tasted like soil.


2. Only two weeks 'til prep week for my five week block! At least then I know I won't get more work everyday and I can let my mum look after me a little bit!


3. It's Valentines day soon and I look forward to knowing that I have made someone smile with their 'gift' and maybe a nice skype call :)


4. Placement is good, the children always make me smile. Today I got two little girls inspecting my necklace saying 'that's a big diamond Miss' and a child who was obviously not listening to what I was saying interrupt me with 'Woah, you smell nice!' :)


5. I have a tiny bit of time every day to read my best friends blogs and that makes me feel less bad for the lack of communication on my end (sorry!) because I can still keep up with what they are doing. New to the blogging world are emmaonwheels and Life's little observations.

This occurs in many forms around my room for such 'head explosions'
I'm working on it....

Reasons to be cheerful....

This is a meme lots of people have been doing so I decided to give it a go!

1. My friends make me laugh-  Today's giggles came at lunchtime with the uni girls jokes about turning the classroom into a beach and getting sued for getting salt-water in children's eyes and the idea of keeping a child in your womb until they're seven!

2. I have things to look forward to- This weekend my parents are coming to visit to take me to a new veggie restaurant and then I'm going out dressed as Barbie!

3. When I'm tired and grumpy all I have to do is ring my special person or my mummy then I feel better again :)

Back to School.

So, as of yesterday I'm back to being 'teacher lady'! 
Started at my placement school yesterday, except I was 45 minutes late due to extreme loss of direction, not a good start. Had a wierd first day, a rather unfriendly supply teacher was in my Reception class in the morning so I pretty much did nothing and watched the children play. Had an induction in the afternoon which made me feel better though, because my teacher is very nice and useful in trying to involve us as much as possible.
However, I did arrive home yesterday in a tired, stressed state and drank copious amounts of tea then went to bed!


Today went considerably better, I didn't get lost and got to the school early, I sorted out the session I would be teaching before the children arrived and had an enjoyable morning.
I have been reminded of the wonderful comments that you get from children, for example-


After learning my name for the umpteenth time: 
"you're a miss, why aren't you married?"
My reply "I'm a bit young"
"no you're not, you're all growed up and you've got a job, so you should be married"!


While reading Little Red Riding Hood:
"I wouldn't be afraid of the wolf I'd just kick him in the pen*s" from a 4 year old.


I'm particularly interested by a 'selective mute' in my class, a girl who didn't say a word all day and apparently has never spoken in school. The school is teaching her Makaton (sign language) so she now answers the register and asks to go to the toilet but nothing more. Apparently, learning Makaton at school has now caused her to be completely silent at home now rather than the very small amount of speech only revealed at home.
I can't help but make it my personal goal to find out why this child doesn't want to speak and hear her say a word before I leave! Coincidently, I was asked my a co-ordinator at the school if I wanted to join a Makaton course they were running on wednesday lunchtime so that might be useful. 
So far the only Makaton I know is tea, biscuits and chocolate, what more do I need?!


I'm also helping out in the cooking after school club which I'm really looking forward to :)