Sales, sales, sales

Because clearly everyone didn't get enough for Christmas, people all over the country are going crazy in the sales!

Next opened at 5am on boxing day and rumour has it people were queueing from 2'o'clock in the morning!! Yes!! On Christmas day, they decided to go and start queueing outside Next! Crazy!! Lots of people also charged into town early the next day, to see what bargains and offers they could get! I'm not really one for getting up early at the best of times, but to fight for some stuff that I didn't really need, surrounded by manic sale shoppers, was something that just didn't appeal to me! Instead I spent my boxing day eating MORE food and relaxing with some family and friends.

The next day however, I did have a little browse on the internet at what the sales had to offer, and did find some brilliant, irresistible deals...

Forever 21


Forever 21 is an American brand, which I discovered once when I was out there. I have visited one store in the UK, which is located in the Westfield Centre in London. There is also one in The Bullring, Birmingham and on Oxford Street, London.


The clothes in this store are not over priced at the best of times, however during this sale period they are cut to very cheap prices as well as many items being a "buy one, get one free" basis. I am a big lover of a bargain find and I found myself spending only £50 (of birthday/christmas money!), and managing to get 9 or 10 items from that! And to make things even better, the delivery was free!

These are some of the items that I purchased:

So definitely follow this link as there are lots of coats, knitwear, dresses, trousers, menswear, children's wear and accessories which are bargains!!!!

http://www.forever21.com/UK/Product/Category.aspx?br=f21&category=sale

Boots

I love love love Boots at Christmas time! Some of the 3 for 2 stuff can be a little impersonal, however there are some great things too! And now, in the sale, it's nearly all half price!! If you can't find anything for yourself, it would be very tactical to buy some half price gifts for upcoming birthdays or even for next Christmas!! (Although that is being super organised!!!)

Soap and Glory

I completely adore the Soap and Glory things; I have their make-up, and was lucky enough to get a big selection of their products for my birthday and Christmas!

Some of their Soap and Glory gift packs are half price!!

The Soap and Glory "You Cube" Gift box is half price at £5! And includes all the necessities: The Righteous Butter body butter, Flake Away, Body Polish, Clean on Me shower gel,  Hand Food hand cream, and a Super Sudsy Puff.

Celia Birtwell

Celia Birtwell is a textile designer, who produces a range of wallpapers and fabrics, housing accessories, clothes and stationary to name but a few. Her style is very bold and feminine, and takes influence from the artist: Picasso. She has designed clothes for High-street fashion store: Topshop, and this year has produced a range of items which have been selling in Boots over the festive season.


All of these items are now half price in Boots!

"Celia Birtwell Photo Frame"

"Celia Birtwell Vanity Case"

I am a very big fan of Birtwell's designs and have found her very own website shop with lots of lovely things on it! (When I find things like this, I wish I was a bazillionaire!!):

http://www.celiabirtwell.com/



Happy Sales Shopping, everyone!!!

The Night of the Missing Shoe...

One of the best things about coming home for Christmas is being able to see your best friends! Peteyb is defs not the most exciting of cities; especially coming here after being in such lovely places such as York, Durham and Nottingham! It's also quite difficult adjusting back into home life after being in university mode for so long! We were all missing our Student Union's and exciting night life from our university homes, so Kate, El and I decided on a classic PeteyB night out. The rest of the girlies could not come for numerous reasons, but we were excited to see lots of  old, familiar faces in the local Weatherspoons where we would venture to first!

I got ready with my sister, as she was also preparing for the night life of PeteyB with one of her friends, and eagerly waited the arrival of Kate and Els. An hour after the arranged time of arrival, a knock at the door, and they were finally here. (The thing about Kate, is that she is always late! It is very lucky that she is worth the wait!)

In their hands, was a full bottle of 'Smirnoff' Vodka (which was just a disguise of a bottle- it was full of all the drags of cheap vodka bottles they'd had left over!) and a bottle of Morrison's Peach Schnapps. I can no longer drink Vodka, after a very silly, naive night involving cheap Vodka, Lilt and a Hog Roast (I can no longer drink Lilt, or eat pork any more either!) This meant that the cheap peach schnapps was a winner for me! And I had plenty of it too! (An excellent thing about having a birthday 12 days before Christmas, is that you get all the bottles of alcohol that people leave behind at your party! You are then set for Christmas and New Year! Brilliant!)

We had a few cheeky drinks, lots of photographs (as Kate and I are very snap happy!!! Especially now I've got a gorgeous new camera from Jonny!), and then we hopped in a taxi to town. (I live about a 5 minute walk from town, but a walk is just not practical when you are wearing very high heels!)

Photographed by Papa Voce, just as the taxi arrived

We flashed our ID's to the big bouncers on the door, and went straight to the toilet. The walk to the toilets was more to spot any faces we wanted to embrace and spend our evening with. We said our hello's to quite a few lovely people, did a quick 'fake snow' photo shoot in the bathroom, and made our way back downstairs where we had become up to date with the lives of everyone that we hadn't seen for the past 3 or more months.

A little later on, we went across the road to pretty much the only "night club" in PeteyB (if you can call it that!). We waited in the queue for quite some time, and eventually got inside where we had to pay 4 POUNDS!! My jaw nearly dropped to the floor!! Thursday nights in town used to be free!! I used to come home with more money than I went out with!! But 4 pounds!! Well, that was crazy!! We held hands and made a little train, so we didn't lose each other between the large amounts of under-age drinkers. We sat down at a table, where Kate started to search through her bag (she is one that often loses everything!), and so in her search for whatever she had lost at that moment, she accidently knocked over a full drink! The girl's whose drink it was, was definitely not impressed, not amused, did not want to see the bright side of life at all. Her face was caked in a thick orange war paint, her eyes were enlightened with a bright pink, very sparkly eyeshadow, and thick eyelines, with big spider like eyelashes... those eyelashes that look like she's reapplied about 50million layers of mascara that make the lashes all clump together. She was not wearing the most modest of outfits, and the look on her face was not something you would want to deal with. Kate, oblivious as  always, carried on searching her bag for a missing item (which later, turned out to not be missing!), and the girl was getting very agitated, which was fair enough as she had spent about 2864739124 pounds on a drink!! Luckily, Yanis was there to save the day!! And brought the girl a new drink! Phew!!

We made a quick escape and went upstairs to the "70's style" part of the club; somewhere the scary girl wouldn't be! We danced a lot. The heels were starting to hurt a bit, so we thought it would be a genius idea to take them off!! So we put our beautiful shoes at the side, no more than a metre away from where we were dancing! Everyone was having a jolly time, dancing and singing and happy, happy! And then, I saw that only ONE of my shoes was there!! I dragged my friend over, and still there was only one!! One of Kate's shoes had also gone missing!! At first, we thought the boys were playing a practical joke on us!! But as time passed, it became less funny, and we realised it really wasn't a joke!! We got all of our friends, searching and searching, we asked the bouncers to look for our beloved shoes, and the DJ even made an announcement.

It got to the end of the night, the club was closing and people were leaving... there was still no sign of the shoes?!

So we hopped down the stairs and outside and went home with only one shoe.... very very upset!! I loved those shoes! (Thankfully, they were only £4 from ebay- but a £4 better spent then the cost of getting into the silly club!)

Me, Kate and our ONE shoe!

Katy and Russell Divorce

Late last night I received a text message from a very close friend of mine asking whether it was true that Katy Perry and Russell Brand were getting a divorce. There has been speculation for months and months that the high-profile couple were coming to an end.

I am very sad to say, that it seems these rumours are true, confirmed by Sky News:

Perry has spent 2011 on a year long, world tour; playing over 100 shows to her "Katy Cats" (Fans). She has had a phenomenal year: not only has she been nominated for 2 Grammy's for her number one hit 'Firework', but MTV have named her as "artist of the year". Her number one album "Teenage Dream" sold 192,000 copies in its first week, and has also seen 5 of its songs reach number ONE in the charts, including "California Girls" which featured sensational rapper: Snoop Dogg as well as "Last Friday Night", which was nominated for best video by numerous award ceremonies, and won best video at the Capricho awards in Brazil. 

Katy Perry on tour in Newcastle: 27th October 2011

The very attractive couple have had very little time together since their marriage in October 2010, which secretly took place in India; the same place where Brand proposed after just 3 months of them dating. 

Katy and Russell

With putting in such hard work with her sell-out,world tour,as well as creating high quality music videos and promoting her album and singles, Katy had spent some time partying and letting off some steam. (As anyone would want to!) Brand has been reported as being not too happy about her partying habits, however this does not seem to be a reason for them to split?

Perry on her 27th birthday

Earlier this month Russell appeared on the popular, American chat show "The Ellen DeGeneres show", where he told the host that he was "really happily married." 

Katy Perry also appeared on the same show, not long before Russell, telling Ellen how she'd love to start a family with her husband, saying that "If it doesn't hurt the first time, I'll keep popping them out!":

It does seem a little strange how they were both talking so happily about their marriage to each other, expressing their wanting of a family, and denying all rumours about a break up, only a few weeks before it was announced that Brand has filed for divorce.

Apparently, the two agreed to split a few weeks ago after a huge row; resulting in them spending Christmas apart. Katy spent it with her friends in Hawaii, whilst Russell was in Cornwall, photographed supporting a charity swim. (I know where I'd rather be!) She did not want to file for divorce, as she was brought up by Evangelical Christians that did not believe in divorce, so she asked Russell to do so instead.

I am the biggest fan of Katy Perry; I love her to pieces! She is a wonderful woman and I am in ore of everything she does; however maybe this shows the craziness of celebrity relationships. Getting engaged and married within a year of knowing each other is probably not the best of moves! Lets hope they do stay "good friends", as Russell explains they will. 

"Amazing Photos"

I received an email from Muma Voce a few days ago... she often forwards me "hilarious" emails that she says "I just have to read!" Usually I forget about them or don't spend my time reading them, and they stay unread in my hotmail inbox, alongside the other 1,702 emails that I am still yet to read.

This latest email that she had forwarded onto me however, she kept on and on at me to have a look at: "Ellie, these photos are just incredible"....

Sick of being poorly, and having re-watched the whole of Made in Chelsea; season one, I had found myself with little to do... Science and English assignments are not looking too appealing right now; so I thought I'd open the email and see what all the hype was about...

Photograph after photograph that really are quite amazing!! So I thought I'd share a few of my favourites...

A view of the sunset from inside a wave

Lost Paradise in the Indian Ocean; Isle of Lamu

Bruno Catalano created this statue, which is in France

Office of Selgas Cano in Madrid

Restaurant on a cliff on the east coast of Zanzibar. Depending on the tide the restaurant can be reached both on foot and by boat.

Emerald Lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. Tongariro National Park - NewZealand

All of these photographs show not only great photography, but the amazing things that exist all over the world.   

Why would anyone choose to stay in Peteyb?! It baffles me!

How to get a FREE Nandos

Whilst everyone was at work today, I thought I'd take it upon myself to make everyone a delicious dinner as a surprise for when they got home. (And also because I love delicious dinners!)

I looked in the top cupboards for inspiration: half a bag of rigatoni pasta (not nearly enough for all of our beastly appetites), some chicken flavoured Super Noodles, a half empty box of Special K (I lie, it's not even real Special K, it's called something like 'Healthy Balance' from Sains) and a few cinnamon and raison bagels (which really do not go down well with Marmite). The next cupboard along had a tin of sweetcorn which has been there since we moved into this house 7 or 8 years ago, a couple of tins of tuna (which I later fed to the dog; a bribe for it to like me more than anyone else!) and some vegetable soup. I also found        an Old El Paso salsa which I got very excited about (as I also found some tortilla crisps), and had planned a whole Mexican feast in my head...but then I saw the expiry date on the salsa sachet: 2003... I didn't think I could really risk giving the fam food poisoning so close to Christmas!

I text Sara requesting a selection of delicious Mediterranean vegetables from her work (Riverford Organic Food company- it's excellent food, you should all sign up and have some delivered directly to your door by some very friendly staff!), but sadly she didn't get my text until it was too late.

When Charlie got home from work, I tried to persuade him to drive me to Sainsbury's to get some food, but he was desperate for a nap (I don't really blame him though as he had been at work since 7am). I couldn't deprive my brother of a nap, so I suggested that he let me borrow the car and go to Sains on my lonesome... he defs did not take to this idea, and told me there wasn't enough petrol (although the real reason is probably because he is very precious with his car, and he knows what my driving is like! I'd have probably got pulled over by the police AGAIN, for not having my lights on... apparently it is necessary when it's dark outside.. who would've known that?!)

As a last result I phoned Muma Voce. I always ring her at work, mostly regarding food and dinner. She came up with the most wonderful suggestion in the whole wide world... that we could go Christmas shopping and "grab something small" whilst we were there. PERFECT. No cooking, no washing up! And I'd been thinking about Nando's all day. (I really do need to get out more).

I dropped Nando's into conversation as we were walking arm in arm, with matching UGG's, on our way into town. I was very surprised when she agreed to it! I was really hoping the queue wasn't going to be too long, as I know that she gets a bit impatient (as we all do, especially when we are hungry), but then she will start projecting her thoughts to the rest of the restaurant, which is sometimes slightly cringey! But thank the Lordy we only had a ten minute wait (which was "very different to a 20 minute wait"; something Mama Voce pointed out to the waiter). We chose what we were going to have (mum got some mushroom thing.... in Nandos... which specialises in Chicken? Odd.) and I had my usual chicken pitta. Just as I was ordering, mum sprung to the counter and ordered an extra 5 hot chicken wings and coleslaw. I didn't really understand why, until Papa Voce arrived, making a very beneficial diversion from the train station!

Whilst we were waiting for the food, I spotted my dear friend Sheepie having a feast with her friend, and went and had a cuddle and chat with her to pass some time, (and because I love her company of course!)

The food finally came to our table, and I was tucking in straight away. (The Marmite bagel I'd had for breakfast hadn't filled me up all that well, so I was slowly deteriorating). All was good until Papa Voce took a bite of his second Hot Wing, and decided it was cold (luke warm). Mama Voce got onto the staff right away, and we sent the Wings back. If you order a "Hot Wing" you would expect it to be Hot, and not cold! Otherwise, they should be called Cold Wings- which are not so appealing!

A young waiter brought over the now hot Hot Wings to the table and apologised. Mama Voce made it clear that this was not good enough, as we had both finished our food, and all we had wanted this evening was to have a nice family dinner altogether, but we could no longer do this, as Papa Voce had to eat his after we had finished. The waiter got the Manager involved (who we did not see for a good 20 minutes). Mama Voce told Papa Voce to slow down on eating the Hot Wings, as it had to look like he was still eating them when the Manager came over, to make a point that he was eating long after we had finished....

The Manager eventually showed her face at table number 16 (which in the meantime, all the other waiters and waitresses had tactfully been avoiding), and in her hand was a gift voucher, entitling us to a FREE meal platter and not 5, but TEN hot wings!! This would cost more than what we even spent on our meal this evening!!

We now have a free McDonalds and a free Nando's to redeem, which Mama Voce has collected all in the space of one week!

I also just need to point out, that besides the cold (luke warm) Hot Wings, the rest of the meals were very very delish!!!!!


http://www.riverford.co.uk/
http://www.nandos.co.uk/

A Week of Birthday Celebrations (Part Three: The Finale!!)

My Birthday in PeteyB


Every year for my birthday, I have had a house party, even from as young as 4 years old! It is the best way to get everyone you love under one roof!

When I got home from Yorky York on Friday night, Muma Voce had already started to get the house ready for my party on the Saturday.... she had bought some very cheesy decorations and lots of banners etc to ensure everyone knew that I was 21!!

Aunty Sue and Ray arrived in the early afternoon, and Ray and Baz (I think) put up a little marquee/gazibo thing in the back garden, which was filled with a table of alcohol and snacks! Baz made a trip to our favourite Sainsbury's and picked up the last bits of drink and food we needed! (But got Lucozade instead of Redbull?!?! You can't have jeagerbombs with lucozade, silly man!!!!)

Mum and Aunty Sue continues with the decorations and balloons around the house, and Jonny was being directed on how to cook our traditional, delicious, family meatball and Pasta bake (which would line our stomachs and give us sufficient energy for dancing all night long!).

Whilst all this was going on, I was doing a very hard job: having a day long nap! Perfect! (I thought it was in everyone's best interest to stay out of the way and let everyone get on with what they needed to do! I would have just been a hassle no doubt!)

I woke up to the loud vibrating of my phone... Tabbyy was ringing! She was very very exciting after purchasing a whole new outfit especially for the party! I decided it was about time I got up and did something constructive, so I thought I'd curl my hair...

So I took my GHD's and hair (extensions) downstairs, made myself comfy on the sofa, put Friends on Comedy Central (I still think it is better on E4), and sat curling my hair. I love the horrified look Papa Voce always makes, when I'm doing anything with my hair extensions! It's very amusing!

There was a knock at the door, but it was too early for the Yorkies to arrive, so I left it for someone else to answer! It was actually an AMAZING surprise!!!!

Lovely Janette came into the living room and we had the biggest embrace and when I turned around lovely BeccaLee was standing there, holding the most MAGNIFICENT, AMAZING, WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING, MAGNIFICENT, birthday cake I'd ever seen in my whole entire life! And it was KATY PERRY themed!!! It was seriously the most wonderful thing I have ever seen in my life.. so much attention to detail! And just like Candyfornia! AND IT WAS ALL EDIBLE!

The Lee Family are incredibly famous amung the PeteyB crowd for their wonderful talent at creating cake masterpieces! These are just a few that have been made previously...

Now, I could be biased, but I do think my Candyfornia Cake is the best one to date! And underneath the Pink Sugary deliciousness, was (it has all been eaten now!) a nutella chocolate cake!! It was so moist and yummy and yummyyum yum!! I can't even begin to tell you just how yummy it was!!! Still to this moment, I am stunned at this stunning birthday cake!

After putting the birthday cake masterpiece in a special place, the lovely Lee's went home, and the Yorkies arrived!! There was lots of girly cuddling and squeeling and excited giggles, and we made our way upstairs to put our faces on and get ourselves ready!! We were very limited on time, and so the whole process was very rushed (it would have been good to have had a bit longer to get ready, but that would have meant compromising precious nap time!!)

BD, Miss PerryBerry and Jenny all went for the LBD (Little Black Dress)...

They all looked super gorgeous, as did Tabby in a stunning Purple dress from New Look, with her new sparkly, glittery gold high heels (which sadly I don't have a photograph of!) ...

I still didn't know what I was going to wear so I just threw on anything (which happened to be the pretty red dress from Arc!).

Then,the family started to arrive... first Mick, Scarlett and Livvy with a sack of very thoughtful, sweet presents, including pegs, towels and bedding (which did make me feel grown up!!).

Aunty Claire (AKA Aunty Lemon Drizzle) and Uncle John arrived shortly after, with my favourite Uncle Jamie!

Uncle Jamie

Uncle John & Aunty Claire

Time flew by as more and more people came to the door, and I was overwhelmed with friends and family and cuddles and presents.

Aunty Claire had made me Lemon Drizzle cake (which is the best Lemon Drizzle cake you will ever, ever eat in your whole entire life, trust me!! That is why she is called Aunty Lemon Drizzle!!)

She had covered the cake in edible gold glitter and had sliced it beautifully! And everyone just loved the cake, again it was just YUM!!!

I knew the Yorkies knew how to party! And they certainly danced all night long!!! Very impressive!! Mama Voce, Aunty Sue, Fairygodmother Emma, my sister Sarie all joined in too and had a boogie for a lot of the night!! There was a lot of dancing to Nikki Minaj, and seeing my mum know all the words to Superbass really made me realise I just have the coolest mum ever!!! I really wish I'd had a video of us all dancing to this (although everyone would probably kill me if I ever posted it!!)

Uncle Jamie also had an award winning moment on the dance floor: he could practically be John Travolta (and he has even met him!) and danced to the whole of the Grease medley, TWICE, with all of the family! I have a very talented (and alcohol intoxicated) fam, that is all I can say!!

Later on in the night, I blew out more candles on my Candyfornia birthday cake (curtesy of the wonderful Janette, BeccaLee and little sis JoJo!!) and this was devoured as quickly as the Lemon Drizzle cake was!!

I then was encouraged to make a very short and embarrassing speech; I don't even remember what I said!!

Everyone started to leave and it started to wind down a bit! I spent the rest of the evening chatting and catching up with friends from school that I hadn't seen in forever!! And then cuddled up to Jonny on the sofa, where I fell asleep for a whole 3 hours, before it was morning!!

The next morning, I got into bed and snuggled with my favourite Yorkies before they left to go home, and then had a cheeky McDonalds with the family!! And me and my sister snuggled under our duvets on the sofa all day watching The Hills and other fabulous programmes.

It was the best night I could have possibly wished for! Everyone I loved and wanted to be there was there (except a special few who couldn't make it, but they were very much thought of!)

A Week of Birthday Celebrations (Part Two)

Actual Birthday Day

Feeling just like I did when I turned 10 years old, I woke up early and excited because today was the day that was my birthday! After a sleepless night of tossing and turning; anticipating the events of the day ahead, wishing and wishing that I had grown at least an inch or 2, and having high expectations to feel “different” now that I am officially a year older.

I shook Jonny to wake him up and he shot downstairs and came up with a delicious Bacon sandwich with a side of ketchup (of course!). I found a voicemail on my phone from my Nana (she had been awake from even earlier than me?!), and shouted Happy Birthday and then informed me that she wouldn’t be able to speak to me throughout the day and listed off everything she was doing, that would keep her from speaking to her favourite grandchild on such a special day: Charming!

Jonny presented me with a cookie cake from Millie’s Cookies, covered in red icing- my favourite!! It is probably one of the most delicious things I have eaten in the whole wide world!! I was so temped to eat it all there and then, then told myself I didn’t want to spend the rest of my birthday passed out in a Sugar Coma! So we put the cake out of reach and got dressed as Muma Voce was on her way!

The doorbell rang and I shooted down the stairs (I slid down the last third!), and opened the door! A wonderful surprise, as instead of Muma Voce, my Nana and her dog were stood there, my Nana’s arms flung around me before I really had a chance to take in that she was here… and not at a Doctor’s appointment with Grandad, or having tea and biscuits with her friends like she had LIED to me on the phone!! Isn’t she just so sneaky!! Then I looked outside, and there was mum helping Grandad out of the car. He is quite a heavy man, and her muscles are defs growing now she helps him get up quite a lot! A fabulous arm work out!

Nana and Grandad had never seen my Yorky York house before and I had to explain that students are quite messy and as we have such busy university schedules and spend a lot of time in the library studying, it can be difficult at times to ensure the washing up is all done at all times! (Thanks muma Voce for the pre-warning that they would be coming by the way!)

My sister had sent me a beautiful bouquet of Lilies and Roses as she couldn’t make it to Yorky York that day… and this was just the start of the gifts!!

My nana had brought me some UGG Boots already as my birthday and Christmas present, but she let me have them early as it is so cold in Yorky York, practically being in Scotland! So I wasn’t expecting anything from her! But then she whipped out a gift bag full of Soap and Glory things (my favourite) AND had made me a cake!! (Sneaky Nana, again!! She spoils me too much, but I am her favourite Granddaughter, and Cicely isn’t: Uncle Jamie you need to remind her of this please!!)

Then my mum started handing me gift after gift after gift! Lots and lots of little bits and bobs, most of which she had got during our summer holiday in France… I thought she had just gone a bit OTT on a French theme (as she really wishes she was French) and I suppose the Paris-esque theme is quite trendy at the moment! I had an Eiffel tower snow globe, an Eifell tower make up bag; she had even made me a canvas collage of Paris pictures and French words. My Aunty Sue even joined in with the French theme and got me a little jewellery dish, with an Eiffel tower pattern… How I did not guess my main present I do not know!

I WAS GOING TO PARIS!!!! WITH MY BEST FRIEND KATE!!! HOW EXCITINGGG!!

I have always wanted to go to Paris, and even though we have been to France every year since I can remember, I had never been!

I was so, so, so excited about Paris, I couldn’t focus on opening any more presents (why are there more presents when Paris is a big enough present in itself!?) But my mum encouraged me to open another present from Aunty Sue… which was a very good shout… a ticket to…

DISNEYLAND PARIS!!!

Ok, so it was my 21^st birthday, and on the adverts it’s the little children that get excited about going to DisneyLand… but I am little, and I’ve never been! My little sister’s 12 and has been about a billion times, and it just looks so fun!! Mickey Mouse and Cinderella greeting you, rides, eating a burger whilst having a chat with Hercules… what more could you possibly want?!

I was definitely very spoilt and very, very lucky to have such lovely, thoughtful Aunty Sue’s and Muma’s!

We spent the rest of the afternoon eating the feast that my mum brought with her: onion bharji’s, bacon potato skins, tortillas and dips, celebrations…. You can only imagine what deliciousness we demolished! We were chatting and laughing; mum thought it was necessary to bring up what an ugly toddler I was, and how she was embarrassed to take me out! Nana added that I was a bit of a gawky 11 year old too! Brilliant! Jonny and Tabby thought this was very amusing! Personally, I like to forget about my “gawky” 11 year old days, thank you very much!

The fam left, and the 3 of us watched a bit of Countdown (I got an 8 letter word!! “Gradient”) and continued devouring the celebrations that my mum left (along with the 2 tubs that our estate agents brought us for Christmas!)

In the evening, Jonny and I walked into town and had dinner at my favourite restaurant, not only in York, but ever in the whole wide world: Lucias. I had sun-dried tomato risotto with lemon and thyme chicken (which I would quite happily eat every day for the rest of my life!), I can’t remember what Jonny had as I was too focused on my own dinner! Afterwards they brought me a free Pina Colada (I knew wearing a birthday badge would get me something free!!- Well, you do have to get all the freebies you can as a student!), and the best way to describe that cocktail was YUM!

When I got home, Tabby was so lovely and had tidied up the living room and set my cakes on the table with my bouquet of flowers, and all my lovely Yorky York friends arrived with even more presents and cards to open!

It was the most perfect, relaxed birthday (and my tummy was more than satisfied!), it was just a shame I had an exam the next day!

Foxy Fashion

There may not be an immediate apparent link between politics and fashion, but when a Yorky York friend of mine purchased a certain handbag, it really got me thinking. When I first laid eyes on it, for some reason, I hate,hate, hated it!!

The bag was a good size; it could fit everything into it that you would need in a handbag and more! Like the majority of the female population my handbag is always overflowing! Consisting of a purse, a bottle of water, an Aloe Vera Vaseline, a variety of pens in different colours, numerous receipts (mainly from my addiction of purchasing milky way crispy rolls from the Spar, but shhh!), a big clang of keys with a variety of key rings attached including the Sex and the City “Love” key ring that I received as a gift from my lovely Becca and Janette, and a Pooing Pig from Mr Will!

The bag had a nice background colour: navy. A very neutral and versatile colour; sophisticated and very suitable for the winter months. It had a very strong, sustainable handle; very hard wearing! It had pockets inside; perfect to keep my rings in when I have to take them off for some hard hand work! So all in all a perfectly acceptable hand bag: it had everything you could want from a hand bag… so why did I hate it so much?

It was imprinted with a pattern of lots of little foxes; the silhouettes of the foxes almost tessellating, but letting the navy colour project through the gaps. Ok, so the foxes are cute if you like that kind of thing… but the worst was yet to come…

A FAKE FOXE’S TAIL ATTACHED TO THE HANDLE… just hanging down.

Now, I am one that is very partial the fake fur… whether it be in coat or Gillet form. I find it very warm and snuggly, and have grown to love it after being highly influenced by the Chelsea girls (of Made in Chelsea!).  But this is just something else, a step too far? A tail. Representing the tail of a fox.

To me, this is just amplifying Torrie life, and supporting Fox Hunting. Something I quite despise and makes me feel rather nauseous! Some might say I am narrow minded on this subject (this could be from my very left wing upbringing and strong influences of Mama Voce), but whenever debating this topic, I just don’t think those for Fox Hunting really have much of a leg to stand on. Boxing day should be spent having a few bevvies with the fam, playing Cranium, eating all the left overs, working your way through ANOTHER tin of Quality Street and in our case, spending the evening with the lovely Lee family. Why go outside and chase foxes? It’s their Christmas too!

So all in all, it wasn’t so much the bag I loathed but what it represented.  Fashion in the Western culture is very much a choice and illustration of who you are as person. Whether it is symbolic of your music taste, your favourite colour and as has been reflected on, your political beliefs. Whether it is right or not, it is notorious that people judge each other on what you look like and what you wear; it is the first thing you see of a person, and if I didn’t know my Yorky York friend, I could have quite easily made an opinion on her, purely by looking at the fox tail she had hanging from her shoulder (I do love my Yorky York friend to pieces, and do not wish to offend her in the hatred of her bag!)

Although I am not this handbag’s number one thing, I do think good on my friend for wearing it with pride: If you have a belief, stand by it, don’t hide behind it!

(Some of you might really like this Hand Bag. If you're interested, it retails at Next for £26... http://www.next.co.uk/g473236s2)

A Week of Birthday Celebrations (Part One)

My week of birthday merriments has come to an end and so to recover I am chilling in my sister’s dressing gown and waiting to watch the Loose Women ladies. The room is filled with the remnants of the festivities; drooping pink helium balloons, 21 confetti, birthday cards filling the mantelpiece, the bookshelves, the table, the fireplace (I didn’t realise I knew so many people… Well… that so many people knew me!!) And the dining room table is covered with the lovely gifts from my wonderful friends and fam!

Birthday number 1

Being at university completely makes your friendship number multiply, so it wouldn’t be fair to just celebrate your birthday with one set of friends: I needed to have a party with my Yorkies and with my Homies!  So, on Saturday 10^th December I had a Yorky jungle themed birthday! I wanted to dress up as something Katy Perry related (last year I dressed up as her! And only went out in a cupcake bra.. even though it was snowing!! I really don’t know what I was thinking!! But it was fun!!) Katy Perry has a very wonderful song called “Peacock” and she dressed up as a fabulous peacock on her tour “California Dreams”

This was a magnificent costume: but on my student budget and lack of professional fashion stylists I had to compromise slightly (a lot!)

I was very lucky to come across a Peacock pattern top in a charity shop, whilst shopping with my Mum and my Aunty Sue!  It was a few sizes too big but a few stitches from my talented muma Voce and it was brilliant!

My Housie and very good friend Tabby is notorious for watching YouTube tutorial make-up videos, so I knew she’d have an idea of how to do make-up! And low and behold, she did! We moved my long mirror into our very spacious, luxurious bathroom (which I personally think we should make into a living room/bathroom), and put it sideways against the bath so all of us girlies could get ready together!

Lovely Sofia turned up and my special guest: Miss Kate Houghton! (The bestie from home!)

After an hour or 2, or 3, we were ready! And the other Yorkies arrived…

The Boys

Ellie and Sofia

The Girlies!

We had a party and then went to our favourite pub by theYorky River: Lowther!

We then danced all night (even in high heels!) In Gallery night club. 

The next morning, the boys went to the pub to watch the football, whilst me and Tabby cleaned the house... we want to point out that this won't be happening again... we are women of the 2000's not the 1940's. 

Reminiscent of the Summer Ball...

The festive season is by far one of my favourite favourite fav times of the  year! I’m not sure if it’s because my birthday is so close to Christmas, so it is one exciting event after another, but there is defs something about it which just makes me really happy and like an excitable child!

My good friend Mr Will, keeps advertising York st John’s Winter Ball!! Advertised with having Michael Buble (well, almost!! Someone pretending to be him and singing his songs!), REAL reindeer, AND snow!! (Probably fake snow, but snow all the same!) Perfect for getting into the Christmas spirit I think and I really wanted to go…

Sadly, many of my Yorky York friends were being Grinches and not feeling it! But, Mr Will and MissPerryBerry are working it!! And I have dragged Jonny to come too! Perfect! I have decided to go exactly a week before the ball and with a busy week ahead, didn’t leave much time to put effort into an outfit! This is a very different experience to the preparation and efforts gone into our summer ball…. However as it was summer, there was no excuse for unshaven legs, and pasty white skin… hours and hours were spent in MissPerryBerry’s room, styling our hair, playing with make-up, parading around in our dresses to make sure that they were just right… and my most favourite thing…. TAN TAN TANNING. Every evening we were making a trip to St Moriz…Well St Moriz was taking a trip to our skin!! Standing on the chair in her room, near enough in the nude, whilst the little Olive took the mit and covered us from head to toe in a bronzing mousse…. We became so attached to our good friend St Moriz that there was a stage where I didn’t think I could ever go back to being my real skin colour again! (My mum was getting quite worried about how much tan I was getting through, and my step-dad kept telling me no matter how much fake tan I put on, I was never going to be Beyonce!)

Poor Mr Will was the only boy left at uni from our group, so unless he wanted to be alone in his room with his Harry Potter collection, he had to join in with this pre-ball preparation period. He even did Tabby’s make up one evening (it was very boy George!) But in the end, we all scrubbed up very well, thanks to a week of practising and tanning and of course… hair volume-ising!

My dress was a bargain (and bargains are one of my favourite things!!) I got it for £12 in New Look! Annoyingly, it was the last shop I looked in!

Miss PerryBerry and EleanorVG

Sofia, The Little Olive, Eleanor VG, BD, MissPerryBerry & Katie

We arrived at the summer ball, and we greeted by some bouncer's on the gate of the University!! We knew then, that this was the whole shabang!! We felt very VIP, flashing our wristbands to show we could come in, and we did not even anticipate the excitement that was yet to come... first of all the beautiful entrance... perfect for posing and pretending to be celebrities...

Tabby (purpley dress- Yumi), Miss PerryBerry (hippy dress- Miss Selfridges), BD (black dress- H'n'M)

A 3D wacky warehouse....

An air inflated Gladiator style, wrestling ring!! I held up a very strong fight against Mr Will!! (But I think this was because he was too busy pointing and laughing at people!! Made himself an easy target!)

I then went on to last longer than him on the bucking bull! (Please excuse the beautiful Bridget Jones, tummy holding in knickers!!)

We were then fortunate enough to be at the front of the audience for the one and only... TAKE THAT!! (well..... FAKE that! But if you squinted or just closed your eyes, then it could have been the real them!!) 

Just when we thought the excitement was coming to an end... a celebrity guest performance appeared...

Jamie Archerr!!!!!!! ( More commonly known as the afro guy from the X Factor who sang Sex on Fire) He blessed us with some of his songs (well sang songs that belong to others!), including SEX IS ON FIREEE! The crowd were loving it, they were going wild for Jamie!! We even got lucky enough to meet him, and more importantly.... TOUCH HIS AFRO!!!

All of this was fabulous and fun!! But my post favourite part of the evening was yet to come...

An ALL YOU CAN EAT FOR FREE chocolate fountain!! With bananas, doughnuts, chocolate brownies (double the chocolate)... so much delishhh-ness to dip and eat!! I did end up with chocolate all around my facee!! But who careees! We were in heaven!!

The Winter Ball’s preparation will be nothing to this extreme… I won’t drag the Little Olive all around town looking for a dress; I’ll make use of the dresses I already have for a change! And add some thick tights to disguise the ridiculously snowy pale legs, and preferably ones that the fur layer on my legs won’t poke through! But I am sooo so so excited to dance to Buble, play in the "snow" and feed carrots to real life Reindeer!