Monday, 2 January 2012

Highlights of 2011

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO:


http://20---something.blogspot.com/






I really can't quite believe how quickly this year has flown by. I actually managed to complete a year of university! And returned for the next year! I managed to go on two lovely holidays, made some very very lovely friends in Yorky York, and have had some wonderful times with my favourite girlys.

Here are my highlights (if you click on the image, it takes you to the blog about the highlight!):


I got to see Katy Perry TWICE! 


Lovely summer ball 




London with Jonny


Start of the 21st's


Christmas with the fam



New years with the besties





All in all, a wonderful year!

NYE 2011

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO:


http://20---something.blogspot.com/












New Years Eve is probably one of the most bigged up nights of the year. Everyone anticipates it to be a night like no other, and the expectations of the night can be put on a pedastall, that often does not get reached. 


All I wanted was to be with my girlies, have a few drinks and have a cheeky dance! And that's exactly what we did! With a few special guests (all of our favourite boys!) We started off at my house and then ventured into town for midnight to dance the night away...



Perfect night, perfect friends xxx

Christmas Festivities

THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO:


http://20---something.blogspot.com/







Christmas Eve consisted of Muma Voce making a trifle from Rowntree's jelly, chocolate chip muffins, strawberries, raspberries and the most delicious thing in the whole entire world: Sainsbury's Belgian Chocolate custard. (Seriously, you must try it!! It is sooooooooooooooooooooooo the best thing you will ever have in your life!) There are videos of her pretending to be Nigella, however I don't think I'd live to see another trifle being made if I ever posted them, as much as I'd love to! Me and Lottie ate the custard that didn't go into the trifle, whilst Sara baked cookies, and Papa Voce paced in and out of the productive kitchen, making his usual witty comments.




We all snuggled on the sofa to watch a Christmas film (tradition on Christmas eve!), and this Muma Voce insisted on Nativity. None of us had seen it before, however, it is the cutest, lovliest film, and has given me a bit of a boost in being a teacher again!! Defs worth a watch!



We always open one present each on Christmas Eve, and so we opened one from Aunty Sue, which was for me, Sara and Muma Voce. I knew in June that we would be getting this gift, as it is what Aunty Sue does, but we love love loved it!!!! :). The Take That Progess Tour DVD! Because we had all been together in June and had the best time! We left out a mince pie and a beer for Santa, and then went to bed!

I was the first one to wake up on Christmas day, as always! I decided to text everyone to wish them a happy christmas, including all the family in my house, in the hope that it would wake them all up! And I was successful!!!!

We all went downstairs and put some christmas songs on the music channels, and all gathered around to give each other all of our presents! Charlie didn't get up for absolutely ages! Muma Voce had to go and wake him up, and he told her to not look around the room! (He had all of our presents lying around the room, and was yet to wrap them!) Finally, he came downstairs, so we could open all the beautifully wrapped presents (they were all beautifully wrapped, except the ones that Muma Voce wrapped- it's not one of her best skills... she should stick to the trifle making really!), 


We all had some lovely, thoughtful things! But soon realised how hungry we were... all that unwrapping had really worked up an appetite! So Papa Voce kindly volunteered himself to make us all breakfast.... (we definitely did not tell him to go to the kitchen where he belongs!) Cheese and ham croissants baked in the oven so the cheese was all melted and the croissants melted on your tongue... yum, yum, yum! My best find of 2011! We quickly got dressed into our new christmas clothing, and hopped in the car to go to see the rest of the family! (I'm going to miss out the part where Muma Voce and Charlie had a small row, as Charlie's car had no petrol and she was adamant that all the petrol stations were closed... thank goodness Charlie was right!)


We eventually got to John and Claires, were Uncle Jamie, Cic, Nana and Grandad were all waiting eagerly for our arrival. More presents to unwrap! Uncle Jamie was not impressed, as Nana got Muma Voce and John a bottle of alcohol each, and he got a scarf! We had lots and lots of delicious snacks to go alongside, as well as champagne and whatever drink you could imagine, you could have it! My favourite of the finger foods was these little beef wellington's; they made your mouth water!


Muma Voce and Nana took the dogs for a walk before dinner: Muma Voce had Molly, our cute little Spaniel, and Nana had John and Claire's, bigger, stronger dog, Pasher! I really wish I'd have gone with them, as Mum came back with a very funny story:


They had come across a man walking two big dogs, and Pasher picked up some pace and started running towards them... Nana was holding the lead and started to speed up too... She is not the tallest of ladies (shorter then me, which is an achievement!), and her little legs were moving so quickly. To make it funnier, although Nana is of course, a very elegant, sophisticated woman, she is very prone to having wind. So as each leg was frantically moving, you can only imagine the speed of wind she was creating! This story had the whole family laughing a lot, for a lot of the afternoon!


Dinner was eventually served, which made Grandad extremely happy, and it was a feast of the biggest Turkey you could ever imagine (and that was just for Grandad!), honey roasted parsnips, delicious, crispy roast potatoes, a variety of vegetables, home made cranberry sauce..... there was so much deliciousness all on one table!


This was followed by the infamous Muma Voce trifle (for whoever dared eat it!), christmas pudding, and home made Creme Brulee's which were the favourite by most! 


We played games throughout the rest of the afternoon, until it was time to go home, where we all crashed on the sofa and watched the ever happy, ever cheerful, ever joyous, Eastenders Chrismas day special. 

Cheeky trip to London- August 2011




THIS BLOG HAS MOVED TO:


http://20---something.blogspot.com/







As neither of us had the time or the money in the summer to go on a holiday abroad, Jonny and I decided that we'd go to London for a few nights. We had a look around for some hotels and cheap deals and found a very nice hotel for a bargain!

I went out with the girls the night before we went to London and so felt very horrendous the next morning!! It was at this point that I finally learnt to man up with a hangover, instead of lying in bed all day feeling sorry for myself!


We got the slow train to London (as it was cheapy cheap compared to the extortionate prices of the fast train!), and arrived at Kings Cross about an hour and a half later. 


We wondered around the back streets off Oxford Road for ages trying to find our hotel. I was walking ahead with my bottle of water, whilst Jonny struggled behind me with all the bags and suitcases (he did insist!!). We eventually found it, and were both very shocked and excited with how posh it was!


The Montcalm Hotel

Jonny walking to the entrance of the Montcalm Hotel


The reception area was beautiful, with flowers everywhere and a huge chandelier hanging right in the middle. The staff were all very friendly and welcoming and extremely helpful! 

The Grand Entrance!!

When we got to our room, the first thing we did was jumped on the bed! (It's just one of those things you have to do!!)

The most comfiest bed in the world!


We were very impressed with our matching 'his and hers' hotel dressing gowns; so much so that we paraded around the hotel wearing them!!! 


We were (well mainly me!), were very, very happy that there were chocolates left on the bed, and they were very sweet and wished us a "Good night". How thoughtful of them! And, Jonny let me eat BOTH of the chocolates!!! Delish!!!



The first evening, we decided to venture away from the Oxford Street area, and went to Leicester Square. We found a little Italian restaurant, and as we were both incredibly hungry we thought that we could eat anything and it would be amazing!! Jonny ordered something yummy and delicious (I can't remember what though!) and I was being ever so healthy, and went for a chicken salad. Went it came, it was more of just a ceaser sauce soup, with some lettuce and chicken floating around. Not impressed at all, but I ate as much as I could, and then made Jonny share his yummy, not so healthy, but extremely delicious dinner!

Afterwards, we had a wonder around and found a very cool, little cocktail bar, where we had cocktails for about a million pounds each, however they were very strong, and very yummy (this made up for the not so yummy dinner). Also, because of the small dinner, it meant less cocktails were necessary!



The next day we visited a university in London, as Jonny was going to be starting there in September!! It was a bit of a treck, but it was a really beautiful sunny day!

Jonny had never been to Buckingham Palace before (he clearly hasn't lived!!!!!), so we went to that side of town. We firstly had a stroll through The Green Park, near Buckingham Palace, where we couldn't resist a cheeky Mr Whippy Ice cream! (Well, it was a hot day, and we needed something to cool us down of course!)



 We then made our way to the Palace, and sat at Buckingham fountain. I took of my shoes and dipped my feet in the water, I quite fancied a paddle, but I think this would have been very frowned upon! We sat for ages, people watching. So many people snap happy, from all over the world! Families, couples, and even singletons on their own taking pictures of the Royal home!


Ellie and Jonny at Buckingham Fountain

Ellie and Jonny with Buckingham Palace and a lady with a big rucksack!

In the evening we found another restaurant in Leicester Square (we hadn't planned on going back to Leicester Square, but we somehow ended up there without realising!). This time, I was sensible and decided to not be healthy, and to not order a salad! I didn't want another Ceaser soup! So I had Seabass with Mediterranean vegetables and lots of delicious potatoes! It was a very good choice, possibly one of the most yummiest meals I've had in my whole life! We then went to the Haagen Daaz ice cream parlour: I had some Bailey's ice cream which was divine! Jonny had some Mango sorbet, which was also yum yum yum (I ate most of that too!)


We were then having a walk around and found....

M'N'M WORLD!!!!

This was a brilliant moment, as I am a big chocolate fan! There were large Mr M'n'M figures all around, and lots of merchandise and, most importantly, millions and millions of M'n'M's!!! It was 3 stories high, and the colours were bold and vibrant!!! It was a magical place!



The next day, we had a walk down Oxford Street, and I could not resist a little peek in Selfridges! We looked at the bottles of Vodka that cost a bazillion pounds, and all the beautiful jewellery. We then came across a whole christmas section. Yes, a section of the shop filled with Christmas decorations, trees, lights... and even a Santa!!! I'm not sure if they knew it was AUGUST?!?!?!

Ellie with Santa in Selfridges
After the shock of bumping into Mr Claus, we ventured to South Bank. We walked along the Thames, past the London Eye, and found a staircase! We climbed the stairs (which I think did wonders for my thighs and calves!), and found a roof-top garden! With a bar and a little cafe! It was beautiful; green plants and brightly coloured flowers everywhere. You could see for miles from the balcony. They did lots of organic drinks, so we opted for the freshly squeezed lemonade, as it sounded very quenching and refreshing on such a hot day! We both sipped it for a while, and then caught each other pulling that face when things are very bitter. We were trying to hide our disgust of the £4 a cup drink from each other; thank goodness we both felt the same so we could throw them away!

Roof-top garden pub
We made a quick escape from the terrible drink and wondered past the Aquarium. I had never been inside, and neither had Jonny. So we felt very spontaneous and decided to go in!!! Wild!!! There were so many fish inside! (As there should be in an Aquarium I suppose), and we spent hours wondering around and learning about all the different species! It was actually really interesting! And the penguins were very cute!

Pretending to be under water! Very cool!

We had to go home that evening, but we both didn't want to at all! It was the best 3 days!! And we did so, so much! I forgot to mention about all the shopping we did, and how many shops I dragged Jonny into, but you can imagine that!

That evening, to cheer ourselves up, and help to recover from those holiday blues, we decided to treat ourselves to a KFC boneless banquet meal, each. And then had a McFlurry! Comfort eating really does help!










Katy Perry- California Dreams Tour 2011

London Hammersmith Apollo- 19th March 2011


Possibly one of the best birthday presents I've ever had was given to me from the lovely Lee family: a ticket to see Katy Perry! My birthday was in the December and the show wasn't until the March! So we had 3 months to learn every lyric of the new album, Teenage Dream and prepare ourselves for the excitement of the California Dreams tour!




Ellie, Jo Lee and Becca Lee very excited!


We had seated tickets so did not need to queue from so early on, as some of the other Katy Cat's did! The time finally came to join the queue of excitable fans and we entered the venue to be greeted by the smell of sweet, delicious, candyfloss. This was something we had anticipated, as Katy had posted on her Twitter account:


 "I hope that it's going to engage all of your senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch".


 It most certainly did smell delicious, and we also experienced a delicious taste of candyfloss too, as it was being sold alongside the merchandise. Yum, yum, yum!


Becca Lee with the yummy candyfloss!


When looking at the merchandise, it showed what a charitable and thoughtful woman Miss Perry is, as she was donating a large profit to the Japan Earthquake appeal. We brought some of her Cherry Chapstick and some light up firework stick things (really not sure of the real name!!)

Cherry Chapstick

DJ Skeet Skeet was a fantastic opening act: a DJ from California, playing some well mixed contemporary chart toppers. He interacted well with the audience and really got everyone hyped up.


DJ Skeet Skeet (image from his Twitter)

Before Katy came on stage, a film was projected. It was the beginning of a story, of how Katy Perry landed in 'Candyfornia'. 

She made her grand entrance by shooting up onto a platform covered in giant sweets and candy, singing her number one hit, Teenage Dream. I'm not going to lie, a had a few tears from the pure excitement and disbelief that I was in the same room as Katy Perry!







One of my favourite songs of the night (although I loved them all and had lots of favourites), was Peacock... the costume was just incredible and the colours were beautiful:






When she sang Hot and Cold she showed that not only could she sing, not only could she dance; but she was also a magician too! She changed outfits 8 times in the duration of the song!




Ooooh, every song that she sang was brilliant, whoever said that Katy can't sing live, needs to go to one of her shows!! The whole show was completely and utterly brilliant: she interacted with the audience so much (I really wish I was one of the lucky fans at the front that she KISSED!!!), and fans were also able to go up on stage (very jealous!).


Fans on stage (jealous, jealous, jealous!)


Katy finished the show with her number one single: California Girls, which seemed the perfect way to end it: she had giant gingerbread puppets, and was joined on stage with the very talented dancers, who had supported her throughout the whole show, and in themselves had also put on a fabulous performance!







Newcastle Metro Arena- 27th October 2011


I had the best time of my life when I saw Katy in March, and the ticket prices were not unreasonable, like they are for so many artists these days. They priced at about £30, which was definitely more than worth it!


The concert was on a Thursday, and this time we had standing tickets, so we know we had to get there early, so that we could be as close as possible. Unfortunately, this meant that Uni was off the cards that day!


I went with 3 of my favourite Yorkies: Miss PerryBerry, Tabby and Sofia! We spent the evening before hand making our very own "I <3 Katy Perry tops" and all had blue wigs, (except from Tabbs, as her hair was 'wild' enough on its own!), and we wore them on the train to Newcastle which made it even more exciting. I'm going to skip pass the depressing part of the day, where Miss PerryBerry forgot to bring her railcard, so had to pay a lot a lot of money because the ticket man clearly wasn't having a generous day!






We arrived at Newcastle station, where my eccentric Uncle Ian met us, wearing his usual bright salmon (not pink) shirt! He was ever so kind, and let us have his flat for the night, so we had somewhere to stay! He had made us all a packed lunch, to keep up our energy levels throughout our day of waiting, which consisted of: a bottle of Evian, a can of diet coke (he is very health conscious!), a small box of sushi, a salmon and soft cheese sandwich (courtesy of Tesco's Finest), a Cadbury's Twirl, and a small baguette. Yumm! 


He then dropped us off at the Metro arena (which for some reason took us quite some time to find!), and we made our way past some fans that had camped over night!! That is very dedicated... especially in October! There were some fans with mohican's (not really the type that I would have expected as a Katy Perry fan, but then this could resemble the days when I dressed as a goth, but S Club were still by favourite band!) 


There were about 40 people in front of us in the queue, and we soon made friends with the people around us, and had a great time singing lots of Katy Perry songs! It did rain a bit, but we were geniuses, and had come prepared: with black bin liners! Not only are they good for warmth, but they also protect from the rain! And, you can throw them away!!


Ellie and Sofia in the queue, having a little nap!
7 hours later, the doors opened. I have honestly never thought I was going to die, as much as I did at the moment. The hoards of fans pushed and pushed and ran and ran to try and get through the doors first. Being the standard height of an 11 year old really does not help in situations like these! The four of us held hands tightly and somehow got our way through the doors, and then the next 7002308208120820128028210 doors we had to go through, to get into the arena. We shot to the stage, and this time, there was an added on catwalk, so we positioned ourself with good view of both the stage and the catwalk! And we got an amazing view!! We were so, so close! (So close that Miss PerryBerry noticed that Miss Perry had a little bit of cellulite!!- this made us love her even more!! She was a NORMAL REAL woman!!!)


She had added in some more bits to this show and it was even better then the first time (which I didn't think was even possible!!!)


Definitely would be happy to go to her concerts every day of my life!


Here are some photos of the show: