my fresher's in pictures

Hello, long time no speak!

Fresher's at university has been absolutely mental,

trying to fit reading and work around going clubbing and house parties is rather mad!

I've come to the realisation that I'm not going to be able to post as much as I'd like to.

However, I'm still going to keep going, you'll just have to wait with bated breath for each post!

Now, I'm going to start doing a "week in pictures" post that so many blogs around do,

and I thought the best way to kick it off would be my fresher's summed up in pictures!

1. 

This is Jemma, Bria and I getting read for our first night out as housemates 

and therefore celebrating with a glass of wine!

2. and 3. 

The aftermath of our house warming party.

So many smashed glasses and a sink full of god-knows-what!

(This was the night I got hit in the face with a can of shaving foam someone threw from our bathroom window!)

4.

Professional photo taken at the first Pure of the new uni year!

5. and 6.

Homemade spaghetti bolognese and the best student roast dinner you've ever seen!

Definitely eating well ast university!

7.

Myself as a smurf and Nicole and Bria dressed as Where's Wally

for the first Psychology Social of the year!

8. and 9.

Experimenting with my nail varnish!

Finally tried nude nails (I love them!!) and red nails and "diva red" lips.

10.

It was mine and Ollie's 6 and a half year anniversary last week,

we celebrated by spending the day on Bournemouth beach,

listening to acoustic music and drinking overpriced cocktails!!

For those of you who have just started uni; hope you had a great start of term and are settling in!

For those craaazy second and third years; hope you showed the fresher's how to party!

xxxx

guest post on 'first kiss time'

Hey guys!

I've been lucky enough to do a guest post for the wonderful Sarah from First Kiss Time.

It's a review of the benefit products I bought for my birthday

- which just seems SO long ago now!!

If you want to check it out you'll find it here.

Enjoy!!

to go nude, or not to go nude, that is the question...?

No, not like that!!

Beauty Bloggers, I need your help;

what do you guys think of nude nails?

I've seen them on celebrities and friends a like

and I think I may have fallen in love.

I've read mixed reviews on blogs online

some are raving, some are slating,

so what I really wanted were some personal recommendations

or some personal "stay away from this product"!

I think I prefer the matt ones more than the shiny ones,

and I don't know how I feel about the one with sparkles in it.

So what do you think?

Do you have any you swear by?

Or any you should swear me off of?

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home is where the heart is.

Previously I mentioned that I was working on a wall of hearts.

Well here it is, all finished and in all it's glory!

(Yes I do realise I'm missing photos, I'm waiting for the right ones to be taken!)

It all started with the very large white heart. 

What you can't tell it that it's made of very thin pieces of wood that have been shaped!

Mum bought it for me when I started redecorating my room and I popped it on the wall.

But it looked very sad on it's own, so I got the idea to collect a few more!

They all have stories connected to them, 

but I've picked a few of my favourite hearts to show you.

My Grandma bought me this for my birthday this year.

I really like this one as it has little bells and pearls hanging off it.

I also love the script of the word 'love' in the middle!

Mum came home with this little heart as a surprise for me.

She'd picked it up from a trade fair that she was attending,

it's handmade which I think is adorable; the photo doesn't do the detail justice.

I bought this heart myself when Ollie and I were in London.

It's from a little boutique in Covent Garden.

It also helps continue the 'love' theme - I have three hearts with it written on!

Finally this gorgeous frame is from Chez Rose, I was so in love I had to go back!

The frame isn't technically designed to go on the wall,

with with a little determination and string I got it up there!!

My next dilemma is do I stop there?
I've really enjoyed collecting them and remembering the stories of my summer.

Should I fill up the rest of the wall?

the cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.

This quote pretty much sums up the holiday.

Some parts were amazing - like going to my favourite beach and spending time with Mum,

whilst others were difficult, like being constantly surrounded by 4 teenage boys

and others were downright hard, like when I got splattered with sand on the beach

(It went in my tea and everything; I burst into tears).

Llangrannog beach at low tide.

 On the Tuesday we visited a beach I've never been to, 

with an amazing Whelsh name - Llangrannog. 

It was so long, and so hot, and so busy. We almost had to sit in the shade(!).

It was down a really, really steep hill 

and we had to get this clapped out minibus down to the seafront.

Adorable houses along the seafront.

Our second beach day was Wednesday.

Pure spur of the moment.

It had been raining all day but suddenly stopped around four.

So we decided to go to Mwnt beach, which is the beach of my childhood.

We've been visiting this same area of Wales for around 9 years now,

so this beach has so many memories
(The most vivid was when we found a dead seagull in the sand!!)

Gorgeous Mwnt Beach from the cliff top.

 The beach is at the bottom of a huge cliff face. 

And this time there was no shuttle service! 

Just a huge number of stone steps, and I tell you,

after going up them for the sixth time I was starting to feel the burn!

We stayed at the beach through the whole of the late afternoon.
As it started to get a bit chillier around 7 o'clock

I went and joined Mum and Nigel who were sat on the cliff.

You see they had the camping stove, so I could have a cup of tea! 

As the evening drew to a close, we witness the most beautiful of sunsets.

And we got to watch the bottlenosed dolphins that this area are reknowed for.

I couldn;t get a photo as they were too fast for the shutter on my camera,

but they were diving beautifully, completely coming out of the water!

What was pretty special was that for the whole hour they were around,

almost everyone on the beach stopped what they were doing and watched.

The whole beach sharing in one magical moment of nature!

All in all we did have a lovely time and I'm glad I went!

But I'm also glad to be back in my bed with phone reception!

Do you and your family camp?
If so, what do you think?
And if not, why not??

a delayed introduction to our newest family member...

Hey Guys...

Meet Blue.

He's a labrador collie-cross.

He's our new puppy.

Well, not so new now. We've had him just over a month.

He appeared whilst I was in London and so he was a pleasant surprise.

In that month we have found out many things...

1) He's really good at falling asleep in any and all positions...

He can just flop on to the sofa and fall asleep instantly.

How he does it we're not quite sure.

2) Don't be fooled by his puppy dog eyes and how cute he looks when he sleeps.

He's a terror. His favourite pass time is barking at 5 o'clock in the morning.

And finally ..

3) He knows he should pee outside, and yet he taunts me

by peeing just infront of the open back door.

I mean seriously Blue! Cut me some slack!!

But, whilst he is a noisy, peeing machine, I love him.

In the evening when he's all tired out he's so cute!

we're all going on a summer holiday...

Mwnt Beach at Sunset

... Well actually I've just been on holiday.

No where fancy I'm afraid,

just five days camping in deepest, darkest Wales!

It had it's ups and it's downs,

but that's a story for a proper post.

This is just a pop in to let you know I'm still here.

Did you miss me?

university advice - money makes the world go round.

Congratulations!!

You've made it into University.

Now what?

Managing to life your life on s student budget is at times an art form.

I've seen how to do it from people, and I've also seem what not to do.

So here are my top tips for budgeting on a student loan.

1.

Open a student bank account as soon as possible - this can be done before you actually get to uni. They will be able to offer you an interest free overdraft, which hopefully you won't need but will be if necessary. Different banks have different incentives on offer, for example free railcards or NUS cards. This helpful article from the Guardian should help you choose the right one for you.

Also, if your bank will let you, open a second account. This can be used to store the majority of your student loan once you get it so you can't touch it from your everyday bank account. This will avoid the "I've accidentally spent my rent" problem!

2.

Ask for student discount at every possibility. Some shops will accept your student card provided by the university. Others will only accept an NUS card, this may be something worth investing in as it's only£10 and entitles you to loads of exclusive discounts.

You can get discounts for students everywhere from the cinema, most retail shops and loads of restaurants. But if you ask and that shop doesn't offer one, you haven't lost anything. It doesn't hurt to ask.

3.

Print out a monthly calender and display it somewhere prominant. Use it to mark all the money going in and out; loans, bursery, rent, bills. This should help you know what money you will have and when so you know how much you have to play with.

Don't forget to budget in money for food!

4.

When going on a night out, decide how much you can afford and take only that in cash. This way you won't have your card on you and the temptation of extra alcohol and spur of the moment purchases.

One friend of mine has a habit of buying expensive bottles of champagne on nights out - she doesn't even like champagne so gives it away. Don't let this be you!!

5.

This is probably the point I'd like to stress the most. Do not, and I repeat DO NOT get a credit card. Your bank will constantly try and push one on you, but resist. Unlike an overdraft on a student account they charge really high interest rates and are difficult to crawl out of.

If you are really struggling with money, there is no shame is asking your parents for a little short term help. Or if the situation is more dire then your university will have a department that should be able to help you out of your specific situation!

Managed properly, it is possible to survive on a student budget

without majorly depriving yourself.

Just don't go mad when your loan comes in - it has to last you all term!

See also:

university advice - the difference between try and triumph is a little umph.

university advice - all work and no play makes jack a dull boy.

university advice - food glorious food.

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