Hungover Yiddish

This week, on Tuesday, I had my first exam... it ended up being pretty much a total write off as the night before we all went down the the Pitcher and Piano on the quayside for two friends' birthday drinks. It was lovely being able to watch the sun go down over the river through the enormous glass windows which stretched down the whole of one of the sides of the bar. Amazing! Plus we had the whole of the top floor to ourselves too. 

Ronan did a lovely speech about Rich which was hilarious and very heartfelt. As it was Rich's birthday the next day, he was the only one to get a speech which did feel a bit weird, though we were all promised that George would have his moment at his birthday dinner in June. Rich and George kindly put lots of money behind the bar too so there was pretty much just a hell of a lot of free alcohol and suddenly, before I knew it, I was being dragged out to another bar...! My exam the next day was a Yiddish exam (which is ancient jewish, we have to learn it for our Music in the Holocaust module.... yeah... don't even get me started....) at 9am, but all these factors just made it even more hilarious to everyone and rather than heading home, sobering up and doing some last minute revision, I was suddenly teaching 'useful Yiddish' phrases to half of Mimo... oh dear.
I did manage to put an end to the madness finally and slyly slipped out with Oli and headed back home. The exam was pretty goddam difficult... trying to decipher Yiddish when you're hungover is far more difficult that I had anticipated! However, I don't think I have too much to worry about as this exam is only worth 6% of the entire module and I managed to complete more sections than people who hadn't been drinking the night before. Anyway, I'll just have to wait and see....

Busy busy

Ahhh my god this week has been so busy. Everyone seems to be planning a last celebration before exams get under way and there have been so many parties and birthday drinks etc. Always good fun but a bit of a hectic calendar this week!
One of the main events was one of my housemate's boyfriend, RJ, celebrating his 21st at Babucho down on the quayside. We all used it as a massive excuse to get very dressed up, don our heels and have a good ol' party. I whacked out my polariod camera and got a few really nice shots, particularly one of our house! Gunna miss this lot if I go to Australia!

Me and Mil

He planned the whole thing really well actually. We arrived at the restaurant and were given loads of time to chat and drink champagne and cocktails which meant that we could all have a good catch up and meet loads of his home friends - such a good idea seeing as people usually just allow time for once quick drink and then everyone just sticks to the people they know already. Then we all sat down to an incredible meal, the food was delicious and beautifully presented - I recommend Babucho if you're looking for a nice place to go! Then most people headed on out, however I was having to trek down to London the next day for a training course for my bar work.

The train journey down to London was an absolute nightmare as Oli's railcard had expired two days before and that meant that his ticket was full price which put him in a very bad mood. Then, the train was delayed and another had been cancelled which meant that there was double the amount of passengers on one train and two people turning up with reservations for every seat. Chaos! We ended up sitting down in the buffet car which actually wasn't too bad as it was warm and conveniently close to food and cider to help make the journey a little easier. When we got to London we hopped on the tubes to Southwark and met our friend Tally at her halls where we were staying. She was off out to a crazy fancy dress night in Angel so she left us with her key and we just used her flatmate's room, who wasn't there, as a bass.

We had to get up pretty early in the morning as we had to get there for 9.30am and it was in the middle of nowhere at the end of the Northern Line at Colliers Wood. The course we were doing qualified us with a Personal Licence, which is basically a bar managers qualification and equips us with all the legal obligations we need to know about. Peppermint have set it as a standard requirement for all their managers now so we had to go and do it if we wanted to work again with them this summer. They also were doing it a lot cheaper for us and it's nationally recognised so it's a great thing to have on our CVs. If you want to find out more about it then look here. 

This was the little workbook we were working from all day. We get too keep it too which will be useful for future.

The course was 6hrs long with an exam at the end and was actually pretty intense. All the legal stuff is so complicated! I think the exam went alright though, their pass rate is 98% so I'll be so embarrassed if I find out I've failed in two weeks!

This next week is also going to be a busy one. Lots more birthday drinks, my first exam and another 21st at the weekend! All fun and games... apart from the exam. Hmm....

Photos of a Travelling Girlfriend

I've just found this amazing post! It's about a guy who photographed his girlfriend as they travelled the world and the photos are naive but actually gorgeous. Have a look: http://yourfriendshouse.com/2013/amazing-photos-of-a-travelling-girlfriend/

"In one of the coolest and most creative displays of affection, Russian photographer Murad Osmann has taken people on an intimate and eye-opening journey with his significant other. From Moscow to London to Venice and all over Russia, Mr Osmann maintains the anonymity of his girlfriend through a brilliant set of over-saturated shots, all the while never letting go of her hand."

Beginning of Summer Term

I haven't blogged in ages, sorry sorry sorry. Been busy getting up to date with everything back here at uni and doing loads of boring things like beginning to start my essays and writing in all my exam dates into my diary. Fun.
Everyone is back to work here though, we're all suddenly realising that we actually have done NOTHING towards out final exams and so everything is resting on how hard we work in these next few weeks. Even Oli's stepping up his game! I've seen some of his long exposure photographs that he took on the beach last term, they're so beautiful. These are only some rubbish Instagram versions of my favourite two, but you get the general idea...

The weather has actually been so nice up here in Newcastle this past week. Some actual sun! It's kinda sporadic though and makes outfit planning a total nightmare as you have to wear something to keep you warm, but that you wont be too hot in when you're sat in your lecture, something that is almost-summery but preferably with a hood in case it rains.... so difficult!
On Thursday I broke my promise of not going out until after exams and went to Bondax at World Headquarters. I didn't have a ticket as they had all sold out, but they were selling 100 on the door so I went down super early and queued with friends. There were so many people there, it was nuts! Everyone wanted to go, Audio Asylum has got so popular recently. It was an amazing night though, the lineup was so good and 90s Hip Hop was downstairs so we saw FlipTrix and Verb T too which mixed things up a little.

Also, one of my housemates ran the marathon! I was meant to go down to watch her but I was lazy and forgot to book my train and get my work done in time to take the weekend off, so by the time it came to thinking about going down I had no money and loads of work. I'm an idiot, I wish I could have been there. I did watch her online however with the Virgin Marathon Tracker which is amazing and shows you this little running man on the route so you can see where she is! I watched her do her final sprint down The Mall brimming with pride in the library.

There she is, the little red man on Birdcage Walk!

Georgia, Millie and Sarah went down to watch her and her running partner, Ollie, do the race and they said it was an amazing atmosphere down there. The post-marathon celebrations were lots of fun and everyone is so so proud of her!

It was great to have her back up in Newcastle and to hear all about it. She said it was an incredible experience and that the crowd makes such a different by cheering you on and shouting your name when you're starting to slow down. Such an amazing thing to do, I would never be able to hack it. When she got back she celebrated by raiding the amazing old sweet shop in Jesmond which she'd been having to avoid during her training... ha!

Anyway, after that little update I'm back off to do some work... s'long.

Last Few Days

I've had a lovely last few days at home. My days have consisted of trying to get down to some essay research for one of my modules, practicing for my recital, and then venturing out to try and do something or curling up by the fire with some wine. The module I'm doing the essay for is 'Music in the Holocaust', and so all the reading I'm having to do is a really interesting but a little depressing all the same. I no longer have a desk in my room since Oli and I repainted it last year, so my workspace is now the kitchen table. It's lovely and warm in there but dangerously close to the fridge, and everyone pops in and out to make cups of tea which makes things nice and sociable, but means I get distracted far too often...!

On Monday I got some of the girls over for a much needed catch up. We cooked up some fajitas and gobbled them up with some wine. It was a hilarious meal, so good to see them all. Fleur, Lottie and Liggy stayed over and we took Smudge for a midnight adventure down the lane. We stayed up so late telling stories about all our different experiences at university and reminiscing about our days at school. I miss all my school friends so much and I never really get to see them as Newcastle is just that little bit too far away...!

Oli returned home from Holland (where he now lives as his Dad has been posted out there with the Navy) on Tuesday and arrived at my house with some presents for me! He got me a gorgeous Tibetan silver thumb ring and some dinkly little silver hoop earrings from a local market in La Hague. Such thoughtful presents as I can only wear silver as I'm allergic to pretty much everything else and gold just doesn't really suit me - everything I wear is chunky heavy silver! Also, I'd recently lost one of my favourite little silver hoops and so these were a perfect replacement. I love them! So chuffed, what a lucky girlfriend I am. (What does he want...!? Hmmm.... haha)

Look how pretty it is!
On Thursday I went out in town with the girls. Millie had come to visit so I took her with me and everyone loved her! We went for predrinks at Hannah's and then ventured out to brave the rain and the crazy locals and though it wasn't anything special (it never really is where I live...!) we still had fun and it was great to get everyone together for a last night before we all go back to university this weekend.

I didn't think I'd drunk too much, but in the morning we both had a banging heading. Hannah nursed us back to health though with a nice cup of tea, some gentle soothing tunes from Jazz FM and a quick visit to see her new alpacas...!

Haha! Look how hilarious they are! Only the her family would be mad enough to get some...
I dropped Millie straight to the train station after we left Hannah's as she was going to see the twins and then I headed home. The hangover kicked in and though I did manage to get some work done and had a fairly productive day, I ate my own body weight's worth... whoops...
Also, I got my baby back! Poor little Monty has been in the garage all holiday and I've been having to drive my sister's disgusting canary yellow Lupo. Thank god I can drive my own car now! It's very strange getting back in an old car though after driving a new one with power steering and a 5th gear. I've missed him though. Welcome home!

Right, I'm off to go and enjoy my last evening with my family and tuck into a delicious roast supper before I have to start packing and thinking about my dreaded journey up north again tomorrow... boo.

April Tracklist

Here's a little update of what I'm listening to at the moment:

I really like this. It's the soundtrack to Danny Boyle's (director of Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours) new heist film called 'Trance'. I haven't even seen the film yet, but I'm going to make a point of watching it soon. I saw a trailer somewhere with this on it thought and liked it.

I loved 'Benediction' by Hot Natured and when Annie Mac announced this song on her show last Friday I knew it would be a goodun.

I can't remember how I first heard of 'Lexy and the Kill' but as they keep producing new stuff, I'm beginning to love them more and more. There's something about her voice which is just so beautiful.

Not usually a huge fan of 'Rudimental', and actually saying that the only reason why I like this song is because of Ella Eyre. When you watch this live version you can really see and hear the power in her voice. Amazing.

I've only just discovered 'Evenings'. Nathan Broaddus' sense of tempo is so good, I love how mellow his sound is.

'Bondax' has had some serious overkill recently but this is still good. As always though, it's as much about the remix-ee as the remix-er.

This is my friend Jamie's stuff. He works under the name 'James Joys' and collaborates with loads of other artists such as Pete Devlin and Mr Blazey. This is from a live set he did at the Culture Lab in Newcastle on 15th March. His stuff just keeps getting weirder and wonderful-er.

Summer Saturnalia Festival

So, I don't even really remember sharing this link, but I obviously did because I received an email this morning saying that I'd won the competition and that they'd email me the tickets in the next few weeks once they were released...!
The festival is called Summer Saturnalia Music & Arts Festival and it happens between the 19th and 21st of July in Yorkshire. The concept behind the festival is the 'integration of arts and music' and some of the acts look pretty good!

Alex & Sarah's 21st

On Friday night I went to two girls from uni's 21st. The theme was black tie and everyone looked gorgeous. I had been at a family do for my Grandparent's joint 80th the night before, but I left breakfast early and scoobied off to get a train to Woking. From there my friend Dunny picked me up and we road-tripped all the way up to Derby. It was a trek and a half and the traffic on the M1 was pretty bad, but it was fun all the same!
We actually arrived an hour early so stopped off at the local pub where we sat and had a drink and I got ready in the loo...! Some friends of ours from uni also had the same plan and we all made our way over to Alex's house together once we were all ready.
We were greeted in the marquee with some champagne and most people were already there. The marquee was decorated so well with pink and blue lights and one of those amazing 'starry skies'. A slight apprehension when I spotted the Jagermeister machine.... I knew that would NOT bode well for later!
Dinner was yummy, a prawn starter and then a chicken and pancetta main accompanied by lots of wine. Everyone hit the free bar pretty quickly after that and once I was on the dancefloor, the evening seemed to fly by! Everyone got a little carried away with the photobooth too....

I also became a particular fan of the table decorations and in my drunken state I stole all the birds and butterflies and proceeded to decorate myself with them...

They're so cute though!

Once the dancing finally ended we all crashed in Alex's games room and attempted to get a decent night's sleep in before the long journey home the next day. The drive home was a lot better as the traffic was much quicker and I was home within 4 hours. 

Once I was home I did that annoying thing  when you think you're just going to cosy down in bed for a quick nap... and then four and a half hours later you wake up and its 9.30pm! I was late to go and meet some school friends too but I hopped in the shower and was with them as soon as I could be. We chilled at Milly's for a bit and it was so nice to briefly catch up before I dropped some of them into town and then headed home. I miss my girls so I want to get them over for a big supper and drinks soon, maybe even tomorrow!?

The birthday girls - Happy 21st you lovelies!!

Grandparents' 80th

To celebrate my Gran and Granpa's joint 80th, we got the whole family together to stay in this lovely manor house hotel in the New Forest. We all met up at a pub by the river called The Master Builder's which is on the site where Nelson built all his ships. We had a lovely lunch there, where I had enormous food envy because I ordered a rubbish sandwich and everyone else had ordered lts of far yummier looking things...! After that we headed to the Beaulieu National Motor Museum, which sounds like it would have been horrifically dull - but I discovered my inner car obsessive! It was amazing to see all the old cars so beautifully looked after. I was a big fan of all the old mini's and this incredible supercharged white car which looks like it's come straight out of the Great Gatsby. They also had an exhibition on with all the old 007 Bond cars! Quite a fun afternoon surprisingly!

We all the drove to the hotel, which was amazing! It's called The Pig and it's basically just a bit old renovated manor house with rooms upstairs and rooms also out in converted stables in a sort of courtyard. The gardens are gorgeous and roll out in all directions from the house. They grow all their own vegetables and even have their own pigs and piglets! It's really stunning, I'd recommend it to anyone. This is a picture of my mum pretending it's her own home... bless...

We all chilled by the fire in the drawing room they have downstairs and then went to our rooms to get ready. I was sharing with my sisters and it was mayhem trying to get three girls ready when there was only one shower...! We then met for champagne back in the drawing room and after a toast to my Grandparents, we moved into the Green Room, which is a gorgeous room set off slightly from the restaurant. My dad and uncles got very excited because they learnt that the table was actually a billiards table which you could flip upside down to turn into a dining table. Quite cool I suppose!?
The food was delicious, I ordered a butternut squash and goats cheese salad for a starter, and then the sea bass for my main. After the main course, all the men rotated two places anticlockwise to mix the conversation up a bit, so I was then sat next to my Grandpa and cousin, Ed. Ella and I managed to convince Ed into sharing the three different puddings between the three of us, though it meant that we ended up with a weird combination of cheese, lemon meringue sorbet and then rhubarb jelly... not the best decision after all...!
After pudding my Grandpa gave a very interesting (if a little long...!) speech about his career and family life, and it was really nice to hear how much he seems to have enjoyed what he's done in his 80 years. We brought out a victoria sponge cake I had made and some little prezzies for them, and then moved on back into the drawing room with some more wine to set the world to rights for a good hour or so.
It was so good to properly have the time to catch up with everyone and find out how uni/jobs/exams are going for all my cousins. I'm so lucky to be genuinely close with all 6 of them! I have 13 cousins in total from boths sides of the family and we all get on pretty well. I always think it's strange when people hardly know their cousins, but maybe it's just us that are lucky.
A lovely, happy, merry family evening together. Happy 80th Birthday G&G!!

April Fools!

No one managed to prank me today, and to be honest I totally forgot it was April Fools Day. However, once I was reminded I hunted about a bit to see what mischief went down.
Here are some of my favourites....

Introducing Google Nose: Apparently Google's latest idea is to be able to search smells.... and actually be able to smell them!? Hmm.... fishy....

YouTube's ready to select a winner: YouTube has announced that it's going to shut down, but as a final thank you to all it's users, it's going to select a winning video. It's going to take them a decade though.... REALLY!?

Twitter vs Twttr: Twitter has announced that vowels may only now be used by Premium 'Twitter' users. All normal standard 'Twttr' users may have to come up with more experimental ways of spelling. They are permitted to use a 'Y' for free however. Pyrcylyyr.

Virgin announce a glass bottomed plane: I WISH THIS ONE WAS TRUE!

Soundcloud's Dropometer: Soundcloud have announced that they now have a 'Dropometer' which allowed you to be able to see where the 'drop' is coming, in order to prevent that awful embarassing moment when you predict it too soon.

BMW invents its first baby stroller: Sparked by the excitement of a Royal baby, BMW have invented a range of baby strollers. These soft top convertibles are available in Princess Pink or Royal Blue with air-conditioning. They can ride along smoothly in two or four-wheel drive for those who are 'Two Posh to Push'. Haha!

Bonobo's Girlfriend Jean: Playing on the trend of 'Boyfriend Jeans', clothesline Bonobo's have announced their release of the 'Girfriend Jean'. 

Anyway, there we go. Some of the best!