My brother, you've been good to me

I should probably apologise for the lack of posting recently, I have neglected my blog for too long. Although, I'm not really that sorry. I have felt no desire to write whatsoever. For the first time its not for reasons I don't wish to disclose either, rather moments I have cherished and wish to hold to my heart and keep as the perfect moments that they were, just with me. I think there is something quite wonderful about sharing a moment between oneself and a memory that only you and another remember and when they catch your eye, you both know exactly what that smile is about.

I'm feeling very Bridget Jones tonight. All the ladies of Welton are out tonight, and I, am home alone listening to Mara Carlyle's Pianni on repeat, with my beautiful and not so little any more, kitten. My boyfriend bought me it on itunes and sent me it with a message, it was one of the most romantic things he's ever done. Quite the twenty first century romantic gesture. I am incredibly content right now.

* http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAOv0OW-aos&feature=player_embedded#!

Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small

This is probably the longest I've left my blog for. This isn't because nothing interesting has happened in my life, quite the opposite really, I've been pretty busy this summer. I really feel like I've had the greatest summer, besides not being horrendously poor, I wouldn't have changed much else. These last few months have been a real learning curve. I've done some amazing things, I went to the Dominican Republic, I lived in London, I worked in a highly prestigious art gallery and now I'm about to work at London Fashion Week. I think my ideas on things have changed drastically too, especially when it comes to work, money, love, friends and my future. I'd like to think they are different in a positive way, I'm sure this will be tested in the coming year. I have one week left before I'm back in Leeds and in my FINAL year at University. How did this happen?! Where has the time gone?! Time really has completely passed me by and the end of this Leeds era is so near I can almost touch it. As apprehensive as I am, I can't wait to get back and embrace every moment of this last year.

Them & Us

"I'm so bored I could die".

Immortal last words hey? I guess this is how I'm feeling a bit tonight. It's ridiculously melodramatic, really. I've not felt like this in a while, but I'm starting to feel increasingly worried about the future again. It would seem that it didn't take me as long as I thought to get back into the swing of things. I'm so angry at myself for feeling like this. Oh please someone snap me out of this!

I'm currently in London again after a weekend at home. After weekends like this, I always feel guilty for never being there. Nothing seems to beat a Saturday night out with old friends, and this night was no exception. No matter how much we have all changed and grown out of our old lives in recent years, whenever I'm on that dance floor with Becky, I instantly feel sixteen years old again. This town will always have a place in my heart, even if it doesn't really have a place for me now.

I may be in London but I have never been so broke in my life. I don't have a single penny in my bank and I seem to owe everybody money. I think I have officially exhausted all my options.

Home is wherever I'm with you

I don't really feel I can put the last month into words, or not well enough to fully describe how truly inspiring it has been. Oddly enough, it already feels like a life time ago. It's been two weeks since I got back from the Dominican Republic and I've felt like I have been on a come down ever since. On numerous occasions I have tried to write about the experience, but every time, no words are drawn to me. Everything seems inadequate now and its so hard to explain the way I'm feeling.
I guess my apprehension before I left was to be expected, but completely unnecessary. All the things I worried about, were areas in which I excelled. I should have been more worried about my emotional preparedness. It shouldn't take a trip to a third world country to make you value what you have, but there is no way that it can't. I've found a real sense of perspective on things, I often wonder who benefited more from this trip, me or the people I met?
In our society we all lead such busy lives, when do we ever really take a break? We always seem to be worrying about something. The relief of leaving everything like that home was most welcome and its hard to try and get back into the swing on things. I think, more to the point, I don't want to get back into routine and lose that feeling.

This is not your only chance

What a week it has been. I don't feel like I've stopped all week and it certainly isn't about to slow down. After a brilliant night at Dark party last Saturday, I was out for the count on Sunday. There was a lot of much needed catching up to be done...and we certainly succeeded. I have never had such a head ache and the night is still a beautiful blur to me. I blame Miss Conway and Miss Bull for the excessive amount of vodka shots that were consumed that night.
I couldn't wallow in my hangover for long, before I knew it I was heading back up north, to Leeds, to pack up the last two years of my life. It was not a task I was looking forward to. The mammoth task of cleaning the manor was also not something I looked forward to. I arrived back to Leeds and instantly threw myself into the task, luckily my boyfriend was coming over that night and I felt I deserved a break. I was particularly looking forward to seeing him because for the next two weeks I will be away in the Dominican Republic, I'll explain later. This was one of the last times I would see him, so I wanted to savour every moment with him. It only felt like he was there for five minutes before he was gone again the next morning. And so, for me, it was back to packing. Luckily Jenny had come over to help me and she couldn't have come at a better time. I was already at my wits end and drowning in a mass of clothes I wasn't even aware that I owned. For the next two days I felt on the verge of a break down. I never want to move house again and I'm swaying towards a more minimalistic way of life.

And now I am home again, in Luton, getting last minute preparations for my trip to the Dominican Republic tomorrow. I'll be there for two weeks, but I'll try and post. I'm going with a charity and my family to work in a slum village, which is home to Haitian refugees. I went five years ago with just my dad, and had an amazing experience. I met some of the most beautiful people and some incredible friends for life. In all honesty though, I'm really nervous.

Don't worry, baby.

It really has been a while since I posted. If I'm honest, I'm quite glad of it too. I haven't really been in the right frame of mind for writing. This is only a personal thing, people deal with everything differently, but for me, I just don't want to indulge in that self loathing, melancholy feeling, and I especially don't want others reading it. I feel for me personally, its a dangerous path to go down and if anything, makes me feel even worse. I also feel like I've learnt the hard way, that not everyone will stick around for the pity party. But why should they? I would rather suck it up, than end up alone.
So after a rocky start to the month, things have improved, a lot. I cannot explain the sense of ease I have felt recently and it is so nice to be able to indulge in being happy and incredibly cliché. I may be poor, horribly poor for that matter, but I have a great life. I have a caring family, wonderful friends and a relationship that is so perfect. I never knew how amazing it is to feel so much love for another person.

You never did learn to let the little things go

So it is official. I am now going into my third year at university. I can honestly say, I never thought I would make it here. I'm home now for summer in not so sunny Luton and I feel quite sad at the idea that I don't really have a life here any more. When I'm back I live out of my suitcase and I have to fit in seeing everyone before I'm whisked off again. Only the other night, My best friend and I headed out to one of our old favourite spots to find we were the oldest people there. Of course there were some of our friends, but the majority of people were strangers. What's strange is it seems to have only happened in the last year. I remember coming home during my first year and feeling like I'd never left. I feel now, like I have truly flown the nest and that I'm actually settled in Leeds, something again, I never thought I'd hear myself say. Although this is quite sad, I only have fond memories of growing up in Luton and was so distraught leaving that life when I left for uni. It's quite clear now who are our friends, and I'm pretty pleased with the crowd that have stuck together.

I wrote my name in your book

I've had some technical difficulties this week; which resulted in an £85 laptop repair bill. I was not best pleased. Its only been two week since my last blog but I can't explain the changes that have taken place. The feeling of relief is incredible. Things did have to get much worse before they got better, but they are better, a lot in fact. I realise now how I let all my fears for next year take over and ultimately held me back massively. These last two weeks have been so valuable to me, both in my personal life and my education. I can't believe I'm going into my final year of university, time flies so fast and it only feels like a few weeks ago my parents dropped me off into my halls. Here I am now, about to move into my second house and actually excited about going into the unknown next year. I feel terribly cliché about this all, but it was really the boost I've needed and I am really feeling good about what the future holds.
Its my last night in Leeds and I'm spending it in. Now don't start thinking that I'm boring and should be out celebrating, because I have for the past two weeks and I don't feel like I've stopped. I am very excited to have a lie in on Friday morning, although I know this wont happen because of the kitten. Seeing everyone again has been brilliant and we're definitely leaving our second year on a high. We took a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park last Friday and I must admit I was very dubious. I will gladly eat my words and say I had one of the best days out. Who knew five hundred acres of land could turn a bunch of twenty plus students in to a group of five year olds for the day?

For the irony

Things seem to have taken a turn for the worse in these last two weeks. The worst part is, I don't even know why. I've never gone from such massive highs to all time lows, in such a small amount of time. It's really quite frightening to feel so out of control. I'm not in London any more and I miss it terribly. It's amazing the memories a smell can evoke. I arrived back to my house in Leeds for the first time in over a month, as I walked into my bedroom the hot woody smell instantly took me back ten months, to July. I'd just moved in and our house seemed like a sauna for the whole summer. It reminded me of waking up in this new room, eagerly awaiting my boyfriends arrival so I could show him our new house. It made me feel so sad to think about how much had changed in those ten months. For a brief second I wished I was back there, so I could do it all differently. Something strange has happened this year, this is starting to feel real and reality is really starting to loom over us. Responsibility has been very sneaky and crept up on us, with no warning or invitation. Fear is coming and the cracks are starting to show. I keep thinking to myself, how did it get like this? It's as though I went to bed in a fairy tale and have woken up in a nightmare. I am determined to beat this, though. I can't fall now so close to the end. It hadn't always been this hard and I will find that again.

It sounds like we would of had a great deal to say to each other

What a perfect week. With such glorious sunshine it seemed a waste to spend the days in doors and even more so being in east London with so much to do. All week my boyfriend and I have been roaming around in the sun and I have to say that it has been utter bliss. Walking up to Brick lane, round to Shoreditch, up to Hoxton and then over to Spitalfields before heading home. It seems we have done this route everyday and yet it never seems to bore me. We spent our days looking in vintage shops, convincing ourselves it was okay to spend nearly £70 on books, having over priced and highly alcoholic cocktails in Cargo before being ushered into a curry house on Brick lane for more wine and delicious food.
On Friday we decided to head up to London Fields with Joe's friends James and Ross. It seemed like the hottest day so far and I immediately regretted wearing tights. We stocked up on cider and set up in the park. Days like this are what summer is all about. We sat out with our drinks and soaked up the sun, I was hoping to turn a nice shade of brown but unfortunately only seemed to manage pink. London Fields is beautiful. I don't know if it was the sunshine or the amount of cider we had consumed on an empty stomach, but we had all fallen completely in love with the area. Its beautiful shops, trendy bars, its quint brick a bract stores and as for the houses over looking the park, it seemed like my ideal place to live. We headed over to a local fish and chip shop to get out of the midday sun and then next door to an amazing book shop. I'd seen a book on curating that I really wanted but didn't know if I could really afford to part £12's for. To my surprise, whilst we were sitting in a beer garden, my boyfriend presented me with said book after he'd gone back to the shop and asked the owner which book I'd been reading and bought it for me. I didn't think it was possible for me to love him more but this made my heart skip a beat slightly. Romantic? Most definitely.
On Sunday we were awoken before seven by the kitten, it seemed to have become the norm now and it wasn't so hard to bare any more. It was the first time in a week that we hadn't been greeted by the sunshine poking through the curtains, it was a gloomy rainy Sunday that not even a McDonald's breakfast could cure. Luckily for us, the rain cleared up pretty sharp and we were able to go up to Columbia Road as planned.

These past two weeks have been incredible, but I feel now as though I'm fast approaching the time when I have to join the real world again. One where I'm back in Leeds, where I never feel anything even remotely close to this. The fear that is building up inside me about going back is starting to feel unbearable. I can just tell this is going to be a hard month.

Make your own path

I've been particularly busy recently. I've finally made my way out from under a mountain of essays. I've been all over the place too, Luton, London, Sheffield and back to london again. My body has had its toll definitely taken. A whole day in bed didn't help me either. A night out in Luton was worth the hangover though.
It was my boyfriends birthday so before he got home I cleaned the flat and decorated him a cake. Both still feeling fragile, we decided against the champagne I'd bought to accompany the cake.
The best thing of all though, has to be the arrival of our new kitten, Rufus. After the cake we headed over to Hackney, where we knew there was a pet shop that sold kittens. We said we were only looking but it seemed impossible leaving the shop without one. We chose the only boy of a tabby litter and even though our banks had taken a beating, it was definitely worth it. He cried the whole tube ride home, which obviously broke my heart. He is the tiniest little thing that even the most cold hearted of people couldn't not love him.
He is getting into everything, which is keeping us on our toes. He sleeps in our bed and wakes us up constantly throughout the night. I feel as though we have just had a baby, staying up all night, making sure he's used his litter tray and wondering what he's doing when we leave him in the flat. But throughout all this, he is definitely the best thing to come into my life in a long time.

There's a spanner in the works you know

I can only describe the last week as utterly blissful. I have been in my own little bubble in Whitechapel, with leisurely uninterrupted days. I cant tell you enough how much I have fallen in love with East London over the last six months. Of course its always nice to have someone to share these days with so maybe I am bias. Red wine on Brick lane, sunny walks with ice cream round Spitalfields and midnight walks up Commercial Road, these are just some of the highlights of my week. I can honestly say I have never been happier and more in love.

I miss you

After going slightly stir crazy over the last few days, I decided to venture into town. Unfortunately "The Arndale" does not have much to offer and with next to nothing in my purse, I did not have high hopes. My brothers girlfriend works in a charity shop so I headed over hoping she had found some nice pieces. I was in luck, the rails were full of amazing jumpers and blouses. I could have bought it all, but unfortunately I really was that poor so decided to get two spring style jumpers. With my purse now empty but my bags full, I set off home to find our hairdresser was round. She tidied my messy locks up a treat. It was shaping up to be a good day.
I had no plans or money for the rest of the day. I was starting to feel agitated again. I didn't think I could take another night in. Luckily my dear friend Robin got in touch to save the evening. We roped Becky in on our plan. My evening suddenly went from average, bordering on bleak, to exciting times with old friends. I hadn't seen Becky since January and it had been nearly a year since I had seen Robin. I could not wait, it was the pick me up I was desperately needing. We met at "The Park" but sadly Robin had forgot his ID so we ended up at "The Horse Shoes". An old Irish bar, a favorite amongst alcoholics and the underaged. On a tight budget, we settled for very cheap rose and caught up on the university antics we had all got up to. After two bottles of wine we were nearly all out of money. Bearing this in mind, we decided to go to Antonio's party. We pit stopped at an off license to grab some Lambrini, this really was a budget evening.

The evening was all I could have wanted. An unexpected night out turned into an evening with lots of old and new friends, filled with nostalgia and summer plans. It's nights like this that truly make me grateful for the friends I have. I will always cherish the moments when Becky and I sit in my living room at 4:00 am discussing the evening events and the most likely prospect that Becky will have work in around four hours time. The head ache the next morning will always be worth it for moments like these.

Hole in my heart

Now normally I'm not one for cheesy feel good anecdotes. Cushions that say "Home is where the heart is"...UHHHH. I'm all for sentiment but terrible clichés, oh no. This evening, however, I heard this. "The most important relationship we have in life, is the one we have with ourself. That is the one to work on, because you are always going to be around". I guess it is tittering on the edge of cringe but I cant help but feel that it is incredibly poignant at this moment in time.

Peek in

I finally made it back to Luton, and boy isn't it gloomy. Normally a fierce defender I couldn't help but feel totally deflated to arrive back to a this grey and wet town. Obviously it doesn't seem very fair to compare it to my time in London, but oh what I would give to be back there now. Once I was actually home it wasn't so bad and it was good to catch up with my family. My mood dropped a little again after paying £10.99 for my boots to be repaired, it seemed a lot for a five month old pair of boots that had originally cost £65.
Now it is Good Friday and I have been guilt tripped into staying at home for some quality family time but seem to have found myself home alone. Just my luck. I cant lie, I am slightly resentful of being stuck in with episodes of "The city" on repeat and copious amounts of tea. I'm starting to climb the walls.
The only thing that has slightly cheered me up today is this quote I heard when I was watching about my fourth episode of "The city". In the immortal words of Diane Von Furstenberg "Absence to love is like wind to a fire. Wind will blow out a flame but will ignite a burning fire". Quite.

They lived in a world of superlatives.

I'm sitting here, in my boyfriends east London flat watching another episode of Master chef. We always have a good giggle when Greg says "BIG FLAVOURS", although he has not said it nearly enough this series. We watch all the culinary programmes iplayer and 4od have to offer, yet neither of us are any good in the kitchen. I have a few signature dishes and well quite frankly even I've become bored of them now.
I'd heard mixed reviews about BBC 2's "The delicious Miss Dahl" but I was pleasantly surprised by what I found. I loved her twee kitchen and healthy appetite for food. She truly stole my heart with the anecdotes she told about the food. I've never really enjoyed food much as I am the fussiest eater but the way she mixed food and literature was delightful. It was more than just a programme about food. How absolutely beautiful is this?!

"Twice in her life she had mistaken something else for it; it was like seeing somebody in the street who you think is a friend, you whistle and wave and run after him, and it is not only not the friend, but not even very like him. A few minutes later the real friend appears in view, and then you can't imagine how you ever mistook that other person for him. Linda was now looking upon the authentic face of love, and she knew it, but it frightened her. That it should come so casually, so much by a series of accidents, was frightening."
— Nancy Mitford (The Pursuit of Love & Love in a Cold Climate: Two Novels)

I cant wait to watch next weeks episode. I think this may finally be the programme that makes me want to turn over a new leaf.

Eyes and Ears.

As Easter approaches I am welcoming the break with open arms. Never have I felt under so much pressure at Uni. A performance assessment, journal, reflection and viva in one week is more than I can really handle. Luckily the performance was out of the way by Tuesday. Yes we were aware of our horrendous make up.

After many late nights my journal was finally finished and we could celebrate our last few days together. Not only did we have the Easter break, but we then went on to placement and for most of us that would mean over a month apart. Our heavy work load meant I hadn't thought much about it but as the last day dawned on me the reality sunk in. Something that had also slipped our minds in the chaos of work was that we had not found a house for next year and were quite possibly the only students in Leeds who had not signed for a house in panic at Christmas. With this care free attitude it only seemed right that we looked on the last afternoon of term. With our hopes not very high we were surprised by the amount of beautiful, or "Culture" houses as Nom so beautifully put it. I believe she meant "Character". After sitting in the beer garden at the Royal, I felt incredibly excited at the prospect of next year and my hope for a twee house seemed to be coming true. I envisioned us on our cobbled street, sitting in our yard in the summer with red wine and purple cigarettes. And of course it would be perfect for our cat.

Later that night Jenny and I decided to head out to local hot spot Nation of shopkeepers. The live illustration seemed interesting and we certainly deserved a night out after the week we'd had. We started the night at my house, "The Manor" as we affectionately call it, with three different bottles of red wine. Each bottle got progressively worse tasting but by the last bottle I'm not sure if either of us cared. When we finally arrived out we bumped into my house mate Stacie, clearly she had been out for some time and was more than happy to see us. Seeing Stacie out made me wish our other house mate Hannah was with us too. I was going to miss all the girls so much over the next month and thought about how strange it would be not seeing them everyday.

The red wine had kicked in and after not being overly impressed by the illustration we headed on to Hi Fi. Unbeknown to us, the night was a dub step night where everyone danced as though they were trying to push a balloon under water but struggling with the pressure. Me and Jenny thought that it would be a good time to bust out the lasso dance move, it was not. Not satisfied with the music we headed over to Wire for some current Indie anthems. We had some more drinks and a bit of a sing along. After a dance to Wild beasts we knew it was time we headed home. The taxis dropped us at a stop that was equidistant to both our houses. After a short walk home and a quick call to my boyfriend I was safely home and ready for bed. My phone woke me up the following morning to find myself fully clothed and still in my coat, with my lap top playing Eastenders on iplayer and a bowl on super noodles on the pillow next to me. All in all, a fabulous way to end the term.

Once built a steamboat in a meadow

I decided I needed a trip home to Luton. My family were having a small get together on the Saturday and with being at uni I always seemed to miss out. I had got the train down to London two days before to see Joe. I hadn't seen him for a while because of Bristol and I was missing him terribly. We spent two lovely days together and on the Saturday morning I jumped on a train from Paddington to Maidenhead to meet my parents. It was a lovely day and the walk in the countryside did me good. We saw a horse and I tried to get a picture with it but it scared me with the weird noises it seemed to make and I didn't want to wait around for it to charge.

On the Monday afternoon, after coffee with my Grandparents and a bit of shopping with my mum, I headed back to London. Almost instantly I came over all funny and desperately wanted to see my mum again. But I couldn't as my boyfriend some months before had bought us tickets to see The Tallest Man on earth and there was nothing that would stop me from being at that gig. I had been looking forward to this night for months, a night listening to beautiful music with the one I loved, I couldn't think of anything better. We jumped on the Hammersmith and City and headed up to Shepard's Bush with our bottles of Rose. The evening certainly didn't disappoint. The location was incredible and just added to the mood. With every note perfect song, tingles were sent down my spine. I felt like I had died and gone to heaven, being with Joe made it that much better. Still in high spirits we headed back to Whitechapel for a round of drinks, we ended up staying till closing then heading home for more drinking and general good times. I can honestly say it was one of the best nights of my life.

Old Rosie

Why am I getting so bad at keeping my blog!? Even after vowing to keep up to date with my writing I am still getting ridiculously behind. Anyway, I am going to write this as if it was still in fact the week in which it took place, not actually two weeks after the event. So it was Becki's birthday (21st to be precise) which obviously meant there was an excuse for a party. I forgot to mention that Becki is probably the most OCD person I have ever met and has been planning this party since we met nearly two years ago. I'll let her off for this as it's an important birthday and no one wants to pass up a good party and of course ROAD TRIP. We all gathered at Hessell View early on the Friday morning, ready for the long drive down to Bristol. The four hour drive went quite quickly as we discussed everything from boyfriends, long distance relationships, art, university and our peers. I felt quite bad for our car driver Nom, as she probably knew about two of the people me, Rob and Jenny spoke about.

As soon as we arrived we headed into the village to try the local ales. I couldn't help but feel like a total outsider as we walked up the tiny high street. Was this village that tiny that they knew when there was a new person in town? Now living in Leeds I wasn't used to having an identity other than "student", "art student" if I was lucky. We settled down into Becki's local, where she seemed to know everyone. Jenny and myself decided to try the still cider "Old Rosie" unaware of the percent, which would later take its toll on us. All I can say is that it was delicious but if I had had more than one I would most certainly have been carried home moments later.

We did eventually decide to head back and get ready for the evenings events. Becki's party in a prison, yes, that's right, a prison. Becki had hired the gentleman's club of a prison where the convicts were going to be the bar staff (or so we had all presumed). I have to admit I was pretty excited about the idea of a prison party, even after Jenny had tricked me into thinking red lipstick was a good fashion choice for the night. I don't recommend it being as pale as I am, it also requires you running to the toilet every five minutes to check it hasn't smudged all over your face. If only I'd known this before leaving the house...We headed for the coach taking us to the party with wine in hand, it was about 7PM but it felt about 10PM, the downside of drinking still cider at 4PM. We arrived at the prison, not to be greeted with armed guards and a barbed wire wall but a quaint village hall. And not a criminal in sight, might I add. We quickly got into the party spirit, grabbing a drink and hitting the dance floor to dance non stop for five hours to every RnB classic. Not normally a fan I still somehow found I knew most of the words to every song. After trying Tequila Rose and breaking my camera (not related) I knew it was time to head home. Again it was back to the coach to reminisce about the evenings antics. I only managed to stay awake for another hour and swiftly headed to the futon for some well deserved sleep.

The next morning, feeling rather fragile, I headed into Bristol centre to meet my old friend Emily. We'd met when we were about 15 and had been friends ever since. She moved to Bristol two years ago and with me being in Leeds it was hard for us to see each other. The excitement of seeing her kept my hangover at bay. We went to "Rockatilla" for the most amazing milkshakes, probably not the best thing for a sensitive stomach really, but none the less I drank it. I had an amazing morning catching up and taking in the sights of Bristol, which is beautiful for those of you who have never been. I got back to Becki's at about half four and by this time I was highly emotional and all I wanted was to curl up with my boyfriend and sleep. And I did (minus the boyfriend part). I spent the rest of the evening watching BBC 1 on the sofa with Becki's mum, it was more than delightful. I awoke on the Sunday feeling fully refreshed and ready for the day ahead. My hangover had finally passed. We trecked (by car) to the top of Wotton hill in the glorious sunshine and gazed out over the beautiful countryside. It was at that point that I wished I had my camera most. It was incredible up there, and so silent. I have never heard such silence in my life.

After basking in the sun we drove to Dursley (I am told this village is meant to be horrible and that is why J.K Rowling named her horrible family in Harry Potter after it). We settled down in a quaint pub to drink real ale, only half a pint of course. There were dogs sitting by the fire and Old boys all wearing their ties. It was amazing, I felt like I had walked into another era. I could see the appeal now for living in the country, all the fresh air and greenery. Being a city girl however I'm not quite ready to give up my Oyster card just yet.

Other towns and cities

I've been neglecting my blog already and I've only been writing for a month. But on a plus side this does mean I have a lot to write about. My boyfriend came to Leeds on Monday night as we were going to see Yeasayer at the Faversham. We've been together over a year and I still get butterfly's for the whole day when I know I'm going to see him. Cringey I know but I honestly cant help it. Unfortunately the gig was not all I had hoped it would be, too many samples and at some points I was sure they were miming, Cheryl Cole eat your heart out. Although saying this we did have an amazing night. A little dance with the one you love, a couple of drinks and some flaming hot monster munch (what can I say, we were hungry) is a pretty good night in my eyes. Walking home in the snow and making a pit stop for some scampi and chips rounded the evening off nicely.

Chat Noir

As a 19 year old girl, you would think that Saturday would be my favourite day of the week with plans for a night out with the girls. Unfortunately it has been nearly 2 months since my student loan and with a weekly income of about £29, I am officially broke. And with my brothers 21st only a week away, my money situation is about to get drastically worse. So here I am, home alone, drinking red wine with a face mask on. I also nipped to boots and bought a deep conditioner for my hair, so here I am ready for my Saturday night. Today consisted of me doing a weekly shop at Sainsbury's, reading my book and watching the culture show on iplayer, the only thing missing was having a cat curl up with me while I drink my hundredth cup of tea. So this is probably the highlight of my day. I am now horrified, when did I turn into a middle aged woman?! I cant even act shocked as the face mask has now set to concrete and facial expression has become limited. I really hope no one calls me right now. I'm actually starting to feel quite claustrophobic, I think this proves that I am not normally one for pampering. I feel like I've become a desperate housewife, I'm sure Eva Longoria does this sort of thing all the time. As much as today has not been particularly exciting, I have quite enjoyed doing nothing. I might also add that I do genuinely enjoy The Culture Show too. Who am I kidding? Give me cocktails and a night out with the girls any day...

raison d'etre.

What a productive week. I've started a new book, taken back over due library books, cleaned out the cesspit that is my bedroom and returned some very important emails. After enduring the horrendous 4 and a half hour coach ride from London I was finally back in Leeds, much to my displeasure. Luckily my evening ahead was promised to be filled with vegetable curry, house hunting, friends and most importantly, when were we going to get a cat? Let me explain, next year I'm moving in with my two friends Jenny and Becki. We are going to be joined by Becki's friend Jo and her girlfriend (Spooner). We were all meeting that night for the first time and Becki was kindly cooking for us. I have managed to find someone else who also has an obsessive love for cats in Jenny. After deciding that it would be horrendously funny to both wear a t-shirt and jumper with cats on I was about to leave my house. Unfortunately Jenny spilt orange juice over her jumper and we were forced to abandon this idea. The evening was a great success and we managed to slide in our term of a cat without any resistance. The next day however, I did see on facebook that me and Jenny had been branded "Odd cat women that would like to live with us". Excellent.