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As we have our last ever exam on Thursday, I travelled back up to Leicester this afternoon for a big revision session with everyone in the library. Our library was rebuilt in our first year and we now have these brilliant study rooms that can be booked out for group work as there is nothing worse than trying to work in the silent areas with big groups making lots of noise around you. Despite our need for lots of talking off topic (I'm the worst offender for this), we managed to get lots of stuff done. I didn't think I'd revised enough yet but I seemed to remember quite a lot. All I need to do now is go over my dates and just solidify what I already have and I shall hopefully be ready. I'm off to bed now as I've been pretty tired all day as I worked until after one last night on the late bar - standing on one's tootsies for nine hours certainly stretches one's calf muscles!
I'm off to work now but I've spent the day in a very British fashion. We started the day with lunch at The White Horse in Southill: Parge as always had the roast dinner, Margey had fish cakes, Sarah had some shoddy vegetarian option and I went for the cajun chicken. Almost had a Ploughmans but I thought I'd go for something different for a change. After than, Sarah raced off to go to work and we went home via G&M Growers so Margey could look at their plant selection (which turned out to be rubbish) and get some fruit. We got neither. At home, I watched the end of the Formula 1 and read the Sunday Times' magazine which is always the best bit of any paper. Pargey is now taking me to work for the longest shift in the world. I don't think I'm going to cope very well. Nine hours on my feet! I can barely walk the ten minutes to university in Leicester!
This is really was the highlight of my day. Not exactly rock and roll. I had a good lay in and then made James this Salad Nicoise for lunch. Only a art student would make a salad pretty. A girl on my course doesn't want a job but only to get married and live happily ever after and her highlight of her day before has been to make a salad for her boyfriend. I'm definitely not turning into her. Well, I hope not. I've been at work this evening and as usual, it was a wedding. They had singing waiters who sung and did some sort of show during the main course. Different to say the least! Now off to sleep as I'm working a nine hour shift tomorrow night. It's the longest I've ever worked before unfortunately.
After a week of mainly revision, James and I decided to go over to Cambridge for a meal. We didn't plan to go any where but instead wandered through town toward the river. Cafe Rouge seemed to be the best option so we went in there. They do a set menu which we both went for and ended up having the same thing: chicken terrine followed by a garlic minute steak and pomme frites. YUM. I've heard mixed reviews of Cafe Rouge but the food we had was really lovely. We shared a pudding of three creme brulees, raspberry, dark chocolate and vanilla. Raspberry definately got our vote! I wish I could go out every night for food. I think it's my favourite hobby.
Han and Pez came round for lunch today and I made them an immense pasta of twirls (I don't know the official Italian name - maybe fusili), yellow pepper, tomato, basil leaves and red pesto. Han provided the cakes from Gunns and we had a lovely afternoon. I can't remember how the conversation came up but Han told us that she thought Germany was the biggest country in the world and that China was quite small. She then realised that she was getting China and Japan confused. Brilliant. Her defence was that she didn't do GCSE geography! I got out an atlas to show her how small Germany was on the scale of things. Just the Ginn and Justin Bieber who are not down with German geography! Sarah has also come up with a gem tonight of thinking that Dunkirk is in Scotland. Interesting thinking, girls. And she did do GCSE geography!
People always say the best way to revise is to take small five minute breaks after every twenty minutes of solid work. I didn't do quite this but in my breaks, I read my Slash autobiography that Shields has finally given back to me. I'd forgotten how good it is. Some of the stuff they got up to in the early days of Guns N' Roses is so crazy, it's almost unbelievable! I also learnt today that I've been spelling 'definately' wrong all my life. It just looks so much better with an 'a' and 'definitely' seems odd. There's probably been a few wrong over the course of this blog and I normally pride myself with good spelling so I'm mortified that I've been getting this wrong! Ah, the worries of a twenty one year old. You'd think that my last final exam next week would be more troubling but this really takes the biscuit.
We stayed round Ross' last night after Lara's party and as he lives really near Fosse Park, the four of us went to Mcdonalds for breakfast. Me, Katie and James all wanted the normal menu but Ross wanted a sausage and egg McMuffin from the breakfast menu and a double cheese burger meal so we managed to get there at exactly the right time to get both! After we'd eaten, James and I drove home to Bedfordshire and then napped for most of the afternoon. Tonight we went to see Dom and eventually got there after avoiding the millions of diversions on and around the A1. His family always have lots of cars and at the minute, they have this brilliant Ford Anglia, one or two Capris and a fancy sports car that I'm not sure what it is. This was just casually sitting in front of their house with no windows and no seats. Still, I've never seen one before, in full working condition or not, as the case may be!
James and I got up early this morning to watch the Lost finale and it was brilliant! Endings to programmes you love can sometimes be a let down but this was brilliant! Very emotional but they really got it right. We then quickly made some sandwiches for the picnic and headed up to Leicester. I had a blood test at the doctors before we met everyone at Vicki Park. As you can see, Katie provided some tartan blankets which only made the picnic better! We had a spread as we had everything that we bought yesterday plus lots of pudding stuff that Shields brought with him. There is nothing better than food outdoors with sunshine and great friends. We're now heading to Ross' house on our way to Lara's house for her American-themed party. She's off to the USA to do Camp America - I'm dressed as a Hooters girl apart from my shorts are black instead of orange and James has decided in the last two hours on being an LA latino gangster with the checked shirt, bandana and gang tattoos which we're going to paint on in a minute! Once again, we have excelled ourselves with our costumes.
Today has been even better weather than yesterday! It was lovely and warm so me and James went for lunch at The Three Tuns in Ashwell before heading to St. Neots park for a bit of a sunbathe. He threw away all his shorts last year so we had to pop to a shop so he could get some new ones and ended up with a striped pair and a flowery pair. The park was actually quite nice for St. Neots and then we got a drink as it was so hot! We're having a picnic tomorrow with everyone in Leicester so we popped to Tescos to buy supplies before heading to James' for a barbecue. Here you can see Denis at the barbecue with James grooving to a bit of Tiny Tempah on the radio - sarcastically obviously. The boy doesn't dance. The weather has been fantastic and makes everyone much happier! The only problem is getting cool enough to sleep.....
On this lovely sunny day, we had our first exam. Not only was it fantastic weather but it was on a Saturday at half nine in the morning. Boo to Leicester University. But we managed to drag ourselves out of bed to get there! This is Katie as we were waiting to go in and it was boiling. We put all our eggs into one basket when it came to exam topics and luckily our gamble paid off. I answered one question on iconoclasm, one on sculptural programmes of chantry chapels and the last one on Torrigiano. Pretty good luck really. And although I think I wrote quite good answers, my hand is still aching. Three essays in three hours on seventeen sides of A4 is a killer on the old wrist! I got the train back home straight away and managed to have a quick sunbathe before getting ready for work. Unfortunately, I look like Justin Bieber at the moment as I'm growing my fringe out and I've tried to pin in up as it's going to be boiling at work but to no avail. If I'm working behind the bar, people are going to think they're being served by a sixteen year old pop sensation with a large chest. Bad times.
I came back up to Leicester this morning to meet up with Katie this afternoon to revise! It's so much better to discuss the topic as it sticks in my head so much better. It was lovely sunshine so after I handed in my last essay, we got a screwball each, sat on Vicky Park and went through our notes. We had pretty much the same stuff which is always nice to know so all I need to do tonight is go through dates and generally read the information I've got. Han and Dunc came out to meet us and we had a delightful afternoon in the sun. I'm now feeling a bit sunburnt, despite the fact that I put on suncream!
I've spent today revising British Gothic Sculpture for Saturday's exam with particular focus on Torrigiano and the Reformation. Thrilling. It's been lovely and sunny this afternoon so I sat in the garden while reading through my notes again. Like always, after two minutes, I came out with a heat rash on my chest so I had to put on sun cream. So English. Margey made me some Pimms but the lemonade was flat so it was mainly alcohol, strawberries, cucumber and mint. YUM. I like to think I've got a bit of a tan but it's probably just dirt stuck to the sun cream!
Sarah's been to Cambridge today to see her best friend and ended up buying a tent. We're going to a big family party in July and we're all camping in their garden so she needed one for that anyway. She kept joking that she wanted a tipee and found this one in Argos for £50. We've just put it up in the garden, or rather I put it up while Sarah watched and threw stuff at me, and found out that it's pretty rubbish. Sarah hadn't realised that there would be a pole in the middle of it and with the slanted walls, there isn't much room inside! As there is only the outer layer and ground sheet, there is the possibility of her getting very wet and if it's windy, then she's not going to get any sleep. The fun soon wore off so she's going to take it back and get one that's a bit more practical!
Sarah's been tidying her room today after Margey asking her every week for ages and found this hole! She was moving her chest of drawers towards the window and as she moved it, she could hear something making a noise behind it. Expecting a picture or something that had fallen off the top, she instead found this pile of rubble and a massive hole! We think it's from where the plumber fitted the new bathroom as the sink pipes are on exactly the other side of the walk and you can see part of them through the gap. The plaster below is about to fall off too so we need Parge to block it all back up so the wall doesn't disintergrate. I'm finally catching up on the last two Lost's that I've missed. The one we've just watched was so sad and I cried a bit and I hope this next one isn't so emotional!
Today is Hannah's actual birthday! We went round her flat tonight and celebrated with Malteasers, bread sticks and dips. You can't have a party without dips. Adam gave her her main present earlier which was a car, very like the one from The Inbetweeners! He did the old chestnut of putting the keys in a massive great box to put her off the scent and she thought he was joking when she saw the keys! I bought her some fluffy dice to be hung from the mirror and Shep got her a stick-on Shaun the Sheep and a Bagpuss for her dashboard. Excellent car themed gifts. Michaela had bought her this hat as a present which played 'Happy Birthday' and apparently she's been wearing it all day. Must have been fun at uni! Han's mum came round too and gave her a massive card, champagne, a photo frame and some dosh which Han's planning to spend on a tattoo sometime this week. I might go along for moral support, aka, hold her down when she sees the needle and changes her mind!
My auntie, the Marger and Sarah all did the Moonwalk last night where they started walking through London at twelve and finished back at Hyde Park at half eight. Like last year, they were so tired when they got back that they could barely get out of the car! They collapsed in the living room with their space blankets and numbers still attached to them. I've been on helping duty all day - cups of tea, breakfast, plasters etc. Because they haven't slept for over thirty six hours, they are now all tucked up in bed. I've been a bit tired today from last night and my cold and my feet have been aching from the heels I wore last night but I couldn't really complain when the three of them had walked 26 miles!
We are having a brilliant night. It's Han's 21st birthday on Monday so we're out tonight. We are in versions of purple and black and this photo was taken in Han's lovely flat. We started there with drinks and I eventually managed to give Shep her present as I haven't seen her since her 21st which was a couple of weeks ago - it's a midwifery dictionary! We're now at Han's friend's uni flat in Bedford and when I sat down, I think I ripped my dress. Everyone says it's the lining so I hope it's that and not the coloured outside bit! Hayley has dyed her hair black and we've decided that she looks foreign, perhaps Latvian. Cheers to Hannah!
About a year ago, Sarah won a voucher for free main courses and a free bottle of wine at Zizzis so we went along tonight to the one in Hitchin and had a lovely meal. The food was immense but the service was pretty shoddy. They'd taken away the starter plates before the Marger had finished and nothing infuriates her more than that! I shared an meat antipasti with Parge to start and then went for the roasted duck for my main. Unfortunately, because it's hay fever season (nearly typed 'gay fever' then), I've been sneezing all evening so now I'm a bit snotty. But that's not stopping me from serenading everyone in the car with the 'Only Fools and Horses' theme tunes. That's right - both of them. Needless to say, they cannot wait to get out of the car to get away from me!
People are always very divided on Damien Hirst but after studying him for my presentation last term and for the essay I'm in the middle of now, I think he's brilliant. In some of the interviews with him that I've been reading, including the one in this book, he's quite arrogant and can be contradictory but seems quite level headed. Now watching some Mad Men which is brilliant. I've never seen it before and it was quite slow to start but it's getting better. I feel sorry for the wives of these men though!
Nandos have introduced a new Extra Extra Hot Peri-Peri Sauce which seemed to be more of a bad taste than too hot but Han volunteered, for the small fee of £4, to lick rather a lot of it off Katie's plate! She took a while to pluck up the courage but eventually managed it. Like anything hot, the start was manageable but it got much worse! Much lemonade was consumed to stop the burn but I think it continued for a while. Dunc and Laura went home but me, Han and Katie went shopping. We had a lovely day and I ended up buying a new dress for Ginn's birthday night out on Saturday, another nautical top, a summery dress, face wipes, Soothers for my sore throat and a great find of a real leather bag from Topshop for £3 in the sale! Bargain. Managed to get some work done tonight but who cares when you've got money to burn?!
This is one of James' 22nd birthday presents and we used it to make this morning's breakfast. There is a soldier-shaped cutter for the toast and the little soldier holds the egg. Fun in a breakfast! I'm now back in Leicester, playing this immense game called 'Akinator - the Web Genius'. You think of a character or a real person and then answer different questions to help it guess who you're thinking of. So far, it's got John from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Baslisk from Harry Potter, BoBo Fett and John Snow! Brilliant. We've found one that it didn't get though: the Kennedy's dog in Neighbours, Audrey! We're broken the system. Have a go, it's great procrastination.
James and Tommy Lee! If only the latter was actually in the room. The former has spent today making his kinetic sculpture for the showcase tomorrow and his study, as you can see, is filled with solder, wood, cable and I don't know what the rest of the stuff is! Electronics shizzle. He bought some wood and cable socket things earlier and is now connecting them together with a soldering iron. I'm cruising YouTube at the same time, keeping him entertained by googling Tommy Lee and Gaga interviews and now I've moved on to to a video on the history of Download festival as it's their thirty year anniversary this year. Brilliant. Still hoping for some immense backstage passes for this year too. Good old family connections!
This would have been a picture of Sarah and her new boyfriend but she wouldn't let me take one of them! After a day of birthday celebrations for James' step-nan and then the football, we went to the pub in Cardington with them and I had the cheese board that I've been looking forward to all weekend. Nice bit of stilton, cheddar and a goat's cheese. Lovely. I had what seemed to be a pint of white wine spritzer!
Today is a slow news day. So much so that the lack of jewellery that I wear to work is the highlight of my day. Normally I wear two more rings and six more bracelets but I have to 'cut down' for work. It was another wedding today and the bride looked lovely. Right amount of sparkle on the dress as in not much. Sparkles are a good judgement of taste. I've eaten a lot of wedding food, including the lamb main course - I ate about a trillion crisps, thinking that they were laid out for us but then they were put out for the buffet! Ooops. Now going home for some much needed sleep as we didn't get in until half two last night. Zzzzzz.
We're in Pizza Express at the moment having just finished a lovely meal. The wine has flowed so we're just about to head out into Leicester for more drinks! Katie and I are wearing our new dresses, Han has a lovely pair of leopard print heels and Laura has delightfully matched her scarf to her dress. Lovely. As always, we've all struggling over the bill and trying to work out who owes who. No one ever knows. Maths is too difficult after wine. Good times!
I handed in my second-to-last essay this morning and then headed into town. I met Shields and Laura for lunch as they'd just finished a lecture walking around town looking at the architecture. Laura recommended Croques in The Lanes and I had an immense jacket potato with chilli. We're off out tomorrow night to celebrate handing in our dissertations and I need a new dress. I looked in lots of shops and eventually settled on a grey beaded number from Oasis. Bought two tops and some earrings in the sale and a lovely Chanel-esque nail varnish in Topshop and eye liner, hair spray and some bronze in Boots. An excellent spend of £68! Now me and Laura are watching the election coverage and so far, it looks like we're heading for a hung parliament. Interesting. People have been turned away from polling stations and apparently, it's been a great turn out. Fingers crossed that the Conservatives don't get in!
It's green! I thought it would be the standard black and white but I was surprised to find that the university printing people had gone for a jazzier colour. I hope the markers don't have an adversion to the colour green! I handed the two copies over to our department secretary this morning and it was really difficult to let go. So much hard work went in to it and it seemed a bit of an anti-climax. But tonight, I went to see Iron Man 2 again with Hannah and Duncan and it was even better the second time! Just hilarious.
Good old Sainsbury's. They do a gift voucher type thing where Margey can top up at home and I get the credit on my half of the card. I went for gnocchi, tomato sauce, cheese and dough balls with garlic butter. There were twenty dough balls in the pack and I wanted to eat all of them but thought that would be too many carbs! Still managed half though..... Met Hannah, Katie and Dunc this morning and it was great to see them. I've missed them over the Easter holidays. They handed their dissertation in today but mine still at the printers so that'll have to be tomorrow for me. Scary times.
As I'm registered on the electoral register at home, I've got a postal vote this year as on Thursday, election day, I'll still be in Leicester. I've never voted in a general election before, only local so this is quite exciting! I posted it earlier so I hope there isn't a deadline for them. I was going to do some work tonight but Laura and I have just watched Flashforward and now I've cracked out a nice bit of 'Twilight' on DVD. I've forgotten how brilliant it is. Edward Cullen is wonderful. And beautiful. How can I become a vampire and be that great too?
James and I are round Ginn and Jakes this evening and we're having a lovely time. I've told the story of my two Blue Peter badges and the time that I entered a Children in Need Christmas card competition. Hannah showed us this shoddy necklace she bought as a child from a car boot sale and has kept it in her special box. Adam thinks it's hilarious but Hannah loves it. I think we should take it into the Antique Roadshow and get it valued. James reckons about £2.50. We've just played the 'celebrity name on forehead' game and Adam got Nick Clegg in three! Han's just got into tarot cards and I'm about to have a reading. Should be interesting......
Finally, after what feels like a million years, I have finished my dissertation!! It is such a relief. I tied up some loose ends in the conclusion this morning before formatting it to the correct standard. But the hardest thing was actually pressing send on the e-mail, sending it off to the printers. What if it's wrong? What if something's out of place? What if I've written it like a twelve year old? I did my final checks and then attached it to the e-mail. I sat there for about ten minutes having a mild panic attack before I actually sent it. Terrifying. I'm now not going look at the document because I know if I do, I'll see something wrong! Just finished work at The Hotel and I was waitressing for the first half and then they finally let me loose on the bar! It was brilliant. I am an amazing bartender, even if I do say so myself. And if I've learnt anything tonight, it's not to judge a book by its cover.
