Fresher's Week beauty essentials and giveaway

Something I put very little thought into when I first went to University was what beauty essentials I needed! I had all my pots and pans, my notebooks, my laptop etc etc but forgot about some of the very basics needed to keep myself looking half decent through Fresher's Week. I've cobbled together a little list of items you might find useful during your first few weeks at Uni.

Dry shampoo
The holy grail! I'm not even sure if dry shampoo was a thing back in my Uni days, all I know is there were four girls vying for the bathroom every morning and it all could have been much easier if I'd had a little can of the magic stuff to spray into my roots and give them a bit of a boost. Perfect if you have a 9am lecture and you wake up a little late or hungover!

Under eye concealer
Another one I couldn't have done without during University. Perfect for when you spend the night partying instead of studying or if you pull an all-nighter before a hand in date.

A nude and a bright lipstick
If there's one piece of make-up I'd recommend keeping on yourself at all times, it's a lipstick. It's a good idea to have one nude one for every day looks and going to lectures and a fun, bright shade for nights out and dressing up.

A good skincare routine
University can be pretty stressful. There's lots to take in, there's lots of partying and lots of drinking and lots of not eating so well. It's a good idea to have a good skin regime already in place or a decent spot cream handy for any stress-related breakouts.

Makeup Revolution has just launched its new range of skincare including an anti-bacterial face wash and serum, which I'm giving away to one lucky reader. The giveaway is UK only and you must follow all the rules to be in with a chance of winning. The closing date is September 14. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Some of the products featured are PR samples.

The pros and cons of University

So it's that time of year again...people all around the country have got their A level results and have found out whether they've got a place in their chosen University or not...cue lots of advice posts and articles about University.

Lots of people go through the motions, so to speak, they go to school, go to college and as it's the 'thing to do', they also go off to University, but it's definitely not for everyone. I started University in 2007 and graduated in 2010, so it was a little while ago now but I can safely assume the pros and cons are still very similar. I thought this post might help anyone out there whose in two minds about whether they should go or not and it includes a few helpful tips that I learnt along the way too.

PROS

Independence and freedom
At 18 years old (the age most go to Uni) all you want to do is move out of your parents house finally and do exactly what you want. No curfews, no rules, no chores! Being at Uni is great for your independence and freedom, not only can you do everything you want but it also causes you to grow up, and quick.

Your own space
There's nothing better than having your own space. It might only be a single room, with an en-suite bathroom if you're very lucky, but it's yours and you can decorate it however you like, watch whatever you like on TV and clean it whenever you like. It's a space where you can really let your personality shine through and everyone has to abide by your rules, including your parents if they come to visit!

Making new friends
They say you make friends for life at University. You might have a small group of close friends or a large group of friends but you're all having the same experience and that's something you can share for life. Going to Uni is like a fresh start when it comes to making friends, they've never met you before and they know nothing about you so it's up to you to put across whatever impression you want when you first meet.

For some people, making friends is really hard to do. I personally didn't really make friends with the people on my halls floor so I would recommend really trying to do this if you can, otherwise it can get very awkward when you enter the kitchen and they're all sat in there.

On first moving in I'd recommend leaving your door open so anyone can come and say 'hi'. As much as it's super difficult, really try to say 'hi' to anyone you see. I'd also recommend having some sort of food or cake you can share with people to really break the ice.

Before I started Uni there was a forum where future students could talk to people on their courses and this led to myself and three other girls chatting lots before Uni and even on MSN Messenger (yes, it was that long ago). That made it much easier when we actually finally got around to going to Uni because there were already some people we knew. We actually all ended up living together in our second and third years and are still friends now. If you can, try and see if there's something like this you can chat to other students on. Things like Facebook and Twitter have probably made this so much easier these days. The Uni also has lots of taster and open days so you can see others from your Uni and course and get chatting too.

New experiences
Just going to University is an experience in itself. Most people will be living alone for the first time, be away from home for the first time and these are all great experiences. Nights out, parties, studying, meeting people and graduating are all great experiences which follow as well and when you look back on your time at Uni you'll realise just how much you experienced and how much it changed you as a person.

Working towards your chosen career
Now we mustn't forget the actual reason for Uni and that's to get a degree towards your chosen career path. If there's something you're passionate about and want to do in the future then studying it for three years and graduating is the best feeling ever.

CONS

Independence and freedom
As much as this is a pro of going to University, it's also a con as well. No rules and no chores means you'll end up eating tins of 'curry' and having absolutely no clean clothes to wear. Along with independence and freedom comes big 'ol responsibility. No more mummy doing your washing, cleaning, ironing and paying for those things you thought just appeared in your house such as food, bathroom essentials, cleaning products etc.

Leaving family
When it was time for my mum and dad to leave me in my halls, in my little single room, all alone, I cried my eyes out! Although I was only around 2.5 hours from home, it felt like 100s and 100s of miles away and it was super scary.

It is so, so hard in the first few weeks to be away from family and friends but you have to remember that they are only at the end of a phone if you really need them and it does get easier. In my day we didn't have things like Twitter or Facetime so it was either a Facebook message/web cam or phone call to family or even an old fashioned letter! It does get so much easier as your mind gets distracted by making friends and all things Freshers Week. Before you know it you would have been at Uni for weeks and are no longer homesick.

Working towards your chosen career
This is another one that's a pro as well as a con. Looking back on my Uni time, I wish I had been a bit more savvy about getting a degree. Just because you study for three years towards a degree and graduate, doesn't mean you'll get a job in your chosen industry. I think it's really important that anyone going to Uni understands this.

I went to Uni with this big dream of working on a top, glossy magazine and living in London but as I got further through my degree and did work experience I realised this wasn't going to be a reality for me. Not only is London ridiculously expensive to live in but it's pretty difficult to get into the industry altogether without work experience. In my day, being paid for work experience wasn't the norm and I did lots of placements for free, which cost me an absolute fortune. To get into the industry you either had to take up an unpaid internship for months or it was who you knew in the industry, which meant you could get a foot through the door.

I'm not saying you shouldn't do a degree because of how difficult it might be to get into an industry but I think you should have realistic expectations and possibly look into alternative avenues of your degree. I did things like website content writing, reviews, working on independent magazines in the area and blogging and somehow I've ended up in PR.

Lack of money and debts
I only really got through my Uni days by working during all of the holidays and during term time in the Student Union bar. It wasn't exactly much pay but it definitely helped. People are often put off by Uni because of the lack of money and the amount of debt you get into. It's true, but after you graduate, your graduate overdrafts will stay interest free for a little while to allow you to pay them off and your student loans don't need to start being paid back until you earn over a certain amount per year.

Getting maintenance grants and bursarys will help but these are based on what your parents earn, which is absolutely ridiculous because essentially the Uni thinks your parents are helping you out all through Uni. I'm sure they will as much as they can but they might not be able to afford it themselves so you really need to be strict with your budgeting and don't blow the money you get all in the first week.

It's a good idea to get a job outside of Uni hours as this will allow you to buy little luxuries here and there and have money for things like nights out etc.

Personally, going to University was probably one of the best decisions I made. It made me grow up, gain confidence, make friends, be realistic about what I wanted to do and was generally just a good experience. It is definitely not for everyone though and if you go and you don't enjoy it, then that's ok or if you don't go and go later in life, that's ok too! Not going altogether is absolutely fine as well! Ultimately it's your decision and no-one elses! Hopefully this post will help you in some way!

Here's a very dodgy picture from my graduation for you:

Before you go, why not nominate Cherry Pie in the Cosmopolitan UK​ Blog awards here under the 'Best Beauty' category.

Bumbling fool!

I think I've been jinxing myself by writing about my job interviews on here. The previous interview I wrote about, went horribly. It turned into one of those horrible, complete blank mind situations which obviously resulted in me not getting the job. If I had just taken a moment to think and get out my notebook, I would have been able to answer their questions easily and possibly would have got the job.

On paper, I think I look like the right person for the job, but when I open my mouth (or don't in this case) I come across completely nervous and bumbling. So, despite not getting the job, I did get to spend a fun day in London with Vince. (Getting up at 5am to catch the coach was kind of worth it) We explored Oxford Street, Selfridges, Camden, Charing Cross, Trafalger Square, Carnaby Street, Canary Wharf and Westminster until my feet were nearly bleeding.

We spent a lot of time in Camden and I really enjoyed it, I managed to pick up thise cute owl necklace, that I've seen splashed all over the net, for just £7!



I'm going to admit to being completely thick here but I came over all touristy while trying to find the interesting looking Charing Cross road, and failing spectacularly! Doing a quick Google search, I can see just how close we were! Oh well, we decided to sit at Trafalger Square with an ice cream. :)


After our great adventures in London, we returned home and I had yet another job interview! The job is a short term writing job for my University recycling project...and I am the new copywriter within the team! Thankfully I wasn't too bumbling this time and actually managed to impress them! So I'm off to Southampton on Wednesday to find out more and I should hopefully start soon after!

I should be moving back to Southampton pretty soon, which means time to start looking for a job to help pay the rent while I look for something within the Magazine Indsutry. I've been scouring the job sites but now I really need to put some proper effort in and get my foot on the ladder of Journalism.


Tomorrow we're off to Alton Towers with my free tickets I collected from The Sun newspaper! I can't wait! For now, I'm off to try a new marbling nail art effect, wish me luck!

The End

This morning I woke up pretty early for a Uni student..8am! And I quickly realised that I'm technically not a student anymore.

As I handed in my last piece of work, a day early on Tuesday, I didn't really feel any different, but after our course drinks last night and a night out, it was weird hearing everybody talking about what they are going to be doing with their lives.

At the moment I'm still not 100% sure what I'm doing but I have work experience at Red magazine lined up for two weeks in June. I also have work experience in September at Sugar magazine and the possibility of work experience at Kerrang! in January..if I can get hold of anyone to confirm it for me.

I want to try and enjoy the summer but I'm definitely going to have to find a part time job..and I'm definitely applying for Topshop! When I come back to Southampton in September to live with Vince, I will have to be seriously searching for Journalism jobs. (Not that I won't be searching through the summer)

Hopefully my three years at Uni won't be wasted and I can find a good starting job in the industry. Now I just have to look forward to getting my degree and graduating.

Almost over..

My dissertation is officially complete..now it's just lying on my floor happily waiting to be handed in on Wednesday. I suppose I could hand it in early but that would mean getting out of bed tomorrow and going out and that just can't be done I'm afraid! I'm looking forward to celebrating on Wednesday with the rest of the course. :)

I haven't blogged in quite a while as I've been so busy with work but as it all comes to an end I can hopefully blog more. I have one more deadline on May 19th and there's still quite a lot to do but I can't wait until it's all over! I'm going home on Thursday for the weekend so I'm hoping to get quite a bit done..and I shall also be visiting the Zoo so expect some pics!


As you can see from the post below I have had a review printed in Portsmouth News paper. I have yet to see it as I had to get my Aunty, who lives in Portsmouth, to send me a copy. I had no idea it was going to be published, I just thought it would be put online but when I couldn't find it for a few days I thought I would email and ask about it and it turns out it was printed. It's actually the first ever piece I've had published which is great, I hope I can do lots more gig reviews for them. At last I have something decent to go in my Portfolio!

Talking of portfolios and published work, I have been applying for jobs but still nothing has come out of it. I have applied for some work experience during the summer as well but I'm still waiting to hear back.

I am still posting on Styleclone.com and everything there is going really well. I've just come up with a new feature idea focusing on Fashion Bloggers and the first one to feature on the site is Claire from Sitting Pretty. After eBay announced their new fashion outlet I decided to ask Claire about her great eBay purchases, you can see the feature HERE and if you want to be featured then please let me know!


Yesterday turned out to be a fun evening. Vince's friend invited us for dinner so we both had a huge roast dinner each. Then we decided to go somewhere else for drinks which actually ended up turning into a few drinks plus a pizza and a sharing platter! I can't explain just how full up I was, but it was fun. :)

I'm not sure I have much else planned for the upcoming weeks apart from getting work out of the way. I need to start sorting out my things and packing it all up. I need to get rid of lots of stuff aswell and I've decided I'm going to donate the nicer stuff to a charity shop. Something I've never done before. :)

Until then, I shall keep you updated with whatever's going on. I've just purchased a Topshop Eyeliner and Eyeshadow duo so I shall post a review of those once I get them :) Until then..

It's nearly over

On May 12th I will finally be handing in the last of my work. Technically we have a deadline on May 18th aswell but it's for an Online CV and I'm hoping to get it all finished much earlier than that.

I think, no I know, it will be a huge relief to hand in my Dissertation/Major Project as well as my Life As A Freelance work and Magazine Design work. Just to know that it is the end of my education and I never have to say 'sorry I've got too much work to do.' I'll never have to hear about 2:2s and 2:1s and writing stupid essays about things nobody cares about.

To be honest I don't think I have experienced University to the fullest. I think it would have been good to join a sports team or a society to feel included in something and to make lots of friends. Everyone talks about how they've made loads of new friends at Uni but in all honesty, how many of them are they ever going to see again when they graduate? I haven't actually made that many friends at University, just a small group really and I certainly don't feel prepared for the big bad world out there.

My course hasn't prepared me for what the industry is really like, we haven't been helped or advised on looking for jobs after University either. Of course I've managed to search for jobs by myself but we're being taught by people in the industry who have not shared their knowledge on getting into the industry after Uni. I don't feel I am confident enough to write a good feature and pitch it to a top magazine and I have no idea what I'm doing when I leave Uni.

We seem to have been the 'guinea pig' year where they have tried out various units on us only to find they don't work very well. There's even talk of our course being scrapped..which really fills us all with confidence, not.

So theres my little rant over with. I think it's partially to do with the looming deadlines and the scary black mist descending infront of us but everyone says it will be 'fine' so of course, it will. :\

Inspired

I'm probably going to sound like I'm gushing a bit in this blog so do forgive me. Yesterday my University arranged some guest lecturers to come in and speak to us. There was a writer for Kerrang!, a band publicity guy and a photojournalist. Obviously, for anyone that knows me you'll know I've been reading Kerrang! for years and that it is ultimately the magazine I want to write for in the future so the Kerrang! writer was certainly the reason I went along to the lecture.

It was so inspiring! He told the story of how he wanted to write for Kerrang! since he was a teen and how he eventually got into it. His job sounds amazing. He gave some really great advice, insider knowledge of the industry and some great stories about bands and his articles. I asked him what advice he would have for me as I want to write for Kerrang! also and although he seemed a bit shocked by question because it was quite direct, he kindly gave me his email address and said he would look at some of my work! I've just this minute sent off an email to him full of my writing so I'm pretty nervous to hear what he has to say about it.

After hearing his talk, I felt even more inspired to be a writer and to keep going with everything I'm doing.

It lasted about three hours and the band publicity guy was also really interesting. He's worked with Nirvana, the Foo Fighters and the Arctic Monkeys and had some really great stories to tell. PR is also something I've looked into as well as jobs within record labels due to all the music related work I do.

Unfortunately not many people turned up but I guess they missed out on a great talk and the chance of making a contact so too bad for them.

I think I can relax now..

..only for a few days but as my Portfolio for Life As A Freelance sits complete on my bed, ready for hand in, I feel a bit more relaxed. It was quite stressful to do, seeing as I had a printer that wouldn't cooperate and I realised I had forgotten some important pieces which I had to do at the last minute; and can I just say how frustrating it is trying to get freelance rates, editorial lead times and advert rates from magazines. No matter how much you email or phone, everyone is so unhelpful. Don't they remember how it felt to be a student? When I'm a big high-flying Journalist, I will definitely remember to help out the students!

After yesterday's phone call, I feel a lot happier about what's going to happen after University. When I come back from the Easter holidays I'm going to start packing up my stuff and moving it into Vince's room. Though that is going to need a BIG spring clean before I'm even setting foot in there! I need to get rid of a lot of stuff..mostly clothes I don't wear and DVDs I've only watched once. My collection is ridiculous.


Last night Vince and I went to see A Day To Remember at Portsmouth Pyramids. It was absolutely brilliant! I will admit that Vince was right about where we were standing because I had a really good view and the band themselves were great. The support bands weren't really to my tastes and we were quite disappointed with the merch but because it was the last date of the tour, they pretty much had nothing left. :( I saved us both £12 on ticket prices as I managed to get a guestlist place in return for a review so I should probably work on that either today or tomorrow.

As for the rest of the week, I don't have much planned. Uni on Wednesday and Thursday and possibly watching Vince play another gig on Friday and then a nice relaxing weekend ahead! I can't wait to go home now! I'm trying to save for my shopping trip to Bristol but I currently only have £30. I'm also meeting my friends for an evening of Curry and the rest of the time will probably be spent working at the holiday camp. :) I am definitely looking forward to a nice holiday, hah.

P.S - A £25 ASOS Voucher giveaway at Sitting Pretty

Work and work and work

Wow I haven't blogged properly in a week, I keep opening the website and going to blog and then going completely blank and not knowing what to write about. I still don't really know what to write about but I'm hoping it will come to me as I type. As you can see in the post below I wrote a review for some make-up I recently purchased. I've got another product that I want to review but I'm not sure if I should or not?

On Monday I worked..on Tuesday I also work but I went out afterwards for my housemate's birthday. It was knackering having to spend 6 hours at work and then go out but yay for free champagne and cheap drinks! I wore the heels I got for Christmas and as I'm not really a high heels sort of girl, they nearly killed me! I'm sure I pulled all the muscles in my legs and ankles because of them!

It's not long now until we break up for Easter, I realised recently that I haven't been home in 3 months, which is really weird! So it will be good to get home and I'll appreciate it a lot more than usual, but after about a week it will probably start doing my head in again. My sister and I are planning a shopping trip to Cabot Circus in Bristol on the 28th and although I won't have much money, I do want to look for a fitted blazer, preferably with no shoulder pads. I also want the skirt below from Urban Outfitters:

The only thing stopping me buying it right now from the website is the fact that it's £25, which is ludicrous for a skirt! It's so pretty though..

I have a weird habit of trying on clothes, really like them and buying them but then never wearing them. I think I just like the idea of owning them but I need to start wearing them! I have so many clothes in my wardrobe that I don't wear..so I need to be really ruthless and get rid of the things that I haven't worn and probably never will..I don't think theres any point in putting things on eBay anymore because clothes never really make that much.


I'm feeling like I really want Uni to be over with now. I've just had enough of it to be honest, fed up of the work and being looked down on by lecturers. I had a presentation yesterday which went loads better than expected! I didn't feel nervous at all so I guess Uni has helped a lot with confidence. :) The current Life of a Freelance unit is going OK I suppose..my lecturer did give me a lot of help with my Pitches and it took me ages to find another case study but luckily I did and it's all going well. Just have to write the features now..

This weekend I'm planning on doing lots of Uni work and then on Monday Vince and I are going to Portsmouth in the afternoon. We're going to have some dinner somewhere and then watch A Day To Remember at Portsmouth Pyramids. I can't believe the swimming pool I used to go to now holds gigs aswell? It's too weird.

Jacket Potatoes do not make a fulfilling meal

Today is supposedly the first day of Spring and while it was nice to wake up to the sun blaring through my curtains, it was still quite cold outside.

I've spent most of the day doing Uni work, apart from the quick trip to the Library and to town to pick up 'essentials' such as a new nail varnish. I did however stop myself from going into Topshop so I deserve a treat! I usually go straight to the Barry M nailvarnishes but since I've got most of the colours, I decided on a Miss Sporty sparkly black colour.

I managed to finish off my 'Influential Artists' piece and my Diamond Head live review as well as transcribe my interview with the guitarist of DH. It's such a time consuming thing to do and you have to keep rewinding it and going back over the same bit you've heard about a milliong times. Frustrating! But it's all done now so I just have to work it into some kind of feature!

I haven't been home since Christmas and I'm starting to want a nice cooked meal and a warm living room to snuggle up infront of the TV in, I can't wait until we break up for Easter! I'm going to get some serious shopping done with my sister in Cabot Circus and meet up with friends. I'm not going to work during the first week so I can get some Uni work done and then hopefully there will be a job waiting for me for the remaining two weeks or so. And what is to come when we come back from Easter is something I just don't want to think about yet!

I need some help. I am looking for a new scarf, one of those ones that you fold into a triangle and wrap around you. Well I want a new one, with a cool pattern on, maybe some skulls? Does anyone know where there is one on a UK website or shop?

Things are looking up..

Since my last blog I have managed to bag an interview with an eighties metal band on Tuesday 23rd in Bournemouth. I can't tell you how happy I am with this, it means my Major Project will actually have some sort of substance and not just be a load of rubbish. I have to take the night off work and travel to Bournemouth 02 Academy but a friend has told me where to go and it sounds so simple, I'm sure I'll be fine. I have to meet a member of the band by the merchandise stall after the show so I better memorise what he looks like...

I'm also going to kill two birds with one stone and write up a review of the show - eighties band's reforming! Hallelujah!

My lecturer also looked over my current 'Most Inspirational Artists of the 70s & 80s' piece and said that she really liked it, I even caught her laughing to herself about it so I must have done something right. Apparently I've relaxed and got over the awkwardness of the first 3000 words I wrote. I don't know what went on there..it must have been some sort of blip because what I wrote belongs in a rubbish dump.

I've also bagged a telephone interview with another eighties band, but in order to do a telephone interview I have to use some massive contraption called a marantz which records the telephone conversation and I cannot for the life of me remember how to use one. I also don't know where my little orange book is that allows me to rent one from Uni. :\


The Life as a Freelance unit is scaring the hell out of me at the moment. Apparently the pay for freelancers has gone right down and my lecturer advises us not to get into freelancing straight away..she has also in the past advised us that we will not get into the magazine industry straight away either..so what have I been working towards for the past three years? A bar job? I'm not confident enough that I will get features done, I'm not confident with ideas and I have a mini portfolio of pitches and feature ideas due in one month. I should probably get on with it..

Excuse me.

I'm currently taking a break from my hectic work schedule of writing about the most influential British rock artists of the 70s and 80s, so far I have Jimmy Page and Ozzy Osbourne. Although both of their bands were formed in the late 1960s, it wasn't until the early 70s that they gained much success. I felt like on of those music know-it-alls then, but I'm certainly not. This is probably the most difficult subject I've ever written about it, but being a music fan, I was expecting it not to be. I kind of wish I had chosen to write for something like Company magazine for my Major Project but I guess it is too late now. Sob :'( The only thing that can get me through is endless amounts of tea.

Valentines day was fun. Vince got me the new Super Mario Brothers Nintendo Wii game and I'm already onto the second level. I love it. I bought him a new necklace as he lost it and looked naked without it, hehe. Yesterday was also Chinese New Year and there was a big parade in town with lots of stalls, we decided to have all you can eat Chinese for lunch but as the prices were a ludicrous £17.80, we thought better of it and got some noodles from one of the stalls, which actually filled us up just as much as the lunch would have, lol.

We decided we would cook our own dinner this year instead of going out for a meal and being caught out by Valentine's prices like we did last year (our bill last year was nearly £80!) so we made Shepherds Pie and it was the BEST thing ever! We did buy a chocolate cake but we were too stuffed to eat it! In the evening we settled down and watched The Day The Earth Stood Still, which I was really disappointed about actually. It seemed to be over far too quickly, before developing the stories properly.


After having just read a friends blog I've been reminded of something I wanted to say before. In a recent lecture we were told that we shouldn't blog because it makes us put our opinion into our formal writing too much and that employers could look at our blogs and be put off from giving us a job. Can't anything be personal anymore? This really annoyed me actually because an employer should be giving me a job based on my personality and my writing for their magazine, not for a blog where I write down the odd thought here and there, they wouldn't base my job on my private lockable diary that was stashed under my matress would they, so why should they base it on this? If I can write a good article for their magazine then thats great, I am pretty sure I can stop myself putting my opinion into an article where I shouldn't be putting it. /rant.

P.S - My first official blog on February 9th 2009 means that I've been blogging for one year!

So sleepy..

You know when you wake up from a nap and you feel even more tired? That's happening to me right now, and I have an evening of University work to do!

Last week I had to write a feature pitch, pretending it was 'real' and that we were sending it to the editor of a magazine. Our lecturer sent our pitches to the editor of Grazia magazine..and down came the chopping block which took off most of the classes heads. Although what she said was relevant to my pitch it still made me feel bad when she said my pitch would ultimately fail. I'm going to try and do it again seeing as we have to submit four pitches in our final workbook so wish me luck!

Third year has been hard so far, although we haven't really done anything in Advanced Magazine Design yet I can feel that Life As A Freelance will make us all want to kill ourselves. I'm wondering how I'm ever going to become a freelance writer if I can't even write a pitch. The main problem for me is case studies - so if you know of a young professional aged between 20-24 that still lives at home with their parents, PLEASE let me know!



3 packages arrived for me this morning, one was the dress which I really like! The other was the skirt which is a bit more floaty than I expected and the third was a freelancing book I got for 1p!

Valentines is on it's way and I already have Vince's present wrapped up nicely. We're planning on just going out for lunch I think, we figured it might be cheaper than going for an evening meal, and then cosying up together in the evening watching TV or a DVD. We'll obviously be so full up from lunch that we are bound to have a nap, hehe. The best thing about this year's Valentines is that it's on a Sunday so everyone can be really lazy!

I haven't been home since Christmas so I'm starting to want to go back, but I wan't to try not to keep spending all my money and I know if I'll go home I'll end up going on a massive shopping spree with my sister. I had a small shopping spree this afternoon where I just picked up a few bits and pieces..including this Cameo necklace from Accessorie for £5!

When do you think it will all become clear?

I had to take my own advice yesterday and keep calm and have a cup of tea. Yesterday was rubbish. Not only did I have to get up for a 9am lecture but the lecture was completely boring and a waste of time, it was supposed to be a 'refresher' lesson in Adobe InDesign and we just literally made a layout for 3 hours. Boo

After that was my dreaded meeting with my course leader so she could see my Timeline feature and it did NOT go well. She got half way through and basically told me it was complete rubbish and that I had to start again. I also have to see my old Music Journalist teacher because she doesn't know anything about music so I'm kind of going to have them both as my Major Project tutors. So now I'm back to square one, having to start the feature again and still get ideas for the rest of the features. I just wanted to cry all day yesterday. I don't know how to write a decent feature after nearly three years on course for it. I don't know if that reflects badly on only me but on the course aswell?

I vowed not to do anymore work for the rest of evening, which is probably not the best idea but I really wasn't in the mood to do any. I haven't done any today either so I will have to really catch up at the weekend. I'm supposed to have my feature done by Thursday. :|

Vince came round later on after I had spent the evening watching TV and we played Who Wants To Be A Millionaire on the Wii at about 1am. It's so hard! I wasn't getting past £1000! Vince however managed to get to a million, with the help of the internet. CHEAT! It's not a brilliant game and the questions got repeated after about 2 rounds so it would be quite easy to learn the answers!

I'm still in the process of getting my new Polaroid printer to work, once I do, I'm going to put a review up of it! I'm going to be announcing the winner of the Topshop Voucher giveaway on Sunday! Look out!


Image from weheartit

Dizzzzy

This morning I woke up with a headache, then I got up and nearly fell over and I've been feeling dizzy all day. It's a bit strange really as nothing else seems to be wrong with me, I'm hoping it will pass and I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

I also woke up to a phone call from Argos. I got an email from them on Thursday saying the Wii Fit had come into stock and was available for home delivery so I ordered it. £60 and then this morning I got a phone call saying the Wii Fit was no longer in stock in the Warehouse and that because they've got a new catalogue, everything has changed and the Wii Fit is being replaced as standard by the Wii Fit Plus which is £90, so now I'm not going to bother with it. I'm just going to carry on saving for Green Day Rockband and enjoy the games I have. =[

I have good news! I have written 1000 words of my feature so far. The bad news is, I have only covered the 1960s when I am supposed to write 1500 words in TOTAL about the whole of music history. I'm thinking of changing the piece into a 'where it all started,' feature. I've emailed my lecturer and hopefully she will give me some good advice!


Last night I went to see Vince's band Statement Code at the Talking Heads and I have to say it was their best performance yet, I just wish more people would bother turning up to gigs! There was quite a good crowd but it would be good to see friends there to support as well. They have another gig at the SU on Monday so instead of me working behind the bar I am actually going to be the otherside of the bar enjoying the gig. =] Everyone should check out the band's Myspace.


Speaking of work, we have our new shifts and I'm still working Tuesdays. But this time I'm starting at 5 until close which means there isn't any chance of me going home early anymore but I'm trying to see that as a good thing because it means at least 6 hours of guarantee money! Woo.

Today has been pretty boring to be honest, apart from doing my feature I haven't really done much else and so on with the not doing much..bye bye!

P.S. If anyone knows of any free Blogspot layouts can you please let me know? I want to give this blog a new look. =]

Life as a Freelancer & Styleclone posts!

My first day back at Uni today and I was only there for 2 hours but in those two hours I got very scared about life after Uni again. We had to fill out a questionnaire for the lecturer to 'get to know us,' or just have a really good nose. Basically one of the questions was 'What are your plans after Uni,' and since I was being REALISTIC I put that I will probably end up back home trying to freelance while searching for a job. I'm not sure that was something she wanted to read but I was only being honest!

I surprised myself by actually doing the work though. We had to read the newspapers and pick out stories that could potentially be made into other stories for other newspapers and magazines and I managed to pick out two good stories that she thought would make good features/articles. Usually I end up sitting and doing nothing but I really need to work in this unit as it's what I'm going to be doing when I'm finished with Uni.

I've also cracked on with my dissertation and I am now 500 words in to a feature on British Rock Music. I can see I am going to struggle with fitting fifty years worth of music history into 1500 words but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. So far I've touched upon The Beatles and The Rolling Stones and have gone into a little more depth about The Who..which has also lead me to think about another feature about rock music and fashion. Good/Bad idea?!

I need to email a whole range of bands and get their opinions on British rock music and I need to do my Freelance work but other than that all is dandy. No shopping for me today, except to buy magazines. I decided to ring up Kerrang! and Company magazines about work experience but all I got was the usual line that placements were full and I should email. Yawn.

I'm wearing my new jumper today, it's a bit low cut so I've put a vest top underneath and I really like it. I'm glad I didn't buy the size 8 because that was just too baggy, anyway, here are last weeks Styleclone.com posts for you all! Enjoy!

JIMMY CHOO TO COLLABORATE WITH UGG AUSTRALIA

ASDA'S TUMMY TAMER DRESS

NEW £100K NOKIA SUPREME PHONE

Shopping makes me happy

Apart from Vince, music and tea, shopping is the one thing that makes me happy! So as I was feeling really rubbish after my tutorial today I accidently on purpose fell into Topshop and bought this new jumper! :) Not usually something I would pick up as I don't really like V-necks but I was drawn to it and ended up buying it. Good mood all round!

The tutorial went ok, basically I just have to stop flitting about and start writing the damn thing. I have to get a 1500 word feature done by the 28th ready to show and I'm also going to be having a meeting with my old Music Journalism tutor so that should be helpful. I feel a bit better now that I've got some feature ideas in place, I'm just worried my research isn't enough. :\ But for now, the number 1 thing on my to-do list is the feature.

I've got work tonight but I am not fretting about the boredom this week because I am taking the latest issue of Company magazine with me to read! I have saved it especially! That reminds me, I have got some work experience at Sugar magazine confirmed for September 27th-October 1st! YAY! Finally. The offices are in Mayfair in London and I've been looking at cheap places to stay but too be honest, none of them are cheap so I think I will commute and stay with Vince for a week. :D I'm already excited about it!

Visitor..

On Monday Holly came to visit for four days and it was really fun. :) Monday was a lazy day, we went to the pub to have dinner and came back home and played Wii and had Indian takeaway. :) On Tuesday we planned a shopping trip! I had a tutorial on Tuesday morning which I came away from feeling really disappointed because I got a bad mark for my dissertation Pitch but after speaking to Holly, I feel better about it and I really need to see my lecturer about it properly and get started with my features.

Shopping was fun of course! I got some great goodies including these:





Of course, both are from Topshop. I actually spotted the shoes on Monday night and they only had size 4's left so I took it as a sign and used my giftcard towards them and with student discount they were £36 :) I have yet to wear them but I will!
The jumper is a cropped jumper which I'm still getting used to, it was £35 which is a bit expensive but I used the rest of my giftcard and student discount to get it down to £25. :D

Holly did well on our shopping trip aswell. She got a Blackberry Curve! I'm so jealous because it is so much better than mine! It has so much more stuff on it and it's prettier. :(

I also bought underwear, a black cardigan, photo frame and some bits and pieces from boots including a new nailvarnish! I counted up all my Barry M nailvarnishes yesterday and I have 17! Every time I go into the shops now I can't find a new colour!

Unfortunately I forgot that I had to work on Tuesday, I tried to get the night off but no one ever seems to want to cover my shifts. The main reason I wanted it off was because Vince was playing a gig in the Union Venue that I obviously wanted to go and watch. LUCKILY when I got to work, they needed someone to work upstairs so I got to watch the gig anyway. :D It was awesome. Tomorrow they are playing a gig in Bournemouth and on the 21st Jan they have a headline gig at the Talking Heads. (Myspace.com/StatementCode)

On the Wednesday I had ANOTHER tutorial but this time I did really well so I was really pleased! Then in the afternoon I went and got a tattoo. :D Very simple, easy to hide. Exactly what I wanted and I don't care what anyone else thinks of it.



I also got the musical note on my wrist added to as the people that did it, didn't really do a good job so I'll post a picture of the new version a bit later because it's in the middle of healing and is not looking so nice.

Holly went home on Thursday morning so I was left all alone and had ANOTHER tutorial, I was actually really surprised with my mark for this work because I was expecting to do really badly but I did quite well. :D


Yesterday was a pretty lazy day as well. Vince came round with his new rice cooker and we made risotto and it was the best tasting risotto ever! Tonight he is going out for a mates birthday so I'm going to get on with some work. I want to make a list of questions for my lecturer and get some feature ideas. I'm feeling really unmotivated with my Dissertation at the moment so I need to get on with things. I have a tutorial on Tuesday which will hopefully help me.

I have my night all planned out. Dinner, work..and that's it! Hah. Goodnight!

no subject

I can never think of an appropriate title for any post I ever write! I try and wait until the end to see if anything will come from what I've written but it never does..it's a sad thing.

Last night was my first day back on the bar and my GOD was it boring. I wasn't told that it was a Harley Davidson Xmas party event so there were only 100 people compared to the normal 550, and there were still 5 bar staff on. They really weren't all needed. Tomorrow is the Xmas party and I'm working it, along with one of the new girls, which will be really fun, not. I've worked there every holiday since 2007 and I'm not allowed to go to the xmas party. My own mum is going, and she hasn't worked there for years. I got a text tonight from my boss saying I can wear what I want behind the bar, wow, THANKS. I'd rather have my own clothes get covered in beer. Oh well.

Other than that I haven't done much else. I spent Thursday at work 10-1, which was really quiet, but I met Vince at 1 and we went to town, got some Chips for lunch and then fell asleep and had a lazy afternoon which was really nice. :D

It's not actually long until Christmas now, it's getting exciting. The presents under the tree are starting to build up..even though most of them aren't for me, haha! I need to do some more work on my Dissertation because before I know it, it's going to be January 4th and I'll be back at Uni with nothing to show. I know that the second semester is going to go SO fast so I need to get a move on with my work! and on that note..I better go.

Scary times

There are scary times ahead..in five months time I will have finished University and finished education for good. Of course, that means I have to start thinking about what I'm going to do after University. Obviously I would love to go straight into a job in the magazine industry but with the recession there is not much out there. It's hard enough to get unpaid work experience so getting a paid full time job..well, it doesn't look good.

One option is to move back home and freelance. I'm already freelancing for Styleclone.com, but I would like to write for magazines also. As well as freelancing I would have to get a job..probably back at Sandbay, while applying for Journalism jobs at the same time.

Another option is to apply to be the editor of the University magazine. Now I think I would be good at it but the person who gets the job is based on votes..I'm not good at public speaking and lets face it, I don't know many people so I don't think I would get voted in. Plus, even if I did do it, it would mean that the same problems would arise again after another year. However, it does mean that I would be able to stay in Southampton for another year with Vince as he has a year left of Uni.

It's all very confusing and I'm not sure what to do at all. I feel like I need some sort of guidance about what to do..there should be some sort of talk at University I can visit but that doesn't seem to be the case. We have a CV building workshop but that won't help me find a job, that will just help me have a snazzy CV. :\ Help!