Glastonbury: Possibly the best place in the world.

This time last week I would have been cold, soaking wet, covered in mud, not showered in 3 days, living off a few hours sleep and absolutely loving life. Yep, it's festival season again! This may not seem like the ideal situation in which to have an amazing time - and many people will think 'why the hell do people do this for fun?' Now, I'm happy to admit that in any normal situation I would not be a happy camper. I love my straighteners, daily showers and comfy bed. However, there is just something about Glastonbury that makes all of the dirt, smells and bed hair worth it. It's almost impossible to put into words how totally amazing and completely crazy Glastonbury is. But I'm going to try. With a little help from a few pictures too!

Imagine a city full of tents, stalls, stages, flags, grass, sculptures and masses of unwashed, yet ridiculously happy people. Think of the fires and fairy lights at night, the stench of the toilets and the beats from the Dance Village. Picture any and all types of food and bars selling overpriced cider. See people of all ages - old hippies with huge beards, children in fancy dress, drunken youths and middle aged ravers. Hear the songs of legends: U2, Coldplay, Beyonce, Pulp, Radiohead, Fatboyslim, Chemical Brothers, The Streets. Or discover the unknown talents of an unknown singer in a small, crowded tent. Realise that it's not just about music, but about dancing, art, madness, charity, friendship, adventure and experience. Imagine endless mud and pouring rain, then baking sun and no shade. Understand that anything goes, clohing is optional yet wellies and face paint are a must have. Witness the madness of Shangri La and Arcadia - naked mermaids, planes, cars with wings and fire balls in the air. Marvel at the sunrise from the legendary stone circle as another day dawns over the most famous festival in the world.

It's now 720 days till the next Glastonbury, but who's counting?

Till next time, bizzle x

My Master Plan.

The fact that second year is nearly over (two weeks and counting. Sniff) is quite a depressing thought and has lead me to think about the different ways in which I can prolong my student career. Because, to be perfectly honest, I'm not ready to accept that I only have one year left. I love the student lifestyle way too much, and I'm afraid that it's going to become a mere nostalgic memory of the past all too soon. I have even contemplated deliberatly failing second year, but feel this may be one drastic stepp too far! Maybe.. So instead Bekah, Charlie and myself have come up with a few ways in which to avoid joning the real world for a little longer.

Postgraduate study

Sounds posh doesn't it?! Me and Bekah are keen beans and love our degree so much we want to carry on and study an MA in Broadcast Journalism. Whereas Charles wants to do her PGCE so she can be professionaly terrorized for a career - otherwise known as teaching. Ceerraaazy fool. Not only does a postgrad allow us to be slobby students for an extra year, it also looks quite good on the CV! However, as the course at Cardiff is the best in the country, competition is high, meaning we actually have to put in some effort (shocker) to get some work experience in our relevant fields! While my persona may be that of the 'lazy' one, I am actually really excited to get out there and get as may placements or tasters as I can, in order to get a real feel for the media industry and to see where my future career path may take me.

Gap Yah

I basically want to be able to tell stories like this man.

Lol jokes, I'm not a noob. Anyway, phase 2 of the master plan is to go travelling with Rebecky & who ever else wants to hop along for the ride! We literally have it all planned out. Graduate with an MA in June. Get a jobo (anything, anywhere). Work for 5/6 months. Save moolah. Have a ski season in Italy November-April. Hopefully save some more dosh and maybe learn a bit of Italien in the process? Come home for a few weeks. Go travelling in Asia & spend our hard earned cashola being all cultural. Come home in August. Get propper job. Grow up.

And that my friends, is the master plan. It will happen. Check back in 2 years for the pics ;)

Till next time, bizzle x

Money, Dosh, Moolah, Wonga.

Money; the most important, talked about, dependant and annoying aspect of student life.

Not a day goes by without someone mentioning their overdraft, wages, loan, savings or spare change. In reality, money dictates the majority of day to day activities of student life. Shall I go out tonight? I need to go food shopping. I really want a new outfit. Fancy a bite to eat at the pub? Let's go on a day trip. Cinema anyone? I can't be bothered to go to work tonight.

Every one of these statements concern one question - can I afford it?

Now, I'm probably not the best person to give advice regarding great saving plans or to suggest a sure fire way to stay debt free. Hello ridiculous overdraft figures. But I do have a few tips on how to still have a good time at uni, while also keeping costs down. (Beware, some of these tips may compromise your morals and your health.)

1. Use the internet to find great deals! I spend enough time pointlessly refreshing the Facebook homepage, may as well dedicate some of that time to finding some offers! Student beans is a great site for deals, like 241 cinema tickets!

2. Take advantage of the different food deals in the supermarkets. BOGOF offes are always a winner. Also, try to stock up on freezer food, but not fresh stuff, as you will end up chucking it and wasting money buying more!
3. Make a list before you go shopping. Impulse buying is a killer!
4. Get a job. A couple of shifts a week can't hurt, and the extra cash will never go amiss! Me & Bekah work for a bar in town as part of their promotions team & Charlie is a shot girl for some of the bigger clubs. Work banter is always a hot topic of conversation. Yes Lanter <3
5. Minesweep. Probs shouldn't recommend this, but in many times of desperation we have all been known to steal the odd unattended drink. Cue lack of memory & hangover from hell the morning after.
6. Make friends with people who are a similar dress size to yourself. Hello whole new wardrobe of opportunities, goodbye expensive shopping spree.
7. Try to keep household bills down. You don't need your lappy plugged in 24/7 and who wants to live in a constant sauna? However, don't been a heating Nazi, just because there's a few days of sun, does not mean we've suddenly been transported to Africa. We live in Wales, a few hours of warmth would be much appreciated.

So there you have it, a few tips on how to save a wee bit of money in the ever expensive whirlwind that is student life. But, if your are horrifically in debt (like yours truly) don't worry too much. Just remember, we're going to be -£20,000 + in debt anyway, what's an extra grand going to hurt? Well, that's how I console myself. You only live once & you can't spend when you've popped it, so go wild while you can - no one likes a tight arse.

Till next time, bizzle x

FOOD FOOD FOOD.. IN MA BELLY.

Hiiiii all. Sorry for my lack of posting so far, Katie and Charlie are massive Keeeeno's and I do have other stuff to do with my time ;)

As good as Katie's boredom busters are for busting ya boredom (like what i did there?!) there is one major thing that she failed to mention that can brighten up any boring day.. FOOD. As a student, Food is a massive part of life. We probably spend a large amount of the day eating, failing that we will be talking about food or planning our next meal.

Charlie has already kindly shared with us her tips for expert cake baking. However, I feel it is time to enlighten you with a few more of a good ol' favourite recipes that we have conjured up over the last year and a half of living together.


Despite the cliche that students live on a diet of beans on toast, pot noodles and generally unhealthy cuisine... we often make some very tasty, homemade meals that are not only inexpensive but healthy too.



Step aside Jamie Oliver.. it's time to take a look at some of our amazing meals..



1. Potato's dauphinois..


This is possibly one of my most favourite dishes ever. Turning spuds into something a bit more interesting. Cheese and potato.. together. What more could you want? It's nice and simple too :)

You will need:

Potatoes (probably about four, possibly five depending on how hungry you are)

142ml Single Cream (nice and healthy)

150ml of milk (optional)

1 garlic clove, peeled and halved

One onion, finely chopped.

25g of grated cheese (any type you like which you are able to grate)

Method: Fairly straight forward..

• Pre heat the oven to about 180C. Line a baking dish or tin with greaseproof paper then butter the paper. Peel and slice the potatoes.
• Fry the onion until it is lightly browned and set aside.
• Pour the milk and cream into a pan, then add the garlic. Heat to boiling point, cool a little and strain into a jug. You can prepare this in advance and reheat if you are on a tight schedule!
• Layer half the potatoes in the tin, overlapping the slices, sprinkling each layer with a little salt and pepper. Pour over half the liquid and finish layering, then add the rest of the liquid and scatter over the cheese.
• Bake for 1-1¼ hrs (plenty of time to get cracking on with an essay or reading, orrr.. start getting ready for a night out) until the potatoes are tender and the top is golden.
• Leave to stand for 5 mins, then cut into portions and serve. VOILA.. you have yourself a proffesional little meal :)

2. Vegetable Fajita's...


Fajita's are probably one of the only meal's we make together as a house. We find that a mini mexican night of vegetable fajita's alongside cheesy nachos, salad and rice is the perfect type of food for a birthday dinner or house bonding and catch up time. A good Fajita can be one of the simplest, yet tastiest meals one can make. They can be heavy or light, healthy and nutritious. Nice 'n' cheap and as spicy (or as mild if you're a woss like me) as you like :)

In this recipe I only use vegetable's instead of chicken as a lot of members of our household of vegetarian. Veg is also cheaper and healthier than meat too. So give it a go!

You will need:

Half Red Onion

Half a green pepper

Half a yellow pepper

A few spoonfuls of Creme Fresh

Grated Cheese

Flour Tortillas

Chilli powder/ some type of spice

Tomoto Pureee

Method:

• Chop the Peppers into long, thin strips. Cut the onion lengthways and then into slices so you have semicircular shaped slithers.
• Using a bit of oil,fry the Green Pepper, Yellow Pepper and Red Onion together for around 2 minutes on high heat and stir away. (If you're like us you will be very keen with the stirring!)
• Spread the crème fresh on the tortillas, about one tablespoon per tortilla. Add the grated cheese.
• Add the chilli powder and tomato puree to the pan. Mix up a little, stir and serve.
• Serve the vegetable mix onto the tortilla and wrap.

And there you have it.. a simple vegetarian, three coloured fajita which is perfect for a quick meal :)
I hope you've enjoyed me sharing my amazing culinary skills with you all.

S'laterrrrrs. X

The Boredom Killer.

I am currently sat on my bed, in a freezing house, bored out of my little brain. So, instead of actually doing some work, I thought I would write about a few ways to cure the inevitable curse of student boredom.

There are actually plenty of much more constructive things I could be doing with my time; Clean this stinking house, do some work or even get some use out of my gym membership. However, these things take way too much effort, and I don't want to jeopardize my lazy title. That would be a disaster.

So, I've come up with a few solutions to ease the pain of boredom that will hopefully bring some joy into our jam-packed student schedules. (Or maybe just those of us with doss courses)

Let's start with the most basic and obvious distraction for about 99.9% of the whole student population. And possibly the world?

1. Facebook - Ahhh, where would we be without it?! (Well, I would probably be rolling with a 1st in every essay, but that's another story) Yes, Facebook is a wonderful distraction and there is nothing better than having a good stalk when you're bored or mindlessly refreshing the homepage in hope of an exciting status. If you're feeling really wild a bit of Facebook rape is always a great way to pass the time. Be it pregnancy, engagements, crude statuses or comments to your boss (YES Bekah Edwards), it will keep you amused for all of about 10 minutes. Ok, now I think about it Facebook is a huge waste of time. But I'm an addict. Facebook. Is. God.

2. Singstar - Possibly the best game ever invented? We play this game constantly and it has provided us with hours (and probably days) worth of entertainment. True, we are not the best singers in the world. True, we annoy our housemates with our warbling. But it is just so much fun.

3. Make random things - Be it charts, posters, new drinking games, blogs - whatever. We decided to brighten up our lounge by creating different charts for the walls. We have a list of drinking games, 'Ring of Fire' rules, a huge chart with the all the different pub/ bars/ clubs that we aim to go to by the end of the year & this:

 

 A chart with different tallys and goals for us to achieve throughout the year! I'm not going to lie, it's our pride & joy. How gay?!

4. Annoy people - Kind of similar to above. This can involve room or house rape: simply choose your victim, enter their room & totally terrorise it. Hanging toy chickens from a window is a fave. As is drawing on potatoes and hiding them in people's flats.

Anyway, I should probably do something slightly more productive, so till next time, bizzle x