September.

Here it is! 3rd year! I can't believe that i've only got 1 year of education left. Thank god for that. After 17 years of non-stop learning (apart from my "Gap Yah"), it's finally the beginning of the end.

Maybe the biggest thing that happened for me in September was moving into my new house for 3rd year into Headingley. This will make it so much easier to make those early lectures and i'm just excited to live in a house with all girls. Unfortunately because none of us really thought to arrange it earlier, we need to go the first 2 and a half weeks without WIFI or a working TV. I'll be doing a room tour just like the one I did in Aus soon.

A benefit of working for LEGO means you get a free Merlin pass for yourself and another, which means free entry to anything Merlin (Alton Towers, Sealife, Thorpe Park, Legoland...). So my sister and I went for a day out in Manchester where we collected our passes from the LEGO Discovery Centre in Trafford, then went through the attraction and decided to visit Sealife next door too. We then went for a bit of a shop (I actually started my Christmas shopping), which was when Em spotted Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright in Selfridges. Which is really depressing because she had no make up on and she still looked stunning.

Walking around Trafford.

We also had another work get together which went the usual way: getting completely smashed. I don't remember falling asleep, but apparently I crashed pretty early and just wouldn't wake up. Oops.

I decided to get a group picture before the alcohol began to flow...

Towards the end of September I went to London with Viv from work, and we went to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in the Palace Theatre (which coincidentally is on Shaftesbury Avenue, where Harry, Ron & Hermione apparate to in the Deathly Hallows Pt1). No spoilers here, but what I will say is that it was quite possibly the best live experience of my life. I loved it. The way they do the magic on stage is so so clever. We stayed overnight in an AirBNB near Kings Cross and on the day after we wanted to put our Merlin Passes to good use. We went on the London Eye which is something i've been wanting to do for ages - that's now ticked off my Bucket List!. We also visited the London Dungeons and went for a quick walk around London Sealife. Total ticket prices for that day: £0. Winner winner chicken dinner. We then made our way to the coach for our 4 hour journey home.

INSANE. Go see it. NOW.

And of course, i'm now officially in 3rd year. The stress is real, and I already want to pull my hair out. Graduation can not come quick enough!

September was actually a great month as far as gig tickets go. I managed to score Green Day, Russell Howard, Two Door Cinema Club and one more that I can't tell you about yet... They're all in the beginning of next year and i'm so so so excited.
Annabel

FOMO or GOMO?

Eventbrite is the largest self-service ticketing platform in the world that helps people plan, find and sign up online for events. With me studying Events Management, i've used this a few times.

They are currently running a project in an attempt to squash FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), and to promote GOMO (Going Out More Often).

I'm going to share with you my plans for Autumn in the hope that it encourages anyone (including myself) to try stay away from being a Netflix potato and to go out and do something interesting instead.

Going for a walk or picnics with friends is an easy and purse-friendly idea!

With me starting 3rd year in just a few weeks, I want to try and keep a clear head and stay pretty inspired for the duration of the year. There are a few things that I have in mind that i'd like to do over the next few months in an attempt at this.

• Jump Arena: So many of my friends have been here and it looks so fun! My sister's obsessed with these kind of things so I know for a fact she'll come with me.
• Leeds City Museum: This is somewhere a lot of people I know have been, and for some reason i've just never got round to it. I find museums interesting, and this one is free, so I can imagine it being a nice cheap day out into the city.
• Warner Bro's Studio Tour: For my sister's birthday I bought us both tickets to go to the Warner Bro's Studio Tour in London because we're both massive Potterheads. We've still to pick a date but hopefully we'll be going in the next few months!
• Walks in the park: My student house is pretty close to a park, so whenever i'm feeling writers block, either on my blog or with my Uni work, i'm hoping a walk through the park will help clear my mind.
• Trips to the cinema: Okay granted, this may not be as cheap as my other ideas, but I do love going to the cinema. And instead of watching a movie on your laptop in bed, why not go out with a few friends and see something new?
• Kirkstall Laser Tag: Now i've been to the one in Castleford's X-Scape a few times, but whilst I was in Australia a new one has been built in Kirkstall, and i'm very eager to give it a go!
• The German Market: Anyone in Leeds knows that Christmas is finally here when the German Market comes to town. I just love looking at all the little stalls. You don't really need to spend anything, so here's another cheap day out.
• The Otley Run: Okay. I'll say it. I've never done the Otley Run. I KNOW. How can a student in Leeds admit this? However it is on my bucket list for 3rd year, and my housemates have already agreed to assist with this one.
• Shopping: Internet shopping is pretty dangerous for me. I could go online with the intention of buying a Christmas present, and end up buying 3 candles, 2 t-shirts, a new camera and some shoes. With this in mind, I want to do the majority of my Christmas shopping in actual stores, getting me out of the house more often but also cutting down on the frivolous spending.

Hopefully i'll end up sticking to this and will achieve at least half of these. If anyone else has other ideas on how they're going to try get out of the house more this Autumn/Winter period then comment below!

Annabel

July & August.

Well first of all, apologies for going a bit AWOL for 2 months. After getting back to England I wanted to take a little break from my blog and make the most of being back at home with my family and friends and in all honesty, I kind of forgot for most of it! I'm just going to bring you quickly up to speed with what i've been up to before I start my 3rd year of University.

July was pretty much just a lot of homecomings, a lot of alcohol but also a lot of staying at home because I was hella poor.  It was so great to get to see all my friends again, i'd missed them so much!
There was a couple of surprises, one being me surprising my class at dancing;

And my sister also surprised me at the airport. I'm not going to show you that video because 1. it's too long, 2. I look minging because i've just gone 24 hours sat in the same seat without a shower and 3. I cried.
The big one was an afternoon at my house where various family members and friends came over for the day and my Mum put on a glorious buffet. There was a lot of alcohol and a big game of Cards Against Humanity so i'm just going to leave that one there. Then the next few days included a few sleepovers and days out with friends.

So August!
It was pretty much mostly me settling back in at work and earning some dolla again. However August is host to the best day of the year; my birthday. It was a pretty quiet one compared to my previous birthdays. 22 sort of marks the beginning of no more exciting birthdays. It literally is downhill after 21. Through the day we just chilled out at home and I got to Skype Priya and Tarrena which was awesome. In the evening my cousin was having her hen do (3 years belated, because she couldn't stop having babies), so we all went for drinks at the usual spots, Wetherspoons, Revolution, Yates'. Later on, me and Harriet wandered up to Propaganda, where I used to work, to finish the night off.

On the 20th I went to join my family in Spain, where they had already been for a week. The weather was gorgeous, it was in the low 30's for the majority of the week. One day we went to the beach and me, my sister, my three cousins and my auntie went Parasailing, which is something we have all been wanting to do for a while.

Just hanging around off the Costa del Sol.

So September should start to pick up with me actually having money to do stuff now and with University starting. I'll be moving into my new student house soon so there will be posts about that and Freshers Week so i'll be posting more frequently in a few weeks!
𝕒𝕟𝕟𝕒𝕓𝕖𝕝