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

Birthday Week.

So anyone in and around my radar will have caught wind that I turned 21 last week. I mean it was pretty difficult not to notice, the celebrations lasted over a week. Here's an overview of everything I got up to!

Monday 3rd August
We're going to Disneyland! Me, Emma, my best friend Sophie and her brother Daniel went to celebrate mine and Sophie's 21sts. After we had checked into the hotel we went on an adventure to the Eiffel Tower and got slightly lost in the process. Still, it was a brilliant start to my birthday week.

Tuesday 4th August
Our first day in the Disneyland Parks! We were in the main Disneyland Park from 9:30am until midnight. It was a LONG day! Our favourite ride was Space Mountain (we went on 3 times) and the parade was INSANE! That night we went for dinner at Planet Hollywood and went to watch the evening firework and light show at the castle.

Wednesday 5th August
After spending the day in the Walt Disney Studios Park, meeting Winnie the Pooh and queuing for over an hour for Crush's Coaster, we eventually had to make our way back home. I'll be writing about all 3 days in Paris in much more detail soon so watch this space!

Thursday 6th August
IT'S MY BIRTHDAY BITCHES. My birthday started in the wee early hours - arriving at Leeds Train Station after an awesome 3 days in Paris. I have already claimed this day as everyone's favourite day of the year, and there was only 1 way I wanted to spend it - LaserZone! I invited my whole family to Xscape and we played 2 hilarious games. We were split up into a blue and yellow team. In the second game some kids and their Dad joined in and may I just say, they were absolute little bastards. So we all ganged up and annihilated them. Afterwards, we all freshened up and went to Franco's Restaurant for some good nosh. At the meal I opened a few more prezzies and suffered the annual embarrassment of being sung to with a birthday cake. When we got home, I finally got to open my boyfriend, James' present, after he'd been raving about it for weeks. He's taking me to Rome and we're staying in the Princess Hotel - perfect!

Friday 7th August
James and I finally got some use out of our Merlin Passes and went to Thorpe Park for the day. We managed to go on all of the big rides; Swarm, Saw, Nemesis Inferno and Stealth (Colossus was closed). I had a great time and it was funny to see the Nemesis Inferno after it was featured on The Inbetweeners, but I honestly don't understand the massive hype that the park gets. If you're ever torn between the two, definitely go with Alton Towers. Plus when I went to the little girls' room, there was an employee sat in a cubicle with the doors open hugging her knees and crying. Then she got up and acted like nothing had happened...

Saturday 8th August
By this point in the week, I was extremely exhausted (each night in Disneyland, including the night before, I only had 5 hours sleep). I took my cousin/goddaughter to Manchester, to visit the LEGOland Discovery Centre. It was a really fun day out and we got to visit the Sealife Centre too then nipped into a few shops, including the Disney Store (you can never have too much Disney in one week). By the time I got home and into bed, I pretty much crashed immediately.

Sunday 9th August
Finally a lazy day! I had such an amazing week but it all finally caught up with me, so naturally I had a well needed PJ day. I also had a bit of a clear out and managed to fill 2 bin bags full of stuff I don't need any more. Out with the old and in with the new!

I had such a good week and I owe it all to the one and only Momma Pip. She's put up with my constant diva moments about wanting everything to be perfect and it so was. I love you Mum.