Blogmas Day 21: My Christmas Eve Plans / Featuring Blogging Friends

Hey Guys!

⭐Welcome to Blogmas Day Twenty One ⭐

It's only two days till Christmas!! I can't believe how quickly Blogmas has gone by! It seems like only yesterday it was the 1st December and the beginning of Blogmas ❄  

Seeing as Christmas Eve is just around the corner I thought I would share my plans for Christmas Eve and what my blogging friends' plans for Christmas Eve! Everyone has their own traditions, so it's always fun to see what everyone will be up to the day/night before Christmas Day! 

My Christmas Eve Plans

I'll be getting up early in the morning as my dad and I plan to make gingerbread men and maybe a gingerbread house so we can devour them later on while we watch Christmas movies. Then we'll see some of my family at lunch time for a drink wearing our personalised Christmas t-shirts and jumpers. In the evening, we plan to go to one of our local pubs to see their Christmas decorations (they are so pretty), have some mulled wine and spend time with my cousins. Later on we'll have a simple dinner, put on some Christmas movies, have some hot chocolate with gingerbread men and then head to bed early to wake up early for Christmas day ❤

Blogging Friends' Christmas Eve Plans

Emma from Lifeofemmax

"I'll be waking up and prepping vegetables - going to visit a couple of friends with presents, then back home for Christmas baking. In the evening I head to a local pub with friends I went to school with and have a big catch up"

Follow her Twitter here.

Meg from amegalife

"99.9% of the time I travel too see family and spend the majority of the day at my grandparents with all of my cousins over playing games & dieing from laughter! Then we collect presents from my grandparents and head home to chill and watch Christmas films "

Follow her Twitter here.

Hannah from Just Hannah Here

"I drive to see the famous Christmas lights road and then snuggle up on the sofa with a Christmas movie and hot chocolate"

Follow her Twitter here.

Katy from somethingdifferent1998

"I’m going to have dinner with my boyfriend, watch a couple of Christmas movies with some hot chocolate and get ready for Christmas Day!"

Follow her Twitter here.

Chanel from coc0chanel

"Me and my mum spend the whole day baking every Christmas Eve ready for the next day, everyone has their own sweet treats that they like so we bake them for everyone! And then our family friends come over as the husband hates wrapping so we wrap for him hahahah! Then in the evening I’ll see my boyfriend! "

Follow her Twitter here.

Beth from The Makeup By Beth

"My plans are to work for a couple of hours and add the finishing touches to everything. I'll be going through everything with a checklist today so a checklist of presents I've got and wrapped, food that's been prepped, room tidied and fully decorated and everything is in order for the day. Once everything is prepared, it'll be time to wind down, eat some food and chill out watching Christmas specials! x"

Follow her Twitter here.

Lauren

"So Christmas Eve I am baking Christmas cookies, watching Christmas movies (probably it's a wonderful life and Santa Clause 2 and 3). Then in the evening me and my fiancée have done each other a Christmas Eve presents box to open"

Follow her Twitter here. Lauren also has a blog coming in 2019 so make sure to keep an eye out on her Twitter!

What are your plans for Christmas Eve this year? Let me know in the comments below!

See you later for Day Twenty Two and tomorrow for Day Twenty Three and Four of Blogmas ❤

Amy x 

Blogmas Day 1: Christmas Reading List

Hey Guys!

⭐ Welcome to Day One of Blogmas 2018 ⭐

Christmas is a great time of year for sitting in front of the fire with a cup of tea reading a book, especially when it is freezing cold outside! So, to kick off Blogmas I wanted to talk about three books that are on my Christmas reading list. Other than all the Christmas specials and movies to watch there are plenty of books to read as well ❣

If there are any books that you guys recommend for some Christmas reading let me know, I'd love to add them to my list ❤

Girls Made of Snow and Glass by Melissa Bashardoust

Girls Made of Snow and Glass was sent to me back in October and I was so thrilled to finally get to read it. This is the book I'm currently reading, but unfortunately due to deadlines at university and getting all my work completed before the Christmas break I haven't had a chance to read it a lot, which is why I plan on finishing it over the Christmas break while I'm relaxing back home with a mug of hot chocolate sat with the dog. 

Plot

At sixteen, Mina's mother is dead, her magician father is vicious, and her silent heart has never beat with love for anyone --- has never beat at all, in fact, but she’d always thought that fact normal. She never guessed that her father cut out her heart and replaced it with one of glass. When she moves to Whitespring Castle and sees its king for the first time, Mina forms a plan: win the king’s heart with her beauty, become queen, and finally know love. The only catch is that she’ll have to become a stepmother.

Fifteen-year-old Lynet looks just like her late mother, and one day she discovers why: a magician created her out of snow in the dead queen’s image, at her father’s order. But despite being the dead queen made flesh, Lynet would rather be like her fierce and regal stepmother, Mina. She gets her wish when her father makes Lynet queen of the southern territories, displacing Mina. Now Mina is starting to look at Lynet with something like hatred, and Lynet must decide what to do --- and who to be --- to win back the only mother she’s ever known…or else defeat her once and for all.

Entwining the stories of both Lynet and Mina in the past and present, GIRLS MADE OF SNOW AND GLASS traces the relationship of two young women doomed to be rivals from the start. Only one can win all, while the other must lose everything --- unless both can find a way to reshape themselves and their story.

So far the book has been so good! The type of book I really enjoy and only takes me a short amount of time to read. It's a shame I haven't had the chance to properly sit down and read it while not stressing about uni work. So, I look forward to finally getting the time to enjoy it. 

Amy Snow by Tracey Rees

I received Amy Snow quite a few years ago, started it and then never got past the first 20 pages so this Christmas I want to finally tackle the book (it's quite a big book compared to the other two) and finally have it on the completed pile. Especially as from the first few pages it was so gripping, I just didn't have the time to finish it. 

Plot

Left to perish on a bank of snow as a baby, Amy has never known love, never known family.

Reluctantly given shelter at nearby Hatville Court, she is despised by the masters and servants alike.

The beautiful Hatville heiress, Aurelia Vennaway, is Amy's only advocate - she becomes the light of Amy's life, and the centre of her existence.

So when Aurelia dies young, Amy's world collapses. But Aurelia leaves Amy with one last gift.

A bundle of letters with a coded key. A treasure hunt that only Amy can unlock.

A life-changing secret awaits... if only she can reach it.

Books like these are always great when wanting to relax for a few hours in the cosy living room where you can just dive right in!

A Nightingale Christmas Wish by Donna Douglas 

I've had this book on my reading pile for years, and by years I mean years! I brought it from Tesco when I was still living back home way before moving to university and I still never got the chance to read it. I always ended up putting it to the side to read something else. So, this Christmas I'm dedicating myself to finally getting round to picking it up and enjoy a Christmas read.

Plot

As Christmas 1938 approaches, the staff at the Nightingale Hospital have their own wishes for the festive season.

Ward sister Frannie Wallace is hoping she won’t have to live through another war like the one that claimed her beloved fiance. But with bomb defences going up all around London, it seems as if her hopes are in vain.

Staff Nurse Helen Dawson wants to find happiness again after the death of her husband Charlie. A handsome stranger seems to offer the chance she wants. But is she looking for love in the wrong place?

Matron Kathleen Fox struggles to keep up morale amongst her nurses as the hospital faces the threat of evacuation. But while everyone else worries about the future of the Nightingale, it’s for her own future that Kathleen truly fears.

As the country prepares itself for war, one thing is for sure – by the time next Christmas comes, nothing at the Nightingale Hospital will be the same again…

This book may sound a bit sat for a Christmas read, but I enjoy reading books like these! Especially when it includes more than one storyline ❤

What is on your reading list for this Christmas? Let me know in the comments below!

See you guys tomorrow for Day Two of Blogmas ❄

Amy x 

Amy Goes to Brussels | Photo Diary Part 2

Hey Guys!

If you read my previous post you will know that at the end of March I went to Brussels with the Media Society from uni and spent 4 days and 3 nights exploring Brussels ❤ 

The first two days of my trip are shown in my previous post, part one. So, if you haven't read that one yet check that out and then come back for day three and four in part two! :)

Day 3 

On the Monday we did have to get up quite early as we had a comic book museum tour booked and needed to get the metro over to the location so we grabbed breakfast and headed for the centre of Brussels. It didn't take long and it was a really nice walk to the museum so we took our time strolling and then arrived at the Belgian Comic Strip Center to meet our tour guide. I thought that we would have a tour around the museum and see different examples of comic book artists work but it turns out that our tour was around the city to see different comic strips that had been transferred on to walls around the Brussels :)

So for a couple of hours we walked all around the city of Brussels seeing various different comic strip artists work like Herge's work on 'The Adventures of Tin Tin' and a large art piece showing 'Asterix and Obelix'. Our tour guide also gave us some great information and facts on Brussels and Belgium. It was as if we were on a history tour!

Our tour guide took us down this one street where there were loads of waffle places and recommended a few different combinations to try! So after he finished the tour near the Grand Place and we said goodbye a few of us went to find the waffle shops and stopped for a mini snack before lunch❤ There were so many different shops doing different types it was hard to choose but going for the classic liege waffle and Belgian chocolate was the best option :)  

The next activity scheduled for the day was visiting the Parliamentarian so before heading over to that part of the city we went to the Grand Place to find lunch and sit in the sun before starting to walk again. When we did get to the Parliamentarian we put all our belongings into a locker and then you go round with a little head set and as you go to different parts around the centre it tells you information on how the European Union was formed and how treaties were signed and historical agreements were made. Then you hear about how the EU  has developed over the years. It was quite interesting seeing how it all came about and how all these collaborations stopped many conflicts arising again. We were suppose to go to actual Parliament but because Article 50 and Brexit was taking place that week no visitors were allowed access and therefore we had to go for the next best thing!  

 After the Parliamentarian we had nothing else scheduled for the day and instead of eating out like we had for the past couple of nights we decided to go back to our hostel and have pizza and drinks there :) A large Hawaiian pizza was 2 euros in our hostel and we were going to head back out that evening for more drinks and to visit the Irish bar again so by having dinner at the hostel it meant we had longer to get ready and head into the city  ❤ 

We headed out after everyone was ready and like the night before we visited our favourite Irish bar Celtica, the Irish singer wasn't there but there was great music and some other students from around the UK so we had a great time in there singing very loud. Then after leaving Celtica we were looking for a club but a lot of places were already closed so we ended going back to Delirium and ending the night there! 

 Day 4

After having only three or four hours sleep we packed all our things into our bags and suitcases, got breakfast and then put our luggage in the hostel's luggage room to collect later. Seeing as it was our last day and we were going to be heading to the airport a bit later to fly home we didn't want to carry all our luggage around and would come back to collect it before going to the airport :)

After all sorting our luggage we all got on the metro and headed to the Atomium, Belgium's famous monument which was built for the World Fair in 1958. When we arrived we all took photos outside, put rucksacks and coats in lockers then headed inside. The amount of stairs and escalators you have to take makes it a whole workout haha! You go up right to the top in an lift but then you have to work your way back down by stairs and escalators. The view from the top though was extraordinary! And seeing the different exhibitions they had was great! I thought the monument would just be a quick tour but they has so much information and the exhibition on the Concorde and other aeroplane companies and how they operated in the past was really good!

We relaxed in the sun for a bit while we waited for everyone to finish going around the monument and then we all headed back to central Brussels to get lunch before collecting our luggage from the hostel and heading to the airport. 

Ending up at the Grand Place again we all got something to eat for lunch, explored some local chocolate places for souvenirs and then sunbathed on the cobbles again like the past couple of afternoons  ❤ 

Most people had gone and brought chocolate for relatives and friends back home and then when we realised it was around 2pm we departed to go back to the hostel to get our luggage. Two of my friends were flying to London and not back to Manchester so we said goodbye to them and they continued to explore around the Grand Place while we got back on the metro. 

Once all bags were collected we got back on the metro again and went to the location the shuttle bus from the airport dropped us off last time. Luckily the shuttle bus that would take us back to the airport had just arrived so we all got on to the bus and like when we first arrived we all slept until we arrived back at Charleroi Brussels Airport around 5:30pm. After checking in, going through security and waiting to board our plane, which was due to take off at 9:55pm, we had food, played games and slept. A lot of us were exhausted from the trip so most people were just napping or sat talking. It was a very long wait in the airport and seemed to go so slowly but eventually we boarded our plane and headed home. Landing in Manchester at 10:20pm!

The trip to Brussels was amazing, we all bonded and got to know each other more throughout the trip. We made great friendships and memories and hopefully next year we will be able to go on another trip together! Joining the media society was a great experience for my first year at uni and being able to travel with great people was so worth it! ❤ 

See you on Sunday my lovelies! ❤ 

Amy xx

Amy Goes To Brussels | Photo Diary Part 1

Hey Guys!

Sorry there wasn't a post up on Wednesday, I went on holiday down to Cornwall with my family for a break and realised when I got down there that there wasn't any wifi oops! So, I didn't have the chance to upload this post until today :)

Recently I flew to Brussels with the Media Society from uni for an Easter holiday, we spent four days and three nights in the city and each day we had different activities scheduled around the city. So with my photo diary I want to take you along with me so you can see what we got up to while I was in Belgium!

Day 1 

Our travels started very early on the Saturday morning at around 2:20am so I didn't end up sleeping on the Friday night and seeing as I was round my friends flat we all decided to just pack and stay up :) our plan was to just sleep on the plane. So, we waited till around 1:45am and then walked over to uni where a mini bus was collecting us all to drive us to Manchester Airport. Even though Newcastle has its own airport RyanAir would only fly from Manchester and it was more cost effective, so we had about a two and a half hour drive to the airport. But most of us just slept (or tried to) which helped the journey go a bit faster!

Our flight was at 7:50am so we chilled in the airport for a while, got breakfast and waited to board our flight. Compared to most flights this one was so short and we were in Brussels quite quickly! We landed at Brussels Charleroi airport, so we then had to catch a shuttle bus into the city which took around an hour and fifteen minutes (most of us slept the journey as we were so exhausted!) and once in Brussels we jumped on to the Metro and headed towards the station where our hostel was located near by. 

Once arriving at our hostel (Hello Hostel) we checked in and all got our keys to our room, so we could all drop our stuff off and then we had about 2 hours to freshen up and get ready to go out for half 3 to explore the Grand Place and get dinner around 6pm. 

When we left the hostel we thought we would be able to walk to the Grand Place and what mistake that was! It took so long and we ended up stopping off at a bar on the way to get a drink and relax before carrying on with our journey haha! 

Eventually, after getting lost a million times we found the Grand Place and were able to appreciate the pure beauty of the city and the surrounding buildings! We stayed in the Grand Place taking photos and looking around at all the chocolate places and after exploring on our own for a while we all met back up as a group and walked towards the restaurant where we had a table booked for all 18 of us :) the place where we ate was called Shiavelet and has apparently won many awards for the food its food!

For dinner I had a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni, which would have been better if it wasn't drowned in so much cheese haha! But everyone enjoyed their food and we were then able to find another metro station after walking miles and miles and got back to the hostel. Some of the group went out drinking later on back in the city but the majority of us were exhausted after 12 hours of travelling, so we all had an early night and watched Netflix on my laptop in our room :) Those beds were the comfiest I have ever slept on! 

Day 2 

We left around 10:50am on Sunday after breakfast to head into the city and explore a bit more. We were suppose to go on a tour around the city but we ended up missing the time slot, so instead we found a waffle place and explored around some of the back streets of Brussels.

 We came across some cathedrals and churches and slowly walked towards the current palace and the former palace: Coudenberg. We had a guided tour arranged so, while we had some time to kill we took some group photos in the sun and around the palace :)

Once we had taken enough photos and Polaroids we went into the archaeological site and museum for Coudenberg for our tour around the site under the city. If you didn't know underneath the city of Brussels is the former Palace belonging to previous monarchs, after being destroyed in a fire the current palace was built on top leaving an archaeological site to be excavated underneath. It was really interested being under the cobbled streets of Brussels and explore what would have been there before everything was built on top! You could even here the tram and traffic above your head. I would recommend a visit if your interested in historical places like me :)

Once we got out of the museum we decided to get ice creams and head over to the park to sunbathe while we had some time to kill. The weather in Brussels was amazing for the whole trip and I really didn't pack the right type of clothes for the trip, I was roasting for the whole trip and wore way too many layers haha! Sunbathing in the park was nice and we were able to rest for a while before setting off to find a bar for a drink :)

The bar we found was Delirium, a cute little bar in the back streets of Brussels and it was the best! They had over 3000 different beers to try and at the bar there were big black boards with a list of different beers, their percentage and price depending on size. I tried to 'Delirium Red' which was a cherry flavoured beer and considering it was 8% it was so strong! After a few of them we were all feeling very merry and considering it was around 6pm we thought it would be best if we ate something, so we found a place literally a few places down who did some great deals on food! So I got a the steak and a glass of wine for 10 euros! 

Getting back to the hostel we all decided we were going to try out some of the bars and clubs in the city centre so we got changed, refreshed ourselves, brought some drinks from the local shop and has a few pre drinks before going back out! 

That night we all had so much fun! We headed to an Irish bar where there was an Irish guy performing and we were able to karaoke and get cheap drinks! The next day we had very sore throats! 

Day 3 and Day 4 will be in the next blog post in Part 2! Look out for it on Wednesday ♡ 

See you on Wednesday my lovelies!♡ 

Amy xx 

Must Have Apps for University Students

Hey Guys!

I like to think I'm quite an organised person and that I can stay on top of things but I don't think I would be that organised if I didn't have a bunch of apps to help me out haha! While I've been at uni I've had to download a lot of apps to help with my organisation, work load and to help with living the life of a student. So listed below are several apps I have found to be very helpful :)

The HW App

To stay on top of my deadlines I found that this app is great at assigning tasks to different days and you can set how high the priority of the task is so you know what needs to be done before anything else. Its basically the same as any other homework app, where you write in what you need to do, when the deadline is and what subject it is for. But what I like about this app is that I can assign my different modules to different colours so the tasks that need to be done first stand out more than my other tasks in a different module. Also, the layout of the task is great! You can input your timetable, put in your different subjects and separate tasks that might not even be homework. So it doesn't just act as a homework log but an organiser to help you prioritise particular tasks. Even though I use this app I do still use my tangible diary to write tasks and important errands that need doing as I like to physically tick it off the list. So, by having both I stay very organised :) 

UNiDAYS

I don't use this app as much as the others in the list because I'm really bad at looking out for discounts and if I want to buy something I forget to look for money off first and just buy it oops! UNiDays is similar to the NUS app as it notifies students like myself of offers on particular brands and what student offers there are around in my area. But to be honest the only shopping I do is grocery shopping and the only offers I've seen on UNiDays are clothing, electronic and food discounts and coupons which I don't particularly need. So, I don't really use the app much unless there is a restaurant I'm wanted to try out and I'm curious if I can get any money off the bill :p

NUS Extra

I use NUS Extra more than UNiDays as I have the physical card to use when I'm out. I've only used it a couple of times as I always forget I have it in my purse haha! But its been great to use in New Look when I've made a one off purchase, it was great around Christmas time when I was buying Christmas presents online and wanted some money off and you can use it when booking train tickets. But when I tried to use it when I was going home for Christmas it didn't seem to work, I think it must be because I have a railcard and you can only use one card. The app its very similar to any money or coupon app as it shows you where there are deals and then re-directs you to the website where the discount is being held :) I prefer NUS Extra because I can sign in and see the deals I can use with my physical card.

Fatsoma

I discovered this app back when I was a fresher in September and wanted to pre-book tickets for events that were happening at different clubs and by having this app I could purchase the tickets, see what events were going on close by and it also stored my tickets on the app. So when I got to the venue I just had to go on my phone, on to the app and they could scan it straight away. It was really convenient and I didn't have to carry a ticket around with me :) Other than being great for purchasing tickets it is also great for finding out events taking place in your local area. By clicking on the app and searching Newcastle you can see the line up for all the events happening in the area which will take you on to purchasing pages and the organisation information. It is a very handy app when it comes to student night life and being ahead of the game!

Next Metro

This app is my lifesaver in the mornings! This is only specific to students that live in Newcastle and Sunderland who can use the Metro. In Newcastle we have the Metro that goes all around the city and coast, its better than any of the buses as its quicker and cheaper to get around. Especially if your a student and have a 30% metro pass like those living in the accommodation I reside at :) This app like most timetables for the tube and bus tell you when the next metro is and how long till the next train will be in the station. So, if your like me and get up late every day for lectures and worry about getting to uni on time this is a saviour! While I'm getting ready I check when the next Metro is so I know how long I have until I need to be at my station if I'm going to get to uni on time (which is very rare haha!). 

University App

At Newcastle University we have an app that every student can download and it helps with particular aspects of student life. You login to the app with your student credentials and then you have access to your timetable, exam timetable, you can see what books you currently have on loan from the library and when they are due back, you even have the ability to renew your books on the app if they are due to be sent back. Also, you can see what libraries are busy and if there are any computers available to use. By using this app you can decide what library to go depending on your needs, what lecture you need to be at next and you can even do a search of the library to check if the book you want to take out is available. There are many features that have become very useful since I've been a student and if your university has an app where you can use these features to aid your daily needs then I highly suggest it :)

Budget Taxis

I don't know if this is only useful for students that live in Newcastle and the surrounding areas as I'm not sure if they are situated in other areas but this taxi company is the best! I've never bothered to use Uber as I don't get taxis very often to need the app but when I came to Newcastle and was out most nights in Freshers Week this app was essential. Where my university accommodation is located we aren't any where near the city centre so we couldn't just walk home after a night out and all public transport had finished for the evening so taking a taxi was our only option. This app was suggested to me online and since then we use them every time we go out for a night out or its late and the last Metro has left. The app is so easy to use, you can see the estimated price that your expected to pay and you can see who your taxi driver is and that they have a licence and are safe. There are several times I've had to get a taxi home on my own and didn't fancy catching a taxi off the street so I booked a taxi with these guys and I knew I would get home safely as they track the cars. Better to be safe than sorry!

Train Line

I've used this app for the longest time! Since travelling down to London a lot in the past and then going to Sheffield to see my boyfriend Dennis on weekends and now being at university I use this app quite often. I don't use it as much as I used to when I lived back with my parents in the East Midlands but I still use it occasionally now if I'm travelling back home to see my family or going to Sheffield to see Dennis :) Its just so useful and quick to use, its simple and everything is done in one place, you can choose your seat on the train and you can even have your train ticket on your phone now as a bar code instead of having to print off a physical ticket :) The only thing that frustrates me about this app is that you have to pay a booking fee, but other than that minor problem the app is highly recommended if you need to travel around the UK!

For any students out there that need apps to make life a little easier these are some I definitely recommend! They made a big difference for me and everything became easier :)

What is your favourite app to use as a student? 

See you lovelies!

Amy xx