Christmas Wrapping

This morning I brought down all the presents that I have bought so far, gathered the various Christmas wrapping paper dotted about the house and found a suitably cheesy, slightly Christmas related movie on Netflix. With my squirty cream topped coffee I set to one of my favorite tasks of the season.... wrapping the Christmas presents! Five hours later I was not only wishing I had bought everyone something box shaped but also that I had sat at the table rather then on the floor (my poor back!).  Despite the various sellotape tangles, paper cuts and achy back, seeing the presents under the tree gives me an enormous sense of Christmas cheer and I can not wait to give them out!

 

Mother comes to town

I always love when I get visitors from home in Nottingham.  I really enjoy being able to show them around the city that I love and discovering new things together.  My most recent house guest was my Mum, now usually my sister comes with her and we somehow have to fit three of us in a bed top to tail some how! (When I eventually move a guest room is definitely something I will be looking for.)  This time sadly my sister could not come up, as she was off gallivanting at a wedding with the boy, so it was time for some one on one mother-daughter time.

This mother-daughter time consisted of shopping, drinking and stumbling across an amazing little vintage fair just around the corner from my flat.  On the Saturday night I took my mum out for her second ever night out on the town, we consumed lots of cocktails and I even convinced her to try my favorite shot Cointreau (this seems to be the bar tenders shot of choice in Nottingham) and I am happy to report that she loved it!

The original plan for the Sunday had been a cheeky trip to Ikea so we could inhale some of the best meatballs ever, but when feeling a little worse for wear the morning after the night before we decided on a mozy in to town instead.  And we were delighted that we did! Down a little alley way in Hockley there is a little courtyard with a few independent shops and once a month they have a vintage fair complete with BBQ and cake! I felt like this was the perfect discovery to make when a little hung over.  We found some absolute jems and the cake was possibly the best cake I have ever tasted, and I have tried a lot of cake!  I will definitely have to make another trip there soon to spend some more of my pennies =]

Shake it baby!

Before I went to uni I had big ideas about joining lots of different societies and volunteering for this that and the other.  In reality first year was mostly spent getting drunk with the people in my halls, getting annoyed at everyone being noisy the odd occasion when they were partying and I wasn't and injuring myself in one way or another (stories for another time).  After having to constantly choose between alcohol and food, I finally realised that I needed a job or I was going to starve (as alcohol usually won hands down).

At the beginning of second year I googled 'bars in Nottingham' and emailed as many as I could.  A few weeks later I got a text asking if  was still looking for work; pretty much every weekend since then I have spent working as a bar-back, at first and now as a bar tender.  And I love it!

I could not imagine spending my Friday and Saturday nights any other way.  I know that that probably sounds quite sad and having the night off every now and then is lovely; but I love the people that I work with and I love the job.  Yes you get the odd person who is just down right rude and disrespectful but there is an odd satisfaction in mixing up a cocktail and having someone enjoy it.  Another thing that I love is the brilliant community of bar tenders in Nottingham, seeing people you recognise when out for a quiet drink or a night out is strangely reassuring in this big city.

In some ways it has made me a bit of a bar snob!  On the one hand I can sympathise with the staff on a tough night as I have been there done that, but on the other, if I can make a half decent mojito then anyone can!

My favourite bar in the city is Boilermaker.  The intrigue of the plain shop front and the secret door behind the sink is inspired, and the menu is just mind boggling.  I think that it is an amazing place and when asked where I want to go for a drink there is no competition.

Pancake day!

It has seemed like a really super long time since I last blogged, a LOT has happened since November 2012!

Not only have I graduated, I now have my own flat along with a proper grown up job and I have grown my hair and had it all cut off again! There are also lots of littler things that I would like to talk about, so I have a lot of catching up to do!

Firstly today is shove Tuesday, and this year I actually managed to have all the ingredients for pancakes in my kitchen at once! Now this probably doesn't seem like a big achievement (after all it is only milk, eggs and flour) but for an ex student who doesn't like eggs and whos old flat mates loved milky tea, it is close to a miracle!

After a long day at work, experimenting with different pancake toppings whilst watching Game of Thrones was a perfect way for me to spend the evening (especially as it gave me an excuses to ignore the washing up sat on the side!).

I think the Nutella/jam combo made it for me this year! What is your favourite pancake topping?

Halloween Weekend

Having my mum and sister whisk me away to North Yorkshire for Halloween weekend was a massively welcome break from uni work (I probably should of listened when everyone told me that third year would be a lot more work!). The weekend away meant that we all got to spend some quality time with our Nanny, and that me and my sister got to go on a couple of adventures on the moors and around the idyllic little town of Richmond hunting for vintage bargains and paying our customary visit to the little pet shop to 'awww' over the baby rabbits and adverts for adorable puppies that we wish we could take home.

But the best find was discovered in Nanny's wardrobe, my mum found the sheepskin coat that she was given for her 21st birthday. It had barely been worn and it just so happens that I am the same size as my mum was then... what a coincidence!

It was a brilliant weekend with our evenings spent eating sweets with our biggest worry being how we were going to carve the pumpkin!

Then on actually Halloween my inner child went wild with the face paints as my theme was Sugar Skulls!!

What did you do for your Halloween celebrations?

Road Trip!

About a month ago my sister decided to do a post on Churchill Square Shopping Centre in Brighton and the new Autumn/Winter trends.  Fortunately for me, my sister doesn't drive so lucky me got to tag along as the chauffeur/photographer for an afternoon drinking coffee and discovering all the new Autumn/Winter pieces in the high-street stores.  We had a wonderful afternoon window shopping, trying on the new trends and then sitting on the beach with a cheeky portion of cheesy chips.

Now I cant wait for my student load to drop so I can pick up a few of the items on my wishlist... to be worn for educational purposes of course!

Zebra Jumper/ Hat/ Beaded Shirt/ Dress/ Clutch/ Fox Earrings/ Boots/ Shorts

I really love all the embellishment and gold detail this season, it makes me think of the opulence of the 1920's and 30's ladies wrapped in their mink shall's against the snow, hailing a cab in Art Deco London; I think it adds a bit of old school glamour to our dull cold winter and the animal motifs add the ever needed fun!

What is your favourite A/W trend and why?

10 Things About Abigail Robyn

I have recently been tagged by my sister to answer 10 questions about myself, so here goes!

What is your theme song?
I think it would have to be Hakuna Matata from The Lion King.  I am quite often called laid back and I am usually too busy doing something interesting/fun/silly to be worrying about the stuff I probably should be pulling my hair out over!

What is your least favourite food?
Mushrooms.  Definitely.  I can be a very fussy eater and mushrooms just look, smell and taste nasty, and don't even get me started on the yucky texture!

What was your favourite childhood toy?
I don't know if this counts, but I had a Snow White costume that I loved!

What is your favourite housecleaning chore?
Probably hoovering as it seems to me like the easiest one with the best results.

What did you want to be when you're older?
I used to have a plan that involved being a nurse, a vet, a charity worker and a busy mum all at once, now the plan is to just make money as it is definitely lacking from my life at the moment!

What is your favourite colour?
Red.  Don't even need to think about this one, it has always be red.

What generation do you wish you had been part of?
I am pretty happy with this generation, as a psychology student the social advances that are being made/have been made recently really interest me.

What are your goals for the future?
Happiness, health and the same for all my family (and to have a gorgeous house of course!).

What is most likely to cheer you up?

Usually my boyfriend, friends and family can cheer me up, if not then a few hours alone with a good book usually does the trick (or Christmas!)