The Start Of A New Chapter- A Week In Review

 Hello all! I feel it's time for another week review, don't you? If I'm being honest, I haven't done one the past couple of weeks as there hasn't really been much to say- I don't think a blog post that reads 'I tried to get on with my summer project & ended up procrastinating (again)' would be particularly interesting. This week, however, has been more eventful. Admittedly not the most eventful of weeks, but as the title says, I have started a new chapter in my life.

My summer holidays are officially over, so it's time to crack on with preparing for my second year at Uni, & to start that process, I have moved into my new flat with my friends, Olivia & Katie. Last Saturday saw that happen, & I feel it went well, although, being on the top floor, it meant having to ferry a lot of items into the lift, which wasn't the easiest of tasks! The plus side is that we get a nice view of the city, which should be even better if we get a bit of sunshine or snow.

The view- looks a lot better IRL.

That has been the main point of the week, the rest of it really has been settling in & sorting bits out. Has been a good week though, managed to get some more of my summer project done, & as I (thankfully) don't have the distraction of internet at the flat, it means I've got a substantial amount done. I've found it's actually been alright not having internet, sure I've used it on Uni's campus & had a quick flick through Facebook on my mobile, but so far I've managed to survive without it! Thankfully, I turned the web pages I needed into PDFs before I moved in using an extension in my browser (which is Opera, if anyone's wondering), which has enabled me to get on with my project.

Left- The left-hand side is how much I've done- it's quite a bit compared to when I last posted an image!
Right- Double page spread complete with images & annotations.

And that's about it for this week. So far the new chapter in my life is going well, let's just hope my Uni course improves & I'm set for a great year!

Hope you've all been well! I'll leave with you with another couple of pictures from the past week:

First breakfast at the flat- bacon butties & a good cup of tea! :D

Cadbury's Hot Chocolate & Oreos, accompanied by an episode of Sherlock- a great way to unwind before bed!

Thanks for reading! :)

Count The Memories, Not The Calories- A Week In Review

Hello there readers! This was meant to be my Friday post but it's been a busy week, so it's a Sunday post instead. Tonight's post is a week review, as for me it's been a very good week spent in the company of family, friends & good food, which I thought I'd share with you all! You're probably wondering where I got the title from? Well, that's a quote I saw on the wall of my favourite tea room, which is one of the places I visited this week. However, it's not the first place I visited, which means I have to start from the beginning before revealing the name of that location!

On Monday I went out driving with my Dad, to get some more experience before my test. We went to ASDA so I could get some bits for tea & sort out my Grandad's phone before driving along the sea front & then popping into a local Costa for coffee & cake. Was very nice, plus I managed to do my first perfect bay park in my car- yay!

Tuesday I met up with Georgia & we went down to Southsea. We started by playing a round of Adventure Golf (or 'Elaborate Obstacle Golf' to my fellow In The Flesh fans), which was great fun & something I haven't done for ages! We then wandered into the arcades near to the golf course & had a go on the 2p machines, managing to win a few tickets (36, to be exact) & a pack of Love Hearts. We then went over to another arcade as we had some time to spare & I had a go on a claw machine, but I failed, probably for the best as I don't really know where abouts in my room I'd store a Pacman plushie!

Elaborate Obstacle Golf, pirate style!

Our next stop is a place I mentioned earlier, which is my favourite tea room- The Tenth Hole. The reason why I love this place is because of it's great selection of cakes, which are some of the best cakes I've ever had/seen in my life! In fact, both myself & Georgia agreed that the hardest choice is choosing which cake to have! On this occasion, we opted for the same cake, which was the chocolate & raspberry brownie cake- divine! And much like anyone in the 21st century, I took a photo of it so I could share with the world, so here you go, a little something to feast your eyes on:

After my day with Georgia, I then went down to the local beach for ice-cream with my Dad & sister. That evening myself, my Mum & my sister went to a local Wetherspoons with my Godfather, his partner & some of their friends for a meal as it was Steak Club night, which was very nice- I had the chicken & ribs meal, plus two lots of onion rings as my sister didn't want hers- yes!

Also tried this, must say it's very nice!

Wednesday I went back over to Portsmouth with my friend Berry, but this time went to the city centre as I was on the hunt for a birthday present for my sister. It was a nice day, wandered round a few shops, had lunch out, managed to get my sister's birthday present. It was great to be hanging out with Berry again, as we hadn't done so in ages!

A view from Pompey from the ferry.

Thursday was my Grandparents' 60th Wedding Anniversary, so me, my Mum & my sister went out with them for a meal. We originally planned to go to a pub restaurant in the country, which ended up being closed, so we made our was to another, which was serving a very limited menu, so we came back to our local Harvester, which was great! Gotta love a good Harvester meal!

Friday I worked 9-5 (what a way to make a living!) then went out with my Dad to one of his local pubs to see a friend of ours play live with his band. They were good & it was a good night out, plus Angelos was on the TV when we got back so we watched that for a bit.

Saturday me, my Mum & sister went round to my Aunties' house for a BBQ & get together, which again was very nice!

2nd cider flavour to try- delicious!

And that's all up until tonight. Thank you all for reading, shall be back tomorrow night with my music post! :)

Crossing Counties, Clans & Social Encounters- A Week In Review

Hello readers! Didn't today start out lovely, eh? Much like yesterday, the sun was shining, it was a lovely day, a perfect morning for a kid to play! But now look at it. The weather is dull & typically British once more. So much for summer!

Seeing as I haven't done so for a couple of weeks & my last post was on the more negative side, I thought today I'd do a week review, as it's been a nice & social week. I did start another blog post earlier, but I think I'll save that until next week, unless something else crops up.

So let's get started, shall we?

My socialising started last Friday, when I went to my best friend, Laura's house to have a catch up & give her her birthday card & presents. It was lovely catching up as we hadn't seen each other in a few weeks, also we started to watch (& for Laura, rewatch) the first series of Supernatural, which was good.

My next event was on Sunday, when I went to the pub quiz with Tom, Georgia & Berry, which was fun. We didn't win, but we didn't lose either & most importantly we had a good time, had a laugh & was great seeing them again!

Monday took me into another county (I'm from Hampshire), something I didn't become aware of until later that day, as I ventured into Chichester (which I discovered is in West Sussex) to meet up with Olivia. I'd never been to Chichester before, & it was a half-way point for the both of us. We had a wander round the Cathedral, high streets & the canal. Again, another nice catch up! I also finished the book 'Zom-B Clans' that night, which I got on Saturday, & oh my god it was good! Especially the ending- even though when a certain character spoke I knew who it would be, it was tense reading & finding out!

Clock Tower/seating area in the centre of the high streets in Chichester, a very nice structure. :)

Such a good book, roll on book 9! :D

I had another catch up Tuesday with my friend Reema, which again was really nice. We also learned that day that the other had watched Utopia, the rather weird series on Channel 4 (which returns on Monday), to which we both had a slight almost fangirl moment!

Next meet up was yesterday, where I met with my friend & old housemate Jess for lunch. We ended up going to a small cafe that neither of us had been to before, which was nice, that & having a good old natter! Also, while I'm here, I'm going to give you all a blog recommendation, which is Jess's blog-
Vanilla and Owls
Jess started her blog before I did, & it was through reading hers that inspired me to create this blog here. It's a very nice & well-written blog- Jess talks about various things in her life, does product reviews, & it's very Jess!

Which brings us to today, where I did housework, watched Friday Night Dinner (which is AMAZING!) & now am about to watch series 2 of Hemlock Grove.

And that's been my week. Been lovely seeing my friends & I can't wait to see more of them as the summer holiday goes on!

Thanks for reading, & good night! :D

Of Bobbles & Art, Food & Fitness- A Week in Review

Hello readers! Back to the personal stuff this Friday as I treat you all to an insight to what I've been up to this week.

Let's start with Monday, aside from blogging on here, I decided to try out my new nail bobbles whilst re-watching series 1 of In The Flesh. I did get the nail bobbles last week but had nail polish on, which chipped/was picked at over the weekend so I removed it Sunday evening so that I could try out the nail bobbles the next day. They're Avon brand & will soon be released, I managed to get them as demo version thanks to my Mum being an Avon rep, & come in 3 different colours- purple, green & pink. I decided to buy the purple & green ones as these are two of my favourite colours. I opted to go for purple this time, which I used alongside a Rimmel 60 second purple nail polish that I've had for ages, & I'm happy to say I'm pleased with the turn out, although will admit having 3D nails is rather an odd feeling! But I do like it, here's a photo of the outcome:

Both hands & in the centre is what I used :)

Not a lot happened Tuesday, went out driving & finally booked my driving test. So far I think it's going pretty well, thankfully managed to do an almost-perfect bay park when asked to do so by my driving instructor!

Wednesday was a good day. You know when you just have those days to yourself, & you manage to do a few things you really want to do? Well that was Wednesday for me. After doing a few household chores I sat down to do some art in the afternoon, did an ink & watercolour version of a design I've drawn quite a few times. Turned out ok, here's what it looks like:

I think it would have looked better without the eyeliner though

After that I started watching Game of Thrones whilst starting my attempt to get fit (which I'll elaborate on in a bit) by using the exercise bike. I think exercising at the same time caused me to miss a few bits, but so far it seems ok, looks like it's something I'll have to watch more of to properly get into. Once I'd finished this I decided to make a DIY vest from an old Green Day t-shirt, something I've been meaning to do for ages. I used a rotary trimmer for a smoother cut on the sleeve area then measured out the v-neck & cut using scissors. Unfortunately I have no 'before' photo of the shirt, but here's what the vest now looks like:

I went back to my art once this was done, started doodling based off of this reference sheet I saw on Pinterest, then decided to draw a profile face, which ended up being a realistic-looking Philip J. Fry that I am rather pleased with. I also updated my deviantArt account that night to continue with my art stuff, feel free to check it out, I've also included a link at the top of my blog as well.

My Fry, am guessing his eyes are blue, don't think it's ever stated.

Thursday involved me walking around my neighbourhood collecting Avon books for my Mum, which then led to me heading to my Grandparents' house to collect some bacon I asked them to buy for me so I could make a BBQ chicken & pasta bake for dinner that night. I also went round to my friend Reema's house & had a good catch up with her, whilst there she introduced me to a favourite food of hers called 'cake rusks', which are like hard cake slices, but then you dunk them in tea & hey presto! Cake! All in all a very nice day.

Finished pasta bake, very tasty!

Which brings me to today. Continuing on the social path, this evening I went to my friend Vlada's house to hang out & have dinner. The plan was she cooked mains & I cooked dessert. I chose to make pancakes with strawberries & chocolate sauce as they'd been on my mind all week, which, with Vlada's help turned out to be more of a success than my last attempt at pancakes- plus I made the chocolate sauce from scratch, something I've not done before, which also turned out well & dessert (which we actually had before dinner itself!) was a success! Vlada's Mum made us trout with rice & Vlada prepared the salad- a very nice meal!

Mmmm... strawberry & chocolate pancakes... :)

As well as all the above, I have, as I briefly mentioned earlier, been attempting to get fitter, which so far is failing. My love of food exceeds the damn I give about my body size & I really need to work ore exercise into my daily routine- unfortunately all my hobbies tend to involve sitting down. Next week I plan to actually get my arse into gear though, stop putting things off & actually working to keep the calories off rather than using exercise as a way to earn calories to eat more food.

And that's all for now, I hope you've enjoyed tonight's post! If you've been up to anything interesting this week, why not share in the comments?

Thanks for reading! :D

First Week of Freedom

Hey readers, this is my first post where I'm breaking my own rules. Usually you'd see my week in review/general stuff post on a Friday, but as I'm off to Sweden tomorrow I thought I'd better blog today. I would schedule, but I want to share my post once it's done, so let's get things started:

As the title says, this week was my first week of freedom, with no uni whatsoever. It's nice being back at home, back in my own space, just chilling & doing as I please.

Monday involved me ordering my Krona, driving again & sorting my room. The driving part involved me reversing my car from the garage & parking it, which was pretty nerve wracking as I haven't driven a car since I started uni, so my skills were rather rusty. Sorting my room- urgh what a pain! Ideally I would have gutted the place & organised every element methodically, but seeing as I barely had room to move myself, the day's task consisted of mainly sorting out my wardrobe (which is now nicely organised, I might add).

Tuesday saw me going for lunch & a catch up with my friend Georgia, which was really nice, as we hadn't seen each other for a few weeks. We went for fish & chips in a pub-restaurant then made our way to a seaside cafe for ice cream, all in all a great start to the afternoon! :D

Later that afternoon I decided than rather continue to clean my room, I would give myself a break & sort my old PC out for being solely used as a Sims PC. After an afternoon of fearing for my PCs life after crashes & failed starts, I got it in working order & installed my game, only for it to crash on me, twice.

Wednesday was the day where I had excellent timing with public transport on my journey into town & back to collect my Krona. I know that isn't that exciting, but I just felt rather impressed by it. That evening I cooked a garlic & potato soup for myself & my Mum, a recipe I got from a student cookbook which is very nice. Here's the end result:

Which brings us to today, where I have been getting bits sorted for Sweden & painting my nails like Blowsight's Skully, as they're the reason I'm heading out there. You can have a pic of the nails for today, but I'll tell you more about the concert on Monday. :)

(Here's their logo for a reference)

That's all for this week. There's another little project I've started, but I think I'll mention it once it's a bit more substantial, so in my next 'week in review' blog.

I shall leave you there for today. Have a good weekend readers, I look forward to telling you all about Sweden on Monday! :D

Three Cheers for Sweet, Sweet Freedom! (Plus an Introduction to the Blog)

Well here we are, my first post on this blog, & what a better way to begin than to celebrate the end of my first year at Uni. No more coursework to worry about, no more deadlines- it's a wonderful feeling! So far I've celebrated my freedom with ice cream, alcohol & the company of good friends as well as the blissful thought of knowing I can focus on doing the things I want over the next four months or so. I've technically been free since Monday, so my celebrating started then, although I had to stay for a mini-project up until today. Here are some photos of my celebratory eats & drinks:

Sundae from Monday- had Ferrero Rochers & caramel in it

Cocktail from the Slug & Lettuce Monday- this is a special Brazilian one called 'Blue Zombie'- comes with a snazzy glass. :)

Went to the glorious Sprinkles on Wednesday & had this strawberry & chocolate waffle- very filling & delicious!

More cocktails at The Hobbit- not all of them mine! The purple one is, & on Wednesday it's Fellowship Night so they're £2.50. Bargain! :D

So that's that. Moving swiftly on, it's now time for an introduction to my blog. As stated before, I can now focus on whatever I like now I'm on my summer break & this blog will be my main project. I've had the idea for ages to start something like this, but with being inundated with coursework I wouldn't have had time to update as often as I'd like- I have had blogs before for coursework & graphics based things which always ended up being left for ages & not been kept up to date & I didn't want this to be another case of that.

Also, I want to blog on a more personal level. As I have just said, all blogs before have been related to my graphic design & have been done as part of a course as an online, 'professional' portfolio. I found in recent months with my deviantArt account I started to get a lot more personal & less professional with my journal.

For once, I want to blog as me, not 'Amy Sheppard, the aspiring graphic designer', but as Amy Sheppard- this is me, these are my views, this is my blog. In fact, over the summer, 'Amy Sheppard, the aspiring graphic designer' does not exist. I need to take a break from my chosen career path & go back to doing art for fun & doing my own projects. I'll admit, my University course has demotivated me somewhat & a part of me has stopped enjoying what I do & I feel just doing my own thing will help to regain my passion for the subject. My plan for the summer is just to be me, as I am, focussing on the here & now & enjoying my free time.

Which brings me back to the blog. I plan to update this blog twice a week- on a Monday & Friday (although will be a day before or after if I know I'll be busy on either of those days). Here's how it's going to work:

• Music Mondays:

Yep, Monday will be the day I blog about music. Well, it will be for the next 30 weeks or so, as I plan to take this challenge:

(Credit to whoever originally made this, I just changed 'day' to 'week' in the title. Just pretend it says that everywhere else...)

I plan to do this weekly as opposed to daily to keep things consistent- I feel if I did it every day, once it stopped my blog would stop being as active. Doing it by week gives me something to focus on & a theme, although this will be broken in a couple of the upcoming weeks by gig reviews (but I'll go to whichever topic comes next on the Monday after).

• Fridays:

Fridays don't really get a special subject- Fridays will be the days where I blog about other things, which will either be insights into my week or opinions on various things.

And that's all for tonight really, & I realise I'm 10 minutes away from this being a Saturday post here in England. I hope you've enjoyed the introduction, if you want to know a little bit more about me you can find out on my 'About' page.

So stay tuned- there's plenty more to come! And I'm sure the blog will eventually look better as summer progresses!

Good night readers! Shall see you all Monday! :)