10/11/12 - Ed Sheeran "strums on my heart-strings like he was a Grade 8"

I am an absolute sucker for singer-songwriters and boys with guitars, which explains my love for Ed Sheeran.  His music is beautiful, his lyrics equally heart-wrenching and hilarious, and his talent seems to know no bounds.  Armed only with his acoustic guitar, a couple of microphones and a loop pedal, he takes every venue by storm.  Wednesday was the second time I've had the pleasure to be in one of his audiences and I have to say, I loved it just as much as the first time. 

It wasn't surprising to see that the average age of the crowd was probably about 16 and the queue was huge - I even heard some kids discussing how their friends had taken the day off school to stake out good places early on.  I can see why Ed's music appeals to the teenage demographic - his romantic lyrics are enough to melt any girl in her tracks.  However, it may have come as a bit of a surprise for some of the girls, and definitely for the parents who accompanied them, to listen to some of Ed's other songs.  While it's easy to write him off as your typical singer-songwriter for doe-eyed girls, many of his songs have more mature content concerning drinking, drug abuse, miscarriage and heartbreak.  Personally, I think it's part of why he's so popular.  With his easy combination of acoustic soul, pop, reggae and hip-hop, his songs may speak straight to the hearts of every idealistic girl out there but they're also gritty, realistic and down-to-earth portrayals of modern life.  

Ed is honestly one of the best and most charismatic performers I've seen live.  He has such an amazing energy and develops a rapport with the audience almost from the moment he walks on stage.  Between songs, he chats easily and makes little jokes without them ever seeming awkward or overdone.  One thing I will say is; don't go to an Ed Sheeran gig if you're not big on audience participation.  There is a lot of singing (which I wholeheartedly approve of) and throughout the course of his set, we were Ed's 'gospel choir', and he even had the two halves of the audience harmonising with each other.

Some might find it hard to imagine his acoustic album translating into a live spectacular, but that's the only word I can use for it.  Particularly his huge hit, 'You Need Me Man, I Don't Need You', which he performed as the first song of his encore was totally mental.  Like, totally.  The rapid-fire lyrics, the insane looped backing track and the energy of the crowd all added up to an incredible experience.  Everyone was dancing and trying to rap along with the song and just generally loving life.  

Other highlights -for me, at least - were my absolute favourite song from Ed's album, 'Goldrush', a cover of Nina Simone's 'Be My Husband' (with a lot of audience singing and clapping) and the wonderful 'Wayfaring Stranger'.  For those who don't know it, it's a gorgeous folk song and Ed somehow managed to get the whole huge room so quiet that he was able to sing the end of the song acapella and with no mic.  I don't know about the people nearer the back, but I could still hear perfectly and it was a magical moment.

I am not ashamed to say that I may have shed a tear or two throughout the evening; there are certain of Ed's songs then really mean a lot to me for various reasons and lyrics that get me choked up every time I hear them.  There's always one.

Unfortunately, I'm unable to embed the video I wanted to, but if you're interested in seeing snippets of the actual concert that I was at, click on THIS LINK.  I highly recommend you do.

If you're an Ed Sheeran fan, then you probably know that the music video for his new single 'Give Me Love' went live on last night.  If not, I'll embed the video below or go to this link.  Personally, I think it's stunning.  Let me know what you think in the comments!

Ed's just got back from supporting Snow Patrol around some of their US tour dates and will be opening for Taylor Swift on her 2013 tour of the States.  If anyone would like to provide me with tickets for that, plus flights and somewhere to stay, I would be most grateful!

04/11/12 - Happy Hallowe'en!

So Hallowe'en, one of my favourite days of the year, has come and gone.  Honestly, I just love any excuse to get dressed up!  This year, we decided that rather than going out in the cold, wet winter evening - not good for keeping your costumes pristine - and spending lots of money in a very busy club, we'd have a house party.  And we went all out.  Our decorations started going up a week before actual Hallowe'en and the only thing missing was carved pumpkins.  This is the first year in my entire life that I haven't had a pumpkin on Hallowe'en and it made me really sad, but we left it too late to get any and by Tuesday, not a single place had one!  Not even rubbish little ones.  So that was a disappointment.

But anyway, we decorated the house, stocked up on alcohol and sweets - essential for any Hallowe'en soiree - and donned our costumes!

If the state of our house the next morning and everyone's hangovers were anything to go by, it was a pretty good party!  I mean, I assume it was.  To be honest, by the time all our guests arrived, the hosts were all a little more tipsy than we should have been...aah student life.

How did you spend Hallowe'en?  And what did you dress up as?  I love hearing about other people's costume ideas!

03/11/12 - Monkeying Around with Megan

So last weekend was a little...hectic, to say the least.  The lovely Megan, who you can see in my London summer posts, was staying at my house for the weekend for all the fun and frolics of the student lifestyle that she must sorely be missing while she's down South having a proper job.  'Fun and frolics' such as messy kitchens, freezing houses and very very  drunk people.  But other than that, she seemed to enjoy herself!

She came up on Friday afternoon and after she went for lunch with another friend and I 'did some work' (i.e. watched Made In Chelsea and tried to tidy my bedroom), we got our gladrags on and made our way to my favourite restaurant near uni, Ruby Lounge...it's only a fifteen minute walk from my house and the cocktails are to die for.  When we got there, we met the rest of the current Performing Arts Society exec committee, of which Megs was the founding member last year, and had a wonderful evening catching up.  It was great to see everyone in a more relaxed context - no pressure of committee meetings, rehearsals or big group socials - and we had a lovely chat with some delicious food and drinks.  I'd love to do a review of Ruby Lounge at some point, but the lighting in there is not at all conducive to photography.  We'll see though, maybe one day.

Fifty Shades of...Green?  Anna, Megs and I before Ruby Lounge

As we left the restaurant, the weather turned freakish as it is liable to do in the ridiculous North of England - it started snowing.  Not heavily and not enough to stick, but enough to freeze us to the very core on our way home.  Thankfully, we were greeted by a warm house and dessert courtesy of my lovely housemate Charlie (you can find the recipe here - you will not regret it!)  

Saturday was a nice relaxing day which consisted of a long lie-in and then a wander to the shops in order to buy Megan a costume for our social in the evening (more on that later).  While we were out, we stocked up on food for the evening and the next day as well as doing a milkshake run for my housemates who were at home studying diligently.  So Milky Way shakes all round were well earned!  We got back, sat around chatting before I whipped up some nachos for tea, which were pretty tasty if I do say so myself.  Nachos are one of my favourite things to make because they're just so easy, but taste delicious!

Once we'd eaten, it was time to get ready for the evening's festivities.  Namely, a Performing Arts social with the theme 'Northern Monkeys and Southern Fairies' - a bit of friendly rivalry is always encouraged.   It was a good laugh, even people who didn't know each other very well were all chatting and getting on, and it was great to just let my hair down (metaphorically - my hair was actually fashioned into monkey ears).

This was probably the turning point of my night, and a big mistake.

A lot of alcohol was consumed - mostly by me - and then it was time to stumble home, buy Subway and drink cups of tea.  Well, everyone else drank tea...I went to bed with all my make-up still on.  Needless to say, I felt horrendous on Sunday morning.  Like, I thought I was dying horrendous.  Not pleasant.

Sunday consisted of lying on the sofa groaning and watching Jamie's 15-Minute Meals (not a good idea to look at lots of food when you feel as nauseous as I did) and all the TV we missed on Saturday night - we're a big X Factor household.  I quite impressed myself, however, by managing to provide some vague approximation of a roast dinner for Emma and Megan while the two of them made some yummy chocolate cupcakes - I did take photos, but my camera didn't do them justice at all.  Then Jemma came round for a cup of tea and a much-needed catch-up...I've missed her SO much since she emigrated to Italy.  It sounds like she's having a wonderful time and I've been really enjoying keeping updated on her adventures on her lovely blog!

So overall, I had a wonderful weekend with some of my favourite people in the world...even if I did find myself feeling a little worse-for-wear on Sunday!  I hope everyone else had a lovely weekend...let me know what you did down in the comments!

02/11/12 - Spending Spree

[Forgive me if this is a little slap-dash; if this were a beauty or fashion blog, this would be labelled a 'haul'.  However, as this blog is a little less organised than that, it's just me chatting on about what I've spent money on recently.  If it doesn't interest you, look away now.  Also, I apologise for the quality of the photos.]

I am not good at saving money.  In fact, I am spectacularly poor at it.  The temptation to spend is always far too strong.  Particularly since I've been at university, it's a bit of a problem. I pay my rent and bills, I buy food, I pay my gym membership...and I vow that I'm going to be really controlled with the rest of my money.  No takeaways, no extravagant purchases, no getting drunk and going for an extra cash machine run on a night out.  And I always fail.  This year is no exception.

I've been back at uni for nearly two months now and my bank balance is seriously hemorrhaging money.  When I live at home with my parents, I find it much easier to save money.  I have a job which pays me weekly and, most importantly and effectively, I have a mother who likes to inspect my purchases with a critical eye - her favourite phrase is, "Do you really need another bag/dress/eye-liner/pair of shoes?"  It makes a massive difference to my spending habits.   But recently, I've been treating myself a little.  In all honesty, nothing I've bought is too extortionate.  In fact, they could be classed as essentials.  Yeah, essentials.  That makes me feel better.

Blue split front jumper from New Look (the website
only has red by hey ho!), £12.99 (with discount, £10.39)

This jumper was definitely essential, especially as it was such a bargain.  It's really cosy, particularly because I always buy jumpers a little on the larger side, and I love the colour.  It's such an easy thing to chuck on with trackies of a cold evening (we have a lot of those in my freezing house) but it can equally look just as nice to wear out in the day with jeans or a skirt and tights.  The photo doesn't do it justice, the colours are much deeper (and nicer) than that.

Red jumper with asymmetric
hem from Zara, £17.99

This jumper was another must-have and with the cold Northern winter closing in, I feel the need to stock up on snuggly knitwear.  I was torn between this colour and the same jumper in a deep green, settling for this as it was more of a contrast to the jumper above.  The asymmetric hem makes it that little bit unique and I am very tempted to go and buy the green one as well.  Perfect to wear with simple black leggings and winter boots.  [Disclaimer: this photo doesn't look anything like the actual jumper. For some reason, I can't capture the actual colour at all.]

Black sausage dog print snood from
River Island, £16 (with discount, £12.80)

I am a bit of a scarf junkie, but I don't actually have that many at university with me which is how I justified this purchase.  I only have two day-to-day scarves and one woolly winter one here, so I needed another just to give me some more options.  And just look at the adorable sausage dog pattern - couldn't resist it!  

Gold necklace from Topshop, £10 (with discount, £8)

Very simple reasoning here: I don't have very much gold jewellery.  I picked up the necklace and remarked, "Hmm I don't wear a lot of gold...probably because I don't have any."  Straight to the till.  Boom.  God bless the impulse buy as I have been wearing this a lot - makes a daytime outfit look more put together, but equally as perfect for something more dressy.

Green blazer from River Island,
£40 (in the sale, £20)

This may have been a little less essential to my winter wardrobe, but it's something that caught my eye and I just had to have it.  I was totally sold on it, even at the original price so when it came up on the website for half price, I didn't give it a second thought.  Plus, the colour is really festive.

Cowl neck wrap dress by Wal-G for
Topshop, £33 (with discount, £26.40)

This dress was a bit of a treat, but also something that I needed - you can't wear any old thing to a hen do at which you are a bridesmaid, right?  Anyway, this was a bit of a stressful purchase; when I tried it on in the shop for the first time, it wouldn't fasten.  For real.  And there was no bigger size.  So I spent some time being a tad depressed.  Then I made the rash decision to get it on the days Topshop were doing 20% student discount and dun dun DUN slim into it.  Never a good idea, except I put a limit on it.  If it still didn't fasten by the time the returns policy ran out, it would go back and I would get a refund.  And I tried it on recently after a lot of healthy eating and gym sessions, and it finally zips up.  I don't know if I just got a dodgy one in the changing rooms, but whatever.  I'm a happy bunny.

Collection 2000 Extreme 24-hour felt tip liner
available from most high street drugstores, £2.99

This eyeliner is my ultimate life-saver at the moment.  Super affordable even on a student budget and the felt tip pen applicator means that it's ideal for even those who are a little bit intimidated by liquid eyeliner's reputation for being messy and difficult to master.  I swear, without this, I would have been late to so many seminars!  It's the easiest eyeliner I've ever used...and I find it tough to leave the house without my eyeliner.  Even at quarter to nine when I really should be leaving the house if I want to make my early seminars, it takes two seconds to whack it on and I instantly feel more human.

Ponche shower gel from Lush, 100g bottle £4.95

I am a huge LUSH fan and this shower gel is something I've been craving ever since I heard about it.  Inspired by traditional Mexican Christmas punch and made with infusions of orange, plum and cinnamon, the fruity scent is to die for.  All topped off with a shot of tequila and anyone who knows me knows that I looooove me some tequila.  I bought the handy little bottle to try it and because I'll be travelling around quite a bit over the next month, but if I like it I might go and stock up on one of the big bottles.

Lipstick in 'Wicked' from Topshop's
A/W Collection, £9 (with discount, £8.10)

I really fancied a new lipstick and this one is the perfect autumnal shade that I was looking for.  While the bullet looks a bit dark and daunting, the actual colour which you can see swatched is much pinkier and less scary.  I've worn it once and I love it.  I love the consistency of Topshop lipsticks and this colour will be a regular feature this winter, I can tell.

I hope you've found this interesting and maybe spotted something you might treat yourself to on your next shopping trip.  Let me know in the comments if there's anything in here that  has inspired you and also what your favourite A/W purchase has been so far this year!