A 2014 overview!

Last year was pretty amazing overall. There were obviously some ups and downs as there always are but the good definitely outweighed the bad. 

This year I...

- I passed my driving test (March)

- I turned 18 (March)

- Met Lewis Watson (July)

- I passed my exams (August)

- I got into University (August) 

- Saw Medea in the theatre (August)

- I got my first job (September)

- I got a boyfriend who is completely amazing (November)

I hope this year goes just as well because I already have some amazing things lined up! 

Jess xx

Medea at the National Theatre.

On Friday, me and my friend Liv went to London for the day before going to see the National Theatre's production of Medea!
We went to Covent Garden (surprise surprise) and looked around there for a while as we both love it as it's a great place to window shop!
We looked around Kate Spade and I fell in love with this display, the bag is so cute and the flowers look so pretty!

Kate Spade displays are so pretty!

We also went to Laduree so I could get my usual rose, orange blossom and strawberry macarons, and the window display here also caught my eye; it's so pretty!

Yum.

We also had a look around a few other shops including Chanel - it's fun to dream! We went to a sweet shop to stock up for the theatre later and I got so many different flavoured gummy bears, they're all so nice!

We then made our way up to Oxford Street and went to Selfridges which was fun, I love looking around at the stuff I'd never be able to afford! It's Magnum's 25 year anniversary so they have a section in the shop where you can create your own magnum which looked amazing! Sadly there were too many people in the queue to actually get one but hopefully I'll be able to go back and buy one at some point before it stops!

So pretty.

I bought a couple of macarons from Pierre Marcolini in Selfridges too just to see what they're like as there were some really yummy sounding flavours! I got a passionfruit flavoured one and one that had cinnamon, nutmeg and a few other spices in it. Both tested amazing and I would probably say that they were better than Laduree macarons! They do different flavours though so I'll have to switch between the two! 

So so good!

For food, we went to Ed's Easy Diner in Mayfair which was lovely as it was quite small and just off Oxford Street but not particularly busy! I love the soundtrack they have there as well as the whole look, it also does brilliant food which is always good! 

I love their wall designs!

We then went down to Southbank to watch Medea. I was a bit nervous as I'd read that it was quite scary and I don't handle horror very well but it ended up being a brilliant performance by Helen McCrory (Narcissa Malfoy from Harry Potter!) and the rest of the cast. It's a disturbing story to begin with and the performance created a chilling and gripping atmosphere which I felt was perfect for such a story - I'm pretty sure I held my breath through some of it! It was heartbreaking and genius - the setting, music, characters, costumes and everything else were completely on point - I may have to go and watch it again when it's shown in the cinema just to relive it! 

It didn't have a specific time period that it was set in but the costumes suggested that it was a relatively modern setting, meaning that some of the original story had to be changed which ended up actually working rather well! 

After studying it as part of my Classical Civilisation A level, actually seeing a production of it in a modern setting was really interesting as I got to see the impact of the whole play from beginning to end instead of just analysing section by section. It gave me a better understanding of it and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to see it!

The rest of the tickets are sold out but if you have the opportunity to see it in cinemas on 4th September than I wholeheartedly recommend that you do as it's a fantastic production.

Amazing.

Jess xx

This week.

I've been on Easter holiday for the last week which only means one thing for people in my age group: exams are just around the corner. 

As well as revising, I've actually been giving myself little breaks and have managed to meet up with friends! 

On Wednesday, I went to my friend Rob's for a movie night which was awesome fun! We ended up playing a lot of cards, eating pizza then watching Lord Of the Rings at about 12.30am! I've never actually seen it and it was good when I was actually paying attention! We also watched part of the second one on Thursday morning too before leaving and that was also good - Gollum made me laugh quite a lot! My boyfriend also cooked us all bacon so I was pretty happy when I woke up! I had to drive there by myself which was actually not as bad as I thought it was going to be - I can drive surprising well considering I didn't know the area! I also drove to Waitrose with Rob to get some snacks before the party started and I managed to park which is a feat too! I haven't been to many parties with college people but they're a lot of fun and not as alcohol filled as I would expect - people just got happy instead of completely incoherent which lead to a really nice atmosphere and I ended up having a lot of fun, it was a nice break from revision!

Today, me and my family also went to the cinema to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier! I've been wanting to see it pretty much since it came out so I was really excited and I was right to be! It might actually be one of my favourite Marvel films so far, each character was brilliant and the whole thing was interesting, it didn't take too long for the action to get going which was great! I also loved the end of credits scene as per usual, they always make me so excited for the next Marvel film! If you haven't seen it yet I really recommend it, it'll make you feel pretty much every emotion available on the human spectrum which is pretty impressive for a film that's just over 2 hours long! 

The next week will be pretty much solid revision which may be a bit dull, but hopefully it pays off in the end! 

Jess xx

The University Chronicles: The final visit!

I have officially completed all of my open days and offer holder visit days! 

I went to my final one in Birmingham today and it was great! It started with talks about Archaeology and Ancient History, then we had a taster session about Sparta which was interesting to see how the methods of teaching varied from my AS Sparta module to University. It was a lot more relaxed and the lecturer even bought in a replica Spartan shield (minus the bronze plating...) which was really cool! 

We then got chance to ask questions and then we went to the Archaeology tech department. It was amazing. I haven't really been shown any of the technology that's used at any other university, only usual science style labs so it was exciting to walk into a room and come across interactive tables! They were basically massive iPads mounted on stands and it was incredible! There were loads of pictures of items they have in their museum and you could move them, enlarge and turn them which was quite entertaining - there was even an option to read more about the artefact! There were also videos showing different  artefacts that had been scanned and their 3D counterparts were being rotated and shown from lots of different angles to get a feel for the objects. 

They also build and use virtual models to get a feel for what a place would be like, such as Rome, and then create a programme so you can 'walk' around Ancient Rome and see what it would have been like! 

It was really exciting to see the sort of technology that is available to use in Archaeology and to see how it can improve learning as well as being just an awesome tool to be able to access! 

Even though I probably won't end up at Birmingham, it's still exciting to see it all!

Jess xx

Book review: The Rosie Project.

Love isn't an exact science - but no one told Don Tillman. A thirty-nine-year-old geneticist, Don's never had a second date. So he devises the Wife Project, a scientific test to find the perfect partner. Enter Rosie - 'the world's most incompatible woman' - throwing Don's safe, ordered life into chaos. But what is this unsettling, alien emotion he's feeling?

I bought this book when I went to Guildford with Kate in half term after wanting it for ages and I'm so glad I did! 

This definitely isn't a typical romance story as Don is the most brilliant and different protagonist I've ever come across in a book. He leads an incredibly structured life, planned out to the minute and a complete sticker to the rules - most likely living with undiagnosed Aspergers syndrome. He's blunt and quite incapable of interpreting people's emotions which creates a comical but loveable character. Then Rosie enters his life at the same time as he decides to create 'The Wife Project'; a 16 page detailed to help him find the perfect wife (non-smoker, omnivore, doesn't drink/drinks moderately etc.) and throws his life into chaos. Don is obsessed with a new project - the Father Project which leads him on an adventure across continents and closer to Rosie.

The book is written in first person so we feel a connection with Don as he struggles with his inner conflict between helping Rosie or carrying on with his constant, structured lifestyle in his overly formal and somewhat geeky narration. The character development of Don is also brilliantly done by Simsion as each slight change is analysed by Don, showing his base personality is still there no matter how much his life has been thrown up in the air. 

The other important characters (Rosie, Gene and Claudia) are each given fantastic plots and their own quirks which make them equally loveable. Even more minor characters such as the Dean have little pieces to give them a 3D personality instead of being flat, filler characters with no real purpose but to move the plot on. 

I finished this incredibly quickly as I found it quite an easy read despite some technical genetics discussions! I was funny, quite sad at times and generally brilliant - I can't recommend this book enough - it's probably made it into my top 20 books and I will definitely be re reading it!

I hope you guys pick this up as it's such a great book!

Jess xx

Parties and cookie dough.

It's half term this week which in A level terms equals crazy amounts of homework and essays. 

I did however get to go to a party with my college friends on Monday which was amazing. 

Yes, people got a bit drunk but it wasn't out of hand like I know some people can get - it was a more relaxed and happy atmosphere which was great. 

My friend Milly had it round her house and we stayed in her living room pretty much the whole night. She brought in a few mattresses and we put them on the floor so there was loads of space to just lounge about which was awesome! We watched Frozen which was AMAZING. I loved it so so much and I can't wait until I can get it on DVD so I can watch it lots. We also watched Tangled while eating Dominoes and pots of Ben and Jerry's ice cream (me and Chris shared a pot of Cookie Dough pretty much between us...perfect? I think so.) while a couple of people sang loudly and drunkenly along to the songs.

In the end, 6 of us stayed the night with a couple of people on the sofas and 4 of us sharing the two mattresses pushed together which was quite entertaining!

I've only been to one other party with college people and even then I only knew the host so this was really great - I got to spend time with my closest college friends and just have a laugh! Definitely one of my favourite parties so far - Disney, ice cream and laughs is always a good combination. 

Jess xx

Rimmel Kate Lasting Finish Lipstick in 008 review

I bought this earlier in the week as I got itchy fingers for a decent lipstick after my disappointments from the Rimmel 1000 kisses lip tint and the Revlon just bitten lip stain. 

I'm so glad I picked this up! The Kate lipsticks are becoming a fast favourite of mine (my Kate Matte lipstick in 107 is my all time favourite) and this one doesn't disappoint at all! I was originally looking for the shade 019 but they didn't have it so I picked up 008 instead! I'll definitely be looking into the other shades from this range.

As always, the packaging is simple but very pretty. Unlike the Matte version of this lipstick, the packaging is black and I love it! I really want to collect more purely so I can line them up and look at them! 

As you can see, the colour is really subtle but it is slightly darker in real life so it gives a 'lips but better' look. It's a really great every day colour and it has an amazing staying power - it was still on after eating and having a glass of water so I was impressed! These lipsticks also smell amazing which is always a nice change from the horrible plastic smell you can sometimes get from lipsticks. The application is as smooth as ever and is soft and creamy when on which is great! In real life, the colour is semi-matte with a slight sheen which also gives the more natural look which I love - this is definitely my favourite nude lipstick!

At £5.49 from Boots, this lipstick is such a great investment and I really recommend buying one - I'm probably going to buy another sooner or later!

Jess xx

Once Upon A Time

It's time for the third 2014 Blogger Challenge post! This time we have been told to write about books!

I love books and I'm an avid reader - I chose my a level courses as I knew I would get to read a lot and be exposed to new books and I haven't been disappointed yet! 

Whenever I have any free time, I'm always either blogging, reading or downloading new books on to my kindle, I can't get enough! 

After this last season of Sherlock, I decided to compare the original stories with the series and downloaded Sherlock Holmes: The Ultimate Collection for 77p on my kindle.

The first novel I read out of the 4 included was A Study in Scarlet. 

I've said before that I read quicker on my kindle but I devoured this. It was so thrilling and I couldn't put it down! Arthur Conan Doyle has such a great writing style that makes it an incredibly easy read which is also easy to picture in your head. 

The actual plot is mostly different from the Sherlock adaptation and it felt like a completely different story once Sherlock and John were introduced which meant I couldn't predict it as I was expecting to be able to! The novel is split into two sections and I got extremely confused when reading the second but once you get into it, it makes complete sense and it was genius! 

I'm honestly so glad that I decided to read the collection as it's fantastic and completely different! The original novel was written in 1887 and I love the Victorian era so reading something from that time that isn't a school set text is really interesting! I've also studied about some parts of the history that is involved in this so it's also a very interesting read about early America (the pioneers - definitely worth researching about!) and the presentation from an English person of the time! 

I really hope that some of you have read or do read it as it's a really great book! 

Jess xx

Challenge post one.
Challenge post two.

Fire Is Catching.

On Wednesday, me and a secondary school friend went shopping and saw Catching Fire in Reading. I'd read all three books within 4 days of buying them, just before the first film came out so I really love the series and couldn't wait to see what they did with the second film after the overall disappointing Hunger Games film compared to the books. 

I was so impressed! They stuck so closely to the book and almost cried at some bits! I thought the casting was down to a tee and I loved Sam Claflin and Jena Malone as Finnick and Johanna. I loved where they ended it too, I can't wait for Mockingjay parts 1 and 2 - if they stick with the same director, I know it will be amazing!

I completely recommend this film, the last Hunger Games film (not as good but still pretty good if you detach it from the books!) and of course the books!

Jess xx

Santa Claus is coming to town.

A few weeks ago, me and my friends at college decided that, as we all have next to no money, we would do a secret santa instead of buying 7 people presents. As it was late night shopping on Friday, we decided to meet up after college, go to the pub and exchange presents there! It was such a great time despite the fact that I was only there for an hour - I love spending time with them all outside of college time, they're great!

I only had one lesson in the morning so I went to my friend's house and met her new puppy while we waiting and she was the most adorable thing! A hyperactive ball of fur!

When we got to the pub, it had such a Christmassy atmosphere which put everyone in a good mood! We then put all of the presents in the middle (without looking of course!) and then we opened them and guessed who got who one by one!

My friend Milly ended up buying me a 4 set of EOS lip balms! I've seen them all over the internet but as they're an American brand, I gave up hope of ever trying them! I honestly love them so much, they're super moisturising without feeling heavy and like you're wearing a thick layer of gunk on your lips and they smell so amazing! They also leave your lips feeling so soft, it's amazing what a difference it makes! The set I was given had Strawberry Sorbet, Pomegranate Raspberry, Summer Fruits and Fresh Watermelon. Strawberry sorbet and Summer fruits are my favourites but I love them either way, the packaging is also amazingly cute and so easy to just throw into a bag! 

How adorable are these?!

The sphere makes application so much easier!

My three best girl friends and I also decided to get each other little presents so two of them brought their in at the same time so I also got some really adorable things from my friends Lauren and Katie!

Katie gave me mine when I was round her house earlier in the day and it's such a pretty cameo style necklace! I love it and know exactly what I'm going to wear with it so I'm really happy with this, it's gorgeous!

How pretty is this?!

Lauren started throwing little gifts at me Katie and Milly which was quite funny, but they were the sweetest, quirkiest gift ever!

This jar of buttons will look so cute on my desk, they'd also be great if I decided one day to make a ribbon notice board that I could decorate with pretty buttons!

The next thing was a handmade soap. It smells of sherbet and has layers of different colours. I don't want to use it because it's too pretty and smells to good to ruin!

The final little thing are these socks which are so so cute it's unreal, they even have little ears! I think they're so adorable so I can't wait to wear them! 

I break up for Christmas in a week and two days so I should be able to blog more after that! 

Jess xx

University and Make Up.

This has been a rather good weekend!

On Saturday, me and my family went to London for the day but my brother felt ill so we ended up going home quite quickly after arriving. We managed to go to lunch at a restaurant called Hawksmoor before we left though and it was incredible. I had been there for breakfast before I went to my lecture day at UCL and that was also amazing but our lunch was the best I've ever had. It was in the centre of Covent Garden and quite difficult to find but so worth it, the food is so so amazing there. They're a steakhouse and they live up to their name fully. I had a really gorgeous fillet steak which was the best I've ever had! I had a quick look in Kate Spade before we left too but it wasn't as amazing as usual which was sad! My parents said that we can return in a couple of weeks when my brother is better so that will be fun!

Once we got back home, I found a letter from Reading University asking me to visit them for an interview next month! I have slightly lower predicted grades than what they want but because of my experience, they're giving me a chance which I'm really grateful for! It's a great course so I'm quite excited but very nervous as I don't know if I will be good enough!

I'm a type 1 diabetic which means I have to do injections. I have done since I was 10 and I have a severe phobia of needles so they gave me a spring loaded device so all I have to do is push a button and the needle will be automatically released. I used to have breakdowns when I tried to physically inject myself but I was told a few weeks ago that they've stopped making the spring device so I've been having to try physically inject myself so I can incase one of them breaks. I've been panicking about it so mum bribed me with a shopping trip. I've managed to do it a few times now so after Sunday lunch, me and mum went to Reading and went shopping! I got a few great pieces that I've been wanting for ages but I don't get to have them until Christmas so you have to wait and see what I got! I'm really excited though! 

Jess xx

Half Term Holiday!

I'm away in Norwich this week! I haven't been on a family holiday since the summer before last so it's fantastic to be away properly again with my family! 

We got to the house Saturday afternoon and its so gorgeous; it's a thatched cottage with the main living area upstairs which is a bit different but works really well! The only problem is that the dog is scared of going up and down the stairs so its a bit difficult for him! 

I get a double bed in my room which is amazing, the room is gorgeous and perfect, I could happily have this room as my own at home!

I found the bookshelf as well and they have some really great books! I've found one that I've actually been looking at getting for a while - I'm looking forward to reading it over the week when I have time between my half term homework! 

My room is so pretty!

Such a good way to settle into the holiday!

I don't know when or if I will be able to post again until we get back on Saturday, you'll have to bear with me as we have no wifi at home! I'm currently sitting in McDonalds with Dad soaking up all of the internet I've missed in the last 2 days...there's been a lot!

Jess xx

Top 5 Winter Films

Not all of these are specifically set in the season but they're my favourite films to watch during this time as you can just curl up and enjoy watching them. These are also in my favourite film list - I've watched them all too many times to count! 

Love Actually

This is such a great Christmas film and will leave you smiling for ages afterwards. The beginning always makes me laugh until I cry - Bill Nighy is fantastic.
I haven't seen this as much as the other films but I love it equally. 

The Proposal

These two are the perfect pair. It may not be a Christmas film but it's so great to watch while snuggled in a duvet. It's so funny and adorable, it's fantastic!

The Holiday

 An actual Christmas film!Kind of... I don't think they could have picked a better cast; Jack Black, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz?! Yes please. Although I can't help but think of Princess Fiona when Cameron speaks...
It's such a feel-good film and it's so great for around Christmas time too!
 

Notting Hill 

I don't actually know how many times I've seen this film but I know it still isn't enough. I love it so much and it's so funny! When I went to Notting Hill a couple of moths back, I tried looking for where they filmed but I assume they filmed somewhere else as I couldn't find it anywhere along where the market is!

Aristocats 

Being me, I obviously couldn't have a list of films and not include a Disney film. Aristocats is my favourite Disney film by far, it's adorable and the songs are so catchy; when I played piano, I could actually play everybody wants to be a cat! 

I hope you guys enjoyed my list! If you haven't watched any of these films, I suggest you do, they're all fantastic!
Jess xx

One Step Beyond

For my Dad's birthday present, my family bought him tickets for us to go and see Madness at Alexandra Palace last night. 

It was incredible.

At some concerts, the bands don't sound very good and it's obvious that they use auto tune, but for Madness, they sounded identical to their recorded tracks. Even though Alexandra Palace is a huge place, they commanded the crowd amazingly and it ended up being such a great night.
Unlike most concerts I've been to, the majority of the fans were older so it was a much better atmosphere and it ended up that people were dancing around (albeit drunkly) instead of making stupid mosh pits.
They played all of my favourite songs of theirs and it was great fun being able to sing along and dance to them.
I've missed going to gigs but this one was well worth the wait, it's probably the best I've ever been to!
Jess xx

My favourite gig I've been to so far!

Jezebel by Irene Nemirovsky

Jezebel is one of the books I read for my English coursework over the summer and I was surprised about how much I liked it!

"In a French courtroom, the trial of a woman is taking place. Gladys Eysenach is no longer young, but she is still beautiful, elegant, cold. She is accused of shooting dead her much-younger lover. As the witnesses take the stand and the case unfolds, Gladys relives fragments of her past: her childhood, her absent father, her marriage, her turbulent relationship with her daughter, her decline, and then the final irrevocable act." 

It seems like a pretty self-explanitory blurb, but as you read it, the plot gets more complicated and you see the full extent of Gladys' obsession with her youth and beauty. It ends with such an amazing plot twist that just left me starting at the last words on the page for ages. It's written beautifully and is such a brilliant book, it's probably one of my favourites to date! I would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes reading, it's fantastic! I can't wait to read other books by Irene Nemirovsky and see if they're as good!

Jess xx

Pompeii and Wimborne

If you haven't already realised, I've been absent for the last 6 days! I was with my boyfriend down in Dorchester which was a lot of fun! I have also been super busy back home for the last two days (One day included the Emergency bag kit) so I shall do a blog post on that soon!

I finally got to visit the Pompeii exhibition at The British Museum in London and it was fantastic. It was really eye opening to see real everyday objects from an event that happened so long ago. You don't get to see what Roman life was like for poorer people as much as the rich so Pompeii and Herculaneum are rare chances to actually look into this world from a perspective other than the rich of that world. I found some of the exhibits fascinating but heart-breaking too. The were moulds of people that were found and you could see the looks on their faces which was haunting. Unfortunately, you weren't allowed to take photos and the book with the pictures and explanations in was £25 so I don't have any pictures to show you. This exhibition was absolutely fascinating though so please please please go and visit while it's still there, it's completely worth it and 16-18 year olds and Students get in for only £12.50! It is pretty much a once in a lifetime opportunity so I really suggest you see this part of History that hasn't been properly seen before. 

The day after, we went to Wimborne. It's such a pretty place and it also had some great shops which is always good! Being me, I took a trip to the Superdrug and bought a new lip gloss/cream which is amazing, but I'll do a separate blog on that sometime later on! All I'm saying is that it smells gorgeous and looks really lovely! There was also an old fashioned sweet shop so I bought quite a few sweets! Orange and passionfruit hard boiled sweets are some of my favourites now.

Thursday was a lazy day because the windows were being replaced in the house so we ended up watching films all day! I've finally seen Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of Shadows so I'm super happy about that! Even though I love the BBC Sherlock, Robert Downey Junior and Jude Law play Sherlock and John perfectly and I laughed so much through both of the Sherlock Holmes films! 

I left Mark's house the next day but before, he bought me Marie Claire magazine to read on the 4 hour (lots of waiting between trains) journey back to my house. It contained a little tester of a perfume called Intense by Dolce & Gabanna and it smells so good! It has the cutest packaging too, if you pull up the tab, it turns into a little cardboard bottle that you squeeze and it sprays the perfume! It's amazing! The website says that the perfume has "subtle hints of Neroli and Green Mandarin, creamy and enveloping qualities of Orange Flower plays alongside the deep voracious trail of Tuberose, giving an intense full-bodied feminine signature to the fragrance, that turns heads and intrigues and the warm resinous Sandal Wood and the sensual Musky notes that blend irresistibly with the creamy addiction of the Guimauve, defining a powerful presence of captivating sensuality." It sounds so funny like that, but it's honestly such a nice scent. It's stronger so it's more of a going out, nighttime perfume but I love it. 

Jess xx

A Day out in London

Mark came up to see me straight after I got back from Sicily and we went to London for the day which was amazing! He stayed over 3 nights which was lovely! We just stayed in on Thursday which was nice and relaxed `very good after walking around for a week straight!)
On Friday we decided to go in to London which was super exciting because I haven't been for ages! I love London so it was really nice to go to loads of different places (thank you travel card!) and see parts of London I haven't properly seen before. We went to Covent Garden first and looked around a few shops which was nice; I really like it there and I really want to go back again! I finally got to go to a Kate Spade shop! It was honestly so amazing. The shop was so cute and quirky and the displays were adorable! I'll do an extra blog about it with pictures of the shop because it was so amazing! I found an absolutely gorgeous top down from £105 to £42 and Mark was just incredible and bought it for me because he's completely perfect! It has stripes and bows on it; two of my favourite things so how could I resist?!
We then went to Portobello road/Notting Hill to have a look at the market and it was so nice! It wasn't too busy so we got to look around the stalls properly! We also stumbled across the Hummingbird bakery, which I'd heard about before from Carrie Hope Fletcher (ItsWayPastMyBedTime on YouTube!) so it made me really happy to be able to try them! I got a red velvet cupcake because I've heard so much about them! The cakes were quite expensive but so worth it, mine was really tasty! It was a really pretty shop and the cakes were pretty too!

How cute are these cupcakes?!

I loved this picture on the wall!

We returned to Covent Garden because we had seen all of the market and we stumbled across a sweet shop called SugarSin that was the cutest thing ever! We got some little pots of sweets that are really nice! I got fruit chews, got my brother berry chews and Mark got Banoffee jelly beans! I'll put the pictures on the same blog post as the Kate Spade shop pictures because it was equally cute!

Kate Spade top, Hummingbird bakery cupcakes (red velvet and chocolate caramel),
Fruit sweets from SugarSin and a Hummingbird bakery brownie
- from Instagram

Jess xx

Cinema connoisseur

-I've just been on a week long holiday in Sicily and I didn't have time to post this before, sorry!-

In the last month, I've been to the cinema 5 times. That's more times than I usually go in a year! My noticeboard is covered in cinema tickets now and I love it! 

I saw The Great Gatsby with English last month which was just amazing - I loved it so much and thought it was so well done! Some things that were missed from the book annoyed me but mostly, it was a really good film! 

Next was Pompeii live which was a bit of a disaster. Our ancient history class should have been going to see the adult version that actually explained the exhibition being displayed in the British museum at the moment, but instead we went to the later version by accident and ended up in the children's version which was a glorified geography and year 4 history lesson combined with presenters as horrible and patronising as the people off Cbeebies and Newsround. It was painful to sit through mostly but it was more bearable because of our class' running commentary which was quite funny at points! When artefacts from the exhibition were shown, there weren't many, it was actually interesting so I can't wait to go at the end of August; it's going to be amazing to actually see it in person because it looks really fantastic!

The cinema in town where I go to college is a little old style, independent cinema that hosts free film nights for students once every month, and June's film was Monsters university! It was so great and funny and I loved it so much!! It was fun seeing monsters from the first film who are scarers and what they were like at Uni and also it was pretty cool to see why Randal turned out to be evil! Honestly such an amazing film, everyone must watch it! 

I then went to see Man of Steel with a friend at the same cinema that weekend and even though I'm not a huge superman fan, it was actually such a good film and I really loved it! It's directed by the guy who did 300 so I was expecting the worst so it was a really nice surprise that I ended up enjoying it! 

The last one was this last weekend (now actually about 3 weeks ago...sorry) when I saw Despicable Me 2 with Mark. I saw it in 3D and because I wear glasses it was slightly awkward at times when trying to keep them up, but it was such a good film! It was funny and sweet and I just loved every second! The minions and Agnes are still my favourites - I swear I'm more like Agnes than any of the other girls which is scary because she's only 6! That really says something about me I think....! The end credit minion mini clips were also amazing as per usual so if you watch it, don't leave the second it finishes because it's really funny! 

Mostly, the films I've seen have been fantastic and I've not seen any of them for the full price! (Thank you student card/college discounts...) All of the films are well worth the full amount though! 

Jess xx

The University Chronicles: The beginning!

This month, I've been over the whole country looking at Universities! I've only been to 4 and I've been to Devon, Berkshire (not really difficult as I live here...), the Midlands and County Durham. I've been to one of the most southern counties and one of the most northern, it's crazy but quite awesome because I get to see places I've never been before! Looking around Unis is so exciting but scary because it's another completely different step in life which is another step towards independence and 'real life'.

I've already said about Exeter and I'll say now that it's kept as the solid top choice of mine since! 

We went to look at Birmingham next and it was so nice! It was really pretty and the course was fantastic! The only let down was the accommodation, which was no where near as nice as Exeter but actually more expensive. 

Reading was the next on the list! I originally wasn't too sure about it because it's the closest big town to me and I've been there too many times to count so one of my main points for wanting to go to Uni (going away from home and exploring somewhere new) had already been smashed. However, we got there and it was really nice! The archaeology and ancient history buildings were lovely, the staff were enthusiastic and friendly and the course was really really nice! The accommodation blew the other two out of the water by miles, Birmingham by quite a bit more than Exeter still, though! The rooms were bigger, cheaper, cleaner and had so much more storage space! Reading is definitely second choice so far, I was pleasantly surprised! 

Me and dad went to Durham last Monday and I can honestly say it was one of the most disappointing experiences of my life. The accommodation was horrific, the course was no where near the standard of the other three unis, the teachers made it seem like a priveledge to be accepted rather than them being enthusiastic about the course and wanting people to get in and it had a general air of snobiness about it. I've never hated somewhere so much in my life. It was a real shame though because the actual place was lovely, the university however, wasn't. I don't understand how it has the reputation is does really; the course wasn't worth the grades they were asking for and it just didn't seem like a nice place! I think it also doesn't help that I prefer campus unis and Durham is the only non-campus Uni I've seen. I've decided to not bother applying there and look for somewhere else to look instead. Definitely not somewhere I would want to spend 3 years of my life.
I have to wait until September to visit UCL and Bristol so it's not over yet! I'm pretty confident that Exeter will be my firm choice and Reading will be insurance choice though, they're both fantastic unis.
Jess xx

EASTER!

Happy Easter everyone! Sorry about the long wait in between posts again, for the millionth time, work has taken priority. But this last week has been as awesome as it has crazily busy!
On Monday I went to a UCAS convention at Reading Uni with college which was quite fun! The English talk I went to was pretty boring, mainly because the lecturer was just dull and because I don't even want to do English, I was just there to take notes for Kate! Reading is actually one of my possible choices for Uni so it was nice being able to look around and see what it's like. I actually really liked it but some of the buildings were a bit boring and dull looking. We then went and spoke to loads of reps from different Universities and got prospectuses which was actually really useful! I had a really good chat with the lady at the stall for UCL which helped me understand what it's like living in London. I think overall I picked up about 15 prospectuses when I only went in for 7!! It's funny how you literally go in and just pick up any that look interesting, even when you have no intentions of going there!

So many!!! There's Exeter, UCL, Reading, Durham, Birmingham, Warwick,
Bournemouth, Leicester, York, Aberystwyth, Edinburgh, Royal Holloway and King's College.

I also ended up going to UCL for a taster day on Wednesday which was amazing. We had loads of lectures which was fantastic and the lecturers were all just brilliant. The building we were in was really nice and splat bang in central London, I walked down to Oxford Street and back in under half an hour! It's definitely helped me judge if it's somewhere I could see myself going, and I really can! I'm honestly so excited because it's also one of the best Unis for my course, so if I get in, it will be so amazing! Just need to get AAB first...

On Thursday, because it was the end of term, me and my family went to watch The Croods. Its been ages since we all went to the cinema together so it was nice having a bit of family time out. It was actually a pretty amazing film, it was so funny! It reminded me of Ice Age a bit at some points and seeing as that's one of my favourite films, there's nothing wrong with that!

I went round a friends house to watch some band films (All Time Low are so funny backstage!) and it was really nice catching up with my secondary school friends because they're awesome! It was a lot of fun just sitting around and eating pizza and chatting whilst awesome music goes on in the background.

Now finally on to today.....EASTER! I love it so much, it's like a chocolate Christmas! Chocolate makes me happy so this is always a good time for me, especially when I need something to keep me going whilst working!

SO MUCH YUMMINESS. yay! And also Crème Eggs, which are my favourites.

Sadly, despite the yummy chocolate, I have to do work, so I'll be back sometime in the next week I assume! Byee!
Jess xx