Crazy few months - Graduation/Moving Out/PGCE/Holidays & Festivals

Wow.

Everything has been a little bit hectic since my last post.

First of all, and possibly saddest of all, my university experience came to an end. On the 21st of July, I graduated from the University of Huddersfield, which was a bit of a surreal day and left me with a whole load of emotions and feelings. Firstly, happy that I'd passed and was now the proud owner of a degree, sad that my three years at uni had come and gone in the blink of an eye, scared at the prospect of making a fool of myself whilst on stage during graduation, and also scared at the fact that I had absolutely no post-graduation plans whatsoever. Nevertheless, the day came and went and it wasn't nearly as scary as I had anticipated, I didn't fall off stage, I didn't look as stupid as I thought I would, and I actually had a great deal of fun.

Photograph courtesy of Shauni Hetherington via Facebook

The day after graduation was the day I'd been dreading for months on end - moving out day. The day I had to say goodbye to the friends I'd pretty much lived with on and off for the last three years. The friends that I shared every innermost thought and deepest secret with. The friends that knew every last thing about me, right down to how I was feeling at any given moment to what I was probably thinking at any given moment. The friends that I am very rarely seen without and very rarely cope without. It was one of the most emotional days of my life, as dramatic as that might sound. It took us all weekend to move our stuff out of the flat and the sheer amount of stuff we threw away was ridiculous (so much so that the binmen had a good rummage and took out some of it for themselves!) Eventually we left our beloved home and went our own separate ways, which was devastating, but hopefully we will not be seeing the last of each other because those girls mean the world to me and I hope the feeling is mutual!

Our humble abode looking empty and downright spotless!

So after moving out of the flat, came the big move back to Castleford - another event I'd been dreading for months. Cas is my home-town and I'm not the kind of person to forget my roots but at times it can be such a dull place, where everybody has their own little routine and many people lack ambition. Those who do have aspirations and ambitions rarely stay here, and instead venture off to nearby cities and towns with a little more to offer. That being said, the novelty of coming home to a place I grew up in, does often sound really appealling and sometimes fills me with excitement, but this novelty wears off very quickly, when I realise how mundane life round here really is. 

Now as I've probably documented before, when in Castleford, I stay with my grandma, because she is the only member of the family with a room spare for me! And because it's my escape place, and a place I feel comfortable and well looked after in. My grandma and grandad do and have done an awful lot for me, so I do like spending time at their house and in their company and I'd like to think they enjoy having me here too. While staying here, I've had some epic meals and learnt a lot about my family that I never knew before and I have genuinely really enjoyed having long chats with my grandma and looking at old photos trying to decide which baby is which grandchild whilst laughing at our shocking fashion choices. The last month has had me yo-yo-ing between Castleford and Huddersfield for work, but I have actually enjoyed spending time in both places and having the best of both worlds.

(See below for some of the aforementioned hilarious baby photos me and my grandma managed to unearth!)

However, my time dipping between Castleford and Huddersfield is about to come to an end, because I will be moving back to the Hudd next week for another year of studying, only this time for a PGCE (Post-graduate Certificate of Education.) During the last two months, I applied for a place on a Further Education PGCE, because I had no idea what I really wanted to do with my degree and the only real career I had ever toyed with was the prospect of being a teacher. Everyone who knows me, knows just how much I relish the opportunity to check over other people's pieces of work, offering better ways to word sentences and ideas to improve whatever the project might be. This combined with my knowledge of Media Studies, could potentially be my ideal job. With this in mind, I applied for a place on a PGCE course at my former university and with no experience and little confidence in myself, I honestly didn't think I would even be considered for a second, let alone given an interview. But, obviously, I was, and I can't even describe how nervous I was for the interview, in which I had to give a presentation (something I don't exactly excel at!) But I bit the bullet, and threw myself into the interview whole-heartedly, and am so proud of myself because it meant I was successful and will be starting the course within the next month. I am incredibly excited for this next chapter and can't wait to get stuck in.

As if all of the above wasn't chaotic enough, I have also been on a holiday with my family and even spent last weekend at Leeds Festival, which I am planning on writing a post about, very soon. July and August have been hectic to say the least, hence my distinct lack of posts. I won't make any promises about having lots of posts to come, because in a fortnight I start my course, which I have been warned, is pretty full on. But I will definitely be posting about my Leeds Fest experience before I go AWOL again.

Is there such a thing as shopaholics anonymous?!

During July, I spent the whole month flitting between work and an empty flat. I had no exciting plans, no money and I was in dire need of human conversation with someone other than a customer. The month seemed to drag on forever and I couldn't wait for it to end so that I could look forward to all the fun plans ahead for me in the following month.

Now we are 2 weeks into August and as predicted, I have been rushed off my feet! I have been to Leeds, Manchester and of course in and out of Huddersfield which is where I live. I have met up with friends, seen a lot more of my boyfriend and just genuinely had a lot more fun already this month. One of the things I have been doing a lot of, is shopping. So much so, that I am now ridiculously skint and worried that I may have an addiction to buying things! With this in mind, I decided to show off some of the things I have been buying lately.

Most of these items have already been worn, so I'll do my best to remember the prices, or at least give a rough idea.

This first outfit is something I wore to my boyfriend's gig in Manchester earlier this week. The top is a simple black lace crop top which was around £5 from Primark. I was thrilled to find this, because I recently bought a similar one from Topshop and had to return it, as it was too tight and didn't fit nicely. This top however, is a great alternative for a fraction of the price. The leather look skater skirt was also from Primark at around £5 - a complete bargain when most places are selling them for £15 upwards. To finish off the outfit, I wanted some flatforms and luckily I managed to find these little bargains in Primark for £12. They are black with a suede/velvet feel, and have a dainty little ankle strap, which takes emphasis away from the chunky platform. I am in love with these shoes as they are so comfortable and will go with any outfit. Flatforms are great if you are useless in heels and can only cope with a wedge, like me. I just know these will be my go-to 'going out' shoe from now on.

The next item I bought from Primark is pretty basic but I am so in love with it, that I bought 3! (ooops!) It is simply an oversized batwing sleeved jumper, in a marl purple colour. The reason I bought 3 of these is because they are incredibly comfortable and look great over a pair of plain black leggings. They were an absolute steal at £5 each and have a lovely fitting, which comes lower at the back and sits slightly off the shoulder.

The next item is from an ebay shop called punk-never-dies which sells a wide range of band t-shirts, vests and dresses. They stock loads of artists and bands from Justin Bieber to Alice Cooper, so if you're into music of any kind, you might just find something to suit your tastes. As you can see, I bought a Black Sabbath vest as I recently became quite a fan of theirs after seeing them live at Download Festival last year. My boyfriend has loved them for years and my mum is also a fan, so after being converted myself, I decided to buy this vest ready for when I see them again in December. (Super excited!)

In keeping with the music theme, I also visited one of my favourite stores - Pulp. I always love having a browse at all the alternative clothes in this store, but rarely buy anything as I'm always skint! However, this time they had an offer on any 2 band t-shirts for £25, which I thought was fantastic, because some places sell one for that price. So me and my boyfriend took full advantage of the offer; me with this Metallica tee and him with a rather obscene Johnny Cash one. We got two t-shirts that we both love for only £12.50 each - bargain!

The next top I bought was again, from Primark. I saw this and shoved it straight in my basket because I just thought it was really cool! A tiger's face on a galaxy style background - whats not to love?! I also love the cutout back on this vest and it was only £6 so I didn't even think twice about buying it.

Apologies for how creased this blouse is! I have worn it to death over the last week! This isn't something I would normally buy but for some reason I just love it. It looks really vintage and 80s, but it was actually from Primark. It was £10 which in comparison to some of the other Primark things I have bought, is a bit more expensive, but I have probably got my moneys worth out of it already!

This lacy shrug is from Primark and was £6. I picked it up because I thought it was a nice alternative to a cardigan on a night out or just to put with a nice dress. I love how floaty and wide the sleeves on it are. Plus its lightweight enough to fit in my bag if I'm out and don't want to wear it. Primark had a few other nice shrugs in other styles so its worth having a look even if lace is not your thing.

Finally something not from Primark! These are both from Urban Outfitters, which is one of my favourite shops. I actually did quite well buying these two as they came to less than £25 with student discount and I am notoriously known among my friends for my Urban Outfitters sprees. The vest is a pinky purple colour with a cool pattern and is quite small and lightweight, perfect for Summer. It was only £12 which is really cheap for UO. The necklace was quite expensive at £14, but its a turquoise turtle for the love of God! I love turtles and I'd been eyeing this up for quite a while so I had to have it!

The final thing I'm going to post is possibly my favourite. It is considerably more girly than all the other things I've bought lately but its so pretty, and fits so nicely that I just love it. I saw this on Facebook by a page called Bows Boutique which I was unaware that I had 'liked' so it was more than a pleasant surprise when this came up on my timeline. The print on the dress is really nice and Summery. The actual dress itself is also really flattering. It is a skater style dress, and also has a little padding on the bust area which is great for me. I haven't had the opportunity to wear this out yet but I can't wait til I do as its beautiful.



After writing this post its suddenly very obvious why I am so poor at the minute! This is not even half of the things I have bought lately but I would be writing this forever if I featured everything.

There are also a few things I have bought which I'm not too sure on, so there could be another Ebay session very soon!

Hopefully its not just me that can be this reckless when it comes to shopping!