Weekly Update!

My Birthday Week (part 2)

Continuing on from my last post, on Thursday I was going to hit the gym, but it was such a sunny day that I couldn't bring myself to, so I had a wander into town instead. I got some things for my dad for Father's Day, and stopped for a cup of tea in an amazing little place called the Novel Cafe that has recently opened. Its walls are completely lined with books, that you are invited to read if you go in. I took my own book though and stayed for a good hour in the peace and quiet! That evening I went for a barbecue at my friends house, where a bottle of wine turned into 3, and I ended up sleeping over despite it being a five minute walk home to my house!

On Friday I was a little groggy, but after a severe lie in I had to go onto campus to do a psychology experiment I had put my name down for. Once that was done though, I headed back home for another nap to try and sleep off my hangover. In the evening the girls from the fashion society came to mine, and we voted in our new exec whilst enjoying some cheese and wine. As you can imagine though, I only had one glass before I decided to stick to just the lemonade! The night was cut short somewhat though by a mishap that ended in A & E, as someone twisted their ankle quite badly. 3 hours and a pair of crutches later though, she was smiling again- phew!

Yesterday it was my friend's 21st, so I trained it back to Manchester to go to her garden party in Knutsford, which was adorable. There were marquees in the garden, homemade floral bunting, gorgeous flowers everywhere and an amazing buffet including a hog roast and old fashioned sweets in jars. So much effort had gone into it and it looked incredible, and was a thoroughly enjoyable day/ night.

Today is Father's Day/ my dad's birthday from Friday, so we had a chinese takeaway and watched him open his presents and cards. I also had some from home as well, which was a nice surprise, so it was a happy day all around, and in general a brilliant week!

Mid-week Update!

My Birthday Week (Part 1)

As this week is so filled with fun things with it being my 21st birthday week, I thought I'd do two weekly update posts. On Monday my friends from home came up to visit, and after cooking some lovely pasta for us all, we got ready and I had a party to celebrate my birthday, as Monday is a much better day to go out in Lancaster. I made some cute cupcakes and other goodies for everyone coming, and there turned out to be quite a crowd!

We started at the house, where I opened lots of cards and presents before heading into town. First of all we went to Hustle, a shot bar that isn't quite as glamorous as it sounds! We had a couple of drinks there before moving on. The club I had planned to go to was heaving, so we went to Toast next door, which I haven't been to all year. They had some good drinks offers on though, and karaoke, which was great fun once we'd all had a few drinks, and it was really busy due to the overspill from next door.

The following day was my actual birthday, so after a nice lie in, I made a cooked breakfast for everyone that we ate outside due to the glorious weather. Once I had said goodbye to those that stayed, Chris and I went into town to buy some ingredients for a meal that we were having that evening (see previous post).

On Wednesday I went round to my friends house for a meal as my flatmate from first year was back from her year abroad in Spain. We had garlic bread and a vegetarian lasagne that the host had made, followed by summer fruit crumble that I cooked which went down very well. It was nice to catch up with the girls whilst enjoying some tasty food, bring on the rest of the week!

Homemade Recipes!

My 21st Meal

Yesterday it was my 21st birthday, and rather than go out for a meal as we have done in previous years, my boyfriend Chris and I decided to stay in, get some nice ingredients, and cook at home. After looking through my Marie Claire cook book, we found a couple of nice recipes, and adapted them to suit our tastes a bit more.

For our starter we had scallops, as being a lover of seafood, I have always wanted to try them. We kept it relatively simple and had them fried in butter on a bed of salad, but with a homemade dressing. It was made from lemon and lime juice, chopped fresh garlic and chilli, olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. The citrus juice made it lovely and refreshing, while the heat from the chilli (though the seeds were removed) provided a pleasant zingy aftertaste.

For the main course we had lamb, that was marinated in lemon juice, salt, pepper and fresh thyme before being pan fried in olive oil alongside some more sprigs of thyme. We served it with boiled asparagus and dauphinoise potatoes. The potatoes were made simply by heating a carton of double cream with some chopped garlic and a sprinkle of cheese at a low temperature, and pouring it over thinly sliced potatoes arranged into layers, before cooking for approx 40 minutes. It is quite a rich dish, but the double cream can be half mixed with natural yoghurt or UHT milk if a less indulgent result is required!

For dessert we cheated, and had slices of triple layer rocky road birthday cake that my mum had bought me. It was accompanied by a lovely latte macchiato made by my new red Nescafe Dolce Gusto coffee machine, a present from Chris.

Though it did require slightly more effort than just sitting in a restaurant and being served, it was fun to choose exactly what we wanted, rather than being restricted by a menu. And of course it was much easier on our pockets!

Weekly Update!

Exams & celebrations!

The beginning of this week was awful, due to me having an exam on Thursday, and having a complete lack of ability to revise for it. It has always been that way for me, and this year was no exception. After fruitlessly writing notes all of Monday, I realised halfway through Tuesday that I wouldn't finish writing up all of my lectures, so stopped and resorted to reading through them all, which never really sinks in. By the time it got to Wednesday, the day before my exam, I had completely given up, and so went to the gym, had long conversations with my best friend and my mum, and watched The Apprentice.

Eventually, Thursday dawned, and I was surprisingly not nervous, wanting more than anything to just get it over and done with. At 11.30am, I stepped outside the examination room and it dawned upon me that my university career was officially over. It was bliss. I celebrated by going to the gym (better to get all the horrid things out of the way early) and then mooching around the house in a state of euphoria until 6pm when I started getting ready for my friends to come round to my house.

At 7pm, a few friends came round for some drinks before we headed into town. By 11pm it was pouring down with rain, but nothing could dampen my spirits as a lucky few of us jumped in a taxi whilst the others walked. Ten minutes later we were warm and cradling drinks inside the Friary, and were joined soon after by three drowned rats. We stayed there for the whole of the night, but it was good to be able to have proper conversations rather than struggle to hear each other if we had decided upon a club.

Friday was spent in bed, and being disgustingly lazy, I didn't dress for the whole day. Chris had stayed over, so we watched episodes of Come Dine With Me, and got a chinese takeaway in the evening, after I realised I had been paid- woop!

On Saturday, the weather was gorgeous, so we went round to our friends house for a barbecue, which soon escalated into a 'burn anything in the vicinity of the barbeque' due to the large amount of boys in the group. I walked back to mine at around 7pm, and watched some rubbish telly before getting an early night.

Sunday was spent tidying the house and making cakes ready for my 21st birthday party tomorrow. I made some white chocolate chip frog cupcakes, a sponge loaf with strawberry jam filling and covered in white chocolate, and some rock cakes, that contained everything I needed to get rid of! I also walked into town to get a few bits of food to feed my friends from home who are coming to stay. I really miss having a bus pass this term, as I had to walk home in the pouring rain with heavy bags!