A life without student loans

So, as is obvious, I immediately failed in keeping regular blog posts - I can only blame the stress and panic that University education incites in me, but I am determined to step up my game from here out. I promise also to actually introduce myself in some sort of human form, soon, but for the moment I enjoy the idea of an anonymous blog, saving me from paranoia about what I can and really shouldn't publish about myself online!

This post I think will probably be relevant to alot of people, but especially fellow students. Doomed to walk the earth being told how lucky they are to have the summer months off, yet actually being too poor to even afford an ice cream... it's the stuff blockbusters are made of! Or maybe not. As you may guess, I am one of those good-for-nothing young whippersnappers who has little to do this summer, save sleep and watch Friends reruns obsessively - and I hate it. Obviously, the first week or so of constant napping and catching up on trashy teen dramas, following months of wanting to tear my own face off due to essays and looming failure, was very pleasant. However, following a minor breakdown over turning 20 in 50 days (oh my giddy aunt I'm nearly a decade old), I have decided that such time wasting is no longer appropriate.

Of course, getting a job is an option... and in most cases, getting shot down is the inevitable result. I applied for so many retail positions, but alas the current financial climate means that not only do there seem to be less jobs, but also that about a million people are competing for each one - and unfortunately, 4 years shop skivvy experience and an empty diary wasn't enough to win me a position. I believe that store managers have developed the ability to sniff out the student applicants who will mysteriously disappear around September... darn it. In the end I badgered the local hospital (where 5 of my close friends now work, as it's the only place that seem to want us!), and happily secured a place as a cleaner on bank hours, ironically getting the only job that was never even advertised. Nevertheless, I have several weeks of waiting for them to check whether I'm a violent maniac or hoodlum with the relevant authorities, and I know that not everyone has a friend who volunteers in hospitals to discover lovely mysterious job positions.

So! My short introduction to living even when your bank balance has died a horrible death.


(1) Spring clean/bartering everything you own online. I moved home after my second year at uni, to discover that all my hoarded possessions wouldn't physically fit in my room any longer. Ebay and Amazon marketplace are serving me pretty well, and are both free to use (a cut is taken from sales, but if you don't sell anything you won't lose money) Even scouring charity shops in uni towns for recently published, good condition study books could turn a profit, come graduation alot of students literally discard everything (A friend where I lived in termtime threw out the entirety of her kitchenware to save washing it up, interesting logic...)


(2) Free music. Spotify is my official lifeline these days, I honestly don't know what I'd do without it (even though tracks keep getting taken off...) current favourites are Hole's new album 'Nobody's Daughter', anything by Ludovico Einaudi for calm times, and my current annoyance is for the removal of Florence and the Machine's 'You Got the Love' as remixed by the XX (alternatively found here). I have also fallen back in love with the radio, but listen to programmes online rather than religiously tune into radio 1 for Zane Lowe's shows like I did a few years ago...


(3) Free books. Alright, so I'm a massive bookworm - but I refuse to spend crazy amounts of money on them, especially as I am decidedly fickle when it comes to novels and get bored easily, there are very few books I can read more than once and enjoy. I am loving my local library this summer - I've got out Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby', Kurt Vonnegut's 'Slaughterhouse 5', Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita', Salman Rushdie's 'The Ground Beneath Her Feet', and Dostoyevsky's 'Crime and Punishment' to plough through for starters! I'm actually an English Literature student, and have an embarrassingly small knowledge of modern/cult classics, so I'm aiming to buff up a bit over summer - any suggestions of must-reads welcome!


(4) Free fun stuff. Festivals, museums, house parties... granted, transport might cost a little, but days out can still be cheap. My nearest National Trust Park (Lyme Park, coincidentally where the BBC filmed parts of 'Pride and Prejudice') is free entry if you walk in rather than take a car, and possibly my cultural highlight of last summer was Banksy's amazing art exhibition - which had free entry, of course.


(5) Get arty. Luckily my house contains my mum's old sewing machine which I have been completely monopolising - I am by no stretch of the imagination a seasoned seamstress, but this summer's creations are set to include a new uni bag, and lots of throws/cushions to make my uni flat next year comfy and cosy (future blog post!) My flatmates and I planned a team effort to make the identikit student accommodation more homely on a tiny budget; the plan revolving heavily around making beanbags and painting cheap canvases to hang up. However, my newly acquired passion for the lush fake fur in Manchester's fabric store Abakhan may result in them returning to a pad already decked out like an eskimo's boudoir... heehee.


(6) Baking. Again, a future blog post will mark my attempts to make birthday cupcakes half as gorgeous as these, by Claire of 'French for Cupcake' or these, by an Argentinian bakery 'Dots Cupcakes, featured on 'Cupcakes Take the cake'. A snack can become a great present if made to this kind of perfection!


I know there are probably may more ideas for free fun out there, so feel free to add to the list! Also, my next blog post will have pictures and fun stuffs, my newfound html skillz will prevail :)

Hello, my name is Alice, and I am a sugar junkie...

I think the fact I felt the need to announce this in my very first blog post proves this point! Since childhood I have always been the first to finish my easter eggs, blow my pocket money on 20p mixes, and bake full batches of cookies only to polish them all off in the same afternoon. I blame my lack of self control, my flatmates blame the 'little fat kid' inside of me (yes, that's right, they have invented an alter-ego to explain my love of sweet stuff)


My initial introduction to online blogging was through recipe websites and bakery blogs such as bakerella which provide recipes, inspiration, and well.... to be blunt, my idea of food porn! Dedicated food journalists and their devestatingly perfect camera skills lead to me just gazing at baked goods on my laptop screen. Oh dear.



America seems to be harbouring the absolute pinnacle of cupcakes, blogs such as cupcakes take the cake dedicated exclusively to discovering and reviewing various bakeries' cupcake creations. I get steadily more hungry after reading for a few minutes on hi hat cupcakes (where the frosted cupcake is then topped with a layer of chocolate!), wedding cupcakes (the best idea for favours), bacon cupcakes (umm...), and frosting shots. The frosting shot, as the name may suggest, is simply a shotglass or cup of frosting - which removes all the pesky carbs that are found in cake, so I like to think that this is a healthy option. Yep, that's almost definitely the truth.





For those of us languishing in the North of England, however, there is still hope... sugary, delicious hope. Manchester's alternative shopping wonderland Afflecks Palace has a new shop on the second floor, by the name of cocoa emporium. The website promises that their latest store will not only sell gorgeous-looking handmade chocolates, but also their range of cupcakes - including unique flavours of stem ginger, earl grey tea, and rose and pistachio! Obligatory chocolate themed cakes are also available, naturally. A visit to this shop is topping my to-do list for the next time I'm in town!


A firm favourite of mine already is the gorgeous baking of Teacup (53-55 Thomas Street, in Manchester's Northern Quarter) which has fast become my little luxury during times of uni stress. Their soft but rich hazelnut cupcake, topped with a satisfying swirl of thick vanilla buttercream and a whole hazelnut, comes second.... following the most decadent chocolate orange cake thickly topped with cream cheese frosting... just thinking about it makes me hungry!


Teacup is one of the many great little hidden treasures which the Northern quarter contains, and offers the kooky individualism of Manchester's independent shops through homemade pies, fresh smoothies and teapots to order (various sizes are available, dependent on the number of tea drinkers present!) An excellent choice for a lazy Sunday lunch, Teacup also have the loveliest staff who couldn't be more helpful and I promise will not aggravate any lingering hangover. Perfect.