A Celebration

Many things have happened since I last posted here. I've done my A2 exams, been to two eighteenth birthday parties, and on Tuesday I went to the sixth form prom, which was absolutely brilliant! Months before the event, I began looking at dresses on the Debenhams website. Most of my favourites were in the Yumi collection, which was unfortunately absent from the local Debenhams store. However, I remained persistant, and using the instore wifi, I discovered that a Yumi store existed a short bus ride away, so we headed over, only to find that the shop had closed down. Feeling defeated, we trudged home, and decided to return on Sunday. Thankfully, House of Fraser sells Yumi clothing, so I was able to try on a few of the dresses I'd seen online, and I eventually settled on this one:

My dress!

I accessorized the dress with pink nails, my shoes from the year 11 prom and Em's silver bracelet!

Daisy's dad kindly offered to give Chris, Jade, Daisy and I a lift to the venue, a lovely hotel in the city centre. We inadvertently arrived about an hour before the teachers, but the time passed quickly while I marvelled at the hotel's splendour. Eventually, all but three guests arrived, so we made our way into the room, where the teachers gave us each a delightful party bag. The food arrived promptly, and I wolfed down the starter, tomato and basil soup, but had little room for the creamy tortellini main course, and couldn't even finish the sweet cheesecake dessert. After the meal it was photo time; I had 17 taken with Mrs Royall, some of which were hilarious. Soon after, people began to depart. We were among the last to leave, and while waiting for the others, I was very tempted to jump in the luggage cart à la Sebalter in the Hunter of Stars music video!

Temptation!

The walk back to the car was majestic, and the evening was one I will never forget!

Eurovision 2014: Chris's Grand Final Party

Conchita, Queen of Eurovision!

Held last night, Chris's 3rd Annual Eurovision Party was certainly the best ever! The twelve attendees cheered, squealed, grooved, joked, and sang our hearts out during the three-and-a-half hour extravaganza. Chris's decorations were second to none, with brightly coloured bunting, #TeamMolly posters and #JoinUs diamonds adorning the ceiling, walls and floor. When Austria's Conchita Wurst was announced as the victor, we were all delighted, especially Chris, who supported her from the start. We were also pleased with the UK's score, a respectable 40 points, which put us in 17th place. Here are the final standings in our group competition:

1. Chris - Austria - 1st place
2. Chelsea - Sweden - 3rd place
3. Jess - Armenia - 4th place
4. Wendy - Ukraine - 6th place
5. Steph - Denmark - 9th place
6. Jade - Finland -11th place
7. Emily - Romania - 12th place
8. Georgina - Switzerland - 13th place
9. Megan - United Kingdom - 17th place
10. Daisy - Azerbaijan - 22nd place
11. me - Malta - 23rd place
12. Rosie - Slovenia - 25th place

Yes, my beloved Firelight ended up four places above the bottom of the leaderboard, but I wasn't at all dispirited. Their performance was delightful, and I somehow managed to vote for them 50 times during the short interval. Amazingly, they were awarded 10 points by the UK, so the binge voting was well worth it! In total, they were given 32 points, which meant my pledge to eat one Malteser for each point they received was significant, yet easily doable.

32 maltesers

Daisy's tactical choice of Azerbaijan sadly failed to pay off; their 22nd place finish is the first time they've ever placed outside the top 8. After her win last year, Rosie was relegated to last place this time around. Chelsea and Chris both improved by 13 places on last year, and my first choice actually qualified this time around! The UK didn't do too badly, and the rest of the attendees' countries finished on the left hand side of the leaderboard. After the excitement of the contest, today I've felt rather melancholy, but I will look forward to Austria 2015!

Some of Chris's decoration

The artists we supported

Eurovision 2014: Country choices

Chris has continued his yearly tradition of getting each of us to choose a country to support, and this year, after much contemplation and soul-searching, I've gone for Malta! The song is called "Coming Home", and it's performed by the group Firelight, most of whom are siblings. I really like it's folky vibe and it reminds me of "Let Me Go" by Gary Barlow, a song I heard live at Gary's concert on the day we chose our countries. In truth, I can't see it winning, but I'm passionate about supporting it, which is ultimately the reason why I chose it, rather than one of the favourites like Armenia or Norway. I do think it deserves a spot in the final, and I shall definitely vote for it in the second semifinal on Thursday 8th May. However, as with last year, my choice will open the semifinal, which did not fare well for Austria's 2013 campaign, as the country did not qualify. Nonetheless, I believe Firelight has what it takes to earn a place in the 2014 final. I hope I'm correct!

Everyone else's choices are as follows:
Chris: Austria
Emily: Ireland
Georgina: Switzerland
Rosie: Slovenia
Chelsea: Sweden
Steph: Denmark
Wendy: Ukraine
Jade: Finland
Jess: Armenia
Megan: United Kingdom

May the best song win!

Prüfung und Pesto

Almost two weeks ago I sat my German A2 speaking exam. During the night I dreamt that I completely messed up, as documented in this tweet, but as morning rolled around, I became unusually calm. We were able to meet our examiner at the start of the day, and it was reassuring to find that she was just as jolly as we'd been told. After this brief introduction, Chris, Nilloy, Daisy and I left, while Rosie began her fifteen minutes of preparation. The remaining four of us returned to the Study Area, where we nervously carried out last minute revision and I correctly guessed that the word for sadness is "Traurigkeit". Over the course of the next two hours, Rosie returned, and Daisy, latecomer Lily and Chris all completed their exams. Finally, it was my turn. When I arrived, I was somewhat thankful to find that Chris was still in the examination room. Upon leaving he seemed content, which was encouraging. Before I could begin my exam, the examiner had a quick break, but she soon returned, and allowed me to choose my card. After this, the invigilator ushered me into the planning room. The time went by rather quickly, but I did manage to plan all three questions, so it was already going better than the dream. Thankfully, the topic was interesting and I had a lot to say about it. I recalled my Exposé faultlessly, then I only needed clarification on one of the questions during the discussion. Afterwards I couldn't stop smiling, and psychology breezed by in the afternoon. Later on Daisy drove Chris, Emily, Georgina and I to meet Rosie for a celebratory meal. Earlier, the examiner recommended that I have a big meal to commemorate the effort I put into the exam, so at the restaurant I chose the Rigatoni al Pesto, which almost put me off pesto for life, then later I shared a lemon meringue dessert with Chris. Coming home we realised just how great a driver Daisy is; her concentration never faltered despite the noise coming from her passengers, Chris in particular. It seems really odd that I'll never do another German speaking exam, but it's also a relief. Now I just have the three hour written exam to complete, as well as six exams from my other subjects... not too much!

Party girl

Last week I attended a friend's birthday meal. We were meant to be eating at Nando's, but a potential wait of over an hour put a stop to that notion. Thankfully, Frankie and Benny's was able and willing to seat the ten of us, providing we had vacated the table by 8pm. Swift service ensured that occurred, and my Mediterranean veg burger and mixed lemon and mango sorbet were delicious. Afterwards we popped in the arcade, then left. The birthday boy waited until Sunday to open his presents, and apparently preferred the card my sister and I made for him to the present!

A challenge

Today, Jasmine, Chris D and I caught the bus to the cinema, while t'other Chris, Tom, Ben Winter, Jade, Rosie and Jess Boulton cycled to the same destination. It was a race, but not even self-confessed slow cyclists Chris and Rosie could hold out long enough to let bus team win, although our half-hour venture did  culminate in the vehicle momentarily breaking down. Eventually we met up with the victors, all of us apart from Jess entered the cinema to watch the film "Chernobyl Diaries". It was pretty scary; Jasmine's deathly arm grab got my right arm during the trailers, while Chris spent most of the final third cowering into my left. I was sceptical of the premise: a horror film set at Chernobyl seemed rather insensitive to me, but the focus was on the characters and their eerie situation, not sensationalising the disaster. Plus we got to see the trailer for Ted!

Prom

It's been four days since the class of year 11 formally waved goodbye to compulsory education, and the celebration certainly didn't disappoint! We had pictures taken at school, then twelve of us, in a sea of blue and purple, squeezed into a fire engine limo and were whisked away to the venue.

Posing in front of the limo

The event itself was brilliant! We lapped up the American-style buffet, before heading to the dance floor.  There, we grooved to classics such as the Macarena, as well as recent chart hits and nostalgic requests. All too soon it was over, but the memories still remain, assisted by the flurry of photos uploaded within hours, and videos, including this keek.

I could reminisce forever...

Yesterday the primary school group, Georgina, Gemma, Megan, Alex, Chris and I, met up for the first time since 23rd December last year. It didn't feel like 6 months had passed; conversation still flowed like a waterfall between us, even me, at times. Alex, Georgina, Chris and I had organised to meet by the pub at 12:15 to walk to the complex together, but Chris took an extra half an hour just to wake up, and we didn't leave till after 1, when we were due to arrive! Thankfully, Georgina and Alex's constant text updates meant that we didn't keep Gemma and Megan waiting.

By 2pm the whole group was ordering delicious meals in Nando's, including Chris's whole chicken (which he did eat). After finishing our meals, we eventually decided to go bowling, and were especially enthralled to discover that we could bowl and receive a meal for just £5.95 after 3:30pm! Megan and Gemma's eyes lit up at the promise of more food, and the game was fun too! I got off to an early lead with 2 spares and 2 strikes, but by the end Chris (a.k.a. Camp) had overtaken me; he won with 145, but I was still happy with my score of 126, because it's the best I've ever done!

Next we returned to the food court; I munched away on veggie nuggets while we chatted about random things and Chris keeked for the first time in a week. Eventually we decided to call it a day, and headed home. It was great to see everyone again, and we hope to meet up a little sooner next time.

Well done Estonia!

Yesterday was the final of Eurovision 2012 from Baku, Azerbaijan and Chris decided to host a party, with each attendee picking a country to support. You may be able to tell from my nails (or from the title of this post), which country I chose... ESTONIA!! My decision was based on the fact that I enjoyed the country's effort last year (Rockefeller Street by Getter Jaani) and that I knew I'd be able to paint the country's flag on my fingernails.

My Estonia flag nails

Despite being (according to Donati) 19th favourite to win out of the 26 finalists, this year's contestant, Ott Lepland, ended up in sixth place, with 120 points! Congratulations Ott and Estonia!

The Status

On 24th November, Chris Green posted "listening to christmas songs ♥" as his facebook status. Nobody at the time would have predicted that, within 2 months, there would be over 10,000 comments on it, detailing the everday thoughts, feelings and activities of a group of teenagers. Included in its seemingly endless realms were gems such as "Chris Blue", word association games, and ringing in the new year. Unfortunately, Chris deleted it today. 

I miss you, status! Thanks for some good times! 

I know there is more to life than a facebook status, but it was good while it lasted.

Broken Dawn

Today, Em, Daisy, Georgina, Elisha, and the new couple, Chris and Chelsea, went to the cinema to see Breaking Dawn Part 1. We had a good time, eating loads of popcorn and pringles while Bella and Edward married, honeymooned and more on the 60 ft screen. After the film we said our goodbyes and departed, but Em and I will see Georgina, Elisha and the lovebirds again later as we're going to a film night at Chris's house!

RE: Rant to Chelsea Knight

Tom has broken up with Chelsea and Chris fancies Chelsea, but doesn't want to go out with her. Chelsea is giving them until next week to ask her out. Basically.

Meanwhile, I'm listening to this:

Rant to Chelsea Knight

Chelsea, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! If you still like Chris (as this tweet infers) why are you still dating Tom?? Especially after he ignored you in double German earlier... I don't get it! Either dump Tom or try and make a go of it, please! I don't like it when you're unhappy, it's annoying and pointless.



I don't understand other people.

First day back!

Today I started year 11. I could go on for ages about how I don't feel old enough to be sitting my GCSEs next May and how it only feels like yesterday that I was a nervous year 7 on my first day, but instead I'll outline the main events of today:

1. 6:45 am - get up my dad's clock is fast so we were up before 7, but at least it meant we weren't late to...
2. 8:07 am - meet Georgina a couple of minutes earlier than usual (only because it's the first day). Thanks to this, I subsequently miss seeing 8:09 on my watch, but the songs I listened to on the walk to school make up for it.
3. 8:31 am - at school Em, Daisy, Georgina and I are now at school, commenting on how small the new year 7s are and talking about TV shows. This area of conversation is lifted when Chelsea arrives; she will later attempt to work out how many hours of TV she watches in a week (it's a lot).
4. 8:45 am - tutor time we get our new planners (I predicted the cover would be dark and stripy), fill in our timetables, do a fire drill and Rosie's ruler makes my head bleed. Break follows, before our first proper lesson of the day:
5. 11:10 am - science work out our current grades in each module in science, and shake up our seating plan. We now sit (clockwise from the sink): Rachel, Chelsea, me, Chris Donati, Tom, Chris Green, Rosie.
6. 12:10 pm - RS same teacher, seating plan and module as before.
7. 1:10 pm - lunch hall closed so we eventually settle around the morning bench. I hold Em's mirror for her to put her brace bands in.
8. 1:55 pm - PE with no kit, there's nothing to do in PE except listen to sir talk for the best part of an hour. Luckily next lesson we can listen to music while walking. Good times.

I could go on, but assembly isn't particularly interesting and my right arm aches from the tetanus injection I had at the doctors earlier. See ya!

Recent good times

So, topless Bono month on my U2 calendar is officially over (has been for days), and I'm still yet to compile a blog post in the merry month of July. What can I say, I've been not at all busy! Here's a few excerpts from the more interesting events of late:

Tuesday 28th - Brace date
I got braces a week ago today! They ached a bit at first but I'm getting used to them now.

Thursday 30th - Bad Teacher
I went to see the film Bad Teacher with Chelsea and Chris. It was fun, especially watching Chris on the dance game in Bowlplex.

Saturday 2nd - Georgina's party
I had so much fun around Georgina's house with her brother James, Em, Chris, Daisy, Chelsea and Elisha, especially trying to catch food in your mouth (I'm surprisingly good with small pieces of dorito!)

Here's to a fun-filled July!

Happy Breathe Day!

16th of June, 9:05, doorbell rings, man at the door says if I wanna stay alive a bit longer, there's a few things I need you to know... three!

Mangotsfield Festival

I had a great time today at the annual Mangotsfield Festival with Em, Chris and Chelsea; we bought random-flavoured ice creams (mine was cherry, apple and lemon), perused the wide variety of stalls, and sat in the bright summer sun (luckily I brought my shades!). We were just ambling around, looking at stock the library was trying to get rid of, when I found a U2 CD inamongst it. It turned out to be an exclusive All That You Can't Leave Behind promo EP from a newspaper, and I suddenly gained a keen interest in the content of these precariously stacked boxes. I discovered the full Batman Forever soundtrack, pounced on Passengers: Original Soundtracks 1, and was just about to leave when Chelsea picked up the Discothèque CD single! Perfect! Our shabbily organised outing to the Cleve rugby club grounds had yielded me 4 albums, 2.5 hours of music, and the opportunity to go mad in public, as well as help fund our local libraries. And I was home by 2:30. What could be better?

(As I write, the discs are scattered around the laptop after being uploaded to iTunes, except for OS1 because I already downloaded it, thinking that an event like this would be impossible, and basically being impatient.)

Happy birthday Rosie!

Today is Rosie's birthday and I hope she's having a great one! She had a party yesterday which, like last year took place at Castle Quarry. We only got to canoe this time, but it was great, and I think I've improved since last year! Afterwards we jumped in the pond (and Chelsea was thrown in) then we got changed (Chelsea into her orange dress, and I into my lemon dress) and headed back to Rosie's for food; I couldn't stop "hav[ing] another grape" and also ate a few slices of pizza, as well as polishing off the strawberries. We played Buzz on the playstation afterwards, Chelsea, Chris and I came third overall but were first for most of the game. It was soon pass the parcel time; Tom won the first game and I won the second, as Chris, Chelsea and I fiddled with Rachel (Rosie's sister)'s iTunes. I put on Somebody Told Me and Human by The Killers, which went down well with the others (Tom and Izzy liked it) then Rosie unwrapped her presents. To end the night, we youtubed fun dance songs such as YMCA and Cha Cha Slide and Rosie took a few pictures which I hope will appear on facebook soon...

Happy birthday Chris!

Yay, once again it's Chris's birthday, and what better way to celebrate than with a maths test? He wasn't too disheartened though, as he received lots of (mostly chocolate) presents from us, and extra hair gel from Chelsea, as well as having a double lesson with Miss Ashford... ;)

Fun, fun, fun, fun!

Had a great day out today with Rosie, Chelsea, Daisy, Chris, Rachel and my sister Emily. We went to a park and enjoyed playing on the swings, roundabout and zip wire as though we were 5 years old again! I took a few videos on the camera including ones of Rosie falling off both the zip wire and a random spinning thing; luckily she wasn't hurt!