ROME!

So at the end of August, my friend Jade and I decided to jet off to Rome for a few days as a graduation present to ourselves. We had thought about going away together for a while now and thought Rome was the perfect place to go.

We flew out on a Sunday and was there for three nights and I personally think this was the perfect amount of time to spend out in the city. I had an amazing time, I saw everything I wanted to (even though the Colosseum had some scaffolding on and the Trevi fountain was under construction) and tasted everything I wanted to as well, so overall it was a really amazing trip.

On the first day we got on our Hop-On-Hop-Off bus (which was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel) and our first stop was Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum and after was the Colosseum as this was what we both wanted to see the most. It was breathtaking. Luckily there weren’t huge queues and we got in extremely quickly (queue jump is my best friend). I’m glad we visited Palantine Hill and the Roman Forum but if I’m honest I wasn’t totally blown away. The ruins were surreal to look at (how have they lasted so long?) but after a while it got a bit samey so we headed to the Colosseum which Jade and I both enjoyed.

For dinner we headed to a restaurant which was a two minute walk from the Colosseum and I got a HUGE pizza which was delicious. I have to admit, I was expecting Rome to be crazy expensive but it really wasn’t! The most we were paying for a meal was twelve euros each and that was for a main and a drink. After dinner we then went down to a bar with a view of the Colosseum which looked amazing of a night.

On the second day our main goal was to visit Vatican City. It was crazy hot on this day as we had to wearing things which covered our shoulders and knees but it was so worth it. We visited the museums and St Peters and the Sistine Chapel and they were all so breathtaking. The only downside was that the museums were PACKED, and when I say packed, I mean packed. We were like sardines in a tin (can you imagine that in that heat?). After this we then went to visit the Pantheon, the Trevi and Baroque fountains and The Spanish Steps (which was a bit of a let down as well). As well as all of these places we also visited other churches and cute little side streets and had tons of time to do a bit of tourist shopping as well.

I’ve gotta say, the Italians know their food. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten so much good food whilst being on holiday. I’ve also never eaten that much cheese (it made me unwell when I came back home!!) but I can now say I’ve had traditional Italian dishes whilst in Italy. Their ice-cream is beautiful, as are their Cannoli’s (which we brought back home with us), and their pasta, risotto and everything else we tried was amazing.

I had a great time in Italy so I’m quite sad to be home!!!!

Life lately…

After graduation, life has been a whirlwind. I’ve been working non-stop for the university and I’ve also booked a short break to visit Rome with my best friend Jade (I’ll probably be writing a blog post on that once I get back – also, if anyone has been to Rome, please give me some recommendations as to where to visit!)

So what have I been up to? Well, apart from working I’ve been attempting to look for graduate jobs and realising how hard it is. My contract with the university runs out at the end of October so I don’t have too long in order to find another job.

As well as this I’ve been debating whether to return to the University of Greenwich’s Cheerleading Team. If you’ve been continuously reading my blog then you’re aware how much I love cheerleading and how sad I would be if I had to give it up! The main reason for possibly giving cheer up would be due to work commitments (and seeing as I have been struggling with this – it isn’t a huge problemL), I’m basically just thinking ahead. I would obviously love to keep cheering. The people are so lovely and it’s such an amazing sport (If you follow the University of Greenwich’s Twitter account then you’ll have seen this picture of me flying at work! This was to show what graduates would miss most about university. Mine was cheerleading).

I’ve also been trying to keep on top of my blog lately (staceytalksbeauty.blogspot.com if you want a read!) and I’ve also started up my own YouTube Channel which I was really excited about. I’ve been wanting to start one for years now (since I started my blog) and finally got round to doing it a few weeks back.

What have you guys been up to?

Join Cheer

So it’s almost time for the new academic year to begin and it’s also time to think about recruiting new people for Cheerleading!

If you’ve read my blog before you’ll see that I do love Cheerleading and I’m so happy that I joined in my second year of university. It’s a great way to stay in shape, improve flexibility and of course to meet some great new people. Both men and women are welcome as we compete in co-ed (mixed) competitions.

So, what is cheerleading? We get together twice a week for practice and this is when we learn the routine which we shall take to competitions. We normally do some stretching, learning the routine, and sometimes conditioning and finally a cooling down period which is also mainly stretching.

Competitive cheerleading is a mix of dance, cheer, tumbling and stunting all put together into a two and a half minute routine. It’s hard work (as some people have to lift others, whilst the flyers are being thrown into the air) but it’s so rewarding when you successfully put forward a routine. Our last competition was at the end of June, where I *sprained* my ankle (I think it’s actually more than a sprain as this was 7 weeks ago now and it still hasn’t healed! Maybe I should get it looked at again…) but it was an overall enjoyable competition!

Of course, it’s not just competitive cheerleading, we have fun practices. Like a few months ago the squad had an army *Smoed* themed practice and I sadly missed it but it looked like so much fun! We also hold soooo many socials, there’s a Team Greenwich event at Sparrows every Wednesday. It’s not all drinking though, we do hold other events for the non-drinkers (although you are welcome to come along to Sparrows if you don’t drink of course!!!), and we go out for meals and have movie events at the university.

There’s also a DANCE SQUAD and a SPIRIT SQUAD if you don’t want to be on the cheer team itself. The SPIRIT SQUAD goes to other Team Greenwich games such as American Football and we cheer them on with our pom poms (obviously poms had to be in there somewhere), afterwards Cheer and American Football go out for a few drinks to all get to know one another.

For the DANCE SQUAD, they usually compete at the same competitions as the CHEERLEADING COMPEITIVE SQUAD and they compete at regional and national levels in Pom, Hip Hop and Jazz.

And then of course there’s TOUR, which Team Greenwich goes to every year. I’ve been twice now and it will be my third time next year! It’s an amazing experience and if you join Cheer (or any other sports team) I would recommend going, it’s so much fun and you get to know your squad so much better. You don’t have to be a drinker to go on Tour, you can come and enjoy yourself without drink!

Our Cheerleading squad is full of lovely people, so you can come along and see us at both of the Freshers Fairs (Greenwich 24^th September/Avery Hill 22^nd September) and have a chat with us about joining. See you in September! J

What am I going to do now?

So, now I’ve graduated from University of Greenwich, I have to decide what I’m going to do with my life now. Of course at first I was interested in a career in Film. I still am, I think it would be an amazing career. Imagine that, working on a set of a film! To me, it sounds like great fun. However, I’m not the only one who thinks this type of job sounds great and therefore struggled to find a job in this sort of area.

So I decided to think about what other careers I was interested in. I remembered that when I completed a few weeks work experience at a local primary school for secondary school work experience that I really enjoyed it. But I wasn’t sure that I would enjoy doing it full time and for the rest of my life so I decided to get some more experience to make sure.

I began some more work experience at another primary school for two more weeks, and even though it was exhausting (they were a year 5 class), it was really rewarding. To see them learn and enjoy class was amazing and was extremely enjoyable. To work in a field where you are helping others, to me, sounds great.

After this I decided the time was right for me to make an application to the University of Greenwich for a PGCE in Primary Education. Luckily, this is funded by Student Finance England otherwise it wouldn’t be possible for me to complete it. I went to an interview and was put on a waiting list, a few weeks after this I was given a conditional offer. The only thing that held me back was the Skills Test. I had taken the Numeracy Skills test twice and failed both times, I’m not sure why, because I revised, but maybe (*obviously*) I should have studied more…

So what’s in store for me now? I think I’m going to work for now and reapply for the PGCE next year, which gives me plenty of time to revise for the Numeracy Skills Test. I’m also going to apply for Camp America. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and I can’t wait!

Taking a year out to do other things can be scary, but they will be worth it.

Graduation

The time has finally come for me to graduate! And it feels so weird saying so. My graduation time was at 4:30 but we had to be there an hour and a quarter before so we had enough time to be robed and have our professional photos done.

When we arrived it felt so surreal to see all my friends and classmates in their gowns and mortarboards already. We all said our ‘Hello’s’ and hugged and had photos taken by our parents and family members. My dad took some really nice ‘in-between’ shots to show the real emotion of the day!

It was SO hot this day, and the gowns were really thick so I was struggling a little bit but it was such a lovely day.

I also received my Full Colours for my contribution towards Cheerleading so I was really pleased. After we had some photos done I decided to get my professional photograph taken, so my parents and I headed in to get them done before we had to be seated in the Chapel.

The photographer was really nice and allowed us to take our own photos as well as his. He sorted out my gown, my hat and even my hair (he went all out to make sure I had a nice photo).

Just before we had to go up to get our award I was so scared. I was the first one to be called so it was really frightening! Luckily Jade took some nice pictures of me during my moment!

Overall it was an extremely beautiful day, it was so nice to share the experience with my parents and I hope they’re proud.

COMPETITION TIME

At the end of June the Mermaids headed to Stratford to compete in our last competition of the academic year. Everyone was nervous but we were prepared. This was the very first competition where I wasn’t nervous and was actually excited to compete! It was also the first competition where I was flying, as opposed to basing.

The routine was creative, we knew it like the back of our hands, so we were all confident.

When we arrived, the atmosphere was amazing, we all received our ‘athlete’ wristbands and went to take a look at the arena. The stage was big, although smaller than some we’ve competed on, and the lighting on the stage was dramatic which helped with the overall feeling of the competition. The seating was tiered and went up quite high so it was quite daunting I’m not gonna lie!!! Everyone was walking about in their uniforms with their hair and makeup ready for their routine.

As we looked around we saw soooooo much merchandise. There were tons of bows in all different colours with loads of different patterns including glitter (there was a load of glitter). There were also loads of cheer tops and sweaters, and a lot of Nike clothing too.

When we went backstage to warm up, that was when the nerves kicked in. We saw other squads practising their routines and were cheering on others as they completed a full out. We stretched, practised jumps, stunts, tumbling and warmed up so we didn’t injure ourselves (although this didn’t work for me (!!!!) unfortunately).

Then it was our time to compete and showcase our routine to the judges. It was exhilarating and the feeling was incredible. Going out there and competing with great people is an amazing feeling. We worked hard together in order to make the routine look good, and luckily we had no stunt falls or bobbles!!
Unfortunately, at the beginning of the routine, I came down funny from a stunt and twisted my ankle which was very painful. But I had to carry on! I wasn’t going to let my team down just because of a sprained ankle. Although its still very painful and swollen I had to carry on for my squad. It’s been 3 weeks now and it still hasn’t healed so hopefully it does soon!

I had an amazing last competition, and can’t wait to be reunited with my squad in September!

Cereal Killers Cafe

The other week Jade and I decided to give Cereal Killers Cafe a visit as we are both obsessed with cereal and had seen good reviews. We went to the one in Shoreditch, which was the first shop they opened, a second one being opened in Camden a few months ago. It was set back a bit and was a little difficult to find but once we did, we knew we had arrived in the right place. Why? BECAUSE OF THE QUEUE. We were waiting for about 15 minutes to even get served but once we did we understood why it took so long in the first place.

There were SO MANY different types of cereal, it was so difficult to choose just one! Then there were the toppings which we had to consider, and even the type of milk to have on our cereal!

You could choose three cereals to mix, so I decided to go for Frozen marshmallows, Hersey’s Cookies and Cream and Lucky Charms St Patricks’s Day. For toppings I went for Mars Mix, Reese’s Pieces and extra Marshmallows. We both chose semi-skimmed milk and for a drink we had Cream Soda. 

There wasn’t much seating upstairs because the queue took up most of the room but there was a downstairs, so after we poured golden syrup over our cereals (just to add to the overly sweetness) we made our way downstairs and seemed to have stepped into a 1990s style bedroom which held tons of 90’s memorabilia and old style TV’s.

After a Instagram worthy photoshoot, we tucked in and even though the bowls don’t look considerably huge, trust me they were! Jade and I felt so full afterwards but would I go back again? HELL YEAH. It was so good! Next time I think we’ll try the Camden one though...