I have a lot to do this summer and not a lot of money to do it with!
All photos in this post are blurry as they are from Instagram and only taken on an iPhone before I had my Canon 600D!
So the first thing I need to do is to get a job. I should be getting my old job at Starbucks back but my boss has just moved to a new store and a new manager has moved into my store. In the past, my old boss, Ionel (pronounced yo-nel - he is Romanian), kept me on the pay roll so I could work during the university holidays. I started working there when I was 17 during my A-levels and I worked my butt off. He grew to like me a lot and always gave me shifts when I needed them. Anyway, this new manager seems a little less friendly. I went in a couple of days ago to hand in my mobile number but he just didn't really seem to understand my position there. So I texted my old boss and asked him to put in a good word for me...
How lovely?! There are two other girls called Lauren that work there but I've been there the longest. I miss being a barista! I just want to work again. I'm such a worker bee. I've had a job since the age of 13 and it feels weird to not be working. Oh, how I miss coffee making!
The next thing on my to-do list is birthday presents! I have father's day and my dad's birthday right next to one another. I don't know whether to buy him a tree/plant, some new trainers, a gadget for his house or some aftershave/smelly product. Alternatively, we could go shopping in Manchester together. He is so difficult to shop for!
I then have my mum's birthday mid-July. Really unsure what to get her so I might speak to my auntie because my mum loves copying her older sister - which is totally understandable since my auntie always looks great. I usually opt for anything Clarins or Benefit but I want to switch it up a bit this year. She'll be 43 this year so she is still quite young.
After mum, I have my uncle... Erm... Haven't a clue what to get him!
Then it's my Grandma's at the start of July. I might get a distressed-looking photo frame with a picture of me, my sister and my two cousins in it.
After that, I have my sister's 6th birthday. You'd think buying for children would be easy but it really isn't when she has pretty much everything you could possibly think of!
(Sorry the photo is blurry!)
I look like a mole in that photo...
I want to start working on my third year project/dissertation. Since i'm studying journalism, we don't have to write an academic essay, though it is an option. I have decided to take the project approach and am going to create a magazine with original content and write 7000 words on it. This summer, I want to have sketched up a drawing of what each page will look like and have a few interviews in my back pocket ready to start making the magazine on QuarkXPress 10 when I get back to uni at the end of August.
As part of my course, I need to get work experience at any newspaper, magazine etc. I wanted to go to a London-based magazine but I can't afford to travel into the city everyday for 4 weeks (as most internships last that long) and I think I'm babysitting my sister a bit anyway. So I'm going to ask my local newspaper if they will take me on for at least a week, hopefully two and then get the third compulsory week in December/January. I've tried emailing and phoning but they just won't get back to me so I'm going to go in as soon as my final exam is over...
.so.much.shorthand.
Finally, I need to start driving again. I started to learn when I was 17 but ran out of money and had to pack it in. I'm now 20 and I only have one year left at university before I enter the real world and possibly need a car - not that I will be able to afford one! I texted my old driving instructor yesterday and asked if he could fit me in. He said yes but not until the first week of July, which is a bit of a nightmare. So my plan is to pass my theory test during June so I can get straight into driving without having to worry! I'd like to pass the driving test during the Christmas holidays... I'll keep you posted on my driving progress once I start!
I just feel like I have so much to do and not enough time or money to get it all done! Summer sounds busy, but that's just how I like it!
