Reading Week

  Last week was my reading week, or as I call it, the week where no reading would get done. So seeing as I was putting down the books I'd never been bothered to pick up in the first place, I spontaneously booked a ticket home for a few days to see my family. Which, seeing as they were working a lot of the time ended up predominantly consisting of me sitting on the sofa watching TV for most days while occasionally getting up to raid the fridge, but then again that is kinda just how I like it. Just the feeling of being home was enough to keep the pangs of homesickness at bay.

  On Halloween I went into work to talk to my manager and managed to surprise Tony when I walked in. I swear I wasn't wearing a costume or anything! But yeah, I did text him and all beforehand but apparently he hadn't had his phone for a few days so you know, he was a bit shocked and all that. It was kinda worth it though seeing the look of joy on his face, so much so that in the end the shift manager booted him out for a bit so he could sit and chat with me for 10 minutes that turned into an hour long catch up. Long enough for the fries he was meant to be looking after to burn I reckon...

Remember, Remember, The 5th of November

  Tonight me and my flatmate went with a bunch of people to Pype Hayes park up in North Birmingham to see us some fireworks and get lost in the park that had been transformed in a huge fairground for the night. It was cold, muddy, and at times confusing trying not to lose each other in the crowd, but it was nice to get out of town centre for a bit and go do something fun, even if it did mean having to wait half an hour for a taxi afterwards and then having to walk to said taxi because the driver just couldn't be bothered to drive all the way to where we were waiting. Unfortunately the fireworks weren't anything spectacular in all honesty but hey, at least it didn't rain. And being British and all, I'd say that makes any night a big success ;) 

Tony's World Of Fashion

  Ladies and gentlemen, my dear friend Mr Tony Cole is clearly going from strength to strength in the bloggersphere. Now only does he have Blogspot and Wordpress, he's now set up his very own brand spanking new fashion blog on Tumblr, Tony's World of Fashion. And of course, there's no point having a blog if nobody's going to read it, so why don't you all dare venture into the excellent madness that is Tumblr and have a nose through what he's got to say! It's still a work in progress but that cheeky chap certainly knows what he's doing I must say ;) . As always, I've linked to it below, so happy reading and you're welcome!

http://tonyfashion.tumblr.com

Talking With Tony- Summer Special

  Once upon a time, Tony and I went to Frankie & Benny's one day for lunch. We were lured in with promises of an American twist on gorgeous Italian cuisine, which turned out to consist of plastic cheese so vivid yellow in colour we mistook it for custard, and so rubbery in texture I turned the bowl upside down and it still remained welded to the bowl. Nevertheless, our spirits were not so easily dampened, conversation flowed and the laughter was relentless as they swapped stories and made jokes at other peoples expenses.

  After 3 hours in that place due to painfully slow customer service (we actually had to ask if the waitress serving us had died), we waddled out and over to Hollywood Bowl across the road, not to bowl as one might expect, but instead to regress to childhood and blow our not so hard earned wages in the arcade, where Tony thrashed me at every single game we played, much to my frustration not to mention a huge blow to my ego.

  However, he soon soothed my ego by introducing me to my new best friend, snow cones! All it took was 2 minutes of eating one to wonder how I could have ever thought my life complete before that magical moment. 

  Of course, all of this could not compensate for my loneliness this week when Tony swanned off to the Reading Festival for the week, leaving me to mope around at work without my partner in crime. Which of course, makes this the penultimate episode of Talking With Tony this summer! I know, i know, sad times people *cry cry*

Talking With Tony- Episode 4

  I had to take a bit of a hiatus from this for a few weeks due to not having enough time to be on here, but hurray we're back, and it's time to say hello again to that cheeky tousled haired boy I call Tony. Also, I don't know why he's not wearing shoes in this picture... or for that matter where his shoes even are, but details, details...

  Truth be told, this may be called Talking With Tony but in reality these past couple of weeks have been more like "Where Is Tony". You see, I havn't seen much of this loveable rogue due to us being on opposing shifts, and when we do work at the same time it's on totally stations.

  But anyhow, we went through a brief period where he decided he didn't want to talk to me, and foolish me being all lonely and such pleaded with him to reconsider. 
"I'll do anything" I bleated, looking up at him with big puppy dog eyes.
"Very well" he says with a slight look of glee in his eyes. "You have to ask 5 customers if you can McHelp them, and only then will I  talk to you"

  So off I went, muttering to myself at the unfairness of it all, but nevertheless I do like a challenge, only this one was just humiliating. Truth be told, in the end I only managed 3, and each time I mumbled it quietly, hoping the customer wouldn't hear, let alone my managers. 
"I'm actually humiliating myself for you" I snarled at Tony when I caught him smirking in my direction. 
"Not good enough" said he as he stalked off on break  

Talking With Tony- Episode 3

   A whole week has gone without posting anything on here due to my being away for most of the time, so it looks like it's once again time for your weekly dose of Tony-related madness. So just what have I been talking about with Tony this week?

  Well, believe it or not we actually missed out on a whole day yesterday. Turns out shouting at Tony means he's guaranteed to give you the cold shoulder for the rest of the day. Not even being super sweet when doing his order at the end of his shift was quite enough to soften enough, so I decided to hold out hope that Saturday would bring with it some Tony love.

  And running true to form, when I rolled into work at half 11 Tony was his usual bright eyed, sarcastic self. "Tell your boyfriend I'm coming too" he announced when I told him of my plans in a couple of weeks. "No chance" I replied, feeling not a bit of remorse of having shot his suggestion down in flames.

  The rest of the day was accompanied by his good old McChat up lines, including the tried and tested drop and pick up, always done with that cheeky little grin and sashay that only he can pull off. At the end of his shift when I told him he needed to send me some photos for this little piece he whipped out his iPhone 5 (the show off) and started snapping away before I realised I was being included in the impromptu photoshoot.

  So there you have it folks, yet another chapter in the life of Tony Cole.

Talking With Tony- Episode 2

Looks like it's that time of the week already folks, and on time as promised. That's right, it's Talking With Tony, with the one and only Mr Tony Cole! As you can see, rather than pose with fruit this week, he's opted to look rather nervously at a cactus before attempting to eat it. Why he wants to eat a cactus, I don't know but what he does in his own time is strictly up to him*. 

So, what has he been rambling on about this week you ask? Well, after reading my little piece last week the next day he provided me with some brilliant material in the form of a little something he dubbed as "McChat up lines". 

Here's a little example... So there I was, serving a customer, blissfully unaware of what was going on around me, when suddenly I heard a voice behind me go "oops my bad" in a purring and seductive tone. Next thing I know a hand is lightly running down my leg before reaching all the way down to pick up the well placed ketchup that had taken a tumble from his hands mere seconds before. "What on earth are you doing Tony?"I enquired, a little gobsmacked at his unabashedness. "McChatting you up of course" he replied before giving me a cheeky wink and sauntering off to cause mischief elsewhere.

Other than that, I am very proud to announce Tony now has his own blog. "Where" I hear you cry? Well scroll on down this page and you'll find I've already linked to it, but for all you lazy people out there, here it is again ;) http://tonyjohncole.blogspot.co.uk

* Just to cover my back here, in no way does this blog condone attempting to eat a cactus under any circumstances. Don't try this at home kids ;)

Talking With Tony

Hi, this is Tony. No, not the watermelon silly people, the thing holding it up and evidently eating away at it. Let me tell you a little bit about him. I work with him at McDonalds and he is one of the only people there who can make a long shift go quicker. Needless to say, in order to be my friend he's also barking mad. 

So what did I talk about with Tony today I hear you ask? Well, there I was, doing drinks for customers when Tony turns to me and says with a forlorn look on his face "Nina, why have you never mentioned me on your blog?". My heart broke the way he looked at me and I said "For you my dear, I will not only run home as swiftly as my tired little feet can carry me and write about you this very night, I will turn you into a blogging phenomenon, the likes which has never been seen before".

And thus, "Talking With Tony" was born. Keep checking back weekly to see what Tony's up to, the conversations we'll be having, and most importantly, which fruit he's decided to pose up with next time ;) . 

Back To The Daily Grind

Wow this is probably the longest I've gone without updating this blog, I would apologise but I've been crazy busy with work and stuff so I havn't had much free time on my hands, and when I do have time off it's spend sleeping off the exhaustion works creates. 

Although it's tiring it feels good to be working again, I've been back for a week now and it's really helped me settle in a routine, I've loved seeing all my friends again, but best of all it's 4 days till pay day when I will finally have money in my account again and feel like less of a poor student :D !

Yeah... I don't even have that, so more like, I only got £2 in my pocket and that was borrowed off my mum ;)

Phase 1 Complete, Level Up.

In my last post I mentioned my last exam was today, so let me just tell you how it feels knowing I don't have to work for the next 4 months. IT FEELS AMAZING! Now that they're all over I'm beginning to wonder what all the fuss was about, I can't believed I got so stressed out and morphed into a monster for the last 2 weeks all over these exams. That aside, I can't believe I survived a year here, it's been such a rollercoaster of emotions and experiences and stuff, I've learnt so much and met some incredible people. It just feels unreal that this time next week I'll be reclining on my sofa at home catching up on Criminal Minds surrounded by all the comforts of home. I can't decide what to do first when I get back, I guess unpacking is a good place to start. This summer is going to be spent with all thoughts of uni and studying pushed to the back of my mind, I love it here but home is calling me. I'm even looking forward to going back to my job, which I never thought I'd hear myself say! It's great knowing my days up until Saturday are my own to do whatever I want with, and they shall be spent in a limbo between frantic packing and being comatose for a large amount of the time.

All Good Things Must Come To An End

Term has officially ended for me today with my last exam over and done with, and Saturday I shall clear out of Birmingham and head back home to sunny Hertfordshire, which I'm really looking forward too. What I'm not looking forward to though it having to say goodbye to so many people. Tonight I had to bid farewell to a very good friend who I met back in September and was only here in Birmingham for about 10 months, and even though it's not been that long since we met, I've become very attached, so as you can imagine it got a bit emotional saying goodbye, not knowing when we'll next see each other. While I admit I did tear up a bit, I had to keep telling myself I have a long summer ahead of me, and the likelihood we catch up over then is pretty high, but still, I will miss her so much come September when I return to Birmingham and realise I don't have our frequent coffee dates to look forward too during the term. This is sad times indeed... so this gif seemed fairly relatable as it was raining a bit as we said goodbye, but once I reach this stage of crying it'll be time to get out the ice cream methinks.