I am so sick of customer service that is done via social media and pre-written questions online. LET ME RING YOU PLEASE. Absolutely nothing gets sorted via these methods and you’re just sat on the other end doing one of those upside down smile emojis, wound up to the high heavens, waiting for a response.
I ordered something from ASOS, looked like turd, so I’ve ordered the thing I actually wanted that wasn’t in my size at the time of my original order but I need it by 5pm tomorrow… Nothing like last minute I know, HOWEVER, I have next day delivery and it says it should be delivered between 7am and 10pm as long as ordered before 10pm… All I bleedin’ want to know is whether my order stands any chance of being delivered before 5pm because if not then I will have to desperately shop on my lunch break. WHY U NO ANSWER ME ASOS? I have tweeted them like a million times – honestly, I think I am now troll status. Been waiting an hour, not got any sort of response. Checked whether they were active; they’re helping some chick search for a pastel dress to wear for a wedding R U EFFIN REAL RIGHT NOW?
I’m so sick of poop like this: Apple customer service, other various online clothing companies, businesses that won’t give you a phone number because actually speaking to a real life person would make them too vulnerable or something?! Are you scared of confrontation mr internet shop? Just get a call centre for Christ’s sake – take your customers into consideration and stop being so darn cheap. Hire some chatty welsh people, you might even get a BBC documentary made about your jolly little call centre JUST PLEASE LET ME WASTE MY MINUTES ON YOU.
So you might’ve already seen my Disney Bucket List. Well, I thought I’d make another one for my time in America outside of Disney too.
I’m hitting LA, Disneyland Anaheim, Laguna Beach, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree Park, the Grand Canyon, Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, San Fran, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Hollywood, Santa Monica then heading over to DC and New York! Luckiest little bean in the whole wide world this summer!
Do anything and everything in Disneyland California, LA
Celeb spot, LA
See the walk of fame, LA
Take stupidly scenic photos at the Grand Canyon
Die and go to heaven at Yosemite
Zip wire over Fremont St, Vegas
Be someone’s lucky charm in a casino, Vegas
See Alcatraz, San Fran
Drink alllllll of the wine in Napa
Eat at Cheesecake Factory
See the Hollywood sign, LA
Go to Muscle Beach, LA
See an American sports game
See some whales n seals n stuff whilst driving down the PCH
Cycle over the Golden Gate bridge, San Fran
Get a cable car in San Fran
Go on a ride at the top of Stratosphere in Vegas
Eat a chilli dog
Visit the Statue of Liberty, NYC
See the White House, DC
Take a picture of the Abe Lincoln memorial, DC
Do the Grand Canyon sky walk
Survive the hottest place on Earth (Death Valley)
Pretend to be a frat boy by drinking Coors Light n playing beer pong
Get an In’n’Out burger, LA
Eat at as many Hard Rocks as poss
Go to Katz Deli in NY
Drink green juice in Cali
Watch a drive in movie
To be continued…
I can’t think of anything more right now, but if you have any suggestions of cool wkd stuff you’ve done in the US before please send them my way!
Yes, the time has come when I have finished my uni work and can spend too much time googling disney stuffs. Less than a month to go so I fiiiiiinally made my bucket list! Now, because I have been to Disney World four times already, I will have done a lot of first timers bucket list items so you might think I’m missing some pretty obvious things out, maybe you’ll find it more interesting as it might be a little bit more niche (or maybe you’ll notice a lot of elements revolve around food…)?!
60 thangs for 60 days, ere we go:
Do all four parks in one day 19/7/16
Complete the boat challenge
Find at least FIFTY hidden Mickeys
Do the monorail bar crawl
Go on one of the Disney tours
Book a character meal 20/6/16 – Breakfast at the Grand Floridian’s 1900 Park Fare
See some Fourth of July fireworks 3 & 4/7/16 – at work!
Eat a corn dog 23/6/16 – Corn Dog Nuggets at Casey’s Corner, MK
Buy a new Disney artist sketch
Swim with the sharks in Typhoon Lagoon 15/7/16
Get a dole whip 23/6/16 – Aloha Isle, MK
Buy something from Cast Connections
Buy some new ears 23/6/16 – Sparkly Minnie Ears
‘Disney bound’
Visit Celebration
Magic Kingdom
Get to Magic Kingdom for rope drop 19/7/16
Try a cinnamon roll at Gaston’s 19/7/16
Get reservations for Be Our Guest 12/7/16
Chillax in the new hub area with an ice cream from The Plaza 1/7/16
Become a galactic hero on Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin
Ride Jungle Cruise then eat at Skipper Canteen
Get picked as a character in Enchanted Tales with Belle
Purchase a bauble from the Christmas shop in Liberty Square
Meet Jessie and Woody
See the new castle show 1/7/16
Send a postcard using the Magic Kingdom post box 11/7/16
Epcot
Drink around the world (first time over as a 21 year old woopwoop)
Eat at that cray Japanese restaurant where they do cool stuff with the food
See the new Finding Dory characters in Turtle Talk with Crush 26/6/16
Ride the new Frozen ride
See the new Soarin’! 4/7/16
Eat a pastry in France 20/7/16
Design a winning car on Test Track
Get the biggest cheesiest pizza at Via Napoli 26/6/16
Complete the Agent P World Showcase game
Get a World Showcase passport filled
Hollywood Studios
See the new Star Wars fireworks 24/6/16
Get a sick score on Toy Story Midway Mania
Eat a carrot cake cookie 29/6/16
Watch the street performers
Animal Kingdom
Ride Dinosaur before it closes for the rest of the summer 25/6/16
Cuddle some animals at the Conservation Station 23/7/16
Do a night safari in Animal Kingdom
Become a Wilderness Explorer
Disney Springs
Eat at The Boathouse
See La Nouba by Cirque du Soleil
Get a cupcake from Sprinkles 26/6/16
Have an Earl of Sandwich sandwich 2/7/16
Buy some new Disney Pandora (lost my earring in Australia cryyy)
Get sloshed in House of Blues
Resorts
Eat ‘The Kitchen Sink’ at Beaches & Cream
Eat then watch Wishes at The California Grill
Watch Wishes from the beach at The Polynesian 20/6/16
Toast s’mores with Chip and Dale at Fort Wilderness
Watch a Disney film outside at one of the resorts 21/6/16 – Monsters University, Boardwalk
Go to Mickey’s Backyard BBQ
See the Spirit of Aloha show at The Polynesian
Complete one of the resort running trails
Use CM discount to stay a night in a Disney resort or two
Visit every resort – Grand Flo, Poly, Contemporary, Boardwalk, All Stars, Port Orleans, Yacht & Beach, Wilderness Lodge, Fort Wilderness, Art of Animation, Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, Coronado Springs, Caribbean Beach, Animal Kingdom Lodge, Swan & Dolphin
I’m terrible I know. Where the heck have I been? Well the answer is in a deadline cret hole. Countless all nighters, 4 hour round trips from Manchester to Middlesbrough, rinsing my bank account on coffee, basically it’s been a looooooooooooooooooooong month, BUT…
NO MORE UNI wahhhhh bittersweet feelings!
It’s been terrible and amazing at the same time. The people I’ve met and the skills I’ve grown being the latter. As broadcast journalists, we didn’t do a dissertation and instead created something we can show when we are applying for jobs. Because I specialise in TV, I made three news packages following the theme ‘Life as a Refugee‘. They are aimed at children, think Newsround, and I am so proud of them. You might think differently but oh my God I spent so long in the editing suite I might as well have moved in, so I’m proud of the time and effort that went in to creating this result. I also met some incredible people whilst making this, definitely put my life into perspective so as much as there were time when I wanted to throw myself out of the windows in room 3.19, I was constantly reminded of their stories and just how lucky I am.
Fab news as well, I’m currently at CBBC’s Newsround on placement! I’ve been rejected so many times from work experience applications at the BBC that I was overwhelmed when I finally got accepted hahaha! My major project showed me how creative I could get with kids’ news and being here is just like hanging the carrot in front of the donkey, gimme gimme gimme a job (if anyone has any contacts high up hint hint………..)
AAAAnywhos, after spending the morning in the Match of the Day Kickabout studio with Mark Wright, I’m off to do some other random shtuff I never thought I’d be doing (yesterday we covered a story of a man who lived as a goat for six days – for real yo…).
OOOOOH and by the way, less than a month ’til Disnaaaaaay!
So it’s that time of year when my uni workload is at it’s highest and I’m just about to throw myself off a cliff – what better way to procrastinate that to Disney it up on a night out in Liverpool with some top CEP lasses.
It was a super gorgeous sunny day, myself and my new mate Sophie headed over to Liverpool on the ‘orrible Northern Rail train for my first Bongo Bingo night out. We were greeted outside Lime Street by my beaut future roommate Emily and her friend from uni and we went to Turtle Bay for some smashing Caribbean food and 2 FOR 1 COCKTAILS, oh yeah.
After a slightly tipsy walk to Em’s flat, we got changed and then scarpered to meet Ellie, Beth and Alison at Camp and Furnace for one of the greatest novelty nights ever. If you aren’t familiar, Bongo Bingo is basically bingo with loads of alcohol and some absolute tuuuuunes (they even played Let it Go, You’ve Got a Friend in Me, Part of Your World… like how did they know?!). There were rumours swimming round that someone won a Porsche the week before so we were all buzzing for the bingo until we all got smashed and couldn’t keep up with the pace hahahaha so after spending too much dollar we left.
Bongo’s starts at 7:30pm so by the time we were actually going to town it felt like we’d already had a full night out, but being true troupers, we opened another bottle of Prosecco.
We headed to Popworld for a boogie and all in all had a fab night in L-town. I wish we took pictures but we’re rubbish and we didn’t so I’ll just have to try and remember next time.
I’m so excited to spend my summer with these chicas, so many memories to be made, so many cocktails to be drunk.
Finally got my visa info from Yummy Jobs in the post a couple of days ago so I’ve spent today (nearly all of today snoooorrrre) completing the online J1 visa application and selecting my US Embassy visa appointment date.
It won’t surprise most people when I say the online process is long. America is notorious for being chewy as with who they let into the land of the free and so questions like “are you a terrorist?” and “have you ever ordered genocide?” are to be expected… (I answered no, if you were curious). Oh, and by the way if you leave your application for 20 minutes it will sign you out and you will lose anything you haven’t saved, how fabulously inconvenient that proved.
AAAAAAnywho, it only got worse when they asked me to upload a picture of my face and my head was literally too big to be accepted. It seems to have let me get away with not uploading one at this stage but I do have to present a 5×5 colour passport type picture at the embassy appointment.
When you’ve completed the endless application, you print off the confirmation, keep it safe and then head to another site to book your embassy appointment. This is the stage where you also have to fork over $160 as well – always nice. My appointment is for 8:30am on 25th May so best get booking another trip to London. A few of the earlier start-daters (starting 6th June) have had their appointments already, some were out in an hour, some were waiting around for four hours so who knows how long it will take. Thankfully my appointment is after my final uni deadline so I won’t be in any rush.
After booking this I went on to pay my SEVIS fee of $35. Another background check, another bruise to my bank account. Oh well, it’s all sorted now and I can chill out for like an hour before I start worrying about uni again – just so you know, third year is grim.
No, this isn’t a post about some noughties witch programme – if that’s why you’re here you should probably reassess your viewing habits.
All day last Saturday (Stockton Calling) people were banging on about this new band, Hidden Charms. They were on later in the day which usually means they’re a decent band but it also meant I couldn’t stay to see them as I left to get suitably smashed for my mate’s 21st. However, I decided today that I would give their YouTube a little tickle and the hype is real. They’re my new thang. I’ll probably destroy every existing song they have, just like I did when I first listened to Catfish and the Bottlemen, and I’ll probably tell everyone to give them a cheeky listen because they’re actually top.
The four piece from London are reminiscent of bluesy guitars and beats that could be mistaken for something straight outta 1965. With hailing from Zane Lowe and Annie Mac, I can’t be the only one succumbing to the delicious sounds of their latest single Love You Cause You’re There. The band’s influences include Arctic Monkeys, Temples and The Kinks and you can certainly tell. Long Way Down is my new fave jam and it should be yours too. Perfectly comfortable in Carnaby Street and sixties America alike, the band have literally nailed the whole bluesy mod thing and I love it. Seriously hope I get to catch these boys some time soon so when they’re big I can claim “I liked them first”.
Upcoming UK Dates:
Warrington – Viola Beach: A Celebration 2 April 2016
Derby – 2Q Festival 9 April 2016
Leeds – Live at Leeds 30 April 2016
Whitehaven – At The Stadium 13-14th May 2016
Brighton – TGE Festival 19-21st May 2016
London – Bushstock Festival 18 June 2016
So, you’ve successfully managed to worm your way into having the most magical summer of your life (probably), now Disney is going to rinse you of all of your money and reeeeally test how much you want to do this program.
Flights
You want to book these ASAP and you start pooping your pants thinking “omg omg omg everyone is flying out on the same day so the flights gonna fill and get dead expensive dead quick omg” – yes it does get more expensive, but not massively (not right away, anyway).
My flight
Out: Manchester > Orlando direct, 19th June 2016 at 10:30am with Virgin Atlantic
Return: New York (JFK) > Manchester direct, 16th September 2016 at 22:53pm with Delta
I booked this flight on January 9th for £554 through STA. A quick search on my trusty friend SkyScanner tells me that now the flight is available for £619 through Expedia. As much as the price has increased, nearly 3 months later, a £65 increase is really not that bad so don’t stress about booking flights straight away if you don’t have the money there and then! Yummy Jobs also team up with STA to offer flights that you can pay off in instalments after putting down a £49 deposit so if you’re worried about paying a lump sum when you don’t have the money, wait for them to contact you about that.
“Program Fee”
This is a payment to cover your first two weeks of rent and the cost of “parties and other recreational activities in housing”. It is £239.80 this year and I won’t lie, it hurts to pay it. It’s something that needs to be paid within 30 days of confirming your place on the program and has to be paid off as lump so consider that, especially when you will probably be finding out during the festive period!
DBS and SEVIS
This is basically a CRB check and is supremely annoying because even if you have a valid CRB certificate, you still have to pay for this. This is £75. The SEVIS fee is another American background check which costs $35 (at the minute that is about £25).
US Embassy Appointment Fee
This is in relation to your Visa. Yep, another trip to London because that’s the nearest US Embassy to me and so although the appointment fee is $160 (£112), the trip will cost much more.
Passport Courier
After you have paid for that inconvenient trip to London, you then have to pay for your passport to be returned to you (honestly, I’d walk there and pick it up if it meant I could avoid paying more) and that is £30.
Insurance
Again, annoying because you HAVE to book medical insurance through Lloyd’s of London despite it seemingly covering you for absolutely nothing. That’s looking at around £180 though it depends which of the two options you choose. I’m choosing the cheaper option purely because it barely covers me anyway and so I’ll probably have to buy more travel insurance on top of this.
Fun Funds
Of course, when you get there you want to be able to enjoy yourself and I’m pretty sure Disney said we wouldn’t get paid for the first week or so, so extra funds for that time are needed. You’ll probably need to buy bedding and some food for your apartment when you get there (WOOOO WALMART TRIP) and a bit of extra cash, if you can find it, is always nice to have so you can enjoy your program. Obviously it’s up to you how much you take, but Yummy Jobs recommend between $350 and $750. Yes it is expensive but you are being rewarded with two months of unlimited access to Disney World. Remember how much you wanted this, now suck it up and cough that dollar up.
Total costs: £1,215.80 + what ever spendies I decide/can afford to take.
*** Rent***
I’m not really counting this as a cost, to be honest. Your bills are included, you get a gym, pool, laundry room, free buses, a nice flat with some of the best buds you might ever make and you never see the money enter or leave your account. Disney take rent directly from your wages every week. Each complex is priced differently (I’ll be doing a separate post on housing soon – don’t worry your little nugget) and so it’s really up to you what you prioritise – money or luxuries.
As in my previous post, this Easter bank holiday weekend consisted of music, booze and chocolate eggs and it lived up to every expectation and more AND YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO BELIEVE ME.
FRIDAY
So basically, The Last Shadow Puppets played Middlesbrough Town Hall, which for one is incredibly unexpected, like twice Glasto headliner Alex Turner mooching round Boro doesn’t just happen… and the gig was insane like couldn’t have asked for more. Alex has grown his hair and it’s luscious and great, and Miles has shaved it and he looks like badass. They were both rocking some 70s gear that pressed every single one of my buttons, and the show they put on was spot on.
Now all well and good, me and my buds leave buzzing, head for a drink across the road then onto Empire (Boro’s finest establishment). Unknown Pleasures was on – a room dedicated to all things indie, alt, Madchester and just general great tunes. We’re having a top night and then some chick is like “omg Miles and Alex are in Emps”. Like 20 minutes later, there we are, in the same tiny room as Miles Kane and Alex Turner. The area is cordoned off of course so we get right to the front of the velvet rope barrier. The boys (yeah, we’re mates now) needed a wee so security took them and the barrier is dropped, everyone’s free to dance again. This is where I make my move.
Spotted the bassist in the corner so I went to talk to him. He’s from LA and I’m going in the summer so I’m asking him for some names of dece bars and that and then suddenly the boys come back and the barriers back up AND WE’RE INSIDE OMG OMG DIE. Me and my two gorgeous mates Steph and Amy are like “play it cool chicks play it cool” and there we are dancing with Miles Kane and Alex Turner. FULLY LEGIT. Now this is where it gets questioned because I have no selfie evidence – cryyyyyyy. We all agreed not to act like 12 year old girls and so that unfortunately meant we couldn’t whack out Snapchat 😦 To be fair, it must be a nightmare being them. Like you can’t have a dece night without being mobbed or have constant mug shots taken of you when you just want to get seshy with a super hot gal like me lol.
ANYWAYS, best night of my life ever. Miles Kane is the most humble and lovely guy, and Alex, well, he’s quiet, keeps himself to himself but has got some serious snake hips. Stuff of dreams. Thank you for the most wonderful memory, and that can of Red Stripe x
SATURDAY
The rest of my weekend was excellent but is definitely gonna sound like an anti-climax after the Friday of my life haha!
Stockton Calling is a day when bands from all over come to Stockton to play in pubs and bars all day long – sort of like a bar crawl with top live music, essentially the perfect day out.
PROUD GIRLF MOMENT: our lad’s band, TOWZER, opened for KU Bar in the afternoon. It was their first gig together, and with their slot being 1:30pm they didn’t really expect many people to turn up. The room ended up packed with people and they were so bleedin’ good. I’m so stupidly proud and happy for them. They sounded great and the crowd were really behind them. Looking forward to becoming their number one fan.
Hung around for band’s like Social Room, The Tapestry, Kingsley Chapman (from The Chapman Family) and it was great to see such a good turn out of people throughout the day. Live music is special, and the support for local talent and unsigned acts was amazing to see. More days like this please. If you want to know more about it, check out my mate Dave’s blog http://www.moveonupblog.co.uk/2016/03/stockton-calling-2016.html
I had to leave before I got to see Reverend and the Makers, Blossoms and the most talked about band of the day, Hidden Charms. It was my school friend’s 21st so I got home, got changed, topped up my highlight, and headed back out to pres. A million woo woos later, we totted out in our heels for another night on the tiles. First: The Townhouse (formerly The Keys) for some 2 for 1 long island ice teas and motown and soul classics – most underrated pre bar for a Saturday night in Boro. Then back to Empire for the second night in a row. Music was spot on all night, whacking out those songs you thought you had forgotten about. The Kooks Shine On reminding me just how bloody old I am now. Easter bank holiday is always the best for nights out; everyones back from uni and you’re just a social butterfly floating round the room hugging anyone and everyone IT’S THE BEST.
SUNDAY
IYA JESUS, WELCOME BACK. My two day bender had caught up with me and though Jesus had risen, I think I regressed into a state of death like appearance. Luckily, we had a slap up Sunday dinner at the v nice Acklam Hall in their new restaurant The Brierley. We all got a little bag of truffles on arrival, then I had cheese souffle, a lamb dinner and lemon tart with italian meringue. It was so beaut and I definitely had that post Christmas dinner type nap feel after. We went back to my nan’s, I beat the kids at the Easter Egg hunt and then we ate more when my nan put on her one of her ‘nan’s famous buffet’s. Worked it off with a family game of Heads Up and then slumped home where my boyfriend joined us for the finale of The Night Manager (holy poop it was good wasn’t it?!).
All round fantastically great weekend and now I’m off to eat a bacon sarnie. Much love x
HOOOOOOLY POOOOOBALLLLS – the feeling when you wake up on final interview day. Before I got to the interview, I went to the wrong Disney HQ door, make sure you go to the right one (side of the bus station rather than through the shopping centre) because arriving sweaty is never alright.
Once you’ve finally stopped fangirling over the big sparkly Mickey statue and the name badge you don’t get to keep, you go into another presentation. It’s like the Yummy Jobs one but more in depth and hosted by Americans so it’s ridiculously preppy and exciting. Again there are more questions but at this point I was so nervy I couldn’t have even tried to think straight and therefore did not win a Disney luggage tag; it’s ok, only nerds win anyway.
Following the presentation you either have to leave the building and return when it’s your interview slot time, or if, like me, you’re first up then you hang around outside the presentation room.
At this point you meet more people and again I was word vomming everywhere. Jennie the journo came out to play and I ended up knowing where everyone was from, what uni they go to, what they study and probably some other classic babble that no one really cares about. Members of the group were leaving one by one to have their interviews and I don’t think I’d ever been so nervous. Finally, when it was my turn I had to go up a floor into another room – great nosiness opportunity, Disney HQ looks like such a sick place to work!
After a few more minutes wait I was called in. My interview was in the same room as another interview and it was really casual. I think this stage is more to understand your personality, to see if you’d fit in and suit working at Disney.
The questions at this stage are things like:
Why do you want to do the program?
What do you want to gain from doing it?
What work experience do you have?
Why have you chosen your top two roles?
Any further questions?
Literally five minutes later and I was done.
Because I’d chosen one of the first interviewing days out of about 10, I had to wait for what felt like forever to find out if I was successful. They’d told us we could be waiting until the middle of January which would’ve been absolute torture. Luckily, I found out two days before Christmas and what better present could I have asked for!?
not-so-bloggy blog 