Etutor Blog

Autumn vibes and taking a step back How the hell is it September? I assume there will be a point in my life that I stop treating this month like it’s the start of the year but I can’t tell if I’m still clutching onto my student days or simply have an addiction to new stationery. This time of year is my absolute favourite. It seems like the summer heatwave has dropped off the face of the Earth (thank God as being both plus size and pale af, summer is not when I’m at my peak) and we’re back to jumper but not quite winter coat weather. And I am LOVING it. I mean, is there anything better than sitting in your flat on an evening with your balcony doors open, a candle burning, wearing a hoody and watching ‘to all the boys I’ve loved before’ on Netflix? No, no there is not. A change in seasons is definitely what I need right now as the last few months have been very busy, pretty damn stressful and in all honesty, not that cheery for me, and it’s taken me until now to pick up my metaphorical ...

Leeds psychic and spiritual centre Well, this is certainly a tangent from my usual post subjects isn’t it? I’m the first to admit that I’m not a spontaneous kinda gal, it’s just not my bag. I like sticking to plans, having a schedule and I’m only a few steps away from having a Gantt chart of my social life (LOL I wish this was an exaggeration but it’s not), but a few weeks ago I took myself off to a psychic evening with 15 minutes notice and I surprised myself.  Disclaimer: apologies for the irrelevant photo on this post, I didn't want to take a photo for the 'gram whilst I was in the session. I’ve always been curious about spirits, the future (though obviously not straying into Ouija board territory as I’m not getting into that shit) and the universe and I’ve wanted to do something like this for a while. In fact, ever since I went to a group reading when I was at university, I’ve wanted to see a psychic or medium again so when I saw that my local spiritual centre ran psychic...

A half year round up Yes, I know, we’re into August but it’s not too late to have a check in on my resolutions for 2018 is it? I hope not. Every year I use my blog as a place to put my goals for the year out there as it makes me a bit more accountable when it comes to actually achieving them and I like to use the midpoint of the year to ensure I’m on track (even if I am a bit late this time). Here’s what I planned to do and where I’m at with it. Do more fun stuff This is my reoccurring resolution as I like to put it out there that I want to do fun, planned stuff that I’ll really look forward to. So far this year, I’ve seen more of my blogger gals, been to a lot of events, went to London for a Nandos, been ‘out’ out a lot, gone to two gigs and attended my first festival. With all the fun stuff that’s gone in between that, especially when it’s meant catching up with friends and family, I’d say that I’m very much on track with this one. Improve my living space As I got some new prints f...

As I had a day off this week, I thought you know what, I’m going to book in a massage and a facial as yo to the freaking low it’s just been payday. I wanted to avoid going into Leeds city centre as it’s the school hellidays holidays so I decided to go for somewhere new in north Leeds. As the address said Alwoodley, I thought it must be pretty nice so I popped my payment details into Treatwell (if you’re not familiar, this is an online booking service for beauty treatments), the address into Google maps and off I went. 20 minutes later, I’m in a residential area and realised pretty quickly that my treatment will be taking place in someone’s house. Nice one Lizi. Still, I did think that though it’s a bit weird, that working from home isn’t uncommon and I was sure it would be OK. Well, it was an experience. The treatment room wasn’t exactly a calming environment as it was quite frankly, full of junk (even by my standards) but given I would have my eyes firmly shut for the treatment, I dec...

Carfest North 2018 Anyone who knows me in person could tell you that I’m not an outdoorsy person, but this summer, I had my first festival experience. And let me tell you, whilst it was fun, my limit is definitely the decidedly middle class Carfest North (aka the charity festival that Chris Evans puts on for Children in Need) and Leeds fest is 100% out of my remit. My mum got day tickets for me, her and my sister for Christmas and having never been to a festival before, I had zero clue what to expect. After the extreme summer 2018 heatwave, I headed on over to Chester with jeans, tshirts and trainers and it was the night before which saw me raiding the nearest H&M for an emergency sweatshirt and trying on my sister’s spare anorak. This anorak in particular was from when she volunteered at the Manchester Marathon and had ‘marshall’ written across the back. Excellent, well done me. When we arrived, it was drizzling and though we got there at around 11am, we managed to park pretty c...

Cuckoo Leeds Review I love having things in the diary for absolutely ages as when I have something to look forward to, it really gives me a focus. It’s almost like having mini milestone rewards for surviving life. A few weeks ago, I had some of my blogger gal pals up in Leeds for the weekend and it was definitely one of those plans that I looked forward to for ages and it didn’t disappoint at all. As it was the World Cup quarter final weekend that Haydy and Hayley were up north, naturally we had to find a great spot to watch the match so we headed straight to Trinity Kitchen – mainly as they were giving out a bottle of beer to everyone every time England scored so we had a couple on them as well as a whole load of cocktails. The atmosphere was really fun and laid back, but after the match we headed down Call Lane to my favourite bar, Cuckoo . I’ve been to Cuckoo quite a few times as it’s becoming one of those places we go to after work a lot, but because they have really eclectic in...

Photo credit: Pixabay Well, this heatwave is getting a little excessive isn’t it?! I’ve honestly never known such consistently hot weather and I’m the first to admit that I wasn’t emotionally prepared for this weather. In between complaining that I’m too hot and trying to sleep through the noise of the cheap desk fan I panic bought from Argos, I’ve actually tried to embrace the weather a little by making some summer plans. A few months ago, I brought my precious Polly (aka my Hyundai i10) over to Leeds and I must admit, having my car over here gives me a new found freedom. I mean, for the first time in nearly 4 years, I’ve been able to go to a supermarket for a weekly shop – I know how to live life on the edge. I’m quite lucky in that I have a space in the carpark underneath my building as whilst I pay over the odds for it, I don’t run the risk of her getting her windows smashed (which happened the last time I parked her out on the street here, still fuming). Car maintenance is just as...

Escape Hunt UK - Leeds The Light Escape rooms are officially my new favourite thing. Escape Hunt recently launched in The Light in Leeds with a World War Two themed room called Our Finest Hour which I was invited down to review (you can read that here ), and they just launched a second room called The Fourth Samurai which is a Japanese theme. Naturally when I saw that it was launching, I jumped at the chance of trying out the second room, but this time, going head to head. The first time we went, we attempted the room in a group of six, which meant that at times, we were more than a little frantic but worked well together as a team to escape the room with a couple of minutes to spare. This time, we worked in teams of three – as there are two rooms which are identical, it’s a great opportunity to bring in a little competition. I’d say friendly competition but we were definitely very competitive! I teamed up with Hannah and Juan and we were against Hollie , Maz and Luke . The three of...

Ed Sheeran: The Divide World Tour You know when you book tickets so far in advance that something just creeps up on you? That’s what it felt like when I booked Ed Sheeran tickets this time last year. I’ve been to a lot of concerts in the past for a lot of big artists but this one was definitely a stand out to me (and probably the people who filled the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on four consecutive nights too – a pretty hefty achievement for a guy who seems just as surprised as we are that he made it this big). Normally with a gig that big, you’d expect a massive production, but in reality, he took to the stage with just a guitar and a loop pedal so that he could create all of the backing tracks live on the night. There was no band, no dancers, no pyrotechnics. Regardless of whether you’re a fan of his music, there’s a lot of skill involved in getting an entire arena absolutely bouncing when you’re up there on stage alone. I loved that because of this, each show is unique as the trac...

Bakerdays Cake review Everyone has that one friend who always goes a little bit extra on a birthday or any occasion, but how do you become that person? It’s always that extra effort that you remember someone making that leaves you feeling a bit #blessed which is why I’ve partnered up with Bakerdays for this post which is full of tips – mainly borrowed tips from when my sister went a bit all out on my birthday. Get them a cake Well, obviously! Bakerdays do personalised cakes which can be as big as a party cake or as small as a treat that will go straight through your letterbox. Think posting a cake is risky? Let me tell you, when it turns up in a tin and perfectly intact, it’s not even worth worrying about. The one Bakerdays sent me was actually for my mum’s birthday so naturally I got a photo of her face on it and it was even gluten free as she’s a coeliac). It’s just a personal touch. Decorating a table When it was my birthday last month, my sister contacted the restaurant I was havi...

FYI, all the photos in this post are credited to the fantastic team at Search Labs who put on the event, they did a way better job at capturing it than me. It turns out my photography skills go out the window once I've played beer pong). I’m the first to admit that money management isn’t my strong point. I’m definitely more of a yolo-er than a saver but you know when you do something that throws your attitude into a harsh reality? That’s where I’m at. I was invited along to Cuckoo (one of my fave bars ever in Leeds) for a night with GiffGaff who were there to chat about GiffGaff Gameplan which is their financial service to help people save. I mean, they have their work cut out with me, but the night made me stop and think a little more seriously about where my finances are going. As LOL I spend a little too much time eating and drinking my bank balance rather than saving it. We played a Monopoly style board-game on the night where you collect your wages for passing go and on each ...

10 things about going to IKEA as an adult Photo credit: pixabay Confession time, I recently went to IKEA for the first time as an adult. I must have been around 6 years old when I last went to IKEA and let me tell you, it’s a weird af experience to someone who’s never been before as a grown up. I recently went with my friend Maz who is an IKEA enthusiast to say the least and whilst I wasn’t quite as enthusiastic about the shop itself, I was definitely looking forward to seeing the scale of excitement she experienced – I wasn’t let down. Here are my thoughts on going to IKEA as an adult. 1.   It’s just like Argos but instead of flicking through a catalogue, you walk through it. 2.   All of the little rooms that are done up look like they’re straight out of an AirBnB. 3.   Why don’t I have a blank canvas of a flat to just do out exactly like the done up rooms? 4.   As I walked round, I quickly realised that the person I bought my fully furnished flat from clearly had ...

Home interiors on a budget You know when you see someone with the most Pinterest-perfect home and wonder how the hell they managed to afford it? That’s me, every damn time. When you’re not an interiors guru (which I definitely am not), it’s actually surprisingly hard to develop any kind of home styling or theme when you first move into your own place and have the opportunity to go wild. Living in a one-bed flat means I don’t have much space to play with but I’ve decided that 2018 is the year that I make it more ‘me’ (it’s taken me long enough, I’ve only lived here nearly four years). Here are my tips to home interiors on a budget. Get rid of the stuff you haven’t chosen yourself This was a big one for me as I was renting my flat when I bought it so it came fully furnished – right down to the canvases on the walls and the shitty pleather sofa that moults every time someone sits on it. Over the last few years, I’ve gradually binned and replaced as much stuff as I can so that things ar...

Escape Hunt The Light Leeds Escape rooms seem to be popping up all over the country and Escape Hunt is the latest addition to The Light in Leeds. If you haven’t been to an Escape Room before, the concept is that you and your team get locked in a themed room which is filled with puzzles and codes which you have to solve in order to escape within a time limit. At the moment, it contains two World War Two themed rooms and I was invited down with some of my friends to try it out during their press launch. Having never been to an escape room before, I was slightly concerned that my friends from work were going to see the controlling psychopath side to my personality that I usually don’t bring out (LOL) but thankfully we managed to stay calm and escape. We absolutely loved the experience we had with our games master, Noel. He talked us through how we’d get into the room and have to work the clues out from there and how he’d be watching us the whole time and listening to our conversations s...