It's pretty obvious why my sister calls herself CupcakeMumma. The balloons and bunting (new edition to her kitchen that my Mum very kindly made) were only the tip of the iceberg:

Among the little nibbles were a lemon meringue pie made by my Mum (best pie ever), some marshmallows with Hershey syrup and smarties, a big cake - made by my sister and decorated amazingly by my brother in law, it's multicoloured on the inside like a battenburg and a vegan lime cheesecake my Aunt made. It was a brilliant going away party, we had a good laugh and a lovely time together, so a big thank you to my sister for the party! 

And with a party, comes going away presents! 

My sisters always a very thoughtful and creative person, and this is what she got me:

A writing set (she also bought herself a similar one), because a while ago I said that when I went to Uni we could write to each other - despite both having blogs and many other ways to communicate, we both just love the old fashioned letter. The only letters people receive in the post these days are bills, bank statements and junk, so I look forward to letters from my sister. Though mainly for mine and her purposes, the writing set was a present from my sisters family, and the one below was a personalised one from her.

She made this necklace out of a rather chunky charm necklace that had all sorts of little bits and bobs stuck to it. I'm not a religious person, but my sister is, and she thought I could have this as a keepsake.  

I got some other presents too, my Mum and Dad bought me a webcam for skyping with everyone, the Cornish flag pin below was from my friend Andy - he bought the pin to wear when he was planning to move to Cornwall and has kept it since and has now passed it on to me. 

And my boyfriends Mum and partner, although giving me a £20 book voucher, also got me this...

...for doing well in my exams! It's a kit to knit without needles, it seems so simple to do so I'll have to give it a try and I'm sure it won't be long before you'll see the finished product!

To those already at University, I hope you're settling in well and the goodbyes weren't too tough, and to any one else not yet gone I hope the next week or two aren't too upsetting or dull, just think, it's not long now!