OK, so my attempt at blogging everyday in May didn't go very well. I had no illusions that I'd manage a post-a-day but I did think I'd do a little better than nine.

Nine, pfft!

Still, it's more than I managed in March and April combined so I'm going chalk it up as a success anyway! I wanted to get back in the habit (not in a Whoopi Goldberg kinda way), and I think it's done just that.

So, thank you to Elizabeth for organising #BEDM. Perhaps if I take part again, I'll be more organised and plan more posts in advance, rather than looking at a topic in the morning and thinking "how the heck and I going to do that today?'

Life has shown me time and time again that if I don't plan, I just potter around for days / weeks / months and then I look back and can't remember doing anything in particular, I feel as if I've achieved nothing. For example, a resolution for 2014 was to do something cultural once a month, but I'm failing miserably. If I don't plan anything and the month whizzes by and it's over before I know it.

Somebody asked me recently where I saw myself in five years time but honestly I couldn't tell you what I'm doing next week.

Are you a planner or do you just make it up as you go along, like me?

Love

The best thing about childhood? No one bats an eyelid if you skip or twirl, or have an irrepressible urge to run EVERYWHERE. Turn cartwheels, climb trees, roll down hills, squeal with delight on roundabouts and scare yourself silly by going so high on the swings that the chains slacken.

You don't care about how your hair looks or if you have mud, food or glue on your clothes. Glitter is the best. thing. ever.

All that matters is watching The Waltons, keeping your Sindy doll by your side (and out of your brother's grubby mitts) at all times, and praying for chips for tea. Again.

Finding strawberries on the plants in the garden and eating peas straight from the pod feels like the most exciting treat imaginable. The six week summer holiday seems to last forever and no one cares if you put on a pair of shorts with pale, pale skinny little leggies. Arguments are forgotten overnight (if not sooner) and a tenner seemed like so. much. money.

Good times.

I tried to turn a cartwheel the other day. Ended up in a heap, hurt my wrist, pulled a muscle in my thigh. I can't decide if this means I should never have stopped in the first place, or was a lesson telling me act my age.

Love

Today's #BEDM topic is about healthy living. The last time I was prompted to talk about this I shuffled my feet and looked at the floor, feeling rather uncomfortable, so maybe we'll just leave that one for another day...

One of the #BEDM prompts I've missed is fashion, beauty and grooming, so I've decided to go back to it. I've yammered on about clothes on this blog a lot (to the point of tedious repetition) so I thought I'd do a beauty post and tell you about my top five favourite Birchbox items. This is not the sort of post I do very often, and certainly not one I've done lately. 

I subscribed to Birchbox about 9 months ago and these are my favourites so far.


Chella Highlighter Pencil  |  £15.95
This has to be my all time favourite item from Birchbox. It's for highlighting brow bones, cheekbones, inner corners of your eye but I use it mainly as a eyeshadow primer. I've tried lots of different primers and this one works far better than any other. It also doubles up as a concealer. This post shows you ten ways to use it.

Molton Brown Ylang-Ylang Nourishing Body Lotion  |  £25.00 and Body Wash   |  £18.00
OK, so technically this is two things but I can't decide between them as it's the scent that makes me love these so much, a scent which I can still smell on my skin hours after using. The body lotion is also non-sticky which is a must for me - anyone else hate struggling to pull on skinny jeans after applying body lotion?

Molton Brown Rhubarb & Rose Replenishing Hand Cream  |  £10.00
I've become a little obsessed with hand cream recently after becoming utterly convinced my hands are starting to look old. This stuff is awesome, not only does it smell fantastically rhubarbular*, it nourishes a treat too, without being sticky.

English Laundry no.7 For Her  |  £47.00
Pear, jasmine, vanilla and sandalwood - delightful! And perfect for summer.
(They have a handbag friendly roller ball version for £16.00 that I am so tempted by)

Laura Mercier Body Butter (Ambre Vanillé)  |  £27.00
I loved this. I normally steer clear of body butters as I find they tend to sit on my skin, making me feel slimy, rather than sinking in. But the shea butter and aloe vera gel left me with super silky, non-sticky limbs and the smell was divine! It comes in Fresh Fig too, which I'd love to try sometime soon.

I can't recommend all of the items highly enough, I have to admit I'm a bit of a sucker for a nice scent (which I imagine is probably obvious). I often get face creams and masks etc in my boxes but I find a small sample isn't enough for me to make up my mind about that sort of product, although it is nice to try new things and have a bit of a pamper session once in a while.


I received May's Birchbox recently, so I've got some new goodies to try, including some Soigné Botanique nail polish, which is a lovely colour but has the most excessive packaging for nail polish known to man. Ooh Fancy.


Do you subscribe to any such boxes? What's your favourite product to come out of one of them?

 Love





*my new favourite word, invented by Sophie. I think it should be added to the dictionary.

I've had this recipe for Mexican (Veggie) Lasagne on my Nums nums (why did I choose to call it that?) Pinterest board for longer than I can remember. So when I saw that the #BEDM prompt for May 5th was 'Let's be Mexican', I thought this would be the perfect time to try it out. But of course I didn't get organised in time and ended up cooking it last night, but better late than never...

It's delicious!


The recipe comes from Bessie's Veggie Food and is really simple and easy to make. I used kidney beans in a chilli sauce for added flavour and, I don't know if I was supposed to do this but, I finished the layering with tortillas topped with cheese, which made for a lovely crispy topping.


The worst part was having to let it 'rest' after cooking for 10 minutes before we could dig in, it smelled divine and totally worth the wait. Served with a salad and black olives it made a nice change from our usual meat suppers. Next I'm going to try the slow cooker Quorn Chilli, which looks ridiculously easy to make.

Today's prompt is 'Out of the comfort zone' and this is kinda out of mine. My first ever food post got no comments. Not one *tumbleweed*... so I've always been weary of posting recipes (and yes that is a hint for you to go back an comment on it).

Love

Today's #BEDM is an easy one as I wrote about the transformation of my workspace back in October.

It looks remarkably tidy in the photos, it doesn't anymore - the shelves are groaning under the weight of it's contents and there are piles of books and papers lining the walls. I really do need to sort out some storage. I have got a new office chair, but that keeps being stolen...


...and that is the sum total of the improvements I've made since October. I really should do something about that.

Love

Saturday 17th September

06:30
A cup of tea and, as it was so early, an hour in bed reading a Red Magazine that I bought weeks ago!


07:45
One of my activities for the day involved wearing a tutu, so naturally I wore it all day (any excuse).


08:10
Pet sitting duties - popped Tommy into his run and fed him some yummy lettuce leaves (which he only seemed interested in standing on).


09:23
Some daily cat appreciation time.


10:36
Squeaked with glee when it dawned on me that my new Irregular Choice Hello Ha's were the perfect shoes to wear with a tutu.


11:45
Met with some other willing fairy volunteers and made our way to Christchurch Park. This is where the March of 1,000 Fairies will begin, so we asked local photographer Gavin King (he of 1,000 Faces) to take some shots to help us promote the event. Only five weeks to go!


12:50
Had a sneaky peek in Sue Ryder on my way back through town (rude not to) and, feeling summery, picked up this cute strappy top. Wasn't it a glorious day yesterday? I have to admit that wearing layers of tutu and petticoat didn't seem like such a good idea in the midday sun!


13:47
Relaxed a while with my current read - One Day by David Nicholls. Dex is in full dickhead mode at the moment, I'm guessing he redeems himself.


14:10
Realised I had to watch the film of the book and ordered the DVD from eBay (a bargain at £3.95). I've been reading the book with Anne Hathaway in my mind anyway, no idea who the actor is that plays Dex.


15:30
Spent some time fussing the boy kitten and, erm, accidentally took a little nap.


16:45
Sewing for my patchwork quilt. I haven't found the time to do much this week so I ignored my to-do list for a little longer.



17:25
A small snack as supper was still hours away. Do you remember these? I spotted them in the local Co Op and had to buy them. They are so deliciously sharp and tangy!


18:40
Three hexagon flowers complete (decided to postpone the to-do list altogether for today).


19:35
Finally supper! Salmon and chinese style rice, which has to be the easiest recipe I know. The rice is Uncle Ben's (2 mins in the microwave) and the salmon I rub with rape seed oil, salt and pepper and bung into a cold oven, turn it up high and leave for 20 - 25 minutes. It's delicious.


20:40
The evenings entertainment, Twilight Eclipse.


21:10
The three flowers attached to the body of the quilt - the centre hexagon is the one hundredth!


22:00
Waaay past wine o'clock


23:15
Bed with book.



Love






This was the #BEDM prompt for Friday but as I spent the vast majority of the day sat at my computer, I didn't think that it would make the most interesting of posts. Saturday's are much more fun!

So I'm just going to jump right in and say I LOVE BREAD! It would be hard to pick a favourite sandwich, I mean where do I even start??

There's my childhood favourite - the jam sandwich (white bread, real butter and 'no bits' strawberry jam), the sandwich of my college years - PB&J - as before but with smooth (never crunchy) peanut butter.

Then of course you have the toasted sandwich - early college years - tuna and ketchup (not tried it? do - it's fabulous) I was introduced to this by a guy in the year above - way cooler than me but he talked to me anyway. I tried it because although it sounds awful I wanted to be cool just like him (and wanted him to talk to me some more). Turns out that my liking for the snack lasted longer than my liking for him. Ha!

Then there is the (molten) cheese and ham toastie of the college cafe - stringy cheese and the cheapest ham imaginable, and yet it sustained me through the final years of my education.


How can I forget the bacon buttie? The best has to be white bread (of course), streaky bacon cooked until crispy, real butter (I have a loathing of margarine), Tiptree brown sauce (the BEST brown sauce known to man) and Heinz ketchup.

(I'm getting hungry, despite having just eaten an entire tin of spaghetti hoops in less than a minute).

Having developed a taste for brie, I can't ignore the triumph that is the bacon, brie and cranberry sandwich. This time multigrain bread is the only way to go - the thicker the better, served with some fancy salad leaves and vegetable crisps.

But then what about cheese on toast? Having helped me through numerous hangovers, although not technically a sandwich, I can't not mention it. White bread, spread with a layer of heinz ketchup, sprinkled with tiny pieces of red onion, a thick layer of cheese that's cooked until golden and bubbling, top off with a splash if Lea & Perrins (if I'm in the mood)...

And do you know what, after all that, I've just realised that there's no bread in the house.

Balls.

Love






This post is part of Elizabeth's #BEDM challenge (which I'm not doing very well at so far) but I am enjoying it anyway.

Stars Wars. Seen 'em all, new ones and originals. Some more than once. Will watch the new one too (how old will the original cast look!!). Can't quote a single line (other than 'No, I am your father'), and don't want to.

My Mum did my hair like Princess Leia once. I think, might have made that up... no, I'm sure she did.


I hated Jabba the hutt, adored the Ewoks but was too young to get into the who's hotter - Skywalker or Solo? debate. Found Jar Jar Binks annoying.

My older brother would never let me play with his Star Wars Lego. But my nephews do.

I would love to knit this I would.

So, Snog, Marry, Avoid.
- Obi-Wan Kenobi, episode 1 (Ewan McGregor)
- Darth Vadar, episode 2 (Hayden Christensen)
- Han Solo, episodes 4, 5, 6 (Harrison Ford - before the earring)
Go!

Happy May the 4th!

I almost didn't follow today's prompt from Elizabeth for #BEDM, but I couldn't bear to be beaten on Day 2. So, I spent a few hours reading through over three years of posts to come up with this list. (You're welcome).

I've learnt that I do waffle on and I repeat myself. A lot. But then, I'm a bit like that in real life. I get an idea in my mind and I won't let it go, it kinda takes over for a while, until it passes and I can relax before the next thing hits.

Anyway, my top five...

1. I love this for the cat part of the story.

2. I love this for the dog part of the story (and I'm still yet to make those iced gems again. But I will. It's on the list).

3. This is all about the pictures for me. If you don't like cute pictures of cats, look away now.

4. This was my first experience at a designers new season preview, I felt like an imposter but it was rather fun.

5. This made me laugh when I read it, I'd forgotten about my aversion to tights! And it was the first challenge I set myself. I'm glad to say that it worked and now I don't think twice about wrestling on a pair of 100 deniers.

Do you have a favourite?

Love

Good question. The answer seems to change every time I'm asked the question. So I'll just say 'it's about stuff and things'.

I tend to write about what's going through my mind, and what's happening in my life at the time.

Recently, I haven't had much time to blog - just 5 posts in the last two months (mostly talking about how little time I have to blog!). Which is why I decided to take part in Elizabeth's second Blog Everyday in May. I doubt I'll manage a daily post but it's worth a try and I'm certain that it'll get me back into the swing of blogging again.


I find blogging is like any hobby, there are times when ideas flow and I really enjoy it and other times I sit staring at a blank screen, wanting to write but having nothing much to say. At those times I remove myself from my keyboard and occupy myself elsewhere. My current obsession is patchwork quilting, I took a short course at the beginning of March and life hasn't been quite the same since, no doubt I'll mention it several times over the coming month(s).

I talk about cats a lot too.

Love

I woke up today with a strange urge. An urge to run. It's a very unfamiliar feeling for me, I've been thinking about running for ages but done nothing about it. Sophie's Running Commentary posts have played a part in the spurring me on and a number of posts for Day 5 (Fit and Healthy) of Elizabeth's #BEDM challenge further whet my appetite, including Janey L who introduced me to the 5K Runner app. I bought it the day I read her post but hadn't even looked at it until this morning.

I think 5K Runner is going to prove to be a excellent trainer. He didn't flinch when I told him to 'take a running jump' and he ignored me when I moaned about running in the sunny bits and walking in the shade. I've called him Brad.

The first run is a 25 minute session, 5 mins each end of walking and the middle 15 being 1.5 mins of walking and a 1 min run. I thought this sounded easy but three years of sitting on my arse has taken it's toll, it wasn't easy. I thought I'd be able to run for a minute without any problems but they just got harder and harder.

My final minute of running as so slow, my body felt too heavy for my legs, my feet didn't really want to leave the ground. I felt Brad silently judging me. In hindsight Ed Sheeran's The A Team probably wasn't the best tune to spur me on. Stupid shuffle.

My best running minute had to be to Run-DMC's Walk This Way, I added arms for some slightly wobbly run-dancing. I run in the middle of nowhere, through woodland, with not a soul for miles. This is done so no one can see me suffer and puff and sweat, I like it this way. But if I collapse I'll do so alone, in the middle of nowhere in the woods... *thinks for a moment* I'm sure Mr Joy will come looking for me when he gets hungry.

My final 5 minute walk was completed at a good pace, with a little walk-dancing thrown in - Maroon 5's Moves Like Jagger - I'm attributing this to the elation I felt knowing I didn't have to run anymore. I felt good when I got home, although the irritating label in the back of my trousers was removed almost immediately. And I'm kinda looking forward to my next walk/run. I wonder how long that will last...?

Just one question - how long will it be before my face returns to it's normal colour?

Well, I didn't do too well blogging everyday in May. I managed 15 posts on the chosen topics and 2 random ones.

I did think at the start that I it was a bit of a stretch to think I'd complete the whole thing but I have enjoyed it. It's nice to write about different subjects and it's been a great way to find new blogs to follow, and to get to know bloggers I've been following for a while a little more.

My favourite posts were the Dream Destinations. Not only did I love digging through my photos of travels past but my passion for travel has been reignited. I can't think that I'll be going anywhere soon but the promise of it has inspired me to save and plan.

Huge thanks to Elizabeth for organising this and my apologies for my poor effort.