Journeys Are My Diary

Life, Adventures, Entertainment and more - A little bit of everything blog!

Chris’ birthday – March 2013

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Having read my friend’s post yesterday (you can see it here) I felt a little bad for glossing over my own partner’s birthday and especially his party. I have been telling myself for the last week or so that I should write up a proper post for it, but just never got around to it.

So here I am, making the effort!

Wednesday 20th March was Chris’ birthday. The girls and I bought him an iPad – it was just first generation and second hand – along with a case and bag for it. While the kids were at school for the day, myself, Chris and our friend Adam, all went along to Damons for lunch. I cannot express just how much I love Damons. It’s a little expensive, but on your birthday you do get to eat for free. Also the advantage of going at lunchtime is that the combo platter (the choice I nearly always go for) is about £3-4 cheaper, than it is in the evening. In truth, if you didn’t order a drink it would probably be far more reasonable (£3.50 for a coke!).

After lunch we went to Doddington Hall Farm Shop. I knew I was cooking for ten people on Friday night and I just wanted to check out if there was anything quirky or interesting I could add to my already planned menu. We had to park in the overspill carpark which was incredibly muddy, but otherwise the trip was fun. I didn’t end up buying anything for Friday night, but I did get some nougat for Chris and some biscuits for the girls.

We headed home to get ready for the small tea party we were having that night. The girls had been at school all day so hadn’t really seen much of Chris, and my mum wanted to come over and give him his gift and wish him a Happy Birthday. As such we’d picked up a few bits from Iceland’s party food section, and this is what we got ready. At 3.30pm I collected the girls and brought them home, before heading out again briefly for their Parent’s Evening. I was back around 5pm and that’s when we had the tea party, along with the small chocolate cake we’d got free from Damons!

However the tea party was only short, as Chris and I were going out to see The Rocky Horror Show in Grimsby that night and we needed to leave around 6.30pm. Sadly the show itself was very lightly booked, I think only 1/3 of the seats were filled. The show though, was amazing. Despite the small audience, it was a noisy audience and Chris and I were lucky enough to be sat on the second row (perhaps in this situation, a little too close). Oliver Thornton, who played Dr Frank N Furter, was amazing. He totally stole the show for me. Other great performances were given by Roxanne Pallett (who played Janet) and Kristian Lavercombe (who played Riff Raff).

I have no idea if this video will work, but trying to embed it here so you can see how awesome the show was!

Anyway it was a great night but a long drive home when we were both feeling pretty tired. All in all though I think he had a pretty good birthday. However it wasn’t over there, as on Friday night we were to be having an Alice in Wonderland Murder Mystery Party and I had been planning this for ages.

The Murder Mystery we used was one we found online. You can see it/buy it here.

Having done almost one murder mystery a month for the last year, we have definitely come across some good games and some bad games. Obviously you never really know quite what you’re getting until you do it, but I have to say, this one got a big thumbs up. Some of us were dubious because we were playing characters already created and/or acted. All previous games had just been a case of being your own version of a rough character synopsis. However it went really smoothly and I’m pretty sure everyone had a good time.

My partner Chris as the Mad Hatter

As always, I was running last minute with all the finer details and printing out the murder mystery booklets. This means I have no pictures of how the room looked, the effort I went to for the table or even the food. However the room really did look amazing (thanks to Adam and Chris for decorating it), the tables were two long ones placed together to make it look more sort of jumbled and the food was all Wonderland themed. I’d spent two weeks looking around Charity shops and had a great collection of cups and saucers for everyone to drink out of, Chris had even bought me a teapot which I strangely love. The tablecloths were floral, I completely forgot the floral napkins, and each cup and saucer had a teapot shaped tag on it with their character name on it.

I served a starter of Cheshire “Cat” Cheese Fondue, followed by Queen of Hearts Pasta (two ways, one with cream and bacon, the other with tomato and chorizo) and Caterpillar salad. Finally for desert there was a choice of Chocolate Bread and Butter-fly pudding or White Chocolate “Rabbit” Creme Brulee. Though the pasta hearts got destroyed in the re-heat and the cheese fondue melted a little lumpy second time around, everything went pretty well. I always think afterwards that I could have done it so much better if I’d just…. but then I remember these people are all my friends and they don’t care. And they shouldn’t, its right. Because I know its the getting together that counts.

Obviously I’d baked a cake – it had taken me most of the week on and off – but everyone was pretty full by the end of dinner. However I was fairly proud of it and everyone seemed keen to take some home (read: keen or maybe just forced) along with the cups and saucers that I was definitely forcing them to take.

I’m pretty sure the evening went well and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. In hindsight I’m definitely disappointed that I didn’t get more pictures of the final details, but I suppose the important part is that it looked good right there and then in the moment.

A few pictures that show off the room

It’s my birthday next and I can’t wait to organise my own party. There is a post about that, scheduled some time this week. I have a bunch more things I want to update about, but I guess I’ll have to wait and see what spare time I get this week, especially with another busy one planned. Until then…

Liebster Award, Take Two! (or maybe three…)

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So as I mentioned the other day, I was nominated for my third Liebster Award (though I did my last two as a joint post which you can read here). Thank you to the wonderful Taby at The Closet Intellectual for my nomination, here are the answers to the questions she gave me:

1. What is your favorite sort of book to curl up to & what beverage goes with it?

The first part of this question is so much harder to answer than the second half. In all honesty I don’t find anywhere near as much time to pick up a book as I’d like to, or as I should, but when I do I like a picture of romance (chick lit for an easy read), or suspense/sci-fi for a more gripping read. Beverage of choice is tea every time. I can drink cup after cup after cup.

2. If Hollywood called and told you they were making a movie about your life, what would the name of the movie be & who would play you?

Firstly, this would never ever happen lol. There is nothing interesting about my life (as yet) that someone would want to make a movie out of it. As such I guess it would be called “Much Ado About Nothing” …oh wait, maybe that’s already copyrighted! Hehe. As for who would play me, I’d have to say J-Lo. Its a very complicated story to explain why so you’re just gonna have to take my word for it! (that and I have a big ass).

3. If you were mad at a loved one, what sort of flowers would be their ticket out of the doghouse?

If? What is this if you speak about? My loved one is always in the doghouse! j/k, he’s actually pretty good at staying on my right side. However if anyone is every buying me flowers its roses all the way. Cliché? Maybe, but they are my favourite. That said, I prefer them closed bud rather than open, any day.

4. What is your favorite piece of clothing (provide a picture of it if you can) & why do you love it so?
This is a very boring answer I’m afraid, the truth being – my jeans. I have about 5-6 pairs and I live in them constantly. Of course I have a few loved pieces of clothing too, but my jeans are definitely my favourite. After them I suppose I would have to add my collection of Tee Fury and Qwertee t-shirts. I have an addiction.

I have one draw for these t-shirts and another for plain or “not so cool” t-shirts

5. If you could only watch one movie for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Wow, this is a really tricky one for me, as someone who doesn’t even really buy DVDs, owing to the fact I rarely bother to put them on – just catch things again accidentally when they’re on TV. Sadly it would probably be a Disney DVD, maybe Hercules, or a princess one of some sort.

So there you have it, my five answers, to the five questions asked by Taby!
And here are my questions to my nominees.

1. Do you have a Special Talent or Skill? If so then what is it, and if not then what one talent or skill do you wish you had and why?
2. Where is the furthest place from home that you have traveled to and why did you go there?
3. If you had to give one book recommendation to a random group of 100 people, hoping for the majority to like it, what book would you choose?
4. Have you ever wished you were named something else and if so, then what?
5. When was the last time you cried and what was it over?

Now my nominations – and according to my last time doing this Liebster Award, I believe there was a rule that said only blogs with under 200 followers!

Vintage Fee – http://vntgfee.blogspot.co.uk/
Cat’s Chronology – http://catschronology.blogspot.co.uk/
Indigo Buttons – http://indigobuttons.blogspot.co.uk/
Puddle of Grace – http://www.puddleofgrace.com/

and although I’m not nominating them for the Liebster Award (they either have lots of followers, or have recently already been nominated and have done the obligatory post) I also advise you to check out:

Cocktails in Teacups – http://www.cocktailsinteacups.com/
Just Pirouette and Carry On – http://justpirouetteandcarryon.blogspot.co.uk/
The Sparkly Panda – http://thesparklypanda.blogspot.co.uk/

Nominees, the rules are simple. Make a similar post to this, answering the five questions I gave you. Make up some of your own questions and nominate some blogs you love for others to check out. Remember to leave a comment on your nominees blogs, so they know to check out your post and pass it on!

Thanks for checking in! I’ll post again soon xx

Quick Thursday Update!

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I was going to update today anyway, since I haven’t really blogged much all week. However I now have two additional reasons to update!

First of all, thank you to everyone who commented on my last post. The job interview went well and I was very hopeful and positive from everything that was said to me. I was told that they would make a decision Friday morning and call everyone then. However I received a phone call today around 3.30pm, telling me I had got the job! Without wanting to offend anyone else with a similar job, please don’t be upset by my use of the word “only” now, but the job is only as a Telesales person. That said, its paid work plus commission, rather than one of these “work from home, pay out of your own pocket, just get commission” jobs. I’ll be working Monday/Tuesday, Thursday/Friday, between the hours of 9.30am and 1.30pm. This suits perfectly with school hours and so should be just what I was looking for. That said, there are still a couple more jobs I was looking to apply for, that were term time hours only, that I will still send off an application for, but worst case scenario, I am now employed! Woo!

Second piece of news is that I have been nominated for a Liebster Award, by the lovely Taby at The Closet Intellectual. I don’t really have the time or the inclination to do up my Liebster post right now (its been a long couple of days!) but I will try to get it done tomorrow.

Finally, not a reason I was especially posting, but since I am updating anyway, just a few things about my busy week so far.

– Monday was lovely and relaxing – no children and no partner, so I ended up shopping (food, nothing exciting!) and defrosting the freezer. I also tried to get some more of the book (a book for bookclub) read, while failing miserable and resorting to the audiobook! However I did make a carrot cake (second one in a row, having never made them before Easter!).
– Tuesday the kids were going away with their Nanny (my mum) for a week, so we spent the morning having a bath and packing their clothes. Mum came for them around 2pm and only 5 minutes after they left I was already in floods of tears! My partner Chris decided to occupy me with shopping for decorating supplies – more about that later – and then coming home to relax, eat homemade burgers and chips, play on the computer and watch Walking Dead!
– Wednesday I obviously had my job interview, which I was quite nervous about. I tried on at least three outfits, showed, paid special attention to doing my hair and make up, then headed out for it. Getting to my interview half an hour early, I sat in the car and played iphone apps to kill twenty minutes. I then went in, my interview lasted twenty more minutes and then I came home. Chris and I got changed, had lunch and headed over to his house in Gainsborough (his house technically, but he doesn’t live there). We spent from around 3pm-6pm stripping wallpaper from one of his rooms, a story that will definitely require a whole blog post of its own at some point.
– Thursday, which is obviously today, Chris and I headed over to Skegness for the majority of the day. Mum has the kids at Butlins for the week (oh and fyi Chris has the week off work this week) so we went over to break up my week of not seeing them. We picked them up around 1.30pm and headed into Skegness itself. We spent a few hours in an arcade, winning 107 tickets (haha, it was such fun, I have to admit!) and playing 2p machines. The kids thought it was great and loved cashing in the tickets. We then headed back to the caravan and mum, had a cup of tea and a chat, before heading home. I am now completely exhausted, laying full out on the sofa. Chris and I have just decided to have the easy dinner of scrambled eggs on toast, so I’ll need to get up and make that in a moment. We are perhaps topping off the evening with an episode of “The Following” and a glass of wine.

Cute picture from today in Skeggy

Tomorrow brings house tidying – its bin day and mine in the kitchen are full to bursting – and more decorating at Chris’ house. I imagine a lay in comes first mind you. Saturday I think I’m going to Skegness again, but by myself this time. Chris is working (his job is in Ladbrokes) as its Grand National day, so I figure I’ll occupy myself and see the kids again – win/win. The girls come back home on Sunday, though we have nothing planned, probably just hanging out and spending some time together.

Monday brings with it another busy week and the first day of my new job. Hopefully I’ll update again soon so I can catch you all up on the changes in my life, as well as honour my Liebster Award. A fun game of blog tag should be flying your way soon too, so keep your eyes peeled!

Life Changes

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I’m writing this post on my phone, as I get ready for my first job interview in about 9 years. A part of me is terrified and another part of me is strangely calm about it all.

I suppose some of the pressure is eased because I’ve literally only just started looking for a job, and got an interview from only the second application I made. I also don’t NEED a job in the same way most people do – to survive. Mine is just to make life easier I suppose. That said, now I’ve decided to get a job, I feel like I need one. If that makes sense.

Anyway by the time you read this, I’ll be on my way, in the interview, or maybe even after it. Cross everything you have that I at least make it through without puking lol.

I’ll update later!

TV… to live for!

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So I don’t really watch an awful lot of TV. I watch more now than I used to, but still not heaps. To be honest in the daytime my TV is either off if the kids are at school, or on kids TV if they’re home. In an evening I either get caught up in surfing, blogging, gaming or something otherwise distracting, instead of turning on my TV.

Over the last few months I have been adding a lot of programs to the Never Miss on my Sky account. Programs I intended to watch from the beginning and never got around to it, or ones I lost track of at a certain series and would like to continue viewing. These included things like Doctor Who, House, Bones, 90210, Gossip Girl, Big Bang Theory etc. etc. However it also seems like all these programs started to be shown and repeated at the same time. My Sky box has filled and filled and I’ve had to get ruthless and delete programs, in order to make space for other ones to record. However two nights ago I just got mean! I deleted absolutely everything that didn’t make me go… “OMG I have to watch that now!” As such, I now have about 80% free on my Sky box, when previously I was struggling between 10-20%.

This lead me to thinking about this post I suppose. What is your MUST WATCH television? This is mine.

Game of Thrones

I was very late to the party with watching Game of Thrones. It was something I always wished I’d seen from the beginning, once people started talking about it, but I didn’t like the idea of picking it up mid second season. Over Christmas, both season one and two were shown on different channels at adjacent times. I set both to record, watching season one as often as I could (once a week usually, when it recorded) and then watching all of season two in the space of a week. Now its only three days until season three begins and I actually feel pretty excited! While I wouldn’t say its the best or even easiest TV show to get into and concentrate on (I totally get confused with everyone’s names) I would say it has a good (if not complicated at times) storyline, great actors and massively loveable (and HATEABLE) characters in it. Some of my favourite characters are definitely; Tyrion Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Robb Stark, Bronn and Arya Stark.

These t-shirts are floating around the internet, possibly to be sold at Tee Fury, but two are on sale at Tee Turtle. I have to admit I’d be tempted into all three, despite hating Joffrey.

Once Upon a Time

Again, another show I was late to the party on. Originally I didn’t even hear about it, then when I did – I didn’t pay much attention to what I was being told. However again over Christmas I saw it was on, two episodes a day, over a few weeks. I set it to record and the whole series built up. I finally got around to watching it about two weeks ago and I was addicted! For someone who is massively into Disney, loves fairytales, chick flicks and so on, this is the show for you. I can’t wait to get watching season two. So far there aren’t any characters I hate, even the people you are supposed to hate. My favourites however are; Mr Gold/Rumpelstiltskin – largely because its Robert Carlyle, Grumpy, August/Pinocchio and Sheriff Graham (insert sad face here). None of the female characters grab me massively, but that’s not to say they aren’t all well played and acted. I love its balance of past and present, its continual storyline at the same time as having stand alone episodes. All in all its just a very clever twist, for the people like me who love soppy fairy stories.

The Walking Dead

I have never ever been one for Zombies. Not TV shows, not movies. However again I do remember seeing trailers for this in the middle of season two and thinking it looked pretty good. On getting together with my current partner (who is a massive zombie fan), I agreed to watch The Walking Dead. We watched all of season one (he owned the DVD) in two nights, immediately followed by me insisting he purchased season two that night. We then watched season two over another two or three nights, setting the Sky+ for season three which was about to start. Since then we have watched the new episode every week and its now only got two episodes left till end of season.

I’ll be honest, its incredibly gory, but if you can look past that, its an amazing tv show. I would liken it to Lost really, in that the focus is actually on the survivors of the zombie apocalypse, rather than the zombies itself. There are loveable characters and hateable characters, and even those that start off in one category and work their way into another. I especially love Daryl Dixon. He has been from the start and still remains, my favourite character. I also love Maggie and Glenn, though not especially them as a couple. Rick I liked, but its wearing off (though the fact he’s in Love Actually probably saves him for me a little) and Hershel I wasn’t keen on but now he’s one of my favs. Most of the people who have died so far, I have to say…. Good. Definitely wasn’t a big fan of a few specific people, but I don’t want to add spoilers.

Doctor Who – Series 7, Part 2

Specific? Yes. Prior to Series 7, I hadn’t watched any of the more recent Doctor Who. Not Christopher Eccleston and not David Tenant. I had once caught an episode with David Tenant and just thought it was ridiculous, putting me off ever watching it again. However having a friend come to visit a lot towards the end of last year, and want to watch Doctor Who, I found myself getting into it – largely because of Matt Smith, but also because of Jenna-Louise Coleman. The first episode I watched was S7, E1. Jenna-Louise was amazing and I was totally addicted from day one. Episode 2 and 3 weren’t so great, dinosaurs in space and robot cowboys, but after that it picked up again. By episode 5 I was crying for the loss of characters I was invested in and looking forward to the Christmas special. Once again Jenna-Louise Coleman and Matt Smith sold the Christmas special to me and now I can’t wait for Series 7, Part 2 to begin again on Saturday. While I might have axed all previous series of Doctor Who from my Sky box, in my ruthless cut a few days ago, Doctor Who series 7, part 2 will remain firmly on my box, probably watched within a day or two of recording.

I even bought this t-shirt from the awesome Tee Fury site. I’ll be wearing it tomorrow in anticipation of Doctor Who!

Other “must-watch” TV, that I’m currently up to date with

I’ve added these below, largely owing to the fact that they are my secondary must-watch section. These are all shows that I keep up to date with, but don’t rush to watch. I usually watch them all within the week they record, but occasionally they build up to be more than one episode at a time to catch up on.

  • How I Met Your Mother
  • Glee
  • The Vampire Diaries
  • The Following
  • New Girl

On the whole I watch HIMYM and New Girl fairly quickly after they record, mostly because they are only 20 minute episodes. They are all shows I want to keep up to date with, but they aren’t always a priority.

Habit Shows

Some of you will know what I mean by Habit Shows. Those shows that you have watched for so long now, that you just continue to watch. For some people its soaps like Eastenders, Coronation Street, Hollyoaks, Neighbours, Home & Away etc. For me however its Casualty, Holby City and NCIS. 

– Casualty is my longest watched TV show. Its easy to get in and out of, pick up and put down, but since series link was invented for the Sky box, I have to admit I’ve been recording it ever since. 
– Holby City (as you will know if you are familiar with the show) is a sort of spin-off/link-in of Casualty. I probably put this on to record about a year after I did Casualty, but it is now one of my staple records. 
Both these two shows I usually watch within the week they record, but at the most two weeks. For some reason when I don’t know what to watch, these are my go-tos.
– NCIS was an unexpected addition. I once caught a few episodes at the end of season 2, over a couple of days and really got into it. I then continued to watch it solidly through 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (thanks again series link!). Season 9 was set to start in the not too distant future so recorded that and pretty sure its onto Season 10 now. Since I first started watching NCIS, I managed to backtrack and catch majority of the episodes I’d missed in Season 1 and 2. There are now only about 3 episodes I haven’t seen, in the whole 10 series (other than what’s currently airing).

Other noteable mentions….

A new season of Touch starts this coming week. This is only its second season, but I enjoyed the first and so I have high hopes for the next one.

Revolution is a new show airing tonight for the first time. Its been on in the US for a while now and seems to be a hit, so I’m pretty excited to see how it will be. There are a few familiar faces in the cast, one of which I liked in Lost. The rough storyline sounds good so I suppose we’ll see!

Catfish. I’ve mentioned this before so I won’t go into it in detail, but I’ve really enjoyed this show. I think its possibly at an end now (the next episodes blurb sounds like a finale show) but I’ve loved watching it. I don’t really go in much for reality show but there was just something about this particular one that triggered my interest. I really hope they continue to do more episodes and series in the future.

So that about sums it up. 
What are your must-see shows? What would you catch up with if you had the time? 
What have you heard people rave about or would rave about yourself?

Well golly gosh!

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Life is so busy right now! Not necessarily in a good way either.

I haven’t updated my blog in a while, but that’s partly because I haven’t had the time and partly because I haven’t really had the incentive either. Life is still a little bit up in the air, with living arrangements and money – I’d like to say its mostly good still though, except for how stressed and low I’ve felt at times.

That said there have been lots of high points in the last week or so, one of which was my partner’s birthday and then his party a few days later – an Alice in Wonderland murder mystery. My eldest daughter was also in assembly for “shining” and my youngest daughter is coming along so well with her reading that she went straight to “the sun” one day last week. This weekend just gone, myself, the kids, my partner and a friend who was staying for the weekend also had a Pamper Day – it was a lot of fun too. Easter Holidays begin on Thursday and I’m looking forward to some time with Megan and Lily. That said, my mum is taking them away for six days and their dad will probably have them for some days, but hopefully I’ll get in plenty of time too.

Anyway here are some pictures from my last week or so.

  
 1-3 Mother’s Day, the girls cards and present
1-2 Megan and Lily shaving Chris’s beard and then hair, 3-4 Chris’ birthday cake
1-4 Lily and Megan at our Pamper Day
and because I forgot to add these…
Megan in assembly for “shining”

No time or thought for blogging?

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I don’t know if I’ve been too busy, or just uninclined to blog, but whatever it is, I know I’ve been neglecting my blog for the majority of this week. It isn’t for lack of things to write about, I know that much. I have been busy, but not too busy to do a host of other unessential things, so I suppose some of it is choice. I tell myself almost daily that I should write something, blog about something, but for whatever reason it just isn’t happening.

So I’m forcing myself today, with no real topic to blog about. Instead I’m just going to update a little on what’s going on in my life.

Everything is a bit up and down at the moment. Money, my emotions, just life in general I suppose. Mostly its good though, nothing to worry about. I need to start looking for a job and I know this is the cause of some of my stress. Upsetting to have to change my life from being full-time mum to part-time worker. Stressful to think about finding a job after not really being employed for 5 years and even then I owned my own restaurant for 2 years. Scary, the actual thought of working again, the environment, the worries, the people, after so long of not working. I know its what I need to do, for money mostly but just to get my life back on track also. I don’t want to though and I wish there was some other way. Anyway, enough about that.

My partner Chris, has his birthday next week. He’s off work all week which will be nice, plus we also have one of my friends coming to stay for the week. It’s Parent’s Evening on his birthday, but other than that we’re hoping to head out to Damon’s at lunch, then we’re going to see Rocky Horror Show in the evening. More exciting perhaps though is the Murder Mystery party we’re having on the 22nd (which I’ve already mentioned, in connection with my costume) which is Alice in Wonderland themed. I have all the components of my costume now, though I still need to sew a few things. Chris has all of his too. On top of that we’ve been hitting up the charity shops in Lincoln, buying tableware for the dinner party.

I know I’m getting far too into this, as I always do, but its been a nice way to spend time with Chris, as well as focusing on something to look forward to. I suppose I do that a lot, but its nice – until you think of the money involved I suppose. Either way though, the evening is finally starting to come together. I think I have nearly everything we need now, or at least on its way via Ebay. I’ve also decided on our menu for the evening and I’m looking forward to hosting.

Aside from the teacup collections, but connected to the party, Chris and I also went to a carboot sale yesterday. It was freezing cold and even snowed (is anyone else sick of this ridiculously cold weather – and please no more snow!). We didn’t find anything for the Alice in Wonderland party but I did treat myself to some cook books.

While trying to plan this murder mystery dinner, I realised that all of my cookbooks are very much out of date and old fashioned. My ex was the one who owned all our cookbooks before (owing to him being a chef) and since he took them all with him when he left, I really have nothing that wasn’t passed on from either my mum or even my nan. As such when I spotted the brand new cookbooks on a stall at the carboot sale, I was definitely interested. Though “The Works” label on them was £10, the man was selling them for £6. However I offered him £10 for 2 and he agreed.

I haven’t had chance to look through them yet but I’m hoping to get some use out of them over the next few weeks.

Finally the only other thing on my mind at the moment is Google’s news to get rid of Google Reader. A recent giveaway that I was part of, took me from about 8-10 followers, to the current 42, using GFC. From my understanding GFC will cease to exist if Google Reader does. I’m now wondering if I will lose the majority of my new followers, or if they will follow in a different way. I’m going to look into some other options myself later, but still it seems that even offering a different way to follow, for example via Bloglovin, still won’t really ensure everyone chooses to continue following.

Anyway that’s really all I’ve got at the moment. I’m watching loads of TV right now – including Once Upon a Time, Game of Thrones and Big Bang Theory. There is only about 15% left on my Sky box too, so that’s probably the way to spend the rest of the day! My mum is having the girls overnight and Chris is at work. Hopefully I’ll get my costume finished this evening, while watching a shedload of drama.

————-

edit: Also if you’re interested, there is a petition here you can sign about Google Reader. No promises it will do any good, but worth a try?

Want to dress up?

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I saw this picture above, quite some time ago. It sums up the annoyance I have about dressing up and wearing costumes. Why is it that if you’re female and you want to buy a costume, it has to be sexy?

Now I’m not trying to offend anyone who reads my blog, but if I want to wear a costume, its unlikely I want to dress like a slut, sorry sexy. Yes of course we all want to look nice, no matter how we’re dressing up, but not all of us think sexy is the main criteria for an outfit. I am thirty three years old, I have two young children and I currently weigh around twelve stone. I don’t have huge amounts of self esteem and I’m incredibly body conscious. You rarely find me in photos but at the same time I will have them taken so as to be part of memories.

Last year my friends and I took part in approximately one murder mystery party per month. We all love them, love to dress up and its a great excuse to all get together. Majority of costumes do not require a specific character or look, so you can put various items of clothes together to make your outfit. However for both halloween and this forthcoming murder mystery, I have struggled to find a costume that isn’t “sexy”.

For my partner’s birthday on 20th March, we’re hosting an Alice in Wonderland Murder Mystery on Friday 22nd. My part is the Queen of Hearts. My first go to for a costume, was of course Ebay. This is pretty much what I found, or at least the majority of what I found…

While these costumes aren’t completely outragious, they are all too short, too tight and probably too expensive for a one night only experience. Who really wants to pay £20+ for something like this?

One of my best friends gave me the idea (because she was doing it) to get something that could be reused and worn on just a regular basis. So a new search began and all these beautiful dresses came up…

Now don’t get me wrong, the first two of these are quite expensive also, but at least they are re-wearable. They’re not personally my style but I can appreciate that they are beautiful dresses. The third one I added as sort of a personal joke (because Carly Rae Jepson wore it) but also because it is at least from Topshop… and normal.

My search even turned up this beautiful dress, if I was looking for something less red hearts and more alternative.

Again, another dress that just isn’t my style but just as suitable for the costume, but much more practical than a horrible tacky purpose made costume that costs an arm and a leg (perhaps more appropriately, an arm and a “off with her head!”)

All these dresses were around £20-£30 and would be much nicer alternatives to one of these costumes sold as “Queen of Hearts”. Because lets be fair, even the more decent, long and sensible costumes, are still incredibly expensive for cheap material and bad stitching. I have a pirate costume I bought once that ripped even as I was putting it on for the first time.

Anyway I know that mostly I was just ranting, but I also have a quick query for anyone reading my blog. The dress I have decided to go for is this:

However I want to make it a bit more “royal” and “queenish”. I’m looking to add an overskirt/bustle/cloak type aspect, but it has to not cover the back of the dress (since it has the heart, which is sort of the point of picking it).

So you know what I’m talking about, I found these pictures.

From what I can see, I can’t get just the long skirt part, without the full dress, or without it being made out of tulle (see Bustle skirt). Does anyone have any idea what I can google/search under to find this type of thing?

I found this, which is sort of what I want.

However its £20.
I also found this.
This would also work, but its even more expensive!!
Anyway if worst comes to the worst, I will just make something from black material with red hearts. But I figured, I have 20 or so people who follow, who might just know another name for what I’m looking for and so it was worth asking.
Better head off now and do something useful. I’ve got caught up watching Big Bang Theory and writing this, when I should have been making another cake… and yes, I have seen more cake than I know what to do with, but I have yet another to make!!
Finally, last reminder that this is still happening… enter now!

Happy 5th Birthday Lily May

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I know I’ve mentioned it a few times now, but today was my youngest daughter, Lily’s, 5th birthday. This morning we got up and opened presents, only having an hour or so before school. She got lots of nice things, including a Furby, two DS games, a Sylvanian Family car, some clothes, Moshi Monster stuff, a Merida soft doll and a Disney Princess game.

There was a mad rush then to get ready for school, eat breakfast, get dressed and so on. We also of course had to remember the cupcakes for all of Lily’s class that she’d requested I made.

After taking them to school I had to go buy more green icing (I’ll explain in a moment) and go to Iceland for party food. What should have taken Chris and I an hour or so, actually resulted in us getting back home at 12pm, with only 3 hours left to get everything done.

We both haven’t been feeling a hundred percent this week, so everything is feeling a bit like an effort at the moment. I also feel like I haven’t really left the kitchen in 4 days. Anyway we managed to get the lounge tidied and decorated, the birthday cake finished, more cupcakes made, biscuits iced with “Eat Me”, all the party food cooked and set out on the table. At 3.15pm I went to get Lily from school, along with her sister Megan and her friend Ciara (not before I snapped a few pictures of the lounge though!).

When we got back to the house, Lily and Ciara went to get changed, Lily had wanted to be Alice from Alice in Wonderland and so Ciara also borrowed one of Lily’s dress up outfits and became Aurora. My friends and their children, along with my brother, all arrived around 4pm. Lily opened more presents, including more Moshi Monsters, more Sylvanian family and more clothes, before everyone ate. We did the cake (sparklers though and not candles) and sang Happy Birthday, then ate the cake. The kids all played upstairs while the adults chatted downstairs and generally it was a very nice and relaxed get together.

Everyone is gone now, the girls are in bed and the lounge still needs clearing up properly – but it will wait till tomorrow at least. The cake seemed to go down well and people even took some home with them (though perhaps under a little pressure to do so as I almost begged for it to be gone).

So are you curiouser and curiouser to know how the cake turned out?

Have to admit I’m pretty pleased and proud of it. I’ve never made anything like this before at all. I definitely don’t find making cakes relaxing or even a hobby, but I have to admit the challenge is what drove me to do it. I know it wouldn’t pass for any awards but honestly I’m just glad I accomplished what I set out to do.

As you can probably see, the bottom and middle of the cake looks slightly better than the pictures I posted a few days ago. I ended up stripping it all back to basics, re-icing both the bottom and middle layers. I even had a mishap with the top layer and ended up icing that twice too.

My friend Nat deserves a mention too, for coming around last night and giving me some moral support. Three days in the kitchen can send you a bit crazy and it was nice to have some company. She also made both the clubs and spades on the bottom layer of the cake! That said, yesterday wasn’t all bad. I set myself up in the kitchen with my cakes, the iPad for decorating ideas, a tv and even Alice in Wonderland on dvd. My bowl is extra awesome because its an “Off with her bread” bowl, suitable for the occasion!

Anyway, thankfully I think my cake making and baking is done, at least for a week or now. I have so much coloured icing left though, I feel sure it won’t be too long before I tackle something else. My partner is having an Alice in Wonderland party for his birthday on the 20th, but it will be a Murder Mystery party. Maybe I’ll figure out something to bake for him…

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And don’t forget…

Birthday Palava

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As I’ve mentioned before, its my youngest daughter’s birthday this week and she will be 5! Today was her first (of many) birthday party, which we had at Pizza Hut. She enjoyed the party (I did not, though perhaps that will save for another post) and everyone else seemed to enjoy it too.

Lily just before we set off for her party
Everyone saying “cheese” while eating ice cream

As much as I love my children (and honestly I must), I do sometimes wonder why we go to so much effort for birthday parties they will barely remember when they’re older. I can’t honestly tell you a thing about my birthdays when I was younger, to be honest I can barely remember last year. Sometimes I think we remember more because we were told about them in later years, backed up with photographs, than from actually remembering that day ourselves… anyway, I digress.

Lily’s birthday isn’t till Tuesday, but I feel like I’ve been building up to it for weeks – and then suddenly, this week (and especially this weekend) is suddenly turning out to be crazy. Along with the usual hassle of making sure she has all the presents she would like (delegating to friends and relatives from a huge list left over from Christmas…), getting wrapping paper and a card, of course the organisation of the party today – dating at least 4 or 5 weeks back from the point we decided on what she wanted to do and so on and so forth, I have also ended up doing a ton of baking.

I’m pretty sure I mentioned in my last post, I’m not much of a baker, or cook and definitely not a chef. I can get by and I’ll happily cook an evening meal every evening, but its not something I do for pleasure or as a hobby or even a time waster on the weekend. When I do decide to bake with the kids, its usually a packet mix, some Disney Princess or Moshi Monster decorating pack, over and done with in about an hour.

However this birthday I have landed myself in all sorts of palava… that’s palava, not pavlova. Wasn’t a typo!

For the party today I made cupcakes. I’m not a big fan of party bags (because mostly you get junk in them that just ends up getting tossed away) and I don’t really like slices of cake coming home in napkins. Maybe I’m just fussy, I’m not sure. But either way, this is what I did for Lily’s birthday.

The basic concept is a reusable, attractive looking cup, filled with sweets (yes its unhealthy but it gets eaten rather than plastic toys that get broken or thrown away!) with an individual cupcake (in a case no less!) on top. I’ve then wrapped it all up in a cellophane bag and tada! The cupcakes were vanilla with chocolate biscuit bits, topped with pink icing (or in the boys case, chocolate) then princess rice papers (we had these in the drawer from previous baking) and white chocolate sprinkles (or for the boys, multicoloured sugar stars).

This is just ONE of the things I have to bake this week/weekend.

Task two is of course the Alice in Wonderland cake. Thank you to everyone who volunteered a comment or help, but as with most things – I steamed ahead and did my own thing (I’m sorry, its just the way I am!). I’ve made all the cakes now – bottom and middle sections were yesterday, the top layer I completed today. The bottom and middle sections are also iced, I still have the top one to do. I have to admit its not been AS tricky as I expected so far, but it has definitely been a learning curve. The bottom (being my first cake) is by far the worst looking, the middle has room for improvement, but at the moment I’m most impressed with the top layer.

Please do not judge me, I am well aware these aren’t great! Bottom layer, which is chocolate with vanilla filling, I didn’t trim down the sides at all, as you can see in the middle picture (very clearly). Middle layer, which is pink and purple striped vanilla sponge with buttercream filling, still didn’t turn out great and I figured I’m just not that good with royal icing. HOWEVER, I have since googled and realised I need to put a layer of buttercream all over the edges of the cake, to create a smooth finish. Top layer, which is green peppermint sponge with chocolate peppermint filling, I am most proud of. So far its only trimmed down, but now I know about the buttercream edging, I have high hopes! Tomorrow all will be revealed, one way or another I guess. So cross your fingers for me, especially as I am yet to decorate!

This still leaves me with more cupcakes to make however, something I need to fit in tomorrow too. Lily has asked that I bake cupcakes for all her classmates, which is apparently 22 students on a full day. I plan to send 24, for all the kids, the teacher and the teaching assistants (Lily not included). I’ve even bought cupcake boxes to make sure they don’t all end up damaged and squashed.

Anyway I should either head to bed, or go and ice the top layer of my cake. I think honestly it will be bed and deal with everything else tomorrow. Goodnight for now!