jewellery Archives - Journeys Are My Diary

Harry Potter Ball – take two

August 30, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

As you may remember, I posted a little while ago about a Harry Potter convention and Ball that I went to with my best friend and two daughters. It was a little disappointing to be honest and left me feeling like I could have done better myself. Having talked it over with Nat (or maybe ranted in the car on the way home) we decided that maybe we should plan our own – perhaps for her 30th next year.

This got me to thinking about what I would wear – the changes to what I wore this time and what I could improve. The largest change of all, would be to lose some weight. We’re hoping in fact that this may motivate us! She got so many lovely compliments in the dress she was wearing, that I really want people to look at me and say the same. For that reason I would definitely pick the same dress. I have worn it twice now and I love it. However I definitely think I could do with some accessories so I’ve been doing some research.

Gryffindor Ball

I love the idea of a heavy piece for a necklace – something like this beautiful Victorian necklace from Berganza. I also love this cuff bracelet from House of Fraser and these ruby earrings from India Times to really give the Gryffindor vibe (I’m sorry, but I love red far too much to not be a Gryffindor). The ring probably isn’t that necessary to the outfit but I love to pull a bit more of the ruby in and this would be a nice subtle touch.

Since the girls are Ravenclaw and Slytherin (Lily is like me, torn between Gryffindor and Slytherin), I decided to look for some ideas for them too. They won’t be going to Nat’s 30th but just in case we find another decent Harry Potter ball to get invited too, I thought it would be nice for them to have accessories.

Ravenclaw accessories

Megan is quite delicate so all the pieces I picked are delicate too. They all feature sapphires as I figured this suited Ravenclaw colours. Of course no ball outfit would be complete without Rowena Ravenclaw’s Diadem too.

Slytherin accessories

Lily likes to be fierce in everything she does so I know she’d rock the brightness of the emerald pieces. The snake earrings (despite the fact her ears aren’t pierced yet) and the snake bracelet are by far my favourite choices. She also has a huge amount of hair so this beautiful comb would look great. Finally the necklace is nice and solid so it would hang nicely around her neck.

Sorry Hufflepuff but you lucked out. No one in our house is interested in being from Hufflepuff so I decided not to do one for you! Besides, really not a fan of Amber or yellow coloured stones either.

What would you pick if you were supporting your favourite Hogwarts House to a Yule Ball?

Week 34 – Monday Round-up (well actually it’s Wednesday!)

August 26, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Well this week I am super late in making my round up post! I’m almost half the way through the next week in fact. It’s been a really great week though, with high and lows of course but mostly good! The kids are still off for Summer Holidays of course, though it won’t be for much longer now! We still haven’t really “done” an awful lot, but everyone seems okay with that and we still have our weekend in London coming up!

The beginning of the week, we didn’t do an awful lot to be honest! The girls went to their dad’s on Monday and had to wait at my mum’s while my car had it’s MOT. It wasn’t finished until almost 3pm (after the work needed was carried out) and after it was done I needed to get new tyres as well. So I headed to Tanvic, waited while my tyres were done and then made a random decision to try to Hobbycraft in Nottingham. It was nice to walk around but fairly fruitless, I had Burger King for dinner and then headed home. Tuesday I went over to pick the girls up from their dad and we came straight home. I used the day to catch up on TV and work on my new shop website – as it was due to open at the weekend. I also booked my train tickets to see Amy on that Friday, a decision I had been toying with a little over the week before. Wednesday and Thursday were both working on my Closet Geek venture, either on the website, taking photos or actually sewing. Nat came over for the daytime on Thursday but we just sat chatting while I sewed so I was still able to get plenty of work done.

On Friday morning the girls and I got up and ready, Chris took us to Retford station. However our train to York was cancelled and this began an interesting day of catching replacement and delayed trains. In the end we got to Amy’s about an hour and a half late and after catching the bus to her house and having a cup of tea, the girls had their photoshoot – the main reason we’d traveled over.

The rest of the day was spent with the girls on their iPads while Amy worked on photos and I worked on listings for my site. We stopped for us all to eat pizza takeaway and then one by one the kids went to bed. Amy and I ended up staying up till past midnight, getting my site ready but by the time I went to bed, it was all ready to go. The girls and I then played a sort of musical chairs with the beds overnight, each of us taking time in a different spot in a bed. We managed to find one that worked for us all and finally got some sleep!

In the morning we were up at 8am, the kids had breakfast and I had tea. We packed up all our stuff ready as Amy’s dad was taking us to the station and I checked to make sure all the trains were on time. We got to Berwick station around 9.45am which was plenty of time. The girls got some sweets and I got a sandwich, then we waited for the train to come along at 10.13am.

On the first train we had plenty of space so the girls sat together and I sat over the aisle. When we swapped at Newcastle, we had about 30 minutes to wait so we all grabbed a coffee and waited patiently. The next train we decided to all sit together, even though technically we had the extra space again. I knew I needed to open my store and the girls wanted to sit with me.

At 12pm I opened my store, the newsletter sent out automatically (as planned) and Amy and I pushed the opening on Instagram! There were loads of hits and plenty of positive feedback so that was great! Orders came in during the afternoon and that was great too. By the time the girls and I got home I was far too exhausted to tackle anything. We’d had Subway for lunch and had takeaway for dinner – but it was pretty great doing nothing! Once the girls went to bed I watched TV but I shopped and browsed for fabric, bows and even replied to someone about a custom order!

Finally it was Sunday and though I should have been making orders and promoting my site, for the most part I was just lying around watching TV. The girls went off with their Grandma to the beach for the day so it was nice just to grab some me time. I did spend most of the day on my iPad looking for fabric, charms and ideas for my stock generally. I placed a few orders and worked on some ideas. Chris came home and we spent the evening watching TV and snuggled up on the sofa.

So that was my week! It was exhausting but it was brilliant. Not to mention my site is now officially open! If you get a minute, please go check it out. You can find it at www.ClosetGeek.co.uk – not only that but you can follow on FB, Instagram and Twitter, all at @closetgeeksite

Closet Geek – Store Opening

August 21, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

Tomorrow my online store opens and OMG I’m nervous. Sadly I haven’t got half as much done as I’d hoped to, but probably more than I thought I realistically would. My new Closet Geek store can be found at www.ClosetGeek.co.uk and at midday tomorrow, my store will open! In the meantime, please feel free to sign up to the newsletter (I promise no spam) and you will receive a discount code to use on opening day!

This post today is actually scheduled. As this goes live, I’m heading up to Berwick Upon Tweed, where my best friend Amy lives, in order to have a very last minute photoshoot. Her daughter Liv and my two girls Megan and Lily, will be modeling all the clothes I’ve made, in order to place them on my store. I will also have a whole bunch of hair bows, jewellery and pencil cases.

Eventually I hope to stock adult clothes as well as kids, but for now I’m concentrating on the Disney inspired stuff, with elements of other geeky fandoms. As of tomorrow my site will be live and hopefully I’ll be making up orders. Once the girls go back to school I’ll really get to grips with making new things and adding regularly to my store!

If you have any feedback, please don’t hesitate to contact me! I probably won’t be blogging tomorrow as I’ll be busy opening my store and heading home from Amy’s. I’m always contactable via email, on Facebook, or Twitter etc. Thank you for all your support and I hope you love my store!

Just Sew Geeky

June 10, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

As you probably know from my previous posts, I love to sew. My mum and dad bought me my first sewing machine at the age of 18 and I used it for a good year or so before it got stowed away and barely used. Since having kids I’ve used it every now and again, but it has never had more use than in the last 12 months. Last summer a group of us decided we would go to London Film and Comic Con and that we would cosplay. This was my first ever experience of cosplaying and I wanted to make my own costume. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out, especially since I hadn’t used my sewing machine in a long time.

Sadly now when I look at the photos, all I see is how much weight I had on at that time. I was beginning to lose weight at that point but since then I’ve lost about 1- 1 and 1/2 stone and feel so much better for it. Anyway, when I try to focus on the costume itself I’m pleased but I know I’ve done so much better since. In the following months I made young Anna and Elsa dresses for my two daughters, I made a Snow White costume for my best friend Amy and I made a whole stack of Disney inspired dressed for our holiday to Florida.

Since getting back from Florida I’ve flipped flopped back and forth about starting my own business – sewing clothes. I have had an online store on Etsy selling jewellery for some time now and I’d love to combine everything geeky that I like to do and make a little business from it. Anyway… the title of this post was one of the names I toyed with – Just Sew Geeky. However I felt it was too sewing orientated (and I want to do more than sewing) and in the end went for Closet Geek. The sewing section of my site will probably be the largest – for the most part I’ll be offering inspired dresses and clothes for children. In the future I hope to be able to offer custom cosplay too, not just for kids but for adults. I’ll also add my Jewellery Ever After stock (and add to it), along with the inspired hair bows that Megan and I were making a few months ago. On top of all that I hope to add murder mysteries to the categories, but that’s a little way off right now. It’s a lot of work and I’ve really only just started. I have the bare bones of a site in progress, social media platforms set up and business cards ordered.

At the weekend (just gone) I sat down to get some sewing done and discovered the foot from my sewing machine was gone. I’m absolutely certain I’ve put it somewhere “safe” but after two hours of searching, I still couldn’t find it. In the end I ordered a new one, costing a total of £8.79 (only £3.80 for the foot but £4.99 postage!). To be honest I toyed with buying a new sewing machine all together. I checked out sewing machines online and I found a really good range at Tesco Direct but as yet I haven’t made a decision. There is nothing actually wrong with my sewing machine at the moment but I have to admit I can tell it’s definitely on it’s way out. As I said, it was bought for my 18th birthday – and I literally just had my 36th last week. It’s old… though not as old as I am… and it’s going to need replacing soon, especially if I expect to be sewing on it even more often than I have been recently.

Though I’m bubbling over with ideas of Disney inspired dresses to make, my first project is actually a cosplay one. For now I’m going to keep it a secret but I’ve ordered vintage Simplicity pattern 9825 and turquoise jacquard material that I could really only find in the US. I’m excited to crack on with it so my sewing machine foot better turn up soon! In the mean time I’m going to head for Pinterest and start pinning some more ideas and also work on my online store! I’ll let you know as soon as I have an update.

OOTD (or rather DOOTD!) – Mama, there’s a girl in the castle!

March 15, 2015 by Bel 5 Comments

It’s been a long time since I did an “Outfit of the Day” post, so I figured it was about time. Unlike my best friend Amy, I don’t think I’ll have time to showcase all my Disney dresses, but maybe – who knows. In the meantime, here is one of the dresses I bought to take to Florida, that I actually wore out for Amy’s birthday lunch yesterday.

Dress – Hot Topic
Cardigan – H&M
Tights – New Look (old)
Shoes – New Look (old)
Necklace – Jewellery Ever After

The Hot Topic dress is one of three in that style that I bought – I also have an Ariel one and an Alice one (I’d have loved the Maleficent one but it’s sold out as yet). I thought this particular one would actually be my favourite as I love Beauty and the Beast, but it’s actually not. I do still love it though. For Saturday lunch I coupled my dress with a new cardigan I just bought from H&M, some old tights and my standard black heels that I’ve had for longer than I can remember. I wore one of my own necklaces, that I sell over at Jewellery Ever After.

However, before I actually getting dressed for lunch, I actually tried out my dress with some new trainers, to see if they would look alright. In Florida it won’t be at all practical to wear heals, so I’ll definitely need something more comfy.

Outfit – as before
Trainers – Mastershoe Myshu*

These trainers are from a company called Mastershoe Myshu and I love the colour of them. Luckily the blue goes with all three of my Hot Topic dresses, so these will be a great option for comfy shoes around the park! Obviously, as in the picture, I’ll be ditching the tights and the cardigan too – since hopefully it will be far too warm.

Finally I’m going to leave you with my selfie – mostly because it shows the necklace up close too!

Week 3 – Monday Round-up

January 19, 2015 by Bel 3 Comments

I both love and hate this Monday round-up thing. It feels like such a chore to actually write (not to mention I feel like everyone except Amy skips over it) but at the same time I’m always glad to have it as a reference! Second week back at school this week and this time a full week. The girls coped a bit better, not being so tired, but it still felt like a struggle at times. Chris is still working Monday to Friday, 9am till 5.30pm, so that keeps life very much in a routine.

After taking the kids to school on Monday, I spent the whole day taking pictures of my jewellery. It seemed to take forever but I knew I had to get it done in the daylight. I obviously stopped for dinner and briefly to check mail (and place a Disney Store order) but otherwise it was a full day of photography. At the end of school I went to pick up the kids and we all headed home. I made the girls and myself some dinner, while also starting on Chris’ so it was ready when he got home. The girls also wanted to make another hair bow for their “make Disney” task and so we made a Baymax bow. In the evening I spent time catching up on my blog but ultimately I was so tired that Chris and I headed to bed early. I was very close to finishing my book “Allegiant” so I got that read and then we went to sleep. Tuesday started off the same, getting up and ready, then dropping the kids off at school. Their dad was having them after school which meant I had a whole day to myself without having to think about turning out to pick them up. I headed into town, once I got back to Gainsborough, and had a wander around. I visited the ribbon lady on the market as well as calling into Boyes for a few bits too. I also went to Boots and weighed myself, along with Heron for some food shopping. After that I went to M&S for some healthy ready meals and then headed home. The rest of the day I spent listing my jewellery on Etsy, though I hated it so much that I got easily distracted and procrastinated lots. I made myself dinner and got dinner ready for Chris too. When the girls got home they pretty much headed straight to bed and Chris and I spent the evening watching TV.

On Wednesday I tried to plough on with getting my jewellery listed and once I’d got majority of it done, I started listing some things on Ebay. I got quite into it, sorting out a load of stuff, only to realise I could only list 20 things for free before getting charged 35p each (I do hate that!). However by the time I’d had lunch and got as much listed as I could, it wasn’t far off the time I needed to go get the kids so I headed out and picked them up from school. When we got back, the girls went to get changed as their disney task was to dress up. I then made dinner for us all and some for Chris when he got home, before settling down to watch some TV. I had good intentions to sit down and blog that evening but ended up getting myself distracted. My eye also started to hurt so after spending majority of the evening looking at Wedding dresses – I just made a simple post about some Disney dresses I found.

Thursday I took the girls to school again and this time my mum was having them overnight. I popped to her house to drop off Megan’s iPad and a disney book, stayed for a cup of tea but then headed home. My eye had really puffed up and I was starting to feel a bit down, so I ended up bumming around the house all day, not really getting much achieved. I watched movies back to back all day – Sharknado, then Snow White & the Huntsman, then Step Up. I did make some progress with Olivia’s “Woody” dress, but not much. Chris was a sweetheart though and on his way home he called at Aldi. He brought my roses, cookies and chocolate which made me cry but only because it was so sweet. He then insisted on spending the whole evening with me – to look after me – so we sat watching TV and then watched a movie called “In Time” which was actually better than I expected.

On Friday, because Mum had the girls overnight, I got a lay in. Sadly the postman woke me at 9am but it was okay as it was mail I wanted. I felt a bit miserable to begin with as my eye was still hurting but I pulled myself together and tried to have a constructive day. I went out for my first every run and while I didn’t run much of it (unfit and asthma) I was at least proud to have tried. I did 1.64 miles there and back so at least it was some exercise! Mum brought the kids home for me and stayed for a cup of tea – but then after she left we realised we still had a Disney task to do. We watched “The Little Mermaid” and had dinner, before the girls headed to bed (along with a chapter of the Never Girls, since we’d missed out on reading together the night before). Once Chris was home I assured him I felt better today and he could spend the evening on his computer, so I vegged out and watched more TV, as well as finally watching “Friends with Benefits”. I spent the evening sewing Amy’s “Kiss the Girl” dress too, so that will be ready this coming weekend for her to try on!

On Saturday we had to be woken by the alarm at 9am, because Chris had his second driving lesson at 10am. We all got up and while Chris was out on his lesson, the girls and I wrote a list for Florida – all the things we need to take with us and buy before we go. When Chris got home, I made pancakes for us all and we all sat down together to eat them. I’ll admit we were very naughty and all had sweet pancakes, so it was a terrible lunch really! During the day my Disney Store order arrived and sadly the towel I ordered for Megan was damaged. I rang to sort it out though and I’m glad to say that as of today (Monday) its all been dealt with fast and efficiently (go Disney!). I don’t really remember what we all ended up doing in the afternoon but I know it went by fast. The girls and I realised we had Disney themed food to make and after much deliberation, made honey and vanilla Pooh Bear biscuits. Megan didn’t like them and I don’t really like honey (plus dieting) so we forced Chris to eat them all. In the end, even he objected! Nat came around in the evening (can you believe its been 4 weeks since I last saw here?!) and we had a much overdue catch up. It was almost midnight by the time she left but it was great to finally see each other. I went to bed straight after she left though as I was exhausted!

Finally Sunday and we had nothing at all planned. Chris turned on the Xbox and started to play Ms Splosion Man, only to capture both the girls’ interest. He ended up spending the morning playing with them, till we all stopped for lunch at around 12.30pm. While they were all playing, I was sewing, but it was nice to all be in the same room at the same time. After lunch, it was suggested we could play a board game and so we did. First came “Game of Life” – an electronic version called Twists and Turns, which we played for 20 years (that sounds like a long time lol). I won! Afterwards we picked Disney DVD Trivial Pursuit, which we teamed up for. Lily and I were together on one team and Megan and Chris on the other. We were pretty neck and neck for most of the game but Lily and I stole it at the end – largely because my dice rolling was better than Megan’s (and because I know more Disney stuff than Chris and Megan combined!). By the time we finished it was 5.30pm and I was feeling too lazy to cook and so we were all naughty and ordered takeaway. Since Chris is now being careful with what he eats (I’ll update in my Get Fit Friday this week), we were really careful and ordered the bare minimum. While we were waiting for takeaway to arrive we watched The Bee Movie, and then continued to watch while we ate etc. Afterwards it was time for Lily to go to bed and so Megan settled down to paint her peg doll and then update her blog. Finally my eye was feeling a bit better so I went back to sewing and got the majority of Olivia’s dress finished.

Afterwards I sat and looked through Hot Topic for the bazillionth time, then finally got around to posting my 52 Project photos and also my Disney Countdown catch up.

It’s been a pretty busy week but at the same time I know its not half as busy as it used to be when I was working. I feel like I have so many things I want to do but only end up doing about a third of it. Hopefully over time I’ll sieve my way through everything. Now my jewellery is mostly listed, that’s one thing less to do. I need to get some dresses sewn, and some more things listed on Ebay. After that I’ll hopefully be able to concentrate more on my blog and maybe even get around to writing my book! Back next week, for another round up!

Week 2 – Monday Round-up

January 12, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

It’s been a good week, but a tiring week. I can’t reiterate enough how glad I am to not actually be working any more. It’s literally heaven every day – even when I’m hoovering or scrubbing the house! That said, I haven’t been doing an awful lot of that, but I have at least been keeping on top of things like the dishwasher and the washing.

Monday was a teacher training day at the kids school, so we had one last day together before school started. I’m used to the girls going to their dad’s on a Monday so it was nice to actually feel like I got that last day with them myself. Chris was at work so as such it was just us girls. In the morning we just hung out and chilled, but in the afternoon we had arranged to go swimming with my mum, who traveled over to come with us. When she first arrived, I had to get her to sort out some photographs with me, but after that we headed out swimming. It was about 3pm when we went in and about 4pm when we came out. Afterwards I had her drive me past Argos so I could pick up an Ab Roller I’d ordered and I also popped into Sports Direct where I bought another swimming costume each for the girls and two Frozen dresses as well.

Mum decided she would treat us all to Chinese takeaway which went right again the diet but was much appreciated! I put a little bit of money towards it too so I could order a little extra for Chris and save him some, but somehow we ended up with tons anyway. Once food was eaten, mum headed home and the girls and I had a little extra time before Chris was back. Both girls had to be in bed promptly though, especially with school the next day. I spent majority of the evening, catching up on blog stuff and also updating my diary and making sure I had current plans written in it. Afterwards Chris and I watched some TV together and snuggled on the sofa.

On Tuesday it was up early and out of the house for everyone – and boy was it a shock to the system! The kids’ dad was having them after school though so I just headed straight home and worked on my blog – which I had just moved to self-hosted. I had left over takeaway for lunch and felt a little guilty about the health kick I was supposed to be on. I vowed to go running the next day (though no surprise, that didn’t happen!). My brother called in after he’d been to mum’s that night and so we had time to catch up too. The girls arrived home and Chris came in from work and it was a little crazy for a while but nice too. The girls and I started on the second Never Girls book called “the space between” and when I updated Goodreads it also made me feel guilty for not even attempting to read any more of my own books!

Honestly I don’t really remember what I did that evening but I know Chris and I finally managed to catch up on both Arrow Season 3 and Flash Season 1, up to the mid-season break. This is great because we managed to watch the cross-over episodes in the right place and be ready when the series’ start airing again soon!

Wednesday was school and work again, another early start that really was taking its toll (god knows how I managed to function when I was working too!). I dropped the kids off at school and headed into town for a little while – even planning to go for my job afterwards. Like I said before, that didn’t happen – I don’t know if it was the latte I chose to buy which made me feel sloshy, or the fact it started raining (or of course sheer laziness) but either way, I was rubbish! I headed home and made a start on sorting out my jewellery, before heading back out to get the kids. After school we were supposed to watch a Disney movie (it was supposed to be Tinker Bell but we’d already watched it accidentally so we were going to watch Snow White) but none of us could be bothered and we just wanted to mong! Megan and Lily just played on iPads and computers while I tuned out to the TV. I did manage to keep on track with food this day and combined with the walk in town that morning I definitely felt healthier. In the evening I cracked on with more work and all in all, it felt like a constructive day.

Thursday I dropped the kids off at school and headed to see my mum briefly. Afterwards I headed back to Gainsborough where I needed to get some shopping and managed to waste a few hours around Marshall’s Yard. I did spend the last of my M&S voucher (from my birthday) on some healthy food and that felt very positive. I then went home and had soup for lunch, which also felt very good. I finally got my Ab Roller built too, though I won’t lie and say I used it. I mean I did check it was all working fine – but for maybe 20 roll ups! The girls were staying at my mum’s that night and so in the evening Chris and I just spent time hanging out.

On Friday I got a lie-in! It was so needed. Chris climbed out of bed around 7.10am and although I was aware of him moving downstairs, as soon as he left at 7.25am, I went back to sleep. I woke up at about 9.30am but I didn’t get out of bed until 10am. I potted around the house in my dressing gown and was basically very lazy! I made a few phone calls which I’d been needing to do and I put on more washing, hung it out on the radiators and did the dishwasher etc. I made myself a light lunch and then got to work on my Get Fit Friday post – which is my ongoing series to track my weight loss.

Eventually it was time to leave as I’d told my mum I would call in on her again before picking up the girls. I stopped with her for a cup of tea before heading to school and picking up the kids. We headed home and got some dinner, only to realise our Disney task for the day was to make disney themed food. We didn’t have an awful lot of choice so we just made some cupcakes in the shape of Mickey Mouse – and as it was late, we said we’d decorate them the next day. Once the girls were in bed and Chris was playing on his computer, I sat and watched a movie by myself and just chilled out. When we eventually headed to bed, I couldn’t sleep – so typical since I’d managed a lie-in that morning! It was gone 1am before I actually got to sleep and I can’t tell you how many times I nearly got up and did something “useful”.

On Saturday we didn’t have much planned but Chris did have his first driving lesson booked for 10am. We woke up naturally about 5 minutes before his alarm was set to go off at 9am and dragged ourselves out of bed. While Chris was out on his lesson, the girls and I got cracking with everything we needed to do that day. Sadly the cupcakes got eaten however, rather than decorated. Once Chris was back home, Megan and I went out to buy some ribbon. We were way longer than we had expected to be, coming home with £30 of stuff. After getting some lunch, Megan and I spent the afternoon learning how to make bows. It was a long process but we got there in the end and now we’re making quite nice ones. The girls also painted a peg doll and a plaster figure, which was their Disney task for the day. We then all had dinner and relaxed for the evening. I went for a bath and then afterwards Chris went. While he was having a bath I went upstairs to read and eventually he joined me, bringing me a cup of tea. We lay mostly in silence for an hour – me reading and him playing on his phone. It was really nice and in the end we just headed to bed afterwards.

Sunday morning we got up and Megan wanted to make more bows. We were a lot better at it this time, finding it quicker and easier to accomplish what we were trying to do. Sadly I had a really bad headache that didn’t shift all day so I know my patience wasn’t the best. We had a fairly early lunch as we knew we were heading out to the cinema later. We left about 2pm and drove to my mum’s, swapping cars and traveling with her into Lincoln. When we got to the cinema the queue for the popcorn was huge and so even though we’d planned it, we had to skip food and drink – heading straight into the movie. We watched “Into the Woods” and it was great. It’s been really nice seeing two very current movies (Big Hero 6 last week) just as they’ve come out. Afterwards, since everyone was pretty hungry, mum drove us to Burger King. Chris and I went in to get everyone food but we drove back to mum’s before eating it. After we’d eaten, Chris hung up a picture for mum which she’d asked him to do and then we all headed home. It was Lily’s bedtime and Megan decided to go at the same time and play on her iPad for half an hour. Once they were in bed I sorted out some jewellery stuff ready to photograph the next day, but ultimately found myself restless. In the end I suggested to Chris that we head upstairs to read and relax again, which we did, and I’m pleased to say I only have about another 100 pages of my book left before I’ll reach the end!

So that was my week and while it was tiring, it was also quite good for a first week. Since I want to get some training in at the school office, I went in to sort out the forms for disclosure, but also worked on jewellery and hair bows for adding to my Etsy store. While I’d hoped to get on with making clothes, that sadly didn’t happen. I did however ring the Tax Credits people and sort out my claim which hopefully will get sorted in a few weeks. Finally, while I didn’t start off the week great, I managed to live a fairly healthy lifestyle for the majority of the week. This paid off on Weigh-In day, when I’d lost 2lbs (though this was over the whole Christmas period as well). I’m pleased with how life is going so far and I have high expectations for the future. Hopefully its onwards and upwards!

Week 1 of Stoptober

October 5, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

This first week has been just a short one, which is probably for the best with tackling such a large Stoptober list. For those of you who don’t remember, or missed my post, for Stoptober (the whole of October) I’m giving up Chocolate, Cakes & Sweets, Takeaway, Alcohol, Spending, Being Lazy & Using Tiredness as an excuse.

Wednesday -Day 1 and I was feeling very motivated! I informed everyone on Facebook and at work of my intentions, so no one was persuading me to try stuff or to break me. The hardest temptation of the day was definitely carrot cake, though I did give in to a bite of cheese scone (it was Lincolnshire Day and it had Lincolnshire Poacher cheese in it!) but that doesn’t break the rules anyway. I didn’t drink. I came home and got the washing in. I took Chris out to get his bike. And I spent the evening organising my week. A good start!

Thursday -It was only Day 2 but already it was feeling a little harder. At work we were making chocolate brownies which was so tough for me as we’d had them the week before and they were amazing. While I did try the tiniest of bits, it was merely to see if it was cooked enough or not. It was so difficult resisting the urge to actually eat some so I’m pretty proud that I didn’t. As well as that, I stuck by everything else. When I got home from work I made 2 phone calls that I’ve been meaning to do for ages, emptied the recycle bin, put on some washing and stacked the dishwasher – all before getting the girls dinner. I then spent the evening writing two blog posts to schedule for Friday and Saturday, meaning I would be free from my blog till Sunday and could get other things done!

Friday -Without Brownies at work to tempt me, Day 3 definitely wasn’t as hard as Day 2. That said, we made some new oat biscuits which we’d never made before and they had to be taste tested. Luckily (and technically) biscuits aren’t on my “stop” list, but that said I still only had half of one. After dinner there were some left and honestly that was a little harder, to resist having another. Otherwise though, I got 3 loads of washing hung before heading to work, left early in order to get parcels and had a very productive evening – jewellery and sewing. So far, so good – but trying to remind myself its only 3 day out of 31!

Saturday -This was by far the hardest day of the week, but only because I ended up stressed and upset on two separate occasions. By lunchtime I was ready to chow down on a huge chocolate bar but luckily I settled for a bacon buttie which just hit the spot! The rest of the afternoon I managed to de-stress making a dress for Oliva, only to end up angry and upset again – which did result in drinking a small glass of wine. This was the first time I’d deliberately broken my “Stoptober” and honestly I didn’t feel too bad for it. I’m not a big drinker anyway so stopping it was merely because it had been in my list of suggestions, not because I really needed to. Anyway, out of 2 bottles I don’t think one small glass was a big deal. Otherwise though, all the rest are going well.

Sunday – I was up earlier than I needed to be on Sunday and it actually felt good. After making myself a cup of tea, I went to hang out the washing so that felt productive. At 10am I headed to Aldi to get some shopping and then cracked on with a Sunday Roast for dinner. In the spare moments running up to lunch, I started on a new dress for Olivia and then after lunch was eaten and all cleared away, I went back to sewing. On top of that the girls and I managed two dishwasher loads during the day and brought in the washing. Only at 6pm did I even go near by computer, knowing I didn’t need to until writing this post. This evening I hope to write my Monday Round-up for tomorrow, maybe along with another post for Tuesday. I also want to grab a bath at some point and watch a TV show with Megan and Chris that we need to catch up on.

Week One completely with only a bite of scone, a tiny bit of chocolate brownie and half an oat biscuit – mostly because it couldn’t be avoided as that’s my job. I’ve felt organised and much more on top of things this week, even cancelling a membership I’ve been meaning to do for a while and chasing up how many payments were left on a debt I’d had outstanding for a few years. Generally I’ve felt very good this week and I’m not only cutting out a lot of junk by not having cakes, chocolate etc. but I’m trying to be good with the rest of my diet generally. I’ve been using My Fitness Pal again religiously, being sure to log every day. With exception to the small glass of wine I had last night, I consider this week a complete success! Only 4 more weeks to get through!

Weekly Spending List

Absolutely nothing! I had to get some food shopping and some petrol but otherwise I haven’t spent anything – not even on Ebay or via Paypal etc. Even the food shop didn’t have anything unnecessary added to it.

Hot Topic – Want… Want… WANT List

September 12, 2014 by Bel 2 Comments

Have you ever heard of a store called Hot Topic? If not… why the hell not?! Honestly though, if you haven’t.. that’s probably for the best. I apologize in advance, if I give you a new addiction!

First of all, don’t feel too bad if you haven’t heard of Hot Topic. They are American and sadly they haven’t expanded over to the UK (yet?). They are awesomely geeky stores though so if you have a love for Disney, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Walking Dead, Marvel and DC, gamer gear, band merch… seriously the list is endless… then you will love this shop.

Updated with new stuff, pretty much daily, the site is almost an addiction for a pop culture fan like me. Sadly, the incredibly expensive overseas postage is quite a deterrent from ordering though. The one time I visited America (New York) I actually managed to visit a Hot Topic store and I bought this amazing Gryffindor jacket (coincidentally I’m wearing it as I write this post!).

Anyway the site is awesome and I have a huge wishlist, that pretty much builds every day. From clothes, to Funko Pop figures, from necklaces, to bags – there is SO MUCH stuff I ~~want~~ would like.

Here are just a few of my picks.

This beautiful Beauty and the Beast, stained glass window, glass. It’s currently selling for $6.38, which is about £4. I have always loved Beauty and the Beast and Belle is by far my favourite princess. I used to have this exact design as my phone case but this glass is just amazing!

It’s always been a tough call for me, between Disney and Harry Potter so its no surprise that next on my list is something Harry Potter. This awesome Expecto Patronum necklace is only $9.38 (approximately £7) and even though its gold, I’d still love it!

I originally had my eye on a Beauty and the Beast dress but its been and gone sadly. I’m not entirely sure what it is about this dress (as I’m not especially into Maleficent, though she is kickass) but it just calls to me. It retails at $25.88 (about £16) and I certainly won’t be buying it until I’ve slimmed down somewhat!

This Doctor Who TARDIS Shower Rack is just my kind of thing. Hand on heart, I wouldn’t actually use it in the shower, probably put it near the door for keys, envelopes etc. but I love it. However at $37.13 (£23) its one of the most expensive things on my wish list.

There are loads more things I’d love, majority are Disney or after that Harry Potter. Honestly if I lived in the US, or if postage overseas were cheaper, I’d probably be flat broke (so I should be grateful for that at least). Hot Topic is such a great store and I’m sure it will have be lusting after their stuff for the rest of my life! If you dare, check it out.

Week 34 – Monday Round-up

August 25, 2014 by Bel Leave a Comment

I’ve actually started this early on Sunday morning, because I know that by the end of Sunday I’ll be too upset to write it. The kids are going away to their dad’s (they’ll be gone by the time this is published) but instead of it being for 2 nights and 1 day, its going to be 4 nights and 4 days. I know it doesn’t sound like very long, but being apart from them just for a day is hard, let alone over half a week. I know they’ll have a good time though so really I just want to make the most of some time to myself and some time with just Chris.

Anyway, enough about the coming week and more about the one that’s just gone by. Looking at the numbers… week 34, I can’t believe how fast we’re heading towards the end of the year. Is it okay to use the “Christmas” word yet? Summer definitely seems to be on its way out this week, the weather has been a lot cooler and I’ve even heard mention of people putting their heating on. On Monday, when we headed out to Thorpe Park for the day, the weather was so hit and miss – boiling hot one moment and then chucking it down with rain the very next… it was crazy. In my mind at least, Summer is gone now and we’re heading towards the Autumn months.

As I said, Monday we headed to Thorpe Park for the day. It was myself, one of my best friends Nat, my brother and our mutual friend Jon. We left my house at 7am and after a little detour to drop Harry (Nat’s son) off with a friend, we headed all the way to Chertsey and to Thorpe Park. We had an absolutely awesome day, though we were soaked in the rain while waiting for Stealth and then soaked (on purpose) three times over on Tidal Wave. It was a fantastic day and you can read all about it, over at Twice the Mum.

We weren’t back until really late on Monday, I think it was about midnight before I got in. Chris was already in bed so I headed there too, grateful I could have a little lie-in in the morning. However Tuesday I was also going to get the girls from their dad’s house. I set off a little early as I was swapping mum’s car back and then going to get them. Once I’d picked them up, we popped to Tesco to get some food for lunch. I’d agreed the girls could have some friends over for the day and I’d need to feed them. After we’d grabbed a few bits from the shop, we went to Saxilby to pick up Ciara (Lily’s friend). After that we went to Torksey to pick up Katai (Megan’s friend). The girls all came back with me and I made lunch as the first thing. Then they all went off in their pairs to play together and actually they were no trouble at all. At around 5.30pm I took them all into Gainsborough for a McDonalds and afterwards I drove them home. I dropped Ciara off first and then Katai, which sadly afterwards Megan ended up crying for the majority of the way home (a sad story for another post).

The girls and I then hung out for a little while before they headed to bed. I spent the evening chilling out before Chris came home from work and we hung out together. On Wednesday, Chris had a day off and so we all spent the day together. We didn’t really do much as he had an interview the next day that he wanted to get ready for and that he had forms to fill in for too. The girls and spent majority of the day watching Winx Club, something that we’ve been doing all holiday. We’re now fully caught up (ever episode consecutively) to Season 5. It’s a kid show but I have to admit I’ve been totally sucked in. By the evening, we are too relaxed (or lazy) to bother doing anything about dinner and so we called takeaway. I have to admit, after putting on 2lb at weigh-in, I was feeling a bit “sod it”. Once the girls were in bed, Chris and I watched a movie together and just snuggled up. After being out all day Monday myself and him being out all day Tuesday at work, it felt much needed.

On Thursday, Chris was out at work for most of the day, but also had a job interview after lunch. The trousers he picked up had a split in them so I offered to take him over another pair and he offered to buy the girls and I McDonalds for lunch. When we got back in the afternoon, the girls and I baked cakes – sadly we forgot the baking powder and they just turned out flat. It was a good giggle though and none of us were too bothered. Chris got back and he didn’t get the job – but it was actually because BT had cut the amount of places, not because they didn’t want to give him it. He’s been placed on a reserve list and fingers crossed if anyone drops out or doesn’t complete the course, he’ll get the job. As a sort of commiseration, Chris and I ordered Chinese and drank a bottle of wine, while watching another movie.

Friday was another early start. Nat, who had her gallbladder removed on Wednesday, needed someone to come and look after her – as her partner Tom was at work. We headed over about 8am, taking a packed lunch with us and the iPads for the girls. We stayed all day, looking after her and Harry.

It was a lovely day and although I don’t think Nat felt great, it was still good to hang out together. The girls were really well behaved (for the most part) and Harry really took a shine to them. On top of that, I was able to collect my car from the garage and I can’t tell you how happy I am to get my car back! After popping to Aldi on the way home, the girls and I went in and got dinner for them sorted. When Chris got home, we were naughty for a fourth day in a row, this time ordering Indian takeaway.

Saturday and Chris was at work all day. I was already starting to dread the girls going away, so this was a day of hanging out together. We planned to go swimming anyway, but I ended up inviting my mum over. She brought with her a second hand bike that we’d picked for Megan and so Megan was thrilled. We headed out swimming just before lunch and the girls came along in leaps and bounds. I can’t believe just how well Lily has done this summer holiday. After we got out, mum bought us all lunch at the cafe and that was lovely. When we got home, mum had a quick look at the girls newly decorated room (and their new bed covers I’d treated them to) before heading home. Megan and Lily went out on their bikes but it didn’t last long as sadly Megan hurt herself on the bar of her bike. Instead we all came inside and hung out again. We did a bit of this and that, but in the end the girls sat with me while I made some jewellery at the table.

We popped out to the post office to post some jewellery – I’m honestly so thankful and so amazed, to have had one order every single day this week, plus three on Saturday – and then came home to make a bit more. In the end we made pizza for dinner and then the girls convinced me into pancakes too. We all sat together at the dining table, laughing and joking and though it was late by the time they went to bed, it felt like a really great evening. By this point it wasn’t long until Chris got home and when he did we just watched some TV together before heading to bed.

Sunday was also a day I wanted to spend with the kids. We didn’t have anything planned but I think sometimes the girls prefer that. Instead we all sat and watched TV together. I’ll be honest and say I was also working on my blog while we watched TV, but for the most part we were all hanging out together. I made Chris breakfast of scrambled egg on toast with bacon and mushrooms, then Lily asked for it for lunch. Megan just had sandwiches though as she doesn’t like scrambled egg. Sadly as the day drew on, the girls and I had to pack for them going away, which always makes me feel sad. We then sat and watched more TV together and I made them Toad in the Hole for dinner. Their dad arrived not long after to pick them up and no surprise – I cried.

As I’d started mine and Chris’ dinner before the girls left, I took the opportunity to focus on dinner (while crying) and give myself some time to compose. I cooked Steak & Chips for Chris and I, it was delicious. We spent the evening drinking wine and watching movies. I felt a bit restless but for the most part it took my mind off things.

That was pretty much my week and I suppose in a way I’m wishing the next few days over so the kids are back. However I also intend to lots of nothing, plus maybe a bit of something. Hope you’ve all had a good week!