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Our Summer Holidays so far!

August 4, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

The kids have now been off for two full weeks (and a couple of days) so I thought I would update with what we’ve been up to so far – especially since I’m not keeping up with my monthly updates at the moment.

The school holidays couldn’t really have been off to a worse start, than a weather forecast like this ^^ However, I am grateful to work from home and so no matter what the weather, at least I get to spend time with the kids! As they broke up on the Wednesday, we had a couple of extra days that week, to fit in some fun. Thursday was one of my favourite days actually as we went to see Despicable Me 3 (which was average in my opinion), then went to Chimichanga for dinner (which we had never been to before) and finally we went to our local park – Hartsholme – for a lovely walk around the lake.

On the Friday, the girls made a video of themselves doing the Beanboozled challenge and I really must remember to upload it, plus we seemed to watch a ton of movies over the first few days including; Definitely Maybe, 10 Things I Hate About You, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Phantom of the Opera and Save the Last Dance. We also got an invite to my mum’s on Sunday for a roast dinner and that was amazing.

The following week was the first full week and for the first four days we had visitors in the form of Amy and Liv. The girls were at their dad’s on the Monday so Amy and I just spent time catching up, then in the evening Chris, Amy and I had chinese takeaway and watched Game of Thrones. The other days were mostly spent sewing, though Amy and I did manage to go fabric shopping too.

The weather was fairly rubbish all week, starting off raining and ending up sunny or vice versa. After dropping Amy and Liv at the station though, the girls and I took a trip to Norton Disney (a place we had joked about visiting for a while) and luckily the sun stayed out for some pics.

That weekend, we went to LFCC (which is London Film and Comic Con). I had been once before and really enjoyed it, but this time was a flying visit really – all so I could meet Wil Wheaton. Chris was working until 4.30pm Saturday so we headed off down to London after that and stayed at a Travelodge near Heathrow. In the morning we drove to North Ealing station, parked there and caught the train to Earl’s Court and then walked to London Olympia. Grabbing a virtual ticket for Wil Wheaton’s queue was first priority but after that we did some shopping and wandered around stalls. We ate lunch and shopped some more until finally we could meet Wil Wheaton. I had taken a blank Flux card with me for signing and had decided a CREEPER would be best. These are cards that if laid in front of you in the game, means you can’t win. Since Wil is pretty notorious for not winning on his YouTube show “Tabletop”, I thought this would be perfect. He seemed to agree and wrote “IT SUCKS TO BE YOU” and then signed it. Sadly as he was passing it back, he smudged the card but I didn’t mind as I still knew what it was. He said “Now it really sucks to be you!” which made us all laugh.

As I’m writing this post, I realise this all happened almost a week ago (it was Sunday and today is Friday) but it honestly only feels like yesterday! Anyway the next day the girls were with their dad and went to a National Park and built a den. They have a video of that too which I hope to upload soon. The rest of this week has really just been spent at home. I had a lot of work to catch up on after Amy’s visit and so the girls have really just entertained themselves on Minecraft, Slime Rancher, Theme Hospital etc. Yesterday though they started a jigsaw with my mum and once my work was done I joined in too. Then mum left and I couldn’t bear to leave the jigsaw unfinished so we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening making sure it got done!

That pretty much sums up the last two weeks and I’m so glad its been a combination of lots and nothing. I always think its important to have plenty of down days during the holidays so you don’t feel completely knackered, but you also need days were you do things together, or else you end the holidays feeling like you didn’t do anything! Hopefully I’ll update again soon with whatever else we get up to!

Filed Under: about me, monthly round up Tagged With: Amy, Chimichanga, Cinderella, Despicable Me 3, Hartsholme Park, LFCC, Little Bo, Liv, movies, norton disney, sewing, summer holidays, tabletop, weather, wil wheaton

Monthly Round-up – March

April 14, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

Watching: Given that it’s mid-April before I write this, I have very little recollection of what I watched, other than what I made a note of in my phone. I watched several Netflix series including; The OA, Friends with Better Lives,
Don’t Trust the B in Apartment 23, and Iron Fist but I don’t remember which others. I watched the newest Annie movie. I also re-watched Cinderella and Guardians of the Galaxy. As well as keeping up with Bones, Holby City, Casualty, Riverdale, Grimm, New Girl etc. I saw Beauty and the Beast at the cinema.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): March was pretty crazy for orders, always seeming like I had a few more than I could cope with. However I managed to get through them and that’s what counts! I announced a Wonderland Giveaway for the monthly box, plus made LOADS of ears and bows, along with a Belle dress, two Briar Rose dresses, a Boys Woody top and waistcoat and a girls Woody dress. There was also a huge wave of orders for Infinity scarves after Roisin from Disneyfind, shared the scarf I sent her. I think I made 15 in one week and since then the orders dribble in still! Of course there was a technicolour dreamcoat and a pharaoh costume too which you can read more about below! Finally with the upcoming 25th Anniversary for DLP, I designed some ears which have proved very popular too!

And in other news…
– One of the first things that happened this month was Lily’s birthday, when she turned 9. We had a very calm day, making lego in the morning, Pizza Hut for lunch and then chilling out when we got home until bedtime.
– World Book Day was also at the beginning of this month and since last year Lily had gone as Harley Quinn, before it was super popular to be Harley Quinn, this year she went as Dr Harleen Quinzel. She looked absolutely fabulous. Megan didn’t get to dress up now she’s at secondary school, which is sad!


– Megan broke up with her boyfriend – her choice. It wasn’t especially dramatic but she did feel pretty bad afterwards so us three girls went shopping and I taught the girls about retail therapy ;)
– One of the most life changing things that happened this month is that we finally got an offer on the house. March 13th. After having the house on the market for almost a year, and after living here for almost 4 years when we only intended it to be 1 or 2. Fingers crossed it’s all proceeding well as we have accepted the offer since then, the “sold” sign went up on 20th, we had the survey done and started to complete the forms. More info to follow!
– Lily and I went on her school trip, to Cadbury World near Birmingham. It’s always really nice to share school trips with the girls but this time it was especially nice as Lily and I even sat together on the coach. It was a long and tiring day, especially as Lily was full of cold but we both enjoyed ourselves.
– Amy and Liv came to visit for the weekend and although we didn’t do a lot, we seemed to keep busy. We didn’t pick them up till fairly late on Friday so all we did was drink and catch up, but then Saturday we saw Beauty and the Beast, plus went to Meadowhall and had Five Guys. On Sunday we just hung out while I got some work done, until eventually I took them back to the station.
– Chris’ birthday was the 20th and it was nice to spend the day together, even though the girls weren’t around to enjoy it at all. We went into Lincoln in the morning to do some shopping but it threw it down with rain all day so we cut it short and came home. In the evening we met with friends and went to Frankie and Benny’s for dinner and then did an “Escape the Room” game which was amazing. Hopefully I will post about that soon!
– Not really a big fan of Red Nose Day (or Children in Need for that matter) but always happy to donate £1 to non-uniform and a red nose etc. However I did love that there was a “Red Nose Day Actually” short, like an update to Love Actually – and I cried and found it amazing too.
– Then came Mother’s Day. The girls made a mistake with my gift and ended up upset but it really didn’t matter as it was lovely to spend the day with them and then with my own mum too at lunch time. We went out to a restaurant called Meat Inc. that does amazing burgers and I was really hoping to review but completely forgot to take pics! Maybe next time we visit I will remember.
– I can’t remember if I mentioned this last month or not but Lily was given the part of Pharaoh in her school play – Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat. She was really excited (and nervous) as it was a big part but I knew she would be amazing (AND SHE WAS!). I offered to make the technicolour dreamcoat for school and Lily’s Pharaoh costume too. I was the last of the family to see her play (with everyone else seeing it Monday and Tuesday, and Megan and I waiting till Wednesday) but it was pretty decent. I got embarrassed at the end however as I got given a bunch of flowers and a very public thank you, for helping with the costumes.
– One of the last things we did in March was have some friends around for socialising. We played Jackbox all night and it was a lot of fun. I’m really glad we’re finding more time to do that, although I do wonder if moving will effect these nights!

Looking forward to in April:
– Easter Holidays! I love love LOVE having the girls off school – not just for having them around, but also for saving myself three hours in a car for the school run. We don’t have too much planned but you never know!
– We have tickets to see Joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat at Skegness on Easter Weekend. After it was announced that Lily’s school would be doing the play, she took such an interest that I suggested booking tickets. I’m so glad I did as she was then given a great part and really loved the play. I can’t wait for her to see it done on a big stage.
– Mum’s birthday is in April. We probably won’t do much but I’ve already bought her present and no doubt we’ll all go out for lunch.

Filed Under: monthly round up Tagged With: 25th Anniversary, Amy, beauty and the beast, cadbury world, chris' birthday, Disneyland Paris, escape the room, Five Guys, frankie and bennys, friends, Harleen Quinzel, joseph and his technicolour dreamcoat, Lily's birthday, Lily's school play, March, meadowhall, mother's day, moving house, red nose day, selling the house, world book day

Monthly Round-up – February 2017

March 13, 2017 by Bel Leave a Comment

Watching: This month I watched Maze Runner, Sharknado 4, Anastasia, Sing, Batman Lego Movie and Green Lantern. I also watched Bitten, Helix and started Riverdale. As usual there was Dance Moms, Bones, New Girl, Big Bang Theory, Grimm, Blindspot, Casualty, Holby City, Let It Shine, Suits, Jane the Virgin and of course The Walking Dead started again.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): February has been crazy busy with orders but seems to have gone in spurts. I listed Moana ears and bows in the store on January 30th and so that caused the first wave of crazy. February 1st was also the last day for my 2K giveaway box, but I also launched a new monthly giveaway later in the month which was Beauty and the Beast themed (not to mention a loop giveaway I had been participating in finished too). I fiddled with some new bows, got some of Megan’s artwork printed on postcards, tried out some candle designs and generally ploughed my way through orders. I made a duvet cover and pillowcase, then bunting to match. I tried to work on new ideas for dresses but never seemed to find time – but decided to look for boy models, so I might list boys clothes. All in all, it was hectic and that’s not even mentioning when I sewed my finger!

And in other news…
– This month we have definitely spent more time being sociable. One night we had our friends Jon and Becka around for games and ended up staying up till 3.30 in the morning. Another night we have Jon and Becka, plus Nat and Dan around for dinner and though Chris headed to bed early, we went well past midnight.
– Amy and I booked to go to Beauty and the Beast afternoon tea at The Kensington Hotel in London. It’s not till May but I’m already looking forward to it.
– Lily chopped her hair short! The decision came out of nowhere and luckily she hasn’t regretted it since but I couldn’t believe she actually decided to go through with it.


– Valentine’s Day happened! The night before, Chris and I had a M&S Valentine’s Meal because it was our one night without the girls in the week. Valentine’s Day itself I spent the day with the girls and my mum, playing board games. Then when Chris got home we all exchanged gifts (that’s a sort of new tradition we have now) and then we headed out for some food and the cinema to see Batman Lego movie.


– I treated myself to a new lipstick and nail polish from the L’Oreal Beauty and the Beast range. I had to order from Amazon Italy but I actually had some euros left on my travel card so it worked out well. The Beast lipstick that I picked is perfect, but I haven’t tried out the blue polish yet. Hopefully I’ll do a review!
– For Galentine’s Day I sent Amy and Liv a gift, plus gave Nat something when she came around later that week. In return Amy sent me a Gaston Pop Funko and I love him.
– I booked to go away for my birthday weekend and I’m so pleased I have. I’m desperate to get back to the Harry Potter Studios, especially now they have the Forbidden Forest though a bit sad Chris might not be able to come. I’m still hoping to throw a murder mystery the night before we go away though.
– Lily and I worked on and off on her chocolate project, largely through half term. When Pippa’s birthday came around I used everything I’d learnt about making ganache and baked an amazing (even if I do say so myself) chocolate cake for her.
– I reformatted my laptop as it was dying fast and I honestly thought I would need to buy a new one. However it seems much better and much faster now so hopefully I can last out a little longer!
– Got a letter from Megan’s school, commending her on her hard work (this is the second one I’ve had since September. She’s also up to 16 certificates, which she needs 10 merits for each (so 160 merits in total!).
– Finally came Pancake Day and in true form we had pancakes for both dinner and dessert. We had stuffed pancakes with chicken, followed by sweet pancakes with various toppings.

Looking forward to in March:
– Can’t really think what March has planned to be honest but I know it’s a fairly hectic month. There is Lily’s birthday to begin with, followed by Amy’s, followed by Chris’ and then finally Mother’s Day. Lily has a school trip and a school play in March, plus her chocolate project is due so I imagine that will make things even busier.
– Amy is coming to visit for the weekend of 17th-19th. I haven’t seen her since we went to DLP so it will be nice to catch up. We’re also seeing the new Beauty and the Beast movie which I’m excited but nervous about.
– As I mentioned, Chris’ birthday is this month and we’re going out for dinner with friends and then doing an Escape the Room game. I’m quite excited about that too but I have to admit I’m worried it will be creepy!

Filed Under: monthly round up Tagged With: Amy, bonmarché, cake, cinema, Closet Geek, february, galentine's day, gifts, lily's hair, March, megan school, Pancake Day, pippa's birthday, sing, TV, Valentine's Day

September Round-up

October 4, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

sept

Watching: I watched so much this month! Here’s the list; Jessica Jones (Series 1), Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt (Series 1 & 2), Shadow Hunters (only a few episodes so far), The Shanara Chronicles (Series 1), Containment (weekly episodes), GBBO (weekly episodes), X-Factor (weekly episodes), The Purge 1 & 2 movies, The Smurfs, Criminal Minds (Seasons 2-11 and started 12), Suits (Season 6, weekly episodes), New Girl (weekly episodes), Designated Survivor (weekly episodes), plus the usual Casualty, Holby City and whatever else I normally watch! I of course started watching OUAT when it restarted too!
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): The second September started, so did Halloween orders. I’ve mostly been making Wendy dresses, but there has been a few Belle and Briar Rose thrown in there too. I also made a Jane dress for Liv to take to WDW and a boys Peter Pan costume. Other than that, it’s been the usual bows, pencil cases, bunting etc.

And in other news…
– Megan started Secondary School (which was major news) and Lily went back to school.
– Amy and Liv came to visit for the weekend.
– Nat moved out.
– Megan started helping me out with Closet Geek. It was hard work the first time but on her inset day she was a massive help.
– I ordered Rent on DVD and found out my Patronus on Pottermore was a Red Squirrel.
– It got cold. Like suddenly. Summer is definitely over.
– I watched a TON of TV this month (mostly Netflix) and worked pretty much constantly due to the amount of orders pouring in.

Looking forward to in October:
– I want to say orders calming down but I know they will still flood in for most of October, for the Halloween rush. Even when they do calm down, I have prep for Christmas Market to do but even still I would like to make a start on that.
– Half term. We don’t have anything planned but its nice when the girls have a week off as I don’t have to turn out every day and occasionally get a lie-in.
– Mine and Chris’ anniversary. It’s not really a big deal and it’s not for a wedding or anything, just dating, but this October we have been together 4 years.

Filed Under: monthly round up Tagged With: Amy, Closet Geek, Containment, Criminal Minds, Designated Survivor, GBBO, Jessica Jones, Kimmy Schmidt, monthly round up, Nat, Netflix, new girl, OUAT, Pottermore, September, sewing, Shadow Hunters, Shanara Chronicles, Suits, The Purge, The Smurfs, X Factor

May Round-up

June 6, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

may

Watching: Once Upon a Time (still watching with Lily and Megan, but also finished Season 5), Suits (5), Jane the Virgin (1-2), GAME OF THRONES (we watch it ASAP on Monday morning since it records at 2am), the usual weekly episodes of Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, The 100 etc etc. Walt Before Mickey, Maleficent, Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8,
Reading: Six Lies, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, A Whole New World: A Twisted Tale, Fated, Wait for Me.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Ears!! It’s been all about the Ears this month after being featured on Sarah’s instagram. I’ve also made two Rapunzel dresses, a Pinocchio dress, an Alice in Wonderland dress and apron, a Briar Rose dress, a Wendy dress, a Woody dress, plus loads of bows and Tangled bunting. There was also an adult Briar Rose dress, a Beauty and the Beast skirt (again for Sarah) and made alterations to Lottie’s Dumbo skirt (and made her some ears too).

And in other news…
– Amy came to visit for the first weekend in May and it was SO nice because I hadn’t seen her since the beginning of March!
– Megan took her SATs (and got ill during them) but fingers crossed she still did well.
– Got the girls into several more food options including homemade turkey burgers.
– Chris bought me 221B Baker Street board game and we played and it was very reminiscent of my youth!
– We went to Paris for the weekend as a family, with my mum and sister too. We weren’t there long but I got to go up the Eiffel Tower which is something I’ve always wanted to do AND we went to DLP. You can read about it in my Travel Diary.
– It was my birthday. I turned 37! It wasn’t too bad though as I got some nice gifts and spent the day with family and friends.
– Disney Lego figures were released at the beginning of the month and I managed to collect them all. There were a few swaps involved and I did buy the last two I needed of Ebay!
– Tried to be healthy, failed. Tried to be healthy, failed. Tried to be healthy, failed…
– Bought a laser cutting machine but didn’t get it set up :(

Looking forward to in June:
– Going to Paris again. I have my regrets about booking it (it turned out so expensive and it’s 4 days away from Chris and the kids) but overall I’m looking forward to it.
– Sadly, nothing else. Hopefully some free time for myself. Maybe set my laser cutting machine up. Hopefully crack screen printing. Nice weather maybe?

Filed Under: monthly round up Tagged With: Amy, Closet Geek, disney lego figures, dlp, may, monthly round up, my birthday, paris, reading, SATs, travel diary

My 37th Birthday

May 30, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

On the whole I avoid putting the actual age I am, on my blog. It’s not that it particularly bothers me (turning 30 never did) but I have to admit that inching closer to 40 does somehow make me feel old. However I’m sucking it up this year and trying to embrace it – and I’m going to let you know what a great birthday I had!

For a start, it was a Saturday (May 28th). Amy and Olivia came down to visit for the weekend, Chris was off work and even Amy’s O.H. was coming to spend the day with us! Though technically my birthday had started at midnight where Amy and I were still up and sitting in the dinning room, we soon headed to bed and started again properly in the morning. Chris sadly woke me at 7am when he got up and though I had hoped for a lie-in, it wasn’t to be! I got up and was greeted by many “happy birthday”s and Amy kindly made me a cup of tea! I sat down on the sofa to open cards and gifts from them all, which was really lovely.

Photo 28-05-2016, 10 21 09

Photo 28-05-2016, 10 21 17

Photo 28-05-2016, 10 25 39

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The girls got me the Evil Queen from Snow White, in hag form. This is a Disney Tradition that I’ve been after for a while and I’m not sure why as she’s ugly as hell, but I love it regardless! Chris got me Seven Dwarves on a Log – again another Disney Tradition that I have loved for literally as long as I can remember. It was always far too expensive to consider getting but now it’s mine, yay! Finally Amy and Liv got me a box of goodies, including an Ursula decoration, Regina in Pop Funko, an art print of Belle and the Beast and a Tinker Bell scarf (I put it on straight away, so forgot to photograph it). There was also a limited edition print that Amy had found in a charity shop, which is literally amazing!

After this we sat around for a while relaxing, but the kids started to get hungry so I put on some breakfast. We had freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat, along with margarine, nutella and chocolate/peanut butter spread. We actually didn’t even manage it all which was a surprise between six of us.

Photo 28-05-2016, 09 47 17indexEveryone went off their separate ways then, to get dressed, to have another cup of tea etc. My mum arrived around lunch time to give me her gift and then Amy’s O.H. arrived too. After a while we headed out to Nottingham with the plan to play mini-golf but it actually turned out that we went shopping and ate at Five Guys. We headed home, got the girls to bed and then my friend Nat and her O.H. came around. We spent the evening chatting, laughing and drinking wine until about 1am.

While it maybe doesn’t sound like the most spectacular of birthdays, the evening was everything and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Thankfully its a whole year now until the next one but I’m glad this one turned out pretty great.

Filed Under: about me Tagged With: Amy, Belle, birthday, breakfast, Chris, Disney, Disney Traditions, drinking, Evil Queen, Five Guys, hag, Lily, may, Megan, mum, music box, my birthday, Nat, Olivia, rose, seven dwarves, shopping, snow white, snowglobe

April Round-up

May 3, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

april
Watching: Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA (I’ve managed to watch all 7 series), Once Upon a Time (I started again from the beginning with Lily and now Megan), Suits (1-4), the usual weekly episodes of Arrow, Flash, Legends of Tomorrow, The 100 etc etc. Megan, Lily and I also watched Saving Mr Banks for the first time.
Reading: Six Lies and Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn – I’m not doing much reading!
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): This month I made some bunting and also a lampshade for my sewing room/dining room. I also made a Prince Charming jacket, along with the usual orders.

And in other news…
– We finally got the house on the market, all the paperwork approved and the brochure made. We’re at least on the way to moving – whenever that might happen!
– Went shopping with Megan and Lily for a few nice bits of clothes. Megan did a mini photo shoot but got herself all upset that she didn’t feel very natural and thought she was ugly.
– Went to Doncaster and experienced Cosmo with the kids. Also found a great little outlet village which we’d never been to before.
– Lily managed her 25m badge in swimming lessons and I was so proud of her because she hadn’t even been able to swim properly at the beginning of the 6 weeks.
– Went out for dinner with my mum a couple of days before her birthday. It was supposed to be just the five of us but my Auntie Pat and Bernard joined us last minute.
– We went out for Sunday lunch to celebrate my nephew’s 9th birthday.
– I attempted (and failed) screen printing for the first time. It wasn’t so much that I couldn’t do it, but newspaper got stuck to my screen!
– Got several new art prints over the month and also started collecting Itty Bittys from Hallmark.
– And very last minute, my best friend Amy came to visit!!

Looking forward to in May:
– My birthday has to come top of the list, even though its pretty much the last thing to happen in the month. It’s not really because of my birthday or the gifts, but because Amy will come down again and Nat’s coming over.
– Going to Paris! Finally, after all these years, I’m taking a holiday to Paris. It’s only 3 days but we’re doing the Eiffel Tower and Paris itself, as well as DLP of course.
– Maybe seeing Captain America: Civil War? I really need to watch Winter Soldier first though.
– As well as my birthday, half term starts at the end of the month (though technically runs into the next month). As always, I enjoy my time off with the girls and especially not having to head out every morning to take them to school.

Honestly there isn’t really anything happening in May other than the small trip and my birthday so we’ll just have to see how it goes!

Save

Filed Under: monthly round up Tagged With: Amy, april, cavery, cosmo, dinner out, disney prints, Doncaster, Easter holidays, Morgan's birthday, moving house, mum's birthday, round up, selling the house, shopping

8/52

February 21, 2016 by Bel Leave a Comment

Photo 16-02-2016, 13 46 03

This week Amy and Liv came to visit for a few days and we crammed a belated Galentine’s Day, Amy’s birthday and Easter, all into the three days they were here. Our belated Galentine’s was on Tuesday and as a surprise I booked (and paid for) a meal for all my favourite girlies, plus I got everyone a little gift and some sweets. This picture was taken at lunch time in Prezzo, while we waited for food!

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 8/52, Amy, best friends, blog project, eating out, february, food, galentine's day, Lily, Megan, Olivia, photos, prezzo

44/52

November 1, 2015 by Bel Leave a Comment

The Queen of Hearts and Alice

This week we headed off to my friend Amy‘s house and while we were there, the girls took part in a mini photoshoot, for my new clothes at Closet Geek. I’m so so grateful to Amy for taking the pictures, not only because my store would look rubbish without them, but also because she captures my girls so beautifully. This is one of my favourites – Lily as the Queen of Hearts and Megan as Alice. There were some other lovely ones which I will share later in the week.

Filed Under: 52 project Tagged With: 44/52, alice, Amy, blog project, Closet Geek, Disney, dresses, handmade clothes, Lily, Megan, photos, photoshoot, Queen of Hearts

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.

Andy's Coming Inside Out Emotions

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

Filed Under: Monday Round-up Tagged With: Amy, beach, Berwick, Berwick Upon Tweed, car, Closet Geek, Disney, dresses, grandma, hairbows, Hobbycraft, jewellery, MoT, Olivia, photo shoot, store, trains, tyres

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Hi, my name is Bel!


I’m a forty something, mother of two, self-confessed geek!

Here on my blog you’ll find;
books I’ve read, clothes I’ve made, movies I’ve watched, cakes I’ve baked, products I’ve tried, places I’ve been, pictures I’ve taken… plus lots and lots of DISNEY!!

I’m a lifestyle blogger – covering a little of everything I love <3

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