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Journeys Are My Diary

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Monthly Round-up – March

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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.

March Round-up

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I thought that doing a monthly round-up would be easier than doing a weekly one but seems instead that months just escape me and I end up so late doing my round-up! It won’t be very accurate, but here is my March.

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Watching: Catching up on loads of TV in the evening, as we only did DIY in the day. I/We caught up on SHIELD, Agent Carter, Flash, Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, Grimm, Dance Moms, The Walking Dead, NCIS, Blindspot, X-Files, Gotham, Catfish, The 100, Limitless, Ink Master, Casualty, Holby City and probably more that I don’t remember. I also got quite addicted to watching old episodes of Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares USA.
Reading: Fantastic Mr Fox, Six Lies, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Fated,.
Sewing & Making (for Closet Geek): Several custom dresses with Disney fabric including; Inside Out, Jungle Book and Lion King. Also a Belle inspired dress and an Aurora inspired dress. An adult Alice in Wonderland dress. A Jessie Dress and Pinocchio outfit from my store listings. I made Aurora and Rapunzel bows on custom request too. Closet Geek was closed for 2 weeks for DIY though.

And in other news…
– Mum got back from New Zealand! After spending the whole of February away, it was really nice to have her back at the very beginning of March. I didn’t realise quite how much I missed her.
– Megan got accepted into her first choice for Secondary School. To be honest I had expected as much but considering 90% of her class/year at her school didn’t, it made me even more grateful. We took her out to dinner at NYC bar and grill to celebrate.
– World Book day was fun! Lily went as Harley Quinn and Megan went as Wenda from Where’s Wally/Waldo.
– Lily was in Shine assembly and it was also the last week for her teacher before going on maternity leave. It was a really sweet but sad moment in assembly and Lily even got to give Mrs Riley her leaving gift.
– Lily’s birthday happened! She turned 8 and honestly as usual, she just grew up overnight. We had a lovely day with birthday lunch out at Pizza Hut but relaxing for the most part. It’s always nice when a birthday falls at the weekend.
– It was a busy weekend with Lily’s birthday Saturday and then Mother’s Day on Sunday. It was lovely though and I was spoilt by the girls. I got a new Disney Tradition ornament and a new Disney Pop Funko too. We went out for lunch with my mum, my sister, my brother and his girlfriend and son too. It was nice to get together as a family.
– I finally edited the girls’ first YouTube video and it was pretty funny to watch. I have no idea when we’ll get around to doing another!
– Some MAJOR DIY took place in our house during March. We started with the kitchen floor on a day off but moved to finishing off the whole house during 10 days off that Chris had booked (and I closed Closet Geek).
– Chris’ birthday was mid-March. He’s way too laid back about doing anything on his bday so it was hard to figure out a fun day. In the end we played mini-golf in Sheffield and then went to Meadowhall where we shopped a bit and had Five Guys for dinner.
– Chris and I tried Cosmos for the first time. Cosmo is a chain restaurant of buffet food. However where most are Chinese and/or Indian, this one is sort of everything. You do still get Chinese and Indian but you also get English (like roast dinner stuff), Italian (like pizza and pasta), loads of nibbly bits like chips, onion rings, curly fries etc. Japanese (like Sushi) and so much more. On a lunchtime it’s £7.50 for as much as you want so it’s really not that bad.
– The girls broke up from school and we celebrated (as always) with Pizza Hut for dinner. It was nice as Chris was actually off work for a change so we all got to go together.
– We celebrated Easter at my brother’s house as it was also a birthday party for his twin boys. It was nice for the girls to get to spend time with their cousins and other kids their age – not to mention play out in the garden and have an easter egg hunt.
– I finished off the month feeling really ill. I totally burnt myself out with all the DIY and letting myself get tired. I was pretty ill for 2-3 days and then had a bad headache for another 1-2 after that. It sort of sucked after achieving so much with the house.

Looking forward to in April:
– Getting the house officially on the market was my main thing to look forward to in April. Since I’m late writing this post, this has actually already happened. We had the person around to take photos in early April, then the house went on the market and we got a copy of the brochure, then our “for sale” sign went up the very next day.
– Mum’s birthday. She’s actually away for her birthday (and I wish I was going to Storybrooke), but we’ll celebrate just beforehand I’m sure.
– Finding some time to work on new ideas for Closet Geek. After shutting the store for two weeks, it took about another week to get caught up. It’s been nice having the odd time here and there to try new projects and I hope to have some more this month.
– Time off with the girls. Most of Easter hols has been in April and as always I look forward to spending time with them. It’s funny how sad I feel when they go back now, rather than the relief I used to feel when they were smaller and more annoying!
– Honestly there isn’t much happening in April as far as I know so not much to look forward to!

Week 12 – Monday Round-up

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This week I have managed to make notes in a draft post so writing this round-up doesn’t seem half as daunting! Yay me! So… Monday Chris was at work early and the girls went to school. I spent majority of my day on the computer, catching up with blogging and getting ready for my scheduled posts during my April holiday. The girls didn’t have any Singing Stars this week but instead we had the dentist. I picked them up from school and we headed there, via my mum’s to brush our teeth. When we got to the Dentists it was straight in and out pretty much and so I called Chris to see if he wanted to meet for Burger King and then have a lift home. On the way to pick him up I got a flat tyre and with no wheel wrench and no jack I was pretty screwed. I called my insurance/breakdown recovery, only to find out I didn’t have any so by the time Chris got to me, I sent him to find a wheel wrench and jack to get us sorted. Eventually we managed to get the flat tyre off and the spare on, so headed to Burger King and grabbed some food before heading home. Chris and I spent the evening watching TV, while I blogged and then we also watched The Walking Dead.

On Tuesday morning I was tasked with returning the jack we had borrowed (we bought the wheel wrench) and so I dropped off the kids and then took the jack back. I headed to Tanvic to get my tyres sorted and while they were being done I headed into town. Whilst in Primark, the Be Our Guest breakfast reservations became available and so Amy and I had a few moments of madness while we tried to organise that. The tyre place rang to say that they didn’t actually have my tyre in stock but could order it and I could go back the next day. Unfortunately my car was already booked in the garage for the next day so instead I said I’d take it back Thursday. I headed home for a while and chilled while watching TV and getting some more blogging done. I was feeling a bit blah and so when Chris arrived home he ordered us pizza and chips and we vegged out while waiting for the girls to get home. They arrived back around 7pm and Lily went straight to bed, while Megan was still up when Jon and my brother Chris arrived. However Megs went to bed fairly soon and we all sat down at the dining table to play board games – this was Chris’ birthday party. The first game we played was called “Cash ‘n’ Guns and it was fantastic. Really simple and easy to play, fairly quick for each round and hilariously funny. We ended up playing it three times and genuinely I loved it.

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After Cash n Guns, we played a Walking Dead board game that Chris got last year for his birthday and we never got around to playing. Sadly it was pretty crap and so I don’t imagine we’ll be playing that again! Such a shame too as the simpler (and cheaper) Walking Dead card game that he also got last year was actually pretty good. The boys finished off with a few rounds of Inn Fighting, a dice and card game that didn’t really interest me. I moved through to the lounge and waited for everyone to leave, heading to bed when they did.

On Wednesday I dropped the girls off at school and then took my car to the garage, where mum picked me up. We headed back to her house for the day and watched Divergent, since she’s just recently read the book series. Mum went out over lunch so I wrote some blog posts and got myself some food. Megan ended up coming home with mum from school as she was feeling unwell. At the end of school time, mum gave me a lift down to get my car and then she collected Lily from school and took her home. I went to school myself but it was Parent’s Evening so I hung around and waited for my appointment. Both girls are doing really well which I was incredibly pleased to hear and this was by far Lily’s best parent’s evening to date as well. I drove back to mum’s to pick up the girls and then we headed back home and the girls went to bed. I made myself some dinner and watched TV, while I waited for Chris to come home from work. Afterwards he was home we watched some Kitchen Nightmares before heading to bed.

Some of Lily’s class work that I took a picture of at Parent’s Evening

On Thursday I headed out to take the girls to school but met my mum midway who actually took Megan off me and took her to Queen Elizabeth’s Grammar. Megan was participating in a Maths competition that morning and my mum had volunteered to provide lifts. After dropping Lily off at school it was back to Tanvic to get my tyres done but this time instead of heading into town I just sat and waited. My tyres were done by about 10am and so I headed to Tesco and got some shopping done before heading home. The majority of the day was spent tidying the house and then afterwards I went to get the girls from school. Megan had done really well in the Maths competition and her team had come first, beating all the other schools that had taken part! I was so incredibly proud of her. When we got back we had three Disney tasks to fit in – one from the day before (dress up Disney), one from that day (make or draw Disney) and one from the previous week (watch The Lion King). It was sort of hectic but we got dinner and then managed to fit it all in. I even made Chris a Cornflake Tart (his request, instead of a birthday cake). Once Lily was in bed, Megan and I wrapped Chris’ presents, as well as two for my nephews as it was their birthday party at the weekend. Megan then headed to bed and I worked some more on my blog. When Chris got home he had some of his cornflake tart and we both had a glass of wine. We headed to bed around 11pm as we were both too tired to stick it out till midnight.

When we woke up on Friday morning, it was of course Chris’ birthday. The girls came into our room and we opened presents and cards in bed. After that we all had to get ready as usual as the girls still had school and we were even going that morning too. Megan was in Shine Assembly and she got a certificate for her work. She was also in Assembly for the Maths competition the day before, where they all got certificates for coming first. As assembly ended the Eclipse was happening and so Year 5 and 6 were going into the Playground to watch it. Mum asked if we could stay and watch from there and so we did.

After leaving school we headed to the garage as there had been a car there on Wednesday that might have been suitable for Chris. However it was sold already so that was that! Chris and I headed into town and got McDonalds breakfast for his birthday treat. He then went to work for 11am and I headed into town. I really only went to Primark as the time before I’d ended up dumping all my stuff without paying for it (don’t ask!). I bought a few things for holiday and then headed back to my car. I went home for a few hours and then turned out again to get the girls. When we got back from school they had dinner and we watched The Incredibles. After that they went to bed and I blogged while waiting for Chris to come home. When he was back he had more cornflake tart and this time I made him some custard to go with it! We headed to bed around 11pm as I was feeling pretty tired.

On Saturday Chris let me have a bit of a lie-in and so when I got up it was nearly 10am. His dad called around for a while and so to let them talk, the girls and I started to properly pack their suitcases and check off their lists. After Chris’ dad was gone we all headed downstairs and then girls help me set the table and cook brunch (though more like lunch) for us all. I’d originally promised Chris a fried breakfast for his birthday but because we’d gone to Assembly it hadn’t been possible and this was to make up for it. After food we were all stuffed and it was hard to find the energy to do anything. However I worked on some sewing projects, cutting out pieces and doing as much as I could with the fabric I had. The Disney task was to cook Disney food and so we put Baymax faces on marshmallows and toasted them. It was simple but fun and nice to do something a little different for a change. In the early evening we all settled down to watch Cars and we ordered takeaway (another treat for Chris’ birthday). Once it was finished and the girls were in bed, Chris and I took turns to have a bath and then I worked on Lily’s latest dress bodice until we headed to bed.

Sunday came and went far too fast! Lily woke us early and Chris was in a fairly foul temper all day. I tried to ride it out but for the most part I just kept the girls out of his way so as not to annoy him more! At 10am I popped out to Boyes as I needed some material and when I got back I worked on my sewing. At 11.30am we headed out to Scunthorpe and to my brother’s house, as it was his twin boys birthday party and we were invited. After arriving at around 12.15pm, we stayed for a couple of hours and left at around 2.30pm. It was a lovely time and it was so nice to see my nephews after quite some time. When we got home, I went back to my sewing projects. The girls ended up sitting with me and making dolls clothes which was harder than they expected but very cute. We spent hours in the dining room, eventually making dinner and all sitting in there to eat it as well. Afterwards Lily went to bed and I started working on some blog stuff for Twice the Mum – sorting out some books and movies for our From Page to Screen feature. Once that was done I made a start on some actually sewing on my sewing machine but it didn’t feel like I got much done before eventually heading to bed!

It’s been a funny sort of a week, that’s felt incredibly busy. I can’t wait till the girls have finished this one last week of school so I can just concentrate on getting ready for Florida!

2014 in Review – The Cakes

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As part of my round up for 2014, I wanted to recap on the cakes I’ve made this year. In May I did a sort of mid-year round up, but this is for the complete year. Though I’ve actually made far more than the cakes pictured below, these are the key cakes of 2014.

Though I did make a fairly simple cake for my sister’s birthday in February, March was really the first time I got busy. What with Lily, Amy and Chris all having a birthday in March, it was pretty crazy. Lily’s was my first and also one of the most important in the whole year. She was massively into Frozen (and still is) so that was the theme of her cake. Only 9 days later, it was Amy’s birthday and as I’ve always wanted to make her a Peter Pan cake, this is what I did. The three tiers made this the biggest cake of the year. It was a pretty impressive cake. Less than a week later, it was Chris’ birthday and I was pretty much caked out. As such he got a very simple Minion cake but he was happy nonetheless.

After a very brief break, my mum’s birthday came next in April. There was really no specific theme I could think of for my mum, so instead just asked what flavour she’d like. Having requested something with cream, I put my mind to something she’d love and came up with a Tiramisu cake. This as a huge hit and I’ve had several requests to make it since – most recently a few days after Christmas. Next in April was Erika’s birthday, though her party was technically in May. All I really had to go on was the fact she liked sweets, so I made a cake that somewhat looked like a bowl with sweets in it. My birthday was next but luckily I didn’t have to make my own cake as Nat did it instead. Good job too, given the theme (NSFW), as I”m not sure I would have pulled it off as well as she did! However only a week or so after mine, came my brother’s birthday. Since he was having a superhero party, I made him a superhero themed cake!

Only a few weeks after my brother’s birthday, it was Harry’s 1st birthday. While I don’t usually make cakes for other people’s kids, it was Harry’s 1st and that made it special (he’s also going to be my Godson). I really had no idea what a one year old would like so I searched around Pinterest till I came up with the idea of building blocks. It was a bit of a rush job but I think Harry’s cake turned out okay in the end. Luckily I managed a bit of a break then, at least until the following month. Even then the cake I made for my friend Chris, was a bit of break from the norm. His wife Hollie, suggested a cake that had been circulating its way around Facebook. Always up for a challenge, I figured I’d give it a go! Though the original cake had been Maltesers and M&M’s, I opted for Maltesers and Smarties – this was largely because nowhere I went had the smaller packs of M&M’s and I didn’t give myself very long to search! It turned out pretty good and seemed to wow everyone at Chris’ birthday party. Finally, I genuinely got a break – this time from between July to November. Then, amidst a heap of sewing, I had to make Nat a birthday cake. Sadly I can’t believe I never actually got around to blogging about her murder mystery, but we had fun with a fairytale theme. As her character in the murder mystery was Red Riding Hood, I decided to theme her cake the same. Megan actually helped me with the cake, solely making the Red Riding Hood figure on the top!

That brings me to the last cake of the year, which was actually for Megan’s birthday. Still bogged down with sewing, murder mystery planning and of course Christmas, Megan’s cake was a bit of a rush. Luckily for me, she’d enjoyed helping with Nat’s cake and had wanted to help with her own. Settling on a fairly simple Harry Potter cake theme, Megan actually made all the items on top of the cake (bar the scarf which I added as a surprise once she’d gone to bed). I made and iced the cake myself and once Megan was in bed, put all the elements together so at least the finished look would be a surprise for her.

While this coming year I will definitely be cutting down on the amount of cakes I make, I also know I will have more time to fiddle so I’m looking forward to developing more skills. With Megan be interested in helping, it also makes it feel a bit more enjoyable for me. Megan definitely has artistic talent that I do not possess!

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