Merry Christmas Everyone!

No matter what you're doing, where you are or what you believe in, I hope each and every one of you is having a magical day full of love, happiness and the people you cherish (^_^)

Have a beautiful day, be happy and smiley!

Merry Christmas!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

Week One

Hey hey awesome people!

I have spent the last week in a sleep/food/walking/talking/general epicness haze and it's been brilliant!  My boy has been completely amazing, taking me to all these cute little eateries and diners, letting me go to bed early and sleep in late (and take naps in the afternoon, woohoo!) and we've been kicking back, relaxing and spending some well-needed time together!  It's been *so* great!

I've realised, in picking out pictures I've taken so far on this trip, that I am completely and utterly in love with food (and you, S, don't worry!) I'm one of those people that goes 'WAIT! Don't start eating! Let me take a picture!'  I find that I associate a lot of memories, particularly of America, with the places we've gone to eat; it helps remind me of the things we did the day, where we went, the things we talked about.  So here are some of my many food pictures so far!

Here I am looking *really* unenthusiastic about my awesome sundae which we ordered in Serendipity (have you seen that movie?  Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack, really cute!) It was absolutely huge, full of fresh bananas and the most incredible peanut butter pie!

We wanted pancakes for breakfast, so we went to a sweet little diner called 'Brownstone Diner' and picked up some super scrummy pancakes!  I had mine with bacon, egg and cheese in it (devilishly delicious, I've never eaten anything like that for breakfast before!) The pancakes were light and fluffy and the eggs were cooked to perfection!

Fast forward to a different breakfast!  This time we went for bagels (S had a croissant) at a little cafe called Cosi.  Mine was packed full of eggs, bacon and cheese (are you sensing a theme here?  I think I've found my favourite breakfast combination ever!) on a perfectly toasted bagel!  Oh man, it was super tasty!

Here is a sneaky picture I took of S with his breakfast croissant, which was apparently delicious!  This guy has to put ketchup on *everything*.  Literally.  I've double triple warned him - NO ketchup on the roast dinner I am cooking tomorrow.  On pain of death!

In other, less food-related news, we went to Dave and Buster's (it's like a grown-up arcarde - *so* awesome!) and won like a million tickets!  Okay, it was actually about 3,000 but woo!  We've walked a lot around New York, Jersey City and Hoboken, watched a movie at the cinema, taken the two cute little doggies out for walks (will post pictures of them next time - prepare for the adorableness!) and just been having a great time!  I really needed this break so badly and it's been great for me and S to spend some good, quality time together!

The rest of next week (since I fly home on Friday night, boo!) we're going to watch the Giants play tomorrow, cook a roast dinner, celebrate our own mini-Christmas while I'm here, go gambling at a casino and have a completely wonderful time!  I hope you guys are doing great, I've got so much catching up on blog reading to do when I get home!  Take it easy, have a wonderful weekend!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

So Many Things!

I've got lots of news to share with you after this week but I haven't sorted myself out properly/taken any pictures to show you, so I'm going to wait to reveal all tomorrow.

Let's just say I...

♥ Had an amazing surprise from the tax office
♥ Crossed off one of my '10 Things'
♥ Stopped making excuses and got moving
♥ Set aside time to let creativity flow

It's been a good, good week, despite a few little bumps in the road; we're still waiting for my paperwork to reach S so we're having to keep postponing the application (come on USPS!) and I found out one of my colleagues is leaving next Tuesday (she's one of the loveliest people I've ever known and I'm really sad she's going - and moving all the way to Wales!) I'm really hoping S and I can get his application moving on Monday and that we all have a great last day for her on Tuesday.

Here's to the next week being full of positivity, creativity and moving forward in all areas of life!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

I Took A Trip To My Nan's House...

...and came back laden with craft stuff!

WOO!

My Nan has been crafting for years, anything from knitting jumpers and cardigans to card making to baking; she's always been hands-on, homemade, totally awesome.

In the last few years, it's become increasingly difficult for her to continue with her creativity; she's in her 80s now and finds it a bit too fiddly to do.  It really saddens me, as we used to spend time together crafting and it's something we can't do together any more.

She has a room in her house specially dedicated to all her craft supplies and it's like a magical treasure trove; I could sit in there all day looking through all the card stock, stickers, rub-ons, ribbons, tools, stamps...It's so easy for me to spend hours in there and wonder where all the time went!

I've talked to my Nan about my hopes for the future, about wanting to use my crafting as more than just a hobby and she's happily let me use her supplies through the years.  Now she's decided to make some room in there for things like her mobility aids and here I come to the rescue by happily relieving her of a few things she doesn't use any more.  I know, I'm an angel, right?

{Guillotine & Light Box}

I've wanted a light box for *yonks* but every time I go to buy one I could never find one that wasn't obscenely expensive!  I plan to use this for lots of embossing work (which I've never done before but really like the idea of) As for the guillotine - I am a girl who finds cutting straight lines very, very hard.  I think I'm a bit wonky since I always look at the wrong side of the line so this will help gazillions!

{Glitter & Sewing Kit}

Let's face it, who doesn't love Martha Stewart craft supplies?  They always come in pretty packaging and lovely colours so I simply couldn't resist these gorgeous, iridescent stars and hearts.  And hello, 100 spools of thread in 50 different colours!  Colours make me happy (^_^) 

{Skeleton Leaves, Handmade Paper & Acetate}

Skeleton leaves are quite possibly the prettiest things in the world.

I love the texture of this handmade paper, it's all crumply and gorgeous.  The acetate got me inspired to try out shaker cards, which I think will be especially awesome with the lovely glitter above!

So, as you've probably guessed, I'm having a great day (^_^) Hope you're all having a smashing day too!

xoxo

♥Ắçĕ♥

New Hair + New Shoes = Awesome Wednesday

Yay, I had my hair cut!  And I freakin' ♥ it (^_^) Here's me and my barnet before (excuse the bleary eyes, it was early in the morning when I took this)

And here's me now, with my 'soft layering', fuller fringe and all-round-awesomeness!

Okay, so it isn't the biggest difference in the world but I can feel it.  I feel shiny and sleek and groomed and my hair is softer than I think it's ever been.  My hairdresser was lovely and gave me exactly what I wanted, plus she massaged my head when she washed my hair *heaven* I think she did an awesome job, now I have lovely hair (^_^) Yay!  Hair, consider yourself crossed off of my '10 Things' list!

My family and I went out to eat today at a gorgeous American-style diner called 'The DownTown Diner', as a special treat for my Mum's birthday (it isn't until Saturday but it's fun to extend the celebrations!) and I had a *huge* plate of macaroni cheese with chicken and a little slice of garlic bread and a delicious banana milkshake with whipped cream on top.  Wow was it yummy (^_^)  I forgot to take a picture because I was ravenous and tucked in right away!  I love eating out with my family, we don't do it all that often so it makes it really special when we all hang out together.

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Here are my pretty pretty new shoes!  I had some canvas shoes already but they've started to wear on the sole *sad face* so I picked up a couple of cheap pairs today that will be perfect for strolling around NYC in (^_^) I'm such a sucker for anything with a cute flowery print and these pulled me right in!

I've had an epic good Wednesday so far (^_^) I plan on doing a little bit of ironing and a lot of sitting in the sun this afternoon, as well as talking to my boy later and finalising my list of things to take on holiday with me.  Hope you're all having a good one today!

Thank Goodness...

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Wow, what a crazy busy week!  I feel like I've worked about a million hours and spent all my time at work!  Because I work in a bakery (and we don't have a dishwasher, c'mon Area Manager, work your magic for us!) there is a *lot* of clearing up, cleaning and end of day stuff to do, which means I always get out late, get home late, talk to my boy for a while then flump into bed and wake up just to do it all over again.  I've managed to land the whole weekend off so I am going to make the most of it and do lots of relaxing and pamper myself.  I'm thinking...

♥ Long soak in a hot bubbly bath

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♥ Reading a good book in the sunshine outside

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♥ Perusing the internet for pretty beads, wool and fabrics for crafting

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Other than that bundle of awesome, I think my family and I are heading over to my Aunt's house to have a BBQ while the weather is warm and beautiful (^_^) I think it's going to be a great weekend!  Hope you all have a fabulous one too!

I Like Mondays

I have a soft spot for them.  They're a fresh start, the beginning of a whole new week, full of adventures and possibilities.  Mondays are my day for making plans, for looking forward and for getting excited about what's to come.  So far, my week is looking pretty awesome!

♥ Tuesday is "Shrove Tuesday" here, which is the day before the start of Lent (40 days leading up to Easter) and known in our house as Pancake Day!  I've never been a fan of those big, thin, crêpe-like pancakes that are eaten with sugar and lemon but my Mum makes the most delicious "drop scones" which we have with ice cream - YUM!  I'll be posting about those little beauties tomorrow.
♥ With Wednesday being the start of Lent, I've decided to set myself a 40 day challenge, from March 9th - April 23rd (Easter Sunday).  I have an *incredible* sweet tooth; I *heart* chocolate and cakes and cookies, all those wonderfully delicious sugary treats.  As a real challenge to myself (and to help me on my way to my 140lbs goal) I'm going to not eat any of those scrummy temptations and commit to 30 minutes of exercise every single day.  Yay for challenges and having a goal!
♥ Remember that bakery job I applied for?  Well, they've asked me to come in for an interview on Wednesday!  I'm really excited about it and hoping so much that I'll be offered the job!  Even though I have a job at the moment, I'm not getting many hours because there isn't any work.  It'd be really awesome to finally get some proper, scheduled hours every week and to actually earn some money, especially before I head off to America to see my boy.
♥ Speaking of which, tickets for my plane trip are being bought this week!  I'm *so* excited!!!  I can't wait to finally see my boy again (^_^) It's been *forever* since I last got to actually be with him, we're going to have the most amazing time together (and I'll be there for our official 'One-Year-Anniversary' on My 11th, yay!) The countdown to the States well and truly begins this week!

I hope everyone is having a really great Monday (^_^) What exciting things do you have planned for this week?

I Had An Awesome Friday

Sometimes, there are days when everything goes right.  Today was one of those days.  And the best part?  It's not even over yet!  So there are more chances for awesome things to happen!  Yay!  Here's what I did and why it's been brill so far -

• I napped *a lot*.  Like, more than I really should've, but I just couldn't help myself.  It's horrible outside, all freezing wind and gloomy skies.  So I took a nap just before lunch and one this afternoon.  It was awesome.
• We got our groceries today, so we've got loads of delicious food to eat!  I had a scrumptious pizza for dinner this evening and am about to tuck into some creamy strawberry yoghurt.  Yay yoghurt!
• I got to spend some time on my own in the house.  Completely alone.  This happens once in a blue moon and I make the most of it by putting music on and singing really loudly.  So that's what I did!  Today it was Maroon 5 (Thank you random rummage!) I am in love with them all over again.
• I have had four awesome cups of tea today.  This might not seem like a big thing, but it's rare that cup after cup is consistently good.  Today, it's *all* been perfect.
• I got to read through all the blogs I follow, do some work on my Indie portfolio and get on with a bit of sewing.  All without being hassled by people and/or kittens!  
• Best of all, I spent time with my brother and my Mum and we laughed our heads off for about an hour. My stomach muscles and cheeks hurt but I'm still smiling thinking about it.  My brother cracks me up so much, he's hilarious.

Yay for Friday!  It really is when the weekend begins for me, everything about it is so relaxed and getting ready for two days of fun and laughter.  I hope everyone has a fun, happy and relaxed weekend planned (^_^)