30 before 30: An Update

So do you remember my 30 before 30 list that I posted a few months back? Well, whether the answer's yes or no, I thought that now that I've started blogging again, it would be a perfect time to update you a little on my progress. So, just over four and a half months in, here's how I'm doing so far:

7.  Have a ruthless clear out of my wardrobes and drawers - I've made a start on this, having cleared out one chest of drawers so far and am going to be doing the rest over the summer, so I can make room for all the piles of clothes I've got mounting up, plus potentially a few new buys too.

9.  Read at least 24 new books (2 per month) - whilst this goal may now prove to be overly ambitious, unless I get a major spurt on for the rest of the year, I have read 3 new books since my 29th (Unsuitable Men by Pippa Wright, The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey and Death by Honeymoon by Jaden Skye) and have almost finished The Great Gatsby too. Over the past couple of weeks, I've definitely been getting the urge to read more too, so it'll be interesting to see how close I can get to my original target.

10. Bake at least twice a month - I'm pretty sure I haven't achieved this goal every month, although I haven't really been keeping track as well as I should, but know that I definitely did hit the target in May, as I made Nanaimo bars, chocolate chip cookies and gingerbread over the space of 2 weekends. Hopefully I can stay in the baking habit for the rest of the year now!

11. Try 10 new recipes - I'm on 2 so far; the Nanaimo bars and the chocolate chip cookies I made last month were both things I'd tried for the first time. Look out for the recipes soon!

21. Watch at least 10 new (to me) films (to include at least 1 Tarantino) - I think I'm definitely well on track with this one! :-) At the cinema, I've seen Django Unchained (so I can say I've watched a Tarantino too!), Lincoln, Les Miserables and Iron Man 3 and I know for a fact that there's a few more films that I definitely want to try and catch in the weeks and months ahead too. Add to that the films I've watched on DVD/Netflix (I definitely remember Taken and most of Star Trek), and I think I may even have to set a higher target!

24. Start taking part in quizzes again - I've been part of a quiz team on 2 occasions since I created my list, both times on charity quiz nights with work and I've really enjoyed it. My next step is definitely to find a quiz night that I can start taking part in with (some of) my friends.

And that's pretty much it so far. Well, apart from one other goal which was really my number one priority for the year, and is something that I'm over the moon to have achieved, especially so early on in the year. I am so pleased to say that I've been able to tick the following goal off my list:

1. Get a new job!! - I am so happy about the fact I've achieved this, I really can't quite put it into words! Whilst I'm still in my old job at the moment, come September I'll be taking up my new post as graduate library assistant at one of Manchester's universities. Taking the leap to work in libraries is something that I have been considering for years, off and on, and I am thrilled that I'll finally have the opportunity to make my dream a reality. Whilst I'll only be employed on a year's fixed term contract, the job offer was too good a prospect to dismiss and I'm so looking forward to what the new chapter (sorry - but that pun was totally intended! ;-) ) of my working life may hold.

Sorry, but I couldn't resist saving the best for last! And now that really is all for now, but I'd be thrilled to hear from any of you, as always. Anything big happening in your life at the mo? Any goals that you've recently made/met, be they big or small? If so, just let me know!

'Til next time...

Baking with Julie: Rocky Road

One of the goals that I've set myself in my 30 before 30 is to bake at least twice a month, and this past Saturday gave me the opportunity to do just that. Not only had my family and I finally eaten our way through the numerous birthday cakes that were ever present during the second half of January (my dad, brother, youngest sister and I all celebrate our birthdays in the space of just one week!), but Saturday also brought with it the last night of the pantomime I was performing in, and last nights = after show parties! I knew it'd be a busy day, so decided to opt for something that required minimal time and effort and that was also a tried and tested favourite with friends and family alike: Rocky Road.

I know I wrote a post featuring a variation of the recipe back in 2010, but to be honest, I much prefer the classic version so feel it now deserves its turn in the spotlight. This particular recipe can be found here, and I follow it with just a few minor variations; replacing half of the plain chocolate with milk chocolate, using a couple of chopped up Mars bars (or own brand equivalents) instead of the chocolate chips and substituting digestive biscuits for the ginger biscuits that are suggested. Oh, and I pretty much doubled the recipe (except for the marshmallows where I used 1.5 times the suggested quantity), so the quantities given below are those that I actually used. It made nearly two full Swiss roll tins (around 44 good size pieces), but obviously you can cut bigger or smaller servings according to your own preference.

Rocky Road

Ingredients

• 200 g (7 oz) unsalted butter/margarine
• 200 g (7 oz) plain chocolate, broken into pieces
• 200 g (7 oz) milk chocolate, broken into pieces
• 4 tbsp golden syrup
• 200 g (7 oz) Maltesers
• 2 Mars bars, chopped
• 150 g (5 oz) mini marshmallows
• 400 g (14 oz) digestive biscuits, broken into pieces

Method

1. Grease and line two Swiss roll tins with baking parchment.
2. In a small pan, heat the butter/margarine, chocolate and golden syrup and stir together with a wooden spoon. Once melted together, leave to cool for 10 minutes.
3. In a large bowl, place the Maltesers, Mars bars, mini marshmallows and digestive biscuits and bind together with the melted chocolate sauce.
4. Pour into the lined tins and leave to set in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours.
5. Remove from the tins and slice into pieces.
6. Dust the rocky road with icing sugar to serve (if desired).

And there you have it! Apologies for the lack of photos, I keep forgetting that I now have a phone with a half decent camera lol! But I guess everyone knows what rocky road looks like eh!

And now it's over to you. If you've enjoyed this post or have any comments or any recipes of your own to share, please do! You know I always love to hear from you. 

'Til next time...

Baking with Julie: Marble Cake

Last Sunday was a cold, grey day so what else to do but bake?! Feeling a bit unsure about what recipe to choose, I decided to take a look through the new cookery book I received off some of my dearest friends for  my birthday and based on the fact that I had a little cocoa powder to use up, and also that I wanted to try something new but not too adventurous, I eventually plumped for the marble cake (or chocolate and vanilla ring, if you're following the book exactly!)

Marble Cake (or Chocolate and Vanilla Ring, if you prefer)


Source: Very slightly adapted from Traditional Family Cakes (I'm pretty sure this is the same book I have, the only difference seems to be the cover design)


Ingredients

• Oil or melted butter for greasing (I used soft spread margarine instead)
• 175g plain white flour (Replaced this with self -raising and also omitted the 1 tbsp baking powder that the original recipe called for)
• 175g unsalted butter, softened (I again used soft spread margarine)
• 175g caster sugar (Substituted this with granulated sugar; to my mind there's no real difference between the two)
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (Didn't use as I had none in)
• Icing sugar for dusting (Omitted this step)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160 degrees C/325 degrees F/Gas Mark 3. Grease a baking tin (The recipe calls for a 1.5 litre/2.75 pint ring tin but I used a roasting tin instead and I'm not too sure of the actual dimensions!)
2. Sift the flour (and baking powder, if using) into a large bowl and add the butter/margarine, sugar and eggs. Beat well until the mixture is smooth. Transfer half the mixture to a separate bowl.
3. Mix the cocoa powder with the milk and stir into one bowl of mixture. (Add the vanilla extract to the other bowl, if using, and mix evenly). Spoon alternate tablespoons of the two mixtures into the prepared tin and swirl lightly for a marbled effect (The recipe suggests using a palette knife for this, I just used a spoon and it worked fine.)
4. Bake in the preheated oven for 40-50minutes, or until risen, firm and golden brown. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out and finish cooling on a wire rack. Dust with icing sugar before serving, if desired.

Serves: 12 (Or 20-24 if you cut your cake into smaller pieces like I do!!)

Overall, I was delighted with the way the recipe turned out. The marble effect really worked well and the cake tasted delicious; I really don't think it suffered for the substitutions and omissions I made at all. And I have to say my family agreed, as the cake vanished within a couple of days and there's now not a crumb to be found anywhere! And I'm hopeful that the other recipes in the book will work out as well, there's several that I intend to make over the coming weeks and months and I can't wait to share them with you all!

'Til next time...

Baking with Julie: Spiced fruit cookies

As long time readers of my blog may know, one of my favourite ways to spend my leisure time is to bake and on my day off on Thursday, I was delighted to get the time to do just that. Inspired by the falling leaves and cooler temperatures of the last couple of weeks, I was feeling decidedly autumnal, so when it came to choosing a recipe,it seemed only natural to plump for one of my autumn favourites; these spiced fruit cookies that feature in The Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking. I've tried and failed to find a link to this book online, but if you're based in the UK, it's available from WH Smith and it comes highly recommended!


Spiced Fruit Cookies (or Crunchy Muesli Cookies if you prefer the book's name for them!)


Source: Slightly adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking.


Ingredients

• 90g rolled oats
• 150g plain flour (I used self raising instead)
• 220g caster sugar ( I used granulated sugar)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon ( I always use mixed spice; it's just a personal preference)
• 35g dried cranberries (I replaced these with 40g of glacé cherries, finely chopped )
• 55g finely chopped dried apricots (I replaced these with 50g raisins)
• 70g slivered almonds (Didn't use or substitute anything in their place)
• 125g butter
• 2 tablespoons golden syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (Omitted as I used self raising flour)
• 1 tablespoon boiling water

Method

1. Preheat oven to 150 degrees C (I preheated mine to 160/ Gas Mark 3 as I find that extra 10 degrees really does make a difference!) and grease and line baking trays.
2. Combine the oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, dried fruit and nuts (if using) in a large bowl.
3. Melt the butter with the golden syrup in a small saucepan over a low heat; add the bicarbonate of soda (if using) and boiling water. Stir the warm butter mixture into the dry ingredients.
4. Roll level tablespoons of mixture into balls, place on trays 5cm/2 inches apart and flatten with hand. Bake for about 20 minutes (I baked mine for nearer to 30), then cool cookies on trays before transferring to wire racks.
5. Eat and enjoy!!

Makes: 36 (I usually make 22-24 as I generally make mine them than the suggested size).

So there you have it: a really tasty and easy recipe that makes you think of autumn with every bite (it does with me, anyway!) If you're interested in more recipes, stay tuned as I'm planning to bake on at least one of my days off every week and I'm definitely going to share the results with you all.

'Til next time...

Julie

PS: I can only apologise for the lack of photos in this post. I was fully intending to take them as I went along, but forgot. I then decided to take a picture of the finished product but by the time I got round to it, they'd all been eaten!! At least I know the recipe works, I suppose!

August so far...my highs and lows

Once again, it's been a couple of weeks since my last post...I really don't know where the time goes! I haven't just been sat there doing nothing though, there's been plenty, both bad and good, to keep me busy and those things are exactly what I'm going to share with you today.

Highs

• Exciting baby news: One of my closest friends (I'll call her the "Animal Lover")announced last week that she was expecting her first baby, who's due in late February/early March. It was a lovely surprise and I'm overjoyed for both her and her boyfriend ("The Biker"). I just can't wait until there's another baby in the group to spoil!

• Housewarming fun: In keeping with the major life changes theme, two of my friends (The Comedian and The Enigma) have recently bought their first home together and a couple of Saturdays ago, I spent the evening at their housewarming barbecue. It was just a wonderful night filled with fabulous food (including more crisps on one table than I'd ever seen before!), random conversations and Kinect fun and I hope that we'll be able to do it all over again very soon.

• Adding another recipe to my tried and tested favourites: Unsure of what to give the friends mentioned above as a housewarming present (they'd already been living together previously and I had no idea of what they wanted/needed), I decided to bake something and buy a pretty tin to put it in. My flavour of choice was chocolate...I didn't actually know what the couple liked, but reasoned that everyone loves chocolate! My first thought was brownies, but having never made them before, I decided not to risk an untested recipe. Then I remembered the chocolate cake recipe from the Australian Women's Weekly Complete Book of Cupcakes and Baking (I've tried and failed to find a link to this book on the net...if you want this recipe, let me know and I'll post it on here/email you) and I was pretty sure I was on to a winner. First off, my sister had made it before for a friend who had said it was gorgeous and secondly, all the recipes in the book are triple tested, so are pretty much guaranteed to work :-). And work it did...I divided the mixture into bun cases so I would have some cakes for my friends and some for home, and they were enjoyed by all! My mum said they were one of the best things I'd ever made, a friend of a friend said they were fantastic and I received a lovely text off the Enigma the next day saying how much she and her fiancé the Comedian had enjoyed them. I just love baking and it makes me even happier when people close to me can enjoy it too :-)

• Fantastic friends on Facebook: Last week I received some very good news of my own and when I shared it on Facebook, I was overwhelmed with the support and good wishes I received from my friends. From people of my own age, but also of my parents' generation. From friends who I had seen just the day before, to those who I hadn't seen for years. From old school friends to people I've met much more recently. The congratulations flooded in from all directions, and to say I was touched was an understatement. Sometimes when I'm feeling low I tell myself that no-one cares about me or takes notice of what I have to say, but I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that that's not true. I am loved and cared about more than I've ever realised and that makes me feel incredibly thankful.

And now on to my big news of the last couple of weeks:

I have a new job!! Remember my last post where I alluded to some big changes that might be happening in my work life? Well, it turns out that it was more relevant than I ever thought possible. The day after publishing that post, I received a text from a major banking group that I had previously done an online application for asking me to call their recruitment centre for a telephone interview. I did so and answered 3 mental arithmetic questions and a couple of competency based questions, as well as discussing my recent work history with a very nice man, and was pleased when he announced that I had made it through to the next stage aka the face to face interview, which I booked for last Wednesday. I spent quite a bit of time preparing for the interview and felt I did OK. I wasn't, however, overly confident, partly because I've stumbled at this stage so many times before and partly because I kept analysing my responses to the questions over and over and came up with more and more things I felt I could have done better. I'd been told that it could take up to 10 working days to be informed of the outcome and so I settled down to a long wait for the seemingly inevitable. Imagine my surprise then when I received a phone call from the company explaining that they had managed to get things fast tracked through HR and they were pleased to tell me that I'd been successful!! I won't go into too many details here, as I really feel that the job deserves a post of its own, but I can tell you I'm going to be starting on 19th September, and am really looking forward to this new challenge!! :-)

Lows

• Riots in Greater Manchester (as well as nationwide): Last week there was some of the worst rioting and looting that has ever been seen in England and whilst it was mainly centred around London, on Tuesday last week it also hit Salford and Manchester city centre, only a matter of miles from where I live. The pictures on the TV and news feeds on the internet didn't seem quite real and I was shocked at some of the stories I was reading. An Oxfam shop being looted. A Miss Selfridge shop and a housing office being set on fire. People smashing windows and forcing shutters. None of it really hit home until the next day when I was walking in the centre of town and saw the damage with my own eyes. I just couldn't believe that people could do that to their own city. But as in all of the other places affected by last week's unrest, the community has pulled together and become stronger as a result. On Wednesday morning, for example, as I walked through town after my interview I saw groups of young people wearing protective gloves and armed with rubbish bags all ready to part in the clear up. And today, whilst my sister Amy and I were shopping in Manchester we saw this:

Image taken from here

It's the Manchester Peace Wall, and in the few days since this photo was taken, it's become absolutely filled with post-it notes expressing people's love for the city as well as disgust at the looters and their actions. Amy and I both wrote our own notes and stuck them on the wall, and I just feel really privileged to contribute to such a powerful representation of Manchester's spirit.

• Unexpected work developments and lack of money: News of my new job couldn't have come at a better time as, due to lack of funding, I had to finish my previous job a few weeks earlier than anticipated. I'm going to really have to tighten my belt over the next couple of months or so, and when I consider the number of friends' birthdays that are coming up, it's going to be easier said than done! I'm trying to look on the bright side though...at least I'm still living at home so there are no major bills to pay  and I can also have fun finding low-cost ways to enjoy myself! :-)

And that's all for now. Till next time...

Last week's Highs and Lows

Yes, I know it's Wednesday and we're nearly half way through this week already, but I'm really aiming to make my "Highs and Lows" posts a regular series again, so I'm starting as I mean to go on! Better late than never, that's my motto!

And so on to last week...there were a few seemingly small, yet meaningful highs mixed with a couple of definite lows but, most importantly, it was a positive one overall and I ended it looking forward to the week ahead :-) . So without further ado, here's what had me beaming from ear to ear or down in the dumps last week:

Highs

• Finding £60 I'd forgotten I had: I was looking for something,opened one of drawers and bam...there it was! A quick check with my mum later, and I established that it was definitely mine to keep spend. :-) Exactly what I needed in these tight financial times!

• A couple of shorter (and quieter) afternoons at work: Last week, the 5 year old boy I act as support worker for had a couple of taster sessions at the school he'll be starting in September. And as his support worker, I accompanied him. The upshot of this was a happy little boy...he loved joining in with all the activities the school had to offer and was really keen to get on well with both his new classmates and the staff working there, as well as a very happy Julie! My afternoons were pretty much stress free due to his excellent behaviour (a radical departure from some days at the nursery) and the fact that I only worked half my usual hours for the two days, but was still paid for the full afternoon each time, made them even sweeter. A definite high in my book.

• Midweek curry night and making winter plans with friends: Last Wednesday night, a few friends and I headed to our local pub for their curry night...curry with all the sides plus a free drink for a bargain price and I'm definitely in! We ate, we drank and also made tentative plans for the winter weekend away I discussed in this post. All in all, it was a lovely relaxing night, perfect for recharging our batteries midweek, and something that I hope we'll repeat sooner rather than later.

• Baking for the first time in AGES: Over the last couple of months, my weekends have been so filled with job applications and other things to get done that any plans to bake have fallen right by the wayside. But last Saturday, with no job applications imminent, I decided to get my baking head on and made 2 batches of flapjacks; one with sultanas and cherries and the other with chocolate chips. Both were delicious (if I do say so myself!) although I don't think I added quite enough liquid to the choc chip batch as they ended up harder and more crunchy than the fruit ones; they kind of reminded of Nature Valley bars. Very tasty, but not so good for your teeth!

• Spending time with the cutest class ever: Last Friday, I had a job interview and whilst I was at the school I had the opportunity to meet one of the classes. And oh my gosh, they were amongst the sweetest children I had ever met. Bright, friendly and full of fun, they had a knack of making me feel instantly at ease and I absolutely adored the time I spent with them. Plus I walked away with a number of pictures they'd made for me, which is always a reliable measure of a good day at school in my book!

• A couple of long lie ins: Whilst I don't have to get up too early for work in the week, I do have to set my alarm so I really appreciated just being able to sleep until the time nature intended last weekend. After 9:30? Don't mind if I do!

Lows

• Not getting the job: Before last Friday, I'd had 2 other job interviews this year. I was unsuccessful on both occasions, and whilst the rejection stung, I wasn't overly upset, probably because I wasn't 100% sure that the jobs or schools were right for me. Friday was different. I really wanted the job. Then I went to the school, met the children and wanted it even more. Everything just seemed to fit: the role I'd be taking on, the ethos of the school, the welcoming attitudes of everyone I met plus the fact that I thought my interview had gone reasonably well. And then I got the call (well, actually the answerphone message as I was working at the time the headteacher rang): I hadn't got it. And let me tell you, it hurt. It hurt like hell. I'd wanted it so badly and there was nothing I could do. Except cry and feel like a massive failure (which I did). And then I dusted myself down and waited for feedback (I'm still waiting now). And so the job hunting starts again...

• My grandad going into hospital: My grandad has been in and out of the hospital over the past week and a half or so. Nothing major but after 3 hospital trips in 4 days, mainly due to minor falls, they decided to keep in him for a few days whilst they worked on his mobility. He finally came out of hospital today, and fingers crossed that, with his new mobility aids and a few adjustments that have been made at his home, he won't be making a return journey any time soon :-)

And that's pretty much it! Hope you're having a good week so far...I'm already thinking of things that can go on my next highs and lows list!!

'Til next time...

Thursday Thoughts...

otherwise known as the post where I don't know what to write, so I just have a bit of a ramble! We all write those kinds of posts from time to time, right?? Well, I hope so! :-) And before I ramble any more than is truly necessary, here's a list of my thoughts from today:

• I'm so looking forward to coming out of 'quarantine' tomorrow. It'll have been 10 days since my symptoms became fully apparent and I was diagnosed with suspected mumps, and according to the information I've read, that means I'm no longer contagious!! I've been pain free for a few days, my face is pretty much back to normal and I'm raring to go :-). My plans so far include a driving lesson and a drama group rehearsal, and I may even pop into town for a Starbucks (I've not had one for ages!) and some window shopping.
• Another thing I'm looking forward to doing again is baking. I've not rustled anything up for a while now, firstly because I was busy with work, and then because I was scared of infecting the food with my mumps germs but now I'm raring to go again and already thinking about what I can make. So far I'm thinking along the lines of a buttery Madeira cake, but I'm open to suggestion. Do you have any ideas?
• And another baking related thought...I'm not quite sure how long I'm going to be able to resist buying this:

Yes, it's the Hummingbird Bakery Cake Days book which has recently been released. Now I know that I'm short of cash at the moment, and I've already got more than enough cookery books, but there's no getting through to me. To put it simply, I'm in love. In love with the beautiful photography featured on its pages. In love with some of the amazing sounding recipes that I've heard and read about. And when you add to this the fact that I've had some fabulous results from using the first book, and I know it's only going to be a matter of time. It's just a shame that it's nowhere near my birthday or Christmas!! :-(

• I've realised that I'm in need of a haircut. It might not seem like an essential especially as I only had a trim a few weeks ago, but believe me it is!! If I have to wait another 6-8 weeks, it'll be practically unmanageable :-( And there's no way I'm going to my friends' N and M's wedding in just over 3 weeks with a bird's nest on my head, it's just not happening! And breathe...! :-)
• I'm thinking of holidays and wondering if some friends and I will be able to get away for some sun, sea and sand for a few days at the end of May/beginning of June. I know I might not be in the best position financially, but I could really do with a holiday...it's been far too long.
• Yet at the same time, I've also been thinking about work. After a kind text from the headteacher at the school where I worked until just over a week ago, I've been once again reminded of what a fantastic group of people the staff were and what a happy time I had working there. I'm going to miss them all, and hope I'll be lucky enough to find another school that's as welcoming.
• I just love the nautical look (and have been rocking my own interpretation today). I think it's classic yet chic, sophisticated yet easy to put together and the colour palette is one of my favourites...I'm so glad it comes back every year :-)

And these are my Thursday thoughts. What have you been thinking about today?? Don't be shy...I'd love to hear from you!

Till next time...

Highs and Lows of October so far

After yet another absence from the blogging world, here I am again!! In some ways, it seems like I've done nothing this October; supply work seems to have dried up (for the moment at least) and I've spent the majority of my days staying at home. But when I actually stop and look back on the month so far, it doesn't seem like quite so much of a non-event after all. There have certainly been plenty of highs (and a few lows) that have made this month a memorable one anyway. And, without further ado, here we are:

Highs

• Almost 2 weeks ago now, my friends N and M welcomed their second child into the world :-) He's a boy, his first name begins with J and he's an absolutely adorable addition to their little family!! I've so enjoyed being a part of his older brother H's life and watching him grow up and I can't wait to do it all again with little J!!

• After over a month and a half of (sometimes) serious job hunting and a very definite lack of supply work which saw me becoming very disillusioned and hating the situation I found myself in, there is now the definite possibility of a light at the end of the tunnel. You see, yesterday I found myself in the extremely privileged position of being contacted about not just one job opportunity but two!! I'm not going to go into too much detail at the moment but I'm just so relieved that things seem to be going my way at last. My finances are starting to become a bit of a worry, especially with Christmas and quite a few birthdays coming up, so if I get even one of these jobs (they're both part time), it would be a major load off my mind :-)

• Right at the start of the month I was thrilled to get a part in my drama group's pantomime!! In January, we'll be staging Aladdin and I'll be playing the Spirit of the Ring (insert your own jokes here...the rest of the cast has!!). It's not the part I auditioned for, but I actually prefer this one anyway (there's no solo singing, which I'm very happy about :-) ) And, as long time readers of my blog will know, I was really disappointed not to be successful at last year's panto auditions, so to get any part is just a dream come true!! Initial readthroughs of the script have been a blast, and I'm really looking forward to more rehearsals and getting to spend more time with our amazing cast.

• And continuing on the dramatic theme...I went to the theatre a couple of weeks ago and saw the most amazing performance of "A Streetcar Named Desire". Having never seen or read the play before, or watched the film, I didn't really know what to expect but I was absolutely blown away. All the performances were top notch, and the three hours plus running time simply flew by; definitely an experience not to miss!!

• Spending more time with friends...what with the birth of Baby J, 2 birthdays over the past few days and another one coming up fast and numerous TV/DVD nights, I'm getting to spend some much needed quality time with my friends. And after all the "likes" I got on my new Facebook status regarding my job prospects, I'm once again reminded of just how great they are :-)

• Lovely October weather...be it unseasonably warm, or cold and crisp, there have been some beautiful sunny days which have been just perfect for walking in

• Autumn baking...I've tried out a couple of new recipes, both featuring apples and a subtle taste of spice (just perfect for this autumn weather!!) and I've got more up my sleeve for over the next couple of weeks...I'm thinking Halloween cookies, something involving pumpkin and sticky parkin. Oh, and I'm seriously thinking about starting a baking blog. What do you reckon??

• Up...I was introduced to this film last weekend by one of my girl friends and I'm in love. It's seriously one of the most beautiful, funny and moving films I've ever seen and I'm hooked. Even if it did make me cry more than most other films ever have. Seriously, I was crying like a baby!! But I still love it, and I need a copy in my life, like now!!

Lows

• Receiving some negative (and I feel pretty unwarranted) feedback from a school I worked at...again I don't want to go into detail, but there were two main issues which were raised. One which, in hindsight, I maybe could have handled slightly differently, although I feel like I was very much manipulated by the headteacher and placed in a situation in which it was very difficult for me to act appropriately. And then two, which I completely dispute and feel like it almost amounted to a personal attack, as opposed to a constructive criticism of my teaching.

• Lack of work and money and what feels like endless hours of job hunting: As I mentioned before, this has really got me down over the past few weeks although, fingers crossed, I'll hopefully have some good news on this front soon!! Tomorrow's looking to be a red letter day...I'm making a phone call to one of the possible employers tomorrow morning to find out more details about that job and I have an interview for the other post tomorrow afternoon. Fingers crossed the outcomes are positive!!

And that's all for now. Hope everyone else is having a good month...I've got so many of your blogs to catch up on!! Till next time...

Autumn Days (in words)

Today has been a beautiful autumn day...cool and crisp with lovely sunny skies. Whilst it isn't my favourite season (I don't really know if I have one to be honest), there are certainly many things that I appreciate about it, and I thought I'd share a few of them today:

• The beautiful colours of the autumn leaves...I adore the reds and oranges, yellows and browns and hearing their crunch when they're underfoot is music to my ears!!
• Halloween!! Whilst I'm no longer a child myself, and don't often celebrate the occasion in a big way, I still love lots of things about the date. Seeing little trick or treaters in cute costumes, and sometimes getting the chance to dress up myself, pumpkin lanterns which add an eerie glow to many a house, eating themed food...all fabulous in my book!!
• Chilly autumn mornings when you can see your breath and the crisp, bright days that follow. I do know that we get rainy autumn days too...but I'm choosing to ignore that fact (hell, it's my blog and I can do what I like!!)
• Buying new autumn clothes and rediscovering old favourites...I love wrapping up in cardigans and am looking forward to being able to wear my cosy boots again!!
• Conkers...As a child, the start of the conker season was one of the main heralds of autumn for me, alongside the start of a new school year of course, and I still love collecting a few of them when I'm out walking. However, even though these days I'm particularly discerning and only pick the shiniest and most beautiful looking ones, I've still got quite a few and I'm not quite sure where I should put them or what I should do with them!!
• The smoky scent of bonfires and fireworks...Even though I hate fireworks and so am not overly fond of Bonfire Night, I love the smells associated with it, and the smoky, slightly foggy atmosphere that lingers for a day or two afterwards. And being the food lover that I am, I also look forward to such treats as parkin (a dark and sticky ginger cake made with treacle and oats) and treacle and cinder toffees :-)
• Dark autumn evenings spent watching TV or reading and curling up near the warm fire (I would describe it as roaring but that would be an exaggeration considering our fire is gas powered lol!!)
• Autumn baking and cooking...This is the first autumn that I've really got into baking/cooking and I'm looking forward to making lots of seasonal treats including parkin, halloween biscuits, gingerbread, soup and lots of apple and pumpkin based cakes. I can't wait!!

And those are a few of my favourite autumn things!! What are yours?? I'd love to hear from you :-)

Till next time...

PS: I was intending to include some pretty pictures with this post, but we heart it is being slow and I'm getting impatient, so you're just going to have to wait till another day! I'll post an autumn days picture post soon, I promise!

Sweet Treats: Rocky Road

Something a little different today, as I've decided to do a baking post. You might know from reading my "Operation August" goals that one of them was to try a new recipe and blog about it. Well, rocky road isn't new to me, but when I was deciding what to make to take along to a get together with some friends this evening, it was my first choice as it's pretty much a guaranteed crowd pleaser!!

I use this recipe with a few adaptations: I use half and half plain and milk chocolate for a slightly sweeter taste, drinking chocolate instead of cocoa powder and substitute digestive or mixed broken biscuits for the ginger nuts. Here's a picture of my ingredients:

You may notice a few extra ingredients as well. Basically, I just stir whatever I feel like into my chocolate sauce...this time I omitted the maltesers, instead adding a chopped up Mars Bar, 100g cornflakes and some dried fruit (dried apricots and glace cherries). And it looks amazing...if I do say so myself!! And the aroma of the warm chocolate sauce, well words can't do it justice...just make it for yourself, and you'll see what I mean!!

Ok so I've made the sauce, prepared my dry ingredients and stirred everything in. I've spooned the mixture into a prepared tray and left it to chill in the fridge for a couple of hours. And voila, this is the end result:


I think I could have done with a little bit more chocolate to cover those rogue cornflakes, but other than that, I think it's turned out pretty well. And I'm pleased to report that it tastes ok too (naturally there were lots of rogue crumbs when I was cutting it that my family and I just couldn't resist sampling!!) And now I'm sat here, with most of it packed up in a box ready to take to Spinningfields where my friends and I are going to watch "Stand By Me". Food, a film, fresh air and fun...sounds like a pretty good evening to me!! Till next time...

Oops, I nearly forgot...

to blog!! Much like yesterday, I'm due to go out very soon and have realised that despite being at home for the majority of the day, I haven't actually blogged. Highlights since yesterday evening have included:

• Watching "Blues Brothers" at Spinningfields...that means that I'm half way towards my goal of watching 2 films at the big screen there!! And it was also a fantastic night...watching a hilarious film with great company and eating loads of junk is always fun, and then add to that the amazing atmosphere that last night brought with it, and it was pretty much perfect. I loved the way that people were getting up and dancing during the songs, and how much effort some individuals had put into preparing for the night...some people had got dressed up as the Blues Brothers, and a couple even dressed their dogs up and brought them along too!! Fabulous!!
• My hair getting a well needed cut and restyle...I think my last appointment had been in April, so needless to say it needed quite a bit taking off!!
• Eating delicious home made chocolate chip cookies that my sister had baked whilst I was out.
• The rain holding off while I went for an evening walk!! :-)

And that's it for today!! Till next time...

Half way...

through my week's holiday, and I seriously don't know where the time's going!! I may get another week off after this, as some of the local authorities don't go back until 14th June, but I don't want to put things off, just in case I don't. Anyway here's a round up of what I've been up to so far:

• Going to rehearsal and then going for a birthday curry for one of my friends in the drama group on Friday night.
• Having a rather chilled Saturday: I visited my Grandad, made a monster batch of Rocky Road with Amy (I doubled up so there was a tray for home and a tray to take to my friends' Eurovision party!), went for a walk, had a gorgeous (if sinful) takeaway, then finally made my way over to my friends' house for Eurovision fun!! We really got into the spirit of things with our scorecards and sweepstake (I picked Moldova and got nowhere!!) and had a great laugh at some of the ridiculous entries!! The only downside was the fact that the UK came last...AGAIN :-( I've got to admit that our song wasn't great, but there were far worse songs in the competition. Darn political voting!!
• Trying to find as many distractions as possible so I could avoid doing job applications on Sunday...I know they need to be done, but I just wasn't in the mood at all!! And spending the evening watching SATC2 with one of my closest girl friends...I'm not going to give anything away just in case there are those of you who still haven't seen it, but suffice it to say I much preferred the first one. If you have seen it, what did you think??
• Making up for my laziness on Sunday by spending a good few hours on a job application on Monday, and then meeting up with friends for a chat, a drink and a curry for tea :-)
• Going on another Primark shopping spree yesterday...pictures to follow shortly!!

And now we're up to today...and nothing much has happened really!! I've been struggling with a headache for much of it and time's just seemed to fly by without me not doing very much!! Fingers crossed that the rest of the week will go by a little more slowly...I've got so much still to do!! Hope you're all having a good week whatever you're up to, and till next time...

PS: I've been thinking of doing some baking posts, but I don't know if you guys would be interested in them. I don't want to be a copycat or unoriginal and I know there are loads of baking blogs out there but as I'm baking on a more regular basis it seems weird not to be posting about it! Let me know what you think!!

Well, hello again...

it looks like I'm back!! :-) I'm no longer drowning under endless application forms and personal statements (although I don't know how long this state of affairs will last!) and with just over a week to go until I break up for the school holidays, I can (almost) safely say (because you can never be 100% sure!) that you'll be hearing a lot more from me from here on out!

As it's been quite a while since I last posted, I thought the best way of getting back up to speed was to post a quick list of things that have happened to me since I've been off the radar. So here goes nothing!!

Since I last posted I...

• have got 2 more job interviews!! After having a few interviews over the winter, I hadn't had any since February, so was very excited to get an interview letter last Wednesday. I had my lesson observation on Tuesday, which seemed to go ok and then I've got my interview tomorrow! Eeeeeeeeeekkkkkkkkkk! Then, yesterday, I received a letter from another school inviting me to an interview in June. Fingers crossed I'll get the job I'm interviewing for tomorrow, but if not, at least I've got the other interview to fall back on :-)
• celebrated my mum's birthday. Happy (belated) Birthday Mum!! Love you lots!! :-)
• discovered that our new kitten Lucy is actually a boy! So it was goodbye Lucy and hello Luca lol!
• have learned never to listen to my friend Sean ever again. We're both members of the same drama group, which is renowned (well, amongst its members anyway!) for its ridiculously literal and cheesy choreography!! So last week, when the director was trying to choreograph a routine, Sean was coming up with some particularly cheesy moves and getting me to join in! Unfortunately, we were right at the front, so the director saw us and thought that we knew what the routine was!! So that meant we were sent off stage to "teach" everyone else! We couldn't get it through to the director that we were only taking the piss, so there we were at the front, jigging around like idiots!! Completely mortifying!!
• watched Iron Man 2 (for the second time!), which has left me ever-so-slightly in love with Tony Stark and wishing I was Pepper Potts...
• added to my baking repertoire by experimenting with Rocky Road...it was pretty divine, even if I do say so myself, and I'm thinking I'll definitely be making it again in the future!!
• have been lusting over these shoes (except the ones I wanted were in a different colourway...cream with red polka dots and bow), but at the same time have also resigned myself to the fact that I'll probably never possess them, as they're limited edition and seem to have completely sold out in my size :-( And what makes this tale of woe even worse is that I had tried a pair on when they very first came out, but decided that they were too frivolous and that they wouldn't go with much in my wardrobe (idiot girl!!) Oh, how I'm kicking myself now!!
• been alternately annoyed by and adoring the British weather: this time last week temperatures were below the average for the time of year, today it got up to a maximum of about 22/23oC with a predicted maximum of 26oC (78oF) for tomorrow...that's 10 degrees above the average for May! Crazy, I tell ya!! Not that I'm complaining about the heat lol :-)

And I think that's about it!! I'm looking forward to a relaxingish weekend after a busy day tomorrow (dentist, job interview, driving lesson, drama) and am hoping to take advantage of the warm weather that's been forecast. Till next time...

Highs and Lows of Last Week (and a look ahead!)

What a surprise! Yet another post that's later than promised (although only by a couple of days this time!) So, making a long overdue appearance, here are my highs and lows of the past week (well the ones I can remember anyway!)

Highs

The power of Facebook: Early on last week, I posted a status on Facebook asking for recipe inspiration, as I don't want my repertoire to consist solely of gingerbread lol! Within a couple of hours of updating, I got the first suggestions and since then have had quite a few ranging from banana bread to peanut butter cookies, and even a couple of full length recipes for chocolate chip cookies! I wasn't even sure if anyone would respond, so was very pleasantly surprised! Look out for some baking posts coming up soon!

Nights in with friends: Quite a big part of last weekend for me was spent with friends watching DVDs and Youtube clips, chatting and eating...so much so that that was what I was doing on Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday night! For someone who used to be out most Saturday nights at the very least, it's coming as a bit of a shock to realise that I actually love staying in! Not that I'd want to do that every weekend, but sometimes you just can't beat it!

Your expectations being exceeded: On Monday last week, I did not want to go to rehearsals for my drama group's latest show. Why? Because I was embarassed. The Friday before had been our auditions, and I planned to sing Moon River as a solo audition piece, as well as singing a group number with my friends. I'd been practicing Moon River all week and, while not exactly confident, wasn't totally dreading my solo either. Then came my turn to be called up. The backing track started, the accompanist counted me in, I opened my mouth to sing and...completely the wrong note came out. So I started again, but again the note was wrong. Then I tried to sing acapella, but still couldn't find the right key! Not wanting to prolong the agony any longer, I ended my audition then and there, feeling absolutely mortified! Although the group audition went ok and restored my shattered pride a little, I was convinced that I wouldn't get offered any solos. But, lo and behold...I did! I've got the first verse of "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" all to myself, and my friends and I are also going to be doing "Cell Block Tango" from Chicago, which I'm ridiculously excited about, if apprehensive at the same time (I'm not a dancer by any means!)

Flashforward's back: After 3 months, Flashforward was back with a bang (and a double episode!) After thinking that I wouldn't even be able to remember where the story was up to, I was amazed at how quickly I got back into it. I just hope that there's going to be a second series, as I've heard rumours that there won't be due to poor ratings in the US. Fingers crossed it's not true!

And now for the lows...

Lows

Tiredness: After just a couple of full days of work last week, I was ready to drop! I'm not sure if it was more the fact that I find it difficult to get to bed any time before 11 or that I can never get into a proper routine, due to the variability of my work situation! Plus the fact that the clocks went forward really didn't help, as Iwas deprived of a whole hour's sleep! On the plus side, the Easter holidays are coming up very, very soon!!


No town hall tour for me (or Amy): On Sunday afternoon, Amy and I headed to Manchester to have a Town Hall tour. We met up with our tour group at the visitors' centre and were very excited when the guide said that there were no events taking place there that day and that he'd have carte blanche to take us wherever he wanted. But as we walked over to the town hall, things started to go a little awry. We looked up and saw a man standing on the town hall roof. "Was he meant to be there?", we wondered. Then we saw a few police officers standing around and realised that, no, he definitely wasn't! Our guide stopped us in front of the main entrance, only for us to be moved on by the police. So he attempted to begin our tour again, only for us to be moved even further down a couple of minutes later. So finally, we went right round to the third, and final, street entrance and were just getting ready to go inside when...a town hall employee came over and told our guide that we couldn't go inside, as the police were sending teams inside the building to try to get the man down and there was to be no access to anyone else. So that was the end of that! We went back to the visitor centre, got a refund and made our way home. On a happier note, I found out the next day that the man had made his way down safely, and I suppose that's more important than anything else!

And finally, as it's the end of the month, here's a list of things I'm looking forward to in April:

• The Easter Holidays: The schools in my area break up tomorrow, most of them for 2 weeks, so I'm looking forward to 2 weeks with no early get ups, lots of chocolate and as much relaxation as possible!
• An Easter Saturday meal with my family at our favourite pub/restaurant.
• My theory test: While this isn't exactly something I can't wait for, I am keen to get it out of the way! It's in just over a week (8th April), and I'll have to do a fair bit of revision before then, as whilst lots of the answers are just common sense, there's some facts that you just need to learn too!
• The Primary Education Show: This'll be my third Primary Education fair, and it's something I really look forward to. As a supply teacher, it's often difficult to get hold of resources and undertake professional development, so I love taking the opportunity to go round the stalls and take part in seminars/workshops.
• Dancing on Ice Live Tour: This is another event that's becoming a tradition for me. It'll be the fourth time for me, and the third for Amy, who I'm going with. It's always a great show and I'm especially looking forward to it this time, as Amy and I have got floor seats, and we're on the second row from the front!!
• Iron Man 2: Whilst being really annoyed that the UK DVD release date for Sherlock Holmes has been put back to 17th May, I'm much more happy that Iron Man 2 is being released over here on 30th April, a full week before its US release. Although I'm not going to see it in April, I'll definitely be watching it in its first weekend...I just can't wait any longer for my RDJ fix!!

And that's it from me...expect many more posts now the schools are breaking up!

How fine it is...

to not have to set your alarm for work the next day and to be able to wake up just when it suits you! I think that's one of my favourite things about the weekend, and luckily for me, I'll be able to indulge in this little pleasure all next week too, as I'll be on my half term break! :-)

It's been a lovely weekend so far...my days have been quite lazy and chilled out and last night I went to see "Les Miserables" in town with some friends. The show was fab...I'd been to see it in London years before, but I couldn't remember most of it so was seeing it with fresh eyes, just like my friends who were first timers. The acting and singing was amazing...the strength of the whole company performing together was phenomenonal, and some of the songs so catchy that they're still in my head today! For me, however, the best thing was the set design...I can't sum up how fantastic it was, my advice would just be to see it for yourself! After the show, we grabbed a few drinks and spent a couple of hours laughing, talking and generally putting the world to rights before heading home rather later than expected!

As for next week, I've already got some things pencilled in, and I'm sure I'll be making room for some more too! So far, this is what I'm planning:

• A driving lesson tomorrow...it'll be really nice driving when the roads are quiet as opposed to at rush hour as I often end up doing when I've been working

• A trip to Primark with my mum and sisters on Tuesday...the four of us haven't had a shopping expedition for quite a while and I'm looking forward to seeing what goodies Primark's got in this time around!

• Having my hair done on Wednesday...I'm having a trim and my highlights redone. Sometimes I think I'd like a complete restyle but I'm a bit scared of having something else done in case I really hate it!

• Taking a tourist trip into Manchester with Amy on Thursday...it was Amy's idea to go into Manchester and have a walk round looking at all the fantastic architecture. Despite the fact I've lived within a few miles of Manchester all my life and visit on a regular basis, I've never really taken the time to properly appreciate some of the beautiful sights it has. Expect a picture heavy post later in the week!

As for Friday and next weekend, I've no plans as yet but I'm sure I'll end up doing something with myself! Other things I want to fit in the week include general chilling (reading, watching dvds etc) and baking and there is also the small matter of my lesson observation to prepare for, as it's scheduled for the first day back after the break! And another job application to do...which I'm 50/50 about at the mo. I know it might sound really lazy, but the thought of doing any less than necessary work on my holiday makes me shudder lol!

Anyway, that's all from me for now. Hope you're all having fantastic weekends, and I'll be posting again soon...now I'm off work, I have no excuse not to lol!

Well hello!!

Long time no speak!! I can't believe it's been 2 weeks since I've last blogged...I don't know where the time's gone, all I do know is that I've been majorly busy!

So very briefly, here's what I've been doing for the past 2 weeks:

• Working...I've been working in the same school for the last 2 weeks, covering a teacher's paternity leave. They're not the easiest class to deal with, and there have been some moments where I've felt completely overwhelmed, but they've been coupled with some students who are a delight to teach, and times where I'm so proud of what they've achieved.

• Spending weekends with friends...the last two weekends have been time for fun with friends. The last weekend in January was spent relaxing at the pub and seeing Sherlock Holmes (again!) with my sister Amy on the Sunday and last weekend I went to a drama group party and out to a cocktail and karaoke bar for my friend's 23rd. Good times!

• Acting: Between January 27th and January 30th, I spent every evening dressed as a villager for my drama group's production of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". It was really tiring, especially when coupled with 6:30 am get ups for work, but really fun at the same time! I can't wait for our next show. We're doing a musical revue which premieres in July...rehearsals begin in March!

• Driving: I've been keeping up with my driving lessons and the feedback off my instructor has been really positive...apparently it won't be too long before I can be entered for my test! Woo hoo! :-)

• Baking: I've started to develop a bit of a reputation for my gingerbread and I've baked two batches over the last two weeks...neither of them for my family, much to their disappointment! I'm starting to really love baking and am finding it much more relaxing now I know what I'm doing, but I think I should maybe expand my repertoire a little bit so am on the lookout for new recipes. Anyone got any suggestions??

• Preparing for job interviews: I had another job interview yesterday and spent some of the weekend preparing for it and planning a mini lesson for my classroom observation. Unfortunately, I didn't get the job but the feedback I received was very positive...the headteacher even said he wished he could have given me the job, but unfortunately I'd come up against a slightly stronger candidate. I'm not too downhearted, especially because I received a call yesterday from another school saying I'd been shortlisted for a job vacancy there too...my interview and lesson observation are in a couple of weeks!

And finally...

• Realising that my friends were right all along and that Robert Downey Jr is pretty damn fine...This one is pretty much self explanatory, but I'm going to explain myself anyway! I has been a long held belief amongst many of my friends that RDJ is hot, but I stubbornly disagreed. Yeah, he was ok, I thought, but nothing special. Even when I heard about Sherlock Holmes coming out, I was more excited about watching Jude Law for 2 hours than anything else. Then I saw it and it was like seeing him for the first time. It was quite literally a thunderbolt moment, and I was like "So that's what they see in you!". And now I'm hooked...I can't get enough! And if you're reading this and you still don't get it, here's a little something that might just change your mind:
  

My Christmas Weekend

So this is what I got up to over the Christmas weekend:

• Thursday (Christmas Eve)

I was invited round to my friends' house for the evening, and like any good guest didn't want to turn up empty handed. So I decided to bake some gingerbread. I found a recipe, collected all my ingredients and equipment and off I went...fully expecting it to be a quick job. Nearly 2 hours later, I realised that it wasn't! Whilst the end result tasted fab (if I do say so myself!), there's definitely things I'd do differently next time! Firstly, I'd try to be tidier in the kitchen...I got flour absolutely everywhere and left a trail of treacle across the table...oops! Secondly, I'd about halve the quantities in the recipe, as it made way more biscuits than I was expecting! I swear that the dough was magic, as I was cutting out for ages! However, the upside was that I was able to fill a tin with biscuits for home, as well as one for my friends. I definitely think that I'll make a tradition of baking gingerbread at Christmas...by next year, I might even feel confident enough to decorate it!

Once I packed the gingerbread up, I headed over to my friends' house. Most of my other friends dropped by at some point during the evening too and we had fun eating and drinking, playing Pictionary or "pictuary" as my friend M wrote on the board we used (!) and adding our own storyline to "Swan Lake" (don't ask!)! All the guests left by about 11:00 pm to allow N and M to set up their living room for Christmas...it was their son H's first, and he had mountains of presents waiting to be put out!

• Friday (Christmas Day)

After waking up every hour or 2 in the night, I finally got up around 7:00, along with the rest of my family and had great fun emptying my stocking and opening all my presents. As usual I was throroughly spoilt! I got House Season 5, PJs, a scarf, lipglosses and money off my mum and dad, a CKIn2U fragrance set off my brother and bracelets and Thorntons chocolates off my sisters. Off my friends I got the Lady Gaga and Radio 1 Live Lounge CDs, some FCUK smellies, Ice Age 3 on DVD, a bracelet, a wine and chocolate gift set and some sweets! Plus I had a giant stocking and presents and vouchers off family friends! Told you I was spoilt!! My grandad and uncle came round about 11, and we exchanged gifts, then had Christmas dinner. After dinner, we played a couple of board games that my sisters had got and chilled for a couple of hours. The rest of my day was spent eating, watching tv (I saw Doctor Who and cried...I'm such a softie!) and generally soaking up the Christmas atmosphere. It was a lovely day, with not a single argument and the only bad thing was that it went by so quickly!

• Saturday (Boxing Day)

I spent the morning and early afternoon relaxing...trying out some of my new smellies, listening to some of my new CDs and playing games with my family. Then I got a call from one of my friends inviting me to go out for tea with them and some of my other friends. We went to a local pub for food, then back to my friends' N, M and S's house where we sang karaoke and played more Pictionary...it was a lovely chilled out evening, made all the nicer as I hadn't been expecting to go anywhere.

• Sunday

I didn't really do much, as Aunt Flo had just arrived and I wasn't at my best. I listened to more CDs, played more games, watched a couple of episodes of House and browsed the net, whilst contending with belly ache for most of the time :-(

• Monday

My sister Amy and I went to see Sherlock Holmes which was absolutely fantastic!! Maybe I've just not got a very good memory, but I'd say it's definitely one of my films of the year! It had it all...action, comedy, adventure and eye candy!! Plus some of it was filmed in Manchester, so it was fun trying to spot the locations they used! After the cinema, I spent the rest of the day relaxing at home.

As for the next few days, luckily I've still got at least until next Monday off, and whilst I've not got any definite plans, I hope to be doing some shopping, catching up with my best friend J and going to a New Year's Eve party at the very least!

All that remains to say is that that was my weekend...hope you had as good a time as I did and that whether you're working or relaxing this week, have a great one!

Monday Monday

Well, it's Monday and my day has mainly been spent:

• not working...it's the last week of term, so I was expecting it to be quieter than usual. I do have a half day booked for tomorrow, but that's it so far.





• on the Internet...Facebook (I'm currently addicted to Cafe World!) and Blogger have been my main websites of choice today!





• being domesticated...I made this dessert:

(nothing too complicated, just mandarin oranges on a biscuit crust...basically a cheesecake without the cheese!)

• I also washed up, and cleared my summer clothes out of my wardrobe and put them away for the winter!

• and listening to the radio...my songs of the day have been Tik Tok by Kesha, Bad Romance by the Gaga, Whatcha Say by Jason Derulo and Fairytale of New York by The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl

This is what I've been wearing:

Black and charcoal 2 in 1 pinafore : Lime at Next, Black leggings: Peacocks, Grey boots: Rocket Dog via Amazon, Watch: Present, Pearl bracelet with butterfly detail: Primark, Diamond cluster ring: Asda (present off my Mum and Dad for my 21st)

(Except for this morning, when I was wearing work trousers instead of leggings and black flats instead of my boots!)

After I post this...I'll be going to rehearsal for an hour, then spending the rest of my evening relaxing and getting my stuff ready for work tomorrow morning!

Tomorrow...I'll be posting another "What's in my Wardrobe" post, all about sequins. I know it'll be a day early but there are a couple of special things happening on Wednesday that I want to blog about then and I'd rather be early than late lol!

So that's all for today! Hope you've had a great start to the week...and remember, only 4 days till the weekend! :-)