My 30 before 30: July Update

As well as Monday seeing the arrival of the most famous (and eagerly anticipated) baby in the world right now, it also marked my half birthday. Whilst I'm definitely one for celebrating this kind of thing, it did bring home to me the fact that not only did I have just 6 months left as a twentysomething, but also that I now only had half a year to attempt to complete my 30 before 30 list! Shall we say never gonna happen?! Seriously though, whilst some of the goals on my list may be a little out of reach, I'm still going to attempt to achieve as many of them as I can and I can't deny the sense of satisfaction I feel when I make even a little progress. So, with that in mind, here's a little summary of how I'm doing just over halfway in:

6.  Complete Couch to 5K - I've made a rather hesitant start on this over the last couple of weeks. I'm currently still on week 1 as I've been finding it a struggle to fit 3 runs in a week, especially as the recent hot weather has made exercising much more of a chore, even in an air conditioned gym! I have got a vague exercise routine worked out now, so I'm hoping that using this as a guide will help me to stay more focussed and committed.

7.  Have a ruthless clear out of my wardrobe and drawers - this is still a work in progress. Over the past month I've taken most of my summer clothes out of storage (aka a holdall in my loft!) and put many of my winter clothes back in their place. Whilst doing so, I was also able to sort out a couple of bags of too small summer clothes which I donated to the local charity shop. I also made good use of a day off work on Friday by sorting out the clothes that I had hanging in my hall cupboard and filling 3 more bags with too small/ out of style clothes.

9.  Read at least 24 new books (2 per month) - whilst still quite a way behind where I intended to be at this point in the year, I am still keeping up with my reading. Over the past month, I've added "Where Are You Now?" by Mary Higgins Clark to my Read in 2012 list, and I'm currently about a third of my way through "Revenge Wears Prada" by Lauren Weisberger.

13.  Go on holiday somewhere new - two weekends ago, I went on a camping trip with some of my closest friends to celebrate one of their birthdays. We stayed near Skipton in North Yorkshire, and whilst I've visited several places in the UK, I'd never stayed in that part of England before so I've decided to class my 2 night trip as a holiday somewhere new!

20.  Organise at least 5 social events for me and my friends - I've wanted to see Ghost - The Musical ever since it premièred a couple of years ago. I did actually have tickets for the last time it visited Manchester, but had to forfeit my trip due to coming down with mumps a few days before. When I found out it was coming back, therefore, I knew I had to go no matter what. I rounded up a couple of other girl friends to go with me and the three of us saw it last Friday. And I'm pleased to say it was amazing...definitely well worth the wait!!

21.  Watch at least 10 new (to me) films - a couple of weeks ago a few friends and I had a movie night where we watched the fantastically awful Swamp Shark. There's quite a few of us in my social group that love bad creature features so it was a great choice! On the subject of bad films, I've also recently watched Street Fighter...it really hasn't been a vintage month for film watching, has it?! At least it means I've made more progress towards this goal I suppose!

And that's my half time progress report! Not fantastic, but definitely better than nothing :-) And what have you been up to lately? Whether it's big or small, if you want to share your story with me I'd love it!

'Til next time...

January round up

I honestly can't believe that we're approaching the end of January already, it certainly doesn't seem like a whole month ago that I awoke with a stinking headache, no phone and only a hazy recollection of the events of the night before! But somehow it has been, and here's my round up of what I've got up to in the last 31 days:

This January I have:

• Vowed not to drink too much ever again...my escapades on New Year's Eve cost me my recently upgraded mobile phone and some of my favourite eyeshadows as well as leaving me with a killer hangover, a badly grazed shoulder and severe embarrassment. Methinks I'll leave the drunkenness to other people from now on.
• Celebrated 4 family birthdays, including my own. I turned 28 on 22nd January and enjoyed a lovely weekend with some of my closest friends and family, during which I was thoroughly spoiled. I really am a very lucky girl! :-)
• Indulged in some shopping of both the sales and non-sales varieties...pictures will be up as soon as I can get hold of a decent camera!
• Enjoyed a lovely 9 day holiday from work :-) I didn't really do much, but it was very nice to get up and go to bed when I pleased, go shopping and get my hair done and generally just laze around <3
• And on the subject of work, I have actually felt more settled in my job and happier with my performance over the last few weeks. Whilst I'm nowhere near as competent and confident as I'd like to be, there have been definite signs of improvement and I'm hopeful that I'm moving in the right direction :-)
• Seen my best friend J (and her husband) for the first time since last summer. The three of us met up for coffee and a chat on Saturday, and whilst we didn't have much time together ( they were only visiting for the weekend so had a seriously packed schedule!) it was lovely to see her again and catch up with all her news. I was especially delighted to discover that she's 14 weeks pregnant (she's due in late July) and to see a scan picture...I'm seriously so happy for her and her husband S and I can't wait for the new arrival.
• Indulged in some girl time with 3 of my favourite ladies. We spent a little time shopping, saw "The Sitter" at the cinema and then rounded our afternoon off with a Nandos. It was an absolutely fantastic few hours and we were all agreed that we should make it a regular occurrence; it was the perfect Sunday treat.
• Enjoyed nights in and out with old friends; these are often some of the highlights of my week and there was no exception this month. I'm so lucky to have such a fantastic group of friends and hope that we'll always be as close as we are now.

And that was my January. How was yours? Did you do anything exciting? Tell all...I'd love to hear from you!

Till next time...

Oh hi, July!!

If you'd asked me after my last post how long it'd be before I blogged again, I probably would have said a few days. Maybe even a week or two. But over two months...no way!! But there it is in black and white...my last post was in April and somehow I've resurfaced in July! Now at this point I'd normally apologise for being away for so long and say that it'll never happen again. But this time's going to be a little different. For one, I guess that endless apologies are probably pretty boring to read and two...well, my blogging history suggests that I will disappear again at some point! So this time I'm not apologising, but I am going to fill you in on what I've been up to...

• I've booked and been on a wonderful holiday to Lanzarote with my friend E (aka "The Performer"). It was my first holiday for 2 years and I was really glad of the break. The weather was perfect and the island amazing. I spent my days lazing by the pool and mooching round the shops and my nights sipping cocktails at local bars or drinking wine on our apartment terrace. I returned home with lots of happy memories, probably the best tan I've ever got and possibly a few pounds heavier and I hope to be able to do it all over again, preferably sooner rather than later!!

• Whilst on holiday, I also had some amazing experiences that were a little out of the ordinary. I visited the amazing Timanfaya National Park, rode a camel, tasted local wine and, best of all, went snorkelling! Now as for someone who professes not to like deep water, I suppose I was a little out of my comfort zone (about 5 metres to be exact!) but once I remembered to breathe, it was the most fantastic experience. The fish were beautiful and watching them was so calming...I felt really serene, almost like a mermaid and I definitely want to repeat the experience :-).

• I've kept my job hunting up, albeit with limited success. I have had 2 interviews, both of which I found out about on the same day (seriously, they're like buses!) but unfortunately I failed to secure either post. To be honest, jobs are starting to really dry up now, so if I don't get one in the next couple of weeks, I doubt that I'll know where I'll be come September, but at least I have my nursery job to tide me over. I've still been working part time at the nursery where I started in February and, unlike schools, it's open pretty much year round meaning that at least I'll still be earning in the summer holidays which makes a very welcome change! Unfortunately, it looks like I'll be moving on at the start of the new school year as the child I'm employed to support is starting primary school, but a girl can't have everything I suppose! In other job related news, I finally got to say a proper goodbye to the staff at my last school...it was lovely catching up with everyone and I was surprised and very moved to discover that they'd bought me cards and all clubbed together to buy me a £30 giftcard for Next, which is one of my favourite clothing retailers (after Primark of course!)

• I've had 2 driving tests, which I've failed, and I'm awaiting my third! I'm intermittently taking driving lessons in between times (they're just too expensive to have every week :-( ) and I'm hoping that it'll be third time lucky for me...my bank balance can't really take much more!!

• I've performed in one musical revue with my drama group and I'm now well into rehearsals for our next. We start choreography for the first act tomorrow...it'll be nothing too complicated but, as I'm not a dancer, wish me luck anyway!

• I've spent many more wonderful times with my family and friends. There's been a wedding, a christening, a royal wedding barbecue and drinks in the sunshine as well as multiple meals, nights in and out and general gatherings. Words really can't express how much these people mean to me, they make even the worst times seem not quite as awful and I really am blessed to have each and every one of them!! :-)

And that's pretty much it! I was going to finish up by posting a list of things I'm looking forward to this summer and/or my summer goals, but I'm already at the risk of turning this into a real essay, so they're just going to have to wait a little longer!!

Till 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 the Week

I've not done one of these for a while, so with that in mind, and also because it's the end of the week, I thought I'd share my highs and lows of the past 7 days. So, without further ado, here they are:

Highs

• Time spent with friends: Most of my evenings this week have been spent in the company of some of my favourite people aka my friends! Whether we've been at the cinema, at a party or just relaxing by watching DVDs and having a chat, I've had a fantastic time and I know their company is something that I really value; basically I'd be lost without them!
• Good films: Over the past week, I've watched some amazing films. There's been Toy Story 3 at the cinema (I cried...proof that I have a soul!!), Stand by Me on the big screen at Spinningfields and Spaceballs and The Goonies on DVD at my friend's house. All very different...but all great. I have a feeling that I'll be adding some more DVDs to my collection once my buying ban is up at the end of the month!!
• The fantastic weather this weekend: If you're a frequent visitor to my blog, you'll know that I've recently been bemoaning the terrible weather we've been having over the last few weeks. Well, the weather fairies must have been listening to me because the last two days have been glorious. Sunny, but not too hot...the perfect weather for sitting outside and reading my book or for going for a leisurely walk. Hopefully it'll last into next week too!!
• A fantastic driving lesson: My last driving lesson was one of those blessed ones where everything just came together. I even managed to get my bay parking right twice in a row!! Now I just need to book my test...hopefully before I have a terrible lesson and lose my confidence!!
• Stress-free shopping: On Friday, one of my closest friends and I had to go shopping to buy a present for our friend's 21st birthday. As her party was that evening, our schedule was pretty tight, and I was half expecting the trip to be fraught with tension, as we rushed from shop to shop to find the perfect gift. But no...it was one of the easiest gift shopping trips I've been on in a while. It turns out that we had similar ideas on what to get, so selecting the gifts was a breeze. And we even had time for a well deserved Starbucks before heading home!!
• The summer holidays: I'm currently half way through my summer holidays, and even though I've been moaning about the weather, I've definitely been enjoying the freedom to stay up late, without having to worry about being up early for work the next day :-)

Now I'm meant to write about my lows, but to be honest, I can't really think of any!! So I'll leave it here for today. Till next time...

Touristy Tuesdays: People's History Museum

If I've got a day free in the school holidays or at the weekend, one of my favourite things to do is to take a trip out somewhere interesting, and that's the inspiration behind my new series of posts, "Touristy Tuesdays". Now, as I'm lucky enough to live close to Manchester, there are loads of great places to see and things to do that are almost on my doorstep: museums, galleries, historic buildings, green spaces, guided tours and lots of fantastic shops and restaurants, so I reckon that's where most of my Touristy Tuesdays will be based, although if I venture further afield, I'll be sure to take plenty of pictures there too!!

I've decided to kick off the series by focusing on the People's History Museum, which Amy and I visited during the school holidays. This is one of the lesser known museums in Manchester, and focuses specifically on the ordinary people's struggle for democracy over the past 2 centuries (starting from the Peterloo Massacre in 1819 and going up to the present day). Now, this may sound a bit boring, but don't let my description put you off...it's a really interesting and family friendly museum, with lots of interactive exhibits for both children and adults alike to enjoy. The main galleries themselves are split up into seven main themes. One of mine and Amy's favourites was the "Free Time" exhibit where we worked at a Co-Op, watched part of a football match and looked at football memorabilia and picked songs to listen to on a jukebox:

Amy and I pretending to be shopkeepers in the Co-Op. Do you like my hat?!

Check out the football memorabilia!! We also sat on a "football pitch" to watch some clips of famous football matches...the oldest one was from 1898 and the picture was so flickery we couldn't even see the ball!!

Another favourite of mine were the "rooms" that were decorated to show what life was like for normal people at various points during the past 200 years, as I love finding out what everyday life was like in the past, not just about big historical events or the lives of the rich and famous. Here are some pictures of a typical 1945 living room:

Amy and I love hats, so we thought it was great when we got to try these on in the "Workers" exhibition:

Amy in a top hat. These were generally worn by men from the upper classes.

And in a bowler hat...these were worn by middle class men.

Straw boater time!! This was really appropriate given the weather...it was a really warm, sunny day, but SO uncomfortable to wear!!

And here's the clock that the workers would use to clock in at the start of their shift:

Dotted all around the museum were beautiful banners from various workers' associations and trade unions. They were all so beautifully decorated, it's just a pity that the picture I've got is quite blurry:

This is from "The Amalgamated Society of Woodworkers Chatham District"

Finally, I feel that this sums up the museum fantastically. It's a giant wall painting which takes the viewer through all the events and organisations that have shaped the lives of ordinary people over the past 200 years:

And that's my People's History Museum. Stay tuned for more blog updates soon...I'm trying really hard to keep up with my posting and to comment on all your blogs too!! 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!!

Highs and Lows of Last Week

So it's that time of the week again...you know, the one where I share the highs and lows of the past 7 days. It seems that this is pretty much all I've been doing lately...hope you're not getting too bored!! I'm hoping to inject a bit more variety into my posts over the next few days, but for now, you're just going to have to be content with this! ;-) :

Highs

• Another week off: Last week was the second week of my Easter holidays, and it was great to be able to get up late and wear what I wanted for the second week in a row, even if I didn't do anything very exciting with my time (find out what I was spending the majority of my time doing in my Lows!)
• Spending time with one of my favourite guys: Now, that doesn't mean any exciting dating/relationship news...I'm talking about H, my friends' 15 month old son!! Basically, H's mum and dad (my friends Nix and M) were meant to be watching another of our friends in a play on Friday night and H's nana (Nix's mum) was meant to be babysitting. But due to the volcanic eruption in Iceland, she, along with Nix's stepdad, brothers and sisters,was stuck in the Canary Islands!! So Nix sent out a distress call...and along came Auntie Julie to the rescue! I was feeling very apprehensive at first, as I'd never spent any time alone with H before, and this wasn't helped by the fact that he started crying when he saw his mum and dad driving away! But I needn't have worried, as he soon settled down and was an absolute gem for the rest of the evening. He smiled, chattered away, shared lots of his toys and drank an 8oz bottle without any fuss!! I just hope I'm as lucky when it comes to my future children!!
• An evening at the theatre:...especially when the play I'm watching features one of my friends! On Saturday night it was my turn to go and see the play that I mentioned in my previous paragraph...and it was amazing!! Gripping, emotional, darkly funny, with more than one twist thrown in for good measure...if ever "Knife Edge" appears in a theatre near you, my advice would definitely be to check it out, even if your production doesn't have my wonderful actor of a friend Nick in it!
• Kick Ass (The film and the shot)..."There's a Kick Ass shot?", I hear you ask... Well yes there is, but more about that later!! First of all, I'll talk about the film. I heard great things about it, and when Amy and I saw it on Thursday, neither of us were disappointed! I loved the humour, the music, pretty much everything about it to be honest...even if lots of the content was pretty disturbing if you stopped to think about it for too long! And I've got a new heroine in Hit Girl...oh, to have even half the attitude that she does!! ;-) And now onto the shot...after the play on Saturday, Nick, I, and a couple of other friends headed into town and our first stop was Baa Bar. As it's famous for its shots it would have been rude not to have any (!), so as soon as we arrived we headed straight to the bar and consulted the menu. And that's when I saw it...there was a Kick Ass shot (which consisted of tequila, blue curacao and something red...I think it was strawberry?!) and like the film, it was pretty damn good! My only complaint is that it wasn't the proper Kick Ass colours (green and yellow lol!) but a girl can't have everything I suppose!!

Lows

• Job applications...After last week, I'm sick of the sight of them! As I had a lot that needed to be submitted by either this Friday (23rd) or next Monday (26th), I decided that I'd try and plough through as many as possible so that I didn't have too much to do once I got back to work. And whilst I'm relieved that I managed to complete 4 of them, I can't say that it was an enjoyable task! Gone are the days where applying for a job just meant filling in an application form that took up a couple of sides of A4. Now my forms can be anywhere between 5 and 15(!) pages, and that's before I even have to contend with the personal statement! 2-3 sides of A4 where I explain what a fabulous teacher I am, and why the school should be rushing to snap me up! And even though it might save me time in the short term, I've discovered to my peril that there's no point just writing a generic statement and using it for every school...it doesn't get you anywhere!! :-( So I'm writing pretty much a new statement for every job, and hating most of it...although I must admit there's a delicious irony in saying how enthusiastic and motivated you are, when in reality you can't think of anything worse than writing yet another new statement!! Although the tedium is all worth it when I finally finish...or when I get that elusive interview :-) Fingers crossed for more coming my way soon!!
• A terrible driving lesson...Now when your driving instructor gets a new car, you might expect your first lesson in it to be a little less than perfect, right? Wrong...mine was absolutely fine. So, when it came to my second, I wasn't unduly bothered, so (according to Sod's Law) it makes perfect sense for it to have been truly awful!! I stalled so many times I lost count...including once on a roundabout, and several times when I hadn't even realised I'd stalled at all...until I came to move, that was!! I had terrible difficulty finding the gears, and kept putting the car into the wrong one, resulting in a horrible burning smell coming from the clutch!! I forgot when my handbrake was on and when it was off...need I continue?! According to my instructor, everybody has those days every once in a while, but it still didn't do much for my confidence, especially as I'm meant to be booking my practical test very soon (eeeeek!)

And there's another edition of my highs and lows. Stay tuned for a new "What's in my Wardrobe Wednesday" post tomorrow...I've got lots of ideas, so expect it to become a regular feature once again!!

Easter Weekend Round Up Part 2: Easter Sunday and Easter Monday

So, just a couple of days late, here's the second part of my Easter Weekend round up (you'll find Part 1 here):

Easter Sunday:

My Easter Sunday was mostly spent:

• being lazy: I'd say this was definitely the most chilled out day of my Easter weekend overall!
• seeing my Grandad: we received a phone call earlyish in the morning to say that my Grandad had been in hospital overnight. He had gone in with dizziness and a very sore throat/difficulty swallowing, but he had had a comfortable night overall and he was discharged around lunch time. My mum, Amy and I went to pick him up and my mum and I also visited him at home later to drop a prescription off for him and to check everything was ok!
• eating easter egg (although not too much!)
• taking advantage of the better than predicted weather to have a leisurely walk
• watching TV/DVDs with Amy: we watched (most of) "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", then stopped to tune into the first episode of the new series of Doctor Who. It was ok, but I struggled to get used to the new Doctor, though admittedly I wasn't giving the episode my full attention!
• surfing the web: Facebook, Blogger, Youtube, checking my emails...you get the idea!

Easter Monday

In the UK, the day after Easter Sunday is also a bank holiday, meaning that lots of people (including me!) get a 4 day Easter weekend. My Monday was mostly spent:

• trying to get rid of some trojans which had infected my netbook: I was cursing myself for running a fake security scan, especially as one of its pop up windows included a spelling mistake! So ironic that this was the one time where I decided not to be prejudiced by my feelings towards grammatical and spelling errors! I tried running an AVG scan which detected the trojans, but it couldn't resolve the problem. I then tried doing a system restore which also failed, so the only way out I could see was to do a factory reset, making sure I backed up all my important documents first. Luckily, this worked, and normal service has since been resumed (so far, so good!)
• sharing Easter lunch with some of my closest friends: good food and company were the main features of my whole weekend, and Monday was no exception. I went over to my friends' N, M and S's house where M had cooked us, plus our other friends E and Ste a 3 course lunch. There was leek and potato soup plus crusty bread to start, roast beef with all the trimmings for mains and massive portions of either cheesecake or chocolate gateau (I chose the gateau) for dessert. All of the food was amazing (thanks M!), and after I 'd finished I was so full it felt like I wouldn't eat for a week! When we weren't eating, we were chatting, laughing and watching each other playing on the Wii (word to the wise...don't buy the Dancing on Ice game, it's awful!)...in short it was a wonderful afternoon.
• meeting up with friends in the pub for a chilled evening of chatting and drinking: this was mainly so we could be introduced to my friend E's new lodger, who'll be staying with her for roughly 3 months (she's German and taking part in an exchange programme with E's employers), but it was also a good opportunity to catch up with lots of other friends, a couple of whom I'd not seen for quite a while (well, a week or two!)
• playing truant from rehearsal (well, kind of!): I normally LOVE going to rehearsal, but must admit I didn't see the point in going to one on a bank holiday, especially as I knew some of my other friends would be in the pub! But at the same time, I have made a commitment to my drama group and would have felt really guilty if I'd just not turned up. So I decided to compromise. I got there for 7:30 sharp, but told the director I could only stay for an hour instead of the usual 2! And it was one of the longest hours of my life; partly because I just kept thinking about the drink and the company I had left behind and also partly because it was the first dance/movement rehearsal. These are always hard work and quite boring, in the early stages at least, so I was heartily relieved when 8:30 came around and I could make my exit!

And that's the rest of my weekend in a nutshell! Hope you had a great one, however you spent it! And what's up next for me? Well, I'm very excited to say that I'm going to be doing my very first guest post over at Kirsty's blog, The Road Less Travelled sometime in the next couple of days! And as for my blog, I already have my next post planned...it'll be a bit more serious in tone than the majority of my other posts, but it centres around a topic that I'm really passionate about, so I'm really looking forward to sharing it with you all! Till next time...

Easter Weekend Round Up 1: Good Friday and Easter Saturday

Just because I think my weekend round up would be too long if I tried to squeeze all 4 days into one post, and also because I can't think of anything else to blog about today, here's part 1 of my Easter weekend (in a handy bulleted list!)

Good Friday

My Friday was mainly spent:

• Having a lazy start to the day: lounging around in pjs, eating yummy hot cross buns for breakfast and having a leisurely shower before getting dressed and ready to face the world!
• Being veggie for the day: although I'm not particularly religious, my family and I keep the tradition of not eating meat on Good Friday, which meant my Mum's home made fish mornay with chips for lunch and a jacket potato with cheese and beans for tea.
• Helping my friend N with his lines for a play he's appearing in in a couple of weeks. It really makes me want to act again!
• Dodging the rain and laughing at dodgy covers of songs with my friend E as we did a bit of much needed shopping (well, she did whilst I browsed and tried on hats lol!)
• Helping E sort out her wardrobe with the help of a couple of other friends; if Aerosmith had been playing, it would have been practically the perfect reenactment of this scene from Sex and the City (minus the ridiculous poses and champagne!)
• Spending a chilled evening at my friends J and B's new flat with a group of other friends; drinking wine, eating pretzels, mini Cadbury creme eggs and home made choc chip cookies, chatting and high kicking (well, attempting to anyway!)

Easter Saturday

On Saturday I was:

• Stressing far too much about what to wear: despite the fact I've got a HUGE wardrobe, I just couldn't find anything I wanted to wear yesterday morning. And my stress was made worse by the fact that I knew I had to get a second outfit sorted for the evening (but more about that later!)
• Eating a delicious meal with my closest family and feeling far too full afterwards: I had a chicken melt (chicken breast topped with bacon and cheese), the best chips I've ever tasted, BBQ sauce and salad and it was amazing (and huge!) Somehow, I still found room for dessert though : vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and wafer curls. It goes without saying that the company was great too, and I also had fun testing out my new camera phone by taking lots of pictures!
• Buying a second confirmation card for my friend M: I had originally bought one on Thursday but then got home to discover that it was no longer in my possession! I still had the receipt but no card! So I had to make a dash to the nearest card shop to get one yesterday instead; not that I minded too much as it meant I could attempt to walk off my lunch!
• Sorting out part of my wardrobe: having been inspired by E, I decided to finish the job of clearing out my wardrobe and managed to fill another carrier bag with things I'll never wear again!
• Sitting (and standing!) through a very long Easter Vigil: Whilst I'm not Catholic, it was my friend M's confirmation last night, so I, along with a few other friends, went along to show my support. I'm glad I was there for his big night, but I don't think I'll be converting to Catholicism any time soon! (No offence intended to any Catholics out there!)
• Eating late night takeaway, drinking a mug of tea and being taken back to my college days (2001 to be precise) by watching a programme which was showing all the number ones of the 21st century so far. It took me right back to being 17 again...it seems like only yesterday so it's rather scary to realise it was 9 years ago!

And there's Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2 appearing in a couple of days! And one last thing...have a very happy Easter, and make sure you eat lots of chocolate (I know I will be!)

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!

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!

Highs and Lows of the Week

So after a few days of posting on a daily basis, I took a little break but now I'm back to share my highs and lows of last week.

Highs

• School Holidays: The schools broke up last Friday and I don't go back to work until at least the 4th of January. As I've not got a full time job yet, it means that I won't have any work to do over the next 2 weeks and can hopefully just sit back, relax and enjoy Christmas!!
• Good company and good food: Last weekend, I spent Saturday and Sunday nights with some of my closest friends. On Saturday evening, I went round to a friend's where a few of us treated ourselves to a Christmas curry takeaway and watched Love Actually, which really got us into the Christmas spirit, even if some parts were sadder than I remember (Emma Thompson's storyline and the part where Andrew Lincoln holds up the signs both made me well up :-( ). Sunday night was even better...about 15 of us got together and went for a Christmas meal at a local pub. There was lots of eating, drinking and conversation, as well as wearing party hats, pulling crackers and blowing party blowers (we were SO mature!) and the evening went by in a flash. We also exchanged Secret Santa gifts...I'm really impatient to see what mine are, but can have a good guess by the shape lol!
• Snow: After being disappointed earlier in the week, the snow finally arrived on Saturday. Although the first snowfall was washed away by heavy rain, we then had more overnight and well into Sunday. I can't remember the last time we had so much snow that actually stuck in Manchester and I loved seeing the children playing out and how pretty everything looked.
• Birthdays: As I mentioned last week, it was my sister Amy's 16th birthday on the 16th of December and I was really happy to be able to celebrate with her.

Lows

• Bad skin: I've never had a perfect complexion by any means, but lately I seem to be getting spots and blemishes on my face that just aren't shifting! I think I'm going to have to be on the lookout for some new skincare products, because the ones I've got don't seem to be doing their job at the moment. Have you got any recommendations for any effective (but affordable!) products I could try?
• Forgetfulness: I went shopping to Primark last Thursday, and it was only when I got to the till that I realised that I'd forgotten my card and I didn't have that much cash on me. As a result, I was only able to buy the essentials I needed, as I also had to buy a Secret Santa present and a hot drink as I was freezing! Not my proudest moment, especially as I felt really embarrassed at the till when the sales assistant had to void items as I couldn't afford them!
• No work=no pay: I know I've already mentioned that I'm looking forward to the next couple of weeks off work, but I'm not looking forward to the prospect of at least 2 weeks without pay (as a supply teacher, I only get paid for days I work, not year round). Christmas and driving lessons as well as other more frivolous spending have really eaten into my bank account over the last few months, and I think one of my goals for 2010 will definitely have to be to be more careful with my money and keep a more detailed record of my spending!

So there's my highs and lows for another week! Hope you had a good one too, and that you enjoy the Christmas week ahead! :-)

Highs and Lows of the Week

I know it's a bit late...but better late than never, here are my highs and lows of last week:



Highs

• Saturday - I know it might seem a bit random to have a whole day on my "highs" list, but there it is. Saturday was an absolutely fantastic day! It was a close friend's birthday on Friday, and on Saturday we went up to Blackpool to get some lunch and see an ice show. The show was amazing...as it took place in a small arena, we were only a few rows from the front and could actually hear the sound of the blades on the ice. There were loads of great performances including those from professional pairs and solo skaters and celebrities who'd featured on the "Dancing on Ice" tv show as well as a local 10 year old who was incredible, and a team of freestyle skaters. Imagine street dance on skates, and you'll get a better idea of what they did. My favourites, though, were a pair of brothers from Italy. They were circus trained and were basically clowns on ice! I was amazed when they started juggling whilst skating and even more so when one leapfrogged the other and carried on juggling from where the first one left off! After the show, we headed back home and spent the evening watching X Factor (I was soooo happy it was big band week!) and eating takeaway.

• My friends - While I already know I've got great friends, something that happened last week really helped to confirm that for me (more about that in the "lows" section!).

• Half term - I suppose this should technically go in my next "highs and lows" post, but as the start of it was last week, it can go in this one too! Basically, the schools in my area broke up for a week's holiday last Friday, so it means that this week I'm pretty much a lady of leisure! I've been really looking forward to the break...the first half term is always the longest...and will keep everyone posted with what I get up to. I've already been shopping, and will post more details of my purchases tomorrow in my "What's-in-my-wardrobe Wednesday" post.

• Unintentionally funny TV - SuperNanny, John and Edward's vintage performance on X Factor (even although I do think they should have been out weeks ago!) and my favourite from last week... Wife Swap USA. It was the episode featuring the Heene family, who've been more recently in the news for faking the disappearance of their 7-year-old son Falcon, in a home made balloon (for a recap of that story click here) and the safety cautious Martels. I know it wasn't intended to be a comedy programme...but it made me laugh harder than I'd done for a few days! If you haven't watched it, my advice would be to check it out and pay special attention to the video the Martel children make to list the things they're frightened of. I'll never look at lava lamps the same way again!

Lows

• Spending the day in hospital: Last Wednesday, I woke very early with severe abdominal cramps that were making me nauseous and dizzy. Aunt Flo wasn't visiting, and I was especially concerned as I knew I had a cyst on my left ovary, so I decided to go to hospital to get checked out. The pain subsided after about half an hour, but it was decided that after undergoing blood tests and an examination in the accident and emergency department, I should be admitted as an in-patient so I could be observed and have a pelvic ultrasound scan either later that day or the next morning. Luckily, I was able to have the scan that day but unluckily, I was unable to eat until I had it. Which meant that I didn't have any food until after 4:00 pm and I'd been up since 6 that morning! The scan results showed that the cyst was no longer present, and as the tests I had also came back clear the doctors were happy to discharge me, and I came home to a flurry of texts, answerphone and Facebook messages off my friends (see my "Highs" list). Luckily I've had no recurrences of the pain since then, but I was definitely shook up for the next couple of days with every little twinge leaving me in a state of panic!

• My eating habits - My eating habits last week were inconsistent to say the least. From not eating anything for over 18 hours on Tuesday night through to Wednesday to snacking madly on Thursday/Friday to stuffing myself with fatty/junk food on Saturday...I just couldn't get a balance! I know being unable to eat while I was in hospital wasn't my fault, but the rest of the week definitely was!

So there we have it! That was the week that was, and these were my highs and lows.

Weekend stuff

Yeah, I know it's Tuesday already but yesterday was a bank holiday, so technically this is the first day of the new week lol! It was a pretty chilled weekend as far as they go, but I still managed to have fun!

There's nothing to report from Friday night (I just had a quiet evening in) but on Saturday night, I went over to the house of 2 of my friends who were having a joint birthday party. I ate pizza and cake, drank wine, chatted and watched tv and generally had a great time :-) Also, before I had to go out, I managed to catch a bit of the X Factor on tv...the auditions are always my favourite bit of the whole series and I absolutely loved this group in particular :



I'm not the world's biggest Britney fan, but I love how the girls have arranged this song and completely made it their own. What do you think?

Sunday, I had a pretty lazy day but then had a very short notice phone call at night inviting me to the cinema where I ended up watching "Funny People". This was a bit of a compromise, as my girl friend and I wanted to watch "The Ugly Truth", our male friend wanted to see "Inglourious Basterds" and neither of us wanted to swap! I thought the film was ok, but not at all what I was expecting. I thought it would be a light hearted comedy, and in parts it was, but other bits were much darker. In my opinion, it was also too long...it seemed to drag in parts, without developing the story. If I had to give it a rating, I'd probably say 5 out of 10.

Yesterday, a few friends and I went to the bank holiday funfair at a local park. I went on the waltzers and dodgems and it was fun acting like a complete kid again. We then went for a pub lunch and back to one of their houses (the friends I saw on Saturday) for birthday cake (yum!) and Disney trivial pursuit...which was far too hard...you'd have to be a real Disney buff to stand a chance of winning!

Anyway, it's back to reality now...the primary schools in my area go back on Thursday, and even though there might not be much supply work around at first, I'll still need to be prepared and up early just in case! Well, I suppose the holidays can't last forever lol!