What I've been loving this past month

A quick look at my blog tells me it's been exactly a month since my last post. And whilst part of me is kicking myself for not keeping my promises and posting sooner and with more regularity, there's another side which thinks it's especially fitting that I'm blogging today instead, especially as my post is concerned with all the things I've been loving over the last month or so. And here they are...

• Spring flowers...yes, I know it's a blogger cliché (well that's how it appears to me, at least) but I just love the beautiful blooms that are such a special feature of this time of year. From cherry and apple blossom to magnolias and daffodils...be still my beating heart!
• Beautiful spring weather...let's just ignore the fact that the past week has been mostly cold, grey and gloomy, shall we?! Seriously, the end of March in particular was glorious, with unbroken sunshine and temperatures that made it feel more like June. It really got me in a summery mood and made me think of holidays, fun and making plans for the months ahead.
• Soap and Glory "Clean on Me" and Herbal Essences "Tousle me Softly" shampoo and conditioner...three of my favourite products over the last few weeks, reviews will be coming soon!!
• Meeting new people and getting to know others better...whether it's an online acquaintance who I've finally got the opportunity to meet face to face, work colleagues who are becoming more and more like friends every day or saying hello to a friend's beautiful baby daughter for the first time, I've felt privileged to get to know every one :-)
• Lighter evenings and longer days...add the fact that we're getting ever closer to the longest day to the clocks moving forward to signal the start of British Summer Time, and what do you get? Days where it's light well before you reach work and night that doesn't fall until around 8 pm. Catching some daylight while you can is the best cure for the workday blues in my opinion, and I love the fact that I'll be able to get just that little bit more every day :-)
• Wearing dresses...whilst dresses have become a bigger and bigger part of my wardrobe over the past couple of years, it seems that my love of them has reached new heights this spring. They've formed an extensive part of my working wardrobe in recent weeks and every now and then, I find myself mentally adding new dresses to my spring/summer wishlist. Well a girl can dream...! :-)

So those are my loves of the last few weeks, but what about you? What have you been enjoying over the last month? Let me know, I'd love to hear from you! :-)

'Til next time...

Christmas is coming...

and I've definitely been in a festive mood over the last couple of days. Maybe it's down to the fact that we've started putting our Christmas decorations up or that I watched a local theatre company's pantomime yesterday afternoon. And it definitely could also be a result of the present wrapping, Christmas card writing and festive music listening I've been doing today. It might even be because of the chilly direction the weather has finally taken; there may have been the teensiest bit of snow last night which would mark the first of the winter here in Manchester. But whatever the cause of this Christmassy feeling, the result is still the same: a sense of contentment and good cheer that not even a pesky cold can dampen :-)

So in honour of my new found Christmas spirit, I thought I'd share a few of my favourite Christmas themed craft and decoration ideas from Pinterest...hope you enjoy!! Oh,and if you're a pinner too, let me know. Or follow me. Or better still, both!!

Source: cache.elizabethannedesigns.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: cache.elizabethannedesigns.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: bhg.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: eighteen25.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: darlingdoodles.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: creativetryals.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: redheadscraftmorefun.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: marthastewart.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: carlyrobertson.typepad.com via Julie on Pinterest

Source: pughs-news.blogspot.com via Julie on Pinterest

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

Highs and Lows of the Week

(Picture taken from weheartit.com)

As the picture says, Happy Sunday everyone! Hope everyone is having one as restful and enjoyable as mine has been so far! And as it's Sunday, there's really no better time to post a round up of the highs and lows of my week. Now long-time readers might remember that this was a feature of the blog back in the days when I did actually post with some regularity, and I'm really keen to make it a major part of it this time around too. Not only does this lazy blogger not have to think of anything original to blog about on Sunday nights (a bonus for me, especially if my brain's been mashed with school work!!), but I also feel it's a really good exercise in giving thanks for both the big and not-so-big things that contribute to making my life as good as it is (I am lucky, even if I forget that sometimes  a lot). So without further ado, here's what's been making me smile and cry this week:

Lows

• Being diagnosed with suspected mumps: This has been my big all encompassing low of the week. Now, firstly this has meant that I've had a swollen face (mainly on the LHS) and chin, which was quite painful leading up to, and also in the first couple of days after, my diagnosis. Also, as mumps is a highly contagious disease, I've been sat at home since Tuesday afternoon for fear of infecting others which means I've missed out on watching "Ghost the Musical", rehearsal and the pub with my drama buddies on Friday night and my friend's hen do (bachelorette party) last night. And it's not just socialising that I've been barred from this week...mumps has also cheated me of the chance to say a proper goodbye to all the children I've taught and the staff I've worked with at the school I've been doing long term supply at since the start of November. The last point was by far the hardest to deal with...I'd been coming to terms with the end of my contract on Friday for a few weeks. I'd already started to plan a party for the children I'd worked with and was determined to go out on a high. And then on Tuesday afternoon I went to the doctors and never came back...now the school have made it quite clear that I'm more than welcome to drop in when I'm feeling better and believe me I'm going to (I have a mountain of resources to sort out besides anything else!!), but it still won't be quite the same :-(

Highs

• Realising there really is no place like home: Now when you're ill, or even if you're just feeling sorry for yourself, there's nowhere you'd rather be than home, And no-one you'd rather have taking care of you than your mum! Seriously, I don't know what I'd have done if I hadn't been living at home this week. Mum made sure I had food that I was able to eat (even going so far as to cut the crusts off my bread when my jaw was at its most painful) so I didn't go hungry and I was just able to laze around all day, safe in the knowledge that I had no household jobs to be getting on with. And big thanks also go to my sisters for having the great idea for them, my mum and I to have a DVD night last night and to my dad for hugging me and just being there while I had a bit of a cry the other day. And whilst I'm thanking the others, I suppose I can't go without thanking my brother for not being quite as annoying as usual lol!! Seriously, I would have been lost without them this week, so I'm saying a BIG thank you to them all as well as Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous Mum!!
• Having a rest (which really was needed): This time last week I was STRESSED. I had lots of work still to do for school, I had lots of busy evenings coming up in terms of social events and driving lessons and I really wanted a break. Then came my swollen face and the doctor's appointment and bam!! 3 weeks off. A few days of doing pretty much nothing and a few latish get ups and daytime naps later and I'm feeling pretty much back to normal. Just in time for the 2 week spring holidays...woohoo!! :-)
• Fabulous friends: The kind who take time out of their day to text or fb you to see how you are. The kind who listen to you moan without a word except if it's to check if there's anyway they can make your situation better. I've been reminded of how many of those I have over the past few days, and it's lovely, let me tell you.
• Losing weight: Over the past three or four weeks, I've been following a personal training programme on the "Biggest Loser" Wii game. Now, I won't pretend I've been being a saint by any means...I've not been exercising every day and I'm not being overly restrictive with what I've been eating, but I have been upping my activity levels (both in terms of doing the suggested workouts and some extra walking thanks to my afternoon job) so I was quite disappointed when my first couple of weigh ins showed that I hadn't lost any weight and my weight had, in fact, marginally increased. So it was with trepidation that I stepped onto the balance board today, having done no exercise for over a week and I was convinced that I'd be looking at no change at best. Imagine my disbelief when I saw that I had, in fact, lost 1.4 kg!! Considering my appetite hasn't been noticeably decreased by my illness, it came as quite a welcome surprise, but now the flip side is that I'm feeling the pressure not to put the weight back on as soon as I can eat crisps and the like!

And that was the week that was...and here's to the next one!! :-)

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!

Love this!!

Presenting possibly my favourite song at the mo:


I heard it for the first time yesterday, and whilst it took a little time for it to grow on me, now I think it's fab. So much so, that I've gone on YouTube to find it and have decided to blog about it!! There's just one problem though...for a song called Misery, it's just a little too upbeat lol!! :-) What do you think?? Hope you enjoyed as much as I did!! Till next time...

Birthday Madness Part 2...Happy Birthday P!

So here I am...almost a week later than I said I'd be but I suppose it's better than not blogging at all lol! Without further ado, here for your consideration is another installment of birthdayness (if you read my last post, you'll understand why January=birthdays for me!)

And where were we?? Ahhh yes, I believe we'd just got up to Wednesday which was my little sister K's 15th birthday. So, onward to Thursday! Last Thursday was my younger brother P's 24th. Now P and I haven't always got on. When he was little, he had a lovely habit of pulling my hair and because I'd been told that I had to be gentle with him as he was younger than me, I didn't do anything back. Which meant that my mum once found me in tears with him clutching handfuls of my hair :-( OUCH! Add to that the fact that he used to take all my toys and that as we've grown up we've had more arguments than I care to remember it's clear that we've never had a perfect relationship! But then again how many siblings do?! And there have been lots of good times along with the bad. Sharing birthday parties, going to our friends' houses for tea after school or having them to ours, family holidays and days spent on the beach...even if I can't remember them all distinctly, the photos are there to prove it. And as we've grown up, I realise that he's often nicer than I give him credit for! Yes, he's got a short temper...but so have I. He can be annoying, but you could argue that that's the job of a little brother (and I know exactly how to wind him up!) Despite the annoyances, I know that he loves each and everyone of our family deeply and would do anything for them. And ,even though I might deny it, I feel the same about him (although I probably wouldn't say it to his face!). So happy belated birthday P...your big sister does really love you, even if sometimes she acts like she couldn't care less!

Happy Birthday!!

Today I'm really excited to be able to say Happy Birthday to not just one, but two of my favourite ladies of all time!

First up is my little sister Amy, who's celebrating her 16th Birthday today!

She's a gifted comedian, with aspirations to be an actress and knows more random facts than almost anyone else I know! On the whole, I think she's got great taste in music (we both love Michael Buble and Maroon 5) and TV, and I love the trips we take to the cinema and museums...next up will most probably be "Sherlock Holmes" in the Christmas holidays! We do have our differences though...for example, she's about the least girly girl I know, not having worn a dress since she was old enough to choose her own clothes and taking no interest whatsoever in makeup! And that's Amy; all that's left for me to say is that I love her lots and I hope that she has a fantastic day, even if her 16th is making me feel very old!!

And secondly, celebrating a birthday which is a bit larger than 16 is my best friend J. I first met J on the bus we used to get to high school. I was about 12 when we met, she was a year older and we've been best friends ever since. I've celebrated many of her birthdays with her; the most memorable ones include her 16th where I went to my first ever concert and slept over at hers afterwards and her 18th when her parents hired a function room at a local pub, and being unused to alcohol, I got drunk really quickly but still had a fantastic time, as did she! However, as we've got older, things have changed. She moved about 2 hours away to attend university, and, over 8 years on, she's still happily settled there, meaning that we only see each other about 3 or 4 times a year. Despite that, our friendship is still going strong, and I was touched and honoured when she asked me to be her chief bridesmaid last year, even though she has a whole group of close friends in her new(ish) town. And in the same way, I know that if there comes a time when I'm picking bridesmaids, she'll be the first on my list!

So Happy Birthday J! You're one of the most caring and passionate people I know, and a true individual! I also love the fact that you've never lost your sense of fun and your quirky sense of humour despite the fact you're now a grown up, and I'm happy that you've found a husband who shares that with you :-) Hope that you have a fantastic birthday and am looking forward to hopefully seeing you over the Christmas holidays! :-)

Dear shoes...

I love you. I know we've only been together for about 3 months but I can't imagine life without you! You've gone to so many different places with me; you've graced cocktail bars and karaoke bars, pubs, clubs and even a school yet you've never looked like you didn't belong. You've helped transform me into a witch, girl about town and serious teacher and I'm confident you'll help me become an ace salsa dancer this weekend!

You've got the perfect personality for me...you're sexy, yet comfortable and drop dead gorgeous but practical at the same time. You never fail to cheer me up when I'm feeling down, and even when I'm having a fat or ugly day, I know that you'll still fit and look good!

And because I love you, I'll do my best to show you how I feel. That's why I keep you wrapped up in your box...it might not sound like much, but you're about the only pair of shoes I've done that with! And I know that you've had your fair share of knocks and scrapes, and I apologise for that. I should be more careful, but sometimes I'm just so excited to be out with you, that I just want to dance and show you off! But if ever you do get hurt, you know I'll get you fixed up. I want you around for as long as possible...who knows, it might even be forever!

Looking forward to going out with you again this weekend...I can't wait!

All my love
Julie xxxx

My favourite shoes...love them! <3

I've got an award!! :-)

Yay, my very first blog award!! It's been sent to me by the lovely Sarah at The Girl of Make Believe . Thanks Sarah!! And check out her blog too, it's fab!!

Rules:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for this award.
2. Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
3. Link to the person who nominated you for this award.
4. Name 7 things about yourself that people might not know.
5. Nominate 7 Kreativ Bloggers.
6. Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
7. Leave a comment on each of the blogs letting them know they have been nominated.



Seven things about me:

1. I'm very messy and quite disorganised too...not too good for a teacher really!


2. I have naturally curly hair, but have only completely accepted this over the last 18 months or so.


3. I would love to learn the drums or saxophone.


4. I'm terrified of thunder and lightning, but am determined to conquer this fear soon.


5. I'm 5'5.5 but haven't grown in years...I was pretty much my adult height at the age of 11!


6. I love men in suits! :-)


7. My favourite tv show is House and I'm very excited that I'll be able to watch a new episode on Sky 3 this weekend!!

People I nominate are:

1. Jennee at Cheap Therapy
2. Michelle at Michelle's Diary
3. Miss Peregrin at The Secret Life of a Retail Assistant
4. Leetid at Life of Leetid
5. Leslie the Pirate at Swashbuckling through the Murky Waters of On-line Dating
6. Karie at **Wife of a Wounded Marine**
7. Shop Girl* at I Heart My Shoes

All fantastic blogs that I really enjoy reading!