Tuesday 30 October 2012

playing in the leaves & loving Autumn



Today, camera in hand, Mark & I walked down into the village to take some snaps of some lovely arty things in the village. These will be put up here very soon :) here are some photos Mark took of me playing in the leaves. I love Autumn, it is by far my favourite season!! And we got to the leaves in the village just in time, because a man with a van was hot on our tails scooping away all the gorgeous leaves into the back of his truck!!








Have you been making the most of Autumn? I was inspired by Heidi's post with that gorgeous picture of her throwing leaves up into the air - our attempts were much more messy!!! And quite a few leaves got stuck to my jacket!

Monday 29 October 2012

a bit more catching up







1. I tried my hair in a different way - I curled the ends with the GHDs, I quite liked it :)
2. This bag contains my birthday/Christmas present - oh how exciting!!
3. Indigo showing Mark something on the computer...
4. ...and wearing his headphones when he was trying to listen to the football!
5. Indigo loves her Hello Kitty toy camera, she takes pictures with it all the time... I think someone would like a real camera for Christmas!!!
6. A package I sent off in the post today :)

Sunday 28 October 2012

a sunday catch-up


This Sunday has not gone entirely as planned, as I'd planned to just slob out and paint for pretty much the entire day! I ended up doing lots of cleaning, tidying, washing & other such boring things. But I did fit some painting in, and I can't wait for the lovely lady who this painting is for to finally receive her package, which I will post tomorrow :)
How did your Sunday go? Was it lazy or hectic??


Last week when I was at home, my sister Zenobia came to visit from uni and as she wouldn't be there for her birthday (the 23rd) we let her open her presents early. The above is just a snap of her opening one of my presents to her - she got some gorgeous presents!! And her uni friends threw her a tea party on the actual day - how sweet!!!






Mark & I took Indigo to the park last week on our last morning before we left. We had lots of fun, but because it was only a flying visit there were some tears when it came to leaving (the last photo - aw!!). But I promised we will go to the big park next time and stay for longer :)


This is my lovely new River Island sale jacket - I'd seen it just a week before in the store for around £50 and wanted it so much but resisted! It was just £30 in the sale and I love it. Purple long sleeve top (Republic), brown skinny jeans (All Saints), brown leather belt (River Island men's), brown boots (Topshop), pink & white starry snood (River Island).





I had a lovely time, and I know that Mark enjoyed it too. This week when we visited we were all very busy so we didn't get much time for fun - although we did have a lovely evening when some friends came for dinner! I will post more on that tomorrow, and a few more photographs. I hope you've all had a wonderful weekend, whether it was relaxing or exciting.

Sunday 21 October 2012

Orla Kiely dress & life getting in the way




I can hardly believe it has been over two whole weeks since I last blogged - I did miss it, but it was one of those things where the longer you leave it the harder it seems. Of course, life has been getting in the way. I have spent most of my time travelling back and forth to my mum's house to spend time at home, so I have been living out of a bag. Luckily that bag is my very beautiful Luella travel bag, but even so, it can get depressing at times! Especially when you have lovely new clothes that end up staying in the bottom of your bag in favour of comfortable everyday ones!

Speaking of lovely clothes, this is the Orla Kiely dress that I ordered from the Uniqlo collaboration. I love it - I have only worn it this one time at the beginning of the month. But I just got a jacket that I think will go perfectly with it, so expect to see better photos sometime soon :)

Other than visiting my family, I have been working in the card shop and I'm due to finish on the 5th of November. I have mixed feelings about this!! I have been visiting the hospital, and am expecting a rather unpleasant appointment through any day now (you really don't want to know..!). My tinnitus has gotten worse (I think it's actually sending me insane) and I now hear clicking every so often as well as the non-stop high pitched ringing. I sent in my final assignment for my OU course, which I haven't received the marks for yet (please let me pass!!). Last but not least... dare I say it... I have been Christmas shopping!!! Has anyone else started?? I figured that with finishing my job, the more I got done the better. So Mark's presents are nearly all bought, as are a couple of other people's. As men are the worst to buy for, I like to get them out of the way first. I'm so organised, I have a list with ideas and what I've already bought ticked off. Am I crazy??!

Wednesday 3 October 2012

latest shopping haul






On Monday Mark, Mark's mum Sandra and I went to Liverpool for a day of shopping. We started the day off with breakfast in Thornton's cafe - delicious (we have since been for lunch because it was so delicious). It was a very successful day of shopping!! Except Mark not being able to buy Fifa 13 as it was sold out anyway!! I can't resist a bit of cute or pretty stationary..!
Above: Claire's nail polish £1, Paperchase goodies: postcards 60p each, folder 80p, stickers £1.20, cat highlighters £2.50 and other gifty bits not pictured!



The nude coloured top has a dipped hem at the back, lace neckline, and zip on the back. This dress is my best buy - I have lusted after this dress since I tried it on in a ridiculously small size 6 a couple of weeks ago. It was in the sale but I managed to track it down on Monday, and I am so pleased!! It is a beautiful powdery pink colour, in a tweedy/boucle style material. The texture is gorgeous. It has a tulip skirt, and stitched detailing on the bodice which very much reminds me of Luella. I decided on the size 10 in the end, as the hemline was more roomy and I prefer being able to move my legs!!
Top £6 New Look reduced from £14.99, dress £15 Miss Selfridge instead of £45

After receiving a very disappointing Ann Summers sale order which I have since sent back, I was on the hunt for a pretty new underwear set. I found this Wonderbra set in TK Maxx, the nude and pink combination is so pretty, I just love it.
Bra £6.99 instead of £26, pants £3.99 instead of £12, both TK Maxx

And the final things to share with you, two packets of Moshi lego bits for the twins and a 'Keep Calm and Drink Tea' badge for Mark.
Moshi packs £1.99, badge 60p, both Forbidden Planet

Hope you enjoyed my hauls!! Mark treated us all to lunch in Bella Italia and it was divine!! I had spaghetti bolognese (of course!) followed by mini chocolate torte with a hot chocolate. Ah, it was so delicious :) I have a small but successful charity shop haul to post about soon :)

Tuesday 2 October 2012

25 years, the silver anniversary









The 25th of September this year was my mum & dad's 25th wedding anniversary. As you may know, my dad passed away 3 years ago in July from cancer of the larynx. It was important to me that we should mark this very special occasion, hence I set about on a memory project as a gift to my mum. We all buy my mum gifts on special days, but I wanted to do something more. So the butterfly box above with the airmail envelopes in was filled with memories. I wrote to our dear friends & family, requesting memories and photographs. Everyone was so helpful, and it turned out wonderfully. Some of the memories of my mum and dad made me laugh, and some made me miss him more than ever. My mum couldn't read them all on the day, I guided her as to which ones would be tear-free and she will save them all for a day when she has time by herself to look back and remember all those special times.







It was a lovely day, our nearest & dearest came round for dinner of delicious slow-cooked spaghetti bolognese, jacket potatoes, and lots of dessert!!! Despite my illness, I had two helpings of spaghetti and some chocolate gateau!

Mum received some lovely gifts, this beautiful bunch of flowers arrived from Sandra (Mark's mum), and mum's best friend Lynn brought her a red rose. There is a story behind this which Lynn shared with me as one of her memories, and I will share it with you...
"Phil reckons that it would have been through him that Jan met Gez, and that Gez introduced her to Mark up the Red Hall. I don't know what went on that night but the next day we all went outside to see Mark walking down the drive with a rose. He was quite open about it and not the least embarrassed. And they never looked back."