Friday 31 January 2014

Little Five Friday #2



Another week, another five! Hello lovelies, what have you been up to this week? On Thursday I went to the doctors and found out I have costochondritis again, which is a pain because there's nothing I can do about it. I also went for a kidney function blood test as recommended by my doctor after my ultrasound scan last week. My mum has snow down in the midlands, exciting stuff! I do love snow, but I wish it would come before Christmas instead of after. Expect snow pictures if we get any!


1. On Monday evening I went for my work's Christmas meal, also the last ever
meal with the team as it was! A new owner takes over on the 3rd, and I will miss
working with Hester as she's leaving.


2. I splurged badly this month, and I bought myself an erm, late Christmas
present?! I snapped this gorgeous leather queen Viv bag up on Ebay, and I love
it already. Now for a matching purse..!


3. So Weds night this happened... pass me the tissues ladies, June is going to
get emotional! If you haven't already, I highly recommend giving it a read
before the film comes out. To prepare yourself. I nearly cried at the trailer
(but I tried hard not to!).


4. Drinking Snapple reminds me of New York and oh my, it tastes good! Luckily
we only get a bottle when we go to the Cadbury shop in Cheshire Oaks, otherwise
it could be a sugary addiction!


5. I finally sent out some mail I had been meaning to send since Christmas! I
love sending and receiving post, and I still have more to send out soon.

Is TFIOS on your list of movies to see this year?

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Monday 27 January 2014

Adventures: Welsh Mountain Zoo



Way back in September, Mark & I went on a very special adventure. An adventure to the Welsh Mountain Zoo. The Welsh
Mountain Zoo with bears!!! This was one of my most favourite days ever, I had the best time and I saw bears in real life for
the first time. I'm already trying to figure out when we can go again! The prices are surprisingly affordable, at just £10.95
for an adult (including Gift Aid). You can also be a zoo keeper for the day... this is definitely going on my wishlist! I'm going
to share some (I took so many!) of my photos with you now and even a couple of videos too.


We set off early in the morning with blue skies above, and the promise of rain later in the day. I left my hair in it's natural state because I was well aware that being on a mountain, the zoo was likely to be windy. We got excited at each brown tourist sign we saw, and excited at seeing the sea! It was an interesting journey once we got into Wales, driving through tiny, narrow country lanes and finding the zoo nestled in the woods, perfect.


Hello handsome! The first thing we saw after parking the car were these lovely camels! They were friendly enough to come over and say hello. And oh my, it was windy and it was cold! If you're planning a visit, wrap up with plenty of layers.

Friday 24 January 2014

Little Five Friday #1



Hello dear readers, I'd like to share with you today my new weekly series Little Five Friday. I've seen variations of this post on lots of blogs, Josie's and Samantha's being two examples. I thought I'd join in with my own little things post, with a header made from a beautiful photograph my dad took. I hope you enjoy my new series, and I'd love to know what you'd like to see more of on my blog.


1. Today is my little sister Indigo's fifth birthday. At 7am we FaceTimed, and
Mark & I got to watch her open her presents!


2. Followed up by a chocolate mocha in my favourite mug and some dark chocolate
digestives, mmm!


3. Freshly painted nails, Mavala Lagoon covered by Topshop Moonshine and some
nail stickers. I picked up the Moonshine polish for 50p, and the stickers for £1 in
in Topshop on Tuesday, bargain!


4. Wearing my sweet and soft new panda slippers and cute socks.


5. Seeing my furry little baby when he's meant to be sleeping!

Have you got a similar series/post? I'd love to see it :) please leave links below.

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Saturday 18 January 2014

15 by 2015: My new goals


So far this year my motto has been let's do it. This is the year of our first abroad holiday together, we're going to Barcelona.
I'm going to sell my artwork in my very own Etsy shop. I want to see the sparkling lights of Blackpool illuminations. I got
two diaries for Christmas and I've been making sure I keep them up to date. This year marks the 5 year anniversary of my
dad passing away. It's easy to relegate memories that might provoke sadness to another day, I want to make more of a
conscious effort to remember both happy and sad memories. Mark & I want to make the big move this year. Our long term
plan was always to relocate back to where I grew up. I want to leave lovely anonymous notes for strangers to find. I want
to get another tattoo. I'd like to learn to drive for the second time (I never took my test). I'm going to take hundreds and
thousands of photographs. We're both searching for new jobs to relocate. I will illustrate things Indigo has said. I need
more snuggles and mischief with my little fluff ball. I'm going to write a letter to myself. I'm going to keep being positive.

Do you have a list of goals or resolutions for the year ahead? Please leave me a link :)

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Sunday 12 January 2014

25 by 25: The results



Hello lovelies, I'd like to start this post off by saying a very happy new year to you all! I hope it turns out to be a fabulous one, and that all of your hopes and dreams come true. Some of you might remember that last year my resolutions were made in the 25 by 25 format as can be found here. To start the year off I thought it'd be nice to reflect on those goals and how I got on, and whether or not there are any I want to carry over into 2014. I will do a separate blog post with my goals for this year :)

o1. Flying a kite was even more fun than I imagined! I can't wait to do it again on a blustery day.

o2. Illustrate things Indigo has said - this is one of the ones I didn't get round to but had plenty of good intentions for. I'd still like to do this, so I'm carrying it on into this year.

o3. Going back to the Lakes was wonderful! I highly recommend you go on an adventure there yourselves!

o4. Watch Perks on DVD - a great watch, not on a level with the book but pretty awesome nonetheless.

o5. See my friends more - I can never get enough of my friends, so I will always want to see them more. One of my beautiful best friends had a beautiful baby in 2013, Belle Hope. I can't wait to see more of all of my friends this year.

o6. Painting more made me feel really inspired. I'm determined to open my very own Etsy shop this year!

o7. Being more organised with studying really helped out when it came to my exam. I revised so hard, and my hard work paid off - I did really well! Back to studying in April, but I'm enjoying the break for now.

o8. Going on more adventures is something I want to do again this year. I loved every day trip and adventure, and have so many happy memories from this year - the Lakes, Harry Potter Studios, Welsh Mountain Zoo and more!

o9. Take more photos & have them printed - I ordered over 1000 photos this year, and made a good start into archiving some of my photos. I have another 500 credits to order this month, and will carry on until they're all printed out.

1o. Reading one book a month and many times more was something I really enjoyed. It was nice to pick up books again and not feel guilty for getting lost in another world for a few hours. This will definitely continue! Can you recommend any?

11. Baking cookies with the children at Lynn's house was messy but fun! We baked choc chip cookies, gingerbread shapes and even a Victoria sponge. Yum!

12. Going to the Welsh Mountain Zoo with bears was one of the best days of my life! I will do a full post on it soon because I never got round to it, but here is a sneaky peek..!

13. Date nights - we've definitely made more of a conscious effort to spend time together this last year. Lots of adventures and plenty of nights snuggled up after a takeaway watching a movie! Speaking of which..! Tonight involves visiting nana, an Indian takeaway and a Wes Anderson movie. Ahh, perfect!

14. Do something for charity - I did a couple of things but I'd like to do more. I tried to do a print in aid of charity, and I think this will be more successful when my Etsy page is up and running. I'd also love to do a skydive but not sure how I'd stand with my dodgy ears!

15. Visiting the Harry Potter studio tour was amazing!!!

16. Anonymous notes in random places - the second goal I didn't get round to, but would still love to do. I had an idea on this front, which I hope to put in place this year.

17. Keeping up my blog was hard at points this year, and I took little breaks here and there when I had too much on (like my exam!). I'd like to post more regularly this year, and start another new series or two like my Handmade Mondays of last year. I will continue HMM but more sporadically rather than every Monday. I love the blogging community and all of the lovely people whose blogs I read!

18. Getting a second tattoo is the third goal I didn't do! I do however know what my next one is going to be, so I'll be getting it soon hopefully.

19. Have a teddybear picnic - the fourth & last goal that I didn't complete. We did however put all of the bears in the back of the car one day and drove to Asda. We may have got some funny looks haha.

2o. Explore more - lots of exploring took place last year, and I look forward to much more both locally and far away.

21. Sitting in the park & watching the sunset was lovely! Mark and my mum, sister Willow, twins Phoebe & Phoenix and littlest sister Indigo went to the park to watch it.

22. Watching sunrise (& chasing the supermoon!) was a 4am adventure with my sister Willow.

23. Seeing more bands was awesome last year! We saw more than we expected to and a wider variety of music too.

24. Doing my hair more still proved tricky for me! I managed to do a few new things with it but last Tuesday I actually went and had it done..! More on that another day though!

25. Appreciating each person, moment & thing was definitely something I did in 2013 and will continue to do each and every year in the future. I try not to take anyone or anything for granted as every moment is fleeting and we have to make the most of it all.



Have you got a similar kind of list? I'd love to see it :)

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Sunday 5 January 2014

Harry Potter Warner Bros. Studio Tour London (lots of photos!)



Hello lovelies, before I start with the photos I just want to say that if you're going to the Studio Tour soon perhaps you might
not want to look at my photos until afterwards. I didn't look at anyone's photos before I went - I think maybe it would ruin the
surprise. I'm not going to give anything away by telling you what happens or the order of things at the tour, but of course the
photos are going to show you things you might not have realised were there. I must say that all of this is a million times more
impressive in real life, and there are a million more things to see than what I'll show you here.

As a huge Harry Potter fan, I was beyond excited when I received tickets from Mark for Christmas 2012. We finally got round
to going on my birthday, December 1st. Now, Mark had never read the books or seen the films. Upon receiving the tickets, we
decided Mark had better watch all of the films so he could appreciate the tour too. He became totally hooked - he loved it! He
loved the tour just as much as me & I can honestly say it is so worth a visit. I want to go again!! As we visited in December, you
can see snow around (just look at Hogwarts!!). I'd be interested to visit to see how it differs when it isn't Winter too.















It took me such a long time to narrow down the photos to even this many! Now I have some advice for anyone who is going to visit the Harry Potter Studio Tour. Make sure you charge your batteries - we took a Canon DSLR, a Nikon bridge camera & our iPhone 5s. The two cameras died before we'd barely started - I was gutted! Take photos of everything you want to, and don't be afraid to pose with the props! The tour is split into sections, once you leave a section, you can't go back so spend as much time as you need to before moving on. Prepare to get a little bit emotional - awe, joy, sadness, excitement - you name it, if you grew up with Harry Potter like I did it's insane to see it set out like this and to learn things about the making of the films that will fascinate you and make you feel totally inspired. Make sure you take money or a card, the gift shop is amazing and you'll want to buy everything! Last of all, wear comfortable shoes because you're going to be on your feet for most of the tour.

Have you been to the Studio Tour? Would you like to go?
You can book your tickets here.

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