2 Whole Months & 13 Whole Days!

That's how long it has been since I last updated here. Where has the time gone? It doesn't seem that long since I was last here, writing down my sometimes strange and boring thoughts! You'd think after all that time away, that I might have loads of interesting and exciting things to write about. The sad thing is, that I don't think I have done all that much in all that time, which kind of makes my life seem dull!

The downside of getting married is the amount of money it costs. There are so many things to pay for and lots to buy, and it would seem that where the word wedding is added, then so is an extra zero to the end of the total! Everything soon adds up and you start to wonder where all the money is going to come from to pay for it. You start working out how many paydays there are left, and how many birthdays may get in the way and disrupt the saving. Then you start staying in even more than before, and question everything you want to buy, and I guess that's why I don't have a lot to report for the last 2 months!

So what have we done? Well, on the wedding front I have been busy making more favour boxes. I have also bought our wedding postbox and guestbook from the fantastic prettywild. I have chosen and ordered a veil, tiara and petticoat, and we have managed to narrow the choice of bridesmaid tiaras down to a choice of two.

On the non-wedding front, I have finally picked up the patchwork quilt, and I am 3 squares away from completing 1 side. However, it has been put aside again while I make a smaller version as a New Baby present (photos to follow when completed). Also on the creative front, I have been getting creative in the kitchen by making some lovely cupcakes and trying to perfect the art of butter cream frosting. I am trying to achieve a professional finish. My aim is to make boxes of cupcakes to give to friends and family for Christmas. I shall also post photos on completion of these.

Well, I guess that's us caught up for now. This weekend I will hopefully be baking and sewing, and watching Mr P at the snow dome. I will also be very jealous that I will not be testing out my new snowboard this weekend at the dome. However, it's best I get back up the gym before that happens!

Goodnight x

Wedding Brain? Or too much Coke?

It's 2.25a.m and I cannot sleep. Mr P is snoring away upstairs, but I am lying on the sofa with a brain that will not switch off! I don't like giving up and getting out of bed, but I had been lying there for over an hour and the thoughts and music swirling in my head was getting worse and unbearable! I am so tired and really need my sleep, so I hope this blogging does help!

Early this evening, or should I say last night, we went to a wedding reception for one of my work colleagues. It got us thinking about our wedding, and since we got home have been throwing ideas around for first dance songs and also a playlist and a 'do not play' list for our wedding DJ.

I think that may also have contributed to my sleepless state. I also think maybe the amount of coke I drank at the wedding reception might have something to do with it! I obviously need more Malibu in my coke for the alcohol effect to outweigh the caffeine effect!

As well as music, I have also been thinking about hair. Last time I posted about hair, I was going to grow it and have it all curled and loosely pinned up. Since then I have had it all chopped off and need to look for some new styles. This is the kind of thing I have in mind:


Later today I am going to visit my Chief Bridesmaid for lunch, and we are going to discuss bridesmaid dresses. So hopefully tonight I will have something to report on. Right now I am going to spend a few minutes on facebook before attempting to get some sleep.

Addicted to Facebook?

I don't have a particularly busy lifestyle, although I find the evenings just pass by in a blur and I don't actually seem to do anything. OK, well that's not strictly true. I spend a lot of time caught up in the addiction of facebook applications. How do you tell if you are addicted? Well it would appear that you follow in the footsteps of your Aunt and set up another profile just to get a second fairy garden! Except instead of using family members' details, you create a completely made up person! Oh dear, now I do sound like a fruit loop and maybe ought to delete it and stop this madness before it gets worse. How would I cope with 4 farms, 2 pets, another high bejeweled score to beat, and even more scrabble games? I can hardly deal with what I already have! I log on when I get home from work, for what is meant to be a quick look before tackling the housework. By the time I have collected my fairy gold, watered some plants in hope of finding wildlife and diamonds, harvested my peppers, onions and carrots, and collected eggs off the chickens, I find a whole hour has passed. I then try and beat other friends' Bejeweled scores and take my turns at scrabble, by which point it's getting late and half the evening has gone.

I want to spend more time with Mr P. I want to do more housework. I would also like to sit and make wedding stationery and complete my patchwork quilt. I need more hours in the evening, or I need to drop some apps!

It doesn't just stop at Facebook though. After I have tended to all my animals and crops, I then need to get my wedding gossip fix on the forum, followed by a catch up on the Camper forum, by which time I am still sitting in my work clothes, hungry, staring at a mountain of ironing. And I wonder why I have no time to blog!

I need to find a solution, but for now I need my bed! Goodnight.

Sharp kick up the bum and back into the world of wedding planning!!

Ok, so I am back to the blogging in the hope it will empty all my thoughts and get me a decent nights sleep. The weekend saw a mixed bag of sleep for me with 1 awful night and 1 where I slept like a log!

On Friday morning, myself and Mr P got up early, loaded up the van and headed towards Great Malvern to Vanfest, the worlds largest VW show. We arrived at a very sunny Three Counties Showground around 1.30 and smiled for our photo on the way in and started to search for a camping spot. The place was packed and we didn't really have many options! We found somewhere and set up. Later that night the noisy neighbours from hell arrived with their van parked so close they might as well have been sleeping in our awning. Then at 12.30 they decided to have a very noisy barbecue outside the awning door! Who has barbecues at that time of night? It's just not right! I managed to get them to lower the noise only to discover that 2 rows back a small party was going on between 4 vans! Grrrrr!! Family camping + noisy people = a not happy me! Luckily a call to the 24 hr security at 1.45 put a stop to their gathering and I did manage to get some sleep till next door awoke at 8!

Rude people aside, we had a lovely weekend, and the weather was more than we could hope for. We saw many vans and bought some bits and pieces for Bella. We are definitely up for going again next year, where hopefully I will be entering in the 'Cooking in a Camper' Competition!

So you are probably wondering what all that has to do with the title - well, that actually comes from last night's weird sleep! I think it was possibly a combination of : a) Gavin & Stacey's wedding that was on TV last night, b) Mr P telling me how many days we had till the wedding, and c) The realisation of how much we have to do between now and the wedding. Last night I had a 'wedding nightmare'. I will try and keep it short - basically it was the morning of the wedding and the flowers arrived, just all loose in a box! Then I started to realise that there were things I had not bought, such as the flowergirl's dress and shoes. It was then that my Chief Bridesmaid remembered she hadn't made the bridesmaid dresses!! I thought she was joking but when I looked in my wardrobe, there was the fabric all wrapped up in the bag. On top of the wardrobe was the box full of half finished favour boxes and invites! To top it all off, there was no sign of my dress, I guess that was still in the shop too! So basically, it was the wedding day and I was at the planning stage I am at now!! So the dream, although scary, has actually given me the kick up the bum I needed to get back into the planning.

My plans for this weekend - meet with C my Chief Bridesmaid to get the dresses started, and my plans for the rest of this week - to do some more stationery.

Will be back soon with pictures of wedding stuff, for now I leave you with some pictures from the weekend. Goodnight x

Lazy Blogger Returns............

Well so much for blogging every night, I can't believe it's been over a month since I even looked at my blog, let alone posted.

In the last couple of weeks, my sleepless nights have got worse, and so I need to do something about it. This morning on the BBC breakfast programme, they were talking about how not only lack of sleep is bad for your health, but also bad for relationships, due to feeling grouchy. I can vouch for this as I have been increasingly snappy towards my Mr P, and I am now feeling like we can't carry on like this.

I also need to return to regular blogging because with 11 months till the big day, there is a lot of planning going on and trying to report on over a months worth is quite daunting!

11 months - wow how quick did that come round? Well, August the 7th came and went, and we sent out our save the date magnets, for which we had many lovely comments. So thank you again to Prettywild for those. August also brought a drastic change to my wedding look. To completely wipe out the plans from my earlier hair post, I had my hair chopped off to a short bob. A big change, but definitely more me.

August also saw myself and C my maid of honour take a train to London to buy some fabric for the bridesmaids dresses and the men's ties. We found some gorgeous silk dupion in the absolute perfect shade. I can't wait to see everything all made up.

For the rest of August we didn't get that much wedding planning done. Mr P's daughter was here for the school holidays, so a lot of time was spent with her. We had a day out in London, seeing the landmarks and visiting the aquarium, and we went camping together too. We took her home the week before bank holiday and treated ourselves to a night in a nice hotel, and visited Wookey Hole on the way home.

I will leave you with photos of our August. Goodnight.




P.S. I won't be blogging till Sunday evening as we are off to Vanfest

Back to the Plans

After going to a friend's wedding reception a couple of weeks ago, I have been back in the mood to plan my own wedding. I don't think I have never been out of the planning mood, just haven't really had a lot to do. Also I can't help thinking the last 8 months of doing very little, may have been the calm before the storm! Next week we will be at the 1 year mark, no more saying we get married August 7th next year, it will just be August 7th, and I have a feeling that after next week, time will fly quicker than ever!

This weekend gone was quite productive as far as wedding planning goes. On Saturday I met up with my cheif bridesmaid, and we headed into London to choose and buy the fabric for the bridesmaid dresses. Mr P and I made the decision on Friday evening, to have the cravats made from the same fabric so they would be a perfect match. After looking round a couple of unsuitable shops, where the fabric was overpriced, and the staff rude and pushy, we found a shop that had just what we wanted. At the weekend I will try and find time to photograph it outside in the sunshine to post on here. Hopefully I can get the same effect the man in the shop did. He took the green silk, and some ivory silk and put them outside to show them together in the daylight, to show how the bridesmaids dresses will look next to my dress. For a few seconds I could picture myself in the church yard with my bridesmaids, standing in the sun!!

When I returned home I was really motivated to get wedding things done. So I spent the evening writing the envelopes for the save the dates. Now I just have to control myself to keep them in the box until next week when we can send them out!

Sunday was spent looking for hairstyles. My aim was to create a mood board with lots of different styles to inspire myself and the bridesmaids. I do seem to have collected many very similar styles, which fortunately 2 out of 3 bridesmaids love. Just need to see if the third has the same taste now! Right, that was my short but long awaited entry tonight.

Tomorrow I will share my confetti cone ideas, but for now I will leave you with some hair pictures.

Goodnight x

Photos from www.projectwedding.com

Garden Update

Here are some photos of the things we have growing in the garden right now. The strawberries are still growing too, but not as much as we would like. There are some potatoes that will be ready soon, and some brussel sprouts that are growing nicely. We have recently purchased some agricultural land at the back of our house, so next year will be able to grow loads of things in raised beds.

Peppers

Cherry Tomatoes

288 Steps

That's how many steps I climbed on Sunday afternoon, and my legs are still aching! As Sunday was Father's Day, we invited Mr P's parents to join us for a barbecue, followed by a trip to Ely Cathedral and a tour of The West Tower.

I was slightly worried as I have had issues with heights in the past, and I was scared I would get to the top and want to go straight back down. However, there was no need to worry, as I loved it, and the views were absolutely amazing.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

Father's Day

This morning I am up bright and early because it is Father's Day. Today we have Mr P's family coming over for a barbecue, so I want to get the house clean and tidy, and also start getting the food prepared before they come.

I also want to surprise Mr P for Father's Day. I know we have no children together yet, but with his daughter living so far away, I feel he misses out on this day. Although he would never say it, I know this makes him sad. So I have bought him some lovely balloons, kind of arranged by his daughter too over Facebook chat. This is the surprise I was sorting out yesterday for him.

The other surprise, which I will get on with when I finish typing, will be bacon sandwich and cup of tea in bed. That's if he doesn't get up first!


Yesterday I went to Norwich to meet some wedding forum people for the first time, and I have to say that I did have a really nice time. It's always weird meeting people who you have been speaking to online, as you feel you do know them, but still don't know exactly what to expect! All the ladies I met were lovely, and now I can't wait for the next meet. I think I may organise another one for September time in Cambridge.

Right, I better go and get this bacon sandwich cooked, and then on with the housework.

Bye for now

Lazy Start

Why is it when you have lots to do, and a busy day, that you can't get motivated to do anything? That's me this morning. Here I am blogging, when I should be in the shower, getting ready to go into town. The annoying thing is that I don't actually need to do much in town, just need to do it alone and before Mr P thinks about coming into town too. Otherwise the whole surprise may be ruined. Now I probably have you wanting to know what the surprise is. Well obviously I can't reveal that yet as Mr P might be reading too. However, all will be revealed soon.

After my trip into town, I am going to the station to start my trip to Norwich. I will be joined there by a fellow hitcher (wedding forum term), and we will make our journey to meet other hitchers. I am hoping the sun comes out and it's a lovely day for it. Right now I am wondering what to wear. I don't want to be too cold right now, but obviously if and when the sun comes out later, I don't want to roast!

Well I suppose I better go and sort it all out. need to shower, find suitable clothing, and sort out the surprise. I will be back later to report on the fabulous day. Until then, goodbye.

New Life, New Creations & New People

Let's start with new life. Growing your own veg seems to have become very popular this year. Loads of people are doing it, and it doesn't matter what size garden you have, as there is always room for something. In our small garden we have pots containing new potatoes, dwarf beans, strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, and a variety of herbs. It's really exciting watching them grow, and last weekend saw the start of the strawberries and the cherry tomatoes.




New creations are the 24 favour boxes we sat and made this evening. I know what a lot of people think, that we have over a year till the wedding, but who wants to sit and make over 100 favour boxes, 70 invitations, 70 order of service sheets, 65 place cards, and other stationery, all in one night? Not me! 24 boxes was enough for one sitting. By spreading it out I am hoping I don't become bored of making stationery.


Finally we get to new people. Tomorrow I am going to be meeting more new people from the world of the wedding forum. I am really looking forward to it, although also a little nervous. Believe it or not I can be shy sometimes and a little timid around new people. I am not Zippy all the time!

Goodnight

Big Brother = Big Pile of Rubbish!!

So why is that I keep watching it? It's not like I turn over especially to watch it or anything. If there was something else on then I would happily give it a miss, but for some reason there seems to be nothing on the other channels worth watching at that time. It also seems that the programme shown before it, is something we want to watch, and then the TV just doesn't get turned over.

10 years ago when Big Brother first came on to our screens, I didn't really have any interest in watching it. However, like most of the population, I started watching it when Nasty Nick was evidted from the house. After that I was hooked, and really enjoyed watching it. As someone who has a habit of people watching, I really liked seeing the different personalities and loved being able to watch someone 24/7.

The few years that followed were quite good too, with some quite memorable characters. Now, it just seems that they fill the house with the biggest idiots ever. Take this years selection for example, I can probably only think of a few people who seem normal. Like I said, I don't know why I watch it. Half of the people in the house make me so cross that I have to shout at the TV. Tonight I was getting agitated with Marcus, he is just a big bully who loves the sound of his own voice. I actually felt sorry for Sree, even though he is weird too, he doesn't deserve to be bullied by the others the way he has been. The other people who annoy me are Siavash and Cairon. I also think Halfwit and Angel are very weird people.

Who will win? At this stage I have no idea. There isn't really anyone who stands out as being a favourite, although I do quite like Charlie. Do I really care though? How long will I still be watching it for? I suppose it all depends on how long it takes for another channel to put something decent on at 10pm.

Goodnight

Plush You!

Following on with my creative spell, I decided I fancied making some quirky plush toys. So on Sunday evening I started searching for a book to show me how. After half an hour on Amazon I decided on 2 books:

and

I then for some reason decided to google 'Plush You!' and realised that there is a whole website, with flickr album and blog. I will post links on the right to share these, and as soon as I start stitching I will share the photos too.

Kitchen Update

Ok, so I know I have been a lazy blogger, but looking back over past posts, I have noticed a lot of things I have not updated. One of these is the kitchen story.

Well the good news is that we have found a kitchen we love, the bad news is that it's double the money we are getting from my Dad. The other bad news is that the amount of pounds we get for the Euros is dropping daily, so we need to hurry up and buy it soon.

Returning to Blogging

After another sleepless night of tossing and turning, I have decided I need to return to blogging regularly. I don't really know what I will be writing about, but I am sure I can find something. It's not very often I'm lost for words!

So watch this space for more of my stories and thoughts.

Late Night again!

Another late night. Not good when you have a lot on at work and the heat in the office already makes you want to sleep at your desk. Especially not good when you had to get up earlier than usual and therefore have had a long day. What if you are not tired though? What then? I guess that's why I am here, writing my blog, sending everyone else to sleep but myself. That's assuming people do actually read my blog. I know of 4 people who do, and my profile has had 140 views. So either each of those people have looked 35 times, which is possible, or there are others who come here and read my late night ramblings!

Today I got up 40 minutes earlier than normal. Not out of choice, but because of our stupid electric. Or the village's stupid electric. It all started as usual with the alarm going off at 7am and Mr P getting up and heading for the bathroom. At this point I am usually hitting the snooze button and dozing on and off till 8.45. Not this morning. Within minutes of Mr P getting up, I awoke with a sense that something was wrong. Like that feeling when the alarm doesn't go off and you wake up with 10 minutes before you need to leave the house. Turning to look at the time I realised the electric had gone off. Luckily it was only 10 past 7, and I hadn't overslept. No extra sleep for me though as the we soon realised that there was no hot water, and I wanted to wash my hair. So there we are in the kitchen at 7.15 boiling pans of water on the gas hob. It makes you realise how much we take having electric for granted, and how much we use it for. It's just a good job it was bright and sunny this morning. I don't ever want to do that on a winter morning.

Luckily the electric came back on at around 7.30. Just as I had my head over the sink with Mr P washing my hair. Just in time, as I hate not being able to wash my hair properly, and what would I have done without my hair dryer and straighteners. I'm not sure I could have gone to work looking a mess!

Tomorrow, or should i say later this morning, I hope to wake up to a normal morning, with my usual routine.

Just quickly before I go to bed, I have to share the fact that my patchwork quilt is getting bigger every day, and some pretty new retro fabric arrived today. Tomorrow evening I will take a photo of it to put on here. As from tomorrow I will be taking all the quilt photos on the bed so it's easier to see it grow into full double quilt size.

Night x

Clueless!

That is what I am tonight. Clueless! My mind has gone completely blank and I have no idea what to write about! I did think about not blogging at all tonight, but then I would risk having the sleep problems I had when I skipped it last week. With a busy week at work ahead I could do with all the sleep I can get. It's annoying really, as I know that as soon as I switch the light off, my head will be filled with thoughts on anything and everything.

So what do I write about? I have already talked about half of my weekend, and today wasn't all that exciting either. We went in search of our kitchen, the new kitchen we are having fitted in October. The new kitchen that not only my Dad is coming over from France to fit, but is also buying it for us as a wedding present. It's the biggest and most generous present I have ever been given, so as you can imagine I am very touched, and also very excited.

So this morning we got up and headed into Cambridge with all Mr P's drawings and measurements of the kitchen, ready to get quotes. First was B&Q where we found the kitchen we had already chosen in the brochure. However, we were unable to get a quote as apparently you need to make an appointment for this. The lady we spoke to was very helpful though and we got one booked for next week. We then headed up the road to Homebase where we saw the other kitchen we like. It's actually almost identical to the one in B&Q. The only difference though was that the ones in Homebase did feel like better quality. The drawers and doors seemed a lot sturdier. My only worry about Homebase is the staff. Again we were told that we need to make an appointment, but this time the boy who served us was not anywhere near as helpful as the B&Q lady. I say boy, as he did seem very young and barely out of school. He didnt seem to know a lot about kitchens at all. All I can hope is that the consultant we are booked into see has a little more knowledge. So a bit of a wasted trip really, although we now have appointments to see consultants in both stores next Saturday. Hopefully by this time next week we will know exactly how much the kitchen will cost and whether we will need to put any money of our own towards it.

I really can't think of anymore to write, so I am going to turn off and hopefully sleep.

Goodnight

Blood, Sweat and Barbecues

Not a very exciting title I know, but I don't really know what to write about tonight, so I will tell you a bit about my day. If you are still puzzled, then all 3 of the things mentioned in the title were part of my day.

It's been another scorching hot day, if this is what the weather people have predicted for us this summer, then I am certainly looking forward to it. I do like the sun, although I don't seem to be able to sit in it for very long. It can make me feel really drowsy and a little ill. Therefore it's not unusual for me to split a hot day between being outdoors and indoors, hence the reason my legs resemble bottles of milk.

One thing I do love about sunny days though is being able to cook and eat outside. I love a barbecue, although I do prefer to be the one cooking it. Perhaps it's the control freak within me, perhaps its the hostess. Who knows. All I know is that I love to cook on barbecues. This weekend is the second weekend that we have been using the new gas barbecue. Deciding that Mr P's barbecue was not large enough for me, I took advantage of the Argos half price sale and treated us to a new one. I do admit that it is slightly larger than I was expecting, and I may go and hide at the end of the summer when Mr P is trying to squeeze it into the already quite full shed.

So today, being sunny, we decided to put the barbecue to good use again, and cooked our dinner outside, with the help of Ainsley Harriet and his Barbecue Bible. This is quite possibly one of the best cookery books I own. We had a feast of chicken, burgers and sausages with potatoes, asparagus and caramelised red onions. Which brings us to the blood. During the slicing of the onions, I very nearly sliced the end of my finger off. The sight of blood doesn't usually bother me, but this did leave me a little shaky and in need of a sit down. Luckily a plaster seems to have sorted it out, so not as bad as it initially looked.

Mr P certainly has his hands full with me. Earlier he told me that I am an accident waiting to happen. I must admit I can be a little clumsy at times. Our other incident today, or should I say mine, was nearly causing a garden fire. For ease of cleaning out the drip tray on the barbecue, I thought it a good idea to fill it with cat litter. I have done this before on a previous barbecue and it makes clearing up much easier. However, when I went to purchase the litter, they were all perfumed and the thought of this near the food wasn't good. So I decided to buy the wood based one. What was I thinking? Last week it was fine, but today as it got hot and the fat kept dripping into it, it started to burn, and a small fire started. Ooops!! Luckily Mr P came out and sorted that one out too! I really need to start being more careful.

So that was my day. Sorry it's been long and not very exciting. We are off to look at kitchens tomorrow, so no doubt will be using that as another boring topic tomorrow night. But for now, sleep. Goodnight.

Early Riser

It's very unusual for me to be up at this time on a Saturday morning, especially to be up and awake, so I thought I would post quickly while I have my coffee.

The reason for such an early start, is wanting to get into town before it gets too busy, so we don't have to drive around 3 car parks to get a space, so we don't have to shuffle along the pavement to get from shop to shop, and also because the craft shop I want to visit is extremely busy on a Saturday, and I want to be able to look properly at things.

I then would like to come home and clean the house from top to bottom. Boring I know, but decorating leaves the house in a tip, covered in dust with stuff everywhere, and it hasn't had a proper clean since we started.

Hopefully I can be speedy and get finished by lunchtime, as I hope to sit down all afternoon and work on some craft projects. It's been a long time since I have sat and made things all day. I've not felt the excitement of creating something for some time now. My crafty plans for today include embellishing some vest tops, possibly starting some patchwork, and then hopefully doing a few wedding bits and bobs that include finishing the place cards, decorating some favour boxes and maybe even starting on the invites.

Then tonight I can take photos of all my creations and share them on here.

Bye for now

Remember Me?

Remember me? I'm the naughty blogger who has been missing for weeks. Well not so much missing, but more that I haven't been bothered to blog, which sounds really bad now I am writing it down! I suppose that some days I have been busy though, and I have been sleeping a lot better lately, which is good. I have also been reading quite a lot. I think that helps me sleep too sometimes.

So, I suppose I better fill you in on what has been going on in my life since I last blogged. That's if I can remember everything, it's been so long. The last time I posted was just before the bank holiday weekend, right after buying my wedding shoes which I do love lots. So much, that I asked the bridesmaids if they would like matching pairs, so now I have 4 more pairs to order. 3 bridesmaids, but one with feet that could grow over the next year.

Bank Holiday weekend was spent at home finishing the decorating, and shopping in Homebase for laminate flooring. We came up with the bright idea of saving money and doing it ourselves, all I can say is Never Again! It was really hard work, and the spacers that mark the gap round the edge kept moving, making it really difficult. Although I would never do it again, it was well worth putting the effort in as it looks fab.

The following weekend was spent shopping for new clothes with my birthday money, which was given to me 2 days early. 4 hours on Saturday and another 5 on Sunday! I must be crazy! It was hard work, as I have no confidence when shopping, especially if on my own like I was on Saturday. I always end up buying the same things, as I get scared to try new things, in the fear they won't suit me. I spend ages looking at what other people are wearing, envying their style and wishing I looked as nice as them. When really there is no reason why I can't. So on Sunday, with help from a friend I learnt to layer and accessorise, and it was good. I now believe that I can make several outfits from what I already have in my wardrobe, and believe that maybe I don't always need to buy new clothes, just new accessories from time to time.

'Remember Me?' is also the title of one of the books I have just finished reading. It's the story of a woman who has an accident, hits her head, gets amnesia, and has forgotten the last 3 years of her life. She doesn't remember getting married, she doesn't even remember meeting him. I really enjoyed the book, but it scared me slightly, and made me think where I would be if I woke up and my memory was back 3 years ago! Not in a place I would like to be, and I wouldn't remember meeting Mr Perfect, or getting engaged, or meeting any of my lovely hitched friends. It would be really weird and really scary. Maybe I shouldn't read, as it causes me to think about things too much!

Well I think that just about brings us up to date, apart from mentioning that it was my birthday on Monday, as most people reading this probably know. Oh, and that a huge barbecue arrived on Tuesday and I am really looking forward to building it, although a little worried that it wont fit in Mr P's new shed. Oh, and I should add that the weather forecast is really shocking for this weekend and next, so we probably wont be using it anytime soon.

Plans for this weekend:

Putting the barbecue together
Making some wedding stationery
Cleaning the house from top to bottom as it's really messy from decorating
Going to town to buy friend's birthday present and bits to embellish some tops
Embellishing some tops
and going to Ikea to choose some new living room furniture

The Apprentice & The Notebook

So I guess you are thinking the 2 above mentioned delights of tonight's TV are a strange combination, but I love them both in completely different ways.

First up is the apprentice, although I don't know how much I will write about it, as I currently have eyes full of tears from The Notebook. I'm not going to explain what The Apprentice is about as I am sure everyone knows what it is. On tonight's show, the 2 teams were given a new breakfast cereal, and they had to give it a brand, design the packaging, create a commercial and pitch it to the client. The one team cam up with this fantastic idea, they decided the cereal looked like treasure, and called them 'Treasure Flakes', they created the character of a Parrot Pirate for the branding, and produced a good box, jingle and commercial to go with it.

The other team, on the other hand were absolutely shocking! They created this character called 'Pants Man' like a superhero with his pants over his clothes, and came up with the ridiculous idea that with their jingle make kids put their pants on the right way. Erm...hello...what sort of mixed message is that? Clearly these people have absolutely no idea whatsoever. I can't believe that these people, who are already employed in better positions than myself, and probably earning a lot more too, are on a game show style interview to win a 1 million pounds salary job. None of them have any common sense, yes they can talk the talk, and yes they may have got some degree, but most of them lack basic knowledge and life skills.

As much as I love the programme, I do sometimes sit on my sofa wanting to shout at the contestants through the TV!

After The Apprentice had finished, it was back to channel flicking to try and find something to watch before bed. I do like having Sky, but all those extra channels, and it can still be difficult finding something decent to watch!

Whilst flicking through, I saw The Notebook was showing on Film 4. Having seen this film a few times, I knew what emotions it would bring, but decided as it was already halfway through, I would watch it anyway.

For anyone who has not seen this film, this may be a good place to stop reading! For those who have, I hope you will agree with what I have to say.

This film is the story of Ally and Noah who meet one summer and fall in love, they have a summer romance. During this time, Noah shows Ally a derelict house he wants to but and renovate for her. However, her family disapprove, as he comes from a poor family, and they want better for her. At the end of the summer they take her away, and her mother hides all the letters that Noah writes to her. Time passes by and Noah throws all his emotions into the house and works day and night to make it into a beautiful home. Ally meets someone else, they get engaged and are happy until she opens the paper one day and sees the house and Noah standing proud next to it. She realises that maybe she isn't as happy as she should be and goes back to see Noah.

I feel that this is the story of what real love is and should be. When I first watched this film, I was single, and it made me feel that I wanted the love that Noah and Ally have. The love they have is unconditional, it is sweet and passionate, gentle but strong at the same time.

The first time I saw this I cried from start to finish, I cried at the happy romantic parts, I cried at the sad parts. I just sobbed! It drained me emotionally! At first I thought maybe it was because I was single, and I wanted my own Noah, someone to make me laugh, someone to do all those romantic things he does, just someone to be there for me, for company, for cuddles, for love. However, when I watched this again with Mr P, I cried again, not all the way through like before, but at certain points, mainly the parts where they are parted or you are led to believe they will be parted. I put this down to being in a new relationship, a perfect relationship. I had found my Noah and didn't want to lose him, and could relate to the hurt the characters were feeling.

After watching it again tonight, and noting the parts in which I cried like a baby, I think there is more to it. Throughout the film, the story flashes to a nursing home where an elderly man is telling the story to an elderly lady. We later find out that this couple are an elderly Noah and Ally. He is still very much in love with her, but Ally has Alzheimer's, and doesn't know who he is anymore. It becomes very clear, that he often tells her this story, and every now and then she remembers, the real Ally returns, only for a few minutes, but long enough to see that the love has never faded between them. The tears come when, after a few minutes, Ally forgets who and where she is again and pushes Noah away. The nursing staff have to come and sedate her. Noah is left distraught.

I think this hits home for me, as my Grandma suffered from Alzheimer's. My Grandad cared for her for as long as he could, but in the end, she had to go into a nursing home. He visited her every day, where he would sit with her, hold her hand, and talk to her. In the end, she didn't know who he was, but still, as much as it must have hurt him, he stayed strong and kept putting himself through it every day, just to be at her side.

Whilst watching that particular part of the film tonight, for the first time, I thought, that could be me. One day, that could be me, what if it is hereditary? What if I have to put Mr P through that daily hurt, seeing the love of his life deteriorate like that? Who knows what the future might bring. I suppose all we can do is live life to the full now, make the most of what we have and never take anything for granted.

Blank Mind!

Now I am very aware of people reading my blog, I feel obliged to update regularly. As I did not post yesterday, I feel a new post is much needed. However, my mind is completely blank, and I don't really know what to say. How can a chatterbox like me be speechless?

So, I am going to finish telling you about the weekend. Sunday was another day spent decorating. We started the day by exchanging our chocolate, I had my chocolate bunny, and Mr P had his Cadbury's Egg. OK, so I was still a little miffed at not having a milkybar cow, but still, there is always next year. Also, Mr P is very slow at eating chocolate, so I get to share his when all mine has gone!

We finally finished the painting on Sunday afternoon, well the walls anyway, we still have the woodwork to do this next weekend. I finally managed to convince Mr P to spend some money on furniture and accessories for our newly decorated living room. Although, we now can't find some units we like! The only ones we really like are well over budget, so I guess next Sunday's schedule may involve a trip to Ikea.

The good news is that we did choose some curtains in the end. We settled on some linen curtains from Next, which are cream with green stripes at the top. The only problem is that I will need to take them up as they are far too long. Who decides on Standard curtain lengths? Is there such a thing as standard windows? I always thought our windows were pretty standard, although it turns out that 137cm curtains are 3 cm too short! So, hopefully the curtains will arrive by next weekend and I will be spending Sunday afternoon cutting 43cm off a pair of curtains! Good job they are plain!

Before we went curtain shopping, I decided to check out the local car boot sale. I haven't been to one for a long time, and I have this money making eBay scheme up my sleeve. So, at 7.30 on Bank Holiday Monday, I was dragging myself out of bed and into the shower, covering my face in minimum make up, just enough to look half decent, and pouring coffee down my neck. Mr P could not be risen from the land of sleep, so I was 'car booting' alone. Good job really, as I don't think it was worth leaving the house for. 2 rows of cars, and tables full of rubbish, well mostly rubbish. Do people actually buy these things? OK, I have been known to buy toys, games and books from these places, and I can understand people buying children's clothes, but why would someone want to buy someone else's well worn trainers? Or used bed sheets? Old raincoat anyone? Then there are the things you can't believe people actually buy in the first place, these gimmicky things that people buy, use once and then try and flog to some other mug on a Sunday morning. The most common things are pieces of home exercise equipment. Pedals that you use in front of the TV while sitting down, thigh exercisers, mini steppers, and other useless pieces that people buy because they think exercising at home will be easier than going to the gym.
However, all this useless tat does not stop me from looking forward to getting up early next Sunday for the next car boot sale. We also have our own collection of rubbish to take along to one this summer.

OK, so my mind obviously wasn't as empty as I originally thought, and I did find something to talk about. So it wasn't exactly interesting, but it kept you entertained for 5 minutes.

Night x

Easter Eggs & More Decorating

So, today is the 2nd day of the long Easter weekend, and there was more decorating to be done. The bright and early didn't turn out to be so early, more like 9, and it wasn't very bright either. Typical British Easter weather! Why is it that when we get a few days off work, the weather is rubbish? All I can say is that I am quite pleased we chose decorating this weekend, as it's definitely staying in weather. All those people on facebook who are having or going to Easter barbecues must be mad! We did choose to leave the house this morning, for our usual Saturday trip into town to visit the bank and have a general nosy around the shops. This weekend was a quick trip, as we wanted to return to the decorating.

So, it was off to the bank to pay some bills and WHSmith to get my monthly fix of wedding magazines. I usually try and stick to just the one, and settle for 'Perfect Wedding', but sometimes, around mid month, I get a craving for more, like I did today, and end up buying more.

While on the subject of cravings, today I was really fancying some chocolate. Now, despite the discussion with Mr P earlier in the week, the one where he suggested I have a book instead of an Easter egg, I decided to go with the chocolate. OK, I know it only lasts 2 minutes, whereas a book would last 2 days, but the thought of Easter Sunday without an Easter egg would be like Christmas dinner without the crackers. So we headed to Tesco, where I wasn't very optimistic about finding something. What is it with Tesco at Easter? I know Saturdays are busy anyway, but today it was busier than ever, people loading their trolleys full like the shops might never be open again! I suspect Tesco may be closed tomorrow, but then it will be open again on Monday, surely people don't need to shop like it's the end of the world. Do they?

The aisle with the Easter Eggs was the busiest, full of people with loaded trolleys, trying to grab the best eggs before they all sell out. What I don't understand, is that every year on the weekend of Easter, the only eggs left are the Cadbury's Cream Egg ones and the Cadbury's Caramel. Hundreds of them, and nobody wanting to buy them, or being forced to, so that they don't return home empty handed. You'd think the supermarkets would learn by now to buy less of these eggs and more of the ones that people actually like.

I had my heart set on a Lindt gold bunny as I have never had one before. £3.99 just for a gold bunny! I could have probably had a whole box of Lindt chocolates for the same price! Mr P treated me though as he knew how much I wanted one, while he settled for a Cadbury's Caramel egg, I suppose someone does like them after all. I will have to wait till next year for my Milkybar cow though, as they were all gone. Have a Happy Easter everyone.

Decisions and Decorating

It's Easter weekend, which means 4 days off work, yippee!!

So, this weekend, after about a year of talking about it, we are finally decorating the living room. For the last 6 weeks, or possibly more, we have had rectangles of painted paper in various shades of brown and white, stuck all over our walls. We eventually decided on 'Timeless' for the main walls of the living room, and 'muddy puddle' to go up the stairs that are open to the living room.

For the last few days we have been filling holes and sanding bumps, washing the walls and hoovering up cobwebs. It has to be the worst part of decorating, all that hard work to prepare everything before you can even get the paint out.

So, this morning I was up bright and early covering all the furniture with old sheets and throws, and sent Mr P off to Homebase to buy some new curtain poles. See, the problem with re-decorating is that it doesn't just stop with the paint. Mr P bought this house 4 yrs ago and has not touched the living room at all. I moved in 18 months ago with my cheap 'make do' furniture and since then we have lived together, spending every evening in a room with yellow walls, brown carpet, mustard colour curtains and a mixture of non-matching furniture.

The problem with me is that I cannot wait for anything. When I want something, I want it now! So as you can imagine, 18 months of waiting makes me want to go out and buy all the new things now. There is just one thing getting in the way, and that is the fact that we are saving for the wedding. So the choice is that we either wait for these things, live with the things we don't like, and run the risk of waiting another 18 months to have it all. Or we dip into the savings, buy it, and run the risk of not having enough money for the wedding. Then there is the temptation to pull out my shiny new pink Virgin card, except that's not what it's for!

I think I have won the battle for new curtains, and hopefully we will be spending some of Monday shopping for them, but this is where the decisions come in. What colour do we get?

OK, so the walls are sort of white, with one being a light brown. The sofa, which is probably the only piece of furniture we are keeping, is dark brown. I kind of like the light and airy look, and actually fancy a colour rather than just brown/beige/cream. The choices are duck egg blue or light green, both look great with chocolate and beige colours, but which one? I have looked at so many curtains online tonight, that I am more confused than ever!

Any suggestions would be most welcome!

In the meantime, it's more decorating for us. So far, the ceiling and coving is done, and the white walls have had their first coat. Tomorrow, it will be 2 more coats before starting on the stairs.

So it's off to bed for me, ready for another bright and early start, and it's wake up time for you, as if you thought some of my other posts were boring, then this one's even worse!!

Goodnight x

Back at Home

OK, so I kind of neglected the blogging at the weekend. Doing it on word didn't quite feel the same, although it did help me to sleep. Well, sort of! I can't exactly say I had the best 3 night's sleep. For starters it was a smaller bed than we have at home, or at least it felt smaller. I always seem to have strange dreams in strange beds, especially when I am staying near the sea! It must be the sea air.
One of the nights I dreamt I broke my ankle and was hobbling round on crutches, but could still drive!! Another, I fell from down some concrete steps from top to bottom. Scary!

So now I am back at home, in my own bed, with my laptop that is connected to the Internet, blogging properly.

You are probably wondering about the rest of the weekend? Well, on Sunday we visited Bodmin Jail, which is apparently really haunted. It was very interesting, and although we didn't see any ghosts, I got some great pictures of the jail.



We had lunch at McDonalds, it was my first Maccy D's in months, mmmm chicken select meal with banana milkshake, pure naughtiness, but very tasty!

The day was finished off with a trip to Looe, mainly for the arcades, but managed to snap this lovely picture on the way back to the car park.




After dinner I settled on the sofa to read my book, which I ended up finishing that night. I was reading Sophie Kinsella's 'Shopaholic & baby' the last in the shopaholic series, which I was kind of sad about finishing. I might just have to read them all again. I love her books. Next on the list is 'Remember Me?', but I am reading Dorothy Koomson's 'Goodnight Beautiful' first.

Well that was it for the weekend. Monday was spent mostly on the A30, M5, M42, M6 and A14. Not the most exciting places to be.

The highlight of the day was getting home to the post! I'm not joking. I had received my new shiny pink Virgin credit card which means I can transfer my other credit card bills and finally get them all paid off. My other exciting mail was the sample pack of save the date cards from Prettywild. Her stuff is amazing. All I was expecting was a sample of the one we had our eye on, now we have a selection of gorgeous cards and magnets to choose from. So, our task for this week is to choose a design so that I can order them.

Off to bed now to read my book. Will try and find something a little more interesting to write about tomorrow. Night x

Long weekend in Cornwall

Saturday

This may be quite a long post as I have yesterday to report on too. I made the mistake of skipping the blog writing last night and spent ages trying to get to sleep. I should have got up and got the laptop as I wrote a whole post in my head! Of course the troubled sleeping could also be due to sleeping in a strange place.

We arrived in Cornwall around half past three, and considering we didn’t leave until about ten, we didn’t do too badly. We went first to Lostwithiel to pick up the key for the bungalow and to get directions. We then went to pick up our weekend guest who was very excited to see us. After picking up a bit of shopping we headed off to our accommodation.

We arrived in Mevagissey at about six, and as we turned the corner into our street we were met with the lovely view of the sea and the bay. This is also the view we got this morning when we opened the curtains, I can honestly say it’s a view I would love to wake up with every morning.

We went for a short walk to take a look at the nearest beach, which was down about 200 steps! Getting down was fine, although I did have a few issues with the height we were at and the fact that the steps were metal and straight so the height was made even clearer! Getting back up on the other hand was hard work! All those trips to the gym didn’t make it much easier, and I honestly thought I was going to collapse at the top!

Today we got up and relaxed for a bit while having coffee and breakfast, and then we took a leisurely walk into the town. The only thing about Cornwall is all the towns are on hills, some of them very steep. Once at the bottom, we took a walk around the harbour, stopping to look at the Mevagissey museum, before heading for a wander around the shops. Although a nightmare to drive down, I love all the tiny little roads which run through these little fishing towns. I love the little shops too, quaint little gift shops full of pretty things, things I am not allowed to buy! I did make a couple of purchases, a campervan tea towel, ready to go in Bella the campervan when she has been restored, and I also bought a bookmark, and some rock for my nephews. You can’t have a holiday and not spend anything. On the way back we got an ice cream, the first of this year, before heading back up the steep hills, which took a lot longer than coming down!

This afternoon we have been watching the Grand National, and the shock of a horse which had odds of 100-1, coming first. I had bets on the horses that placed 2nd, 3rd and 4th, so that was quite exciting, and won £18.38!

This evening we went out in search for tea, and found a pub in St Austell called The Rashleigh Arms. The food was absolutely fantastic.

So now here I am in bed, still stuffed from tea, writing a post that is more like a diary entry and is probably the most boring one I have written so far!

Right, I'm not really sure what to write about tonight, but last night I wrote my blog in bed, spilling all my thoughts out before closing my eyes, and it worked! I actually went straight to sleep. No tossing and turning, no stupid ideas and thoughts going around in my head, nothing! Just head + pilllow = sleep. In fact I think I slept so well that I did not move all night. So from now on the laptop will be coming to bed! Although I am not sure what I am going to do this weekend.

Tomorrow we will be going to Cornwall for a long weekend. Mr Perfect's daughter lives there and we don't get to see her very often, so to cheer Mr P up, I arranged for us to go and see her. We are renting a cottage by the sea for the weekend so that she can come and stay with us while we are there. I am hoping it will be a relaxing weekend, a well deserved break from the stresses our jobs have thrown at us in the last few months. Also we have had the added stress over the last couple of weeks as it would seem my fiance's health is not quite as perfect as he is, so hopefully a relaxing weekend away will help take his mind away from that for now. Who knows, the slower pace and the sea air might even help lower his blood pressure.

I mentioned not knowing what to so this weekend about the sleeping. Hopefully the sea air will do it's magic. As there is no wifi in the cottage I will be unable to update this blog. However, I intend to take my laptop and wrote in word, so I can post on my return.

So tomorrow morning it will be up early so I can pack, as I have been very lazy this evening, and spent time with my addiction that is Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. Then it's off to the post office to post all the ebay stuff before we start our long journey down to Cornwall, a journey done so many times I could do it in my sleep! And on that note, my pillow calls!

Goodnight!

One man's junk is another man's treasure

This saying has been proved so true tonight for me.

How many times have we cleared out our wardrobes, filled up a bin bag and taken it down the charity shop, or worse, put it out for the bin men. For me the answer would be loads, with the charity winning every time. Well last weekend I decided that with saving for a wedding, and trying to make every penny count, I would have a go at selling my unwanted garments. It's not that I don't want to help these charities out, it's just I fancied making a cit of money for myself. Ok, maybe that sounds a little selfish, but I have taken a dislike to charity shops over the last few years. They vastly overprice people's kind donations, and I often wonder if the workers get first pick over what goes in to the shop. Also the last time I donated, I was moaned at because they had wanted to close early and there I was knocking on the door at 5.15 on a Saturday afternoon surrounded by bin bags, after a ruthless clearout. To top it off, I never even got thanked for my donation!

So last weekend I emptied my wardrobe and made a pile of the unwanted, the too small, the impulse buys, the once worns, and got Mr Perfect to take some photos. I then spent the evening listing them on ebay. Now I didn't hold out too much hope of selling anything. After all, I don't earn a lot of money and therefore can never afford to shop in the more expensive and better quality places. I would have to admit that the majority of my clothes are purchased in Tesco, Primark and New Look, with the odd Dorothy Perkins and Republic item thrown in. Occasionly I stretch to Next and Debenhams but mainly at sale times. Saying that I have had some lovely clothes from these so called 'Throw away fashion' outlets, some which have lasted well.

Maybe one day I might win the lottery or something, and be able to go out and buy expensive clothes. The question is, would I do what I always do when I have money to spend and find nothing I like? Or would I turn the labels over, see the price and put it back, even though the money was there to be spent? All I know is that I have never been one for following fashion, if I like it and it's the right price, then I buy it. I have never understood why a lot of girls buy something because a magazine promotes it as 'in'. Surely these girls have their own style and taste? Maybe I have none?

Anyway, getting back to the point, I listed a load of clothes on ebay, many were Primark or Tesco, with a few Next thrown in, and I sold all but 3 items! Ok, some of them only reached 99p or a little less, but the point was that I raised more than if I had thrown them out. The problem now is that I got such a buzz from watching them sell, that I want to sell more!

Never too old to dress up!

I'm sure every woman spent some point during their childhood dressed up in their mum's clothes, shoes and/or jewellery. There was always something exciting about putting those high heels on, or wearing that hat and parading in front of the mirror. For me, it was rollers! My mum had a big tin of hair rollers that she kept in the drawer. For some reason I loved playing with them, trying to put them in my hair. I never actually remember seeing my mum with them in, but somehow playing with them made me feel very grown up.

Tonight I have been helping one of my real forum friends (as mentioned in previous post) choose her bridal accessories. So, armed with some borrowed tiaras and veils from work I arrived at her house as excited as a child getting ready to put the heels on! As she opened the door, it was a relief to see she was just as excited, maybe even more so!

The result of my outing was that she has now chosen the tiara and veil she wants, which I have to say did look very nice on her.

So that was my night, grown women having a coffee and dressing up in bridal accessories. It just goes to show that you are never too old to play dressing up!

Forums and Friendships

One of the first things I recommend to anyone planning a wedding would be to join a wedding forum. Now, a lot of people may think it's quite nerdy and some may think it's weird, but it's the best thing I ever did.

For example, most friends and family members will get excited when you tell them about your dress or accessories, but how many will get excited when you order your favour boxes or choose your menus? This is where the forum comes in, you can share all these details and people will listen, and comment, and even get excited! You will no longer have to bore your work colleagues and even husband to be with all these litte details. Ok, some people may not be bored, but the majority of those who ask how the wedding planning is going, probably just want a quick answer such as 'good thanks'. The other good thing about a forum is the opinions and advice that can be gained from other people.

There is also the social factor, not all the chat that goes on is about weddings, and in a strange way you begin to build virtual friendships with these people you may never get to meet in the real world. You are with them throughout their wedding planning, through the ups and the downs, and when they get to their big day, you get excited for them and even look outside at the weather and think of them!

I have been lucky, not only have I built some of these virtual friendships but have been lucky to start building real friendships with a couple of these people. One of them lives nearby and our paths would probably have never crossed had we not both been members of this forum. I have not only had the opportunity to read about her wedding plans but to help in a small part of it too, and am looking forward to attending her evening reception later this year. My other real forum friend (as opposed to the virtual forum friends), I talk to online nearly every night, I have even travelled just to meet her. They have both helped me out with my wedding planning and with unrelated problems too, and I feel very honoured to have met them both.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog! I have never written one before, but I guess it will be like writing a diary. I kept loads of those during my teenage years, although I only kept up the writing for a few weeks each time. Lets hope I keep this up a bit longer and that the content is a little more interesting and stretches a little further than playground fallouts and teenage crushes!! This will be a complete set of ramblings about my life, my wedding planning and my general thoughts. Quite often I lie awake at night, unable to sleep, with millions of thoughts floating around in my head. I'm hoping by spilling them out on here, I might start getting a decent nights sleep every now and then!

Hope you don't get bored reading!

This time last year I was newly engaged to the perfect man, something I never thought would happen. I always thought I would be the girl stuck with the second choice man, the not quite perfect, the type you can never completely be yourself with. I never actually fully believed Mr Perfect existed. As I found out, he does, and life with him is perfect, I can be myself all the time, not just some of it. I can have pyjama days and make up free days, I can sing badly and laugh loudly and all the time be accepted as normal. As I said - Life is perfect!

So, over the last year we have been slowly starting to plan our big day. We have booked a beautiful church, a lovely reception venue, a pricey but fantastic photographer, and I have ordered the dress of my dreams. So basically we have started spending money on what will be one of the biggest purchases of our lives - a wedding - stick the word in front of anything and you can stick an extra zero on the end of the price tag!

During the next 16 months (if I haven't already bored you), you will be able to follow our planning which will (hopefully) end in the perfect day - THE BIG DAY!