Mmmmm blissful:

After wanting The Dottie Angel book for so long, i finally saved up and gave in. This book is pricy for the size of it, but i have to say, if you are a fan of Tif and her blog then you have to get this book, it will be worth every penny!!!

I read the whole book, whilst here for a spa weekend: 

On the way back to see my boys, i noticed that the inside of my bag had never looked so pretty. With my Dottie Angel book, my best of british glasses case and my new gorgeous bargain and very Cathesque purse from Sainsburys:

A gorgeous sunset that literally blinded me at times:

Home for cuddles

lovely!!

New post here

xx

Todays lovely things:

1) Grabbing some time to catch up on blogs and watching E! From the red carpet (at the same time!)

2) A wonderful thoughtful friend giving me a couple of trinkets that she thought i may like for my printer trays.

3) Bloomer bread, houmous and cucumber for lunch plus a kinder egg for after.

Photo challenge catch up

Inside my bathroom cabinet/ green/ night/something i ate:

New post at A year of 30.

xx

Todays lovely things:

1) A cuppa and biccies for breakfast.

2) Finding out Meryl Streep won Best Actress Oscar (Love that lady)

3) The cutest and loveliest cuddle form my littlest as he went into school today.

Happy happy happy!!

I have to share with people who will appreciate how happy i am in my life:

( A selection of Happy from Weheartit):

Todays lovely things:

1) My wonderful friend has had a little baby girl :)

2) Spring is on its way.

3) I have the most wonderful Husband and boys.

xx

My mug/crafty/Photo challenge

My Alice charity mug arrived yesterday - its so lovely!! I urge you to go and buy one, even if its as a gift for a friend. £10 goes to Alices charity.

February photo challenge:

A fave photo of me: I love this picture of me and my mum. It was on the wall in my late Nannas house (My Dads mum). I inherited it when she died. I took it out of the horrible frame and plan to reframe it. Isn't the house gorgeous? It belonged to a family member.

Where i work: At the moment i am between the dining room and the lounge. But hopefully i will get round to creating my craft room soon.

mmmm - lavender. I use a small vintage spoon to fill my lavender hearts :)

Mel from Country in the town introduced me to this: Very funny!! I actually think most of us crafters do a combination of all of these. I know i do!!

Todays photo: My shoes (I have so may shoes its ridiculous, especially as i mainly wear my skechers every day!!! Today i was off out for lunch so i wore my flat boots) These are so comfy as they are fur lined inside.

xx

Todays lovely things:

1) Lunch and a girly gossip.

2) Laughing at my youngest dancing to Cher Loyd.

3) Pink bath water!!!

The Bucket List

After reading Sians blog and her list of things to do before she is 40, i thought i really must do my own list. I have been meaning to write a bucket list (Things i want to do in my life) after watching this amazing film:

So i have started writing a list that i keep in my Wreck this journal.

I will add to it when i think of more things i want to do. I am not a dare devil, so most of my 'things' are to visit places.

My Bucket List:

1) Watch a sunrise.

2) Give an amazing surprise to someone.

3) Write a book.

4) See the Northan lights.

5) Go to Switzerland (In the summer)

6) Throw a midsummers eve party.

7) Renew vows in a religious ceremony.

8) Take salsa lessons.

9) See dolphins in the wild - i have tried this a couple of times but always fail to see them, we did see a porpoise and a minke whale though.

10) Create my dream home - i am in the process of this one.

11) Learn to crochet and knit.

12) Go to Australia  - last year i would have said i wasn't worried about visiting Australia, but now i've decided that its a got to see place!!

13) Go to Austria

14) Jump on the Do, re, me, (The sound of music) steps in Salzburg.

15) Go to the amazing Atlantis hotel in The Bahamas.

16) Eat choclates in Brugge.

17) Have a round trip romantic journey on The orient Express:

18) Tour around Canada.

19) Visit Japan.

20) See The Pyramids.

21) Go to Southern Ireland.

22) See more places in Italy: Lake Garda/Verona/ and Milan (We will be visiting these in the summer)

 23) Go to Sweden.

24) Take the boys to Centre Parks

25) Look for 'our' stars (We all have stars named after us, that can be seen in July)

26) Float in the Dead sea.

27) Go to a drive in movie:

28) See the Taj Mahal.

29) Go to Bali.

30) Go to Hawaii

31) See an Audrey Hepburn exhibition (her clothes etc)

32) I know its completely tacky - but go to Las Vegas and renew our vows in The little white chapel!!

33) Take a photography course.

34) Walk down 'Rodeo Drive Baby' - Pretty woman.

35) Go to a picnic concert.

36) See Shakespeares globe.

37) Walk around Hampton heath.

38) Stay in The Savoy:

39) Buy flowers in Columbia Road market.

40) See Hadrians wall.

41) Have afternoon tea at: Soho secret tearoom/ orangery at Kensington gardens/ La chandelier/ and bake a boo (vegan)

42) See Killer whales in the wild.

43) Make the perfect egg free victoria sponge - working on it.

44) Preform a nice deed to at least 10 strangers.

45) Find a good penpal

46) Go to the blue lagoon in iceland.

47) Go inside a volcano.

48)  Camp at a festival.

49) See the film locations in Mamma Mia:

50) Eat at Petersham nurseries.

51) Have a really messy food fight.

52) See a clairvoyant/medium.

53) Have a bonfire on a beach at night.

54) Visit the walk of fame.

55) Recieve an amazing food hamper.

56) Go to New England in The Fall.

What would be on your list?

And here are a few things i have already done that would have been on my list/ or were amazing:

- Ride an elephant.

- Feed and hold a lamb.

- Go in a submarine.

- Go to Venice and have a moonlit gondola ride.

- Raise money for various charities.

- Find my soul mate.

- Have 2 boys.

- Start a buisness.

- Write a blog.

- Find my dream home (Victorian house - door in middle)

- Visit the vatican and see the Pope.

- Learn to love myself more and truly love life.

- Have afternoon tea at The Ritz and The Savoy.

- Go to New York and see film locations such as -The friends apartment, The seven year itch subway grate, The cosby house, Holly Golightlys building, Carrie Bradshaws building and the best of all - Tiffanys!!!! (and buy a little something whilst there)

- Ice skate in cental park.

- Visit Lapland and cross the Artic circle.

- Go to Disneyworld.

- Have lunch on the Siene.

- Stroke dolphins.

- See Manatee at Homossa river.

- Go on an airboat on the everglades.

- Overcome my fear of dogs.

- See some amazing people in concert. Incuding Green Day, Beyonce, Tinie Tempah, and Julie Andrews.

- Make the perfect no egg carrot cake.

- See a ballet at The Royal Opera house.

- Go to a fantastic Titanic exhibition.

- Ride in a helicopter.

- Go to a truly beautiful beach (white sand and clear water)

- Become a vegetarian.

- Whisper in St Pauls.

- Throw a pot.

- Learn to meditate.

- See an amazing sky of stars (I have never seen anything like the stars we saw one night in Mauritius)

- Go in Buckingham Palace.
- Seen shooting stars/meteor shower.
- Stay at an amazing hotel.
- See an amazing Opera in Venice.

xx

Todays lovely things:

1) My Emma Bridgewater mug arriving.

2) Getting more work for Poppy and Daisy done than i hoped i would today.

3) A night out booked today for me and my man.

nice and not so nice

I loooooove this top! I bought it a while ago and wore it twice out last week. I am not really into big patterns like this. But...look....deers!! i just had to get it:

February photo challenge: 

Drink:

Something i hate to do: When i take the clothes out of the tumble dryer i pile them on top until the pile is so big, i am forced to put them away!!! Hate that job.

Handwriting: I booked my eldest sons surgery today. He has a cyst on his lip that has to be removed and will be going in under general anesthetic :(

New post at my other blog

xx

Today lovely things:

1) Last lay in before back to school tommorrow.

2) Watching Ashley Banjo's secret street crew with my eldest.

3) Caring texts.

Emma bridgewater charity mug

Yesterday when i was writing a bucket list for myself i stumbled upon the blog of Alice Pyne.

Please go and visit Alice Courageous blog and buy this gorgeous mug:

Words from Emma Bridgewater site:

Last year we were really pleased to work with 15 year old Alice Pyne, who contacted us about designing a mug as part of the “bucket list” of wishes she’d drawn up following her diagnosis of terminal cancer. The lovely mug she created featured a beach hut in Torquay where Alice had spent some happy holidays thanks to the help of the charity Torbay Holiday Helpers Network (THHN), along with her Labrador Mabel. £10 from the price of each mug was donated to this charity, and Alice has now set up a charity of her own, Alice’s Escapes, which will do work similar to THHN, providing free, relaxing holidays for seriously ill children. To celebrate this new charity, Alice has designed a sweet new mug, which has the same summery theme to her last mug, and features lots of sunshine and a sailing boat in the Cumbrian Lakes and the mountains. We will continue to donate £10 from the sale of each mug to Alice’s Escapes.

Buy yours here

xx

Whats been going on?

February photo challenge - phone: Isn't it gorgeous??!!

My third box (out of six) chocolates arrived - gosh they are yummy and oh so gorgeous!!!

Stuffing myself silly with the last of the chocolate brownie:

Having lunch at a pretty cafe:

I have become a little addicted to instagram - although it doesn't seem to be working for me today :(

Hence, why the below photo is not an instagram pic:

Photo challenge - time:

 

xx

Todays lovely things:

1)Watching Dolphin tale with the boys - lovely!

2) Ordering Dottie Angels gorgeous book.

3) Catching up on blogs.

yum yum, look what i won!

I was very excited to hear i had won Torie Jaynes Hotel Chocolat giveaway. Look what i won!!!!

I have to say even though this is a huge box, they are pretty much almost gone!

Our family are huge Hotel Chocolat fans. They make wonderful tasting chocolates and are great quality. 

Thank you so much Torie Jayne!!

xx

Todays lovely things:

1) A lie in.

2) cuddles from the boys

3) A few of the above chocolates straight after breakfast

A happy Marriage

Over the last few months i've had a few comments/emails about my marriage - so here are my tips to a happy marriage. Lets remember to keep this light hearted!! these are my opinions and opinions of others that i agree with. I do not expect you to agree. But this is how i keep my 14 year relationship strong: (I hope this post isn't too jumbled up! I may flit back and forward a little)


Having a happy marriage doesn't just happen by accident. It doesn't happen because you're "in love" or "perfect" for each other. Marriage is a partnership, and like any partnership, it takes commitment, dedication and hard work to help it to grow strong.


   The question remains, in the hassle-free no-fault divorce world, how do you stay married ― happily, that is? Terry Real, a Boston-based marriage and family therapist and author of The New Rules of Marriage: What You Need to Know to Make Love Work, suggests you try dating your husband/wife.
"It's good for your children to see you go off for the weekend and leave them at home," says Real. "It's good for them to see you going off on Friday night because it's date night, even if it's just jeans and a pizza and a movie. It's a tremendous inoculation against marriage failure down the pike to put a little time and energy into marriage all the way through."
We are very lucky to have 3 sets of main babysitters. We do go out alot. Some people may disagree with this, seeing as we have children. But most of the time we are out when the kids would be in bed anyway. And when we are not with them in the day, the boys love spending time with their grandparents. They never grumble about not being with us. Plus the boys see how happy their parents are to spend time together. We want to stay together for ourselves and for them.


A happy marriage requires more maintenance than your car.


There’s no such thing as a perfect marriage, only perfect moments.

Never Stop Dating:

It has been said that it’s the quality of time, not the quantity of time that matters. But now we know, thanks to the Marriage Masters, that it’s the quantity of quality time spent together that leads to a wonderful marriage. Whether it’s a vacation in the Bahamas, or simply spending a night at a local motel once a week, keeping the romance burning is easy: all you have to do is keep stoking the fire.


 “Love is a four-letter word spelled G-I-V-E”

‘Most people think marriage is 50/50.  It’s not. It’s 60/40. You give 60.  You take 40. And that goes for both of you.’”
 It’s always super-apparent in the best of the best marriages that both spouses have followed this philosophy. Though it’s not a difficult concept to understand — putting one another first —it’s surely a bit more difficult to practice consistently, especially with the prevailing “Me first (and second)” mentality today. “The younger generations seem to have a sort of me-me-me mentality,” says Donna Lee, married 45 years. “The great part is that the me gets everything it needs when it puts the we first.”


Join the CMAT Club :

Grandma Dorothy Manin, the inspiration for Project Everlasting with her 63 years of beautiful matrimony, formed an informal club when she turned 70 years old. She called it the CMAT club. The CMAT club stands for Can’t Miss A Thing and represents the idea that life is short, so make sure to enjoy as much as you can. The death rate for human beings hovers right around 100 percent, and is expected to remain there for … well, forever. Consider this: if the average life span is 77 years, then that means we only have 77 summers ... 77 winters ... 77 Christmas mornings ... 77 New Years, and that’s it. The Marriage Masters know this all too well. It’s easy to get caught in the day-to-day craziness of life and, in the process, take our spouses for granted. A widow named Betty, married 54 years, says, “Now that he’s gone I wish I hadn’t had so many headaches.”
The Marriage Masters are here to remind us that this adventure we call life goes by in the blink of an eye; relish your sweetheart’s presence while he or she is still here.

Two holidays a year, meaningful conversation twice a week and cuddles 11 times in a fortnight are among the secrets to a happy marriage include, a study has revealed. 

 Happily married couples tend to make time for at least five movie nights at home, in contrast to their usual evenings spent fighting over the remote control or disagreeing about what to watch.

 

 We do not watch much actual tele, but we do love to snuggle with a film - it is very rare for us not to sit on the sofa together. And we always try to go up to bed at the same time too.

 

Never going to bed on an argument. And to try to turn a blind eye to irritating habits. We all have irritating habits, but rather than argue about them, we either ignore them or make fun of them!!

 

 The bedroom is our private place. - keep the bedroom for the 2 of you. We do not have childrens things in this room, especially pictures. This room is for pictures of the two of us. I used to follow Feng Shui years ago and this is one room that i have stuck to some of the principles. Keep that room calm and romantic. I also keep candles and rose quartz in here for love. Also, get yourself a lock for this room ;)

 The key to a happy marriage is speaking the same language. My husband and I both speak sarcasm fluently. Never take yourself to seriously. We argue but its mostly in banter and not to be taken seriously!!

 Communicate. It's important that you keep the lines of communication open. Especially when things go wrong. There are so many outside influences that can affect a marriage -- jobs, family, friends, hobbies, education. If you're suddenly not being able to spend time together, or you're fighting about money, it's especially important to talk about what's going on.

 Listen. It's a sad fact that we are often more polite to strangers than we are to the people we love the most. If your spouse is trying to talk to you, whether it's to find out what you want for dinner, to tell you about their day, or to discuss a problem in your marriage, give them the same courtesy you'd give a complete stranger, and LISTEN! Don't try to finish their sentences, don't try to solve their problems, and don't ever say, "I told you so!" And if you do, just apologize and move on - we can't all be perfect 100 % of the time.

 

      Here's an especially apt poem, written by poet Ogden Nash: 

 

To keep your marriage brimming, With love in the wedding cup, Whenever you’re wrong, admit it; Whenever you’re right, shut up

 

 Create rituals and family traditions. Every successful couple has their own private rituals - things they do that has a special meaning just to them. So whether it's getting your spouse coffee every morning, a special touch that means "I love you", or creating couple signals for "Let's get out of here'' find your own. Remember some of your favorite childhood family traditions, and incorporate them or start new ones in your own couple. Some day, you'll look back on each time as a treasured memory.


 Agree on money matters early. Amazingly, many couples never discuss money except in the most superficial ways until after they're married. One of the leading causes of arguments in marriages is because of a difference in how money is handled. Before you walk down the isle, discuss your feelings about things like credit, paying bills and saving money. Talk about how you will pay expenses, and who will handle the money. Finding out after the fact that you have major differences is only going to lead to long term problems. 

 

 

 Love and Respect. It is important that you and your spouse always treat each other with love and respect. There are some simple rules that have worked for couples for the last 80 years that still apply today. They include: Never go to bed angry. Kiss each other every time you come home, or before going out. Say "I love you" every single day. Mind your manners, and say "Please" and "Thank-you." Do something for the one you love every day. Just because. Occasionally write love letters to each other. Laugh at his/her jokes, no matter how bad they are, or how often you've heard them. Don't sweat the little things. Try something new once in a while. - We stick to this one (Love and Respect) probably more than any. When the hubbie comes home, he doesn't want to arrive to grumpy, moany wife (admitedly i am rarely these anyway). I always greet him with a smile, kiss and cuddle. I want him to want to come home!! And even if he is popping to the shops, we'll always kiss each other goodbye and say i love you. (This one also applies to the kids, i kiss them and tell them i love them all the time!).

Maintain a commitment to your marriage. This can be especially difficult today, but it's important that you put your marriage first. If you're committed to making your marriage a success, and you know that your partner shares your commitment, there's nothing that the two of you can't accomplish.

     And you'll be one of the lucky few that have a truly happy marriage! 

xx

 

Todays lovely things:

 1) Cute texts to and from hubbie.

2) Watching car crash t.v while my man is having a boys night out (TOWIE/ ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE AND BIG FAT GYPSY WEDDING.)

3)  The boys making me laugh!!