new hobby

I just completed making this bag from scratch, hand-sewn and everything! My thumb is really sore but I'm quite proud of it. I'd gone from having never really sewing to making A BAG from just bits of material in less than 24
hours!

Weird world

There is a woman on Gmail who lives in Connecticut who must have a very similar email address to me. I used to get bits and pieces of her stuff from time to time; PTA schedules, bake sale meetings and other sensible things.

Things have been quiet from Connecticut for a while. I replied to one of the emails once as it sounded pretty important. Something about covering the school run for another parent. I was glad I caught it in time as I wouldn't want to be to blame for children not getting picked up from school. Anything could have happened to them for goodness sake. Who sends that stuff in an email?

Anyway. TONIGHT I just got one through, a business type email ragarding a fax (ok, so far so strange)... To our friend Mary, but from Sydney, AUSTRALIA! (OMG you just blew my mind!)

Has she moved? Abandoned the bake sale? What's happened to the kids? Is she living a double life? Ahhhh!

look who it is!

Aww whose face is that? Who's this? It's Ronnie, from Ronnie & Mary! We've now been going out for 367 days, so hooray for that. Today he brought me flowers and bought me lunch. I had 3 mozarella sticks, a potato skin & half a burrito. It was much yum. Then we went back to mines, had a cuddle & watched Gangs of New York which Ronnie doesn't like a lot as he thinks it is unrealistic. I think it has Liam Neeson, Daniel Day-Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio & Gary Lewis, as well as Martin Scorcesesece so it's actually amazing & Ronnie is wrong. My powers of reasoning clearly explain why we work so well together. Happy anniversary to me! (Oh and Ronnie x)

Latest purchase

This is the latest dress I have bought for my holidays! I've been off work lately so I have indulged in a power of internet shopping but yesterday mum and I took a dander around TK Maxx where I picked up this little crépe number. It's cinched under the bust and flarey with the skirt, so it has a real lady-like feel.

It is by Danish brand Noa Noa who I had never heard of before but will definitely keep an eye out for in the future.

I've been on the look out for dresses that cover my shoulders, as it'll be too warm to wear cardigans, and I have too much arm to go bare!

love is

Look at the wee cuddly hottie hippo and Santa Winnie the Pooh getting cosy :)

It just goes to show that even the unlikeliest of pairings can be satisfying, rewarding and heartwarming. Aww!

Things that are true right now

1. I have lovely friends.
2. It is 61 sleeps til I go to America.
3. Goat's cheese. Mmm.
4. I'm so tired.

progress

We all have that dress/those jeans/that shape we tell ourselves we can and WILL slim down into.

I bought such a dress from Cath Kidston in the January sales this year, put it away with a target that it would fit me by the time I went on holiday. Diet after diet failed to produce the dramatic effects I really longed for. THEN! I tried my dress on and! It zips up!

In was convinced I hadn't lost any weight at all. Ok, the scales told a slightly (very slightly) different story but it's all down to how you feel in your head. So I know I'm not exactly Ms. Slinky but the feeling when that zip went right up to top was like a win on the lottery. I did this, this works, keep on doing this!

I think I'll wear this dress when I go to the Empire State Building. Then I can really feel on top of the world :)

aaah

I went into ze hospeetal



I had an operation to whip out some scar tissue from me tail bone resulting from an abcess (yuck). I had a pretty awful time with the anaesthetic. I mean it worked and everything so I was pretty glad about that! But it seemed to put my body to sleep before my mind, which was a wee bit distressing.

But I'm getting better now :D Today's big questions include: what dvd shall I watch? What wonders can I stoof my face with? To internet shop or not to internet shop?

hairmyers

Today I had an appointment with the pre-sugrical assessment team at Hairmyers Hospital, mostly to discuss the risks associated with my surgery and check my health is up to it. Good news- I've lost a few pounds since I last weighed myself (yaay!) And I found out my real height, I am 5ft 9, which is good to know! Bad news- my bmi was not amazing but hey ho, I'm working on that.

On my way home I happened to spy my wee Gran in getting her hair done, so I decided to take her and her new 'do out for some dinner. Exhausted from Best Granddaughter Ever efforts, I had a deep, deep nap afterwards while watching You've Got Mail & woke to spend some time with my mum.

Yesterday I bought some new Crocs on my lunch as my feet are sooo sooore being on my feet all day at work. What you see above is a picture of Ronnie modelling them, generously sharing a bit of leg at the same time ;)

come on,come on..

Come on, come on TAKE THAT. And party!

ooh shiny

Today has been a good day. I got up early and spoke to my mum about a letter I received (alongside my Breakfast at Tiffany's DVD) to confirm a date for my surgery. Mum thinks I should go for it and I do too, but it's going to mean time off work- so I'm quite worried about what it will mean for my promotion :(

I am a worrier at the best of times. This could be bad though as they need someone to do my new job almost yesterday so I'll just need to put it to the hands of fate. Say a wee prayer for me please!

Anyway in my room I have a tv that is about 7 years old. A tv/vcr combo (you know the drill!). It did not take too well to the digital switchover so I've been BBC3 free for many weeks. Its been refreshing I suppose, but the prospect of lying in my bed recovering from surgery for up to a month staring at only the ceiling.. Well it made me want a TV.

My aunt Cath is moving to Sweden and we've recently adopted a great deal of her former-furniture and various other worldly goods. Including... A fancy new (to me) tv! Rejoice :)

So I started my day by cleeeeaning my room, installing the new tv, making a nice lunch, showering then curling my hair. AKA- in my day off work I've ended up being a cleaner, electrician, chef and hairdresser. No rest for the wicked!

I've also ended up being extremely late to meet Rhona. (I'm posting this blog from my phone) We are going to see Take That :D I'm also being chaperoned by my fabulous new necklace. Please see the photo of us together, above :)

Moon River

I couldn't wait or help myself. I had ambled around Terminal 5 for two hours & there were no sandwiches left in Boots. My stomach rumbled and I wandered through Harrods, to the Chanel (Adele, PLEASE talk me out of these sunglasses), tried some perfume and successfully walked past Mullberry. Even if I wasn't saving up for my bestholidayever.com/official I had no business or means for these people.

Until I saw it.

One minute I was high commander and ruler in charge of my visa debit, next I was handing it over in exchange for a box. Romance, enchantment and status - thy colour is turquoise and my face is flushed.

I clutched at my neck the whole way home to check it was still there (Yes it was real, I HAD done it!) Stroking it soothed my nerves like a baby sucking its thumb.

A parcel greeted me when I arrived home, confirming I had done the the right thing. I bought the necklace. The Tiffany's necklace :)

The things you find in your memory card! Mum and dad in Times Square

The two wee reprobates to the right of the phone box

may!

Back on my blackberry again.

Yesterday Ronnie and I went out to the Barras for a stroll. It was a nice walk, like we were going back in time, but if truth be told I think we were there towards the end of the day and it was quiet and a bit depressing.

We ended up going in to see a fortune teller. It was sort of the reason we went out there, it's something to do eh and to be honest, I wasn't expecting to actually find it. It all happened really quickly though, we saw the sign, walked up the stairs then a moment later I was in a small room needing to take my coat off from the heat. I was quite nervous. She began by saying "I will tell you bad news if I see it so please be prepared"...

It cost £25 for what was at the most a 10 minute reading. She basically told Ronnie and I both the exact same things (I see travel coming up soon, studying will bring you good luck, you will emigrate, property will bring you success). She seemed really nice, but she also said my parents were separated (30 years of happy marraige) so I don't think I'll really go back.

Afterwards we went in to a pet shop and I saw these tiny wee kittens! I want one I want one I want one. We had lunch in Mono and then we went to see the Glasgow Cathedral. It's recently been refurbished and looked totally stunning. Then we went next door to the Peter Howson exhibition of research art work for his St John Ogilvie piece. The school I went to was named after St JO, so I know his story well. Seeing the paintings and the pain Howson managed to capture was quite awesome and made me feel quite emotional. Something I've never really got from a painting before. Oh well!

To top it off we went to the GFT to see Hanna. Never been to the GFT before, it's really olde worldy but I don't like the seats :( Hanna was good, so was Banna mwahaha. I'm not a film critic so I'll just stick with 'It was good' and maybe say more when I'm not using my phone :)

I hope you all enjoyed this photo of Ronnie carrying my bag!

Sorry...

My lovely gran

Today I went to visit my lovely wee Gran. We're so similar, we love to spend money and spoil people so when I was leaving she said she had this bag upstairs she had never used and she wondered if I might like it.

She came back downstairs with this gorgeous vintage, brown, box clip bag in perfect condition. Now I've looked into it, it's by the jewellery designers Mappin & Webb, dating from I think the 1950's. It also turns out to be made of lizard skin (wtf?!) and retails for about £100, depending on where you look.

Not sure how I feel about it being made from real animals, but omgosh it's just sooo prettyyy.

I'm back!

Internet's back and good to go!

Today I met Ronnie and we had lunch in Zizzi's in Princes Square. We were celebrating because he's just got a job offer! It's a fixed term advisor role on tax credits for the Inland Revenue. I had goats cheese ravioli. Scrummy!

I was feeling a little fragile having gone out with Adele last night. We went to the Blue Dog for some cocktails and then we stayed up watching 30 Rock, eating rubbish. After lunch Ronnie had the idea of going to The Lighthouse, off Buchanan Street. It's a Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, former offices of the Glasgow Herald and now home to Glasgow's first/only dedicated centre for Architecture and design. From level 3 you can climb the famous helical staircase to the top of the water tower, which we did, to find some really stunning views.


Glasgow's just lovely and it was really fun trying to get your bearings from a real birds eye perspective. There's a whole other city up there I didn't even know about. People had roof gardens and painted lines showed that some buildings had car parks on top of them. I only managed to take one picture because my phone battery was low, low, low.

When it was time to go and we were having a wee kiss, I looked round to find we were being watched from a window and two people started waving at us, giggling. Ah Glasgow!

does this work?

my internet at home is broken, but i wonder if this works...

if so, you should see a photo of coney island, where i am going.

blogging from my bberry, look at me go mum!

the cookies (or something) wont allow me to use upper case. aucht!

I should be asleep, instead...

A girl can dream/save up :)

Psssssst

Don't tell anyone! Look what Mr Amazon brought me today... Woooooop.

The 'Encounter' range by Lonely Planet is my favourite travel series ever.. They just pack the very best info in the appropriate amount of detail and put it in a handy travel size. They break each city down into a zone-by-zone format and include tips from locals as well as brilliant short reviews and shiny, shiny pictures. The books have a main writer (always a resident of the city) and at the back there is always a fold out street map. Phew! I've got three now (Barcelona, Paris) and they're just fab fab fab.

I didn't really know what to expect when I bought the Moleskine. I've been completely sucked into the romance and extravagance of the brand and couldn't resist the shiny New York edition Moleskine. I've thumbed through it a few times now. There are maps, notecards, and pages and upon pages of... lines. From what I gather, you sort of write the guidebook yourself. You keep it through the years and add to it each time you go there or research your visit. It's too clever, honestly. How often would you go to a restaurant/cafe/general place and think 'I need to come back here', well you jot it down in your city notebook and you'll never forget where it was. Jeez, how did I survive before I found this?!

'Long story short'...

Sorry if this reads like a rant! It is, sort of.


I got a new BlackBerry Bold 9780 in January this year. I know, please don't be jealous and hate me. In February this year it stopped working. Last week I gave it to the 02 shop. They took £25 deposit from me and gave me a 'replacement' handset, while my top of the range, shiny, new, shitty phone was being repaired. So far, so predictable.

02 phoned today to say my phone was fixed and I could come and pick it up, anytime.

'Any time?', I asked. I was nearby the shop.

'Yeah come over now, just bring your receipt and your loan phone.'

I had stopped using the loan phone almost instantly because it hurt my fingers (and eh, smelled dirty?!) So I told The Guy, 'Ok I don't have the loan phone, but I've got my receipt for the return. I'm not too bothered when I get the £25 back I just obviously want my BBerry as soon as possible.

'We would need the loan phone back before we can give you your BlackBerry.'

So, in short. 02 thinks it's cool to give you a brand new phone on a 2 year contract that breaks within a month. They'll also ask you for £25 as a deposit on your loan phone but hold your own phone hostage in the event of your loan phone being left at home!! While you still pay for your BlackBerry! While they still keep your money! Someone call Scotland Yard, there's been a robbery.

Did that come out right? I don't know. It makes sense in my head and anyway, phew, I feel better now.

Still,

02 - 1
Me - 0

Glasgow

Where I'm from, people like to do things a little differently.


The calf muscles on him!

Worst Place in the World to be Gay?

A documentary by Scott Mills, Radio 1 presenter was aired tonight on BBC3. It forms part of a series exploring the rights and freedoms we enjoy here in the UK. The presenter is taken out of their comfort zone and into challenging situations.

In the episode I've just finished watching, Scott goes to Uganda to speak to those on the bottom rung of the social ladder, who have been castigated from a normal existance and who face prosecution and jail or execution on top of relentless, violent persecution. For being gay. Eh??

I know Africa is a different continent to us. People everywhere have different customs, beliefs and laws. Taking religion, morals or anything else that helps you forget that we are all human beings and all that stuff out of the argument, and what are you left with? That's right, a witch doctor who will try to 'cure' you of being gay. Hooray!

This weekend I...

This weekend I took my lovely friend Adele out for her birthday dinner. We went to Cafe Rouge in Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square, had a bottle of champagne and ventured over to The Corinthian for more cocktails and banter. We got a little too tipsy and I woke up thinking my head was about to fall off the next day.

On Saturday mum and I went shopping and I bought a lovely red bag for New York (Yes, I'm too organised. Please see previous post and pictorial evidence of said bag on the left.) It's from TK Maxx, Tommy Hilfiger, should have been £75 but was £28. Nice sturdy craftsmanship.

On Sunday I went through to Edinburgh with Ronnie for Valentines Day. I'm never a big one for the Hallmark Holiday (usually I'm single) but we decided to take the brilliant Mercat Ghosts and Ghouls Tour, have some lovely time away and oh, stay in a bloody massive suite at the Hilton Grosvenor! The tour was brilliant, (creeeepy) the room was brilliant (creeepy) and best of all (perhaps,) I got a SLANKET!



Today I was brought a Starbucks in bed (aww!) and watched Gilmore Girls in the 'living room' after Ronnie went back to bed. On our way home we stopped off in South Queensferry, had a coffee and took some pictures. The town was named after Saint Margaret of Scotland who used to cross the firth from Fife to here in order to attend mass at Edinburgh Castle. She eventually died at Dunfermline Abbey in 1093, when she would have made her last journey here. It was quite overcast and pretty cold. It was nice though :)

Looking ahead...

In August this year I'm taking a trip to America for the first time ever. Seeing my family in Philadelphia, running up the Rocky steps, brushing past the Amish community, turning 25 in the Big Apple, climbing the steps to the top of Lady Liberty, gazing longingly into Tiffany's, taking a picnic to Central Park, riding a big yellow taxi, buying a hot dog from the sidewalk, having my 'New York moment' at the top of the Empire State Building.. It's more than six months away and Ronnie keeps telling me to calm down. I can't. It'll be too brilliant :)

Orchids

The most widely cultivated type of orchid goes by the more familiar name of Vanilla, and is popular as a food colourant and perfume ingredient.

The literal word Orchid comes from the latin 'órkhis', meaning erm, testicle. The root of the plant is said to bear some resemblance and was given the name by John Lindley, a botanist, in 1845. (Men eh..?)

An extinct species of stingless bee was discovered trapped in amber. On it's wings, the bee carried the pollen of an orchid. The amber dated from about 15-20 million years ago ago and was the first evidence of fossilised orchids to date.

Orchids are a cosmopolitan plant, flowering in almost every habitat apart from glaciers. And most recently, on top of my chest of drawers :)

Mademoiselle

So I treated myself :)

Happy February!

Love,
Me x

It's been a while!

I started this blog year ago this month during a fit of poverty as a way of tracking my spending. More of an accounts sheet than anything else.

My manifesto for this year has changed slightly. I'm in a shiny, new, happier place and wanted to record some of it for posterity. I'd also like to get into the habit of writing something each day, as there is a book inside of me somewhere and I'd like to meet it one day.

I've got a new job, new band, brilliant friends and lovely things to surround myself with. So I suppose this version of 2000 and Then, might be better, more brilliant and lovelier still :)