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 :)