Saturday, August 31, 2013

What I want wishlist #10

Ooh it's been a while since I posted a little wishlist! I was thoroughly enjoying the summer weather and bough lots of holiday gear, so I was quite satisfied. It never lasts though does it!?

The autumn ranges are now hitting shops full force. Admittedly they've been in some shops since mid July (RIDICULOUS!) but now it's nearly September, we can get excited about Autumn stuff...

Parka, Oasis, £58
 I really like the look of this short parka - I've got a long one, so obviously I need a short one too! And the fur collar is so cute. Paired with jeans and cute boots, this is fab.

Boots by Dune, Asos, £120

I think my legs are too skinny for these but I'm looking for some new lovely boots. And not suede, which I bought last year and then couldn't wear in the rain. Stupid.

Dress, Warehouse, £70
I LOVE this dress. Love the colour, the flare, the lace. All of it. I will buy this.

And because I'm obsessed with nail varnish...





The Essie Fall (Ummmmm it's Autumn!) collection. I love them all.


Saturday, August 17, 2013

More cheese Gromit??

If you'd told me I'd walk eight miles today in the wind and rain I'd have laughed in your face! But that is indeed how I spent a lovely Saturday, and it was great fun.

Today my friend Ali and I went Gromit spotting in Bristol. Gromit Unleashed is a public art trail of giant Gromit (from Wallace and Gromit obviously) throughout Bristol. They are all individually designed and they'll be auctioned for The Grand Appeal, for the Bristol Children's Hospital Charity, in the autumn  of this year. There are 80 Gromits, for 10 weeks in 1 city - we'll ignore the slight exaggeration because some Gromits are outside Bristol :)


So basically you travel round Bristol and find the Gromits - with a helpful app to help you, and tick off the ones you see!

Today we managed to find 39 - slightly miffed that we didn't get 40, but it was a good effort. We spent 6.5 hours doing it. We thought we'd be the oldest. We thought we'd look weird because we didn't have kids. But there were groups of all sorts of people on the hunt and it was great fun. Our rules meant that we had to photograph them  - so the one Ali saw at Temple Meads a few weeks ago didn't count!

So we just walked around, saw parts of Bristol we'd never seen before, had a Wagamamas lunch, and a good gossip on the way. Great idea Ali!

It was a really great way to see Bristol, and also made us feel proud of Gromit! 

Here's a few photos from the day... and we're going back next week to find more.




















Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Exciting news!

My confession. I'm 31 years old and I live with my parents.

I've always been able to defend that because I owned a flat in Cardiff - I just couldn't live in it because I work in Swindon! I don't mind the commute from Cheltenham but couldn't cope with the Severn Bridge every day!

But in May I sold that flat. So suddenly I was coming up to 31 and living with my parents. My 31st birthday was the turning point.

So two days later I went to look round a house.

Two days later I looked at the same one again.

Four days after that - my offer was accepted. Today we exchanged contracts. 



It's the first house I've looked at and it just felt right. I am really really excited!

So I'm flying the nest (technically I did this at 18....) I'm leaving my parents' house! I'm setting up by myself!

It's going to feel so strange... Oh wait. It won't because I'm moving to a house on the same street. No laughing! 

BUT. When I sold my Cardiff house I chucked everything away. I wasn't moving for aaaaages so would just buy stuff gradually. So I actually own nothing and will have to start again.

YAY, more shopping!

So apologies, because this blog will become rather house focused - mainly because I'll have no money to go out. 

Monday, August 5, 2013

Birthday fun

In a rather delayed post, let's talk about birthdays! 

So last week was my birthday. Not a big one, but a birthday all the same. 

I love birthdays. I tend to do a countdown, to make sure people are fully aware it's my birthday. This year I saw plenty of people and had some lovely cards, so thank you. And I bought myself a new kindle. A good investment I feel. 

On the day I worked. Boooooo! 

Lots of people are curious why I work on my birthday. When I was younger, an August birthday obviously meant that I couldn't take cakes to school and parties were only half attended because people were on holidays. So now I like being at work because it means people actually say happy birthday! 

It was a Thursday. Rubbish, but a quick drink after work was lovely it was also the one sunny day of the week and rocketed up to 32 degrees in Swindon! 

The weekend was made for meals out. A family bash in Ask was delightful. 




On the Saturday I went to The Tavern in Cheltenham. 

Now this could be my new favourite place. 

I had a fantastic steak, and everyone had bloody good burgers. They did great cocktails. And it was fab to see my friends, who I don't see often enough! 





Then on Sunday we went to Paws in the Park. This was just an excuse for Nick to see dogs. He volunteers at Bristol dogs home and so is looking for somewhere to volunteer when he eventually moves to cheltenham. 

We were quite moved by the Cinnamon Trust, an organisation who provide volunteers to look after pets so people can keep them - for example the elderly, who may have a beloved pet they just can't walk any more. We're looking into helping them!