A chilled weekend!

Saturday and Sunday have been very nice this week!

Saturday I met up with my friend JS for our monthly lunch and mosey-around-the-shops meet up in Bangor. We went to Blue Sky, which does the most a-mazing veggie burgers - they have a different one every day, I had a mushroom, nut and caramelised onion burger - and a fabulous selection of teas and coffees, locally sourced wherever possible. I tried a Mediterranean Sun fruity brew blended by Caffi Christòbal and enjoyed it so much I bought a packet of loose-leaf tea for myself!

We had a great chat about weddings and things as JS is getting married in June, and a great mooch about the shops. I always decide before I go that I shouldn't really spend much money beyond paying for my lunch, but I cave pretty quickly. We went to H&M where I accidentally bought a cream cardigan, flamingo hair comb and actual lace shoelaces (2 pairs, because black and white and I couldn't decide.) JS was far more sensible and bought things she actually needed!

¡Hola! Me llamo Marigold

This is my Monster High Skelita Calaveras' debut!

My amazing boyfriend bought me Skelita for Valentine's day - it wasn't an intentional gift, I bought him a present and he was just going to make dinner for us (which he did, and it was incredible!) but when we were walking through work (we work in Tesco) I saw a Scaris City of Frights Skelita on the shelf and got all excited because she's been so hard to find, and she was the first Skelita I'd actually seen in person.

B asked me if I'd like her as a Valentine's present and I got a bit shy and said yes, so he promptly bought her for me and yaaaaaaay I have a Skelita!

Naturally she was never going to stay in the box!

Swapsies and a new family member!

I took part in a DoA Christmas/Ides of January swap! It was so much fun to do - getting new stuff is always fun, but it was a lot of fun to go through the list of things that your swap partner likes and try and find the perfect things that would fit their wishlist.

While B's away...

I clearly have a shopping addiction.

B has been away at Download Festival this weekend and while he's been away I have bought;

• 1 Volks Rose head
• 1 Little Monica 'Simply Bob' wig in Dark Chocolate
• 1 Little Monica silicone wig cap
• Mori-Girl outfit set by Wimukt
• 1 blue polkadot playsuit by Dorset Clothing
• 1 BJD photo backdrop (a library)
• 1 pair Releaserain 4-strap SD shoes in Pearl Tan
• 3 new pieces of fabric (Russian Matryoshka, Little Red Riding Hood & stripe & anchor designs)

We're going to Liverpool in two weeks for a little holiday and I've paid for the hotel too.

I have a problem. It's so easy to just click on stuff!

I'm pleased to announce, though, that Momoko (my Dollfie Dream) is on layaway and her new owner will have her in two months' time. So in the spirit of out with the old and in with the new...I'm going to get a lot of the old out. I know I keep saying it, but I really do mean it this time.

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter break! I've been working all weekend, sadly, but I did get to have a lovely dinner with B and his family yesterday and I've not long got home with my huge Easter egg! Noms!

Busy busy

Busy week has begun! I've got a lot more overtime at work this week (6.30am starts! Argh!) but right now I'm relaxing at B's while he is off attending a warden meeting.

My spending control has gone a little awry again, but I'll get back into my good books soon. There really were things I couldn't live without!!

Dr Marten boots I've been looking for since 2009 came up on eBay brand new, so I couldn't not buy them. It was a tense battle, but I finally won my dream boots - RRP £140, price I paid, £70! I'm so pleased with them!

Source: ecx.images-amazon.com via Jessica on Pinterest

So, that's been a fun part of the naughty shopping!

What else? Oh, I bought two new books for my Kindle; The Red Tent and Living a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant. The Red Tent is fiction, it's about Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, and her life after the Shechem incident, where her brothers, Simeon and Levi slaughtered every man in the town of Shechem after Dinah attracted the attentions of the prince. It's a sad story anyway, I'd never have forgiven my brothers for committing murder, especially in my name. The Red Tent does a good job of fleshing out a lot of characters you only really know by name in the Bible, but there's some bestiality and totem worshipping going on that doesn't really sit quite right!

I'm enjoying reading Living a Jewish Life more than The Red Tent. Possibly because it's a fun reference book about including more Jewish things into everyday life. I already try keeping kashrut, I don't eat pork and shellfish anyway, but I keep forgetting about separating meat and dairy - so far this has extended to having pizzas with no chicken on them, but I seem to forget when it comes to cheeseburgers. I have a long way to go!

I bought a Mori Girl skirt today from a shop in Conwy - it's a sweet little shop full of boutiquey things like bunting and hand-made ceramic doorknobs. There's a small selection of clothes, but everything is so perfectly Mori Girl I wanted to buy it all! The skirt is a beigey-undyed linen colour and it'll go amazingly with my new DMs. I'm wearing Mori Girl right now, my new skirt, some crochet tights, some old brown boots, a teal top and a cream cardigan. I have a rope of beads around my neck and a ribbon in my hair :) I really like Mori Girl style, it's so relaxed but also fairytale/artisanal. B said I looked like an artist dressed this way :p

Positiver and Positiver

Now I've got the big groan out of the way, I can talk about more fun/interesting things!


This month I'm going to LONDON :D B and I are going to stay with L&C and try and meet up with as many folks as possible, whilst also attempting to see the sights. B wants to see Freedom Press and the Houses of Parliament, I'm bringing a BJD for fun travel dolly photos - I want one of Melangell sat in an iconic red phonebox.


I've started to be more of a physically organised person - mentally I can be organised and I write lots of lists, but I seem to leave disorder wherever I go. My room is a shit-tip, quite frankly. I have so many things going on with my wardrobe that it's unreal. Anyway. I threw out lots of rubbish at the weekend, and today I'm sorting through my wardrobe; things to throw, things to keep, things to donate and things for Ro.


 Later on I'm meeting up with my friend, Ro, and her baby (my godson!) for tea, cake and a chat! We're trying to meet up at least every fortnight so that he starts remembering who I am (he'll be 9 months old this month) and also so she gets some grown-up chat and to see a face other than her fiance's! I'll be bringing a bag of clothes for her - things that don't suit me but I bought anyway...that kind of thing ;) I keep my clothes in very good condition and she threw away a lot of her pre-pregnancy clothes thinking they wouldn't fit her afterwards (oops!)


Another postive thing is mexican fajita Pringles. They taste amazing. B and I had some yesterday and they were fantastic.


So, not everything is grumbles! There's a lot of positive stuff too!

Sales Stuff!

Last night I stayed over at B's and because the weather was awful, we made a cheerful, bright-coloured Moroccan chicken dish. Sadly we didn't have the tagine to serve it in, but it was yummy anyway. We used chicken thighs, chopped apricots, chickpeas, paprika, turmeric, tomato puree, coriander, parsley and butter and it was really tasty - the only thing I would change for next time is use chicken breasts or cut the meat off the bone because the meat was very tender after being cooked and it fell off the bones leaving gristly bits lurking in the food :s That bit wasn't recommended!

We had some glasses of a cab sauv and watched two Australian films; The Castle and The Dish, while the rain and wind lashed outside.

Today, B had to go to the library and hand in an essay, so I decided to go and spend some of my Christmas money!

I bought;

Accessorize - a wishbone bracelet (perfect scale for a long pendant for a doll!), a wishbone necklace (for me :p), a cameo pendant, a long fringed necklace for mum, nail varnish in Apricot Crush and a ballerina slippers charm for my charm bracelet from Y.

Topshop - a Bajoran-style earring (a hook for a pierced ear and an earcuff joined by a chain - this one has a genuine chunk of turquoise and some feathers) and some white rose hairclips
WHSmith - hole reinforcers, some pens and an address book for work
Chelsea Doll - a black handbag like a Mulberry Alexa and some Barry M mock croc crackle paint


Why hole reinforcers, you ask? Well I saw this manicure tutorial by Wayward Daughter and I've always wanted to try it myself. So far it's worked well!

I've been playing with my nails quite a bit since Christmas, trying different things. I had black lace nail transfers over a nude base and they looked quite classy for New Year. Today I'm wearing my new Claire's grey nail varnish with unpainted lunulas :) Tomorrow it'll probably be my new apricot nail varnish from Accessorize!

Merry Christmas!

I've had a wonderful December so far! On my birthday I spent the day with B, we opened presents in the early afternoon and then we went to The Raj for a curry in the evening!

I had to work Christmas Eve, but I met up with B after I finished and we went to Conwy for a Christmas Eve drink with B's friends and to watch the fireworks. As the buses finish early on Christmas Eve I had to go home before everyone else, but I got to give B a Christmas kiss before I left :)

Christmas morning I woke up before everyone else, which was a bit odd because I'm one of the least Christmassy people I know! I didn't wake up because I was excited, it was because I wasn't particularly sleepy :p I did my hair in an elegant looking bun ready for Downton Abbey later in the day - I even added lace and pearl hair ornaments :D

Presents
Birthday:
Parents -  'J' Pandora charm
Brother - Mr Men dvd (?!)
B - 'Last Chance to See' by Douglas Adams and a yellow tooled leather satchel
Grandparents - money
Holly - Topshop kokeshi doll face teacup
Becky - Art nouveau brooch and cherries locket
Adventure Girl & Carawj – Raouken MSD corset
Pam - puppy plushie
Heather - dissolving rubber duck bathbombs
Row, Mike and MP - Boots No.7 eyeshadows

Christmas:
Parents - 3 tops, kokeshi doll lipgloss, Millie Pembleton kite necklace, Topshop squirrel charm, 2012 diary
Brother - leatherbound journal
B - Japanese tea set and artisan teas (I can pretend I'm DeWitt making people offers now :p), Ghost Deep Night perfume
B's dad – Harajuku Lovers G of the Sea perfume
Grandparents - make-up bag, hairband, Charlie bodyspray, make-up, money
Holly - Fearne Cotton eyeshadow shimmer dust
Becky - Impulse bodysprays and Body Shop shea butter scrub (smells delicious!)
Yvonne – Pearl charm bracelet
Adventure Girl & Carawj – Raoken MSD corset
Pam - notebooks
Heather - butter cookie mix and star cutter, make-up bag
Ruth - Accessorize hair ornaments; red ribbon clips and pearl hairpins
Row, Mike and MP - pampering set; body scrubs, sprays, shower gels and exfoliating mitts


I've had some lovely presents! Thank you to everyone for their pressies and I hope that you like the things I've got for you :)

Party Weekend!

I really should be tidying my room - I'm headed out to Y's tomorrow after work, I'm staying over with her and Saturday we're going to do a spot of festive shopping. Late Saturday afternoon I'm going to head back to Llandudno Junction and have birthday takeaway with B and his family and Sunday is B's birthday...I won't actually be home until Monday!


My room is a tip, I've been focusing on my doll projects for the past week and I've got blue nylon doll hair clippings in my carpet and I can hardly see my bed under all the packaging, but it feels good to be doing something creative and interesting. With B busy doing his uni work and my friends either at work or away, it's good to have something to do with my hands.


I should really get back into writing too. Rerooting dolls is apparently very tedious work, so perhaps when I get fed up of rerooting my Cardassian Monster High doll I'll write another scene of my epic Star Trek rebuilding Cardassia fic.


What do I need to pack for the weekend?

• Pyjamas
• Toothbrush
• Hairbrush
• B's birthday presents
• Clothes
• Perfume
• Camera?
• Train tickets & purse
• Notepad & pen for scribblings

Is that it? Hmm. I've probably forgotten something, I usually do!

Monday Morning

Off to B's in a bit, but first, a bit more musing on the doll body/Monster High stuff I was thinking about in previous blog posts.


I'm currently bidding on an Abbey Bominable MH doll on eBay. Will see how it goes - have 6 mins to go and I think because she's so hard to find someone is going to swoop and steal my dolly. Grr. If she's much more expensive than this (£30) I'm going to have to sit on my hands to resist retaliatory bidding :p


I talked over the BJD body situation with B last night. He isn't in the hobby, so he's not going to be all excitable and enable me, but he can also appreciate that the hobby makes me happy...so he's going to be more balanced than talking it over with my family (who think the hobby is silly) and talking it over with dolly friends, who would probably tell me to get the body :p I will order the Ariadoll body, if I still feel strongly about it, on January's payday, the 20th. It's a distant but close date, January isn't that far away.


I'm trying not to get excited about Abbey. Just in case.

Lazy Tuesdays

Just got back from a couple of days at B's. I go there Monday afternoon and stay until Tuesday afternoon, so it's probably around 24hrs together, but feels a bit longer.


We've had a really nice time. Last night we made dinner (chicken, chickpeas, tomatoes, peppers, Reggae Reggae sauce and rice) and sat down to watch QI and Have I Got News For You, this morning we got up and had croissants with butter and leerdammer and talked about crisps and sweets from when we were little - after B's lecture finished at 12 we met up at the shop and tracked down some Nik-Naks! Omnomnomnomnom.


We snuggled watching the Daily Show (the global edition is a bit snippetty for me, it feels disjointed compared to the actual daily edition) and giggled lots and then I had to go home. :( Going home is the worst bit - especially knowing I have work in the morning! Oh well.

Poorly Sick :(

What else do you do when you're feeling sorry for yourself? Update your blog of course!


I was supposed to start NaNoWriMo over a week ago and I've been so poorly since Hallowe'en that I haven't actually started anything. I had a good idea for the story, but I've been so stuffed up with a really bad cold (pretty much flu at this point) that I've not felt clear-headed enough to actually write anything.


I'm missing B. Usually Monday/Tuesday I spend time with him in Bangor, but I've not been able to sleep at night and I didn't want to ruin his sleep by staying awake coughing and sniffling :(

Anniversary!

Today B and I celebrated a whole year together!


Last night I cooked us lamb shanks, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, redcurrant & mint gravy and peas. We ate out of bowls whilst sat on the floor of his room watching Fry's Planet Word and drinking red wine out of whiskey glasses! Our main meal was followed by B's favourite - tiramisu!


This morning we woke up at 4:30 - B is a warden in university halls and he had to do some fire drills in different blocks on the site. I stayed all toasty warm in bed while he was out in the early morning cold setting off fire alarms and timing students to see how quickly they could get out in an emergency. When B got back at 7:30 we were supposed to open our presents, but he was so tired that we decided to put the presents back a bit and have some more sleep!


I got B a vintage military medal from 1945, given for the Soviet capture of Berlin, and B gave me a new eyepiece for my vintage Ihagee Exa camera. Vintage presents this year!


It was a lovely low-key anniversary, I'm not really a big 'going out' person and B doesn't seem to be much of one either, so it was a good way of celebrating and keeping it just between us. We could have done without the fire alarm interruptions though!

Master of Arts

Surprisingly, my dissertation has been marked really quickly and I found out late last night that I passed! There's a Module Assessment Board meeting on the 30th, which will officialise the marks, but I passed and that's unlikely to change!

I'm so happy! Everything I've stressed over for the past few months, and all the hard work I've put in for a year has been worth it. Part of this also relates to the incredible moving forward and happy times I've had since 2009 - I had my heart cruelly broken (dumped over the phone after 6 years - very nice) but I picked myself up, moved on with my life, applied for my MA course, then I met B...2010-2011 has been the best two years of my life so far, I've done so much and met so many great people. Passing my MA has just been the latest achievement, but I know there will be more.


I'm feeling so confident and so happy today!

Free Woman!

So this is my first post as a woman under no deadline stress! Life feels a lot different now, I can tell you!

Yesterday was a bit of a strain, I realised in the morning that I'd forgotten to put page numbers on my dissertation, so I had to run both copies back through the printer with the text blanked out, just to add numbers at the bottom, then I had to rush to Bangor to get the two copies to the binder's. I did get it all done and I was rewarded with snuggles from B and fruit toast with lots of butter :)

My trip to Liverpool was straightforward enough, I had a bit of a worry that the desk might have closed early in the LRC because I got to Liverpool for about 4pm, but everything was fine and as soon as I handed it over and got my receipt, the weight off my shoulders just lifted. I got back on the train to Bangor and met up with B, who took me home, made us gnocchi with roasted mediterranean veggies and garlic bread and gave me even more snuggles. He'd even got chocolate ice cream, but we were too full to eat it last night!

Today was nice, I had a lie in till about 12, and B got us croissants and maasdam cheese for breakfast - we even had some chocolate ice cream while we lazed around watching The Daily Show and Blackadder II. If this is what every Tuesday morning is going to be like - I'm looking forward to them! 

Deadline Looms!

Well, after a very, very trying few weeks, I actually feel like the end of my dissertation is not only within reach, but that I don't think I've done such a dire job of it.

My work is due in next Monday and I have 3000 words left to write before I hit the lower limit. I've got a questionnaire ending on Thursday, after which all I have left to do is write up the results, make sure all my references are in order, then print it off and take it to Bangor to be bound. If I print it at home, the binding is cheaper, so I'll definitely be doing that. Binding takes around 3 hours, so I can drop it off in Bangor to be bound Monday morning, have a few hours with B while it's being done, then after it's completed I can get my tomes, hop on a train to LJMU and hand the damn thing in. At. Last.

It's fair to say I have not enjoyed the dissertation experience, but I don't think I expected I would. I didn't like it the first time around, and that has been hanging over me since I started the MA...so with that much trepidation of course I was never going to be eagerly awaiting the dissertation.

B has been amazing. Every time something went wrong he was so supportive, and last week, when I wanted to just quit because it was so stressful and nothing seemed to be going right...he met me off the train with a bunch of yellow roses and a pot of Ben&Jerry's ice cream. He won himself a zillion well deserved boyfriend points for that.

So, next Monday I will be free of my dissertation, I will be going to have a celebratory tea with H (one of my MA classmates) and then I will get on a train, go back to Bangor and sink into B's arms and just relax. *sigh*

I'll make you an offer you can't refuse...and a holiday too!

I'm now a godmother XD It was such an honour to have been asked, and I'm so glad yesterday went really well at the church. There was a bit of drama in the morning when B and I were getting ready - my dress had to be pinned to my bra because it kept wanting to fall down *facepalm* I had a few clumsy moments, but thankfully I wasn't holding the baby, so I didn't drop him!

B looked very gentlemanly in his suit and he said I looked lovely in my dress - sadly I don't have any photographic evidence because my camera was in my handbag and the parents and godparents of all the children being christened were stood by the altar the whole time and my bag was still on our pew! Oh well! We will have to get dressed up again just for photographs!

I'm working hard on my dissertation today and tomorrow because Wednesday to Friday B is taking me away to Liverpool for a little break. It's going to be so nice to get away from stressness here and also actually have a holiday on my holiday from work. Before I know it I'll be back in the petrol station, so I might as well make the most of it.

We're staying in the legendary Adelphi Hotel! Wednesday we're going for tequila, sambuca and desperados beer at Bar CaVa (the decor inside is awesome, squishy leather sofas and vintage movie posters instead of wall paper), Thursday evening we're going to the Anglican cathedral for the Twilight Tower Tour they run between March and October. Friday is home day, but we'll find things to do before we go get the train! While we're there we also want to go to Tapas Tapas, Wagamama and Pizza Express - we don't have these things in north Wales! :( Please send some our way!

Liverpool is one of my favourite cities, a home away from home, so it will be lovely to be able to see the city from the tower of the Anglican cathedral rather than from street level. I can't wait to go!

Meeting the Grandparents: Part the First

I had a long day at work today; we're extremely busy because it's summertime but also because one of our local competitors has closed for 18 weeks for a refit, so all their customers are coming to us instead. I'm certainly not complaining about the rise in trade, it can only be a good thing, but phew it does tire me out at the end of the day!

The best thing about today was going round to my grandparents' residential home in Llanfairfechan for a barbeque! I persuaded my boyfriend, B, to come with me (until today he'd only met my parents and my brother) and meet my Nain and Taid (Welsh grandparents). I'm so glad he agreed to come, we had a lovely time.

We missed the actual barbeque because it started while I was still at work and I wanted to go home and change first, but we arrived in time for cake and some wine, so all was well.

Nain and Taid live in a lovely residential home called Llys y Coed in Llanfairfechan. It's organised into private flats, with their own kitchens & bathrooms etc..., but there's a communal sitting room that residents can use and a residents' restaurant. My Nain and Taid moved there after becoming a bit unsteady on their feet (they're in their 80s), and they have loved every second of living there. There is such a nice community spirit among all the residents and the staff are so friendly and don't intrude at all. Residents can choose how involved they want the staff to be - my Nain and Taid just have someone pop in to see if they're okay every now and again - and you can choose to have your meals in your flat and cook in your own kitchen or eat in the restaurant with the other residents - most people choose to have their dinner together because it's like dining out with your friends every day.

B and I had a really nice time. I haven't seen Nain and Taid in a while because I've been so busy with work and dissertation, but I'm going to have to make more of an effort to go and see them, I've really missed them. B and I caught up with them while they were sitting in the sunshine with some of their friends (98 year old Mr Jones, Mr 'The Headmaster' Evans, Mrs Evans and a lovely lady called Annie, who held my hand and admired my garnet and opal ring and said that B and I would be engaged soon! That was a surprise to both of us!) Taid insisted that B and I had to try some of the cakes that were for pudding after the barbeque and tried to get us to drink sherry (we both politely declined and had red wine instead!)

It was nice listening to them regale each other with stories; most of the men had stories from where they were during the war or mischief they got up to, Mrs Evans was telling me about her Canadian boyfriend who she met when she was in the WAAF.  Apparently he looked just like Clark Gable and he was extraordinarily handsome, but he was much older than her and 'unsuitable', but she said all this with a twinkle in her eye!


I always enjoy spending time with my grandparents and their friends. It's easy for younger people to forget that older people ever had a life before becoming parents and grandparents, but the more I spend time with my Nain and Taid and their friends, the more I appreciate the stories they tell and that they were my age once and having similar experiences to me. B was really impressed with Llys y Coed too; it's a really lovely place, it feels more like a halls of residence than a typical 'old people's home', and the residents and staff treat each other really well. In some residential homes the staff barely connect with the people they're looking after, which takes away dignity from everyone.


Time for bed now, I think. I have another early start for work tomorrow morning. Goodnight from me, B and the residents of Llys y Coed, growing old disgracefully :)