Halfway Point

Halfway through January already! How did that happen? Looks like 2016 will be another flyer - whoosh!

How's January been treating you so far? Mine has been a very much mixed bag. I started off with an evil sinus infection that made me very dizzy, which as an on/off dizzer is not at all pleasant. But! I battled on through, mainly as I am still a newbie at work so can hardly be taking time off this early on. Not a good impression and all that. Sudafed has been my friend.

Then I officially became old. I'd been having some weird eye stuff going on, and in my usual totally dramatic way, assumed the worst and diagnosed myself with something deathly. To counteract the over-dramatics, I made an appointment at the opticians and it turns out I'm not going to end my days on this soggy land with something horrible; instead I will end them wearing varifocal glasses. Yep. Old. As well as being a blind bat for seeing things far, far away, I now need me something to help me read too! What is this life and this growing old malarkey? Me no likey. Rather than admitting to being old, I am thinking I will explain to people that my eyes need assistance with reading as I have read soooooo many books over the years that my educated eyes just need a rest. In the form of some new glasses. With varifocal lenses. Shush, don't tell anyone.

We're heading into the weekend by celebrating Dave's birthday today. He will also be old *chuckles* but he already has varifocal glasses... At his request I am making enchiladas and a birthday cake which will be washed down with beer and perhaps a cheeky Amaretto or two.

I can't talk about early January without mentioning the death of David Bowie. I was, and still am, beyond gutted. I was supposed to be working at home that day but I spent much of it in a daze, gazing at the wall, remembering moments with his music over and over again, and welling up frequently. I know his classic stuff is usually what people remember but I absolutely loved his newer music too. Little Wonder came out in 1997 when we were at uni and I remember we were all massively excited for new David Bowie music! There are so many words, and yet none of them feel right. So just sit back, press play, and enjoy the brilliant madness...

If your toast is green, it's mouldy

Anyone else fed up of seeing Instagram photos of smushed up avocado on toast with a poached egg balanced precariously on the top? Usually accompanied by the hashtag caption #goals and that all important white as white background to highlight the green as green avocado? Seriously? Enough already with the curated idea of perfection. Be a rebel and break free. Have your Instagram feed be full of all sorts of colours, with all sorts of backgrounds, and stuff piled up high that resembles real life rather than flat lays. I'm increasingly unfollowing many of these feeds and choosing alternatives that are very far removed from any idea of 'perfect' or 'goals'.

In light of this I'm starting a campaign for bringing back butter. Butter belongs on toast. Or jam. Or marmalade. Maybe even some peanut butter or Nutella if you're feeling fancy but no more smushy green stuff! Even the poached egg is all good, just NO MORE AVOCADO.

I used to quite like it actually. Avocado that is. But recently it seems to be taking over the world, or certainly the breakfast plates of the Instagram world, and I'm bored with it. Don't these people eat cereal? Or do you think they take the photo of the avocado on toast, click publish, then chuck it in the bin and gobble down the honey nut loops out of shot?

The Avocado growers of the world must be rejoicing at the surge in sales.

Cereal growers on the other hand are probably holding their heads in woe.

Sad times.

Anyone else with me? #squadgoals and all that...? No? The butter stands alone then...

Listen Up! - The Swinging Dice

It's Friday, it's a new year, let's take some time for some new music. I discovered The Swinging Dice via Imelda May (if you haven't already, go seek her out, very highly recommended!) and they are all kinds of fab. Rocking, swinging, and French (ooh la la) their debut album is frankly, brilliant.

Have a listen above to the title track, and if you like it, head on over to the Swinging Dice website to order it directly. You can either buy the CD or vinyl, or you can buy the digital version via Bandcamp. If you do choose the digital option, you can download the Bandcamp app and listen directly from there. Instant and brilliant. I am loving them!

Resolve

People don't really like to talk about money, do they? It's one of those weird subjects that make people all uncomfortable and shifty. I've never really been like that, and to be honest it's a subject I've had to be quite open about as often I have had to say no to things due to not having much of it - the money thing. But in order to talk about my one resolution for 2016 I have to talk about money, but in a very general, non-specific way. Don't worry, I won't make it uncomfortable reading. 

My one resolution, you see, is to sort out my finances. No grand plans or schemes, or setting myself up for challenges that I will undoubtedly fail - Year of Craft: EPIC FAIL. Reading Challenge of 50 books in one year: fail (by a narrow margin, I made it to 47!) I long ago stopped resolving to no longer swear (language, Timothy!) or to stop biting my nails, and I know absolutely and utterly that the whole 'I will exercise more' and 'go to the gym' are never going to be phrases I will live by. Be real, be realistic. The finances need sorting and a-sorted they will be. 

I won't go into the how much (how little!) cos no-one needs to know that sorry tale, but here's a few things I've done so far (2 days in and counting) to help me along the way to money contentment:

• Methodically hitting the unsubscribe button on all fashion/beauty/gift/any other online shopping platform - if I don't know that Dorothy Perkins have a 40% discount code I won't feel that it would be rude not to partake in such bargainous offers...
• Asked Santa for all the beauty products to see me forward into many months of 2016 before needing to buy anything for myself (good thinking, Batman!)...
• Worked out a little plan in my head for a monthly budget and plan to do my very bestest to stick by it...
• Did one last shopping splurge of hitting the sales with Tee. We both found bargains and are already enjoying our purchases. Revisiting my current wardrobe is the fashion trend for 2016 round these parts...

I have other plans that are in my head of what else I would like to do but they'll be staying in my head as it's probably the best place for them. 

If you're a friend that I socialise with reading this, you should know that I may say no to things, but not because I'm being unsociable - I'm working on my resolution. Don't be offended if I only buy a coffee if we meet up instead of a lunch. Please don't be offended if I simply say no - it's not a forever plan...but it has to start somewhere. 

Resolve is firm. Willpower is strong. Free stuff can be fun! Here we go then...

15 Things about 2015

I wanted to do a round up of the year for the blog but couldn't think of the best way to do it, until suddenly I was struck by the 15 Things idea I had before. Which fits in quite well as it's 2015. And so here we are, 15 things about 2015, a kind of summary if you will. It's a bit of a long'un so you might want to grab a cuppa...

1. HOUSE!
We finally got to move into our house in February, Friday 13th February to be precise. We couldn't have cared less about superstition by that point as we were just desperate to be in! We waited for 5 whole months to get this house, but it was so worth it. I love it and I still smile when I walk in the front door. We have lots of plans and ideas but no real hurry for completing anything. Taking it slowly and enjoying the moment is the motto for this house. It's definitely love...

2. Bob the Dog
After many months of this way and that way, in August we finally made the decision to get a dog. We always knew it would be a golden retriever, a boy, and that he would be called Bob. Once the decision was made it all happened pretty quickly. We went to meet a huge litter of adorable fluffy puppies (how to choose!) and the future Bob made his way over to me and put his paws up on my knees. That was it really. They do say that dogs choose their owners and he chose us it would seem. He is all kinds of barmy but mostly he is absolutely brilliant (don't mention the hole digging) and very loving, and most of all a big old heap of fun.

3. Jury duty
Well it couldn't all be fun and jolly. I came home from holidays (more on that further down) to a summons to be a juror. I was not happy about this at all. It's something I've never wanted to do and I absolutely dreaded it. Mercifully my duty was short but definitely not sweet. Endless hours of waiting around, ridiculous out of date systems with people wearing wigs and gowns and calling each other 'my learn-ed friend' I did get to serve on a jury and I hated every minute of it. I did not enjoy the idea that a man's future rested in my hands and I was beyond relieved after that case ended to be told we were no longer needed. You couldn't get me out of there quick enough. Ugh.

4. Giving up Facebook
Endless scrolling, irritation, and general grumpiness - these were my feelings about Facebook this year. Having had enough of it I decided to just give it up for a month and see how I got on. I deleted it from my phone and went about my merry way. In the end I was off it for about 3 months. It was marvellous! I did miss out on all sorts of things but it meant that people had to tell me the old fashioned way, by calling me or meeting me. It was a bit of a revelation and I stopped being so wrapped up in it all. I'm thinking of doing it again in 2016 as it's so easy to get sucked down the endless scrolling hole. Again with the ugh.

5. ROADTRIP!
For our jolly-bobs this year we did a roadtrip round England! It was all kinds of awesome and we had the BEST week camping at a crazy campsite on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. Glorious blue skies, sunny days, and all kinds of adventures. Please can we go back?

6. Jobs
A real mixed bag of a year. I started off the year in a bad job, spent the middle to end part of the year having a brilliant time working on a project that I love (and hope to continue with, cross everything for funding!) and ended the year going back to the land of libraries!

7. Best book(s)
I can't decide between two so I'm going with both. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey was all kinds of enchanting and I fell hard. So hard that I basically wanted to start it all over again as soon as I was finished. The second was A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman. I laughed, I cried, and basically adored this book. I would have happily passed it on to people but Bob decided to eat it so the first 30 pages are mangled and the rest is kind of chewed...

8. Best TV show
I think it has to go to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The original 90s version. I didn't really watch much of the normal teevee this year, I have a bit of a love-hate thing with it anyway, but I LOVED watching Buffy all over again on Netflix. So good!

9. Best film
My cinema attendance this year was shoddy to say the least. Time was rarely free and so I missed out on all the good ones. I did absolutely love Spy with Melissa McCarthy. I laughed until I nearly stopped breathing which qualifies it for a good cinema experience. Note to self: see more films at the cinema in 2016.

10. Best Music
Always so much good music, it's hard to choose. I had all sorts of weird moments and even found myself enjoying some serious pop moments (Swifty anyone?) but I think my rediscovery of The Vaccines would be up there, as would be the discovery of Richard Hawley. His beautiful deep, deep voice and his gorgeous albums were just the right side of melancholy for me. Definitely more music for 2016. Always the music!

11. My new blog
This new blog in fact! After years of writing a shared blog I decided to branch out and start up this one and I am loving it (I hope you are too!). It's nice to be my own voice and I like to be able to talk about all kinds of everything and feel that it just fits me better. More snugly if you will.

12. Working from home
I spent the majority of this year working from home. It was all kinds of weird and wonderful and good and bad. It's great for kettle access and general all round tea drinking, but not so great if you're feeling kind of sad and just want a chat. The best thing about it was that I was home when Bob was teeny tiny and could work on the training. I think it's paid off...kind of...can't get him to stop digging holes...

13. Skint
Truth. Since leaving libraryland phase 1, I have been skint. I'm used to it now. But it's not much fun. What is funny is that when I was in libraryland phase 1 I used to think, I'm going to leave here and earn loads more money...in actual fact I left there, became the skintest I have been in years, and actually dream about earning that much money once again. It will come, I know it will. In the meantime I shall carry on regardless, skintier than skint, but wealthy in so many other ways.

14. Overcoming...
...all kinds of things, but my mortal fear of presentations was the biggie. This was the year I conquered the fear. Don't get me wrong, I'm still nervous, but my legs don't shake anymore and I rarely look at my notes. This is progress, people, of the biggest kind. Let's have a woop!

15. Summing up...
...2015 was all kinds of everything. Highs, lows, births, deaths, the circle of life. I've stopped believing in bigger and better and am happy to just go with being. One day at a time. No doubt 2016 will be much of the muchness, but let's have some fun times along the way. See you there soon...

REVISIT: The beauty advent calendar

I'm interrupting my normal twice weekly schedule to write a requested post. Requested! From an actual reader! It fills my heart with joy to know that people are reading my little corner of the world - thanks you guys! 

The comment appeared on my post about the Marks and Spencer beauty advent calendar and asked me to do a quick update on my favourite products, so here we go! 

First up I will say the calendar was all kinds of joyous. It was like Christmas started early and carried on every single day throughout December. Opening the box each day, followed by the text to my sister telling her what was inside, was quite simply fab. The products were all wrapped up in either black or purple tissue paper, a bit like pass the parcel, and the majority of them were mighty fine indeed. The stand out products for me were as follows:

• 100ml Cowshed Grumpy Cow Uplifting Body Lotion
• 2.5 fl.oz. L'Occitane Verbena Shower Gel
• 15ml REN Flash Rinse 1 Minute Facial
• 100ml Pixi Glow Tonic*

Out of all of them the Pixi Glow Tonic was the most coveted of all. I'd heard so many amazing things about it and was desperate to try it, but at nearly £20 a bottle it was out of my price range for a toner. The 100ml is half the size of the full price product so for a tenner worth of product to be featured in a £25 calendar...a really rather good deal, and I would imagine was a big attraction for many people who bought the calendar. 

The majority of the products were brilliant. The lipstick shades were mainly of the nude/rose variety, and to get 100ml of many of the products is a pretty decent size for you to really get to try something out and see if you like it for future repurchase. The only disappointment for me was that all of the hair products were focused on creating volume and zero offerings for frizz taming. I think a bit of balance here would have been much more desirable. Then again, my sister lucked out as she received a little goodie bag of the volume control products. Share the love. 

The big question: will I repurchase the calendar next year? If the price is the same I definitely would**, but I think it won't take Marks and Spencer long to realise that they can put it in a much higher price bracket and still move the same amount of stock. That will be a real shame for me as I think the £25 price label was certainly the biggest appeal for me.

*it won't come as much of a surprise to read that I love the glow tonic! I was worried about how my skin would react to the exfoliation but so far so good!

**as before, and to be entirely honest, the calendar was available at £25 for a spend of £25 on beauty products. To qualify I bought the most expensive body lotion I have ever used: REN Rose Otto Body Lotion (£26). I can see why people spend that much money on body lotion. It is quite simply lush. It sinks into the skin in mere seconds, smells divine, and leaves your skin feeling silky smooth. Even if the calendar had been utterly rubbish, the body lotion would have been an enjoyable splurge! 

If you'd like to know anything else about the calendar, comment below. Go on, make my day all over again! 

How do you spell Christmas?

C is for the Christmas cake decorating party that we have every Christmas Eve now. It's turned into a tradition the last four or five years, where we have a couple of friends over, drink some kind of vino/bubbles, and let our imaginations go wild. This year was no exception. What do you mean Frankenstein in a Santa hat and a blue octopus don't speak of Christmas to you?! 

H is for heaps of food. All the food. There's been a lot and it just keeps on coming. I may be rolling back to work in January at this rate. 

R is for roast potatoes. This year we tried (look away now any veggies!) goose fat. Total game changer. Will never go back again. They were roast potatoes of epic proportions. 

I is for insane amounts of chocolate. Seriously, we have like a chocolate mountain. Refer to 'H' and the rolling back to work. We may roll everywhere if we eat it all. If we come to your house just know we'll be bringing some with us. 

S is for squeak. As in every single toy that Bob the Dog received had some kind of squeaker in it. He is SUCH a clever boy to make everything squeak. Constantly. SQUUUUUEEEEEEAAAAAKKKKK. Please someone, make it stop with a capital S. 

T is for Tee. Tee being home for Christmas is a present in itself. All the feels for that girl *hugs*

M is for music. As in my BEST present was a green record player that lives in a suitcase. A record player! That lives in a suitcase! I cannot even. It's brilliant. I've already made Dave listen to all the 45s that I have cherished since uni: limited edition Super Furry Animals, anyone?!

A is for apples. Ha! Just kidding. As if any fruit has passed my lips since last week, other than the dried stuff in mince pies...

S is for super dooper times. It was a really lovely, chilled out time, spent with loved ones, eating all the food, drinking all the drinks, and enjoying all the sofa times. Happy happy days. 

I hope you had a good one too! 

The Christmas Cake, 2015