New Year's Resolutions

Hi Ay, Peeps,

This may well be my last post for about two weeks as I'm travelling to the icy North, where apparently internet ceases to exist. Or at least my parents don't understand why anyone would want such as thing. I wish I had the willpower to live without it and do far more constructive things with my time. Like do assignments. And find the bloody battery charger for my camera!!

Anyhoo, I thought I'd let you know my New Year's resolutions and some plans for the blog when I get back. In no particular order...

• I will take more photos of what I'm doing
• Spend less time on the internet
• Lose 2 stone
• Start listing items on my Etsy page, just waiting for me
• Hoover the house more than once a week!
• Get a spare battery charger
• Learn a new skill

I also need to find a job after I finish Uni.

So, that's actually quite a scary list but hopefully I'll be ticking things off along the way.

I might catch you tomorrow night before I'm upping and leaving!!

Much love,

J xx

X Factor

So did anyone see this? I couldn't help but get caught up in it about half way through. I absolutely adore the winning song, one of my all time favourites and I think the winner did a nice job of it. Heard worse.

If you haven't heard, the song is Hallelujah, originally written by Leonard Cohen. Apparently he had a nightmare writing the song and has 15 verses for it. My favourite lyric is

"Well, maybe there's a god above,
but all I've ever learned from love,
was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you."

I prefer versions of this song that are more "pure" in sound, a simple piano backing and a nice voice that doesn't warble too much; sticking to its near-religious type roots. Mmmm, small pleasures I guess.

Catch you later,

J xx

Jacket

I was just having a look on the internet for a winter coat. Originally hailing from North Scotland, I don't find the south of England too cold but walking around in a t-shirt at this time of year yields several looks of confusion. Here is my find. I'm not sure how it will look with a long sleeve top underneath but I'm willing to suck it and see.

You can find it here, if you're interested. http://www.oliverbonas.com/p/CLOTHING_WOMENSCLOTHING_NEW+SEASON/578509.htm

Little Treats

Firstly, sorry for being a bit miserable before. The good news is I finished the aforementioned assignment and have had an evening in peace. Profiteroles for dessert did help.

So I've been thinking about Christmas coming up and the various pressies I'll be purchasing for family members. I only have to buy four main presents but I'm going for a bit of a theme this year. Everyone will be recieving either something to do/make or something I've made or thrifted for them.

First on the list is my Mam. She's mid-forties and has spent most of her life bringing up her kids and working as a tailor from home when said children allowed. Her standard day consists of getting up at 6.30am with my Dad, breakfast, then cleans the house and does the hoovering before starting work at 9am. Twenty minutes for lunch, a mid afternoon cup of tea and she begins to prepare supper at 4pm so it is ready on the table when Dad comes in at 5.30. She will work for a further two hours in the evening.

This has been her routine since forever so she has little time for niceties of even much time to relax. So, for Mam, I purchased a gorgeous pattern for a new apron from a site I found through Etsy.

I was delighted when this beautiful package arrived through my letterbox today. My photo doesn't quite do it justice so please have a look at http://www.sewliberated.com/index.html

I really need to find my battery charger for my camera battery. It's not a standard issue so I can't just plug in some AA's. Ho hum.

So, next on my list was to buy suitable fabric. The apron is fully reversible so I wanted two, cute fabrics that could be brought together by one coordinating fabric for the ties. Have a look at my purchases below! Hopefully this will be a nice little something she can use daily and put a smile on her face.

Personally, I love the cute spotty fabric and am hoping I will have enough leftover for something else. But this is my start at pressies.

On a slightly random note, I've just found my favourite lipstick that I had lost whilst moving flat recently. When I say favourite, I mean only. I generally hate lipsticks as they feel yucky but I stumbled upon MAC's last year whilst shopping for a new eye colour and fell in love. I have the shade Faux, which is pretty close to my actual lip colour but more so and is great for every day use. I'll try and get a decent pic tomorrow of a "before and after".

http://www.maccosmetics.co.uk/templates/products/sp.tmpl?CATEGORY_ID=CAT4728&PRODUCT_ID=PROD66092

Anyway, I think that's long enough for just now. Speak soon!

J xx

Hmmmm

It was a bit of a rubbish day yesterday. I woke up in the morning to find that Missy, our super hamster, was on the chilly side and not walking great. Despite coming out for a nose around and a cuddle, she just went to sleep when put back in her bad and died later on. But here's a picture of her in cheekier times!

Is that a bit weird putting that pic up? I hope not. She was super cute but alas, keeping those big ears up just got too much. She was an old wifey!

To add to the upset, Honda are pulling out of F1 which is pretty horrendous news as far as I'm concerned.

Ho hum, I'll catch you later.

Meh...

You know, it's funny that when there is an assignment to be done, the bath becomes the single most important thing in the world and needs to be cleaned NOW!

I have a distinct lack of motivation for a certain module. But my flat is spotless.

I hope normal service will resume soon and I can show you lots of wonderful pictures of my creations/projects/cooking etc.

Much love.

J xx