tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27987883759004726632024-02-19T02:05:14.559+00:00Dared, Determined, Done!Learning to embrace change and adventure Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.comBlogger44125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-45898098497816865652017-11-17T13:42:00.002+00:002017-11-17T13:52:11.368+00:00Surrey life
Life lately has gone from calm to crazy as I get busy with my job search whilst trying to juggle the needs of a demanding toddler, and the rest of it. During the week the three of us usually have snatched moments together before work and nursery and our busy days take over, and Christoph rarely sees Leo who is usually asleep by the time he gets home in the evening.
But on the weekend we Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-6477044103324825872017-11-08T11:59:00.000+00:002017-11-08T11:59:03.038+00:00Pumpkin picking at secretts farm
Last weekend we celebrated Halloween by going in search of the perfect pumpkin at Secretts Farm in Milford. I love this place! It has a huge farm shop, little cafe, butcher, regular farmers markets and loads of seasonal events for families. During summer I took Leo there for his first Punch & Judy show and there were loads of kids enjoying the 'pick-your-own' berries, taking home huge Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-22523213703980394722017-07-05T11:41:00.001+01:002017-07-05T11:52:27.787+01:00Facing my fears about returning to work post-baby
Sometimes I really don't look forward to socialising these days... apart from the huge faff of trying to make myself look less 'Surrey Mum' and more 'London girl about town' I usually dread trying to come up with interesting chat.
Currently, my day-to-day life revolves around trips to Waitrose, cooking baby food, going to play-groups, doing laundry (endless laundry!), cleaning the house,Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-87122410785195893092016-08-31T17:49:00.000+01:002016-08-31T21:25:23.007+01:00A marathon, not a sprint
A photo from my BMF class this month! I'm number 21 hiding away in the background.
Not quite ready for pics on the blog of me running just yet :)
So it's the end of August and according to my last blog post I was meant to lose 10lbs by now... oops!
Ok so that totally didn't happen. BUT, I did make some progress this month towards being a healthier and happier version of myselfAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-59985658563893418332016-08-01T13:20:00.000+01:002016-08-01T13:31:29.189+01:00Ok... let's try this again!
This is one of my favourite quotes of all time and it is with this in mind that today I start a new healthy eating and exercise programme in an attempt to get my physical and mental health back on track.
I love it that today is both a Monday and the first of the month - it seems like the perfect starting point and I'm feeling positive and excited!
It's been an intense, amazing, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-31564574179392107172016-01-02T00:30:00.000+00:002016-05-17T14:22:26.255+01:00A new year and a new addition to our family
Happy New Year everyone!
On this day every year I am usually still feeling a little worse for wear having overdone it a tad on New Year's Eve. But not this year. Today is the due date for my baby boy and so it's a very special day for me and I am definitely not hungover.
What's really special about this day is that baby Leo has already been with us for close to 3 Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-54911500532021014822015-10-18T17:49:00.002+01:002015-10-18T18:14:41.299+01:00I'm back
I've pretty much abandoned this blog since my last post four long months ago.
It wasn't intentional. I've often considered sitting down to write about some of the things going on in my life but I just wasn't feeling it to be perfectly honest.
After not writing for a month or so I started to feel rather guilty and then after another month or so I felt like it had been Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-7114171248737008462015-06-12T14:58:00.000+01:002015-10-18T18:17:31.246+01:00Starting a new life in Surrey
Hello from Guildford!
We moved out of our little London flat one week ago and what a week it has been. The packing seemed endless and it almost finished us off completely but we got there in the end.
It feels wonderful to finally own our own home and we are so excited to completely re-decorate and design it in our own style. The house is a little tired and needs updating Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-55536921042445937422015-05-29T14:12:00.000+01:002015-10-18T17:52:31.979+01:00Leaving London
The prettiest bridge in the world: Albert Bridge in Chelsea
At long last the time has come to pack up our possessions and leave behind the city I have called home all my life.
A week from today we move into our new home in beautiful Surrey. We are so relieved the search for a place to call our own is over at long last. Chris and I are now the proud owners of a lovely red-brick Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-10187373877209537972015-05-07T12:46:00.002+01:002015-10-18T17:52:59.556+01:00Five movies to cheer you up when you're feeling down
One of my favourite ever book/movie characters, Bridget Jones, slobbing out in front of the TV!
Today I've been sitting at my laptop attempting to write something half-decent for you all but the words just won't come. I think it's because I've already written a couple of posts about losing my Dad and I don't want to depress you or make anyone think this is becoming a 'grief blog'Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-11008105267799695232015-04-01T10:58:00.000+01:002015-10-18T17:53:13.885+01:00Act as if
My Dad died exactly one month ago today and this past month has been one of the hardest I've ever had to endure.
Losing my Dad so suddenly and unexpectedly has really knocked me sideways and I'm now taking some very much needed time out to rest, recover, and reflect. I'm not working at the moment thankfully so I have a little breathing Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-28121738038484426292015-03-26T12:46:00.003+00:002015-10-18T17:53:30.484+01:00"To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die" [Thomas Campbell]
The beautiful funeral flowers I chose with my sister
You may be wondering why my blog has gone strangely silent over the last month or so. Where have I been? Why haven't I been writing my usual regular posts? Well...
On Sunday 1st March my amazing Daddy passed away. His death was sudden and completely unexpected and I miss him so much already.
Just 12 hours before his Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-22170949119268435902015-02-22T20:06:00.005+00:002015-10-18T17:53:45.636+01:00A picture is worth a thousand words
Yes, that's me in the middle! This was on the banks of the River Thames photographing St Paul's Cathedral.
As a special birthday treat (thank you Christopher!) I spent a wonderful Sunday last weekend on a beginners photography workshop around London's South Bank, taught by none other than our amazing wedding photographer John Alexander (if you want to see a few of my favourite Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-29434044048901697402015-02-17T00:08:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:53:57.563+01:00One year wiser
Today is my birthday, I am 33!
Being 32 was so great - I really had one of my best years yet (read this if you want to know why). I'm truly thankful for every opportunity that came my way during the past year and I feel very grateful to have had so many happy days and reasons to celebrate.
It wasn't all sunshine and roses of course but I feel like I handled all the littleAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-3210486385564293812015-02-02T20:24:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:54:13.151+01:00Learning to play the property game
We have officially started our house search - hurrah!
As I mentioned in a recent post, I have several BIG plans for 2015 and probably the biggest of these is to finally get on the housing ladder. At long last Chris and I are ready to buy our first home. We have a hefty deposit saved, mortgage broker ready to go, solicitor waiting in the wings, and all our finances in order. And we are first Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-4164876295282835812015-01-23T18:46:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:54:27.446+01:00"Explore, dream, discover." [Mark Twain]
Happy at the Tulum Mayan ruins - a place I've been dreaming of visiting for over 10 years!
Over Christmas and New Year I was very lucky to spend 3 weeks travelling around Mexico with my husband Chris on a wonderful, exotic, much longed for adventure holiday.
It's a country I've dreamed of visiting for a very long time and one of those places I just knew in my heart I would totally Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-82086826018386354822015-01-17T01:00:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:54:43.697+01:00A year from now you'll wish you had started today
Chris took this pic of me in Playa del Carmen, Mexico on 31 December, as the sun set on 2014.
Think back to your life a year ago... you were probably making your New Year's resolutions for 2014 and promising yourself "this will be MY year!".
Now, one year on, have you kept those promises you made to yourself?
Perhaps you did, and if so, a huge pat on the back for you as we all knowAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-21631241251422497142014-12-31T23:57:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:55:00.920+01:00Goodbye 2014... what a year!
It's that time again... a chance to reflect on the past 12 months and look forward to the year ahead. I feel so blessed that for me 2014 was such an awesome year - one of my best ever in fact!
It's no secret to those close to me that I've had a few wobbles in my adult life with some unexplained periods of feeling depressed. Times where life seemed to lose it's shine and where my Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-60655787297481243832014-12-30T17:07:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:55:23.511+01:00Breaking free from 'stuffocation'
I've written a fair bit on the blog about my mindless spending and dependency on credit cards, and I've detailed my mission to escape from these poisonous habits.
But what I haven't talked too much about is why I became addicted to spending money I didn't have and exactly what motivated me to get, and stay, out of debt. What have I added to my life to replace the fun shaped Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-70156949944197575652014-12-17T18:21:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:55:37.599+01:00Confessions of a shopaholic (part 2)
- Read 'Confessions of a shopaholic (part 1)' here -
Last Autumn I chopped up my credit cards and went cold turkey on shopping and spending of all kinds except for essentials like food, toiletries, rent and bills. It was extremely hard to lose this 'spare cash' which I depended on like a drug to perk me up, keep me entertained, and see me through to the end of each month after I Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-18438092658063511132014-12-09T16:36:00.000+00:002015-10-18T17:55:58.849+01:00Confessions of a shopaholic (part 1)
'Tis the season to be jolly... and also to spend money like it's going out of fashion.
Crazy Christmas consumerism has been on my mind lately after seeing horrible video footage on the news of people stampeding into shops on 'Black Friday' and having actual physical fights with each other over television sets and laptops. People stomping on and crushing others in a desperate attempt to Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-59166617934359982022014-11-27T19:39:00.001+00:002015-10-18T17:56:10.856+01:00We are family
All fifteen of my wonderful and totally awesome cousins!
"All of the people around us they say, can they be that close?
Just let me state for the record, we're giving love in a family dose."
Followers of my blog may or may not be aware that I'm half British and half American! I am very lucky to hold passports for both of these wonderful nations and I identify proudly with both Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-43368964573620825052014-11-09T23:16:00.004+00:002015-10-18T17:56:28.831+01:00Escape the City: lessons learned (part 2)
I love this group photo taken on my last day at Esc
- To read 'Escape the City: lessons learned (part 1) click here -
So long, farewell...
This week I said goodbye to a wonderful group of people and closed the door on an experience that has been truly life changing for me. My internship at Escape the City is over.
It's been an exhilarating, eye opening, Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-26533078567995241412014-11-02T19:54:00.000+00:002015-10-18T18:03:30.136+01:00Sunday inspiration
The English poet William Ernest Henley is a bit of a one hit wonder. His literary reputation rests almost entirely on the single, magnificent poem 'Invictus', written in 1875.
I adore this beautiful piece of writing. The poem is so powerful, stirring, and hopeful.
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Out of the night Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2798788375900472663.post-75057162804158271392014-10-26T10:13:00.000+00:002015-10-18T18:03:52.229+01:00Sunday inspiration
Recently I watched a really interesting interview with one of my favourite actors, Morgan Freeman.
He was being interviewed by the incredible Oprah Winfrey and told his fascinating life story, focusing mainly on his career and how he finally achieved success in the acting world aged 50. I think there is a lesson in there for all of us that it's never too late!
Anyway - at the endAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05766682328518779892noreply@blogger.com3