His 27th Birthday

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Holiday in photos

Hope you had a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This and this and that and

I’m blogging because I’m totally in a good mood right now. Good things are happening, people. I’ve just practiced some butt kicking yoga, 10 days until we fly to Florida, I chopped all of my hair off again and my sister- (I mean…when can I stop calling you my sister-in-law??) has finally joined the world of bloggers – LUBISAJU. Hooray!

More…

I’ve been shopping like a mad woman the last few weeks and we’re almost finished buying Christmas gifts. I do love a good shop-a-thon but I don’t want to be in another mall again until….sometime next year. It’s hard not posting all of the great presents I’ve found along the way. I’m so bad with surprises but I’m trying hard to keep them on the hush hush.

Our tree is up and it’s looking pretty festive in here. I’m going to work on some spiced oranges this week so we can enjoy them for a few days. This weekend we’ll be at Ryan’s parent’s house for Christmas celebration number 1 out of the 3 we’ll be having this year. We are too lucky.

How has your shopping gone so far? How many people have you sarcastically mumbled “Oh no no nooo! Excuse ME!” to while waddling like a penguin in the crowd of other more frantic penguins trying to get to H&M?

You are not alone. You’ll get there in the end but then you’ll totally give up after you see the line. Just order it online.

I’m totally ranting because I miss the blogging world.

If you’ve made it this far I’ll award you with this video hilarious dog video Ryan sent me:

Gifts from the cool Aunt

K, I may not be the cool Aunt l but I’m an Aunt and it’s pretty awesome. So here are some gift ideas for the young ones:

1. Onesie – Eaggagogo on Etsy 
2. Temporary Tattoos by Amy Blay 
3. Meerkat puzzle at Paperchase
4. Her first fur coat via Zara
5. Batman Lollipops by CustomCandyCreations on Etsy
6. Perfect for little mermaids - G of the sea


Want more? Because I could do this all day long.

Hold on, slow down

Been thinking about how this year has gone by too fast. It seems like the older I get the faster the years pass. Then I got a newsletter emailed to me from a local Yoga instructor (reminding myself that I haven’t been back since and also haven’t stepped foot on my mat in ages!! THANKS!)

“What is the right pace for life?

So often we talk about the pace of life as if it is something that we have no control over; as if there are these evil pace setters that continually mix up the speed just to see us sweat.

We complain when the pace seems too fast: ‘The weekend went so quickly, ‘I can’t believe it’s Friday – where did the week go?’, ‘It’s nearly Christmas again, I don’t know what happened to this year.’ It’s like we are stuck on a treadmill which is going too fast so we battle to keep the pace up for fear of falling off the end.

All through my childhood and teenage years my mother would chastise me for ‘never hurrying’ as if somehow taking my time was a bad thing, but I never understood what the rush or urgency was. And now when she asks me how it is that I never seem stressed the truthful reply is ‘because I never hurry’. For me this is the key.

Start slow so and take regular pauses (even just 10 deep breaths) so that you have time to notice the day unfold around you and then choose how to respond to the tasks you’re presented with and adjust your pace accordingly. This way you are your own pace setter living life at the speed that suits you best.

The pauses are so important as we don’t always get things right and it is in the pauses that we can reflect and then take responsibility for adjusting things if we aren’t happy. If you feel like things have started to speed up again then in the pause you can ask yourself ‘Am I rushing because I’m under stress or am I under stress because I’m rushing?’.

If there is any one indication that life is best lived slowly, it’s that among all of the busyness, racing to fulfil tasks and rushing to complete goals, there is one race that nobody wants to finish first: the race of life itself.

Our culture has a mild obsession with racing — not racing for the sake of sport or simple competition, but racing through many aspects of our lives, so as to fulfil a sense of productivity. In conquering sprawling to-do lists we hope that we will feel accomplished. But “productivity” is a false-comfort and before long, we forget that life itself is about experiencing the journey — not racing to the finish.
So start slow. I’m not saying this will be easy. Especially when you’re running late for work, you have children to pack off to school and a million other things on the to do list. But just for one week give it ago.

Build something into your morning, make it the first thing you do when you get up that forces you slow down. Take 2 minutes longer in the shower to do 4 rounds of 10 long deep breaths, have a walk round your garden before the rest of your house has got up, complete 5 sun salutations, read two pages of a book - what ever it is give it ago!

Every morning that I choose to ‘start slow’, something amazing happens. I am calm, relaxed, and balanced throughout the day. Each moment feels like a gift, and not merely an opportunity to accomplish goals or fulfil tasks. When I start slow, I am naturally more productive and feel more accomplished by the day’s end.”

Right? I can do this. I hope you can too.

 

 

Snail cake toppers – cute. via felttess on Etsy

Pretty Crappy

Roses keep me happy when I’m feeling pretty crappy.

K, coffee?

So grateful for the little cafe that has opened down the street from us.

For the salad freaks

I made this last Ginger Steak Salad last month (yeah, bit late but better late than never!) and it was one of the best salads, evar. It took a little preparation and patience but it all paid off.

 

via The Pioneer Woman Cooks via Pinterest

Last week

The photos above are just a glimpse of last week in Bristol. We tried to take advantage of every day even if it was pouring rain. We took a trip to Longleat and a petting zoo to see our animal friends (then I fell in love with goats), took little Isak bowling for the first time and it was the ca-utest, and even got pampered at the prettiest spa in Bath where I had my first massage & facial…amazing – I am totally hooked and ready to book another.

It was a good week and I’m sad it’s over. Back to work and normal life!

Holidaaay

Hello happy sunflowers! I’m off to Bristol for a week. Lucy, Julien and Isak are in from France and we can’t wait to see em! We’re driving down in a few hours and I have made such a great compilation for the ride. Ryan will either be tortured or love it forever. “She’s Like the Wind” may be on there…

Hope you’re all alright. I miss this place! I’ll be back soon.  xxxx