One Year Older

I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed lately, it seems everything is happening all at once, some things are my doing, others are not. But you know when you get to that point when you either want to smash something to pieces, or just sit in a corner and cry your little heart out. Well that's where I was on Thursday, it may have just been a coincidence that it was the day before my Birthday, or maybe that's was why I was so highly strung...

Thankfully my lovely boyfriend and I had already planned a much needed weekend away to celebrate, and re-charge. We made a pact before we left not to discuss any of the stressful subjects and just chill out. We did lapse a couple of times but on the whole we succeeded and it made the world of difference. I felt totally relaxed, and really enjoyed our break. We managed to fit in a lot of walking, a bit of art, some comedy and one or two cocktails. What more could you ask for.

Unfortunately the stress levels did creep back up on the train home as reality was getting closer and closer, but I do feel in a slightly better head space, so hopefully I will cope better and just get stuff done, instead of worrying about it.

How do you cope with stress, any tips?

If you were wondering, I am stressing about, wedding stuff, moving house, difficult neighbours and work!

Eels Live

Please excuse my terrible iPhone photos I did take a better camera but didn't realise the battery was flat grr.

Thursday we went to see the Eels at the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill. It's relatively small venue but on the odd occasion they get some really good names.

First up was the support act, Daughters of Davis. These girls were actually quite surprising, they have a slight 40's sound.  Their in-between chatter fell a little flat sometimes but they were sweet, and they can certainly sing. Check them out if you get a chance, and maybe even buy them dinner to help on their tour.

Next up were the Eels. This is the first time I have seen them live and I can't believe it took me so long. They were a favourite of mine as a teenager, and I still have big love for E's voice. Most of the set was their newer stuff, there were a couple of the oldies thrown in for good measure, although played with a twist so barely recognisable.

        

You like the lining?

  

"this next song's a real bummer"

We were quite close to the front, and the lights kept coming up which strangely made it feel more intimate like the band could see you, so they really were playing for you. Didn't matter that I was there with a couple hundred other people.

The Chet on the sad machine :o(

The Chet on the keyboard with a staw thingy

Near the end of the gig E came off the stage for a hug and pretty much got bundled by the front few rows. I wasn't quick enough (sad face) but it was fun to see.

All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this gig and I can safely say I loved every second. Given the chance to see them live, I'm there. I am currently revisiting the back catalog on spotify. 

Coffee from Bali

I have some serious wanderlust going on at the moment. My bestie came over on Saturday night with tales from her travels to Bali and a bag of delicious coffee as proof. It is so good, already had four pots of the stuff, shared of course.

Her stories of a massage every other day and a visit to a nigh on deserted island, make me green. But I still love to hear them and dream of getting away.

We usually get away a couple of times a year for maybe a long weekend and a week or 2 somewhere else, but with the wedding coming up we decided to wait this year. I know we have a week away booked for straight after the wedding and planning for a couple of weeks over Christmas somewhere, but I want to go now *stamps feet and pokes out bottom lip*

Oh well I guess I will just have to wait, I mean it's not really that far away (about 13 weeks! eek), I think I am just feeling a little frazzled at the moment. Time is flying and I just feel like I'm trading water, planning a wedding is not easy when you're as disorganised as me.

A Walk in the Park

Our local park is beautiful, and sometimes I forget. 

It is a five minute walk from my home and I should really visit it more often. We have been having some lovely weather lately, and now it doesn't get dark until gone 9 in the evening I thought I would take advantage and go for a walk.

It was about 8 and nice and quiet, and although the park is on a busy road, you don't even notice once you are among the trees.

Such a cliché but I love roses, and they were in full bloom, beautiful.

I had a little sit in the Peace Garden, it's closed off, no dogs allowed and I had it all to myself.

So under the bamboo I sat to contemplate, and rest my mind ready for bed, I made it home about 9.30 soul lifted and a smile on my face.

Excuse the less than amazing iphone photos, I may take the big girl camera next time.

Homemade Nakd Bars

This weekend I made some of these beauties for snack time at work.

 I keep reaching for the chocolate now I have a readily available vending machine and it has to stop. So apart from not taking money to work with me I had a go at making my own Nakd bars.

You would not believe how easy they were, I checked a few different recipes on line and it seems that providing you use equal amount dried fruit (mainly dates and sultanas) and nuts, you won't go far wrong. Chuck everything in a blender for a few minutes until everything is chopped up small and combined. Tip out and mould into whatever shape takes your fancy. Individually seal in cling film for freshness and you are done. Yum

So the yellow one is a version of pecan pie, the green one is choco mint, I used a mint options to flavour these, and choco orange with cocoa powder and the rind of an orange.

They all taste great, I might even go so far as to say they are tastier than Nakd bars, I guess because they are a little fresher?

Next time I might experiment with some flavours, maybe cocoa and cinnamon, ginger and lemon or even coffee I'll let you know how it goes.

Week Off

Last week I took a week off work, with the best intentions of getting some wedding to do boxes ticked, and other general household bit's and pieces done.

Well I did some stuff but I'll have to admit I wasn't overly productive.

I made these...

Home made lemon curd, Italian meringue and waffles, from the Meringue Girls cookbook, seriously scrummy.

Played with fire (BBQ at a friends house), had a couple of sessions with my personal trainer, and went to the cinema to see X-Men Days of Future Past, which I loved. Did some wedding crafts,

more on those later.

Knitting,

yoga mat bag that I may have ruined with bad wool, damn me trying to be thrifty with left overs...

And enjoyed a happy hour with my fella.

So I guess I did do stuff, just not the stuff I wanted to do, oh well no point fretting, I had fun at the time.

Surely I'm not the only one that unintentionally wastes time on things not on my lists? Am I?

Keeping Tabs

On a whim whilst in TK Maxx I bought these little note books, I'm not sure why if I'm honest I was just really feeling drawn to them at the time. They are little leather bound books, each with a different theme and alphabetised tabs to make notes. I love the idea of making notes for different aspects of your life, a way to remember the important things.

But I'm ashamed to say that now I have them I'm a bit apprehensive to actually write in them. I don't want to ruin them, that's really silly isn't it. 
No point having them if I'm not going to use them, so I'm sure I'll get over it and put them to good use soon enough, especially the wedding one.

It made me think about all the other thing's I've bought just because they were pretty, and never used. Like  soap, milk jug or a fancy candle. I even have a whole tea set that's never been used, in my defence it was only £2 from a boot sale and it is orange. It seems quite sad that these things just sit looking pretty, I really should make a point of using these things, if only to prove their worth, we don't really have the space for frivolous items at the moment.  

So maybe now is the time for a huge spring overhaul, a use it or lose it type cleanse, maybe I'm brave enough? Or am I just too sentimental, I'll probably just fill the loft and kid myself that these pretty unused things will find a purpose when we move...