welcoming winter

m.r. and i changed from using the 'thin' to the 'fat' duvet this week.

it is our annual acceptance that winter has arrived:
our way of saying 'welcome winter!'

welcome, woolly hats, scarves and gloves
welcome, choirs singing christmas carols
welcome, bare trees
welcome, red noses
welcome, counting down to midnight
welcome, my birthday
welcome, using the weather outside as an excuse to snuggle on the sofa and watch a movie
welcome, fresh starts and new resolutions
welcome, ugg boots (lack of ankle support will not convince me to abandon you)
welcome, finding pine needles all over the house
welcome, fat duvet

welcome winter - of all the four seasons, you are by far my favourite.

thanks for m.r.

just a note to wish my stateside blogger friends a truely happy thanksgiving for tomorrow!

i know we don't celebrate thanksgiving over this side of the pond, but m.r. called me at work today just to tell me he loved me and it made me realise how thankful i am to have found him.

it made me think back to the early months of our relationship, when everything was new and we had just said those three immortal words to one another. shortly after this time, i sent him a list of reasons why i loved him. they are also the reasons i still thank whoever sent him to me:

1. You’re gorgeous
2. You eat my attempts at cooking with a smile on your face
3. You’re a computer geek
4. You are genuinely kind-hearted (a rarity nowadays)
5. You wear awesome clothes
6. You support me and make me believe i am capable of anything
   
7. Your parents have a beautiful house in france (joke!)
   
8. You spend time with my family and love them even though they’re a little crazy
9. You leave the toothpaste in the shower after weirdly brushing your teeth with hot water
10. You don’t eat sweets, which leaves all the more for me

 i love m.r.

a name like no other

this morning, i was catching up with the goings-on in the blog world when i came across a lovely post by rhianne from 'for the easily distracted'.

she had updated her blogroll by listing all her favourite blogger's gorgeous header pictures. it was a fantastic idea, it looked wonderful and it was so inviting! i couldn't wait to check out more good reads.

but to my horror of horrors, there was a header with my blogs name on it. 
i was devastated. 
i had clearly not done my research.

so, in some form of attempt to avoid confusion, i have decided to change my blog's name.

and a new name, called for a new header. i hope you like it!

p.s. i have avoided changing my url...... i have no idea of the blogger world consequences of doing so as internet technology escapes me somewhat. if anyone has any advice on this, it would be more than welcome! do i change it or not????

joan rivers had a good point

today was the beginning of my 'i'm going to have a katy perry-esq body by the time i get married in may' plan.

so, at lunchtime, i hauled myself to the gym - a place whose absence in my life over the last few years, i confess, i have not missed.

45 minutes later, every single limb felt as though it was one moment away from falling off. to say i was in pain would be an understatement. blimey.

i am clearly unfit. scrap that, i think my body may have forgotten how to use it's muscles.

somebody please tell me that this gets easier.......?

back to the rat race

i've been away from work for the past week (revision and exam days). i feel as though my weekend has lasted forever. it's been fabulous.

returning to work tomorrow will be a struggle.

mountains of emails await me.

i'm taking bets on how soon into the morning i decide i've earnt a break and, subsequently, log on to blogger..........

oh well, at least december is almost here. nobody does any work in december, right???

dreaming of a white christmas

as we approach christmas time, my thoughts generally turn to a number of things (presents, family, mince pies, board games, the queen's speech!) but i also think of snow.

here in london, we are almost never blessed with a white christmas. it's one of the saddest things about living in the capital. christmas is the time i miss living by the sea where waking up to find snow had covered the ground was always a lot more likely.

that being said, london does seem to partake in the snowy wonderfulness occassionally - just when london decides it's appropriate to do so.
2008 - snow fell in april
2009 - snow fell in february

i love snow. unfortunately, london transport does not and the slight sign of white droplets sends the capital into a spin. in february, undergrounds came to a standstill, bus routes were terminated and getting to work became a nightmare. 
i "worked from home".
m.r. decided to walk into work and these are his photos from his journey..........

 

 

 

this year, i'm definitely dreaming of a white christmas!

band of brothers

m.r. and i have just watched the final episode of "band of brothers" - it is a truly sensational series.

i'm not usually a huge fan of war programmes or movies, i always feel as though they're lacking in real emotion and could never come close to depicting how it must have felt to be in those times and that situation. i guess i always felt like a fraud in a way - as though i was somehow undermining the pain and suffering these men must have gone through by watching an actor crossing the screen with fake blood strewn across their face and uniform.

i didn't feel like a fraud watching this. in fact, after each episode, m.r. and i were often rendered speechless for a few minutes, having been forced to contemplate the horrifying experiences these men had to endure. maybe because the men in the programme were real men, all unique characters, with real lives waiting for them back at home. i don't know.

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please watch this series. it is heartbreaking.

guilty pleasures

over the past few days, i have been preoccupied with revising for my upcoming exams tomorrow and friday. i would like to submit photo (a) as evidence of said revision.

however, i confess that i have manged to find numerous distractions over the past 2 days that have somewhat delayed said revision.

notably, "the hills".

i realise that admitting to watching this programme is far from cool. however, i am who i am.
i know the programme is fake.
the characters are incredibly annoying
and i curse myself for not having been to the gym recently everytime 'kristin' appears on the screen (scrap that, anytime any of the girls appear on the screen)
but......... i am completely addicted.

it's a guilty pleasure, what can i say?!

i deplore any one else with a guilty pleasure to share it with me in attempt to rid me of my own shame.

p.s. i pretend to be ashamed but i love it way too much to care how others may judge me ;0)

sunday, fun sunday

with m.r. working on the laptop and bob dylan providing a soundtrack to our sunday, i spent the morning baking a cake.

one of my dearest friends had nominated himself to host an afternoon tea session and cook a few of us an english roast. the cake was my way of saying thank you.

the host will actually be my usher at our wedding. i realise it isn't exactly traditional for the bride to have an usher, but i wanted him to be part of the day somehow, so i've let tradition take a back seat on this one.

so usher, dinner was delicious, thank you - a fantastic way to finish off the weekend!

exams next week...........darn. why oh why is it so hard to focus and study?????

"frankly my dear".......

recently, i discovered that m.r. has never seen the movie 'gone with the wind'.

"how is this possible?" i asked, "it's a classic!"

"well, it's a chick flick, right?" he replied.

i tried to explain that this movie is in no way a chick flick. instead, it serves as a warning to everyone that the grass is definitely not always greener and by the time you realise this, it may be too late - you may have already lost the one thing that you loved the most.

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nowadays (i hesitate to use the phrase 'our generation' without sounding like my grandad), we're always wanting to be one step ahead of ourselves, always wanting the next big thing or wishing we had something that we can't afford. often, i think we forget what we actually already have, and don't take enough time to appreciate the place we are right now.

so here's my appreciation, as right now i'm in the happiest, most wonderful relationship, surrounded by a supportive and loving family, with hard to find, genuine friends. i'm in a job i love, living in a flat that feels like home.

i obviously dream of other things, things that will come to us in time i am sure. but right now, all of that can wait. because right now, i have everything i could wish for.

take some time today to tell me your appreciations and why you love where you are right now!

my wonderful sister

i've always wanted a sister.

my brother, as brothers go, is pretty great (forgetting the 'smacking me over the head with a spade' incident when we were young). but it was never going to be the same as having a sister

i dreamt of having someone to share secrets with, someone to take shopping to help me find that perfect dress, someone to call me just to tell me the latest celeb gossip they'd heard.

until now, friends have always been a substitute. but as a result of an extremely intelligent decision made by my brother (see, good points!), i now have my very own, fabulous sister.

she's awesome. and yesterday, she was offered a new job! whoop whoop!

congratulations sis - we're all very proud of you! xx

scrumptious hot cider

i had such a wonderful weekend.

the weather was beautiful - a chilly, crisp breeze with sunshine beaming through the clouds. perfect for being outside, wrapped up in your favourite hat and scarf!

i spent my saturday at the market with some friends, drinking scrumptious hot cider. but what began as a cheeky afternoon drink soon turned into the most fun, unplanned, evening, full of catch-up stories and laughter (remind me to tell you about the french spa adventures another time!).

what an incredible feeling - when you realise all over again how fabulous your friends are!

christmas excitement (in november)

i realise it's only the beginning of november, but i love christmas and i'm already so excited about it. it's the one time in the year that you're officially allowed to be a kid again!

my parents have always made the biggest effort when it comes to the little things - when we were younger, my dad would dress up in my mum's red coat and white scarf on christmas eve so that if we woke whilst he was putting our sacks of pressies out, we would think he was santa!

and my mum would leave sprinklings of tinsel around the house during the lead up to christmas, telling us that they were threads from the fairys' dresses who had been to visit and check we were behaving.

plus, we used to get our 'big' present left for us downstairs in the lounge and dad would always tease us that he didn't think santa had brought us one this year. i say 'used' to - this tradition is still in full force in our househould, despite the fact that we're hitting our 30s.

christmas is a truely magical time and we feel so lucky to have 3 fabulous niece and nephews to shower with christmas fantasies and pressies this year.

bring on santa!

the beginning

my very first post........esk!

so i guess this all started 6 months ago, when my gorgeous boyfriend proposed to me, in my most favourite place in the city, with the most beautiful ring i've ever seen.

not only did he manage to surprise me (which is difficult as i organise both of our diaries!), he had also asked my dad's permission AND he proposed on one knee. what more could a girl ask for?!

since that night, our lives have been fairly hectic:
our beautiful little niece was born,
our youngest nephew has perfected his disney-esq smile that would melt anybody's heart,
and our eldest nephew has become a toddler, with huge adorable eyes that make you want to give him anything he asks for.
my parents threw us an incredibly fun (if not fairly drunken) engagement party.
so many of our family travelled up to celebrate with us, which we hugely appreciated.
my brother and his wife were married in a fabulous english manor house.
i was, very proudly, one of their bridesmaids.
we visited the parents in law-to-be in france and stayed in their beautiful 18th century farmhouse.
we attended 3 of our friends weddings and loved each and everyone of them.
my best friend (who also happens to be my maid of honour) accepted a marriage proposal from her lovely boyfriend.
the whole family embarked on a whistlestop tour of brazil.
my parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary (how inspiring!)
and during all of this, we've also been trying to plan our own wedding............

so our blog is about all of these wonderful times and wonderful people.