We're going to Barcelona baby!

We've been rushed off our feet. I need a holiday. Working, looking after a little one and organising a wedding will tire a gal out, I am proof. I'm starting to feel a little bit nervous but mostly a lot tired. I'm looking forward to our friends and family descending over the next few days but I'm also anxious about what still needs to be done. I finish work Wednesday so only two days to go and then the big day can be my sole focus. I've been so focussed on the wedding I haven't put any thought into the fact that we're flying to Barcelona one week today. I haven't planned any outfits, maybe I can spare 10 minutes Thursday at approximately 2pm to do that.

Barcelona we're coming to visit. Be kind, we're pretty tired.

xo.

Happy Fathers Day.

Happy Fathers Day Rob, I always thought you'd make the best Dad, I was right.
xo.

Festival Fever.

Work organised a music festival for all it's worker bees, how cool is that! There were tribute bands, a burger van, a crepe van, a bucking bronco, a busy bar, lots of drunk people and a whole load of portaloos. It was a hoot, I stuck to three drinks though, with the wedding just one week away this is not the time to be struggling through a three day hangover which is what I'm subjected to these days. I had a great time, I had a hot dog - it wasn't my finest meal but I was in the 'festival spirit', I had a go on the bucking bronco, which on reflection was not a sensible idea with the wedding just one week away (ooops, but thankfully it was fine and I stayed on for 30 whole seconds!Go me!It was painful, I will never do it again), I chatted to colleagues, basked in the sun and had a lovely time. There were a few celebs wondering around too:

Me & Sven

Me & Ricky (unfortunately he seems to have been eclipsed - by the sun, not my beauty!)

It was a fab festival and I'm looking forward to next years already, or maybe me, Rob and LV will try a real one! Stranger things have happened (like work hosting a music festival!).

xo.

Mini Mad-Men.

I adore vintage girls dresses and luckily LV does to. Well, she loves that I'm giving her the option to wear dresses and I love that they're gorgeous and inexpensive. Her latest wardrobe additions:

xo.



Wedding playlist.

Last year in preparation for my friend Ally's wedding we set about (we being myself, Emily, Sian, Jo and George) creating a wedding music playlist to contain all our favourite tunes. I'm not sure we intended for this to become the 'official wedding playlist' but that's what it has become. The updated version was shared with Jo when she married Joe in March this year and now it's my turn. So I added a few new hits to cover from March 2011 to now and it's revitalised and ready to go. It's now in the safe hands of Terry (the DJ) ready for our big day.

So we're covered from 8pm onwards, yet I didn't have anything prepared for arrival drinks, since we've gone for quite a relaxed, retro feel for the decoration I thought it only appropriate to support this with some soulful songs from the 60's/70's which is by far my favourite musical era. Last night I immersed myself in these sounds and we had a fantastic few hours putting the below list together, I ran it past my Dad for his approval and here we are:

Sugar Sugar - The Archies
Band of Gold - The Carpenters
Dreamlover - Bobby Darin
Please Mr Postman - The Carpenters
Do you like good music - Arthur Conley
Twist & Shout - The Beatles
baby Love - The Supremes
Cupid - Sam Cooke
Heatwave - Martha & the Vandellas
Dancing in the street - Martha & the Vandellas
Jimmy Mack - Martha & the Vandellas
Nowhere to hide - Martha & the Vandellas
Aint no mountain high enough - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
My Girl - The temptations
Crocodile Rock - Elton John
Jump & Jive n' wail
Its been a long time coming but a change is gonna come - Sam Cooke
Bring it on home to me - Sam Cooke
Cry to me - Solomon Burke
Love Man - Otis Redding

This is going to be brilliant. Hopefully as brilliant as the below:

Ally & Ant's wedding July 2010



Jo & Joe's wedding March 2011

xo.

Easy peasy Cherry & Almond Muffins.

It seems like ages since I've baked so when Rob took LV swimming this morning I got to work. Cherry and Almond muffins definitely rival my faves - Blueberry and Almond muffins, I had the ingredients for cherry muffins so that was that.

Cherry & Almond muffins.

Ingredients:
150g Golden caster sugar
1 large egg
175ml Buttermilk
1 tsp Vanilla essence
1 tsp Baking Powder
200g Glacier cherries
50g Ground almonds
125g Unsalted Butter (melted)
200g Plain flour

Makes 12 muffins.

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (Fan assisted)
2. Mix Sugar, Vanilla Essence, Egg, Buttermilk and butter in bowl.
3. Sieve flour, ground almonds and baking powder into a separate bowl.
4. Combine wet and dry mixtures and mix quickly until smooth.
5. Add halved cherries to mixture, stir until combined and fill muffins cases until 3/4 full, sprinkle sugar on top.
6. Bake for 20 minutes until risen and golden.

When LV arrived home from swimming she had a delicious treat waiting for her.

xo.

Say what LV?

LV has given me a lot to laugh about this week, sometimes it's what she says, other times her expressions and a lot of the time just her laughing tickles me.

1. I was getting ready for a day out at the races with work, I didn't want to go too glam as I had to work in the office during the morning so I decided to up the style stakes with some dangly earrings:

LV sees me, gasps and covers her mouth with her hand before saying "Oh I love those!" hahaha followed by "they're my favourite ones".

2. Reading Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. I paused to sneeze and LV continued with the story out loud, I had no idea she knew ALL the words, queue me in fits and her in giggly fits whilst still reading her fave bedtime story. Now I'm going to test her on all her books.

3. Watching a wildlife programme LV "Oh I'll have one of those, an oragatang" me "ummm I'm not sure about that I think they like to live in hot places maybe I can find you a ladybird tomorrow?" LV "uuh no, I'll have a dog, I love dogs" me "uhhh no" LV "ok, yes" me "no, I said no sweetie" LV "I said yes" OH MY DAYS.

Beyond cute.xo.

Sweet vintage win!

I won, on ebay, best feeling ever, especially when it's something you've been watching like a hawk for weeks!! I get so anxious and excited when the bidding war begins, but thankfully this time, I won the war. I have failed to mention that another of my hobbies/obsessions is vintage childrenswear...I try to thrift a lot of LV's clothes, I find old clothes charming and I can't resist. Some of the appeal is that these little outfits remind me of being little, they remind me of pictures of me and my sisters kitted out in fabulous dresses with super side partings ...and LV looks a right bobby dazzler in them. Todays win:

Just lovely.

I'm growing quite a collection. I will post pictures of my little gems soon.

xo.



Hen hoot & recovery.

Cluck. The Hen was fabulous, Friday Em and Ally arrived and we headed over to Sals for pizza, the highlight of the pre-hen night was the surprise arrival of Queen George, a lovely treat. The second highlight was getting home to discover the lovely Jojo had made me a video to wish me well on my hen do - filmed in Central Park - oh I say. The third, the massive spider that caused chaos as we all leapt around the room squealing with fright.

Saturday Sal picked me up and took me to a gorgeous salon for a full body massage, yup, top to toe, it was amazing. She collected me 2 hours later and we headed home where they'd (my fabulous hens) created a tea party feast and my ace friends that couldn't make it had bought me an exquisite bouquet (thanks Jo and Gana):

Delightful.

We hung out in the garden supping fizz and pimms through grotesque male anatony shaped straws, we giggled and chatted. The bus arrived to take us to our archery class and off we moseyed:

Aim.....fire.

Archery was brilliant. We then headed home to get ready for a meal out and a spot of dancing. The meal was fab, it was a bit of a slippery slope for me really with the excessive (for me) amounts of bubbles and vino...I think it was the jaegerbomb that saw me on my way properly though.

The club (what I can remember) was super. The next day was not great. I woke up and felt retched until 9pm last night. It was extreme, but worth it, I had a hoot....a hen hoot. CLUCK.

Two and a half weeks until the wedding...oh my days.

xo.



Cluck cluck, it's nearly hen time

The hen do starts tomorrow, some hens are arriving tomorrow evening, some on Saturday morning ready for a lovely picnic of delicious sarnies, gorgeous cakes, Pimms and a day of FUN! Wish me luck.

xo.