036. Buy a dressing table and finish the guest room

After a day shopping in Westfield Stratford and a stay over in an Essex Travelodge it was time for a visit to IKEA to finally buy a dressing table and drawers. The time has come to finish the 'guest room' and get it looking pretty and organised, just like we did with the office last Christmas.
I settled on the perfect IKEA Hemnes dressing table and chest of 6 drawers to match. We have Hemnes living room furniture as well, it's one of the series that IKEA make that's solid wood and it's important for us to have long lasting as well as good looking furniture.
Unfortunately the Lakeside branch had sold out of the dressing table, but we did manage to get the all important chest of drawers. So much more about tidying the guest room is about replacing my broken drawers and organising all my things into a new set of drawers that it was more important we came away with those.
We also picked up an Ingolf chair to go with my dressing table (when we order it online) and a few other bits such as frames and three packs of the Skubb boxes for inside my new drawers.
When everything has arrived, been assembled and is looking perfectly tidy, I will share more pics! The above pics were taken in store today, I really love the fairy lights around the mirror! I think that might be a step to far.....

Yearly Review 01

I've had this blog and been completing missions from my 101 list for over a year now! So far I've completed just 14 of the tasks I set, but have 38 in progress - some of them could be complete very soon.

I have chosen to remove 8 tasks and replace them with new ones based on a yearly review I set myself. Here is the list of tasks I've removed:

024. Play Mario on the Wii once a week for 12 weeks (0/12)

028. Buy all the books I studied at school

045. Take 5 relaxing baths, complete with candles

056. Turn some of my photography into art pieces for my home

070. Collect 101 WDW postcards (8/101) [list]

072. Complete a full trip report for Florida 2009

088. Host a BBQ

093. Make a monthly meal plan and stick to it for 12 months (0/12)

Each of these counts as incomplete, so I will pledge £5 to charity for each of the above - so far a massive £40!

So far I've not replaced any of these, it's going to take me a few days to get some inspiration for what I want to achieve in 2012. For now I've just edited number 093 so I don't have to do it for 12 different months, just one month should be enough for that - who knows, the habit of meal planning might stick, that's the aim!

Let's hope by this time next year I've completed many more tasks and don't have to replace so many!

084. Buy a pair of UGG boots

I got some new boots! They're not UGG Australia, I went for EMU instead.

They're from New Look (who now sell brands on their website), they were doing a 20% offer which reduced the price of the boots from £145 to £115 - the cheapest price I'd ever seen them listed. I had to do it! But I was torn between the Hi and Lo Stinger boot, I'd always wanted short boots because longer ones have always been tight around my calves. I ended up getting the Lo in light grey and I love them!

I've not worn them out of the house yet, it's been wet and I'm way too protective at the moment!

101. Do something special on 11/11/11

We'd had three Fridays off work in a row for Jessie J in Liverpool and for Britney Spears and Tinie Tempah in London, so when Friday November 11 came around and I wanted to do something special we really didn't know what to do that could top off the past few weeks.

What could we possibly do that was special on a day when we were at work and would just come home and chill out like normal?

We decided to get a bit dressed up, put my face on and go out for dinner. This appears to be what normal people do on Friday nights, but for us it was special. We made a late dinner reservation at The Library in Norwich city centre. We'd been before during the summer, for my birthday and really enjoyed it. 

It might not have been as special as I had in mind when I made the list, but it was a nice way to round off a month of live events and travelling to some great cities. 

017. Get a new mobile phone

On November 12 I said goodbye to the HTC Android phone that had been my friend for over two years, and I said hello to a beautiful, shiny white iPhone 4S.

I really thought I'd never get an iPhone, we were always Android lovers! But after a few months of using an iPad2, I had been converted. Partly from that and also that there were no signs of a new HTC release when my upgrade was due - I crossed to the dark side.

She's called Eva, and I'm in love ♥

011. Go to 10 gigs or tours (6/10)

The end of October and beginning of November has been full of gigs, concerts and live events! It's been very busy and very expensive, but we've been to see some amazing people so far this year.

Since Russell Howard in February and Take That in June, we'd had a quiet time so far this year. We started off a very busy 5 weeks with Lee Evans at the London O2 on September 30.

October started and that was going to be the craziest month of all. On October 19 we saw Noah and the Whale at Norwich UEA, then just a few days later we were heading to Liverpool to see Jessie J. One week later we were back in London at the O2 for the Britney Spears 'Femme Fatale' tour. I actually love her, I believe she's an Angel!

Another four-day working week and it was back to London for Tinie Tempah, again at the O2 arena. He puts on an amazing show, we'd seen him twice already at Norwich UEA. I can honestly say, and we see a lot of people play the O2, I have never seen that venue so hyped - the whole arena was up on it's feet and jumping. I was a hot, sweaty mess afterwards, but what an atmosphere! I will remember that forever.

The next tour we're going to see is Sarah Millican in Hull on February 9. I went to University in Hull and haven't been back since I graduated, James bought me the tickets for my birthday. I'm really looking forward to it.

A Day In The Life - October 22 2011

This 'A Day In The Life' was inspired by a project at sh1ft.org - we were asked to record our October 22 2011, in 24 photos or less.

We had travelled up to Liverpool on Friday October 21 for a long weekend away. We had tickets to see Jessie J on Saturday October 22, this is my day.

Taking advantage of not having to be up early for work or an absurd international Formula One race, we laid in until after 8am (probably not most people's idea of a lie-in, but for us it was good). Breakfast in our hotel room courtesy of our mini kitchen, complete with fridge. By 10:30am we were ready to go.



Our plan was to head straight down to the Albert Dock and spend time walking around that area.



We did one lap of the Albert Dock and started the indoor exploration with the TATE Liverpool gallery. Now, I'm not a gallery type of person, I really only like the gift shops!



Dressed for winter, the TATE was incredibly warm! I was bored and there wasn't much to see so we moved onto the next, which was the Merseyside Maritime Museum. In there was the International Slavery Museum, which was the most interesting part. I also enjoyed the Titantic exhibitions, I cannot believe it is almost 100 years since the disaster.



By 1pm we were ready for some food and drink. After walking past a few of closed the restaurants earlier, they were now open for lunch, so we wandered back around the dock to find somewhere suitable. We ended up at the Miller & Carter Steakhouse knowing that they will definitely cater for my picky eating. I chose to have a grilled chicken breast burger and James ordered a beefburger, both plain with no sauce, no cheese and no mayo. When our food finally arrived my chicken was covered in bacon and barbecue sauce! James and I swapped plates, so I ended up with his beefburger and he enjoyed the free sauce and bacon that should've been paid extras. The service staff were also terrible! We felt ignored and sat with dirty plates on our table a long time after we'd finished eating. We tried everything, making eye contact with the waitresses just got us a blank response or a 'how are you' before wandering away. James had to literally flag down a waitress to take away the plates and bring us the bill so we could leave. Terrible! And it wasn't even busy.



After lunch we went to take a look at the Liverpool Wheel. It was very windy and the cabs seemed to sway a little bit too much for me. It's so small compared to the London Eye, it just scared me. So we just looked and left.



We'd walked past a confectionery shop round the Albert Dock and near that was the Funky Shake Bar - they made milkshakes out of chocolate bars! James chose a simple Rolo milkshake, I went for a special for just £1 extra! It was called 'Bubbles' - it contained Daim bar, Galaxy chocolate and was topped with Maltesers. Amazing!



By 3pm we were back at the hotel for sit down and rest before heading back out to the Jessie J gig. I enjoyed some iPad Twitter time and a read of my magazine.



All I wanted to do was stay in a have a nap, but it was time to put my face on ready to go out.



Not bad!



Converse on, the only type of footwear suitable to gigs at Universities! 5:45pm, we're out.



On the walk to the University we stopped off for food in Subway. Mine was a 6 inch chicken on hearty Italian bread, toasted, with lettuce and red onion. Yum.



We queued outside the venue for 45 minutes. So glad I took my hat, scarf and gloves - it was very chilly. Some girls who were queuing near us were just wearing dresses, no coat, cardigan or tights! WHAT!



We changed our chosen position for Jessie J a couple of times once we were inside. I always knew I was going to have a hard time seeing her when she got on stage, I don't generally do standing tickets for gigs but that was all that was available. She looked and sounded great, love the purple hair! And there was confetti at the end, shaped like hearts!



We got back to the hotel at 11pm, after a quick stop in Tesco for some chocolate and Mountain Dew. Aching feet from the walking, standing and dancing - glad to get those shoes off and relax.



Checked Twitter before bed. Jessie J loved her loud Liverpool crowd - yeah, that was me!

013. Eat at 10 new restaurants (4/10)

James and I had tickets to see Lee Evans at the O2 in London on September 30, before the show started we wanted to get dinner in one of the restaurants at the arena. The doors were due to open at 6:30pm, and we didn't arrive at the arena until after 5 so we thought that we'd end up queuing for a decent place to eat. Tucked round the corner behind a horrible display (probably left over from the Millennium Dome days) was a restaurant called Armadillo. The food was mostly American/Mexican, so a steak and fries suited me fine. Being quite out of the way it wasn't busy at all. At first my steak came out way under cooked, we sent it back to the kitchen. I got a new steak cooked just how I like it and even got a free bottle of Dr Pepper (this saved us buying a drink in the arena). It was nice, expensive, but nice. We'd already had fries for lunch at a Little Frankie's by Trafalgar Square, so I didn't get to try desserts!

By the time we were finishing our dinner queues had started to form outside Pizza Express just opposite. I can't imagine queuing for a restaurant table.....

062. Save £100 a month (£1100/£3300)

Today is payday and I've straightened out my savings. I had owed my ISA £200 for quite some time and my excessive spending throughout August and September meant I couldn't pay any of it back. I'm now trying to get set for Christmas gift and winter wardrobe shopping.

I now have over £1000 saved which is pretty amazing. I just need to complete some more of my goals - each one of those completed is another £10. I might not be able to complete many more just now but I can definitely go through and mark some more in progress.

Two years to go....

I've been updating my 101 list tonight and noticed my finish date is September 7 2013. This means I've just passed the two years to go point!

With only 11 goals completed and 33 in progress, I better get a move on.

013. Eat at 10 new restaurants (3/10)

On Saturday September 3 I went out to dinner with some friends from work to celebrate a birthday of theirs. We went to an Italian restaurant called Prezzo. I'm not an Italian food fan, when it comes to pasta and pizza I just don't eat it! Too much cheese, too much garlic - not for me. Thank goodness there was something on the menu I could have, that turned out to be a burger! The burger was supposed to come with cheese and mayo, I had neither - no cheese, no mayo. It was really great, not the best burger I've ever had, but still great. We also shared a few bread boards as starters, I just went for the plain, un-herbed variety! And, for dessert the majority of us went for the chocolate and honeycomb cheesecake - amazing!

I don't think I'll go back with just James, neither of us eat Italian - although James might be more adventurous than me. I think we'd go somewhere else for burgers. But, it depends I suppose, I might fancy a slice of that amazing cheesecake again!

Shopaholic

October will be another 'no-buy' month. There is no rehab for my addiction, just straight up cold-turkey!

It's only September 10 right now, 19 days til payday.

And we're going to London and Liverpool! Oh no!

022. Watch 100 never-seen-before movies (17/100)

Out of pure boredom today I ended up looking at Sky Anytime for something to watch while James did a few jobs around the house.

I'd never have normally picked this movie to watch because however much I love High School Musical I'm not really a Zac Efron fan - much like Robert Pattinson, I just don't get it!

I actually really enjoyed it, it's not the usual film of rom-com or thriller - you can tell it was a book made into a film. I wish I'd read the book first, I always do!

Project 365 2011

I did what I said I was going to do, I've restarted my Project 365 exactly one year after I failed to carry it on.

It's going to be a good year. See all the pics HERE.

050. Complete a 365 day photo challenge

On August 21st 2010 I quit my Project 365. I made it to 233 days.

So, even though I failed last year I would really like to give it another go. I really enjoyed doing it and have no idea how I really let it go - it just kind of happened. I look back on the pictures and although some were rough and rushed, a lot of them were great and assosciated with such great memories.

I'm wondering whether to pick up right where I left off on August 21st and begin my next Project 365 where the last attempt ended?

027. Send 20 postcards through postcrossing.com (14/20)

I've not sent any postcards in a while. I have a few things to send out at the post office tomorrow, so I thought it was worth writing out a couple more cards to send. Postcrossing chose Russia, USA and the Netherlands as my destinations.

I've not received any cards lately either, I suppose I have to be sending to keep receiving. The sent=received ratio is pretty much 1:1.

089. Try 20 new recipes - Malteser Cupcakes

While James is away some of the girls at work wanted to make sure I wasn't lonely and suggested having a baking day/night round at one of our houses. Charlotte and Rachel came round to my house on Saturday afternoon (Aug 6).

I suggested doing Maltesers Cupcakes. We all went shopping on Friday evening to get snacks and ingredients.

This is hour they came out after we'd baked and frosted.

They came out great but I think I only really appreciated them the day after, we'd eaten so much raw cake mix and so much excess frosting, especially after a takeaway of fish and chips, that we all felt a bit bloated and sick!

I'm taking the results of the baking into the office tomorrow, I couldn't possibly eat all those cakes to myself, could I?

078. Buy a pair of Converse trainers

I've wanted some of these for so long. I never spend much money on shoes, I usually just get cheap things and replaced them every year. But, after having sore aching feet during our trip to Copenhagen I decided I needed a trusty pair of footwear!

I bought them from Schuh and I'd been eyeing up the grey colour for a while. I even bought a pair of Converse Lights in the same colour, but found them to be too narrow so returned them last month. The staff in the shop were so nice and so helpful, although I pretty much knew that if they fit me I was buying them!

I spent the rest of the day shopping and got some great things, also hoping to go to London with some friends this Saturday and buy even more stuff. Well, I did tell James that while he was in the Philippines I was going to fill the void with shopping. He was warned!

022. Watch 100 never-seen-before movies (16/100)

I'd had this movie on my Love Film list since it came out on DVD. I've taken payment breaks and not watched previous discs, so it took a while to finally get to me. I'd actually had this disc in the house for weeks and not got round to watching it.

I intended to watch it with James, but he's out in the Philippines again at the moment, so thinking he wouldn't mind I decided to watch it one evening.

I was expecting it to be so much better. It was good, really good - but I just struggled with it and maybe I got there a few years too late.

023. Watch 20 movies in the cinema (5/20)

The 'Cars' movies are not my favourite Pixar films and they're not my favourite characters, but I wasn't going to miss out on a chance to see the new movie. I especially loved the Grand Prix element and the feature of Lewis Hamilton as one of the race cars. The story line was a bit James Bond meets Dukes of Hazard, but I liked it.

I'm unlikely to own this movie and the first installment on DVD, they're not really classic Disney to me. But it was fun and I'm so happy that we got to go and see it. Now I'm looking forward to Monsters Inc 2: Monsters University that's released in June 2013 (hopefully we'll be heading back to Disney World by then!)

067. Visit 5 countries I've never been to before (3/5)

DENMARK: Copenhagen

Last summer we spent two beautiful summer days in London at the beginning of July on the hunt for elephants! Not real elephants, they were art displays created to raise money for the prevention of the extinction of Asian elephants. It was called an Elephant Parade. In London there were 260 elephants to discover all over the city, some in the parks, others in shops and shopping centres and lots at the big tourist attractions. We managed to see just over 100 of them in London, so when I found out that other parades were taking place across Europe in 2011 I knew we had to do it again.

We had the choice of four destinations for a 2011 elephant parade - Heerlen in the Netherlands from March to May, Copenhagen in Denmark from June to August, Milan in Italy from September to November and Singapore from November to January 2012. Heerlen and Milan were small parades with just 40-50 elephants, Copenhagen and Singapore had approximately 100. Singapore seemed too far away and would be very expensive, so we chose Copenhagen!

I spent months and months pricing up hotels and flights and researching areas of the city. Finally we booked our trip and the map of the parade was released in June.

We flew from Stansted at lunchtime on Monday July 18 and stayed for three nights in Hotel 27. The hotel was wonderful, really stylish and in a great location. Breakfast was included in the price and every morning was great - the bacon was my fave. Each evening there was also a free dinner, in a buffet style - there were salads, fresh bread and a selection of hot food which ranged from beef casserole and mash, roast chicken and potato wedges and chicken curry. I'm a picky eater and was worried there wouldn't be much I'd like, but every evening I managed to find something - even if it was mainly bread and butter!

On the first evening we headed out to get a feel for our surroundings and to see how many elephants we could find - we ended up seeing 10 around the Radhuspladsen and Stroget area. Then the rain came down and we found shelter in an Irish bar with a glass of apple cider! When we were dry and the rain had stopped we went back to the hotel for an early night.

Tuesday was an early morning, down for breakfast and then out to find more elephants. We walked the entire length of Stroget and saw all the designer shops on the way to Kongens Nytorv and Nyhavn. From there we walked down to Kongens Have (King's Garden) by the Rosenborg Slot and the Botanical Gardens. By the time we got to Osterport station my feet were struggling with all the walking - we got on the train and headed back to Copenhagen Central and back to hotel for a rest (and an afternoon nap). After an hour or so of rest we went to lunch at a burger 'joint' called Chilis which was a short walk from the hotel - the food was excellent!

Round the corner was Christiansborg where we found one elephant and then we went back to Stroget - none of the shops were open when we walked down there before at 9am so there were some elephants we missed. From there we got the Metro from Kongens Nytorv to Norreport to see the elephants at Orstedsparken. Again, my bad choice of city break footwear was failing me so we walked back to the hotel for a rest and some dinner. We headed back out for a third time and went looking for a few elephants around the Vesterport station area. By the end of the second day we'd seen over 40 elephants!

Wednesday saw us going further afield to see more elephants and hopefully that meant less walking for my tired feet. We go the bus up to Langelinie and the Little Mermaid. From there we ended up walking to Amalienborg (palace to the Danish royal family), crowds were gathered and we wondered what was happening - turns out we were there in time to see the changing of the guard. I'd never seen this kind of thing in all the times we've visited London and been outside Buckingham Palace.

We got the bus back to the centre of the city and walked back up Stroget to see some more elephants, visit the Elephant Parade store to buy some replica models and go to Illums Bolighus to buy some more souvenirs. Lunch was at the Irish bar we visited on the first evening, traditional fish and chips and another glass of apple cider!

After another afternoon nap we traveled up to Norreport where there were two unseen elephants by the canal. We then went out to the shopping centre at Frederiksberg on the Metro and saw three elephants in that area. We got the bus back to near our hotel, went for our free dinner and packed our cases for an early flight the next day.

Our flight back to Stansted was a bumpy one, Easy Jet flights don't feel great! We were back in Norwich by 2:30pm and quite glad to be home for a rest! We were up early every morning and we did so much walking, I don't think I've ever had so many afternoon naps!

There aren't any Elephant Parades listed for 2012 yet, but I'll be keeping an eye-out for them! In the meantime we aim to visit Edinburgh in Scotland for Jungle City during September 2011. It's a city we've always wanted to go to and events like this are a great excuse. But I wonder if we have to fly Easy Jet again?