Mini New Yorker.....One click.....how not to become a shopaholic

So I have been (Internet) window shopping and making wish lists on my pinterest. I have got so addicted but it great as its like a 21st century wish list that you used to write on a scrap of paper which you would no doubt loose at a later date. I have even started putting together Christmas present list for my family which is handy as I can then remember where I saw things...last Christmas I was copying links into a word document by the time I went present shopping I had forgotten all about the list as I am the most forgetful person alive .

I have also banded my self from going into shops unless I know I have a budget other wise I seem to come out with the whole shop and that's not an exaggeration. I think I have a slight problem...! However I'm not as bad as Rebecca Bloomwood particularly when she smashes the massive ice cube with a stiletto which has a frozen credit card in it. Although I think I have certainly come close to that a few years ago.

I have got better over the years and now being married is kind of like having a personal bank manager. When you get a joint account you have to be more considerate of how much you spend. So this has worked in my favour. So I haven't bought loads recently but I have become quite obsessed with wearing outrageous tights at work so when I was considering spending £40 on a pair of tights I knew I had a bit of an issue.

So no smashing ice cubes although it looked like so much fun.... any way off to find zebra tights.... tooodles xxx

Mini New Yorker....Making the perfect Christmas (getting ready for Christmas 2012)

Ok, you may have read that title and said "are you mad? We have only just finished Christmas." Well yes we have you're very right. However I decided because I felt bad about going out and buying every single present this year....wait hang on I mean last year......well this last Christmas gone...any way I want to make them for 2012!!! I also got hooked on Kirstie Allsopp craft ideas and her "Homemade Christmas" show. I think I'm now slightly obsessed with trying to make this Christmas the best Christmas ever.....!!! I remember one Christmas fairly recently I was rather broke (not much has changed) I decided to give everyone paintings I did and put them in frames (which I bought gradually.)

Well I think most of my relatives were surprised I could actually paint rather well....lol!! I think they thought I had been doing finger painting in my art GCSE or something....!!! Any way they went down a storm...in fact one of my little cousins stole his parents presents and put it in his room...lol!!

Any way I'm going to turn my hand at a few different crafts to create some nice Christmas home made gifts. Now there is some debate on some forums about it being for cheapskates however let me set this myth straight....!!! It isn't a cheaper alternative if you are new to each craft....eg. you have to buy things to do the craft so actually the outlay to start off with is high....and to say it's an easy root is not true...I tell you what, I tried to find a cream jelly roll for my quilt I wanted to make and it's taken about 2 weeks of scouring the net to find the damn thing. So not only is making stuff more of a hassle and more time and effort but also it can work out more expensive because unfortunately I'm not lucky enough to have Kirstie's craft goodies closet. I don't have a cupboard with stacks of fabric and buttons and pretty things so I'm building up my collection. However I have found a slightly easier way to do some of the crafts.....craft kits...YAY!!  Yes its slightly cheating but my gosh does it help, it actually is just pre-organising the items you need. The instructions are easier to follow as most kits are for children. I did make a teddy bear from a kit and at first I couldn't work out what went where but after reading it a few (hundred) times you get it.....!!!

So I have had a order for a new teddy bear for a friend in Aus. The next craft I am going to try is making a quilt however I am still waiting for my cream jelly roll which is in the post. And I tried to use my mums sewing machine and couldn't figure out how to set it up, any way I think I have made my point.

I think that sums up what home made crafts are actually all about. They are certainly more thoughtfully, probably more expensive and more time consuming but actually its more fun and much more a gift from the heart rather than from the credit card....!!! So I'm going  to try and give the ideas a go as I have got both her books now......I will be posting my progress or lack there of.....depending if I am good at each craft or a total disaster......!!!! I had an idea as fun day with the girls you could do a craft day or something and do face masks, cocktails (mocktail for me) and craft nights.....although thinking about it if you had had a few cocktails some of the crafts you make may not come out perfect but hey....!! I might put this idea into action when we move back and I can throw a evening like it with my girls...!!! Any way I'm off to do more crafts so Toodles xxx

Mini New Yorker....... Fake fur faux pas?

Well I realised that gilets are all the fashion at the moment and most are fake fur. I just wondered as soft and fluffy as they are, is it ok to wear faux fur?? Some people still think that it represents endangered animal in some far flung corner of the globe! Well you may say Katrina "the globe is not flat" which I am obviously aware of but are we still thinking the same way when the world was "flat"?

I recently walked into a shop and found my self faced with racks of fake fur gilets and coats with fur colars! I know it is fake so should you fell guilty....!!! I did because I know lots of charities are fighting to stop these things being produced to save some very endangered birds and animals. So do people really care about what happens across the other side of the globe or is it about the next fashion statement? I added up all the pro's and con's of wearing one and in the end I gave in....!!! It's warm and because its fake no animals were hurt so I guess I'm off the hook....although I was wearing mine in another shop and a gentleman was shopping with his wife (quite begrudgingly...all the same) he was unimpressed by his wife picking out a fake faux gilet and made some rather loud and slightly rude comments about them looking like road kill, then his wife looked at me as I think I may have gone a bit pink with embarrassment at which point she winked at me and then smiled...(as if to say ignore him, he's just in a grump cos I made him come shopping when he wanted to watch the grande prix....or some other sports)

I walked off with a little grin on my face....it made me laugh.....So I guess that's my conclusion.....so toodles xxx 

Mini New Yorker...her rules of engagement.....

As soon as you get engaged suddenly it feels like things go a million miles an hour. Now we have all seen the films with weddings but let me tell you its not as easy as it looks. I would suggest you buy a few wedding magazines, it helps you with wedding etiquette and how to do it properly. this book was free with a magazine.

The most helpful bit of the book is the check lists....and if you are anything like me and love making list then this is defiantly something you should invest in. You can pick them up in charity shops and this should be your bible when organising your wedding as should Cosmo bride magazine.

Now you will start off well at the beginning of organising your wedding but wedding brain will set in. So check lists are the best way not to forget anything.

You can type them up and print them out and hand them out to the people who need them. By being organised and doing it like this you don't need a wedding planner as this is another expense. My mother was my wedding planner really. She was able to help with everything from flowers, to picking things up to checking on progress of things booked, just a god send.....!!!

Now I was the first of my lovely circle of friends...(why do they call it a circle of friends?Any way...) to get married and a few months after my friend announced she was engaged....so now I can pass the torch on to her with all my wisdom gained.....!!! I can't wait to have another married couple to have dinner parties with...!!

Any way I am getting off track but there are so many things to remember....
So put all your thoughts into a wedding book...it's just a little mood board...but don't get to specific in your details as some may not be possible or in the end look right. I thought I was going to have a column wedding dress but ended up with the total opposite. Use magazine cuttings or print outs to remind you of things you have seen. Or stick in your own photos...I did take a few to get inspiration at a wedding fair until I got told off by security.....lol... oops!!!

The best tip don't leave things to chance or till last minute...that's when things go totally wrong and you could end up with some weird things happening.....!!!

So good luck ladies....I have have made my a friend a list and note and put it into a folder and I think she was surprised.....!! But as it turns out there where things she hadn't thought about...so a good job really....!!!

Any way I am off as I haven't actually finished my own wedding album and had any of them printed out so see you soon.....Toodles xxxxx

Mini New Yorker....My Creative side......from sewing a button to making a teddy

So I remember at school in textiles I was terrible I could barely sew a button on. I don't think I ever completed a project in textiles ever. So from going from that to making a teddy bear....I have to say how cool am I now??? So again after seeing Kirstie make a teddy bear from scratch I wanted to give it ago....!! Well I bought a little kit so the bits where all in it....which helped but certainly didn't make it magically go together. I had to read it about 100 times to even figure out what ever thing was. Putting it together gave me a bit of a challenge. But even with the slightly complicated instructions I managed to make it over 2 day I would have made it even quicker if I didn't have to stop for eating and sleeping...I probably would have spent the night finishing it I got so stuck into it. It's like a really good book you can't put down.

My first step of making my bear

arm stuffed with joint

Day 1: So I thought I would show my progress of my bear making and show I started from scratch and didn't cheat and buy a pre-made bear and claim it was mine or something......!! Here I had done the bears arm but it was a little bit confusing because there where 3 bits to it and you had to sew that bears pad first so I did that and then stitched the rest of the arm (leaving a little gap to stuff it) and then you turn it inside out and the put the joint in through the little hole and then you stuff the arm as much as you can so its full. So day 1 I sewed both arms, a leg and an ear. ...Sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

 

Day 2:  I started sewing straight away as soon as I got up the next day by lunch I had done another leg. The next bit was difficult sewing the body I had to figure out which bit I had to sew and what the instructions meant by sewing a dart....but I just did what
I thought was right which left enough space    to put the head joint which will allow the head to move and the same on each side for the legs so I did that ok. Then I attached the arms and legs and then the fun part was stuffing him to make his tummy really fat so he doesn't go floppy in later years as I now want to give this bear to my children in the future. He's my pride and joy. So after the body stuffed, the head my was the most difficult with 3 parts of it. So the final bit was to put the head on the body and sew the nose on so with my bear finished I took him to my mums, neighbour's and to a meal a a friends restaurant to show some of my friends. I had one order to post to Australia and my mum seemed to find him rather sweet too so all round I think a definite success.

My completed bear...my work of Art

Mini New Yorker.......being a body double to my self!

I noticed recently that I have kinda become a bit body double to my self if that makes sense. OK let me explain what I am going on about, well on one hand I want to be this chic and elegant women with a lovely set of globe trotter cases and wearing pristine white long dress with a large hat that just makes me ooze glamour while jet setting just like Caggie and Millie from Made in Chelsea. And on the other hand I want to be making and sewing things and being a home making just like Kirstie Allsop......!! My home maker body double is certainly taking over since getting married and trying to make a lovely first Christmas with my husband, a very special one.

My home maker body double got very inspired when I was watching Kirstie Allsops Home-made Christmas, she has inspired me to make every single present next year but I may cheat a little and buy the making kits to help me a long a bit......the stocking was lovely and I look forward to making all the other Christmasy bits. I think Christmas can be time when people go mad and spend an absolute fortune on buying stuff off the high street but my hubby and I both said after watching the programme it will be fun to make stuff for everyone next year.

I also was so inspired by the glass blowing class Kirstie did, that it is going to be one of the mouse days.....oh hang on I need to explain that too don't I? OK my nickname is mouse and my hubby is bear and next year my hubby is not renewing his footy season ticket (yay) and what we are going to do is alternate the weekends we do stuff...like hubby's weekend will prob's be footy or seeing a few of his friends and mine will be a whole array of things from seeing my mother to going away for the weekend and craft days.....now we decided we would put all the ideas into the weekend bowl which we pick out one piece of paper on alternate weekends and then do that activity. I think this is the best way to mix it up a bit and do fun stuff which will be exciting for us both to enjoy.....

A few ideas may be

1. going for a nice walk (with camera) and then having pub lunch at the end (weather permitting)
2. romantic get away weekend...... Scotland, bath, Paris, lake district, Devon-yes in Kirstie Allsops cottage (which I love)
3. craft day- this might be making soaps, stockings, arty stuff, crafty things
4. ice skating (although recently done this this year)
5. cinema & dinner
6. Crafts course-like glass blowing or pottery class. 
7. shopping trip
8. seeing my mum
9. seeing hubbys parents on the iow
10. going to reserve or zoo
11. london museums and galleries
12. going to see a theatre show.
13. going to events and craft fairs/ music
14. secret london tea rooms
15. having dinner parties...because I am becoming a good little hostess.....

So I decided to start my new years resolution early....and start making things. I thought I would go for the fun things like making the teddy bear which Kirsty did on her show. So I got my set from a craft shop and started it as soon as I got home and it took me the best part of 2 days and I am rather pleased with my results....!! At first I was struggling with the instructions as I couldn't figure out how it all fitted together. Even with the confusing instructions I managed to complete it very quickly. It was actually meant to last a few weeks or months as it was quite bit for the kit and stuffing.

Since making it, I took it to show my mum, my neighbour and I also took it to my friends restaurant yesterday and one of my friends said she had been following me make it from the other side of the pond down in Australia....!!! I found that so sweet. Any way at dinner yesterday my friend turn the bears head round the wrong way and then said to me "oh you have put his legs on backwards" I nearly died with embarrassment.....I suddenly didn't feel so great about my little craft achievement/triumph. Until she turned everything back round.......I think there was a bit of a giggle about it....!!! Oh but my friend from Australia wants me to make her a teddy too...so will be shipping that over.

Now onto my next project I am making a quilt for my mother for a Christmas or birthday present (depending on how long it takes to make) I am just nervous to start as it seems quite a hard craft but I thought I would give it a go.

So here goes........must dash toooooodlesssss xxxx

Mini New Yorker.....Happy birthday to my blog-one year old this weekend

So a Mini New Yorker is a one year old this weekend. I just looked at the blogs over the last year and there has been some interesting ones..... So what have I learnt or what has happened in a year.
1) we got engaged
2) We started planning our wedding
3) had my dads 2nd anniversary of him passing away.
4) I got a new job
5) Got married
6) went on our honeymoon (swam with turtles)
7) Made our house a home (with our wedding presents.)
8) Planning a move back to Oxfordshire

I have learnt so much and had the most amazing year and looking forward to my first Christmas at my husbands parents house on the Isle of Wight.

And I wonder what our new year has to bring to us? There maybe a few things on my wish list...he he!!! toodles xxxx

Mini New Yorker...Men are like Meerkats...

 Men are like Meerkats......

Men are like Meerkats 

Meerkat on the look out

I am sure you lady's know what I am talking about when you're maybe out and about in a group and suddenly the conversation will stop and in unison the guys heads will all turn and they will all look like a bunch of Meerkats getting up onto there haunches to see a rather attractive lady in a very short dress that (doesn't leave much to the imagination) as she walk into the room. A mutual friend of mine and my husbands did this exact thing last night and it made me laugh....!!! He really looked like a Meerkat searching for predators......its not the most subtle behaviour. Its a known fact and well documented situation, the guys in Sex & the City behaved in a similar fashion when they saw the Irish nanny arrive. With this in mind it will be a behavioural pattern that will continue as long as Meerkats are doing it then men will still  do it too.....Toodles xxxx

Mini New Yorker....getting older and a bit wiser

Getting older and wiser should mean that the more things you go through as you get older should be less painful....but I would have to disagree...!!! My wisdom teeth are coming through and my god are they painful......!!! I think it's even more painful having your baby teeth fall out when you were younger, I remember other children would tie string to their baby tooth and the tie the other end to a door handle and then slam it.......I remember thinking they must be mad to do that but right now I really feel like doing the same......my wisdom teeth are killing me...and I don't feel any wiser in fact they are making my brain hurt....

So is it true do we get wiser as we get older.....? Tooooooddddleeeesss xxx

Mini New Yorker.... "wedding brain" & final preperations for the wedding!!!

So 7 days left to organise the final preparations.....and getting everything in the right place at the right time......!! Who would have thought that weddings needed military precision......?












So I decided to start organising my honeymoon 
clothes yesterday, I went upstairs to arrange my outfits but I ended up prancing around in my bikini checking it fitted ok and making sure it wasn't going to come off when I dive into a pool or something....trust me this has happened to me when I was on holiday when I was younger at a big water park!! I remember going down a ride with my mum on a double ring...the ride was called "The black hole" WE screamed the whole way down (we should have known better with a name like that) and when we hit the water my bikini top came up...... (Luckily I was blessed a bit later than most but hey can't complain)...so I'm not sure anyone actually noticed.....lol!! I bet a lot of you are laughing because you are imagining me prancing around like a bit of an idiot with my bikini on in our bedroom......!!! Well you are right to laugh I do this often actually...........dancing around in our bedroom and attempting to sing along to some of my favourite songs - I must say not always in my bikini though that was just a one off.....!!! lol!

Now where was I...? Oh yes final preparations......well so far nothing has gone wrong although I do keep having dreams that someone is going to spill red wine down the back of my gorgeous wedding dress.....note to self don't go near anyone with red wine. This would be a disaster waiting to happen.....!!

Now I am sure there are millions of women who organise their wedding while working, but I am struggling to think of anything else but our wedding at my desk. I call it "wedding brain" a condition suffered by brides to be where you can tell them anything and will forget instantly or struggle to talk about anything other than their wedding. Now this condition can be very serious and affect others as well, some think it's contagious!!! You must be careful around these women as you may catch it too and this may upset lots of partners...due to the anticipation of a proposal!!! By being aware of this condition you can be prepared, for example always have tissues ready and always wear water proof mascara as a prominent side effect from getting "wedding brain" are tearful out bursts at the drop of a hat.....!!!As well....you may also notice the wedding glow not to be confused with the pregnant glow, two very different types of glow....I can assure you!!! This is where a newly engaged women will constantly be smiling like a Cheshire cat and often be gazing at her sparkling hand. Brides to be will also suffer from verbal diarrhoea which happens when strangers ask about the big day!!!  When verbal diarrhoea kicks in the regular notions of time are also suspended causing others to be delayed as a direct impact of talking to you!! If you are a stranger you should avoid asking any questions even slightly connected to weddings. Although that is not a hard and fast way to stop verbal diarrhoea for certain as even eye contact with a bride to be can cause it.

Another issue is compulsion that brides to be get with "wedding brain" which can cause the need to buy hundreds of wedding magazines and make lots of mood boards and scrap books. Depending on how bad "wedding brain" has taken hold of the bride to be, she may allow the groom to look if she has only got mild "wedding brain" but as a groom you must be under no illusion that you may not offer any thoughts or suggestions as this may cause a "wedding brain" tearful outburst which I alluded to earlier.

Now as I am suffering from mild "wedding brain" myself and I just looked at the clock and the notion of time has been suspended while writing this so must dash but a quick note to brides to be you will suddenly get what I am talking about when it gets to 7 days before....toodddleeeeeeeesssssssssss xxx



Ps. Good Luck ladies.....xxx

Mini New Yorker......and being a foster child

Ok so you may read that and go well that's not the normal light hearted blog we are used to but I was reading another blog and it was quite inspiring as she told her story about her struggle with bullying.

Well being a foster child was not plane sailing.....I felt like the out-sider most of the time. It was like I was looking through a window and all the other children having fun on the other side.

 As a foster child it's a gamble where you might end up and I remember moving about 6 or 7 time before I was 8. That was just part of it I guess and never having toys of your own always having to just make do with what you would be allowed to play with. I remember one house vividly- it was the last house I lived in before I was adopted. I was always blamed for things that the other children had done wrong...so I would just be bad because I was already being blamed for it- that was a hard habit to break when I was adopted...!!
I was left for my own devices, so I would draw a lot which was never really picked up while I was in foster care, that I was talented! I think because I couldn't read or write they just thought I was dumb. Most of the years before I was adopted were a blur and I don't remember celebrating my birthday and most Christmas' much but do remember seeing the other children rip open their presents, they had bright smiles and their eyes were glinting.....I remember feeling horrible and I cried myself to sleep. Most of the time though I was in a world of my own and I think that was the best thing....!! At the last house I would often take myself off to the bottom of the garden and pretend to be an explorer and get all mucky. I am still interested in clambering over rocks and going on adventures....!!! That love was spurred on by my family, especially my dad who would love to go on big adventures....I would love jumping into his jeep Cherokee and end up somewhere exciting and normally with a pre-made picnic- another love of my mine which is why we put it on our wedding list....!!! I do remember exploring in the garden then deciding to run away....I think I did it a few times...thinking back it was quite dangerous really.....

I think you can spot a foster child a mile of when they turn up to school....the uniform is too big or too small.....normally hand me down stuff and I never looked clean and tidy-very scruffy....my hair was cut in a hap-hazard manner with a wonky fringe I must have looked like a right state. I would get bored at school as I couldn't read or write so I would get bored rather quickly and take myself off.....I went to the bathroom once and I decided I would decorate it in toilet paper- I was that bored....I don't remember being told off....who would have thought a naughty foster kid would end up in the police and become a rather elegant women....lol!! I was always adamant that I would not end up being like all these sad stories about yet another foster kid ending up in the vicious circle.

It's funny really when people found out at secondary school I was adopted they would say I "wasn't wanted" but it was actually the other way around. My family picked me and I picked them and I think the saying "you can pick your friends but not your relatives" isn't true because I was a bit older so I got a wish list. I asked for a brother, a cat, a dog and a big garden.....well I got all 4 and an amazing family.....!!
I was an nightmare for a few years due to being moved around.....it's hard to adjust with different styles of upbringing......!!! As a foster child you were left to your own devises and discipline was not used to keep me in check so...there were a few tantrums.....one was in Tkmax and I screamed my lungs off because I wasn't aloud something.... bet my mum wondered what she had let herself into!!
My parent were good with me but very strict.....I was grounded a lot as a teenager which was a blessing in disguise really....a lot of the people at my school seemed to do a lot of partying and getting up to mischief. I am so glad that I didn't take much notice of what else was going on as it is so easy to be dragged along into these situations. At our wedding one of my old teachers said "you were an odd little thing" which is still true today....I'm still a bit quirky!!!
Lots of children in the system get lost or put into the wrong families and just ended up as a wasted soul. I am glad that I made something of myself and I hope other people who have been in foster care read this and see hope as we don't have to end up like the lost children before us.

I guess my question to you....for me nurture was much stronger than nature so it’s seems you really can become a new person and genetics has some bearing on your life but not all and you can change a path your life was set out on a re-direct it to where you want to go.....I am now happily married and looking forward to starting a family.....even though many professionals said I would never have a real relationship and or go to uni but I have am proving them wrong every day....A true fairy tale ending....

Any who I am off I think that is enough off my story.......so toodles xxxxx

Mini New Yorker....International traveller...the essentials....

I have been slightly obsessed with Sex and the City and when I saw Carrie's vanity case and hat box in the second film and I decided that I really really wanted one to take on my honeymoon to make me a rather

chic international traveller... so I did a bit of hunting and it soon became apparent that a vintage case or steamer cases from the 1920's were not in my monthly or yearly budget for that matter... so I got a bit grumpy and grumbled for a bit and then forgot all about it until I found this little gem on the asos.com, I was amazed to find this at such a reasonable price. You can use it as a vanity case and as a hand bag which is great because as it has a long strap to make it easier for when you are moving about the airport or going on exciting day trips out in some exotic countries. I think even in the blistering dry desert in Egypt it would still look very chic....unlike me on this camel....it was so hot that I had to wrap my scarf round my head. and I nearly lost my flip flops when the Camel took us round the Pyramids and Sphinx in Cairo  in the end I just took them off- not really as chic as Carrie B in the second SATC film...although at least I didn't do a Charlotte and fall off the Camel lol!!! Well I nearly did when we had to get back off...that was a bit touch and go.....

In Luxor Valley of the Kings I was so ill because of the 7 hour coach journey which was hot and dusty and I think I had eaten something that really didn't agree with me.....!! A couple of days later my fiance and I both got ill and I felt like I was going to die... Not even water would stay down!! It was like when Charlotte and harry (SATC) got food poisoning and where lying on the floor of the bathroom..... we kind of had a moment like this..... I have to say it was not exactly the most romantic evening my fiance and I have ever had.....and when you ill like that I don't think any outfit can help you look a bit more normal. I think everyone suffers from Egypt tummy but we got some Egyptian medicine which we were told would flush the system......I have no idea what was in it because most of the instructions were in Arabic but I think it literally was ripping my insides-practically removing my organs..... I was surprised I didn't bring up a lung or something and I thought my stomach was going to burst with pain. WARNING don't take any Egyptian Medicine-will make you worse. Luckily we were there for 2 weeks so a few days to recover didn't affect our holiday too much...... we still did a lot: Luxor-Valley of the Kings & the Pillars of Karkak (oh and on the way home we stopped to for a quick break & my fiance held a goat-a women just gave him the goat to hold-he wasn't really sure what to do with it!! Lol!!.) We went Diving-for the first time ever!! I have to say the scuba gear was not very fashionable-when they put the tank of me I nearly fell backwards because of the sheer weight of it!! It was as big as me!! Unfortunately I went a bit green around the gills when we were meant to having our briefing-I was being sick in the bathroom-which made me feel even worse as it didn't smell of roses!!!

For the the last 2 days we flew to Cairo- we went the Cairo Museum-which was amazing the bits I liked were the tiny jewellery & the massive statues, we went to how the Egyptian perfume  and learnt about the different meaning & how they were made & how papyrus paper was made then bought some Egyptian art, then we went out to the desert were rode Camels around the Pyramids & we saw the Sphinx, and  river boat cruise up the Nile, 

So I have to say that I was not the most International traveller...I am going to make a real effort when we go on our honeymoon I look chic while in transit....!! You really don't want to be one of those people you see at an airport where they have fallen asleep and started to dribble down there face or snore loudly- not cool!!!

I am definitely a Carrie Bradshaw in the making....so I am going to catch up on my beauty sleep as it is a big day tomorrow.....it being my hen do, don't you know!!!! So excited  it's only 2 weeks till we get married and I just can not contain my excitement.....any way I am off now...so Toodles xxx

Mini New Yorker and her own mocktail: The Mini New Yorker

So obviously being the next Carrie Bradshaw you need to have a few basics under your hat, the ability to write witty and funny stuff, have a a huge wardrobe full of designer clothes and enjoy a few cocktails....now for me this was an issue because I don't have a lot of designer clothes (I am working on that to) and I am certainly working on the witty writing-well I think my mishaps are quite amusing so that's a start. I don't drink, I haven't had any since I turned 18. It was a very wise decision as I was either bouncing off the walls or in a heap on the floor....yes I was a light weight. After being in the police and seeing ladies sitting in their own sick with the skirt hoisted round their waists just confirmed my decision-I have to say it wasn't very classy. A lot of my friends don't drink a huge amount because we all drive and live out in the sticks. So I need to find some mocktails instead. An way I had never had a mocktail until I went to a rather funky bar in Reading....it had Buddha and Geisha cocktail pitchers....!!! If owned a bar I would have decorated very similar I think as I have a strong influences from Cambodia (after doing my trek.) It was actually my fiances brothers birthday celebrations as it was his 30th.....I ended up talking to my fiance brother about his fish....as the bar actually had fish behind all the drinks bottles..... I don't think he had any of the feet nibbling fish though....that would be pretty cool!!
It felt like it could of been in Chelsea or somewhere just as glamorous, it had a great feeling about it- exotic but very cosmopolitan too although I did feel about over dressed.....in my full length black sequined dress ooooh and my mouse ring which I have to say has been a very popular purchase of mine- people always comment on it.

They did do great mocktails they made some special mocktails for me....I picked to have strawberry and coconut.....I think I am going to call it mini new yorker, because its striking, vibrant and sexy chic which sums up New York and me??? ha ha!! Well I am trying to be chic and sexy!!Oh.....and then I had a mocktail Cosmo ...which was cherry flavoured....... Yummy!! Which is why I have added cocktail glasses to our wedding lists for our mocktail/cocktail nights.....!!! This will be fun to do when we have guest too....after our honeymoon as I think we have to may have a few things to do before the wedding.....!!! lol!! Although it seems to be getting there.....

So with a few busy weeks ahead I am going to dash so toodles xxx

Mini New Yorker and her glass slipper.....

Now if I remember rightly Cinderella ....she was always the ugly duckling and never went to any of the balls or parties. Well at school I was very much the Cinderella in that I never went to the big parties.....and no "princes" at school ever placed a glass slipper on my foot but........ a classmate did break my shoe when I was walking up the stairs to an art class. To be honest I'm not even sure how he managed to stand on my foot as I have size 3-not exactly getting in the way. I then decided it would be best to wear backless shoes....and as it was summer it was a good choice. I seemed to remember that my style caught on and loads of people had them on the week after..... this seemed to happen a few times and more at college...

I was a bit disorganised to say the least and not the prettiest either but now I think my glass slipper moment will be at our wedding and  it will fit perfectly. School was one of those places where the pretty girls wore makeup with perfect hair, the high heels from somewhere fashionable and skirts they would role up to make even shorter....

Me, I was just not that girl.....I had braces, I always had bags and bags of stuff in a disorganised manner. I normally had a hockey stick which would often be dragged along the floor because I had too much stuff, art folders that were bigger that me and my bulky clarinet that I actually never practised and was quite terrible at it..... (it was a good job we lived in the country side) I should have definitely stuck to what I know...being a bit of an art geek.... I was constantly dropping stuff or losing my bus pass which was always at the bottom of my bag along with my house keys. I would then go into a panic and start emptying my marry Poppins bags out on to my friend on the bus to find the lost items-this was an every day occurrence.  I often would leave my art folder on the coach by accident, once  it was the day before my art GCSE exam- such a doughnut!!! Luckily the bus driver knew it was mine and brought it back the next day as I was for ever doing this and at college I seemed to forget it quite often.....

I also always seem to have unfortunate mishaps with a lot of my personal items which have ended up in various sad state of affairs from being lost or dropped down the toilet or fallen into the sea ... !!! Oh yes I had dropped my phone in the sea when I had been on art trip at college and one of my friends look like she had fallen into the sea so I scrabbled over the rocks and then me and my phone went flying at which point I heard her burst out laughing from the friend who seem to have pulled her head out of the rock pool... at which she fell about laughing because of my rather haphazard rescue attempt.!!! That night we tried to dry it out and then it started to vibrate loudly in the middle of night and the same friend who had looked like she may have been drowning told us half a sleep that it was her lunch box vibrating and it must be the sandwiches her mum had made!!! So  funny!! Least to say the salt water killed my phone and since then not much has improoved- my last victim was my Iphone after having it for a few weeks it slipped out of my trouser pocket as I was getting out of my car and the screen cracked-Nightmare!!! This is not an isolated incident, I fell into a river on a geography trip and as I went slidding down the bank I grabbed the nearest thing which happened to be a friend and we both ended in the river drenched from head to toe........... I remember having to change into some spare trousers as I had rather soggy trousers and pants......before doing the walk of shame and getting back on the bus....and I wonder why I hated school with such embarrassing memories such as this....

I have lost count of the cameras that I have been through but I think it was a good idea to have put an under water camera on our wedding list-GENIUS just in case lol!!! Any way my Cinderella moment is not long now!! I am getting so excited and more relaxed now everything is organised!!! I am just keeping an eye on our wedding list...It's actually a very odd concept a wedding list, having been brought up not to ask for gifts....any way I am off to organise a few last minute things and to find a dress for my hen do...... so toodles xxx

Mini New Yorker and the Art of commuting and Fashion Olympics...

So I have been commuting for a week into London and I clearly have not grasped this fine art....! Well I decided as I had done so well on Monday and Tuesday I would try and be even smarter by trying to find completely free parking so on Wednesday I decided I would drive to a different station where I thought there would be off road parking I'm sure everyone has had the same idea but I thought I could park then walk! Well the machine for the parking didn't work so I thought would find another one and from the machine back to my car I lost my debit card! I tried to find it I literally turned my car upside down! I then ran around the car park but couldn't find it! I wandered around- as panic set in I could feel my self welling up and then a nice lady stopped to try and help me but I couldn't stop my self wailing  about how I had lost my card etc! Any way after a few mins I think she wandered off as I flapped! I ask the police officers- nothing! I asked the ticket office they were most unhelpful! While I was wandering around I accidentally speed dialed my mum and I have to say she really knew what she was doing and managed to get my ticket after driving to two towns to sort it out! I think I was about 3 hours late and very embarrassed and flustered not a good impression! I think I will be looking to move very soon can't be dealing with this and with 6 am starts I think it's time we moved! Lol!

It's now Friday and I am on my way back to go back to my sunny home (actually its pitch black) to go out with my future parent in laws (it's less than 4 month-Eeek) I had to run through the maze of London under grounds and tube stations to get all the quick connecting trains. I was still a bit late even after running in heels (6 inches I might add which is a pretty mean feet...ba ba boom tisssssh-sorry lol!!)

I have to say, you even have to get use to the heat down in the under ground....as soon as you step into the cart it is suddenly like a sauna. I felt weird as I started to pull my layers off to stop my self melting. It doesn't help when some silly person shuts the only open window on the train....why would you do that......? why? The thing is I create my outfits as one piece so by taking off my layers ie. scarf, coat, jumper etc it just looks like I couldn't be bothered to get dressed properly lol!! The other thing is that no matter how hard I try not to get stuck next to someone who has really bad bo I always seem to end up with their smelly armpits right in my face....this is definitely a hazard of being under 5 foot 4...!!! Bio-hazard....lol!!!

The other thing about commuting is that when you are in a hurry and you have tourists not knowing where they are going with masses amounts of huge luggage cases it's like an obstacle course or hurdles. I feel like I am getting ready for the Fashion Olympics....right I am off so tooodlesss  xxxx