Playing Catch-Up

I know, I know, it's been way too long. Four wholes months have passed since my last post and to recap what's been going on I have compiled a series of lists.

Here goes:
  
Number of Holidays Went On:    1 

My mom and her partner Gregg came over in July for two weeks and in that time we all fly up to Edinburgh and spent a few days doing touristy things and visiting old friends. Then we rented a car and I drove up to the highlands. I booked a remote cottage in the middle of the Glencoe mountains and my in-laws ventured down from further north to meet us for a few days. 

We had an amazing time staying smack-dab in the middle of the most stunning mountains I have ever seen. We celebrated the 4th of July grilling hot dogs and burgers in the Highland rain with haggis, neeps and tatties. It was a very odd mix but it worked! Then we can back down to England… boo.

Number of Books Read:    6

Wildwood, Under Wildwood, Where'd You Go, Bernadette?, The Penderwicks at Point Mouette, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Penelope

Number of Horrible Job Interviews:    1 

No comment.

Number of Exotic Animals I've Cuddled:     1 Troop

I went to Colchester Zoo to photograph the Director. We wanted to get photos of him with animals and he took me in to the Lemur enclosure. I didn't realize we'd be right in among them and I was blown away by the critters!! They have the softest pads on their paws. I was in love!!

Number of Crafty Things I've Made:    7+

My mother's visit rekindled my love of jewellery making while she was here and I've played around with a few pieces (see next post) while planning some cool ones. Did you know my mother is super talented and makes her own glasses beads at her house in Florida.

Number of Music Festivals Attended:    1ish

I've only paid to go to one festival, Field Day, in London back in May, but I have covered a few for work. Billy's best mate Brian and his boyfriend Matt came over from Belfast for the weekend so it was really fun! Oh and I got to see Animal Collective for the first time. Here's a little Su fact: I picked one of their songs to walk "down the aisle" to at my wedding.
 
Number of Sick Days:    2 1/2

I came down with some bug the week after mom's left and I chalk it up to all the traveling I did and forgetting to take my vitamins regularly.

Number of Buildings I've Scaled:     1

I went to photograph the mayor of Colchester abseiling down Town Hall for charity one Sunday. I asked to take photos from the top 100 feet up in the air and they had to strap me in to get the shoots. After I was done they said they quickest way down was to climb down the facade. Without hesitation I said "YES!" and proceeded to learning how to do it while passing my camera gear off to one of the men in charge. 

Lets say I've never done anything like this and I thought I had to keep my feet on building and when I came down a ledge my feet came away and my shoulder hit the building while the crowd collectively sucked in a breath. But I'm alive and I did it before the mayor! 

Number of Athletic Pursuits:    3 (almost 4)

I am super in to cycling these days. Billy and I try and get out on our bikes as much as possible during the week and we average a ten mile ride at the weekend. I want to work up to a huge cycling trip next year. I am also really loving pilates. I am going once a week now but I think I'd like to up it to two to really see the benefits. Apart from going to the gym (not as regularly as I should) I am starting a yoga class next week too.
 
Number of times I went to write a blog post and then procrastinated:    87

One day to go! And Quilt Project #1

Only one day to go until FLORIDA!! I am so excited to be going home to see MoMa. It feels like I haven't had a holiday in ages but really its only been since May. Two glorious weeks in the sun sounds amazing now that the Autumn word has been bandied about around here. If I wasn't going home I'd feel absolutely cheated by not having a real summer.

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I've been working on a quilt for awhile (well I got this much done and it's been sitting in a pile in my living room waiting to be completed) and I'm really liking how its coming along. As its my first quilt I chose I simple patchwork design inspired by this quilt. I have loads of squares cut out already but I've been sneaking in cross stitch projects between the quilt as I can sit on the couch while Billy watches football.

This will be for our bedroom as it is the only room that we don't actually like. It is really small so much so that Billy as to walk sideways around his side of the bed and we never really got around to decorating it as we focussed on the rest of the flat. I chose yellow and blue because they are not overly feminine yet I could still through some pretty patterns into it.

I bought most of my fabric as fat quarters, which in hindsight may not of been the best idea because I ran out of some of the fabrics. I have since bought and cut different fabrics to try and add to the mix. I hope to have this finished pretty soon after I get back from holiday and then I have to make curtains. I found this pretty cool material that's navy and a yellowy gold and very nautical. I would also love to make a headboard in a yellowy-goldish like this one here.

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Well I'm off now to finish packing! See y'all later.

Three weeks to go...

Three agonisingly long weeks are the only thing between me and my holiday! I have had a serious case of holidayitis for the past month as I've longed for sandy beaches instead of the rocky shores of England. It's actually quite nice as summer is winding down here in the UK and I'll get to go home and have two glorious weeks with Moma and maybe even a visit from my favourite friend Arielle from Atlanta!!

Billy and I will celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary while we are there and we have booked a hotel in Key West for a few days. Key West is my favourite spot in the whole of Florida because its so laid back but quite like a mini New Orleans. I love Ernest Hemmingway's house and how you are so close to Cuba but you'd have to fly to Canada to get there and I love the carcass of the original Flagler bridge eerily shadowing the seven-mile bridge.  Oh and did I mention the Key Lime Pie. You can get it on a stick there! And to top it off we are hoping to book a convertible to drive down in.

I have been stocking up of Florida friendly clothes for months as I can't stand wearing certain fabrics in the heat. I wear a lot of jersey as it is really soft on sun burned skin. I have bought a fedora to keep my face out of the sun and I found this adorable one piece honeycombed swimming costume apparently designed by Bettie Page (who lived in Key West for awhile so it was quite suiting- yes that was a bad pun). I also picked up another pair Bensimon Elastique tennis shoes which are essentially an integral part of my summer wardrobe as they are really comfy and slip on quick for spur of the moment bike rides. And they were on sale!! Score.

I have a few skirts and dresses I've acquired at various Gap sales the past few months as well so I'm pretty set. I really wanted some nice flip flops instead of the cheap plastic Old Navy ones I always seem to end up with.

I am seriously beyond excited and Billy and I are in desperate need of down time. Hurry up holiday.

NYC

Phew a lot has happened since the last time I posted. I did finish my crochet project, which was actually a baby blanket for my best friend Jess who is about to ‘pop her sprog’. I took a finished photo quickly on my phone but unfortunately I lost my phone on the plane when Billy and I went to NYC for Jess’ wedding.

EEEKKK!

Well, I’ve gotten a new iPhone since then so all is good, but I’ll need to wait til baby J is born to get a photo with her/him with it.

NYC was INCREDIBLE!! I got to see friends from university that I haven’t seen in six years and my photo professor was there. It was pretty cool to see two of my favorite people marry each other. Jess’ husband is my friend Eric and we’ve all known each other since our London semester abroad. They were in the dance club the night I met my husband and it was Jess who pushed me out on the dance floor because I was too shy to dance with Billy. So yeah Thanks Jess!!

This photo is of Billy, me and our friend Natalia. She works for MSNBC as a photo editor and (score) she works at 30 Rock!! She even rode the lift with Tina Fey. Okay when she offered to give us a tour of the building I did swoon a bit. The SNL set, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Brian Williams and incredibly cool remnants of Jim Henson on the pipes. So good. We also took a sunset trip to the Top of the Rock. Honestly forget the Empire State Building because the view from here you could see all of New York in all its majestic beauty.

I only shot film while abroad which though it’s developed I need to get a scanner to upload it all. I have a Hasselblad that is my baby and since I shoot digital every day I am only too eager to break out my Hassie. I’m too impatient though and I keep holding up my negatives up to the light to check them out.

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Ps I meant to post this a week and a half ago but I forgot and then I got sick and couldn’t look at my computer for a while as my head was aching. Boo.

Happy independence day!!

Yay it's the Fourth of July and I'm home with my momma (or mo'ma as Billy calls her) and she is in the kitchen as I type making my favorite, fried chicken and potato salad! Yum. It's been a wonderful holiday thus far. I have my yellow nail varnish on my toes, I have sunburned skin and all my freckles are out. I forgot that my face is pretty much covered in freckles.

Life is good. We have beached it up and Billy and I have rode bicycles almost everyday and we both have read about five books each. I finished my last book on the hammock in the backyard sipping on sweet tea. Oh what a life. Its so relaxing here. And I still remember how to drive on the other side of the road.

Tomorrow Billy, Mo'ma, my 16 year-old nephew Dylan and me are heading down to Miami for the night and staying at the art deco Avalon Hotel on South Beach. The next day we are going to Gator Park for an airboat ride in the Everglades and then we're going to stop to see the Coral Castle on our way back.

Its been wonderful and the only bad thing is we have to leave!

Holiday in the sun...

I'm away to Florida tomorrow and one of the first things on my list to do is a mani/pedi. I haven't had one since my wedding two and a half years ago and my poor toes are in need of some tlc. My feet have always been my favorite part of my body. Weird eh? But I have cute feet and I always have varnish on them.

But I want something cute and summery so I've been looking online for ideas and yellow keeps coming up and I think that might be my answer. It's not a colour I'd normally use so I think it may be perfect. I never know if I should get the same colour on my toes as on my fingers. Such choices! I'll have to wait and see.

Going home...

Way down upon the Swanee River,
Far, far away,
There's where my heart is turning ever,
There's where the old folks stay.
All up and down the whole creation,
Sadly I roam,
Still longing for the old plantation,
And for the old folks at home.

Well, if you changed Swanee River (that’s in northern Florida and I’m from South Florida) to the Indian River and the old folks into one sassy momma then this song would depict my desperate need to get home.

Billy and I are already planning what we’ll do during our trip home at the end of June including a game at the Met’s Stadium (it’s minor league baseball except for when the NY Mets come for spring training), loads of seafood restaurant dinners (Billy is obsessed with Grouper where I am solidly a fried shrimp girl), and many, many trips to the beach (it’s a 10 minute ride to the Atlantic Ocean). I am really excited for Billy to experience his first Fourth of July with sweettea, bbq and fireworks because when we do it over here it's just not the same.

It’s funny how excited I am to go to the town where I was born and raised. I was desperate to get out of that town because there isn’t leeway for success if you weren’t born with a silver-spoon (or a citrus-grove) in your mouth. But hey it’s great to visit. I bought some flip-flops yesterday to get my feet used to them because I don’t wear proper shoes when I’m home.

Here’s some photos from my last trip home in December 2009.