Fire and Ice

As most of my readers know (and if you don’t – here’s a catch-up ) I was doing a lot of running last year, preparing for the WDW marathon , my first ever. I won’t cover old ground but training for such an event brought its own special kinds of challenges: physical of course but also time challenges (trying to fit all the training runs in, while still living my life), weather challenges (I run in the UK, enough said), and clothing challenges. YES, clothes. Before I decided to sign up for this race I had been to the gym before but never really run. So I had a lot of jog pants and guy tops and stuff like that, that just isn’t suitable for running, especially outside. So little by little I purchased bits and bobs to build up a pretty respectable running wardrobe. However, the girls training for the same thing over in the US kept talking about ‘ running skirts ’ in the forums at disneyrunning.com . I followed a few of the links they gave, had a look and thought that they indeed looked cute...

Before I had my baby, I had my first "baby": Ever since I saw one of these in London , circa 1999 I wanted one. It looked so cute, was so unique yet included all the comforts of more expensive cars. So after pining for one of these, I finally got mine in November 2001. It was brand new with 4 miles on the clock and I was the happiest girl in town! Over the years this car has been loved like no car before: it has always been lovingly hand washed (none of those rough machine washes for my baby!), kept in a garage most of the time, all services done on time and fluids kept topped up and has always been kept very clean on the inside and out. I love driving this car, I love the fact that it’s left-hand drive, I love the color, I love the panoramic sunroof, I love the way I can use the gears but then push a button and turn it into a full automatic… I just love this car. Circumstances are forcing me to sell and although I know that it’s a sensible decisi...

(Two posts in one day! After this morning's very fluffy one, here is one that is a little more thought-provoking) Yesterday I was driving from work with my MP3 player on and I was merrily singing along to a pretty eclectic collection of tunes… and then one particular song came on, one that I know well and have heard many times, and I suddenly started to really, really listen to it. Look at me I will never pass for a perfect bride Or a perfect daughter Can it be I'm not meant to play this part? Now I see That if I were truly to be myself I would break my family's heart It hit me hard. All of a sudden the real meaning of those lyrics became very apparent and I started to cry. In my car. With other people watching but I didn’t care. I suddenly felt Mulan’s pain when she realizes she is only playing a part in life but deep inside she knows she is someone totally different. I have been questioning my own role in life lately and I’ve noticed that who I am in public is not really...

I don't often post these interview-like questions but there were some good ones on this one so I thought I'd pass it on. I also don't like to 'tag' people but feel free to use it in your blog if you wish! 1. What is your occupation? Online Marketing Manager and I must say I love my job. 2. What color socks right now? No socks, wearing lovely brown Mary Janes that I bought in Spain . 3. What are you listening to right now? My MP3 player, it’s shuffled but right this moment it’s George Michael and “Somebody to Love” 4. What was the last thing that you ate? Lunch ‘al desko’ which was a roasted veg Panini with cheese and rosemary. Very nice. 5. Can you drive a stick shift? Definitely. I can also drive my car which is a semi-automatic, just like a race car. 6. If you could be a color what color would you be? Blue 7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? I honestly can’t remember! I hate phones so it would have been somethin...

After weeks I have finally broken out of my scrappers' block and put some layouts together! It was a combination of busy evenings, no crops due to summer and a lack of photos that meant that for an entire month I did zero scrapping. I hadn't 't even unpacked my bag from the last crop I had, back in late June. But anyway, my monthly all-day crop was back and we had a very pleasant Sunday and I even managed to find some photos to work on. As I didn't have an awful lot, it meant I could slow down and spend a bit longer on these layouts. I also challenged myself to use embellishments and a few techniques, so in general I'm very pleased with the results. When I printed out the photos from Croatia I quickly realized that there were endless photos of gorgeous scenery and I just would never get a chance to put them all in my scrapbook (unless I wanted to go crazy, of course). So I decided to print a lot of those in a collage and then use that in my layout, so here is the re...

The book “ Skinny Bitch ” is definitely NOT to everyone’s taste but I think that everyone should read it. It’s not just the tone of the book (VERY straight talking and with some mild swearing) but the harsh truths that it delivers - mainly that eating meat is simply eating rotting carcass and isn’t terribly good for you. I happen to believe that is true and am about 90% vegetarian but I need reminding of just WHY I am doing a good thing by avoiding meat and sticking with fruits and vegetables. There are of course other books that cover the same subject, some with more depth (and less shouting) like “ Diet for New America ” by John Robbins. I read this book by accident about 5 years ago and from the first chapter I was hooked. It is a very compassionate, gentle book that tries to teach you about the truth behind the animal products we eat. The book covers every angle: health, social consequences, economics, ethics, etc. I can honestly say this book changed my life and was th...