Full on {Friday}

Can you believe it was Monday that I lost posted! Well it was Sunday actually as I scheduled my Meal Planning post, that was when I was was organised {last / this week}. 

It's been a busy full on week which has been filled with an abundance of happy mail, the new bureau also happened and I've spent many many an hour sat at it this week. My new assistant started and she is just amazing, lots of yummy food has been consumed too AND the Mount Killa-mon-ironing was conquered!

Here's some snippets of the fun filled week!

Monday was new bureau day

Some of the happy mail I received this week...

Some of the happy mail I sent out...

I designed and made some new dividers for my lovely new filofax

And I found Pantone notebooks (and other goodies) in TK Maxx at a bargain price, that was the find of the week as I was nearly buying a Pantone notebook online last week at £10! How cute are the Liberty Hello Kitty notecards?

I nearly forgot... I also won £25 Love to Shop vouchers on a Twitter Competition, you had to come up with a #foodstadia pun {combine food and sports stadiums}, you'll all know I'm not a sports person but I do love a good pun and my winning entry was 'Surf N Turf Moor Stadium'. So, I now I have £25 of vouchers to spend on my shopping trip tomorrow when littlest and I are meeting up with Aunty Knit Knit {my very talented little Sister}

What's your weekend plans?

Meal Planned {organised}

It's a Bank Holiday Monday - yay! Last week's meal planning went great up until Friday and I was busy  at work then had to go to my frame suppliers afterwards {had lots of orders in for my personalised prints} so when I got home I was too tired to think about cooking and everyone else was fed so I had toast. Saturday was a glorious day so we went to the park and got chips on the way home {result}.

This week looks like this:

Monday: lasagne and garlic bread

Tuesday: chilli (will make this on Monday as I'm busy bee on Tuesday)

Wednesday: freezer dinner (got lots to use up in there)

Thursday: brinner (just the kids as Hubber and I are out for dinner)

Friday: slow cooker curry and nan bread

Saturday: chicken chow mein

Sunday: stew, mash and yorkshire puddings

As per it's another busy week ahead in preparation for painting the living room next week and I still need to tackle that tower of ironing. I'm feeling a little more organised though as I have a new filofax {oh yeah.. and it's purple / ultra violet} AND... AND my new assistant starts on Tuesday {hurrah!}.

Remember to link up with Mrs M and tell us what's on your menu this week?

the {cloudy} holiday

Oops, I may be just a little late in chatting about our holiday...

We had been really {and I mean really} looking forward to our Spring holiday. Work / Life is pretty busy right now and we struggle to get time together. We booked a 5 day break to Lanzarote {as Lanzarote is hot all year round, right?}, we left on 28th April - flying from Edinburgh.

Our flight times were great {ahem.. more on that later} and so far the littlest has always been a great flyer and takes it all in her stride, long may that continue! When we arrived at Arrefice airport it was quite dull...Oh uh! It's not a huge island so the weather is usually the same all over. Sadly it stayed cloudy for the 5 days! We had around 20mins of sunshine the whole holiday as the pools are heated from the sun it was far too cold to swim {bummer!}

smiles in the only bit of sunshine we saw

The hotel {Los Zocos} was OK, the public areas and restaurants were very clean and tidy. Our room was a little basic though with no aircon {maybe I should be glad it wasn't scorching} but it was fine, I just like a little bit more comfort when on holiday. The entertainment for the littlest in the evening was really dire but it was out of season so I guess that's to be expected... she still had a great time though so that's all that matters.

It was quite an exhausting holiday, no lazing by the pool, no sunbathing and no swimming. We spent every day walking into town, finding play parks and strolling around the shops. We were looking forward to coming home by the time we reached the last day... then WHAM an 8 hour flight delay {I could have cried}, not only the huge delay but we were being flow into Glasgow which meant a coach transfer to Edinburgh. We had expected to be home for littlest bedtime routine {about 6pm} but instead we got home around 4am! I had been awake nearly 24 hours by the time we got home and I had 3 hours sleep before littlest woke up for the day... I'm perfectly justified to say 'I need another holiday'

smitten on a sunny day

A {very} rare sunny day and a very {very} rare day off together. I was going to be smitten with some delicious cakes from The Village Bakery in Kilncadzow but since buying them this morning I've been more smitten with the fun sunny day we had together.

the {giant} cakes!

sunny days

The plans for today was to tidy the garage but when we saw how glorious it was the garage was suddenly not important. We had a lazy day at home in the morning letting the littlest nap then we headed out for cake {obviously} and to the country park that's not to far from us. We played in the playpark but that was a bit too busy with kids for my liking {I'm not keen on busy places with kids going wild}, we then had a lovely walk and some ice-cream {smiles}...

oops wonder if he'll mind being on my blog?

The world seems such a nicer place when the sun shines. I hope you all have a lovely weekend, what are you smitten with today?

I'm linking up with Glasgow Mummy click here to join in too...

Hurrah {for Friday}

It really has been an exhausting week. It's one of those weeks were Husband and I don't see each other at all {due to our shift patterns}...

The week looked like this:

Monday - drop big girl off at work before I go to the office (a 30min detour from my usual drive to work). Work until 4pm, pick big girl up and rush home for 5pm as Husband leaves for work then (he's with littlest at home when I'm at work and vice versa). Once littlest is tucked up and we've eaten dinner I then work {I run my own Graphic Design business from home AEM Photography and Design}. Bed time around 1am.

Tuesday - up at 6am, drop big girl off at work, drop littlest off at Gran's then head into office for 9.15am. Work till 4.30pm then pick up littlest from Gran's. Pick up parcels that I had delivered to the depot, deliver some prints, head home for dinner. Working again till around 1am.

Wednesday - up at 6.30am, made homemade soup, wedges and lunch before heading off to work for 11am.  Rush home for 5pm as Husband is leaving for night shift again {with a pitt stop to drop off clothes to big girl}. No work tonight as my lovely friend popped round and we shared a bottle of wine {that's the first night in months that I've sat down for a whole evening, it was bliss}

Thursday - up at 6am, surgical appointment at 10am {I have a stomach repair op within 6 weeks.. great huh?}, work at the office then home for 5pm again {Husband working again} but with a stop off for some groceries... can you believe we're out of bread! I asked my Aunt to pop along and sit with littlest for an hour as it was the first night of a very new craft club {thank you Auntie}, before I headed out to craft club I quickly made littlest dinner and brushed my hair {hair really needs washed!}, home for 7pm. I caught up with all my post circle replies tonight.  Bed at 1.30am

Friday - thankfully! I've been up since 6.30am, have to get ready for work soon {with a pitt stop to drop off a gig ticket to big girl, which she forgot to take with her}. After a busy day at work I have to drive to my frame suppliers {at the other side of Glasgow} then home to make dinner then spend the night framing orders.

It's a 3-day weekend and I'd love to spend the weekend with nothing planned and just going with the flow but so far we have a garage to tidy {new flooring delivered next week so need to store it}, MIL birthday at weekend so need to visit, my Parent's have asked for some little things to be done so will visit them too, squeeze in a baby ballet class, then it's Monday before we know it and Husband is working.

I won some tickets for the Ideal Home Show too but right now I'm struggling to fit in time to wash my hair so I might not even be able to go... boo!

The next few weeks are little bit crazy too {aint every week?}... it's crazy that I might be looking forward to my operation so that I can rest up under Doctor's orders.  Oh yeah, I'm still working on my stationery designs for my etsy shop launch... it will be soon {sorry for the delay}

hello... sorry, you nodded off there.  I know this is a boring ole post but I feel better for getting it all down and the pity party can come to an end.

Have a great weekend everyone, I'll be jealous of all your chilling out! x

{write}

You may (or may not) know that one of my favourite hobbies is writing letters {and I do love receiving them too}, at my last count I have around 13 snailmail friends but probably write more often to 9 or 10...

I love to follow the stories on More Love Letters, it really is wonderful how a handwritten letter can cheer your day, knowing that someone has taken the time to think about what they want to write and to write and post it to you. It's a simple treasure that everyone can do.

Recently on More Love Letters a request was posted... here it is:

Via Founder Hannah, anyone looking to send love + encouragement during this difficult time in Oklahoma should please feel free to participate in this mission: 

Madison Hake, the president of the OU Campus Cursive chapter for The World Needs More Love Letters wrote last night: "As many of you know, a devastating tornado ripped through our community on May 20, 2013. Our community is stricken with grief, as a majority of the death count came from a local elementary school being leveled. If you would like to send letters, you can mail them to the address below and I will be sure they are passed out to community members. Anything and everything helps. Thank you all so much."

Letters can be mailed to:

Campus Cursive
Oklahoma University
616 West 6th Avenue
Bristow, OK, 74010

Please consider sharing a little love in a time of such devastation down in Oklahoma.

Can you spare a few minutes to write a letter of hope and encouragement to bring a little sunshine into someone's life in this time of such devastation?  I hope you can...

{meal} Planning

Oh dear, two blog posts on the same day.  To me it's a sin nearly as bad as a DJ playing the same song twice at any gig {Husband used to be a DJ, trust me it's a cardinal sin}. But... in my defence if you have read my previous post you'll see I'm catching up from the weekend as I was a social butterfly then!

I'm rushing with this week's meal planning and using up as much of the groceries I have at home, and I have a fridge full of veg {which is getting roasted tonight}, there might even be some soup made mid week if there's still lots left.

Monday - roasted veg pastry parcels with herb rice

Tuesday - spicy cheeseburgers

Wednesday - chicken kiev and cheesey potato wedges

Thursday - something quick 

Friday - twice baked potatoes, filling tbc

Saturday - lasagne

Sunday - will decide at the weekend

What are you dining on this week?  Remember to link up with Mrs M x

smitten {at last}

I'm late in joining the smitten party... but it's allowed as it's been a busy weekend with lots of social activity (which is rare!)...

The littlest had her first sleepover at Gran and Grandad's as Hubber and we went into Glasgow to celebrate our beautiful friend's 40th Birthday. We started off with a meal at Brown's {at George Square} then we headed to Alea Casino for party time! We had a great night!

I was organised and prepared... Usually on nights out I wear heels {I really don't do well in heels} and by the end of the night my feet ache and it really puts a damper on the evening. But this time as we walked from Glasgow Queen Street to our hotel {yeah, we stayed over!} I made a quick stop and bought these gorgeous little babies! Perfect for slipping into my clutch bag so I can change into when the heels make my feet ache!

smitten

I love them, like really love them. They are the comfiest pair of shoes I own. Each Summer I 'think' about buying these but then I don't {as I have so many shoes}. They remind me of my ballet days {yes I was once a ballet dancer}. I know for sure that these shoes are going to be a staple part of my wardrobe going forward.

The Birthday Girl and I

My Husband and I {he looks half asleep!}

On Sunday we had a family day out to celebrate my biggest's birthday {which was Thursday.. he was 22}.. I just love my kiddos and love seeing them together! {check out my Smitten post about my kiddos here}

precious

What are you smitten with this week? Remember to link up with Glasgow Mummy x

Goat's Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato

Tonight this happened...

Goat's Cheese and Sun Dried Tomato Pastry

...oh and it was lush! I'm not the biggest fan of Goat's Cheese (but Hubber loves it) but I can enjoy it if it's with something else that's quite flavoursome. I'm trying to add new things to my weekly meal plan as I'm constantly repeating the same meals, which is getting boring.

How it happened...

{I used} ready rolled light puff pastry sheets and placed {about} half the pack onto a baking sheet {that had greaseproof paper on it}

In a bowl I mixed:  1 tablespoon of BBQ sauce {ketchup}, 1 teaspoon of garlic puree and 1 teaspoon of tomato puree. Mix then spread this thinly over the pastry sheet.

Crumble Goat's Cheese over the top and add sundried tomatoes {I bought the jar and used about a third}. I grated some cheddar over the top {just a little}.

Bake in oven at 180 for 15mins. 

This alone would be ideal for a lunch or serve with a tasty salad for dinner... YUMMY!

{happy} mail day!

Don't you just love receiving happy mail? It's such a delightful change from bills and junk mail... Today's happy mail was this...

A delightful Alice in Wonderland themed card with a lovely note from one of my new Happy Mail friends, a Postcrossing postcard from Queensland, Australia, a postcard from ME {it may sound a little strange, but I have a really bad memory - long story - so I have started to send postcards to myself from each holiday with a little snippet of what I thought about it and dates... keeps me sane} and last but by no means least the totally and utterly amazing Crafty Creatives Craft Box {11}! Here's a sneak peek of what's inside...

I've just found out a friend has also signed up and she got her box today too, so looking forward to chatting about it and seeing what we both make. I think my favourite item inside {just now, I may change my mind when I start playing around with it all} is the 10 swarovski crystal beads, I got emerald green ones, they are so lush!

Anyone else reading signed up for Crafty Creatives?  Or do you love happy mail too?  Let me know!

Monday...

A new week has arrived and with it some awful weather... there was sleet on my drive to work this morning!

It's been a sad day today.. 2 years ago today {on Friday 13th} my big kiddos Dad sadly passed away. I wish I could hug their heartache away.

On a happier note, we {at work} finally made our decision and I now have a shiny new assistant! The lovely girl will start on 28th May... I.can't.wait!

So, let's meal plan! Remember to hook up with Mrs M if you're joining in...

Monday - {we had} bacon cheeseburgers and fries

Tuesday - chicken fajitas

Wednesday - goat cheese and sun dried tomato pastries

Thursday - {my biggest's 22nd Birthday} subway style meat and salad rolls and birthday cake

Friday - slow cooker surprise {not decided yet}

Saturday - we're out in Glasgow {and staying over} to celebrate our friend's 40th special birthday {this will be the first time I'll have been away overnight from my littlest... I'll be fine right?}

Sunday - we're all out for Logan's Birthday dinner {he's still to choose venue}

I really need to make some menu changes as we seem to be eating the same things each week and it's getting boring... this week's 'adventurous' dish is Wednesday so we'll see how that works out!

What's on your menu plan this week?

Smitten {with my kiddos}

I'm linking up with Glasgow Mummy for Smitten Saturday and this week I'm Smitten with my kiddos...

I'm probably guilty of not telling the big kiddos just how proud I am of them. They've been through a tough time over the years but here they are standing up tall to face the world. Both of them are now working full time. The biggest is 22 next week, the middle girly was 19 a few weeks ago and the littlest is now 20 months.

Love you kiddos... I'm Smitten!

What are you smitten with?  Link up with Glasgow Mummy and let us know!

Busy {bee}

STOP the bus, I need to get off! That's exactly how life feels right now.

There is not enough hours in the day, days in the week, weeks in the month... I know I've just been on holiday but even that was far too busy and we were constantly on the go. I'm juggling my full time office job, my service assessing, being a Mum, Wife, Cook, Cleaner, Personal Shopper and still fitting in some design jobs I have scheduled... AND I'm crap at juggling too!

I'm usually such an organised person but my head is literally spinning.

So, what do I do when I'm so busy? I sit down and I design something funny to cheer myself up. I've said this phrase out loud so much in the past few days (not in-front of baby though, don't worry)...

This design will feature in a collection of postcards that I'll soon be launching in my etsy shop and it will also be available to purchase as a print. I already have my first order for a print and it's not launched yet! I get the feeling this design will be popular, I still giggle when I read it!

What do you do when you're stressed / busy to cheer yourself up?

{Bank Holiday} Monday Meal Planning

It's all back to normality from tomorrow {after our holiday / week off}, but I am thankful for the extra day the Bank Holiday has given {even though the weather here was rubbish}. Our plans of having a day away didn't come to much but we did eat out at Wagamama for lunch - I do love duck gyoza!

On the subject of food, here is this week's Meal Planning Monday:

Monday - we ate out for lunch so it was tea and cake for dinner

Tuesday - veg pastries, baked potato, salad and 'The Slaw'

Wednesday - cod and chips {for them, as I'm out with a friend for dinner}

Thursday - chilli nachos

Friday - sausage, mash and beans

Saturday - {homemade} chicken fried rice

Sunday - slow cooker meal - not decided what yet

Are you joining in with Meal Planning Monday?  Don't forget to link up with Mrs M... what's on your plate this week?

I'm Smitten

Oh I'm always so late with my Smitten Saturday post, I must try and get more organised! But here I am / It is... I'm linking up with Glasgow Mummy, have you seen her Smitten Saturday post yet, such good news in there!

Last week I was Smitten with teapigs Macha Tea, still contemplating buying some more! This week I am Smitten with the Mediterranean veg Pastry Ring Recipe I (or should I say we) LOVE IT! Best of all it's so simple, I'll not repost the whole recipe, you can click here to read it from a previous post. This time I didn't have aubergine or leek but I did add celery and my Philadelphia was just the plain one but I added a little chilli flakes.  It's such an adaptable recipe AND I first saw it on Glasgow Mummy's blog!

Here's some photos of tonight's version. Go on, give it a go... I promise you'll love it!

Remember to link up with Glasgow Mummy if you're joining in with Smitten Saturday, I'd love to read what you're Smitten with.

...sneaks in

We're back!

I can't say it was the most relaxing holiday I've ever had... actually I've never had a relaxing holiday in my life, now I come to think of it.

It was a little unfortunate that the weather in Lanzarote was cloudy for most of our stay, we had a little breakthough of sunshine... when I say a little I mean around 20mins or so! The pool was absolutely frozen, no-one was in the pool the whole week! I was really looking forward to a good swim too!

Most of our time away we spent walking into town, eating way too much and playing with the littlest on swings and slides. The food was fine, although it was a bit of the same menu each time but I did try my best to vary the meals.  I was getting a little sick of the options by the last day though, but then maybe I was just getting sick of eating in general as we lingered over lunches and dinner as there wasn't much to do on resort {in the poor weather}.

I'll post a full review {with photos and all} soon but I just wanted to check in with all you lovely people and thanks for your messages too, it's nice to be missed.

A x

Wondering Wednesday

I am actually still on my holidays {and I'm typing this post up before I go}...

I'm sure by now I'll have quenched my overpowering urge to swim, I do love swimming and miss it a lot! I might even have read a whole book. One thing is for sure I'll have eaten far too much and now be thinking of my healthy eating plan on my return home.

Another thing that's for sure, I'll be missing my big kiddos. I know they are now young, responsible adults {don't have burned my house down or had any wild parties please!} but they are still my babies and not seeing them for 5 days will have had my little head and heart in a spin!

But... we're home tomorrow, hopefully fully relaxed, replenished and raring to go! Hope you've not missed me too much?


*scheduled post