Cardiff- dresses, mexican,excellent company, beaches, 30th Birthdays, fast driving, dirty stopouts, 4am.

On Friday morning Jen came to fit me for my Hednas dress- turns out my waist is skinnier than I thought! it's a shame about the rest of me!
So not it's all pinned ready for the finishing touches and its gorgeous!
:D
It will be fir for very much twirling.

I had wanted to go to Barry Island for a dip but it started to snow- Even I'm not hardy enough for a paddle in the snow- so we headed off to tea and cake for some lunch, and then to Penarth once the weather was more settled.
I had wanted to go on the pier, but it was closed for renovation.

Why is the sea brown in Penarth?


Jen, looking a bit windswept.


Traff Skimming stones on the beach in a very enthusiastic manner.


Jen & I on the seafront. bloody freeezing!


After our beath front super freezing adventure, we went for a hot chocolate in spoons and Traff did a spot of charity shop shopping for James's birthday present.
He'd already got him a card and a DVD- so he got him some more jokey items from charity shops including atank top and 50 shades of grey.
He also got a helium balloon which we had to sellotape into a bag to stop it escaping.

In the evening we went to El pasos with EVERYONE! and we got to wear sombreros. I love El Pasos on City road- its brilliant! the best mexican food I'v ever eaten.
And we were served by Pepe himself.
He gave me a free mohito and Traff got a shot of snake tequila.





Saturday: We got up pretty late.. James went to town to get his hair cut- and Traff, Lis and Tim went too- it took much longer than expected so I got all of lis's beauiful house to myself to get dressed and do my make up and everything.
We ended up eating breakfast at 3pm.
fry ups are just as delicious at 3pm as 10am.

Then we went Go Karting in Newport!
It was freeeezing



We went to Sarah and Dan's after Go Karting for tea and JD and got changed from our sensible trainers and jeans into our party clothes.
To Cardiff!
On the bus.



As you can see- Tim very much loves the bus.

We went for dinner in spoons and pitchers of cocktails- then on to barocco- which is much bigger than it looks from the street.
I liked it very much- Gutted I've never been in there before this weekend! They serve cocktails in jam jars!



We went from Barocco to the Old library- until 3am. Sarah Acquired a weirdo.
But all in all a good time was had.

We stopped on chippy lane for chips (funnily enough) and it was bonkers. Sarah acquired another weirdo who squeezed her bum in the chip shop!


Chips in the Taxi Queue.

We got in at 4am, got up at 11. Bacon sandwiches at 1 and then home via my parents house for a pick n mix tea!
:D

And now, I've watched call the midwife and I'm ready for a bath and bed.

From my Valentine

OK, so this post is a little late.

My boyfriend is usually the least romantic person I've ever met. He normally forgets Valentines day. or any other romantic kind of event.

Occasionally I am surprised.

This was one of those occasions.

I had a massive envelope arrive on the 15th February (better late than never)

Check out the note on the back!he bac

Deftones, Holibobs, 1st picnic of the year and mortality

We're back from Birmingham!

We survived.

I drove through the city centre which was super terrifying and we drove on spaghetti junction. that was terrifying too.

my new order of scary road features is this:

1) Spagehtti junction

2) Swindon "magic roundabout" 

3) Hemel Hempsted "magic roundabout" - its less scary only because its "real" roundabouts not painted on noes so people can't just close their eyes and drive for the exit they want...

4) ALL multistory car parks

5) the junction for the A470 as you leave cardiff through Cathays- left for whitchurch, 2 middle lanes for A470, 2 lanes off the flyover for Llanishen. you know where I mean...

Anyway, we go to the Travelodge and parked, checked in sorted out a room with a bed that wasn't broken and had our awesome picnic.

1st picnic of the year.

It was an indoor picnic but I'm still counting it.

Traff refused to eat his salad because he was on holiday. And we had drinkies in the room before heading out. like teenagers do.

We walked the mile and a half from the hotel to the o2 arena- the last time we walked that was to see Hole.

We ended up having a bit of a weird discussion about mortality- it started because the last time we went to the o2 arena in birmingham most of the way back (a bit worse for wear) Traff had been discussing class A drugs. specifically his thought was this;

If you were diagnosed with a terminal illness, would you try a class A substance? like heroin or crack cocaine? to see what it was like- as you'd have nothing really to lose. (assuming all your other bucket list activities are completed).

Recently Traff's been weirdly freaked out by his own mortality- and the inevitability of death.

Perhaps I should stop reminding him how old he's getting?

It's probably not helping.

The walk was freezing cold- and neither of us thought to take a coat with us as it's been so nice in Bedford- so it's just as well we had an engaging topic of conversation.

We also found "holiday street".

The Deftones were awesome. We had a lush night. they played loads of older, heavier songs and all the good songs from the new album.

Definite win!

After the gig we went to sainsburys for sandwiches and more beer, then back to the hotel to watch "the breakfast club" on the TV.

not very rock'n'roll we admit. 

Today we went for breakfast in Subway and then drove home whilst the traffic wasn't too heavy-

 whilst we were on the way home we have a phone call from Timmy asking us about the weekend- Which we are super excited for.

So as soon as we got back we booked out hotel room for Thursday night- so fingers crossed I get a whole day down barry Island on the beach!

He looks pretty angry with his sandwich:

:D

I'm also very excited for this event in March- Traff's friend's band is coming to play in milton keynes- From Cardigan- So We're up for a cheesy night out!

Meeting Alice

Yesterday Sarah and Dan came to see us as they're here to see Dan's family and help to prepare for Dan's Brother's wedding.
All very exciting stuff!

This was the first time we'd met Alice- as I was in cardiff the day before she was born, and we haven't been to cardiff since- Although we're off to Wales at the end of next week- But Alice will be staying with Sarah's family to allow us to have some cocktails.

It was lovely to see Sah and Dan and catch up on all the news- and have a cwtch.
It turns out the Alice likes Traff and no-legs best. She's 8 weeks old and she's at that "grabby" stage- Traff's nose ring escaped mercifully unscathed.

So, we had a really lovely Valentines day, in good company.
:D

(Although, the wife didn't get me a card or flowers or anything! I got him a card...)

The magnificent Ms Jennifer Heap, and her seemingly unlimited talents.

No. This is not the title of a dirty film.
Sorry to disappoint.

Now, as you saw from my post on saturday I'm having a bit of a nightmare finding a dress for Hednas that I
a) like
b) can afford
c) doesn't need posting from america
d) doesn't need me to have a pay pal account

and most importantly

e) has a zip.

I was planning to get a dress made through a website I'd found- but on speaking to Jen she very kindly offered to make me a dress.
I am very impressed. and Excited. and grateful for her help and kindness. maybe she'll teach me to make a dress! or just how to thread my sewing machine. that would be a good start!

I feel very important having a dress made for me!

I really wanted a pale blue dress- so Jen's going to make it from pale blue dupion silk- maybe a little darker than this one:
 

She's going to make it from this pattern-it's a little late for hednas- as hednas is a 40s evening, but this is very similar to late 40s early 50s styles- it's just lower cut on the front. I like this style of dress very much so it'll get plenty of wearing!

The pattern is now on order and then it's just to order the fabric.


I'm super excited! I can't wait!
I've already decided I'm going to wear it with my turquoise silk scarf as a sash/cover up, my navy blue corde designer bag and possibly my 1930s silk shoes.
and of course my stole Traff bought me. It will only be march after all!

I've been fussing so much about a dress- it's a relief now that I can relax and stop stressing! Sorted! it is all now in the hands of the wonderful Jen! (no pressure. :P )

Happy chinese new year!

As of tomorrow we will be in the year of the snake! say goodbye to the year of the dragon!

I completely forgot that this was chinese new year! I've been on about it for ages- and on the weekend it arrives I just completely forgot about it!

There are big celebrations in london and there was a parade in the afternoon! I should have gone! maybe next year!

Here are some awesome looking pictures of new year being brought in in Beijing- maybe this should be added to the bucket list too!

Dresses, Oakham, Rockets and sleepovers

On friday my sister came to stay with Traff and I- we watched "you've been framed" and had hot chocolate.
Today My sister and I went to Oakham - its a really lush town! lots of awesome cafes and independent shops- I can't believe we found it by accident. Worth the drive for an adventure!

And we had to cross the level corssing. so Ray was really at home.

Although our real mission was to go and try on some vintage dresses- you'll have to forgive my range of facial expressions- I've never been photogenic:


This was my second favourite dress- look how teeny weeny my waist is! it's a bit too late in the era for hednas and I'm not sure baby pink offsets my beautiful red irish glow in quite the way I'd like.


I'd have liked this dress if it had actually finished at my waist rather than ended up being an "empire" dres


This is a proper 50s prom dress- it's a bit Morticia Addams though! It was very cool but probably a bit much for Hednas.



This was the £600 Dior dress! It didn't do up which saved me the heartache of having to decide that I didn't want it. Probably the most expensive dress I'll ever wear!

And this was the one I went for- I've been telling peope all week that I want to own this dress:


looks good, right? one slight snag- It doesn't have a zipper. or any other kind of fastening. so the lady had to pin me into it.
She had a zip but she hadn't fitted it yet and if I wanted to buy the dress she said it would cost me less to find someone to fit the zip rather than her doing it. now, had it been any other modification I'd probably have taken it on- but I have 3 dresses and a pair of boots that need re-zipping because I lack the skills.
the cheapest I've found re-zipping dresses round here is £25. the dress was £100. so already this is becoming very expensive...

now, you might still be thinking- "It's just a zip- it's an awesome dress- why didn't you just get it?"
There was another, slight hitch:


The last 3 inches of zipper (had there been one) would not have done up.
So then we get into the land of eyelets and boning and ribbons and modesty panels.

Craft 3/12- bath salts

Although, not the kind that turn you into a zombie.

It's taken me AGES to gather the ingredients for this craft- I posted the instructions ages ago under "bath crafts to try"- I hadn't realised how difficult it would be to buy coarse salt. Apparently it's not big in bedford. in Wantage however, they carry 5 different types in Sainsburys.
Perhaps only middle class oxfordshire people use coarse salt for cooking?

Anyways, this was simple enough to do- you mix your salt with a teaspoon (or a bit more) of the essential oil and mix. then divide between the containers and decorate as you please.

those of you who know me well will be reading this thinking "yeah, so how did you manage to make it go wrong?" well, I'll have you know I didn't. It's worked out well! All ribbon wrapped and stacked inside my crafty 1940s sideboard ready to be give away. Or used up. :D


Ok- top tips-
I got the 8 mini containers from poundland- which is a bargain!
The Essential oil is from the bodyshop- I don't want to bring my friends out in a rash!
I used my hair washing jug (70s bathroom.. no shower...) and it's been a nightmare to get clean again -which doesn't really matter so much to me- but would be a pain if you use a "good" container- maybe better with an ice cream tub or container for non-food applications.
Hayley got me the stickers- I believe they are an IKEA goody!
I got ribbons from Masons in Abingdon for £0.25 for 2m.


The finished product! (well, Minus label and ribbon- I think I get good marks for presentation though!)



My 4 boxes to start with- I've got more oils left so I'll make some more when I have another chore to avoid. Like the hoovering. which was todays avoided chore.

If I can get some better containers I might post some of these to my friends living far away! although, Salt is quite heavy,
I need a more postable craft!

Craft 2/12- Paper crafts

On Tuesday I went to craft @ 229 with Amanda and Anita- Traff made us dinner before we went out- Yummy lebanese food and salad.
And then the craft evening always supplies amazing cakes and tea!

I'm excited for the next one as it's a wirework evening!

Anyways, Paper craft was harder than I expected. It's all about having a steady hand and getting your images symmetrical. bearing in mind you fold the paper in half, that should be easy. Don't be fooled. And it takes AGES! the time just flew by and all of a sudden we'd been there 2 and a half hours!

Anita teaches D&T and is really good at creative stuff- including paper cutting.

Here are my creations:


This was my first attempt- which was trickier than I thought it would be- and then it refused to be mounted on glitter paper- I had to use enough spray glue to kill a small child.


This is the bunting I made- I was quite pleased with this- it was my last make of the night so maybe I'd started to get the hang of it!

you'll spot the difference between mine and Michelle or Anita's handiwork...



The ladies being very hard at work being better at making things from paper than I will ever be. Even if I live to be 10000.




A greetings card that I made- which Is now winging its way to Helen Via royal mail!


I really had a lovely evening and enjoyed being crafty- it's so lovely to do something to de-stress midweek. and it's every other month so it's easy enough to justify having the evening off!
:)
It's not quite milgis "menopause club" but then I never was very good with a glue gun...