Cafe Rouge & G&D in Oxford

After my last day of work before Xmas I headed into Oxford to meet with Soph, Ray and Abi.
This should have been an easy 45 minute drive for me- I know Oxford reasonably well and I I know the drive to Oxford very well.
My genius self thought it'd be quicker and easier to set the Sat Nav for the Abingdon road Park and ride- I just set it for "The Abingdon Road, Oxford" figuring that if I ended up at the wrong end of the road it;d be easy enough to fix.
My SatNav took me to Cumnor.
In the end I cut my losses and parked in the Westgate multi storey as I was the wrong side of oxford anyway and on the roundabout for Botley. I was convinced that the second level took you out into the shopping centre- So I was very surprised when the Second level thought me out in the mens loo.
It's Level 4.
For future reference.

I caught up with Ray in the Shopping centre- and she assured me she knew exactly where we were going- We ended up walking allllll the way round the outer perimeter of the Ashmolean to get to Cafe rouge- maybe we worked off some of our ice cream that way...
Abi met us there, and showed us the fancy gin shop next door- I know what Januarys pay cheque will be spent on!

After dinner we had a walk around and looked in some of the shops- I love going to the oriental supermarket in Oxford- It honestly has everything you could ever want.

We then met Soph at the Station and walked to St Aldates for Ice cream- I love G&D ice cream- my only complaint is that because it's fresh every day by late evening there isn't as much choice.
That said- 9/10 I can still get my 1st flavour choice so I shouldn't be so mean. Abi was gutted as they didn't have banana flavour- I had pistachio and hot chocolate sauce- I'm not sure I like pistachio ice cream as much as I thought I did- but it was still awesome.

We had a good catch up and ate waaayyyyy too much ice cream in one sitting.

Work Xmas do

Today is our departmental christmas do! I'm so excited but also exhausted all at once. Today I tried to submit my passport application. It was rejected on the basis that the ink on the form wasn't a "black enough black" and my counter signatory had used a "/".
I walked home from work to get the passport photos, with the intention to pick up the car, drive to the post office and then drive back to work- forgetting that Traff his tattoo appointment so would have taken the car.
So Today I had my passport rejected and walked just over 9 miles- thankfully my colleague gave me  a lift home or I'd have walked 12!

So, I'm pretty tired out now!

The party is at Tina's house- And Helen's doing the cooking so we have chilli for tea and she got a massive cake from costco too so that will be delicious.
Costco cake is always delicious.

I'm taking my blackberry baccardi and Twister.

Big Bang fair @ UoE

On Tuesday I attended the University of Essex's Big Bang STEM fair- And it was pretty cool!
I attended with reps from BigBang and from Set Point Herts so I had to try and look super efficient and people wanted to shake my hand quite a bit.
I even got to be on the VIP list!
Unfortunately this meant I had almost no opportunities for photo taking.

Prince Charles opened the Science fair at 11am- There was a huugggeeee police presence with riot vans and helicopters and lord knows what other secret policing activities.
I missed the arrival of the Prince of Wales because I was waiting for the STEM people. Boooo!

We did get to go and sit in on some of the activities- There was some cool stuff! There was an awesome activity from Colchester Zoo, looking at wildlife forensics with loads of examples of things which had been siezed by customs- turtle shells, animal pelts, tusks, skills etc and looking at endangered species and the impact of poaching. There was also an awesome workshop looking at the introduction of non native species for pest control. It was gruesome.
We got to see a "Gastronout" show- by some bloke who does kids TV shows- he was eating bugs and trying to get the kids to join in.
They weren't having any of it!

I got to see the bloodhound car- So that was exciting and a structure building activity run by the princes trust- which looked interesting.

It was a really inspirational day- I just wish Essex wasn't quite so far away!
And I got to have orange and cranberry cake for breakfast. Double win.

Christmas cookies

Today has been a bit mental- I ran out of work as soon as my day ended- usually I stay late and chat with my colleagues and get bits and bobs done for the next day- Not today!

I went straight to the sorting office to pick up my parcel from Hayley- I assumed that I would be able to post my last few xmas presents off from there, as it is a Royal mail office.
It turns out you cannot.
And it took them forever to find the parcel-  I was watching the clock the whole time!

I went straight from the sorting office to the post office- on the other side of town, and from there I went on to tesco to get cookie ingredients.
Super productive hour and a half!

I got home and started on the cookies immediately- before I ran out of energy.
Bakery Kitchen:

Then I iced them (I wish I'd got some cute xmas decorations from tesco now- ah well, next time):

And jarred them up ready to be taken to Cardiff- I made some for Jay to thank him for letting me stay, Some for Sah, Lis, and Chaz.
The rest are all for us.
We will be christmas fatties!

Salt Dough xmas tree Decorations- From the Etsy blog

You will need:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweet cocoa powder
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 to 1 1/4 cups water
Parchment paper
Rolling pin
Cookie cutters
Plastic straw
3D fabric paint in squeeze bottles
Mod Podge or clear gesso
Small sponge brush
String or ribbon

Preheat the oven to 170°F. Cover two large cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Pour the flour, cocoa powder, salt, cinnamon and ginger into a large mixing bowl.

Toss the dry ingredients together with your hands. Add 1 cup of water and mix with your hands until it forms and elastic dough. This may take some experimenting – if it’s too dry, add a little more water; if it is too wet and sticky, add a bit more flour.

Roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness with a rolling pin between two pieces of parchment. Remove the top layer of parchment paper. Use cookie cutters  to cut shapes from the dough; transfer the cut-outs to the parchment-lined baking sheets.

Before baking, use the plastic straw to make a hole in the top center of the ornaments. This is where you’ll tie string for hanging.

You may also choose to cut two holes, approximately 2-inches apart, in the middles of each ornament to thread them as garland.

Bake the shapes for 2 hours. Rotate the pans and bake for 1 to 2 more hours, or until the shapes are dry and rigid. Use the small sponge brush to apply the varnish. This will seal the cookies and intensify their natural color.

When the varnish is completely dry, use the 3D paint to decorate the cookies.  Allow the ornaments to dry completely, about 2 hours.

Thread ribbon or string through the holes and hang as desired.

Note: These ornaments are lovely hanging on pine branches, but they also make pretty gift tags for wrapped presents. This dough may also be used to make beads for jewelry. Baking times will vary according to the sizes of the beads, so keep a careful eye on your creations while they dehydrate in the oven. This recipe is not intended for consumption.

Goodbye Passport

My passport needs renewing- and I am very upset about this sorry situation.
I've had my passport since 2004- and it has a really lovely passport photo! my new one makes me look like some kind of scary criminal!
Its amazing how much I've aged in 10 years.
This also means that I'll lose all my stamps! I have to start again and I was just starting to look well travelled.
We're going to America next year so I'll need an electronic passport- so I'm renewing mine 6 months  early- so I can start to build my stamp collection up again!

I'm quite proud of myself as I think I've finished the application form too! I had a very long text conversation with my mum about it which ended in here photographing hers and my fathers passports and refusing to answer any more questions.
I just need my mug shots signed (Which you'd think would be easy but as we've only lived here 4 years will probably be a pain in the bum- I'll have to drag my sorry forms off to wales with me over xmas and get James to sign them!) and then it can go.

I'm grateful that form is only every 10 years!
Its so confusing!

Vintage fair, re-soled boots and final xmas shopping

Today I went to town with 5 aims:
1) Get passport photos
2) Get Traff's final xmas present
3) Get my boots fixed
4) Get a present for my god parents
5) Get tissue to wrap the fused glass in so that it can be wrapped up and delivered

Task 3 was really very sraight forward- I took my boots to timpsons and they resoled them for £20.
I always thought you couldn't re sole "bonded rubber" toot bottoms- So I have worn my last 2 pairs of boots down to holes through the soles then chucked them out- I'm a bit gutted actually as I'm reasonably sure my fly london ones could have been saved!
They just sand the sole down and put a new one on.
:D
So my £200 boots will last another year. Perhaps they deserve some polish.
They don't take long either- I left them at midday and picked them up at 3pm- I did have to have lunch in town as I didn't have very much to do- but thats not exactly a hardship- and gave me a good excuse to visit "coffee and art" which was nice. Pretty teapots.

Task 2 was a pullava. Traff and I set a £30 limit for xmas- and we both like useful presents- so I spent £20 on some things I knew he needed, and then for my final £10 had planned to get him a new wallet as his fake designer one from Malaysia broke.
I spent ages looking in TK max, top man, river island, debenhams etc but I really didn't know what he'd like!
Stuff like that is so personal- do you prefer zips or buttons? leather or plastic? brown or black? should it have a pattern? O_o
I spent almost an hour looking at wallets and then gave up and got him the new russel brand book. He'd been hinting he wanted that or some more aftershave- I'll just have to hope no-one else has the same idea now!

Task 5 was a quick nip into Clinton- which seemed to be under siege. I've never seen so many people in one shop before!
I will not make the mistake of running out of paper 10 days before christmas even again!

Task 1 needed £5 in change, so I went to the cash machine which is miles away. on my way I passed a craft fair which allowed me to complete task 4 with a rather nice hamper of preserves.
It also took me past a vintage fair....
I was so good and I didn't buy ANYTHING. And I was so tempted with a pineapple twinset.
I did take some photos though!

After being very good and restrained I went to get my passport photos done and pick my boots up- Then I had to come home and hoover up all the bits in the carpet from yesterdays crating extravganza.
We also had to change the bed.
Because I spilled pins in it!
We're like those people who sleep on a bed on nails.

I should invest in a very strong magnet.

Xmas sewing workshop

On Saturday,Jenny and I went to an Xmas crafts workshop at Tudor rose- There were 4 crafts on offer:
Xmas wreathes
baubles
fabric baskets
Quilted christmas trees

When we arrived (With bags of materials to use) the ladies running the workshop asked us which craft we'd be doing- And we replied "all of them" whilst looking a bit bewildered- who goes to a workshop and doesn't complete all the activities?!
They were laughing at us- we were the youngest in the room by a good 20 years- apparently the regular ladies just do one new craft and then go on a Tuesday to catch up whatever they didn't have time to do.

Well, incase you were curious, We did complete all 4 with excellent results!

This is my quilted octopus tree- and the craft I was the most excited about doing- it's a bit wonky, and initially I managed to cut my triangles really badly so ended up with bunting.
I think this ended up being my least favourite craft of the day- I enjoyed making it- I just can't see me making any more quilted xmas trees!

Although, it made a good hat.

The Baubles:

The baskets:
I also made bigger, bread basket sized ones- We now have a TV remote basket (For the 5 remotes which get lost round the front room)- I think I'll make big baskets for hampers next xmas and small ones for jewellery or little bits to keep them safe- this is a really handy thing to be able to make!

Xmas wreathes:
This was my favourite- but the one I was least keen on- I actually did this last as I wasn't arsed really if we had time or not- in the end, I'm delighted with my wreath and I'll probably make some of these as xmas presents next year.
It was time consuming and I have blisters on my fingers from pushing in pins- but oh, so worth it for the results!
And also relatively cheap- good for using up odds and sods of fabric which take up stash space.

On the way home we popped into sainsburys for hot chocolate and cake (Finest red velvet- we we earned it!)
We then decamped to the bedroom to carry on crafting whilst traff watched the final football scores and highlights (Norwich won, and scored 5 goals, he was really excited about it!) about an hour later he came in to see what we were up to, took one look at the mess turned round and walked back out!
I did tidy up, and it was just fabric bits.
Easily sorted!

Jenny also brought my glass from the fused glass workshop now it's been fired- how cool?!
All wrapped up now ready for other peoples xmas stockings- but I did keep some bits for my tree too :D

27 things every woman in her late 20s should know:

Juskteez Vu / unsplash.com

1. It is not the end of the world if you don’t have a facial cleansing regime.

2. Don’t worry about your data plan. Unless you are watching Netflix every day with no Wi-Fi, 1GB is probably enough.

3. Nobody will notice the patch of hair you missed while shaving your legs.

4. And going to the gym with stubbly armpits is not a big deal.

5. If you would like a second cup of coffee at the hairdresser’s, just ask. You are paying for it already.

6. If you asked for poached eggs at a restaurant, and they arrive hard, just send them back. You are paying for it already.

7. If you are not having a nice time at a party, you can leave.

8. “Excuse me, I need to go and make a phone call” is an excellent way to step out of a dull conversation at a party.

9. “Excuse me, I’m going to go mingle” is an excellent way to stop a conversation with a tiresome person at a party.

10. Superfoods are not something you need to worry about. Eat an orange.

11. Some things are seldom worth doing yourself. See: taxes (accountant), waxing (beautician), computer repair (technician).

12. Do not engage with voicemail.

13. If you don’t want to drink on a night out, there is no need to.

14. One thoughtful small gift is much better than lots of big gifts.

15. Unless that large gift is a pony.

16. A jaunty iPhone case is nothing to be ashamed of.

17. See also: a statement nail.

18. Tip generously, but always check the bill.

19. Everyone has accidentally added a kiss to an important email. It’s not a big deal.

20. Being on someone else’s 30 Under 30 list is lame. Make your own list.

21. Instagram is not real life.

22. But if you feel good about yourself, why not stop to take a selfie?

23. If you like an outfit, wear it as many times as you like.

24. However, it is a good idea to dry-clean your winter coat every spring.

25. Your friends generally have your best interests at heart.

26. But sometimes this won’t come across. Especially through WhatsApp.

27. Getting home to your own bed at the end of the night > crashing on a sofa.