Underwear exhibition at the v & a

China town

Kirstie, Phil Ray & I went for brunch in China town before meeting Abi & Jon for the exhibition at the V&A.

I got there really early and for the first time ever witnessed the chaos which is the unloading.

We went to Dumplings legend and ate enough food to feed a family of 10- I really love Dim Sum!

Packing

Sorry for my lack of posts, I've been busy with work and wity starting to pack.  It's 2 weeks until the big move!

Roller derby match

New home!

, Traff was tasked with finding us a new home for our epic move from East to West.
We made a shortlist of 4 houses on wednesday night and he rang to arrange viewings on Thursday morning only one was available.
Our favourite one.
That is 8 min from his work and near town and is quaintly adorable.

And there is room for a trampoline! Tina said we can have hers if we like :)

 obviously this is the previous tenants stuff as we haven't moved yet! I like their sofa cushions though.

Linda and Ray's wedding

Tiara... everyday wear?

Whilst sorting out stuff for our house move I found my tiara from Sarah and Dan's wedding (I was a bridesmaid not trying to upstage the bride). I spend the morning wearing it and it was actually pretty mood improving.
How can it not?
Now I need to find a way to wear it more often!

Madelines for the bake sale

Flip flop wreath for Kelly's Nan's Funeral

Kelly text me last week after her Nan passed away and asked for my help in making a flip flop wreath.
I'm not flower arranger and my crafting is very gung-ho, so I was a bit worried about being tasked with so much responsibility.

On Wednesday we met up in town to but provisions- 10 pairs of flip flops, a glue gun, flowers and fripperies. We debated using fresh flowers but the wreath needs to make it to devon in one piece so they were rejected on grounds of practicality.

I think we did a really good job, although there was appoint where we were convinced our coffee table was going to have to go to devon because the wreath was stuck to it.

A thoughtful a fitting tribute to a seaside loving, flipflop wearing Nan, with a wicked sense of humour.

Phil's leaving meal

New nails & first world problems

I'm off to a wedding on Saturday, and with that in mind I decided I should get my grown out messy gels taken off and get new ones.
it as pretty obvious that with the original cast on my arm and my thumb out on a right angle that nails were a "no go" but with the newer cast allowing me to move my thumb I assumed it would be fine.

My salon of preference (by the bust station with the shouty chinese lady) has fast dry OPI lamps. So my arm didn't fit. I tried 6 other salons and they all had the same lamp. I had more of less given up and was on my way home when I passed another nail bar.
It was empty to- which should have been my warning. I usually have to wait as the salon I go to is both cheap and bloody good.

This one was more expensive but had a different style lamp. Fine.
Problem solved.
So, I do now have beautiful purple nails, at the expense of my little fingernail on my left hand, which the guy managed to snap off about half way down by over buffing it. He then glued it back on with superglue whilst pretending it didn't happen!
Not impressed.
And I still got charged £20 for the privilege.

Purple hair

This was the final stage in my new hair, it's bleached to an ombre with very blonde ends, so I can colour it whenever I like.

:)

I like the purple as it's quite subtle- we used the colour freedom dye in mystic purple and a pasteliser to make the colour less vibrant. super drug saves the day!

BBQ at T & Mash's

T is off to London to train as a paramedic- So she had a leaving Bbq in her honour. It all started pretty classy. We made BBQ skewers with haloumi and vegetables on (The sweet potato was a slight error though) and took just enough alcohol to remain cheerfully on it.
The bar in the kitchen ended that.

So good tunes, alcohol on top, more BBQ food than you can shake a stick at, 3 kinds of desert and a trampoline equated to a very good night out.

Babymetal

Traff's new favourite thing- Japanese metal music- These are my favourite, I love this video!

Phil's last day

Tina and i spent thursday evening sourcing, wrapping and annotating Phil's leaving presents.

We decided to make him 2 boxes- a "going out box" and a "new teacher kit" for when he starts his new job on Monday.

The "going out box" had wine, paracetamol, lipstick, biscuits (for lining the stomach), and Lynx.
The "new teacher box" had 4 main presents- lego memory sticks, a thermos mug made from a camera lens, a metal conversion ruler and a cookery book. It then had a pencil cad, post it,s pens, pencils, highlighters, a lanyard for his work pass, fruit shaped rubbers, a rub out able green pen and a "star" stamp.

We wrapped them all in leopard print paper.
:)
epic.

In return he gave me a street map of swindon.

Gigity & Florence the machine from the England roller derby team @ BRG training

Winner!

leaving pranks

Roller skating

ExPresSO Medical study

I have been invited to take part in a research study in Oxford, they're looking for volunteers who were born at term or premature to take part. It's just a shame they're looking at my exercise habits when I can't do much exercise! dammit!

Exercise and Blood Pressure Study Oxfordshire

Study Background

High Blood Pressure is a common problem with 1 in 4 of the adult population developing high blood pressure. The likelihood of developing high blood pressure increases with age but for some people high blood pressure develops early during their 20’s and 30’s.

Understanding the factors contributing to high blood pressure and identifying individuals at risk is important so that we can reduce the risks of heart disease and stroke in later life. 

The Exercise and Blood Pressure Study Oxfordshire is inviting young adults (18-40 years old) born at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford to provide measures of blood pressure, physical activity and give details on their lifestyle. The unique recruitment method, using historical birth and maternity records to identify potential participants will allow our research team to explore the relationships between birth history and future blood pressure.  

 Study Objectives

We are specifically interested in understanding more about the influence of preterm birth, being born before 37 weeks of pregnancy, on future blood pressure.  A number of European and North American research studies report that blood pressure is higher in young people who were born prematurely compared to those delivered following uncomplicated pregnancies after 37 weeks.

Using the results from ExPresSO we hope to be able to contribute to improving cardiovascular risk reduction in young adult populations including strategies to increase physical activity and reduce blood pressure.

 Study Recruitment

We aim to recruit 600 participants aged between 18 and 40 years old.  Potential participants identified from the John Radcliffe Hospital records will be sent a study letter inviting them to take part in the study. The study team will then contact interested individuals to check eligibility for the study and arrange a study visit.

 Study Visits

Study visits will take place in the Cardiovascular Clinical Research Facility, John Radcliffe Hospital. We estimate that the full study visit will take approximately 60 minutes. During this time participants will complete the study consent process, complete the study questionnaire which includes questions on alcohol consumption, diet, smoking, family medical history and factors influencing physical activity choices. Recordings of participant blood pressure will be made and participants will be asked to provide a sample of blood. The study visit will finish with participants being provided with a wrist worn activity tracker to wear for 9 days. Similar to a wrist watch the device uses an accelerometer to provide a measure of daily physical activity.