Slowdance on the inside

I love it when a plan comes together nicely. But sometimes when things don’t go to plan, they work out better in the long run. That’s certainly not a riddle, its just the way my weekend panned out! Haha, and how my life feels in general sometimes. Anyways, the first couple of pictures are the decorations I did for my friend Drea’s charity night on friday, for Kidney Research UK. Managed to sneak a few pictures at 7pm as the first people started to arrive. We had alternating purple and gold table cloths, and I did balloon arrangements in sets of 3 on each table, with some extra balloons dotted around the room. Some people think balloons are tacky or old fashioned, but in my working year between school and uni, balloon ‘decor’ as its called was something I did as part of my job at the costume hire shop. We did events management too, putting on big parties for corporate clients, weddings, birthdays, medieval banquets etc. So it was nice to dust off the cobwebs on an old skill.

I also was given the job of setting up the tuck shop! Oh em gee, SO many homemade goodies, I was in my element. I had to take a little picture when I was done laying it all out. I watched Lorraine on Baking Made Easy make macaroons last night, so combined with my Nigella recipe I feel ready to tackle them. As a complete rookie when it comes to baking, I know that no way am I going to make them anywhere near as perfect as the laduree or pauls ones I got during the summer. But hey, you gotta love a trier 🙂

Over the weekend I caught up on some much needed sleep, and brushed off the last of my horrible cold. I didn’t get to go snowboarding in the end, but a quiet day in the flat with my jammies, unwashed hair and no makeup was exactly what I needed. As we all know, monday was v-day! Me and David tend not to go crazy on this day, again its the whole ‘WHY do we need a specific day of the year to show our other half we love them?’ but when I left work on monday night and popped into m&s to pick up some pudding for our dinner that night, it was an absolute LOL seeing so many panic ridden guys hovering around the almost bare shelves of valentines related goods. Standing at the nearly empty card racks in panic with a total FML look on their faces! We kept it simple that evening, and David cooked me a wondefrul Chicken Ramen out of the Wagamama cook book.

He did really well! It was pretty easy, but tasted brilliant and we will defs be making this one again in the future. I never normally order ramen anymore when we go to waggies, but it was a great first recipe to try to get us started. Got my eye on what we’d like to try next, so watch this space 😉 Also, saw a sushi kit in asda for a few quid! you can buy the rice and seaweed sheets separate, but I think this one has the rolling mat and instructions for beginners. I am such a snacker and love nibbling when I’m chilling in the house (really needing fresher and healthier alternatives to crisps and the biscuit tin) I’m getting better at eating my 5 a day, but I think when I get some time off I’d like to try making my own sushi.

David’s romantic little setup in our living room 🙂

We got each other the same valentines cards! Such numpties.

Loveheart shaped sparklers
(that I meant to put in our pudding, but we had much more fun just holding them instead)

My gift to david 🙂 his very first surf lesson. Plus a refresher for me, all our equipment and transport to the beach. Looking forward to a wee day away surfing when the weather gets a little (okay, a lot) bit better (but lets face it, id be waiting a long time if I thought the scottish sea was going to warm up to something completely enjoyable!)

Davids got me some of my fave retro sweeties, a new purse from urban outfitters, and two books which are most certainly going to keep me sane. They are really small and easy to read, I actually read one of them in full last night. The first one is ‘It’s not how good you are, it’s how good you want to be’. Here are some of my fave quotes/pages:

 Total fail for the fact mosaic maker cut off the edges of my pictures. Ah wells!

“Your vision of what or who you want you be is the greatest asset you have”
“Have you noticed that the cleverest people in school are not those who make it in life?”
 “Do not seek praise, seek criticism”
“The person who doesn’t make mistakes is unlikely to make anything”
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”
“If you get stuck, draw with a different pen”

and here is the opening page for the next book ‘Whatever you think, think the opposite’

Both are by the same author, Paul Arden. I can really relate to what I’ve read so far, and I’m sure from the quotes I’ve shared you can see you might be able to too. They could apply to so many different industries and working situations. I know they are quite blunt, but it’s basically about trying to be the best person you can be. Being positive, logistical, and genuinely happy with your train of thought and decision making processes. And not being too hard on ourselves, or having a fear of failure. An old favourite quote of mines is ‘happiness is the journey, not the destination’. I always want to learn how to enjoy the present moment better. Rather than dwelling in the past, or spending too much time looking at the future. We often seem to forget about making the most of right now. I have delved into a few positive thinking books, but some of them get too deep, and too gospel like. Both of these are small, with clean and easy to read layouts. Bitesize chunks, if you will! This is really what I’ve needed. Even though its not the most mushy or pink and fluffy valentines gift – it’s these little gestures that confirm David sometimes know’s me better than I know myself ♥ This boy is certainly a keeper 🙂

Ayden x