31-05-2009

He Aint Heavy...

Was up at 8 this morning to go to a car boot sale. Worth it though, got a ton of LotR swag for my g33k shelf!

Then took a bike ride with Stuart and my brother. This is probably the first time I've ridden a bike in about ten years, and I completely forgot how painful it is! Very enjoyable though, even though there wasn't an ice cream man on the way.

Ended up round my parents for a lovely BBQ in the sunshine. This is one of my handsome little brothers, Peter.

30-05-2009

Ray of Light

Busy today! Finished off tidying the house, went into town with my mum, took Olly so Sherwood Pines then went out for a meal with work. My boss is leaving to go live in Canadia very soon so it was quite a sad evening really.

Then went to Katy's for another fire extravangaza, and snapped this awesome picture! I think this is quite possibly my favourite picture ever.

29-05-2009

Home, James

Luton airport, 7am. Tired and ready to go home. Romania was fantastic, I would recommend it to anyone and everyone!

28-05-2009

Crowded House

This was our last day in Romania. We got up quite late, and Vlad drove us to see some old Romanian houses on display. I can't quite remember how old these ones are unfortunately, but there was a lot to look at there.

On the way back we stopped at another monastery to have a look around. These nuns have it good - the views are just beautiful from the tops of the hills!!

We ended up having a gorgeous tea in TJ, followed by more chocolate pancakes. Then back to Vlad's house to finish packing and have a few final drinks.

After a productive session of higher and lower, we were picked up by the mini-bus at 11ish, ready for the 5 hour night drive back to the airport.

27-05-2009

Cave Troll

We drove for about an hour to some gorgeous mountains in the middle of no-where to visit the "Women's Cave" or "Pestera Muierii".

This was a beautiful passage under a mountain, with hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites. In parts it was quite eerie, and often quite a squeeze to get through. It was also freezing! In there we saw a cave bear skeleton, and a huge mound of bat poo!

We then took a drive back via a beautiful monastery in the hills, and a traditional pottery place.

In the evening we had a bit of a party for Vlad's 30th. This included watching the football which me and Claire were obviously engrossed in!

26-05-2009

Table of Silence

In the picture (from left to right) - Sarah, Jo, Claire, Gordon, Stu, Matt, Vlad and Howard.

Today we did some sight-seeing in TJ, including the Brâncuşi sculptural ensemble. This picture is the Table of Silence, which is commemorative to WW1.

We went for some drink after this, and Vlad had a curse placed upon him by a begging gypsy. Then we went for lunch to a traditional Romanian restaurant, where Stu and Gordon ate pig brain. Yum yum!

25-05-2009

Surfin' Birds

Woke up this morning quite late, and took a final stroll into Cluj. Absolutely beautiful weather, another 30ish degrees day! I unfortunately can't remember for the life of me what this build is, but maybe Vlad will remind me at some point? Some sort of Cathedral I'm sure.

The mini-bus picked us up from the city centre for our 5 hour journey to Tg-Jiu, where Vlad and his wife actually live. The journey wasn't too bad - I slept for most of it to try and sleep off some car sickness - and we stopped off at a castle to have a little walk round about half way there.

When we finally arrived in Tg-Jiu, Vlad's mum had cooked us a gorgeous meal along with a few traditional Romanian dishes including mici (pronounced meech I think?) which was gorgeous! Tons of cheese too.

Then we took a stroll into town through Coffin Alley, and had a few drinks in a bar in town. Another lovely day.

24-05-2009

Crossroads

So we left Mansfield at about 4am, took a drive down to Luton, had an uneventful flight (apart from a kid screaming like a helicopter) and arrived in Romania at about 3ish in the afternoon. We dumped our bags in a small hotel just out of the centre of Cluj, then took a stroll into the town to do some site-seeing and get some food!

We had lunch/tea outside this lovely pizza restaurant (pizza was a theme for the week!), had a few drinks in a sports bar that played Gogol Bordello, and ended up in an underground pub - christened by us The Dungeon.

Drank a lot, ate some gorgeous chocolate pancakes, and drew pictures on random pieces of paper. Lots of giggles, lots of drink, and lots of fun!

I have no idea what the cross is there for, but I loved how it looked on the hilltop. The sky looks a lot greyer than it actually was too - the weather was beautiful!

23-05-2009

Pomegranate

Tried to have a bit of a chill out day today as it's going to be quite a busy week. Mostly finished packing, played Altered Beast/Rock Band/this weird Dr. Robotnik bean game!

Just taken Lola round to my grans, which was a little upsetting. I'm such a wuss but I adore my kitty! I know she'll be fine but it's a big thing for me to leave her all week.

Now putting some dinner in and trying to tire myself out - we're up at 3am so would be nice to get some sleep beforehand. The photo is of my first ever pomegranate - I tried some of Stu's. I'd eat it if I had to, but I wouldn't recommend it.

This will be my last post for a bit so have a good week everyone :). xx

22-05-2009

Pack-Man

Spent the evening packing ready for Sunday. Feel a little bit better now. Dashed off to Next to get a few last minute bits and pieces and then tried to relax a little. I'm such a worrier!

Things I Love Thursday!

♥ Romania!! - And being super excited about flying there.

♥ Baking cakes with Chloe - Had a bit of a baking sesh on Saturday night, where we decorated cakes and listened to Bach. How very Radio 4 of us!! However the cakes above were the products of the session, so maybe we're not quite grown up properly yet. Tasty tho!

♥ Lost Season 5 Finale - I cried and everyone made fun of me! What's happening though? Surely not everyone's dead? Also Jacob is beautiful.

♥ Auto-tune the News - Only 3 episodes so far but this is amazing! Thanks Stu :)

♥ Flapjack - Me and David made a huge tray of flapjack on Sunday evening and every day I keep taking a slab to work - half in the morning and half in the afternoon! It's delicious, and I'm sure it must be healthier than buying snacks - at least we know exactly what's in it. Yum yum!

♥ Maximo Park - Amazing live! Seen them before but I don't remember them being so full of energy. Very enjoyable and loved the dancing.

♥ Stupid Vid - I'm a sucker for The Matrix, and I just found this hilarious! Stuart - not so much. Maybe it's because I rarely look on Youtube and the novelty of this sort of thing hasn't worn off yet?

♥ My amazing owl bag - and Paperchase, for being so cute!! I wanted to buy pretty much 99% of the merch in there.

21-05-2009

Lei

A little overwhelmed with everything today! Trying to sort everything out for Romania and not worry about it all. Jut dyed my hair, and tried on a few old clothes as it's currently 31degrees there!

So, here's some Romanian money. It's made out of this strange material, and you can't rip it or anything. And as you can see, it has a strange see through patch in the middle of it next to the bird (eagle?).

20-05-2009

Maximo Park

Didn't take the camera to the gig as it would probably have got smashed, so quickly snapped this when I got home. Great gig, great band, great company :)

19-05-2009

Rainbow Brite

Went to Nottingham straight from work and bought a new bag, a top, and a plain hoodie for Romania. Walked to meet Stu in the pouring rain then drove home listening to Maximo Park (tomorrow!!).

Picked Hayley and Dave up and drove to Moda for a gorgeous dinner for David's birthday. Lovely food, good company, good night.

On the way there we saw this rainbow for about 20 minutes of our journey and I kept saying I was going to take a picture of it - it was just so incredibly bright! Finally I just pulled over and took a few pictures out the car window.

18-05-2009

The Thinker

Worked till 8 today, and while there got the text that everyone wants to recieve - "Do you want me to make you some tea for when you get home?" - of course!!

Went to K's for lush pasta bake and half watched Billy Bailey, while talking about various tattoos and boys and piercings and blogging. Sleepy!

17-05-2009

Olly

Went to Thorsby Market this morning and spent more money! Nearlly bought another dress with cats on but got kind of told off (I'd already bought one yesterday!). Wandered round, ate donuts, got rained on and came home. Hayley cooked us a gorgeous Sunday Dinner and the boys watched Back to the Future.

Forced myself to go to the gym for aerobics, then baked flapjack with David. Came home for more Lord of the Rings and fell asleep wishing I could have 2 weekends!!

The picture is Hayley's gorgeous lab, Olly :)

16-05-2009

Lick the Bowl

Busy day today! Went shopping with my mum this morning, and bought a few bits and pieces for Romania including some much needed new jeans with 25% off. Then went to my grans, came home and did some housework with Stubie.

Later Chloe came round, and we baked lush cupcakes. Chloe was determined to make coloured cakes, including weird purple/grey ones with chocolate chips in. We did a lot of licking spoons and licking the bowl till I felt kind of sick, then watched the season finale of Lost and ordered Indian food. Geeked out a bit about Lord of the Rings then Chloe left and we went to bed!

Good day, but tiring. Notice how amazing Stu's apron is in the picture!

15-05-2009

Drive-By

Went to the gym after work, then up to Stu's dads for pizza night. Forgot to take a picture till the drive home, so just snapped one out of the window!

14-05-2009

Blur

I was silly again last night and forgot to take a picture until I'd fallen to sleep! Luckily Stu is brought the camera to me, I took a few pictures, then fell back to sleep cuddling the camera apparently. Project 365 is obviously a tiring business.

13-05-2009

Starstruck

Back to work today, although I still don't feel right! Long day - teaching this morning, then worked till 8. Finally got round to buying a bulb for this the other day and I think it looks quite sweet :)

Things I Love Thursday!

♥ Awkward Family Photos - This website is incredible!

♥ Dry Frosties - Like crisps, but tastier. A perfect work snack.

♥ Stu's new TV - It is beautiful. 37" seems a little excessive but the picture quality is superb!

♥ Jon and Kate Plus 8 - I could not have coped being off ill without the Gosselin's! I don't care what anyone else says, I think Kate is fantastic.

♥ 25 Logos With Hidden Messages - I found this article quite interesting - I just wish I could create something this smart!

♥ The House! - Today we have been at Crown Street for exactly 7 months and 22 days, and I love it more now than I ever did!

♥ Having a secure job - After a few close friends have lost jobs, I'm now thankful more than ever that I have a reasonably safe and secure job, that I enjoy. That combination seems to be getting rarer by the day.

♥ My first close friend having a baby! - This is so exciting for me!!

♥ And finally, My Amazing Boyfriend - This should be on here every week, but especially this week. Lobb. x

This week has kind of been a week of reflection for me, so excuse the sentimentality of it all! I'm just in quite a good place at the moment - will probably all change tomorrow! What's everyone else loving this week? x

12-05-2009

To Be, or Knit To Be

Not well again today. I've taken to attempting to learn to knit. More difficult than I first thought I think! I can now do a slip knot, cast on, and that's about it. Soon - knit stitch. I will have a monkey soon!

11-05-2009

I Keep Coming Out In Rashers

Off work ill today, and what should arrive through the door?! Luckily I'm not a paranoid person!

10-05-2009

It's a Dog Eat Dog World

Bonnie (the dog on the right) was running round with this stick all afternoon, going crazy and tearing it all up inside. Jimbo (obviously the dog on the left) was very quiet and subdued, and just sat patiently watching all afternoon.

Bonnie ran outside, Jimbo stole the sick, and David shut the door. Just shows that slow and steady wins the race!

09-05-2009

Have Your Cake and Eat It (Or Sneak it Home in a Napkin)

Had a bit of an eventful day, but all my worries melted away when presented with this beautiful dessert! I'm salivating just thinking about it.

Unfortunately I'd already stuffed my fat face full of pizza and chicken, so had to sneak the rest of it home, for fear of them just throwing it away! I will eat that later, and enjoy it all over again. Lush!

08-05-2009

Books From Boxes

Took this photo at work to advertise the new fiction books coming in. I really want to read Jordon's autobiography, Kerry Katona's book, and WAGs World. Oh dear...

07-05-2009

Skellingtons

Did another Word session in Derby today, at this place that makes trains. On the way out I felt like a super spy and snapped some pictures of some trains skellingtons!

At the time I thought they were old trains, but my boss pointed out they were still covered in plastic sheets, and we spotted some piles of new bits. Therefore - train babies!!

Things I Love Thursday!

♥ The Offical White House Flickr - This is cool on so many levels.

♥ My Label Cloud! - I finally got around to tagging all my pictures, and found this cool widget to display all the tags. Have a play around with it! (Top right)

♥ Free Dessert - When you're sat debating whether to dessert or not, you find out that it's free anyway. It would be rude to say no!

♥ Texts from Last Night - Some of these made me giggle! We've all done it, drunk or sober. What seems right in the evening, never seems quite as sensible in the cold light of the morning.

♥ Three Day Weekends - For obvious reasons.

♥ Romania - The plans are becoming much firmer and it's all falling into place - how exciting!!

♥ The Latest Firefly XKCD Comics - I love XKCD anyway, but particularly love the latest series - The Race.

♥ My Amazing Brothers - My little brother got accepted onto his college course and my other brother is definitely going to Leeds Uni to study Physics. They both deserve to do well and I'm so excited for both of them!

♥ Song of the Week - Because I've had it in my head for days and I love Ben Folds so much.

♥ My New Project - I really want to do something guitar-y again!! I joked around earlier in the week that I was going to start an acoustic Green Day tribute, but now I'm literally itching to do something again.

06-05-2009

Pork and Bean

For about an hour before bed I tried to get a decent photo of the little guy. He just moves and runs round so much! And if you stop paying attention for longer than a split second he's out of his cage and racing across the table to freedom. Still, I thought his little paw/hand was very cute!

05-05-2009

We'll Never Sleep (God Knows We'll Try)

Back to work again today! Delivered a Word session in Arnold which went really well, got another one tomorrow and one on Thursday. Fully intended to go to the gym tonight but I'm super sleepy so we watched Lost and Family Guy instead.

Realised I hadn't taken a picture till I was half asleep in bed, so figured a blurry camera phone picture would have to do! Sleepytimes are good times. x

04-05-2009

Inside the Outside

Went to the gym for aerobics followed by body pump today, and felt a little bit like dying. Chloe came and we got shouted at for not lifting the weights high enough, even though my arms were physically shaking!

Then ruined all my hard work by going for a carvery and free dessert. Yum! Took ages to be served though, hence the free dessert.

Stuart's gone to watch Star Wars tonight at Davids for May 4th, so I had a night on the sofa watching Jon and Kate Plus 8. Forgot to take a decent picture, but took this one by accident when I was playing with the lens earlier. Nearly missed a day again!

03-05-2009

'Sup Squirrel

We went to Clumber today for a walk round the lake, followed by scones and clotted cream, then a Sunday dinner at my mums! Lovely fat day. Yum!

02-05-2009

Brace Yourself

Went shopping today and ended up buying shiny things! I'm not normally so good at accessorizing but I making a real effort! This is my attempt at being elven. Not eleven.

01-05-2009

Wii Play

Chloe came over this evening for tortillas and to lose at Big Brain Academy. Sorry Chloe, I just can't help it if my brain's bigger than yours :P