Just give me a reason...

Ten reasons why it's acceptable to drink the grapey stuff on a week night.

 

 

 

One: You've had a really great day and want to celebrate

Two: You've had a really rubbish day and need to numb the pain

Three: It's a Monday and you got through it

Four: It's a Tuesday and you got out of bed early again

Five: It's a Wednesday and you've reached the midweek

Six: It's a Thursday and you have nearly reached the weekend

Seven: It's a Friday so it would be rude not to

Eight: You got promoted

Nine: You got demoted

Ten: It was a dull day so you need to liven it up

 

 

Take your pick, any of them will suffice.

Small county, big pond

It may be called a 'week-end', but it doesn't mean the work stops there.

 

 

 

Friday - Mum and I went to the Normanton Church to see it set up for a wedding and ask the girls who take care of the logistics a few questions. Then in the evening Chris and I went to the guitarist's house to discuss song choices for the ceremony and canapés out in the gardens of the hotel. Nigel the guitarist is not only the nicest bloke but an amazing musician who blew us away with his renditions. He also had really good suggestions for tunes that we hadn't decided on yet.

 

 

 

Saturday -  We met with some of my friends in Oakham for brunch, then went home to help mum prepare for her birthday BBQ. Then we proceeded to enjoy the aforementioned birthday BBQ my dad put on with much wine and meat.

 

Sunday - In the morning we met with the events coordinator at the Normanton Park Hotel to discuss the finer details. Realised I still have a lot to pin down. Got occasionally frustrated at what seemed like 4 people all talking at once and rather hastily took up the coordinator's kind offer to sample the wines.

 

 

 

Monday - I had the day off work with the intention of getting loads of wedding bits done. Reality is I only got the stamping of the name tags finished, because I get bored and distracted very easily.

 

 

I've still got to cut up the postcards for the guestbook, finish the name tags, decide what to do for the table plan, assemble the tuck shop, order the cakes, buy shoes & handbag, put together the centre pieces, order candles, order table linens and ferry everything up to mum and dad's house at some point.

 

8 weeks and a few boxes of wine to go.

The Wedding Ring Workshop

Today Chris and I made our wedding rings.

 

White gold & platinum after we melted it down

 

The Wedding Ring Workshop in Hatton Garden is the first and original jewellery workshop.  For just £150 per person you have a dedicated expert giving you their undivided attention all day, from sitting down to discuss what you want right through to the finishing touch.

 

 

 

 

We melted, milled, sawed, bent and filed the day away until our wedding rings took shape.  Chris opted for a white gold band with a hammered finish, while me being the awkward one went for a shaped platinum band that will frame my emerald cut engagement ring. For this our expert stepped in to help Chris with the tricky wave shape on the band, which isn't the easiest even for the professionals.

 

Our work here is done

 

Now that they're finished we left them in the capable hands of the experts to complete the hallmarks, set the diamonds into mine and engrave the date of our wedding into both of the bands. Apparently the team get all sorts of random engraving requests, ranging from the distasteful to the downright bizarre!

 

We had an absolutely amazing day at the workshop, it was exhausting but worth it. We learnt so much about the process of making wedding rings and how the metals behave being heated, pushed, pulled and cooled throughout the different stages.

 

At the end of the day the rings are weighed and you only pay for the weight of the material you have used, which all-in came out cheaper than buying generic rings from a high street retailer. It was an absolutely fantastic experience and I highly recommend. I can't speak highly enough about the guys working there. Our dedicated expert (called Adam, I think?) was a great guy who was so patient and encouraging all day. The other guys who were busy getting on with their work were still friendly and welcoming despite having their own things to do, and one was kind enough to let me watch him engraving someone's rings to see how it works.

Above all it's so rewarding to make your own rings because you end up with a piece that you didn't just specify its appearance.  Because you physically brought it into existence you feel very proud and bonded to it. Which is a great feeling to have about a piece of jewellery representing your commitment to another person.

Good things come to those who Waitrose

Firstly - my local branch of Waitrose has FINALLY started selling sweet potato fries - tonight I'll be eating these with pesto mayo.

 

Fiona - if you're reading this, I will stockpile these bad boys for when you're over next month!!

 
 

Secondly, the new issue of Ideal Home is out.
 

 

Crack out the white zinfandel, my Saturday night is sorted. 

7lbs



...Is exactly how much weight I'd put on by the time I returned from 2 weeks in Texas. Damn those tasty Texan desserts.

Shooting handguns:
doesn't burn any calories, sadly.

 

 

At BJ's restaurant they have something called Pozookies: a freshly baked cookie topped with a dollop of ice cream. My fave was the white chocolate macadamia nut. And the Oreo. And not forgetting the classic milk chocolate chip.

 

 

Then there are the frozen yogurt bars (you have to pronounce it Yo-Gurt like an American, cos if you say with a British accent it really doesn't hit the ear right). You have to get enough frozen yogurt to justify the sprinkles. And seeing as you pay based on weight, and the sprinkles weigh far less than the yo-gurt, they really glare at you if you outstay your welcome at the sprinkle station.

 

 

 

I won't even start on the pizzas, the burgers, the steaks, the buffalo wings, the nachos or the sandwiches. I already did, and it cost me one waistline.

 

Upon my return, I've set to work ordering a cr@p load of stuff for the wedding, now that we're only 63 days away, according to the countdown app on my phone. I've ordered the sweets for the tuck shop from Handy Candy such as Cola Cubes (it's getting fizzy), strawberry laces (cos we're tying the knot), lemon bon bons (they're bonny good), liquorice allsorts (allsorts of yummy) and flying saucers (can't think of a pun good enough for them yet). I've also ordered a marshmallow sweet tree from Kezabel's Creations on ebay, who said they can tie in our colour scheme by sourcing pastel green marshmallows!

 

Logan helping with the gardening

 

While I was away Chris was soldering on in the garden, which is really starting to look like a good space now. Although it is a bit sparse on nice greenery. Then I saw an advert for the RSPB promoting ways we can all make our gardens more nature friendly, such as growing bee friendly plants and getting bug houses. I definitely intend on following some of the guidance and urge others to do so too. When we eventually have a big enough garden we even want to have a try at amateur bee keeping, you can get starter bee keeping kits online!!

 

P.S. The Next 2013 Summer sale starts tomorrow at 8am online. Set your alarm or I'll get there first and buy EVERYTHING.

 

Take me down to the Paradise City...

Ok so I know that song is really about Lafayette, Louisiana (Axl Rose's hometown before he moved to LA) but I like to think this song applies to any city in the southern states.  I've been to the USA a couple of times as a child, but it's only as an adult I've visited the great state of Texas a few times now.  At first it really threw me off guard just how friendly and forthcoming the people here are. When you walk down the street (or Texas state fair) random strangers will say hi, ask you where your from, compliment you, offer you a french fry etc etc. After a few instances of this, you quickly realise that you the native Brit are the rudest person in the state. Because you didn't say hi when that random stranger walked by. You didn't ask where they're from. You didn't compliment them or offer them a French fry. The people here really are just that friendly to total strangers.

 

When the 2012 Olympics came to London there were a lot of adverts and guidelines published to assist the tourists in navigating the London underground and find their way around.  In amongst all that info, the Government forgot one vital thing. They should have published some marketing to encourage us Londoners (I'm not 100% sure I can call myself that now I live in Buckinghamshire, but anywhoo...) to be more friendly and helpful to those visitors.  Those people who get in our way at the tube ticket barriers? They're just lost. Those people who get in our way studying their pocket maps and city guidebooks? They're just scared. Those people who stop dead in the middle of the street to take pictures? They're just excited to be here. 

 

I always remember something my mum said about a friend of hers who displayed unwavering patience for an elderly couple who were having trouble operative a pay and display machine. She said; "I always just imagine if they were my grandparents. How would I want someone to treat them if they needed help?".  I like to think that I try to adopt that approach when I see someone (age irrelevant) who appears a little lost, scared or over-excited. This has resulted in an increase of occasions where I've had to take pictures of tourists and their families posing in Piccadilly Circus. But that's ok. Just ask yourself - what would a Texan do? So maybe with a little more southern state hospitality (of course there are exceptions to this wonderfully positive stereotype), perhaps the world could be just a little bit friendlier.

 

 

 

Wow this was a slushy rant for me, wasn't it? I do apologise for any confusion caused, I have consumed a great quantity of rose wine and crème brule this fine Saturday evening. I'm spending my weekend in Dallas, or the suburbs of Allen and Richardson to be exact, after my team building in Houston this week.  I went to a wine bar in Watters Creek called Cru where you can do Flights of different wine families.  Out of the Shiraz flight, Chardonnay flight, Merlot flight and Zinfandel flight I opted for the Something Pink flight. This involved a glass of pinot, a California rose and a glass of pink prosecco bellini. As I sat outside the wine bar on the green they had a Blues band playing and a Hawaiian Hula group of dancers performing. Not at the same time, obviously.

 

 

Another thing I've done on this trip to celebrate the great nation of the USA is I spent the 4th July with a colleague and her boyfriend who kindly took me shooting on a gun range. I learnt how to fire am FNP-45 handgun, then a Smith & Wesson. It was crazy scary at first, 'OH MY GOD THAT'S A LOADED GUN' but I eventually got the hang of it. My dad thinks it's very distasteful that my target was the outline of a man. I told him it was between that or a zombie. I have a new found respect and understanding for the culture of guns in the USA. It's a genuine hobby like doing up cars or collecting gadgets. You buy a gun, go to the range, spend hours on end for weeks at a time firing rounds, perfecting your aim. Then when you've mastered that gun, you want to buy another so you can learn to be good on that one. Plus you can't be a numpty, I managed to skim the skin off my thumb knuckle cos I was holding the grip a little too high when I spent a magazine and the hammer flipped open. That's minor compared to the mishaps some people have just for holding the gun in the wrong place or resting their finger against the catch.

 

Fred was feeling a
little scape-goated

 

Another thing, in Texas you can order deep fried cheesecake on the room service menu. Oh say, can you see by the dawn's early light...

 

 

The Lone Star State (mostly in pictures)

Texas is the one American state that has the option of demerging from the USA and becoming its own Country.  The lone star is in reference to the flag which represents the state's former independent republic and serves as a reminder of the state's struggle for independence from Mexico.  Before they realised that the food is awesome and worth cooperating with the Amigos over.

 

I've left the house and the cat in the capable hands of Chris, who is working away at the joy of tidying the spare room. I've come to Houston for 3 days of team building with my colleagues, then I'm off to the Dallas office of my company for a week. Not that it takes that long for me to get a phony American accent.



www.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk



This was my quote of the week. Or it's the quote that I can safely upload here without my colleague Katie taking a bag of oranges, replacing the oranges with bricks, and re-educating me. What gets said in Houston over many bottles of Shiraz stays in Houston.

 

I'm staying at the La Torretta Resort on Lake Conroe, which is beautiful and really really hot. I burnt my left ear today. I always miss something with the suncream.

 The view from my 18th floor balcony. Good morning.

 

 

 

So we've been hard at work with membership retention plans and team building fun. Then today for my day off I went to Anthropologie and slightly lost my mind over how much stuff I could have bought if I'd had the sense to bring an empty suitcase on my trip.

 

An old pump jack,
which there are lots of in Texas.

 

sunset

 

 

And here are the contents of my room service: 'small' ceasar salad and a 'starter' sized portion of wings.  Good night.