...and it all started with a Big Bang...

I recently finished this cross-stitch, in honour of one of my favourite TV shows: The Big Bang Theory. I love this show for many reasons but most of all: it is filling, perfectly, the hole that FRIENDS left in my life & I'm a huge geek! So they comic book/star wars/star trek references are by no means lost on me - I love it!

So many months ago I purchased the pattern for the aforementioned cross stitch from weelittlestitches on Etsy - a fabulous & very popular store, only to have the pattern laze around on my computer & do nothing. It was about a week ago that it popped right back into my head & that was it, I had the sewing box out & I was off. It took me around two hours to complete each character, so it was the perfect after work pick me up from what had been a stressful few weeks. By the end of the week I had a virus :( but I also had a finished design - you win some, you lose some.

Sadly my virus has kept me hauled up in bed doing not much more than sleeping & watching The Big Bang Theory box set, but I did get a chance to try out this tutorial from A Beautiful Mess before being bed-ridden. A quick & simple way to enhance a plain mug; from which to drink your tea. So I thought I'd give it a go. I stuck to my Big Bang theme & decorated my mugs with some classic Sheldon quotes, in bright colours.

All it takes is a plain coloured mug or cup (I picked up mine at the local supermarket for less than 50p!) & a Sharpie of your choice.

Draw your desgin/ write your quote onto the mug. Mistakes are easily removed with a damp cloth - be sure to dry the mug off before you re-attempt your design.

Then bake in the oven for 30 minutes & allow to cool.

Voila! A personalised mug.

Sadly once decorated these mugs can only be hand washed so no lazy-boneses here please!

*Note: I found that my designs had better staying power by baking them at 180C for fifteen minutes, then after cooling I went over the design again & baked for a further 30 minutes at 180C. This may vary depending on your oven or the material of your mugs.

I think they look really cute & would make a great gift, in fact some of mine are to be gifts...

I hope you all had a lovely Bank Holiday Weekend!

Jxx

What's in my bag?

I have a confession to make: I love handbags! I really do. It's first thing I notice about another girl when I meet her is her bag: some people look at shoes, I prefer a bag. Today I indulged & bought a bag I have been lusting after for, quite literally, a year!

Isn't it pretty? I love it!

Now I have been carrying around a much larger bag for about six months (which I also love by the way.) but I decided it was time to down-grade; firstly because if I have a big bag I fill it with stuff I don't need & secondly because I decided to bite the bullet & get the one I have lusted after for a long time. Plus it gave me an opportunity to share one of my favourite types of posts with you. I did fear that this might be a little boring but was assured by my new blogging buddy Claire that it would not be, so here goes:

Bag: Cath Kidston

Contents:

Purse - Now with no money in it since I bought this bag, haha!

iPhone - Essential! I use this for everything; texts, calls, photos, music, tweeting (it has a Cath Kidston case).

Umbrella - Because I live in Scotland & it rains...a lot.

Moleskin notebook & Parker pen - For reminder notes to myself & in case inspiration strikes - I have a terrible short-term memory.

Mini pot of Green Balm - a little miracle pot I use for lip balm & dry skin emergencies.

Keys - Self explanatory (I hope!).

Specs - To see & prevent migraines...ouch!

Gum - For after meals to keep my breath minty fresh :)

Other things that can be found in my bag are: receipts, foldaway hairbrush, nail file, head phones, mini deodorant & on occasion a book.

In case you haven't noticed I have a major minor Cath Kidston obsession.

What do you guys carry around everyday?

Thanks for reading!

Jxx

Reading...

"Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it's a way of making contact with someone else's imagination after a day that's all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss." 

- Nora Ephron

To-Do List

So the other day whilst having a moment of pondering I made a to-do list of things that I'd like to do between now and the end of the year so I thought I'd share it with you guys! Enjoy!

And check it out: I can cross number two off my list. My brand new stork embroidery scissors *CUTE*

The Hunger Games

So I might be a little late on the bandwagon with this but I have just finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I read it for work, since I work in a library. I've been asked to hold a discussion about the book towards the end of the summer holidays with a group of high school students and I jumped at the chance - read a book for work? YEAH!

I had cheated a little and saw the film at the cinema when it was out earlier in the year so I knew what to expect but I didn't think that the film would be exactly like the book! Now when I say this, I don't mean it as a compliment (sorry Hunger Gamers!); maybe I've read too much Harry Potter in my life (is there such a thing??!!), but I expected the book to have more detail about this future world and about the characters. Now I hate comparing books to movies but it is inevitable, and the one thing I will say for the film is that, I felt, it was much more gracious to the character of Katniss than the book. In the film I found her character had the balance as a protective older sister, survivor and confused teenager. However in the book she comes across as whiny, moaning, paranoid and unforgiving; it is not often that I read a book and I really dislike the main character but in this case I did.

I have to say though there were times in the middle when I started to warm to Katniss as she seemed to be growing up a little but it was lost by the end - how can she not see that Peeta is completely besotted with her??? And that Gale loves her??? What is wrong with her?! She also doesn't appear to feel much guilt about breaking Peeta's heart, but then maybe that will come later in Catching Fire and Mockingjay (which I am now going to have to read purely because I know that it is a trilogy.).

I have spoken to lots of people about this book, before and after I read it and the reaction seems to have been the same: adults think that it is a fantastic concept for a book, but they agree that Katniss is a bit paranoid and self absorbed (but then aren't most sixteen year-olds?). Kids: love it! They can't gush about it enough but I worry; because they don't seem to be understanding the themes or seeing flaws in the characters, and is that not what reading is about? Escapism, yes; but also about finding truth and seeing yourself reflected in the characters? Like I said what sixteen year old isn't a bit selfish, but is it possible that they're not seeing this as a flaw? Maybe I'm reading too much into it, or maybe I'm secretly ninety-three years old: "Back in my day..." Ha ha!

Like I said though I will have to read the next two books, and I hope that Katniss grows up a bit and stops the moaning; and that Peeta realises that she's not all that great and moves on; but maybe that's just me. In the mean time I am moving on to something I know I am going to enjoy - A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin - Game of Thrones anyone?? :)

Jxx

Wonderful things, small packages

Scout and Cheeky

May I introduce the newest members of our family: Scout and Cheeky. I am now the proud mama of two beautiful baby boys; they are seven weeks old and have been a total gift over the last few days, which have been rather difficult.

I adopted them last week from a local petting zoo for rescued animals - their mother had been pregnant when she was rescued and had these guys (along with another brother and two sisters) a week after arriving.

Coming home

Exploring our new hutch

Scout

Cheeky

I'm so happy that they are settling in well and they keep doing cute things that I just gush about like a proud mother...sad, but true.

Running...and other stories

I have always had a love/hate relationship with running. I hate that it can be a struggle to get motivated to go out but I love it once I'm out in the fields and my thoughts are clearer; I hate the aches and pains after but I love the mental clarity I have after and I love relaxing in the bath afterwards (candles and a book make it even more blissful).

I am not a competitive runner by any means; I entered in the compulsory cross-country race every year while at school, and I have ran a couple of times in the Race For Life but nothing serious. However in the last couple of years I have fallen out of running completely: a bad flu, a bad relationship followed by a bad break-up meant that I'd stopped running completely. Years of working in retail and standing for most of the day also left me with hyper-extension of muscles in both legs, which I used as an excuse for not getting back into it. Now, though, I have decided enough excuses I need to get back into running because I did get a lot out of it - pain and joy.

So I started on Monday, good a place as any I thought, by taking it slow and going for a long walk. I went one of my old training routes - a little over four miles through the fields near to my house, up and down hills and everything - the boy came too and we were home in about an hour. I felt good after but by the end of the day I had achy legs. It will be a while before I am back to this:

But I am determined to keep going.

After my (all be it slow) start to running again yesterday I went with friends for our first snowboarding lessons at Xscape - a birthday present from my parents. We have all skied before but snowboarding is completely different, as I was about to find out... After the long walk on Monday and me not being at my fittest I managed to fall (a lot) and my leg started shaking uncontrollably and the pain was the worst I've felt, I thought I was going to be sick. My final fall, 25 minutes into the 90 minute lesson sealed my fate as a skier and not a snowboarder. I managed to tumble, do the splits, and whack the side of my knee on the empty boot grip of the board - here it is 14 hours later:

Needless to say I think I'll be sticking to running to build my fitness, get my butt to the gym to strengthen my weak legs and skiing as my winter sport!

Jxx

Inspiration

Inspiration comes in many forms:

My nails this week, inspired by the cover of my favourite magazine...

I love it when a new hair cut comes together...

Bookworm

Confession: I am a massive bookworm. I buy and borrow more books than I will ever have the time to read. Currently I have a pile of books about two feet high next to my bed that I am aiming to get through before my birthday in June (I didn't help myself by taking two more books out of the library last week...)

Confession 2: I have four pages in my notebook filled with the titles of books that I want to read...

So I am making my way though my little mountain of books but I have discovered I will just have to buy/borrow another one. My problem began with Twitter (as so many problems do), you see I am a massive fan of Dawn Porter. For those who don't know Dawn Porter is a broadcaster/ journalist who has made TV documentaries for BBC and Channel 4 and she has now started an on-line book club known as Cold Water Book Club, described like this on Twitter:

As far as I can see I'm a bit late to the party, as usual, because they have already read a few books since beginning in February, but I am determined to give it a go; because despite my love of books I have never been part of a book club and the super-geek in me is very excited at the prospect! So the new book I must add to my ever-growing pile is: Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson. Sadly it would appear that it is very popular and I can't get it from the library so I have ordered it from my absolute favourite book site: GreenMetropolis.

GreenMetropolis is an amazing on-line charity book shop, where users can buy and sell books all the while raising money for charity AND helping the environment! Amazing! If any of you out there love books as much as me or you have tons of books around that you're looking to get rid of I highly recommend this site. So here's hoping that my book will come in time for me to read it before the first discussion (the date has still to be released) I'm really looking forward to getting started and will keep you posted on my progress...


Jxx