Sunday, March 24, 2013

The weekends of weekends

Adventure number 1 - 

Who forgets the wedding invitation and has to call their neighbour back in London who thankfully has a spare key, to get the address for us? Me and Rach, that's who. The adventures continue...

After sorting this small dilemma out, laughing because that's all we could do, we continued getting ready...

Adventure number 2 - 

a mysterious taxi appears under my name, knowing where we're going. Which is choice cos we didn't! 

this really added more icing to the cake. It still remains a mystery as to how this taxi was booked!

Adventure number 3

It had been snowing all day in London, but the annoying kind that doesn't settle. A little further away, it had really settled, making for a very handy wine cooler.


Adventure number 4 & 5

Tricking as many people as we can into thinking we flew over from NZ especially for the day. And teaching the groom's mum how to dance to call me maybe!

Gotta love a little bit of fun hey!?

Adventure number 6

Waking up the next morning to loads of snow and amusing ourselves whilst waiting for the taxi.

being hungover and shaking a snow covered tree, forgetting it'll go EVERYWHERE!



We made it back to London in one hungover piece, watched Finding Nemo and relaxed!! 


And my favourite photo from the weekend is of these little daffodils struggling to stand tall! 



Friday, March 22, 2013

Things I'm Loving

This week I'm loving...

Positivity
I'm not even sure if it's a word, but it is now. Last week I was super stressed out due to an upcoming observation that I was to have at work. Well, the stress had a great outcome and I got an Outstanding on my observation! I guess hard work does actually pay off!!

New Clothes
I received a gift card for a shop in the UK called ZARA for Christmas, and bought these awesome trousers! I'm not a 'trouser wearer' and tend to stick to dresses and skirts, so I feel a bit outrageous. But these are heaps choice and I totally love them!!


Keith
I've been looking after this 'little' fluffy thing for the past week and have one more week of quality time until my cousins come back home!


Rooster's off to see the world
I'm a big Eric Carle fan. I found this book at work which is a great and incorporates basic counting into the story. Over the week we've been recreating the animals from the book for a display and point of reference for counting! Here's what we came up with, they're not quite finished but I'm pretty pleased!


A taste of home
We ventured out to the New Zealand shop last weekend! Me and Rach were in heaven! There were so many treats to be bought! However, I was a little disappointed to realise some favourites were actually Australian. That didn't stop me though!


Tasty lunches
There's an amazing little cafe down the road from work called Temptations. There boxes of deliciousness are really just that little bit too tempting! Not only is their food super healthy, there's a whole bunch of dairy free stuff!


Linking up with my McChoicey Babe

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Things I'm Loving!

This week I'm loving...

Bird and Owl Cafe
Having a delicious brunch at a gorgeous cafe! All organic too!


Impromptu Snow
It snowed again a few times this week. The other day I was sitting out in the sun on my lunch break and before you know it, boom! It was snowing!


Hanging out with Keith
Our washing machine has been broken for the last couple of weeks and won't get repaired until the end of next week. I was quickly running out of my emergency undies (I can't believe I had enough to last me this long, last time this happened I had to wear a pair of togs to work!). I walked to my cousins' who thankfully live a 5 minute walk away, with my washing in tow, and got to hang out with this cutie patootie for a while!


View from the top
I've realised I often take photos of my shoes/legs/skirts/dresses. So here's a collage of my favs! You can definitely tell which pairs of shoes are my favourites!


Gigs
I went to see Gin Wigmore on Monday night! Wow! If you get the chance, I highly recommend it! She's an amazing performer and even better in real life! I really don't like feeling disappointed when you see one of your favourite singers sing live and they're the dogs bollocks. Gin was definitely the cat's pyjamas! Not to mention she gave me 'the eyes' four times during the show! Made me all happy inside!


Sorry for the briefness, my heart really is in it this week; but my head is all over the place!

Linking up with Meg




Friday, March 8, 2013

Things I'm Loving!

In between all the business of the past week, I've been loving...

New Outfits
The dungaree dress was a choice score for £1 from eBay. The duck top was another choice score from an Oxfam opshop on Holloway Rd for £2.99. And those gold disco pants, yes, I did buy them, they were a super choice score off boohoo.com for £10.


Beer and Cider festivals
I love a bit of cider. Well, maybe a lot of cider, so this festival was right up my alley! There's something not-so-intriguing about having a beer that tastes like elderflower mixed with lemonade vs a beer that tastes like cat litter. After that, we stuck to the ciders!


Skype
I absolutely LOVE Skype! Last week I had a 2 hour conversation with my parents in Wellington and my sister in Darwin. Ya, I didn't know you could three way Skype either! Four people in three countries talking to each other at the same time via the same conversation, BRILL!

Cycling
I've been cycling to work most days now. I'm a lot more confident on my bike, now that I wear a helmet and know the route so don't have to faff around with wondering where to go. I did however see a guy get knocked off his bike during the week about five seconds before I was about to get on mine, so it's made me extra weary, but I still love my bike all the same!


Signing
I started my job (working with deaf children) in September knowing no sign language. It's quite awesome how fast I've been picking up different signs, whether it be in BSL (British Sign Language) or Makaton. I can now sign my first song, the alphabet, a range of different fruit, emotions, swear words (ha!), and commands. Plus some other random stuff!

The Sun
I was outside the other day enjoying the sun and took this photo. I love how it looks like a one eyed monster with big pink lips!


This Song
I'm a music lover, and it's part of my everyday life. This girl, Lucy Spraggan, was on X Factor last year, I think she came 5th or something, I didn't watch it, but she's amazing!!! My favourite song is this one called Tea and Toast. It's a little bit sad, but such a beautiful song!


Linking up with a pretty choice babe


Sunday, March 3, 2013

Homemade Ice cream

I first made this a couple of years ago back in Wellington at the preschool I used to work at. I was given a lot of space to be creative and try new things out, and it was something I had been wanting to do for ages!
I made it today with my little kiddies at my school in London, and wowed not only them, but my T.A's too!
It's pretty simple. This is the right amount of ingredients to have for your first go, it doesn't make loads, but once you've mastered the technique (which doesn't take much mastering, coming from me who's one of the world's worst cooks!) you can increase the amount to suit the bellies you need to fill!
All you need is...
-A smallish sized zip lock or resealable plastic bag, which will contain the following...
-1/2 a cup of milk - works perfectly with soya milk or normal milk, and this amount can later be increased if needed
-1 tablespoon of sugar
-Some vanilla essence - not loads, but enough to flavour it. I've used in the past Milo and peppermint essence too!
-A mediumish sized zip lock or resealable plastic bag which will contain...
-6 tablespoons of salt - the cheap no-brand salt does the trick, it doesn't have to be rock salt or anything fancy
-And some ice cubes. I'd say put in maybe 3-4 cups of ice, even 5 if you want. I always just guess!
Put all the 'small bag' ingredients in together and seal it tight!!!! Then put the ice and salt together in the 'medium bag'. Chuck the small bag into the medium bag, seal the medium bag, then get your shake on!
You'll need to shake it for maybe 3-5 minutes. It's great when doing it with kids because you can pass the bag around and your hands don't freeze off! You'll be able to see the liquid starting to solidify so you can kind of guess when it'll be ready.
And the voila! There you have it! You're very own, homemade, hassle free, nearly mess free, ice cream!
The consistency is a bit like that first scoop of ice cream out of a new container once it's been opened. It's soft, sweet, and delicious!
Fact: The reason it can freeze like that is because of the reaction of the salt and the ice. The salt makes the ice super cold and whilst it's being shaken around it's able to start to freeze the liquid.
Another fact: If you have super sensitive hands like myself, you might want to shake it inside a tea towel or put gloves on. I got some lovely ice burns on my hands today!