Hilarious Ranting Husband

On our way back from the gym today (Thursday) we were driving along behind a van with the company name, "The Proof is in the Pudding".  This initiated a rant from Nik which I have never known to happen before and it was hilarious!  I warned him at the time I was going to blog about it but he still kept going!

He quite rightly points out that that is not a saying (assuming they were trying to use the proverb as their company name) "why do people say that?!  It's the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  There's no proof in the actual pudding!  It's like saying there's proof in the cake!"  It is interesting how much the proverb has managed to change into a sentence which doesn't actually make any sense.

This is of course all quite true but you have to understand my husband is the opposite of me, he rarely gets ruffled and is one of those annoying so laid back he's horizontal people (which works well considering I'm a bit more manic!) and I've never heard him have this kind of rant.  It was hilarious and lasted at least another 5 minutes of our journey!  Even when mentioning just now that I was writing about it, he started again and says it's been something that's been bothering him for a while!  Of all the things to be bothered about, hehe.  He wanted me to make sure I did some on-line research on it so here we go...

The urban dictionary states...

A phrase that, when uttered, instantly identifies the speaker as being incredibly stupid and illiterate. The original saying is "the proof of the pudding is in the eating", basically meaning that something has to be experienced/utilized in order to prove how good it is. This phrase got messed up by idiots who don't quite understand what they are saying.

And also lists similar mistakes which I'm now thinking of muttering one day just to have some fun and see if it instigates another rant from hubby ;)

Similar mistakes include could care less (couldn't care less), stop running around with your chicken cut off (stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off), begs the question (raises the question),here here (hear hear), and all that glitters is gold (all that glitters/glisters is not gold - "glisters" is used in the original Shakespeare quote)

Here is a good explanation of when the saying started going wrong and what the original proverb actually means.

The proverb is ancient — it has been traced back to 1300 and was popularised by Cervantes in his Don Quixote of 1605. It’s sad that it has lasted so long, only to be corrupted in modern times.

There is even a blog called Proof is in the Pudding which is full of equations and such like, but no puddings.

At least I found one company who did use it correctly and their puddings do look delicious!!

I also found this brilliant video of a German man who is understandably very upset when he hears the incorrect version of the saying which makes no sense.  "Just put the proof on the table!"  Hehee.

The Hunger Games Film - A review

I have just returned from seeing The Hunger Games at the cinema (I would have gone at the weekend but I was rather busy!) and want to write about it while it's still fresh in my mind (plus Nik's already fed up of me asking what he thought of every little thing)!

So, as you will know if you read my blog regularly, I had a bit of a reading frenzy at the start of the year and read 8 books in 2 months!  Three of those books were The Hunger Games trilogy, as recommended by a barrage of like-minded women and bloggers via twitter.  I absolutely devoured them in about a week and as a result was rather disappointed when they were finished.  I've also still not quite come to terms with the ending but you'll find no spoilers here, suffice it to say I felt bereft after such a frantic story came to an end and I did find it rather too abrupt.

So, the film...  I was super excited about the first film coming out as I would get to see how others imagined the characters (although I don't always agree with them) and would get to re-live the story again.  I have to say I wasn't disappointed as I usually am with books being turned into films and utterly "Hollywoodified".  Especially books I have particularly enjoyed reading.  (By far and away the most disappointing - I was actually ANGRY - was My Sister's Keeper.  Be warned!)  In fact, I would even say that I really, really liked it!  It stayed true to the book pretty much through-out and I found myself drawn in to the story all over again, crying at certain points (those of you who know it will know when!) and jumping at others.  This is how I like my films and I often think this is why when I've read the books I never enjoy the films as much since I know what's going to happen.  With this one, that didn't seem to matter and I still thoroughly enjoyed it.  If I get drawn right in, which happens when I read, then I am happy.

The casting helped as I was particularly pleased with certain choices.  Jennifer Lawrence was an excellent Katniss and I'm glad she was a relative unknown (despite just winning an oscar!) and also love the fact she's got a great shape and is actually curvy rather than super skinny.  I found her believable and realistic, even after the make-over.  I was slightly disappointed with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) to start with, but mostly because of the awful hair-do at the reaping (I guess he's just not what I imagined) but when he was ruffled up a bit I much preferred him and although superficially he's not my type, he'll always be my favourite out of the two love interests (although the very cute Gale (Liam Hemsworth) in the film did make that slightly more difficult to decide!)

I loved Woody Harrelson as Haymitch as he was exactly what I imagined!  Along with Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickerman with his big toothy grin.  I was only really disappointed with the casting of Kato (who I thought should be much bigger and beefier) and before seeing it was unsure about the casting of Elizabeth Banks as Effie Trinket as I had imagined someone more like Imelda Staunton.

Image Source - Also makes for very sad & sickening reading!

My favourite though has to be Lenny Kravitz as Cinna, perfect and SO sexy!!  Love the gold eye-liner and his whole persona on screen.  I was also loving Seneca Crane's beard!  I went searching for a picture of it and discovered that I'm not the only one - it actually has it's own facebook page!

Image Source

Obviously the film is never going to be as detailed as the book or it would last for hours but they kept in all the important bits while making everything else obvious, like the amazing food and decadence of the Capitol which is described in great detail in the books at many points and only briefly mentioned in the film although you can obviously see the elaborate train and buildings.  I would have liked them to have kept in the part about the Avox girl and Madge Undersee but again, the film would have to be longer and it's already more complicated as we don't get to hear Katniss' thoughts like in the book where the story is form her point of view.

I think the another way the film suffers slightly is by being classed 12A as this makes some scenes more difficult to understand due to the way they are edited.  Obviously some gruesome things go on in a fight to the death in an arena and I think this could have been filmed better without being gory.

I think it's clear that the film was made by fans of the book, as was mentioned in an interview I read with Jennifer Lawrence, and this is why I think it works so well and doesn't disappoint those of us who have read it (or me anyway, maybe it did others??) and overall I left he cinema having enjoyed the film and not spent any of that time aware of the book, I just enjoyed it for what it was - an exciting film with a good story and some great acting.  Oh and Nik liked it too, he hasn't read the books.

Edit: I forgot to mention the costumes!  When I was reading the first book I remember thinking, that is a film I would love to work in the costume & make-up department on (something I dabbled in in final year at school taking my drama and fabric modules)!  I had so many ideas of what it could look like and I have to say, they did an excellent job with this as well.  I was impressed with the fire and the fancy outfits of the Capitol, as well as the more simple district clothing - again making it all realistic.  The way they showed the crazy Capitol fashions even made them seem believable and were amazing to look at.  I bet they were fun to come up with!

A weekend of Saree Shopping and Tea Parties!

So, off we went to London again (this is becoming a bit of an addiction, considering it was somewhere I was never that bothered about until I came to visit I have developed a bit of a crush on London) this time together to see Nik's family and get our outfits sorted for his brother's wedding which is now only 5 weeks away!!!  Time has flown since Ishan and Izzy got engaged in Autumn and we're super excited for the big wedding weekend!

They are having a Hindu ceremony on the Saturday followed by a church ceremony on the Sunday so we had 2 outfits each to plan.  Nik is best man so he was being fitted for a suit for Sunday and has decided to borrow his cousin's outfit again that he wore to our own wedding.  I can't wait to see him in it again!!  I have chosen to wear a Saree to the Saturday wedding and am extremely excited to wear one!  They are so stunning and flattering and come in such gorgeous colours with beautiful embroidery or embellishments.

We all headed to Wembley on Saturday following an evening in Camino enjoying Tapas and wine.  We met Nik's Dad and Auntie S there and once the boys were sorted I began looking for my Saree.  I hardly knew where to start!  They come in all kinds of colours and a range of fabrics and prices to match!  I was a little surprised how expensive some of them can be!  There is a lot of fabric involved and there can be a lot of embellishment and detail.  The ones I saw that day ranged from £72 all the way up to £404!!

The first shop looked promising but they only had the colours I liked in the cheaper price range made from polyester and we all felt they didn't sit or drape as nicely and did look obviously cheaper quality.  I did find one I loved made from chiffon but it was a bit too blingy as the beading was very sparkly.  We went next door and despite thinking we wouldn't find anything in there at all they persuaded me to try one on which actually turned out to be lovely!  It was cream fading to emerald green with green flowers on the cream bit and draping over the arm. We decided to think about it (after some super impressive haggling by Auntie S!!) and tried one more shop before lunch where I spotted this...

I had actually been thinking I would avoid my signature colour since everyone will be expecting it, plus I wanted to wear my emerald earrings from my grandmother-in-law.  I thought a deep dark pink or maroon would be nice with green accessories but didn't see one that I loved. When seeing this olive green one I was just attracted by the colour at first as I though the pattern was way too OTT and flowery but it turned out this was only on the piece that drapes over the shoulder so the flowers were down the back and over the arm.

Image from How to Drape your Saree tutorial

The rest is much more simple but with a few small black beads across the main bit with the simple edge you can see going all the way round and along the bottom.  It hangs beautifully and everyone agreed it was the nicest one we'd seen so again the amazing Auntie S stepped in to sort things out and make the deal as the blouse needs to be made and the petticoat sorted, etc.  SO glad she was there as I wouldn't have had a clue about any of it!  I can't wait to wear it and will of course post pictures after the wedding!

As soon as I was measured, I had to say goodbye to everyone and skoot off to get the train back into town to meet up with all the girls at the Florence Finds Tea Party at Drink.Shop.Do near Kings Cross.  I had such a lovely time and got to meet so many new people, some of whom I recognised from twitter or comments on the same blogs I read.  It was lovely to catch up with those I did know already as well including the lovely Anna K and Anna (and the ring).  I also met 2 new Annas there - we were surrounded!  I was also one of 3 Rebeccas!

The food and cocktails were amazing, we were served sandwiches, scones with cream and jam (although I was very good and restrained myself a little!), chocolate truffles (including chilli ones which I did eventually try and loved!), sweets, macaroons (specifically a green one which was placed facing me - SURELY fate!), tea and cocktails or cava.  I chose to try a bit of a random sounding cocktail as it had Chambord in it which I love and I decided to be brave and go for something different - it also had basil and black pepper in it!

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of any of us girls but I noticed Rebecca took quite a few photos and I'm sure she won't mind sending me one over (if I remember to ask!)

After much nattering, eating and drinking, we all moved on to Camino for a few drinks and more mingling.  Ialways regretted not mingling and moving round meeting more people when I went down for Any Other Party (also in Camino - really like that place and such a good choice of venue!) so made an effort to try and go round speaking to more people and getting to know as many as I could in one evening!  It was SO MUCH FUN!  Everyone there was lovely and as I mentioned in yesterday's post, I was getting lovely comments from people having noticed my weight loss!  :)

Sadly the night took a turn for the worse as the last of us were saying goodbye and were all heading off to the station to go our separate ways Gemma realised her bag was missing from the pile of bags, coats, shopping that we had all piled up in the corner where we were standing.  Unfortunately it contained her phone, money and keys and all were gone!  Not only that but the bag itself belonged to her Gma and was a gorgeous vintage clutch with sentimental value attached!  I am gutted for her!  There was a slight panic when she remembered that her husband was away up in Scotland for the weekend so she wouldn't be able to get back into her flat and without her phone couldn't ring any local friends (how many of us can actually remember friends' numbers these days - not me!)  Of course we wouldn't have left her in that situation and the lovely Rachel gave her £20 to get a new travel card and I called Nik's brother and cousin (they were all waiting for me by this point as they'd booked somewhere for dinner) to ask if they minded if she came along for dinner and could she stay with us that night at his cousin's flat?  Of course they were happy to help (I am so lucky to have such amazing in-laws who are so helpful and lovely) and Gemma was temporarily re-homed!  We actually had a blast and I was so impressed by her amazing positive attitude and not letting it spoil her weekend.

Luckily it turned out my clothes fitted her OK (baggy of course but with a tie waist my new grey dress looked pretty good on her!) including my spare flats (I had brought flip flops as well due to optimistic weather forecasts!) so she was sorted for the next day and didn't have to wear her party dress and shoes which had already caused a blister (as such amazing shoes tend to do!)  She managed to get in touch with her letting agent who agreed to meet her that evening (lucky since it was a Sunday) with spare keys so Gemma tagged along with us for our day in Covent Garden.  Us girls hit the shops while the boys sorted out suits before meeting up again for lunch and a walk along South Bank followed by a stop for more tea and cakes (I had a yoghurt) although they all resisted the cakes as they'd had Gellati on the way.  I was very well behaved in the shops and only bought a pair of sunglasses in M&S as I had forgotten to take any with me and I spotted these amazing green ones which were extremely useful in the lovely sunshine we had!

M&S Sunglasses

It was nice having a more relaxing Sunday in London as we left later than usual in the evening.  I am happy to report that Gemma is back home safe and sound and will hopefully get most things covered on insurance but it's very sad about the special bag and I hope whoever took it (possibly the suspicious looking man at a table apparently!) gets their share of karma as a result!  >:-[

Come back at 12.30pm today for the 'what I wore' edition!  (Just for you Mum - recent pics for you to examine me!)  ;)

Sunday Weigh In 3

My Sunday Weigh In is a little late this week due to my weekend in London and late return on Sunday night so I have weighed myself this morning and finished updating all the food!

It's now been 3 weeks since starting my new healthy lifestyle.  I decided that each Sunday I will post up my progress, whether successful or not in the hope that it encourages me to stay positive and keep going.  Knowing that I will be sharing it all here will hopefully keep my willpower up!  In order for me to keep track and look back for ideas, I will be listing my food diary here as well (and who knows, it might inspire others to have a go too!)  It also gives me somewhere to put all the photos of the yummy food I love to take as it always looks so good!

This week has been a bit of a fail week due to illness but also a very positive week due to seeing results - or more specifically OTHER PEOPLE seeing results!!

Monday: 

Breakfast - I had a 2 course breakfast today as I'm trying to cut down on the eggs (keep hearing conflicting advice on those but figured it wouldn't hurt to try and mix breakfast up a bit more!)  I can never stomach sweet things first thing in the morning so I started with 2 veggie sausages and 3 grilled mushrooms which I followed with a bowl of plain oat so simple porridge with an added dollop of Manuka honey, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 1/4 tsp of cinammon and a chopped up apple.

Lunch - not smoked salmon fillet and salad (orange pepper, green pepper, tomato, gem lettuce, other lettuce, celery, spring onions, linseeds, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, drizzle of avocado oil and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar

Dinner - Chicken & noodle stir fry made by hubby (chicken, green peppers, onion, mange tout, rice noodles, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, chilli), apple & raspberry juice, kiwi berries

Snacks - strawberries, quavers, skimmed milk

Exercise - 1 hour walking, 30 mins swimming (40 lengths)

Tuesday: (Today I woke up with a cold after sitting in a freezing surgery all day yesterday due to a broken boiler - I blame my boss for not getting it fixed when told about it last Friday!)

Breakfast - forced down a 2 egg omelette (with chopped up cherry tomatoes, sliced veggie sausage, spring onion and 1/2 large portobello mushroom), orange juice

Lunch - ham & lettuce sandwich, english mustard, one side lightly buttered, 2 cherry tomatoes, orange juice

Dinner - hot smoked salmon fillet, slice of lemon & poppyseed cake, slice of meringue with pineapple, 1 small glass red wine (we had people round for drinks & cake after dinner which had been planned for ages) 

Snacks - vanilla yoghurt, quavers, fruit box (melon, nectarine, blueberries & strawberries), apple & raspberry juice, paracetamol

Exercise - none due to illness (took the car to work with a heater in the back for my surgery!)

Wednesday: Sadly today I have woken up even worse (despite feeling better as yesterday went on) and my tonsils are swollen and very sore!  I was hoping I would stop getting ill so often now I am on a better diet and much more healthy generally but I have had to take today off!  (Currently feeling sorry for myself in bed as I write!)

Breakfast - 1 slice 50/50 sunflower seed bread with Lurpak lightest and Bovril, paracetamol, skimmed milk

Lunch - 1/2 slice of lemon & poppyseed cake, quavers, raspberry yoghurt (salads just not cutting it today - feeling hungry but not fancying anything - v annoying!)

Dinner - 2/3 of a ristorante pizza, apple juice, paracetamol

Snacks - paracetamol, skimmed milk, small slice of meringue (left from last night)

Exercise - none due to illness

Image source and nutritional info (it's not as bad as I thought - as a one off treat!)
I was clearly not in the mood for taking photos today!

Thursday:

Breakfast - apple juice, paracetamol

Lunch - omelette (2 eggs, chicken, tomatoes, mushroom), orange juice, paracetamol

Dinner -  Nik took me to Yo Sushi to cheer me up (edamame beans x 2, tuna sashimi, mixed fish maki, prawn nigiri, cucumber maki), fizzy water

Snacks - skimmed milk, paracetamol

Exercise - none

Image Source

Friday: (Back to work, hooray!)

Breakfast - 1/2 can baked beans, 1 slice 50/50 toast, 1 fried egg (in tiny dribble of olive oil), 1 grilled portobello mushroom, orange juice, apple juice

Lunch - slice of ham (all I had in the fridge), Greggs red thai chicken sandwich on granary bread, skimmed milk

Dinner - (At Camino in London with Nik's brother, Ishan and his fiancée, Izzy, their cousin Samir and the lovely Gemma.)  We had a selection of tapas dishes including asparagus, Spanish tortilla, pork shoulder with pea purée, bread and olive oil, garlic prawns, a bruschetta type thing, (I avoided/resisted the chorizo), a squid ink risotto type thing and 3 glasses of white wine

Snacks - fruit box (apple, blueberries, melon), 1/2 chicken sandwich (yoghurt dressing, herbs and salad) shared with Nik at the airport, sparkling water, quavers

Exercise - a little walking in London (those underground stations can go for miles!)

Saturday: 

Breakfast - one Weetabix in a little semi-skimmed milk

Lunch - small portion of vegetable biriyani, one bhajiya (would have loved more but seriously unhealthy plus I was saving myself for cake!)

Dinner - scallop, lamb rump with some kind of waffle and wild garlic (delish and a post will follow about the places I ate this weekend!), 1 glass red wine

Snacks - Florence Finds Afternoon Tea (2 truffles, handful of sweets, selection of small sandwiches - smoked salmon x2, ham & mustard x 2, cheese & pickle - so about one full size sandwich worth, a GREEN macaroon, a Mrs Pepper Pot cocktail (ingredients below), 1/2 cup of earl grey tea) 1/3 of a bottle of cava, 1 glass white wine, french martini


(I would just like to point out that this weekend was clearly a one off treat and NOT entirely at all healthy but I did my best to not got totally overboard and managed to resist the scones and cream and all of that alcohol was drunk over an 8 hour period (4pm-12am!)

Exercise - lots of walking in London

(Sorry for the terrible pictures - I forgot my camera AGAIN and my phone one seems to be getting worse!)

Sunday:

Breakfast - glass of semi-skimmed milk 

Lunch  - slow-cooked beef & mushroom stew, brown bread, rocket salad, virgin mary (extremely spicy!)

Dinner - M&S ham and egg seeded roll, sparkling water

Snacks - plum yoghurt, apple & pear juice

Exercise - lots of walking in London

One of the best things about this weekend has been the compliments and reaction to the new me.  People who haven't read my blog (some who don't even know about it) actually asked me if I'd lost weight!  Apparently it is very noticeable already to other people who don't see me all the time (or at all - they were comparing to my wedding photos on AOW!  Which does slightly concern me that I looked bigger on my wedding day than I am now as I think I am still bigger now (and I definitely still weigh more) than last summer but anyway, if people think I look that much thinner then great!)  Nik's Auntie immediately asked me if I'd lost a lot of weight since the wedding (when she last saw me) and other people commented on my arms and waist looking thinner.  All of this has served to give me not only a slightly big head from being proud of myself so far but also spurred me on even more to reach my goal (which I haven't really defined as I just want to fit in to some of my older clothes I have kept from when Nik & I first started seeing each other which just happened to be when I was at my fittest).  I love the fact that what I'm doing seems to be working even though it hasn't seemed like the weight has been dropping off very quickly.  I love the fact that other people are noticing the difference.  I love that I am still keen on the exercise (have been missing it this week!) and am loving keeping up the new healthy lifestyle (with the odd treat weekend for good measure!)  I'm VERY excited about this and it makes it so much easier when I do start lusting after Wispa Golds (of which I still have a huge pile hidden away in the flat)!

The results this week:

Weight last week - 13 st 1 1/2 lbs

Weight this week - 13st 1 lb

Loss/Gain this week - 1/2 lb

Total Loss - 3 lbs

Sunday Info

I'm afraid the Sunday Weigh in is delayed this week due to me not arriving back to Glasgow until later tonight.  The usual Sunday Weigh In information will be posted tomorrow morning so please check back then if you are interested to see how I coped without my exercise due to this week's illness.  :(

There will also be posts coming soon about London, my latest outfits and Florence's Tea Party!!  :) 

My week

My new healthy lifestyle has had a bit of a fail this week!  On Monday I had to sit in work in 14 oC all day as the boiler was broken all weekend (and for some reason the boss didn't think it was important to call a plumber out on Friday when they first knew about it!)  Unfortunately with the work I do, I can't wear a coat, or any sleeves for that matter so was sat shivering for most of the day, it did warm up a little by the afternoon luckily.

However, on Tuesday I woke up feeling full of the cold with a bit of a sore throat.  I went in anyway (taking my own electric heater from home with me!) but didn't walk or go swimming - just tried to take an easy day so I wouldn't get any worse.  Sadly I did and by bedtime on Tuesday night my throat was agony!  On Wednesday morning I was starting to feel like I was getting tonsillitis AGAIN!  (This is the 3rd time in as many months which does concern me - especially as I hoped I would get sick less often with my new healthy diet and all those extra vitamins in the fruit and veg I am eating!!)

I didn't go to work on Wednesday, I mostly slept and felt sorry for myself and moaned on twitter.  (I'm a bit pathetic at being ill I'm afraid!  I hate it!)  On Thursday which is my day off anyway I was still feeling very sore but not as ill so I ventured out to my hair appointment (as I know how long it takes to get another if cancelled plus my grey roots were getting VERY noticeable and all being well we're off to London this weekend to search for wedding outfits for Nik and I for his brother's wedding in May).  I came pretty much straight home and chilled out on the sofa with some telly, having cancelled my pilates and swimming plans.  I didn't want to push myself and not get better.

By Thursday evening I was feeling much better again with the pain controlled by paracetamol so Nik took me out to Yo Sushi to cheer me up!  :)  While at Silverburn I also purchased some burgundy skinny jeans (SKINNY JEANS!!  It's been a long time since I wore those!) to wear with my new leopard boots.  I'm a little scared to wear the outfit as it's a bit more 'trendy' than I usually try to wear so I'm going to be brave and try it out in London this weekend.  Although Nik likes it and he usually doesn't get the trendier things I wear so that's a good sign.  I think!  They also look good with the leopard print blazer and black patent shoes so that's kind of a capsule wardrobe - the shoes go with a dress I am taking too!

I have still, however, not done any exercise this week and my diet's been a bit all over the place due to loss of appetite and soreness.  Not to mention the fact that I will be in London eating out a lot and at a Tea Party (with lots of cake) and missing my Sunday Body Pump class and swimming as we don't get back til late!  This week's Sunday Weigh in will as a result most likely be delayed until Monday morning and I don't expect to see any miracles this week anyway!

As I'm writing this in bed on Thursday night I am hoping to still feel good in the morning and be able to go to work!  (I don't get paid if I'm not working so it sucks big time to be off sick!  It also sucks for the boss as he doesn't get his share of what I make meaning the fact he never called the plumber backfired big time as he's probably lost out more from me getting ill - obviously I may have gotten ill anyway but am convinced my shivery day didn't help!)  I will still have to take it easy and not push myself too hard as I would hate our weekend to be ruined as well since it's been planned for so long.  Nik is best man at the wedding and we're both looking for Indian clothing to wear for the Hindu ceremony!  I am very excited to wear a saree!!  Fingers crossed that's what I'll be blogging about next week!  :)

Goodnight!  x

Leopard Love in

I'm having a bit of love for leopard print at the moment - it's not a print I used to like at all, I always thought it was a bit tacky but it really depends how you wear it...

Image Source

Image Source

Image Source

And I'm not the only one who loves it (although I may be a little late to the party).  Personally I like just a touch of leopard print, I'm not sure I could pull off top to toe leopard print although there are some who can...

Image Source

I find it also depends on the actual print and its specific colour whether I like it or not!

At the moment I am loving a few specific pieces (NOT to be worn together!)  I already own this snood and cardigan (again for wearing separately) from Warehouse when I first started flirting with leopard print last October...

Image source

Me in my cardi at my Floristry class

Not to mention my bargainous pretty shoes which I wore in London...

Shoes from M&S

I'm hoping this new find will add a funkier edge to my shoe collection...

Ankle boots to be worn under jeans

(Heart socks optional!!)

These are from Next and are £40 - I like how the zip is on the outside of the foot to make a feature of it in gold although I'm not sure what I would wear them with that would show the whole boot (suggestions welcome!).  The heel is an extremely comfortable height, something that seems to be incredibly difficult to find in shoes I like, and they have a hidden platform!

I also spotted a gorgeous dark leopard print thin blazer but it doesn't seem to be available online.  The zebra print version is though.

It's OK, just look at the smiles

Not everything goes as intended when planning a wedding.  A few things at our wedding didn't go as planned...

Nik's outfit was a complete disaster and he ended up having to borrow one from his cousin, literally hours before the wedding!  I remember being shown via webcam from his hotel at midnight the night before (and feeling very unsure about it)!!

My bouquet wasn't at all what I expected.  I had asked for a wild textured green and white bouquet with green roses (the only reason I wanted roses at all when I discovered there were green ones, so unusual!) and even sent pictures of similar styles.  I ended up with yellow roses in a tight posy.

We were un-friended on facebook by one of Nik's friends after they didn't get the invite they were apparently expecting.  The message I received simply said Hi becky, thankyou guys for the "evening" invite. Unfortunately we won't be able to attend.  We had actually originally invited them to the full day, but after having the invite returned only to discover they'd moved without telling us - to England! - and figuring that we hadn't actually seen them in the 3 years since their wedding (or even heard from them except to say they couldn't make our engagement party) we decided we would rather have more room for other friends we had as yet been unable to fit in to the full day.

I received a rather hurtful email from a member of my family when we explained as politely as we could that we would be unable to accommodate his latest girlfriend who we not only had never met but hadn't even heard of until her name appeared on his RSVP.  (Which I found rather rude considering his invite was addressed purely to him with no plus one, bearing in mind the rest of his close family were all coming.)  As it is I only see him once every 5-10 years or so and wasn't overly upset when he said he would decline unless his girlfriend was invited too.  I just figured that he was obviously not that bothered about seeing us get married, whereas we have friends who do care and would love to be at the whole day.  He didn't come but chose to send above mentioned email just to make me feel bad.  Pretty glad he un-friended me on facebook as well since I can be doing without those kind of people in my life, family or not.  (I actually wanted to send him this article - especially the last few lines - but Nik likes to keep the peace!)

One of our chosen starters was changed without us knowing.  It was not at all tasty but all the other food was amazing.

My halter-neck was adjusted too tight and ended up digging in under my arms - by the time I realised how bad it was and tucked it in, I was left with sore red marks going up my chest!

The chair sashes were ordered from a specific company as they had the perfect matching olive green colour to complete the look of our ceremony room.  On the day, we had apple green with a blue-ish tinge which i noticed after and got a bit angry about (ridiculous I know and at least they weren't red!)

The champagne glasses didn't turn up and wasn't noticed until it was too late to get any more.  We had to use tumblers and wine glasses for the Bellinis and Champagne but people just pointed out they could fit more in!

Two day guests didn't turn up and didn't let us know (we noticed when we saw the empty seats at dinner (we had seated them near the front as well!) which was annoying not just because we had paid for their meals but the people on their table could have had more space if we'd known we could remove two chairs!  (When I texted from the top table to check everything was OK with them, was told they hadn't wanted to bother me on the wedding morning by texting! Would have much rather known!)  Also four evening guests just didn't turn up and we never heard from one couple again (had had a message on Facebook literally the day before from that one saying how excited they were to come!!) and the other apologised and said she would explain what happened and arrange to meet up and give us a gift - only to be never heard from again despite the occasional random fb comment. Why do people think this is OK?  (bothered about the rudeness of not turning up to someone's wedding without so much as an excuse, not about the lack of gift!)

Our 2nd photographer fell ill a couple of weeks before the wedding but our main photographer seemed convinced he would find a suitable replacement.  Sadly, most of his back ups fell through and the one we ended up with was not someone we would have chosen due to his more 'cheesy' style.  Reassured by our photographer that he would be doing all the editing himself we relaxed but on the day this photographer kept asking us to leave our wedding to travel to another local wedding venue to have pictures taken there!  We didn't want to go as we loved the setting of our own venue and didn't want to waste time travelling anywhere when we had specifically chosen somewhere we could stay at the whole day with our guests.  He then just walked off and left during the champagne reception!

Our photographer forgot to bring the photo list I'd sent him so ended up missing out quite a few of the photos on my wish list, I am mostly a little sad that we don't have a photo of us together with both families (parents and brothers).

The thing is, none of these things really mattered.  None of this managed to spoil our wedding day.  I surprised myself at how good I was at letting go and leaving everything in the hands of a few of our excellent suppliers and my godsend, Rebecca.  It's only now when I think back about our day that these things occasionally niggle at me, if only we had gone elsewhere with certain suppliers or chosen differently; Nik might have had the outfit we both wanted for him, I might have had my perfect green bouquet (instead of the yellowy posy I ended up with), we might have had a few more photos that I love.  But look what you can see in the ones I DO have...

Sorry the quality of some of them is poor, most were taken from facebook from our guests' photos!


You might think this is a rather vain post with all these pictures of me but I actually think most of these pictures don't do me any favours!  Look at all the double (even triple) chins!!  Plus I've always hated my gummy smile and how my top lip just disappears when I properly grin (although I do feel better about it now there's Paloma Faith)!  But I love them all anyway because just look at the emotion in my face!  I was literally smiling ALL day!  If I ever start thinking about the little things that didn't work out or wishing I had a photo of this or that - I just look at these photos and remember how I felt on the day and nothing can touch that.

Yes, eleven months of planning (or however long you have) does make the emphasis on one day so huge.  So much time goes into it and the fact these are decisions you might have agonised over or done hours of research into.  Some people may try and spoil it for you if they don't like your choices.  There are certain things you can't control (we were very lucky with the Glasgow weather considering it had been raining for weeks beforehand!) and some you can but at some stage you just need to let it go and enjoy it.

Besides, the only important thing about that day is coming away with a brand new husband!  You can see how happy that made me.