Sunday and Monday were seriously awesome days. The kind of days that makes me more obsessed with B than ever. The kind of days that make going back to work even harder and the thought of being away from B for 8 hours makes me want to cry.

We went shopping and spent wedding vouchers on two new board games, a candle that smells like Christmas in a pot and a picture frame on Sunday. Then after a super-duper lie in yesterday we went for a stroll round the French market that visits Bath every BH weekend. We ate Paella on a bench and scoffed crepes filled with Nutella (no time for pictures of the crepes. Must. Eat.) and Ben bought a hunkin' slab of nougat.

We got home, crashed on the sofa and watched a movie. Oh such a beautiful day. And oh how I love that boy of mine.

Apologies for the blurry picture. Was in too much of a rush to eat the yummy food.

I have a feeling this was Ben?!

Tyler with Humungousaur and Echo Echo, all in the ties he asked me to make them! (He's a pretty huge Ben10 fan, as you can tell from the PJs!)

Ty's picture of me with Humungousaur

Crafting on Saturday with our two scrumptious nephews was lots of messy fun as always. This week we started decorating birds but quickly Tyler decided to fashion portraits of us all out of felt, googly eyes and pipe cleaners and Coby tried to drink the glue. Ah kids. What fun!

Sorry for the little break in posts. This week has been mental... I've been designing our wedding album and it appeared to slip into being a bit of an obsession! In the last week I must have spent around 30 hours (at least) AFTER WORK designing it. As in get home, design, eat, design, bed. Bless B sitting on his lonesome for the week (our computer's in the living room too, but it's much nicer to squish on the sofa!) However, this did give him the perfect excuse to play Madden on the PS3 for hours, so I don't think he minded too much.

I finished it at about 1am this morning and have spent the morning uploading the designs and sending it off. Now we have to wait 7-10 days. We're so freakin' excited about it arriving I can't tell you.

In other news I had my first weigh in yesterday. I was feeling pretty slim and was pleased to see i'd lost 1lb. Despite my Nan giving us a box of shortbread (AKA my favourite). It's not much I know, but I don't have too much too loose and so I'm expecting it to come off pretty slowly. 1lb a week means a stone by Christmas though and that's my goal. I'm still feeling nice and motivated so I have high hopes of achieving this! I only ate two tiny slithers of shortbread over the week, which is a miracle. How are you other lovely "health kick" ladies getting on?

It's a Bank Holiday here on Monday, so three day weekend! Crafting this afternoon with my nephews and B and I are going on an actual shopping trip tomorrow. I can't remember when we last did that. We have vouchers from the wedding still to spend so are heading to Bristol on a spree. I seriously can't wait.

Hope you all have an awesome weekend too xx

Yup! That's me and my guy right there. In a published magazine. In all our wedding glory! Ok, so I write for this magazine and have had a column in it revealing the process of planning a homemade budget wedding ever since we got engaged, but that doesn't make it any less exciting. Everyone at work swooned over the pictures, which was very lovely and I've popped a whole stack in the post to family and friends who were all desperate for a copy.

I was a bit hesitant of including our wedding in the magazine at first, but it's a lovely thing to have and show our grandchildren one day, don't you think. I might even frame it and hang it as a reminder of our five minutes of magazine fame, hehe!

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! We had a nice lazy one, doing random bits and bobs and generally having an awesome time. Rather than our normal Sunday Walk yesterday we hit the park for a picnic with my sister and her guy. It was sunny for once and it felt nice to feel a warm breeze. Many stupid conversations ensued and lots of fun was had by all. A good end to a easy going weekend!

What did you all get up to?

I’m now going to do something scary. I’m going to announce that I’m on a diet. Crazy, right? I mean, why on earth do I want to give up two chocolate bars a day and all the joy they bring? Tight jeans is why. A husband who’s at the gym at least three times a week and then at footie every Saturday morning, putting me to shame, is why. So I figured a good way to scare myself into stepping away from the chocolate is to announce it to you all and then each week update you on my progress. Yes. A scary thought.

To help me on my way I did something I’m pretty sure is the number one shopping rule you’re not meant to break. I bought a pair of trousers that are too tight. I can get them on and do them up, but they're seriously uncomfortably tight. Rules are there too be broken though, right? And these trousers are damn cool. So cool that the thought of fitting into them is providing me with some much-needed will power. I’m thinking with Converse or my brogues or even heels, in oh-so-cool Parisian way?

I don’t want to loose much and I’m not going crazy. But I think a bit of cutting down is a good plan. I’m determined, so wish me luck. I need it.

Oh, my first weigh in is next Friday. I need to tell you that, so I can’t chicken out and hope you all forget…

I’ve mentioned here before that B and I are Board Gamers, and over the past few weeks we’ve managed to entice my Bro and Sis into the coolness that is Cranium Wow! Last Monday we gamed and lost…beginners luck for my Sis, I reckon. So last night we had a re-match. And lost again. Dammit. If you’ve never played this, you must. It’s awesome fun. Even when you loose. Twice.

Hello! Did Chinti and Parker sneak into my dreams last night and make exactly what I'm craving for winter? I think so. Check out their Autumn/Winter lookbook. Seriously awesome clothes. I'm desperate for this grey t-shirt. Pricey, but I'd wear it forever and it'll only improve with age. Plus you can feel good about spending your money with these girls - all their pieces are fairtrade and ethically sourced. That makes it OK to spend. Right?

I’ve done something crazy and bought our first Christmas presents. I know, I know. It’s only August. But B and I have decided that this year Christmas has to be different to ensure it fits in with our saving and trying not to spend too much money, and that means being more organised.

I read on someone’s blog a few months ago about having a handmade Christmas (I can’t remember who’s though, so let me know if you do and I’ll add the link!) and I really like this idea. B always makes chutneys and jams that we bundle up in hampers for yummy presents, but this year we’re going one step further and I’m adding some knitted goods to the mix. And anything we do buy we’re going get from charity shops where possible. Unless we find super duper bargains.

So this weekend I found our two beautiful nephews some awesome presents that will perfectly accompany the knitted hats and scarves I have planned. Some Thomas the Tank Engine booties for the winter for Coby (an aforementioned super duper bargain - £2.50 in the sale!) and some wicked dinosaurs for Tyler. He’s loving the dino’s right now and these crazy creatures were 50p each in a charity shop! And I got something for my sister…but that has to be kept secret!

So three presents down. Better get knitting now I suppose…

Another week gone, another Sunday walk. Distracted by cheesy films, lie-ins and mooching round town, this week’s walk turned into an early evening stroll which meant the tourists had gone and the parks were eerily quiet. And with pinky purple Converse on, the pinky purple flowers grabbed my attention and stood out against all the greens and browns.

I love where we live and I think we’re very lucky. It’s a two minute stroll into the hubbub of town in one direction, and two minutes in the other direction to the park and botanical gardens.

After a week of rather rubbish weather, yesterday bought some warmth and sunshine. It was good strolling weather. But it does feel more like September than August, with cooler temperatures and brown leaves lining the pathways. I love autumn. It’s my favourite time of year. Layering up in the chillier weather, the browns and oranges of the trees and the anticipation of Christmas. Bring it on I say.

I hope you all had an laughter-packed weekend. Ours was manic. But fun. A family trip to see Toy Story 3 in 3D on Friday (we all loved it!) Then back to my sister’s and a very late night indeed. Especially considering we were then up 4 hours later to head to Devon for another wedding.

We travelled down with my best mate Em and her awesome husband and got stuck in a lot of traffic. A lot. Another couple we know missed the wedding because of the queues. Savage. It was a fun day though and our friend Lizzy looked very beautiful and happy. The food was good. The company was good. Drunken husbands were mostly funny. As the designated driver, the long journey back at midnight was not so good though. But hey ho. We got to have a lie in on Sunday and sleep in our own beds, so it was worth it.

Sunday we popped into town and got some tasty treats for dinner, and we went for our Sunday walk. Which we haven’t done for a while, what with all the day trips, weekends away and weddings we’ve been to over the last few months. But now our schedule is clear of advance bookings. Awesome news. Time for impromptu lunches, meeting up with friends, shopping trips and more walks in the park. Hoorah.

FOOD THAT MAKES GIRLS HAPPY

THE RECIPE: Tomato, garlic and basil soup.

1. Peel enough tomatoes to line the bottom of your baking tray (sometimes I do this, sometimes not. It depends if I can be bothered).
2. Quarter them and place them in the tray.
3. Peel the skin off 3/4 cloves of garlic and place them in the tray.
4. Grab a good handful of fresh basil and chop. Then add it to the mix.
5. Chop a small red chilli and throw that in too.
6. Add a couple of grinds of salt and 10 to 15 grinds of pepper (I’m anal, so always go with 13)
7. Then glug a load of olive oil over the top.
8. Time to get your hands dirty and mix it all together so everything’s covered in the oil.
9. Place in the pre-heated oven (between 130-160°c) for about 1hr 30 mins. Or until it looks like the picture.
10. While that’s cooking, chop half a white onion and soften in a pan with some olive oil.
11. Add another clove of crushed garlic (yeah, we’re massive garlic lovers in our house)
12. Add a tbsp of tomato puree.
13. And if you want to, some chopped celery. Although I find that this leaves the soup a bit stringy, so nowadays I tend to leave it out. Whatever rocks your boat though, right?
14. Take it off the heat once it’s all soft and lovely.
15. When everything’s cool, it’s time to put everything in the blender. Add a sprinkling of sugar (to help even the acidity of the tomatoes) and a good splash of vegetable or chicken stock. Then whisk it all up until it’s smooth and lovely.
16. Pot it up and it lasts in the fridge for about 4 days. Oh, and tastes yummy.

Food is a massive love in our lives (B loves to cook it and I love to eat it) so I think I might make recipes a part of this blog. Recipe Corner maybe. Or something else just as cheesy and 1970s sounding. Any recipes you have conquered and made your own? Send ‘em over.

In our house B is the cook. He’s very clever when it comes to such things and in comparison I’m a total looser. But then he did a degree in food development, so this isn’t really surprising.

B owns the kitchen. Sunday afternoons are spent cooking up a storm. The dining table is covered in his favourite cookbooks/recipes. The iTouch gets hooked up and the kitchen becomes a hive of activity. No-one rocks the Cooking Dance like B.

He has taught me a few tricks of the trade. Not many I admit, but that’s more to do with my utter happiness with having food cooked for me rather than his unwillingness to pass on the secrets of yummy food.

I whip up a mean garlic butter that gets slapped on some fresh bread if we’re starving and want a real treat. It basically rocks. And I make a wicked tomato soup. B taught me how to make it and now it’s my thing. He loves it. I love it. And it’s practically calorie free, making it a pretty tasty treat if I’m being weird and trying to “cut-down.” My next post is going to be a recipe for this awesome dish. It’s insanely easy and I urge you to try it. If I can make it, a monkey could make it. Not that you’re a monkey. Obviously.

So, you know when I said a few posts ago that i'd finished the bobble hat i'd knitted and I joked how i'd be moving onto a jumper? It turns out that the next project (after a few practice workshops) in the awesome book i'm using to learn how to knit is in fact a child's cardigan, so I wasn't far off.

It's a pretty simple design and i've bought a very soft, very pink wool to make it in and have started with success. Now I just need a small child to give it to.

I'll keep you informed of my progress...

Inspired by Anna and Kathryn I'm playing along with my list of ten things I like...or want! Being the good girl I am I haven't been doing much shopping recently, so the chance to go on a fictitious shopping spree was pretty awesome.

1. This necklace... or this one...or this one - the perfect anniversary gifts, one might say (wink wink, nudge nudge)
2. The cooler than cool backpack
3. The much discussed yellow Converse
4. My absolute must-have camera
5. A genius photobook packed full of hen&stag weekend/wedding/honeymoon pictures from here
6. I have a bit of an obsession for anything with two little love birds on so would love these
7. Nothing better than a slouchy jacket like this to take you from summer to autumn
8. A yummy cupcake from here
9. This knitting pattern...and the ability to knit this well (not sure if I can buy that online though)
10. Finally, one day when I can afford to buy him such an insanely awesome gift I will buy B of these. He. Would. Freak.

Wow, it’s been a week since my last post! Whoops! Time is going crazy quick at the moment and last week was a very busy one for us at work, giving us only enough energy in the evenings to eat, laze on the sofa and sleep.

The weekend was cool though, kicking off with a surprise trip out for food - a real treat at the moment, so thank you B! Saturday was spent catching up on much needed sleep (we’d nearly forgotten what a lie-in was!) before an awesome, very late night out on the town. Then Sunday was spent eating BBQ thanks to my genius Papa before a round of Boules in the sunshine. Pretty sweet weekend really.

I also finally got round to chucking my Chucks into the washing machine for a much needed wash. I was pretty chuffed with how clean they came out and it’s helped me resist buying another pair (we’re pretty Converse obsessed in our house!) I am still desperate for my yellow high tops though...

I also gave B’s hand decorated Converse a bit of a dusting. I got my sis to decorate these awesome trainers as an anniversary present for B so he rarely wears them in case they get wrecked. I figured they were cool enough to deserve a picture.