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Today is a special day for two reasons.

Firstly, this is my 100^th post. I can’t believe I’m at this milestone already with this little blog. I’ve loved every minute of blogging so far and the opportunity it’s given to meet some awesome people from all over the world. Thank you to everyone who follows our adventures and leaves comments too. It’s thrilling to see a new message and I always appreciate your kind and funny words so much.

Secondly, today is mine and B’s sixth month wedding anniversary. I can’t believe how quickly the time has past and how completely awesome these months have been. Being married to that boy is the most amazing thing and I love being his wife more every day. I love you so much beautiful husband of mine xx

This is one of my favourite wedding finds. Our original 1950s American cake topper that I tracked down on eBay. It was a total steal and is just the prettiest thing. It sat on our simple wedding cake and now stands very proudly indeed on our bookshelf.

Things to smile about this week:

1. These lovely, old-fashioned Christmas tree decorations that I bought in the most awesome sweet shop ever. My family all come to our house on Christmas morning and our nephews will love having a Christmas tree treasure hunt with these little ones.

2. The snow. It’s completely freezing here this week and we woke up this morning to a little blizzard and a white covering over everything.

3. Finishing my Christmas shopping. That’s right people. I’m always pretty organised but I’ve never completed it all before December. And with three exceptions I’ve stuck to my vow to either buy from charity shops or local independent stores or to make presents myself. I think it’s the way forward and I’ll definitely be sticking to this next year.

4. Seeing my nephew Ty in town when I was walking home at lunchtime yesterday. He had just been on his first school trip to the theatre and was walking along, hand in hand with his little buddie, with all his school mates and teachers. I chatted to him as they walked and when I said goodbye Ty and all his friends waved and shouted bye very loudly. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

5. 4 weeks today it’s Christmas Day. It’ll be the start of our 11 day holiday from work, Father Christmas will have delivered lots of lovely presents and the house will be packed with the yummiest of food. Heaven.

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I’m a girl who loves her crafts. This is a well-known fact. But there’s one thing I wish I could do and that’s draw. I’ve recently developed a passion for illustrations and I’ve maybe spent a little too long scrolling through Etsy looking at some awesome prints. My current favourite has got to be Pop Pop Portraits.

Husband dearest if you’re reading this, your wife thinks that a couple’s portrait by the seriously talented Helena would be the most perfect first anniversary gift. Plus it goes rather well with the tradition of receiving paper, don’t you think? I’m letting you know now so you have some time to save the pennies.

Luckily for me, creative juices run throughout my whole family and my sister is one talented sista. These are some of her drawings. They decorated my hen party invites, our cake table notice and of course our wedding invitations. Which were just so so cool. I’ve asked her to draw me something for my Christmas present and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with. Having more artwork around our house is one of my aims for next year. More of which to come next week.

ps. Happy Thanksgiving to all the Yanks out there, including my Papa who’s currently in LA. I hope you all had a lovely lovely day x

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So it turns out that seeing your husband holding and talking to his baby nephew can knock you for six. One day that boy will be an awesome Papa. And I love him even more for that.

ps. Harry Potter rocked. In fact, I just got back from seeing it a second time. That's just the way I roll people.

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Things to smile about this week:
1. Going to see Harry Potter and the Deadly Hallows: Part 1 tomorrow. That’s right people. My name is Nell and I’m a Harry Potter nut. A serious nut in fact. Luckily I have a partner in crime in this passion. My Mum. We’ve both read all the books about 6 times, we stood in line at midnight to buy them and I booked our tickets to see the film about 2 months ago. I can’t tell you how excited I am.

2. The prospect of getting to meet our newest nephew on Sunday. We’re heading off on a little day trip with B’s parents so I’ve been busy knitting up some treats for him.

3. Seeing the Coca Cola “Holidays are Coming” advert on Tuesday evening. Yes, I know it only reflects the commercial side of Christmas, but I can’t help but freak out when I see it. A text conversation ensued between my sister and I exclaiming how awesome it was. Thank goodness there’s someone else out there as lame as me.

4. Receiving two lovely emails from the two lovely ladies who received my letters at the beginning of the week. They made my day, proving this letter writing malarkey is totally worth it.

5. And it may be a bit soppy but you know what, the royal engagement made me smile too. B’s far more cynical about the whole thing and thinks it’s only been announced to butter everyone up before yet another week of budget cut announcements, but I can’t help it. It’s the old romantic in me. Plus I can’t get over how big and bouncy Kate’s hair is. Sod being the future Queen of England, I just want her hairdresser please.

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So my little blog has won an award. The Versatile Blogger award, from the lovely Kellie. I'm not entirely sure what the award name means but a prize is a prize, right, so I'm taking it. I'm to link back to the person who awarded it to me, divulge seven things about myself, and pass it on to seven great blogs I follow (letting them know via a comment).

So here we go...

1. B is the only boy I’ve ever kissed and was my first boyfriend. I was the geekiest (so we all know that bit’s still true), most naïve girl ever and then I met B. He was a bad influence. But the two years at sixth form were some of the most fun of our lives. Even if my grades did plummet.

2. I hate cheese. I can just about tolerate a small amount on pizza and lasagne, but my worst nightmare is a grated cheese sandwich. Hello pukesville. This is tough when you’re married to the world’s biggest cheese lover.

3. My Dad is a Costume Designer so I’ve spent many a fun time in wardrobe departments around the world and found myself in some pretty random situations. I once had a conversation with Tom Hanks in the middle of a marshy field; when B and I were visiting my Dad in Berlin we ended up clubbing with Jackie Chan and his entourage and my sis, bro and I once went to a cinema in Prague with Bruce Willis.

4. I have an irrational fear that one day an insect or creature will get caught in my hair. This has led to a serious phobia of anything that flies or jumps. Birds, moths, grasshoppers, frogs. They all freak me out. Give me a spider any day.

5. I can’t eat dairy. Oak milk is my savour. Although I am partial to a soy hot chocolate.

6. When I was a kid, the other children in my class used to call us The Adams Family because we were a bit different to all of them. I think they meant it as an insult but we took it as a complement. My Mum installed in us the belief that unique and different is best. Plus, man oh man, we loved that movie.

7. My favourite colour is green. My favourite shade changes everyday.

I'm passing this on to:

Smallesthings
Fast Times in Munchen
Pocketful of Pretty
Crowley Party
Rose & Crown
Me, Myself & Jeff
A Mountain Bride

Pictures taken on Sunday when my sis and I took the boys to the park. It gets dark here at 4.30 now. And Ty's just in a t-shirt because he was running round like a crazy person for about half an hour before this was taken. Just in case you were thinking I was a terrible Auntie!!

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On Saturday we headed out for our birthday meal with my Dad and his lovely girlfriend Dee, who paid for our lunch as a treat. Awesome. I had the most yummy chicken salad with new potatoes, hard boiled egg, avocado and dough sticks. I’m drooling as I type this, it was so good. I also bought a little cake and we sang Happy Birthday very loudly.

So happy birthday for yesterday to my awesome Papa. You always make us laugh and are the least grown-up grown-up I know. Your accents are the best ever and no-one holds a fake pipe like you do. Thank you for being so generous on our big day and for giving the best Father of the Bride speech in the history of weddings. We always have hilarious adventures when we’re with you and you are hands down the most stylish Dad around.

We love you so much Pops xxx

Apologies for the blurry picture by the way. My camera is on the verge of death and only focuses when it feels like it. I have been a busy little saver however and will soon be purchasing my dream camera. More on that to come.

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Things to smile about this week:

1. The knitting bag my Grandma made me. Isn’t she clever? It fits everything in perfectly and looks so pretty. I tied this lovely vintage hanky to the handle to finish it off. I’ve been wondering what to do with that for ages.

2. Going out for a family lunch tomorrow. It’s my Dad’s birthday on Sunday so we’re taking him out for pizza. There will also be chocolate cake. Oh yeah.

3. The late afternoon sun shining on the trees. How can that not make you smile?

4. These awesome little mugs I found in the charity shop. For 50p each.

5. Writing two letters and sending one mammoth email as part of my pre-New Year resolution. Go me.

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Our Sunday walk was a little different this week and we were joined by my brother and his gorgeous kiddos having decided that a little trip to the duck pond was in order. We stocked up on bread, wrapped up warm and headed to the park.

The ducks loved our visit almost as much as we did and soon we were surrounded. To begin with Coby wasn’t overly sure about the ducks getting too close (ducks are pretty monstrous when you’re less than two foot tall) but he soon came round and we had to stop him from trying to stroke them like a dog. Teeny fingers can easily get mistaken for yummy bread in a hungry duck’s eyes, don’t you know.

Ty decided it was fun to throw bread in a puddle and watch the ducks get all muddy in pursuit of tasty treats and then got totally distracted by a little Moor Hen that had found its way into the pack. We played some football, gathered some conkers and hung off trees for a while before Coby decided it was far too cold for anymore outdoor fun, and we headed home. The ducks sure were sad to see us go, but I think we’ll be back pretty soon.

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The weekend was awesome. On Friday we ate some tasty tasty food (hello duck chow mein) when we went out for Andy's (my sister's boyfriend) birthday and on Saturday evening we went and watched the fireworks at our local university with B's parents and his brother and his girlfriend. We ate burgers and candy floss. It was brilliant. Lots of family fun was had.

Now Firework Night has been and gone, Christmas is really in the air. Most of the shops are now playing classic festive tunes and are stocked with shiny trinkets. And boy oh boy is it ever chilly. Bring on the woolly hats and mittens.

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This week has been a manic and stressful week. Work over the last couple of days has been pretty horrendous, so the arrival of the weekend is very welcome. It has meant that the little things making me smile have been more important than normal.

Things to smile about this week:

1. Finishing the first item for my shop. It’s a long way off launching (I’m thinking mid-January at this point) but this week I knitted and tweaked an idea I’ve been developing, into an item that will actually be for sale. I’m more than pleased with it and everyone I’ve showed it to loves it too. Tomorrow I’m working on another idea and I’m hoping that by Sunday night that one’s also been perfected. Our living room is currently covered in wool, as you can imagine. But look at the pretty colours.

2. Re-discovering this photograph. I’d been worrying about where it got to and then found it in a stack of other random pictures. It’s now framed and settled on a shelf. It’s one of my most favourite things. The only picture I have of me and both my parents from when I was small. It was taken at my first birthday. My parents divorced when I was 4 and this appears to be the only picture that survived with both of them in. It had been glued into my Baby Book and so slipped through the net. It’s both the happiest and saddest picture. Such a lovely time with both my parents and so much fun ahead, but the fact I only have one snapshot in the world of the three of us together is heartbreaking.

3. Birthdays and an excuse to go out to eat. We don’t often eat out at the moment, what with being good little savers, but birthdays offer the perfect excuse. It’s my sister’s boyfriend’s birthday today and some tasty food is a-calling. Happy Birthday to the awesome Andy. You rock.

4. The crazy wind. Yesterday morning I walked out of our front door to a blanket of leaves. No pavement in sight. The wind had been a bit mental on Wednesday night and blown off almost every leaf from the trees in front of our house. It was the prettiest sight and made walking to work like walking through a forest.

5. Being asked to take part in Natalie’s Friday Favourites and choose five of my most favourite things in the world. Pop over and check it out.

Has anyone else noticed the number of posts appearing in the blogosphere featuring inspiring sayings or mottos over the last week or so? Maybe it’s got something to do with the New Year fast approaching, and dreams and resolutions for 2011 being formed.

I’m normally not good at sticking to resolutions. For as long as I can remember I’ve had one and only one. Stop biting my nails. Well this year I did it. Full on stopped. I think the thought of gnawed nails at my wedding was the driving force. Not really a good bridal look. They’re not crazy long or anything, but there’s white at the ends. This is new for me.

Around April time I formed another resolution (yeah OK it was a bit late, but it’s the thought that counts). I decided that I needed to make more of a concerted effort to keep in touch with people. We have friends all over the place and sometimes the weeks of not speaking or emailing turn into months and before you know it it’s been a few years since you last saw each other. My hen weekend and our wedding meant we saw all our favourite people lots, which was the most awesome thing, so ever since I’ve been trying to keep up with keeping in touch. Even the odd text message is better than nothing, right? But the last couple of months have been and gone with not much writing at all. It appears my fingers have been too busy knitting and blogging. This has to change and I vow to write one catch-up letter/email a week. This is my pre-New Year resolution.

My Grandma is the queen of snail mail and has drawers stocked with writing sets and notelets, ready to send out. Just like this one. They are always pretty and say beautiful things. I have stacks of notes from her that I cherish and I plan to follow her lead.

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That weekend went way too quickly for my liking. After a long lie-in on Saturday and a quick trip into town it was time for a movie and Chinese from the best takeaway ever. Oh how I love veggie spring rolls. Then Sunday was an early start and lots of heavy lifting helping my Mum move flats. It took way longer than anticipated and after a quick visit to B’s parents it was time to get dressed up for Halloween.

As always my Nan did a brilliant job on the decorating front and everyone embraced dressing up. Which my nephews thought was completely brilliant. B and I chose the theme of Cowboys and Indians. Do you think I could get away with wearing a feathered headdress everyday?

We took Batman and a pretty scary pirate trick or treating and munched through way too much chocolate. It was a fun day and now it’s November. How did that happen?

Holidays are coming….