Ch ch changes

I've decided to leave Blogger and create my own blog in Drupal, well I say I've decided, I looked at my husbands blog and decided that I liked it better than mine. So I got him to create me a website where I can post my blog. So from now on my blog is going to be http://www.sarahbriggs.co.uk

I can't guarantee that I will update it regularly but you never know.

Bye Blogger, it's been nice having you for the past 7 years.

Cars and Cakes

Since my birthday the rest of 2010 has been a little uneventful, Christmas came and Christmas went. I received lovely presents including: Toy Story 1 2 & 3 on Blu-Ray, cake decorating ideas book, Outnumbered series 3, cake tins, star cupcake molds, 3 tier cooling racks, Radley Umbrella, Money, winter coat, chocolates, pasta set, Harry Potter & Deathly Hallows for xbox360, Stephen Fry’s autobiography and lots more. I spent Christmas morning opening pressies from my hubby and mine to him, which included a special surprise of a Magic Wand (the one that featured on Dragon’s Den) which he loved. We then went to my In-Laws to open more pressies and spend the day with family having a nice xmas dinner. Boxing day was spent visiting my parents and having another xmas dinner and opening more presents. The rest of the holiday was spent relaxing at home and new years was spent at home playing games and getting drunk with K’s friend Andy.

We are now into February and to be honest the last month or so has gone by in a blur. We got our new car at the end of January, again sticking with a Ford Focus (different colour) and it is very lush, even the radio speaks to you, which is very cool especially for hands free. I can now see out of the back window which is amazing, our last car had privacy windows and I hated them. It is very nice to drive and has parking sensors so no more accidentally crashing into walls, plus I’ve got better at parking.

I have decided that I need to brush up on my design skills so I’ve been following some photoshop tutorials in Photoshop Creative magazine, I’ve done 3 tutorials now and I think my first one is the best so far. I have also been baking, I’m getting rather good a cupcakes and I’m making my Nephews 7^th Birthday cake, which is going to be a Red Square Lego Brick. I’ve not worked with Fondant for a long time but I’m quite good with rolling out pastry so I don’t think it should cause too much of a problem.

Celebration

I wasn't expecting my next entry to be in 2011 but as you all know I'm rubbish at updating my blog. So I left off with telling you all about my birthday celebrations. After my trip to London my actual birthday was spent with my husband and family, we went to a local restaurant called Taybarns where you can eat whatever you want and however much you want. The choice is varied with something for everyone, which is why I like it there. Whether you want Fish, Pizza, Full roast, Chinese or BBQ they have everything not to mention a really nice salad bar and desserts, especially the profiteroles. Which is always a must have for the husband, my choice of dessert is usually hot with custard.

On the Friday night I went out in town with friends and a few work colleagues, cocktails in Olive to start then more cocktails in Vodka Revolution, a few drinks in Varsity then more drinks and dancing in Reflex (80's bar) a good night was had by all and no hangover the next morning. But I must confess that I don't get hangovers, ok I tell I lie I did have one once but that was after drinks lots of bottles of wine at a Christmas party and I was very very drunk.

To spin out my birthday a bit more on the Saturday night my husband and I went out for a meal to Frankie and Bennys with hubby's side of the family (my now in laws) this was also very nice and enjoyable. I really like F&B's especially their hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple to normal people) and probably 9 times out of 10 that's what I usually choose, I have been known to have Lasagne, which is also very yummy but usually it's the Pizza.

In October for an extra birthday treat my work mate Karen and I went to Birmingham to Cadbury world, this was amazing. It was like we were in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory the chocolate smelt and tasted fantastic. Even though we went the week before half term it was still relatively busy and it was a good job we had booked our tickets in advanced. There were a few school outings but they were all well behaved. When you first go in you get a free Curly Whirly and a packet of Cadbury Buttons, you then start the tour going through how the cocoa beans are produced and how Mr Cadbury started his own business and how it evolved. He initially went into the tea business before discovering that he could make more money from Chocolate, and I'm so glad he did, I'm not really a tea fan, more a coffee person and chocolate, see it's all in the bean.

You then get the opportunity to tour a little section of the factory where you get your next freebie, a bar of Dairy Milk. Now this bit of the factory tour is nicely sectioned off, you get the feel of what goes on in the mixing and the making of the chocolate but you only get to see a tiny little bit, this bit is when the dairy milk bar has been made and is going along one of about 15 conveyer belts to be wrapped and packed. But it is very interesting all the same and the smell of chocolate is sooooooo good. I think if I moved to Birmingham I would have to get a job there, I know what you are thinking, surely you would in time hate the taste and smell. Well you'd be wrong I could eat chocolate everyday, granted I'd be the size of a blue whale but at least I'd be happy.

Anyway moving on after the factory bit you get to be herded in to a little ride, imagine in Disneyland the "it's a small world" ride but instead of nice looking flowers etc you are greeted with weird looking cocoa beans dressed up doing various fun activities. I know this is the fun bit for the under 10's but these things are very disturbing, at one point I was rather scared. They have strange little faces and look almost "Mr Potato Head" like. You get to have your picture taken at the end of the ride for prosperity, that's if you succumb to their devilish prices. The ride travels at snail pace so I'm not quite sure why they thought that you would want to have your picture took at the end of the ride for, it's not like Alton Towers. But I'm sure there are parents from all over that have caved to their children's request and have got these pictures. After the ride you then walked back through the factory taking in the lovely smells again to the next part of the tour which was a series of rooms that depicted how the packaging and advertising of Cadbury products have changed over the years. This was very interesting and they had little interactive screens with quizzes that you could test your knowledge of tv adverts and when Cadbury chocolates were released etc.

The next part of the tour was in another building marked "Essence" this is where you watched another short film about how Mr Cadbury discovered the "glass and a half of milk in every pound of chocolate" and how the slogan and image has been used in marketing and advertising. After the short film we went into another room where you received a warm shot of melted chocolate, with a choice of topping. I went for rice crispies and it was very delicious.

Opposite Essence is Bournville world where there is a mini version of the Bournville village which Mr Cadbury built around the factory for all his workers and their families. There is more detail of one particular family and how they started working at the factory and how their family has grown and how to this day still live and work in Bournville. Also in this part of the factory it gives you an incite into how the hundreds are chocolate bars get packages and shipped out on large pallets. On the way back to the car we had to stop off at the Cadbury shop which was massive to buy more chocolate for ourselves plus friends and family. On the way home we stopped off at Nottingham retail park for dinner at F&B's. Yes you guessed it I had Pizza.

This was then the end of my 30th Birthday celebrations.

Brought to you by the Letter B and the numbers 3 & 0

I have now been in my 30's for over 2 months now (and its taken me that long to comprise this blog entry as well) I have to say it hasn't been all that bad, it was a little stressful on the day but I managed to cope. I also managed to spread my birthday celebrations over 3 weeks. First I had 3 days in the Isle of Wight, which was very nice but emotional as the main reason we were there was to scatter Nan's ashes, it was a really nice evening but very sad, to celebrate we spent the next day visiting all the places on the isle that she loved.

On the Sunday I got dropped off at heathrow and got my tube to Covent Garden where I was meeting my husband for 3 days in London. It is here where the real birthday celebrations were to begin, starting off with my first present, a visit to the Radley store for my bag, then to Russell and Bromley for the protector spray for the bag. Spraying a bag in the confines of your hotel room, where the window only opens a tiny bit isn't the best plan, having nearly gassed hubby with the spray we went out for tea to Garfunkles where I had a yummy pizza. We like Garfunkles very much their burgers and pizzas are very nice, it's a bit like Frankie and Bennys but down south.

The next day we did a lot of walking, which helped to burn the calories of the previous nights pizza, we started off at Covent Garden the walked the entire length of Oxford St to Marble Arch stopping in shops along the way especially Selfridges to have lunch in the Square Pie Co stand, their mash is amazing and the pies are better than Pukka. Our next journey was going down park lane where all the really nice car dealerships are, unfortunately they are mega expensive but nice to look at. Hubby enjoyed the car window shopping but decided that if we ever won the lottery then he would enjoy taking a trip to the Austin Martin dealership.

We followed the road then along Piccadilly to Waterstones where we stopped for a drink in the swanky lounge area on the top floor, the conversations at this bar are usually quite interesting. Not that I condone listening to other people's conversations, but it does make wonderful entertainment and you can gain a little insight as to what their lives are like. We decided that a Subway was on the cards for tea, but not before stumbling across Foyles book store. I had forgot there were one of these in London, we are Borders fans but since they went into administration we haven't found a good enough book shop for hubby to get really obscure computing books from. That is until now omg Foyles is massive the whole computing section is about as big as Waterstones in m'hall, hubby was in heaven and the staff were really nice too, a bit eccentric but friendly.

The next day we spent on another walking trip, again starting off in Covent Garden but calling in on the new addition to the shops, yes I'm talking about the new Apple store that has opened there. I sort of like it, but prefer the one on Regent St as they have a cinema like bit where you can listen and watch demonstrations on how to use stuff, and pinch their WiFi. After the Apple store we walked down to Jubilee bridge and crossed over the Thames. We walked along passed Blackfriars bridge to the Tate Modern. There wasn't much that took our eye their apart from an exhibition on Surveillance photography so we asked one of the information people where it was and she gave us free entry tickets (worth £10 each) I'm glad we got them free because it wasn't as good as I was expecting.

We then decided that we'd had enough culture and carried on walking back across over the Thames via Millennium bridge and headed towards St Pauls. We stopped for a cup of tea in Cafe Rouge then proceeded to walk along Fleet St and the Strand, back through Theatre Land to Leicester Sq where for tea I decided to treat my husband to an Häagen Dazs ice cream. Now this restaurant is amazing the flavours of ice cream are so nice, I had a Belgian Waffle Dream which comprises of a scoop of Pralines and Cream, a scoop of Dulce De Leche, a warm Belgian Waffle, Sweet Maple Syrup and freshly Whipped Cream. Hubby had his own creation. It was time to go back to the hotel after the ice cream. The next day was home time, but the celebrations didn't stop there. Tune in to my next entry to find out what I did in my actual birthday and my trip to Cadbury World.

Age is just a number

Yes I know I have been the world worse blogger these past few months, and I'm always coming up with excuses but last month I had a bereavement in my family my Nannan Jean passed away so my mind has been elsewhere. She was a remarkable woman, a bit scatty at times but that's what made her the best, she never said a bad word about anyone and she devoted her life to her family. She took all her 3 grandchildren on holiday in the caravan just about every year as we were growing up and every Saturday we went over to visit and she'd play games and put on a buffet tea, never complaining just happy surrounded by all her family. She will be dearly missed by everyone who ever met her but she is looking down on us and making sure we keep out of mischief, she is now free of pain and will be having a good ol chin wag with my other Nan. Love ya Nan xx

In other news my title of my blog will soon be a lie as on the 30th September I will be 30. In a way I'm looking forward to it as I'm spending 3 days in London with my hubby and going out drinking and eating wonderful food, but in another way I'm not looking forward to it as it means I'm not in my twenties anymore, I'm in theory a third through my life (that's if I live to be 90). But I'm planning on having a nice week of work and just enjoying the moment, plus my husband is buying me a Radley bag which I'm very excited about.

A name is just a name

How many places have details of your name? lots is the answer. You'd think of the obvious ones for example bank, passport, driving licence but I'd forgot about pension, national insurance, medical insurance. So changing your name takes forever. The list is endless and when you think that you have come to the end of the list you think of other things that are in your name and then you have to change them too, I'm sure there are loads that I have forgotten about and some that don't really matter.

Some places require your original marriage certificate, which fills me with dread, I don't trust the post service and I'm always scared that they will lose it, but so far so good, they are gaining back my confidence slowly.

I'm slowly starting to get used to being called a MRS and having a new surname, I'd got quite attached to my last one, well you do having been called one name for 29 years, so to suddenly have a new one it's gonna take time to get used to it. I saw it written down the other day by a work colleague and it took me about 5 minutes for it to register in my brain that it was me, and that it was me she was talking about. When I went to the bank to pay in a cheque she addressed me by my new name and asked me if there was anything else I needed, I just looked at her blank until I realised she was talking to me, then I just mumbled 'no thanks' and walked off.

I think every young girl has practised their signature when they fantasied about marrying a famous pop star or celebrity, me included I was convinced I was going to married Gary Barlow. But what I didn't practice was my new signature so when I had to sign it in the bank I was a little unprepared, thankfully it looked ok and I could remember how to do it for all the rest of my documents and cards.

It's Official Pt 2

I'm sorry that this part of the wedding post has been so long in coming, I could say I was creating suspense but I'd be lying, I just forgot.

So where were we.... oh yes the sun had come out, which was really nice so we could have some photos taking in the Peace Gardens in Sheffield, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Sheffield near the town hall are some fountains in the floor and surrounding them is waterfalls and seating areas, if there happens to be a wedding at the town hall it is customary to have photos taken in the surrounding area which in this case is the Peace Gardens. A nice backdrop for photos were the fountains and also the blossom trees.

We then set off to Tankersley Manor for the Wedding Breakfast and Evening Reception. On arrival we had drinks in the Conservatory and more photos taken in the grounds. The only problem I had was on the grass my heals decided they were going to embed themselves, which in a way was good it meant that everyone had to come to me if they wanted to join in on the photos.

The meal was lovely and the tables set out really nice, I was a little nervous about the speeches and had written my fathers speech for him, I knew he would have done a good job by himself but my dad can go on a bit and thought it best to write it for him. The groom's and best mans speech was nice and really captured our lives.

It was then time for the staff to turn the room round ready for the evening reception, so we all went into the lounge area. I then go the opportunity to change into my flat shoes as the heals I was wearing were starting to hurt.

The evening reception went really well, the DJ played all the music I asked for and more and there were lots of comedy moves going on, on the dance floor. We decided that we weren't having a first dance but just having our music played whilst we were cutting the cake, it ended up with the music being played whilst we were cutting the cake then a mad flashing of everyones cameras it was like being a celebrity being attacked by the paparazzi and me finishing off our first dance with my cousin which was nice also.

The night whizzed by and the only one left dancing at the end of the night with all the balloons he had accumulated was our 6 yr old nephew, I don't know where he got the energy from. So it was time to leave and check out our junior bedroom suite. It was amazing almost as big as our apartment, I'll not go into detail about our first night as a married couple some things are better left alone.

We had a wonderful day and was glad that all our friends and family could spend it with us, It's a day that I will remember forever. I haven't even stopped looking at the photos yet even though it's been a month.

I'm at a bit of a loose end now but I'm sure work and other things will keep me occupied might have to start organising my 30th Birthday which is in September.

It's Official

I'm Married OMG!!!!!

Well it has been on the cards for 5 years so I'm not really that surprised and I did organise it, but it is now real on Thursday 15th April 2010 I got married.

So let me tell you all about it... firstly on the Wednesday my cousin and I had 120 cupcakes to make which was a task, but turned out really well, I did all the measuring and she did all the mixing and we jointly spooned them into the cases, it was a well implemented operation, but don't fear we aren't going into business. I left her late afternoon to frost them as I needed to be at my mums for my nails and eyebrows doing by my chief bridesmaid. After inflicting pain my eyebrows were perfectly shaped and my nails were french manicured. Apart from having a little accident before two of the nails were dry everything was going to plan. I spent the night at my mums whilst Hubby to be was having a Poker and Games night with the lads.

After a restless night, I'm not used to sleeping in a single bed, it was Wedding Day. I had a small breakfast and only 2 cups of coffee, didn't want to drink too much as I wasn't sure how I was going to manage toilet breaks in my dress. My mum went off to the hairdressers and I had a relaxing morning watching Friends on TV. Kelly my Chief Bridesmaid came over to do my hair and makeup then helped me into my dress, flowers had arrived and everyone was ready, we had time to have a few photos taken, then the car arrived to take us into Sheffield.

We arrived outside the registry office in Sheffield with about 30 minutes to spare so we had quite a few photos done outside, including one of me with Spiderman and Batman who were collecting for charity. I had to make sure that I didn't have any photos taken with my hubby to be as it is bad luck.

So at 2pm we were ushered into the Town Hall and me and the hubby were called into see the Registrar were she told us what were going to happen. The ceremony was really nice as I was saying my vows I was trying not to look at K not because I was tearful but I knew if I looked at him too much we would both break into fits of giggles, so we only looked at each other for a little while.

After the ceremony we went out into the Peace Gardens to have more photos taken by the fountains and was blessed that the sun had appeared.

More to follow.......

Hen do

It's been a few weeks now since my hen do, I've been really busy I've not had the time to update my blog. The night started off with getting ready then a tram journey to the local shopping centre where I was meeting family and friends in Frankie and Bennys for a meal. My chief bridesmaid had already been to the restaurant earlier that day to make sure they had all the stuff, there were goodie bags for my guests and I had an extra special bag complete with veil tiara, pink fluffy L plate, pink feather boa, shot glasses and a Disney princesses balloon, which by the way is still inflated now.

After the meal I said bye to some of my family whilst the rest of us went into Sheffield city centre to meet up with other friends to start the drinking. We went to lots of bars and pubs and ended up in the Ledmill. I had a great night out and my chief bridesmaid did me proud, and no sweaty stripper in sight thank god!!

So the wedding is only just over a week away, I can't believe it's come round so quick, but thankfully we are just about sorted. The table plan is done, favour boxes are made just have to put the chocolates in them and tie them up, we have been today to get K's nephew his suit, he looks so cute and a proper little bobby dazler. I went to pick up my dress from Trisha the alterations lady, she has done a brill job with my dress and it fits really well, it is now stored at my mums.

My cousin is making my cupcakes as marks and spencer don't make the vanilla and strawberry ones anymore, which I find odd as you would think that they would be one of the most popular flavours. I'm going to be helping her the day before making sure I've got time to have my nails and eyebrows done.

The flowers, balloons and car have been sorted, so everything is nearly ready, what am I going to organise once the day has been and gone??

I'll keep you posted over what happens in the next few days.

A post a month

It's looking like a post a month on my blog lately, but again I have my excuses - it is only 6 weeks till the big wedding day. I am quite looking forward to it now and I'm not too stressed.

I got the call this week from the bridal shop that my dress has arrived, which is exciting so my mum and I went over for a fitting. It fits really nice apart from on the bust where it is too big so I will have to have alterations and my shoes that I bought the other week match really well, and I got my Tiara which is really pretty.

The woman in the shop asked me if I had booked in with "Tricia" I answered no, I don't even know anything about Tricia, the women looked shocked and said that someone should have explained to you that you would have to have alterations done and to book in with Tricia, oh and that there will be a charge. Well nobody told me this back in November. You would have thought that when you are paying a lot for a dress the alterations would be done in house and for no extra cost. Apparently most dress shops do this, it's all a money making affair, I think I'm in the wrong job!!!

Thankfully I gave Tricia a call the next day and I'm booked in on Monday. I had previously booked the day off work because it is the Oscars the night before and last year I forgot to book the day off and I was dead to the world. But having to get to Tricia's for 10 o'clock having already picked my dress up from my mums it is going to make me more tired, as I'm guessing I will only be having a few hours sleep, unless the Oscars gets boring.

I started making the favour boxes at the weekend which are coming along nicely, apart from it took me just over an hour just to make 20 and I've got a further 40 left to make, plus i need to get a few more boxes of chocolates and the ribbon. I'm going tomorrow to confirm the flowers and go to the party shop to see if they have the balloons I want and that they have helium. So everything is coming together.

I'm having my Hen night in Sheffield a week on Saturday and I'm totally at the mercy of my chief bridesmaid, it's a good job I trust her, but I hate not knowing anything. In our office I'm used to knowing everything that is going on, me being quite a nosey person, so when your chief bridesmaid is e-mailing all your friends, I get very paranoid and scared of what they have planned for me. We are going for a meal first at Frankie & Benny's then into town for cocktails and lots of drinking. I did the sensible thing and have my hen night the same weekend as K is having his stag do, but his is in Newcastle. At least when I come home very drunk I will be able to make as much noise as I want and have the double bed all to myself.

Nom Nom

Last night K and I want to Tankersley Manor where we are holding our wedding for a tasting session. I assumed that we would get to taste small bits of our pre-selected menu; we could taste 3 starters, 3 mains and 3 desserts. We had made the decision to have the duo of Melon as starter already, but the wedding planner had said, "Well you might as well taste it". We were undecided on the main course so we chose to taste Chicken wrapped in bacon, Turkey and Lincolnshire Sausage and Mash. Then for dessert we chose Strawberry Cheesecake and Crème Brulee.

I was so sure we would only get small taster bites I keep on saying that I would have a Happy Meal from Maccy D's on the way home, how I was wrong.

Once announcing our arrival at the reception desk we were told to go through to the restaurant area, we were seated and offered drinks, water and a bread roll, which has just come out of the oven and was very yummy, I even had half of K's bread. I love hot bread with loads of butter.

The waiter then brought our choice of starter, the melon. First off it was a full potion, thankfully we were sharing, it was very nice, watermelon and honeydew melon with raspberry coulis and melon sorbet.

I said then to K, it's all right they won't be full potions of the main course, oh yes they were, and they were equally as nice, but after much deliberation, we made the decision to go with the Chicken in bacon with roast potatoes and seasonable veg. I had already made the decision that I wasn't having Sausage and Mash at my wedding but thought what the hell I’m going to taste it anyway, I was quite surprised on how nice the Sausages were, I’m not one for fancy food and sausages with bits in are not my preferred choice but I really enjoyed them. But mash shouldn't be served with cabbage in it unless it is in a fry up, left from Sunday dinner.

So I was pretty full by this point and I had to tell the waiter to give us a few extra minutes before he brought us our desserts. K and I had sort of pre selected our dessert, as for the evening buffet I wanted Chocolate Éclairs but he wanted Lemon Torte, and for the sit down meal I wanted Crème Brulee and he wanted Strawberry Cheesecake, so we came to an agreement that if I could have Chocolate Éclairs then he could have the Strawberry Cheesecake, but we would taste both the cheesecake and brulee.

They didn't have the Vanilla Crème Brulee as advertised on the menu but a Baileys Crème Brulee, well I wasn’t sure where the Baileys were in the dessert but it tasted lovely all the same, but the Strawberry Cheesecake blew it out of the water, put it this way I only had 2 small mouthfuls as K had claimed it.

So after coffee's we were pretty full, fit to burst and content, having both really enjoyed our free evening out. No need for a Happy Meal. I am now satisfied with our choices and I am looking forward to the food at our wedding. I will just have to have a bib so I don’t get gravy down my lovely dress.

January snow

I know it's the last day of January and that I've not really stuck to my new year resolution of keeping my blog updated, but in my defence January has been a very busy month and it's flown by in a bit of a blur. It seems like Christmas was ages ago.

The whole of the UK was covered in the white stuff, yes SNOW!! and we had loads. I know the UK is notorious for lack of preparation and prediction, but the weathermen said snow is coming and it did, was we prepared? NO - there was a salt shortage and as a country we were running short on grit. But that's ok we can all get stuck or go sledging.

I quite like snow, but I only like it when it has been undisturbed and it makes the trees look like a fairy tale. What I don't like is when it is mucky and makes everything look dirty, that's not a nice fairy tale scene. On the day that the world stopped, (well it seemed like it at the time) I managed to get into work but as more and more snow fell the buses stopped running and people started to try and make it home, where was I? I was still at work. You see I work for a University and the only time they shut is never. I wouldn't mind but the students hadn't started back yet. I have to give them some credit they did say we could go home at 2:30pm which was nice of them. Thankfully the Supertram was still running (it runs in all weather, apart from flooding and even then it tries) so I could get home.

So wedding preparations are going well, I bought a 5 tier cupcake stand which is acrylic, and it turns out we don't have to make too many evening reception invites now, as I can put one up in the office and send out an e-mail and get them to reply on the website. It's amazing how many things we now can do with the capabilities of e-mail and the Internet, but it does take away a little of the traditionalism. Cupcakes need to be ordered in March and flowers are in hand, I'm having Cream/Ivory Gerberas and Roses with diamonties in the bouquet to match my dress. I had one florist quote but need another few in the town where my mum lives rather than where I live. I've still got to sort out my bridesmaids which hopefully I'll get chance to do soon. Well I'm going to have to make myself get it sorted as it's only about 11 weeks to the wedding and it's getting a bit scary now.

We are going for a tasting in a couple of weeks to decide on what we are having for the wedding breakfast, I think we have decided on the starter and main but the dessert is the hard part they have so many nice choices.

I'll let you know what we choose.

Oh Dear

Like the title says Oh Dear! I've not done very well at keeping this blog updated, only 8 posts in 2009. Well again I will promise to update this more regularly and hope that 2010 will see more than 8 posts.

A lot has happened since my last post, we have just had Christmas and this year I've been a good girl so Santa brought me presents and some lovely ones too. I got a new Nikon Coolpix camera in Pink, Take That Circus tour live on BluRay, A cake piping set, Cupcake book, Clothes, PedEgg, smellies, DKNY Delicious perfume, Lets Dance for my Wii, Chocolates, Michael Buble Cd, True Blood books box set, Bag and lots of other nice goodies that I can't remember. We went to Mum-in Law's for Christmas dinner which was nice and got to watch our 5 yr old nephew open his presents, then boxing day went to my Mum's for another Christmas dinner and some more opening of presents.

*Wedding Update* I have picked and ordered my wedding dress back in Oct so hopefully I will be getting a phone call in the new year to say it's arrived, also quite recently we have bought our wedding rings which are really nice. So all the wedding stuff is coming together I'm currently in the middle of making the invites, we ordered all the card and paper from a company in Nottingham and so now all we have to do is print, cut and stick. The only problem is that we are going through UHU glue rollers like there is no tomorrow, but with half done it's not too bad.

Back in October I decided to have a break from my studies, with the wedding and work commitments it was hard to balance them all so I decided to temporary withdraw from my masters, and I'm glad I did there is no way I would have coped with it all. Hopefully I will pick it back up in September 2010.

I think I've brought you up to date. Happy New Year and my first New Years Resolution is to update my blog more regularly.

Blockbuster

We have decided that we are having Marks and Spencer Strawberry and Vanilla cupcakes as our wedding cake, but I'll need 25 packs of them but M&S have said they can do this but obviously not until nearer the date, which makes sense as they will go off. My decision for this is that with the cost of buying the ingredients and the time etc and the fact that I'll be mega stressed, plus I'm not convinced that I'll do a good enough job, it will be cheaper in the long run. The ones in M&S are amazing with a dollop of strawberry jam in the middle...Yum.. yes we had to sample first.

We have also decided on Tankersley Manor for our Wedding Breakfast and Reception, just got to save for the deposit now.

I've also joined Blockbuster video store this week, they have an offer on at the moment rent 4 movies for 4 nights for £10 so I got the following Blu-Ray movies over 8 nights. I have also rated them.

17 Again ****

Marley and Me ***

Role Models ***

I Love you Man **

Frost/Nixon ***

Bride Wars **

New in Town *

He's just not that into you *

I think the only one that I will watch again is 17 Again all the others we ok but not fantastic.

To try and get into shape for my wedding I have started the Davina dvd, so for the first 30 mins I did Pump. I have never been so exhausted in my life and my face was the same colour as a beetroot, it took the same amount of time to cool down as it did to do the exercise, and omg did my thighs hurt for the next two days after. It was agony just getting up and down from my desk at work, I felt like an old woman. So three days later I embarked on my next 30 mins session, for this one I did Cardio Box. Again my face was very red but I think I like this one better, it involves lots of punching which I like and skipping with an imaginary rope. So back to Pump on Monday or Tuesday.

Here comes the Bride Pt2

Well back in July 2008 I mentioned that I was getting Married, this is still the case but it's now more final. The ceremony has been booked at Sheffield Registry Office for the 15th April 2010 at 2pm, and we are looking at nearby venues for the Wedding Breakfast and Reception. So far we have looked at Tankersley Manor and The Garrison in Hillsborough. They are both really nice but very expensive. So at the moment I'm looking around a bit more. My invitations have been designed by myself, as I'm making them and I've decided on my cake which I'm hoping that my cousin is going to help me make, I'm wanting individual cupcakes tiered and a medium sized cake at the top. My theme colour is Cream and Apricot and my Grandad has offered to buy my dress I've just got to get to my weight goal to fit into it, so I've bought Davina's 30min workout to help me. My partners brother is going to do the photography so that saves a bit of money and that he is really good at taking photos so I know he will do a good job.

Nothing much else to report just really busy at work and getting myself prepared for starting my PostGrad Diploma in September, I passed my PG Certificate, but I was in two minds over whether to carry on, but work pay for it and next year will be easier as I know what to expect and hopefully will be able to manage my time a bit more and organise my wedding, so I thought it was silly not to carry on.

ET Phone home

Again yes it's been three months since the last post, I will give myself a slap later. We now have a carpet in the bedroom which is a blue/grey/brown colour, it is very nice and doesn't get mucky as much as the cream one did.

We had our annual trip to London back in June, which was for the @media conference that K goes to, and a shopping/sightseeing trip for me. As I have been going to London for the past 4 years I have done most of the Museums that I'm interested in but have never been to the British Museum so on one of the days that K was at the conference I took myself off to the BM, it was handy that it was about 5 minutes from the hotel so I stopped in for a Starbucks coffee first, they are everywhere in London, we have about 10 in Sheffield but London must have about a trillion. So off I went camera in hand to the BM, I was really impressed with the museum but was a little disappointed at the lack of British stuff, yeah there were Roman stuff and a few British monuments but after seeing the 20th Mummy or the 50th Greek Vase I was quiet bored, plus I think I must have got lost about 15 times. The main highlight was having a argument with a German man, he was stood in front of the Rosetta Stone and was taking like a million photos, all I wanted was one then I could get on with looking at all the other crap, but would he move.....nope so I made myself very clear and barged my way in, I think he was quite surprised by my actions, what is annoying is that when I look at my photos of the stone, I can see his ugly face in the glass reflection.

The other day that I was free to please myself in London was spent mainly on the stupid London's Docklands Light Railway, in my attempt to get to Greenwich. all was going well on the journey from the Strand to Blackwall on the bus, then after finding that there isn't a bus from Blackwall to Greenwich all i was left with was the DLR, this started off well making my way to Poplar then the man over the tannoy said cross over to the other platform for trains to Lewisham and Canary Wharf, which was the way I needed, what he failed to tell me was that there were also other trains that went to Stratford, so I got on the first train that appeared only to realise I was going up instead of down, so after about 5 stops I decided to get off and get on the next train going back down, but this was easier said than done, there wasn't any trains going to Lewisham, but ones going to All Saints so I got on one of them, so in the end I made it to Canary Wharf and at this point I had been travelling over an hour from when I left the hotel. I was about to give up ever getting to Greenwich Maritime Museum when a train with Lewisham came, so off I went, got to the Cutty Sark and started to feel a little ill and couldn't find any signs for the museum so I gave up that, got on the river boat as I wasn't going on the DLR ever again in my life and made my way back to the London Eye. I'd never been on a riverboat on the Thames so was pleasantly surprised, to my annoyance though the boat was full of french foreign exchange children, which was quite amusing to listen to their conversations.

The rest of the holiday was really nice, the weather was fine and much food and drink was consumed. My only celebrity spotting, and it wasn't anyone that famous either, was sitting next to one of this years Big Brother contestants Sophie I think her name was, (the one with Lupus) in Eat on the South Bank.

Prior to London I upgraded my phone to a iphone 3GS which I love and it did prove very useful in London, being able to check my Oyster Card credit and get access to the Internet was a god send.

Oh I was on the Leicester Square Web cam, I came across the web cam a few weeks ago and when I told my colleague at work she said "oh my god you so have to go on that" so I was stood there phoning back to my friend in the office saying can you see me? when I got back in the office I had waiting for me was a print out of myself stood in Leicester Square, which was rather cool.

Things that are broken

This past month it seems as though everything we own has broken, it started with the smoke alarm at stupid o'clock beeping and beeping, I took out the battery but still it beeped, forgot it was on the mains too, so as to not cause annoyance to the neighbours I disconnected it, making a mental note to get a 9v battery the next day, so the next day came and we went food shopping only to forget to buy a battery the one thing we needed. So it was another shopping trip to get the battery and all is well with that.

The second thing to go wrong was our water cooler, that decided it was going to get hot instead of cold, then totally give up the ghost so that got binned, I ordered another one from Amazon, and received the usual series of emails, you order had be placed, our order has been verified, your order has been dispatched etc etc. So there I was eager awaiting my purchase the estimated delivery date came and went no red ticket in the mail, nothing. It was only when I checked amazon it said it had been delivered, and gave me the tracking number, well I went to the delivery companies site and there it confirmed that it had been delivered, but I had been in all day on the day it said but there wasn't any buzz at the door or any knock. So where was my purchase, I thought one of our neighbours had taken it in, but still no-one came, it was only till later that night I checked outside our door that I found my purchase, just left there no note, no knock or anything. Thankfully we live in a block of apartments and there is only 2 apartments on the ground level, but we don't use the front door very often as we come in the patio doors as the main front door is up stairs off the main road, but it all ended ok.

The next thing to brake was our hot water heater, I was on my way to bed around midnight to find my bedroom carpet soaking wet, at first I was unsure where the water was coming from until I realised that it was coming from the heater. What do you do at Midnight? well I rung my insurance company thankfully they have a 24hrs hot line and our management company who also have a number for emergencies, well the guy on the other end of the phone was almost helpful, I think he was a little pissed off I was calling him, and disturbed his peaceful night, well he helped me turn off the water then all we could do was get some sleep and call the insurance people the next day, they were really good and sent someone straight away to sort out the carpet, we then got someone in to sort the heater, thankfully we could get cold water but no hot, but the only annoyance was the amount of money it was gonna cost, apparently we were meant to have the heater serviced every year but we weren't told this so the build up of gunk has cause it to brake, and it wasn't claimable on the insurance, at least we were covered for the carpet, the wardrobe and chest of drawers, which were also water damaged, but at least the new one doesn't have this anode thing on it so it is guaranteed for 25 years which is good. The only issue now is that the people who installed it haven't tightened the thermostats enough and it is slightly leaking, not major thankfully, towels are stopping it, and they are coming out on Wednesday to fix it. At least I now have hot water yippee. All I need to do now is go and choose a carpet.

Cinderella went to the Ball

To be more precise Sarah went to the Masquerade Bad Taste Bear Ball. Didn't manage to get the dress but went in Gold sparkly tights, black skirt and a new top. My mask was finished in time but the bloody glitter went everywhere, and why after 2 weeks I'm still finding bits even in the most unlikely places where the glitter didn't touch.

The event was held at Bramall Lane where Sheffield United play, now I'm a Sheffield Wednesday fan so this wasn't going to be the perfect venue, but the room was ok and the food was slightly edible, a selection of wraps, sandwiches, potato wedges, tortilla chips and a selection of nice desserts. We still felt the need to visit the chippy afterwards though.

The event bear was called Fanny and she was a Burlesque dancer. I did well at this event as I only got a further 5 bears for the collection, we haven't been purchasing as many this year, due to the credit crunch and the fact there hasn't been many bears that we both like.

The entertainment for the night was two Burlesque dances going by the name of Missy Malone and Lola. They both did 2 dances each then a dance together at the end. Miss Malone was ok, a former belly dancer she looked the part with nipple tassels intact but the other girl Lola wasn't that good, she was too skinny and for a burlesque dancer you would have thought that she would have had a decent pair of boobs, but no they were flatter than a pancake. Maybe Miss Malone was making up for the pair of them.

I entered by Mask into the mask making competition but didn't even come close to winning, but I'm not really surprised as they were quite a lot of really good masks, and you could tell that more than 2 days worth of engineering had gone into them. At least mine has pride of place on the bookshelf in the office.

The next Bad Taste Bear event is in the summer at Warwick Castle, which also co-insides with the 10th anniversary of BTB so there will be a special bear to mark the occasion. We haven't decided if we are going yet, but we probably will be.

Egg tastic

Again I've fallen into that trap of not updating, but fear not I will try to do this more often.

So what I have been doing? mainly writing essays for my masters which is slowly doing my head in, trying to study, work and all the house/family stuff is taking it's tole. I wouldn't recommend distance learning, it is pants. Thankfully I've only got 2 more essays to write and that's the first year done, I will have a postgraduate certificate, and to be honest I'll be glad to finish with just that, forget the diploma and the masters just give me the cert, but I'm guessing that my family won't let me. It will be like the rest of my life, doing stuff for other people and not for myself, don't get me wrong I enjoyed doing my degree but the added pressure to do well from my family wasn't enjoyable.

Happy (belated) Easter to all, thankfully I only got 2 Easter eggs this year, which I'm glad about as I've been experiencing a slight blip in the weight watching front. Don't worry I've not put it all back on, but I now weigh the same as I did Christmas week, so in 4 months I've been up and down more times than a yo yo, so stating this week I'm back onto pointing big style, so hopefully in a couple of weeks I'll have hit the 3 stone barrier, and I'll be back on the right track.

As mentioned in my last post I was seeking a dress for the ball, well this Cinderella story isn't happening, yes I am going to the ball, but it won't be in a dress, probably the trusty black skirt and a new top, if I can find one that I like. I have started on my mask though I will post a picture when it is finished.

Frosty the snowman

Well it has been snowing all last week and tonight we have more of the fluffy white stuff. It was fun for a while but now it's just damn annoying, all the world stops for a bit of snow. Schools were shut, trains and buses cancelled but thankfully the Supertram was still in action. The only thing that has been the most annoying is that I've been able to still make it into work, it's taken that little bit longer but still I've been there, whilst other people work from home (well they try to log on then give up and go back to bed or to the TV) I'm not bitter honest.

This weekend was the two local football teams clash in a Sheffield Derby. These teams are well known for hating each other and already this year Wednesday have been the better team and won one clash, but this weekend they did the double. Sheffield Wednesday beat United 2-1 at Bramall Lane. This, on the back of a 1-0 victory for the Owls at Hillsborough earlier in the season, gave Wednesday their first double over United since the 1913/14 season. Well deserved as well.

Another good thing that has happened is that the next Bad Taste Bear mini event is to be held in my home city of Sheffield, it's about time really I was getting a little sick of travelling all over the country for these little fellas. The only issue, well 2 issues really. One it's at Sheffield United football club and being a Wednesday supporter it's not ideal but having done the double as mentioned above it will be bearable (no pun intended). Two the theme of the event is Burlesque / Masquerade Ball. Although fancy dress is optional, this event is smart dress too. So I've got to find a cheap ball gown in fat size, good luck I here you cry. What would be perfect is that if I looked like Jennifer Connolly in Labyrinth and had her dress, but that's not going to happen between now and the 18th April. I'll keep you posted on the costume hunt.