Love and Lust this week - 27.01

We made mini lasagne after seeing them on Pinterest. Instant love!

I'm loving...

• This tutorial for making a mini album out of wedding cards. I've been wondering what to do with all of our beautiful cards and this may be the answer
• Making plans for the year ahead. So far we've booked a cottage for Matt's birthday weekend and bought tickets for Kapow Comic Convention in May. Oh and the theatre next week!

I'm lusting after...

From Etsy

  These are just plain awesome. It's such a clever idea and they look beautiful yet geeky. Perfect combination.

From Hunter

I love the colour of these. They are beautiful. They are also £79 though and I cannot justify them. I will just have to lust after them from afar.

From Etsy

I am a big fan of octopuses especially when they're this pretty. I'm also on the lookout for new cushions so if I'm too lazy to manage the DIY cushion from last week then this could be a possibility.

Wednesday Challenge Update (on a Thursday)

The books

Image from Goodreads

 Room - Emma Donoghue

I loved this book. It's not my usual read but part of this challenge is to broaden my horizons so after seeing so many people raving about it I thought I'd give it a go. I was not disappointed. The whole book is written from the perspective of 5 year old Jack and this makes it a refreshing read. If I had to criticise the book the only thing I could say is that it didn't make me cry. Everywhere I read about it there was at least one person warning others that this book will make you cry. But that would be my only criticism and that's not really the books fault more like other people's for giving me that expectation.






The films

Image from IMDB

 The Artist (2011)

This film is amazing. I usually avoid films that have this much hype surrounding them as I tend to be disappointed when I watch them. I'm so glad I saw this though. It was a delight to watch, I didn't miss the talking at all and I loved the sound decisions they made. The story was beautiful as were the actors and pretty much everything else about this film was too. Can you tell I liked it?

Image from IMDB

Love and Other Drugs (2010)

This is a film I had intended on seeing in the cinema last year but it just didn't happen. I only got the chance to see it now because a friend lent me the DVD. I'm grateful that she did because I really enjoyed it. It was a sweet film with a nice storyline and plenty of chances to perve on Jake Gyllenhaal.

Image from IMDB

 Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)


This film was awesome. The apes freaked me out a little because everything is so detailed and lifelike and I wasn't too impressed by the ending but those things aside I really enjoyed the film. It had a heart warming storyline and I found myself turning my back on my own species and cheering on the apes most of the time. Confession time - I've never seen any of the original Planet of the Apes films! Matt has promised to rectify this though so expect to see at least the first one on a challenge update this year.





 

This week I am so grateful I started these challenges. They're really giving me the push to experience new things and step outside of my comfort zone. I just hope I can keep this up.

Current progress 4/50 books and 5/50 films

That Tree....

So a couple of years ago on one of our first (if not the very first) Sunday adventure to a National Trust property we took photos. So many photos. One of these stands out to me. We hadn't been walking too long when we saw the most perfect tree ever. That may sound a little strange, it seems a little strange typing it so I'll forgive you if you think I'm pretty odd right now. The tree had such a lovely shape and it's on the edge of a hill so has a fantastic view. We decided to stop there and have a picnic beneath it, it was that good of a tree. And then, me being me, I wanted a photo of us and the tree. It's just a silly self timer shot but it remains to this day one of my most favourite photos of the two of us. I should probably just stop talking and show you it. So this is the photo that we took on that day....

There. Doesn't that just scream nice summer day and two people in love? Well it was a nice summer day and we were very much in love. This photo just makes me smile. But anyway, the reason I'm writing this post is that we went again today to that area and to that tree and once again I wanted a photo. Now, no photo could ever beat that first one but I do love this one too....

I love the stark contrast between Summer and Winter. I'm now determined to get identical shots in Autumn and Spring to create a nice display of love through the seasons. This tree just inspires creativity and still looks beautiful without its leaves. That is why it is a fantastic tree!

Sunday Adventure 22.01

Today was a good day. A short but sweet Sunday adventure. We started the day by eating breakfast out. If I had to choose one meal to eat out for I would always choose breakfast and it's something we've been doing less than I would like recently. After breakfast we headed to Dyrham Park for a walk in the beautiful (but very windy) weather. Not many photos were taken by me for once (in fact Matt took the one above) and nearly all of the ones we did manage to take were of this tree. I'll try and describe the significance of this tree in another post but one thing we did try and do was take a picture of us under it. Here's an out take of our attempts...

I put the camera too far away and so couldn't run back in time before the self timer went off! I still quite like it though. A little later in our walk I managed to take this beauty though that has become my 366 for the day...

So there it is then. Another fantastic Sunday adventure to finish another fantastic week of marriage.

Love and Lust this week

Matt bought this awesome book today, it's from 1897 and I love it!

 

I'm loving...

• This tutorial for a stencil pillow. It's beautiful and one I must attempt. I just need to think of a quote I'd like on it. 
• Impromptu date nights with my husband where we get drunk and have fun even if we have to get up early and work the next day
• Sherlock on BBC. Technically the finale was on last week but we only watched it on Tuesday so it totally counts. I cannot get enough of this programme and want the next series now. 

I'm lusting after....

From Pashley Cycles

This beautiful bike. Or one like it. Has to have a basket though.

From Reykjavik Corner Store

 This spaghetti measuring tool is delightful. It helps you measure small, adult and family portions and looks fantastic at the same time. 

From Etsy

I love this little guy so much. I don't know what I'd do with him or where I'd put him even but that doesn't stop me lusting after him.

Wednesday Challenge Update

The Books.

So far in this challenge I've read 3 books. I'm pretty happy with this total and I just hope I can keep the pace up. Here's a brief summary of what I've read....

image from Goodreads

The Dark Design - Philip Jose Farmer

The Dark Design is the third book in the Riverworld saga. I read the first two towards the end of last year and I've just ordered the 4th and 5th. Although I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as the previous two the general storyline and background is so good it carried me through. I was also pleased by the few little surprises that pop up in this book.

image from Goodreads

The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus was bought for me by Matt for Christmas. I'll admit I was first drawn to it by the physically beautiful book that it is but the story appealed as well. The imagery of the circus is what really carried me through this book. The storyline between the two main characters was ok but not great and it was the circus itself which I fell in love with. It was an easy, enjoyable read and a book that I finished in a couple of days.

image from Goodreads

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I loved this book. I've developed a sort of obsession with Sherlock Holmes at the moment what with the films and the BBC series and so naturally I was drawn to read it. Matt suggested I started with this collection of short stories and I'm glad I did. I didn't want to put it down. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more Sherlock stories.










The Films

 Shame (2011)

I went to the cinema with a friend to watch this and waiting for months for it to be released. It was so worth the wait though. It was much more graphic than I expected, I didn't think there would be quite that much nudity, you really saw it all. It is a film portraying sex addiction though so I shouldn't have been surprised. It was extremely character based which is one of my favourite types of films and it was beautiful...the shots, the music, everything. I'd definitely recommend watching it but maybe not one to watch with the grandparents.


It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

I watched this one of Sky Anytime on my day off last week. It's one that I'd wanted to see for a while and it was pretty good. Set inside a psychiatric ward it centres on a clinically depressed teenager and his experience. It had some sweet moments but no surprises really. I really liked some of the imagery though and the use of art. All in all it was OK afternoon off watching.



So there we are. Currently I'm on 3/50 books and 2/50 films.

This year...

This year I didn't write down resolutions or even talk about them. That doesn't mean I don't have any though, I just thought I'd crack on with them before sharing them publicly.
For a reason I can't explain I feel like this year us going to be an important one for my little family and so I've gone into a documenting frenzy. I have high hopes of more posts on here after giving myself some structure and topics to work from. I'm also participating in a 'documenting delight' 366 project over here. I'm really proud with myself for sticking with a photo a day even if it has only been two weeks so far.
I'm also determined to broaden my horizons this year and so have set myself two additional challenges

1. To watch 50 films
2. To read 50 books 

 These must be books/films I've never read/watched. They don't have to be new only new to me. This means I can't get away with immersing myself in Lord of the Rings for the next 12 months! I know it seems like I've given myself way too much to do but these are all things I do anyway. I take hundreds of photos, read tons and watch a lot of movies. Really all I'm doing is giving myself direction. I'll try and keep this blog updated with progress of all of my little challenges.
In summary then: I seem to like challenges, will read, take photos and watch movies this year and my two words of 2012 are document and direction.

First Sunday Adventure of the Year 08/01

I wanted to choose somewhere special to go for our first Sunday adventure of the year so we decided upon Avebury. It was an absolutely beautiful day with good weather, perfect company and riveting conversation. There's really nothing else to say about it so instead I'll spam with the photographs.....

A shot of the stones

This was my 'photo of the day' for my 366

Try a ribbon on and make a wish

Another shot of the beautiful stones

And a photo of my beautiful husband....oh, how I love you

2011...

What can I say about 2011? Perhaps the best thing about the year was that I gained a husband. I spent time with family. I spent time with friends. I went camping. Had Sunday adventures. Went on a trip down memory lane in Gibraltar with family and made new memories in Dublin with my now husband. Did I mention I married the love of my life? Had silly nights out. Had silly nights in. Reconnected with old friends and made connections with new ones. Rediscovered my love of photography. Took some gorgeous photos. Took some terrible ones. I got married!

Yes. 2011 was a good year. I think 2012 will be even better....