Love and Lust this week 17.02

Love note from my beloved this week.

I'm loving...

• This before and after on DesignSponge showcasing a brilliant and beautiful way to organise jewellery, craft supplies or anything else for that matter
• This beautiful blog where Sophie Blackall illustrates missed connections. I love the style of her drawing especially with the slightly surreal feel that a lot of missed connections have anyway. Her missed connections illustrations have now been published in a book.

I'm lusting after...
  

From Society6

  How can you not fall in love with Baron Von C3PO?! He's so dashing and I'd love to have him hanging out on my living room wall. They also have Victorian Vader, Sir Yoda and General Fett. Illustrations are by Terry Fan.

From Etsy

I am desperate to have an ampersand of my very own. Isn't that every girls wish? This one in earth yellow is just perfect. I'm definitely lusting after this this week.

From ModCloth

I really need a new purse. The one I'm using at the moment is more of a coin purse and I've owned it since I was 18. I've been scouring the internet for a purse that I'd fall in love with and this little pretty may be just what I need.

Valentine's Day

Let me just start off by saying we don't really celebrate Valentine's Day. I used to hate it but I've kind of realised that it's a little wrong to hate a day all about love. I'm still not really a fan of it but Matt had the dentist and since I had the day off anyway he decided he'd have one too. What he didn't tell me though was the appointment was at 8.30. It ended up being worth getting out of bed so early though as I was treated to breakfast. And I love breakfast out.

My breakfast

Matt tucking in

Me being a complete weirdo

 After eating breakfast and taking stupid photos we headed home and then into town to pick up a parcel and book a tattoo. Turned out the tattooist had some space at the end of the day which I was really not expecting and made me ridiculously excited. Next stop was the cinema to watch The Woman in Black. Oh my, how that film scared me. I wasn't a fan of Radcliffe's acting to begin with but I soon forgot about it as the story unfolded. I found it so, so creepy especially the toys in the house. After the cinema there was just enough time to pop home before going to get our tattoos. Oh, and my husband bought me daffodils and thyme...I don't think it was because it was Valentines but it was a cute moment of my day.

I can't believe we ended up getting couple tattoos on Valentine's Day, I feel like such a cliché but I was so glad they had space and obviously wanted it done as soon as possible. They're technically our wedding tattoos so we've waited 3 months already.

Anyway, after tattoos it was time to head home to cook and eat a yummy dinner. We cooked the starter together, Matt tackled the main and I finished up with dessert. I'll leave you with photos of that. What a Tuesday Adventure...

Wednesday Challenge Update 15.02.12

The books

Image from Goodreads

The Ambassador's Mission - Trudi Canavan

I really enjoyed the Black Magician Trilogy when I first read it several years ago and although I don't tend to read this type of book too much any more I thought I'd give it a go. I forgot just how easy they are to read and I enjoyed being transported back to a familiar setting and characters. Although this really isn't my favourite genre at the moment I will forever have a soft spot for Trudi Canavan.


  





The films 

Image from IMDB

 Carnage (2011)

Finally got around to seeing this this week and I'm glad we did. It was so clever and so random, I really enjoyed it. You can easily see how it works as a play and to be honest I'm glad that it wasn't any longer. It did start to drag a little bit as the storyline was stretched as far as it possibly could be but it finished before I started wishing I hadn't watched it.







I've noticed that all of the films that I've been watching are brand new, shiny ones. I feel like for next week I need to be looking back in time and expanding my horizons that way a little. Current progress is 6/50 books and 9/50 films.

Wednesday Challenge Update

I forgot to post an update last week but to be honest I'm slowing down with it and there wouldn't have been much to report.

The books

Image from Goodreads

 The Magic Labyrinth - Philip Jose Farmer

 This is the fourth book in the Riverworld series and the one where all of those loose ends were tied up. I enjoyed seeing where all of the characters storylines crossed with each other and finally getting to the root of the mystery. Although to be honest it was kind of an anticlimax. I still have Gods of Riverworld to read yet so I'm interested to see what direction that one takes. We shall see.








The films

Image from IMDB

 The Grey (2012)

Matt and I went to see this at the cinema last week because he was desperate to see it and I'm a good wife. It was an intense film. I always get emotionally invested in films, books too, and so I scare easily, cry constantly and get sick to the stomach with nervousness for characters. So to say this film was emotionally exhausting for me would be a massive understatement! Don't get me wrong, it was an amazing film. It was just a little bit too much for me. I can't deal with all those emotions.

Image from IMDB

Drive (2011)

I love a bit of Ryan Gosling, who doesn't, but I can honestly say I would have enjoyed this film even if he wasn't in it. I love this type of film where the characters are really examined and they lead the storyline. Plus it had Ryan Gosling in, definitely a win for me.

Image from IMDB

Man on a Ledge (2012)

Another trip to the cinema for us this week to watch Man on a Ledge. It hasn't been getting the best reviews but I really enjoyed it. It might have been that I haven't watched a good action type, cop thing film in a while but I liked it. The idea behind it was fun and it had enough twists to keep me entertained.









So there we have it, another week of this challenge. I really need to push on with some more books as the films are taking over but we have quite a few more films lined up for this week. February seems to be the month a lot of films I was looking forward to come out. Goodreads tells me that I'm still on track with my books so I'm not too worried but I'm going to have to make sure it doesn't slip behind.
Current Progress 5/50 books and 8/50 films

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!