humpty dumpty day

Well Wednesday is nearly over! thank god, this week is Deeeeraging! i'm really looking forward to the wknd - i'm going to Glasgow to get my hair done, have my wedding hair trial, buy running shoes, and have a mooch in primark for some more honeymoon bits n bobs (yup you heard me....running shoes - i'm actually a real live grown up runner - i need running shoes!!) and to stay the night with my bridesmaid/cousin, then n sunday i'm off to my back specialist appointment for the crash claim - things are ginally MOVING!!

I did my exam today - i *think* it went really well it felt farily striahgt forward and i fetl i knew the answers pretty much off the top of my head - but we'll see. i also weighed in tonight and had lost 1lb - not fabulous but hey ho 1lb is 1lb! its going in the right direction, and i'm not the lowest weight i can remember being in about 4 years!

Breakfast today was REAL treat! 4 pancakes , half a naner, and some bluebs with a driz of agave. OMG it really set me up for the day!




this morning i had the mango - another one that was almost done so again i ate the whole thing, was perfect. this afternoon i had the watermelon.

Buddy made my lunch last nyt and again it was a HUGE salad it totally beat me i had to admit defeat about 2/3's of the way through, i had it with houmous and rye bread.

followed by a peach

this afternoon i ran 2.75 miles for the first time, i've been running 2.5miles for the past couple of weeks, it was pretty intense in this heat too! thats my done session 1 of week 8 - i'm still LOVING running with my sis. its great fun, we just talk/pant/talk the whole time, and old man was laughing at us and said we'd get on a whole lot better if we werent gossiping and giggling! i love it though, its so much fun!

afterwards i had a protein shake

dinner was a hit and a miss, i had chicken marinated in balsamic vinegar, honey, mustard, and hot sauce, that part was the hit a big hit! the miss was the baked sweet potato and mushrooms with melted cheese on top, the mushrooms and cheese was great but the baked sweet potato...hmm the jurys still out on that one, i never tried them baked before and it was a bit *much* i prefer ST chips or discs.

and then i made...................yup you guessed it more pancakes for tomo and Friday! heh heh once i get something into my head i eat it ALOT!

then i made some fudge babies, unpictured as my sister was here, the mix made 10 and my and my sis kinda ate them all!! oopsy daisy!! i also made some dark choc babies, their still in their full form in the fridge so you'll get pics when i ball them up tomo.

my sister came over tonight for her make up trial - i'm doing her make up for her wedding, i'm pretty mean with a make up brush i must admit, and we got her make up spot on tonight we were both super pleased with the results. But I am kinda nervous now about it, its a lot of pressure! i cant believe its only 10 more sleeps till her big day.

i just booked my first spray tan for next Friday - i never had a spray tan before - i use tan all the time but just do it myself - i'm kinda excited to see the results i hope its good, if so i'll be returning for my own hen do and wedding!!

its all cake cake cake around here

Well Pancakes and Tuna Fish Cakes! sorry to dissapoint!!


last night after a mega long day being busy busy busy and being uber tired, i did what any normal girl does and headed to the kitchen to make some wholemeal panCAKES for breakfast for the this morning, i figured as you can buy ready made pancakes and heat them up why couldnt i make mine the night before and heat them up - so there i was 10pm in the kitchen making pancakes getting some odd looks from buddy!!





I heated some up for buddy this morning in the toaster, which he said wasnt so good they were a bit rubbery. then later when i was ready for breakfast i threw them back in the pancake pan and heated them up there - that worked a treat i had them with fresh bluebs on top drizzled with agave - OMG how special does that look for a pre work breakfast! LOVE

later i snacked on a mango - yes a whole mango - it was on its last little legs and didnt look like it would last another day so i took one for the team and finished it off. twas perfect.

Lunch was the usual - sorry if this is getting a bit samey! rye bread, houmous and a giant salad - consisting of leaves from my dads patch, peas, runner beans, baby corn, blackcurrants, strawbs, avocado and peppers.

and a couple of baby bels - well i say a couple but buddy inhaled one before i even blinked! so i had 1.

mid afternoon was some water melon and an unpictured nectarine

dinner was more CAKES - well tuna fish CAKES - my mum gave us some take out last night she made us enough for tea for tonyt, and as my mum had done her bit buddy took one for the team and made the salad whilst i studied for the big exam tomorrow. - i told him NOT to go easy on anything in my salad i like my salads supersize, he really took me at my word! this was a beast!

So i'm all done studying now i think i'm as ready as i'll ever be for my final marketing exam tomorrow! i'm off for a long hot soak and then i *might* even make some pancakes for the morning - the staying power of these babies is really amazing and will be good to see me through a 2.5 hour exam!!!

nyt all xx

how fast does this year want to go!

i cant believe its Monday AGAIN! the weeks are just flying out from under my feet!!! its pretty scary!

today i've been uber busy! and pretty tired! so here's piccys to tide you over till tomorrow!

Bfast - Podge - fruit salad, dried cranberries (infused with cinamon -am undecided on these, bought by accident!), flaked almonds and linseeds





an unpictured peach

lunch - pumpkin rye bread, houmous and salad



a frusli bar

cherries and a baby bel

an unpictured packet of bear dried fruit - was starvin - dinner wasnt till late!

dinner at my mums, tuna cakes and salad

followed by a shared bowl of strabws with buddy.

thas all folks - to tired for words. night night xx

wholemeal pancakes and feel good vibes!!

Evening blogger friends! I hope everyone had a great wknd, mine was perfecto.

on Saturday we went to a bigger town close by (the one Jo from Thirty and Healthy lives in) to watch the raft race and have a ponder about, the "local produce" stalls that the internet advertised were non existent, but the weather was amazing, the town was really busy, and we met up with Jo.

before we left i made wholemeal pancakes, i used plan flour and baking powder and they didnt rise as much as i'd hoped and had spread a bit too much, nonetheless they tasted amazing, i tried dried blueberries in 2 and dried cranberries in 1, with a drizz on agave on top - i couldnt believe the staying power these had! they kept me full for HOURS!



I packed up lunch and some nibblers for the day and headed off. i felt pretty good about myself on saturday, i'd got some new tan to try out and thought it worked really well, all my clothes fitted perfectly (which makes a nice change) and i had noticed the night before whilst waiting for my tan to dry how much my body shape has changed, i hadnt noticed so much before but it really hit me on Friday night, and you know what, i'm pretty happy with how its changing! i'm by no means near where i want to be but i can feel i'm truly on the way now! i got loads of compliments on Saturday and i positively felt like i glowing from the inside out! i'm not meaning to blow or anything, i just want to record it here! we're all too good at recording the negatives and the bad feelings so today i'm going to record this wknd as a pretty good feeling wknd!

For lunch we had wholemeal rolls with tuna and a lil bit of mayo light, cucumber and avocado, i think i found my new fave sandwich filling! hmmmmm

On the way we stopped at the beach to try and wear Red out, she can get a bit excitable and loves to bounce, so when we know we're going to be around crowds or meeting other people who dont "know" Red, its aswell for her to be tired!

I love our local beaches, i really do appreciate how lucky we are to have them so close by!

For some reason i quite like photographing my feet! even if they are a little grubby from the beach!! heh heh!

It was pretty busy in town....

we met up with Jo, it was nice to introduce her to Buddy and Red

We had a lovely afternoon, Jo stayed out to play all afternoon, it was great to spend some time together!

I think Buddy was a bit perplexed with the food blog talking - its all new to him! heh heh!

When we got home my mum and dad had a BBQ on the go for us!

half a cheesy stuffed jacket potato, 1 sausage, 1 small chicken thigh, mushrooms, and mixed veg and salad, i went back for seconds of the grilled veg.

followed by an unpictured nectarine, and 1 small half and half shandy

Later i snacked on a banana with peanut butter and dark chocolate chips.

Breakfast this morning was the 2nd attempt at wholemeal pancakes, today i used wholemeal self raising flour, a t of ground flax, and 140ml milk instead of 160ml, it worked like a dream!! perfect pancakes, even buddy gave his seal of approval! he had plan with scrambled eggs, beans and bacon. I had 2 with blackcurrants from my dads patch, 1 with coconut, and the small one with dark choc chips. I wouldnt bother with the coconut again, the blackcurrants were really good little bubbled of sour in the pancakes and well the dark choc chips totally rocked! heh heh!!

Again these kept me full for hours! my new LOVE!!

Whole Meal Pancakes:

Makes 6

85g Wholemeal Self Raising Flour

140ml Skimmed Milk

1T ground flax (optional)

1 Egg

pinch of salt

mix all with an electric hand whisk (or vigorously with a whisk), heat your pancake pan up to SUPER hot, but only on a med heat if that makes sense! brush the pan with oil, and pour some of the mix into the pan (nows the time to any add its you want, blueberres, choc chips, cranberries, raspberries etc), it only takes about a minute for one side to cook, you'll know its cooked because the sides will bubble and go opaque and the pancake will lift easily, now flip em over, till cooked on the other side. keep warm in a low temp oven, and serve when thier all done with agave or maple syrup and your choice of some fresh fruit! hmmmm hmmmm!

these keep pretty well for about 2 days wrap em in tin foil, keep them in the bread bin, and when ready to reheat, throw them back into a hot pan for a sec or 30 secs in the microwave.

Yesterday i bought some Rye bread to try out.

i had it with salad and a little houmous and a little cottage cheese, on its own the bread isnt anything special, but when eaten with the houmous or cottage cheese its pretty good.

in fact my whole lunch was pretty deeelish, i didnt eat the frusli bar lurking in the background, i snacked on the peach later on.

i saved 2 pieces of the rye bread from my plate to have with my mums home made cherry jam! heaven! (thinking back now - PB would have rocked this!)

heres a little teaser for you! - my tiara sitting on my veil!!! eeeeeeeeee!

thats all your getting to see for just now - the whole outfit will be available to view as of 20th November!! heh heh!

i tried my dress on today, and guys.........it almost fits! i've been working long and hard to get into this dress, and i havent tried it on for over 6 months, so i've been pretty scared to try it on lately and see how the progress is working out! i'm closer to it fitting that i'd thought i would be! so pleased!!

I spent the afternoon at my mums lounging in her garden on the deck next to the pool - it was wonderful! and i stripped my dads blackcurrant bush, then my mum fed me.......chicken thighs, steamed veg and a few small new potatoes

what a lovely wknd - full of feel good happenings!!!

night night all! see you tomo. xx

Spending Spree

Morning bloggies, well its pay day in casa del neen! i freekin lovel pay day - i'm such a material girl, i know thats bad but there you have it!

i love shopping of any sort really, xmas shopping for pressies, clothes shopping for me or other people, accessories or toiletries shopping, food shopping, internet shopping! i think i have a bit of a spend compulsion!

but i do have to try and reign it in just now with saving for the wedding! every pay day i pop into my salon and treat myself to a new Jessica Nail polish, its my little treat!

And this month i've been selling my entire life on ebay! like 80% of my clothes no longer fit, so i've put them all on ebay, all the 18's the couple of sneaky horrid 20's and even a couple of 16's, so far in this last week i sold £90 worth of stuff, i also sold THE DRESS, you know the Coast dress that i'd bought for my sisters wedding, i blogged about it a couple of weeks ago, its black with white ribbon stripes down it, well it now gapes too bad at the chest and just doesnt fit right! so i never wore it!! oh dear! i managed to get £120 for it, though i did pay £160 for it a couple of months ago, expensive weight loss mistake! lesson learned - i promise!!

so with the money i've been making on ebay, i've treated myself to one or two bits n bobs for the honeymoon, tis very difficult to buy for the honey moon just now as i dont know what size i'll be, but as im a 16 just now, i reckon 12's in baggy flowy things like kaftan and sun dresses with elastic in them, also all the nice stuff is out just now if i wait till November to buy all the summer stuff will be gone, so i'm trying my best to do my holiday shopping now!

let me show you what i bought so far.

first up brekkie, podge, peaches, apricots, dates, pecans and linseeds



i didnt snap my morning apricots x 2 i dont wannt bore you with repetative pics every day, i also didnt snap my lunch, it was the usual salad, houmous, 2 x ryvita, there were work colleagues around again so i couldnt take the pic, and i also couldnt take the pic of the half a pack of fruit pastilles i ate (oopsy! it didnt take me over my cals though)

so heres my new nail polish, its california dreaming

this is yesterday - it looks even better today now i have a bit of tan on

while we were in this neck of the woods, i thought i'd show off my rock! i love my engagement ring, buddy picked it out all on his own, with no help or guidance or hinting (the engagement was a surprise), he even got the size right, he'd taken a ring that he'd noticed fit that finger with him, i think that was the most perceptive he'd ever been or is ever likely to be! heh heh! and funnily enough its THE RING i would have chosed had i have had chance to choose myself, i've always loved clusters.

the ring above it is Buddy's mums old wedding ring, i have to wear it to keep the engagement ring on, as with loosing 2 and half stone since getting engaged its too big now and slips right off, i dont want to not wear it and cant get it resized just yet as i'm not finished loosing weight, so i wear this on top, i'd rather wear the eng ring on its own obviously as it will feel more special when its finally teamed with my wedding ring but needs must, and i think its kinda nice anyway as it has sentimental value too.

afternoon snacks was the usual ICE COLD watermelon

after work i popped down to the health food shop and the grocerie shop, in the window of the grocerie shop they had a box of these, they look like regular peaches yeah?

nope! thier flat! and funny shaped! i asked the kid working there what they were and he shrugged and grumbled he didnt know but they were from spain, so i picked one up to try, i was convinced it was going to be a stoneless peach, but when i broke into it at tea time, it had a small peach like stone inside, and was white flesh like a white peach, and tasted like a white peach! how bizarre!!

i also picked up some canned pumpkin, i've seen this on some american blogs, used in podge etc, so i thought i'd give it a go. my local health food shop is amazing every time i go in i find another little gem that i thought i'd never be able to get here! i LOVE THIS SHOP!!

will report back on the pumpkin when i crack it open.

dinner was a little bit amazing! theres the funky peach on the left, leaves, and a grilled feast, halloumi, peppers, baby corn, mushrooms and courgette.

it was pretty dam good but a couple of hours later i was starving - note to self to bulk meals out a little bit more - so i had some crackers and cheese (unpictured sorry we had friends round) they still didnt take me over my cals so i'm cool!

i know i said i'd pic and blog everything i ate this week, but its proving a little bit difficult as somethings you just cant snap, so i promise to snap and blog everything i can and the rest i will confess too, how about that??

after dinner we went to watch a men v women charity football match - turned out pretty rubbish - the *women* were men dressed as women! and it was just poorly organised and lots of standing about getting eaten alive with midges! shame it could have been good! after that we went to the pub for a couple (i had 2 x malibu and diet cokes - only JUST taking me over cals) then we came home

so here's the stuff i bought, this is my new pink maxo dress, this is "one size" and really would fit most sizes, which is pretty handy given my current size changing stage of life! LOVE this! i actually bought this to wear over the summer, maybe it will make it to the honeymoon too

and a couple of beach cover ups - both size 12 (so thier going away in the suitcase till honeymoon time)

right then i'm off to try making these for the first time for breakfast for me n buddy

then we're off out to watch the raft race, its teams of people make thier own raft and in the harbour they have a course to race, i think its for charity, i hear theres a food and drink festivally thing going on with stalls with local produce etc (i'm a bit skeptical - as things round here can sometimes not be all thier cracked up to be - but we'll see), its cool though, i'm pretty excited coz we're meeting up with Jo, http://thirtyandhealthy.wordpress.com/

see you later with a run down of the raft race and the "local produce" stalls!!

have a great day! xx