Mums Pirate Party

I've wanted to do this post since Mum's birthday and I thought if I don't do it now, it won't get done!

So this year was a big one for Mum, the big 5-0! Me and my sister have had many parties in the garden, using the gazebo Mum bought for the original - my 21st. We knew we had to throw her a party too. And our Mum being our Mum it had to be...a Pirate Party!

Overal we were pretty pleased with how it turned out. Best of all everyone went along with the Pirate/Nautical theme which was awesome!

Here are some of the highlights of the day, and our inspirations for them (Thank you Pinterest!)

The Decorations
Amazon and eBay were very much our friends with these. From Pirate bunting, to wall decals, to inflatable seagulls we had it all covered.

The signs were done with tea-staining. We would have also burnt the edges as we did with the invitation but we ran out of time.

Drink
The drink table was based on one we saw on Pinterest. I'm willing to bet the Pinterest one took a lot of planning and a trip to a DIY store. Me and my sister did it with stuff we had in the house in about 20minutes flat. Cos we're THAT good!

 

It's a shame you can't actually see in this photo, but there is a bow, complete with Mermaid! :)

I Googled a simple rum punch and then just decided to make our own. It's very simple.

2 parts Captain Morgans spiced rum
1 part Ginger beer
1 part Tropical juice

And in fairness we wern't measuring...we just chucked it all in the punchbowl until it tasted good. And although most people said it was a little strong, it was being put away very quickly!

In fact if I'd've known it was going to be that popular I wouldn't've botherd with wine and beer (which was barely touched) and just made twice as much punch! We did feel it necessary to include a sign with the punch...to warn kids and those driving away from it!

Cake
We commissioned Cakings to put together the Pirate cake. We had seen a few ideas on Pinterest, and under Cakings expert advice they created....THIS!

The Pirate Cupcakes were an added bonus, and it you want to learn how to male them there is a tutorial on the Cakings blog.

So overall, a very successful party!

Old friends

It hurts that we lost, what I thought were such strong friendships.

It hurts that they didn't fight for me, or seem to care that I was gone from their lives.

It hurts that I wasn't there to celebrate with them on the happiest days of their lives.

I want so bad to get in touch again...but I can only fight so hard for people that wouldn't fight for me. I'm sure they see it differently, but that's my truth, and you can either choose to believe it or disregard it.

It seems that I was so easily replaced. But I haven't yet worked out by who.

It hurts that one of them should be my best friend no matter what.

But it hurts most that she has't even heard my side of it yet. That she doesn't seem to care either.

The one person who should hear out my side, but actually should be on my side regardless.

She spends more time with them than she does with me.

The memories and lost friends I can get over. Because times change and things move on.

But what should be an unshakeable relationship that seems to be lost by the day....that's what really hurts.

Brief Update

Yet again with the bad blogging. Bad. bad blogger! So here is a brief rundown on my world and life. Some important, some random - like most of the blog really :)

1) I'm not sure I'm liking this new blogger layout/templates etc. I dont do change dammit!

2) I had a blog post all drafter on my iphone and ready to post...and the iphone died losing it forever :( I will try and repost the gist of it at some point.

3) New York was AMAZING! Again I have a couple of posts in mind and havn't got round to them. Yes I know I suck. One in particular will be about movie sets and/or Greenwich and its wonders.

4) How addicted am I to Drawsomething? Even with my sucky drawing skills. I loves it!

5) Equally addicted to Pinterest...come join me on there, its awesome!



6) Due to said addiction with Pinterest I am currnetly on a Buffy and Doctor Who revivial. But I am being good about watching them as I am currently obsessed with Dharma and Greg, although it is a pain to have to watch them online. Grr.

7) My sister got engaged! Happy times! Kind of a weird one to deal with but none-the-less I am super excited and happy!

8) "Some dates are a waste of good make up" ....just don't ask about that front.

9) Work is killing me. 10 hour days, crazy amounts of work. Its just not on. Can I be a professional blogger/pinterester/facebooker/twitterer and just sit with my coffee in front of a computer all day? Although have to say HOW proud am I of myself and my manager for getting TWO of our runners interviewed on the BBC on Marathon Day?! (Clue: Very)

10) Mumsies big 5.0 birthday was on Tuesday and we went to see Sweeny Todd. Go see it, its amazing! (And I promise not overly gory at all - trust me, I hate all gore)

So ummmm yeah that's about all my updates for now. These are things that I am/was going to do blog posts on and if I don't get round to it, at least they are here in bitesize chunks of info. Because I know how much you need to know every detail of my ever so interesting life ;)

Right. Tea and Jaffa cakes now me thinks. Farewell gentle reader.

The joys of Wedding planning

So I just found an awesome show called "Whose Wedding is it Anyway" Goodness me there are some fights going on! The first episode was a double wedding for two sisters who had completely opposite views for the wedding, fought over everything, jealousy, cat fights - jeesh! I have to say I love my sister to PIECES but I would never have a shared wedding with her. Your wedding is about your day, and sharing it with the person you've probably fought more with in your life than anyone else is just a recipe for disaster.

Although I have to say when you say them all dancing together at the end it was very cute. My personal hats off goes to the Wedding Planner though. One bride wanted purples the other wanted hot pink and the wedding planner pulled it all together and it looked REALLY good! I was trying to find a picture of the wedding party but I coudlnt. I did however find this, one bride wanted the cake, the other cupcakes so they did both in their respective wedding colours.

Theres another show called "Say Yes to the Dress" and I have to say I feel so sorry for some of these brides who are clearly regretting the entourage they brought with them to try on the most expensive outfit they'll ever wear. (Probably...it will be for me anyway!)

Like the girl who couldnt decide what she wanted and when she finally fell in love with a dress was met with a "meh" response. Or the girl who wanted a modest, A-line dress with a slightly higher neckline that would cover a scar but whose younger twin brothers wanted her to wear something "low cut, figure hugging and sexy" that she was clearly uncomfortable in because of her scar.

So this leads me to my biggest piece of wedding planning advice. Know when to ask for advice, and who to ask it from 

For example Dont ask someone who has only ever eaten beans on toast to help choose the menu. Dont ask someone who hands you clothes that you know will look awful on you to come with you to try on your dress. However DO ask that relative that spent 3 years working in a florists to help choose the flowers and do ask that person that dishes up the most mouthwatering desserts to  choose (or even make) the cake.

Of course some things there should be no arguing with, like mum and maid of honour coming with you to get the dress. Luckily my best girls know exactly what looks good on me so there are no worries there and I cant WAIT to try on dresses!

Day 2 - Nine Things I Can’t Live Without

First, I feel I must state that I am procrastinating horribly. Right now I should be doing job applications if I have any hope of paying for our dream wedding and having our own space.

However procrastinating from that means that I fed and cleaned up after the pets, done two loads of laundry, done the dishes and cleaned the living room in the space of less than 2 hours. Proof that procrastinating is ACTUALLY productive....just not for the task your procrastinating from! :D

Anyways, onto todays subject. I'll start with the more material things and move onto the actually important things.

1) iPhone
I was so against the iPhone when they first came out. "Why would I want my music and phone in the same place?" Answer: Because it makes life so much easier! Plus being able to read my "time wasting" pages when I actually have time to waste (ie: Waiting for the bus), reply to emails asap if they're important and find out what that song playing is instantly is all awesome. I get really confused when I'm in America and only have my web access when I'm near a free wi-fi spot. Make me sad...

2) My laptop
As much as I love  the iPhone there are some things you just need a proper screen and keyboard for. And I adore that my laptop is so tiny and cute so that I can carry it with me on my travels! When I had the massive 15lb thing it gave me serious back ache.

3) My photos
I definitely get this from my mum. She's always been big on photos, especially since I was born. There are SO many photo albums of just me and my sister, at last count I think it was about 80-something!

Most of my photos are on my harddrive.. So I suppose this is also an item I couldnt live without. Seriously if anything ever happened to it and the photos on it I would be devastated.

4) My Aunt
Me and my Aunt are VERY similar. And as anyone who knows me, when I'm very similar to someone it can lead to fireworks. But dispite ups and downs over the years, I'd like to think I'm very close to my Aunt. She got me into reading and introduced me to lots of amazing books.

There's a brilliant photo of her holding me when I was only a few months old. Someone said something "amusing" about me and the look of anger on her face! I've never seen anything like it - I think I definitly get my defensivness from her

5) My Nan
I've never had a big family and now my family is literally the 5 of us, and my Nan definitely likes to see herself as the Matriarch. Whatever else is going on, she'll always make sure no-one has to go without and overall will do anything she can for her family.

I actually think she secretly runs the East End Mafia, She knows a lot of people, never short of a quid or two and is always disappearing out of the country....hmmm



6) My mum
I love my mum. Although I'm fiercely independent, need my own space and very rarely ask for help..every girl needs their mum. Needs to know she's there when she needs her. :)

7) My sister
My baby sister. Not really a baby anymore, equally as independent as me so would also rarely admit she needs me. It'd be nice to be needed more by her but she knows I'm here when she does. And likewise - shes there for me. 5.5 years younger or not - shes one of the smartest people I know! (When shes not having a blonde moment that is...)

8) My friends
There are far too many to count to list individually. Which is definitely a good thing. As previously mentioned I dont really subscribe to the "best friend - one person you go to for everything" thing anymore. In any given situation, theres often one person that you think of you want to talk about it with. Its not always the same person. Perhaps its someone that knows the back story intimately so you dont need to start from scratch, someone thats been through the same thing and can empathize. Perhaps you want to just not think about it and need someone that'll make crude jokes and drink too much wine (Jess I'm talking about you here!) Perhaps you just need the biggest part animals you know to celebrate amazingness! Whatever it is, I count my blessings to have so many good friends that I can go to for anything.

9) Codaniel
This man has shown me so much. Helped me realise so much about life, people and myself. He is a shining example of humanity and the goodness in people. Proof that no matter how bad things can get you can ALWAYS make a choice to change your situation, yourself and make a better life for yourself and those around you. He has an unwavering faith in people, and most of all in the people he loves and cares about. He can always see the best in people, even if they cant see it in themselves.

When we're apart its one of the hardest things I ever have to deal with, but at the same time it shows me how strong we both are that as much as we need and love each other, we still retain our independence and ability to look after ourselves. Although we're both counting down to the day when we dont have to be seperated by 1/2 a continent and an ocean!

Day 11 – My siblings

I have just the one Sibling. My lil Sister, Jessica. She just turned 18. I can still hardly believe it!

I look at photos of us when we were tiny and remember things like they happened yesterday.

I remember I was so excited to be the big sister. I wanted nothing more than to look after her, be her best friend and we'd always be there for each other.

Wasn't always quite the way it worked out. I got the feeling I wasn't quite trusted with her. The first time I got to hold her I had to be way back on the couch absolutely surrounded by pillows.

I don't know if we quite have that "best friend" relationship...although as I said a few posts back I don't really believe in the "best friends" thing anymore - since I grew up!

I do wish we were closer. I mean don't get me wrong, we have our moments. They just seem to be fewer and far between these days. We spend more time bickering and winding each other up than we do anything else.

I guess we've always just been in slightly different stages. As she got old enough to start playing with toys I was into complex make believe games. As she got into those, I started being more into pop music. As she got into that, I was a fully fledged teenager with the attitude to go with it. Then just as she started learning about boys and stuff I was a "grown up". I guess I thought that once we were both "adults" we'd get closer. Now at 23 and her at 18 I look back and realise how much I changed and learnt in the last 5 years (probably more than I did in the first 18!) and think maybe we still have a little way  to go for that theory to work.

Maybe once we're not under the same roof, driving each other crazy every second of the day it'll be better. We'll have real quality time. I hope so because in the good moments I know that I love my sister quite possibly more than anything on the planet. he's my baby sister. And if you think I'm defensive over my friends you wait until you see my reaction if someone hurts her.

Of course that can lead to over defensiveness sometimes and sticking my nose in where its not wanted (even if it is a case of "older sister knows best") But then the best way to learn is to learn the lessons for ourselves so I know I need to back out unless I'm asked for...as hard as that is sometimes, because my sister - like me - is not one to ask for help. (When it comes to the big stuff anyway)

Maybe we'll always be in slightly different life stages, never entirely on the same page. But we still have lots to offer each other. My sister can come out with some of the smartest things I've ever heard. Which is what cracks me up so much when she also comes out with some of the daftest! ("Your too purple")

I know this much though. However defensive I am of her, she is equally so of me, and to be honest - I'd be more scared of her. Whilst I go in all guns blazing, where at least you know what you'll be getting (a good punch in the face and knee to the groin in the least!) ,she's quieter, bides her time and you never quite know what shes up to!

And on that sinister note let me leave you with one of my fondest memories of us when we were little.

I was about 8 or 9 so she was about 3 or 4. I'd done some small thing to warrant my dad "punishing" me by taking my favourite toy and putting it way up high on a cabinet.

My tiny little sister tried to climb up to get it down for me, knowing that she'd get in worse trouble (and also not being anywhere close to reaching it bless her!) because she could see how upset I was. That always stayed with me - like little things like that that do.