Weekly round up

It's been a busy couple of weeks.

My friends got married a couple of weeks ago so Leanne and her fiancé, my brother and I headed to the wedding at a church in Thatcham followed by the reception at a gorgeous house in Silchester.  Despite all the rain recently, the weather was perfect for the whole day (in fact possibly a little too hot when we were having the wedding breakfast in the marquee!)  It was a lovely day and Leanne and I had a great time coming up with ideas for her and Tom's impending nuptials! Congratulations Sarah and Tom! ♥

Last weekend, the four of us headed to V Festival at Weston Park in Staffordshire with another one of our friends, another Tom!  Unfortunately the rain didn't hold off in the same way as it had for the wedding but thankfully it wasn't too bad either.  A brilliant weekend of drinking cider, jumping up and down like nutcases and getting blisters from rubbing wellies ensued and we saw some brilliant acts - Tinie Tempah, The Milk (if you haven't heard of them, I definitely recommend you check them out) and David Guetta definitely being among the best!  I thoroughly enjoyed the shower and chilling on the sofa when I got home though - I was exhausted!

I'm taking a little bit of time to relax this weekend and wind down a bit after these busy weekends - this afternoon has been spent chilling on the sofa, watching stuff that I've recorded that Danny won't watch with me (like Glee!) and catching up on blogs - heaven! :)

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London 2012: Water polo at Olympic Park

I mentioned previously that I was going to try and get more Olympics tickets and I succeeded! On Wednesday morning I managed to get tickets for women's water polo for that evening.  A quick call to my boss later and I've managed to wangle a half day's holiday :)

We arrived about 45 minutes before the first match started so only managed to have a brief look around Olympic Park and decided to continue after the matches had finished.  I don't want to give anyone the wrong idea - I knew absolutely nothing about water polo before I went to watch it! I still don't profess to be an expert but I think I've mastered the basics now!  The first match was Spain v USA and it was a fast, exciting game, ending 9-9.  It perfectly warmed the crowd up for GB v Australia which was on afterwards, however we lost 3-16.  That said, this is GB's first Olympics for women's water polo!

Afterwards, we headed back out into Olympic Park and had a wander around before reaching the BBC studios, which are mounted on top of three containers. A crowd was starting to congregate so we hung around for a few minutes to see what all the fuss was about - it turned out Bradley Wiggins was being interviewed, fresh from his gold medal win for the time trial! A short while later, he appeared on the terrace above us, waving and displaying his medal whilst the whole crowd chanted "Wiggo, Wiggo, Wiggo!"  An amazing moment - I'm so happy to have been there!

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London 2012: Rowing at Eton Dorney

A 5.30am wake up on a Saturday morning is only even remotely acceptable when a) you're going on holiday or b) you're going to the London 2012 Olympics.  I was lucky enough to be able to get tickets to day one of rowing - the longest day in the whole rowing competition.  

The organisation for the whole event was superb - we arrived at the park and ride at Windsor Great Park for 7am to find no queues and although busy, there were plenty of buses and volunteers on hand to direct everyone.  When we arrived at Dorney itself, we were guided through the entrance onto the concourse that led to the entrance.  The staff were really smiley and friendly, waving and grinning as we all walked in.  At security, we were met by soldiers who were just as smiley as the volunteers.  Although exactly the same as airport security (we had to put our bags in trays that went through an x-ray machine whilst we walked through a scanner), the Olympic security seemed much better organised and there was only a queue of a minute or so before we were safely through and on our way to the stands.

Around the main grandstand area, there were numerous shops, stalls and food outlets.  There were considerable queues for food and drink but again, when you spoke to staff, they all seemed very happy to be working there despite how hectic it must have been for them.  My only complaint would be that when I went to the shop to buy a team GB flag (we were sitting in the front row, so I had to get a flag to drape over the barrier in front!), they only appeared to have one card machine.  It lead to complete chaos since we had all been told that cash and Visa would be accepted at Olympic events.  That said, I did get my flag and an Olympic keyring so I was happy in the end!

Unfortunately Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter weren't rowing but the first heats started with the women's pairs in which Team GB's Helen Glover and Heather Stanning set a new Olympic record!  What a start to the day!  Team GB also went straight through in the men's double sculls, men's lightweight four, men's quadruple sculls, men's pair and men's single sculls.  All in all a great day for Team GB!

I'm now frantically trying to get tickets for more events - I had a great day and I'd love to see some more Olympic action live!

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Weekly round up

Our house is beginning to look less like a bomb's hit it and more like a home now thankfully!  After frantic painting and decorating to get the walls and skirting boards done, we had the floor fitted in the living room/downstairs toilet/hallways this week.  We're both really pleased with the great job that the guy did and it looks great!  The living room furniture and dining table and chairs also arrived this week, so we're just waiting for the sofa until we're there!  After that, the fun bit of accessorising begins and Emily, I assure you I'll put photos up and give you a tour when it's all done :)

I managed to avoid most of Euro 2012 (I like football but we're always hopeless so I've kind of lost interest - not very patriotic of me is it?) but we did head down to the pub to watch the game vs Italy.  I'm a bit worried that I was some sort of jinx though since that's when we went out....

On Friday night we went to see Rhod Gilbert at Southampton Guildhall.  I got tickets for Danny's birthday (New Year's Eve) so we've been waiting a while for this to come around.  It definitely wasn't a disappointment - Rhod was hilarious!  The Guildhall doesn't appear to have air conditioning though unfortunately so it was absolutely roasting inside.  Has anyone else been to any events there?  It was a bit distractingly hot to be honest but we had a great time all the same.

Oh, and just because a weekly round up wouldn't be the same without some form of food, check out the Gü chocolate soufflé that I had for dessert last night.  Deeeeeelicious! :)

Weekly round up

Another week of eating, eating and more eating! Aside from that we went bowling on Saturday night for my friend's birthday - I was abysmal! I somehow got the knack of curling the ball down the lane and used this to my complete disadvantage by curling it straight into the gutter as it approached the pins. Danny, on the other hand, had been keeping his bowling abilities a secret from me - he was amazing! Strike after strike after strike - at least one of us did us proud! I forgot how much bowling makes you ache but I was definitely reminded when I woke up on Sunday morning and had to do more decorating!

For Father's Day, I took my parents and Rob to the local for lunch. Three delicious courses this time - that place never fails to disappoint! Danny decided not to come with us since he was going out for dinner with his family in the evening so he stayed at home and I returned to a tidy kitchen! I think I'll leave him at home more often :)

After everyone had left, I decided to tackle the lawn in the garden. We hadn't cut it since we moved in and Danny suffers from the worst case of hayfever I've ever seen. He suffers a bit every summer but this summer (if we can call it summer!) seems to be particularly bad - red eyes, tears, sneezing... and that's all after taking antihistamines. Mind you, letting the lawn get quite so long probably didn't help - whoops! It looks much better now though, and the vegetables that Danny has planted are starting to grow quite well - I'll make sure I take photos this week!

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Bucket list

Source

I've seen a lot of people write bucket lists and I've always thought that they seem like a good way of keeping track of what you want to do in life.  Time always goes by so quickly and I'm hoping that this will be a good way of making sure I do the things I want to, so here goes...

1. Run a 10k
2. Go zorbing
3. Visit the Amazon rainforest
4. Swim with dolphins
5. Learn to scuba dive
6. Visit The Louvre
7. Make sushi
8. See orangutans in the wild
9. Learn to horseride
10. Go on a cruise
11. Climb the Eiffel Tower
12. Watch a show on Broadway
13. Ride an elephant
14. Climb the Statue of Liberty
15. Achieve my ideal weight
16. Eat at a Michelin starred restaurant
17. Buy a house
18. Go skiing
19. Take photography lessons
20. Go to Times Square on New Year's Eve
21. See The Sydney Opera House
22. Go to Glastonbury Festival
23. Throw a house party
24. Create an original recipe
25. Become fluent in French
26. Snorkel in The Great Barrier Reef
27. Take a weekend city break
28. See the pyramids
29. Visit Machu Picchu
30. Ice skate in London at Christmas
31. Watch the sunset over Uluru
32. Cook Christmas dinner for my family
33. Take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon
34. See The Northern Lights
35. Get a puppy
36. Complete the Three Peaks Challenge
37. Visit The Taj Mahal
38. Grow my own vegetables
39. Drive a husky sled
40. Master a signature dish

I've come up with 40 things so far but I'll add to this list whenever I think of any more ideas. 

Have any of you got a bucket list? What's on yours?

PS See here for an update on which points I've crossed off!

Weekly round up

I suppose this is actually more of a round up of the last three weeks really, since that's the last time I posted.  My last week before moving out was filled with packing, packing and more packing, so I didn't have any time to post, and our internet only got connected this weekend so I haven't been able to blog since we moved in.  I know I've taken a few breaks from blogging over recent months, but I've really missed it this time - probably because this hiatus was imposed on me rather than being my decision!  Anyway, I'm back now and I'm on a bit of a roll, so here's what I've been up to....

Well from the looks of it, my main activity while I've been away has been eating!  That's not strictly true, although I have had some pretty good meals! 

I think most of you know that we've recently bought our first house?  On my last evening living with my parents, we went for tapas at El Sabio - the tapas restaurant in Newbury that I love.  This time I experienced their desserts and I was really impressed - they have a selection of tapas desserts where you pick three mini desserts.  Heaven!  I'm definitely going to make sure I save room for dessert next time I go!

We only managed to take a day and a half off work to move since we're both so busy, so our house is a bit of a mess at the moment.  Lots of boxes and suitcases fill the garage and spare rooms, but we are getting there.  We spent last weekend decorating the living room, which may seem a little over eager but we're getting the flooring redone in a few weeks and we need to get it all sorted before the living room furniture arrives.  I can't wait for our sofa to turn up!  Apart from the fact that it's mega comfy, spending evenings sitting in a camping chair while Danny sits on a beanbag is getting a bit tedious! 

We've got a great local pub around the corner and after a long day of painting on Sunday, we decided to wander over for a roast - just look at the size of it!  I'm a little concerned that with it being so good and so close, we're going to end up going there most Sundays....... Shame! :)

Weekly round up

I had a bad week this week.  We had effectively resigned ourselves to the fact that the house was never going to exchange, I was feeling ill and the week was nicely topped off by one of the senior managers at work deciding that I was personally responsible for what she perceived as the downfalls of our department.  Bursting into tears in the office was definitely a low point!

That aside, I had a good weekend!  Dog walking in the woods and beating Danny and his sister on Buzz (I got double their scores, I'd like to add, which I was particularly smug about because Danny is very competitive!) definitely made up for the trauma of the working week.  Danny's friends also had a group of us over for a barbecue and drinks and although the weather wasn't quite as nice as we might have liked, we made the best of it and spent most of the time in the garden regardless!

And, although this is strictly part of this week rather than last, I can't resist writing in this post......

.....we've exchanged contracts for our house!

After convincing ourselves that it would never happen, we now have a week (that's it - just one week!) before we move in to our own home!  I'd better get packing.....

Weekly round up

I've been doing weekly Instagram posts for a few weeks now but I do miss writing about what I've been doing, so I'm changing things up a bit and I'm going to do a weekly round up post instead.  Hopefully you'll all prefer this, but feel free to follow me on Instagram (@katm_) - I'll still be posting on there regularly!

The week started off with a lovely catch up with Aisling - lunch (does it count as lunch if you eat it at 3.30pm?!) and a girly chat was a great way to spend a bank holiday Monday and was followed by a cinema date with Danny to watch American Pie The Reunion.  Hilarious!  Absolutely hilarious!  I was a bit doubtful that it would be any good since sequels regularly fail to live up to the hype, but it definitely did and I would thoroughly recommend watching it!

A long week of work (don't weeks seem longer when you've had a bank holiday?) and drama with the house has made the week all the more stressful so a relaxing weekend was definitely needed!  The top of the chain have been putting back the completion date for our house by a week, every week so far, so it's not looking like we're going to be moving until the end of May now.  Beyond annoyed and stressed out but trying to ignore it over the weekend when there's nothing we can do about it.

Lunch with Danny and my parents at Harry's Bar & Kitchen on Saturday lunchtime was a very welcomed treat, decided upon on the spur of the moment before we headed over to Reading to meet up with Danny's friends.  We spent a couple of hours in the pub then went over to our friends' house to meet their two week old baby, Millie.  She's gorgeous and seemed to be perfectly happy being passed around all of us for a cuddle!  A full head-wetting session ensued and we didn't end up leaving until 2am!

Today has been spent at a craft fair just outside Newbury - wandering around in the sun with some of my besties.  The fair wasn't as big as we'd anticipated but they did have some gorgeous cupcakes, including the cake pushpop above - a genius idea for eating a cupcake without getting messy fingers!  Quite randomly, at the front of the fair they also had a cow with a tiny calf - cute!  After getting home and watching the dramatic last day of the Premier League, I'm now looking forward to curling up on the sofa for the evening while Danny prepares a lovely roast - bliss!