Hi Guys,
I hope you have all had a great Christmas and are looking forward to a fabulous New Year. I had a lovely Christmas day, and was spoilt, and then caught a cold which really sucks. I scribbled a few notes to write this post on Boxing Day, but then felt too rough to actually post anything lol :-)
It's been a while I'm afraid, but as you can see below there has been movement on my 101 for a number of reasons, so very little to post.
I tried to carry on with the classic films by watching Some Like It Hot, but unfortunately I've only been able to watch an hour of it so far (in two sittings) so still have a way to go on that one. I have recorded a few classic films over the last couple of days (Christmas is a great time to record films on the telly), so just need to find time to watch them. They're not ones that were on my initial list of ten that I would like to watch, but they are still classic films, and I would like to watch them. Now I just need to find the time to watch them - a bit trickier as they are on the Cablecom box in the front room, as opposed to being on a DVD that I can disappear off to the bedroom to watch while everyone else is busy with other things (TV or games).
I attempted to make shortbread with my boys on Christmas Eve, but they decided that the only bit they wanted to do was to shape the shortbread. However, although I can't class it as baking with the boys, it was a new recipe for me so I got one base covered :-) It wasn't a total success as we made them a bit thicker then specified and therefore they were under-baked, but they tasted great and were easy to do. Maybe we'll have another go at those soon...
I had planned to embroider a sampler in December, but unfortunately I have struggled to find a template that I like. This hasn't distracted me from the job in hand, but I have bought a different template to use, which arrived on Christmas Eve, so I'll be doing that in the New Year.
I'm still taking my fish oils and iron tablets, and have only missed one day - quite an achievement for me :-)
We received the P90X3 workout programme from Beachbody just before Christmas, and as I struggle to make exercise part of my normal routine unless I have a programme to complete, I have decided to add P90X3 to my 101 list. It's a 30 minute workout, 6 days a week, concentrating on different things each time, and is another programme from Tony Horton, who is a joy to work out with (at least while you feel like you can still breathe).
I also know that when I workout regularly I feel much better in myself, and feel it's time that I climbed back on that horse :-) All I need to decide now is decide which of my other challenges is not as important to me at this time and that can wait until the second half of 2014.
Have a great week,
LJx
Showing posts with label Beachbody. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Beachbody. Show all posts
Saturday, 28 December 2013
Sunday, 3 March 2013
101 Progress Check - March 3rd 2013
Hello :-)
What's the progress report this week?
Well, I have been mainly concentrating on my fitness challenge to complete the Les Mills Body Combat programme. I am now on Day 21, and it's going well - so well in fact that I noticed this morning that my butt has risen and no longer hangs quite so low (sorry for that visual that's now been planted in your head - quick, look away!!!).
I have now booked us into a covered wagon in May at Europa Park for two nights, so our family weekend away is definitely all set to happen.
Yesterday I spent a large part of the morning sorting out the boys bedroom properly so that I can get started on setting up a play room for them. This is what their room looks like now (unfortunately I don't have any before pictures).
Today I actually made lunch (cooking stuff and everything), I'm surprised Ben didn't have a heart-attack... I made tuna fishcakes, and as it is the first time I have actually made them, despite having them very regularly when I was younger, I can now say that I have now learnt three out of the six new recipes in my challenge - result!!! They actually tasted good too, even though we had too much tuna for the amount of potato we had :o)
The one task that I can mark off as completed this month is my donation to charity. I thought it was going to be hard to decide which charity to give to, but actually, just as I was starting to think about who to donate to there was an update on Philofaxy about a charity called Chimwemwe who you can read more about Chimwemwe and the great work that they do here. When people sell their Filofaxes via the Adspot page of Philofaxy, they make a donation to Chimwemwe, which is their chosen charity.
I didn't want to donate to one of the big charities that everybody knows for a couple of reasons. I wanted to be able to give some money that would be enough to make a difference to them, and I also didn't want to give it to a charity that spends a huge amount each year on advertising (in particular those ones that send you a nice leaflet in the post, complete with form to fill in, pen and envelope to send it all back in) - I can see why they do what they do, but I just find it such an offensive waste of donations that are supposed to be going to a good cause.
As I wasn't donating to one of the big charities, am a huge Philofaxy fan, and admire Amanda who blogs about stationery etc here for her huge involvement in Chimwemwe, it made total sense for this to be the charity that I donated to.
That's me for this week. Have a great week.
LJx
What's the progress report this week?
Well, I have been mainly concentrating on my fitness challenge to complete the Les Mills Body Combat programme. I am now on Day 21, and it's going well - so well in fact that I noticed this morning that my butt has risen and no longer hangs quite so low (sorry for that visual that's now been planted in your head - quick, look away!!!).
I have now booked us into a covered wagon in May at Europa Park for two nights, so our family weekend away is definitely all set to happen.
Yesterday I spent a large part of the morning sorting out the boys bedroom properly so that I can get started on setting up a play room for them. This is what their room looks like now (unfortunately I don't have any before pictures).
 |
| Clothes storage |
 |
| Skylanders posters in pride of place |
 |
| A tidy room with no toys in... how long will that last? |
The one task that I can mark off as completed this month is my donation to charity. I thought it was going to be hard to decide which charity to give to, but actually, just as I was starting to think about who to donate to there was an update on Philofaxy about a charity called Chimwemwe who you can read more about Chimwemwe and the great work that they do here. When people sell their Filofaxes via the Adspot page of Philofaxy, they make a donation to Chimwemwe, which is their chosen charity.
I didn't want to donate to one of the big charities that everybody knows for a couple of reasons. I wanted to be able to give some money that would be enough to make a difference to them, and I also didn't want to give it to a charity that spends a huge amount each year on advertising (in particular those ones that send you a nice leaflet in the post, complete with form to fill in, pen and envelope to send it all back in) - I can see why they do what they do, but I just find it such an offensive waste of donations that are supposed to be going to a good cause.
As I wasn't donating to one of the big charities, am a huge Philofaxy fan, and admire Amanda who blogs about stationery etc here for her huge involvement in Chimwemwe, it made total sense for this to be the charity that I donated to.
That's me for this week. Have a great week.
LJx
Sunday, 24 February 2013
101 Progress Check - February 24th 2013
Yay!!!
Les Mills Combat is going well - I am doing my workouts every morning before work as this works better for me than doing them when I get back home. Today is a rest day - I was planning on swapping with tomorrow and doing Combat 60 this morning, but both boys were up way too early and there is no way I can face it this afternoon/evening.
I'm still going to be extra good though and do X-Stretch from P90X later as I think that'll do my legs the world of good. I did Tummy Tuck from Brazil Butt Lift on my other rest day, and am very pleased with how well I'm doing. So pleased in fact that I joined Ben to do the Bulk Shoulders workout from Body Beast yesterday afternoon (with very light weights of course).
After I've completed Les Mills Combat I think I may do the Body Beast programme (with light weights, I don't want to look like Sagi).
I've started doing some planning for our family weekend away and it's looking like I'll be booking for us to go to Europa Park (nearer than Disneyland Paris, much better value for money, and from reports it seems like it is a better option).
This morning I finally got round to reviewing my 101 list with a view to removing all items that I either don't actually want to do (go skiing etc), things that are really longer-term goals, or items that have no real way to measure them.
Things to be removed:
- One on one time with boys (half day each a month) - my boys have said they would rather have big
family days out rather than one on one time, so I'm not going to force them into this.
- Develop boys independence - this is really a natural ongoing thing, there is no end to this so it is
something that would never be crossed off the list.
- Take a two week holiday with no children - after the successful big family holiday that we had last
Summer, our boys really want to do this again, and as they are both tied into school holiday dates
then it is pretty much impossible for Ben and I to fit in a two week holiday as well.
- Eat the five a day for four weeks - I am following the nutrition plans that go with my workout
programmes instead.
- Try a Zumba class - what was I thinking, the only thing clapping me would be my butt?
- Go skiing once - OK, so I live in Switzerland, this doesn't mean I want to go skiing.
- Learn Spanish basics for holiday - it's looking like Mexico is off the cards (see two week holiday
with no children above).
- Go to a festival - not sure what the point is in us spending a small fortune to go to a festival when we
are really only going for one (maybe two) of the acts, who we will only get to see perform for half
an hour anyway. I'd rather wait until they are touring and spend the money going to see them play
for longer
- Fix up kitchen (UK) - not sure if we're planning on doing this before the end of the 1001 days, we
may end up with a much bigger project further down the line so it makes sense to wait.
- Learn Swiss German to an undecided level - I think I'll be better off trying to consolidate my High
German knowledge, although I am struggling to find a level to aim for. Maybe I should just aim to
be confident in general day-to-day conversation and vocabulary and phrases for emergencies.
- Happiness binder - I have this set up and use it sporadically for things, but don't feel happy that I
have completed anything by doing this.
- Scrapbooking (physical or digital). Another task with no definite measures, bye...
- Go to Mexico
- Introduce one new Flylady habit per month - this is so not working for me, but I am doing my own
thing using my Plannerisms planner.
- Get ripped abs - I'm not totally giving up on this, however, I am not so daft as to think that all the
excess skin from pregnancies is going to just disappear because my stomach muscles have
strengthened.
Things to be added:
- One big family day out every month
- Knit a scarf
- Embroider a sampler
- Write a poem
- Read five banned books
- Journal daily for two weeks (minimum of 15 minutes)
- Drink a cup of Rooibos with honey daily for two weeks
- Set up a recipe binder
- Set up an events planner
- Transfer all data from the Dodo Book of Christmas to the events planner
- Set up playroom for boys now that they are sharing a bedroom
- Scrapbook three photos of the boys
- Write a short story for the boys
- Keep to a basic household routine using my Plannerisms planner.
- Complete Les Mills Combat workout programme
- Donate to charity (sponsoring someone who I would sponsor anyway doesn't count)
There are a couple of other items still under review, but I need to discuss those with other people first, so leaving them as they are for now.
Unfortunately I can't add any links to the post today, as my internet seems to be having a fit about something... oh well :-)
Have a great week,
LJx
Les Mills Combat is going well - I am doing my workouts every morning before work as this works better for me than doing them when I get back home. Today is a rest day - I was planning on swapping with tomorrow and doing Combat 60 this morning, but both boys were up way too early and there is no way I can face it this afternoon/evening.
I'm still going to be extra good though and do X-Stretch from P90X later as I think that'll do my legs the world of good. I did Tummy Tuck from Brazil Butt Lift on my other rest day, and am very pleased with how well I'm doing. So pleased in fact that I joined Ben to do the Bulk Shoulders workout from Body Beast yesterday afternoon (with very light weights of course).
After I've completed Les Mills Combat I think I may do the Body Beast programme (with light weights, I don't want to look like Sagi).
I've started doing some planning for our family weekend away and it's looking like I'll be booking for us to go to Europa Park (nearer than Disneyland Paris, much better value for money, and from reports it seems like it is a better option).
This morning I finally got round to reviewing my 101 list with a view to removing all items that I either don't actually want to do (go skiing etc), things that are really longer-term goals, or items that have no real way to measure them.
Things to be removed:
- One on one time with boys (half day each a month) - my boys have said they would rather have big
family days out rather than one on one time, so I'm not going to force them into this.
- Develop boys independence - this is really a natural ongoing thing, there is no end to this so it is
something that would never be crossed off the list.
- Take a two week holiday with no children - after the successful big family holiday that we had last
Summer, our boys really want to do this again, and as they are both tied into school holiday dates
then it is pretty much impossible for Ben and I to fit in a two week holiday as well.
- Eat the five a day for four weeks - I am following the nutrition plans that go with my workout
programmes instead.
- Try a Zumba class - what was I thinking, the only thing clapping me would be my butt?
- Go skiing once - OK, so I live in Switzerland, this doesn't mean I want to go skiing.
- Learn Spanish basics for holiday - it's looking like Mexico is off the cards (see two week holiday
with no children above).
- Go to a festival - not sure what the point is in us spending a small fortune to go to a festival when we
are really only going for one (maybe two) of the acts, who we will only get to see perform for half
an hour anyway. I'd rather wait until they are touring and spend the money going to see them play
for longer
- Fix up kitchen (UK) - not sure if we're planning on doing this before the end of the 1001 days, we
may end up with a much bigger project further down the line so it makes sense to wait.
- Learn Swiss German to an undecided level - I think I'll be better off trying to consolidate my High
German knowledge, although I am struggling to find a level to aim for. Maybe I should just aim to
be confident in general day-to-day conversation and vocabulary and phrases for emergencies.
- Happiness binder - I have this set up and use it sporadically for things, but don't feel happy that I
have completed anything by doing this.
- Scrapbooking (physical or digital). Another task with no definite measures, bye...
- Go to Mexico
- Introduce one new Flylady habit per month - this is so not working for me, but I am doing my own
thing using my Plannerisms planner.
- Get ripped abs - I'm not totally giving up on this, however, I am not so daft as to think that all the
excess skin from pregnancies is going to just disappear because my stomach muscles have
strengthened.
Things to be added:
- One big family day out every month
- Knit a scarf
- Embroider a sampler
- Write a poem
- Read five banned books
- Journal daily for two weeks (minimum of 15 minutes)
- Drink a cup of Rooibos with honey daily for two weeks
- Set up a recipe binder
- Set up an events planner
- Transfer all data from the Dodo Book of Christmas to the events planner
- Set up playroom for boys now that they are sharing a bedroom
- Scrapbook three photos of the boys
- Write a short story for the boys
- Keep to a basic household routine using my Plannerisms planner.
- Complete Les Mills Combat workout programme
- Donate to charity (sponsoring someone who I would sponsor anyway doesn't count)
There are a couple of other items still under review, but I need to discuss those with other people first, so leaving them as they are for now.
Unfortunately I can't add any links to the post today, as my internet seems to be having a fit about something... oh well :-)
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 17 February 2013
101 Progress Check - February 17th 2013
Hello :o)
I have done very little towards my 101 this week.
I still haven't reviewed the list to see what's outstanding and what things I no longer actually want to achieve.
However, the one thing I have done is start the Les Mills Combat programme through Beachbody, and despite the fact that it's tougher than it looks I am a full seven days into the sixty day programme and am feeling very pleased with myself.
I'm making no promises to myself about what I'm going to do towards my 101 things this week as I am concentrating on the fitness first and anything else is a bonus.
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 10 February 2013
101 Progress Check - February 10th 2013
Woohoo - it's Sunday again, and I have made some progress (not stacks, don't get too excited).
Last Sunday I did actually get round to watch the musical film "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" which I loved. I am sure there are many people out there who wouldn't really go for this, but I loved it :-)
This week I received an email saying that the old gas boiler has been replaced at my house and all the gas stuff has been signed off, so now I have both the gas and electrics signed off - and crossed off the list - result.
My boys have been away and are due home this coming Friday, so Ben and I have had some time to ourselves, and although it would have been the ideal opportunity to go out for dinner or something for our date night, we decided to stay home with a couple of drinks and watch The Expendables. It may not be everyone's cup of tea for a date, but it suits us just fine. It was lovely to watch what we want and have a little drink, without listening out for the boys, or thinking that it is too late to put it on as we have to get up early in the morning - perfect!!! Tonight we watched The Expendables 2, but as we watched that straight after the rugby at about 6pm I won't class that as a date night :o)
I have finally got myself ready to start attacking the abs again. Today I watched Les Mills Combat basics in preparation for beginning the programme tomorrow.
This week I have also started writing a gratitude journal to go in my happiness binder, but need to get into the habit of doing it everyday. Once I have got this up and running properly I will take some pictures.
Have a great week,
LJx
Sunday, 13 January 2013
101 List Progress Check - 13th January 2013
Very short today I'm afraid... I've done pretty much nothing other than work and be very lazy.
The other half has been rough (very rough) all week, and now the youngest one seems to be going the same way. I did no exercise whatsoever, however, today I have taken a look at the Les Mills' Combat programme which has arrived from Beachbody and the workout I saw looked amazing. It's a 60 day programme, and it has music that should will keep me motivated - MC Hammer "You Can't Touch This" anyone?
I have made a purchase this week and will write a post about it when it arrives, but as it was bought out of my Christmas money then it's allowed :-)
I have a couple of rolls of washi tape on their way to me from the lovely Alice, at The Wonderful World of Alice. I have sent her a goodie bag of various papers as a thank you, so I am hoping she will love them.
Have a great week guys and gals,
LJx
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Personal Organisation Binder Setup - And Failure...
OK - this is the reason for the flurry of posts this morning, I needed the others to be posted before this one, but as I had unforeseen problems with my set up I needed to get this one out there - if only to relieve the pressure build up in my head...
As the only place I really go to is work, I don't feel the need to carry my personal stuff everywhere with me. All I need is my wallet, a notepad (or Filo/wallet combination), which means that for my personal organisation I can stuff a filo as full as I need without giving a thought to the extra weight.
I thought long and hard about what I needed to (or should) put in here, and here is my list...
- 101 in 1001 list and planning, with maybe a month per page or month on two pages
diary to plan the timing of everything
- exercise programmes (each of the workout programmes we have has a calendar of
which session to do when, so having that written out and in one place would be nice)
- timetable, to try to plan my personal time better
- to do lists
- wishlists
- business cards
- one line journal so that I can write in it each day and then move to my happiness binder
once a week/month
- various logs.... food, water consumption, exercise
- finance pages (for the first time ever... you'd never guess I was actually an accountant..)
And here is the final(ish) result... is what I'd planned to be able to say, but I started the set up and everything went wrong :o(
I had already put some inserts into the Holborn, in the full knowledge that they may be moving out, but I could live with that - I have 2 year planners (1 horizontal, 1 vertical), month on 2 page tabbed inserts, the standard 6 dividers, and my original 101 list in it's full form (6 sheets of paper).
I wrote up my 101 in 1001 to have a fresh list that shows only the items that are currently outstanding (3 sheets of To Do lists). I wrote out the timetables for the Beachbody exercise programmes P90X Classic ( 3 pages), Brazil Butt Lift - Slim & Shape (2 pages) and Classic (2 pages), 10 Minute Trainer (4 pages), and Rockin' Body (3 pages).
Can you see where this is going yet?
I then threw on some finance sheets and wrote in my expenses since November 5th which I have been scribbling into my blog notebook until I got round to moving them.
Time to attack the various logs... this was when it all really came unstuck. I fairly successfully recorded my food and water for a few months earlier in the year using my A5 Dodopad calendar pages, but I stopped as I kept forgetting, then decided that I wasn't actually using the information anyway. I know I don't drink enough fluids (of any kind), but logging it wasn't making me drink more - although writing down everything I was eating did stop me eating junk - I'm not sure if this was actually because I was writing it down, or just because I had decided that I was going to stop.
I started to write down my food log to start getting into the habit from today, but it just looked really pants if I'm honest, which got me thinking again - what is the actual point of logging this stuff if it is just something that I write down on the day and never revisit to see what impact it has had... probably no point whatsoever right?
So now it's time to revisit my planned sections again...
- 101 in 1001 list and planning, yes I will use this (9 pages) - undecided about the diary
requirement as yet
- exercise programmes, yes (14 pages), this is ideal as I have included the length of time
for each workout and if I don't want to stick with one programme I can easily pull
substitute sessions in
- timetable, this would be useful as I really need to force myself to plan my personal time,
but it is only 1 page
- to do lists, yes (10 pages...?)
- wishlists, yes (5 pages max.)
- business cards, why would I need this? The only business cards I have are one for my
hairdresser that lives in my wallet (the card, not the hairdresser), and the ones from
Artbox and Modes 4 U which are cute, but I'd rather keep them in my happiness binder
- one line journal so that I can write in it each day and then move to my happiness binder
once a week/month, like I'm going to actually do this... I started it at the beginning of
the year and managed about 7 days.
- various logs.... food, water consumption, exercise - NO!!!
- finance pages, yes, at least until the end of my 3 months of my Fabulously Frugal No
Shopping challenge.
So in total I actually only have about 50 pages and a few dividers that I need in here... that's never going to fill up my beautiful Holborn zip. So what are my options...?
I could move to a pocket size, but then there really is no point in keeping it at home...
I could add my blog plans in, but then I would feel bad for my Star Wars Moleskine, and I would only need a few pages as I don't plan that much in advance - I just get an urge to blog and there it is really.
Or I could just take up all the rest of the space with frivolous stuff (stickers etc), but I'd end up with a binder that has too much clutter in it for me and then I'd have to change it all again...
Any ideas gratefully received - it could just be that I need a good kick up the @rse today :o)
LJx
As the only place I really go to is work, I don't feel the need to carry my personal stuff everywhere with me. All I need is my wallet, a notepad (or Filo/wallet combination), which means that for my personal organisation I can stuff a filo as full as I need without giving a thought to the extra weight.
I thought long and hard about what I needed to (or should) put in here, and here is my list...
- 101 in 1001 list and planning, with maybe a month per page or month on two pages
diary to plan the timing of everything
- exercise programmes (each of the workout programmes we have has a calendar of
which session to do when, so having that written out and in one place would be nice)
- timetable, to try to plan my personal time better
- to do lists
- wishlists
- business cards
- one line journal so that I can write in it each day and then move to my happiness binder
once a week/month
- various logs.... food, water consumption, exercise
- finance pages (for the first time ever... you'd never guess I was actually an accountant..)
And here is the final(ish) result... is what I'd planned to be able to say, but I started the set up and everything went wrong :o(
I had already put some inserts into the Holborn, in the full knowledge that they may be moving out, but I could live with that - I have 2 year planners (1 horizontal, 1 vertical), month on 2 page tabbed inserts, the standard 6 dividers, and my original 101 list in it's full form (6 sheets of paper).
I wrote up my 101 in 1001 to have a fresh list that shows only the items that are currently outstanding (3 sheets of To Do lists). I wrote out the timetables for the Beachbody exercise programmes P90X Classic ( 3 pages), Brazil Butt Lift - Slim & Shape (2 pages) and Classic (2 pages), 10 Minute Trainer (4 pages), and Rockin' Body (3 pages).
Can you see where this is going yet?
I then threw on some finance sheets and wrote in my expenses since November 5th which I have been scribbling into my blog notebook until I got round to moving them.
Time to attack the various logs... this was when it all really came unstuck. I fairly successfully recorded my food and water for a few months earlier in the year using my A5 Dodopad calendar pages, but I stopped as I kept forgetting, then decided that I wasn't actually using the information anyway. I know I don't drink enough fluids (of any kind), but logging it wasn't making me drink more - although writing down everything I was eating did stop me eating junk - I'm not sure if this was actually because I was writing it down, or just because I had decided that I was going to stop.
I started to write down my food log to start getting into the habit from today, but it just looked really pants if I'm honest, which got me thinking again - what is the actual point of logging this stuff if it is just something that I write down on the day and never revisit to see what impact it has had... probably no point whatsoever right?
So now it's time to revisit my planned sections again...
- 101 in 1001 list and planning, yes I will use this (9 pages) - undecided about the diary
requirement as yet
- exercise programmes, yes (14 pages), this is ideal as I have included the length of time
for each workout and if I don't want to stick with one programme I can easily pull
substitute sessions in
- timetable, this would be useful as I really need to force myself to plan my personal time,
but it is only 1 page
- to do lists, yes (10 pages...?)
- wishlists, yes (5 pages max.)
- business cards, why would I need this? The only business cards I have are one for my
hairdresser that lives in my wallet (the card, not the hairdresser), and the ones from
Artbox and Modes 4 U which are cute, but I'd rather keep them in my happiness binder
- one line journal so that I can write in it each day and then move to my happiness binder
once a week/month, like I'm going to actually do this... I started it at the beginning of
the year and managed about 7 days.
- various logs.... food, water consumption, exercise - NO!!!
- finance pages, yes, at least until the end of my 3 months of my Fabulously Frugal No
Shopping challenge.
So in total I actually only have about 50 pages and a few dividers that I need in here... that's never going to fill up my beautiful Holborn zip. So what are my options...?
I could move to a pocket size, but then there really is no point in keeping it at home...
I could add my blog plans in, but then I would feel bad for my Star Wars Moleskine, and I would only need a few pages as I don't plan that much in advance - I just get an urge to blog and there it is really.
Any ideas gratefully received - it could just be that I need a good kick up the @rse today :o)
LJx
Sunday, 14 October 2012
101 List Progress Check - October 14th 2012
It's that time of the week again - what progress have I made this week?
Prizewinner books - this week I read Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. I thought I'd have a quick check of the reviews on Amazon to see what to expect and was very wary when I saw that it only had 2.5 stars (many of the lower marks appeared to Ian McEwan fans who compared this book negatively to his previous books). However, I read it cover to cover in a couple of days, and it didn't feel like a chore at all. If that's Ian McEwan at his worst, then I'm definitely going to check out some of his other books :o)
Music - CDs to iTunes. I decided to get a few of these done on Friday evening, and had forgotten how quick and easy it is to do this. I'm going to do a few each day and hopefully it won't be too onerous and won't take too long to complete.
I've just ordered a tape to MP3 converter from Amazon ready to transfer my tapes to iTunes - that's going to take some time, but at least it means that I'll be able to listen to all my old music again.
Ripped abs - I'm finding it hard to get started on this one again. I did the P90X 2 Core workout on Sunday (which nearly killed me) and the Brazil Butt Lift Cardio Axe workout on Tuesday. P90X Chest & Back was planned for Thursday, but I ended up pulling an all-nighter at work on Thursday (it's been a long time since I've had to work through to the early hours of the morning - and boy did it knock me for six!!!). Unfortunately this scuppered my chances of getting a workout in on Friday or Saturday as well. However, I'm feeling a bit more alive today, so am planning on doing P90X Shoulders & Arms later today (that's going to hurt tomorrow as I've done no upper body work in ages...).
That's it for this week. Catch you next time. Have a fab week.
LJx
Prizewinner books - this week I read Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. I thought I'd have a quick check of the reviews on Amazon to see what to expect and was very wary when I saw that it only had 2.5 stars (many of the lower marks appeared to Ian McEwan fans who compared this book negatively to his previous books). However, I read it cover to cover in a couple of days, and it didn't feel like a chore at all. If that's Ian McEwan at his worst, then I'm definitely going to check out some of his other books :o)
Music - CDs to iTunes. I decided to get a few of these done on Friday evening, and had forgotten how quick and easy it is to do this. I'm going to do a few each day and hopefully it won't be too onerous and won't take too long to complete.
I've just ordered a tape to MP3 converter from Amazon ready to transfer my tapes to iTunes - that's going to take some time, but at least it means that I'll be able to listen to all my old music again.
Ripped abs - I'm finding it hard to get started on this one again. I did the P90X 2 Core workout on Sunday (which nearly killed me) and the Brazil Butt Lift Cardio Axe workout on Tuesday. P90X Chest & Back was planned for Thursday, but I ended up pulling an all-nighter at work on Thursday (it's been a long time since I've had to work through to the early hours of the morning - and boy did it knock me for six!!!). Unfortunately this scuppered my chances of getting a workout in on Friday or Saturday as well. However, I'm feeling a bit more alive today, so am planning on doing P90X Shoulders & Arms later today (that's going to hurt tomorrow as I've done no upper body work in ages...).
That's it for this week. Catch you next time. Have a fab week.
LJx
Sunday, 7 October 2012
101 List Progress Check - 7th October 2012
Hello!!!
It´s time for another update...
OK - so the prizewinner book "Paddy Clarke ha Ha Ha!!!" by Roddy Doyle did grow on me. I found the style of writing quite off-putting at first, but as the character gets older you notice the changes and it is very cleverly done.
Ripped abs - hmmm, well today I have started again and taken my Day 0 photos ready for comparison. Thankfully the work I did earlier in the year, despite only being for a short time, wasn´t all wasted - I lost 11 kilos at the time, and have only put 1 back on, so hopefully the exercise will be able to tone me up reasonably quickly. I did my first workout today which was X2 Core from the Beachbody P90X2 programme - it nearly killed me, but that´s a good sign right? Anyway, I think I´ll leave the P90X2 to Ben and stick mainly to P90X myself - with maybe a bit of Brazil Butt Lift thrown in for good measure. The main question though is do I do the full 90 day programme (exercising six days a week) or do I just try for three workouts a week...?
Scrapbooking - nope I still haven´t actually done any yet, but I have discovered Jessops photo books, which I can use to have my photos printed into books for posterity - how did I not know about these? I love looking at old photos, but since going digital I hardly ever print any out at all, but with this I can upload photos, design all my layouts, add text, borders etc. It´s not quite scrapbooking, but to be fair, it´s not a million miles away from digital scrapbooking. I may make up a few books and then save physical scrapbooking projects to be done for special occasions.
I also had a proper look into the world of digital scrapbooking and found the app ScrapPad for the iPad. Unfortunately I don´t have any photos on my iPad yet to be able to create any meaningful pages, but it is so simple to do and there is a pretty good selection of backgrounds and borders. My two boys also had great fun playing with the app and creating pages, just using the backgrounds, borders, embellishments and stickers that are in the app. For only 3 pounds it has a good selection, and you can get more kits for around 99p each, although you don´t need to. I´m going to be looking to see if I can get this app for the MacBook as well, who knows, I may even be able to print some pages out to go in my filos or on my desk at work.
Hope you all have a great week.
LJx
It´s time for another update...
OK - so the prizewinner book "Paddy Clarke ha Ha Ha!!!" by Roddy Doyle did grow on me. I found the style of writing quite off-putting at first, but as the character gets older you notice the changes and it is very cleverly done.
Ripped abs - hmmm, well today I have started again and taken my Day 0 photos ready for comparison. Thankfully the work I did earlier in the year, despite only being for a short time, wasn´t all wasted - I lost 11 kilos at the time, and have only put 1 back on, so hopefully the exercise will be able to tone me up reasonably quickly. I did my first workout today which was X2 Core from the Beachbody P90X2 programme - it nearly killed me, but that´s a good sign right? Anyway, I think I´ll leave the P90X2 to Ben and stick mainly to P90X myself - with maybe a bit of Brazil Butt Lift thrown in for good measure. The main question though is do I do the full 90 day programme (exercising six days a week) or do I just try for three workouts a week...?
Scrapbooking - nope I still haven´t actually done any yet, but I have discovered Jessops photo books, which I can use to have my photos printed into books for posterity - how did I not know about these? I love looking at old photos, but since going digital I hardly ever print any out at all, but with this I can upload photos, design all my layouts, add text, borders etc. It´s not quite scrapbooking, but to be fair, it´s not a million miles away from digital scrapbooking. I may make up a few books and then save physical scrapbooking projects to be done for special occasions.
I also had a proper look into the world of digital scrapbooking and found the app ScrapPad for the iPad. Unfortunately I don´t have any photos on my iPad yet to be able to create any meaningful pages, but it is so simple to do and there is a pretty good selection of backgrounds and borders. My two boys also had great fun playing with the app and creating pages, just using the backgrounds, borders, embellishments and stickers that are in the app. For only 3 pounds it has a good selection, and you can get more kits for around 99p each, although you don´t need to. I´m going to be looking to see if I can get this app for the MacBook as well, who knows, I may even be able to print some pages out to go in my filos or on my desk at work.
Hope you all have a great week.
LJx
Sunday, 1 April 2012
101 List Progress Check - 1st April 2012
A quick update on what's occurring in my list...
Shakespeare - I have read King Lear this week, so that second of my Shakespeare plays is done. This one was another tragedy ... greedy people, a bastard son, people flung out, truths realised, forgiveness sought, but other person dies and therefore much tragedy - a tried and tested formula. I have a historic one next and then 2 comedies.
Prizewinners - I read the first of my 10 prizewinner books last week, Angela's Ashes. It's one of those books that I have seen lots of good reviews for, but never got round to reading before and I am glad it finally happened. It was a very well written memoir, which I love as it's all in the first person and you feel the teller getting older as the book progresses.
Classics - I have started reading the tenth of my 10 classics, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and am enjoying it so far. I am surprised at how much I have liked most of the classics that I have read, so may have to put together a new list of them when this one is finished.
On the exercise front, I am near the end of my second week of the latest Beachbody programme that I have started in my quest for ripped abs. I have started Brazil Butt Lift and intend to do this for 8 weeks before moving onto Rockin' Body for 4 weeks. It will then be time for holidays and I am hoping to start P90X again after that.
My Flylady habits have fallen by the wayside somewhat at the moment, and I have realised that I need to be ruthless and throw things away. First stop in this was attacking the front room and clearing those hot spots (the table and the Kachelofen). I have also been looking into getting a steam cleaner (eg the H2O x5 or a Kärcher) as this may help ease the cleaning burden (once the de-junking is done) and will be cheaper than getting a cleaner.
I have also been checking out new DVD releases to see what is around so I can continue with that challenge. I went onto Amazon (after checking out play.com) and found that it was a lot cheaper to buy through them so Amazon now have an order for 5 DVDs from me (admittedly two of them are more for the boys - Happy Feet 2 and Puss in Boots, but they still count, right?).
I also managed to pick up a couple of classic films off my list while I was at the airport on the way home from the UK the other week following a very exciting conference... :-)
LJx
Shakespeare - I have read King Lear this week, so that second of my Shakespeare plays is done. This one was another tragedy ... greedy people, a bastard son, people flung out, truths realised, forgiveness sought, but other person dies and therefore much tragedy - a tried and tested formula. I have a historic one next and then 2 comedies.
Prizewinners - I read the first of my 10 prizewinner books last week, Angela's Ashes. It's one of those books that I have seen lots of good reviews for, but never got round to reading before and I am glad it finally happened. It was a very well written memoir, which I love as it's all in the first person and you feel the teller getting older as the book progresses.
Classics - I have started reading the tenth of my 10 classics, Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey, and am enjoying it so far. I am surprised at how much I have liked most of the classics that I have read, so may have to put together a new list of them when this one is finished.
On the exercise front, I am near the end of my second week of the latest Beachbody programme that I have started in my quest for ripped abs. I have started Brazil Butt Lift and intend to do this for 8 weeks before moving onto Rockin' Body for 4 weeks. It will then be time for holidays and I am hoping to start P90X again after that.
My Flylady habits have fallen by the wayside somewhat at the moment, and I have realised that I need to be ruthless and throw things away. First stop in this was attacking the front room and clearing those hot spots (the table and the Kachelofen). I have also been looking into getting a steam cleaner (eg the H2O x5 or a Kärcher) as this may help ease the cleaning burden (once the de-junking is done) and will be cheaper than getting a cleaner.
I have also been checking out new DVD releases to see what is around so I can continue with that challenge. I went onto Amazon (after checking out play.com) and found that it was a lot cheaper to buy through them so Amazon now have an order for 5 DVDs from me (admittedly two of them are more for the boys - Happy Feet 2 and Puss in Boots, but they still count, right?).
I also managed to pick up a couple of classic films off my list while I was at the airport on the way home from the UK the other week following a very exciting conference... :-)
LJx
Sunday, 26 February 2012
A Visit to London is Not Complete Without...
Well guys and galls, time for a proper post at last. This is mainly because I had such a good week last week that I couldn't make do with just the summary of my progress on my 101 in 1001 challenge.
As some of you already know, I had to go to London for a course last week, which as thrilling as it was, was nowhere near as good as the stuff I got up to 'out of hours', so I'm sure you won't mind if I skip the course contents and cut straight to the fun stuff.
I arrived at Gatwick around midday on Sunday, complete with a reasonably sized shopping list, with a plan to meet up with Mr M at London Bridge station to walk to the Ibis near Aldgate East. Unfortunately Mr M got delayed on his train into Waterloo, and so I had to find my own way to the hotel. Those who know me well would have been worried that I may not find it, and would instead end up in Scotland or something equally random - map reading and directions are really not my forte. So I figured the safest thing to do would be to get the tube to Aldgate East, and sensibly bought a ticket as soon as I arrived at the station. However, I had not realised that due to weekend engineering works, various areas of the tube are shut down each weekend - this weekend being the stations that I needed to use, and so, armed with a print of the Google map I had to walk to the hotel. I would like to say that I proved everyone wrong and went directly to the hotel, but that would be a lie... however, I only went a little bit too far, so it wasn't too bad :o)
Mr M arrived not too far behind me, complete with my Beachbody and Moleskine purchases, which I was desperate to open, but figured that getting to Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road was more important. An hour and a half after arriving there I had a good haul of stationery and accessories - inserts, stickers and dividers for my Filofaxes, family calendar (Charlie & Lola, complete with lots of stickers), reward charts, notepad, bookmarks (to be butchered for use as Filofax today markers), origami papers (ha ha ha - you should see the first attempts with those), fridge magnets, magnetic bookmarks for the boys, sticky notes, magnetic list pad.
Once Mr M had managed to drag me out of the store we headed to Leicester Square to check out where the ticket place was, but had no joy working out when it was open so decided to check out lastminute.com later to find theatre tickets (I was on a mission to complete one of my 101 in 1001 challenges by going to two West End shows), and concentrate our energies on getting out of the cold and finding somewhere warm to eat. As far as places to eat goes the Angus Steakhouse was very good, but warm? No, I was still rather cold as the air-con seemed to be aimed directly at me - but the food was great (steak with sweet potato sticks and seasonal greens - delicious). Obviously there was no way I was going to be doing my Kenpo workout that evening so I decided to do it in the morning and have my rest day a day early (although the morning workouts turned out not to be such a good idea later in the week by which point I had very little sleep thanks to all the sirens going near the hotel... after living in quiet places for a long time I found I was constantly being woken up, and when I was asleep I was so tense that by the end of the week the back of my left shoulder was totally knackered...I digress).
Then it was back to the hotel to see my other purchases - my 10 Minute Trainer by Mr fitness himself, Tony Horton - it arrived with a recipe book, a resistance band (which is better than any of the 3 in the pack I bought from the sports shop), and even includes workout cards so you can workout when you are away from home and have no access to the DVDs.
The Moleskines I had ordered are all great, and although I didn't have any idea what I would use them all for, I am already using the Star Wars one to prep for blog posts (including this one) - I love it. The poster is fab, and the stickers that come in the others are pretty cool (especially the Peanuts ones). I love the fact that Marcus (age 4) saw the Moleskines stacked as above (ie, with Darth Vader and the Star Wars title totally hidden from view), and immediately identified it as Star wars - how does he do that...?
After purchases and stationery lusting had been completed (at least for one day), it was time to sort out tickets for a couple of shows. We Will Rock You and Rock of Ages were immediately decided as the official "have to see" shows, but after a little persuasion Mr M made me see that I really should fit in another, and so Wicked was added to the list.
We decided to go for the show and meal deals for Rock of Ages and We Will Rock You, so figured we should split them up so opted for Monday and Wednesday respectively, and then Wicked on Tuesday. If I'd known then what I know now we would have gone for different days, but you live and learn.
So Monday evening saw us heading to Kitchen Italia (arriving half an hour later than planned), and the food was good, service was excellent and the "quick meals" really are quick. Perfect for when you are running late and need to eat before going to a show. Despite being half an hour late, we were still finished and at the Shaftesbury Theatre on time for collecting our Rock of Ages tickets, which gave us an hour before the show started. We had tickets not too far back, in the Grand Circle which was fine by us, but when we got back to go into the show we were told that the Grand Circle was closed that evening and we were being upgraded and so we were given tickets for row C in the Royal Circle instead - fabulous seat for such a low price, needless to say we were very happy with the great view.
The pre-show atmosphere was great. Rock music playing, guys and gals selling beer and water dancing around, special 'lighters' being handed out ready for those special moments and there was no curtain hiding the stage, so you could see the whole set and get in the mood before it started. I had also picked up a programme before we went in which was as you would expect a programme to be, full of photos and bios of the cast, pictures from the show and the set lists - really good.
The two cast members who headline the show according to the posters were not there that night - Justin Lee Collins (holiday) and Shane Ward (ill), so the understudies stepped up to take on their duties, and therefore other people stepped up to cover their parts, and they really did themselves proud. If you hadn't been expecting to see JLC or Shane, then you would have had no idea that the understudies were on. I have seen someone bitching and whining on the Rock of Ages page on Facebook that JLC and Shane weren't there, but JLC had booked the time off (a whole 3 days - how outrageous) and Shane was ill - the person said that the understudies were incredible, so why whinge? I don't get it...
It was a fabulous show with the character of Lonny played wonderfully by Simon Lipkin, with Jamie Muscato filling the roll of Franz remarkably, standing in for Sandy Moffatt (who moved up to cover the role of Stacee Jaxx as vacated for the evening by Shane Ward). Grant Anthony in the role of Dennis (JLC replacement) also did a sterling job.
You can't help but fall for Drew, played by Oliver Tompsett, fabulous looks and a stunning voice. And Natalie Andreou's outstanding performance of Sherrie was amazing.
After another good meal at Kitchen Italia it was time to head off to the Dominion for We Will Rock You and picked up tickets for more good seats (row E in the stalls). We were quite surprised after Rock of Ages to find that the theatre seemed a bit sterile and had nothing to get you in the mood for what is undoubtedly one of the most successful West End shows. I bought a programme on the way in and was disappointed to find that although it contained the usual cast bios, set list etc, there were no photos at all from the show itself, so nothing that is going to bring back memories of the show when you look at it in future, however, on the way out Mr M spotted that there had been 2 types of programme, so maybe I just picked the wrong one.
The show itself was very well done, with fabulous sets and brilliant use of TV screens. All the cast were brilliant, the show was fabulous and I would go to see it again, but for me there could only be one winner this week... Rock of Ages totally floats my boat.
I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning umming and ah-ing whether I should get tickets to go back on the Thursday night - why the dilemma? Like missing the opportunity of seeing it again was ever an option...
I was meeting up with my little sister on the Thursday evening so dragged her along with us (stopping on the way at the Detroit bar which does excellent chips and a wicked Moscow Mule - I know, I know, but it's not like I do it all the time).
We didn't book through lastminute.com this time although we had done really well with seats that we had booked from there previously as, looking at the Rock of Ages website, the available seats options at the lower end were not looking good. So I did what any sensible girl does when given the opportunity, booked tickets in the 3rd row in the stalls (Mr M appreciated the view even more this time - those are very short skirts).
JLC and Shane Ward were both in the show this time round, and I was so pleased to see JLC perform, he was great. Everyone else was back in their usual roles (with the exception of Natalie Andreou, there was someone else playing Sherrie, but as I didn't buy the programme that night I don't know who it was). There were more 'lighters', Stacee's thong almost landed on Mr M's head, we got Rock of Ages 'money' as thrown by Joey Primo, and lots of glitter foil stuff as shot out by JLC - and that stuff gets everywhere. I got back to the hotel knowing I was going to be emptying it out of my bra, and found it stuck to my collar bone and my back too, all gone - or so I thought, until I undid my jeans and discovered that it was in there as well as down the back of my pants.
As much as I loved the show on the Monday, I loved it even more on the Thursday although I preferred Natalie Andreou's performance as Sherrie.
Simon Lipkin as Lonny is a legend!!! Nun chucks!!! Hooray for Boobies!!!
So my list of things that no visit to London is complete without:
Food
Shopping
Friends
Shows Rock of Ages
LJx
As some of you already know, I had to go to London for a course last week, which as thrilling as it was, was nowhere near as good as the stuff I got up to 'out of hours', so I'm sure you won't mind if I skip the course contents and cut straight to the fun stuff.
I arrived at Gatwick around midday on Sunday, complete with a reasonably sized shopping list, with a plan to meet up with Mr M at London Bridge station to walk to the Ibis near Aldgate East. Unfortunately Mr M got delayed on his train into Waterloo, and so I had to find my own way to the hotel. Those who know me well would have been worried that I may not find it, and would instead end up in Scotland or something equally random - map reading and directions are really not my forte. So I figured the safest thing to do would be to get the tube to Aldgate East, and sensibly bought a ticket as soon as I arrived at the station. However, I had not realised that due to weekend engineering works, various areas of the tube are shut down each weekend - this weekend being the stations that I needed to use, and so, armed with a print of the Google map I had to walk to the hotel. I would like to say that I proved everyone wrong and went directly to the hotel, but that would be a lie... however, I only went a little bit too far, so it wasn't too bad :o)
Mr M arrived not too far behind me, complete with my Beachbody and Moleskine purchases, which I was desperate to open, but figured that getting to Paperchase on Tottenham Court Road was more important. An hour and a half after arriving there I had a good haul of stationery and accessories - inserts, stickers and dividers for my Filofaxes, family calendar (Charlie & Lola, complete with lots of stickers), reward charts, notepad, bookmarks (to be butchered for use as Filofax today markers), origami papers (ha ha ha - you should see the first attempts with those), fridge magnets, magnetic bookmarks for the boys, sticky notes, magnetic list pad.
 |
| Paperchase haul - so pretty!!! |
Then it was back to the hotel to see my other purchases - my 10 Minute Trainer by Mr fitness himself, Tony Horton - it arrived with a recipe book, a resistance band (which is better than any of the 3 in the pack I bought from the sports shop), and even includes workout cards so you can workout when you are away from home and have no access to the DVDs.
The Moleskines I had ordered are all great, and although I didn't have any idea what I would use them all for, I am already using the Star Wars one to prep for blog posts (including this one) - I love it. The poster is fab, and the stickers that come in the others are pretty cool (especially the Peanuts ones). I love the fact that Marcus (age 4) saw the Moleskines stacked as above (ie, with Darth Vader and the Star Wars title totally hidden from view), and immediately identified it as Star wars - how does he do that...?
 |
| 10 Minute Trainer & Moleskine mini stack |
 |
| Large black standard lined notebook, Recipe journal, Star Wars large lined notebook, Peanuts small lined notebook |
 |
| Moleskines, poster and stickers |
We decided to go for the show and meal deals for Rock of Ages and We Will Rock You, so figured we should split them up so opted for Monday and Wednesday respectively, and then Wicked on Tuesday. If I'd known then what I know now we would have gone for different days, but you live and learn.
So Monday evening saw us heading to Kitchen Italia (arriving half an hour later than planned), and the food was good, service was excellent and the "quick meals" really are quick. Perfect for when you are running late and need to eat before going to a show. Despite being half an hour late, we were still finished and at the Shaftesbury Theatre on time for collecting our Rock of Ages tickets, which gave us an hour before the show started. We had tickets not too far back, in the Grand Circle which was fine by us, but when we got back to go into the show we were told that the Grand Circle was closed that evening and we were being upgraded and so we were given tickets for row C in the Royal Circle instead - fabulous seat for such a low price, needless to say we were very happy with the great view.
The pre-show atmosphere was great. Rock music playing, guys and gals selling beer and water dancing around, special 'lighters' being handed out ready for those special moments and there was no curtain hiding the stage, so you could see the whole set and get in the mood before it started. I had also picked up a programme before we went in which was as you would expect a programme to be, full of photos and bios of the cast, pictures from the show and the set lists - really good.
The two cast members who headline the show according to the posters were not there that night - Justin Lee Collins (holiday) and Shane Ward (ill), so the understudies stepped up to take on their duties, and therefore other people stepped up to cover their parts, and they really did themselves proud. If you hadn't been expecting to see JLC or Shane, then you would have had no idea that the understudies were on. I have seen someone bitching and whining on the Rock of Ages page on Facebook that JLC and Shane weren't there, but JLC had booked the time off (a whole 3 days - how outrageous) and Shane was ill - the person said that the understudies were incredible, so why whinge? I don't get it...
It was a fabulous show with the character of Lonny played wonderfully by Simon Lipkin, with Jamie Muscato filling the roll of Franz remarkably, standing in for Sandy Moffatt (who moved up to cover the role of Stacee Jaxx as vacated for the evening by Shane Ward). Grant Anthony in the role of Dennis (JLC replacement) also did a sterling job.
You can't help but fall for Drew, played by Oliver Tompsett, fabulous looks and a stunning voice. And Natalie Andreou's outstanding performance of Sherrie was amazing.
 |
| Rock of Ages!!! It truly does rock!!! |
I was so hyped after the show I wanted to go back and see it again immediately, and still had energy to fit in a workout when I got back to the hotel :o)
Tuesday after the course I ran into House of Fraser opposite and managed to buy a whole outfit very quickly (quite a feat for me - miss anti-shopper), finishing in time to meet up with my friend James to head over to Victoria for a swift one and a catch up and meet up with Mr M (who very kindly took the bags back to the hotel).
Next stop - Wicked at the Apollo. We were sat to the far left, but quite close to the front so had a good view of most areas of the stage. There was no pre-show atmosphere, but as it wasn't a rock musical we hadn't expected anything else. The show was very good, but I do wish I'd seen it before Rock of Ages.
I always love going to shows, and usually want to see them again almost immediately, but I just didn't get as drawn into this one, despite the fact that it was a really good show. I'm glad I didn't take my boys to see it though as I think they would have found the monkeys a bit disturbing, and as for the wizard? OMG, the huge golden head scared me!!!
Wednesday took us to another meal and show package, and Kitchen Italia again, which as we new the turnaround is quick, meant we didn't have to rush to get there and had time to sneak into the Filofax shop in the next street (Neal Street for all you FF fans) for a quick look. I got to see the Temperleys in the flesh and even touched them!!!
I'm not keen on the Affair (lacey thing) from the outside, but inside it is beautiful, and the inserts are even more luxurious than anything FF would ever design. I wish they would listen to what we want *sigh*
The Guinea on the other hand feels absolutely gorgeous, but I'm not completely sold on the large zip (designers everywhere seem to be putting these bad boys anywhere at the moment, and I'm not sure it's always appropriate). the reasoning behind this baby is that it can be used all day and night (using it as a clutch with a purpose in the evenings). It is very stylish, but the £400 price tag seems a bit excessive.
However, it is still cheaper (and more practical) than many designer handbags and as 1 of my 101 things in 1001 days is to buy a designer handbag, then maybe I should have paid more attention to this baby, especially as the FF website doesn't have any pics of the interior :o)
Anyway, enough FF speak (?) - although Mr M did say that it was a proper geek-fest in the shop with me and the owner. She is great and even gave me a refill for my FF pen that I don't use as it's rubbish, and having put the refill in, I have to say, it is now a lovely pen to write with, as well as being very pretty :o)
 |
| My beautiful Filofax pen, which now works :o) |
The show itself was very well done, with fabulous sets and brilliant use of TV screens. All the cast were brilliant, the show was fabulous and I would go to see it again, but for me there could only be one winner this week... Rock of Ages totally floats my boat.
I spent Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday morning umming and ah-ing whether I should get tickets to go back on the Thursday night - why the dilemma? Like missing the opportunity of seeing it again was ever an option...
I was meeting up with my little sister on the Thursday evening so dragged her along with us (stopping on the way at the Detroit bar which does excellent chips and a wicked Moscow Mule - I know, I know, but it's not like I do it all the time).
We didn't book through lastminute.com this time although we had done really well with seats that we had booked from there previously as, looking at the Rock of Ages website, the available seats options at the lower end were not looking good. So I did what any sensible girl does when given the opportunity, booked tickets in the 3rd row in the stalls (Mr M appreciated the view even more this time - those are very short skirts).
JLC and Shane Ward were both in the show this time round, and I was so pleased to see JLC perform, he was great. Everyone else was back in their usual roles (with the exception of Natalie Andreou, there was someone else playing Sherrie, but as I didn't buy the programme that night I don't know who it was). There were more 'lighters', Stacee's thong almost landed on Mr M's head, we got Rock of Ages 'money' as thrown by Joey Primo, and lots of glitter foil stuff as shot out by JLC - and that stuff gets everywhere. I got back to the hotel knowing I was going to be emptying it out of my bra, and found it stuck to my collar bone and my back too, all gone - or so I thought, until I undid my jeans and discovered that it was in there as well as down the back of my pants.
As much as I loved the show on the Monday, I loved it even more on the Thursday although I preferred Natalie Andreou's performance as Sherrie.
Simon Lipkin as Lonny is a legend!!! Nun chucks!!! Hooray for Boobies!!!
 |
| Show memorablilia |
Food
Shopping
Friends
LJx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)