A simple, quick craft!

I am the sort of person who expresses their love through gifts, hand-written letters and through homemade cards.

So, of course, i jumped on the chance to send steve's newly engaged brother an engagement card. 

I simply got a piece of card left over from my wedding thank you cards, sent off a picture of the happy couple to Jessops to get printed (40p - thank you very much!) and used this as the background for the card.

 I love that they haven't seen this picture before, it was one of the candid shots from a friend at our wedding.

Then, my favourite bit - i cut out two simple hearts from felt and hand stitched them onto the photograph before securing it to the card-stock. This project was unbelievably simple. It took no more than ten minutes to finish.

I have recently fallen in love with felt.. its the most versatile material ever and i love the contrast of textures. I may actually be addicted.

[[some recent felt projects - hair-clip, stocking advent calendar and another engagement card]]

Lately,

A little recap,

1. Way too much work...

2. Pretty snapshot, taken between lectures.. (see number one)
3. Fitz formal finally ups it's standards...
5. Getting my new hair :)

5. My beautiful mum came to stay, we spent a lot of time in coffee shops, shopped lots and had the MOST amazing food. Midsummer house (hello!!) and Giraffe's breakfast burrito - two of my new favourite things..

6. A lovely woman's boat club formal after very little actual rowing.. silly ice.

New.

Woohoo, i got a new haircut.

My first full fringe in a good ten years.. :)

[[not the best picture, but you get the idea :)]]

A valentines wish list..

The day my husband proposed was the most romantic day of my entire life (so far! Hey Steve?!). He could not have pulled off a more perfect evening, or proposed in a more thoughtful, 'us' way. He seriously scored a million brownie points. Even now, a year and a half later, he still brings it up and milks it for all its worth :)

It came as even more of a shocker given that he is not a romantic man by nature. He buys flowers bi-annually, but that is usually as far as he goes. Please don't get me wrong, this man shows his love in a million different ways... by cleaning up after my mess, driving up every weekend, constantly telling me what i mean to him. All of these i appreciate beyond words.

However, sometimes its nice to have that something a little extra. Something that he has taken time over, and really thought about. Something specifically designed to say 'i love you'.

So this year i have passed responsibility for valentines day (or weekend in our case - tuesday is such an inconvenient day!!) completely over to him. We normally aren't massive on valentines day, but as its our first married one its a little more special.

So here is some [[completely unreasonable]] ideas, because a girl's gotta dream right?...

Plan C:

- A handwritten loveletter and breakfast in bed.

- Some of our favourite movies and lots of chocolate.

- Dinner at my favourite restaurant :)

Plan B:

 - Living social are offering a mani/pedi or a massage at a local spa at the moment..

 - Then, Punting!!! After all, what is more romantic than punting??

- A candlelight dinner for two.. preferably a Steve culinary masterpiece..

Plan A:

A weekend in Paris, anyone?

Yours,

Following in my husband's footsteps...

The man is a builder by trade, and a pretty awesome one too i might add. 

Well today in honour of his skill sets, i built an igloo.. yes sir! It was pretty damn impressive too.

(even if it was a little wonky and a little triangular)

 

[[haha please ignore the hat and red face, it was far too cold!]]

Whilst my friend Becca and I got on with this beauty, the boys amused themselves rolling an extremely large snowball.. 

I had been a little bit of a cynic about the snow. Cambridge had been pretty mild so I was totally prepared for the forecasters to have got it wrong. Then, between 20.30-21.30 last night, Cambridge got blanketed.. 

And what are you to do in that situation? Well, a late night college wide snow ball fight and then sledging down castle hill on canteen trays was our answer. It was awesome.

A great day.

The title says it all.

Steve was unable to come up and visit me this weekend (boohoo, stupid snow!!) and so i put my man-free weekend to good use..

I have spent most of my afternoon at a lovely vintage clothes fair hosted by my sweet friend Hannah. She is a member of my university's Barnardos committee (http://www.barnardos.org.uk/) and they put on this amazing event to raise charity for the cause..
There was live music, vintage board games, tonnes of clothes for sale or swap, tea and home made cake.. seriously right up my street!!
Best of all, they asked to use our wedding bunting and table cloths for the decor.. it was SO lovely to see it being used!!

Here are a few pics:

I LOVE vintage clothes, but vintage clothes and my bank balance are not really on speaking terms. However, i managed to pick up some bargains. A blazer jacket, a skirt, dress and lace top for the incredible price of £5.50! Now this is the sort of vintage i like :)

I then came home to even better news... my brother in law proposed to his lovely girlfriend today!!.. in Bruges, the old romantic. Super super excited for another Bacon wedding.

overwhelmed. Be forewarned, this is a rant.

In the interest of full disclosure, i have a confession to make.
The last few weeks i have been feeling completely overwhelmed. Like a rug has been pulled from underneath my feet. The problem is that i am not entirely sure what rug i am talking about...

I am unbelievably fortunate to study where i study - i even feel guilty for expressing regret about this place. Seriously, i live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world, i am surrounded daily by obscenely intelligent people - even mentored by some of them. I have been told repeatedly that this place opens doors, all you need is that magical 2:1.

Heck, i couldn't tell you how many times i have been the one to repeat this to myself. Every time i thought i couldn't do it; that i didn't have that potential, that they must have been wrong to offer me this opportunity. I've reminded myself of it every time i wanted to call someone to pick me up and give up on it all. Knee deep in Plato, Augustine and essay deadlines, i have used the words as a mantra 'all you need is the 2:1 - it will be worth it!'.

And yet, for the first time i really am doubting this. These three years have been unbelievably hard. I have met wonderful people, done some truly amazing things and experienced things i wouldn't have even imagined. Yet there is no getting away from the misery of Cambridge life - the relentless cycle. And what will come out of it? A degree in theology. A subject i love but a pretty useless subject when it comes to making an impact on the world. Yes, this degree will be from Cambridge. But in reality, i will be living in a place where that makes no difference at all. I do not want to be a teacher or a priest. My options are limited in Hastings, there's no two ways about it.

My feelings aren't helped my own lack of direction. I know i am here for a reason, i sure as hell wouldn't have got in if i wasn't. But i am desperate to know what the next step is..
If i need to retrain, i wanna know for sure that its what i am called to do. I don't want to end up where i am now: a few months down the line from graduation, feeling like i've got myself nowhere.

So i guess i questioning whether it truly will be worth it. Or have these years been the hardest, most experience waste of time?

I've got to find some perspective on this and realise that this isn't about my plans.

Yours,