No, I'm actually *not* referring to Bon Jovi or "Livin' On A Prayer"!
Today marks the haldway point from when we booked our trip to New York, to the day we go. 16 weeks down, 16 to go.... which is way cool, as it's now less time until we go, than since we booked! I've started packing already, though I'm only taking my 16" case, so I won't exactly be packing a lot!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Shopping Spree!
Yesterday Mum and I went into Brighton for a few hours. I got paid on Thursday, have £15 in my purse, and £110 in the bank ... only 27 days until next payday!
I was after a few strappy vest top, some cropped trousers, a pair of Crocs to wear outside of work, some work shoes, and underwear. In the end, I couldn't get my Crocs, or any clear strapped bras, but I did get 21 pairs of knickers! I also bought vest tops at £3 each, in lilac, black and pink, and my first ever pair of jeans. They're cropped, with a distressed stonewash finish, and were £16 at Bon Marche, but I got 10% off for some mud on the leg, which came off easily. I wanted a 26, but they didn't have that, so I tried a 24, which fell off, and I bought the 22 ... which I had to hold up until Mum and I got to Woolies this morning, to buy some safety pins and pin some tucks into the waistbane to keep them up while we were shopping! I've gained a stone, yet am wearing zip and button jeans which are 2 sizes smaller than my usual clothes size, and *still* too big .... cool!
I have put away £50 for the Bryan Adams concert in two weeks, as I'll need train fare to London, a programme, and food and drinks, and I also spent £170 on $300 at Thomas Cook, which has started off my New York spending money. Next month I won't be going to Brighton shopping, so I should be able to do £250 into dollars, which will give me £420 towards my £1000 spending money target, with only 2 more paypackets after that, meaning I'll have to do almost £300 a month in June and July. I really *might* be living on Tesco 8p instant noodles until after my holiday! LOL
I've also upgraded my Flickr account to a Pro one, which means I can upload unlimited numbers of photos, and no limit on image size or bandwidth etc. I'm working on editing and uploading all the best photos I have, but it's a slow process! Clicking the banner at the top of my blog will take you there, should you want a look.
I did some searching this morning, and came across several websites that sell decorative and coloured bra straps, to make them into a deliberate feature, rather than something to be hidden. I think I shall buy half a dozen decent bras, then start investing in straps to coordinate and contrast with my strappy tops. What a fabulous idea the detachable straps are!
Glamourous Bra Straps
Bra Straps.co.uk
I also ordered my Crocs online this morning, from Healthy Shoes. I've gone for the Cayman style, in Fuchsia, which is worrying, as I'm not a pink kind of person, yet there is an increasing amount of pink in my wardrobe! I don't care that they're ugly, or that they'll make my feet look even bigger, I just want comfy shoes in funky colours!
Tomorrow I'm back to Brighton to meet Clare for the afternoon, but for now I'm off to edit and upload more photos.
I was after a few strappy vest top, some cropped trousers, a pair of Crocs to wear outside of work, some work shoes, and underwear. In the end, I couldn't get my Crocs, or any clear strapped bras, but I did get 21 pairs of knickers! I also bought vest tops at £3 each, in lilac, black and pink, and my first ever pair of jeans. They're cropped, with a distressed stonewash finish, and were £16 at Bon Marche, but I got 10% off for some mud on the leg, which came off easily. I wanted a 26, but they didn't have that, so I tried a 24, which fell off, and I bought the 22 ... which I had to hold up until Mum and I got to Woolies this morning, to buy some safety pins and pin some tucks into the waistbane to keep them up while we were shopping! I've gained a stone, yet am wearing zip and button jeans which are 2 sizes smaller than my usual clothes size, and *still* too big .... cool!
I have put away £50 for the Bryan Adams concert in two weeks, as I'll need train fare to London, a programme, and food and drinks, and I also spent £170 on $300 at Thomas Cook, which has started off my New York spending money. Next month I won't be going to Brighton shopping, so I should be able to do £250 into dollars, which will give me £420 towards my £1000 spending money target, with only 2 more paypackets after that, meaning I'll have to do almost £300 a month in June and July. I really *might* be living on Tesco 8p instant noodles until after my holiday! LOL
I've also upgraded my Flickr account to a Pro one, which means I can upload unlimited numbers of photos, and no limit on image size or bandwidth etc. I'm working on editing and uploading all the best photos I have, but it's a slow process! Clicking the banner at the top of my blog will take you there, should you want a look.
I did some searching this morning, and came across several websites that sell decorative and coloured bra straps, to make them into a deliberate feature, rather than something to be hidden. I think I shall buy half a dozen decent bras, then start investing in straps to coordinate and contrast with my strappy tops. What a fabulous idea the detachable straps are!
Glamourous Bra Straps
Bra Straps.co.uk
I also ordered my Crocs online this morning, from Healthy Shoes. I've gone for the Cayman style, in Fuchsia, which is worrying, as I'm not a pink kind of person, yet there is an increasing amount of pink in my wardrobe! I don't care that they're ugly, or that they'll make my feet look even bigger, I just want comfy shoes in funky colours!Tomorrow I'm back to Brighton to meet Clare for the afternoon, but for now I'm off to edit and upload more photos.
Friday, April 20, 2007
I'm so excited ....
... and I just can't hide it!
The former Millenium Dome in London has been converted into a 24,000 seat concert arena, sponsored by O2. Last week it was announced that Bon Jovi were to open the arena on June 24th, which happens to be the first day of my week's holiday in June. I had the money. I had the day before, the day itself, and a week after, off from work. I just needed the *tickets*. This was to be the only concert Bon Jovi will play in the whole of *Europe* this year. I had to be there.
I swapped my shift at work today so that I could do 10-7 instead of 9-6, and be online at 9am when tickets went on sale. 8:45am, and I started refreshing the Ticketmaster site, in case they went on sale before 9am. It was actually 8:58am when the site let me through to the ticket finder pag, and I slammed in a request for 2 tickets (the cheap ones, mind, I'm not made of money!). Success! 2 seats available, so I immediately clicked the link to continue. Uh-oh .... these seats are no longer available. Cue me swearing a lot at Ticketmaster, whose previous page, not 15 seconds before, had reassuringly told me "These seats will be heald for you for the next 2:00 minutes" ....
Plan B then .... See Tickets, who not only showed me there were seats available, but were actually happy to let me give them £115 and *buy* the damn things! I was a nervous wreck by this time, but I have my seats. Crap seats, nonetheless, right at the back of the arena in the upper tier. But I don't care. I have a week off, and am going to see Bon Jovi for the second time in a year ... well, one year, and two weeks, if we're being precise. With my bestest friend, again. In the summer. *And* this means that I'll be seeing Bryan Adams, Meat Loaf and the Jovi boys all in the space of 44 days. Life can't get much better, surely?
The former Millenium Dome in London has been converted into a 24,000 seat concert arena, sponsored by O2. Last week it was announced that Bon Jovi were to open the arena on June 24th, which happens to be the first day of my week's holiday in June. I had the money. I had the day before, the day itself, and a week after, off from work. I just needed the *tickets*. This was to be the only concert Bon Jovi will play in the whole of *Europe* this year. I had to be there.I swapped my shift at work today so that I could do 10-7 instead of 9-6, and be online at 9am when tickets went on sale. 8:45am, and I started refreshing the Ticketmaster site, in case they went on sale before 9am. It was actually 8:58am when the site let me through to the ticket finder pag, and I slammed in a request for 2 tickets (the cheap ones, mind, I'm not made of money!). Success! 2 seats available, so I immediately clicked the link to continue. Uh-oh .... these seats are no longer available. Cue me swearing a lot at Ticketmaster, whose previous page, not 15 seconds before, had reassuringly told me "These seats will be heald for you for the next 2:00 minutes" ....
Plan B then .... See Tickets, who not only showed me there were seats available, but were actually happy to let me give them £115 and *buy* the damn things! I was a nervous wreck by this time, but I have my seats. Crap seats, nonetheless, right at the back of the arena in the upper tier. But I don't care. I have a week off, and am going to see Bon Jovi for the second time in a year ... well, one year, and two weeks, if we're being precise. With my bestest friend, again. In the summer. *And* this means that I'll be seeing Bryan Adams, Meat Loaf and the Jovi boys all in the space of 44 days. Life can't get much better, surely?
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Drowning
... in my own tears! I just watched "Sweet November", starring Keanu Reeves (yum!) and Charlize Theron, and I can honestly say I have *never* cried so much at any film before! I loved it, but I doubt I'll watch it again, because it was just *that* sad. I must have used half a box of tissues, and a trip to the bathroom just confirmed what a mess I look when I cry! My face is puffed up like a beach ball, there are tear tracks down both cheeks, my eyes are bright red, and I'm sniffling and snuffling like mad. It was a great film though, but I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't seen it!
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Frame effects
I found this frosted glass frame effect online today, at a Photoshop site with lots of free actions. I really like this one, and have actually printed this image out with the frame effect added. What do you think? This was my favourite of the images I posted yesterday, though I should have cropped it a bit differently, so that there's less space above the muscari flower, and a bit more space at the bottom. Oh well, that's why I use digital, not film!
Friday, April 06, 2007
Spring has sprung!
It's been *perfect* spring weather here today, and I was feeling well enough to go for a walk around the pond and our local churchyard, with the new camera. I got lots of shots that I'm pretty pleased with, so here, for your viewing pleasure, are the best ones. I know there are loads, but hey - it's my blog! Sorry about the separate posts - Blogger only allows me to put 4 pics in each post for some reason!
Did you get the number of that donkey cart?
As Rincewind would say (Terry Pratchett's Discoworld reference for the uninitiated). I'm sure that I must have been run over by some such vehicle, as it's been ten days now, and I still only feel half human. Time's running out, because I'm back at work on Monday, and I haven't done *anything* while I've been on holiday. What a waste of 12 days ...
I decided not to go to Dublin because of feeling too ill to enjoy myself. I'm incredibly sad that I almost certainly won't get to go at all this year, but I'll see what I can fit in later in the year. I may or may not be saving for Orlando when we get back from New Yok in August, so I'll just have to see how things pan out.
Instead of Dublin, I spent the remainder of my bonus on a new desktop PC, which was much needed because my laptop hasn't got the hard drive space or the RAM to cope with the demands of a good photo-editing program, and the image sizes from my new camera. I went for the Acer Aspire L100, which I ordered on Monday afternoon, and by 12 noon on Tuesday, it was set up and in use! The 19" widescreen monitor is lovely, especially for watching movies and viewing and editing my photos, and I love the amount of space that's been saved by having a flat screen at last.
In other news, I had confirmation yesterday that my Bryan Adams tickets have been posted, though with today being a Bank Holiday, I'm expecting them either tomorrow or Tuesday. It's 6 weeks today until that concert, and 8 weeks today until the Meat Loaf one, which I already have the tickets for.
I ahd my diabetic review last week, and the DSN, Jill, asked me whether I had had the retinal photographs taken yet. This is something that is recommended for diabetics, because it shows whether there is any damage yet to the eyes. I've been on the waiting list at Brighton since November 2004, when I was first diagnosed, but it seems that they now do them at Lewes, and Jill said she would chase them up. On Wednesday I had a letter confirming my appointment at 1:30pm on Monday 16th April, so I've had to jump through hoops at work to get rotas changed etc. At least it's being done here in Lewes, and very soon, though. Actually, having them done in Brighton wouldn't have been bad at all, as it wuld have given me a reason to go and shop, but Lewes will mean that I can save some cash!
It's a *beautiful* day here today, and as I'm feeling better Mum and I are planning a short trip out this afternoon, just around teh pond and the churchyard at te end of our road. We did that last week a day or two after I got my camera, and before we started feeling really ill, and I actually got some photos I was pleased with. Sadly I'm an idiot, and on Sunday I managed to delete my entire memory card, full of the photos - that hadn't yet been transferred onto my computer! Argh! Lets hope I can get some similar shots today!
I decided not to go to Dublin because of feeling too ill to enjoy myself. I'm incredibly sad that I almost certainly won't get to go at all this year, but I'll see what I can fit in later in the year. I may or may not be saving for Orlando when we get back from New Yok in August, so I'll just have to see how things pan out.
Instead of Dublin, I spent the remainder of my bonus on a new desktop PC, which was much needed because my laptop hasn't got the hard drive space or the RAM to cope with the demands of a good photo-editing program, and the image sizes from my new camera. I went for the Acer Aspire L100, which I ordered on Monday afternoon, and by 12 noon on Tuesday, it was set up and in use! The 19" widescreen monitor is lovely, especially for watching movies and viewing and editing my photos, and I love the amount of space that's been saved by having a flat screen at last.In other news, I had confirmation yesterday that my Bryan Adams tickets have been posted, though with today being a Bank Holiday, I'm expecting them either tomorrow or Tuesday. It's 6 weeks today until that concert, and 8 weeks today until the Meat Loaf one, which I already have the tickets for.
I ahd my diabetic review last week, and the DSN, Jill, asked me whether I had had the retinal photographs taken yet. This is something that is recommended for diabetics, because it shows whether there is any damage yet to the eyes. I've been on the waiting list at Brighton since November 2004, when I was first diagnosed, but it seems that they now do them at Lewes, and Jill said she would chase them up. On Wednesday I had a letter confirming my appointment at 1:30pm on Monday 16th April, so I've had to jump through hoops at work to get rotas changed etc. At least it's being done here in Lewes, and very soon, though. Actually, having them done in Brighton wouldn't have been bad at all, as it wuld have given me a reason to go and shop, but Lewes will mean that I can save some cash!
It's a *beautiful* day here today, and as I'm feeling better Mum and I are planning a short trip out this afternoon, just around teh pond and the churchyard at te end of our road. We did that last week a day or two after I got my camera, and before we started feeling really ill, and I actually got some photos I was pleased with. Sadly I'm an idiot, and on Sunday I managed to delete my entire memory card, full of the photos - that hadn't yet been transferred onto my computer! Argh! Lets hope I can get some similar shots today!
