princessdeia

August 16th 2012
Filed under General

So for week two of the Olympics, Jason and his friend went to watch the Beach Volleyball at Horse Guard’s Parade and I met up with them afterwards to check out BT Live at Hyde Park. Which was lovely, five screens all showing different events although everyone was just focused on the 100m Men’s Final.

The next day, was a big one of us – the day we got to go to The Olympics Park! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go to the Stadium, as we had tickets to the Basketball. We did however, get to see the US “Dream Team.” Now I did joke on twitter before hand that “everything I knew about basketball was from One Tree Hill“ So I got a little primer from Jason to the tube.

I won’t bored you with my squealing about wonderful the park is, but I will mention that is was huge! When we first entered the park, the sign said it was a 20 minute walk to the Basketball Arena – which we thought was an over exaggeration, but it was, in fact it took us a lot longer as we kept stopping to take photos.

The next few days, I settled into a routine of watching trails in the morning, stopping for lunch, housework and fresh air and then back in front of the TV for the evening sessions. When Jason has a day off, we did head back to Hyde Park – you guessed it to sit in the park and watch more sport!

Our final event of the Olympics, was the Football Final – back at Wembley. As Team GB got knocked out early on in the competition, we were excited to see Brazil and Mexico play and attended the game as neutrals – although I think I was secretly supporting Mexico as we went there on holiday. To be honest, all I wanted to see was a Medal Ceremony – it was almost as exciting as the game.

I can’t actually believe it’s over! What an amazing 16 days, I am so proud of my city and country!

August 9th 2012
Filed under General

A year ago (was it really that long ago), Jason and I both applied for several lots of Olympics Tickets, we opted for a lot of football games, beach volleyball, basketball and the Opening Ceremony. We didn’t get Opening Ceremony tickets – did anyone? But we were successful with the other events.

So, like most the country we sat down on a Friday night and watched the Opening Ceremony on T.V.- those of you following me on Twitter/Facebook will know that I adored the Opening Ceremony, it made me so proud to be British! I sung along to all the songs, joining in with the dancing and generally taking in all the amazement!

The next afternoon, still on a high from the night before we took to the streets with thousands of others to watch the Road Cycle Race. I have to admit, a lot of our photos were a blur (this was one of the only decent ones). After the racers whizzed pass us we headed into a local pub to watch to the end of the race and find out who won.

Sunday afternoon was spend at Wembley, watching two games. Although, we have been there many a time, there was something amazing about being their for the Olympics. Especially, if you remember the stadium was used for the the 1948 London Games.

On Monday evening, after work rather than sitting at home, we decided to soak up the Olympic atmosphere some more and headed out to Potter’s Field – just over the river from Jason’s work to sit in the park, enjoy a drink and watch the big screen. Since then I have to admit I have clocked an awful lot of time in front of the T.V. becoming engrossed in all sort of new sports, swimming, cycling and even rowing!

July 9th 2012
Filed under General

One of the things I am most looking forward to about the Olympics was seeing the Olympic Flame, after all it is the symbol of the ancient games, when the route for the torch relay was announced a few months ago, I remember hunting the listings for our home town. Unfortunately they were not planning on releasing the route for London until nearer the time. So next I looked for other local places and discovered the flame was passing very close to my In-Laws house in Stevenage, it also happened to be the weekend closest to my Mother-in-Law’s birthday, so we planned a little trip to visit them.

So on Sunday morning in the pouring rain we stood around and watched the procession of sponsorship van and cars pass, before watching Sarah Gosling (a former Olympic Gold Medallist) carrying the torch along Stevenage Old Town. We were amazed with the atmosphere, hundreds of people lining the street, the police on bike hi-fiving the crowds, the sponsership vans getting the crowd to dance, everyone was joining in.

In the afternoon, we had an indoor barbecue for my Mother-in-Law’s birthday, I had decided to make a cheesecake for the event. When browsing on Pinterest last week I saw this Olympic Pizza Cake, I thought what I great idea! Instead of just covering the cake in strawberries, I could create some themed Olympic Rings

The recipe, is the Baked Cheesecake from Hummingbird Book, the only adjustment I have made is to make the base, I find the one in the recipe a little thin and prefer more crust to my cheesecake.

Base

200g plain flour
75g butter
75g soft brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg

I then just decorated the cake with blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, banana and kiwi. I know the rings should be interlinked – but I didn’t have the patiences to mess around with that and plus we all know the Olympic Rings are copy-written and I didn’t want to get in trouble.

June 27th 2012
Filed under General, Project Day Zero

As a belated birthday treat for my sister yesterday I organised a non-shopping Fashionista Day!

For those of you following my on Twitter/Instagram you will know this started with a trip to the Design Museum to see the Louboutin Exhibition, this is a must for any shoe lover (which my sister is). Much like the Grace Kelly exhibition at the the V&A a few years ago, for me this is a must for anyone in London that loves fashion.

You can’t take photos inside the exhibition but these shoes suspended in hoops in the stairwell show the mix of shows and fun that the exhibit is. As you will expect they celebrate the designers life and designs, but the addition of his work with David Lynch and the carousel shows the showmanship of the designer. Oh and if you go make sure you catch the Dita Von Teese show.

So where in London do you go for a non shopping Fashionista afternoon? Why the Pret-a-Portea at The Berkeley of course. Readers of this blog will know I am obsessed with Afternoon Tea, what they might not know is my sister actually started that addiction, so it seemed like the perfect little treat for her.

The Pret-a-Portea takes it’s inspiration from the current catwalk shows, each dessert is themed around something for on of the big fashion houses, be it a bag, shoe or dress like this white chocolate crème de menthe and raspberry mousse which was inspired by a Mulberry Summer Dress.

So what does one do in the evening after walking around museums all morning and then eating your weight in desserts, why she comes home watches a girly film (Crazy, Stupid, Love) and knits her Afternoon Tea shawl.

June 6th 2012
Filed under General, Travels

It’s been so long since I have written a proper blog post, I am sure you have been wondering what I have been up to.

First off, we had a little holiday in Portugal (the sun was out most the time but obviously not on the day I took my photos).

Since where we were staying was so close to Seville (about a 2 hour drive), we decided to head over the border for some Tapas and to check out the Plaza de España as it was used as a location for the Attack of the Clones.

Whilst, away it struck me that my life had become very static, with the pregnancies and my operation, I haven’t made any effort to improve my career or job opportunities so, after we returned, I signed up to return to school, I am planning on taking a few course over the next year to improve my Web Design skills and learn some new ones (HTML5).

I set about starting up a little side line venture Prêt-À-Tricoter, and we put out our first Knitting Kit – themed around the Hunger Games (there are a few still available if you are interested). On top of that I am currently doing an internship to improve my Social Media networking skills.

When we returned home Jason’s eczema flared up pretty badly and he began a cycle of antihistamine, lotions and anti-boitics. After a few weeks, when Jason’s eczema showed no signs of improving (in fact it was getting worse), and we ended up at A&E, after he developed a fever. He was diagnosed with a Staph Infection and spend the next 24 hours in hospital have more antibiotics administered via an IV – this was only the third time in our five year marriage Jason and I have not slept in the same bed (one of the others being when I was in hospital last year). It seems to be under control now and we are just hoping it doesn’t get that sever again.

Sitting around the hospital for 24 hours and then the numerous follow up doctors and dermotoligist appointment have meant I had a lot of time to knit. Firstly, on a Wingspan shawl and also on Ruth’s Mystery Sock KAL

November 24th 2011
Filed under 101 Things, General

When I started my 101 list, one of the first things we wanted to add was Start trying to have a baby. I never really mentioned wanting a family on this blog and to be honest when I thought about mentioning it, I figured it would be one of those posts with a photo of the baby scan or positive pregnancy test, after all that is the norm isn’t it? Well it turns out my first “trying to have a baby” post isn’t going to be normal!

Last November (I can hardly believe it was a year ago it seems so much longer) in Mexico, Jason and I started trying to begin our family, and if I am to be honest we were maybe a little naive. I know some people plot and plan these things testing their ovulation or temperature, but we figured we would just do the baby making dancing a few times and nine months later we would be three.

Fast forward to just after Christmas, I had lunch with the lovely Socktopod ladies and over lunch we discussed how quickly this year was going and I suddenly realised I was late! So after lunch I popped in a chemist and brought a test, later that night when Jason came home, we did the test and sure enough I was pregnant!

So over the weekend, we were wondering around thinking about the future and maybe slightly in shock. On the Monday evening about 5 p.m. I noticed a little bleeding – worried and scared I phoned the doctor and of course consulted google. The next morning after a series of phonecalls with my doctor I was refered to the Early Pregnancy Assessment Unit (EPAU).

On the Tuesday, I had my first scan and a blood test. The blood test determined I was indeed pregnant but there was no sign of the embryo on the scan, and it was deemed “pregnancy of unknown location.” The next two weeks we had a series of blood tests and another scan all which concluded the pregnancy was ectopic in the the right tube. The doctors concluded the best cause of action was a course of Methotrexate. Less than two weeks after that I was no longer pregnant.

We spend the next few months healing (for me it was both emotionally and psychically), the doctors advised three months but we opted to a little longer. Then last month once again, I found out I was pregnant, due to our past history I was referred once again to the EPAU straight away. Once again we started the series of blood tests and scans. Both on the Friday, a blood test on the Sunday followed by another scan of the Monday. After the second scan they saw the pregnancy was once again in my right tube.

The next 24 hours are a complete blur to me (even now Jason is still filling in the blanks for me), the doctors determined the pregnancy and tube needed to be surgically removed (a salpingectomy) and due to my history they wanted to operate that day. From what I have been told, at 11 a.m. I was having my scan, at 2 p.m. they were prepping my for surgery and at 6 p.m. I was back in the ward. By lunchtime the next day I was home in my own bed (well sofa-bed, our new bed still hasn’t been delivered)!

To be honest I am still in shock (hence why it has taken me over a week to write this blog post), Jason and I are back in the limbo stage waiting for healing to begin and taking each day as it comes and trying to look to the future.

November 2nd 2011
Filed under General

Birthdays are a really big deal in our house, Jason’s birthday and mine are fortnight apart, so for the three weeks from the end of October we have a birthday festival. Hence why a lot of things on our Fall Bucket List revolved around celebrating birthdays.

My festivities started last Thursday with a pampering session, mani/pedi and a haircut… my pretty birthday toes, it is a shame it’s too cold to show them off!

Having my birthday on Halloween, we also make a big deal of this – decorating the house and eating a lot of halloween candy. This year we wanted to celebrate all the “holidays” over the autumn, Halloween, Guy Fawkes night and Thanksgiving (being British we were in this one just for the food!), However, we are going to a 40th Birthday party over the weekend so it looks like we won’t be able to go to any fireworks displays, not to be done out of a list item we decided to change this option to having a Halloween Afternoon Tea. We found several places in London that were doing themed Teas, but opted for the Podium @ the Hilton, Park Lane. Isn’t it cute ghost cookies, “blood” orange cupcakes and mini witches hats.

A birthday celebration needs a cocktail (or two), and the Hilton has an amazing bar on the 28th Floor overlooking Hyde Park. Unfortunately it was too dark up there to take decent photos.

No birthday is complete without some birthday treats, it seems some members of my family have been reading my blog as I was presented with what seems like most the Kate Spade shop on Monday morning.

One of the other birthday list items, was having a meal, Jason picked Inamo for my birthday dinner. I love the idea of this restaurant instead of having a waiter take your order you use the interactive tables to select your food, drinks and even the bill. Whilst you are waiting for your food you can even play games.

Finally, CAKE! Halloween Cupcakes from Beverly Hills Bakery

March 7th 2011
Filed under 101 Things

… don’t worry it’s got nothing to do with rodents!

Jason and I have a shared love of detective shows, good old-fashioned whodunits. CSI, Law and Order, Criminal Minds we watch them all. But our absolute favourite thing to do on was Sunday lunchtime is watch a repeat of Miss Marple on Watch with a cup of tea and some cream cakes (I normally knit too). We’ve seen the Joan Hickson version so often that we know who did it, just by the title, so decided to give it a rest, and now we have moved on to Poirot.

Every year for our anniversary we take it in turn to plan a special treat, as I planned the wedding, Jason planned our first wedding anniversary (a trip to Rome) and so I have to plan all the even years. To celebrate our four years of marriage, I thought a play in the West End and meal. Of course, when thinking of a West End play for Agatha Christie fans the first thing that comes to mind in Mousetrap.

Surprisingly, neither of us had seen it, in fact we knew every little about the play – apart from it being the longest running West End show. But in true Christie style, we were guessing right up until the summation in the drawing room (always my favourite part). Don’t worry I won’t spoil anything here. All I will say, if like us you have been thinking about going to see the play – just do it

October 27th 2010
Filed under General, Sweaters, Travels

We are off on our summer holiday (yes I realise it is Autumn) at the end of the week and I have been in a frenzy to finish off some of my current knitting projects.

• The Ishbel shawl I am working on would be the perfect wrap to keep my warm on the plane (am I the only person who freezes on airplanes).
• I figured the socks I am knitting for Jason could become his lucky gambling sock in Las Vegas.
• Seeing as I complete missed out finishing my Feather-weight Cardigan for the summer here, maybe I could use it as a cover up in the evening on the beach.
• I also have something planned for a special little lady.

So which ones will I finish? I will post some photos on holiday of us in completed projects!

August 17th 2010
Filed under 101 Things

One of my current obsessions is Afternoon Tea, which is very strange as I hate clotted cream, but there is something lovely about the tiered cake stands filled with finger sandwiches, cakes and scones, and of course drinking tea from a proper teapot! When I started to restart my 101 list, one of the things I was really keen to do was have Tea at the Ritz, reading  up about the experience online I discovered afternoontea.co.uk – a website dedicated to places to have afternoon tea in the UK.

The website list several places and I soon discovered several interesting twists on the traditional tea, from a Sex in the City themed tea to the Not the afternoon tea at the OXO tower. So, I decided rather than have just Tea at the Ritz, I would try three different teas.

The “alternative” tea that appealed to me the most was the TLSee at the Swissotel, a traditional tea themed around London landmarks! I noted they were doing an early bird special, so on Saturday we had afternoon tea as a late lunch. I have to admit, I had a bit of a sugar overload but luckily they supplied us with a lovely themed box to take the biscuits home in.