princessdeia

December 7th 2011
Filed under General

Despite the fact that I am still recuperating from my operation, Jason and I have done extremely well at completing our Fall Bucket List. We missed out seeing Ghostbusters on the big screen, but I expect we will be watching it over the Christmas period, as we loved completing this list so much last week we made another one for the Winter.

1. Go to Winter Wonderland.
2. Have a Christmas Afternoon Tea.
3. Drink numerous Gingerbread Lattes.
4. Make a Gingerbread House.
5. See big Christmas blockbuster at the cinema.
6. Decorate the House.
7. Have a movie night at home.
8. Bake a Christmas Cheesecake (need a recipe).
9. Have a family get together.
10. Make some Christmas Candy.

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

October 16th 2011
Filed under General

1. Make Pecan Coffee Cake.
2. Make Pumpkin Cheesecake or Pumpkin Spiced Muffins.
3. Find an decent autumn coffee drink from Starbucks that is available in the U.K.*
4. Decorate the house for Halloween.
5. See Ghostbusters at the cinema during the Halloween week.
6. Go for a family meal for Dee’s birthday.
7. Go for a family meal for Jason’s birthday.
8. Have Halloween Themed Afternoon Tea.
9. Go to a Football game.
10. Go for Thanksgiving Dinner in London.

July 20th 2010
Filed under 101 Things, General

Over the last few months, I have been trying to keep two blogs… One devoted to knitting and the other in my attempts into being a domestic goddess, as a result I have done extremely well at ignoring both of them! I have just had to pay for the renewal of this domain and for a long time I thought about letting it lapse… but then I thought I used to love writing this blog and it does serve as a great memory of everything I have been up to.

So I have decided to just keep the one blog (this one), but am going to take some of the ascepts of the other blog (my attempts at cooking, my favourite things for each month and some of my adventures in London) and add them here!

To add to this reset, I am also going to restart my list for Day Zero. I still don’t have 101 things (at the moment it is around 50)

January 21st 2010
Filed under 101 Things, General

Instead of setting mini lists and deadlines this year, I thought I would focus on a larger list of things I want to this year. Jason and I have created a list of things we want to do in London (but for some reason we have never found the time).

1. Tea at the Ritz.
2. See Mousetrap.
3. See Avenue Q.
4. Lose another stone in weight.
5. Use my pedometer for 30 days.
6. Do the couch to 5k.
7. Do a charity run.
8. Start a new blog.
9. Design a layout for the new blog.
10. Create a new gallery for deeandjason.co.uk
11. Finish all the Sock(topus) Club 2009 socks by the deadline (28th Feb.).
12. Finish all the Knit Love sock within the year.
13. Compete and finish in the Ravelympic.
14. Knit another lace shawl.
15. Take mum to Paris.
16. Read all the Sookie Stackhouse books.
17. Read all the Vampire Diaries books
18. Read all the Adrian Mole books
19. Re-read the Harry Potter books (before the films are released).
20. Re-read the Twilight books (before Eclipse is released).

I was hoping to have 40 items on this list (to insure I did the 101 things in 1001 days), so it is still a work in progress.

June 19th 2009
Filed under General

In honour of my Ravel-versary this weekend, I am celebrating with a photo mosaic of some of the projects I class as “favourites” on Ravelry – enjoy!

1. Craftyginger’s Best Friend Bag.
2. Little Cotton Rabbit’s Bunnies – which have their very own little story
3. PraticalPolly’s now infamous Wonder Woman Jumper
4. Perrysburger66′s Heart Afghan.
5. MissVicki’s Batgirl.
6. Cable Bag – I love Farrah’s alternations (the adding of leather handles rather than knitted ones) makes this perfect knitted handbag – it has been in my queue for years.
7. Janknit’s Cup Cozies – perfect little gifts.
8. BatmanBaiter’s Batman Bag!
9. Emms Buttony – I just adore this large “minstrel” buttons they change the look of this cardigan.
10. Sandra’s Vintage Jaywalker socks – just fabulous!
11. Bamboozelle – I love how this pattern does not look like it is knitted.
12. Alice’s Fiori di Zucca Socks – from last years sock club, I think these socks were the reason I wanted to join this year.
13. The Weekend Bag from Interweave, I have never felt comfortable working with colour but when I do this will be high on my list of things to knit!
14. Neoknit’s Buttercup, like with the weekend bag, this is a future project once I have mastered intarsia.
15. Mochi mochi – again the geek in me loved this pattern!
16. Castlefiber’s Olympic Rings which she turned into this socks during the Ravelympics.
17. Lisseut’s  Space Invaders sweater.
18. Yorkirgirls Razor Scarf.
19. clickertyclick’s  iPod Cozy Hoody.
20. Little Cotton Rabbit’s Christmas Stocking
21. Dorien’s Doughnut – this reminds me of The Simpsons.
22. PurlsAndLace’s Lace Socks.
23. Likelyarn’s Boston Red Sox!
24. I have been a fan of the knitted babes for some time and I just love the hair on Zena’s version.
25. Funkynitter’s Poker Sweater!
26. Funkynitter’s Animal!
27. rei’s Olive – a simple pattern with a great look.
28. ax174′s Skein of Yarn Bag Charm – not knitted but a great idea.
29. Pastel Cakes again by Little Cotton Rabbit
30. Juncojunction’s Soma Cube – I used to have a wooden version of this when I was a child and I love the idea of a knitted version.
31. Chatulim Hexagon Blanket.
32. Knitted Easter Eggs – calorie free!
33. Leigh Mason-Brown’s Granny Square Earrings
34. Laura’s Audrey.
35. Planetjune’s Lemmings – I spend hours playing this game at university and these brought back so many memories.
36. Mia’s Ballerina.

June 11th 2009
Filed under 101 Things

I haven’t forgetten this list – I am just a little late posting it

Starting: June 8, 2009
Ending: September 16, 2009

1. Finally finish my Clapotis (and start another one)
2. Complete the Jillian Michaels: 30 Day Shred.
3. Start a home decorating planner.
4. Knit something other than socks or a scarf/shawl.
5. Organise knitting patterns.
6. Drink a two litres of water a day for a month.
7. Start a Scrapbook, including our extra wedding photos.
8. Watch all the seasons of Battlestar Galatica.
9. Visit Vinopolis.
10. Complete 5 random acts of kindness (Knitting related via the Ravelry board).

May 14th 2009
Filed under 101 Things, General

Before starting my 101 list, I read the survival tips on the Day Zero website, written there clearly is “Welcome Failure.” What I didn’t realise was how spectacular I would fail! 30 days after my first deadline here is how the list currently stands.

1. Lose at least a stone in weight. – Fail
Although I have been making some effort to exercise (see  number two), my diet has been just awful this year.

2. Use the Wii Fit at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.  – WIP
Currently, I am easily managing to fit in two sessions a week, although I have to say I am getting a little bored with some of the exercises and think it might be time to look for a new game.

3. Find a decent Sugar Cookie recipe and make at least five varieties of cookies. – Success!
I managed to find a wonderful website, that sells cookie cutters in all shapes and sizes, with some great tips and ideas. Plus I have been buying every cookie cookbook I can find! I am still not confident enough with my baking to try them on anyone but my immediate family.

4. Reduce my stash by one mile. – Success!

1. Leyburn Socks, 2. Garden Trelis Sock, 3. Meret,
4. Jaywalker Socks III, 5. Vinnland, 6. Spring Forward

5. Create a Home Organisation System. – WIP
I have to say the one thing I have discovered from trying to make a system is that it is a definite “work in progress.” I started taking inspiration from the FlyLady system and also Cleaning Grand Plan, and am pleased to report the we have already made great headway with decluttering.

6. Manicure my nails each week and get them done professionally at least once. – Success!
This one has been a really easy item to keep up, I treated myself to a manicure at the beginning of the challenge and seeing my nail look nice for the week inspired me to keep them manicured! I was given a selection of Nail Inc colours at Christmas, that I should really make more of an effort to use.

7. Boost My Income by £1000. – WIP
This was probably a little adventurous for the 10 weeks  (or maybe it is because of the credit crunch), but I have re-assessed all our money looked for saving where I can. Maximised using cashback websites , loyalty cards started a change jar and I even managed to make £200 recycling our old mobile phones.

8. Do The Torres Bounce in The Kop. – Fail
This is the one I am going to have to admit defeat on, even though we managed to make it to Anfield, it is proving impossible to sit in The Kop! Plus on my two recent trips to Liverpool, Torres has been injured for both games, so we still haven’t been able to see him play. The season ends this weekend so this one will have to go on the back burner until August.

9. Go to the Museum in Docklands. – Fail
I really have no excuse for failing this… I had several chances to go.

10. Book (or go) on a holiday in the sun! – Fail
Although the sun did shine when we were in Brussels, it looks like that will be our only holiday for a while, we have both been extremely busy with work and are currently looking for a new car so the holiday is on hold.

I am not going to give up, my plan is create another list of 10 items which I will start in June. I will continue working on this list until then and carry over all of the failures.

January 3rd 2009
Filed under 101 Things, General

I just love the idea of Mission 101. However I know I would never stick to it – but I know I need something to kick start this year and achieving some goals… So I am going to do it in stages. 10 things in 101 days, then hopefully create nine more lists making 101 things eventually.

Starting: January 3, 2009
Ending: April 13, 2009

1. Lose at least a stone in weight.
2. Use the Wii Fit at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes.
3. Find a decent Sugar Cookie recipe and make at least five varieties of cookies.
4. Reduce my stash by one mile.
5. Create a Home Organisation System.
6. Manicure my nails each week and get them done professionally at least once.
7. Boost My Income by £1000.
8. Do The Torres Bounce in The Kop.
9. Go to the Museum in Docklands.
10. Book (or go) on a holiday in the sun!