Delights of the lemon variety

1. General appreciation of pastry based desserts. Check.
2. Slightly greater appreciation of anything citrusy and/or zingy. Check, check.
3. Slight obsession with meringue. Especially homemade ones that are crisp on the outside, fluffy on the inside and stick to your teeth when you chew them, aka the perfect meringue. CHECK.

I handed in the most awful assignment that I have ever had the serious misfortunate of writing today. It was a 3,000 worder on research methods and ethics... Oh what, sorry, I just dozed off a little bit thinking about how boring it was. 

Anyway, after handing it in, I came home and took the afternoon off. I felt like I deserved it. I spent it reading Eat, Pray, Love, which is wickedsick by the way. Actually i take that back. Wickedsick gives a completely wrong impression of the book. Inspiring joyness is more like it. On with the list of stuffs I did... cooking, drinking posh juice (something fruity and sparkling drank from a wine glass constitutes posh juice for me) and baking. Can we say practically perfect? All together now, practically perfect. Apart from having to start the meringues over twice, because the tiniest little bit of yolk somehow crept into the bowl, which meant that the whites wouldn't stiffen, which my friends, is basically a meringue disaster. That was a really long sentence. Soz. Anyway, then when I'd made a good meringue mixture I then go and leave them in the oven for a minute too long. I know you were being polite when you pretended you didn't notice that my meringues in the picture were a little browner then they should be. I appreciate you trying to spare my feelings, but honestly there's no need, they were excellent. 

I might have actually even eaten two just to prove a point....

Home slices

"Though we drifted apart, I still think of you as being right here. And although we have many new friends, it is our friendship that means the most to me."

Yesterday, these beauties came over to Leeds for une petite visit. It had been a while. Far too long in fact. But the thing is, with these girls I don't think any distance in time or space will ever matter. It's that kind of friendship. 

Me, Han & Soph were best friends pretty much from the moment that we met. I think that I was about ten years old. We were the private joke a minute, car wash ventures, shopping trips, sleepovers, code name givers, making up dance routines, smoothie making, boy obsessing best friends. You know the kind. 

Apart from the devastated journal writings of "I can't believe they've gone shopping together without me. I feel so left out." Which a few days later turned into "they were getting my birthday present and wanted to keep it a surprise!!" we were safe as house. (There's one of those private jokes I was talking about.)

Soph was the organised one that would plan what time we had to get up and schedule our time perfectly so that we were out the door when we needed to be. Because when your fourteen and your whole weekend revolves around going down Hillsborough, or to Meadowhall to buy a new top for the dance, having things perfectly timed is important! We would have never got anywhere without Soph writing down what time we would get up, how long it would take us to get dressed, how long it would take us to eat breakfast and all that jazz. Han was the complete opposite, and I fit** somewhere in the middle. 

We're all grown now, even though none of us feel like grown ups, and our friendship is different now. But yesterday, when we just sat in my living room and talked for a good few hours, it felt like although an awful lot had actually changed, nothing had changed at all. And that makes me happy. 

**I often think that the past participle of fit should be fat. As in "I definitely fat into this dress yesterday."

(Almost) 30 photos

Some of my honeypies are doing this 30 photos thing on the book of faces, and I've decided that I'm going to join in. 


In a side note, a used chilli in the dinner I made tonight and even remembered to wash my hands after so I didn't make anyway where sting if I touched it with my red hot fingers. I just rubbed my eye. Turns out I should have washed my hands twice. It burns.

♥ someone you spend a lot of time with

I feel like this is a boring choice, but I'm sorry,

 I live with the boy, so of course course course I spend a lot of time with him.

♥ a picture of you

I've never had some many pictures taken of me in one day, 

so thee ol' wedding day seemed an obvious choice.

♥ a random picture of you and your sig. other

This photo just always makes me laugh.

♥ an old picture of you

I knew how to rock the double denim ten years ago. 

Ohhhh yeah.

♥ a picture of your siblings

Obvs my Dad isn't a sibling, but just roll with it, k?

♥ a picture that you've never posted before

I can't think why I've never posted this before.

It is pure GOLD!

♥ a picture of someone you miss

Grays, France is a long way away.

I look forward to your sweet return this summer.

♥ a picture of people you know now and then

These sugarplums will always be my home girls. Fact.

♥ a picture of your favourite place

This place means that I can be with my loved forever.

That's right. For.Ever.

♥ a person you can tell everything to

Chlo. My best friend. She is a complete rockstar/clean freak and I love her.

♥ a picture of your everyday life

Just messing around with the hubs. Standard.

♥ a picture from a place you love

Haworth. Possibly one of the quaintest most picturesque places in all of England.

♥ a picture that reminds you of great times

Montpellier, Janurary 2011. 

Teaching in a French primary school. 

Priceless.

♥ a picture of one of your favourite foods

Baklava. I crave this sweet, syrupy, nutty goodness all, the, time.

♥ a picture from the best day of your life

Obvious choice. Cute, cheesy, gag whatever.

♥ a picture that always makes you laugh

It's just hilarious creepy. Ross might kill me for this.

♥ a photo from a great night

A trip to the fair in my first year in Leeds. 

♥ a picture of the people who are closest to you

Obscure angle, but housies for life. I love these girls.

Also, I'm taller than all of them. Even when they wear heels. Story of my life.

♥ a picture of your parents when they were your age

I don't have one of both of them on my laptop.

Nice hair Mom. (Ha!)

♥ a picture from last summer

Oversized sunnies at the Colosseum. Perfecto. 

♥ a picture of you on your favourite vacation

I loved the Caribbean. 

And I love how deliciously brown it made me.

And I love how cute my two younger brothers look in this picture. 

♥ a picture of your closest friend

Obvious choice.

Ok, so I didn't quite do all thirty. Ross is giving me evils because he wants the laptop, and I didn't have photos for some of them, so I just cut them out. 

Notes on a Busy Weekend

Ok, so I've been busy. Could you tell? I've been trying to write (an awful) 3,000 word assignment on (the most boring subject ever) research methods, whilst still having a life. It's been kinda hard, but don't feel sorry for me, I have rather dramatic tendencies. Anyway, for me to keep some kind of a hold on my sanity, something had to give, and unfortunately, it was you, dearest blob. But I'm back now, so all is well. I've missed you. 


So here's a quick little update. I'm sure this is an obvious thing to state and the more astute among you might even go as far to say duh, but each point relates to the pictures above. In the same order. Altogether, duhhhh. 


♥ I like to whip my hair back and forth. Willow style(ee). 


♥ Let me tell you the (random) story behind this picture. I was doing some of the washing up on Friday (you have to know that there's a window right in front of the sink that looks out onto the shared gardenish of my apartment building), minding my own business, and this little boy pops outside and presses his face right up to the window. I've never even seen this boy before, so it was really weird. He stares at me for a few seconds and then bobs down out of sight. I carry on washing up, slightly bemused and then up he pops again with a dandelion in his hand. He reaches up to my open kitchen window, not saying a word or smiling at all and pushes the dandelion through into my kitchen. And then he ran off. I wasn't sure if he was trying to be annoying or sweet. Or weird. 


♥ This is Ross showing just how obsessed with COD he is. (A LOT!) He even pretends to use the hoover attachment as a gun. Also, he obviously has the imagination of a seven year old. 


♥ A random photo from our little date down by the canal yesterday afternoon. We walked past the place that Ross proposed to me and had a very cheesy, lovely moment. 


♥ Photo from the same little canal date. I caught Ross right at the pinnacle of his turny, leapy, jumpy trick that I ask him to do at least once every three days because I love it so much.


♥ An old picture of me & the hubs before we were even engaged. Also a photographic dedication to my well missed long hair. We found this little gem while we were preparing our little workshop for a fireside last night. Actually, we found a few old pictures. They were all too embarrassing to share. Sorry!

True Brit

In Britain there's an unspoken rule about how to conduct yourself if the weather is sunny and it's over 15 degrees. Regular footwear is exchanged for flip flops or sandals. You wear shorts. Or a skirt or dress. Obviously it depends on your gender. Either way, anything other than trousers. You must have a pair of sunglasses somewhere on your person. If your a young teenage boy, or sometimes even if your a middle aged man, you walk around in public places with no tshirt on. (I'm not much of a fan of this one) You eat outside at every opportunity and have a BBQ. 


A lot of foreign people can spot a Brit a mile off. In a warm (even only a slightly warm) foreign country, the Brits will be the ones wearing shorts and sunglasses and the locals will be the ones still wearing coats and lots of layers. Maybe some people think that this isn't a good stereotype, but another thing about us Brits is that we're realistic. The weather in Britain is at best occasionally pleasant. Rain and cloudy skies are the bread and butter of British weather. 


So like today, when the sun is shining gloriously, the breeze is perfect and it's actually warm, we make the most of it. Every time. We're happy about, we smile at stranger and we even appreciate it so much that we blog about it. Maybe the last part is just me, but whatever.


Just as a side note, isn't the place I had my wedding reception (the place in the picture) absolutely beautiful? I think so.