Makin' pancakes makin' bacon pancakes

So my charms have arrived. I have got them all together and up on my own online shop and onto Etsy too.

I haven’t really had any real interest yet and I have sold 2 to my sister. I was hoping I may have sold a handful by now alas.

But I’m going to keep looking up and hopefully I will sell some soon! Or at least get some interest!

So they are £8 each and they are printed on 1.5inch acrylic! The necklace is 18inch silver plated and so is the hoop. It’s also £1.50 p&p!

Buy them here in the UK

Etsy Shop

I plan on doing some more work soon to add to my library! I will get myself a craft stall somewhere too.

I’m real excited about this weekend too! Only half a day to go and I get a 4 day weekend. Tomorrow I plan to wake up early and attempt Bacon Pancakes for the Birthday BOY!

I'm not sure how these will go but hey ho lets try they look amazing and i'm starving hungry!

 Then he has the dentist alas. I plan on taking him out for lunch later and then leaving him to play his new game that comes out tomorrow. After that we will pack up and head to Nottingham around 6pm to spend the weekend with Laura and Sammi. I have a table booked at Annie’s Burger Shack too!

I then also have Tuesday off now to see Matt’s brother before he goes away to live in Singapore and then Thursday night is Chinese with Matt’s Dad and Julie! I’m going to get real fat bwhaah!

We are also seeing War Horse tonight being streamed from the theatre into the cinema so I am literally counting down the minutes until today is over!

Weekend at the beach!

This weekend as per usual FLEW by. However I wasn’t left feeling kind of empty. Instead I had a such a lovely full day Saturday and a nice restful day Sunday.

Me and Matt decided to get out on Sunday. We have been very good saving money and other than using our cineworld cards we haven’t been out on pointless days out. We have indeed saved money and going out this weekend actually was a big treat and I really enjoyed it. Makes you appreciate days out more when you don’t do it every weekend.

I fancied a trip to Brighton, walk around the lanes and a trip to the pier and then there was also a cineworld down there too! I was umming and ahhhing all week because it was saying it was going to rain. But as the week progressed it changed to a sunny day and in the end we chanced it.

It was GLORIOUS! Putting aside the March temperatures which were rather nippy towards the end of the day it was a lovely sunny day and not a spot of rain.

We went down to Pop Inn Café for lunch and I got all excited a put my new jacket on.  It was however freezing and we popped home first and I grabbed my coat. Lunch was DELIOCUS well it was more brunch. We went straight down to the cinema and bought our tickets. We then headed off to the shopping area and went down to the lanes.

There wasn’t much down there but I got a Tatty Devine necklace my first ever one. The tagged said was £12.50 now £25 but I felt this may have been a mistake haha! I checked and it was indeed £12.50 so I was super pleased with that.

I also got a little box with my name on it too for my bows and hair things. It’s currently sitting at my Dad’s waiting to be varnished.

After looking around we headed to the pier. Matt of course won me a toy! I think he won it out of guilt for beating at the game thing we always play down there.

Afterwards we went to the cinema and we went to Harvester down there and I had ribs which were amazing! And we saw ‘Ride Along’ which was actually very funny!

So overall I had a really really lovely day and it was nice to just spend some time with me and Matt alone and out of the house!!

It’s been a few weeks since I posted anything. I haven’t been overly busy but I have a few things to update on.

I will start off with design based updates. Finally I have pulled my finger out my bottom and I have started to get some bits done and I will start with the Paperchase competition.  Now I know Christmas (much to my dismay) is long gone, but this was a competition to design a Christmas Card for 2014!

‘The Paperchase Christmas Card Competition

Designed & Chosen by You

This year we are asking you to remember the best bits of your festivities and take part in our Christmas Design Competition.  For Christmas 2014 we would love a card designed and chosen by you!

Do What?

Design a new charity Christmas card, your design can be funny, emotional, patterned or plain. Just make it festive.

The winning design will be printed and sold in Paperchase stores across the land for Christmas 2014.

Why?

If the joy of taking part isn’t enough...

The winner will receive £200 and a Paperchase goody bag

The winning design will be a used as part of our Charity Christmas Cards range

Imagine the glory of handing out your own professionally produced cards!’

So that is what is was all about. I saw this back at the beginning on January. In true Toria style I of course didn’t get round to starting this until the day before it was due in February. Luckily I had a design from December I was ACHING to put together but never got round to it so I went from there. I ended up being really pleased with the result and although it was the day before I was pleased to submit what I had designed. The final entries were meant to be going up on the 12^th Feb and then the winner announced on the 20^th. As you can guess that has come and gone and no word from Paperchase so that’s kind of annoying. They said they had more entries than planned but still they are taking a rather long time with no update.

Anyway this is my final design.

So I am keeping my eyes peeled for an update.!

Moving on I was rather productive Monday evening. I have been saying I want to have my own little shop and sell necklaces and my designs and such…. I decided to do this is MAY! MAY 2013! I realised that was almost a year ago and I thought SOD IT!

I’m going to do it. So I went home and I ordered my first batch of acrylic charms. I then set up a little shop and I then bought e-mail hosting, ordered business cards and did everything I have been putting off for a year! Now I cannot WAIT for them to come! I’m going to hobby craft this evening to get some equipment for putting them together when they come!

I’m ever so excited. I know it’s a tiny start but at least I have started it now and hopefully I can grow it from here! I plan on getting 2 more designs made if these turn out well maybe at the end of the month!

So that’s that with design. I hope within the next week to 2 weeks I can post up some photos of the charms as necklaces. I really hope they come out nicely!

Moving on to dress related things. So basically I am dress obsessed. I’ve decided a new me this year and new start. New job weight lost! (almost back to the weight I was before Christmas) so I’m going to go with a style I’ve always wanted to indulge in but felt too big and clumsy to wear before. I REALLY believe in loving yourself whatever your size. I follow lots of plus sized blogs and these girls all look fabulous. It’s obviously looking good come through confidence NOT your dress size. What is sad though is I cannot apply this to myself. I still see flaws and I still see so much room for improvement and I WONT look good until the weight is lost. This makes me sad and disappointed in myself.

Anyway moving on.

I will start with my Owl Dress.

I saw this on thecluelessgirl blog. I thought it looked lovely on her! I looked it up on yours clothing and it was £12 in the sale. I was a little unsure on sizing as I’m a 12-14 in dresses and being a plus size store I worried the 14 may of come up a little larger. But I didn’t need to fear it fitted amazing!

The next dress I was strolling through town at lunch time. There was a little dress shop next to Debenhams and I poked my head in. I saw a little pink number with pandas all over it! I squealed a little, worried that it wouldn’t fit as these little shops tend to run up very small, but it fitted well and I was exceptionally pleased. Then I was informed it was only £10 so I ran to a cash machine and snatched it up straight away without hesitation.

  

My last 2 that I am excited about come from Soho’s and they are Hell Bunny dresses. The first one was the last in stock and in my size and they put it up for £5!! A FIVER I guess to clear old stock. I ummmed about it and then pictured wearing it to the beach on a really hot day and I was SOLD!

I’m quite pleased with it and I worried it would be a little short but I think it’s a nice length actually!

The last one is a replacement for the one that didn’t fit. Soho’s did 50% off of sale items and it cost about £17! The one I ordered didn’t fit at all so I changed the style and I am really pleased with this one! It’s a real beaut!

Of course I am pinning after things and currently on my wish list are cropped cardigans which I hope they bring out soon I guess it’s still a little cold for them and these two dresses. In actual fact its possible that the first one MAY come home with me tonight mwuaha

Got some plans this weekend. Had a lovely weekend just gone went to a party and saw friends I hadn’t seen in YEARS AND YEARS! Did lots of dancing and had party food. Of course as always went too quickly.

Now I am dead excited about all my charms and business cards to arrive so I can get them up on my shop asap!

Saving the pennies. HA!

Ok so I have been waiting till I have received a few bits in the post over the last week to make this update!

I will start with my quack quack dress. Or if you are an adult my new duck dress.

So I am honestly trying to save money! I swear I am.

But this caught my eye and then when I pictured myself skipping around in the summertime wearing it I struggled to say no to my inner self. Plus I love ducks they are so cute. I was a little taken back ordering this as Yumi is a brand I’ve always imagined to run small in the sizing. I ordered a unicorn dress a few months back in a 14 and it actually fitted very very well. What concerned me this time was the fact that my other dress had a much loser fit and also an elasticated waist band! ASOS only had 14 left no 16 so I took a chance and it paid off. It actually fits beautifully! I am very pleased with it indeed!

Now I am imagining myself visiting a duck pond on a lovely spring weekend wearing this and grabbing a bite to eat after eheh!

I also have been quite spoilt by the boyfriend again. Models Own have been saying for the last month if they reach x amount of likes on their Facebook page they would do 50% off everything.

I didn't mention in my previous post about the models own stall I visited in Bluewater. I went the first time with Matt and the sales person was quite pushy, and ended up making me feel so uncomfortable I just left. Then when I went again with my Grandma at the weekend I readied myself and made it VERY CLEAR I was just looking. Unfortunately she followed me around, showing me polishes continuously asking me questions and I was quite firm, I said multiple times ‘no thank you I don’t know what I want I’m just browsing’. I’d even move on to a different part of the stall and she would follow me round. I got very uncomfortable again and felt pressured so I put back the 3 I picked and left again. I wish they hadn't done this as they were  6 for £15 which is a great deal.

Anyway it turns out they hit the target online and they did the sale which worked out the same deal as the stall! I picked and few and got Matt to pick some too, he likes to have his toe nails painted and he seems pretty good at picking out colours that end up working really well. However I planned on getting around £15-£20 worth MAX and with our basket it came to £30. I said it was WAY TOO MUCH but he was very sweet and treated me to it anyway!

Mermaid Tears – Splash, Green Flash – Champagne, Pukka Purple - Ice Neon, Emerald City – Glitter, Aqua Violet – Beetlejuice, Purple Blue – Beetlejuice, Disco Mix – Glitter, Blueberry Muffin - Fruit Pastel, Grape Juice - Fruit Pastel, Apple Pie - Fruit Pastel, Pink Fever – Tropical, Banger – Fireworks

I can’t wait to have a play with some more nail art now! My nails are so long now; I think I may have to file them down as typing is getting effected now lol and I am rather loud ‘TAPPING’ on my ipad.

Then after work we headed to the Harvester because we were soooo DAMN HUNGRY we just wanted warm hot comfort food and LOTS OF IT! As I was packing up my desk I got a e-mail from www.sohos.co.uk saying that everything in the sale for two hours would have a further 50% off. I thought WHOA THAT’S A LOT OF MONEY OFF so of course I had a look see. There is a purple hell bunny dress I adore but they were out of my size, then I saw a little sailor number that was just lovely! Even matched the buttons on my fancy hell bunny coat! Matt LOVED IT and insisted I got it. At £17 for a £50 dress I couldn’t really say no!

Much to my dismay however it doesn't fit. I have contacted the shop to see if i can get another dress, and they said yes! Hurrah. The arms were insanely tight on it so i think even if i sized up i would still have the same issue
Anyhoo this is the one that has now caught my eye!

The weekend as per usually went past far too quickly but I had a really nice one! Saturday we took full advantage of our Cineworld cards. We woke up quite early and I took matt off to the surplus store in Croydon so he could get his gun checked. We also grabbed a maccy d’s breakfast on the way. God I love breakfasts! Hhhmmhmm!!

Then we headed home didn’t do too much and headed to Crawley around 4pm so Matt could pop his head in another surplus store and then we potted around the shops for a little bit and headed to tesco to get some popcorn on our way to the cinema. We sae 12 Years a Slave first and it was a beautiful film! Heart-breaking, and touching. I really enjoyed it. We planned to be out by 10ish so that left 1 hour and 30mins to get Nandos, but the trailers went on for over bloody 30 minutes so we didn’t get out till 10:30ish. We RAN out the cinema and grabbed some Nandos. They had, had a huge rush so they were out of a fair bit of food but we still got most the bits we went in for!

Then the second film started at 11:40pm. It was I, Frankenstein and it was AWFUL! It was cheesy and tacky. It was boring pointless and just down right shit. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone unless you are a little 10 year old emo kid. I was SOOO UNIMPRESSED with it that as I usually do when I’m bored I fell asleep. It was awful GOD!

This Saturday with our Cineworld cards we are going to see Robocop so that should be more fun! Just the one film this weekend I think!

So yeah it’s Tuesday and the week has only just begun but I am already counting down till Friday as per usual! Let’s hope it flys by!

Things I pine for while shopping in bed!

It’s been a few weeks since a proper update.

To be honest there isn’t much to update on. Work is getting better each week is becoming easier and easier. I am missing WDR a little I have to say. Just a little bit though, I think I miss being ‘out my shell’. I am still quite shy here and it’s hard to get the ‘me’ across. I am trying not to force it out though. I guess it will come with time.

So this weekend has been nice, I took my Grandma shopping which was really really nice day out! She seemed to have a great time and was busy buying lots of things! She was very generous and treated me to a jumper, lunch and gave me petrol money!

Sunday however I woke up and just felt awful. Saturday night actually I couldn’t stay awake past 10pm just kept falling asleep. I have felt pretty unwell for a week or so now but it kinda gets bad and then nothing happens. It’s very annoying tbh.  So yesterday I spent a day in bed playing on my Ipad and doing lots of online window shopping.

I won’t lie I am SOOO CLOSE To ordering the shoes. I really am and also the cherry dress. I was naughty and ordered the Duck dress. I do not have high hopes of it fitting as I am unsure on the sizing. I have a Yumi dress in a 14 but it’s a different shape and style. But I guess we shall see! Fingers crossed anyway. It was £45 reduced to £25 though, I love Yumi dresses but I would never pay full price they always seem to be on offer somewhere!

Healthy eating went to pot with a day out on Saturday and feel like shit on Sunday, but back on it today. I think my arms and back are much much more toned than they were. A dress I got for Christmas wasn’t fitting very well it dug into my arms, but when I wore it on Saturday it fitted beautifully!

Matt surprised me with these beautiful shoes two weeks ago! They are TUK shoes and I wanted them back in the summer, but they were too much money really. He spotted them in the sale just after Christmas and treated me to them! I am a lucky girl! I wore them out for dinner two weeks ago and they are actually very comfy as I struggle something awful in heels.

I saw the Hobbit last Saturday at the IMAX. I was brave as I didn’t want to go because of the massive spider scenes. However I braved it in the IMAX, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought.

I am REALLY enjoying the Hobbit films so last week I sat and watched all the LOTR films and really enjoyed those too (although a little long at times)

I watched the third one on Friday and as its about 3hours long I managed to find the time to paint my nails. I haven’t done any nail art since Christmas and I miss my little Santa nails so I thought I’d try something new (I also got a nail art kit for Christmas) so I tried these little bows and I think they turned out pretty darn good! 

So yeah, not much of an update. Life it fairly slow at the moment, esp when I’m trying to save money!

But I will end of this I found. While on Pinterest I found the wedding dress I want! Its SOOO BEAUTIFUL! 

Now I just need Matt to pop the question ehehe! I’ve already picked a venue and tablet placements! The only thing I’m overly planned on ha! Ahh well maybe one day I hope!

Ramblings about full time work.

Work is a funny thing really. I was thinking about it today and it’s quite serious now. For the previous 7 or so years of my life it was something I HAD to do on the side of my education if I wanted to have a social life or own anything like clothes or well anything really.

It was something that didn't’t really matter too much, a few hours here, a few hours there. Nothing that took up more than 15 or so hours of my week except when doing over time. But now it’s something that is part of me and part of my life. Now I am in a job to get a career, something I am interested in and studied for this for 5+ years. It’s not something to just fund my social life and clothes and other things I wish to buy, it’s become a part of my identity. I spend over 30% of my life in this chair, in this office doing this job.

It’s now important that it meets the goals I want it to meet and it’s a comfortable and nice environment for me. The last year and a half has tipped my world upside down. I have always been in education from the age of 14-23 I have had small part time jobs here and there. I haven’t had any real responsibilities and I had more freedom than I knew what to do with.

Now it’s changed and I am an important part of a team and I have very little freedom and free time so I have to make the most of the time I get! I have to make sure that the job I’m doing is right for me because I spend 8.5 hours of my day here +1hour traveling. Then 8 hours sleeping you are looking at very little ‘me time’ in the day. This was something I really struggled with when I first started working, I thought what the fuck is the point to life! Admittedly my view point hasn't changed much, but I now except that this is something I have to do to have a nice life and until I win the Euro Millions I will make the most of the time I do have at home and the nice things I can afford to do and afford to buy!

I guess it scares me how adulthood has finally started to take its grip.

My next plan in life isn't where to go with my friends or what college project is due, or YAY summer holidays.

Now it's saving up for a house and looking at really starting my life for the first time. Its helped with a new job, a new identity and an forgotten past.

New job!

HAPPY BELATED NEW YEAR

So I have been meaning to do a long overdue blog about my new job!

I had planned on writing just after I started but the first week and a bit was all a bit much for me. I almost went running back to my old Job!

So I started on the Friday and came home a bit shaken up! I wasn’t overly surprised as I thought I would be a bit overwhelmed. I was actually really pleased to start on a Friday it meant I had the whole weekend to recover. Then Monday came round and the start of my first whole week. I ended up getting really bad anxiety and panic attacks for the first 3 days. Everything was horrible, I was out of place it was ALL TOO MUCH FOR ME. I wanted my old routine and my old comforts. I ended up in the loo on Wednesday morning unable to contain it all anymore. I felt really silly and just wanted to run away!

We had the Christmas party Wednesday afternoon and then I had my old works Christmas party on Thursday so I got to see everyone one last time.  Have to say though KNACKERED me out!

Luckily I got through my first week (just about) and then the weekend came around. I don’t think it helped either that it was Christmas so everything was up in the air and different because of the time of year.

So I went in Monday and then I had 9 glorious days off. I’m so pleased I had a lovely long break because as I said I felt like I was going crazy.

Anyhoo since coming back in the New Year (went in it gradually 2 days then weekend!) it’s settled down loads and I’m quite enjoying it here. I like the freedom that I can wear what I want and there is more freedom in general here than at my old job.

The people are nice and the office atmosphere is 10x better than my previous job too! I’ve started to drive in 1. to help with settling down and 2. Cause buses suck.

Now I’m gunna end this post with some nice clothes I have been wearing and bought.

I’d like to say now THIS YEAR no more clothes! 1-2 months shopping free, or so I plan/hope haha!

Primark Jumper! Really loved the collar

A Wear Dress. Christmas gift from Ma & Pa

Asos jumper! Loved it and snapped it up in the sale!

New Coat THAT I ADORE. ASOS - Skirted Shape. Perfect for me!

Anyhoo thats all for now!