Moving house update...none boo!

So not much has moved forward after the excitement of putting down a holding deposit!

I was hoping things would go quickly and we would have some more news, but alas it has been a slow process. I chased on Thursday and had to give my manager a nudge to send off my reference, but on the plus side I found out that we have passed the credit checks and everything else. So now it is full steam ahead and just waiting for a date.

We started to pack at the weekend. We have so much to sort out its silly! We wanted to make a start as soon as possible so we weren't going to be in a mad crazy rush at the end. I am glad we did. I would say we have done a quarter maybe a third of the room. We have packed 3 big boxes and I have 3 bin bags of soft toys. We however got rid of 4 bags of soft toys and about 4-5 bin bags of rubbish and a huge box of CD’s and unwanted DVD’s. It is a nice feeling to just get rid of so much stuff and so much clutter.

This coming weekend is the bank holiday. I plan on taking my Grandma to Brighton for a day out on Saturday. After that we are off work until Thursday, we have a gig to go to on the Wednesday but Sunday-Tuesday I think we could get LOADS of stuff sorted and start storing some boxes at my Grandma’s. I am hoping to get a MASSIVE chunk done this weekend. I would say we have thrown away more than we kept which is definitely a good start.

With the crazy rush of trying to get the flat and the excitement it has all died down now, things are much calmer and I have some more time to think. I am still so excited though and I cannot wait!

I keep picturing all the little things I will do to the place and how my things will look in there and stupid things like getting out of bed at the weekend and having breakfast and making a cup of coffee! I am hoping maybe only another 4- 5 weeks fingers crossed. 

Moving on to some general ramblings from the week,

We went and saw Mad Max Fury Road on Saturday after an exhausted day of cleaning and lugging boxes here there and everywhere… All I will say is WOWZA that film was EPIC, with a capital E! I haven’t seen the originals, but now I really really want to! Perhaps tomorrow night as I am about to pass out today. I need a good snooze.

I also had a little accident surprise surprise. I slipped in the rain on Thursday down a ramp that leads to the underground car park at my work. I fell down it and then skidded down it. These are my war wounds! 

Ouch is all i have to say! I took pictures because I think they look impressive and when you hurt yourself that much, DAMN IT you want it to look impressive :p
I had a pretty annoying limp on Friday and to be honest 5 days later it is still pretty sore!

Oh and on a good news note I got a pay rise last week. It wasn't amazing but it is better than nothing and I will get a little extra back pay this month which is PERFECT timing a little extra cash for moving out!

As I said above we have some time off this weekend and me and Matt are off to see Astronautalis live. I am pretty excited, we haven't been to a gig together for years and I saw Astronautalis live supporting Tegan and Sara years and years ago! I've been waiting for him to come and play in the UK for ages. We are going to head up to London (I will be boring and return something to Forever 21) and then we will go and maybe do a bit of shopping and the I have booked a table at Pizza Express (cause lets face it, I FREAKING LOVE PIZZA EXPRESS) and then we will walk across the road and go the gig :) So I am very much looking forward to that! 

So roll on Friday and happy Tuesday all!

New blog posts of my new journey!

So I start this with GOOD NEWS! We got the flat and put a holding deposit down hurrah! As long as the credit checks go ok and everything goes swimmingly this time next month we should be getting ready to move! Eeep it is exceptionally exciting.

I was very stressed out last week. I thought that I would know by the end of Tuesday if I was able to put down a deposit. It wasn't until Friday morning that I heard back and I excitedly put down my holding deposit!

Friday was a great day, I was in a great mood from that news and then a cider at lunch put me in a pretty jolly mood for the rest of the day! I then got home and the Friday before I had won a competition from Punky Pins and my necklace and collar clips had arrived as well as my Mumford and Sons album.

We filled out our forms and Saturday morning we headed off to Redhill to hand in our forms for the flat. We weren't in a great mood, I was stressed from trying to sort out car insurance and I have no idea why Matt was annoyed. We handed in the forms and then got Matt some lunch ate that in the car and on the way home I swung in to look at a second hand furniture store.

We were hoping not to need a new bed, but it looked like we would need to get one…. Our current one is quite mouldy, the slats keep snapping and it’s ripped holes in the carpet! It’s annoying as the bed is only about 2 years old! We went into the store had a good look around; I had no plans on buying anything just to get some ideas. Upstairs there were lots of beds, most looked in good condition but used (curled up corners and bobbling etc.) However in the corner there was a Divan 4 draw base and mattress. The thing looked almost perfect, and there were even strikers still on it. There was absolutely no sign of wear on it, only a few marks that looked like it gained from getting it into the warehouse! I had been looking at getting a base and that worked out at around £200-£300 for a cheap one with 2-4 draws…. I was however a little put off with the fact that it was a the cheapest I could find. One thing I have learnt is cheap beds are not always a good idea they tend to fall apart.

We noticed the bed was a ‘Sealy’ bed and we looked that up. It is a well-known brand and their beds vary between £500-£1,500! It’s a long going brand and is sold everywhere! There however was no tag in and we worried it had been sold… BUT SUCCESS it hadn't and then the even better news……. It was £95! £95 for what looked like an almost new Sealy divan 4 draw bed! We were so excited and few phone calls to my folks and then my grandma, we bought it! Took a trip home in the car with the draws and then 2 more trips in my Dad’s van but we got it back and it is now sitting in my Grandma’s garage. I am SO SO PLEASED with this find and that’s ones big expense that is now sorted out.

So my Saturday disappeared in the blink of an eye, I didn’t even have time for any lunch. We then went to see the film ‘Big Game’… it was awful…. So so bad I’m not even going to write about.

Sunday my sister talked me into going to ‘Cowpie’ which was a farming event! I sorted out my car insurance (which I am NOT HAPPY WITH AT ALL! It’s gone up!) and I popped round to see my Aunt and me and Sarah went to the Cowpie…. I actually ended up having a wonderful time and wish we had gone a bit earlier as it was a BEAUTIFUL day and there was so much to do! I took a few photos….

Sunday was quite relaxed compared to Saturday, although I think it went even quicker. We enjoyed ice creams while watching ferret racing, looked at craft stalls and went and looked at lots of farm animals… my highlight was that I got to hold a tortoise!

Next weekend I think we need to start to sort out all our junk. I may possibly take my Grandma to Brighton as we were meant to go this Saturday but she was unwell. Worked out well or we wouldn’t of found the bed! Other than that we are under even stricter MUST SAVE EVERY PENNY RULES! Every little counts towards us moving…. The flat is available a month today (11^th June) but now they are going to re-carpet the place so I think we will be looking at either the 20^th or the 27^th June or around there. I am hoping maybe even 4^th July because that means I can save a little extra money before we move in… and hey it’s only an extra week or two to wait… I’ve waited about 4 years so far!

I am hoping this week goes nice and quickly and maybe I will continue to be blessed with this good fortune I have had recently! Have a lovely week all. 

My first experience of flat hunting

So, yes the title says it all, my first experience of flat hunting. On Friday around 4pm a flat popped up, it was in an ok location and it was a good price, however the pictures really didn't sell it to me. I've seen loads come up and go and I’ve not bothered because I planned on saving some more and start looking at the end of May. Something pulled me in and requested a viewing not thinking much about it. I agreed to 1:30pm the following day. To be honest I really wasn't bothered about seeing it, I was sure I wouldn't like it.

We turned up and luckily the estate agent actually turned up this time, unlike our first ever viewing. We went in and we were really impressed. The décor was a little run down, and the carpet was a bit past it. However the rooms were huge, much bigger than I imagined. We had a good look and were impressed by all the storage.. there was something that really took our fancy with this flat.

We then left actually seriously considering it. I hadn't realised but it wasn't available until mid-June so it worked out perfectly timing wise. It is close enough to Matt’s work he could walk and the location was minutes away from the town centre.

We then got in the flat hunting mood and ended up seeing another flat… we hated it. It was run down tiny smelly and horrible. We were told to ‘use our imaginations’ ugh! I was so excited on Saturday that we ended up going off to Ikea for a trip to get ideas and feel homey!

On Sunday I made the decision that YES! We were both happy and we both wanted to go for it. It was the bank holiday however which meant I had to wait all of Sunday AND THEN all of Monday. First thing Tuesday I called up with some questions.

HOWEVER, the estate agent has been waiting to get hold of the Landlord. I believe my questions have been answered and he is now waiting for the landlord to choice between us and another person. I haven’t had much contact and to be honest with you it has been PAINFUL… I am so tense. I think we put FAR FAR too much hope in this little flat. I started to picture living there, where furniture would go and how I would do my Christmas decorations. I have learnt a lesson, well a few lessons. Lesson 1. Don’t put all your hopes on it! Lesson 2. What questions to ask in the viewing! Lesson 3. How it all works now.

So it is now the end of day 3 and I have restrained myself from calling every hour to check how it is going to just a friendly ‘any news?’ email. Part of me wanted them to call today and rather than my ready meal and the gym me and Matt would go off and celebrate with a huge dinner.

I was just so excited to get my own space and really start a fresh. I know I have been planning this for a long time but it has happened so quickly this week and weekend. I am trying to stay calm now and I have booked more viewings to go to on Monday so let’s hope these pay off. I won’t lie, I don’t have high hopes this will be ours and I hope next time I post I will be celebrating. 

On the plus side perhaps we can put moving out off for another month which means I will have over double the savings to spend afterwards and maybe even get that holiday I have been dreaming of!

For now I will try and keep my heart rate and blood pressure down and try to stop phone watching…. Maybe if I refresh my e-mails enough SOMEONE WILL CALL??!!!???

I will just keep reminding myself that it will happen, and it will be soon. Not a 'this time next year' situation like it was last year! But maybe this time next month! *fingers crossed*

Happy Thursday all. 

2015 is shaping up to be a fab year - Mumford &Sons intimate gig!

2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year!

• I meet the Game of Thrones cast and attend a red carpet event….
• I am going to meet Richard Dean Anderson in July..
• I am seeing Astronautalis next month …
• AND yesterday I got to see Mumford & Sons live in an intimite gig…

On Thursday I got an email saying that tickets for a tiny gig were going on sale on Friday at 10am… the show was Monday night and it was in the Brighton corn exchange (less than 2,000 people)

I frantically got up as many screens as I could and waited between 9:30-10am refreshing waiting for the tickets to go on sale. I managed to grab two I was soo insanely excited I was shaking SO much I couldn't enter my card number. I believe within minutes they were sold out so I was very lucky and CRAZY excited!

So I finished work half hour early yesterday and speed home to get dressed and my sister picked me up. I picked one of my favorite dresses (my duck dress). I scoffed a sandwich and crisps in the car for my dinner and we drove down to Brighton. The doors opened at 7pm and the band came on at 8:30pm but I wanted to get there as soon as possible.

We queued for a while I think we got there about 6:45pm and we got in quite quickly. The rule was because it was before the album was released you weren't allowed to take any phones or recording devices in. We opted to leave our phones in the car rather than handing them in.

We went straight through and my sister’s eye was caught on the merch stand. She very nicely bought me a t-shirt as they were a little steep in price for me as I am saving and we took our place in the crowd maybe only 6 or so rows back from the front.

We took it in turns to pee and Sarah got us water and we wait until 8:30pm. I was glad there was no support band because I usually get a bit bored through that bit.

They came on and they were just amazing… and the crowd was great too really nice people. I jumped and danced like I had never danced before.

Set List 27th April

---

Only Love

Ditmas

Wilder Mind

The Cave

Lovers eyes

Monster

Lover of the light

Tompkins

Thistle

Ghosts

Broad-Shouldered

I will wait

After the storm

Just smoke

Snake eyes

Hot gates

Dust Bowl

---

Lion Man

White blank page

Believe

Wolf

---

The night was just so amazing. Lion Man was the highlight, the crowd and the atmosphere went crazy!

It was also the first time I had a enough confidence to take my cardigan off and jump around with my arms in the air and I didn't even care..... which is a huge step for me. 

It was amazing to hear such a good mix of old songs and the new ones sounded fab! I cannot WAIT to get the new album. They sounded amazing and they are just exceptionally talented men!

We tried to get a set list at the end but was unsuccessful! We did however ask if we could have a bag that you got when you handed in your phone as they were super cute and they gave us one each! yay!

Because we weren't allowed phones in the venue we didn't get any pictures of the gig alas. We did take some VERY EXCITABLE snaps in the car though before we left (we were very happy with parking too 2 minutes down the road and £4.50)

I had an absolutely AMAZING NIGHT! MANY HUGE thank yous to my sister for coming and for my T-Shirt made my night it really did!

I CANNOT wait for them to announce their tour I will be first in line for that!

Now today is a dull day and the gym this evening even though I am knackered, but it was more than worth it!

Training in London!

So this week I was off up to London to do something HTML 5 training. My company sent me up on a 2 day course. I have to say I wasn’t looking forward to it, I think it is the traveling and all the kafuffle that goes along with going to London. However over the weekend I realised it was something I enjoy doing, 2 days out the office and the weather was meant to be lovely so I changed my mind a bit.

On the first day I made the earlier train and I got to the place 40minutes early. I managed to pick up a coffee at Victoria and spill half of it down my sleeve… not impressed. It was a pretty run down building when I got there… I was a little disappointed as I thought a training centre in Kings Cross would be quite fancy and modern…. I went in and up to the 4^th floor and was pleasantly surprised… it was a well light super modern floor…. Lots of glass classrooms it was lovely! I had a coffee and avoid the biscuits and then at 10am we were called inside the room. There were just 5 of us so it was lovely and small. The trainer was a really nice guy and reminded me of a smaller Peter Capaldi. The course was a lot more basic than I thought it was going to be especially on the first morning; however it was good to brush my skills and learn a few new things.

Lunch was at a buffet they had loads of food, curries, pizza, Chinese and salads. I was good on Monday and had a small stir fry and an ice cream.  The afternoon was also enjoyable and picked up a little, and I left at 4:30 in a really positive mood. The sun was shining and I had, had a really enjoyable day.

Now the plan was to be healthy and get an early night Sunday and Monday and do they gym on Tuesday. This did not go to plan. I was in such a good mood on Monday that I decided I wanted burgers for dinner and I took matt over to lakeside as we had a 50% off voucher and we had a HUGE dinner and drinks and it came to £13!! Bargain I say!

So not really an early night at all Monday… then Tuesday I ended up being  an hour early so enjoyed some time in the sunshine and called the bank and headed over to the place…. Again the morning flew by….. Started to do more in-depth things which was good. Got better at small talking with our people and this time at lunch I took full advantage of the buffet and had pizza, noodles and some over bits and pieces and finished it off with a ice cream again.

The afternoon however I started to struggle, my concentration just died and I started to make some silly mistakes and I just wanted to go home. Not sure if it was later than I would have liked evening or the fact that 2 full on days of learning was too much for my brain! Anyhow I passed and we ended up at 4:30 again and I headed off to the station again. The sunshine was beautiful and I was in a pretty good mood even if I was in need of a nap!

Gym didn’t happen… and a KFC and a bag of chocolate appeared instead woops. I do now feel a little guilty. I have 5 weeks now to loose 7lbs! I can do it I just need to focus…

But I wanted to write about it as it was really nice experience and I had a lovely time. One big thing I did learn was I am NOT CUT OUT for the London rush hour commute. It is almost fascinating watching all these people who probably share the same train on a daily basis, all standing alone on their phones or reading and then everyone shuffles off and shuffles off to another queue to shuffle along. I didn’t enjoy the travel to London luckily I finished early enough to miss most the rush hour on the return… and I got on the train home early enough to enjoy a seat all the way :)

Anyhow I am back at work today and missing the idea of walking down a London street and going for lunch (even though I am in Croydon )

I now cannot wait for the weekend. I don’t really have any plans, but we are seeing The Avengers on Saturday so I am looking forward to that. I believe Matt is doing air soft Sunday so might be a quiet lonely day but hey ho…

The weekend just passed I got my Game of Thrones signed calendar back from the framer and it looks AWESOME. 

Me and Matt also took quite a big step and went to our first house viewing on Saturday. We got out the car and I was full of excitement, only to be let down by the fact they changed the times and no one was there and no one told us. I was NOT IMPRESSED at all. What should have been a really exciting experience was actually pretty depressing and a massive let down. BUT HEY HO! There will be more and hopefully they will go well.

I am hoping the rest of this week flies by and goes quickly because I am exhausted!

2015 where are you going?

I knew 2015 would be a year of big changes to my life! And I made a list at the start

• Loving myself.
• Working on my design work
• Debt,
• Having my own home!

I am VERY VERY proud to say that the debt is gone. 110% gone every single penny of it! I actually paid it off last week. I haven’t felt that different or excited… but when I think about the almost 10 grand that I paid off I think it is a real big achievement! I am so used to just earning money and it going into the Credit cards and over drafts… and it just hanging there over my head. When I actually do stop to think about I have this little flutter in my chest and I think Oh my, all the money in my account is mine and all mine.

Then this leads me on to my next step this year. Move out with Matt, having my own home. The idea of a mortgage is sad because I feel like it is achievable. We could save for a deposit, put away the amount of money I have been putting away and in 2 years we would have a deposit hurrah. But I can’t wait another 2 years. I want to start a life with Matt and I want my own space and yeah, so I plan on saving enough for a deposit and all the other charges that come along with moving and I am kind of hoping that MAYBE there would be enough too for a cheeky holiday in September. We shall see though!

It is quite amazing to think that everything I earn is mine and actually it’s made me appreciate my money more. Now I really do stop to think, DO I WANT THAT? DO I NEED THAT? Because when it’s a credit card and its not actually your wages it’s actually so much easier to spend. I defiantly could have maybe done this a month or so quicker or done it in a way that wasn't so tough… but the important thing is I learnt. I learnt that actually I don’t need to buy everything I want. Actually if I walk away and come back I don’t always want it. I learnt that weekends stuck in doors suck, but they save so so much money.

Most importantly I have learn the value of money and I have learnt about sensible spending and I have also learnt that I don’t need 150 dresses and 150 shirts and skirts (maybe I might be exaggerating) but actually just enjoy what I have :)

The good thing about all that is that I have learnt to budget like crazy, and that means I feel more confident about being able to pay rent and budget now when we do move out as I have been doing it for the last year and I’ve gotten better and better!

Now hopefully by June/July we will have enough and I hope by the summer I will be blogging about my lovely new flat!

Happy Friday all!

Game of Thrones amazement and new hair!

So last week was quite an eventful one! I will start at the weekend before. It was Matt’s birthday and we went down to Brighton for the day on Friday.. The weather was pretty pants, and I ended up feeling quite unwell. Overall though it was a nice day and I enjoyed spending it with Matt.

Saturday was brighter and I made Matt pancakes (1.1kg worth eeep!!) and then I went to the hairdressers. I made a scary choice to get rid of the platinum bleach blonde. For a while now I have been struggling to get my roots up to the white blonde colour, so I have been left with yellowy band. It has also taken a toll on the quality of my hair. I have had parts that have snapped and that are exceptionally dry. Then added with the fact that I can’t do it myself and my sister now refuses and I am pretty sure my mum wasn’t willing to do it for the foreseeable future I thought maybe a change was in order.

I have opted for a more toned down blonde and darker bits added to the roots to add some more shades and colour in there. The plan is to let my natural hair grow through for a while, give it a break from bleach and have a softer more natural look.

I was very pleased with the outcome; it has taken me a week to get used to it. I was convinced I was brunette for a few days as it seemed so much darker, but actually it’s just a softer version of what I had. It has been over a week now and I can’t actually see my roots! (Usually I would have a thin black line at the moment even though my hair isn't dark naturally)

I have another appointment on the 11^th April. That is 4 weeks, so I should have a fair amount of regrowth. At the moment I don’t know what I want to do but I shall see what happens when the roots come through. I feel I should also really get a haircut soon haha! I am hoping that by the summer my hair will be much healthier and happier.

Then the VERY exciting part is that Lisa won tickets to the Game of Thrones red carpet premiere at the Tower of London and invited me along. My inner fan girl cried a little and the rest just screamed. So on Wednesday we finished work at lunch time and we then got all dolled up and headed up to London. We had some lunch and after that it is all a very surreal experience.

We had to go to a pub and wait for about an hour and then headed off to some coaches that drove us to the Tower of London. That in itself was crazy; to see all the fans outside and we were ushered in. The fan area was amazing, it was small and intimate, but there was plenty of room for everyone so no one was pushing or shoving.

I was skeptical about who we would meet, and how many people we would meet, but I was amazingly blown away with how many people we got to meet, got photos with and I got autographs from!

Kit Harrington was the first down the carpet, I got his autograph and Lisa got a selfie with us too! The rest was a blur, but I met Mark Gatiss and also spoke to Aidan Gillen, even if it was him saying he couldn’t stop as he was ushered away. (Teenage dream came true right there!)

PREPARE FOR A PHOTO SPAM :D

We meet so many of the cast and got loads of awesome photos!

I got a calendar front page signed, it is currently in with a framer to get framed properly and I cannot wait to see it!

It's not quite sunk in yet that I was on the red carpet and I met the starts of Game of Thrones! My inner fan girl is most certainly happy at the moment! 

The whole night was a blur, and to be honest with you most of its just all mashed in my brain. One highlight was Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) came over and asked if we had been there for long and we said a few hours and he said, 'you must be cold!' and grabbed our hands and gave them a rub :D ehehe 

I hope this week is good, as I have been on a bit of a come down since then! 

This time next week though we shall be going into April, and i shall be COMPLETELY debt free and HOPEFULLY I will have gotten my ass into gear to lose this darn Christmas weight. It seems to love me too much and is sticking around! UGH!

Happy Mondays all.