chilly old March

This March not only saw the hottest day of the year so far but was also one of the coldest March's on record! But that's enough about the weather...

With my 4 things challenge in mind, I've been keeping up with my changes:
De-clutter: I faced my dreaded chest of drawers this month and did a ruthless clear out (and even organised some of Mitch's clothes too - I was on a bit of a mission). Brixton is staging one of it's Give and Take events this Saturday and I've already got my stuff to donate all bagged-up. I'm not planning on taking anything (it would kind of defeat the point of de-cluttering) but I may have a little look at what's what.
Health: About two/three weeks ago Mitch suggested that we become home cook vegetarians - ie we're aiming to only cook vegetarian (and fish) dishes at the flat BUT we are allowed to order meat dishes if we eat out/someone invites us for dinner. It's mainly to help us cut down on our meat consumption but it's also been quite a fun challenge to think up and try out new recipes. We don't eat out very often and I rarely (if ever) have something meaty for lunch at work so I've been very veggie (with a bit of fish) for the last couple of weeks. I feel pretty good and the only thing I miss cooking at home so far is bangers and mash.
Money: Not much to report just yet as I was uber broke for practically the whole of March but I do have some frugal plans for April...
Do More New: Towards the beginning of the month my friend came to Brixton for dinner and instead of taking him to one of our regular haunts we tried out a brand new tapas place in the village. It turned out to be v.nice - excellent sangria. I also, very excitingly, found a Zumba class in brixton. Wait, it gets better, not only is it within walking distance from my flat but it's only 5 quid for an hour (and I mean an hour, I barely have time to gulp down some water between each song)! The woman that takes the class is bloody amazing, she has so much energy and enthusiasm. It's official: I love Zumba - it's the best thing to happen to Mondays.

Other bon things that happened this month:
Went to the Spring Knitting & Stitching Show
Caught up with some friends I hadn't seen for a while
This little blog turned 2!
I got to see lots of my family for Mother's Day
My sister got published in a v.cool magazine
Got a promotion at work (eeeeeeeeeeee! - SO chuffed)
Spent some quality time with Mitch over a whole weekend! (a moderately rare occurrence)
I'm also very much looking forward to spending Easter between my family in the New Forest and his family in Essex.

Hope you all have a fabulous long weekend too!

Flamingo launch party

Last wednesday I ventured to The Print Club in Dalston for the launch of Flamingo magazine's latest issue. And why was I on the guest list for this fun occasion? Most excitingly, my sister had written an article for them! I'm super proud of her and I think it's proper awesome that her name is in print. Don't get me wrong, writing for the web is cool too but there's something extra special about getting something you've written in printed form :)

We were greeted with a red plastic cup (a la american frat parties) of delicious pale ale AND a copy of issue 4 of the magazine - needless to say I was well chuffed. For those who haven't come across Flamingo before, it's an independent magazine featuring a mix of articles based around the issue's theme, it's beautifully designed, filled with excellent photographs and illustrations all printed on the best paper ever (it smells fantastic). Issue 4 looks at The Future Craft - so it's basically about making stuff -  particularly perfect for me as I do love craft in all it's various forms. You'll find articles on home brewing, knitted art, tattooing, urban farming, modern apprenticeships, cryonics and of course my sister's piece on film restoration. See, a good old mix of interesting things, including stuff you might not have thought of as a craft before! I highly recommend it. Obviously I am a bit biased but I did buy the previous issue (it was all about Homes & Habitats) which didn't feature my sister and loved it! It's the perfect magazine to dip in and out of, great for short journey's on the tube, plus it's a v.handy size and fits perfectly in your bag. Any mag with the tag-line "a magazine that celebrates doing-it yourself" has gotta be good :)

Tuesday's Tees - Celia Birtwell @ uniqlo

UNIQLO + Celia Birtwell = lush tees (and tunics)

unsurprisingly they're all selling pretty fast - the collection only got released last week!

see here. trust me, you're going to want to zoom in on some of these delicious prints.

my faves :)

cheap weekend

The weekend before payday is usually a bit of a squeeze but thankfully this one coincided with some rather excellent free events. It all kicked off on Friday night when I caught up with a couple of friends I'd not seen since before christmas. We'd won a pub film quiz back in November and had arranged to spend our winnings - a 50 quid bar tab in richmond. A super-cheap and bon night out was had :)

Saturday brought another free activity as the glorious Crafty Fox Market was in town. Despite the atrocious weather it was pretty busy and full of seriously excellent stalls. Being almost completely broke, I couldn't buy anything nor take part in the screen printing :( However, I did pick up a few business cards to prompt me to check out the stall holders' websites when I get paid. If I had had money I'd have bought this from Made by Me Me Me and this from Anna Wiscombe.

And on Sunday I took a trip to Somerset House to catch the last day of The Wool House exhibition - also completely free. The exhibition was a real celebration of wool showcasing its value and versatility in the form of art installations, furnishings and clothing all made from different varieties of wool. Half of the exhibition consisted of an actual wool house wherein different designers had been asked to create a room centred around, you guessed it, wool! Donna Wilson's design - the children's bedroom - was my favourite. I came away feeling very inspired and pretty gutted - there are no wooden floors in the flat so I can't really justify the need for numerous, and beautifully patterned, rugs...but one day you betcha I will!

I can't remember who made these hats but they were all made using wool from different types of sheep - they looked so cosy.

awesome rugs - left: Infinity designed by Cristian Zuzunaga. right: designed by Kit Kemp.

The Nursery by Donna Wilson. Is it wrong that I'm an adult and still really want the cloud and raindrops mobile (as well as all the cushions and blankets)?

left: amazing 100% wool felt wall in the Modern Room, designed by Anne Kyyro-Quinn.
right: loved the rustic-ness (especially that bench!) in the Natural room designed by Josephine Ryan.

left: Crochetdermy Brown Bear by Arabella McNie
right: can't find who made this but it was pretty cool and arranged in an archway - so many colourful threads!

it's a blogiversary!

beard today gone tomorrow has now been going for two whole years! 

Firstly: Thank you to everyone who checks in here to read my ramblings, be it regularly or randomly - it's all good and v.much appreciated.  

Secondly: Bloody hell I've actually managed to keep this going! Two years doesn't sound like much but for someone like me - the queen of starting-things-and-not-finishing-them - it's quite an accomplishment.

This last year has been awesome - looking through the archive to write this post brought back some great memories and really underlined the fact that you certainly can squeeze a lot into 12 months!

I learned to knit and crochet, took A LOT of photographs with my little Golden Half, I got very patriotic - what with the jubilee and olympics in london, attempted to milk a fake cow, did some baking (a lot of baking), had one of the best days ever at my friend's wedding, soaked up the sun on the beach in dorset, went through a summery headscarf phase (this may well return if the weather improves), made a pretty tasty pumpkin soup, saw some truly excellent exhibitions, this little blog won an award, I got THE best glasses ever, mitch and I did some exploring around south london, spent new years in new york and got engaged(!). Busy, huh? :)


It was also a year of many firsts:

I finished my first ever quilt
Attended my first blogger meet-up
It was mine and Mitch's first go at growing our own food
Made my first ever dress
Bought my first pair of DMs
Knitted my first scarf
Mine and Mitch's first ever trip to the USA
My first go at geocaching
First-ever yarn bombing experience
And I welcomed my first ever pet

So all in all, a very good year - here's to the next one!