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Black Friday Bargains

Nov25

Black Friday is not something which I have ever taken part in as I normally work every Friday. I ventured out to the Black Friday Sales in search of a microwave I saw advertised in the Daily Mail Online this morning. I don’t have much furniture yet for the flat, but as things seem to be moving along rather quickly it seemed like a good idea to go grab this microwave. 

The microwave in question is a De’Longhi 800 Watt Stainless Steel Microwave, looks very shiny!!


A sneaky trip into Robert Dyas resulted in the sneaky purchase of a 12 piece kitchen utensil set. 

So thank you Black Friday for nearly completing the furnishing of the kitchen! First experience of bargain shopping went quite well I think. It nice to know that when I get a moving date I won’t be searching around franticly for anything to furnish the flat.
I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about Black Friday today but is it really doing any harm? So what if it has come from America or caused more traffic on the roads today? Some people really will complain about anything and everything. For people like me who have just bought their first home it was a much welcomed saving on something I needed anyway. A lot of things I have bought second hand, but when it comes to electrics I want these to be new so I know they are covered by warrenty and I won’t be encountering any hidden surprises which might blow my flat up!

 I didn’t find myself wrestling bargain microwaves out of the clutches of other shoppers so what is the drama? If you don’t like it don’t partake, no ones forcing you! 

‘Tis the Season to Give Blood

Nov22

Anyone who knows me will know that when I’m scared I have this unfortunate habit of breaking out into Christmas Songs as my coping mechanism. Unfortunately for those around me I am not gifted in the vocal department and resemble a poor little ally cat who has trod on a drawing pin when I attempt to sing. I also neglect to take into account the time of year. 

Back in June a few years ago two of my friends were subjected to this torture while they each had a hand crushed by me as a rather brash doctor stitched my head back together. Apparently I was the highlight of the nurses night that night, well I do aim to please. 

Luckily for me due to my amazing rendition of Deck the Halls with the lyrics ever so subtly changed to “Give the Blood” I managed to sacrifice a few tubes of blood to an amazing nurse tonight who actually managed to find a vein! Makes a lovely change to having every vein in my arm prodded and still refusing to cooperate! 

So thank you lovely nurse at the doctors’ surgery this evening who did a quacking job, I apologise for your ears, and thank you for my sticker. 


I do apologise for the pretty boring blog post tonight, but that was sadly my whole day!

Here is a photo of my beautiful boy thinking he is a human in an attempt to make up for it. The absolute sweetheart has stayed with me all day to make sure I was ok. Never underestimate the love of a pet! 

Today’s Crappy Product Award & Birthday Biscuits 

Nov21

I decided to bake some cookies today.

Unfortunately I also decided to try ProCook’s Christmas 3D Stainless Steel Cookie Cutters. 


Big Mistake. 

400g Butter – 400g Caster Sugar – 2 Eggs – 800g Plain Flour – 2 tsp Vanilla Extract 

Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy and add the Vanilla Extract. Beat in the eggs and then stir in the flour until you get a dough. Kneed the dough and put into the fridge wrapped in clingfilm and leave for an hour. Roll out the dough and cut out the shapes needed, put on the baking tray and leave to chill for 30 mins in the fridge. Cook for 10 mins at 180 degrees. 



Easy right? Yes, Biscuits taste fabulous, but don’t slot together as the edges arnt long enough 😦 

So that design was scrapped luckily before all the dough was used!

Plan Number 2 

You can’t beat classic round glace iced biscuits. I’m still at my parents and had none of my Cookie Cutters here so had to make do with a yorkshire pudding tin, pallet knife and a (clean) ruler.

Still worked out better than ProCook! 

Why send a birthday card when you can send an edible one? 

Happy Birthday Noodles

Not My Shoes

Nov19

After the doom and gloom of the previous post I felt it was also fair to share one of the better parts of the day.

My favourite pair of boots are my Black Bailey Bow Ugg Boots. We were in our car on the way to Children In Need and I went to pull my boots up. Suddenly I was very confused as there were no bows on my shoes but then I realised that I wasn’t wearing my shoes! I had shoes on but they were not Bailey Bows and they definitely were not mine!

“These are not my shoes?!” 


At this point my friend is trying to drive while dissolving into hysterical laughter 

I’m now panicking about who’s shoes I am wearing. I normally leave my boots out in the hallway as I hate wearing shoes indoors. My neighbours opposite also do the same so all of a sudden I am convinced I have stolen my neighbours shoes and am currently halfway round the M25 with them on my feet. 

I decide to ring my flatmate because by some coincidence she could have also left a pair of black boots outside the door? Surly it’s a million times better to be wearing my flatmate’s shoes than my neighbour’s? I would hate to have a reputation as a shoe thief! 

Luckily she answers and I franticly explain the predicament and am met with more hysterical laughter. Luckily for me she does own a pair of black Ugg-Style Boots without Bows which have somehow found themselves on my feet and I am no longer a shoe thief, just a shoe borrower! 

An Apology and a Thank You – BBC Children In Need & Busted

Nov19

So I was so lucky to be able to go to BBC Children In Need’s Appeal Night last night. 

I was 7 years old when I went to a Harvester restaurant with my parents and they had a colouring competition to keep the kids entertained while waiting for orders to arrive. I sat there for half an hour colouring in this picture of Pudsey bear. I have always been a bit of a perfectionist, that bear was coloured in as accurately as possible using perfect colour selection. Yellow for his body, black for his eyes and a white and red spotty eyepatch. There would be no purple and green spotted bear submitted from me! As we left the restaurant Dad pinned my bear up with all the other enteries and we went home. Mum and Dad got a phone call from the Harvester a week later and turns out I had won! I won a meal for four at the restaurant but most importantly I won a cuddly Pudsey Bear. Me and my Pudsey Bear have sat and watched Children In Need from start to finish together ever since even though I am now 24.

This is how I fell in love with this charity and I have fundraised for Children In Need for the past 8 years. 

Anyway back to the purpose of this post

Last night I was at the Elstree Studio watching the filming for Children In Need and I didn’t feel well. I poked my friend who was sat next to me and fainted/collapsed. 

The team at the studio and the paramedic (your name was Brian, but I apologise I cannot remember anyone else’s name, sadly I do not remember much from the evening!) were all absolutely brilliant and really looked after me. Thank you so much for everything you did, I had no idea I was ill, I thought I was just a bit under the weather. I will go to the doctors first thing Monday morning as promised and will not be going to work until the doctor says I can. I apologise for being a really stubborn and difficult patient, I’m not myself after a fainting episode and I promise you I’m a lot nicer and a lot less difficult normally! 

Unfortunately the second time I collapsed they helped me stumble my way out of the studio door. I got just outside the studio door and I am told that I hit the floor in front of Busted who just got off stage. I have camped out for McBusted and Busted several times and really wanted to see you guys perform, I’m gutted I missed you. (I came back in after the first fainting episode after your performance had already ended and the second one occurred shortly after!). I’m a 90’s baby and a massive Busted fan, so I cannot express how embarrassed I am that this happened, and I’m very sorry! I’m told you guys said you wished you could help me, which is so kind so thank you so much. I have always wanted to meet you I just wish I remembered it!!! 

So just a big thank you and sorry to the team at BBC, Brian and Busted. 

I really hope I get to see the show live again some time. It has always been a dream of mine, I just wish I could have actually seen it! Until then it’s time for another cracking year raising money for such a good cause, it’s going to be a busy one!! 

Thank You

– The Girl in the Pudsey Onesie that you spent half your night scooping up off the floor 

1 Week to Go!!!

Nov11

1 week until one of the most important nights of the year!

BBC Children In Need is such an important charity who make such a difference to so many people. That is why it is so important to show your spots and raise lots for Pudsey! I am so proud to support this charity every day with both work and in my own time and incredibly excited that for the first year ever I will get to watch live from the studio!!! 

This year will be the first since Terry Wogan sadly passed away in January this year and I’m sure the amazing charity that he helped to create will continue to do amazing things.


Plans already in place for the fundraising for next year and it is looking like it is going to be a jam packed Pudsey filled year! 

Homeless: 250 Ducks

Nov9

When I moved into my lovely little old flat 15 months ago we inherited a rather large built in display cabinet. Neither of us had much of value to put in it and so it was decided that the Ducks could move in. 


The Ducks were lovingly arranged into the cabinet by my flatmate Ellie, they have been a lovely central point to our living room ever since and earned our flat the title of “The Duck Residency”.

It has suddenly dawned on me that I do not have a big display cabinet in my new flat. Where will the Ducks live? 😦 

Dear Mr Ford…

Nov8

Dear Mr Ford, I hope you are well.

How do I know you Mr Ford? Well I do not know you exactly. I know you as Mr Ford as that was the make of Wing Mirror I picked up off of the floor after you ploughed your car into mine at 8am this morning. Accidents happen right? I know driving onto the other side of the road and into another car could have been caused by a minor lapse of concentration. Maybe you were tired or you’d had a bad day and were reflecting on this, who knows? You drove into me, so I beeped the horn to alert you to stop, switched off my engine and opened the door thinking we were about to exchange details. But where were you Mr Ford? 500 metres down the road driving away as fast as you could. I picked up your wing mirror, so if you would like it back it is in the boot of my car waiting for you. I don’t suppose you’ll be back for it though, you can’t have wanted it that much to leave it in the middle of the road. Luckily you didn’t hurt me, or cause much damage to my car, not that you bothered to check and you definitely came off worse. Maybe next time you decided to hit someone at 30mph though it might be nice of you to check that you havnt hurt them. After all the damage to the car can be repaired and frankly is not worth my no claims bonus, but this was a quiet road which no cars could go down for long periods of time. Are you really happy driving away and leaving someone potentially hurt in a car where no one would find them? Shows a lot about character Mr Ford, and it appears you are one of society’s scumbags. 

Regards,

Miss James Blonde Adam Slam with Black Stripes. 

Hogging the Hedge

Nov6

The things that stick…

I was having dinner with my flatmate, her other half and my friend a couple of nights ago when we got into a discussion of remembering things. It is funny what things we remember and the things that stick with us. What is it that makes a memory stick?

Ellie was talking about a night we had out many years ago which I had no memory of, yet it is something she has always remembered. We could not figure out how long ago it was but we did know that a lot of wine was consumed. Mainly by me. As I am not a very big drinker this took me by surprise, could it really be my drunken self that was a defining memory of our friendship?! We were in a taxi driving back from town and apparently they dropped me off home first. I got out of the taxi and fell straight into a hedge outside my parents house.

My Friends leapt our of our taxi to come and retrieve me from this hedge that I had managed to get myself well and truly stuck in. Although I have no recollection  of this event I have been told that hedges are very difficult to get out of. You fall into them very easily as all the branches and leaves just give way, but trying to get out of the hedge is not easy as the branches do not offer enough support to push yourself out of the hedge.

Anyway Ellie attempts to pull me out of the hedge, I look at her with 100% seriousness and inform her that “I am a Hedgehog”

“Why are you a Hedgehog Samie?”

“Because I am Hogging the Hedge”

hogging-the-hedge

How she managed to get me out of the hedge I will never know, but I was so disappointed in myself for not remembering this, and so proud of my drunken 19 Year Old self for such a fabulous pun.

Fear not my lovely friends, I too have lots of stories to tell about you…