APPLE PICKING LOVE

EUROPEAN CHRISTMAS MARKETS

I am booking a Christmas Market trip for my friend Jayne and I for November, this morning. This is something I have been wanting to do for a long time. Last year we all went to the Bath Christmas Market, it was beautiful but I can't wait to do the European tour. We will be taking a guided tour to The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium. I am looking forward to tasting all the sweets, seeing all of the crafts and toys and picking up a few presents. It will be nice to be in a few places that love Christmas as much as I do!

EARRING TREE

I totally fell in love with this John Lewis earring tree. It's perfect and most importantly does not look like a big mess like the other one I owned. This has got to be my best purchase of the year. xoxo

JANE AUSTIN BUTTERFLY

I Will not cut my hair until it reaches this length.. She is beautiful...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINDY

Happy Birthday-Bonne Fete Cindy!

If you were here we would hop on a train to France in search of this delicious French Macaroon Cake to celebrate your birthday in style.

Miss you xoxo

THURSDAY QUOTE

"I never travel without my diary. One should always have something sensational to read in the train."
-Oscar Wilde

JUST MARRIED

Steve and I have been married just over a month now, 36 days to be exact. I'm loving being a Wifey. It would have been fun to have this Just Married sign tied on the back of our getaway car, maybe with a few clinking cans... I love her just married outfit, great look!

SWEATY BETTY

I ran with the Sweaty Betty running club last night.(England's Lulu?) I'm feeling it today, my legs are super stiff. I really need to work on stretching after my run. The Sweaty Betty running club has a completely different training style than what I had previously trained with at the Running Room, I was really missing that 1 minute walking break every 10 minutes. Our coach said, there is no room for 1 minute breaks in her session. I have the, I don't ever want to do this again attitude but next week they are offering a chance to win a fifty pound gift certificate for participants who run the one hour challenge. I'm there! Hopefully, I will have forgotten how hard I thought it was by then.

I LOVE FALL, I LOVE TURTLENECKS

What better way to cheer yourself up at the end of summer than walking around the front display table picking out fall turtlenecks. Smart Set is going to have another great selection of turtlenecks and I would usually go in and choose my five favorites. If anyone knows where I could possibly have the same experience in Bristol please share.

Missing Smart Set....

JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH

Recently my hair dresser and I were discussing the Welsh author Roald Dahl and how we loved his books growing up. I really wanted to share these books with Connor and so this weekend we started reading James And The Giant Peach, it's as good as I remember and I am enjoying every minute of it.

WINDOW PANE TABLE PLAN

WEDDING PLANNER

I know I've been married for a month now but I keep looking at wedding ideas and images. A friend suggested I would make a great wedding planner the other day and I laughed and said if only I had a very organized business partner. Then, it would be an interesting business venture that might work for someone of my talents, which includes convincing, selling & a great eye for beauty.
I think most brides have thoughts about becoming a wedding planner during or after her big day.  How can you not when you've spent months scouring magazines, wedding blogs, internet and shopping malls for the perfect accessories to make your fairy tale day happen? I think I will be posting wedding ideas and options until it's time for the next chapter, babies.

 All I know is, I really enjoy blogging, if only just to share my life with family, friends and great people and have a record of all the great experiences I'm having in life. xoxo

UMMM... PARENTS ARE AWESOME

My star step-son on the way to the Bristol Zoo. (right)

The boys have gone to check out a Grammar school in Birmingham for the day while I finish sorting out the house. Thanks to help from some great friends I was able to figure out the school system in England and exactly what needs to be done to get a child ready for secondary education here. Huge respect for all the parents out there who are on top of all of the activities of their children, as well as managing their own life. I can only pray one day I'll be just as good at multitasking if/when I have children.

Umm.. Parents are awesome!!! XOXO

TEAM HANDSOME

CLUTTER

Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.-William Morris.

It is time to clear out some of the clutter in our home and I found this quote that has inspired me to get rid of some of the things that we do not use anymore. My friend once told me, if you don't wear it or use it for six months get rid of it, and that is exactly what I hope to accomplish this weekend.

Cumbria

I've just arrived home from a few days away on business in Barrow with Steve. Cumbria is always one of my favorite places to go because I love to see my friends, The Angles Of The North. We stayed at a very pretty and scenic resort called Eden Lodge  It was my first time staying in Ulverston and I really enjoyed the drives along the coastal route into Barrow. If you enjoying walking or hiking they have groups that meet almost everyday to go out rain or shine. I was going to hike up to the Hoad ( Pepper Pot) with my friend Grace but high winds and rain scared me off, instead I went for a massage, took a long bath and got cozy with a book back at Eden Lodge. I went for a  run yesterday morning and visited the Buddhist temple just down the road from the hotel. It was so beautiful and the first time I've been to a temple. It was closed in the morning and I had other plans in the afternoon but I am looking forward to going back to Cumbria at the end of September for a chance to see it again and learn more. I know how lucky I am to be able to go on business trips with my husband and just enjoy all this wedded bliss. I also know it won't always be like this which is why I'm enjoying every moment that we have. We are home for 1 day before heading down to London tomorrow and I have a lot of house and office work to do. Life is busy but I'm lovin it! xoxo

GLASGOW

We just got back from a mini honeymoon in Glasgow. I've been to Glasgow a few times and it's always fun. We stayed at the Millennium. It's a nice hotel. It would be nicer if they had a gym. Having meals out everyday needs a good work out to go with them. We went to some amazing restaurants but these two were my favorite. The Ubiquitous Chip & Amarone Italian. I think I've said this before I love Glasgow shopping, I bought some new lingerie at  Bravissimo.. I love the service there and the bras fit so nicely, also if they don't have your size they will mail it to you. I bought a few other things to update the winter wardrobe. This cozy Argyle dress from Gant & a few items from Primark, sadly I didn't find any tartan tights. We ended our trip seeing Wintersleep on Thursday night, small venue front and center they sound awesome and put on such a great show. We are home for two nights and then heading to the Lake District to visit the angles of the north. Steve and I going to pick up our wedding photos this afternoon, super excited!

TARTAN TIGHTS

I've been looking for these tartan tights since I saw a woman wearing them in Nice last year, they are seventy-five pound at D&G yikes! I checked out  tabio this weekend in Knightsbridge but they just didn't have the electric color and thickness that these ones do. I'm leaving for Glasgow today fingers crossed that I will find a pair there. I would love to find a little shop that would sell our name tartan (Gillespie or Walker) in a tight! hmmm..

MENUS

I love this idea of putting menus on the table wine that I found @ Bridal Bubbly

VIBRANCE OF PORTOBELLO MARKET

We went to London this weekend to see G & T before they move back to Canada. When I go to London with Steve we try to see something different as he has a much better understanding of the tube and buses than I do. This time we went to Portobello market, Holland Park, Kensington Palace and strolled along Hyde Park wall to see all the local artist work, amazing! We stayed stayed at the YHA Holland Park it included a full English breakfast and was about 18 pound a night per person. My favorite YHA in London is Central. Portobello has antiques, clothes, food & lots of jewelery stands. I can't wait for another London visit, it's been years since I've been to Camden and would love to go again.

AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER

I found this sign at a little shop in Clifton. What a great little decoration to have beside the cake or on the mantle over the head table like we did. 

THEY WERE WHIMSICAL AND ROMANTIC

This is a candid shot of my bouquet taken the morning after. Lisa Elliott did an amazing job on the flowers, they took my breath away. I'm looking forward to seeing the photographer's proofs and will have more to share.