this year.

This will be the year that...

• Cardy and I finally moved in together and have had a glorious twelve months in our cosy flat in Brixton
• I 'found my tribe' and 'became my own hero' by taking up roller derby (hey, don't judge me for the Whip It references!)
• I made some amazing friends who can get away with knocking me on my bum
• I finally listened to my mother and applied for a job in HR - I should've taken her advice sooner
• Cardy and I experienced the Star Wars Lego explosion
• I remembered how great it is talking to my dad about inane crap on the phone
• I realised that I'm made of tougher stuff than I thought
• I found that I rock a fringe and therefore found my perfect hairstyle
• I discovered that I can actually bake stuff
  
• I grew up and got a phone on contract

Bring on 2011!

this week.

1. Hairy Growler Jewellery - Cardy bought me some gorgeous jewellery from the Hairy Growler for Christmas. I love it so so much, especially the lock and key necklace. Cardy is most definitely in my good books.
2. Follow the White Rabbit on Etsy - I've been admiring Follow the White Rabbit's plush deer on Etsy for some time so I was overjoyed when Cardy bought me one for Christmas. I'm now the proud owner of Blueberry Ice. So cute!
3. Mario Kart on Nintendo Wii - the parents bought this for myself and Cardy for Christmas. Not only do I love it because it's Mario, I also love it because I won a race!
4. Christmas in general - I had a really good one this year. I got to spend it with my family plus Cardy, his dad and his sister. We ate good food, exchanged lots of lovely gifts and watched Doctor Who. Bliss.
5. Staying in for New Year's Eve - myself and Cardy don't really go out so we didn't see the point in going out on the one night of the year when everything costs more and you can't actually move. So we've had a Chinese takeaway, watched plenty of Futurama and will spend the evening on the sofa.

style9.

I figured that it was time for another template, a warm rich one to welcome in the new year.

Many thanks to pinkpretty for this gorgeous 2011 palette.

christmas.

A huge Merry Christmas to everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful day. Mine has been spent in the company of my loved ones, I've eaten loads of beautiful food and received gorgeous gifts. All in all a perfect day.

this week.

1. Urban Decay's Preen Shadow Box - the three of us in the office decided that we would do a 'not so secret Santa' for Christmas. My gift was Urban Decay's Preen Shadow Box. I really love the peacock hues so it's going to get a lot of use.
2. My MacBook case - I finally had an excuse to use my MacBook case from Kitsch Confection on Etsy. I love the matching pouch for the power lead!
3. Stollen - I had my first taste of stollen this week. Marzipan goodness!
4. My work colleagues - everyone has been so happy and generous this week. They've really made the run up to Christmas special.
5. Going to my parents for Christmas - I travelled up to Cambridgeshire today to spend Christmas with my parents. Cardy and his sister have gone to their dad's and will be coming over tomorrow morning. Very exciting!

this week.

1. Launceston Place - I've never done fine dining before, so going to Launceston Place this week with some girls from work was a real experience. I'm not usually good at trying new food but each of the courses I ate were things I hadn't eaten before. And the port... oh, the port. I'm already looking forward to next year's Christmas treat!
2. Paperchase's Christmas cards - their selection of wrapping paper is pretty dire this year but they have a rocking choice of cards. I am especially fond of the Eskimo card set - nothing says Merry Christmas! like a smiling narwal.
3. Wrapping presents - there is nothing that gets me in the mood for Christmas quite like wrapping presents. As most of my presents are already at my parents' house I haven't had much of an opportunity to get wrapping, so Christmas Eve is going to be busy!
4. My job - I don't think I've really felt this happy when it comes to my work life. I'm really loving working in HR (this is where I hear my Mum shouting 'I told you so!' from a few counties away) and the people I work with are so supportive and nurturing. There's even the possibility for post-grad study if and when I feel ready for it. Exciting! I passed my probation period on Monday so I'm now officially permanent. Hurrah!
5. Getting dressed up - I have a gorgeous silk dress from Monsoon that I don't really get to wear that often, maybe once a year if that. So going to a fancy restaurant this week was the perfect excuse to give it an airing. Just a shame that the only shoes I have to go with it stripped the skin off the top of my feet - no skating for me this week!

this week.

1. Scrimmage - we had our first roller derby scrimmage session on Saturday and, if such a thing is possible, I'm in love with the sport even more. Absolutely amazing. I got some beautiful bruises!
2. The work Christmas party - having worked exclusively in schools since graduating I haven't really had the opportunity to go to a proper work do. So I was more than happy when the Routemaster bus turned up to take us to the London Transport Museum. A good time was had by all.
3. The Kill Bill films - myself and Cardy have watched both Kill Bill films over the last two weekends. I hadn't seen them in far too long. Uma Thurman is the only person who could work a canary yellow tracksuit.
4. My new Irregular Choice shoes - I'd been looking for a reason to buy Irregular Choice's Mini Magical Floral shoes in purple and this week's Christmas party was a brilliant excuse. I'm already looking for the next occasion on which I can wear them.
5. Timesplitters 2 - because we all need to shoot stuff up sometimes. One day I will graduate from playing it on the easy setting. One day...

this week.

1. Snow - yes, it leads to slippery pavements and the trains can't run, but it's white, fluffy, sparkly goodness and I had a jolly good time prancing about in our snowy front garden this evening. And this is coming from someone who didn't even get any time off work due to the stuff. So stop with the snow hate!
2. Pesto in toasties - we cracked out the toasted sandwich machine at work today and made pesto, cheese, ham and onion toasties. I think I may have a new addiction.
3. Unexpected curry - my Dad was meant to be staying with us on Thursday evening and was going to pay his board with Chinese food, but a combination of snow and a headache meant his trip was cancelled. We ended up going to the Indian takeaway on the corner and feasted on curry. All in all a good evening.
4. Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars - now we've got our second hand PS2 up and running we're finally able to play the games that Cardy has been gathering for the past year. At the moment one of our favourite evening past times is playing Broken Sword, and not only for the childish innuendo about George's tool. It's nice to be playing a game that isn't just about running about shooting stuff (although that is rather fun, especially TimeSplitters 2).
5. Not breaking any bones in roller derby - there was a horrible moment in this Saturday's practise where I thought I'd had my first serious derby related injury. I'm a bit bruised, but nothing's broken. What a relief!

style7&8.

I rather stupidly forgot to upload a cap of my previous layout, and even when I managed to remember today I forgot to log out so I've still got the silly little icon on my widgets.

This template was created using the palette (i ♥ raymie) by sugar!. It was inspired by the gorgeous Christmas decorations near my place of work.

And now for something a little more festive...

I couldn't resist using nancythequilt's leatherbound palette to create a Christmas template. Bring on the roast chicken and pudding!