Love is in the air

This is a special blog for my BFF Drey (Katie) who has finally met the man of her dreams and I couldn't be happier for her. The timing isnt great though as he is in the RAF and he has been posted to Afganistan for 4 months! (I wish him well and please please please arrive home safely!)

I love a good love story, and this is a very special love story (which isn't mine to tell) and maybe no one has used the word love but I can definitely sense it in the air. 4 months isn't really that long, and waiting isn't really that hard for that special someone...and whats more romantic than writing and really getting to know someone the old fashioned way? Anyway good things come to those who wait!

Drey really wasnt looking forward to being 30 tomorrow, but I think that finally things are turning round and I can't think of a better birthday present than finding your soul mate (Drey, if youre reading this and you havent been sick yet then youve changed!!!)

So happy last day of being 29...heres to the next 30 years of love, life and whatever else it may bring...

Light of my life

This is a very sad tale, but it ends happily (at least I hope it will)

I have owned this light for 8 years - a 1970's glass lampshade bought from a mid century modern design fair, it was one I hoped would one day hang in my dream house, and in 2009, it did just that. It hung in my kitchen diner, happily, living its life, lighting up the room in a wonderful orange glow. Then...last week as JJ packed up his bag for Glastonbury, he headed out into the garden shed to make some welly hangers with a long stick. Now...he claims that he merely turned around carrying the stick, but I am convinced I heard the "whoosh" of some sort of kung fu move...and as I heard this sound I also heard a smash...HE HAD BROKEN THE ORANGE LIGHT. And I cried. In retrospec this does seem a tad meladramatic really as it was just a light...but it was a light I believed couldn't be replaced and I didn't believe there would be another one out there.

But boy, was I wrong.

I dont even know what I typed into ebay (um, 1970s orange light perhaps?) but up on my screen I saw the same orange light for sale. What were the chances that someone would end up selling the very same light that JJ broke THAT week? Fate was intervening and of course, through an incredibly tense moment, I bid on the light...and won. So the light is now on its way and unless it breaks in transit, it will be back in its rightful place and all harmony will be restored.

Two big lessons have been learnt from this drama: me - that objects arent really that important and can be replaced, and JJ - that he cant be trusted with a big stick.

You naughty kitten, you've lost your mitten!

This is a very sad story, interlaced with moments of utter happiness!

I have had these vintage mittens for years - they were perfect: they warmed my hands and they matched my UGGS. My wonderful friend Reg (her name is Lucy but her nickname is Reg) took me to Paris for my 30th and we had an amazing time. It was so romantic and we walked the streets and took photos everywhere we went! But about an hour in, I realised I had left my mittens on the metro! I was upset but thought it wouldnt dampen my fabulous day. Later on we went back to the last known whereabouts of the mittens, and asked the train guard if they had been handed in. They hadn't. I honestly though they would have been there but although I coped with the loss, deep down my heart was broken! Off we went for dinner where Reg tried to put a postive spin on it and we concluded that there would be a french man or woman with very warm hands! On the way back Reg hurt her ankle (very accident prone) and although we were near the gare du nord and I wanted to walk, Reg insisted we get the metro. As we approached the train guard, we thought how wonderful it would be if the mittens had been handed in and Reg gave it one last try. If we found them it would have been fate intervening! I couldnt watch as Reg mimed her best mitten impression! But as i turned around, I saw the train guard pulling out my beautiful mittens! Reg and I were euphoric and we hugged and clapped and everyone thought we were mad! But you'll understand if you have ever found something that you loved but thought you'd lost!

Now, you'd think that I would have learnt to look after my mittens after tht story, but a few months later, I managed to leave them on the london underground, so now someone in London has very warm hands. The moral of the story is you don't know what you've got til its gone, but sometimes, not even that stops you losing your favourite mittens.

Visit to Grandma's

At the weekend I headed to Dorking to visit my absolutely beautiful Grandma, who I love with all my heart! She is such a kind, wonderful woman. We went to some open art studios and I took some photographs along the journey...I loved the garden door but will never know what is behind it! It rained all day but that didn't matter once; I was with my family and there is so much love between us all that it felt like the sun was shining!

I HEART LONDON

Even though London is right on my doorstep, i've always seen it as a bit of a chore heading up there. Too busy, too noisy....too many people! Then when I met JJ, he told me that like me, NYC was his favourite city, but London was an incredibly close second. He promised he would show me the magic of London and acted as my personal tour guide...showing me his favourite places - all the parts i'd never seen. I suddenly looked at it in a different light; I absolutely fell in love. He took these pictures recently just after the royal wedding and I think they are just wonderful. I think that sometimes you can't see the beauty of something that has always been there, but really it just takes someone else to open your eyes that little bit wider...

Floral delights

I went to visit my gorgeous mother, and she showed me her rose bush (not a euphemism) which was a present from my dad (also gorgeous plus he is the most romantic man I know and I think that's where I get it from!) At the front of their house they have this lovely cornflower! The sun was shining as I took the pictures after a few days of heavy rain; I think the flowers appreciated the rain more than I did!

Parquet dreams

We are taking our lovely home back to its original roots and having parquet flooring added on two floors of the house. It's reclaimed oak from a monastery in Yorkshire so we are doing our bit for the environment. I have had butterflies for the last few days waiting to see what I will come home to! Its looking so amazing and I am so happy with the results so far! Still a lot to do but I'm smiling every time I look down from the living room to the kitchen. I am in love!