YORKSHIRE: Combines

Bank holiday Monday was spent trying to avoid the tourist crowds at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire - the location many recognise as the backdrop to the TV drama Brideshead Revisited. The quick drive past the end of the car park revelled it was over flowing with tourists so we carried on driving up the road to the free quiet little green car park - come lay by over looking the top of the estates lake. There was a short little walk along one edge of the lake only got too after walking through a mass of adult and this years swans - this was just a tad scary, especially when one of the swans started hissing. I think they've been known to attack people, there was even some cute little duckings on the lake too all swimming in line. 

We spent ages watching the combine harvesters bringing in some of the crops, the tractors kept rushing back and forth as the combine worked up and down the field. It really does bring home, that with August ending Autumn and the colder months are on our doorstep hence digging out the old SC&CO hoodie - totally unfeminine and non pretty but needs must. It's a shame, it seems like another proper summer seems to have escaped the UK. Is it wrong to say i'm wishing for spring already?!

Hoarder

Zara top, Primark Cardi and necklace

Me and JJ worked out that it's only 11weeks till we want to be honeymooning in Chicago. So that's 11 weeks left to get over the final visa hurdle of my interview, sorting, packing, flying, moving in, getting married and Amtrak-ing to Chicago. 77 days. That's scarily good. That also, hopefully means ONLY six weeks left at work! And after having the two days off at the start of last week due to visiting London, that can only come quick enough. You would have thought no one else was capable to jumping in and doing my job for two shifts. God knows what it will be like on Wednesday with having five days off [bank holiday coincides with my sick day, and my weekend and Tuesday off]. Five day weekends should occur more often! 

It's odd to think this time last week I was darn right petfied of my medical and in the end it turned out a lot better then expected. Even if the vaccination had some unkind effects to me afterwards. I think it shows you the tale of what happens when you wind yourself up into a pickle about things. You shouldn't imagine how things may or will turn out, things will happen as they are meant too. And while it was good to be able to pop onto the visa forum i'm on to see other peoples experinces, just because they had to undergo certain checks and testing doesn't necessarily mean you'll have too. I should have listened to myself better. 

The 11 week milestone spurred me into extreme sorting this morning. Another three bags are heading to the charity shop and another two to the dustbin. Most of the rubbish ended up being shoes - old shoes from my clubbing university days. Ones with huge heels I couldn't even dare to wear now no matter how pretty they are. I'm nearly 25 but I'm sounding totally older then my years?! Things are finally getting into place. Clothes to move with are hanging separate to ones that are rubbish and will just stay here, there's boxes of things to move with, lists in my head of books and objects to take. Even the rucksack is starting to get filled - even if it's only with a pen from my university. I'm a bit of a hoarder like that.

Enjoy what is left of your weekend and keep safe x

Feeling blue

Today has been a blue day. I'm meant to be at work but I ended up waking up being sick at 5am and that's the way the rest of the morning panned out. I'm wondering if its some nasty reaction to the vaccination I had to have at the medical on Tuesday - yet another MMR jab. I was feeling cranky and achey ever since I had it on Tuesday, then yesterday it developed into a bit of a head cold and another headache. Thing is i'm rarely ever sick. Just feels so odd. 

Perhaps this whole visa thing is draining me I've been working myself into such a huge stress and panic about it all. That it's just come to the point where your so totally drained out your body gives up on you for a day or two. Sometimes you feel like your whole relationship and what you have is just about the visa and trying to get it, and being with each other again. Not seeing Joe since March is taking it's toll, just want my boy back.

I really don't meant to write a depressing post i'm just having one of those days. It doesn't help when both mine and Joe's phones play up so the texts get lost somewhere over the ocean. At least so far i've had no word from the medical [no news is good news in this case]. 

On a side note some people are randomly claiming they are having issues posting comments on my blog - I'm not sure if it's affecting many people but as far as i'm aware there's no problems? Sometimes if your using IE as your b browser it hates blogger .. but after that I have no clue!

image from weheartit.com

FASHION: Forever 21

One of the things I was getting child likely excited about was visiting Forever 21, half being a sneak peek at American fashion and it's always good at being a nosey. I'd read mixed blogger posts about the store that some of the clothes weren't that impressive, or huge queues and whatever else, but I went with an open mind. I'm always up for a new shopping adventure.  

As an American brand Forever 21 has been open since the mid 1980s originally targeting LA's local Korean population. Since then it's opened stores globally, with shops in Canada, the Middle East and Europe. Following store openings in 2010 in Dublin and Birmingham, Forever 21 opened it's flagship UK in London's Oxford Street. They rival H and M on price but with a Topshop quirky vibe. What they have was a huge range of items across the three floors - a huge denim section, your more Americanised college football tops and hoodies through to your lacy, floral dresses and tops not forgetting, undies, shoes and so much jewellery. I really think there would be something for everyone.

So here's what i got;

 Top one -  £11 something

Top two - £14 something

Dress - £14 something

Necklace - £3.15
(the skirt is from Zara and dragonfly necklace is Topshop)

The dressing rooms were huge, with plenty of hanging space and a very good sized mirror. I was only queuing for five minutes [mind you this was gone 5pm also the downstairs fitting rooms were a lot quieter then their counterparts] but the store was very busy. The only problem is the lighting, as you can tell from the pictures it's not the best and it was very gloomy when your going from the shop floor to the changing rooms. The only other small issues I have is the colour of their bags being neon pink - I don't know I just find it a little trashy. But that is me being very picky. Luckily there's a store in the mall near Joe's house so I don't have to face the fear of now not having anything to wear/buy in America lol

Have you been to Forever 21? What you think of the clothes? Or where's your top fashion store at the moment?

Part ten; the medical

So, I survived the medical! London was wonderful [as ever] and everything seemed to go good. Definately better then I expected, Monday night I was a horror and just was in extrememe panic about it all. I was going to fail, they'd never let me in, i'd loose Joe. But I knew I had to go so on Tuesday morning I rolled up to the private clinic in Mayfair for my visa medical. Everyone aiming to move on a visa who is over the age of 15 has to have a medical - no if buts or maybes. Mine luckily took only 45 minutes and consists of three key parts. 

You have to go along with their downloaded medical questionnaire, another is given to you when you arrive, asking all the questions from have you ever smoked, had a history of depression, ever hurt anyone else or if you're on any medication. [Visa's are all about box ticking.] Then a nurse went through my vacation records. For some reason mine were only recorded since 2000 so all of my childhood jabs haven't been recorded for whatever reason. All was fine apart from somehow missing my second MMR jab [apparently a lot of people have never had the second booster injection] and being a requirement for the visa there was no two ways about it. Injection it was - i'm luckily fine with needles, getting tattooed overcame that horror.

A lot of the time was spent waiting between the checks, so after the second wait it was time to get the X Ray taken to check for TB - all a case of wearing a robe, having to hold a protective lead vest and breathing in and out. Then after even more waiting, it was time to see the doctor. 

Seeing the doctor was the bit I was really dreading, I get very iffy about going to the GP generally so a one to one consultation wasn't on my list of things to do. BUT luckily, she was really nice and very friendly. What they check as far as I can see is dependent upon the doctor your seeing, your age and what you've ticked on the questionnaire. Being 24 and only ticking that I use to smoke kind of limited the things they could check. So she checked my eye sight, ears, mouth, breathing and my heart rate was followed by and abdominal and breast check and taking blood. The latter was the hardest bit - for the doctor at least but they need it to check for HIV and other things. I apparently have tiny veins and my blood flows very slowly. It took a while to fill a vile.

So for 45 minutes it all cost, with the added vaccination £243. Ouch. If I don't hear anything from them everything has come back fine. Now just back to waiting. Gah.

Thank you to everyone that wished me the best of luck for the medical - it really did help.

Image from weheartit.com

So, what is inside my bag? The London edition!

Here I am again jumping on a band wagons doing a "what's inside my bag". It's only taken me two years, but I thought I'd do it with a London twist - everything a girl needs for her medical. So here's a peek inside;

1. Palmer's moisturising cream.

2. All the [boring] paperwork for the purpose of the trip - there's a full page medical questionnaire, my vacation records, photographs, maps and a huge booklet. Plus my letter from the USA embassy.

3. Vintage Life magazine - reading material for the train.

4. My diary - it a National Railway 2011 diary filled with old railway posters.

5. Paperchase notebook - full of scribbles and thoughts.

6. More reading material - Hungry Hill by Daphnue du Maurier.

7. Passport - another thing for the medical.

8. You never know when you might get a headache.

9. My purse - crammed full of old receipts and rubbish really.

10. My umbrella - I go through these so bad.

11. Energizer Lithium batteries - I find these are the best batteries for digital cameras, they last far longer then the normal batteries but they aren't the cheapest [£7.99 from Curries] but the price is worth it.

12. Samsung MP3 player - I swear by samsung  who are also the makers of my phone [which I forgot to photograph]. 

13. Oyster card - probably has nothing on it but i'm glad I don't have to go through the hassle of getting a new one. 

14. Small pot of Lush hand cream - another thing I swear by.

15. Pocket map of London with my train timetables. 

[Not photographed is obviously my camera - a snap happy girl could not go to London without that!]

I guess you could say I was very practical in what goes into my handbag [my H&M one which I blogged about the other day]. You'll never see my bag crammed full of makeup or perfume or fancy things - because that's not me. I do my face for the day and leave it at that. That's not to say I'm not taking any beauty things to London, they are just in my other bag. 

Thank you to everyone that put their two pence in and gave me some wonderful ideas for things to go and places to go whilst in London, I've still got a tonne of ideas and I'm not really sure when i'm doing them all but they do include getting some Lola Cupcakes, checking out Forever 21 and visiting The Diner in Caraby St and having a wander around the area - which were all ideas from you lot! So thank you. I might even try and get down to the Natural History Museum to see the gorgeous butterflies they have there at the moment. I'm still dreading the medical but whatever is going to happen is beyond my control and I just have to go with it and breath deeply. It's just one step, an hour or so of my life to get to my boy.

So I hope you're all enjoying what is left of the weekend, at least at the end of this working week there is a bank holiday for the British among us! I also got an email from an old school friend asking how long i'm in American for [errr?] and wondering if I'd photograph his wedding. Now that I'm totally shocked by that suggestion because I don't think I'm that good and I haven't a clue about how you would! I haven't replied with a definite answer, I think its something I need to totally work on. But exciting no?!

Bloggers.com

I've been on bloggers.com for a while. I guess it's like a facebook for blogger - you get to "like" blogs by voting for them; tag along, befriend and follow your favourite writers. Up take is often slow and it's not got a huge outside appeal or acknowledgement outside of the website but I joined it all the same a couple of months ago to try and up my followers, get my blog a little further into the world and just try and find some more blogs to read myself. Sometimes I do think after two years of blogging I should have more followers. Sometimes I think i'm doing something wrong or that i'm not interesting enough.

Something told me to log on last night, I hadn't for ages and was floating around cyberspace. I checked my wall and had received three messages all saying congrats for getting onto the editors bloggers choice for the day. I was rather WTF?! So there I am, well on Friday night at least. The second editors choice for the day! Who knew my blog was decent enough for that! Saying that today i've been replaced by three more picks of the day.

But even so, it hasn't turned out to equal any more viewers or huge increase in views. Hmmm. I still wonder if i'm doing something wrong when it comes to blogging ... 

If your already on there come and find me [link below] or link yours in my comments box. Anyone have any tips on upping the followers? Or what works well on this blog or blogs in general?

MICHIGAN: Frankenmuth

Right, a light hearted post after the stress and the worry of the forthcoming London trip ...

One of the freedoms over Joe's job as a social worker compared to mine [stuck in a basement dispensing] is that he gets to travel around the outer suburbs and into Michigan to see all his people. They get to go on outings to like bowling or the cinema and even bigger day trips out. Jealous? Much! I love seeing pictures of Joe's world and things and places he gets up too and he's far better at me when it comes to landscape photographs; plus I'm somewhat jealous of his megapixal count!

These pictures where taken a couple of weeks ago at a small town called Frankenmuth, a town nicknamed Little Bavaria due to its original Lutheran settlers and the draw of Bavarian themed businesses and festivals - but I guess with an American twist and take on all things European. It's also home to what is declared as the worlds largest Christmas store. I think it'll be definitely worth a drive out too see. 

Anyone else know of any random hidden Michigan haunts to uncover once I move? It's not the most popular of tourist of USA states but we have to live somewhere!

Ariels

Cardi and vest top - H and M

Something odd's happened lately. I've become more settled in myself. Maybe it's because i'm turning 25 at the end of next month. I'm more self assured in what me and Joe have due to thickening up my resistance to comments I often receive about our relationship to the point of arguing back. I know what I want and I know what I have to do it. Maybe it's because there's only [finally] two hurdles left in the visa. Maybe i'm just growing up and into my skin.

I've found myself getting back into fashion but putting my twist in, i've got back into looking after myself beauty wise and getting into little things like painting my nails and playing with my hair. Most of the things I have to sneak home in my work bag because one thing doesn't change - being scared of my mam *sigh*

I'm re-finding my taste in rock and metal music after a two year break from really liking anything. Standing up to her comments of it not being music, but hey who cares? It makes me happy. I keep playing System of a Down. There's something about the song Ariel's that makes me think of the future. It's still scary and the next month or three with change my life one way or the other. Good or bad. If I fail this visa thing i'm so scared i'll loose Joe :(

But your all welcome u stick around for the ride if you fancy.

What are you all looking forward too currently? Any big plans for the future?

London town

So this time next week i'll be in London town for my medical. I'm hopping down from Yorkshire on the Monday merely for the total excuse to be a tourist, have a good wander, shop and relax before the medical Tuesday morning [still utterly dreading it]. Train tickets were far from cheap £75 and not even rush hour but I managed a sweet bargain on the hotel.

I have some ideas of tubing it down to Westminster, wandering up to Buckingham palace, hitting Regents Street, Oxford Street and the shops while checking out just where the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square is to I have a slight clue where i'm going for my interview. Then having a little peak around Marylebone which is the area i'm staying. 

The Hummingbird Bakery and SNOG [one being my treat for getting through the said dreaded medical] are sights to hit; so too is Forever 21. I've seen loads of bloggers talk [in mixed views] about this store, and while I know it's American - I thought I'd grab a peek to see what the fuss is about! That and its an excuse to buy new clothes for Chicago! 

So now bloggers i'm just looking for any hidden London gems be it shops or touristy things that might be worth a quick look into! Where would you suggest going? Avoiding? Anything and everything would be welcome!

Ta in advance (and all pictures are from weheartit.com don't ya know?!)

Recent hauls

H and M bag with handle - £14.99

I fell in love with this bag since finding it in their A/W catalogue, it comes in three colours - mustard, red and brown. Its a gorgeous style with handle and strap with three inner pockets.

TRESemme smooth glossing spray - £2.20 for 75ml [Superdrug]

Advertised for it's smoothing and nourishing benefits it can be applied to damp or dry hair and contains Argan oil [that product that everyone's raving about]. It's seemed to help my fizzy bits and does provide a good shine and smoothing affect. Perhaps the resulting shine is doesn't rival the affects of the Toni and Guy's finishing spray but then you are paying two thirds less on the Tresemme version. Nevertheless it's a really light product and hasn't left it thick or greasy.

Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Concentrated Cream Tube - £2.10 for 100g [Superdrug]

I'm on a last road attempt at trying to even out and tone my scars and skin. I'm using it alongside Bio-Oil and nothing is occuring as of yet - only that its leaving my skin lovely and soft. I hold my breath on the scar and skin toning however. One advantage however is that its in a handy little tube which is brilliant for carrying around in my bag and it does double up as a fab hand cream too.

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends Protection Cream - £1.95 for 150ml [on offer at Superdrug]

I've been using Herbal  Essences on and off for years - it's one of them fail safe brands you can always trust. Their products have always left my hair healthy and shiny. I've been keeping an eye out for something to help with the ends. I'm one of those guilty people who don't often pop along to the hairdressers [I don't think i've been for over a year and a half - possibly longer] so my ends are often known to get very spilt and well just generally awful. Often I'd curl my hair and the ends were as rough and fly away as sandpaper. You can apply this product to wet or dry hair by just running it through with your hands onto the ends. Like most of their products - it smells yummy and leaves you hair feeling very soft. It's too early to say if it's protecting my ends or making them anywhere near beautiful but it does feel a lot softer.

Sleek "Flushed" blusher -  £4.25 for 8g [Superdrug]

I had been eyeing up the Topshop blusher but I got tempted towards Sleek after reading some positive blogger reviews. I'm not a fan of a lot of the pinky blushers around at the moment, I have naturally red [gah] cheeks but i just wanted something that offered a little more tint on the apples. It's highly pigmented so a little goes a long way but it's a gorgeous English rose colour. It lasts really well and on the strength of this product alone I would definitely buy more Sleek items.

MUA lipstick shade no. 13 - £1 [Superdrug]

I'd read a few reviews about this red lipstick by MUA and being a fan of their nail varnishes I thought it was time I branched out into the lipstick. I've never been much of a lipstick wearer and so for a pound, I thought it was worth giving it a go. Thing is, I love it. It is very bright so I tend to only apply just a little. And yes as you may imagine for the price it does strain a little, but it lasts!

H&M hair flower clips - £1.99 for two

I adore flower clips, they jazz up my hair for work. Some cheap ones can look unreal and very plastically but H&M have it spot on, plus these ones come in red, purple and black [well the colours I remember at least]. They are a great way of fancying up your pin curls and keeping your hair out of the way. 

What's been rocking your boat beauty wise lately?

YORKSHIRE: Robin Hood's Bay

 

Yesterday we went to Robin Hood's Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. It was a my Saturday off and I wanted to drag the parents somewhere. As a coastal resort Robin Hood's bay is very picturesque, with lots of flower boxes, red tiled roofs, quaint little shops, yet its very much a second/holiday home town. It's also the start/end of the coast to coast walk so its always full of tourists or walkers. But there was also a load of Harley Davidson bikers and Morris dancers there yesterday.

The coast along this part is apparently known for it's fossils, not that I would ever know if I had come across one and has lots of rock pools. You have to be really careful with this coast however because the tide can turn really quickly. When we first arrived the two boats in the bottom picture where a long way from the tide, thirty minutes lately there were a long way from the shore. The tide comes in quick and it comes in deep!

Dad treated us too an ice cream - I went for the creamy lemon flavour, it wasn't very lemony but it was tasty all the same! I also seemed to be the only tourist wearing a shirt, I've taken a liking for the tulip style skirt - they slim over my hips somewhat, just annoying how they puff out when you sit down! I also aired my brand new H&M bag. It was the mustard colour that attracted me and the price at only £14.99 and I know a number of bloggers have picked up and wrote about it's appearance in the new A/W catalogue. I brought mine with the excuse that it will fold down really easily to pack into my suitcase.

Hope you all had a nice weekend! Joe got us a nice queen size bed and i've been sorting out a parcel of things to relocate to Detroit. I hope it's not tempting fate too much!

FOOD: Sushi

Its been over a year (last april to be spot on) that i first blogged about sushi. It was back then something that Joe had talked lots and lots about but it had been something i'd avoided. I think its the normal stereotypical reasons why - raw, cold, fishy, odd, that sometimes puts most people off. My first sushi experience was getting a take out from a little sushi place in Gillygate in York, we sat and eat it among the ruins of the abbey in the museum gardens in the August sunshine. I think since then, I was slightly hooked. I won't say I'm the font of all knowledge when it comes to sushi and most of the time I just say i want something with prawns or salmon or tuna and Joe picks it for us. In Edinburgh we went to the No.1 Sushi bar which does stand up to it's title - we did slash out and spend £60 (sushi isn't always the cheapest of meals but the plate settings and knowing it was fresh and made right there for you tops it) but it was very very worth it and I have an addiction to the ginger pieces!

Now I'm left with eating M&S take out pre-packed Sushi - its not bad and it's Californian rolls are yum but nothing beats the made for you taste that you get in restaurants. But its always my treat when i'm working every other Saturday. Apparently Pret do sushi too - with your own little chop sticks which might be worth a try. 

Part nine; November 10th

I got my police form back on Tuesday for my visa. I'm apparently not a criminal, or at least they have no trace of me ever being one, which is rather reassuring because it would have confused the life out of me if it had come back declaring some criminal involvement. The arrival of the police form allowed me to book the second to last stage of the visa [ordeal] journey - booking that frightful medical. I borrowed works phone line and rang up this morning after repeated attempts at getting through it took a good half hour for it not to be engaged. The lady on the other end of the phone seemed lovely and talked me through what I need to bring and where to go. So on Tuesday 23 [yeap that close] I have a [somewhat dreaded] adventure to London. I'm planning to go down on the Monday and stay over night, perhaps be a bit of a tourist for the day and after the medical if there's any time left. Need a bit of time away from work and this is a perfect excuse. 

So now all the rest of the forms can be sent off, with police forms, finance forms, relationship evidence, birth certificates, passport copies and endless forms stating your an alien with American passport photos attached. To finish it all off you're advised to send it with a cover letter declaring a wedding date. I've always found this odd seeing throughout the whole process your constantly reminded NOT to book travel plans yet alone anything as substantial as a wedding! I can't really remember why we picked that weekend in November, it just seemed to fit right. If everything goes to plan we want to be married on the Thursday and on the way to Chicago for the long weekend on the Friday. 

It might only be three months away but it seems a lifetime.

Part eight; bits and bobs

Sometime there is really nothing to do but wait. You feel stuck and unproductive, like your waiting always on other people for responses. I've been getting back on the visa forum I started using back in March, I think weirdly it corresponded to the time I started blogging again. But anyway - its good to read real life examples and experiences of people going through the same visa/immigration dilemmas as yourself. It brings it back down to reality and proves people do get out the other side and have their happy endings.

On random Sunday's I start to do odd bits of sorting, I have another look through my cupboards, donate some more clothes to the charity shop, throw out a bit more junk from my university day, find things I lost, or throw things back into hiding.The last session I rediscovered [see the first photograph] three wooden love hearts of various sizes that I must of brought Valentines day 2010, 15p and some No.17 foundation. Win!

I've been working on, on and off my powder compact notes, they use to be in a ratty ex notebook from my university days and thought they deserved something nicer. Paperchase came to the rescue and all my manufacturer, glossary, websites and history details of that little addiction of mine are all documented complete with random exploratory drawings. Now its ready to pop in the post to JJ and it's new home for an adventure with American compacts.

I have been sorting out my photographs a lot though, I know now we live in a world of digital photos, we can take and store then on numerous things but I still love looking at either pictures of myself from when I was a little girl messing in the back garden or the early pictures I use to take on my bright blue cheap wind up camera. Photographs capture a lot of memories and they have been one thing i've been determined to take as many as I can with me. Paperchase do [last picture] these little postcard plastic photograph boxes, for £1.50 they store up to 100 photographs. Perfect! Then i have all the pictures of me and Joe but they are staying put in their special album that i'll just have to lug on as hand luggage.

Then a women [who's been doing my goat at work for past few days] declared i'm seeing me and Joe through rose tinted glasses. We've been together two years next month, I know what i'm getting myself into, i'm not a teenager lost and confused. Her saying that has totally grated on me today.

Captain

Top - Marvel @ H&M, Necklace - Topshop sale.

You could say i'm becoming a little obessed with Captain America. I keep getting my head stuck in the tales of him fighting the Red Skull and being found by the Avengers. I could go on ... H&M was advertising this Marvel top in their A/W catalogue under their divided men's range. For £9.99 I thought it was the perfect steal to treat the boy too and add to a random parcel of things I'm sending him [part of which contains a present for his birthday which was in May and totally forgot and some shipment of my things over to their new home]. It's not just me with the Captain America addiction ... honest.

I think I might just have to reclaim it when I move, rather that then having matching his and hers. Tehehehe.

YORK: Tower Gardens

On August 5th 2010 me and Joe got engaged. It's amazing to think a whole year has gone by since Joe proposed on a bench in the Tower Gardens by the River in York - named after the famous Clifford's Tower [bottom picture]. We'd spent the morning travelling back from Manchester Airport and were all excited about our little weeks holiday together as tourists in York, I know I wasn't properly blogging at the time, so none of these ever really got mentioned sadly. We'd planed a trip on the night cruise on the river boat and ended up, killing time just walking along the river and sitting on a bench watching the boats cruise up and down. It was then that that bench became christened as "ours" just as Joe asked me to marry him. We'd return to to same spot in March this year only to find it was no longer there! Perhaps another winter river flooding caused its removal.

I hadn't been back to "our" bench until the year anniversary [if we can call it that] of our engagement, the idea of it always felt so odd going there without Joe, but I wanted to visually capture the gardens, the river, all the boats and the warehouse [named as the Bonding Warehouse] which we use to talk about while sitting on our bench or on the cut down tree trunk by the edge. I think every time we head back to York we'll always pop in and visit our spot, it has so many happy memories of our time together and beginning our future. I just wish Joe could have visited it again with me.

Comic Geek

I seem to have developed a slight addiction to the graphic novel. When you date a guy to which novels [apparently you don't really call them "comics"] mean a lot, I guess it was going to happen at some point. The level of entry was Captain America - I wanted to see the film [I still really do but I refuse to see it without Joe] but the novels are the next best thing. The idea came as something to keep for in-flight reading [I have a very short attention span and will need about five various reading things to keep me entertained for the three hours on the trains and the eight hour flight]. Then I ended up buying the Winter Soldier and released I couldn't keep it for a minimum of three months without reading it. I tried to resist but Joe tempted me into getting Captain America; the definitive collection which randomly had an extra £3 off when I got to the till! Now its the curse of working out which to read first.

One of the reasons why I got tempted into buying yet alone reading them was because it has vintage origins. Captain America first appeared in the 1940s [the first cover date is 1941 yet on sale at the end of 1940] a year into WWII. In turn Capt America became the visual symbol for the battle the America army and its allies were facing against the Nazi's. While in reality the war was won, in a post war world the power and interest in superheroes began to fade. Nevertheless a recent revival in superheroes [Green Lantern, Thor and the up coming Avenger movie] all intend to keep the superhero light alive.

And then H&M revealed the Captain America tshirt for only £9.99. Its a steal, i'll end up buying it for JJ and then sleeping in it myself. The things you do for love hehe :D

LIFE: Berries and Cherries

One of the things I love about the end of summer creeping into the autumn months is being able to pick and eat home grown fruits. I can't take any of the credit for growing them - that goes down to the parents, but I do enjoy eating them. We brought this house with an apple tree so we've always had millions of apple for crumbles and pies, then with an allotment we've added raspberries, brambles [or blackberries as some call them], rhubarb and even a grape bush - but that saw a death after my dad hacked it down. I don't think he was intending to kill it but it's never grown back. He did the same with the eucalyptus tree, I was devastated because my childhood bear was a koala and had imagines of him starving. I was an odd child. 

And I can't stop eating cherries ... nomnomnom

So today is Tuesday and it's now August, they keep talking about how the Christmas stock will be coming into work soon so they've been clearing out space in the stock room. Doesn't it feel too early to be thinking about that just yet?! I even have friends who've been Christmas shopping already. Gah. 

I was meant to be spending the day trying to book my medical but i'm a failure and forgot to check how i need my silly police forms first. The case of keeping your head in the sand has creeped up on me. I don't know why, half because I haven't been back home for two years and don't know "official" people well enough to vouch for me. Blah blah. I'm feed up of forms and paperwork, why can't moving just be easy? Just want to be with my boy ... 

Many of you may have seen the graphics and the headers for The August Break 2011, as a girl who loves photography and filling up my blog with my images I though i'd tag along. I'm not one really for jumping on bandwagons but this one seemed fun and not filled with musts and rules - you just share your pictures for the whole of August. Simples?!