Wednesday 27 June 2012

This Week I'm...

Reading: Room by Emma Donoghue - I'm branching out from my traditional chick-lit favourites and have started reading the remarkable and somewhat dark story of five-year-old Jack. He has never known anything outside of his room, and along with his Ma, you learn about how he views the world.

Making: Healthier meals in order to shape up for summer! I've been whipping up roasted veg and quinoa salads, along with tasty fresh fruit pots and herbal teas. Together with my weekly Zumba sessions, I should be beach body ready in no time!

 Trying: To move outside of my comfort zone and challenge myself a little more. So, in a bid to boost my confidence, my friend Fae and I headed down to the Quay Theatre in Sudbury Suffolk and joined a play reading club. Ordinarily, the thought of reading out loud to room full of strangers would usually fill me with dread! But, once we got into the swing of things I started to enjoy myself. We might have been the youngest members there, but it was actually quite fun to enjoy some of George Bernard Shaw's finest work with like-minded individuals.


Celebrating: June and July are busy months on the birthday calendar - with three best friends, my mum and sister's birthdays all in the same week. So, it was off to London for a few days in the city with my good friend Charlotte to see in her 27th year. I should have been leading by example being six months older than her, but with an empty stomach and three bottles of wine later my memory of the celebrations had become a little fuzzy! This week I'll be looking forward to enjoying a tasty meal with the family and going all 1940s at the Blitz party!

Tuesday 12 June 2012

http://www.jojomoyes.com/blog/

This week I was lucky enough to receive a few tweets from the author of my new favourite book - check out her blog at www.jojomoyes.com/blog/

Saturday 9 June 2012

This week I'm...

Reading: Me Before You by Jojo Moyes - it's the most beautifully moving book I've ever had the pleasure of reading. For 20 chapters I read with anticipation to see if Louisa could change Will's mind about his future, and one little sentence in chapter 23 took my breath away - "I'm sorry. It's not enough." I looked up from the novel that I'd been gripped to for the past two weeks and I sobbed - heartbroken, out loud, clutching a mascara-stained tissue. But, despite falling head over heels for a fictional character and enveloping myself in their love story, the key message that I took away from this great read can be put simply in the epilogue: "Live boldly. Push yourself. Don't settle."


 Making: Over the bank holiday weekend the number of shops open were quite limited, but I managed to get my hands on an age 8+ jewellery making set! The pink, glittery beads were not quite what I had in mind when I wanted to take up a new hobby, but I quite enjoyed putting together my tacky bracelets and beaded rings!

Baking: Chocolate cornflake cakes and homemade pizzas! So, I'm not exactly a pro when it comes to cooking, but I can whip up the basics. I decided to try out a few new recipes over the weekend and put together my own pizzas and a batch of (very chewy) cornflake cakes!

 Celebrating: the Queen's Jubilee! I spent the weekend in Clapham, Brixton, Shoreditch, Colchester and Sudbury - seeing in Elizabeth's 60-year reign with my nearest and dearest. Unfortunately, it rained cats and dogs for the majority of the celebrations, but we still raised our glasses of Pimms, with our umbrellas high, while singing Rule Britannia and God Save The Queen!