Well it's been an amazing month. Our diets (lifestyle changes) are going great and we were in Italy for a week over our 10 year wedding anniversary!
We had an amazing holiday and even lived through the 93+ degree heat everyday!! I took many many photos and I have put links to them all below. You do not have to have a Facebook account to look through them... Enjoy!
I would first like to apologize to you that find my new obsession with exercise and calorie counting boring but it's hard to find other things to write about right now for the simple fact that it is a 24/7 lifestyle change and so much of my time is centered around this right now. I hope you don't find it too boring!
Anyway... Look what I got today.
Everton season tickets go on sale Monday and we got our renewal packet in the post today. We have until April 17th to renew with an early bird discount.
We will be keeping our same seats because we love them and I feel moving anywhere else would put some kind of jinx on the team! haha
I love English post boxes! There is so much history behind them and I love finding new ones that I have never seen before.
I know... this is odd but I do love them.
I picked this up at Homebase after work tonight. It is going to be perfect to keep all of my Quilling stuff together. The plastic containers have dividers inside that run long ways. It will be perfect for my papers and a way to keep them from getting smashed and tore up.
There are also little grooves and square pieces of plastic that you can use to make smaller storage areas and this will be nice for my tools, pins, etc...
I love being organized!
I got a new keychain when I was at the match yesterday... I love it! My favorite part is that the keyring itself is stamped with 'Everton'. So cool.
In 2007 Andy's sister, Tracey, got married to James in Rhodes, Greece. We were lucky enough to get to go over from the US to be with them. I was also a bridesmaid in the wedding.
These are some photo frames that I bought while we were there.
I love them! The frame is wrapped in leaves and it looks so nice. That was a great trip!
We had an early Everton match at 5:45pm today. It was a Europa League match against Sporting Lisbon. We won the match 2-1 but that goal we conceded in the last 5 minutes made the match feel like a loss to be honest. This game is over two matches and the Away Goal Rule comes into place. It is too hard to explain so if you would like to learn more about it you can read about it here.
It is also Pancake Day today. This is the best non-holiday ever! I of course opt for American style Pancakes rather than the UK Crepe style Pancakes.
They are so yummy! Andy hates any kind of Pancakes so he decided to have a Pot Noodle, so nutritious.
Look what was delivered today while I was at work. I had bought a cheap cake box from Asda a while ago but it didn't lock and had no handle.
The other day while online I stumbled across my new favorite store in England, Lakeland. It has the cutest kitchen gadgets ever!
So far for work I have made a Carrot Cake, an Italian Cream Cake and a batch of Puppy Chow. Next week I hope to make a Strawberry cake for just after Valentine's Day. Now I'll have a nice carrier to take it in with.
Sorry... The picture is a little wonky and crooked but you get the idea.
I was able to finish the inside of the restaurant and I am so glad that part is done! Still only about half way done but I am finally seeing progress. I started this on December 26th so not too shabby.
Yay!
Today my Mother-in-Law Hazel, Laura C, Laura M and Helen (girls from work) all made our way over to Manchester for the Stitch and Creative Crafts show. I was able to find some great cross stitch kits and some other little goodies...
Above is gorgeous Christmas kit! I fell in love with the little dog and cat sitting on the steps watching the goings on in town.
The below kit is called Paris Market. I thought it would look beautiful in our kitchen next to the European Bistro one I am working on now.
I got some new 16 count aida. The one on the left is a beautiful dyed fabric that I am going to use for Murky Manor! I was so excited to find it as it will go perfectly with it. The one on the right is white with glitter pieces that is beautiful!
I also bought six white and six royal blue skeins of yarn for me to make an Everton color scarf for the matches next season. I love my scarves really long and the ones you can buy at the Everton shop are all really short and you can't even wrap them around your neck. I have been looking at some royal blue yarn online but was afraid to get it because I was afraid it wouldn't be the right color when I got it. This will work perfectly!
This is a cute little needle/scissor case that I picked up.
There are felt pages in it where you can keep safety pins and needles.
Then a place in the back to hold your scissors.
All in all it was a great day out with some great people and we had a lot of fun! I honestly didn't find the prices that much cheaper then what I could get online but you can't beat the company of some good people and a nice day out. It was well worth it! There were SO many things I wanted to buy so I was good to get out when I did.
Looky at what I found in our front garden today!
It was dark and rainy when Andy and I came home from work but while he was opening the door I saw something on the ground a few feet away. I went to take a look and realized it was a five pound note! Woo Hoo!
I had to put it on the radiator because it was sopping wet but how fun is it to find free money?
I bought some carrots the other day because I have been craving carrot cake and decided I would buckle down and make one from scratch. I made one once before when Andy and I were living with my Mom just before we moved to England and it turned out really well.
When I opened the package of carrots I was shocked to see the different sizes of carrots that were in there. I mean usually most carrots are near enough the same size but look at the differences in these! I have put a normal sized pen in the picture for comparison.
I shall start by saying that this it he largest carrot I have ever seen in my life! I have also never seen a 'double' carrot before.
I am happy to say that the carrot cake and the home made cream cheese icing turned out beautifully! Yummy!!
Andy and I went to Costco so that I could try a new cat litter. I have to say that the clumping cat litter they have over here is terrible! The only excuse I can think of is that most cats here are indoor/outdoor cats and maybe there are not a lot of indoor litter boxes?
I don't know the reason but it sucks. I was doing some research online and found that Costco had Litter Purrfect. I never used it in the States but my theory is that if it comes from the US where they have a lot of good clumping litters it may be better than what I can find over here. Oh and also the litter at stores like Pets At Home, Asda and Tesco is VERY expensive. I was able to get Litter Purrfect at Costco and have just changed out the entire litter box so I will let you know how it holds up. It was also way cheaper than anything at those other stores.
As you can see while I was there I also found Ziploc bags! I was soooo excited! How silly is it of me to be excited by Ziploc bags? Yes you can get a 'cheap' version of them here but to be they are just not as good in my opinion.
I also wonder about the lack of 'name brands' here in the UK. I mean if you think of storage bags what name comes to mind? Ziploc. If you think tissues what name comes to mind? Kleenex. It is not like that here. The bags you can buy are simply made by the store you buy them in. For example 'Tesco Freezer Bags' and 'Asda Freezer Bags'.
I find it very odd.. this lack of branding.
Back in April '09 Andy applied online at Applausestore.com for free tickets to Britain's Got Talent auditions in Manchester.
We found out about a month ago that he was successful... and today was the day! The doors were set to open at 1:15 but we decided to go plenty early. We got to the Manchester Opera House at 10:30am. We were not too far back in line which meant we knew were were guaranteed to get in. What they do in these cases is give away more seats than they have so you are not sure you will get in but we were in a good spot.
However they were not very smart in deciding to give everybody in line a stamp on the hand when taking their tickets. It was raining and the stamp was not waterproof. The above picture is Andy's after the first one was smeared off when he tried to put his gloves back on. They gave him another stamp but it meant he had to hold his hand under my umbrella for a good hour while it got dry enough to put his gloves back on. Not a smart idea by the crew.
The long wait seemed even longer in the rain but we knew it was going to be worth the trouble.
We had really good seats! We were even able to see the judges table. It was also good to be on this side because the hosts Ant & Dec stand right behind that first curtain so we were able to see them dancing to the acts, etc.. during the auditions.
Speaking of Ant & Dec they were the first to come onto the stage. They are very funny!
Then the judges made there way from the back of the auditorium. Piers came out first and then Amanda. Then Simon strolled in. Piers and Amanda had to wait a long time up on the stage by themselves... We all know Simon loves to make a big entrance.
They made us turn off all of the cameras and phones as soon as the judges took their places at the table so I was unable to take any photos of the acts. But I can say I was surprised at how many of them were so good! There were of course some crazy ones and there was a bit of 'off, off, off' yelled but honestly there was more good than bad. And I would have to say at least two very potential winners.
There was a young girl from Wales that blew my socks off when she started to sing! The most shocking part though was that Simon voted no... I did not understand that.
There was also a father and son that sang together and they got a standing ovation at about the same moment they started to sing. Yes they had a sad story to tell before they sang but liking them had nothing to do with that story, they were just good together.
I was shocked at one point when the crew brought on a stripper pole for the next audition. But was even more shocked when she introduced herself as Jess from Westhoughton! We noticed about a month ago that there was a new place opened up and that it taught pole dancing. Well she is only 16 and is the owner of JLN Pole Fitness Studio. Her act was very tasteful and quite beautiful. She easily made it through to the next round so hopefully she makes it past the next stages so that we have some local talent to cheer for!
All in all it was a great day out and I am happy Andy took it upon himself to sort these tickets out. Now lets just keep our fingers crossed that we also get tickets for X Factor auditions later this year.
Dear Everton FC,
We are not the richest club around as I am sure you would agree. Why may I ask have you wasted money on the postage to send us this?
I am sure with a little research it would have been easily verified that myself and my husband Andy have season tickets. There is no need to advertise the upcoming match against Chelsea as we will already be there and I would hope that our seats are already secured.
Just think.. this is 36 pence that could have gone toward the purchase of a new player.
Shame on you and your wasteful ways.
Still *LOVE* you though,
Christine xx
First let me start off by saying that tonight's match against Manchester City is the best I have seen Everton play all season. It was an amazing match and we ended up winning 2-0. Goodison Park was jumping and the singing never stopped. What a great night!
Oh... and Marouane Fellaini was a rockstar!!!
Now to comment about these photos. This girl was a few rows in front of us and she is not normally sat there so I think one of the others around her must have brought her. The photos I have posted do not really show the full craziness of her hair but you kinda get the idea. It was a mess!
I just don't know why these young girls think it is okay tease the heck out of their hair and then comb the top layer to give them volume. It is truly a rats nest.
It does not look good at all.
The sad thing is that she was really dressed up so she had to have been making an effort. Maybe she doesn't believe in mirrors?
Laura C brought me her Beatrix Potter books that she has had since she was little. I have been wanting to read the stories and since I don't own them it was very nice of her to loan me hers.
Now I just have to pull myself away from cross stitching long enough to read them.
European Bistro is coming right along. Wish I had more time to work on it but it's nice to try to make an hour or so a night to pick it up.
Thought I would add a photo of the backside of it also. My Mom always teases me about now neat the backside of my projects are. I think it is the perfectionist in me... I just can't have long threads hanging off the back. If I need to move over say 10 lines I always run it under other stitches rather than just letting it be loose like she does. My Mom may have taught me how to cross stitch but this is one habit I picked up on my own. 
