• Cinema trips… Last night James caved to my “but @studarby took @Dawnl627 to see it already” whining and booked tickets to see Eclipse this Friday night at our local Cineworld. I don’t care if it will be busy and crammed with screaming teenage girls, I’m excited! I’m also hoping to catch Inception, Toy Story 3, the new Shrek and although it’s still months away I’m getting excited about the Harry Potter Deathly Hallows film this Autumn.
• The Aussie party this weekend – I get to hang out with @hayles & @lilacdolphin666 … I’m thinking room picnic on Saturday, McDonalds brekkie on Sunday, and random London exploration.
• My birthday! I am going to be 25 on the 25th of this month, and I am spending it in Cornwall with my parents for the first time in years.
• Birthday presents! James is spoiling me with LEGO HARRY POTTER OMG and NEW MOON on blu ray, which is really above and beyond since he already got me the iPad and let me get away with several iTunes payments cropping up on our joint account statements.
• Going to see ‘Jake and Elwood‘ at the Hall for Cornwall on Saturday 24th – my birthday treat from my Mum & Dad who know me well! I have always loved the Blues Brothers films, can’t wait to see this.
• The whole Cornwall trip – Relaxing on the beach, swimming in the freezing sea, swimming in the marginally warmer sea water pool at Bude, going to a brill fabric shop that my Mum told me about, spending time with my family, laughing at James driving up and down the disused runways at Davidstow Moor¹, playing with the cats, and of course eating amazing Cornish food – specifically the pasties from Tasty Pasty in Bude!
• Being an Auntie.. only a few months left until I have a legitimate excuse to wander around mothercare squealing over the baby clothes and toys. Yay!

Nonsensical Birthday Celebratory Weekend Planning:

To celebrate the momentous occasion that is my 25th birthday, I would like to have friends come to our house for the weekend, whereupon we shall provide entertainment in the form of film watching, singstar, edible yumminess & alcohol. Oh, and ridiculous wii games.

Since we are in Cornwall for the actual day, the date is still to be decided on, but the vague plan is for it to be sometime in August.

If you are interested in attending, please can you fill in the dates you are available on this Doodle doodad, so that I can try to arrange it on a weekend that suits as many people as possible?

1. I told him about the old airfield and how I did my first driving lesson there, and now he has some Top Gear type fantasy of racing around the place. To be fair, they did hold some Formula One races there back in the 50s.

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Anyway, after a serious crossword and starburst session, we arrived at Marylebone station and the time had come… for Carly’s first ever tube journey. Let me tell you, feeling like the expert on a trip to London was novel – I’ve only been a handful of times myself! I explained the basic ‘rules’ of the underground to Carly, including the very important ‘you must stand on the right if you are merely riding the escalators, as opposed to charging up and down them on the left hand side as if the extra 10 seconds that gives you is vitally important’. Of course, she forgot this several times, and throughout the day there were a few instances of people huffing or ‘excuse’ing their way past us!

So, after successfully traversing the tube system and making our way from Marylebone to the London Bridge station, we headed to Potter’s Fields for the Mind ‘Reclaim your lunch break’ picnic that I blogged about last week.

Like I said before, the cause that Mind work for is really important to me, and so being able to attend the picnic with Carly and help to raise awareness about mental health problems was really great. Although the balloons fought a losing battle with the wind for the entirety of the picnic, the sun came out and the jackets came off. The guys at Mind were great; they spread out a load of blankets, with baskets of information about Mind and the campaign… and put out trays of cakes – yum! We met a load of great people & enjoyed our ‘lunch break’ a lot, although I did manage to get pastry in my hair (note to self: eating flaky pastry whilst having your photo taken is not a good idea)!

In addition to promoting their campaign, I was able to talk honestly to the people there about my experiences with stress and depression, both recent and current. It was very refreshing to talk to people without getting a negative reaction; so many people there understood what I have been though in the past. I think talking to people helped me to realise how many problems I’m having with my mental health at the moment as well - yesterday when I got home from work I felt really overwhelmed and ended up soaking James’s shirt when he got home & found me in bed, hurting and upset. Poor husband, I hate to worry him, but I think admitting that I’m struggling again is a good step… and one that getting involved with Mind has helped me make.

After the picnic, Carly & I dawdled back to the tube station, having a little look around the area. We decided not to stay in London much longer because we were both really tired – Carly had been having a busy week with media interviews, and I hadn’t slept well the night before. So, we headed back to the station and completed another giant crossword on the way home.

For more information you can read the news article about the campaign at Mind’s website. Please take a few minutes to watch this video about putting on a happy face at work:

Put on a happy face from Mind Charity on Vimeo.

Carly was interviewed about her experiences on the You & Yours show on Radio 4; you can listen to that here:

You and Yours – Mind Feature by zoecorkhill

Duncan Bannytane is supporting the ‘Taking Care of Business’ campaign; listen to him being interviewed about mental health at work:

Full interview by Mind Charity

1. what can I say, I’m the exception to the rule on that one. I’m a small furry animal person.

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photo credit: 1000heads

A friend of mine, Hayley from Ceriselle.org, was lucky enough to be invited to take part in the fun & be an Angel – and I was lucky enough to be one of the two friends she was asked to bring along to the salon on Saturday!

After a day full of puppy sitting on Saturday, James drove me into the city centre to drop me off & collect Hayley & Helen‘s bags. After turning up at the Salon an hour early due to some crossed wires, we headed to the Briar Rose Whetherspoons to grab some food and a quick drink. As I’d already eaten I had the chocolate fudge cake instead… because it would have been rude to sit there watching while they ate their dinners, right? Exactly. Besides, I needed my hands busy so I wasn’t too tempted to strangle the screaming children running around near our table!

photo credit: 1000heads

7 O’clock arrived, and so we headed to the wonderful Bad Apple Salon in the Burlington Arcade to be greeted with glasses of champagne & some nibbles, and invited to relax on an incredibly comfortable sofa. Hayley & Helen were whisked away to have their hair washed & conditioned whilst I had a chat with the hosts & sipped my champagne. 10 minutes later I was handed over to Aid & his assistant who did her best to wash & condition my mane of hair in the slightly-too-small sink! I have to say that I spent the entire time sniffing the air – I’ve never used Aussie before & it smells so good.

photo credit: 1000heads

Once my hair was clean & smelling wonderful she wrapped my hair up in a towel that was definitely too small – the fact she managed to get it to stay in the towel for about 30 seconds before it collapsed was quite a feat! She led me to my seat & I settled in for the long haul, warning the stylist Aid that my hair takes an age to blow dry. He reassured me with a ‘Don’t worry, it won’t take long’, and started to sort me out. Meanwhile, Hayley & Helen were having their hair blow dried into lovely curls in the seats next to me – I was a little bit jealous of them as I didn’t have any options of what they could do to my hair, it’s so long that anything other than drying & straightening it would have taken all night! Not that my hair would submit to being curled – it’s very stubborn like that, any styling just falls straight out!

photo credit: 1000heads

Eventually my hair was blown dry, proving Aid wrong about how long it would take.. I don’t think he realised how thick it is, straightened & spritzed, and I was pronounced done! It only took about twice as long as everyone else’s did… hehe. I was very pleased with it because it is a bit of a mission to get completely dry & straightened by myself, so I hardly ever manage to do it, and certainly never that well! The three of us looked rather fab! We proceeded to sit around watching the other Angels have their hair transformed, drinking our fizz & eating the lovely chocolately nibbles. There was some good girly gossipping with the other bloggers & our glasses were never allowed to be empty – they had to make several trips to the local Tesco for more bottles (Tescos actually ran out we drank so much.. oops).

photo credit: 1000heads

Once everyone had been primped and we were all looking fabulous, we were given some Aussie conditioner (I got a bottle of luscious long 3 minute miracle conditioner as well – yay!), and we headed to the Red bar. The three of us had a very yummy Green Cocktail each… I think it was supposed to be an Apple Martini, but they ran out of Apple Schnapps so we ended up with extra Midori & Vodka instead, oh well! It was incredibly tasty but very strong.

At this point I feel very sorry for my poor husband, as he was called by his very drunk wife to come and collect us. We then proceeded to sing ‘Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini’ in the car at the top of our voice. Amongst other things. I’m sure at the time I thought we were fantastic, but watching James’s face when we were talking about it the next day… I’m not so sure! The four of us collapsed on the sofas at our house to eat chips & watch the first Glee episode, and giggle a lot. James dragged me to the car about 1:30am so we could get back to the dogs & go to bed. After my rendition of the Grease Megamix in the car on the way, of course (poor, poor man!). The next morning I got away with just a hangover in my head, instead of feeling like my stomach was in chaos.

To sum it up: it was a fabulous girly drunken evening which I loved! Thanks so much to Aussie & 1000 Heads, and to Hayley for inviting me along!

I’m gonna go back to Bad Apple Salon sometime soon to get my hair cut (Aid gave me a 25% voucher, yay!)… And as for Aussie shampoo, I’m buying some on Friday! It smells so good and my hair was lovely & shiny for days, it’s definitely going to become a firm favourite of mine.

Check out more photos at 1000Head’s flickr set & mine.

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At the weekend, James & I headed to Bristol to meet up with Hayles and go to the FREE Banksy vs Bristol Museum exhibit.

We met up with Hayley & her friends outside the museum, and went to join the sizeable queue.. two and a half hours later after queuing in the pouring rain we were allowed into the museum. I’m really not complaining though (ok, I am a little bit). It was completely, utterly, unquestionably worth the wait. Plus, we entertained ourselves in the queue by being silly and taking photographs…

Yea, I do goofy well, huh?

Did you know that going round a museum and looking in every room is really tiring though!? I didn’t. I think maybe we were a little tired from the excessive queuing we did first though!

There were two rooms dedicated to Banksy – ‘Art of Banksy’ and ‘Unnatural History’. The first was a collection of his paintings & drawings, and the second a marvellous collection of animatronics.

Art of Banksy

A fabulous collection of satirical paintings, full of ironic statements such as a parliament full of chimps and Dorothy wailing “I don’t think we’re on canvas anymore…” – fab, fab, fab.

Unnatural History

Supurb animatronics. This video says it all…

The Art is in the Detail

My favourite part of the whole shebang was the little details. There was a ‘treasure hunt’ of Banksy pieces scattered about the whole museum, where they had taken away ‘real’ works of art & substituted his amusing/provoking/nonsensical pieces instead. These ranged from a bong in the family tea set cabinet, to a windows system error in a painting. It became almost a game to us to go through each section with an eye open to find his hidden treasures.

Even the map that we were given had been ‘banksyed’ – ‘Pottery & Ceramics’ had become ‘Boring Old Plates’, and ‘World Wildlife’ was rather accurately renamed ‘Wildlife in glass boxes’.

The exhibit is still there until the end of this month, so you should definitely go if you can. After all, it doesn’t cost anything but a few hours queuing! Trust me when I say you are well rewarded for that inconvenience.

After Banksy

We spent the rest of the day having lunch with Hayley & Co, settling into our B&B and then we headed to Hayley’s flat for a quiet evening of chinese food & my favourite recent Disney film, Enchanted. Love it!! Fab time was had by all. Nom nom nom.

Clifton Suspension Bridge

On Sunday, James & I got all touristy and visited the Clifton Suspension Bridge; wandering round the bridge, taking photos of every view of and from the bridge, and reading every board in the visitors centre. I admit, I geeked out over the engineering of the thing. James just wanted to know how they got it up!

Flickr Photo Set

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I started my birthday celebration on Friday at work, with cakes for my co-workers! I had a half day, and also received a few cards & a mountain of chocolate from Sarah – she knows me well, and rightly said that fancy chocolates would be wasted on me! Hayley got me a box of milk tray.. mmm – the only boxed chocolates I like!

Friday evening, James & I treated Gayley to Frankie & Benny’s where I had a scumptious burger & a delicious banana sundae.. mmmm. After the meal we waddled to the cinema at Broadway Plaza and settled in for the long haul – Harry Potter time! I LOVED it. The HP films just get better & better each time, as the actors grow and develop. I can’t wait for the next two films (the last book is in two parts), and I’m going to re-read the books as soon as I finish the Anne of Green Gables series, which I’m working my way through for what must be the 5th time at the moment.

On my birthday, we woke up early in the morning, thanks to a nearby house alarm that started at 6am and went off continuously for two and a half hours. Argh. Anyway, we closed the bedroom windows to dull the sound, James brought me coffee in bed and then presented me with my cards & gifts! When I was a child we all used to pile onto Mum & Dads bed to open our birthday presents, and I still like to do my opening first thing in the morning, preferably in bed!

James got me the new Katie Fforde book ‘Love Letters’ which I’ve wanted since it came out – it’s taken a lot of self restraint for me to resist buying it myself, she is one of my favourite authors! He also gave me the Sims 3 (YAY!), dangly cat earrings, a really pretty earring holder (I love dangly earrings!), a pretty t-shirt & some chocolate eclairs.

From family… My sister already gave me an antique sewing machine, a Radley handbag mirror, and the minature CK one collection. Mum & dad gave me a sewing machine a few weeks ago & Ruth (my mother-in-law) has given me the Readers Digest Complete Guide to Sewing that was on my Amazon wishlist. James’s Grandparents sent me a lovely necklace which was so sweet of them! My grandparents sent me a cheque, and I received a handful of cards as well, yay! None of them were signed ‘Michael’ (my brother) though!

The red & silver drop earrings on the earring holder were from Gayle, who gave me a matching necklace as well (and crunchy M& Ms!!). Suzi gave me a boots gift card & I have had a WH Smith gift card today as well, so I have some shopping to do! Michelle & Mia presented me with a very cute Tatty Teddy bear which Mia said was Homily, and Tria bought me my first moleskine notebook, which I’m wanted for ages!

For the rest of my birthday, we headed to ASDA to load up on BBQ supplies, and then came home and tidied the house like fury, as it was still in a big decorating mess! By the time people arrived it was quite respectable, apart from the kitchen which still had a pile of washing up to do!

The BBQ was great fun, James kept us well supplied with a constant stream of food and there was good conversation to go with it! I had a great time hanging out with my friends, chatting & laughing. I managed to get the drinking spot on as well, a nice little buzz from the smirnoff ices & cider I was enjoying, but I wasn’t even very tipsy or drunk, just relaxed. Hurrah!

And a 3 year old climbed me. Lots of times. It was highly amusing. And then we watched Monsters Inc.

Since my birthday I have mostly been reading (I finished Love Letters in one day on Sunday and loved it!), watching Veronica Mars episodes, or playing on the Sims 3 on my iMac. More to come on that later, but for now check out my temporary iMac configuration, with me crossed legged on the sofa & the iMac on the desk chair.. our desk is still dismantled because of the decorating!

Thanks for all the birthday messages and cards I’ve received!!

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We were lucky enough to be invited to Carly’s ceremony and it was absolutely beautiful! Carly likes to do things her own way, and it started with the dress. She has ALWAYS wanted a red dress – and she looked gorgeous in it! Here is a shot of her just after she arrived at the registry office, being her typical self! The tiara she is wearing might seem familiar to my family & friends – she wore it as her ‘something borrowed’.. I got it for our wedding last year & asked if she would like to wear it for hers (and I was so honoured that she did!). She completely stole all my wedding research as well, the dress & flowers were both from the same suppliers I found for ours! Ok, so I willingly handed over a list of names and websites

James & I scrubbed up ok for the occasion, I even had my hair cut & blow dried in the morning in honour of the day! The dress is a Monsoon one I was lucky enough to be given by my sister, I love it! I haven’t worn these shoes for a few years though, and I had a nightmare remembering how to do them up properly. We were in the car on the way, with Gayle in the back, and me utterly perplexed as to how they were done up differently! James had buckled one for me & I had done the other.. and they were somehow different! It got fixed in the end though, thankfully.

It was lovely to see the girls, James managed to steal this shot of us with Carly, while the official photographer was shooting the boys. We zipped home between the ceremony in the morning & the reception in the evening, and printed this photo, put it in an oak frame we had bought for the purpose, and wrapped it up to present to the bride in the evening – she loved it! I hope it will be a nice memory of the day for her in the years to come. It’s so comical though, I’m a whole head taller than the other girls – I need to stop wearing heels at functions with them, I look like some sort of giant!

Of all the photos we managed to take on the day, this one is my favourite. Carly & Daniel, looking at each other, just looking so much in love & so happy.. Yay!

And for my final photo highlight, I leave you with this (not so) stunning one of myself & Mia boogying on the dance floor at the reception in the evening. It’s a little blurry, but it’s an action shot so it’s ok, right? That girl loves to twirl! The strange pink and grey thing on the floor between us is Sarah. I’m not sure what animal she is supposed to be (if any).. but she is a prized possession, and so was also involved in the dancing!

All in all, it was a lovely day. It made me think of our own wedding in December, and I got all gooey and soppy at one point! I almost cried during the ceremony when the registrar read an excerpt from a native american ceremony Carly had requested. It was fantastic.. I will have to ask Carly for the quote! The only bad thing to marr the day was a headache that came on in the afternoon, and niggled until the evening, when it got worse & we had to leave early at 10. Boo Hiss at my head!

To view the rest of my photos, please view my set on flickr.

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We went to IKEA and spent too much money on stuff for the house, redecorating has led to furniture re-arrangement plans, so we have bought extra shelving & stuff, blinds for the spare room, lots of storage boxes.. and a completely impractical sheepskin rug – my birthday present to myself! Homily seems to think this is hers, mind:

We also went to Bournville Festival – the maypole dancers were very cute but did get a tad confused when they were walking off!!!

On Monday we had the day of work & went to watch the X Factor auditions at the ICC in Birmingham City Centre. It was great fun, and we saw some brilliant people, some mediocre people, and some absolutely dire people! A couple were real side splitters! There were a bunch of hippies that just came on & sang some African tribal campfire song (out of time and out of tune), announced that Glastonbury was far too mainstream, and got very offended when Simon said no! I think quite a few from our day will be on the telly. One of them might even be in the ‘take them on holiday’ stage.

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Maybe this evening will be nicer. I was hoping to walk Homily after work but the way the sky has behaved today, it’s looking doubtful. She doesn’t like to get her fur wet and makes a big deal about going outside in the rain. And that’s just the dog – I refuse to go paddling in our local park in the rain. Besides, my favourite trainers leak, and my new ones aren’t broken in yet!

Can anyone who uses netflix tell me what they think of the service? I’m thinking of subscribing for longer than my free trial, but I’m interested in the game rental as well as the films. It intruiges me! Reviews, suggestions, comments, anyone?

I have my driving test this Friday, but I don’t feel too nervous about it – I think it’s because if I let myself get jumpy then I know I’ll screw up, so it’s a ‘what’s the point’ attitude to getting nervous. I think I drive well enough to pass, as long as I have no weird & wonderful moments in the car during my test. My manouvers are spot on, it’s just junctions and roundabouts I don’t like!

Ooooh, just got this email from my wedding dress people: “Your measurement form is received. Your dress is in process now and will be delivered to you around 25 working days.” YAY. In other wedding news, I’m not wearing my engagement ring because it’s off being polished and replated – we dropped it off at the jewellers whilst choosing our wedding rings :D. We’re going to order them when we pick them up (though I’m currently deliberating between 18ct and 9ct white gold, as my engagement ring is 18ct – but I’m fairly sure that I’ll wear my engagement ring on my right hand after the wedding, cos I don’t think I’ll like wearing two rings on one finger). It is very weird not to be wearing my ring though, my finger has a groove in it and I keep going to fiddle with my ring to find it missing. Also, we’re off to the registry office on Friday to declare our notice of marriage – basically to declare that we want to get married.

More and more plans are being made to make my life busier and busier. I’m off to the Royal Cornwall Show on Saturday, while I’m at my parents. Becky & Seb, and James & I are off to Drayton Manor on the 21st and they will be staying at the flat for the weekend. Also, and very exciting for me, James was a sweetie and we’re off to see the Britain’s Got Talent Live Tour in a fortnight :D. Woo. AND Becky has invited us to go see Dylan Moran in October. Busy busy busy bee.

Anyway, I think I’ve rambled on enough. Bye

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From the 14th – 18th July, I will be on the Isle of White, Whitecliff Bay Holiday Park! Woo, looks really nice. Staying in chalets, with no extra service charge, wheeee. Just got to pay the (discounted) ferry trip, fuel & food. All the f’s then! Not bad for £60 for four people. Lol, it’s supposed to be £600/week in July. Can’t wait – will be great to have a break. Going with Becky & Tom (unless he finds emplloyment before then) so that will be cool.

So yup, excitement = the month of July. Obviously not quite as exciting as December, what with my wedding, hehe, but fun nonetheless! It’s nice to have this huge event this year with the wedding – but it’s brilliant to have a fun & varied life with James. After all, the whole deal is less about the wedding and more about the marriage! I’m not saying that I don’t want a lovely wedding though, cos I do! Just want what comes after that more, the life with James.

Anyway, I’ll stop being soppy now. I’ve got a lot to look forward to now though, with going down to Cornwall next month, O2 festival, Isle of White, my birthday & Joseph, Lee Evans, and the wedding – and Mexico! Whee, busy year for Zoe!

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We went to Dovedale, in the Peaks, with Becky & Seb, which was brilliant. Really nice relaxing day, just spent hours camped out by the stepping stones, eating our picnic, paddling in the river, etc. Nice to just sit and chat and not have to worry about anything. And tan though I got a little burnt on my shoulders and chest. I was using sun lotion, I just missed a few spots! It’s not too bad though, mostly I just went slightly brown. We stayed there for ages, then had some very yummy ice cream and headed back to Brum, where we proceeded to have fish & chips and work our way through a couple of bottles of wine and a few cans of beer. I got a bit tiddly because I haven’t drunk much since I started my chronic daily headache medication, it’s an ‘avoid alcohol’ type thing – makes me very susceptible!

Today we headed to Broad Lane Cafe, our favourite local greasy spoon, for a fortifying breakfast sandwich. Carvery for lunch, then off to the West Midland Safari Park, which was brilliant. Becks kept getting all over excited about the animals, and we saw some.. interesting things! A White Lion decided that he was going to get it on with his Lady Lion, but the safari park jeep came charging over to interrupt them!

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I loved this weeks Apprentice episode – very dramatic boardroom! Annoyed that Claire is still in, she annoys me SO MUCH. But I reckon that Sir Alan has a soft spot with her, otherwise she’d have been long gone by now. I thought Jenny was MEAN so it’s good she went – I can’t believe that she tried to cheat with the tennis racquet thing!

Work has been stressing me out a bit today and so I was all hot & flustered – owie headache results. Bah. Stupid people making stupid trouble. That makes more work for Zoe – I’ve been dealing with three very similar issues ALL day that are SO frustrating. Grrrrrrrrr.

Anyway, must dash – I have to go drive around in circles for an hour!

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