Baltic Wakeboarding - A new Extreme Sport?? & Stormy Edinburgh

So a while ago, the mister and I got vouchers for a beginner's wakeboarding lesson with "on land tuition" and an hour session on the water.... it was only valid until the end of this month and as we're away for the weekend, this week was our last chance to use it... after a week or so of sunny days and warm weather, I was rather looking forward to spending some time on a boat... alas.. mother nature had other ideas...

The weekend was filled with rain.... Monday brought winds up to 150km/hr in some parts of the country... with flights and trains cancelled due to high winds and fallen debris...

Tree branches on sidewalks and on the side of the road...  (this was on my walk home)

If you compare the branch to the road sign, you'll get a feel for how big the branch is!
It's almost as tall as the parking meter...

Loads of broken branches in the park just up the road from my flat... It made me sad... :(

Where the branch is broken is about as wide as a basketball... 

Anywhos... things were not looking promising!! 

Alas, Wednesday morning we sent texts, we sent an email, we called them.. and all replies came back with... conditions are good, we are business as usual! So we hopped in our little City Car and hit the road... it took us 2 hours and quite a lot of... "should we keep going?", "have we passed it?"... "maybe we should turn around?"... but we eventually found where we were going... 

As we pulled into the car park... it started to rain... *sigh*...  the "on land tuition" was about 5mins in the shed telling us how to get up out of the water... with a mini demo of the girl pulling us up using a ski handle... we were then taken down to the jetty and hopped in the boat... 

We both had fun and the mister managed to get out of the water and stand up, which is far better than I fared the first (and second time) I attempted wakeboarding... but Loch Lomond was absolutely baltic!! It's the first time I've ever worn a full wetsuit to wakeboard.. and it was STILL freezing!!  I didn't manage to get any photos because a) everything was so wet, b) my fingers barely functioned due to the fact they were turning purpley blue and c) it was raining too much to get a photo even with my lomo fisheye in its submarine coz the lens was just getting spotted with rain... 

We also got stuck out on the lake in the boat because the boat ran out of gas and when the instructor went to change the gas over, the hose froze and started leaking vapours, but she couldn't get the hose unfrozen to take it off, or unfrozen enough to attach it fully... add to that, the cellphone reception was minimal due to the fact the storm on Monday had knocked out power to the area... and it was a tense 10/20 mins until the other boat came to our rescue!!

No power also meant going bathroom in the dark... and it's great having sensor taps until the power goes out and then the taps don't work at all!! Luckily I had a bottle of water with me so I used that instead... *sigh*

All in all, it was a bit of a trying afternoon but we still had lots of fun... Tho I think we're going to save any future water sporting adventures for much much warmer climes!!! 

Wakeboarding is hard enough work when you're NOT suffering mild hypothermia!!!  I'm totally paying the price today tho... my shoulders and arms are SORE SORE SORE!!

Our reward to ourselves was a super yummy pub dinner on the way home.. stay tuned to see the super cozy pub and what we ate there!!

One Dress, Two Ways

So it's been some time since you've gotten to see one of my outfits, today you get two looks in one post! While I was going through my "Outfits" album, I came across these photos of me in my blue French Connection dress.. I have no idea what it's called.. I just know I bought it in a sale.. :) 

Look One - Work

 Necklace - Thrifted; Bracelet - Roatan; Boots - Gift from Oz

 Look Two - Cara's 21st Party

 Necklace - NZ (somewhere equivalent to a Claire's); Earrings - me; Shoes - Primark

So there you go.. One Dress, Two Ways.. Obviously the first way was a while ago when I still had long(ish) hair! :)

Restaurant Wishlist: The Fat Duck

Rated as "the best restaurant in the world" (2005) and hoarder of 3 Michelin Stars... I've been wanting to go to the Fat Duck for a few years now... and reading Gourmet Chick's post about her meal there just concreted the fact that I absolutely want to go and eat there.

I know I've waxed lyrical about Heston Blumenthal before but I do think he's a genius! Even their restaurant website is playful!!

Here is a small excerpt from one of the episodes of Heston's Feasts that was shown on Channel 4. The man makes an edible chocolate river! This is from the Willy Wonka Episode - there was also edible wallpaper... and you can't tell me, you wouldn't be tempted by edible wallpaper!!!

Fill in the Blank Friday

{you know the drill.. hit up Lauren to join in}

1.   People always tell me I look like       my mum and dad... There is a photo of me from uni that people say look like Trent Reznor..  my friends have also seen my doppleganger all over the world.. they look like me! not me like them! ; )   .

2.  Friends don't let friends    leave the house wearing leggings as pants/trousers.. I don't care if you are size 0, it still looks terrible.. when wearing leggings, your top/tunic needs to at least cover your behind as well as your cameltoe.. seriously.. noone wants/needs to see that!  .

3.  A sunny day is perfect for     road trip!! lying on a dock by a lake.. reading a book on the lawn.. going for a cycle (if only I had a bike!)... a sunny day is perfect for just about anything really! but being close to a body of water you can swim in is definitely a BONUS!   .

4.  My favorite accessory is   my Caz/Pie ring (Pie made us matchings rings with our names and our birthstones) it's super cheesey but I love it!!  .

5.  If I could afford it I would     travel travel travel... and fly business class when I travel... (I'm not greedy, I don't need to fly first.. but business would be nice!)  .

6.  The cure for boredom is       trash tv! or nap time!! :)   .

7.  I am currently "in like" with       owl necklaces... oxfords/brogues (the shoes)... - I have neither of these things.. but I am considering purchasing them... but I'm not entirely sold on the idea...    . 

Happy Friday!!

Summer Road Trip

Ok peoples.. here's the dealio... this Summer I shall be embarking on a road trip!
Leaving Victoria, BC, Canada and heading to Toronto, ON, Canda.. but the plan is to drive through the US of Eh in order to visit a friend in Montana (don't ask me where in Montana, coz I don't know!)...

Because I am super kitchy, a total cheeseball and pretty much like to behave like I have no class... I am super inclined to hit up as many of them "World's Biggest" attractions as humanly possible without (obviously) having to go way way out of the way... I think luckily many of these things are by the side of highways...

I looked up staying in Wigwam (Teepee) Motels, but most of them are in the more Southern States and that is pretty much out of the question land due to out of the way...

So, what I want from you... People of the States, or People who have Embarked on Similar Journeys... is to gimme some suggestions!! Places to go, places to eat.. where to stay.. what to see... I don't think our timeline has allowance for many "extensive" activities... like hikes etc. but quirky museums, fun parks to stop at to stretch the legs, delicious places to eat... are all welcome...

This is the route that google maps suggested... but I am happy to take suggestions to detour!! Or if anyone wants a visitor!! :D


View Larger Map

Get your thinking caps on peoples!! Ask your families, ask your friends, get out them travel journals!!
No idea too big or too small... just throw things at me!!

I've already decided the giant red wagon in Spokane, Washington is a must!!

Blogger Guilt...

So.. last week I briefly touched on "blogger guilt" in the beginning of my Ikea Meatball Spag post...

I guess as the weather is getting warmer for most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we're spending more time outdoors and less time inside and in front of the computer.. my number of unread posts in google reader each morning has definitely seen a decline.. but upon each blogger's return from being AWOL invariably comes a post of.. "I have been a slack blogger"... "Apologies for being MIA".. "I've been away because a, b, c"... and although it's nice to know what people have been up to while they've been away, and of course we miss these people when we don't get to hear from them and sometimes we wonder and sometimes we worry.. but why do we all feel the need to justify our absence??

Most of us, well, most of the blogs I read anyways, blog for the fun of it..

I don't know about the rest of you, but I blog to document my life and to share them with friends far away, I blog to share ideas, inspiration and things that make me smile, in the hopes of passing that sentiment along... I blog to sometimes ask opinions, because often it is those who aren't super close to us that are best at remaining objective.. and let's be honest, who doesn't love a bit of validation that our outfit looked good today, or that new pair of shoes are provoking a little bit of envy??...

I digress... if the majority of us blog for fun (as opposed to for a business or for work).. why is it that we each feel this "guilt" if we've been away for a few days??

Surely we are free to post as often as we like, be it daily, weekly, monthly, or just whenever something happens that we feel like blogging about??!!

Why are we a "slack blogger" because we haven't posted in a week? Who said we need to post daily!?! So far as I'm aware, there are no rules governing the frequency of our posts...!!

I'm sure I'll still feel bad if I don't post for a few days... as I'm sure you probably will too... but... why do you think that is??

Where does the obligation come from?? And when did it all stop being just a bit of fun?? (Not that it's not, mind.. but you know what I mean... ya??)

Em-Jae over at the button hole has similar thoughts.. she's just a lot more succinct with her sentiments!

Wee Bit Wednesday...

head along to here if you want to join in

{one} do you watch the history channel? if so, what’s your favorite program?We don't have the history channel, but I just looked up their shows and I watch Top Gear and Ice Road Truckers.. I love them both.. but choose Top Gear if I have to pick one.. tho I like the UK Top Gear, not its American counterpart (not that I've seen it, but... on principle..)

{two} what is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day?Hide! Read, internet, bake... listen to the rain

{three} what does your dream house look like?It has hard wood floors and floor to ceiling windows and has views of water (preferably an ocean, but a lake would do too)

{four} what state were you born in?Not one of the 50 in America!

{five} do you have a change jar? if so, what do you use it for when it gets full?Nope.. I tried to have one but always ended up taking the change for bus money..

{six} what’s the first website you look at when you get on the computer?At work, gmail.. at home, facebook

{seven} what is your favorite breakfast?Anything that involves bacon.. breakfast burritos are always a winner..

{eight} what’s the most memorable trip you’ve ever taken?Definitely my trip to Oman!

{nine} do you prefer your coffee black or with cream/milk/sugar?Coffee with milk.. or when I'm in North America, coffee with cream... no sugar.. no syrup either...Apart from when I have a Tim Hortons Iced Coffee.. whatever they put in that stuff is like crack for me... I envision drinking many many many of them this Summer...

{ten} have you ever done a professional photo shoot?No. But I have a coupon for one and I'm super excited about it!

Woman of Inspiration - Marcia Kilgore

{via}

There I was on my lunch break, casually perusing the newspaper (The Times 2 - it's a daily pullout from The Times and pretty much the only "paper" I read) and I come across an article about Marcia Kilgore.. Having sold her upteenth billion pair of FitFlops! I found out about these shoes, via some magazine somewhere years ago (I hardly ever buy magazines so I was probably in some dentist/spa/hairdresser's), and they were endorsed by Oprah.. A shoe with a gym built in??!! I had to give them a go! I was so excited about my first pair that I didn't bother reading the instructions and wore them out for a full day of shopping in the first shot... boy were my legs sore the next day!! I figured the shoes must be doing something!! To be honest, the first pair also gave me a blister between my toes and ergo they were left at mum's house when I left...

I have since bought another pair (they were on sale, and I had a code for 20% off) and I wear them ALL the time! I wear them around the house in fact.. and now that the weather is getting warmer I will be sporting them outside more as well..

Anywhos.. not only is she the entrepreneur behind these fabulous Oprah endorsed phenomenon shoe which now has brands from Sketches to Reebok ripping them off but she is also the mastermind behind the Soap&Glory  brand.. which I LOVE LOVE LOVE!! Of course I'd seen them at Boots and I'd fallen in love with the packing and the puntastic product names and the clever and witty product descriptions on the back.. but I wasn't entirely sold on purchasing the stuff... my old flatmate ended up giving me a bunch of stuff when she did a Spring clean.. I was sold! Everything smells devine and seems to work a treat! I have a tube of hand food at work to banish dry hands and the fact that it makes everything smell nice is a super awesome perk!

According to the articles I've read, you can pick up their stuff at Target, so for those of you in the US of Eh, have a look for them next time you're at Target and at least have a chuckle at the clever copywriting even if you don't end up buying anything from the range!

In case all that wasn't enough she was also the founder of Bliss Spas, mostly sold to the LVMH empire for the likes of £30m {source}!! Google her, have a read.. I think she's worth the time..


[disclaimer - I am in no way affiliated with any of the above mentioned brands/people/stores, they really wouldn't notice if I were to drop off the earth tomorrow, I am just a fan of the products and found Marcia's story rather inspirational/interesting!]

Dads are the Original Hipsters

I found this tumblr page through iswas+willbe who are sponsoring the lovely Lauren of the little things we do this month & holding a wee giveaway...

Dads are the Original Hipsters produced gems like these:

"Your Dad went to dance parties before you did"

"Your dad used Instagr.am before you did. "
The rest of the text with this photo cracked me up!
It ends with
"P.S. Your dad was meta as fuck too. Yes, that is a Polaroid photo of him that he then took another photo of. Your move hipsters… your move."
Nuff said!

There's another funny iPhone reference on page 12 for those of us not rocking iPhones!

Pork Noodle Soup

This is a dish well cemented in our weekly rotation.. it's super quick and an absolute doddle.. also helps that it makes enough for lunch the next day and that always gets a thumbs up in my books!

What you'll need:
Some pork - we usually use loin steaks - chicken breast would work too...
Some veges - today's edition includes an onion, shiitake mushrooms, broccoli & carrots.. (other days, it comes as bags of precut n packaged stir fry veges from the supermarket which usually include the above as well as bean sprouts and some chopped pak choi and sometimes mini corn) but the world is seriously your oyster when it comes to veg.. put in what you like.. and leave out what you don't! Simples!
Some soy sauce - I use light
Some sesame oil - normal oil works just as well, I just like the extra yummy smell of sesame oil..
Some stock - in the form or liquid or enough cubes to make about 1L - I prefer vege but if you have chicken that's ok too... (can you get pork stock?? I've never seen it..)
Some noodles - tonight's edition uses leftover rice noodles which came in a bag from the supermarket.. other nights it is egg noodles, either fresh from the supermarket or in dried form from the Asian supermarket..
Salt, Pepper, Chilli powder (if you like it hot!)

What to do:
Dice the pork - or if you have a strange aversion to touching raw meat, then get the mister to do it for you..

 Chop your veges - seriously, if you do this step first, it'll save you hassle later...

 Heat some (sesame) oil in a wok

Throw in your onions

Once your onions have gone a bit translucent, throw in your pork - give it all a good stir! If you can make some pork or onion jump out of the wok, that's ok too... throw in some salt and pepper at this stage as well... 

Once your pork's a bit brown - you don't want to over cook it, coz it's going to keep cooking as you go..
Throw in your veges... no preferential treatment, just dump it all in there.. and give it a good stir

You can either make up the stock from stock cubes, or just throw the stock cubes in and add water - I use boiling water from the jug/kettle - so things aren't cooking for too long in the wok

Once the water's come to the boil.. give the soup a wee taste & add soy sauce as appropriate to your own taste.. I don't put in too much because I like the freshness and lightness of just the vege stock and the veges and pork will already add flavour to your soup... now is also the time to add some chilli powder if you're that way inclined...

Grab your noodles...

Throw your noodles in a big bowl, before the mister got his own "azn soup bowl" he used to eat his out of a fruit bowl/serving dish... then just ladle in your pork/vege/soupy goodness and away you go!!

I love that this soup is meaty and has oomph enough for dinner but doesn't sit heavy in your stomach.. you're not using a lot of oil so it's not greasy either.. and you can seriously be sitting down to dinner in less than 30mins from start to finish! (Especially if you're using preprepared veg from the supermarket!)

And best thing is?? You only have to use one wok!! (Ok, and maybe another pot if you're cooking noodles from dried..) Clean up is super easy anyways!  If you don't want to do noodles, you can skip that part and just have the soup as well...

Happy Eating!!

getting to know YOU

{via}

~head along to play along~

1. have you ever gone to see a movie by yourself?

yup, it was kinda empowering.. but i like having someone to whisper smart arsed comments to...

2. would you rather go through a tornado or a hurricane?

erm... maybe a hurricane??

3. have you made summer vacation plans?

Canada baby!! two weddings and a road trip.. cannot wait!

4. what's your favorite accessory (can't be jewelry)?

probably my new Diana Mini camera... I might look like a tourist.. but I'll look like a damned cool one!

5. have you ever been thrown a surprise party?

nope...

6. are you friends with your neighbors?

nope.. I have no idea who else lives in this building..

7. what's the last movie you saw in the theater?

it's been so long I can't remember.. hmm..

8 what's your favorite food network show?

ace of cakes!

Maxi Mania

I fear I may have developed a slight addiction to maxi dresses...

I already have the French Connection Meadow Maxi Dress in black as well as ruby...

As well as a cheapie from Internationale.. which I picked up for £5 in clearance... also a feather patterened one from George (from ASDA)

Had an email from play.com today saying they are offering 20% off all their dresses... and the ones I looked at are:

Traffic People's Flaming Flamingo Maxi

Traffic People's The Follie Maxi

Ringspun's Mystique Sleeveless Dress
All photos from play.com

I also found this dress when I was looking for a picture of maxis I already have..

French Connection Maxi Cowl Neck Dress @ very.com
Luckily (?) it's sold out, other I'd be very tempted to buy it!!

Hmm... now if only the weather would get warmer and stay sunny... I might have a decent excuse to buy some more maxis!! I can totally see myself living in them come summer... 

Last summer I pretty much lived in my printed "gypsy" skirt.. which I either wore as a skirt with a t shirt or tank.. or pulled up as a dress... google "Folio SK165 hippy skirt" and you'll be along the right lines... (I can't open the page at work as it has been blocked due to "provocative attire")...

What are your thoughts?? Do you have a summer staple??