Three Engagements and a Birthday

My engagement wasn't the only one in the family recently. A couple of months beforehand both my cousin and my brother proposed to their girlfriends. Last night was the first chance since Tim's proposal for us all to get together and celebrate as my brother and his fiancee live in Newcastle and my cousin and his fiancee work long hours at a restaurant. My brother's fiancee had her twenty-first birthday only two days ago as well so we celebrated that at the same time.

It was pretty stressful and I got a bit worked up at a couple of points (arranging a meal with 22 other people is not an easy task!) but it went pretty well and I even managed to add some finishing touches to the cakes.

All three of the weddings are most probably going to be held in 2015 so that will be a busy year for our family!

This Week I.... Went to the Seaside!

Yes, I know I live right by the sea so this might not seem surprising, but at the beginning of the week I went to a couple of different seasides for a mini break with my mum, my nan and Cameron. We went to Brighton on Sunday where we met up with one of my best friends who is also pregnant. As she lives in Brighton I haven't seen her for quite a long time so it was nice to catch up. We went to the park across the road from our hotel and had a nice lunch and played with Cameron in the swing park.

In the early evening we went to the seafront and walked along the pier before going for dinner at the Harvester by the beach.

In the morning we went to Eastbourne where we were staying the second night. We met up with my aunt and some of my cousins and had a picnic in the park. Cameron got to play with his second cousin Spencer who he adores, they are so cute together!

We went back to the hotel and ended up having takeaway pizza for dinner. In the morning we went for a cooked breakfast at Toby Carvery before driving home, so yummy!

It was a lovely couple of days away and made the week go a bit quicker too, bonus!

Project 365 #69, #70 and #71 Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot!

Ok, this time I am totally blaming the amazing weather we have been having for my lack of blogging! I have been outside most of the time and when I have come back in I have been knackered from the heat etc and have just wanted to lie down and chill out! This is what I have been getting up to in the sun in the last few days:

Monday:

I bought myself a new book. Having read a lot of Sophie Kinsella lately, I was looking for another book by her but ended up stumbling across this one by Paige Toon. I have heard some good things about this author so will see how it goes.

Tuesday:

I met up with my best friend whose baby was due (but she doesn't want the baby to come for a week as her boyfriend is out of the country!). She is looking gorgeous for someone so heavily pregnant, I am very jealous! We had ice creams and chilled out on the beach along with her mum, Cameron and her sausage dog Winnie. In the afternoon I took Cameron into town and we had a nice long walk around the shops. I got him lots of new clothes for our holiday next week as he is severely lacking shorts and t-shirts (I will do another post on what I bought later on).

Wednesday:

Today Cameron is with his dad so I am having some chilling out time, getting some errands done and catching up on a bit of blogging before either meeting up with my friend again or returning some things to the shops. It is so hot and sunny, I don't like being cooped up inside.... So far I have managed to eat a tower of nachos out of boredom.... not good!

Project 365 #61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67 and 68!! My Lost Week

Yet again I have been feeling too poorly to keep up to date with my blog but I am hoping to be back for good now as I am starting to feel much better. Here is what I have been up to over the last week:


#61 Sunday:

Mother's Day was spent going for a meal with my family and boyfriend to a nice hotel. We had a three course meal and there was a raffle at the end where I won a prize which was fun.



My first course: soup

#62 Monday:

I was not feeling at all well on Monday so it was yet another lazy day in for me and Cameron. We did get lots of cuddles in front of the TV and I managed to get the food shop done as well, so we got a bit of fresh air at least.

#63 Tuesday:

My boyfriend took a day off work today and we decided, after another lazy morning in front of the TV, to take Cameron to the play centre. Cameron really didn't like it, again, to begin with, but once he had got used to his surroundings he had a good time playing with my boyfriend whilst I had a rest and read some of my book.



Cameron, knackered after his play, fell asleep eating his raisins

#64 Wednesday:

As I have been feeling poorly, I have been favouring the comfort food a lot and lunch has mostly consisted of Tomato soup and bread, mmmm.

#65 Thursday:

I attempted a second lasagne and was really happy with how this one came out. It was so yummy!

#66 Friday:

I was feeling really unwell again today so I was grateful that my boyfriend finished work early and took me and Cameron out to the park in the afternoon as it was so warm and sunny. We had Subway for lunch and then Cameron played in the play park before attempting to drive us home... haha

#67 Saturday:

We went to stay at my boyfriend's parents' house in Chichester for the weekend. I had bought the Now Running CD on Amazon a couple of days before and it came in time for the car journey up there. I have no intention of using the music for running, but it has some great tracks on it. We had some lunch and went for a walk into the local town. In the afternoon I had a sleep as I was knackered and feeling unwell again and then in the evening we had a yummy roast dinner before watching new reality TV show The Voice and Take Me Out before an early night.

#68 Sunday:

We had a lovely lazy morning before some lunch and driving back home. We met up with my family at my nan's gorgeous new seafront flat in the afternoon and we got some fish and chips to eat on her balcony. It was such a hot and sunny afternoon! My cousin had some pick and mix and made me want some too so I got a cup and me and my boyfriend ate them in the evening whilst watching Due Date.

Project 365 #52 and #53, 54, 55 Essex, Baby!

Ooops, I have been a very bad blogger and haven't written a post in a few days! On Thursday I had a much needed shopping trip after a stressful few days. I bought lots of new things for Cameron to wear from George at Asda and I got myself a new top from H&M and some new shoes from New Look. I also bought a photoframe from Sainsbury's as it was reduced by 70%! I had a relaxed night in with my mum that night, watching Life as We Know It, which I thought was ok but nothing special really.

After our shopping trip, totally worn out but happy (can't remember why I didn't upload any photos of my purchases!)

Friday was spent packing and then travelling up to Essex with Cameron and my boyfriend, who was meeting my dad and little sister for the first time. Luckily everyone got on well and that night we went out to an Indian Restaurant and I had a yummy Jalfrezi. I decided to try the lamb for a change and it was very nice. Cameron was really well behaved, even though he was up past his bedtime, and had a whole table full of old people cooing over him as he waved bye bye to them, too sweet! When we got home we watched Paul before going to bed, knackered!

Cameron decided to wear his sunglasses for the Indian meal..... strange child!

Saturday we were up early and went out to a nearby cafe for breakfast. I had a cooked breakfast which was really nice, and Cameron had some beans and scrambled eggs which he managed to get EVERYWHERE!

After breakfast we decided to go down to the nearby canal and we had a nice walk along there looking at all the barges. Cameron wore himself out running along and trying to break into all the barges!

In the afternoon we went to a play park for Cameron, though me, my sister and my boyfriend all went on the swings as well haha. We went food shopping and got some things for dinner and then picked up some lunch. Everyone was exhausted after eating so we all crashed out watching tv.

In the evening my dad cooked steak and chips for him and my boyfriend, and me and my sister had a lovely chicken in tomato and mozzarella sauce with new potatoes and veg. Cameron had his favourite, spaghetti bolognese. We watched Take Me Out and then Shallow Hal. It was a lovely chilled out evening.

Today was another early start (aren't all mornings when you have an 18 month old toddler?!) and my dad cooked us some yummy sausage and bacon rolls.

My boyfriend and Cameron helped out my dad with some gardening before it was time for us to go back home. I even got to have a nap in the car as my boyfriend drove, bonus! The rest of today was really lazy as I had Sunday lunch before washing my hair and just getting into my PJs at 2pm! I am looking forward to Desperate Housewives and chocolate later with my mum.

Great weekend! Hope everyone else had a good one too!

Project 365 #51 Fajita Chicken!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love fajitas. Tonight I decided to use the spices used in fajitas to make a spicy chicken meal.

To make this you will need:

3 chicken breasts
Fajita spice packet
Cooking bag and tie (think the so juicy ones but just the bag and tie)
Chips/potatoes to make your own chips
Salad to serve

Simply put the chicken in a bowl and add the spices. Mix together using your hands, ensuring all the chicken is covered in spices.

Place in the bag, tie the bag at the top and make 6 small holes at the top of the bag. Place in a roasting tin and put in a preheated oven at 200C gas Mark 6 for 40 minutes.

After 20 minutes add the chips (I used the remaining spices to lightly season the chips prior to putting them into the oven)

Ensure chicken is cooked through and serve with salad

So yummy!

Lasagne Recipe

Tonight I made Lasagne for the first time for myself and my boyfriend. I can't believe I haven't made it before to be honest as I love eating it when I go to Italian restaurants. It was a bit hit and miss as I didn't have a recipe to follow, I just made it up as I went along really. If you would like to make it, this is what I did:

Serves 2-3 people

Ingredients:

Lasagne Sheets (I used 6 sheets in total)
Dolmio Red Sauce
One medium onion sliced
Two medium carrots peeled and sliced
500g mince
Grated Cheese
New potatoes and salad to serve

Method:

Fry the onions in a small amount of oil, place in a bowl
Brown the mince, add the onions and carrots
Mix in the red sauce and pour a layer into a ovenproof dish

Place a layer of lasagne sheets over the mixture and then spoon another layer on top
Place a second layer of pasta onto the mixture and then grate cheese over the top

Put in a preheated oven at 200C Gas Mark 6 for 30 minutes
Boil the potatoes and chop the salad

Project 365 #46 Pizza Hut Feast

Last night I saw a pizza ad on tv and knew I had to have some so this afternoon my boyfriend came over straight from work and we ordered pizza hut. We ended up ordering a large pizza each as well as nachos as we had a 2 for 1 voucher. I felt very greedy after eating so much pizza, and had a definite food baby going on this evening!!

Project 365 #44 Healthy Eating

After eating quite a few bad things lately I thought I would be a bit healthier and yesterday for lunch I had tuna and beans on a jacket potato. It was actually very yummy!

Food, Glorious Food

My healthy eating has gone off the rails a bit lately but I find it hard to care when it's meant I've got to eat food this yummy.....

Project 365 #43 Take you to the Candy Shop

Today I met up with my friend from school, Juliette, who has an 11 month old son called Callum. We ran a few errands in town and then went for lunch at a wetherspoons. After lunch I was craving peach sweets and we ended up going to a tiny little sweet shop with every sweet imaginable in it. I got the peach sweets and some strawberry ones as well. I'm currently sat in bed eating through the bag... Oops!

Happy Pancake Day!

Today is turning into one of those days.... My brother managed to accidentally take my house and car key with him to work this morning instead of his locker key, which has meant not being able to leave the house all day for me and Cameron, not fun!

Deciding to celebrate Pancake day, I went to make them and, after mixung flour, milk and an egg together in a bowl, I realised the milk was out of date and there were lumps in the batter.... Needless to say, I abadoned the mixture and will have to wait until tonight when I can get some more milk to make my pancakes!

I hope everyone else is having a better day and have had some yummy pancakes! What do you have on yours?

Project 365 #28 Lovely Gift

Today I babysat my friend's son for her whilst she took an exam at Uni and she gave me these gorgeous truffles she made! They look amazing and taste gorgeous!

Project 365 #26 Pigging Out

After our night out last night my friends and I have spent the day lazing around (apart from a quick trip to Tescos and a lovely walk in the park with Cameron). We bought lots of yummy goodies for tonight, my favourite being the chocolate cheesecake, yum yum!