Let’s just pretend that it is the start of Feb and not the 21st… OK?! Good. So here are my January reads:

Keeper of The Bride by Tess Gerritsen

Source – library. This is one of Tess’ stand alone books, more of a romantic thriller. It certainly wasn’t as deep and gritty as her usual books but I did enjoy it and it had a good few twists.  3/5

Whistleblower  by Tess Gerritsen

Source – left in hotel on holiday by someone. Again, more of the same as above. Not her most recent work, but an OK read. 3/5

(Forgot to take my own pic – oops)

Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

Source – lent by Sarah. This was the first book I had read of Jo Nesbo’s. I had never heard of him to be honest until Sarah started talking about him. So, always keen to try new authors I borrowed this – and LOVED it. It is a stand-alone book, not part of his series of books. It was engaging right from the start, graphic, and very very clever! 4.5/5

(Forgot my own pic again, double oops!)

In The Woods by Tana French

Source – lent by Sarah. Again, I had never heard of this author. The story is set in Ireland and it is always nice to read some Irish dialect. It was a good read although the ending didn’t tie up some loose ends that I had been expecting. Can’t wait to read more of her books! 3.5/5

You’re The One That I Don’t Want by Alexandra Potter

Source – library. I went to the library wanting a Marian Keyes book to take on holiday. I don’t really like “chick-lit” type books but I make an exception for Marian Keyes. She is like my guilty pleasure. However, the library didn’t have any of her books in stock so I randomly looked for another “easy read” book. I had never heard of this author before but decided to risk it. I started the book on holiday then stopped after a couple of chapters as it was way too sugary and I wasn’t in the mood to read it at all. I wanted something deeper & darker! However, I started reading it again on the plane home & got rather engrossed in it. It is an easy read, with some of the usual chick-lit cliches but I also found it to be quite refreshing in that I didn’t guess the ending, and these books are usually quite predictable. Oh, and it made me want to live in New York (just for a while!). I don’t think I’ll be in a hurry to read any more of her books though… 3/5

The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal

Source – library. Again, I took this on holiday but it sounded pretty boring and I couldn’t face reading it. I ended up reading it when I got home and boy I LOVED it! The story takes place in Paris, Vienna and Japan during the 1st and 2nd world wars (periods of history that I am interested in anyway), and it was great to learn more about the different countries. There is a lot of art references in this book and although I’ve never really been interested in art I found myself “Googling” all the paintings etc. that it mentioned and wanting to learn more about the artists! 4.5/5

 Book of the month and therefore book of 2012 so far: The Hare With Amber Eyes

As always, I want your suggestions of what to read next!! x

PS – HAPPY PANCAKE DAY – WHOOP

PPS – SORRY FOR BEING AWAY FOR SO LONG…

Anyone who knows me will know that I am always cold! Even in summer I sit under a blanket on the sofa in the evenings, so you can imagine what I’m like in this cold weather (-2 deg as I type this brrr!).

I was very excited when Find Me A Gift offered to send me one of their Love Rugs to see what I think. Fluffy warm snuggle blanket = yes please. Fab red & white heart design = even better! I had never used one of those snuggle blankets that you can buy in the shops. The first time I tried my Love Rug on I tried to put it on like a dressing gown & wondered why it didn’t quite work lol.. But that wouldn’t work as there is a handy pocket at the front to slip in your mobile phone, glasses, or some sweeties when you’re watching a film!

I love it! It is massive and Gary & I can sit together on the sofa with one arm each through the arm holes and stay nice and cosy.

The animals like it too – Meg especially!

The Love Rug would be a fab Valentine’s gift idea! Hope you all have a fab Valentine’s Day x

I can’t believe I have been back from Lanzarote for nearly 2 weeks! It was a last minute holiday organised by my Dad for my Mum & I. I had never been to Lanzarote before so I was excited. We had a fab, relaxing time. The weather was OK, quite cloudy & windy but we got a good amount of lovely sunshine too and it was miles better than the UK (20 deg plus instead of under 10 deg!). I would happily go there every January for a week of sunshine! I did miss the pups and the cats tho…

Here are some piccies:

Lanzarote map – we stayed in Peurto del Carmen

View of the pool from the roof terrace at our apartments

Another view from the terrace

Along the main beach

“Don’t feed the cats” sign

So who did I adopt but this lovely kitten! (She was crying as she was hungry)

Oooops!

The sea was pretty cold! Didn’t go for a proper swim!

In the distance to the left hand side you can see Fuerteventura!

Teguise the old capital

Teguise market (there were about 400 stalls there!)

Spot the dog?

Mmmmm churros!

And sparkly cocktails

Before an afternoon of rain

Me at night

My mum & I

Overall, a fab holiday! Have any of you been to Lanzarote before? Next time I go (next Jan haha) I would like to visit a bit more of the island and see some of the sights! x

Sarah and I signed up for a 5 week cupcake decorating course at our local college. It was a bargain price of only £10 for the 5 weeks so we couldn’t really say no! After attending my first half day cupcake decorating workshop last summer I was keen to learn some more techniques.

I was surprised that we were mainly going to be using sugarpaste to make decorations for our cupcakes. For some reason I had never really considered this, and always thought cupcakes should be decorated with buttercream swirls! For the first class we learnt how to make cute little faces – baby faces and pirate faces. It was good fun but I definitely need some practice using the sugarpaste – I found it very difficult to get it smooth and even. It didn’t help that I had to cut off the top of my cupcakes to make them even with the cases – this made the surface very uneven and bumpy. However, my hands aren’t too covered in food dye today haha… so that bit was a success!

Here are my end products haha… not perfect, but all right! I also made a quick little flowery decoration with some scraps of sugarpaste that I had left.

Next week we are learning how to make animal faces. I won’t be there however, as I am heading to Lanzarote with my mum for a wee break. I will be expecting Sarah to be able to teach me though when I come back!

Do any of you use sugarpaste to decorate cupcakes or are you buttercream fans like me?! x

Well, following on from my 20111 Achievements post I guess it is time to share some goals that I would like to accomplish in 2012. I have a sort of bleugh feeling about it all to be honest – just the feeling that things are never going to change. Yes, I ticked lots of things off my “I want to do list” last year but am I ultimately any happier? Hmm… maybe a little, but I guess having small goals like that is the only way to keep going.

OK so 2012 is the year that I will turn 30 (in March) but I am not going to try to make 30 goals – I don’t want to list things just for the sake of making up numbers.

1. I WILL get my blog re-designed.

2. I want to learn how to crochet.

3. I want to learn how to use my new sewing machine properly and make some fab things.

4. I will try and pay off as much credit card debt as I can.

5. I want to get involved with a local animal charity.

6. I would like to start selling cupcakes.

7. I will be more organised and pay all my bills on time (have ordered a fab Simon’s Cat desk diary).

8. I will use my purse and not lose my cards/money all over the place (just have to find my purse first!).

9. I need to increase my income (no “want to” about it).

10. Meet some new people and make some more friends.

11. Be a nicer person and say “I love you” more haha!

12. Increase my confidence in dealing with my “job” etc.

13. Have lots of fun playing & training with Chester & Holly our fab puppies.

Is it unlucky to have 13 goals? I’d better think of another one then…

14. Knit more things.

Think that’s about it! Here’s to 2012 *clinks glass of fabulous pink fizz*

*NEWSFLASH* December book review is up on 2nd day of January – very quick for me haha!!

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

Source – Sent by Charis. I remember hearing about this book and the film as well but I had never read it. It was a little disturbing and gruesome in places but I really did enjoy it. I have always been interested in perfumes and scents so it was good to read a book about them. I wonder should I watch the film, is it worth it?? 4/5

The Shops by India Knight

Source – library, picked at random. I liked the cover of the book and I recognised the author’s name so I thought I would give it a go. It is not a novel but an account of the author’s experiences with shopping throughout her life and lists of the best places she has found to buy all number of different items. Most of the recommendations are in London however. A nice easy companionable read. I think I would like to try reading some of her ”proper” novels. 2.5/5

The Drowning Girl by Margaret Leroy

Source - bought in Home Bargains for 39p months and months ago! I picked this up a) because I liked the cover and b) because it was only 39p lol! I assumed it would be pretty rubbish so I avoided reading it for ages. I picked it up one night as my library book was downstairs and I couldn’t be bothered going down to get it. And wow – I was hooked right from the beginning with this book and read half of it in one night! It tells the story of a little girl with behavioural problems and her unusual past. I though it would be predictable at the end, but it wasn’t. I would totally recommend this book! 4/5

The Luminous Life of Lilly Aphrodite by Beatrice Colin

Source – Sent by Charis. Ooooh I loved it! You have to read this if you haven’t already. I finished it and immediately wanted to read it all over again, and that rarely happens to me with books! It is set in war time Germany – a period of history that I have always enjoyed reading about. The only teensy thing that I didn’t like was that every chapter started with a random few paragraphs about cinema and film in Germany at the time. It wasn’t directly related to the story so I never really read them. 4.5/5

It’s Not Grim Up North by Judith Holder

Source – the title caught my eye at the library as we had been discussing the North/South divide at the pub quiz one week (!). It was Ok – it was very biased towards the North and I found myself not really caring, but I’m not even English anyway! There were some good bits of history in there and some interesting facts and figures. Mainly I tried to read it as quickly as I could so I could finish it! 2/5

Wow – 5 books in 1 month?! That is a record for me!

Book of the month = The Luminous Life of Nelly Aphrodite

Book of 2011 = One Day

What was your favourite book of 2011?? Let me know and I will read it x

In January 2011 I made a list of 28 things that I would like to accomplish in the coming year - (28 things as I was 28 at the time!). So I thought it would be good for a look back and see how I did.

1. Eat well – more fruit & veg and less chocolate!  Yep, wouldn’t be without my smoothies & juices now!

2. Keep up the exercise (shouldn’t be hard with 2 puppies!) Yea, I guess so.

3. Go to the theatre to see either a play, musical or ballet.Yep, went to see The Nutcracker.

4. Have a massage. Yes, got this for my birthday in March.

5. Have a facial. See no.4

6. Do some volunteer work for a local animal charity. No, unfort not.

7. Start the process of getting my teeth straightened.  Yep, have been to my 1st consultation.

8. Increase my income. No

9. Knit a scarf. Yes, started although need another ball of wool to finish it!

10. Learn how to sew (properly!). Yes, went on a sewing course.

11. Try to be more tolerant. Ahem, ask Gary!

12. Try to be a happier person. Hmmm maybe getting there a bit.

13. Bake more. Oh yes!

14. Get the ball rolling on either a house extension or a new house. Nope, can’t afford it!

15. Learn to use our camera properly. Kind of!

16. Re-design my blog. Nope

17. Blog more frequently. Not really

18. Start a Totally Bike blog. Em.. no not yet

19. Have a holiday in a lovely cottage in The Lake District. Groupon trip bought for March 2012.

20. Love more. Eeek..?

21. Be more “present” and stop sressing about the past/future. Probably not!

22. Cancel my gym membership that I never use! Ah sugar… I did actually try but they couldn’t find me on the system..

23. Plan & save for our skiing holiday in Jan 2012. Haha don’t think this will be happening!

24. Learn how to decorate cakes/biscuits to a good standard. Been on a cake decoration course.

25. Go on a cupcake course. Yep!

26. Win the lottery! Haha nooo – there is always tonight tho!

27. Visit more restaurants & try new foods.Yes, been to a few new restaurants.

28. Keep a “Happy Diary” of 1 or 2 things that make me smile every day! I did do this but only until April…

Well, overall I don’t think I did too badly?! I have some “resolutions” if you must, in mind for 2012. Do you feel like you had a good/productive 2011? x

Well I hope everyone had a lovely, very merry Christmas?! What did you all get up to? I was feeling very nauseous in the run up to Christmas – but I managed to recover in time for Christmas Day so I could enjoy my food! We stayed in England this year for the first time – just the 7 of us. It was nice and relaxing and stress-free. Oooh and guess what Santa got me?! A sewing machine & he made our front bedroom into a lovely craft room for me!

We made sure all of the animals had a lovely day and Santa brought them all some goodies! Here are Holly & Chester in their Christmas hats (which they didn’t keep on for long)!

We went to my brother’s house on Boxing Day for dinner and had a good time. And yesterday we took the pups on a road trip to Talacre Beach in North Wales. They very rarely get to go to a beach so this was a real treat for them – they loved it!