The growing pile of books to read – Pic and mix
I painted my nails – Big sunnies – Sleeping beauty
Delicious find, sesame and honey coated peanuts – appreciating green energy
Berry nice – the last poppies
Hello fun dog agility course! – licky
It is quite rare for me to get my bake on these days, since my metabolism has slowed down and reality has weighed in meaning that I actually do put weight on when I eat like a pig. When I was searching through the cupboard for something last week I remembered the jar of peanut butter I had sitting in there looking a little despondent. As a nut-hater is does sound a bit odd but I rather like a bit of peanut butter every now and again, but since we now don't keep bread in the house anymore (we'll only eat it) the preferred peanut butter sandwich was out of the question. While flicking through Lorraine Pascale's Fast, Easy Food recipe book I stumbled upon this peanut butter squares idea and HAD to make them. I substituted the dark for milk chocolate which did make them delightfully sickly-sweet and they did turn out gooier than expected but MMMMMM. At first I thought there wasn't much there but it soon became apparent that there was way too much for me to eat alone (husband had a couple of pieces then announced they were too unhealthy to have any more). Thankfully my family
Do you have food that you don’t like yet sometimes really fancy or is this just me?
Dress – eBay, cardigan and bag – charity shop, sunnies - QD
The glorious spell of weather we had at the weekend had to be taken advantage of so I whipped this summer dress out of storage plus this cardigan (which has never been worn by me even though I’ve owned it well over a year now). The 3/4 sleeves area major drawback for me and my chilly forearms.
I have amassed what may well be hundreds of photographs from out and about over the past month that I have yet to really look through let alone pick out and tinker with ready to share. That does seem to be the main drawback of getting really into photography, all the admin afterwards! Once again I'm getting that temptation to start looking at upgrading to an SLR from my old bridge, the main factor stopping me is that horror about the PRICE! I was lucky that Husband gave me this old Konica Minolta bridge which he had long finished with so I don't even know how much it cost us to start with. As a dreadfully clumsy person the idea of forking out a not-insignificant sum on a camera and then - gulp - accessories, is freaking me out! I do feel much safer with this old sturdy contraption but sadly it's not cutting the mustard anymore. The focus is dreadfully slow to get ready, meaning many action shots don't even have the subject in the picture! All very exasperating.
Have you got any SLR advice for me?
Top – Peacocks, skirt – eBay, bag - charity shop, sunglasses - Peacocks
Got to love life in the countryside!
PS, I have some cracking photographs to share with you in the Photo Show and Tell soon, are you going to join in?
A few weeks ago now I went to a friend of the family's wedding. It was on a gorgeous warm afternoon and it was lovely to be a part of the tight knit celebrations with husband and my parents. I wore a dress that I'd been searching for on eBay for months. Back in the spring I saw this Warehouse silk dress come up and bid on it but lost out. I was saddened because it ticks every box as far as a dress for a wedding is concerned; patterned, gorgeous bright colours, respectably long enough with a high neckline and a confortable cut. When I saw another one come up I knew I was going to bag it so bid far more than I'd ever usually pay for a second-hand dress, in fact I bid and paid a total of £9 inc p+p which, frankly, isn't all that much is it?.
The afternoon was so enjoyable, a sweet and uplifting church service followed by a marquee reception.
Me and my Mum, I found her gorgeous Laura Ashley dress in a charity shop and she was thrilled! Husband looking smart in his suit
There was a very pretty marquee of tables which had a lovely mix of vintage china, just lovely! I do love a good buffet – Husband was particularly impressed with the coleslaw and ham
Both my desserts. Guilty as charged, oink, oink…
It’s been a while since I wrote about running, considering I go twice a week and am continually analysing my progress. I've had a couple of 10k races and a few training runs which have kept my spirits up and fires burning. Sometimes I get cross when things don't go to plan, you may have picked up by now that I am immensely competitive with others as well as myself and that is what really keeps me going. Personally, I really enjoy pushing myself to the absolute limit to see just how fast I can go. That’s why running retains my enthusiasm, I can grit my teeth and pour my efforts into chipping away at my times.
My Garmin Forerunner is proving to be a great investment, for my inquisitive mind at least, so that I can scrutinise the stats, see where I went faster/slower each time. The heart rate monitor is quite revealing in that I can track my heart rate, which rockets up then plateaus at an alarmingly high rate. The watch itself, with a whopper of a screen, has so many little modes and features that in traditional Sophie fashion I haven't figured out how on earth how to use it. Husband has an identical one too (yes, we're that embarrassing his and hers couple) so he has done a minor meddle in order to set it to beep at each km and to display the current pace, time and distance covered. A sneaky peek at the time has to be taken at kilometre so I can monitor exactly how close to being on track I am and so I can try to calculate what time I'm hoping to see when the next km beep sounds. As I'm so painfully slow with maths it does give me something to focus on for a minute or so which takes my mind off things. Husband and I had been discussing what it is that holds us back on our respective runs and for me I couldn't quite put my finger on it; legs never give up, (thanks boot camp), breathing usually seems under control barring uphills, but yet somehow I get that "I just can't go
On Sunday I watched the triathlon on TV, it was the first one I've ever seen and we only popped it on while we were having a spot of lunch yet I couldn't bear to switch it off and get on with something else. The swimming was epic, as a hopeless swimmer myself I couldn't even imagine diving into that open water, let alone swim that distance at speed. You should also know that I'm the worst bike rider in the adult world; the stabilisers should never have been removed from my wheels. The race etiquette in the cycling section was baffling, I sort of saw why they were working as a pack but at the end of the day it was a race of each individual against the others... Now as a regular 10k runner I know that a bit of a warm up is a good idea but personally I like a few stretches and a light jog but the very idea of a xk swim and a 40k bike ride before setting off is pretty incredible. Massive respect to all triathletes (big up Jenny!) The Brownlee brothers really inspired me with their awesome athleticism; Jonny with his nail-biting scrap to the bitter end with Javier Gomez and especially Alistair with his gutsy hobble to the finish line with that injury.
It’s safe to say that I felt pretty inadequate after watching the Brownlees, me just having that struggle with 10k all on it's own. My mind-set changed for my run that afternoon. I made a solemn pledge to myself that I was going to grit my teeth and keep going, keep pushing, keep momentum. To cut a fairly long and dull story short I went out and beat the hell out of my previous best by 34 seconds. Over the MOON, I was! 48:25 indeed plus I didn't feel all that annihilated and hardly had any stomach cramps. Winner.
So what keeps you pressing on?
You might have heard that there was a bit of a do going on in Norwich on Friday for East Anglian Bloggers. Much as I was looking forward to getting to meet so many local faces at a cocktail party I couldn't help feel somewhat irked that I wasn't going to be able to drink! We all know how often I go out socialising (once in a blue moon) so to say I was a bit apprehensive was a bit of an understatement. I knew that my longstanding blogging pal Hazel was going along (phew) and Jenny who I've really got to know recently but other than that I didn't really know anyone particularly. Me and Jenny rolled up together, it was great not to have to turn up alone! We soon bumped into Kim plus some more nervous looking ladies so got a little cluster going and Hazel joined us.
How should I put this, I decided to have a bit of a go at meeting some people (and you can’t have a single mingle) so I made a thorough pest of myself and had a chat with as many people as I could that would put up with me. This is perhaps a strange tactic coming from someone who is in fact ridiculously shy. What can I say, it's all or nothing.
Jenny is so much taller than I and doesn’t she look gorgeous in that pretty dress! She is the sweetest person ever, even more so than I expected. I do look a little shell shocked but the room was very dark and the flash was blindingly bright (oh yes, I blinked for one of the pictures). This is the only full length picture of my outfit though.
Dress – Topshop Rare (ebay), clutch – charity shop, shoes – ebay.
We snagged a goodie bag thanks to several local brands plus Tights Please as well as doing a bit of business card swapping. Being a very disorganised person I actually had to make some myself which turned out ok.
NYC 221 Spring Street - China Glaze 1008 Purple Panic (Neon)
Can we do it all again?
The North Norfolk coast is a lovely area, with Cromer being one of our favourites. On the bank holiday weekend of the summer I was convinced that it was warm enough to be a beach day. The sun was shining inland and although by no stretch hot, it felt pleasant out so I didn't want to miss out on one last hurrah. Sadly, it turned out to be cloudy with a chilly breeze and after a short while I had to pop my jumper on and take my sunglasses off, but isn't that pretty much typical for the end of season!
I’m still on my book which has so far lasted a couple of months. Although I am in fact a fast reader, I rarely pick up books so they tend to last an eternity. I'm determined to get my read on as I'm taking part in a certain book review post coming in the distant future.
Don’t forget that you can follow the blog on Bloglovin here. If you’d like to follow me on Instagram I’m sophieinthesticks
Top – blog giveaway win, shorts – ebay, bag – charity shop, boots – Yull, sunglasses – Internacionale
I still have a few high summer outfits to share with you which I suppose I ought to post before we fall into the cold abyss that is Winter. Already the wind and the rain have set in to make the change of season all the more apparent. Anyhow, this ensemble was worn when we ventured to the Broads a couple of weeks ago on a lovely warm day. We found a boardwalk which seemed to be through a jungle-esque environment and I managed to get Husband to snap a couple of pictures for me.
Floaty tops are not something I own many of as I find them really hard to style, this one is not something I would have bought for myself but in fact is really lovely. Foolishly, I'd let it remain lost in my wardrobe for a rather long time and this was it's only appearance this summer. Better luck next year...
A few pictures from a walk we took a week or two ago
Dress – charity shop, shoes – All Saints via TK MAXX, bag – gift
These sandals have been sitting around waiting to find a new home for over a year now and yet funnily enough haven’t made it on to eBay yet. I am pretty bad at actually getting rid of unwanted clothes and shoes. They get put in a pile then abandoned for a good time before anything further happens. Trust me to be ready to sell them when everyone is after winter boots! I found this dress in a local charity shop and loved it's wonderful simplicity. The only downside is that it happens to be one size too big and hangs a touch looser than I had in mind. As I'm not usually one for bodycon I suppose it is just as well, but after a few washes who knows, it may sit a little snugger.
It was about halfway through the day when Husband said, “you look very French”. To be honest I thought it was a little more striking than that but hey. Maybe I should have carried a baguette under my arm and munched on a frog's leg just to emphasise the point.
Blouse – Vero Moda, shorts – ebay, boots – T K Maxx
Would you believe that I’ve let this blouse sit idle in the wardrobe all summer long? Quite daft really as it's the kind of floaty shape which is easy to wear plus a neutral colour and likely to go with loads of other pieces I own. I love the choir-esque beauty of what is essentially a simple blouse.
This week has been a tad unusual in that I went to a wedding yesterday afternoon (pictures to come) so today feels a bit like a Sunday or Monday instead of midweek which is rather disconcerting but fingers crossed I can pull myself together.
Strange as it may sound, I’ve not actually ventured as far East as the Norfolk Broads before. I’ve always seemed to think it was a longer journey away than it actually was. To be honest I was taken aback at just how many boats there were and the style of them. In my head I imagined the odd canal boat would drift past and that would be about all.
As it was a beautifully warm day I couldn’t resist an ice-cream, which had to be a double (greedy!) one caramel, one strawberry cheesecake, for the record it was divine. I actually didn't realise that the shot below had my camera strap mid-shot, I thought it was a shadow! So annoying as it would have been a lovely shot otherwise (d'oh!)
