I haven't spoken much about my family on here. I spoke about my Dad's cancer coming back in 2012, I touched on my cousin's suicide in this World Suicide Prevention Day post and in this tea party fundraiser post I mentioned the reason I wanted to host one was because my grandmother died from breast cancer. Not exactly the most uplifting stories about my family! I have also done a Facebook Flashback post on my family, which is a few old Facebook statuses I've posted over the years when my family have said or done funny things. which I'm going to do again today.
But first, a small bit on my family. I'm the eldest of 7, I have 4 brothers and 2 sisters. The gap between me and the youngest is almost 15 years. This year, the youngest started secondary school which felt really weird! My family plays a lot of badminton and soccer and last Christmas we sat around the kitchen table singing Disney songs while the dinner was being plated up.
Anyway, onwards to the Facebook posts!
My youngest brother is quite witty at times, he'll often fire back something without batting an eyelid. This is one of those occasions and I'm quite impressed he actually thought of saying that.
Apparently malaria wasn't serious enough for my mother!
My brother listed above is second out of 7 and has an old man's taste in music. Frank Sinatra over any latest chart topper. So I was surprised when he requested Destiny's Child!
Ah well, it seems like even one song was too much for him!
My sister Roisin is number 3 in the family. She's small but fierce at times! Which is why her shaking a spoon in my face, talking about spelling, was quite terrifying! It came out of nowhere too, it's not like I had disagreed with her in the first place. Roisin is pretty passionate about stuff like this!
It was hilarious though when my sister though the lyrics to Brimful of Asha was about a 'cream full of rashers'. I don't know how her mind put that together!
This just cracks me up! Nothing like children mispronouncing the name of people and things!
Finally this note was left by my youngest sister, it was quite the note to wake up to! It was for a talk about World War 2 but leaving out the word talk just made the note funny.
If you want to see more of these posts, there's my other family Facebook Flashback post which you can find here.
Let me just say outright that I have no style. I wish I did but I don't. I wear t-shirts and leggings most of the time. My black trainers are practically glued to my feet. I a few pairs of high heels but usually always wear the same black ones when the occasion calls for fancy feet. Though over the years I have developed one reoccurring theme and that's accessorize with birds. Well, not live birds, that would be crazy! No, over the years I've added a plethora of bird based bags, scarves, t-shirts, cardigans, shoes, sunglasses. You name it, I probably have it. So much so that when a friend showed me Portlandia, he insisted on starting with this episode,
While I probably had various items of clothing with birds on them while growing up, I remember my current love starting when I was in first year of college and got a bright pink Dorothy Perkins t-shirt with an owl on it. I've owned many more since, includes these two from New Look and Primark which I still own and wear.
The selection above are some of my favourite bird items.
1. Starting clockwise from top left, I got this bag from Vendula London and it served me well for years! And I got many compliments when I used it too.
2. The next is a robin scarf I bought from Penneys (Primark) years ago and I hope I can find it again because it wasn't in my scarves bag when I looked earlier!
3. This Penguin books badge was bought atZiferblat in Edge Street, Manchester during a market and was made by Jon Turner. Though it was bought more for the nerdy book factor than the bird factor!
4. These robin socks are my latest bird purchase, I bought them in Penneys (Primark) last week so run if you want them!
5. This parrot bird branch was a piece of jewellery I've inherited from my grandmother and I must wear it more. I need to add more parrots to my collections!
6. Finally this puffin mug was bought in Asda during the summer and it's just so damn cute!
If you've just looked at the above and you know me well enough, you're probably thinking 'But Breige, where are the flamingos?'. They get their own section. Bring on the flamingo madness!!
The first scarf is a children's snood I bought in Penneys (Primark), even though it was for kids I couldn't resist it! The second one is a Penneys scarf too and the third was a gift from my friend Sarah as she knew I couldn't have too many flamingo scarves!
1. This was an oatmeal coloured top with outlines of flamingos that I bought in Primark in Liverpool. I coloured in the flamingos with pink fabric paint but only on the front body part, I left them untouched on the sleeves and the back.
2. My wonderful sister bought me this lovely Pink Lining flamingo purse, it has lovely rose gold on the inside. I know it's something Cherry Sue would love!!
3. This necklace was bought a few years ago in Dorothy Perkins.
4. I bought these Vans on eBay, I just HAD to have them! I also had a matching bag but gave it to my sister to share the mingo love.
Finally some more flamingo bits and pieces.
1. This amazing cross stitch decoration was made by Sharon from Behind Green Eyes and I am still in awe of it almost a year on! I can not wait to bust it out again for Christmas this year, it's just incredible!
2. Not going to lie, when I was in Belfast in 2013 I only wanted to go to Ikea for these flamingo glasses! Worth it!
3. Flamingo lights from Penneys. There was so much cool flamingo stuff this year in Penneys, even bedsheets that I wanted, but I played it cool and got these lights (and my sister also got me some as well).
4. Finally a shot of me in Liverpool in 2013 with my boyfriend and our friends, me enjoying my flamingo sunglasses I bought from Primark as well as my flamingo snood!
Phew! So many birds and if I went rooting through my stuff, I know I'd find a lot more items I could show.
Today's theme for Blog Every Day in November is Unusual Hobbies. And because I'm boring I don't have any of those. And I never have!
My first proper 'go out and do something' hobby was Irish Dancing. Something most Irish kids will experience in some degree in their life! I had 3 different teachers at certain stages of my life but I never stuck to it. I also tried Set Dancing when I was in secondary school and while I picked it up fast enough, I was made dance as a boy and wasn't happy to do so as a beginner so I stopped going. At the age of 16 I also did modern hip-hop dancing but again didn't stick to it.
Also as a child, I played the tin whistle. Again, most Irish kids come up against the mighty tin whistle at some stage of their life. I remember my cousin started playing it in 2nd class and because I was in 1st class I had to wait a year. I did use her tin whistle though and worked out how to play a song or two before going into 2nd class. From there, I played it up until I was 15, using it as part of my Junior Certificate Music exam and then stopped (are you sensing a theme here?!). I asked in a music shop in the Trafford Centre whether they sold tin whistles as I was really itching to play again earlier this year, The guy said no but 'it's a cool instrument'. I shook my head, it's not really a cool instrument but nice try music guy. I do however want this Hairy Baby t-shirt!
As for other hobbies I've picked up over the years, they include reading (probably my first ever hobby), baking, and knitting. I learned how to knit when I was 7, in school and also by my grandmother. I've knit on and off over the years but it wasn't until I started going to a knitting group in Manchester early 2014 that I've learnt to love knitting again and progressed from knitting just a square shape! I have touched needles since July though and I have tons of knitting projects I want to do for Christmas so I need to get my act together. I'm proud of what I've made over the past 2 years and love updating my Ravelry to show my progress.
Just some of my completed projects on Ravelry!
As for unusual hobbies, I don't know what I'd like to do that is unusual. I once tried fire spinning! A group of friends and I saw some people dancing on the local beach, thought it was the circus that was in town at the time and went down to have a closer look. Turns out a few of us knew one of the people as a customer in our summer job at the time. We got chatting and they let us have a go, first without it being on fire and then it being lit. It was so cool spinning and twirling around. And speaking of twirling, my sister once got a gymnastics ribbon as part of our her Christmas present from an uncle and I found that I loved pretending I was a gymnastic. Maybe I'll start that up, new career for me?!
Continuing on with my catch up of book reviews. Going back to July this time!
July Reads
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is a true life story about Jean-Dominique Bauby, former editor-in-chief of French Elle Magazine, who in 1995 suffered from a stroke that left him with locked in syndrome. He is completely paralysed except for his left eye. Bauby dictated his book with a series of blinks to select letters of the alphabet. The book is beautiful, it's sad at times but Bauby has some wonderful insights too, using his imagination to explore all the senses he no long has the liberty to use freely. For example he imagines preparing and tastes a wide range of dishes he is no longer able to taste, being fed intravenously. It's a short read and well worth picking up.
The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop by Abby Clements
I read the first book of this series, Vivian's Heavenly Ice Cream Shop, in January 2014 and was pleased to see this book on NetGalley so I requested it. It follows on with sisters Imogen and Anna, who have revived the ice cream shop in Brighton they inherited from their grandmother. Anna feels settled with her Italian husband Matteo and their daughter Isabella but Matteo is itching to go back to Italy. Eventually Anna agrees and they take on the lease of an ice cream shop. But Matteo's mother can't help but butt in and have criticism of everything Anna does. Imogen meanwhile is settled with her boyfriend Finn but gets itchy feet and wants to travel again. The book was an enjoyable read, it didn't suffer from second book syndrome that I get a lot from book series like this. The cover is beautiful, it perfectly fits the great summery vibe of the book!
Summer at Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Speaking of second books, this is the follow up to last year's Little Beach Street Bakery, set in a little seaside resort where Polly set up an artisanal bakery after her life fell apart. Things are going well for Polly, work wise, friends wise and relationship wise until the owner of the bakery she is leasing dies. In steps the greedy relatives and things begin to fall apart. Polly needs to find a new way to keep her business going as well as deal it with issues in her relationship, This book almost fell into second book syndrome (which is where the relationship set up in book one begins to go tits up for some reason) but it managed to just about stay afloat. I still LOVE the setting of this book, as for all Colgan's settings there is something cosy, inviting and idyllic. I just want to jump into the book!
Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
Burial Rites has been on my radar for a while but when a colleague at my job at the time read it and loved it, I decided it was time to pick it up. Based a true story from Iceland, Agnes has been convicted of the murder of her former master and is sent to live with a family to await her execution. At first the family are horrified and not at all happy to live with the infamous Agnes but slowly, the wife and daughters of the family grow to be less wary of Agnes and learn more about her life and her side of the story while she speaks to Toti, a priest Agnes has requested to be her spiritual guide. I loved how we slowly got to know the story of Agnes, how the layers of the onion are peeled back. Kent nails the setting of the book too, it's so easy to imagine the bleakness and wildness of Iceland in the early 1820s. I definitely cried once or twice reading this book too!
The Girl Who Wasn't There by Ferdinand von Schirach
This was the Fiction Book of the Month for July in Waterstones and I requested to read it on NetGalley solely for this reason. The book feels like two books in one. The first half builds up Sebastian's story, from childhood to becoming a famous photographer. The first half ends with Sebastian meeting this woman and the second half starts with him being accused of murder. But no one knows who this woman is, only that a phone call was made by her to alert that this was happening. A lawyer agrees to take on this case to defend Sebastian and the whole thing comes to a conclusion. I felt like this book was disjointed, that the two halves didn't seem to match it. It was like two different stories mashed together. If the book had started with the second half and mixed in parts of the first half to slowly tell the story and Sebastian's past, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. It ultimately felt very pretentious. But I do know others who really like it so maybe it just splits people?!
July Reads
Number of books read- 5 Ratio fiction to non-fiction- 4:1 Male to Female authors- 3:2 Number of eBooks- 2 (The Girl Who Wasn't There and The Heavenly Italian Ice Cream Shop) Number of books borrowed from library- 0
Reading Challenge Completed
A Book Based on a True Story- Burial Rites
Yay! All done with July. Pretty short month but some nice reads in there. August will be on the site in a few days.
A few weeks ago I saw Rosalilium's 100 Things to Do in Autumn post and loved the idea of it. Even though autumn is my favourite season, it was a bit late to really enjoy anything in the blog post, so I sat down and made a Winter Wishlist. Just the other day Rosalilium published her 100 Things to Do This Christmas post, which you can check out here. I'm sure there will be some cross over of ideas but here are some of the things I want to do this winter and Christmas!
1. Make homemade gingerbread lattes
2. Go to carolling service
3. Knit some decorations
4. Decorate gingerbread houses with friends
5. Take pictures if it snows
6. Go to a Christmas Market
7. Make pine cone Christmas tree decorations
8. Make German Christmas cookies
9. Watch Christmas DVDs
10. Donate to charity (St, Vincent de Paul Giving Tree or a shoebox appeal or donate canned foods)
11. Make homemade Baileys
12. Make Christmas jumper
13. Celebrate 10 year anniversary with my boyfriend
14. Make a snowman if it snows
15. Board game night in
16. Christmas nail art ideas
17. Watch Late Late Toy Show
18. Cosy fireside night in knitting
19. Christmas house warming party
20. Make Christmas CD and playlist
21. Go ice skating
22. Make gingerbread cupcakes
23. DIY Snowflake mobile
24. Watch classic Christmas film in cinema if there is special showing
25. Have fun enjoying time with friends and family
26. Make a nice Christmas Day dessert
27. Do a Photo Every Day challenge for a month
28. Light some cosy seasonal candles
29. Send Christmas cards to friends
30. Read some festive books!
I'm sure I could go on and on, but I'd love to concentrate on these. I'm excited now to have things to look forward to doing! I've made a Pinterest board which you can see below, with some links to ideas for the stuff listed above. Let me know what you're looking forward to doing this winter in comments below!
So the theme for today's Blog Every Day in November is Photography. I love taking photos (even if I'm not that good at it!), it makes me happy to be able to look over snaps and relive memories. Just before moving from Manchester I spent a lot of time in the Northern Quarter and have loads of street art pictures taken. Here are some of my favourites!
I had a look through my Instagram and discovered a few manicures that I did and LOVED! I was clearly going through a soft pink and sparkle phase for a while (heading into a deep purple and Christmas glitter stage at the moment). These looks are just too pretty to not share!
This is the look that kicked it all off! I saw it originally on Cherry Sue and had to give it a go, For my own version I used Model's Own Chrome in Rose Gold for the nails and for the glittery 'trigger' accents I used Model's Own in Pink Fizz. Def will be using these colours again around Christmas time.
Next I went with Barry M in Ballerina, it's the prettiest shade of pink I probably own. It's a classic colour, very chic. To liven it up I used SoSu polish in Unicorn Dust for the accent nail. The sparkles are incredible in this! I just stare at my nails when wearing this.
Finally we have another Model's Own polish, this time one of their Hyper Gels in Naked Glow, The glitter I used over it was Miss Sporty Candy Shine Top Coat in Pop Rocks. I'd usually over look the Miss Sporty stand to be honest, but the Candy Shine Top Coats caught my eye. I love the mix of gold flakes, black dots and other glitter pieces.
To check out these pictures in better detail, head over to my Instgram page!
