One Day

Two family members got me the same book for Christmas and I had finished reading it by December 27th. It was One Day by David Nicholls. I LOVE IT. I'm a bit of pretentious reader; a bit in love with finding my own good reads and snubbing ones that millions of people have enjoyed and are classics of our time. I know it's arrogant. But this book was amazing and had me hooked from the start. Without giving you a full synopsis it's about two people who spend the night of their university graduation together and their relationship over the next 20 years. It's extremely involving and you become very attached to the characters. I immediately recommended to my best male friend who I thought might judge it as girly fluff but he was crying by the end of it too..now my parnter is reading it and keeping me up until 1am with the light on he's so into it!

As with most popular books it has been turned into a film already and you can click here to watch the trailer (but I'd advise you not to if you want to read it or are half way through!) and will be released later this year. I think I might give it a miss though...Anne Hathaway, as credible an actress she is, just isn't Emma Morley and it seems I'm not the only person who thinks so. First the film makers spoiled Atonement for me and now this, how dare they! I'll reserve judgement until release day or now..

Positive Mental Attitude

I've just been for a run and had to stop half way because a) I'm very unfit and can't run too far without turning into a heaving red blamange and b) because it is so beautiful out there tonight. This is the lake which I painstakingly attempt to run around once or twice a week

Usually I drag myself around my town wishing I lived in one of the houses by the sea, dreaming of the career I could have, the beautiful home, the luxury to drive...tonight I just thought "get over yourself". I live in such a beautiful place. Sometimes it is literally fairytale, especially the local park with its duck pond and year-round red robins. I sometimes think Shirley Hughes must have based some of her illustrations on her own childhood here. What do I have to complain about? I live in a beautiful area, in a lovely home and I'm fortunate enough to spend my time looking after my daughter thanks to coincidental timing and her wonderful father. So that's that out of the way-only positive mental attitude from now on.

On another note, I know someone who recently gave birth to a gorgeous little boy and, like most first time mums, is struggling with the lack of sleep. As we live in an age of constant social interaction via the internet she has been updating her facebook status with her worries and experiences. I have noticed that instead of listening and supporting, a number of people have been TELLING her what to do with her little one. I remember I found nothing more annoying that a mother telling me I should do it their way and it would definately work, whether it was to do with sleeping, feeding or any other infant topic. What is wrong with just listening to someones cry for help? Offer support by all means, and advice if it is asked for, but showing them what you believe they're doing 'wrong' is undoubtedly only going to make them feel worse. I hope all new mums out there are coping; sleep deprivation is one thing a positive mental attitude will only solve for so long!

Some things i found today:

Anthropologie dresses - so beautiful and if i had the bank balance to match I would definately splurge here. Favourites inlude the Summer Souffle and the Kingston Road.

Blue Skies-not found today, but remembered tonight.

I love weekend readers pictures, I caught up with what i've missed from the past few installments.

Sundays are for sharing

Happy Easter!!

Aside form it being easter it is also Sunday, and Sundays, are sharing days. I thought I’d start the ball rolling…

Its amazing how much you love your own children. From a little bundle of bubbles and cries to all the worries you could ever have wished for. We laugh together SO much and sometimes we cry together too (the terrible twos are starting to get genuinely terrible!) but I never knew I could love a little person as much as I do. I cannot comprehend that she will be two in a few weeks and that soon enough she’ll be at school, a teenager, a fully grown woman. However hard the days get, and however difficult it is to juggle life, she is always there at the end of it, with arms outstretched and a big smile, shouting “kiss mummy” to make the rest of the world slip away.

Finding Out

I have always wanted to be a mum for as long as i can remember and, somewhat underwraps, I had my life all planned out. I would gain my A levels, attend a Red Brick University, graduate, gain a spectacular job in London for an international charitable organisation by the age of 25, marry by 28 and have children by the age of 30. Perfect. How hard could it be? I was not naive enough to expect this plan to run along like clockwork but the framework of it seemed solid; qualifications, career, marriage, family. The idea of facing my twenties head on did not really scare me as all i could see was the goal at the other side of it, a family.

And then it happened.

How it all started

In the summer of 2008, myself and my partner graduated together from Newcastle University with the enormity of our futures laid out before us. Mr B had already secured a job in Manchester with a Times 'Top 100 companies to work for' to tide him over: a sales job he did not particularly see himself pursuing, especially when he had childhood dreams of being a sports journalist to hold onto! I on the other hand, could already feel the weight of a directionless few months, or years, ahead on my shoulders before it had even commenced.