Bad maths equals a half marathon

body confidence, Fitness, health, weight loss

So I entered a half marathon.

I can run 5k so training for just over 10k shouldn’t be a problem.

Except a half marathon isn’t 10k or even 13k, its 21k which is bloody far.

I signed up because I couldn’t convert the bloody Kilometres to miles.

never

But its for charity and I have signed up for it and also got my colleagues to sign up for it too so there is no going back!

I have no doubts I can do this as I have 5 months till the race. 4 months till the wedding. This is going to help me shift some weight, tone up and lose my bingo wings.

I like running I did some last year. I had more energy felt better and was physically fitter. Then we had a long hot summer which was basically a no go. My awesome little sister is a marathon runner, she has done London and Paris. She loves it and its hopefully going to give me some tips.

Preparation

I have already been to the running shop to source some proper trainers as this is going to be hell on my legs and my old adidas need a rest as they can’t keep up with long distance. I am learning a lot about running support. The best shoes the best cloths. Guys if your legs brush or touch when you run then cover then up. My Primark bras have been replaced with proper supportive sports bars. I keep them for short runs.

I am going to keep you updates every Sunday on what I have been up to. If I have lost any weight, my inches (ahhh) but the thing is I think that by sharing it with you it will encourage me to commit to the run, commit to the weight loss and finally get my shit into gear.

Arse in gear

How long have I been engaged? 2 years and I still at the same weight as I was? Well I have lost 4lbs but that’s in two years which is shocking.

I need to loose an entire stone.

That is 14lbs. I will be so happy when I do. My belly fold won’t have to snuggle on top of each other when I tie my shoes. I will be drinking more water and eating less sugar.

so even though I started this challenge due to a mathematical error….. I am happy about it.

The right kit

My healthcare means that I get discounts on healthy things like trainers, Gym, Apple Watch so I can track things.

I took full advantage!

Investing in trainers is definitely important but I will go into that later on!

Are you a runner?

Have you done a half marathon? Any advice please leave in the comments!

Here is my giving page any donation no matter how big or small helps!

https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/CraftyArts

Idle hands are the devils online shopping subscription

Beauty, confidence, Make Up, Wedding Budget

I have signed up to too many beauty / home websites. This pay day I had a ridiculous amount of emails offering me money off discounts, free postage ahhh. I want it all. my idle hands are shopping as soon as the subscription emails roll in.

My account looks healthy and my fingers start emptying it again.

I went on Cult Beauty filling up my basket with Zoeva brushes and Charlotte Tilbury makeup. When I got to a £100 of products I took a step back. What am I doing?

Stop the splurge

Yes I want to buy a lot of gorgeous things for my home but right now I don’t need them. I am not a shopaholic but there is something about a pay check that makes me want to spend money That has literally just entered my account!

I need to save

It’s not long till the wedding! This month has been all about paying for wedding deposits and payments. Blah blah blah. My savings are looking pretty empty.

Time for less outings

More walking ( bus fares add up)

Definitely no beauty, I have enough. I don’t wear much makeup so why am putting all this makeup into my basket? I am too susceptible to advertising and influencers. I do use all my skincare products but everything else is just money I could have spent on the wedding!

Idle hands

Luckily I also need to watch my diet! Which means less takeouts and premade meals.

As it’s a big sunnier I do want to eat better food with more veg and in the evenings I need to keep busy.

Idle hands are the devils online shopping subscription. They sit and wait for my pennies to roll in then they send me what I have always wanted but have absolutely no need for.

Yes I want velvet cushions with embroidered bees on, yes I need more plants! I just topped up my rather sad makeup collection with my Boots points. It really is the bare minimum and didn’t cost me anything however did I need it?

Plan

I need to be busier without exhausting myself like I did over Christmas.

I have so much to do so rather than spending my weekends completing tasks I am going to complete them in the weeknights instead. I will still schedule nights where I can just cuddle my best friend the sofa ( I wrote a blog on my lack of energy)

I will still relax when I need to, I won’t even look at my subscriptions this month unless Elizabeth Arden has an amazing deal on ( never going to happen).

I won’t delete them because I do have enough will power to stop buying them. This month will be a no buy month!

No spending on silly things

No make up

No skincare ( Cult Beauty I already miss you)

Do you have the same problem with pay day offers?

So obviously I bought the new Birchbox because Rock My Wedding sent me a naughty email and I wanted to try out half the items in it! It arrived within two days and I will try out the bits tomorrow when I go shopping with mum.

On Sunday I got a call from my mum suggesting that I had, HAD to buy the new Gatineau tanning accelerator.

“You don’t want to be a pale bride darling”

So thank you QVC for your special offers! I look forward to looking like a bronze goddess at our wedding.

So I failed!

But a few treats here and now are important to me not going insane with all the wedding planning.

Or so I tell myself.

Last blog of the month: hopes for it

Advice, Organising, Personal Experience, Planning

Day 30, hopes for your blog, 30 day blog challenge.

Oh I am so proud!

It was not as tough so much as time consuming. But I loved it. I do need to take the time and go back through and recheck it, as I know there are a million mistakes but I am so proud of the work I have put into this.

30 day blog challenge it’s done.

There is a hundred day blog challenge but that will have to wait until next year! When I have more time and I can focus on it properly.

My hopes for the blog

Well obviously I want it to be a success. An organically grown success. I want my readers to comeback because they enjoy the topsy turvy world I live in. I want to travel and explore. I can’t wait to write about Japan and New York. I feel like I now have a fresh perspective. A real thirst for blogging more.

I have learned a lot about what are my most popular topics. It’s not what I thought. You appear to love food and self health as much as I do. Which is refreshing. I also learned about popular times and postings.

I am definitely inspired to write a few more blogs so I am challenging myself to 3 a week.

We will see.

This will probably harder then everyday just because more planning has to be involved with set days. When you know you have to write and publish everyday you just have to get it done. 3 times a week is not quite the same thing.

Sharing

This blog challenge has been a lot about sharing who I am and what my goals are. The theme of this blog is great. I am happy to write it.

I wrote in my goals what I wanted to achieve and my blog was a big part of it. But I am a dreamer so I know if I want to achieve this then I have to keep putting the work into it!

I sometimes felt that some of the questions were silly or irrelevant but I guess the whole point was to give you a point of view or subject to write about.

Whilst on this challenge I actually wrote 3 blogs that are sitting in my drafts waiting to be published which is a nice situation to be in.

For this blog I know I have to so find the right photos.

How do you photograph hope?

Thank you so much for being on this journey with me.

I couldn’t have done it without you!

Confession time

Organising, Planning

Day29, a confession, 30 day blog challenge.

I have Destiny child Confession song going through my head.

Confessions

I have a few.

I never thought I would complete this challenge after all this is a goal I set for myself. I wanted to do it and I know that after the wedding I will do it again because I thoroughly enjoyed it. I will just need to find a different set of challenges to complete.

I know I said at the beginning that I never complete things but I mean like never!

This is actually an achievement for me.

Writing

I didn’t write all my blogs on the day. A few I wrote on one day and then went through them and corrected a few mistakes. I think that my grammar in general on this challenge is poor and I need to work on that.

Do I feel like I cheated?

Nope.

I still got them out every single day, I worked on them every day.

The trickiest part was the photographs. Sometimes it was easy picking them. Sometimes it was difficult and I had to travel through my photos and find them.

When I couldn’t do that I set up a mini studio in my dining room table. Bought some props and took the photos.

It was work but I enjoyed it! I had to plan it, if I had winged it then you wouldn’t have had a blog every day!

Organisation is key

I think this is going to be another short blog and I don’t really like them when they are too short. But we all have a few confessions to make.

Brief confessions

  • Gav I ate all the french chocolate
  • Manny I took you for granted
  • Trainers I don’t use you enough
  • I like to buy fitness clothes and sit on the couch
  • Gav I ate all the sour cherries
  • I wish I had more time before the wedding
  • I am glad of where I am

Most embarrassing moment

Personal Experience, Travel

Day 28, most embarrassing moment, 30 day blog challenge

Most embarrassing moment!

Well, there has been a few!!!!

Okay I need to take you on a little trip to an incredibly beautiful city Krakow. We had arrived and spent two days wondering the city. Heaven.

Mulled wine!

We went to lunch and had steak I think. All the food in Poland was exceptional. We had a few vodkas. Trying out the homemade flavours. Then we went to the market and tried the mulled wine. Also yummy.

Vodka

Then we went to Krakows oldest vodka bar. We did a few rounds pretty sure we had 10 shots on the table at one point. This place was cool and tiny it had 2 tables inside. A cute little bar and then to get to the toilet you had to climb up ladder type stairs to get to the top.

I was tipsy when I left

Then we went to another bar. Again we had to climp up ladders to get to our seat. Gavin asked me to get a round in.

I was drunk.

Too drunk, I needed air.

Only I didn’t go back to the bar afterwards. Instead I went back to the market place. Crawled under a stall and asked the Polish man to show me how to make a nail.

Forge a nail!

Yes this drunken Brit talked the old polish man into forging a nail. I was dressed in my fancy green skirt. Unfortunately I still had Gavins wallet on me which I promptly lost.

No idea

This is the bit I don’t remember.

Getting home. Gavin was out looking for me and when he had searched everywhere he decided to head home. I also had the key to the apartment.

Gav found me, singing to myself outside of the apartment trying to get in. He said that when he asked me where I had been I just smiled and said I made a nail. Then we walked up all those stairs and I passed out.

So I woke the next day feeling pretty okay considering I had drunk a lot of vodka. But then I had had over ten hours to sleep it off.

So embarrassed

What happened next is what was embarrassing firstly I couldn’t really remember what had happened except that I made a nail, but secondly Gavin suggested that I had stolen a nail from one of the many crucifixion statues.

I had no idea and I was horrified.

We also had no money except a few euros and technology.

It turned out I did make the nail. I remember clearly chatting away to that man and his whole family. Thinking of it now is horrifies me.

Gavin was amazing. He didn’t yell but he did make me promise never to wander of ever again.

He still doesn’t let me take his wallet in case I don’t come back. So this is the nail.

It’s a beauty.

The irony is that we traveled hand luggage only. So we had to leave the nail there!

It was a very expensive nail!

And maybe my most embarrassing moment!

I blame the good vodka.

What’s in your closet: Marie Kondo made me do it!

Uncategorised, wardrobe

Blog 27, what’s in your closet, 30 day blog challenge.

I have two, I have a traditional oak wardrobe that we bought with the house and a rail in my room that I abuse with far too many clothes.

Kon Marie

Last year I Marie Kondo my wardrobe. I read her book and couldn’t wait to get back home so I could start sorting through everything. I got my bin liners and charity bags ready for a good old sort through.

I dragged everything down stairs and began sorting through. I found it fairly easy except when it came to gym clothes and work clothes.

Paint stained clothes

I teach kids art which means my work wardrobe gets flicked with acrylic paint and my shirts get stained with ink. So even though I love some of my work clothes they don’t necessarily spark joy.

Reading further I understood that if it’s practical and used I am allowed to keep them.

I donated sentimental stuff, expensive cashmere jumpers that were far too small for me, chucked silk Jigsaw shirts that had holes in them. I also boxed a few items of beautiful clothes that I will never wear but my niece may like them when she is older.

We have a large wardrobe in our bedroom that even when it is empty is far to heavy for me to move. Trust me I tried. They don’t make wardrobes like they used too! Gav Has most of his clothes and suits in there.

We have two draws under the bed, one for sports, snow boarding and gym gear and the other is for holiday items such as swimsuits and coverups etc.

We still have too many clothes and Gav is a bigger hoarder than I am!

I won’t be showing you my actual wardrobe that will be in another blog but you get the gist.

I love print and pattern all year round! Tomorrow I am having a bit of a clear out.

This blog has inspired me to sort it again. Put away some winter pieces and arrange it a wee bit better.

My hidden talents… believing that I can do anything creative!

Dreaming, Personal Experience

Day 26, hidden talent, 30 day blog challenge

I was wracking my brain trying to think what my hidden talent is/are and I couldn’t really think of any. I can do a lot, I can’t do a lot. I am pretty open/ boastful about things I am good at. I am also honest when I can’t do something.

My hidden talent is my ability to learn anything creative. If I think I can do something I pretty much can teach myself to do it. When it comes to art, I am very confident.

Can I, I most definitely can

I don’t paint with oils, I have dallied and experimented with them but I never been that interested in using them. But if you asked me paint and oil painting for you I recon I could!

alcohol inks

My newest interest is alcohol inks, so I am going to start experimenting with them and hopefully creating some gorgeous pieces of art to maybe sell. We will see!

I am already looking at getting some gorgeous gold and silver accents to add into it. I can’t wait to play with such a clever medium. I have been watching YouTube tutorials and if I get good enough I will probably end up teaching it at work.

I am pretty sure I will enjoy the process and like watercolour I know, I know it will take me a while to get into it!

but I can do it

It has always been my attitude. I remember baking with my mum. I have seen cheese and courgette soufflé and wanted to try them.

My mum freaked out, she said they are really tricky and they will definitely deflate.

They didn’t, we made 6 perfect soufflé and they have been the best ones we have ever had. They were yummy

I told you it all comes back to food!

It’s about giving things a go

You have to try things, if I don’t enjoy it I won’t keep going with it. I made an eight foot macrame hanging basket. I made it. I didn’t enjoy the process so I won’t be doing it again. But I know I can.

So, is knowing I can do something a hidden talent?

I thinks so but I will leave it for you to decide.

Whats your hidden talent?