5 thoughts on being a drummer’s wife

1)  Tapping. Tapping is one of my husbands quirks, he taps all the time. Making tea, on tables, in the car. Whilst cuddling, your back becomes his own personal drum kit

2) The gear. For those of you who haven’t had the privilege of carrying a drum kit, it is not a one man job, and it is bloody heavy. Being the doting wife that you are you may become his personal pack mule. Its ok though think of those muscles you’re building 😉

3) Car. I used to have a Fiat 500. You can comfortably fit one and a half drum kits, a passenger and of course the driver inside a Fiat 500. If you want to fit anything else in however, when shopping for a new car it revolves around whether you can fit the drum kit into the boot of said new car.

4)  Storage. My husbands drum kit is currently taking up half of our airing cupboard, luckily the cupboard is the size of a small family car but previous to this it took up the spare room at his parents house. This was something we also took into account when purchasing our house. His next dream project would be to convert our bomb shelter into a sound proof drum room…. Let’s see about that one

5)  The best thing about being a drummer’s wife is the feeling of pride you get when watching your husband do something he loves.

P.s He was tapping as I wrote this.

Keep smiling my lovelies
XO

 

Time flies when you’re having fun

I cannot believe it has been 3 months since I last posted, oopsie! Monday is my last CIPS exam for this academic year. Yay! I have been trying to concentrate on studying and generally shorting my shit out. For the past 3 months I have genuinely just been enjoying life to the full, I have tried to take a step back from social media and blogging so I can enjoy those quality moments with my wonderful husband.

I tell a lie, I wrote a post for our first wedding anniversary whilst we were away and there was no internet or phone signal so I couldn’t post, and that was the beginning of my hiatus from blogging, but I am back! *mini fanfare*

We stayed in a pretty little Sugar and Loaf Cottage. just outside of Crickhowell in Wales. The cottage was warm, cosy and oh so quaint. We spent the weekend walking, we climbed a mountain! For those of you who know me, know that this is a huge feat for me, coming from the girl who used to cry on family walks which would result in my dad having to push me up the hill. Oh how times have changed!

We curled up in front of the log fire and ate some delicious food and of course drank lots of wine! It was a truly wonderful weekend filled with us being us, away from the trappings of everyday life. There was no phone or internet signal at the cottage, I was not sure how I was going to survive but I relished the challenge. (I kind of had no choice) It was definitely interesting as I rely on google so much! What did we do before we could google things?

We are off to the Lake District next week, staying in a Camping Pod. I am literally so excited, we are going with two of our close friends, I cannot wait to go walking and of course a visit to a country pub or two may be in order. Bliss.
I shall keep you posted of how we get on. Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather!

What have you lovely lot been up to?

Keep Smiling my Lovelies

XO

Nip hayfever in the bud

Now that spring has finally sprung! Many of you, like me, will begin to suffer with allergies. I suffer from hay-fever, cats & some dogs and peppermint.

Out of all my allergies peppermint is the most nuisance. I’m the weirdo that asks what type of mint is in mint tea, 9 times out of 10 most people don’t know. I’m constantly obsessively scouring ingredients and frequently buying beauty products that contain peppermint for me only to have to either bin them or give them to a friend.

The allergy that affects me the most is hayfever. It is the constant tickle in the back of my throat, the constant embarrassing sneezing fits, I manage about 7 sneezes on average in one burst!

1. Take antihistamines. Take the full course and start early. Don’t just take one feel better and then take another when you start to feel groggy again as this leaves you at the mercy of each exposure to pollen.

2. Vaseline. Swipe a tiny bit of vaseline at the end of your nostril, the pollen will stick to it instead of going up your nose.

3. Shower in the evening. It will wash away all the pollen stuck to your hair, body hair and eyelashes that would in turn stick to your pillow/bedsheets and then be taken into your body leaving you waking up feeling congested and groggy.

4. Eye drops. Works a treat at relieving sore itchy eyes.

5.I’m going there I have found my holy grail soother for extremely sore eyes. Last summer I rang my sister in tears because my eyes were so sore, eye drops were not working. I had tried Vaseline, eye masks and anything else going to sooth my sore eyes. You name it I tried it!  This lead to me turning to my sister, Frankie who is a beautician and hairdresser, and a bloody good one at that. She did my wedding hair and make up and has saved me from all my bodged home dye jobs over the years.  Anyway, I digress she suggested I tried  Dermalogica Ultra Calming Barrier Repair  which is honestly amazing, it not only soothed my sore eyes/eye area almost instantly it repaired my sore sensitised skin in 3 days!

I apologise if this is teaching some of you fellow seasoned allergy suffers how to suck eggs but you never know you may learn something new.

Keep smiling my lovelies.
XO

5 Little Things

Happy Easter! I hope you all have some wonderful plans for the Easter Break, I would love to hear what you get up to? I thought I would share 5 little things I am currently enjoying at the moment, as I have previously said before, I believe that the key to being truly happy is being grateful of those little moments/things in life that make you happy.I just love Easter and spring. The pretty pastel colors the gorgeous spring bulbs beginning to open up and reveal their pops of colors in my garden.  I have definitely been getting my garden ready for summer! Kieran and I are going to undertake a very exciting project in the garden soon. I cant wait to share it with you but at the moment all is hush hush…..Only joking its really, just in case it doesn’t work out the way we want it too. Haha! Oh and Easter means mini eggs. What is there not to love about mini eggs?

Not watching television. Kieran and I kept discussing all those projects we repeatedly said we were going to start but never got round too. Now that I have my own desk I can actually sit at it and sew so we took the plunge and stopped watching television. We actually feel so much better and more relaxed by the time we go to bed and rather than talking about things we are making it happen. Obviously I am still recording programs as I cannot go without my weekly Alicia Florrick/Olivia Pope fix!

Good Friday I am going to my Mums and I seriously cannot wait to have some well needed family time with my sisters and parents. We are also going for a curry, which if I haven’t mentioned before is one of my favourite foods. Pass me the mint sauce and Poppadoms!!

Raw Chocolate. Kieran and I went to Cheltenham races last week, it was a really fun day, we were very fortunate with the weather. On the way back from Cheltenham we made a cheeky little stop at Whole Foods. Oh Yes! I ran round like a kid in the sweet shop looking at all the fresh produce and things that you can’t get in our shops round here. My main purchases were Tabbouleh rice, smoked olives and raw chocolate. I have been dying to try raw chocolate for an absolute age and I am so pleased I finally did. a tiny little bar instantly satisfied my chocolate graving.  I am definitely going to be placing and online order!

Our First wedding anniversary is just around the corner, I know, can you believe it? It feels like the longest shortest year ever! What I mean is it feels like we have never not been married but at the same time feels like the wedding was only five minutes ago. I have bough Kieran a DAB Radio for his present and it was definitely worth the investment as it is literally always on! Radio X is where it’s at guys!

I hope you have a lovely Easter.

Keep Smiling My Lovelies

XO

Deliciously Lemon Cupcakes

I was supposed to publish this blog post for Mother’s Day, however I was in a haze of revision for my next exam. There may have also been some wine involved. Sorry Mum! Lets pretend its Mother’s Day and International Women’s Day.

My Mum is a pretty awe inspiring woman, she is strong willed, incredibly intelligent (even though she swears blind she isn’t). She has a wicked sense of humour and gifted me with an incredibly unique laugh. My mum also has a penchant for lemon flavoured things to the extent that at my younger cousins birthday party, when he definitely hadn’t hit double digits yet, she described a Lemon Tart as orgasmic. That moment will go down in our family history, not quite as much as my dad having a second ice cream after taking me back to the shop to replace my dropped one. How kind of him? Yeah, I repaid him by telling our whole family that he had another one. I’m sure he’ll thank me for sharing it with you lovely lot! Do you have any stories that go down in the legend of your family history?

Anyway to honour my mums love of lemon flavoured things I baked lemon cupcakes with a lemon curd filling. I do have to say I am particularly impressed with how these turned out! I am merely an amateur baker.

Lemon & Lemon Curd Cupcakes

 

Cake:
250g Butter
250g Caster Sugar
Zest of 1 Lemon (you can add more or less depending on your tastes)
4 large free-range eggs
250g Self-raising flour

Filling:
Lemon Curd (for the filling approx 12tsp)

Icing:
140g Butter, softened
280g Icing Sugar
1 tbsp Milk
Zest and Juice of 1 Lemon

Instructions
1. Pre-heat the oven to 160c and line a 12 hole muffin tray with cupcake liners.
2. Process the butter, sugar and lemon zest until smooth, whether you do this in a stand mixer or a handheld mixer its up to you.
3.  Add the eggs one at a time and mix.
4. Then add the flour and mix until smooth ( it may look like quite a dense mix but don’t
panic)
5.  Divide the batter between the cupcake cases and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a
skewer comes out clean.
6.  Transfer the cakes to a rake to cool.
7.  While the cakes are cooling make the icing. In a bowl beat together the butter and
lemon zest together until smooth and creamy.
8.  Slowly add the icing sugar, pour in the lemon juice. Keep beating until the icing is light
fluffy. If the icing is too thick, add a little milk.
9.  When the cakes have cooled, use a sharp knife to cut a small well in the top of each
cupcake. Spoon in a teaspoon of lemon curd into each one.
10. Use a piping bag (if you have one) to pipe the icing on top of each cake. If not use a
spoon to put a dollop of icing on the top, then smooth it out with the back of a spoon.

Keep Smiling my Lovelies!

XO

 

 

A Colour Crisis

As i am sure you gathered from my previous post, or if you are a follower on Instagram, my color pallet for my house is largely neutral with lots of textures thrown in. As my sister kindly put it my house is 50 shades of grey, but not in the kinky way!

I thought I would put together a wish list of cushions, I am definitely not going to get all of them if any but this is the kind of thing I meant when I said new cushions as I feel the other ones are the wrong tones and are looking a bit shabby.

1. Grey Stripe, Tesco
2. Grey Embellished, Next
3. White Woven, John Lewis
4. Grey Faux Fur, Next
5. Elephant Cushion, John Lewis 
6. Carved Geo Print Cushion, M&S
7. Grey Handwoven Cushion, M&S
8. Carved Digital Print, M&S 
9. Linea Embroided Tile, House of Fraser 

Aren’t these cushions just to die for? Obviously it would not be my house if i did not squeeze an elephant in somewhere! The lounge is actually one of the few rooms in our house without an elephant in. Although I’m not sure I can justify £45 on an elephant cushion, can I? I think I have a problem! Elephants anonymous where you at?

Whilst discussing the cushion saga with Kieran, a saga because I made reference too it in my blog and I buy far too many cushions as it is,we decided that we should put more colour into our house as the moment downstairs is sage green, grey and cream and upstairs is blush pink, grey and cream. We want to paint our dining room table and chairs, but are toying with painting the chairs bright colours. We are having a colour crisis. My idea was to paint them bright like the ones featured on A Beautiful Mess. I have literally been obsessed with this table since we decided to move out. However I am not sure we are quite ready to take the bold step with this yet! We are going to tie in the kitchen to the dining room and paint them sage green I think. What are your thoughts?  Keep your eyes peeled for an update on this!

How very dramatic! We had a bit of a crisis in confidence of our styling of our house. I love our house but I am constantly finding new things to do, there is always something I want to tweak slightly, some new thing I have seen that I would like to make. I think most people think I am stark raving mad as our house is gorgeous and is loaded with style with a pinch of our personality.

Keep your eyes peeled for a Kitchen tour next week!

Keep Smiling my lovelies.

XO

 

Living Room Tour

Finally after promising you guys for so long! I have begun the first in my series of room tours…. my living room! Let me just put this out there before I show you the details of my living room, I am no photographer so some of the images aren’t the best but I’m sure you’ll forgive me for that one, won’t you?

Firstly we have our sofa and chairs, they are from DFS and are literally the comfiest sofas I have ever sat on. I’m not 100% sold on the cushions so may need to find some alternatives. Kieran if you are reading this ignore that bit tehehe. Apart from the Botany Illustrations cushion which I have been in love with ever since I saw it in home sense. The record player was a present a moving in present to ourselves it just sets off the room wonderfully, yes it does actually work we just need to get a new needle for it and smaller records. Of course it would not be my living room if I didn’t have a billion and 1 candles everywhere.

This is my gorgeous fire place. I just love it, the antlers they were one of Kieran’s birthday present from The Weird and Wonderful. If you haven’t heard of them before and are into taxidermy/entomology or anything like that definitely check them out.  Can we all just take a moment to celebrate my succulent is growing! I thought I had killed it but obviously not as it has glorious green shoots. Yes, I definitely danced around my house when I realised. I actually painted a normal terrocotta pot rather than paying the price of an expensive bronze pot. We’re debating painting the wooden fire surround but i’m not totally 100% sold on that idea yet. What do you think?

This is actually one of my favourite corners of our living room. Totally sad as it is just tucked away by the door, but its our little welcome table where I put my keys when I walk in the house as I can lean in and dump them in the oliver bonas dish, which I dont think they sell anymore. Anyway I digress every time I walk in the house I see the picture of one of the happiest days of my life (so far) and makes me smile. I also love my basket filled with blankets. If you are yet to feel the joys of a bunny soft blanket then get yourself to home sense, you will not regret it. I promise.

 My coffee table! I didn’t get a very good picture of this before we painted so unfortunately I have had to use one I took before we paint so lets just use our imaginations that either side of the chimney breast are a glorious grey not ugly gold floral wallpaper.   We up cycled two old trunks that we found at Malvern Flea Market they really set the room off perfectly now that we have exposed the original wooden floor boards and got a cowhide rug. It is sooo soft.

What room would you like to see next? I would love to see your upcycling projects use the #sophieupcycles on twitter and instagram to show me your projects!

Keep Smiling my Lovelies.

XO

Guilt Free Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins

As we all do around this time of year we start January as we mean to go on, healthily and doing exercise. Unfortunately it is normally around week 3 I fail, I get bored of eating nothing but chicken, avocados, eggs, broccoli, spinach and sweet potato. I exaggerate a tiny bit as I love all these but I am left longing for a guilt free treat, I thought I would give some low calorie wheat free muffins ago as I am more determined than ever to succeed.

These muffins are incredibly healthy, the oats give the muffins their shape and the yoghurt keeps them moist. You could replace the chocolate chips with something a tad healthier but boy oh boy did I need a teeny bit of chocolate in my life. Normally its not eating crisps that bothers me when on a diet as I am a self confessed crisp addict…. Mmm Pringles but at the moment I am seriously craving chocolate.

Guilt Free Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins
Makes: 12 muffins.

Ingredients: 

8fl Oz Plain Greek Yoghurt

2 Ripe Bananas

2 Eggs (although I left out this time and were still yummy but a little dense)

180g Rolled Oats

50g Brown Sugar

1 1/2tsp Baking Powder

Chocolate Chips

Method
1. Preheat oven to 200C and line a muffin tin with muffin cases.

2.Add all ingredients apart from the chocolate chips to a food processor and blend on high
until the oats turn into a smooth and creamy batter after this stir in chocolate chips by
hand.

3. Spoon mix into the muffin cases filling each about 3/4 full. I find having a glass of hot
water and dipping the spoon into each time allows the mix to slide off the spoon easier.

4. Bake for 15-20 mins until the top of your muffins are a golden brown and set. Also insert
a knife into the middle and if it comes out clean they are done. Allow to cool before
removing from the pan.

I hope you enjoy! I think these muffins are really tasty would you like me to keep posting about what I am eating?

Keep Smiling my Lovelies.

XO

January Favourites

I do love winter, the cold nights, cuddling up on the sofa and watching the rain pour down whilst your snug and warm. The crackle and pop of the log fire. Bliss.

Yes I am a winter bunny! I am praying for this cold snap to last a tad bit longer, but I also cannot wait for the bulbs in my garden to flower as I have planted them in cascading patterns in the my plant pots so I can enjoy spring varieties for months on end.

Lets kick off these January favourites with these gorgeous boots from New Look, they are unbelievably comfortable and instantly add style to jeans and a t-shirt, they don’t half look cute with a little dress, and are the perfect to transition from Winter to Spring. They are the first pair of boots I have ever picked up in a shop and said I love these and walked straight to the till, with clothes this is a regular occurrence. I love nothing better than an impulse purchase. Shoot me. With shoes I am much more cautious, maybe because I wear them until the soles are hanging off and at the end of their life. I literally have not removed them from my feet…. ok maybe to shower and sleep of course.

 Herbal Essences Clearly Naked Dry Shampoo  I’m not sure what I can say about this product I just love it. I don’t know about anyone else but I hate the way dry shampoo smells, and feels in my hair. It sends shivers down my spine. I also feel like dry shampoo doesn’t last all day either but I may go so far as to say this is my Holy Grail of dry shampoos. Yeah I went there. It also doesn’t leave your hair semi-grey! Perfect for those mornings where it is too cold outside your cosy duvet.

Sumptuous red lipstick. Come to mumma! At £3.99 what is not to love about this drug store lipstick?  Collection DeLuxe Lipstick  I bought it in shade 01. It stays on my lips all day, even after copious amounts of tea. I am truly in love with it, perfect for updating my look for autumn winter. I also find it isn’t drying at all which is fantastic when sitting under an air conditioning unit all day. The only down side I can see is that it does have a slight smell of crayons, but only when applying.

I have also been wearing the Maybelline Super Stay 7 Days nail varnish in Midnight Red, it is the right shade of red to go with the gorgeous collection lipstick, lasts several days well definitely not 7 days but probably around 3-4 days on me. I have no idea how I chip nail varnish! I can go to bed with perfect nails and wake up with chipped nails! I am also loving the Tanya Burr nail polishes, particularly this colour in Midnight Sparkles which I believe may have been discontinued as I couldn’t find it online. *sad face*. Another Maybelline product I have been absolutely loving so far is Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Eternal Gold. It is a cream shadow that lasts all day and doesn’t just go straight into the crease and look rubbish. Couldn’t recommend this product enough.

All the Light We Cannot See. Wow what can I say about this book. I was gripped instantly. I lost interest about 100 pages through but I think that was more down to me than the book. I read before bed. I definitely am the kind of reader who reads a page and is instantly asleep, no matter what the book is. However this book had me staying up for at least an hour a night just so I could finish it.  That definitely says a lot for this book. I was just enchanted by the story, I don’t want say too much as I wouldn’t want to spoil it for you guys, but it  is based in World War II but told from a very different perspective of two children. The first is Marie-Laurie a young French girl who is blind and the second is Werner Pfennig a young German orphan. I am not quite finished yet but it I am only days away.

Instagram Prints. When we first moved into our house I printed some Instagram prints, which have decorated a wall in our guest room for all this time. However I am in the process of decorating and felt it was time to take them down. The process of this meant I actually got to look and appreciate the pictures rather than walk past them every day and I have now put them into albums which is one of my New Years Resolutions this year to actually get my photos printed and into albums.

Wowzer! I didn’t mean to have so many favourites this month. Is there anything you would like to see me write about? I will keep you posted on all my decorating escapades.

Keep Smiling my Lovelies.

XO

2015 on Reflection

For me the festive season is a time of reflection, a time to be thankful for all the good things that happened in the past year so I thought I would reflect on the past year and celebrate all those little and big moments that made my year.

1. Wedding! Now this would obviously be top of my list! (I’m sure Kieran might be offended if it wasn’t. Hehe) I am so privileged to have married my best friend, soul mate and partner in crime. It was a truly wonderful day filled with happiness and laughter. I have written a whole blog post detailing the whole day.

2. Our mini-moon. We spent 3 wonderful days in London. We had a glorious afternoon tea at the Ham Yard Hotel, honestly could not recommend it enough for those of you who fancy a treat next time you’re visiting London. We visited the Tate Modern, spent a lazy afternoon in Hyde Park and saw Les Miserable! It was/is one of the things on my bucket list.

3. Speaking of bucket lists for Kieran’s birthday I crossed one off of his list, we went to see the ballet! The nutcracker to be precise. We both surprisingly really enjoyed it, we were both a tad  worried we would not have a clue what was going on! I would honestly recommend that everyone goes to the ballet at least once in their lives.

4. Completing decorating the downstairs of our house! Yippee! I am so pleased with how everything turned out. Would you like to see a downstairs room tour?

5. Kieran and his band Of Kings and Captains launched their first EP! I am incredibly proud of all the boys and what they have achieved. Here’s to 2016 lads!

6. I’m counting this as a separate moment but it is linked to the above. To celebrate the boy’s EP launch we held a Chilli night for the band and girlfriends/wives. I cooked a huge chilli, made a big batch of homemade salsa and guacamole and drank prosecco! This was the first time I had ever cooked for more than 6 so was really pleased that it went so well!

7. Russian Cake- I’m pretty certain it’s not actually called Russian Cake and is a name my Granny gave it stop me and my sisters finding out the recipe, it is similar to a rocky road but a million times nicer. Anyway my Granny gave me the recipe! She said whoever was the first sister to get married was got the recipe and she gave it to me as a wedding gift in a lovely note book. I shall treasure it forever.

8. I know most people remember our British summer as being typically British and rainy, but I had a fabulous summer. We had many evenings around our fire pit, glass of wine in hand, BBQ cooking away, and surrounded by our wonderful friends. Bliss
9. Removing the Ivy from our garden! This was such a hard task but was one of THE most rewarding jobs we have carried out in our garden this summer. We have an old war bunker in the middle of our garden which was covered in ivy and meant getting to the top of the garden was a tortious task. Once removed it meant we could add pretty fairy lights around the tree the ivy was covering and really opened up the top of the garden.
10. Father’s Day! We all made an item for the picnic, I made cakes and puddings. I am yet to broaden my cooking skills to pastries and picnic/canape items. We spent the day with my parents, sisters and grandparents. We ate picnic food, went on a walk and just had a really lovely day. I am at my happiest when surrounded by my family.

11. Kieran, his niece Tasha, her boyfriend Dan and I all were gifted a Segway experience and I’ll tell you what it was such a fun day! I was very apprehensive at first because if you ask anyone who knows me any kind of activity that is out of my comfort zone I always end up chickening out but I really thoroughly enjoyed it and would definitely do it again.

12. You lovely lot! Thank you so much to all my readers, subscribers and likers! I am honestly so grateful for you all and look forward to resuming posting on Tuesdays at 5pm after Christmas! Let’s go in to 2016 as we mean to go on, be happy. Remember those little moments of sunshine as they will always brighten a sad day.

 

Merry Christmas everyone I hope you all have a lovely festive period. *Pops Prosecco*

Keep Smiling my Lovelies

XO