Cupcakes, Goals and Bowling

Hi guys, how is everyone?

Been busy over here. Doing the fulltime job with the commute and running the cake business is exhausting but my final day of my day job is 23^rd December so I can work for myself fulltime J

Last week me and Phil had a date night bowling! It was 70’s/80’s bowling. It was only £2 a game and was great to get out and spend time together away from the house. I won the 1^st game and Phil won the last 2 L but I did win Mario Kart J

I’ve been doing Chalene Johnsons’ 30 Day challenge. I’m loving it. I’m on day 19 at the moment. It’s making me much more organised.

It talks about identifying your priorities and push goal. And building up small tasks to get to your push goal. I’ll share some info with you once I have it all sorted! But it’s free to do so check it out.

At the weekend I had a cake class which went well. Here are some pics.

Phil cooked dinner Saturday night. Vegetable fritters to start and Black bean burgers with butternut squash fries for main. It was so good. The black bean burger recipe was from the Peas and Thank you cookbook. My favourite recipe book at the moment.

I’m looking forward to the weekend already. On Sunday evening me and Phil are off to see Lee Evans live at the NIA! Can’t wait J

I’ll be back with another post!

Jess xx

Do you set goals?

I'm a list person. I have lists for everything. I have lists for lists. Some people may say I'm a control freak, and yeah I suppose am a little. But lists help me first of all think of the things I need/want to get done. The actual writing of the list jogs my memory. I have daily lists which has a few things I want/need to get done that day. I have a weekly list a weekend list and then a master to do list! I also have lists for the home, garden, my business, my day job and my personal health/happiness. Ok now I've written that out I sound a lot like a control freak!

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Anyway this brings me onto my point. Over at The Fitnessista Gina was talking about her monthly goals which has now got me inspired to do mine. So each month I'm going to have 3 goals and at the end of that month review if I have done them. So here are my first ones:

September 2011 Goals

• Plan and hold a dinner party. For a couple of reasons. I love socialising with friends and sometimes we get so bogged down with to do lists  life that so much time can go by without spending quality time with loved ones. I also want to share the fact that Vegan food can be delicious. Some people think I'm losing out by being Vegan. I don't see it that way at all so I want to try and get that message across.

• Go Swimming. When I was younger I swam competitively. At one point I was going to make a career out of it but then I decided that wasn't what I wanted. But I love swimming so want to get back in the pool to experience that again- and of course it will mean more exercise.

• Meditate. When i take the time to meditate I feel so much better. As a lot of people I'm always on the go, there is always something to do and come the weekend I'm totally exhausted mentally and physically. I'm not going to put that I'm going to meditate every day but I want to commit to at least twice every week.

So those are my goals for September. Are you making any? Please let me know via the comments if you are :-)

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I'll leave you with this page I found Via Stumble Upon.

Jess xx

Weekend almost over again

Hi guys, the weekends seem to just go by too quickly. I never seem to get everything I want to done!

I'm trying to wizz through things I want to get done. And also set aside some time to focus on the things I love doing like sewing and drawing.

Here are some of the things I want to get done:

* Research wedding cake classes. At the moment with Jessica's Cupcakes I do cupcakes and top cutting cakes. I want to branch out into big wedding cakes but want to do a course somewhere.

*Sort out our finances and monthly budgets

*Start  planning for Xmas (I love Xmas!!)

*Have a look at photoshop courses/books. This is something I want to use more to bring in some extra money into the business.

*Finish the veg patch Phil has started

*Collect more china for the Vintage China hire part of the business and properly launch the tea party packages

*Make some more sewing crafts for the home. I never seem to have time at the moment but I need to make sure I set aside some time as it's something I enjoy.

*Do a sort out and ebay/car-boot to make room and make a few extra pennies.

There are a million other things I could put on here but I won't bore you!

I made some Oreo Balls from How Sweet it is yesterday. Phil loved them! And yes they have all gone, and yes he wants me to make more tomorrow. Try them out!

Here is our meal plan for this week (It can change but we stick to it as best we can)

Mon- Spaghetti Bolagnase for Phil and Meatless Meatballs and Spaghetti for me
Tues- Veg pasta bake
Wed- Pesto Pasta
Thurs- Garlic chicken, Veg and potatoes (Phil) Tofu Udon stirfry (me)
Fri- Satay Tofu
Sat- Homemade pizza
Sun- Sweet and Sour Pork (Phil) and Sweet and Sour Tofu (me)

Right bed time!

Jess
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Back from Holiday and lots to do!

Last week we had a family holiday in Tintagel Cornwall for my Dad's 50th. He booked out a B&B for all of us and it was fab. So great to spend time with all the family. It went by far too quickly though!! Tintagel is a wonderful place, beautiful scenery and great beaches.

I also love getting wrapped up in the romance of the King Arthur legend!

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While I was on holiday I read a book a friend lent me called Room. All I will say is you have to read it. I read the entire book in one sitting. I was gripped. I love it when I come across a book that you just cannot put down or forget and this is one of the few. Just read it...seriously.

Ok so this week a few things have progressed in the garden.Under the willow tree is now cleared and ready to plant some flowers once the time is right. I've planted some more veg including courgettes, chilli's and radish. Next to do is romaine lettuce and rhubarb! My sweet peas are also blooming! They are one of my favourite flowers and scent. They are also the flower of my birth month so I'm putting them all around the garden! While these little beauties are in flower there will be jam jars filled with sweet peas all around the house!

A few crafts I did over the weekend were to make some more fabric hanging hearts- I need to go steady on these as they could take over the whole house! A decorative patchwork cushion and a Pyjama bag. I'll be posting tutorials on these soon :-)

This week I need to get a hold on my to do list and seriously prioritise, there are things that have been nagging at me for ages but I've just left them. So it's my mission to get as many of these things out the way as possible!!!

I've had some bad news on the job front as my office is relocating so I'm back on the job search. I was hoping 2011 would be a year we could start fresh but it seems not just yet. However I believe everything happens for a reason so I'm remaining positive.

Jess
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I swear I thought it was Friday

When i woke up this morning I was convinced it was friday. I even asked the bin men why they were here on a Friday. They responded "It's Thursday luv". i feel like an idiot!

Anyway lots of plans this weekend. I have lots on my to-do list and I need to pull my finger out and get them done as we go on holiday next weekend :-)

Here are a few things that need doing:

* Much cleaning- I am not listing everything, there is just too much
* Buy compost to do some more planting
* Buy some new variety of roses to plant
* Have a look round the local reclaimation yard for some wood to make some more rasied bed
* Clean the rabbits
* Order supplies for cupcakes
* Source more teapots for the china hire collection
* Put in a new flower bed at the front of the house
* Put shelf up in bedroom (Phil can do that)
* Meal plans for next week and order food shopping
* Fit in a bit of me time by reading my book and catching up on some blogs

There is a lot more to this list but I'm not putting everything down!

I'm aware I haven't put any craft projects on my new blog yet-I'm in the process of trying to get some up but time has been very short in my house and it always gets put to the bottom of the list :-(

What are your plans for the weekend?

Picture for today is Bumper a resident at Peaceful Prairie Sanctury. You can read his story here.

Jess

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Love the Sunshine!

I’m sorry it’s been so long since my last post. We were without internet for a week as some pesky thieves stole copper from our local BT exchange.

Anyway last weekend (2nd) was my birthday. Me and Phil went to London for the day. We looked round the shops, on my hit list were Liberty’s, Selfridges and Harrods. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to go to Fortnum and Mason so will have to go there next time!

When we arrived we had a well needed coffee and some baked treats (red velvet whoopee pie and Raspberry and White Chocolate cake)

Then we had lunch in China Town...I could easily live of Dim Sum

And got some birthday cupcakes from The Hummingbird Bakery. I choose red velvet and carrot cake.

I had some serious footwear issues though and my feet were totally destroyed after! Trainers will be worn next time no matter how much I look like a tourist!

This weekend was glorious! It was like summer! We spent most of it in the garden. Yesterday we had a picnic in the garden with my Sister, her partner Ryan, my nephew Connor and our best friends Cat and Tyler. A nice chilled out day with a bit of garden Jenga thrown in!

There are so many things on my To Do List at the moment which I need to go through but here are some:

*Sort through all clothes and shoes and take what we don’t want to charity.
*Make Taggie Blanket- this is a present for a friends baby
*Sort my business admin for Jessica’s Cupcakes
*Make a notice board for the utility room
*Re-stain the garden bench
*Find a small shed/wendy house that I’m going to convert into a large rabbit hutch as I want to get 2 more     rescue rabbits
*Set up another raised bed so I can grow some more veg

That is a snippet of my To Do list and it’s forever growing!

I've had a cold all weekend and feeling pretty rubbish today so my plan after work is to get home, water the plants then get in my Jammies and read some more of my new book which is amazing
The Confessions of Catherine de Medici: A Novel

Jess xx