Dear Blogger.com...

...I'm sorry if it seems if I'm neglecting you, but once I'm finished organising my move to Scotland then I swear I will be a better friend.

I have good reason for not logging in to you - this weekend boyfriend and I started packing up all our worldly possessions. Our only relaxation was slapping on some face packs (yes, both of us!) and cracking open the red wine.

Tomorrow I'm off house-hunting in Edinburgh. I promise I'll send you a postcard.

Love Wendy.xx

Do You Remember I...

...went to London a few weekends ago?

Well, I got my holga photos back, and my, were my red boots jumping for joy. I thought I'd ruined a roll, but it turned out!

Here are some of my photos...

London is the perfect city to completely immerse yourself in, and to spend a whole day walking with your camera.

xx

PS: For flim processing I can unreservedly recommend City Photographic in Southampton. They did a sterling job, in less than 24 hours, and were super cheap too.

Yay!

...The gorgeous Farah over at Ramblings of An Inane Mind gave me my very first blog award!

I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to post about this - but I am so genuinely excited about my award. When I started blogging I didn't think anyone would read what I had to say, and now I'm in touch with some wonderful ladies.

I'm going to pass it on to two blogs that I've discovered lately and absolutely adore (and coincidentally share my adoration of Bruce Springsteen :) ):
Rhianne at For The Easily Distracted
Girl With The Golden Touch

xx

Inappropriate Older Man Crush...

...I have to get something off my chest and admit something quite embarrassing. What it is you see is that despite pushing 60, Bruce Springsteen totally rocks my boat.

Yum.

I feel so much better for sharing, and getting that weight off my chest!

xx

You Know How Last Week...

...I said that celebrations were afoot in the Red Boots household?

Well, I was a bit naughty and left you on a bit of a cliffhanger.

I can now reveal our cause for celebration - boyfriend and I are moving here:

{photo from Flickr user: dr.wu}

Yup, we are packing up and moving from Southampton (England) - to Edinburgh (Scotland)! Boyfriend has been offered a wonderful graphic and web design job there, and we are so excited to be moving - hence the cupcakes and candles! Southampton is a lonely city and isn't the most inspiring place to live, but Edinburgh is a beautiful beautiful city, full of friends (I went to university there) and close to both of our families.

I'm sad to be leaving my job, but I've learned that family and friends are more important in life.

Boyfriend is moving in August, but I'm staying here for a month extra to finish up my work, so four difficult weeks are ahead... It will be worth it though!

Fingers crossed our move goes smoothly!

xx

Gasp...

...Can you believe I'm selling my red boots?!

I don't wear these ones, and I can't bear to see them languishing sadly in the back of my wardrobe. They deserve to go to a better home. I'll still be Red Boots though: I have another pair!

They're a UK size 6 (US size 8) - I ship worldwide!

If you're interested, they're on Ebay here.

xx

This Makes Me Happy...

...Anthropologie is opening in the UK! It's true: see here!

I've read so many blogs about the beautiful clothes and home furnishings in Anthropologie, but when you go on their website they charge £25+ for postage on one top to the UK, so it's so exciting to see them finally open up a store here.

They're not opening until Autumn, so that gives me a bit of time to save my pennies pounds.

Come Autumn you'll find me on Regent's Street in London! First item on my list, these cute giraffe measuring spoons:

{image via www.blackwhitebliss.com}

xx

My Weekend...

...has been wonderful.

Yesterday boyfriend and I didn't leave the house. We lounged about all day in comfy clothes, drank lots of tea, cuddled up on the sofa and told each other jokes. I needed a day like this.

Today we took a stroll in the park, and marvelled at how autumnal the day has felt today. Gusting winds howling round our faces, blowing leaves and angry grey skies. It made me so excited - autumn is by far my favourite time of year. Now boyfriend is asleep on the sofa, taking an afternoon nap, and I'm considering baking some cakes.

Reading this back, it makes me sound like an old lady, rather than a girl in her mid/late twenties. Perhaps my Wii has got it right when it tells me my age is 63. But the truth is inside I still feel and act like a teenager most of the time. I often feel like I'm pretending to be a grown-up, and that I don't really belong in the grown-up world. And the thing is, I can't ever see this changing.

The only times I feel like a grown-up are the days when I have the willpower to decline the cakes being passed round my office. Is this a good definition of being a grown-up?!

xx

This Is What Celebrations Look Like...

...in the Red Boots household.

We ate three cupcakes each, and barely had room for dinner!

I will reveal our cause for celebration shortly...!

xx

ps: boyfriend's back!

Why I've Been So Good...

...At blogging lately: boyfriend has been in Scotland for a week.

I've enjoyed a bit of time to myself: wandering, pondering and attempting to be creative, but I'm ready for him to come back now.

I like this photo, but my, we are a hairy pair.

xx

London Adventures...

...I mentioned yesterday I took a trip to London, to indulge in touristy things.

I'd hoped to have lots of photos to share, but some fool forgot to put the memory card back in their camera, so I had to rely on my Holga for company. Unfortunately she played up, so I don't have high hopes of the photos I took...

First stop was the Queen's house:
Not my photo: from Flickr user jonk

I personally don't hold the Queen in very high opinion: after getting up early in the morning and travelling all that way she didn't even invite me in for a cup of tea!

After Buckingham Palace I enjoyed the sights of Piccadilly Circus, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Covent Garden, a spot of shopping on Regent and Oxford Streets, the Southbank area, and finally Westminster. I can thoroughly recommend my route - if anyone wants a map, along with locations of good coffee shops then drop me an e-mail.

I was quite quite hungry by this point, and in need of a cheap eat in London (a rare thing) so I headed to St Thomas's Hospital in Waterloo. Despite being a hospital they have a gorgeous cafe open to the public, the food and drink are yummy and cheap (I got a meal and a drink for the princely sum of £4.55) and you get the best view in London of Big Ben. It is also the quietest spot in the whole of central London (another rare thing), so I managed to take a self-portrait on the banks of the Thames, overlooking Big Ben and Waterloo Bridge with the one space my digital camera would allow for in the absence of a memory card:


Although it was nearby, I didn't go on the London Eye - I was on it at the end of last year. It's a bit pricey, and you have to share your pod with about 15 strangers, but you do get a nice view, especially if you go on a good day. I didn't, but that's what you get in going in November:


I will post my Holga photos as soon as I get them developed (if they develop).

I've been obssessed with the Southbank Flickr project that I mentioned yesterday, and so I've found some more favourites:

That's enough now: I promise! Hope you all had a lovely weekend.

xx

I Took a Trip to London Today...

...And visited the Southbank Centre. While I was there I took part in a participatory art project that's currently streaming on Flickr. What you had to do was sum up your visit to the Southbank Centre on a board. I wanted to be prosaic and profound, but my mind went blank all I could come up with was:

Oh well, the thought was there.

You can see the whole stream here.

My personal favourite is this one, which has nothing to do with the Southbank Centre at all:

More about London tomorrow.

xx

Have You Heard...

{image courtesy of: www.dundee.ac.uk}

... of Jason Molina? I utterly adore his way with words.

The lyrics from "Being In Love" are gorgeous:

"Being in love means you are completely broken then put back together - the one piece that was yours is beating in your lovers breast".

Sigh.

xx

I'm A Little Bit Scared...

...After I uploaded my last post this appeared on my screen:

I think I'm being haunted by teeth.

Note to self: floss daily AND brush after all meals.

xx

A Note...

...To the random lady I met in the chemist:

Thank you so much for showing me your dentures, even though I did not ask to see them. I have often been curious as to what dentures actually look like. I also didn't realise that having dentures could change the shape of a persons face so much.

My favourite bit of our meeting, however, was when you showed me your two natural teeth. I was over-awed as to how yellow they were, and how empty your mouth looked without your dentures in. I was very pleased to hear that you found a product in the chemist that will whiten your two teeth: however I think my urge to be a little bit sick perhaps outweighed your joy in finding said tooth whitening product.

Love Wendy.xx

Note to self: must floss several times daily.

A Little Bit About Me...

Emily, over at Say Anything tagged me to take part in the following quiz. You should definitely have a little look at Emily's blog. Here's a little sneak peak:

What is your current obsession?

Photos, photos, photos! I still can't get enough of my Holga. I do like digital photography, and think that it extends creativity, but totally kills the anticipation of shooting a roll of film, and having to wait weeks for it to be developed. I get that feeling of anticipation with my Holga now - I love waiting weeks to see the fruits of my labour!

Coffee or tea?

I used to always start my day with a cup of coffee, then took tea throughout the day, but the caffine started to hurt my little head. Now I drink fruit and herbal tea, and sometimes a decaffinated coffee as I do like the taste.

What's for dinner?
I can only even eat what I'm in the mood for, so I don't know yet (it's only 10am!). I'm hankering after some halloumi cheese at the moment - so if I can track some down that may feature heavily in tonight's dinner!

What was the last thing you bought?

It's been 33oC here lately, and consequently our house has turned into a sweat-box, so yesterday lunchtime I popped out and bought a chrome fan from John Lewis. Last night was cool cool bliss!

What are you listening to right now?

Lily, our parrot, is singing a little song, which seems to involve the words "watchy bo" over and over again. I have no idea what "watchy bo" means, but she seems to be enjoying herself. She has a dance to go with it - she's such a character!

What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?

Classic vanilla.
I am more obsessed with sorbet and frozen yoghurt - they're not techincally ice-cream, but so yummy!

What is your favorite colour?

Mustard yellow or red everytime.
It's ok to have more than one favourite, isn't it?

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your wardrobe?

Not really clothing, but when I was in New Zealand I bought a vintage tooled leather bag, and it goes everywhere with me. If anything happened to it I would definitely cry.

What is your dream job?

My job now is to encourage children to walk and cycle to school, and I have to say I love it. I love working with kids: their enthusiasm and humour is so contagious, and they always come out with the funniest things!

How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?

Three or four - before boyfriend orders me out of bed! I am terrible at getting out of bed in the morning - if I had my way alarm clocks would be banned and we'd all just get up when our bodies told us to!

Thanks Emily - so much fun!

I tag:
Girl With The Golden Touch
Poptart
White Wine In The City

xx

ps: to my American friends: happy 4th July! Light some sparklers and fireworks for me!

It's Difficult Being a Good Girl...

{Image via Flickr user: chotda}

...when people at your office keep bringing in endless supplies of cakes, muffins, doughnuts, chocolate and ice-cream.

Today it's safe to say I was definitely not a good girl. In fact I was naughty, quite quite naughty.

Note to self: take fruit to work tomorrow.

xx