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QueenBeady

Category: feel good

  • I get wed this year!

    Good afternoon on this cold, blustery, winters day. Whilst the weather outside would be enough to make even the Cheshire cat’s smile turn upside down I have other reasons to be happy. I get married this year. YES! I can finally say it, I get married to the man I have loved for 7 years this coming June. It could not feel anymore invigorating knowing that all our hard work/time/money will all come to almighty crescendo in exactly 5 months today.

    I’ve been pinning AVIDLY since we got engaged in October 2012, so much so I’m in overload with the amount of ”repins” and ”likes” I get every day. I have exceeded over 7K worth of pins over the last year or so. Crazy, right? In fact I’ve just checked and in less that 5 hours I have another 48 notifications. I guess my style of wedding has all centred around being colourful & have been inspired by the vintage/retro/quirky looks of the modern day wedding. Whilst it won’t be a carbon copy I’ve been able to draw some exciting ideas from the magical world of Pinterest, where everyone can share ideas and post their own fairytale weddings for the whole world to see. Check out my inspiration so far – QueenBeady on Pinterest

    I’m so excited mainly because everything has been handmade with love or friends/family have got involved with making it a stress free (& friendly on the purse strings!) event! My best friends in the run up to the big day have been eBay & Pinterest (have I mentioned I LOVE Pinterest? No? Surely I’ve told you already?) I have managed to bag 6 unique bridesmaid dresses and also my little flower girls dress too! Our house is slowly turning in to what can only be described as a ”hoarding hole” – we have been collecting jars of all shapes and sizes and we are slowly running out of space to store them. In fact, instead of writing this I should probably be boxing them up to store in the back bedroom (yeah right?) The jars will be the centre pieces for the table with beautiful garden flowers (James’ Aunty is going to help with this as she is an avid gardener!) to array them with & also vanilla scented tea lights. Everything is about looking like it’s just rolled up and hasn’t been forced? So many weddings these days are all about ”perfection” and to be quite frank, nothing is perfect so why make it that way? We are all about just sharing our love with the people we love dearly, nothing more, nothing less.

    That brings me on to Rock & Roll Bride which I’ve read a few times but was drawn in to reading it again as one of my favourite bloggers BriarRoseBlog – Megan McMinnhas just had her & her now husbands wedding featured. It was magical and the photos are truly magnificent, they capture the day so wonderfully. Everything was decided by them and obviously let no rules or limitations get in their way & it turned out pretty swell by the looks of things. I love Rock & Roll Bride for the simple fact it does not succumb the social theorem of ”how a wedding should be” You should never told how to express your love for the simple fact no-one else knows. Only you & your significant other totally understand the inner depths of one another. So to hell with social convention, I think I might get piñata & ride a donkey into my wedding (am I brave enough to do that? Nah, I don’t think so!) but trust me everything on our special day will be relevant to just James & I! How unperfectly perfect is that?

    Over the coming months I’ll be blogging a lot more about the plans for our wedding, in fact, I’ll probably bore you, so I kindly allow my readers to switch off….. NOW!

  • The obligatory round-up of 2013!

    2013 you have most definitely been an interesting one. I’ve seen quite a lot of things this year, some beautiful & some not so kind. I can certainly say (as cliché as it may sound) one helluva rollercoaster.

    January is always a tough one for me, I work every hour god sends and work full weekends to keep on top of the travelling wanderlusters. It is always our busiest time of the year for holiday bookings and this year was no exception. January feels a lifetime ago now that this year is nearly over & done with. Nothing exciting ever happens except for our annual meal out for my Mama’s birthday which was always a lovely affair. This year was no exception & we enjoyed a meal at our favourite pub www.thefoxandhoundswalton.com where the food is always delicious. If you are in the area I highly recommend it, so much so, we have asked them to do the catering for our impending wedding day! We also booked our wedding day with the Church & we couldn’t have been happier that everything was set in stone for what will be our most magical day.

    February is again, a very slow month for us. I still end up working weekends. Whilst February is the month of love, James & I are never ones for celebrating Valentines Day (We are Vday Scrooges!) we actually went all out & I created a steak dinner with a baked cake delight for pudding. He did the obligatory flowers & prosecco which certainly did not disappoint.

    March I lived for my week off in March. End. March sadly saw my Grandads first illness and was in hospital for a week or so. I’d never seen my Grandad ill so it was really hard to take it in, luckily he was home but there was a huge difference in him. I only hoped that he would get back to himself very soon. (more…)

  • You’re looking at the next Fearne Cotton (maybe not?!)

     

    Tuesday happened to be the most bizarre day of my life so far.

    I went to do an interview at TempoFm1074 Wetherby for a charity event that our branch is leading. Of course, I was nervous & my hands were shaking as it was so long ago since I had done anything that required my “dramatic” side to come out. Needless to say, it went smoothly. So much so the radio stations life & soul asked me if it was something I had ever thought about?
    “What radio presenting?” I was gobsmacked of course. Within a few minutes he wanted to get me in to have a go playing around with the equipment & making a mock radio show. And with that, I was booked in for Wednesday to have a go.

    So there I was after work in a radio studio playing with all the computers, buttons, microphones, sliders & much more! At first it was the most daunting thing I have EVER done… But with time I started to realise that I needed to let me personality blossom over the “fake radio slot” that was being recorded.

    I felt pretty honoured as Alan was trying g to show me things that he wouldn’t normally do till the 3rd or 4th lesson. Granted, some of it I got other bits it took a few go’s to actually get it. When I got home I kicked myself because it started to make more sense not a risky being in front of the daunting radio equipment!

    So after trying to blag the weather & events in the area I got the jist of it. I got to play some of my favourite songs, most notably Haim! And I just generally had a brilliant time.

    It’s something I never thought I would ever do in my wildest dreams. Whilst I’m not saying I’m the next big thing, but by god I am going to give it a shot and make sure I’m putting in 110%. I’m booked in for my next slot next week on Wednesday for more training & we will take from there.

    As I always say….make sure if you are presented with something that is a great opportunity just try. If you don’t enjoy you have given it your best shot. But one day you might well have a surprise that you just didn’t expect….EVER!

    Rebecca

  • The Manhattan Room onboard NCL Breakaway

    As I write I am currently sat in the Manhattan Room onboard the NCL Breakaway. I know how rude of me to have my phone at the table, but truth has it, I am still waiting for my dinner guests to arrive as they are currently trying out the amazing high ropes & climbing wall. So whilst I’m sat here I can write to my hearts content. A truly amazing menu is on offer & I really don’t know what to do with myself? The restaurant has a really suave & sophisticated feel too it without it being over pretentious. The jazz & blues singer is keeping me entertained whilst I still decide on my menu choice. I haven’t even explored half the ship yet, with eighteen decks & less than 24 hours on board, the mind boggles how you’d even find everything within a weeks cruise. So rather than be rude, ill post a full blog when I get home with plenty of photos. In the meantime can you help me choose my evening meal?

  • To buy or to rent?

    To buy or to rent?

    Having just picked up my copy of Company’s April 2013 edition I was overcome to write a blog with regards to Lena de Casparis column about choosing to rent rather than buy.

    I assume living in London is the epicentre of cool bars, chic nails bars & oozes that unique appeal but for those who don’t live in one of the most over priced cities in Europe I urge you not to give up saving for your dream home yet.

    At 21 I broke the norm by buying my first house with my now fiancé. Pretty sweet huh? I never look back & think “what a mistake it was to give up renting.” It has given me a real sense of achievement & I never forget it. There are ways now that can help the first time buyer in whatever location you want. We were lucky with our beautiful little home in the countryside with great links to Leeds & Harrogate, two of the most uber cool towns in the Uk. Living on the golden triangle also makes it so much sweeter.

    Our money is paving the way to being all ours and not dead money. We achieved this by buying a house on a shared equity scheme. We only pay 60% of the house price but its all ours. Luckily for these schemes we could put down a 5% deposit. This made it affordable and didn’t break the bank. We can enjoy life at the same time as owning a home. We are still holidaying every year, enjoy delicious meals out, I can get my nails done every month & we are saving for our wedding in 2014. So what I say to all you people out there is, buying your own home is not all doom & gloom. Just go over your options & make sure its right for you before you commit to such a BIG purchase. I love my home sweet home and so should you.

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