If you need a last minute gift idea, how about a bunch of her favourite flowers, baking a cake, reenacting a childhood photo with your siblings, or sending her a link to Tom Hardy's Cbeebies bedtime stories:
Lush also have some delightful concoctions to pamper your mama with...
Best friends / Tulips / Ups-a-Daisy
Our favourite cheese company have collaborated with Forest Gin to create a gin flavoured cheese *hallelujah*. Looking forward to picking one up at the Treacle Market and digging into it with the OG.
I'm also pretty sure I qualify for mother's day this year as I'm now the proud mama of two handsome kittens! The jump from one to two really is as tough as they say *ba dum tss*
Here's to you, mum. Thank you for going through hell, so I didn't have to.
P.S: Anyone else caught this Asda advert lately? Has my mum and I howling every time.
I'm on the finish tonight at the pub and praying that all the Guinness hats have been sold by the time I get there. Either way, once I clock out you'd best believe imma head to a bar and have a baby Guinness or two! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, tonight is the night to order one and find out.
It's Monday morning so I thought I'd share this ADORABLE video of pandas, who are basically that drunk mate we all have to look after but all love cos we go back so long, right?
If the zoo staff can do their job in spite of these reckless rascals, we can get through today!
Just thought I'd jump online to wish you all a HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY! I hope you've spent the day however which way you chose, and celebrated the magnanimous women that no doubt surround you, yourself included. Luckily I had the day off work, so jumped out of bed, caught the 130 bus and hand delivered a bunch of tulips to my favourite lady: my mama.
Above is a glorious photograph I came across whilst searching #womensmarch
during my lunch break on January 21st. Also props to my favourite fashion house, Missoni, who showed solidarity with those that marched, at their FW17 catwalk with their pussy hats:
After graduating university I fulfilled the promise I'd made myself whilst slaving away over my dissertation in the 24 hour library. I bought a one way ticket home to Greece. I spent three glorious months at my grandmother's house in Corfu without a care in the world. However before I knew it, it was late September and my cash flow was depleting. As winter jobs on the island are scarce, I begrudgingly bought a one way ticket back to Manchester and set about sending my CV to every Tom, Dick and Harry.
Getting ready 4 work
My guiding northern star was to make that money and return to the island in the spring to be a recluse. That's the dream: 6 months grinding, 6 months writing.
lol when you mention you studied creative writing in your CV
I ended up moving to the quaint town of Macclesfield and starting three part time jobs in one week. I was a barmaid, barista and confectioner for six hectic months. Juggling all three was equally as rewarding as it was exhausting. I must admit, they're ace skills to have in your back pocket if you're travelling. Even if you find yourself in a country where you don't speak the language, if you can make coffee and cocktails, you'll always have a job.
The best part was immersing myself into the magnificent community of Macclesfield - I'm a right macaroon now, as my mum would say. Reminiscing about the motley crew of friends I made along the way and the regulars still make me chuckle - esp Tracey and her one liners! If someone ordered a large americano, she'd yell JOHN CANDY. Any guesses for what a Tom Cruise is? ... a SMALL americano!
Creating seasonal display windows at the sweet shop was also buckets of fun and taking pick and mix orders from adorable kiddiewinks. How else would I know that shrimps are also known as ballet slippers? I've also finally mastered the art of fixing a broken heart: get 3 jobs. You won't have time to mope.
The hardest part was running on empty and Marks and Spencer's uniform. Lime green and black is hard for anyone to pull off. Remembering millennials coffee orders also proved pretty tough...
... and accidentally having the heater on full blast during a snow day in the sweet shop and melting half the stock. OOPSY DAISY! Oh, and finally wearing a giant Guinness hat on St. Patrick's day. Sure it's fun, but only if you're on the right side of the bar!
I thought I'd share some of my top time management skills to help anyone else out there doing the most.
1. Turn the impossible into a thousand possible things.
2. Be realistic with your commute. It was no coincidence that all 3 jobs were on the same high street that my flat overlooked.
3. Be social when you can. You're gonna have three meals a day. Might as well eat with friends and family.
4. Write all your hours on a calendar and colour coordinate each job. This way you can keep track of your earnings and stay focused on one day at a time. Or one hour, if you have to.
5. Set boundaries and don't over commit yourself. Be transparent with all your bosses and give different hours of availability to each. Stick to them. If you can't cover someone's shift or come to work early one day, that's ok. Your reply isn't an excuse, it's a reason.
6. Automate as many bills as you can.
7. In the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger: sleep faster.
Some offices are worse than others.
8. To power phrase Lao Tzu, 'time is created'. If you want to do something, you'll make time for it.
9. Cash saving tips: Make the most of your staff discount and canteen. Rather than splurging a fiver every day on lunch, I'd hit up M&S's staff room which had an endless supply of FREE bread, fruit, jams, a toaster and coffee vending machine! Another tip if you're trying to save $ is to cut big bills such as Sky TV, the gym membership you never use and change to a more modest phone plan. I used to think that cutting down on my daily Pret flat white would make a drastic difference and it did, to my mood! It's way more effective to make ONE decision to cut a big bill, rather than a DAILY decision to save pennies.
10. Make the most of your rare days off. My grandmother always says, if you can wake up for the boss, you can wake up for you.
14. Implement the spoonful of sugar, after all if you can't have a little fun what's the point? I used to challenge myself to finish cleaning the sweet shop and locking up in the time it took me to finish a lemon sherbet!
15. Music is such a powerful mood shifter. Make a morning playlist for when you're in the shower to gear you up for the day and maintain a steady pace.
16. Embrace the eat the frog theory. If you were to eat a frog in the morning, in comparison the rest of your day would seem like a breeze. Do the odd jobs you're dreading first thing in the morning, then you have the rest of the day to yourself.
17. If the thing you keep putting off takes ten minutes or less, do it right now.
18. If you do everything last minute it only takes one minute. Just joking. That was a TEST!
19. Value your time and other people will do the same.
20. Be mindful of your procrastinating habits. My black holes are reddit and netflix. The best way to beat procrastination is to go back to the flip phone.
21. We're all equal when it comes to time.
22. I'm sure the reason you're working like a dog is to save cash, but if a pack of yum yums (classier version of doughnuts) gets you through a 14 hour day. Don't think twice, BUY' EM!
23. Working maddening hours isn't sustainable and eventually you will burn out if you don't get enough sleep and mental rest time. Keep the end goal in sight. Whether that's a summer of backpacking or paying off your debt. Let that be your fuel.
This was my fuel - the second glass belonging to my mother, of course. What is yours?
This print, found in Macc café Jack Sevens, used to be my screensaver.
I've been putting off a trip to the opticians for years. Utterly ridiculous, I know - but I wouldn't wish trying on countless pairs of specs, in front of the entire town, on my worst enemy. Up until recently, I'd somehow managed to get by having only braved it once. Mind you, that was back when I was a teen and thought that I could pull off chartreuse coloured frames. Why did nobody stop me?
Anyway - I finally bit the bullet last month and popped by the Macclesfield Specsavers branch.
I was immediately struck by the abundance of staff and soon greeted by a friendly face, a chap called Craig. As cheesy as it sounds, we gelled instantly and I genuinely felt like I was shopping with a pal. The first pair I tried on was these groovy Moschino frames à la Anita Radcliffe - which were the reason I'd gone to Specsavers in the first place.
Trying them on was a total anticlimax and Craig was the first to say it - ironically, that was when his customer service skills won me over. It's so refreshing when sales assistants give their honest opinion! Eventually I settled on these pairs, which fell under their 2for1 offer. I also opted for anti glare, so driving with them won't be a hassle. I should probably get my license first though lol.
There was one particular part of the process which was pretty neat. Craig took a close up photo of me wearing both frames and then connected specific dots to my pupils. This way each pair of glasses is catered to the individual customer.
Χάι τεκ! :P
Since my visit, Kylie (Minogue, not Jenner - thank you very much) has launched a range with Specsavers. Her rose tortoiseshell pair in particular are calling me...
If you too have been dodging the opticians, here's some eyecandy *ba dum tss* to entice you:
Best friends / Tulips / Ups-a-Daisy
