Grazing Days

Heard about this website from my Dad. It's called Graze and it lets you pick a little selection of natural foods like nuts, dried fruit, seeds, and olives and the box is delivered to your door. The idea is to graze through the box during the week to encourage healthier snacking. Looking at it from a design point of view, they've got it completely right. The boxes that the food comes in are intricately designed, all made from natural looking materials. The website seems to be really well put together too. It's only £2.99 including delivery, but you get your first box half price, and there's all sorts of deals on.

You can choose your box fillings or let Graze do it for you, according to your health requirements/preferences.

grazeeatwell
The all-rounder, simply everything that's good about grazing in one box.

grazeenergy
Mostly low GI foods to keep blood sugar levels stable for energy all day long.

grazewellbeing
Packed full of food to support our natural defence systems.

Definitely worth a peak.

Muse Of The Day

Helena Bonham-Carter in 'A Room With A View'

I watched the film at the weekend and was so taken with the grace of HB-C, i hardly took notice of the plot. I absolutely loved the costumes and found myself making mental notes on how i could bring her character's style into my own wardrobe, with a modern twist of course. As much as i would enjoy ambling down the road in a bustle, daft hat and lace gloves, i think i may get more funny looks than normal. I will be reading the book over the Easter hols, i might take it as reading material for Rome actually, after all it is set in Italy (not quite Rome but nevermind). Definitely watch the film though, look out for the scene where three men leap around by a pond, stark naked. Much mirth was had by all.

I love the detail of the clothes, the tiny waists, the tailoring and dainty parasols. I would very much like parasols to make a come back this Spring/Summer actually.

Easter Food

Not being a particularly religious family, we tend not to celebrate Easter in a big way these days. Especially now that my brother an i are seen to be past the acceptable age for easter egg hunts and over indulging on vast amounts of chocolate. We do however enjoy any excuse for a well put together meal. Below is my ideal Easter Sunday meal, topped off with an imaginative take on the tradition chocolate egg/bunny.

To Start: Pea, Mint & Spring Onion Soup with Parmesan biscuits. It looks such a fantastic colour (and is probably tasty too).

To Follow: Roast Lamb studded with Rosemary and Garlic. We made something similar last year and it went down a treat so i'd be more than happy to have it again. Would be nice with some little new potatoes and wilted spinach.

To finish off, instead of a pud, i'd go for one of these Vosges Chocolate bunnies. There are loads of really interesting flavour combinations, this one being my favourite. It's white chocolate with Amalfi lemon zest and pink peppercorns. It's a steal at $12 (an American company) but i imagine they would get you on shipping costs and i suppose you can't be entirely confident of it arriving in one piece.

So that is my ideal Easter feast. I'd put the kitchen table in the conservatory at home with a nice table cloth, and have lots of little lanterns like the ones below, round the room. There would be a glass vase filled with daoffodils

'Mad Girl's Love Song'

March: 10 Things...

...I Would Like To Do This Spring

1. Bike ride in the countryside or the park (perhaps re-teach myself how to ride a bike first).

2.Travel. Hi Rome :]

3. Bake lots.

4.  Picnics if the weather's warm enough.

5. Afternoon naps in a sunny spot.

6. Learn how to book-bind and make little publications.

7. Get my legs out as they haven't seen sunlight since August '09.

8. Spring Clean the house and fill it with flowers.

9. Read Lots.

10. Go to a spring wedding, especially one with a cheese table.

Have a nice weekend! xoxo

Pretty Packaging

I think i've had more fun wrapping the Man Candy's birthday presents than buying them or giving them to him. Because they're fairly distinctive shapes i only used tissue paper as the main wrapping paper, didn't see the point in drawing out the process of guessing by using opaque paper. The ribbon is from an art supplies shop called Fred Aldous (worth a look), and i created the tags on illustrator to get a bit of practise in. More birthdays please, so i can make things look pretty.

Stage Presence

"A wave swept up to the shore and took me back for the ride.
And in that moment of fear I gazed below normal tide
That’s when the depths of the ocean showed what was really inside.
I saw a man sat just below the surface on a rock.
And his wisdom filled gaze withdrew all panic and shock
And unlocked an inner calm that let me float down to his depths"

1000 Words - Scroobius Pip     o

The thought of being on stage in front of a room full of people fills me with fear and dread and would even encourage me into showing violence towards a passing asthmatic for a calming puff on their inhaler. At a production of West Side Story that had a friend performing in, i pulled a muscle in my back from 3 hours of sitting tensely. When my younger brother (at the tender age of 16) didn't blink an eye at the heckles he was getting during his one man stand up routine at an established venue, i was having minor nervous breakdowns and heart palpitations. I don't think i will ever feel comfortable on stage and quite frankly, i can live with that, but that doesn't stop me from feeling green with envy at those who stage presence comes naturally to. I went with said sibling/breakthrough comedian to watch Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip perform last night. I was mesmerised by the ease at which 'Pip' strutted round the stage, winning over a crowd of lairy Mancunians. I couldn't stop myself from staring and following his every move, probably subconsciously trying to pick up tips for the future where i might be presented with a similar situation. I wonder if stage presence is something you are born with, or whether you can learn it.

Hi Rome

The man candy and i have just booked a last minute trip to Rome, leaving on the 7th April. We're staying in a quaint little apartment really near the Vatican. I am beyond excited, i keep grinning madly on buses or when i'm walking down the street whenever i think about it. I can't wait to stroll down for breakfast at little cafes for coffee and pastries, then head on into the city to look around and scout out some nice little restaurants. Hopefully we'll stumble across some food markets and get to try some of the street food too. I'm going to take so many photos, I wonder if my cameras up to the challenge. So keeping with the excited theme of this post, below are some of the places i might get to visit.

More over excited posting soon :]

Dresses

There is an event that happens every May, that i have been to for the last 6 years. It takes up a whole weekend, but a whole year of planning. I'm lucky enough to get to help on the day setting up and sorting things out. I enjoy it so much as i see people i don't normally get to, and stay in a lovely hotel...but what i love most is choosing a dress for the occasion. I've started browsing around for a few potential dresses and found a few really lovely ones...

I absolutely love this one above by Ted Baker

I think i'm looking at items a little out of my price range but it's nice to look. The colours i'm leaning towards at the moment are black, cream, red and pink. Suggestions welcome.

Magic

I was in a bar on Tuesday with a friend, happily putting the world to right when a man came over and asked if he'd be interrupting a serious conversation. We said he would be a little, thinking he was just coming over to chat, but he left us to it no problem. I went to the loos and came back to find him at our table talking to my friend. I was expecting to have to rescue her from being chatted up but as i sat back down, it turned out he was doing magic tricks. We let him carry on and he turned out to be really impressive. After sufficiently confusing us with several tricks he just wandered off to another table. He didn't ask or expect any money, or anything from us at all, he just wanted to show us some magic. I quite liked that. He let me keep the card that he'd tricked me with too :]

Rubbish Theory

I realise there's been a bit of a gap in posts, and i doubt you'll be left feeling satisfied after this but beggers can't be choosers. My life is currently being consumed by the following books. They're helping me write my essay which is due in on the 22nd (when normal blogging will return).

Not the nicest of topics but i'm actually really enjoying the reading, especially 'Purity and Danger', Douglas writes in a fairly light hearted way despite addressing some serious topics. Excuse the lack of enthusiastic blogging but i've just got to get this essay out of the way and then i'm all yours. Enjoy the rest of your week.

Exhibitions

Two exhibitions i would like to go to:

SUGAR AND SPICE 
AND ALL THINGS
NICE

02 March 10 - 01 May 10

and

Afternoon Tea

16 February 10 - 27 March 10

Both at Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre and both free!