Anniversary part one

So 18th May was our one year wedding anniversary. We had such a fantastic day! I woke up early and made R a nice big breakfast, including pork and apple sausages, scrambled eggs and toast! He gave me my present, and it was an amazing ink drawing he did of El Campello, where we went on honeymoon, mounted and framed. We've put it up in the bedroom and it looks great.

I headed off to work, and went about my business when I received a call downstairs from reception that I had something waiting for me - I went downstairs and there was the most amazing bouquet of flowers! Well lucky me, I thought, as I carried them upstairs. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the flowers from R, and asked about our plans for the evening. 'Oh, I don't know, it's a surprise'. Then, after lunch, ANOTHER call downstairs - something ELSE waiting for me! How sweet, R's parents sent me a basket of flowers, too! So spoiled, let me tell you.

Anyway, I told R I was going to the gym and that I would meet him at the train station for 6. Unbeknownst to him, Gerald from work was helping me bring in the enormous framed photograph of New York I got for him, from a local artist in Brighton. I wrapped it up in leftover Christmas paper, and headed off to meet him. When we came home, it was so great to surprise him with a pressie! He really liked it; I can't wait to put it up! (It's so big, we're going to need something a bit more substantial to hang it!)

Afterwards, we headed off for dinner at Food for Friends! What a nice surprise! It's this really posh and nice veggie restaurant in Brighton (I will say that for Brighton, they have great veggie options!)

food for friends!

Our food was delish! We had organic cider, brewed in Sussex, a great mezze dish with all sorts of hummus, babaganoush, etc, with pita bread. Then for a main, I had mushroom baked with feta cheese and pine nuts, with sweet potato fries and, all topped with a pesto sauce. Omg, amazing. For desert, we shared the truffles. I have to say, I'm not a big money person - we live comfortably, and enjoy what we do. But friggin heck, I would love to be loaded, just so we could eat like that everyday! I'd also be a bloater. Maybe that's why I'm poor - to keep me healthy!

After that, it was a few cheeky bevvies at the Fiddler's Elbow, and off home! A great night, and just reminds me (as if I need it - I'm reminded everyday) how lucky I am to have found R, the Irishman and American Lady, in the middle of Scotland! The world works in mysterious, and amazing, ways.

Little did I know, there was much much more in store...

learning how to cook

I
amwas a horrible cook. Growing up, my stepfather was the chef (as he had owned several health food restaurants before, he was pretty darn good at it). As a result, we had delicious and nutritious meals plopped in front of us, day in and day out. Score! But, that also meant I never ever learned how to cook for myself. That was okay for the first two years of college. Living on campus meant I had to pay for 'meal points' and eat in the dining halls. Hey, that's fine with me! The big test came when I went to Edinburgh to study for my third year. Huh. I have to make my own food. How does that work? Well, it didn't. As my flatmates will confirm, my third year at college, I lived on cereal, Guinness and cheese on toast, with some Diet Coke thrown in for good measure. And while I lost 15lbs (wahey!), it was probably due to malnutrition rather than any amazing lifestyle improvements.

This continued on for my final year at college (I did improve slightly - I could now cook rice, pasta and occasionally chicken). I moved back to Edinburgh, and met The Man of My Dreams (R). Suddenly, I didn't just have to cook (ha) for myself, I had someone to share meals with. At first, it was great, because he offered to cook all the time (real meals for the first time in 2 years probably contributed to my stone weight gain - that and being in lurve). But then I realised I was going to have to start cooking myself *gulp*.

R's favourite story is the time I offered to cook dinner and shoo'ed him away and said, 'I'm FINE'. Two minutes later, I had to ask him to come in and show me how to chop an onion. Yes, I had never before in my life chopped an onion.

Luckily, I slowly but steadily began learning how to cook. It really was a completely new experience to me. I was a stickler for following recipes - because lets face it, you can't go 'off book' unless you know what happens when you go 'on book'. And I didn't. I didn't have a clue how long it took to boil an egg, or roast vegetables, or cook beef. So if a recipe said 'fry for 10 minutes' I was fine, but god forbid it said 'roast until tender'. ??!?!?!?

Now, 3 years on, I have come to the realisation that I finally know 'how to cook'. I still follow recipes, but know what I like, and how to change recipes to suit my needs. I can create a meal using leftovers and bits and bobs, off the top of my head. When I go to the shops, I don't need to cart around books with me, because I know what goes into a home cooked meal. It's such a liberating feeling, and I've been really lucky to have R support me along the way (even with not so yummy results!).

Last night was a prime example of my confidence as a cook. I was following a recipe for 'Prawn and Rice Salad', but realised a) we didn't have rice and b) I don't like raw courgettes. So instead, I used what we had and adapted the recipe and BOY OH BOY was it yum.

I soaked some lemon and coriander couscous in hot water. Then I fried up the diced courgettes, and threw in the prawns to warm them up. Combine the prawns and courgettes with the couscous, add some lemon juice and pepper, and serve on a bed of rocket, topped with torn basil and a little bit of olive oil. YUMMY!

Next on my list is following in Leashie's footsteps and learning how to bake!

smug married couple

Today, I am smug. I am one half of a smug married couple. This awesomely bodacious smug married couple woke up this morning and went for a 5.5 mile this morning. Upon our return, we had smoothies (mango, pineapple and papaya, with apple and mango juice) to replenish our smug selves. Then, we devoured our homemade bread from our homemade bread maker. Yes we are so smug we even prepared our bread BEFORE our run to be ready for lunch.


After cleaning the flat (more smugness) we are now watching the rugby and drinking beer, waiting for friends and bangers and mash for dins. Life is good.

It's not everyday you get to watch your dad get shot on TV...

But that's what happened yesterday! While we were in LA, my dad was filming a small (ie, opening scenc) role for The Unit (what looks to be a really crap show).

Click here to see the Prosperous Fellow get shot!

Looking a bit further back, I had a fantastic time on Friday night watching the opera Die Tote Stadt. Crazy bald dancing lady was really cool, and I sat next to a purple hair lady!

We stayed over with the Monks and had a lovely 3 hour train journery from Gatwick to Brighton, via the entire friggin English coast (due to rail replacements, so they say).

I'm not really one for valentine's day, but me and the Po-ster went for a lovely meal at one of my fave restaurants, Planet India, which does amazing vegetarian and vegan curries. Our entire meal, drinks included, was £22. Ridonkulous. We left 30 squid and went to the pub. Best V-day EVER.

Sunday was a lazy day, and we watched Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. A-mah-zing.


really really enjoyed both Robert Downey, Jr (wtf, nominated for an Academy Award for Tropic Thunder?!?!) and Val Kilmer. I spent the first 20 minutes of the film trying to remember the last thing he was in. Whatever it was, this was better. Go see it!

Finally, we finished season one of the Wire. Intense. I have to admit, I'm not really into coppers/bad guys tv shows, and at first I wasn't convinced. Boy, about 6 episodes in, I was friggin hooked. Bring on season two!

Love you McNulty!

Tuesday's swim

After work, I headed over to the gym (and their 18m pool - who makes a pool that's 18m???), and decided to do 10x10laps. It was great because the pool was almost totally empty, only 3 people, so we each had our own lane. After 5 sets, it got a bit busier, so I moved from the slow lane (which had been empty!) to the fast lane, and did 4 more sets. Just as I was finishing the 9th set, a big bloke waited until I was 2 feet from the wall to jump in the water ON MY BLOODY HEAD! What is wrong with people??? This is the second time this has happened at this pool (and I've only swum there 3 times!).

Even worse, the guy, because he's a guy, decides he's a 'fast' swimmer, even though he is quite obviously not. And rather than letting me go in front of him, he likes to wait until I'm just about to flipturn to jump out in front of me, swimming 0.03miles an hour. Dear lordy. I don't understand why boys feel so threatened by girls who are faster/better/quicker than them. Get over it! Although I did notice later, from the hot tub vantage point, that he did eventually move to the 'slow' lane (a bit too late for my liking!).

My stupid goggles broke on lap 99 so I took it as a sign from the gods above that my swimming set was over and hopped into the hot tub. Yum. So 17820m swim in about 20-25 minutes, felt pretty good, definitely going to try to work on speed sets (note - buy yourself a watch, kira!). Also had yummy fishcakes for dinner, and used up all our leftover greens (runner beans, green beans and asparagus), and made a delish lemon butter sauce with rosemary to top it off! *smacks lips at deliciousness*

On a side note, I've noticed quite a few of the men (and women) in the gym have tattoos. This was also the case at the King Alfred center. Like way more than I see in LA...but then maybe I just don't normally see people in LA in swimming gear? But then I was a swimmer for years and years! But then that was when I was like 16, and people don't have tattoos at 16 (well they shouldn't really, should they?). But then actually quite a lot of my friends have tattoos, too, so maybe I'm just making this all up in my head.

Anyway, I want another tattoo, but I should probably wait until a) I have money and b) I'm not training for a triathlon where I need to swim several times a week!