Five days of.....

fun, flicks, friends and not forgetting of course the football!
I've had a busy week, which has consisted of this:

• Flicks ~ a trip to the cinema to see Letter's to Juliet. Lovely film, (except last 5 minutes, tooo cheesy for me) lovely night out with the ladies,now want to visit Verona!
• Theatre ~ thursday saw a visit to the Palace Theatre to see Priscilla - Queen of the Desert (see separate post below)
• Feast ~ A night out with a special friend who has just reached the grand age of 70, celebrated in style with an Indian banquet!
• Five birthday wishes to my godson Harry, who also reached a special age of 5 this week.
• Football ~ very hard to miss when the country grinds to a halt for a game of football!

obviously work fitted inbetween....

Priscilla ~ Queen of the Desert

is an absolute Ride from start to finish.

Everyone who see's this raves about it, and it is on my 40 things in my 40th year list! what more excuses did i need to go. ( bargain ticket £15 & upgrade on arrival was an added bonus!)

The very yummy Ben Richards has taken over from Jason Donovan in the role of Tick and he was great, and very pleasing on the eye! the 2 other guys who play Bernadette and Felicia are fantastic and the soundtrack will have you dancing in the aisles.

I loved this musical, espcially as it included dancing Cupcakes!... much recomended, a great girls night, you will never see anything more camper on stage! I sat between a group of girls on a hen night and a group of ladies from the WI, and we all had a ball! ( big glittery ones at that!)

Hi 5 to Harry ...

today is my Godson's 5th Birthday.

As we all know in the small world of a child's thinking, 5 is quite a monumental achievement. It means he can now do so many things that his big brother (6) does!... karate, school full time, etc so he's very excited.

He is of course sharing his birthday party with a certain England football game!.... so it will either all end in tears or much celebration.

have a fab day Harry, see you Friday after school... hugs Auntie Tx

World Cup Widow.....

well one week in ....The only conversation in the office is of a footballing nature and my daily job is to update the wall planner as the final whistle blows!...

So, this got me thinking of all the benefits that the world cup has to offer us girls!.. here's a few of my suggestions

• Chick Flick Cinema ~ plan your visit to coincide with a popular game, the road's are empty and 2 hours of uninterrupted bliss watching a great chick flick, recommended are Sex & the City 2 and Letters to Juliet.
• Afternoon Tea ~ especially for those afternoon games, for something a little different  in London check out these  Haagen-Dazs (Leicester square only) complete with ice cream cupcakes and, Sex & The City Tea (Churchill Hyatt) complete with cosmo's!

• Beauty Hall Treats ~ check out your local department store, lot's are hosting beauty event evenings during the tournament.
• Theatre ~ lot's of theatres are offering discount tickets, some London theatres from £10 a ticket..
• Shop the Sales ~ most retailers have gone into sale early to compete... check
• Grab a good book or visit the library, here are 9 reads  to escape from it all, curl up with a coffee, chocolate & a book... mmm heaven.
• Blog hop.... follow 10 new blogs that you find hopping during the football... we all know how we can loose hours whilst blogging!
• Alternatively if all these fail, there's always Glee!... have a Glee night, it will brighten anyone's evening... enjoy Tx

Picnic in the park.....

followed by a Serenade in the Courtyard ....is how I spent last night.
I am of course referring to the annual Hampton Court Festival, hosting a week of concerts in the courtyard of Hampton Court which is preceded by a Picnic in the park of the palace!

This obviously gave me much excuse to pull out the Picnic hamper and indulge in the whole Famous 5 ideal of  a picnic; tomato sandwiches, boiled eggs, lemonade, melt-in-the-mouth shortbread, and lashings ginger beer....
now prefixed with greek salad, frittata, falafel, dips & chips with summer fruit salad, mini chocolate pots & lashings of sparkling rose!...

I got lots of looks with my lovely picnic basket & blanket on the train on route to Hampton Court!

I met up with 2 of my dearest friends and we whiled away a couple of hours in the grounds. We relaxed in the shade, under trees that looked like they had been plucked from Alice-in-wonderland, on the front lawn of the palace.

As dusk fell we strolled through the Palace to the courtyard which was delightful.

This building is quite breathtaking, the chimney stakes are a work of art in themselves.

We were then serenaded for a couple of hours by the very talented Michael Bolton.

As previously blogged he is a bit of a guilty pleasure for me!

I had a fantastic evening, it was lovely relaxing and catching-up with the girls, enjoying the sunshine in the most stunning of surroundings, followed by a magical concert.....

One more to tick off on my 40 things in my 40th year list!.... Thanks C & S for a fab night xx
here is clip that I have found on You tube of Michael singing nessum dorma.

Friday 5 ~ Favourite Smells!

missed the last couple of weeks friday 5's, but i;m back.... thanks to Caroline & girls for a great Friday 5. I take smell for granted, and this really made me think, if I lost my sense of smell what would I miss the most;

1. Sweet Peas ~ my favourite flower, only available for a short period of time. Evokes memories of my gramps garden, Tepee's of sweet peas alongside the shed.
2. Clean washing ~ I am somewhat obsessed with the smell of clean washing, especially a freshly laundered bed.
3. Freshly Baked Bread ~ I don't have to explain anymore!
4. Coffee ~ freshly ground coffee, mmmm I am a coffee addict aholic!
5. Baking ~ Saturday afternoon was bake day at my nans, you could smell the goodies baking walking up the garden path!... fav is Victoria Sandwich mmmmm

I'm off to put the kettle on for a coffee!...... enjoy, what's your fav 5?

baby cakes....

in more ways than one!.... recently I have had a number of cards & things to make for babies.
My friend at work left on Friday to have her baby.... I am happy to announce that Baby Lola arrived this morning.... as part of her baby gift I bought her a little outfit with "my pretty little cupcake" on the front. We knew it was a girl and she has been aptly named 'Kylie' throughout the pregnancy by our very gay friend Lee!
Kylie became Lola and was announced today on arrival, so Katie & Ben now have their very own Cupcake!.. how yummy!
I also caught up with Victoria & Kelly last night for a spot of drinks & supper, which was great timing after Kelly's news at the weekend!.... hence a chance to try out my "bun in oven" card design... complete with buns/cupcakes in the oven!... a  lovely night, and a great chance to catch up on all the news...thanks girls, they never miss an opportunity to shop in the big Yellow store!