Breakfast and Bargains

Thank you so much for all of your lovely comments on my last post! I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to working there. I start on Tuesday with a four hour shift, the perfect way to ease myself into a new shop. Elisa, you were right in your comment, I'll have to be careful when my wages come in, the stock is so pretty!

I had a wonderful day last week. Me and my house mate decided we should do something special before she goes home for the summer. When we go to Buddy's (a restaurant I'm almost certain I've mentioned on here before), the breakfast menu always looks so tempting. So last week, we decided to try it out!
My friend had the Yankee Doodle breakfast, which came with two strips of crispy bacon, two griddled eggs, two hash browns and two buttermilk pancakes. Doesn't it look yummy? That's why we keep going back to Buddy's - the food is just so darn good.



I on the other hand opted for the pancake stack of two pancakes. Look at these beasts! No wonder I could only managed one. They were delicious, thoroughly covered in maple syrup, but very filling. You can just see in the background the pot of tea I had with breakfast too. I thought I'd add a British touch to my American breakfast :)

We then headed off on a train to nearby Eastleigh to do some shopping. Eastleigh has a wonderful range of charity shops and I couldn't resist a wander inside a couple of them. I didn't buy much today but I did get these two clothes patterns for only 50p (78cents) each!

The dress pattern dates from 1972 and the skirt is from 1965. I will have a go at making these eventually, I think it will be quite a learning curve.
We went to the cinema after our shopping and saw Dark Shadows. Visually, it was a stunning film but I think the lack of explanation of some of the characters let it down a bit. Still, who can say no to a bit of Mr Johnny Depp? Plus, we literally had the whole cinema all to ourselves! It was just me and my house mate in a huge Vue cinema - it was so cool.

I hope you've been having a brilliant time lately and enjoying the glorious start to summer. And having lots of yummy pancakes! :)
Best wishes,
 

Hurrah!!

I am so very happy to report that I finally got a job!! Three cheers!!

It all happened so quickly. I handed my CV in on Tuesday morning, got offered an interview Tuesday evening, went for the interview Wednesday morning and got the job Thursday lunchtime. I start work this Tuesday coming and I can't tell you how excited I am!

I bet you're all wondering where it is I'm now working. I am now officially an employee at Cath Kidston Winchester :)

I'm not sure how well known Cath Kidston is over the pond, but here in the UK, it's not just a brand, it's a lifestyle choice. It's a chain of designer shops selling gorgeous handbags, clothing, home goods and fabrics, all in a floral, English country style. They also sell a huge range of sewing accessories; sewing boxes, knitting needles, ribbon, buttons, books etc. It is my dream job because it is just so me.

See, isn't it the most gorgeous shop ever?!

I am so very lucky to get a job there. It's only a temporary position for over the summer at the moment, but the interviewer said they were looking to sign a couple of people on permanently. I plan to show them just how hard working I am to secure one of those jobs. 

There's quite a strict dress code at work. Lots of floral (naturally), no black, only dark denim jeans, sensible shoes and always looking smart with hair and nails and such. If I do get hired permanently (fingers crossed!) I get a fixed allowance to buy Cath Kidston clothes. Genuine Cath Kidston clothes - oh be still my beating heart!

I bet you can tell how excited I am purely by the amount of exclamation marks I've used in this post :) I am so very pleased. Also, houses are being allocated soon so I will soon have a job, a house and the most perfect summer ahead of me ever :)

Best wishes,
 

Delight in the Little Things

I'd like to thank you all so much for your supportive comments on my last post. This is quite a crazy time, with my parents moving out of the house I did a lot of my growing up in, and trying to find a job so I can look after myself properly. The job hunt is going well, I'm pleased to say. I've sent off my CV to a couple of places and I hope to hear back from them soon.
Meanwhile, I've been concentrating on my last week at Uni. I had my presentation on Theatre and Censorship today, and it went really well! It was tough sitting in the same room for four hours in silence with only a twenty minute break, but at least it's over with now. Just got the performance to go on Thursday, then I'm done!

In the evenings, I've been settling down with my cross stitching. I had realised how much my BAP had grown until I took it out of its hoop. It's actually coming along really well.



There's a whole lot of white stitching there for the house, but I do that when I'm watching TV or something so it's not too tedious.

In other news, me and Lawrence went to the May Fair at the weekend and it was delightful. The weather was lovely, so we indulged in large ice creams. Yum! Then we decided to look in the craft tent, which had lots of stalls this year. Some years it can look a bit bare. I spotted this beauty as soon as we approached one stall. Lawrie treated me to this gorgeous floral pin cushion, isn't he a keeper? :)

I'm just concentrating on getting the performance out of the way and then I can thoroughly relax. Until I find a job of course LOL

Best wishes to all!
 

Changes

It's all been very busy of late. I've had lots of grown up things to organise and they all seem to have come along at once.

Firstly, I decided to switch my course starting next year to just Creative Writing. I have enjoyed Drama this year, but I really want to concentrate on my writing because that's where my heart truly lies. I've been accepted into all the modules that I asked for and I couldn't be more pleased!

Secondly, I've decided to stay in Winchester over the summer. My parents are very excited about setting up their B&B, but it's a very long way away. I don't think I could cope being away from Lawrence and my friends for that long. Especially because my parents are so engrossed in their new project (as they should be!) that I don't want to bring them down because I'm lonely. So, that means I have to find a summer let in Winchester, which isn't too tricky. And I have to get a job, that's the harder part. I've handed round a few CVs so I'm hoping to hear back from at least one of them soon.

So yes, lots of exciting and daunting things coming up for me :)

At the moment though, it's all about preparing for my last Drama assessments. I finally finished the skirts for the performance and thought they came out quite nicely in the end. What do you think?

I think the moustache is a good look for me LOL! Our piece is about the First World War so we thought moustaches were a necessity :)

Just the performance and then the presentation to go, and then I'll be done with my first year at Uni. Where does the time go?!

I'm finding a small amount of time each evening to stitch so I'll be sure to share a progress pic next time. I've sent of this month's parcel to Emma over at Evening Emma. Next on the list is Terri! This is an un-birthday parcel but I still can't wait to put it together :)

Best wishes,

 

Crafting up a Storm

I've spent the past couple of days tacking and sewing bits of material into skirts. Why did I volunteer myself for this, I will never know. It's for costume for our Drama performance, and as we couldn't find suitable khaki skirts in the shops, I suggested we have a go at making them.
I really do have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine. When everything is working as it should, I think it is the greatest invention in the world. Then it suddenly stops working for no apparent reason and I feel like throwing it out of the window.
However, through the struggle of making five, identical khaki skirts, I have learned a lot. I have learnt to change the needle, as I snapped the first one. I have learned how to change the bobbin quickly. I have learnt how to fix it if the thread gets snagged underneath. After all this hullabaloo with the skirts, finishing cross stitch pieces should be easy!
Here's a pic of my (very messy!) workstation . . .


I will be very glad when they are all done. I hope to share a photo of us all in full costume if I can.

In other crafty news, I'm not having much luck with the knitting. I know I'm doing something wrong somewhere, but I don't quite know what it is. My stitches are too tight on the right hand needle and I'm not quite sure why? I've put that on hold for awhile whilst I focus on my upcoming Drama performance.

And finally, an update on Farmhouse, my BAP. I'm really enjoying stitching on this. It's block colour and comes together so quickly. I really do think I'll have this done by the end of the year :)

I hope you've all had a brilliant start to the week. I'm just off to go and find dinner; tuna salad with roasted red onion - yum yum!