I’ve been nominated for a Liebster award!

September 29, 2015

How exciting!

This is my very first award nomination, and I’d like to thanks my parents, my husband, every restaurant I’ve ever been to, H&M, my home delivery courier and the post office…

Oops, got carried away there!

In all seriousness, thanks to the lovely Holly at Closing Winter for including me in her list. Sometimes it feels a little bit like I’m in no-mans-land with this blog (can you hear that tiny violin?!) so it’s nice to have some interaction. Thanks Holly!

Check out Holly’s blog for make up finds and general loveliness.

The Liebster award helps to promote the smaller blogs with 200 followers or less and the rules are as follows:

After being nominated, make a post thanking and linking the nominator.
In that post include the Liebster Award logo.
Nominate up to 10 other new bloggers with 200 or less followers.
Answer the 10 questions posed to you by your nominator.
Make 10 questions of your own to be answered by your nominees.

1. Why/how did you choose your blog name?

I knew that I would be talking about all sorts of thing, hence “this, that and the other” and I switched that to tatt due to my tattoos.

2. What was your favourite birthday?

I’m not really a birthday person, because it’s so close to Christmas (20th December) so I always feel a bit cheeky asking people to do stuff, although everyone always makes an effort. Most memorable is probably about 3 years ago when we had massive amounts of snow and our friend’s band couldn’t get their gear to the pub we were all going to and it seemed like it would be a washout but people walked miles to get there and our friend cobbled together some kit and did an impromptu solo gig instead with all the pub locals singing along.

3. Do you have a favourite beauty product you can’t do without?
I’m very partial to Collection’s Extreme liner – it’s my go to eyeliner and very easy to use. Also have much love for Nivea Fruity Shine lip salves which were only released this year but have done wonders for the state of my mouth!

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
I couldn’t leave my family behind, so I probably couldn’t live in another country permanently. But I’d like to spend a year, or maybe a summer, in Los Angeles. I’ve been there 4 times and it’s so chilled and laid back, with the best climate.

5. If you were given £1,000 (or $1,000) to spend, where would you spend it?
On a travel website. I’m always thinking about where I want to go next and what I want to see.

6. Do you have any animals?
No. I couldn’t deal with the stinky cleaning up!

7. If you could create your own range of beauty products, which company would you like to work with?
Probably one of the ranges I grew up with – Seventeen or Rimmel. I like accessible products that you can experiment with. I’m not into high end beauty.

8. What’s your favourite TV show/s at the moment?
I just recently got into Homeland (I know, late to the party), so I’d probably say that

9. What food do you absolutely hate?
Baked beans! It’s more than hatred. It’s a phobia. I can’t look at them. They make me shudder and heave. Bleugh!

10. What’s your favourite season and why?
Summer, 100% without a doubt. Lighter nights, less clothes, beer gardens, freckles and eating outside. I flourish in summer and hibernate in winter!

My nominations are:

http://www.sophiecliff.com/

http://charlotteactually.me/

http://msmistryblogs.com/

http://brunette-lady.blogspot.co.uk/

I wanted to nominate a couple of other people too, but they have too many followers to qualify, the lucky ladies!

And here are my questions for my nominees! (and anyone else who’d like to join in)

1. If you could only shop at one clothes store for a year, which one would it be?

2. When and where was your last holiday?

3. What’s your favourite band or genre of music?

4. What’s your worst bad habit?

5. Who’s your celebrity crush?

6. Would you ever consider plastic surgery?

7. What’s your favourite cuisine?

8. Have you ever fallen over in public?

9. What was the last book you read?

10. Do you have any tattoos or piercings?

Thanks again to Holly, and I look forward to reading other people’s responses – don’t forget to let me know in the comments that you’ve done it!

Gig review – The Amorettes and Danko Jones at the Key Club in Leeds

September 28, 20155 Comments

We’re quite a fan of road trips to see bands we like and would generally rather travel to a weekend gig than do a mid week gig closer to home.

Which is how we found ourselves in Leeds on Saturday to see Danko Jones.

I was first introduced to the band by the husband (no surprise there!), about 5 or 6 years ago. They’re punky, funky, loud and in your face with great riffs and brash singalong lyrics but we’d never yet seen them live. So when they announced a UK tour, we were all over it.

Common sense would have been to go to the Wolverhampton date, but that was on a school night, and where’s the fun in that?

The Key Club was a great venue – small, intimate, dark, with great sound and a cheap bar! Seriously though, the sound quality and volume was very very good.

Support band The Amorettes are an all girl group that I wasn’t familiar with. They were pretty good – musically tight and full of attitude. For me it was spoilt by the fact that the lead singer delivered all her segues between songs in an OTT fake American accent. Why? You’re from Scotland! I hate fakery, and I hate it when bands feel they have to sound American to fit in. It completely undermines and spoils the rest of the performance for me.

And, in truth (which isn’t their fault) I was only really interested in the main band. Who did not disappoint!

One word.

Wow.

They literally blew me away. Right from the first chord the energy was incredible. Vocally, lead singer Danko is strong, raw and full of passion. Musically, for just three people, they make a hell of a lot of noise! It was like listening to the CD. Stand outs for me were “Legs” and “Do You Wanna Rock” (there aren’t many rock songs with cowbells in!)

Disappointed to not hear “I Think Bad Thoughts” which was the original song that got me into them (and is probably my favourite) but that’s a very weak complaint in what was an incredible set, performance and night.

I already can’t wait to see them again – come back soon!

And, because I missed it, here is “I Think Bad Thoughts”

Banksy – Dismaland Bemusement Park

September 23, 2015

When I saw that Banksy was launching a Dismaland exhibition in Weston Super Mare, my first thought was “how has he managed to keep that secret?”

Closely followed by “I deffo want to go”.

As luck would have it, the dates fit in nicely with our weekend in Looe, meaning we’d practically be passing Weston on the way home.

What I was less prepared for (although should have anticipated) was that tickets would be hard to come by. Priced at just £3 plus £2 booking fee in advance, they were a veritable bargain. And also highly in demand. Unable to buy any online, I resorted to ebay listings and See Tickets message boards to source some.

I eventually managed to bag a couple for £15 each. Which isn’t too bad, but it’s still 3 times the face value. Which is annoying, but not worth missing out for the sake of an extra tenner each.

What did amuse me was that the some of the people who were selling at silly prices were emailing me the day before offering them for much cheaper. Meaning that, for once, touts haven’t made a mint. It also means I could have got some cheaper if I’d have waited, but it wasn’t worth the risk.

When we arrived I recalled immediately that I’d read the staff have attitude – it’s all part of the “experience”. The trigger was how rude the girl was on the door, followed by the ticket checker. One of the fake security guards in the foyer told me to take my hat off “you’re not Michael Jackson”. Without fail everyone who worked there was bad mannered, disinterested or disengaged. It was all part of the fun.

Without further ado, here are some pictures! As you’d expect there are a lot of political statements, a heavy dose of irony, and the inimitable Banksy don’t give a fuck attitude.

References to the horsemeat scandal. The carousel was particularly clever – it looked at odds with the rest of the park at first – being all shiny and colourful – but one of the horses was hanging and cut open and an operative with a cleaver was sitting on boxes marked lasagne

There were lots of battered old kids rides around the park

The burnt out ice cream van bore a sign that said customer service, closed 24 hours

This was my favourite piece of artwork; half of the letters that spell Disneyland have fallen off, leaving Dead

Mickey Mouse with a serpent tail

Mini “Gulf”, set on a course made of oil cans, old pipes and petrol pumps

This was rather close to home – I guess that was the point. Based on the remote control boats you play at theme parks, these were filled with tightly packed in migrants. Some were floating face down in the water

And, of course, some political and anti-capitalist statements

There was an outdoor cinema which showed some rather weird films – we caught the end of one with a teddy bear being cut open to show real human organs

And a rather jovial big sandcastle!

Was it worth it? Absolutely. Even with paying so much over the odds for tickets. Because it’s only a temporary exhibition there’s that feeling of being part of something special – it’s conceptually brilliant and very well delivered; so sardonic and scathing.

Loved it!

Are you a fan of Banksy’s work?

A weekend in Cornwall – Looe Music Festival

September 22, 2015

The husband came across Looe Music Festival a couple of years ago and we went for the first time last year.

We loved it so much that we said we would 100% definitely go again. And so we did.

As is usual with me I was watching the weather forecast on an hourly basis; hoping for sunshine but not counting on it. But we woke up to clear blue skies, packed the car, and off we went!

Looe is such a pretty place. I hadn’t been to Cornwall prior to our first visit last year, and was immediately struck by it’s beauty. A pretty harbour town, it’s split into East and West Looe by the River Looe – the two sides connected by a town bridge. It’s a myriad of small streets and fishing boats, leading down to a wide clean beach.

It has a lot of history – check out the plaque on the Smugglers Cott pub! Built in 1430!

During the music festival the whole place comes alive, with multiple stages around the town and bands playing in pubs, restaurants and out on the street.

It’s an absolute bargain at around £80 for a 3 day ticket, and there really is something for everyone. This year’s headliners were The Proclaimers, Jules Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, and Johnny Marr.

We stayed in a Parkdean caravan about a mile away from the centre which was comfy, cosy and in a great location.

The organisation is second to none. Well laid out with plenty of well priced bars, lots of clean toilet facilities and friendly helpful stewards, as well as lots of different streetfood stalls. Shuttle buses run every 10 minutes or so at peak times, stopping off at all the main holiday parks and campsites and dropping people off in the middle of Looe for just a pound each way.

The main stage is on the beach.

The whole area is so pretty…

…and sparkles with lights as dusk approaches.

We ate noodles, paella, and Cornish pasties from various street food vendors.

Lamb, mint and potato pie with mash and gravy from Grumpies of Cornwall deserves a special mention. I could have eaten everything on their menu!

Ate cake and drank wine at the harbourside after dark.

And ordered handmade cocktails from the Beetle Juice van!

The stage and beach light up for the headliners.

Personal highlights included The Dodge Brothers – an Americana skiffle band. Mark Kermode – of film critic fame – plays the double bass; my favourite instrument in the world.

Wille and the Bandits played the BBC Introducing stage. We’ve found out they’re playing at a venue near us in a couple of weeks, which is great news!

And an afternoon in the Bullers Arms pub watching Steve Flanders play a great set which had the whole pub singing along.

The weather was fantastic all weekend – I had my legs out enjoying the last of the summer sun! (obligatory festival hats were worn too)

I don’t like to be a creature of habit, because I want to see and do as many things in life as possible, but I already know there’s a very good chance we’ll be back for the third time in a row next year. That’s how special it is.

**Some photo credits to the husband on this post, including the ones with me in them, obvs!

Stay-at-home tourist: Birmingham

September 16, 20159 Comments

On Saturday I had a fabulous afternoon seeing my home city through tourist eyes; looking at it in a way I don’t generally experience.

And it was brill.

It started from the desire to go owl hunting – The Big Hoot has scattered hand painted owls all around the city to raise money for Birmingham Children’s Hospital. They’ve been around since July, but I haven’t had chance to get into the centre of town to check them out (although I did see a couple locally about a month back).

So off we went, with no particular plans apart from to find as many owls as we could and then see where the day would take us.

One thing you forget, walking round Birmingham with a purpose in mind, is how beautiful some of the architecture is.

Floozie in the Jacuzzi

Town Hall

St Philips Cathedral (with added owl!)

Museum and Art Gallery

Council House

One such piece of architecture is the new (ish) library. I never truly appreciated what a structure it is. In the past I would have classed myself as not being a fan, but for the first time I went up close and personal and was astounded. The circular metal cladding gives the building an industrial feel.

Inside, all the escalators have futuristic blue lights.

I didn’t realise until recently that the building has two outdoor viewing platforms, with gardens.

The views across the city are pretty cool.

Out of towners often think of Birmingham as being dull and bleak, but there are flowers everywhere.

And miles of canals.. Hard to believe that I’ve lived in or around this city my whole life and didn’t actually realise how beautiful the canal area is.

We found about 30 owls altogether, here are some of my favourites.

Night owl

Bob the Bat

Clash

Tick Tock

I love living in Birmingham!

Do you ever look at your home town through fresh eyes?

My weekend in pictures

September 15, 2015

Did I have a fab weekend or what? Food, drinks, owls, canals and a ferris wheel! We didn’t venture very far, but we saw new things, old things, friends, acquaintances, ate curry, ate meat, drank cocktails, drank fruit beer and generally just mooched around and about the city and suburbs we call home.

Here’s a pictorial round up

New sandals

Still dressing for summer (it was a nice day on Friday, honest!)

Cocktails

Chilli cheese fries

The Big Hoot

Finding a new (to us) pub – The Old Joint Stock in Birmingham. The interior is stunning. I can’t wait to go back and try their pies!

A stroll along the canal

Beer garden (how pretty is that colour combo?)

Street festival

Cherry beer – slurp

Funfair

I’m the world’s worst for always wanting to go on far and wide adventures, but sometimes all you need is right on your doorstep.

My experience of getting married abroad – the big day

September 14, 20155 Comments

Yesterday I blogged all about the planning. Today I’m going to share our big day!

We’d booked our wedding for 4pm, so we had the whole day to relax before hand. We had breakfast as usual, then chilled out on the beach. We decided to have lunch at about 1pm, and then go and get ready. I’d been extremely relaxed and calm through the whole run up, but by lunchtime I was starting to feel a little weird! Not having doubts or anything like that. I think the enormity of the situation had just hit me.

We were offered separate rooms to get ready, but we decided we’d prefer to be together. We could see the preparations happening from our window; palm fronds being laid down for an aisle, a white covered table at the waters edge with beautiful flowers. We had a couple of drinks, and laughed and smiled a lot and then hubby-to-be disappeared downstairs while I added the finishing touches and put my dress on. My planned hairstyle didn’t work out because of the heat so I had a bit of a panicky wobble, but just improvised and actually it worked out all the better for it – much more laid back.

Then the wedding co-ordinator came to collect me, and brought me my bouquet which I was wowed by (I hadn’t seen it up until that point, apart from in photos). It was a stunning mix of lillies and birds of paradise flowers. It was truly amazing.

Our main wedding flowers were orange and white gerbera daisies with gypsophilia.

From there, it all went by in a whirl. We’d agreed that I would walk down the “aisle” and meet husband at the end, but when he saw me he forgot our plans and walked up to meet me! And we kissed and held hands and literally ran down the aisle; the photographer had to tell us to slow down so he could get some shots!

As it was just the two of us the hotel had said they could provide witnesses, but we’d made friends with one of the barmen (Kevin, very Mauritian name, ha!) so we requested him and he was allowed some time off from his bar shift. They stood to the side while the official ran through our vows. The sea was blue and the sand was white and there was a very slight breeze and it was one of the most perfect experiences of my life – in truth made all the better by it being just the two of us. It was so intimate and special, and all about us.

Then we sat, and drank cocktails, and had wedding cake…

…and literally just mooned at each other (not the bottom flashing type, the in love type) for a while, and then the photographer took us to lots of different places for pretty shots (getting in and out of a hammock was fun – NOT!) and people clapped and smiled and wished us well and it was just AMAZING!

And then we went back to our room, as husband and wife, and there was chilled champagne.

And we sat on the balcony and mooned some more (still no bottoms!) and we phoned home to share our joy and I managed to rack up a £200 mobile phone bill (oops, that was nice to get home to) and it was all quite overwhelming and lovely. I have a great picture of the husband looking out over the balcony and it looks like he’s thinking “oh crap, now I can’t escape”, or wondering if he’s strong enough to swim out to sea to get away from me.

In the evening we’d arranged to have dinner on the beach, just the two of us. The table was set with wedding flowers and we were waited on at our table with wine and food.

It gets dark at around 7pm in Mauritius so we couldn’t see anything apart from each other, and the sound of the sea lapping at the shore was idyllic.

Ah, writing this has brought back so many fantastic memories! I want to do it all again!

My experience of getting married abroad – the planning

September 13, 20155 Comments

Getting married abroad was something of a no-brainer for us. The husband hates fuss and fanciness. The thought of standing up in front of people – albeit our friends and family – filled him with dread. I could have taken it personally, been stubborn or refused to marry him, but in truth I liked the idea too. For me being married was always about being with him and making our vows together. The big day and the fancy car and meal and stuff wasn’t at the forefront of my mind.

So we I started investigating where to go. It made sense to be somewhere exotic and farflung. It would be our honeymoon destination as well, so it needed the pre requisite good weather, beautiful beaches, palm trees. It needed to be somewhere that offered a wedding package, that we could trust to make our day what we wanted it to be. Also, importantly, it needed to be a country where our marriage would also be recognised as legal in the UK, and where getting the marriage licence wasn’t an unknown quantity and a bit of a faff (as was the case with Thailand).

And so we settled on Mauritius.

I can’t emphasise enough how easy the whole thing was. I found a company online (Paramount Travel) who worked directly with hotels on the island who specialised in weddings. They were so helpful and accommodating; working with me to find the best dates, advising on weather and times to travel, going backwards and forwards when I kept changing my mind and wanting to know more and more little details. We chose our resort and hotel and dates and then they made all the necessary arrangements – flights, accommodation, wedding package booking, legalities. It was that easy!

My Mom made my wedding dress – it was something I’d always wanted as a kid (she’s a good dressmaker, it wasn’t a DIY crappy job!) Because of the heat and being married on the beach I wanted something very loose and flowing with chiffon. I was able to pack it in my case and hide it in the wardrobe, rather than having to get it transported separately, although I did request extra luggage allowance from the airline, which I was entitled to as I was travelling as a bride.

We didn’t need to do anything else until we arrived.

On the advice of the travel agent, due to the micro-climate and best weather for that time of year, we chose a resort in the North of the island – Grand Baie – and a hotel called Le Mauricia which was on it’s own private beach. It was quite a drive from the airport, in the South, and the weather was quite dull and rainy all the way there, then when we arrived at the resort the sun came out and it was glorious! What a sign!

On our first day there we met with the wedding co-ordinator who showed us around the hotel and the various spots we could choose to have our ceremony. We’d always said it needed to be on the beach, and there was a lovely palm fringed area that we could actually see from our room where weddings took place. We chose our flowers, and food and wine for after the ceremony and that was that. We had 4 days to relax – the only thing we were told not to do was get sunburnt! 4 lovely relaxing days of eating, drinking cocktails, relaxing in the sun and getting plenty of sleep. Bliss.

On the day before our wedding ceremony we got picked up early by a pre-arranged taxi and taken to the capital to do all of the legal paperwork at a solicitor’s office. The taxi driver was slightly crazy and the driving was a little manic, which was all good fun! And that was that. Next stop, the big day.

7 years and counting – it’s my Wedding Anniversary!

September 12, 2015

Well, not just mine obviously. It takes 2 people to have an Anniversary. And I couldn’t be happier with who I get to share mine – The Husband.

Although I refer to him quite a lot on here, I don’t share a lot of detail about him. I don’t really think it would be fair, because this is my blog and my choice to share my thoughts with the ~~world~~ few people that read it. I shouldn’t really drag him into it.

But because it’s a special day, I’ll tell you a little bit about him and our marriage.

We were very good friends for 2 years before we got together, so by the time we became a couple we already knew all the bad bits, the exes, etc!
We’ve been together for 10 and a half years
We moved in together after just 8 months (I didn’t wait for him to ask me, I told him I was moving into his flat – no point hanging about when you know it’s right!)
We don’t have, or want, any children. It’s just “not us”
We got married on a beach in Mauritius, just the two of us
We had a “second wedding” the day after we got home for family and friends (a renewal of vows ceremony)
He’s 7 years older than me, but just as silly and daft as I am
He has long blonde hair, 2 full sleeve tattoos, wears earrings and looks NOTHING like when we got married!
He owns a red sparkly Harley Davidson
He’s a MASSIVE music geek, and knows the release year of pretty much everything ever, even stuff that’s not his genre
He still makes my heart go boom-diddy
He’s my best friend in the whole wide world

Here’s a picture of us on our wedding day.

And here’s one of us taken at Moseley Jazz Festival this summer.

Here are 10 of the (many) things I love about him:

He’s seen me through some tough personal emotional and mental times, with more to come, and been my absolute rock
He occasionally lets me plait his hair like he’s my own personal Girls World
He thinks that wine cures everything and always tells me to have one more glass
He always smells delicious, even after the gym
He’s very very funny and daft and indulges me in silly in-jokes
He uses the blonde girl in the orange jumper phone emoticon to represent himself when he texts me, because he knows it makes me smile
He’s always got hair product I can borrow
He’s tall so I can wear the highest heels, and has really manly broad shoulders to give good cuddles
He loves clothes and always gives me good advice when I buy stuff (only if I ask for it, he’s not a control freak!)
He accepts me, warts and all

The last one might be the most important of all. I’m not the easiest person in the world to be in a relationship with; I’m very untidy, I have too many parcels delivered, I can be short-tempered and irritable. My mental stability has been questionable in the past, I drink too much and I’m constantly nagging to go places and see stuff.

But somehow, it works. And it works brilliantly. And I hope we have many many more years to come.

I know he’ll read this at some point, so:

“I love you Husband!”

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels…

September 11, 20151 Comment

…er, except it does.

About 3 years ago, in preparation for my holiday to LA, I decided I wanted to lose weight. So for about 3 months I did the SlimFast diet, I cut out drinking in the week, I upped my exercise. And I used that phrase in my head when temptation hit me; imagining myself swanning around LA being a skinny mini and happier than ever.

I did lose weight. But it was probably disproportionate to the effort I put in. Some days I was exercising twice a day. I was having a liquid breakfast and lunch. And in 3 months I only shifted about a stone.

The truth is I just don’t lose weight that easily.

On the plus side I don’t put it on that easily either. With the amount I eat and drink I should be a lot porkier.

Case in point, you may remember a couple of weeks back I talked about exercising. Well I rejoined the gym, and have been doing cardio and weights, and the scales said I’d put two pounds on! (I know I shouldn’t be governed by the scales, but it’s engrained in all women, no?)

Now I haven’t been to the gym for a week, and I had takeaway on Friday, burger at the festival on Saturday, roast dinner at the pub on Sunday, Thai food on Monday, carbs on Tuesday and curry on Wednesday, all washed down with copious amounts of wine and vodka, and those two pounds have disappeared.

WTF?

Does this tell me that eating out is good for me? (if there were a God that would be true!) Is my own home cooked healthy food making me gain weight? (I can see that going down well as a reason I don’t cook anymore!)

It’s definitely more difficult to lose weight as you get older (for most people). It’s also harder to lose weight when you have a foodie partner in crime and very little willpower.

But the main reason it’s difficult to lose weight is that food is fantastic. I mean, really really good. Like, daydreamworthy good. I bet you could think of something, right now, that would make your mouth water. In my case I can think of many things.

And life’s too short to deprive yourself.

So I will keep up the exercise and try to cut down on wine.

But that half a stone I wanted to lose before Italy? I might just have to take it with me after all…

This, Tatt, and the Other

Food, shoes, travel and tattoos

Month: September 2015