tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87604409121077214802024-03-06T00:11:17.162+00:00Falstaff FollySuehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.comBlogger317125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-48655130774723813292014-09-29T20:22:00.002+01:002014-09-29T20:22:50.848+01:00Oh hello ...are you still here? I thought everyone had left already.<br />
<br />
Seriously though, if you're actually readying this, then either;<br />
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a) you haven't updated your "blogs I read" list in a <b>REALLY </b>long time<br />
b) you can't remember how to update your "blogs I read" list<br />
c) you 've been waiting [very] patiently for me to write something worthwhile, meaningful and/or amusing<br />
<br />
If your answer is a) or b) ... snap. Me too.<br />
If your answer is c) ... sorry, maybe next year.Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-84177504831576088482013-09-29T20:49:00.001+01:002013-09-29T20:49:40.548+01:00smartphones & dingbats ...Yes, this IS the third week in a row that I've actually updated my blog #shock #horror #dontfaint and talking of hash-tags, have you checked out the "mobile ready" goodies launched at <a href="http://the-lilypad.com/store/Mobile-Ready/" target="_blank">The Lilypad</a> this weekend? They're so cool! They're dingbats type fonts (TTF) that you can download right to your smartphone (iOS & Android) and then add to your photos using suitable software. I'm using a <b>FREE</b> app called <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.youthhr.phonto&hl=en" target="_blank">Phonto</a> and I'm able to change the size, colour & opactity of the wordart / dingbat / font. Here are just a few examples of the photos I've created & uploaded to <a href="http://instagram.com/suefalstaff#" target="_blank">Instagram</a> so far ...<br />
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And here are a few layouts created in the past week (or so) ...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCcC1PXexsaA_onn-EKiD95nYs_zQPwy6JJcLymYA7A2AvACScsGTmOjop7aBaZlkthJj4kpn30eoWYGxOZP7zS5GVxwfSxSZVqZTdG9Z8_Af73HYRQd8FHLKbCtywIoc5QpeMiuGwZzm/s1600/paislee-presscardsno27-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSCcC1PXexsaA_onn-EKiD95nYs_zQPwy6JJcLymYA7A2AvACScsGTmOjop7aBaZlkthJj4kpn30eoWYGxOZP7zS5GVxwfSxSZVqZTdG9Z8_Af73HYRQd8FHLKbCtywIoc5QpeMiuGwZzm/s1600/paislee-presscardsno27-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits: Paislee Press - Press Cards no.27 (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKn7ffuViEuq-E361td7wrh3S9pzIOstk_UXxCMB7x0n1TgjW9v7A6gxvJxWb9JOoDNT3zs-LwrEGbkmeqcs7eEAz9lm0f0kQXhWlI51UHJ5qU57hgRJHP4gCTUFeCqHkQhaKC6auzs2XA/s1600/olb-beartbeatatmyfeet-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKn7ffuViEuq-E361td7wrh3S9pzIOstk_UXxCMB7x0n1TgjW9v7A6gxvJxWb9JOoDNT3zs-LwrEGbkmeqcs7eEAz9lm0f0kQXhWlI51UHJ5qU57hgRJHP4gCTUFeCqHkQhaKC6auzs2XA/s1600/olb-beartbeatatmyfeet-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits: One Little Bird, Heatbeat At My Feet (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdd0HGkdT1N1EcelOqLM8rKNtWDtFHaKFUaZFVLWNmc_iykkkxurcG5tJxolVsFYhzLWOge3MqbRQmg-1wrSvDZc_8zzCDKZAmVyVLqnaNEspue_nqrVusV1kMnHgXMiFoM97qtOJWrbdm/s1600/olb-identity-pagebySueFalstaff-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdd0HGkdT1N1EcelOqLM8rKNtWDtFHaKFUaZFVLWNmc_iykkkxurcG5tJxolVsFYhzLWOge3MqbRQmg-1wrSvDZc_8zzCDKZAmVyVLqnaNEspue_nqrVusV1kMnHgXMiFoM97qtOJWrbdm/s1600/olb-identity-pagebySueFalstaff-2.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits: One Little Bird, Identity (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-76555995039647211882013-09-21T18:55:00.000+01:002013-09-21T18:55:12.710+01:00beige delights ...It certainly wasn't intentional, but over the past few weeks I've found myself creating layouts with a distinctly <i>beige </i>feel to them ... <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBGScIFStnQ06m6tMmuWVwdUDzt3XjZJ61PiHk6GYQiAUv9E0li8r_gCLX82bFAB0_fPnL2pL8SNXiXPLuDkONPYRBs3gh_yuGq9LtmDqoOraQm_GQRuSSMxvZiyBr0gC3aInb-okGnSJ/s1600/olb-foreveryoung-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnBGScIFStnQ06m6tMmuWVwdUDzt3XjZJ61PiHk6GYQiAUv9E0li8r_gCLX82bFAB0_fPnL2pL8SNXiXPLuDkONPYRBs3gh_yuGq9LtmDqoOraQm_GQRuSSMxvZiyBr0gC3aInb-okGnSJ/s1600/olb-foreveryoung-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits - One Little Bird, Forever Young (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8L4ygQ2_emZk8W4PUEcxtTEap5qNE7WSKXFteTgDwyA4IsjQy-Q6139Q6av3XBegA8GAeR4qsUqflB4dIJBLnKqp3IcplospsqRNtiBrQgXZAf8JJreC9s4rxiXJfUAsSMaCZ_lxoFhL/s1600/olb-narrative-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb8L4ygQ2_emZk8W4PUEcxtTEap5qNE7WSKXFteTgDwyA4IsjQy-Q6139Q6av3XBegA8GAeR4qsUqflB4dIJBLnKqp3IcplospsqRNtiBrQgXZAf8JJreC9s4rxiXJfUAsSMaCZ_lxoFhL/s1600/olb-narrative-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits - One Little Bird, Narrative (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42CXJiGpjnQJCb17oowC30ZgV0v-zvc4B0JWTV4qadEiHwpKjqsNR-Ivd2D-oy8le7u4TLRD_HbpJVVcdqBPq2lrg-_qsdhbL4vu0mJaCPs2UsiBklSj6D1VhT9PofMY22BkgadqYNfXV/s1600/olb-thisandthat-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg42CXJiGpjnQJCb17oowC30ZgV0v-zvc4B0JWTV4qadEiHwpKjqsNR-Ivd2D-oy8le7u4TLRD_HbpJVVcdqBPq2lrg-_qsdhbL4vu0mJaCPs2UsiBklSj6D1VhT9PofMY22BkgadqYNfXV/s1600/olb-thisandthat-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits - One Little Bird, This & That (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim-V7LrOVcAyqa-5XrcYz7kTid-aJj77PRjK8SOH2cyvPHuGfsOjkGcCJ5IhtOrOpfgIDO2e6Sg0QYD1iWPJ5Rhr4badgbh2w5bJF9Q0gSZxg1uUxyXYOjs1ve3vVmVgGcdzTfjspuQLq/s1600/paislee-makebelieve-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhim-V7LrOVcAyqa-5XrcYz7kTid-aJj77PRjK8SOH2cyvPHuGfsOjkGcCJ5IhtOrOpfgIDO2e6Sg0QYD1iWPJ5Rhr4badgbh2w5bJF9Q0gSZxg1uUxyXYOjs1ve3vVmVgGcdzTfjspuQLq/s1600/paislee-makebelieve-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Credits - Paislee Press + Valorie Wibbens, Make Believe collab (available at The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-72293142029525407062013-09-07T09:20:00.001+01:002013-09-07T09:20:23.844+01:00just some stuff ...I'm not even going to make up an excuse. I'm just rubbish at remembering to update this blog. Sorry. If you're still here and reading this, I thank you. Your patience is always appreciated.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnITHSStHPnTmGEzVIu5d_4M3es6aj0fccDDFexIP1oY_eHgD3m1WgIX4i9IntKERtr71XqutkC_dPww3Jf6KEPjknkl4nGJ7zf9bp-4nrSIM3FmtvptzX2u7tgVk9pSFw8VFgW_59xbp/s1600/paislee-presslines19-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnITHSStHPnTmGEzVIu5d_4M3es6aj0fccDDFexIP1oY_eHgD3m1WgIX4i9IntKERtr71XqutkC_dPww3Jf6KEPjknkl4nGJ7zf9bp-4nrSIM3FmtvptzX2u7tgVk9pSFw8VFgW_59xbp/s1600/paislee-presslines19-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">credits: Paislee Press - Presslines no.19 (available @ The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Q8wadKsAOsFu2jG2d8z0D0KpHLqeVKDKj2ibENf0q8LD0_Z-Gocu72JM-Z9zSq5ZcbL8o9LCPCuY32l7RROYr8hrUy_5ocTnxV6A_WM_gKD3Zry_IOon83Au6jwRy4zIjKe8dJsjeOW7/s1600/3pp-booksmart-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-Q8wadKsAOsFu2jG2d8z0D0KpHLqeVKDKj2ibENf0q8LD0_Z-Gocu72JM-Z9zSq5ZcbL8o9LCPCuY32l7RROYr8hrUy_5ocTnxV6A_WM_gKD3Zry_IOon83Au6jwRy4zIjKe8dJsjeOW7/s1600/3pp-booksmart-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">credits: Three Paper Peonies - Book Smart (available @ Oscraps)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgIzIRGdn9hWs360mWumgn646LcRxg5efjyLkYuSQhgT_B6n0KaKnqNNv8sT2hejp7hJgIQbp25pYgSZmhnCp5ptN_J16fnc-ckmBjatjCTED-_5xyLsSBCurBncedclo4dkyHT6P6eCh/s1600/olb-equinox-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVgIzIRGdn9hWs360mWumgn646LcRxg5efjyLkYuSQhgT_B6n0KaKnqNNv8sT2hejp7hJgIQbp25pYgSZmhnCp5ptN_J16fnc-ckmBjatjCTED-_5xyLsSBCurBncedclo4dkyHT6P6eCh/s1600/olb-equinox-pagebySueFalstaff.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">credits: One Little Bird - Equinox (available @ The Lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-45151020223410117872013-05-27T10:43:00.003+01:002013-05-27T10:43:31.689+01:00not a fan of [unnecessary] change ...<br />
but then again, who is? So this week when Flickr updated their site, I admit to cursing, several times, under my breath! I'm not a fan of the new style / LO. My first instinct was to try and revert back to the way it was before and the way I prefer it, but I guess I'll get used to it ... <i>eventually</i>.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, here are the layouts I've created since my last post ...<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8745531232_041e26932c_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8745531232_041e26932c_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: Paislee Press - From Where I Stand (available @ The Lilypad)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/8750102033_0891b96e95_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2808/8750102033_0891b96e95_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: One Little Bird - Philosophy + Philosophy Journaling Cards (available @ The Lilypad)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/8752590029_6e484f8d39_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/8752590029_6e484f8d39_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: Paislee Press - From Where I Stand, Paislee Press - 2013 Calendar Kit (available @ The Lilypad)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8753591657_8a72282fb9_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7284/8753591657_8a72282fb9_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: One Little Bird - Philosophy (available @ The Lilypad)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7386/8783525017_9d8a1f75b0_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7386/8783525017_9d8a1f75b0_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: Paislee Press - Press Plate No.37, Paislee Press - On My Desk (available @ The Lilypad)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8534/8791605936_be4b4ceb9a_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8534/8791605936_be4b4ceb9a_o.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Credits: Ange Designs - Mr & Mrs (available @ Digi-crea.fr)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-39074550071012023382013-05-12T16:04:00.000+01:002013-05-27T10:45:27.500+01:00it started with a single snapshot ...and ended up being a week long photo series! I treated myself a new casual scarf and took a snapshot, which I then uploaded to Instagram. I deliberately cut-off the top of my head in the photo and thought it looked kinda fun, so I decided to take a similar style snapshot each morning [before going to work] showing my chosen outfit for the day ...<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/8730690043_8b2173f7fb_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7285/8730690043_8b2173f7fb_z.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">credits: paislee press - is it friday yet?, writer's block vol.2 & gallery frames no.5 </span>(available @ the lilypad)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/8732053388_df4919b1a5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/8732053388_df4919b1a5_z.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">credits: one little bird, interlude & flight plan no.17 (available @ the lilypad)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">credits: paislee press - the weekender, the weekender journal cards & nine (photo collage) (available @ the lilypad)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">credits: one little bird - suncatcher papers & element, rise and shine (available @ the lilypad)</span></td></tr>
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Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-37077006784612292022013-05-05T18:09:00.002+01:002013-05-05T18:10:55.345+01:00yeah, I'm still here ...<div style="text-align: left;">
It was never my intention <u><b>not</b></u> post here for 3 months. Earlier this year, I took a short break from some of my CT responsibilities and this allowed me to scrap for myself for a change. Since returning to all my CT commitments, I've decided to simplify things. I'm going to use my blog to mainly showcase my layouts and photos. Sure there will be some other kind of posts every now-&-then (like holidays or other things that capture my attention), but in the main, this is going to be another gallery, somewhere I can post any LO without having to meet certain percentage criteria etc.</div>
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Hope you'll still pop by once in a while.</div>
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Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-65088143100307016462013-01-27T21:31:00.000+00:002013-01-27T21:31:01.090+00:00do you print?I don't usually print my layouts / projects, but every once in a while there comes a kit that just begs to be printed out and <b>Hipster</b> from <b>Three Paper Peonies</b> is one such kit ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-qtbpECwH71seJBqWqe0HWcuDnODLtSVDqSgEY25mAQuGmJtM7fDVJny67MbsHZLiAJYBDa6fWfC60Le1a4m75hiywBfNf6kzc6ZMpV0JMqeWj7UZjCx289yEf2roUShyMkaD__YqqOl/s1600/folder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQ-qtbpECwH71seJBqWqe0HWcuDnODLtSVDqSgEY25mAQuGmJtM7fDVJny67MbsHZLiAJYBDa6fWfC60Le1a4m75hiywBfNf6kzc6ZMpV0JMqeWj7UZjCx289yEf2roUShyMkaD__YqqOl/s640/folder.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Not only do you get a layered .psd template to play with, you also get <i>handwritten</i> month
and day stamps and 25 wordart stamps such as "fabulous", "best day ever", "fun times" and many more ...<br />
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Just create, print & cut ...<br />
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<a href="http://www.oscraps.com/shop/product.php?productid=32754" target="_blank"><b>Hipster</b></a> is available exclusively from <a href="http://www.oscraps.com/shop/home.php?cat=386" target="_blank">Three Paper Peonies' store</a> at <a href="http://oscraps.com/">oscraps.com</a>Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-64253523632478345842013-01-20T14:53:00.001+00:002013-01-20T14:53:18.999+00:00I'm just a big kid at heart ...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I still get excited every time it snows and this past week, it's snowed quite a bit around here and it's been <b>proper</b> snow at that ...</div>
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I've been trying to get into the habit of getting out of the office during my lunch-break at work. Luckily, I work on a well designed business park and they have what they call a "trim trail" that winds it's way around the park and takes in some really quite pretty scenery ...</div>
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The snowfall was at it's heaviest on Friday morning, so-much-so that our managing director actually decided to close the office and sent everyone home at 11:30am. This was [and actually still is] the view from my front door ...</div>
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I probably should've brought my yucca plant indoors <i>before</i> it snowed. The plant itself was given to me as a house warming gift 17yrs ago and it's survived all sorts of weather conditions in the past. Here's hoping it makes it through this cold snap too ...</div>
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Wherever you are in the world, I hope you're warm & cosy (for any northern hemisphere readers) and cool & relaxed (for any southern hemisphere readers).</div>
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Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-12145355304972832002013-01-06T14:44:00.001+00:002013-01-06T14:44:10.692+00:00thank you cards ...I don't know about you, but I love to receive thank you cards / notes / letters. Sadly, thanks in part to modern technology, I think the tradition of sending thank you cards has almost completely vanished. It's so much easier [& cheaper] to send an email / text / tweet to show your appreciation.<br />
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Now don't misunderstand me, there's absolutely nothing<i> </i>wrong with sending your thanks electronically. What's important, is that you say "<b>thank you</b>" in whatever format is best for you. For me, that means creating handmade cards ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2UCMuT3k6wBUgPJ9sYLbp8tsH25tEi1cOt_KMMV6e-utvb21JDox-UmgP9pSph2N9crl6gVeUzLoRg_O5J-xa19fySVwt6del-ULLMwwuvnlY9yLUBqnZi3VdsXSuj8EX55fqV1Q0Jax/s1600/DSC_4435a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM2UCMuT3k6wBUgPJ9sYLbp8tsH25tEi1cOt_KMMV6e-utvb21JDox-UmgP9pSph2N9crl6gVeUzLoRg_O5J-xa19fySVwt6del-ULLMwwuvnlY9yLUBqnZi3VdsXSuj8EX55fqV1Q0Jax/s1600/DSC_4435a.jpg" /></a></div>
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As you can see, they're not fancy. They're just a simple printed card, with a heartfelt message of thanks handwritten on the inside.<br />
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What about you, do you send thank you cards / notes / letters?Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-63664781227196483702012-12-31T00:30:00.000+00:002012-12-31T00:30:02.502+00:00it's that time of year ...You know, when everyone reflects on what kind of year they had. What went well, what they achieved and what they didn't. I've never done a "review of the year" type post before, so this year I thought I'd give it a try.<br />
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I've taken my inspiration from <a href="http://www.listgirl.com/" target="_blank">Fabulous Adventures of Listgirl</a> (aka Christine Newman's) blog, which by-the-way is a brilliant read! Christine never ceases to amaze me at just how much "living" she manages to squeeze into any given month. I frequently leave her comments saying how exhausted I am just from reading her blog! Seriously, after you've read my post (and yes I'm hoping you'll stick around long enough to read it), head on over to <a href="http://www.listgirl.com/" target="_blank">Christine's blog</a> and you'll see what I mean.<br />
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So without further ado, here's my highly condensed summary of what happened in 2012:<br />
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<li>I started the year on a creative high with <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/thank-you-cards.html" target="_blank">thank you cards</a> and wedding invitations </li>
<li>I began a new cooking adventure, lovingly referred to as <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/week-1-of-newrecipes52.html" target="_blank">NEWrecipes52</a></li>
<li>We celebrated Iain's 40th birthday in <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/dreaming-of-caribbean-sunshine.html" target="_blank">Barbados</a></li>
<li>The weather was a talking point throughout the year (as normal) from <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/brrrrrrrr-its-chilly-today.html" target="_blank">snow</a> and <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/rain-rain-go-away.html" target="_blank">stormy winds</a> messing up the garden, to the very few days of <a href="http://web.stagram.com/p/241183296542693776_32653029" target="_blank">sunshine</a> that was our summer</li>
<li>I baked <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/recipe-5-of-newrecipes52.html" target="_blank">bread</a> for the first time</li>
<li>I received 4 bouquets of flowers throughout the year</li>
<li>I discovered (& became addicted to) <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/suefalstaff/" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li>
<li>I "baked" two diaper cakes for friends expecting babies</li>
<li>I baked LOTS of real cakes as part of my NEWrecipes52 adventures (although I only got as far as trying out 30 new recipes rather than my intended 52)</li>
<li>I watched my beloved Chelsea win the <a href="http://www.chelseafc.com/champions-league-2012" target="_blank">Champions League</a> </li>
<li>We celebrated the Queen's Diamond Jubilee with a <a href="http://web.stagram.com/p/204314090077641092_32653029" target="_blank">street party</a> at work</li>
<li><a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/oscraps-london-sub-committee-meeting.html" target="_blank">Oscraps sub-committee</a> meeting was held in London and we welcomed some of our international friends from Holland (Diane & Maya) and Australia (Ona & Marie)</li>
<li>I celebrated by 41st birthday</li>
<li>I found <a href="http://fatmumslim.com.au/photo-a-day-challenge-lists-see-them-all-here/" target="_blank">Fat Mum Slim</a>'s photo-a-day inspiration lists</li>
<li>I made my first ever claim on my car insurance (I accidentally scraped the side of someones car in a car-park. The lady was very nice about it & my insurance dealt with the claim very quickly!) </li>
<li>The Olympics made me proud to be British</li>
<li>Iain and I celebrated our <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/i-know-of-no-illegal-impediment.html" target="_blank">19th wedding anniversary</a></li>
<li>I finally got <a href="http://web.stagram.com/p/290569066327792332_32653029" target="_blank">my hair cut</a> (after almost a year since the last visit to the salon!)</li>
<li>I blagged my way in to <a href="http://www.the-lilypad.com/store/One-Little-Bird/" target="_blank">One Little Bird</a>'s and <a href="http://www.the-lilypad.com/store/Paislee-Press/" target="_blank">Paislee Press</a>'s creative teams (still pinching myself about both appointments!) </li>
<li>Hazel and I went to <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012_10_01_archive.html" target="_blank">New York</a> and had a BLAST</li>
<li>Iain grew a moustache for <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/11/movember-moustache-madness.html" target="_blank">#movember</a> and the team he was part of raised over £1000 for men's health charities</li>
<li>I created my second Blurb <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/adventures-of-new-york-wanderer-book.html" target="_blank">photo book</a></li>
<li>We got creative for our <a href="http://www.falstaff-folly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/creative-fun-and-games-at-office.html" target="_blank">Christmas lunch</a> at work </li>
<li>I uploaded <a href="http://web.stagram.com/n/suefalstaff/" target="_blank">232 Instagram photos</a> (and counting!), blogged 59 time (more than in 2011 - yeah! but less than in 2010 - boo!) and took 2728 photos (not many compared to previous years!)</li>
<li>Christmas was a quiet affair at home, just the way we like it </li>
</ul>
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So there you have it, my 2012 in a nutshell. When you see it listed like this, it doesn't really look like I've done a lot. But in between all of the above, I've been working (quite a lot), relaxing (quite a lot) and generally loving my life as it currently is!<br />
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I've no doubt that I'll be asleep as the calendar flips over to from 2012 to 2013, so I'll take this opportunity to wish you all a prosperous New Year.Thanks for reading. See you next year!Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-61975502222455203442012-12-25T09:51:00.001+00:002012-12-25T09:51:27.028+00:00be merry<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytPCZTjeG4nuLS8fTFEtHzPxRwkW0Ip4UU8Q0Ou1BTF_LUO7QwxzquG7s-ickDC716LDaH1KA2d5SzAWKXBPta46Ry4PY-DN0Pv1aXirgbo0-_OcFzAOBGB70oE0XiP-JJ6m1HxYtD03s/s1600/be_merry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgytPCZTjeG4nuLS8fTFEtHzPxRwkW0Ip4UU8Q0Ou1BTF_LUO7QwxzquG7s-ickDC716LDaH1KA2d5SzAWKXBPta46Ry4PY-DN0Pv1aXirgbo0-_OcFzAOBGB70oE0XiP-JJ6m1HxYtD03s/s1600/be_merry.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">credits: One Little Bird, A Star On Top + Wrap Star</span></div>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-13146711042989230642012-12-15T15:39:00.001+00:002012-12-15T15:39:14.978+00:00creative fun and games at the office Chrismas lunchOn Thursday this week, my company had it's annual Christmas lunch. It usually takes the format of a staff briefing, followed by a buffet lunch, then the handing out of Secret Santa gifts. This year, they decided to change things up a little and introduce some fun competitive elements too.<br />
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The senior management team took part in their own version of the Great British Bake Off with each of the 6 senior managers bringing in [preferably homemade] mince pies for a blind tasting that was judged by the staff. My boss, Paula, was runner up for her "homemade" pies (they may have been homemade, but I'm pretty sure not by her!) and it was our MD who came first ...<br />
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Congratulations David!<br />
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We had a Christmas themed trivia quiz in which staff were grouped into teams of 5 or 6 and had answer 20 questions about all things Christmassy! The team I was in came joint third. Kudos!<br />
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We also had a homemade Christmas hat competition and the entries were all really impressive!<br />
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Cute little Santa hat ...<br />
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Gingerbread house inspired hat, complete with working lights ... <br />
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Jingle bell covered hat ... <br />
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Rudolph and Christmas tree hats ... <br />
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Tinsel and bauble crown ...<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">(oooppps, this <span style="font-size: x-small;">is </span>a bit more blurry than I thought - sorry!)</span> </div>
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And a Christmas pudding hat, alongside the Grinchiest Santa ever ... <br />
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Then there was my not-so-little chimney hat, complete with fake snow, presents (at the very top) and pom-pom reindeer on the brim ... <br />
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I had no idea there were so many creative people at my company! Here's a group shot of everyone that took part, wearing their own homemade creations ...<br />
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The overall winner of the competition and now proud owner of the brilliantly ugly Christmas jumper prize was [insert drum roll here] ... Andy and his Christmas pudding hat ...<br />
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Congratulations Andy!!!<br />
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It was a really fun afternoon and probably one of the best Christmas lunches we've had in a while. But without a doubt, the funniest moment of the day came when my colleague, Hayley, tried on the winning hat ... <br />
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and did a little shoulder shimmy dance ...<br />
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Just think of the episode of Friends where Monica puts the turkey on her head and you'll get the general idea!Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-87920076417768050322012-12-04T20:29:00.000+00:002012-12-04T20:29:59.404+00:00adventures of a New York wanderer | the bookI'm one of those people who doesn't usually print their photos. I scrap with them, I view them on my laptop and I even blog about them, but I very rarely print them. However, following my recent NYC trip, I knew I wanted to create a photobook as a way of "showcasing" some of my favourite images ...<br />
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I used <a href="http://blurb.co.uk/">blurb.co.uk</a> to create my book (I'd used them once before for photos from my friend's <a href="http://www.blurb.co.uk/my/book/detail/2677082" target="_blank">wedding in Italy</a> in 2011). Blurb's software is really easy to use and you work "off-line" until you're ready to order the book, which meant I could fiddle with the font and the position of my images without having to have Internet connection (i.e. during my lunch-breaks at work).<br />
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Now I have to confess. I have a terrible time visualising sizes. I always have and I always will. When I created the wedding photo book, I did it in the small square size of 7in x 7in and whilst I was happy enough with the end result, the book felt a bit small in my hands. So this time, I opted for the large landscape size of 13in x 11in ... that's about the same size as my laptop. Wow! <br />
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As with most things, it's the preparation that takes the longest time; selecting which images I wanted to use, tweaking them to correct imperfections, cropping and saving them took several hours (over a period of about 4 days).<br />
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My next challenge was picking the style of my book. I knew I didn't really want any text / journaling. I just wanted the focus to be on the images, with a single line indicating the "when" and "where" kind of data ...<br />
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I decided to keep it very clean and simple with most pages (42 in total) having just 1 central image. There were a couple of exceptions though. As you can imagine, I took a LOT of images whilst visiting the Empire State building and I wanted to show the views looking north, south, east and west ...<br />
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I also wanted to include some of the photos captured on my mobile phone and knowing that these images wouldn't stand up to being enlarged, I opted for a multi-image page that meant keeping them neat and small ...<br />
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I ordered 2 copies, one for me and the other as a Christmas gift for Hazel (she doesn't read my blog so it's OK for me to share here) and they arrived yesterday. The quality of the books, the paper, dust cover and bindings etc is excellent. Mind you, they weren't cheap and even with a 20% discount coupon, the books worked out at approximately £45 each! A wee bit pricey, but I'm delighted with the end result. I just hope Hazel feels the same way when she opens hers on Christmas morning.Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-43178273298355366712012-11-30T21:51:00.005+00:002012-11-30T21:51:39.358+00:00movember moustache madnessThirty days ago, Iain and ten of his work colleagues decided to attempt to grow moustaches throughout the month of November or Movember as it's now commonly called. Movember is all about raising awareness of men's health issues and in particular testicular and prostate cancers. You can find out more about it from the official website (http://uk.movember.com/about/).<br />
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I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but Iain and I actually work at the same business and this year, they registered as a <a href="http://uk.movember.com/team/785241" target="_blank">team</a> to help encourage and MOtivate each other, by posting regular updates and gathering donations from family, friends and anyone else who was willing!<br />
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I acted as Iain's "official" photographer throughout Movember and as you can see from the following images, they were all taken with my mobile phone and often in pretty poor lighting but never-the-less, they show the progression from sexy stubble, to furry monster, all in the space of 30 days.<br />
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<i><b>Day 3</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Day 6 </b></i></div>
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<i><b>Day 11</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Day 21</b></i></div>
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<i><b>Day 30</b></i></div>
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Now he and his colleagues have done an AMAZING job and between them they've raised over £1000 for the the Movember charities!!! I'm so proud of him and the rest of the guys in the team. Spectacular efforts and lots of laughs all round.</div>
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But, I'm going to be soooooo glad tomorrow morning, when he finally shaves the darn thing off!</div>
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Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-27650799704807301242012-11-16T18:40:00.001+00:002012-11-16T18:40:57.506+00:00NYC capturedSince returning from New York, not surprisingly a lot of my layouts have featured images from my trip. If you've been reading my "adventures of a New York wanderer" posts, you'll have already seen the photos but here are some of them again, this time incorporated into my digi-scrapbooking pages (all the images are linked through to my Flickr gallery where you'll find full credits for each LO) ...<br />
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36584745@N04/8187037945/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8347/8187037945_8905b628a6_z.jpg" title="Taxi" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36584745@N04/8131602458/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8187/8131602458_caf26ee0ff_z.jpg" title="Today Is Perfect" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36584745@N04/8125109154/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8335/8125109154_1fb1e73633_z.jpg" title="Big Yellow Taxi" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/36584745@N04/8120065159/in/photostream/" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" height="400" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8049/8120065159_4294068d3e_z.jpg" title="Fairytale of New York no.1" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br />Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-72126772916645910162012-11-11T17:24:00.003+00:002012-11-11T21:34:44.746+00:00adventures of a New York wanderer | day 5Our last day in New York started much like every other, with a filling breakfast! Our flight back to the UK wasn't due to depart until 9pm and our transfer from the hotel to JFK airport wasn't due to arrive until around 4pm. So what were we to do until then? Why, more sightseeing of course!<br />
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We packed our cases and checked out of the hotel, but thankfully they offered a left luggage service and for the princely sum of just $2, we had somewhere safe and secure to leave our suitcases.<br />
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We didn't want to walk too far, so we checked our map to see what landmarks were within a 10-15 block radius and Grand Central Station and Rockefeller Centre came up trumps. I'd heard that Grand Central was an impressive sight, but nothing prepared me for the opulence and splendour that greeted us ...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyJECQO5LxQlitmlXY0r_ukE9S2bylNeV0Zvhv93J5AH9hyphenhyphenMzs5MLkVpqRVX5FJH7TxLMev4roP3yEm5X4lhRVKkce9m2DrcLMWEaxB0n-bZ34czn_sZEaamMFMJicEtac3RAqKM5eixf/s1600/001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXyJECQO5LxQlitmlXY0r_ukE9S2bylNeV0Zvhv93J5AH9hyphenhyphenMzs5MLkVpqRVX5FJH7TxLMev4roP3yEm5X4lhRVKkce9m2DrcLMWEaxB0n-bZ34czn_sZEaamMFMJicEtac3RAqKM5eixf/s1600/001.jpg" /></a></div>
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My photos really don't do it justice, it is simply magnificent. It's the most ornate train station I've ever seen (though St Pancras station in London comes a close second!) ...<br />
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We almost walked straight past the Chrysler Building, which really isn't that impressive at ground level (just my opinion!), it's beauty is all up top ...<br />
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We grabbed a cuppa tea before strolling along Lexington Avenue and over to St Patrick's Cathedral. Sadly, the exterior of the cathedral was completely under scaffold, so I didn't get any photos. After a quick look round the interior, we popped across the street to Saks Fifth Avenue, one of the city's classic shopping experiences!<br />
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A short stroll down West 49th Street and we arrived at Rockefeller Centre ...<br />
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The NBC Studios are located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and it was here that we caught a glimpse of two stars of the small screen, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tina_Fey" target="_blank">Tina Fey</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracy_Morgan" target="_blank">Tracy Morgan</a>. They were filming (presumably an episode of 30 Rock) right there by the NBC Studio entrance of the GE Building!!! <br />
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For the most part, we had decided we'd try and eat <i>local</i> cuisine (i.e. not from a franchised fast food chain) but on this one occasion, we did treat ourselves to a McDonald's milkshake with added whipped cream and a cherry on the top too! Chocolate for Hazel ...<br />
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Strawberry for me ...<br />
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All too soon, it was time to head back to the hotel to await the arrival of our airport transport, but there was still enough time for Hazel to pose with one of the giant pumpkins ...<br />
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This was the exterior of our hotel, The Edison ... <br />
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I LOVED every second of my time in New York and it has strengthened my determination to return again; one day! But until that day arrives, I'll just have to be content with browsing through my photos and reminiscing with Hazel ... "do you remember, when we were in New York ...?" <br />
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Things ticked off my "must see / do / eat" list today were:<br />
<ul>
<li>meeting under the clock in Grand Central Station</li>
<li>shopping in Saks Fifth Avenue</li>
<li>watching the sunrise at 35,000ft as we returned to the UK</li>
</ul>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-8794564671870620482012-11-04T10:46:00.002+00:002012-11-05T21:42:30.282+00:00adventures of a New York wanderer | day 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Another hearty breakfast (this time of bacon and eggs for both of us) and then we headed out on a stroll down to an area of the city known as Hell's Kitchen. Sounds charming, doesn't it? In actual fact, the reason we wanted to go there was because on every Saturday and Sunday, they hold a flea market on West 39th Street. They close off the whole street between 9th and 10th Avenues and lots of individual traders set up there stalls, full of all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff ...<br />
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Having perused the wares, we headed back up to 8th Avenue, where we hopped on a tour bus that would take us on the Uptown loop and through Harlem. Downtown and Midtown Manhattan are pretty flat, which is one reason why walking round the city is so easy, and it's not until you head north of Central Park that you realise that it's actually quite hilly! This shot reminds me of car chases you see in the movies ...<br />
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The beautiful architecture of Riverside Church ... <br />
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After an hour or so on the bus, we got off at the north east corner of Central Park and decided to spend time exploring the glorious scenery of the park. We entered at the more formal part called the Conservatory Gardens, with it's beautiful manicured lawns and neatly cropped box hedges ...<br />
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Then onto the more <i>natural </i>woodland areas where all the trees were in their glorious autumn colours ...<br />
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I guess we'd been walking for an hour or so when we found The Reservoir, a magnificent artificial lake right in the heart of NYC ...<br />
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Someone had told us to make sure we visited Central Park at the weekend, so we could get a real sense of how New Yorkers use it and having seen football matches, baseball games and lots of frisbee throwing activities, I guess we saw it at it's best!<br />
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We went back to our hotel for a quick break, then we headed out to pick up the Downtown loop tour bus to Midtown. As we walked over to the bus stop, we came across a HUGE street market taking place right next door on 7th Avenue. We couldn't believe we'd almost missed it! There were lots of food stalls selling tempting morsels; empanadas, gyros, kebabs, hotdogs, burgers, spring rolls and chicken satay with peanut sauce to name just a few. We treated ourselves to a few tasty snacks as we browsed the stalls selling anything and everything!<br />
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As the afternoon wore on, the cloud began to roll in and we started to think we may have to postpone the next part of our day's activities. We quickly hopped back onto the Downtown loop bus and disembarked at the stop for the Empire State Building.<br />
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Now, a word of advice for anyone planning on going up the Empire State Building ... do not, I repeat, do not get sucked in to believing all the rubbish spouted by the City Sightseeing Cruises guys (wearing bright blue jackets) that trawl around the entrance to the building. They'll tell you all kinds of crap about needing a ticket before you go in or fast tracking you past the queues etc <i>if</i> you buy your ticket from them ... you could end up paying $14 more than you need to!!!<br />
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Hazel and I learnt this lesson the hard way. By the time we got there it was already after 4pm and one of the guys in blue stopped us as we walked towards the building entrance. He said that the queues inside were long and there'd be 3 different queues before we could go up, but that for just $39 we'd only have to queue once (for the lift / elevator) and that we'd also get a bonus 90 minute cruise to see the city skyline from the water thrown into the package. Sounded good in principle, so we bought our tickets from him.<br />
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We did have to queue to go through security (you have to go through a metal detector scanner, like at the airport) but this was pretty quick. We then had to queue again briefly for the 1st and 2nd lifts. Yes, there are 2 different lifts to get you up to the 86th floor, but once up there the views are simple breathtaking! <br />
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To the west, looking over the Hudson River ...<br />
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To the south, looking towards One World Trade Centre ... <br />
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To the south east, looking towards the BMW (Brooklyn, Manhattan and Williamsburg) bridges ...<br />
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To the north east, looking over the east river and with the Chrysler Building in the left foreground ... <br />
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To the north, with Central Park and The Reservoir peeking between the high-rise buildings ...<br />
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Hazel and me on the 86th floor ... <br />
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It was only when we came down and were exiting the building, that we saw the price we could've paid to go up ... just $25!!! We were both a little miffed about being mis-lead but what can you do? Lesson learnt people, lesson learnt. I guess the extra $14 could be justified on the cruise, but in reality, the time and location of the departure point made it a pain to get to, so we didn't take the cruise.Instead we hopped on the last Downtown loop bus that would take us back to Time Square via the whole Downtown areas again!<br />
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We decided not to go out for dinner. Instead, we opted for a lazy night in our hotel room. We bought crisps, biscuits and cake and crashed out watching a movie on TV. It was a relaxing way to spend our last evening in NYC.<br />
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Things ticked off my "must see / do/ eat" list today were:<br />
<ul>
<li>delishious crispy bacon for breakfast</li>
<li>seeing the fabulous autumn colours in Central Park</li>
<li>taking in the breathtaking views from the Empire State Building</li>
</ul>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-37131569200139430582012-10-29T21:42:00.000+00:002012-10-29T21:42:48.173+00:00adventures of a New York wanderer | day 3Everyone knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, right? Well, the breakfasts we ate in New York were truly epic! For our second full day in the city and Hazel and I ventured out to a near-by cafe for a hearty, if not-so-healthy, breakfast to prepare us for another day of wandering. Now in our defence, both our breakfasts had fruit (part of our 5-a-day!), but lets be honest, any goodness gained from the yummy berries was well and truly wiped out by the badness of the syrup and whipped cream. Yes, whipped cream as part of breakfast. Indulgent in the extreme.<br />
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Hazel’s waffles with strawberries … <br />
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My brioche French toast with mixed fruit …<br />
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The only negative comment about breakfast was the price. We paid $50 (including tip) which we both felt was a pretty pricey! But I guess higher prices should be expected when eating out so close to Time Square.<br />
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After breakfast, we each bought tickets for one of the hop-on / hop-off tour buses that run throughout the city. We went with the <a href="http://www.newyorksightseeing.com/tourpage.php?item=AL" target="_blank">Gray Line’s, All Tours Ticket</a> which was valid for 48hrs and allowed the most flexibility about our destinations as Midtown, Downtown, Uptown and Night Tours were all included in the price ($49). <br />
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Our first trip on the bus tour took us Downtown and past some of the city’s amazing architecture …<br />
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We got off at the corner of Broadway and Vesey Street and headed over towards the Brooklyn Bridge, and from the volume of people walking across the bridge, it looked like everyone else in New York had had the same idea. It was heaving …<br />
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As it turned out, there was actually a charity event taking place and lots of ladies (and a few gents) were walking and/or running across the bridge to raise money for various Breast Cancer charities (October is breast cancer awareness all over the world).<br />
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After the bridge, we had intended to visit the World Trade Centre memorial site. However we hadn’t pre-booked and when we arrived, the next access time wasn’t for another 3.5hrs! We really didn’t want to hang around for that long, so a quick change of plan and we headed down Wall Street …<br />
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We couldn’t find the famous bull though (well, not on this day!)<br />
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We then headed down to the Staten Island Ferry terminal and embarked for a <b>FREE</b> 25minute ferry ride across to Staten Island and right past the Statue of Liberty …<br />
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I still can’t get over the fact that the ferry is completely free of
charge and the view of Manhattan and Lady Liberty are AMAZING! <br />
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It was about 4pm by the time we returned back to Manhattan and we were both starting to feel a bit weary (well, we had been walking for around 6hrs almost non-stop!) and so we jumped back onto the tour bus and headed back to Midtown and our hotel … however, this wasn’t the end of our day. Oh no!<br />
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We headed back out again a couple of hours later and took the Night Tour of the city, which included heading over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Brooklyn itself. Our tour guide on the bus was a lovely lady, who’s name I foolishly failed to get and my goodness, she was so knowledgeable. She gave so many fact about the sites we were seeing and the places we were driving through, it was amazing! And she had a great sense of humour too and really engaged with the passenger on the bus, including playing on some cross-ocean banter with Hazel and I.<br />
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Regrettably, I didn’t bring my “proper” camera along for the trip, so I only managed to snap a couple of grainy images on my mobile phone, this one just before the bus set off was probably the best and shows Time Square in all it’s luminous glory …<br />
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It was gone 10pm by the time we finally called it a day (or night) and once again, we were both out for the count all the second our heads hit our pillows. <br />
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Ticked off items on "must see / do / eat" list for this day included:<br />
<ul>
<li>Walking across the Brooklyn Bridge</li>
<li>Seeing the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry</li>
<li>Pepperoni pizza, by the slice</li>
<li>Seeing the building of One World Trade Centre (aka Freedom Tower)</li>
<li>Seeing the twinkling lights of the Manhattan skyline at night</li>
</ul>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-56188481028534186072012-10-27T15:26:00.000+01:002012-10-27T21:48:20.196+01:00adventures of a New York wanderer | day 2A fitful night sleep ended at around 5:30am, when both Hazel & I were woken by the sound of sirens and horns blaring. Welcome to the city that never sleeps! The weather report for the day predicted grey skies and rain showers, so we decided this would be our shopping day. We figured we’d just pop into a shop if and when the rain showers started. I foolishly hadn’t brought any kind of coat or waterproof jacket with me. What was I thinking? I guess I figured on every day being sunny. Oh such folly on my part.<br />
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As it turned out, it poured with rain pretty much all morning and into the early afternoon. I got drenched and because of the rain, I took hardly any photos! No photos of Hazel doing her best Audrey Hepburn impression at Tiffany’s. No photos of Saks Fifth Avenue. No photos of anything really. Boo! It was a great day for exploring the city, but just not a great day for capturing on film, errr I mean memory card (that really doesn’t sound as charming, does it?).<br />
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At one point, to escape the rain we dropped in a bar situated at the bottom of the Empire State Building and grabbed a couple of lager shandies. We watched people as the trudged their way along 5th Avenue, dodging umbrellas and generally looking a little damp, much like we were…<br />
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We popped into Macy’s too, but it was pretty busy and the music was so load, I really didn’t enjoy it that much. There were so many sales assistants swarming over every customer that walked by. Arrggghhhh! I don’t really enjoy shopping at the best of times, but when I do go, I prefer just to be left alone to browse at my own leisure.<br />
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I did buy one thing though. An umbrella. A funky clear plastic bubble style one, with taxi cab yellow edging. It was pretty cool and probably the most practical style for a crowded city situation. I could have the umbrella up and yet still easily see where I was going …<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">Just a shame I didn’t think about the size of it though. I would actually end up having to leave <span style="font-size: small;">it</span> in New York because it <span style="font-size: small;">wouldn'<span style="font-size: small;">t </span></span>fit it into my suitcase to bring it back home.</span></span><br />
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By the time we got back to Time Square, the rain had eased off. While there, we saw one of the big advertising boards showing the Dunk Tank game. It’s great fun! A live camera is pointed down into Time Square and you can see yourself up there on the big screen. Like a movie star, hahaha! It’s like a playing a giant real-life game of Where’s Wally / Waldo …<br />
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Here's a couple of other "random" photos I took and rather like ...<br />
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In terms of things I managed to tick off my “must see / do / eat” list on this day, they were:<br />
<ul>
<li>Pancakes for breakfast (very tasty, but HUGE! There were 3 on my plate but I could only eat 1.5)</li>
<li>Looking longingly through Tiffany’s windows</li>
<li>Sitting in a booth at a diner and eating a cheeseburger for my tea</li>
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Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-7985720626079385822012-10-25T21:42:00.000+01:002012-10-25T21:42:01.116+01:00adventures of a New York wanderer | day 1<div style="text-align: left;">
There were four other couples on the shuttle bus with Hazel, myself & Mr Grumpy (the driver), none of which were staying at the same hotel, so on the very first afternoon of our trip, we had an unexpected tour around mid-town Manhattan! We were the last ones to be dropped off at our chosen destination, the Edison Hotel on West 47th Street, which was literally just around the corner from Time Square. The hotel décor had an art deco flair to the exterior and all public areas, but a much less expressive, nay even bland scheme in the room interiors. Not to worry though. As long as there was somewhere to rest our weary heads and sooth our aching feet, we were happy.<br /><br />Having dropped off our luggage, we promptly headed out to explore the local neighbourhood. In actual fact, we wandered about 12 blocks north and found ourselves at the south west corner of Central Park, at Columbus Circle (which just happens to be the only round-about in New York City!). </div>
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It was already after 5pm and the light was beginning to fade, never-the-less we explored a fair chunk of the southern part of the park, finding the Mall …</div>
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the Bethesda Terrace (complete with silhouetted dancers!) and fountain ... </div>
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and even managing to snap this shot of the city skyline as darkness began to fall … </div>
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On the way back to our hotel we both had our first experience of New York’s culinary delights; hot dogs from a street vendor. The fist of many things I could tick off my “must see / do / eat” list.</div>
Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-37034249464762180892012-10-24T22:22:00.001+01:002012-10-25T21:44:17.494+01:00New York is ...… familiar. This probably sounds a bit odd given that I’ve only just returned from my first ever visit there, but it’s true. As you walk down the avenues, stroll through the park and turn each corner, you’re presented with yet another iconic image or landmark, that is New York. <br />
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I’d visited America once before (back in 2007) and I’ll be honest and say I was just a little overwhelmed by everything. That was for a quick trip to Grand Rapids [business] and then onto Chicago [pleasure]. I knew nothing about either location and really didn’t know what to expect. I was also travelling with five colleagues from work and so on most days, our itinerary was already planned for us.<br />
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My recent trip to New York was completely different; in fact, the only similarities with my previous trip to America were that I was travelling with a colleague [and friend] from work, Hazel and that our early departure time meant leaving for the airport at an ungodly hour in the morning! Of course one key advantage of an early flight and the minus 5hrs time difference between the UK and USA was that we’d arrive at JFK at around 1:30pm and in theory, that meant we should be at our chosen hotel by mid-afternoon. <br />
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Now I say “in theory” because as always, getting through passport control / immigration at <u>any</u> airport is always a bit of a pain but at JFK it was utterly torturous. We were shuffled through to a dark, dingy, very dated looking room that could also be described as a cellar / basement, where we joined a snaking queue of bodies, waiting to be “processed”. The ceiling seemed to be only about 8ft above floor level, the walls were dark and grubby, with only the occasional stark warning sign to break the monotony, and the temperature was so bloody hot!!! Seriously, how nobody fainted whilst we queued, I’ll never know. <br />
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Once through passport control, Hazel and I then had to figure out where to pick-up our pre-arranged shuttle bus transfer to the hotel. Yet another queue and yet another unbearably hot waiting area.<br />
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Now please don’t get me wrong, I’m British and queuing is considered a national past-time over here, but queuing in America is nowhere near as civilised as queuing in Britain. For a start, what’s the fascination with being asked to “line up against the wall”? Every queue we joined, we were always asked to wait against the wall. Why? <br />
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We waited for nearly an hour before our minibus finally arrived and our driver was such a charming chap, NOT! He was so rude and grumpy. Honestly. If you work within the service industry (like I do) then smiling at your customers and being polite should be a given. Arggghhh. Manners cost nothing and yet are priceless!<br />
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Anyhoo, before this starts to sound like a bashing session, let me just say that all the irritation for the delays and lack of service immediately evaporated as soon as Hazel and I saw the Manhattan skyline for the first time. It’s breathtaking. It’s exactly as you see it in the movies. It’s iconic; that’s a word you’ll read a lot during my next couple of blog posts. New York is … <b>iconic.</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-25601672620169569862012-08-12T16:50:00.007+01:002012-08-12T17:37:28.929+01:00How will I adjust post-Olympic games?They've been such a big part of my life over the past 16 days. I didn't expect them to be. In fact, I didn't even watch the opening ceremony! But then I started reading comments about how spectacular it had been. I logged onto the BBC website and found a 6 minute <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19022259">highlights video</a> and "wow!" ... it was pretty special, wasn't it?<br /><br />Since the opening day, I've watched sports I'd never previously given a second thought about. I've watched triathlon. I've been mesmerised by the cycling in the velodrome. The tennis at Wimbledon was magical. The swimming and diving at the aquatics centre made a real splash (if you'll pardon the pun) and the athletics ... well, that was simply outstanding!<br /><br />From what I've seen on television, from what I've read in the papers and from the Tweets I've seen, I think it's fair to say that London 2012 has been a roaring success. Team GB did us proud!!! I've been enthralled throughout the whole event.<br /><br />So what next? How will I fill my days if not by watching Jessica, Tom, Chris, Ben, Andy and Mo?<br /><br />Well thankfully, the English Premiere League football season kicks off again next weekend, so I guess I'll be glued to my television as once again, Chelsea begin their campaign to regain the title and of course, retain the Champions League trophy. Come on you Blues!Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-34295808239338710372012-08-09T20:24:00.005+01:002012-08-09T20:44:50.484+01:00I know of no ILLEGAL impediment ...Those were his exact words.<br /><br />He should have said "I know of know <b>LEGAL</b> impediment", but I figure it was such a minor technicality and if anyone asks, I tell them that as of today, we've been married for 19yrs.<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0FDC6ZGVFC85FcPRG_RpuUzHuIsh7WVU-ZALgF7x7kUcTM5WNJZl6Vk2n2F8m2pOSPJ6HqfoSl_M9WsFnOh37TB873w4iVOMudVF2zHtFTBY1P2C1n0suFDsD6lON50xQkmbQHbCLoOf/s1600/Iain%252BMe_1992.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhp0FDC6ZGVFC85FcPRG_RpuUzHuIsh7WVU-ZALgF7x7kUcTM5WNJZl6Vk2n2F8m2pOSPJ6HqfoSl_M9WsFnOh37TB873w4iVOMudVF2zHtFTBY1P2C1n0suFDsD6lON50xQkmbQHbCLoOf/s320/Iain%252BMe_1992.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5774758882822840498" border="0" /></a><span style="font-size:78%;">photo taken the day Iain asked me to marry him in 1992<br /></span></div>Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8760440912107721480.post-63969382035260490092012-08-06T20:44:00.007+01:002012-08-06T21:17:27.944+01:00I get easily distracted ...It's one of my [many] areas for development (aka weaknesses). I start a project, then something new, and often shiny, catches my attention and then I just kind of drift off ...<br /><br />The [not so shiny] <i>new</i> that's causing my current distraction is Instagram, and more specifically, #photoaday type challenges. My favourite of which comes from <a href="http://fatmumslim.com.au/">Fat Mum Slim</a>'s blog. My friend Helen introduced me to the joys of #photoaday photography. I started last month and found it really quite easy to use the daily prompts to take a photo each day and upload them to Instagram. Here's some of my images from July ...<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/837bb958c8f711e1b10e123138105d6b_6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 306px;" src="http://distilleryimage9.s3.amazonaws.com/837bb958c8f711e1b10e123138105d6b_6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Lunch"<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/636dcbd8cb7c11e19894123138140d8c_6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 306px;" src="http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/636dcbd8cb7c11e19894123138140d8c_6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Letter"<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/4219d9f2cd9f11e1adac22000a1d010e_6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 306px;" src="http://distilleryimage7.s3.amazonaws.com/4219d9f2cd9f11e1adac22000a1d010e_6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Building"<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://distilleryimage0.s3.amazonaws.com/a25b1cded36e11e19f661231381b69db_6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 306px;" src="http://distilleryimage0.s3.amazonaws.com/a25b1cded36e11e19f661231381b69db_6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"9 o'clock"<br /></div><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/6c92c494d89611e1bc0a22000a1e89aa_6.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 306px; height: 306px;" src="http://distilleryimage8.s3.amazonaws.com/6c92c494d89611e1bc0a22000a1e89aa_6.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>"Cup"<br /></div><br />Unlike some other #photoaday challenges, with @fatmumslim's version, you get to see the whole month upfront. Straight away, you can see all the daily prompts and it's give you a head start and a bit of time to think / plan. Spontaneity was never my strong point. Mental note to add that to my "areas for development" list!<br /><br />If you're interested in joining in, here's August's list:<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://fatmumslim.com.au/photo-a-day-august-kicks-off-tomorrow/"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC4fD0xDFH5hR67JwigYwi7uTXKw6vHvClEqouyxMtV6vgP6w8vJjicAPpFJ9tMdDYS13kVU_hBcX2W223kDjyFaJMM1hRsnJvbY1B16bs6VEq0pYC8MBgRJhIOMgnDG2tJT6MecSDc5_/s320/photoadayaug-1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5773654257230956466" border="0" /></a>Suehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181516599513477873noreply@blogger.com0