Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

I was nominated to take part in this fun little blogger exchange by the lovely Donna over at Redhead Babyled. Thanks honey - it's fun to sit down and answer some random questions about myself, and hopefully you guys will all enjoy reading some of my answers. 

If you'd like to read Donna's entry you can have a peek here. 

So, here goes…

Holidays: UK or Abroad?

Both. I absolutely love going away in the UK, I'm quite patriotic, and love so many places in my home country. My favourite places to holiday in the UK are Cornwall, the south coast, Wales, Scotland and Yorkshire. I also love city breaks to beautiful cities such as Bristol, Cambridge and Windsor. I love the countryside, but equally love the seaside, and we are spoilt rotten in the UK for lots of both of these types of places. 

Now that we have little Bert, we are planning to stay exclusively within the UK for our holidays for a few years. This doesn't worry me at all, especially as we were lucky enough to go abroad this year for free to Cyprus. Lucky things! 

My favourite place to visit abroad is Corfu in Greece (I've been about 4 times) - but I also love city breaks to places like Paris and Rome. I've always wanted to go to New York, and I'd also love to visit the Caribbean some time, we also dream of taking Bert to Disney World at some point. (Hoping for a lottery win!)

Tea or Coffee?

Tea. Tea. Tea. I drink so much tea!!! It's a family obsession really - my Nan and Mum have always drunk bucket loads of the stuff, and now I'm carrying on the family tradition. I do like coffee, and like to drink it after a meal if we're eating out, but I tend to stick to tea at home. Strong with two sweeteners please. :-)

What’s your all time favourite TV show?

Very easy question to answer. If I have to pick one above all others it would always be FRIENDS. I watched it all the way through my youth, I've seen every single episode time after time and I STILL laugh out loud at almost every episode. It gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside when I watch it. They actually feel like they're MY friends. :0)

If you could fix one thing in the world, what would it be?

Child abuse. I would eradicate child abuse of all types. Physical, mental, sexual, slavery, all and any way that a child is exploited in this world, I would erase it. Having a child of my own has made me super sensitive to stories of children being hurt, so much so that I can no longer watch the news - it upsets me too much and actually makes me feel a bit depressed. 

Wow - that was a deep one. 

If you could have a super power, what would you choose?

I'd love to be able to travel with a click of my finger. It would mean I could go anywhere I like a) in a few seconds worth of travel and b) for free. I imagine what it would be like to just be able to nip to Jamaica for the weekend, or being able to travel 100 miles to see my mum just for a quick cup of tea. I could just pop over to my best friend's house in Wales without that long journey. Amazing. 

If you could go back to one time in your life, when would it be?

I'd go back to my childhood - to Friday nights when I used to stay at my Nanny and Grandad's house - eating fish fingers in front of the TV, cuddling my nanny, and playing with my Grandad - listening to his stories and feeling all safe and warm. I'd give anything to be back around them again, losing them in my teenage years was really hard as we were super-close. I think about them so often, especially since having Bert. He is named after my Grandad, who was called Albert. 

What would be your perfect Christmas present?

Ooooh now this is a hard one. Probably loads of awesome clothes from my favourite shops (Joules, Boden, Cath Kidston, Seasalt, La Redoute, The White Stuff, Fatface). Or a big diamond ring!! Or a surprise weekend away somewhere lovely. Or one of those GIANT boxes of Hotel Chocolat boxes of chocolates. Hahaha….there are just toooooo many beautiful things I want. Ooooh I know an original piece of art from Anita Klein would be AMAZING, or an original paper cut by Rob Ryan. :-) 

Where did your blog name come from?

Well, Mrs Bishop is my married name (I was Lucy Moon before that), and I wanted my blog name to incorporate my main passion which is baking. I knew I didn't want it to be solely a baking blog, so I needed a name that would allow for other subject matter, and 'banter' seemed like a pretty good umbrella term - and it had a nice ring to it. Ta'Dah! Mrs Bishop's Bakes and Banter was born. 

Where do you see your blog this time next year?

If I'm honest, I try not to think too far ahead - I'm more of an 'enjoy the moment you're in' kinda lady. I'd love to think that the blog will still be going strong, that I'll still be really enjoying writing it, and that I will still be lucky enough to get some amazing opportunities and experiences because of what I do over here in my little corner of Cyberspace. 

Tell us about your closest friend...

This is hard because I have so many close friends, who are all classed as 'best' and 'closest'. So, I'll tell you about them all. 

I have my Carmi, who I've been friends with since college - she is the kindest, most beautiful lady I know, and I miss her terribly when I don't see her for ages (she lives in Surrey where I grew up). 

There's my beautiful Watford Besties: Danni and her soon to be husband, Charlie. Danni and I went to University together, and have been so close ever since. Both our partners (Charlie and Liam) get on so well, and all four of us socialise all the time - we love them dearly. 

There's lovely Liz - my sister from another mister - we met about 3 years ago - Liz started up a WI group in Bedford aimed at a younger demographic, and I went along nervously by myself around Christmas time three years ago - desperate to make a circle of friends in Bedford now that we'd bought our house here and decided to settle down. It was the best decision I ever made, and now I'm lucky enough to call some of the women from our WI group some of my bestest friends (you know who you are Mags, Anwyn, Lisa, Clare, Janet, Rachel, Claire, Judit…). Liz and I hit it off from day one, she just 'gets' me more than anyone else, we have so much in common, have identical sense of humours, and just generally have a blast when we are together. 

My oldest girl friend, and who I'm probably the closest to in the world, the one who knows me warts and all is my awesome friend Susie, who lives far away in Wales, and who I only get to see once a year if I'm lucky. We met about 12 years ago, when I was at school, and she was my modern languages teacher!! We hit it off, and used to laugh and giggle all the way through our German lessons. I totally looked up to her, and after she left my school to move on to another teaching post elsewhere I was gutted. We promised to stay in touch, and we've never looked back. I pretty much talk to her almost every day - at least a few times a week minimum. I am an auntie to her five amazing children, and I genuinely could not imagine my life without her. 

There's Adam, my very oldest friend in the whole world - we've been friends since the first day of primary school (year 1)…I went on a camping holiday with him and his lovely family when I was 7 years old to Pevensey Bay (I have such fond memories of that holiday Ad, camping, sleeping in a tent with you in our sleeping bags) and we've been close ever since. We did a lot of acting together growing up - we both caught the 'drama bug' at school, and we both went on to study acting at university. We don't get to catch up these days as often as I'd like, but when I see him he is always the same old Adam, with the biggest heart and warmest hugs. 

Then there's Cosham, my Michael. (Cosham is his surname, but that's how we've always known him) he is my second oldest boy friend. We went to secondary school together, and he is just my gorgeous squishy, cuddly Michael, who gives the biggest best bear hugs in the world. Again, I don't get to see him as often as I'd like due to us living far apart these days, but he's there at every special occasion, with his massive grin and booming laugh.

I also have my blogger bestie Emma, who writes over at Life According to Mrs Shilts - we've been friends since we 'met' online through our blogs a few years ago - we finally got to meet in the flesh this year at BritMums Live, and we of course, enjoyed the most awesome girlie weekend together and had a blast! Big love goes to Jade and Donna who I also got to meet at BritMums this year and are now great friends too, and to beautiful Rhia from Virtual Rhiality, who I will DEFINITELY finally get to meet in the flesh between now & Christmas, I promise! 

Agh, I miss all my friends now :-( LOVE YOU GUYS.

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Okay, so here are the ten lovely bloggers I nominate. They are all super awesome, inspiring women, who all write blogs that I love. (Please don’t feel you have to join in lovelies, but if you do fancy playing along, that would be fun too!)...

1. Emma from Life According to Mrs Shilts

2. Jade from Late for Reality

3. Rhia from Virtual Rhiality

4. Anwyn from It's A Rowberry Life

5. Liz from Little Red Welly

6. Janet from Kitchen Table Sewing

7. Emma from The Mini Mes and Me

8. Lisa from Women Who Are

9. Vicki from A Life of Geekery

10. Judit from Monster Yarns

And my ten questions for your lovelies are as follows:

1. What is your signature bake?

2. If you had to choose only one film to watch for the rest of time, and no others, what would you choose?

3. What is your favourite home cooked dinner, and why?

4. Do you have a favourite artist or piece of artwork?

5. What's your tipple of choice?

6. Do you collect anything?

7. What are you reading at the moment?

8. Do you have a dream job? Or are you lucky enough to already do your dream job?

9. What is your favourite item of clothing in your current wardrobe and why?

10. Who is your most embarrassing celebrity crush? (Let's face it girls, we're never too old for a crush!)

Why do I write? Blog Hop

I was tagged to take part in this 'Why Do I Write?' Blog Hop by my lovely blogger friend Jade, who writes over at Late For Reality. This is the first time I've participated in a Blog Hop - I thought it might be a nice one to have a crack at, and will hopefully give my readers a bit of an insight into why I blog, and how my writing process works. 

Here's Jades blog hop if you'd like a read. :-)

So here we go, first question...

1. Why do I write?

I started this blog back on the 30th January 2012. It really started as an online diary - a way to house in one place all the things I was getting up to, all of my thoughts and ideas, and a way to share with my family (who live 100 miles away) how I was getting on week to week. I was feeling that 'new year-new you' vibe, and was determined to shed weight for my upcoming nuptials (Aug 2012).

Once I started writing I became totally addicted. My family and friends all read it, and said they enjoyed it, and before I knew it friends of friends had started reading, and soon a whole host of strangers…it occurred to me that actually maybe I do have a voice worth listening to, that I might be able to create something people will enjoy reading. I found that writing the blog really helped me to see potential 'material' everywhere, and soon I realised that the blog was driving me to seek out new experiences and adding so much joy to my everyday.

I've always found the process of writing things down cathartic - I kept a diary as a teenager, and this was just my extension of that really. The blog has helped me to deal with some pretty hefty things, and has helped to keep me on track - especially when it comes to weight loss. I'd have found it far harder to have lost the 5 stone 5 lbs (and counting!) if it wasn't for the blog - writing about the numbers on the scale, saying it out loud to all of you lovely readers, somehow makes me more accountable - I feel like I'll be letting you down, as well as myself, if I gain - does that make sense?

I have also enjoyed being able to document our journey into parenthood on the blog. From our miscarriage in 2012, the pregnancy with Bert, to little Bert's arrival, and all the joy he has bought to our lives since then, I love having it all documented on here to look back on in the future.

2. What am I working on?

At the moment I'm working on a few cool things: I'm braving it into the world of vlogging (video blogging) very soon and will be reviewing a SUPER exciting kitchen gadget for you all…eeek!

I have a couple of beautiful children's toy reviews in the making…hopefully I'll be able to share lots of lovely gift ideas with you all between now and Christmas (you know how I love to shop!)

I also have to play catch up with my Baking Challenge posts - as I missed August (it was SUCH a busy month for us) …. so I owe you two baking challenges this month. I'm also making a birthday cake for my cousin's 30th birthday at the end of September, so all being well I'll be able to share that with you all as well.

3. How does my blog differ from others of its genre?

I think my blog is different because it doesn't quite conform to just one genre. When describing my little virtual world I usually use the umbrella term 'lifestyle' blog as I cover such a wide range of topics from baking, parenting, health/fitness, wellbeing, interior design, fashion and crafting to name but a few!

I'd say my blog is very true to me - I have pretty strict integrity when it comes to opportunities I say yes to - I won't review something that does't genuinely interest or excite me and I won't work with a company unless I know that I and my readers will enjoy it.

4. How does my writing process work?

A lot of my posts are quite 'off the cuff' - just me chattering about something I've done, somewhere I've been, or some pretty things I've found online. Sometimes, my posts are more planned - and might be a few weeks in the making. It really does depend on the subject of the post. I try to include loads of photos as I know that when I read other blogs I love to see lots of pictures of their lives (I'm SO nosy, so I can only assume all you lovely blog readers are too!) I usually write with a loose idea beforehand of what I want the post contain/how I want it to look, then I proof read. Finally, I get my husband to have a peek (he's great at spotting mistakes I might have missed) before I press 'publish'. I don't usually post anything without his opinion, as his is the opinion I trust most among all others, plus I think its fair he sees what I'm about to say before anyone else!

I'm constantly on the lookout for things I might want to write about on the blog - from a recipe I might see and think 'oooh that'll make a fab blog' to a dinner I throw together and think 'blimey that was easy/tasty/cheap/filling (delete as appropriate) I should blog that one'. Sometimes it might be how I'm feeling emotionally about something that will prompt a post, or it might be a fun day out we've had that I'm desperate to share with you. I love to mark all of my special occasions with a post such as my birthday, anniversaries and Bert's milestones, and I enjoy sharing awesome product reviews with any space I can find in-between all of the above!

I hope you enjoy reading my blog half as much as I enjoy writing it!

I tag the lovely Emma over at Life According to Mrs Shilts, Rhia over at Virtual Rhiality, and finally Anwyn over at It's A Rowberry Life: I would love you read your answers girls!

Please ensure your posts go live on Monday 29th September.


Happy Blogging!


Mrs B

xxx