We Tied The Knot

We Did It!!!

11.08.12 at 1pm (after a very tense & emotional 45 minute wait for my mum to get there....she was stuck on the M25!!) I became Mrs Lucy Bishop!

:-)

Best day ever!!! Thank you to everyone who helped make it such an amazing day!

Xxxxx

What a Hen Weekend!!! :-)

Well, I am a very lucky & spoilt Hen! :-)

This weekend was my Hen Do - it's 3 weeks until the big day & I was sooo excited about going away with all my favourite people for the weekend. All I knew was the location - one of my very favourite places in the whole WORLD ... Windsor. 

We got there at 11:30 am on the Saturday, and I was met by lots of lovely smiling faces & one face not so smiley....my beautiful cousin Michelle, who readily informed me she was in fact in the early stages of labour! But would tag-along on as much of the hen do as she could manage before the baby came! :-)

We all went to a beautiful place called The Crooked House of Windsor for Afternoon Tea; which was sooooo yummy! And just very 'me'. The house was built in 1592 as a Market Cross House, and has its famous tilt because they builder used unseasoned green oak to build it! 

Beautiful Crooked House! 

The food was Amazingly yummy! 

 And it was opposite my most favourite shop in the whole world! :-)

Next we did a lot of shopping....purchases from the weekend included....

• 2 meters of beautiful Cath Kidston oil cloth for my dining room table
• Some GORGEOUS soldier themed PJ bottoms from Cath Kidston
• Some very cute Navy floral culottes from Fat Face
• 2 pairs of shoes from Dorothy Perkins
• AND a stunning set of freshwater pearls & stud earrings from M&S

:-) Shopping makes Lucy a happy Hen! 

Next, we headed to our hotel (which was a lovely surprise!) It was called The Sir Christopher Wren Spa Hotel, Windsor & was absolutely stunning!

The Hotel 

The Library

The Lobby

Our room (me & my lovely friend Lucy!)

I was lucky enough to be staying in the most beautiful room, with spa bath, HUGE bed & just general all round gloriousness! :-)

I nipped for a quick Jacuzzi before getting ready for dinner, which was at a very sweet & swanky restaurant next door called River Side, so named because it sat neatly on the edge of the Thames. 

Gorgeous chandelier in the restaurant! 

My starter - goats cheese stack! 

The pate starter - yum!

The salmon quiche starter...! Gives you the idea of the standard of the yummy food! 

It was so lovely looking around the table of 20 women & knowing they were all there to celebrate with me! 

On Sunday, after a very late night, and a good rest in the very swanky bed, we had a scrummy breakfast on the patio terrace of the hotel in the glorious sunshine! We also had to wave goodbye to my lovely cousin Michelle, who was by this point mid-way through her labour, and in need of a hospital delivery suite (*squeal with excitement!*) !!

My very very tasty breakfast @ Sir Christopher Wren Spa Hotel.

Breakfast was followed by a lovely neck, shoulder and back massage in the hotel's spa. What a treat! Especially as I have such a poorly back! 

Next, we met all the lovely ladies down on the river for a beautiful and serene boat ride down the Thames....dressed as Pirates! They turned up with full Pirate regalia for me....hilarious!! 

We ended the awesome weekend with a final flourish in the shops, followed by a Weatherspoon's lunch! :-)

What a weekend! 

We arrived home at 6:30pm to be told that my cousin Michelle had given birth to a beautiful and healthy baby boy! 

Welcome to the world Paris Leandros Catacos! 

Paris Leandros Catacos (my little 1/4 Greek beauty!)

Me & Paris

So.... to my cousin Michelle & her wonderful husband Paris Senior, CONGRATULATIONS! 

And to my gorgeous cousin Vicky and twin sister Jo, THANK YOU SOOOOOOO much for organising the most AMAZING Hen Weekend I could have possibly asked for! You know me so well! 

xxxxxx

PINK RIBBON WALK 16th JUNE 2012

So, a couple of weeks ago Me, Liam, my best friend Carmi, and my twin sister Jo had our 10-mile Pink Ribbon Walk for Breast Cancer Care at Marble Hill Park, in Richmond.

We had an amazing day - the weather was over cast with some lovely sunny spells, and we DID IT! :-) 

The atmosphere was so fun and positive. It was a very uplifting day, and made me feel very proud of us for walking together and supporting such an awesome charity. 

Between the four of us we've raised (at last count) around £900 :-)...we are so pleased and THANK YOU to every person who has kindly donated.

We found the day to be so lovely but of course very tiring!

Here are a few photos from our day...

The Warm Up

Me and Liam

Carmi and Liam 

Gorgeous Carmi at the end!

BREAST FRIENDS! 

WE DID IT!

:-)

A Right Royal Jubilee

What a lovely few days off we've just enjoyed to mark Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year as our Queen; her DIAMOND Jubilee! I love the Royal family, especially the younger generation...I get a lot of comfort & feelings of security knowing that William, Kate & Harry are the future rulers of England. I guess I'm quite patriotic & have always loved living in England...I can't imagine being anywhere else! So any excuse to celebrate our fab country & monarchy and I'll be there!

On Saturday, Liam and I joined our great friends in Watford for an awesome Jubilee party. The party was also celebrating our friends mums 59th birthday, and the joint celebrations were so much fun! We ate our weight in cake, drank pimms & sang 'God Save the Queen' until 5am!

One of the party goers Kate made an awesome Jubilee Crown Cake (below), and another, Sarah, made a fantastic Queen Pimms Jelly!! FAB! Liam and I baked more cheese muffins & iced buns, and took those along too!

We all wore Red, White and Blue in various combinations, and I wore a gorgeous ring which I inherited from my Nan, as a homage to lovely Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge's engagement ring (as mine is being resized at the moment, ready for our big day!)

We attended another Jubilee tea party on Monday, with Liam's family, and enjoyed some more delicious food and drink with great company. We took part in a Jubilee Quiz, and Liam and I WON! We were so shocked & excited! We won some diamond jubilee playing cards & gorgeous Emma Bridgewater Jubilee Chocolate coins in a little canvas bag...CUTE!!!

Following the same theme, I wanted to share with you the awesome knitted Jubilee Queen that my mum has made...she's so clever! (see below!)

Yesterday, we had our lovely friend Colleen over for lunch, and we cooked homemade pesto with pasta, cherry tomatoes & grilled chicken, a big Greek salad, and Liam made from scratch some AMAZING olive & feta tear 'n' share bread...it was SCRUMMY!!!! Then I had made a big strawberry and raspberry pavlova for dessert! Yum!

Despite all of the naughty food over the bank holiday, I somehow still managed to lose 2lbs, and so I have finally reached my 4 STONE loss! :-) So happy with that, and proud that it's come off slowly and steadily over the past 9 months. So I have reached my initial goal, and now have 3 weeks until my dress fitting to hopefully shift a few more pounds.

No more cake for me then! :-)

Happy Jubilee everyone!

Lucy xxxx

Baking & Weightloss

For those of you reading who know me, you'll know that I absolutely love cooking & baking, and eating! As you can imagine this is a tricky combination when it comes to losing weight. Before I started this healthier regime/life change in September I would cook & bake to my hearts content, happily devouring all my wares...however, I've had to draw a line. I've had to re-train my mind, and remember what I actually NEED in terms of calories, and what a "treat" actually is!

Before September, I'd think nothing of polishing off a share-size bag of crisps, or a whole packet of biscuits. I'd snack & graze almost constantly, and actually sort of saw this as my right as an adult, and as a human.

What I've had to learn is that "naughty" (high calorie) foods, are meant to be eaten in small amounts, infrequently. Not every single day just because i feel like it. MODERATION is the key!

And what has happened is interesting. Not only have I lost a lot of weight, but I've also began to see foods in terms of worth. What does eating this doughnut mean in terms of exercise? Is it worth it? Will it make me happy? And often the answer is no. Because I understand that eating one doughnut is the equivalent of 45 mins on the cross trainer, or 2.5 mile walk...and when I think of it like that it seems far less appealing!

I have also noticed that my enjoyment of those high calorie foods has increased because when I eat them now it actually truly feels like a treat. Something naughty. Instead of being part of my daily diet.

People keep asking me how I bake so much & am losing weight steadily, really the answer is firstly to always work out the calories per portion of what you're baking, that will help you to make an informed & realistic decision when it comes to deciding how much of it you're going to eat.
Secondly, SHARE!! With whoever will receive the baked goods gladly....work friends, family, neighbours...you're not only perking up someone else's day, but you're removing the temptation from your own clutches. I always have "a taste" of whatever I've made, albeit just a small mouthful or a whole portion, but I always know what it's worth, and certainly eat a much smaller percentage of what I make than before.

Liam & I got baking last night in aid of Breast Cancer Care, as he is holding a bake sale at work today to raise money for our 10 mile walk in a few weeks. I baked some cheese muffins, and Liam made Pretzels (one naughty shaped one which was specially requested as well as 'normal' pretzels), boobie iced buns & homemade chocolates! The kitchen was busy all night, but all in aid of a great cause!