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!

Summer Pampering!!

What a beautiful weekend it has been!
Liam & I headed back to my folks house in Surrey, and spent the weekend catching up with everyone & enjoying the glorious sunshine!

I had a very naughty day Saturday, full of pampering & shopping. (Lucy Heaven) ... My lovely cousins own/work in a gorgeous nail & beauty Salon in Crawley, West Sussex... so me, my mum & my twin sister headed down there together for the afternoon!

I had a full body St Tropez Spray Tan, and a Shellac on my finger nails. Felt so nice to be pampered and prettified!
I was so nervous about having the spray tan as I've never done anything like that before, but I wanted to have a practice run before our wedding, to make sure I liked it & would be happy to have it on my wedding day. The verdict....oh yes! I love it! The treatment was so quick & easy, lovely & cooling in this heat, & the results were instant. It really perks up your confidence & you just feel healthier with a little spring in your step! Also it makes your teeth look whiter! Fab! I will definitely be returning for another spray tan for the wedding, and who knows, I might just make it a semi-regular treat. :-)

I also adore having my nails done, I tend to opt for a manicure or a Shellac rather than a set of false nails, as my own nails are long & pretty strong. I always enjoy nail pampering as I used to bite my nails terribly! So having pretty nails is still a novelty for me. I went for a pretty bright pink varnish & by the time I left the salon I was feeling extremely summery!

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping & I found two awesome bargains! A stunning floral summer dress from Laura Ashley for £35 from £70 in the sale, and the most beautiful 50's style half bodice bra & matching knickers from Debenhams for £21 from £30. :-) Bargain central!!!

The rest of the weekend was spent catching up with my aunt, uncle, brother, sister, mum, stepdad & cousin-at a party on sat night & a BBQ on Sunday! The weather was perfect, the food was scrummy & the Pimms was free flowing....absolute bliss!!!

Its just such a shame that Monday comes back round again so soon! :-(

Lucy xxx

Beautiful Nails Salon, Crawley...

http://www.beautifulnailssalon.co.uk/

Ps. Mum's Jubilee inspired birthday cake went down SO well, and was pretty much demolished by Sunday night :-)

Jubilee Birthday Cake

I'm off home to visit my mum this weekend, and it's sort of become tradition that when it's a birthday at home that I'll bake a cake.

So last night I made a Jubilee inspired cake for Mum, as it was her birthday this week. And I have to say I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

It's a vanilla sponge, sandwiched with blackcurrant & strawberry jams, clotted & double cream, with a 'union jack' of fruit across the top.

It is by no means slimming (clotted cream, sugar, butter etc) BUT it does have lots of lovely fresh summer fruit, :-) so not ALL bad.

At 674 calories per 8th, I think I'll be going for just half a slice! But as a lovely birthday treat I'm sure it will go down marvellously.

I got my inspiration from the GOOD TO KNOW website...

http://www.goodtoknow.co.uk/recipes/534321/jubilee-cake

Love Lucy xxxx

It is my Mumma's birthday!

Today (23.5.12) is my lovely Mumma's 55th Birthday, and although I can't be there with her today as i am working in Bedford, and she's in Surrey, I will be there with her to celebrate at the weekend! I took her presents down ahead of time & will be bringing her a home baked jubilee inspired birthday cake on Friday night!

I thought today would be a nice time to share all the things that remind me of, and make me think of my mum. What if I had to sum her up in words, what would I say? If I had to describe her in pictures which ones would I show you?

After mum falling so ill this year it really has bought home to me how lucky I am to have her. I'm so glad she is recovering well. I honestly don't know what I'd do without her!

My lovely mum ...

Freesias, Oscar perfume, long nails, chunky jewellery, knitting, eternal beau crockery, Portuguese rose, pink hedgehog jumper, per una, cups of tea, chocolate brazil nuts, dancing like a mad woman, roast dinners, Facebook games, laptop, humming all the time, casualty, the soaps, birds of a feather, Richmond Theatre, dancing with Elvis, can't get back on boats, haven holidays as a kid, Rod Stewart music when I was small, Homemade scotch eggs, Trips to Tilgate Park when I was small, nans jewellery, silly birds nest hat, our yellow starlet car when I was a kid, her lovely blonde hair, Tupperware, her "Monger" smile. My Mumma! Xxxxxxx

Beautiful Lace

This is the beautiful work of Bedford-based artist Arabel Rosillo de Bias, who has created this stunning lace installation/sculpture in the windows of
Number One St Paul's Square in Bedford. It's part of the work of the Bedford Creative Arts team, who are working to continue the long-standing lace making tradition in Bedford and ensure the younger generation are able to carry on this beautiful intricate tradition.

I've been lucky enough to watch Arabel weave her magic when she was lace making at a WI 'stitch & bitch' night, and it is truly remarkable to watch, the work looks so complex and intricate!

I love walking past this building daily & admiring her beautiful work!

Lucy likes!!

Xxxx