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As I peeped out of the bedroom curtains this morning I found myself doing a little jig when I saw that the sun was already well above the rooftops. There's nothing quite like spring to shine some light into your day after the long, dark winter.
The last few weeks have been a flurry of activity, and I've been throwing myself into this and that without much thought. Then last night I had a dream where I was being chased by a hooded figure. I tried to run away but found myself up to my knees in thick, gloopy mud, fruitlessly wading through it as fast as I could but sinking deeper and deeper into the squelch. When I woke up I didn't need to ask Google what this dream could have meant - the meaning was crystal clear. And when I really ask myself what I've actually achieved from all this dashing around, the truth is, very little.
Recently I've been feeling a little frustrated about losing track of things. My email inbox is overflowing, my blog is neglected, DIY has ground to a halt and my wedding plans are non-existent. So this morning on my way to work I decided to quiet the chatter of Twitter, Instagram and emails, put my phone away and spend my bus journey trying to work out exactly why I feel this way.
And then it hit me. I'm busy because I dip into a task, then get sidetracked and go onto something else, which leads to something else, before getting distracted by emails, and then back to the original task. Eventually I find myself with a dozen half started tasks, but nothing done, and I feel overwhelmed by the mess of loose ends. Even now as I write this post I find my mind drifting towards "ooh I must remember to set up a direct debit for the water bill", and "is it bin day today?" and "oh crap I need to text my sister back." So, my new pledge to myself is to focus on one thing at a time from start to finish. I'll let you know where that takes me.
But enough grumping about my busy-ness. This post was supposed to be a little round-up of what I've been up to recently. I'd like to say I've been out frolicking, but the truth is I've been keeping a tight hold of the purse strings recently. After months of sticking my head in the sand I've finally had to face up to the fact that we're getting married this year, and yep, that means planning a wedding. Although I feel like we've done very little, we do have all the big items ticked off, but what's now looming over my head is the prospect of paying for it all. Budgeting has become a big thing in our household. We've had to adjust to our new jobs, a period of unemployment over Christmas, new bills and new responsibilities. Now that the dust has settled a little bit my head is in the right place to start thinking about ways to save money.
Working for a university means I now have the joys of an NUS card, which is very exciting having not been a student for (er hem) over a decade. I've also become one of those people who scours cashback and voucher websites before buying anything online, A couple of weeks ago I was buying a new duvet and was hovering over the 'place order' button on the Next website when I thought I'd have a little peek at voucherbin.co.uk to see if there were any good discounts. I found a 20% off and free delivery codes for Debenhams and saved £18, which made me very happy indeed (plus the duvet is super snuggly and enormous, which is a bonus).
Despite being largely housebound by the rubbish weather and our limited funds, hopefully I'll still have some fun bits and bobs to tell you about. If you don't already follow my Instagram acount you can find me at queenieandthedew.
001 Munch
Nakd very kindly sent me a big box of bars, which was very exciting as I'm a serial snacker and it was nice to know I wasn't scoffing crisps or chocolate. I was also pleasantly surprised to see the wide variety of flavours I hadn't tried before, like rhubarb and custard, bakewell tart and ginger bread. my favourite is still cashew cookie (yum), and as I attempt to slim into my wedding dress they'll be making a regular appearance in my lunchbox.
I've been trying some new recipes recently, and this Moroccan fish stew from Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food was a big hit.
002 New growth
My new project is the garden, and I'm determined to grow our own veg this year. I sowed some Nasturtium seeds that I found in Poundland and they've since grown into little green plants, which is all very exciting. I also enjoy having a dig in the garden as it's blooming hard work and makes you feel like you've been getting some exercise. With spring coming the bulbs are starting to flower, and I've been slowly wedding the flower beds (our garden is quite big so there's a lot to do) and getting things ready for summer.
003 Work wear
I've been a very bad blogger what with all these dark, cold mornings, and havem't taken an outfit shot in forever. I have snapped a few pics for my Instagram account though. Here are a couple of recent work outfits that will hopefully make their way onto the blog properly in the not-too-distant future.
004 Activities
A couple of Saturdays ago I decided to spent my evening catching up on Mr Selfridge with a glass of cava in the bath. I'd forgotten just how lovely a bubble bath can be!
We haven't had much time to dip into Manchester yet, but when I did I loved the mini wheel at night time. It looks like a ferris wheel - far nicer than the huge London Eye (although its speediness made me feel a bit sick!) Hopefully we'll be able to try it soon.
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