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Kate ღ
19 July 2009 @ 08:44 pm
Writer's Block: Family Heirlooms  

Is there anything in your family that has been passed down from generation to generation, or from family member to family member? What is it? And who do you plan to pass it on to?

Submitted By [info]licktheknife


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My name. As my grandma said recently, "there's always been a Kate in the family". The last Kate before me was my mum's grandmother, who was named for her mother. I don't know about the Kates before that.

My mum kept all her old childhood books to pass onto me. As a child I had three whole shelves of them and it was like a treasure trove. I had modern books of course and I could get more from the library, but I always liked the old books best. Some of them I would never had had the opportunity to read if she hadn't saved them for me, as they're now out of print. It also taught me about the beauty of old books compared to new ones, and these days I always buy second-hand books rather than new ones when I can. I still have most of my mum's old books and am keeping them safe to pass on to my own children, along with the books I've acquired myself.

I've always been fascinated by old family keepsakes and was disappointed that we didn't have very many of them. On my dad's side of the family there's only photos, because a lot of stuff was lost when my great-grandmother had to flee the Ukraine with her children in the 1930s. On my mum's side of the family there are photos and jewellery. I have a necklace (which you can see later in this post) and I hope to inherit the rest at some point.

When I was a child I resolved* that when I would keep all my treasure safe, and that when I was an old lady I would let my grandchildren look in the treasure box when they came round, if they promised to be careful and respectful. And then when I was on my death bed I'd nominate a young relative to take guardianship of my treasures and keep them safe, and add their own treasure, and one day appoint the next treasure-keeper.

This is my treasure box:



My uncle in New Zealand sent it as a wedding present. It seems very appropriate for a treasure box, although I'll probably need to get a bigger one someday.

( my treasure )

I'm going to accumulate a lot more treasure over the years, and I hope future generations will add to my treasure. I love to think that one day there'll be a huge chest full of treasure, all because of me.

(*This was one of my three childhood resolutions. The second was that I wouldn't make my children go to school and that I'd home-educate them if it's what they wanted. I'm not sure if I can follow through with that, it all depends on money. The third was that I would have a double-decker bus converted into a caravan, and that I'd drive around the country wherever I felt like going and not settle down anywhere. That one now seems highly unlikely. So I guess I'd better focus on the treasure.)
 
 
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Eisley - Just Like We Do | Powered by Last.fm
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Kate ღ
17 July 2009 @ 04:35 pm
Things I Love Thursday (a little late)  


♥ The Girl That Leapt Through Time This was an impulse buy; it looked good and was only £8, which is pretty cheap for an anime film. I actually bought it at the same time as Only Yesterday, it just took me a while to get round to watching it. It turned out to be very good. It had a few flaws, but nothing to stop it being sweet and funny, and very pretty. The backgrounds are very detailed and colourful, while the characters are much more simply drawn and very expressive. It was a really sweet story and I want to watch it again very soon. I'll try and post a detailed review here at some point. In the meantime, here's a very good fan-made trailer I found on youtube:



♥ The Tudors. Both as a general subject and the TV show, which we bought on blu-ray last week. I know a bit about that period of history already so I've noticed a few inaccuracies (mostly relating to the King's sister) but it's still a really interesting and compelling drama. I'm really looking forward to reading more about that period of history once we've finished watching it -- learning certain things now would feel too much like spoilers.

♥ Tarot cards. I've been casually reading tarot cards for the last five years or so, but just recently I've been starting to get more into it. I'm recording all my readings in a tarot journal and have joined a really helpful forum. I've done a couple of readings for friends too, which have gone quite well. All in all I feel much more confident and familiar with the cards compared to just a couple of weeks ago!

♥ Honey & Clover I finished watching this anime yesterday and I think it's probably my all-time favourite series. It's funny, romantic, sad, touching, and pretty near perfect. It's about five friends at art college and is a story of growing up, love triangles and self-discovery. Here's the official English trailer, but I promise you it's far better than this narrator makes it seem. He manages to summarise the characters fairly accurately, but makes them sound very straight-forward and boring and completely fails to convey the quirky playfulness of this series.



♥ Professor Layton & the Curious Village. I don't know why I took so long to get this game, because I'd heard nothing but good things about it and the DS is so well suited to puzzle games. I'm really enjoying it, although it's a lot harder than I expected. I had thought it was a kids' game, but really it's a game for all ages and you're not going to find it any easier just because you're an adult. I'm best at the logic, path-finding and sliding puzzles, and absolutely hopeless at anything involving maths. There are times when I don't even understand the question and feel quite stupid, but then there are times when I get something right away and feel very smug. This is a must-buy game if you have a DS.
 
 
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Kate ღ
26 June 2009 @ 01:42 am
Things I Love Thursday  


♥ Only Yesterday I bought this DVD for two reasons. One, because it's Studio Ghibli. Two, because it's about a girl reflecting on her life and her childhood (as the back of the box puts it 'growing up and growing older') and I'm always drawn to films with this theme (for obvious reasons). And it turned out to be even better than I'd expected. I was crying by the end. I think I'd even go as far as to say that it's my favourite, along with My Neighbour Totoro and Whisper of the Heart. I couldn't choose between the three. It's about a 27 year old girl from Tokyo who goes to the countryside to spend her summer working on a farm, and finds herself dwelling on her childhood. Her adult life and her childhood memories are touching and wonderful, and although it's set both in the 60s and the 80s, it's a really timeless story. I really recommend it. (Unfortunately for some of you though, it's not been released in the US, apparently because Disney feel it's not compatible with their image. It's a shame, because it's a lovely film and it seems like they're mistaking cultural differences for inappropriateness as well as just being a bit prudish.)

♥ Awkward Family Photos This website is hilarious. Go see for yourself.

♥ Email penpals I like snail mail, but it's slow and I never manage to keep it up. I've made three email penpals this week (two from Japan, one from Germany) and already we've sent each other several letters each. Emails may not be as cute as handwriting and pretty writing paper, but the speed and convenience makes up for it.

♥ Stop/Start/Synchro by Rose Elinor Dougall I wasn't sure about the demo of this song, but I really like the finished version and am looking forward to her album. The video is really pretty, as is she. I like her new haircut.

 
 
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Chris playing Metal Gear Solid 4
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Kate ღ
25 June 2009 @ 02:44 pm
In which yet again my BookMooch account gets put 'on vacation'.  
Why are people on BookMooch so impatient? These books are FREE. And I am upfront about the fact I can only ship books out once a month. This is what I say on my profile.

It sometimes takes me up to a month to get a chance to post books so please consider that before you mooch. If you need your book in a hurry please let me know and I'll see what I can do. I will send small paperbacks worldwide; I send them by surface mail which can take up to six weeks to arrive.

I have a bad habit of forgetting to 'accept' mooches, sorry! If I need to reject a mooch, I always do so right away so please don't worry if it's been a while and I haven't accepted the mooch, chances are I do intend to send it. You can always remind me if you want to be sure :)


SO DON'T MOOCH IF YOU DON'T WANT TO WAIT! Don't mooch, and then cancel it after two weeks, marking me as a non-sender and never bothering to send me any kind of communication.

The majority of the people that mooch from me are in the US. It's expensive for me to ship to them, and I don't have a lot of money. I know I'm getting extra points for these international mooches, but points can't buy me stamps.

I sometimes have to wait weeks/months for things I've mooched. That's fine by me. It's a free service. I often want things from international users. If I want something urgently, I'll buy it.

Or am I being unreasonable?
 
 
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Kate ღ
21 June 2009 @ 10:09 pm
Things I Love er, Sunday  


♥ Left 4 Dead. Chris bought this game with his birthday money yesterday and it's great. It's fast and fun and just like a zombie movie. At the end of a scenario your gameplay stats roll like movie credits, including a dedication to any players who may have died and a count of how many zombies were harmed in the making of the film XD Anyone got any other good co-op games to rec?

♥ My new journal layout. See -- [info]curiositykate! I'm always changing my layout, I know. I just can't settle XD

♥ Crochet. I've learnt some new techniques recently and am feeling quite confident in my crochet abilities at the moment. I've just made myself a cute pair of slippers (photos soon) and am working on something secret for my mum's birthday which is coming along nicely. So I'm now considering actually trying to crochet clothing, which may be a little over-ambitious, considering how badly my attempts at knitted clothing went. But I find crochet a lot easier, because there's only ever one 'live' stitch -- which means no dropped stitches, no casting off, projects are easier to frog, and it's easier to try things on as you go along. I'm nervously eyeing up a camisole pattern, but it'll have to wait until I can afford some nice yarn. (Cheap acrylic is fine for toys, but makes for itchy, hot clothing).

♥ Persona 3 I actually started playing this two weeks ago (on the recommendation of [info]tabimendou) but it's taken me a while to get into it. At first, I found it quite overwhelming and complicated, because as well as saving the world by dungeon-trawling and defeating bosses, you must also attend school, do homework, take part in after school clubs, socialise, play MMPORGs, and go shopping. And I'm sure there are other things I've forgotten. But now that I've been playing it for 15 hours or so (not long considering this is a 70+ hour game) I've got used to all that and am appreciating the depth of this game and the variety of things it has to offer. If this wasn't my Sunday-afternoons-with-[info]sadrlegends game I could imagine it sucking up all of my free time.
 
 
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Kate ღ
14 June 2009 @ 11:52 pm
Icon meme.  
The Icon Expression Meme

.happy..sad..angry..scared.
.disgusted..surprised..flirty..sexual.
.confused..shy..playful..rage.
.hurt..guilty..bored..laughing.
.sarcastic..tired..wtf..pride.
.sympathy..evil..innocent..in love.
YOURFOURFAVORITEICONS


WANT TO DO IT TOO?
Snag yourself the coding here.
 
 
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Kate ღ
11 June 2009 @ 12:28 am
In which I feel like I have neglected my journal.  
Apart from Things I Love Thursdays, I don't seem to post in here very often these days, do I? I just don't know what to say anymore. Life is pretty uneventful at the moment (not in a bad way!) and I guess I'm not as much of a whinger as I used to be.

So, what have I been up to recently?

I've been posting a lot at my blog, although that isn't why I've not been posting here. They serve very different purposes. I'm really glad that I'm finding it easy to write blog entries; I was wary of getting a blog at first because I thought it'd be another one of those projects I'd get really excited about, procrastinate over and then forget about. But apparently not this time. By the way, [info]maechi set up a feed for my blog which you can add at [info]kateofcups, if you're interested. By the way, if my blog doesn't look right to you, please let me know! Apparently it doesn't look right for everyone but I have no idea why. [info]princess_charl, is it still being weird for you?

I've also been doing a lot of crocheting. I've made five pretty cupcakes and am working on having enough to fill the cupcake stand. Photos won't be taken until then, but I do have a bunny and an owl to show you.

( amigurumi pictures )

In less cute news, the windscreen of our car got smashed the other night. The repairman found a footprint on the bonnet so someone must have kicked the windscreen in. Nothing was stolen, which I guess is a good thing, but in a way it makes it even worse. What kind of twat finds kicking in people's windscreens fun? >.< We had to pay £70 to get it fixed and it meant we couldn't use the car for two days. We're also going to have to get it valeted because there are tiny splinters of glass in the seats and the steering wheel and it's hard to get them all out. I'm just glad we're in a position now we were can afford that kind of unexpected expense, this time last year we'd have really struggled to cope with that.

It's Chris' birthday on Monday. I've not got him any presents yet because all my money keeps being diverted elsewhere, but I'll go shopping on Sunday. He decided that for his birthday day out he'd like to go to Chatsworth so we'll be going there after my exam on Wednesday, as they're kind of in the same direction.

We've been married over a month now. 40 days to be exact. It still feels exciting, and the wedding really doesn't feel like it was so long ago.

I think that's all I have to say today. Saving a few things for my Things I Love Thursday post tomorrow.
 
 
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Kate ღ
04 June 2009 @ 09:23 pm
Things I Love Thursday  


♥ Books. This is, of course, true all the time, not just this Thursday. But just recently I have been having great luck on BookMooch, in charity shops, and book sales. I have five books on the go right now and at least eight waiting for me to get round to them. I briefly considered banning myself from buying any more books until I've reduced my 'to read' pile somewhat, but then decided it was silly to pass up the opportunity to get books I want for free/very cheaply. They'll wait for me, after all. I just need to devote more time to reading. (Speaking of BookMoo, they're having a lottery! Half the points raised are for charity, the other half are the prizes. I've bought three tickets, and for my charity I nominated Towcester SNUG, who mooch books about disabilities to lend to people with disabilities or to their carers.)

♥ Summer is here already, and apparently we're in for another heatwave this year. I wasn't looking forward to this, but actually I've found myself enjoying the hot weather so far. Maybe it's because this year I can afford to buy pretty sundresses. I'm kind of glad to be forced out of my lazy t-shirt and jeans habit.

♥ Kiki's Delivery Service. I'm attempting to collect all the Studio Ghibli films on DVD and I bought this one last week. I've seen it twice before (once at an anime club and once when I rented it from Blockbuster) and we watched it again last night. It's such a sweet film. It may be a little more childish than some Ghibli films, and with a more European than Japanese film style, but it's still miles better than Western animation. It's about a thirteen year old witch called Kiki, who along with her talking cat Jiji goes to live for a year in another town and sets up her own delivery service. It's a fairly simple and straight-forward story, but finds time to touch on very real topics of hopes & dreams, motivation, and personal strength as well as the more typical ones of friendship and courage. But what else do you expect from Studio Ghibli?

♥ ShakeAway milkshake bars. They have over 100 different varieties of milkshake and whenever we go to either Leamington or Northampton I always try a new flavour. The first time I played it safe and had Galaxy, which was very nice if a little unexciting, the second time I had Aero Mint, which I think is my favourite so far, and this time I had Terry's Chocolate Orange which was lovely. I always consider having Battenberg just to be crazy but I think almond and milk would probably be a disappointedly dull combination. I might try Fondant Fancies next time instead.

♥ The Orphanage. I am not usually into horror films at all. Actually, to be honest I'm not really into films, at all. I tend to watch book adaptations, or stories of young daydreaming girls (or preferably, both). Pan's Labyrinth falls into the latter category and so Chris was able to persuade me* to watch it with him last year. It was incredibly sad and violent and made me feel horrible, but that's exactly why I liked it -- it was very powerful. The Orphanage is produced by the director/producer of Pan's Labyrinth, Guillermo del Toro, and I've heard good things about it, so I decided to give it a chance. It was very scary and really quite sad, but it's a beautiful film and I'm glad I watched it.

(*It's funny -- I'm really into books and he's really into films, although I don't particularly like films and he doesn't particularly like books. It can be a bit frustrating, and we're always trying to force things on each other. At least we both share an interest in video games and comic books, big kids that we are.)

♥ Brightly Wound - Eisley. This is my favourite summer song. Eisley are a Texan band consisting of three sisters, their brother and their cousin, and they make pretty, daydreamy type music. The following video is fanmade and doesn't feature the band, but it's the only video of the song I can find and it suits the song well anyway:



You know, I almost named my blog 'sunshine & fireflies' in reference to this song!
 
 
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Kate ღ
28 May 2009 @ 03:40 pm
Things I Love Thursday  


♥ My new blog! (warning: it may not view correctly for all of you. I've no idea how to fix that, but I'm trying to find out). At the moment there's only one post in it, which is identical to this one except for this paragraph. I'm going to use my blog for posting my Books Read posts, amigurumi projects, recs and reviews, and Things I Love Thursday. It's going to have quite a lot of cross-over with my lj, as I shall be posting my TiLT posts in both, but they won't be identical. I shall probably post pictures of amigurumi here with a link to more information in my blog, for instance. I'll probably stop posting my Books Read posts here (unless anybody particularly likes reading them here). I've been feeling recently that they're a bit spammy because they're quite long, but I don't feel like I want to cut them. I may just occasionally link to my the relevant post in my blog when I've read something particularly good instead.

♥ Fable II I’d been considering buying this game for ages, but thought it looked kind of boring. We only got it in the end because we’d played Gears of War 2 to death and needed a new co-op game, but both ended up really enjoying it. It’s so much deeper than I imagined, it’s almost like a life sim game! We both spend more time on our businesses and families than we do the fighting/story, but it’s just so addicting. And we both adore the dog, who we call Woof XD

♥ Crocheting cupcakes The other day a crochet magazine mysteriously came through my letterbox, which was a nice surprise. It turned out to be from my mum, as I’d suspected, and she’d got it for me because it features a cupcake pattern. I’ve made three so far, of varying quality, and I’m working on a fourth. I’ve no idea what I’m going to do with them all, but they’re such fun little projects. Pictures soon, when I have enough to fill the cupcake stand ;)

♥ Kamikaze Girls, or at least, the first half an hour of it. It was at that point that the disc refused to continue playing, as it was scratched >.< It was a rental from Lovefilm but I enjoyed the first part of the movie so much that I bought the DVD on amazon last night. Really looking forward to seeing the rest! I'll let you know what I think of it.

♥ Aphra Behn A 16th century playwright who I’d never even heard of before I had to write an essay on her play The Rover last week. I really enjoyed it — it’s like Shakespeare (who I love) but with more sex and more rounded female characters. I’d love to see The Rover performed someday, but it doesn’t look likely. There’s only been two productions in modern times, one by the RSC who really altered the script, and one by the Open University, who set it in 20s colonial Africa, which I think must really change the feeling of the play quite a lot. The OU did provide me with this DVD as part of my course but I’ve lost it, which is typical of me >.
 
 
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Kate ღ
14 May 2009 @ 11:11 pm
Things I Love Thursday  


♥ Being married! The novelty still hasn't worn off yet!

♥ My new skirts I don't know why, but I'm really off trousers at the moment. I bought a couple of really pretty skirts from the charity shop and have been wearing them wherever possible.

♥ Little Big Planet I didn't really know much about this game but I'd heard it was cute and there wasn't really any other PS3 games I wanted, so we bought this when we bought the PS3. And it really is cute! Stephen Fry narrates it in his usual charming way, and the sack people are so expressive and customisable. Chris, Lucy and I are all really into it now.

♥ Playstation 3 Aside from Little Big Planet, I'm not really into the games. I just like that we can now watch videos on youtube/BBC iplayer/etc on our big television, and play blu-rays.

♥ Planet Earth (The BBC series that is, not the actual earth. Though of course I love that too.) Nature documentaries are pretty fun to watch but this series is really unique because it really is about the whole earth. Each episode focuses on something like the seasons or freshwater or caves -- things that you don't really think about that just seem like a backdrop to all the animals -- and explains the really complex system of life that relies upon it and how amazing and miraculous it really is. It's really beautiful and fascinating and really much more impressive than any other nature show I've seen. And it looks really good in HD. It was worth waiting until we got the PS3 for!

♥ Cinnamon toast. I used to have cinnamon toast on rainy days as a child, but hadn't had any for years until we went to the Pump Room at Bath the other week. Ever since then I've had the urge to have it again and today I made myself some, even though it's not raining.

♥ Solid Snake Okay, so Little Big Planet isn't quite the only game I like the on PS3. I also like watching Chris play Metal Gear Solid 4. Even as an old man, Solid Snake is really very attractive. Almost as attractive as Tony Almeida. It's the voice, really. I wonder if David Hayter talks like that in real life.

♥ All you can eat buffets We went to one today that has food from all over the world. I had Chinese, Indian, Italian and Mexican, which was quite a combination, but I think my favourite was the dessert. I had tiramasu, chocolate mousse and two different types of cheesecake. I tried to just have a little bit of everything but of course I'm very full now and have probably eaten a million calories. It wasn't great food, and certainly a case of quantity over quality, but there's something rather exciting about having everything you want and not having to choose. I don't think it'd be a good idea to go there regularly though.
 
 
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Kate ღ
12 May 2009 @ 07:47 pm
In which life is going back to normal.  
I know I said I'd update about the second half of the honeymoon but there's really very little to say and there aren't any photographs. On the Thursday we went to Warwick to visit Chris' dad in his new caravan and went out to lunch and then shopping in Leamington, and then on Friday we went to see Chris' brother Simon and family and stayed the night and on the Saturday went together with them to a family barbecue at Paul's. And that's it. Now you know.

So, onto this weeks mundane news.

Yesterday I went round the charity shops trying to find a cute comfy pair of cropped trousers. I didn't find one, but I did get two tops and two skirts, all of a gypsyish boho type, for less than £10. Today I went to New Look with Lucy and found a nice pair of denim crops. Not such a bargain, but cute nonetheless. We also went to the local hippy shop which has been recently revamped and renamed from Violet Flame to Avalon, and discovered it's virtually the same except for the name change and the fact the interior paint is now white and not purple. I think it might be new management though. We went halves on a tarot card book with loads of spreads in it; we tried a few out when we got back and they were pretty good.

While I was in town I called into work to find out why I only got paid £2.92 on Friday. Turns out I'm over my current holiday allowance. You see, as a part time worker I accrue holiday time, I forget at what rate I accrue it but it works out to 25 days a year, or something. I can't really remember that either. All that I do know is that usually we just take our yearly allowance as we want it without worrying about what we've accrued because we know we'll accrue it later, and then if we were to quit while we're over our allowance, it gets taken out of our final pay packet. Makes sense. But this time, they've just decided not to pay me instead. My supervisor said she'd ring head office and see if they'd let me have it anyway, but she can't guarantee anything and if they do give it to me after all it won't be for a couple of weeks. And I took two weeks off so next pay day I probably won't get anything either. For the time being I am dipping into our wedding present money for groceries etc but that's not really what it's for so I hope they do decide to pay me after all.

Back to work tomorrow. It feels like ages since I've been at work (it's two and a half weeks actually) but I don't really mind going back. I just really can't be bothered to wash my hair or have dinner tonight. I just feel lazy.

I watched a live stream of the Pipettes in concert the day before yesterday and was relieved to find that they actually sound quite good. I was twittering with [info]petit about such important issues such as their current dresses and the state of Ani's tights, and fulfilled my at-least-ten-minutes-exercise-a-day rule by dancing around the living room. Of their new tracks, Call Me, Thank You and From Today are my favourites. I'm looking forward to their new album now.

Now that the wedding is out of the way I need to start thinking about all those important things that I've been putting off. Chasing up the hospital about the results of my neuropsychological assessment, getting two fillings at the dentist, reading my tutor's comments on my last essay, writing my next essay (due in 9 days) and preparing for my exam (17th June). I'll do some studying on Thursday. Don't know when I'll do everything else.

I only read two books in April. But this is because I have had SIX books on the go for ages. I am putting off finishing Carter Beats the Devil because it's getting particularly thrilling and I want to wait until I have time to finish it all in one go; I'm putting off finishing The Princess Diaries: Ten out of Ten because when it's over then there's no more Princess Diaries; and as for the others, well I have no excuse. I just keep picking more up. I'm refusing myself to pick up anything else until I have finished all of my current reads, but that's going to take forever.

Actually, it's only half past seven. I'll need to put the heating on for half an hour before I get in the bath, but I can start reading while I wait and I'll have three hours in total before Chris gets home. Should be time enough to finish Carter. Who cares about dinner, anyway?
 
 
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Kate ღ
08 May 2009 @ 12:55 am
In which I detail my very perfect wedding.  
So. I'm married now. I can't believe tomorrow will be a whole week since the wedding -- the time seems to have flown past.

( probably the longest post I've ever made. )
 
 
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Kate ღ
28 April 2009 @ 12:42 pm
In which I am a bit nervous.  
I am getting married not tomorrow, not the next day, but the NEXT DAY. And I am starting to get scared.

Today Lucy and I are going to Sweet Bitz to buy cupcake cases and decorations. I also need to buy a razor from somewhere. This afternoon I have tidying to do in preparation for guests. Tomorrow, [info]rocknrollpixie will be here and we'll spend the afternoon making lots of cupcakes at my mum's house. On Thursday, [info]wolfylady will arrive and I'm going to the beautician's with my mum in the afternoon for eyebrow shaping and a manicure. [info]sadrlegends will come over after work and the six of us (me, Lucy, Jo, Nicky, Sonia and my mum) will have a girlie night at mine.

And then the next day is the wedding! >.<

We had a very successful shopping trip yesterday in Leicester. High & Mighty didn't have the shirt that Chris liked on the website, but they did have another shirt that was very nice and fitted him very well so we got that. He was very impressed with the shop and I promised him we could come back after the wedding and buy him lots of day to day clothes. Then we went to Argos and got him a wedding ring that fortuitously was reduced by £30. We also got a box and some cupcake wrapping paper to decorate it with in Paperchase (the wrapping-paper covered box is going to act as our Wishing Well, or Mafia Box as we prefer to call it). I bought myself a nice pair of knickers that match my dress, and New Look had an offer on that enabled me to get four more pairs of fun knickers and only spend £10. Lastly, as we had some money left over, we treated ourselves to Fable II :D

The only unsuccessful part of the day was that I was unable to get my camera fixed D: I'd been hoping that it was just the battery that was broken and that all I'd have to do was buy a new battery, which would've been cheap and simple, but the man in the shop tried three different batteries in it and it still wouldn't turn on :( He said I'd have to send it away for repair, but I don't have time for that now (and probably not the money either, I've no idea how much it could cost). It doesn't matter so much that I won't have my camera for the wedding, because everyone else will be taking photos, but I'm sad that I won't have it on honeymoon. I've got my camera phone which isn't bad at outdoor photos, but it's useless inside.

Other than planning for the wedding, I have been playing lots of video games, mostly on the DS. I am currently playing:

  • Final Fantasy IV This is fun. Cecil is all brooding and interesting and I think Rydia might turn out to be my new favourite female FF character. I am starting to lose patience with the save point system and random battles though. I know it wouldn't be the same without them, but modern games have made me spoilt.

  • Gardening Mama I was really excited to play this, as I love Cooking Mama, but I was left very disappointed. It's completely unrealistic! Okay, that's a bit of a stupid complaint about such a cartoonish childish game, but still. The tasks set by Mama in Cooking Mama were pretty reasonable. Fill a pot with water without spilling it? Peel baked potatoes without burning yourself? Fair enough. These are tasks that people perform in kitchens all the time. Gardening Mama on the other hand is ridiculous. Dip a sapling in a bucket of water, while the bucket runs around trying to avoid you. Plant a bulb, which is spinning around madly so that if you press it at the wrong time it gets buried upside down and Mama is cross. These things just would not happen in real life and it makes me cross.

    ( and more: Eledees, Fable II, more Princess Debut )
 
 
nervous
the back room
nervous
The Organ - Stephen Smith
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Kate ღ
23 April 2009 @ 10:03 pm
Things I Love Thursday  


♥ [info]vintage_sex. Vintage nude photos galore. I love vintage nudes because the girls always look so natural and real, and they have a kind of enigmatic look to them, don't you think?

♥ Exercise. I am so out of shape right now. I've only been hooping for about ten minutes a week, and haven't been doing yoga regularly since November. I don't worry about my size or weight much, but I do like to feel fit and healthy and flexible, so I've resolved to be more active. Today I used my stepper for ten minutes whilst playing the DS and then I went to yoga class and I feel better already. I have decided that I am going to either hoop, do yoga, or go on the stepper for at least ten minutes a day. I'm quite excited about it actually.



♥ Princess Debut for Nintendo DS. If you're a little girl at heart and love anything pink, cute and romantic, then this dancing and dating sim is definitely the game for you. One day a princess from another world appears in your closet and begs you to swap places with her for a month. You must go to her world and take dancing lessons for thirty days in preparation for a grand ball, and of course you must also find yourself a dance partner. ( cut because I go on a bit ) If you want to know more about this game, click here to read a more detailed review (not by me!). I love Japanese dating sims. I wish that more of them would get translated into English. Over here game developers seem to think that games aimed at girls/children don't need to be any good :(

♥ Ten Thousand Questions. Daily journalling prompts. I've bookmarked this for future reference but thought I'd share the link with you too!

Honourable Mentions: Mayama from Honey & Clover (we watched episode 14 of the anime today) ♥ my new DSTT card ♥ Revlon "Goldfinger" nail varnish (which I will be wearing on my toes for the wedding, and am also wearing right now) ♥ Eledees: The Adventures of Kai and Zero (though I've only just started, so no useful opinions yet) ♥ having a bathroom full of Lush products
 
 
good
the back room
good
Kaela Kimura - Deep Blue Sky
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Kate ღ
20 April 2009 @ 06:10 am
Tweets from Kate  
  • 13:45 51% on my essay?? is that just because i didn't watch the dvd? i don't want to read my tutor's comments and find out. #
  • 13:47 ugh. i was honestly expecting about 70%. wouldn't have been too disappointed with 65%. But 51%? ugh. #
  • 21:04 bridal beauty regime began tonight with face mask (lush cupcake) and foot mask (lush volcano). #
  • 21:38 had one of those Innocent veg pots for dinner tonight. was very nice & now feel v healthy. #
  • 21:38 now i am hooping while eating chocolate XD #
  • 22:57 just did practice bridal make-up. looks nice. but no pics because my phone can't do it justice. #
  • 00:42 thinking about writing is SO much easier than actually writing. #
  • 01:14 downloading themes for the dstt i do not yet have. #
 
 
 
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Kate ღ
19 April 2009 @ 06:07 am
Tweets from Kate  
  • 21:26 my legs ache after being on my feet all day at work. really need to get back into yoga. #
  • 00:22 want to go to bed waiting for the washing machine to finish so i can put chris' t-shirt out to dry. i'm generous like that. #
  • 00:22 well not all that generous really, it's just sensible -- chris has work tomorrow while i'm not back til wednesday. #
  • 00:48 just spoilt myself completely for fruits basket, having made the decision not to continue with it. has only confirmed my decision, really. #
 
 
 
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Kate ღ
18 April 2009 @ 06:08 am
Tweets from Kate  
  • 15:49 bought wedding make-up today! #
  • 15:54 boring night ahead of me. going to work for a 2hr shift. then got to reformat wedding place name cards. early night, work in the morning. #
  • 19:53 just popped out to the supermarket, was waylaid by Pussy who demanded attention. dashed back in & got her one of the treats i got for Muta. #
  • 19:54 I like Pussy (stop sniggering) because she loves to be made a fuss of, unlike Muta who only wants food. #
  • 20:22 listening to Armed Forces by Elvis Costello & the Attractions <3 #
  • 21:08 ugh. fucking internet card security. so secure i can't even use my own bloody card! #
  • 21:14 you know, much as i love playing with Pussy (stop it) & trying to make Muta like me, i don't think i want a cat of my own. I'm not sure why. #
  • 21:32 chris is at work tonight. for once i am not being lazy about cooking for myself, & am having tofu and bulger wheat fajitas. #
  • 22:03 what an adorable story! and it's TRUE! greyhound cares for other animals at sanctuary: bit.ly/hMV9W #
  • 23:07 so anyone know where's the best place to buy a DS TT card from? #
  • 00:44 when did it get so late?? i should be in bed! night night x #
  • 02:33 recommend me ds games! :) #
 
 
 
2 | comment?
 
Kate ღ
17 April 2009 @ 06:08 am
Tweets from Kate  
  • 13:02 burnt my finger removing cheese muffins from the toaster! #
  • 14:15 am writing my things i love thursday post. and it's actually thursday this time. #
  • 17:11 you know, virtually everyone on my flist has twitter now. so it seems like there is little point me using loudtwitter... #
  • 17:12 but i haven't made my mind up about anything yet :P #
  • 00:55 muta came to see me again. had nothing for her so i popped out for cat treats. cashier didn't scan them right, so they were free. fate! #
  • 02:29 I really dislike pickle. I wish supermarkets would do sandwiches with cheese and tomato and lettuce but no mayo and no pickle. I am fussy. #
 
 
 
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Kate ღ
17 April 2009 @ 02:30 am
Haven't done one of these in a while.  
( survey )
 
 
time for bed
the living room
time for bed
Chris playing GTA: IV
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Kate ღ
16 April 2009 @ 03:44 pm
Writer's Block: Looking Back  

LiveJournal is turning 10 and we're feeling nostalgic. What was your first LJ post about?


View other answers



I never know what to put in first journal entries. Like, should I introduce myself or just let people pick up gradually as they go along, like normally when you friend people? Perhaps I'll just ramble along anyway.

I'm not happy with my friendsonly banner. I had a good one bookmarked but it seems to have vanished.

I'm thirsty and I can't be bothered to get up and get a drink.

I'm stuck on Dark Chronicle which is annoying me cuz it's so addictive that I don't want to stop playing. But Chris (boyfriend) is getting bored of watching me play it and I get annoyed if he goes off and does something else, cuz it's no fun playing games if you don't have anyone to talk to.

Um. I think that's it for today. How exciting was that?


I like to think I've become a little more interesting in the five years that have passed since then...
 
 
hungry
the living room
hungry
watching chris play GTA: IV
 
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