The Days That Make Winter Pass.

There's been a bit of a theme I've picked up on over the last few weeks. We're all a bit tired of winter; cozying up under blankets, embracing the rare natural light coming into our days, counting the seconds down until spring. Something that's keeping us going is the slower days. They're the ones that are made for warm drinks, baking delicious goodies and nesting the home.

Batman's fur is as full as it gets, he waddles around the house like a coal dusted cloud. It's almost time for a good malt and a nail trim ready for summer.

I spend most of my days off in a cozying ritual of preparing the bed in the softest, cleanest cotton sheets I can find, baking doughnuts for the second time (and it going much better!) And practicing my good housewife skills with hearty stews in the slow cooker.

On that note; is anyone keen to swap their slow cooker? Mine is made to feed 4-6 and is really all a bit too big? I'm looking to downsize?

So lets keep our heads high and know that summer will soon be here, we'll all be whooping with cheer and then it's the countdown to Christmas all over again! How brilliant!

What's keeping you all going through these colder days?

Love Sophie XX

The China Spaniel Awards!

You may recall in the spring of last year how I got VERY excited when I spotted a bemused looking, china dog in a shop in Charlestown (posted about here) and one evening last week, Harps's mum was visiting from York and we went to the pub for a spot of dinner. As soon as I stepped in, I was faced with the most glorious sight...SO MANY CHINA SPANIEL DOGS! Honestly, this tavern was a treasure chest of china spaniels! Sadly I was there for a proper, grown up dinner and sneakily took a few blurry snaps on my way to our table. Here I present to you all the first official blogging China Spaniel Awards!

The first award goes to..*drumroll*

Oh! Leona- My Fun Filled Weekend. Not only do you get a china spaniel award BUT a ticket to the gun show with those strong man arms! Honestly, reading this incredibly busy weekend made me feel like I needed a lie down afterwards. DIY champion-check. Baby whisperer and carer- check. Sunday roast eater- check. I find myself singing Destiny Child songs at the screen as I type about this. Kudos to you on your well deserving china spaniel award. This chappy looks like he's just seen you do something impressive like all of the above. He's saying "Oh touché!"




Oh and this counts as an extra birthday gift by the way...

 The second award goes to...

A Rosie Outlook- Wedding Invitations.  Not only are Rosie's wedding invitations totally beautiful but she's recommended a company for the printing (which I have been on the hunt for for a little while now!) It's perfect timing because I want to get our invitations printed soon and there's a little cheeky 10% off discount code! It's reassuring knowing somebody who's actually used an online printing company, especially as invitations are probably one of the only things we really can't settle on. Harps doesn't understand why weddings have to be so floral and I can't understand why he's such a man. *sigh* We've narrowed it down to a couple of companies now so it shouldn't be too long! I'm also awarding Rosie because it's getting super close to her wedding now and I really can't wait to see what else she shares in the run up to it! You get a fancy blue china spaniel adorned in gold jewellery- a total monarch in the china spaniel world I'm sure!

The third award goes to...


Tracey Warbey Photography- Southwest Wedding Awards Finalist 2015! Which you can pretty much guess from the title is just incredible and I'm so so proud of her! If you haven't yet, do pop on over to her side of the web and check out her fabulous skills. I'm so excited for her to capture my wedding day. I'm excited to have one of my good friends be with me all day long and for her to share all of those memories with me. Congratulations lovely lady! Really, you've already won one award so the next one will be just a bonus ;-)! 

I honestly had the best time in this glorious little pub and I'm only sorry that I didn't sneak off and take more photos (they have the most incredible clock collection!) If you happen to be near Wadebridge in Cornwall, pop to Egloshayle and visit The Earl of St Vincent! Just don't steal their china spaniels (they're not real awards guys!)

Love Sophie Xx

*All China Spaniel Awards are purely metaphorical and cannot be traded for a real-life spaniel. I hold no responsibility if there is suddenly a spate of china spaniel robberies across the world.*

Thankful Thursday// February

- Dinners with second mummies.
- Booking adventures for the year.
- Honeymoon browsing.
- Windy walks with mother.
- Time being silly with Harps.
- Being taken care of when I was ill.
- New beginnings.
- Time spent under blankets with books.
- Liz Earle shampoo.
- The excitement of wedding fairs.
- Days spend lounging and baking.
- The first signs of spring.
- Starting new candles.
- Singing emo hits in the bath loudly.
- Fresh cotton sheets to fall asleep in. 






The last Thursday of the month has arrived and it's been good to get through it. I've spent a large portion of this month being pretty ill and whilst slowly on the mend, the last few days of February are set to be super. It's Liona's birthday on Friday, my mummy's on Saturday and Harps, mother and I are going to a wedding fair on Sunday! I'm thankful for the comforts this month and can feel my aching bones waking up for spring. It's getting set to be a great year.

Thank you Lisette, your inspiring Thankful Thursday posts are always wonderful to read. 

Love Sophie Xx

For Readers, Growers & Photo Takers.

I probably should have come up with a snappier title for this post, it's pretty much a little catch up of what I've been up to and discovering over the last week or so. You may remember a little over a month ago (isn't it weird that we're only a couple of months into the year but we talk about how fast this year's going?!) I posted about my reading list for 2015. I ventured into my local TkMaxx last week and came across a whole SIX Nick Hornby books for £10! I really couldn't resist even if it did mean almost snapping my arm taking a photo of my new list of books to read. I'm currently still re-reading 'To Kill a Mockingbird;' inspired by the recent Harper Lee controversy but I'd better crack on and get started on some of these new ones! Has anyone read anything on my book list? I'd love some recommendations on what to start next! Or maybe one of these books is currently stacked up, waiting to be read by you? If so, let me know and we could read along together! 


My wonderful gift selection from Leona for my birthday (which is always the best birthday gift selection!) Included this lovely little porcelain plant pot and pack of forget me nots' which I started growing about a week later to cries of Harps shouting 'They won't grow, you're planting them too early." Well shove this in your face fecker, they have just started to sprout over the last couple of days and I'm very excited by all their germinating and growing and stuff! New house plant high five to you all! 


I also have started to buy little bits here and there for our wedding next year. I have the theory that if I buy the odd bits throughout this year, the financial tornado won't completely fuck me over next year. Great plan right? So I've been collecting a variety of thank you cards, from robots to hand drawn illustrations (who says everyone needs to get the same design?!) and last week I came across this brilliant company online called PrintKlub where you can get your Instagram or Facebook photos printed into polaroids. It was really a good price and I want to make a little display at our wedding, after a few clicks they were ordered. I was delighted when just a few days later, the adorable box that they came in arrived, showcasing my fancy little polaroids that were great quality. I'm super impressed and will definitely be using them again! If you fancy ordering some yourself, you can get €5 off by using the code SOPRUQ!

Lastly, how brilliant is pancake day? We gorged ourselves on all the pancakes and it was delicious. What's your favourite topping? 

Love Sophie Xx

The 'Me Time' Tag.

There's a pretty damn fancy lady over on a certain blog by the name of Danielle, if you're looking for some animal loving, alternative lifestyle, tattoo inspiration or just a generally awesome friend, be sure to check her out at Underland To Wonderland (she also has a snazzy new header!). Tagged by this delicious woman (in a half creepy/half non creepy way) to complete the 'Me Time' tag gives me a nice chance to not only share with you some personal development changes that I'm making but also gives me a chance to force you all into completing the same thing so I can have a good ol nose at your secret lives...


1) What do you watch/ read during 'me time'?

I go through fazes for months of wither reading at a supersonic speed OR reading nothing at all. I flit between just reading the bare minimum on news websites etc to going through 500 page+ novels in a matter of hours. 'A sporadic reader' Harps calls me and it really frustrates him because all of a sudden there'll be ten new books in the house and I'll be zooming through them. On that note, after a good twelve months of not using it, I'm back to updating on Goodreads! Have a little gander at what I'm waiting to read here and let's be reading friends! I have all the guilty pleasures to watch in the world; Catfish, Jeremy Kyle, Millionaire Matchmaker, River Cottage, Come dine with me...the list goes one really. I don't watch any soaps though if that helps?

2) What do you wear during 'me time'?

Errmm...I don't think I can really answer that because it depends what I'm doing. Sometimes it's the obvious pyjamas and dressing gown (not housecoat Leona!) for reading and the mentioned above, binge watching. Sometimes for 'me time' there's nothing nicer then getting dressed up super duper pretty and flouncing around like a princess.

3) What are your 'me time' beauty products?

There's no such thing? I'm not really a beauty kinda gal? I like to pop on a bit of lipstick sometimes when I'm being grown up and fancy? And I still love a bath with lush filled goodies? Does dying my hair count?

4) Current favourite nail polish?

Once again, I don't really have a favourite at the moment? I bit my nails up until literally last year and can only just manage to paint one hand, the other looking like some abstract art piece! So I don't really paint them at all! I've never got my nails done at a fancy nail place though, something I'd quite like to do this year. Out of brands of nail varnish, I really like Soigné, it stays on so well and the colour is always amazing!

5) What do you eat/drink during 'me time'?

I'm becoming a bit of a foodie. I think it must be my age slowly creeping up on me. For years, living with a fussy eater (Harps) meant that I got into a food rut because if I was going to go anywhere to eat, it'd probably be with him. Since last year I've started leaving him behind and catch up days with friends have become less about a cheap pub and more about trying delicious new places to eat. I absolutely LOVE it, it's probably one of my favourite 'me time' things to do and I'm lucky that my friends are also at the age of trying fancy new foods! 

6) Current favourite candle?

Oooh I have a couple, there's a shop near where I work that has Yankee candles for sale pretty cheap so I had a bit of a stock up on their 'fluffy towels' scent. It's heavenly and makes every room smell fresh and snuggly and perfect. For my birthday I was also gifted a Chelsea tea fruits candle that's lasting forever and smells like spring is coming which fills me with joy of course.

7) How do you spend outdoor 'me time'?

Cornwall is just the best for outdoor time and you'll usually find me by a beach or in some woods or flouncing in a field somewhere. That reminds me, this year I'd really like to arrange a blogging picnic! Would anyone be keen for this?

8) Would you go and see a movie alone?

Yeah sure, I've been to the cinema alone before and it's really rather nice! Nobody except the staff know that all that cinema food is just for you, you can sit where you want and no interruptions! Thinking about it, I don't see why I ever go with people!?

9) Favourite online shop?

Ohh hard one! It's probably Etsy but I've got a massive obsession with browsing holiday websites (secretly honeymoon planning commencing!)

10) Anything else to add? Any other thoughts/ plans for 'me time'?

Nope.

I tag some lovely ladies...Leona, Michelle, Sunae, Sam and Louisa...time to get nosey ladies!

Love Sophie Xx