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Happy moments: January 2017

by | Feb 2, 2017 | Happy Moments, Journal, Life Magic | 0 comments

I’ve been busy filling my happy jars this month and it’s been a gorgeous experience!

In no particular order, here are lovely little snippets of January:

These coaching videos shared by my friend Darren

best compliments ever from Rhi and Janine, including a comparison to a photographer I love

Lizzie being fully booked for work and Rhiannon’s first month of self employment being a runaway success

booking a very exciting photography workshop

epic kitten cuddles (pic of Luna. Clover likes to cuddle me while I’m on the loo, so I’ll spare you all photos of that)

teeny tiny pug puppies! I was at the vet and a box of tiny, wriggling, three week old puppies came in <3

happy post from Em, Cally, Sarah, Janine, Judy and Annastasia (and NEOM organics)

lens shopping for my photography businesses and impromptu cake with Sarah

giving an inspiring talk to the Cake and Revolution W.I. in Ipswich ~ “I had goosebumps listening to you talk – thank you”

planning cake & celebration for the finishing of the first draft of a friend’s novel

crafting Saturdays at Sarah’s

snow! and getting home safely in some mad flurries of snow. and kittens in the snow (first time they’ve ever seen it):

(The Silly Kittens – first time snow from Carla Louise on Vimeo.)

brunch with Mum & Dad at Chiquito’s

lovely, happy lunches with Ally, Sarah A, Darren, Janine, Emma, Sarah S

making unicorn bark

a security guard letting me through a building even though it was locked, to save me a long walk around to the car park

feeling like I have my creative mojo back

Maddy’s Careershifters feature

Dad’s blue badge approval – which should make it easier for him to get out and about

studio time and homemade lasagne, which Past Carla had been sensible enough to make and then freeze – it was SO nice to have proper food after getting carried away making!

Kittens in paper bags

lucky rainbow scarf day

friends’ business and coaching and singing plans

Lost property lady being utterly lovely about my lost fountain pen

Buying a replacement fountain pen from ebay – it’s not the same enough, but the slip that came with it said that my money is going towards a fund a teenager is setting up to help rural communities in Peru, building classrooms, greenhouses, better sanitation and environmental projects. He is going to volunteer there in the summer following his GCSEs, in 2018. This was such a lovely surprise!

meeting a lovely lecturer at work who was delighted to meet a professional mermaid

sending a surprise parcel to a young lady who’s going to meet a real mermaid, and be one herself for the day, in March – she came to my attention via the Rays of Sunshine charity, and while I couldn’t accommodate her request as my mermaiding is only insured for grown ups, I couldn’t resist parcelling up some mermaid delights for her <3 I had a gorgeous email from her mum to say Lucy loved her parcel!

planning & reviewing time – this has been so good for me in previous years, and I can do it with friends this year!

Karen bringing me a surprise Kinder egg

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP70CuhDRTD/?taken-by=duckingfabulous

 

Reading about basic income – something I’d like to learn more about

transferring Mum’s phone successfully to giffgaff

two no spend days in a row

booking all my Mondays off work to use up holiday

lovely new PA in our faculty team

hotel chocolat order (woo for end of season sales!)

glitter jar for the office

coaching!

brunch:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BPSX1G_DZtf/?taken-by=duckingfabulous

new dreamboard:

View this post on Instagram

Last night's #artistdate – new dreamboard for 2017!

A post shared by Carla Louise (@duckingfabulous) on

exciting photography developments

coworking

Things I love and want to remember about myself postcard I made for the WI

invitation to Silke’s Professorial Inaugural Lecture

booked onto the circus day the girls got me for my 30th (eeek!)

salted caramel hot chocolate

long chat with Lou

my nephew Willoughby turned 1

time with Dad putting the world to rights

time with Mum ironing shelves (!) and putting the world to rights

getting all the photos of my house project all in one place

facetime with Claire and her lovely doglet Bailey

 

Phew! For a long, cold, dull month which also had its share of sadness and anxiety, I feel like that’s one amazing list!

2017 has such a different vibe so far – I am absolutely loving feeling more like myself again, and having creative oomph… long may it last!

January Storecupboard Challenge

by | Jan 7, 2013 | Thrifting | 2 comments

It’s January. Christmas and New Year seem but a distant memory, and most of us were paid early from the day jobs, or haven’t had much income from our own businesses due to the festive break, and there’s all the Christmas and New Year cash haemorrhaging that happens when you’re somehow not paying attention. (Or is that just me? One minute I’m in control of my finances and next, boom, I’m teetering on the edge of exceeding my overdraft…)

medium_68576640 Image courtesy of dogwelder, via Photopin

In an attempt to avoid bankrupting myself in supermarkets, or giving yet more of my money to Ocado (who are great, and reasonable, and save me throwing unnecessary offers into my basket, but do have a minimum order which I can’t currently justify), I thought I’d try a Storecupboard Challenge.

This unimaginatively titled challenge involves trying to cook from my fridge, freezer and storecupboards without adding to them during this month (essentially, until 28th January which is payday). I’m allowing myself trips to the uni shops for essentials (bread, milk, eggs, frozen veg).  The intention is to both save money and release some space in my freezer for lovely things I’ll be making later in the year!

So far I have used up the remaining burgers (one beef, one beef with chili, one pork and apple – very nice too), some sweet potatoes, microwave rice and made a pork & cider casserole in the slow cooker, which is well on its way to doing three meals. My parents fed me on Saturday and I made chicken and tarragon spaghetti last night, with (almost)homemade rosemary and garlic rolls. And managed to make some cakes to take over to Mum & Dad’s on Saturday too! 

Next up – watch this space!

*I’m also trying to get a bit more control over my finances full stop – but won’t bore you with the details!!