E D I N B U R G H

Next weekend O is taking me away to Edinbugh for Valentine's Day! We're staying from the Friday evening til Sunday. I've been to Edinburgh hundreds of times, but O hasn't really seen much of it. So I'm looking for some recommendations from you lovely people! Do you know any great restaurants, bars, cake shops? Any hidden gems? We're pretty much up for anything! On our list so far are: Mary's Milk Bar and Crumbs. Oh and I forgot to mention, it'll be our three year anniversary on the 14th...smoosh or what?!

If you would be so kind to leave any tips or link any blog posts you may have about it in the comments below? I would be forever thankful! 

Lx

{image source}

Highland Snow Hunting!

Over the Christmas break, we decided to dress up in as many layers as humanly possible and head up to the Highlands for the day in search of some snow. If you're a seasoned W&P reader, you'll know that our adventures can get slightly out of control. A quick trip up north soon turned into a four hour drive up to Fort William and back...ooops! We stopped at some breathtakingly beautiful spots along the way, including the infamous Glencoe. I love stopping here, its so deafeningly quiet, yet it feels like it's screaming out loud with history and horror at the same time. Does this make sense? 

We also stopped on the banks of this ^^ lovely loch just as the sun was setting. On the way home, we managed to spot a whole family of deer frolicking about in the snowy hills. Best way to end a road trip ever? I reckon so!

Have you ever been up to the Highlands? What's your favourite spot?

Saturday + Sunday by numbers

30 :: treacherous + terrifiying miles driven on a snow/ice covered one track road en route to the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park on Saturday evening. O drove like a pro and got us to the other side without a scratch on us (or the Volvo!).

7 :: new constellations spotted in the night sky with help from the lovely Keith. 

5 :: cups of liquorice and mint tea slurped.

2 :: sesame seed bagels scoffed. One with smoked salmon and scrambled egg, the other with peanut butter (crunchy FYI).

5 :: recipe books scoured for this week's dinner menu. Can't wait to make the lemon + garlicy chicken in the slow cooker!

1 :: runaway dog we had to chase after on Sunday afternoon. Naughty Lucy.

2 :: mango macarons inhaled just after Sunday lunch. Lush.

30 :: minutes spent doing a Fitness Blender workout.

4 :: new pairs of socks purchased. There may be sheep and cats involved.

24+ :: hours spent wearing the comfiest yoga pants I've ever owned! We did a lot of sofa sitting together.

10 :: different yoga/pilates mats I've been trying to decide between. Does anyone have any recommendations?!

9 :: episodes of the Good Wife I've binged watched. Thanks Netflix!

1 :: beautiful February winter sky witnessed ^^ during the golden hour.

Now, how was your weekend? What adventures did you have? :)

 

Sunday Mornings #20

Well haven't I been on a blog posting roll this week?! ;) Somehow I got my mojo back, not sure where it was hiding, but it found me! This week has been a C O L D one, hasn't it? I've found myself looking for tiny signs of spring everywhere I go. On Saturday we even opened the sunroof...cray cray, I know! We've still managed to avoid the snow here, but if you drive half a mile inland, it's snow central. Insane. Here's this week's lovely moments...

:: Cosying up on the sofa like nobody's business. Every damn night (and day) this week. Some days I've even dragged the hot water bottle and the duvet on to the sofa. Not sorry.

:: The Good Wife. A little late to the party, I know! I was waiting in the whole of Friday for an electrician to appear, so I decided to give it a go. I watched eight episodes that day. Not even sorry. I blame Netflix. Each episode just blends into the next and you don't realise how long you've been watching it. I'm loving it FYI. Chris Noth is my jam. Just saying.

:: Looking at huge houses (and estates, ha!) that I want to buy. I want a big fixer-upper, with a door just like that one up there ^^. May have to content myself with our little bungalow for a few years, but then my dream of having a big old house and massive garden for our Newfoundland puppy (dream dog) to bound around in will become a reality, I'm sure of it!

:: Spending hours drooling over new cookbooks. I picked up Deliciously Ella's this week and I want to make every single little thing in it. 

:: Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs on top of sesame seed bagels. The Saturday morning breakfast of champions. 

:: Going to a stargazing night at the Galloway Forest Dark Sky Park on Saturday evening. Snow everywhere, wrapped in about ten different layers, gazing at the stars with a hot cup of soup in my hand. Dreamy.

:: Getting some of the loveliest blog comments I've ever received. You've all been lovely little things this week! <3

:: Getting four pairs of cosy socks for £4.20 in the Accessorize sale. Bargain! 

:: Teapigs liquorice and mint tea. Can't get enough of this lately. It's just the right level of mintyness and sweetness, all rolled into one. 

How have your week's been? :)

Settling down :: Do we have to?

If you're a seasoned W&P reader, you'll know that O and I have moved around a lot over the last few years. We lived in a hotel for a year in Kent, moved into a little flat in Essex, upped sticks and moved into a huge house in the North East and now we dwell in a little bungalow in a seaside town on the west coast of Scotland. 

All this moving left me with a longing to plant some roots and finally settle down. Our move back to Scotland was our bid to do this. We both said that this would be the last move for a while, we wouldn't look for new jobs anywhere else and we would start making a proper life for ourselves here. Now most days, we're both still on board with these vows, but some days (or weeks, like this one), our plans get a little shaky. 

This week I mostly feel like I want to pack up all our things, put it in storage, fill a backpack with clothes and head off on a year long adventure. I know the grass is always greener on the other side and that now we have the life we wanted, I'm now craving something new and different in our lives. Is it just that I haven't given our new life enough of a chance? Don't get me wrong, I love it here. I love our little bungalow (despite it being colder than the North Pole!) and making it "home" with Oscar and I love being back home with my family and our friends. I'm now just left with this "is this it?" feeling. Does settling down mean that we go to work every day and then have two or three holidays a year? I'm not sure if we're both ready for that (don't worry O and I are on the same page here). I love the excitement of moving to a new town, city or country and I'm beginning to think that I'll always have itchy feet (I think I have my Canada adventures to blame for that). Maybe we're just not the settling down type? Or maybe settling down means something different for everyone? I feel completely settled (much more than settled!) with Oscar, so maybe he is my home (smoosh - sorry!) and wherever we go, we take that with us? Does that make sense? Or maybe I just need a holiday!? 

What do you think? Does settling down mean something different to all of us? 

{image source}

5:2

I wasn't sure if I wanted to write a post on this, but a few people have asked how I'm finding 5:2, so here we go! I've tried most diets over the last few years and generally they all work with a little motivation and willpower thrown in. Before starting 5:2 I had been swapping between Weight Watchers and calorie counting via MyFitnessPal. A few of my friends have been waxing lyrical about fasting and had had genuinely amazing results, but the whole idea of fasting just put me off. If you asked O if I could survive on 500 calories, two days of the week he would've laughed in your face. I get hangry after going about three hours without food (no lie!). 

I decided to watch the Horizon special: Eat, Fast and Live Longer with Michael Mosley, which examines the science behind it and the health benefits. I won't ramble on about all that here, but if you're interested, click on the link and have a watch. This documentary really changed my mind on the whole fasting thing. The benefits seemed to outweigh the fear of fasting, so I decided to try it. I was lucky that my friends were there to answer all my questions (there were lots of them!) and let me tell you, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be! 

So, the skinny (get it?!) of 5:2 is that you fast for two days out of seven. On fast days you're allowed 500 calories (600 for men) and you then eat normally on the remaining five days. I like to stick to my normal calorie allowance (I use MFP to do this) on the non-fasting days, as I'm not so good at eating "normally" hence why I need to lose some weight! But most people I know don't count calories on these days. 

Here's what a regular fast day looks like for me: 

AM :: I drink plenty of fluids. Normally just water, water with lemon or herbal teas. You can drink sugar free squash or fizzy drinks, but I think they tend to make me hungrier. 

PM :: I try to keep most of my calories for dinner. But if I'm feeling really hungry I'll have a low calorie cup-a-soup and a sugar free jelly. For dinner I tend to have some sort of protein (like chicken or fish) and vegetables (a salad, roasted veg or stir-fry are my staples!). I stay away from carbs as they just eat up my calories and don't fill me up. 

Honestly, it's so much easier than I thought. If there's anything I'm really craving I just tell myself that I can eat it tomorrow. I've never been so hungry that I thought I'd have to give up, it's really just mind over matter. I find on the days that I keep busy I hardly even notice that I've not eaten. From a weight loss perspective, it's definitely working. I don't want to tell you how much I've lost yet, but it's a significant amount and I'm so pleased! It doesn't even feel like I'm on a diet, it's that easy. 

Do any of you guys follow 5:2? What do you think of it? I'd love to hear your opinions! :)
{PS This is my 100th post...say what!!??}

{image source}

Hour by hour :: Monday 26th.

6.00am :: I wake up ridiculously early due to having too much coffee the night before. I never learn. O's alarm went off at 5.45am, so I got up and put my cosy penguin socks on to heat my tootsies up! Normally I'm still in *full* sleep mode when O gets up and he wakes me up to say goodbye. He's not used to an awake Lou this early in the morning!

6.30am :: A little early morning blog post publishing from O's PC. I was too lazy to go into the sitting room to fetch my MacBook. Did you see all the penguins in Monday's post?!

10.30am :: Off into town to pick up a parcel. See how you can *almost* see blue sky there?! 

11.00am :: I mooched around town for a while looking for the perfect eyeliner. No such luck, but I did find this ^^ Harry Potter t-shirt in Primark though! A bargain at only £6!

11.30am :: With the heavy parcel in tow, I decided to take my coffee down to the beach to enjoy a little fresh air and sunshine. Little did I know that as soon as I crossed the road leading down to the beach a hail storm would reek havoc with my plan! My coffee almost blew away! Roll on Spring! (Check out those moody clouds^^).

1.30pm :: I came home, wolfed down my lunch and opened the parcel (the fish + slow cooker recipe books). I then got cosy on the sofa and read some of my two favourite books of the moment. This font book is amazing. You can't beat a good font! Can you tell I'm looking for food inspiration with all these recipe books?!

6.30pm :: O and I made chicken enchiladas and I scoffed them all before I remembered to take a photo - sorry! They were pretty spectacular though! I then had a little laptop time along with some good old Netflix action (Pretty Little Liars - much to O's despair!) and made myself some liquorice and peppermint tea. Isn't this mug grand? I got in the Toronto Anthropologie a few years ago and I just rediscovered it at my Mum's the other day. Yay to forgotten mugs!

I kind of forgot to take photos in the evening, but it went pretty much like this :: I finally got around to testing the wifi feature on my DSLR - so so cool! It connects to my iPhone and I can then control the camera from my phone...talk about the ultimate selfie! It also let's you download the photos from the camera straight to your phone (or other device). Blew my mind! O has joined a new ice hockey team, so the rest of the evening was spent looking at ice hockey kit online and then finally getting into bed to discover O had snuck in a hot water bottle and wrapped by pj's around it! That boy is a keeper! <3

That was my Monday, how was yours? I hope it was a lovely one too!