I absolutely adore the snow. I think it's magical. We so rarely get any in the South West that my Mum and I both become big kids the moment a single flake flutters to the ground. Here at home, the snow teased us, the dusting of snow barely covering the tips of the daisies that have taken residence on our lawn over the Winter months. Just a few miles away, however, the snow created thick, beautiful blankets glistening over the fields by our cafe. I took some photos while wearing shoes not fit for snow, with freezing toes and soaking socks, enjoying every moment while it lasted.
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I really didn't want to post this now, two weeks into 2019. I have a really weird thing about posting about the previous year when we're already into the next one. I like the fresh slate, that everything from January 1st onwards should cover only this current year. However, I was useless and a terrible blogger and I didn't get around to showing our Christmas decorations back in December. I thought I'd be okay with that, that I'd focus on 2019 and make up for it next Christmas. I'm not okay with that. This year, our Christmas felt so magical and special. It seemed extra pretty, so much so that I found myself spending so much more time in our living room than I usually do, just to experience the twinkly lights and beautiful festive ambience for longer. It's already the 10th of January and I'm still looking at our Christmas photos, and they make me feel so happy and, well, the bottom line is that I really want to show them off. I want to show the world our little Christmas. And, I gotta say, getting a Pixel 3 from Santa really sweetens the deal too, to be honest. This thing takes some gorgeous photos. (Not a sponsored post! I just really, really dig this phone.) So, I'm sorry to bring Christmas back just when you thought it was all over. I'm one of the few people that could quite happily live in a world permanently surrounded by twinkly lights, rich food and magic, however. I hope, if nothing else, this out of date photo spam filled your feeds with a little bit of colour on these dull January days. I'll try and make the rest of my posts this month a little more 2019-ish, but for now, I'm enjoying looking back on these and wishing it was December already. Oh well, only 325 days to go!
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You may remember a while ago I mentioned that I'd started using the Zombies, Run! 5K training app to try to bring a little fitness into my otherwise very sedentary life. I really enjoy the Zombies, Run! story but unfortunately, after a really busy March full of conventions and associated prep, the weekly training kind of petered out. Once I'd lost the rhythm for it, I found it really hard to get back into - there was always an excuse, some dumb reason why I couldn't start training again. You know how it is... why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Only, for this lazy broad, tomorrow never came. But, I had my heart set on entering the Zombies, Run! Virtual Race, and even though my training had taken a complete nosedive after week four, I still had the virtual run in the back of my mind. So I signed up and paid, which forced my hand in actually taking part and completing the run - otherwise, it would be a complete waste of money, right? And I'd own a medal for no good reason, because what on Earth is the point in lying to yourself? Well, I'm so proud to say I achieved it! I actually ran the race twice, but I had my step counter and pacing off the first time, so the app finished before I'd actually completed the 5K according to the treadmill. On my second attempt, I used the treadmill's settings to run a session that was exactly 5K long. I'm not going to lie, it was a real slog. My time ended up being 50:14, which I know is incredibly slow for a measly 3.1 miles. But y'know what? I'm still really proud of myself! I didn't stop, even though I experienced a stitch for the first time since P.E lessons at school!, and even though my calves were really unhappy about the whole affair. I came off the treadmill sweaty and out of breath and feeling so accomplished! In all the training I'd done, I never felt so absolutely exhausted, but I did it! And now I have a bar set for improvement!
Now that I can say I've actually completed a 5K, I'm going to ditch the training app and dive straight into the regular Zombies, Run! story, which I am so excited about listening to. I'm going to work on improving my time, with a final goal of being able to achieve 5K in 30 minutes! Wish me luck! Tags:
I found this adorable Sass & Belle tin in Cardiff the other day and just had to pick it up. It's the perfect size to fit notes in, so I'm making a point of only putting £20s in it. It might be shallow to admit that most of my dreams, at the moment, are hiding behind a pay wall, but sadly that's the way life goes, sometimes. I want to be rid of debt this year by finally clearing my silly credit card, and I want to actually gather some savings for the future. Moose will hopefully be moving closer soon and, when he does, we can start planning a future together. Love may well be the most important thing in any relationship, but it doesn't pay for the deposit on a house.
To counter that bout of sensible maturity, however, I'm also using the tin for fun savings! We found a ridiculously good deal on Disneyland Paris for January next year, right around our anniversary again, so we're going to go for it! Given the aforementioned plans for the future, we can't really justify a trip to Florida or California anytime soon, so Disneyland Paris is a wonderful, affordable way of getting my fix without breaking the bank. Florida will always be there. Walt Disney World is very much a part of my plans for the future, too. Tags:
I absolutely love rainy city lights. When Moose and I were in New York City last year, we were caught in an almighty rainstorm, and I made us both rush over to Times Square to enjoy it in all its twinkly light and yellow taxi glory. Add a little Christmas magic to the mix and it's pretty much my favourite thing. This photo was taken in Bath, which is one of my favourite cities.
I made a Facebook page for this blog! I know it's early days for the blog but I figured I'd give it a go! You can find it here: Dream Somehow - please give it a 'like' if you fancy being kept up to date that way. Also, my comments are finally using Disqus, something I spent days trying to implement before. I'm hoping that makes it easier for folks to comment and chat here - I'd love to know what you have to say about the silliness I post here! Tags:
When I was a little girl, mum always told me that the red sky at night was the result of dragons fighting and blowing fire at each other in their rage. My childhood was nothing but magical, as every childhood should be. ♥
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Today we went shopping in Poole and finished off at The Range! They had no Santa in their grotto but invited people in to take photos and who was I to refuse?
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It's not too early! Anything after Halloween and Bonfire Night is fair game, as far as I'm concerned! Right guys? Right! I found this tag over at Milk Bubble Tea and figured it'd be the perfect way to get into the festive swing of things! 1. What is your favourite Christmas Movie/s? Okay, I'll admit it. Of all the classics, all the musical wonders, all the animated marvels, my favourite Christmas movie in the whole wide world is 'Elf'. I don't know why! I'm not particularly a Will Ferrell fan, though I do adore Zooey Deschanel, and the humour is silly and stupid which isn't really my cup of tea... but there's something about it! For the past few years I've made it a tradition that I have to curl up and watch it, because it's just dumb and fun and 'Christmas!' Plus, I cry at the ending every single time. I almost held it together last year, but the moment the father started singing? I was gone. Retaining that childhood belief in all things magical is a real trigger for me, and anything dealing with that will set me off in a flood of tears, so even though I watch that dumb film every Christmas and I know the sleigh will juuuust manage to take off in time, I'm always a soggy mess as the credits roll. (For the record, I'd have said The Nightmare Before Christmas otherwise, but I really don't know if I consider that one a Christmas movie or a Halloween one! So, Elf it is. Sorry Jack.) 2. Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas morning? Christmas morning! Sometimes when I was younger, I'd get a special extra little present on Christmas Eve, but generally once I went to bed I wasn't allowed anywhere near the lounge! When I was a kid, my parents would always set up the camera to record my reaction upon seeing the presents for the first time. Mum would make sure the fire was lit (even if it wasn't cold outside!) and she would have festive music playing in the lounge before I was let in, and then we'd all gather around and open presents! Heck, we still pretty much do exactly that, only now there's a lot more chocolate and alcohol involved. 3. Do you have a favourite Christmas memory? I have so many awesome Christmas memories - it's always such a magical, fun day! When I was a little girl, one year I walked into the lounge to find Paradise Estate, the largest My Little Pony playset ever made, all set up on display. Apparently my parents had been up for hours putting it together, right down to the little knives and forks on the table. They even put water into the swimming pool! Another year, I'd desperately asked for a rocking horse for Christmas, and when I walked into the lounge, there was this tiny, Christmas tree ornament sized rocking horse in the middle of the floor. I was devastated! Santa had gotten confused and only left me a mini toy one! You can imagine my joy when dad brought out a giant, real rocking horse later! I think my favourite memory though is when one year I was a little older, and started wondering if Santa really did exist after all? So I cooked up a special plan! We had an old video camera that we usually used to record big moments like Christmas Day and birthdays, so I decided I was going to hook it up and hide it behind the curtain, ready to capture Santa on film! Of course, though, I told my parents all about my plan! I hid the camera, hit record and went to bed. The next morning, I eagerly checked the film. There was Santa! Well, his legs anyway. And he was angry! I saw him as he approach the tree, get startled, and rush over to the camera, which promptly went dark! Santa had spotted my devious plan, and turned off the device and even wrote me a note telling me how I shouldn't try to capture him on film! Needless to say, I continued to believe for a long time after that, and never tried to catch him in action ever again. Even if my trick had only managed to capture him from the legs down, it was all I needed. Santa was real, 100%. 4. Favourite festive food? While not specifically a festive food, I could eat a bucket full of little sausages wrapped in bacon and never, ever get sick of them. Ever. I also really love roast chestnuts! 5. Favourite Christmas gift? I've had so many wonderful gifts I couldn't really narrow it down, but if we're going to think about the most important and impactful gift I've ever received? That would be my new PC that I unboxed Christmas, 2008. It was the PC that enabled me to finally play TF2, and, well, we all know how that ended. 6. Favourite Christmas scent? Cinnamon. Hands down. I kind of associate cinnamon with Halloween, Autumn, Winter and Christmas all in one big spicy ball of loveliness. I tend to burn cinnamon scented Yankee Candles all year round I love it so much! 7. Do you have any Christmas Eve traditions? Not really any set in stone! We have various other Christmas traditions, mum and I always decorate the tree together, with glasses of port or sherry and with some dumb music channel on TV playing a round-up like 'Top 100 Christmas Hits!' or something. Christmas Eve was always a busy time for mum as she'd prep the food ready to be cooked in the morning, but we'd always do the standard ritual of leaving a carrot, mince pie and glass of sherry out for Santa. As I got older we'd make cookies together on Christmas Eve, and sometimes we'd go out to our local town to just people-watch, to embrace the schadenfreude of watching everybody last minute panic-shop for the big day! But generally my Christmas Eve routine just involves having a big long bubble bath, putting on the cheesiest Christmas pyjamas I can find, and trying to fall asleep (and failing!) 8. What tops your tree? A star! And only a star! I have this (admittedly really dumb) thing where I just hate angels and faeries on top the tree! It always feels so tacky and weird to me, even though some of them are really pretty! It absolutely has to be a star on top the tree. Not even room to compromise on this one! I couldn't stand to decorate a tree beautifully and top it off with an angel. Blech! 9. As a kid what was the one (crazy, wild, extravagant) gift you always asked for but never received? Hah! Probably a pony, I'd imagine! Or a dog? Something living and breathing, at any rate. 10. What's the best part about Christmas for you? Not gonna lie, as a kid it was about the presents! Not gonna lie, as a grown up they come into it still! Corny as it sounds but I do love giving them as well as receiving them, the thrill of wrapping them up and putting 'em under the tree for the morning is so exciting! Nowadays, it's mainly about just having a really fun, different day, filled with alcohol and good food (Christmas day being the one time where it's socially acceptable to drink alcohol first thing in the morning!). And also? TV specials! Doctor Who is a huge must-do tradition in this household, we plan our entire day and evening meal around it! And now Mum and I are all caught up with Call The Midwife, we'll be adding that to the mix, too. Not to mention the traditional depression that is Eastenders every year! Well, that's that! We just came back from a day out in Bath where they were turning on the lights tonight, and yesterday I saw The Coca Cola Commercial, so I'm not even a little bit sorry! Christmas is officially here now and I love it!
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My whole life, I've wanted alternatively coloured hair. I naturally have really, really dark hair - almost black, but I've been dying it reddish or ginger for the past five or six years. I know they say your natural colour is meant to suit you best of all, but I'm so pale that my real hair colour just makes me look like a washed out Wendy Adams. A while back I took the plunge and finally lightened my hair enough to go alternative, and went a pretty aqua blue/turquoise ombré. It was a fun move but honestly it never felt very me. There's only one colour I've ever wanted to go, and that colour was pink! So... after a few months blue, I've finally done it! Now I very nearly have the hair colour I've always wanted, and honestly I can't get over how much I love it! Ideally I'd like to fade it out to be a little more pastel and less vibrant - the first photo is pretty much exactly how I'd love it, but it came out a little blotchy so I had to colour it again! Right now, it's a gorgeous bright pink that makes me feel like I'm in permanent Pinkie Pie cosplay, hah! For those wondering, this is a mix of Directions Carnation Pink, Flamingo Pink and Pastel Pink! And lots and lots of conditioner!
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Every year my buddy DC celebrates his birthday by way of BBQ, gaming and nerding out! The weather was gorgeous on Saturday, so we were all able to spend the day in the garden, playing games. One thing I always enjoy about this sort of get-together is that it's a great chance to try out new games. This weekend a new game to me was a card game called Sentinels of the Multiverse, here you team up with the other players to take down an ultimate villain. You can choose your super hero team based on complexity to play, and similarly pick a bad guy of varying difficulty. Because Moose and I were entirely new to the game, we had a really easy villain, but I wish we'd had a chance to try someone more difficult because by the time we learned how the game worked, it was over.
While we played Sentinel, other people gathered to play Braggart, a story-telling game where you have to concoct the most extravagant 'brag' to win points. DC had also set up table tennis, so we had a whole bunch of fun stuff going on while dinner cooked. In the course of the whole weekend, we managed to squeeze in more gaming, including Magic The Gathering, Cards Against Humanity and an amazing social game called Two Rooms and a Boom, where you divide up into two groups and give everybody a 'civilian' (blue) or 'terrorist' (red) card. Among those cards are a 'bomber' card, and a 'president'. The aim is to spend your time in the room trying to work out who is who by revealing cards, card colours or "sharing information" (true or otherwise!) If the person designated 'bomber' ends up in the same room as the 'president', the terrorists win. If they end up in different rooms, the blue team wins.Each round ends by voting 'out' somebody you suspect may hinder your team's chance at winning. It was seriously so much fun, surprisingly stressful, and a really fun way to get people active and chatting. Life is pretty great lately! I've been working on commissions, finally reopened my Etsy store after closing it temporarily over the past few weeks while my printer was being repaired, and I've got a bunch of awesome things lined up, including my birthday soon (eep!) I don't have a convention now until Manchester Expo in July, which I've never attended before, so I'm spending the next few weeks on catching up on stock, new art and commissions. Oh, and Netflix, of course. Currently watching: Orange is the New Black (finally, right?) Tags:
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Hi! I'm Selena an artist, blogger and gamer!
Dream Somehow is my little corner of the internet where I talk about life, the universe and everything! Here, you'll find travel, adventures, vintage style, life in the South West of England, a little bit of Disney dreaming and a whole lot of geeky nonsense. If you'd like to learn a little more about me, click here! Instagram
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