Sunday 28 June 2015

The Weekend Edit: Uh Oh.


Today marks a fortnight until the Race For Life 10K. It's becoming real now. It's actually happening. Soon. And I'm doing it. Ahhhhh.

To say that I'm grossly underprepared is an understatement. I've not done a lot in the way of 'training' because of myriad excuses that I won't bore you with. Last week I tried to film a 'training' video thing. Except it was mainly just me walking through a field trying to dodge dog poo. Hardly YouTube gold, is it? So, sadly, it's not seen the light of day. 

I've had people stress that it's going to take ages if I walk. Yeah, that's fine. I don't mind, honestly. It's either that or attempt to run and keel over, thus raising no money for charity whatsoever. So walking it is, okay? (Excuse the defensive tone, but it's really easy for people to criticise when they're sat on their backsides doing nothing for charity themselves.)

The whole point of the Race for Life is that you can run, jog or walk. You don't have to be Mo Farah to raise a bit of cash for a worthwhile cause with this event. It's more inclusive than that. Even unfit numpties like me can take part. Yay!

So, I'm not as ready as I hoped to be at this point, but I've still got two weeks. All is not lost.

The nerves are starting to kick in now. It's only a 6.2 mile walk around a park, but that doesn't mean to say I'm not worried about it. Nevertheless, I said I'm doing it. And there's little that's going to get in my way.

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Thursday 25 June 2015

Etsy Goodies: Eh Up Me Duck!


As I mentioned the other day, I've become a little obsessed with Etsy of late. This is a selection of purchases from Katie Abey Design. (Who is actually a Derbyshire girl too!)

I bought three things: A father's day card with cute penguins on it, a keyring and a pocket mirror. I had to buy that mirror, with the local Derbyshire 'slogan' "Eh/Ay up me duck!" on it. It's not very often that you stumble across anything with such a local slogan on it!

I love the keyring too, which is a slogan I need to live by a little! I thought if I had 'Don't worry, be happy' permanently attached to my keys, I might remember to stop worrying quite so much.

The delivery was really fast, the products were really quite cheap (my order cost between £7 and £8), and they're just really lovely little products to have! I think the next on my list from her shop is the Mug of Motivation. (Because, let's face it, I need all the encouragement to motivate myself I can get!)

You can find Katie Abey Design's Etsy shop here.

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Tuesday 23 June 2015

Ikea Adventure!



Yesterday, I had a meeting near Nottingham and afterwards, I thought I'd pop down the road to IKEA Nottingham because I haven't been for AGES.

I really love the place, to be honest. For someone who doesn't own their own home, and probably won't for a long time to come, I still get extremely excited about interior design. The main reason I went was to get some affordable fabric to sew with, as some of their fabric costs as little as £3 per metre. As usual when I go to IKEA, I ended up leaving with a couple of new mugs, a couple of gorgeous scented candles, some artificial flowers, a nice vase, more than 3 metres of fabric and some other little goodies. Oh, and a coffee. Of course. Just because I'm addicted and it worked out at 85p a cup.

Just as an aside, I can't be the only person that goes to seek out vaguely amusing product names either, right?

Oh, IKEA, how I love you.

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Monday 22 June 2015

Joe's Kitchen, Derby


Joe's Kitchen is a brand new restaurant that's opening in the Intu Centre, Derby. You might have seen on Instagram that they very kindly invited me to sample the food and drink at their preview event on Thursday.

Firstly, they offered us a range of gorgeous cocktails and mocktails, all with fresh ingredients. I had a mango & ginger mocktail, which was lovely! Then they gave us a chance to explore our surroundings a bit. I love the design of the restaurant, and the attention to detail! A lot of the tables have little blackboards on them that have funny quotes on:
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Sunday 21 June 2015

The Weekend Edit: Getting Crafty


Brace yourselves: This week I bought a sewing machine! Yes, that kind of makes me sound like an old lady a little before my time, but my reasons will become clearer soon!

Even though the word 'Craft' reminds me of that Dan and Phil video, I've really enjoyed embracing my creative side a little more this year. For the past few years, the only creative things I've done are make the odd bracelet (pictured above) or embrace my love of photography. Unless this blog counts too, because that's kind of creative, right?
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Monday 15 June 2015

Notice Anything Different?


You might well have noticed that Katie Writes has had a bit of a makeover! After ten months of the pretty green blobs, I thought it was time for a new look.
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Sunday 14 June 2015

The Weekend Edit: Lessons I've Learned This Week

©Katiewrites.co.uk

I can be philosophical sometimes, you know? Here are a few things I've learned this week. Don't ever say this blog isn't educational.
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Saturday 13 June 2015

Alport Heights




Not beauty. Not really lifestyle either, but I felt the need to share this little Derbyshire gem with you all.

Alport is genuinely one of my favourite places ever. It's only about 15 minutes out of town, but is staggeringly remote. Apparently, on a clear day, you can see SEVEN different counties from there!

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Saturday 6 June 2015

The New Bean Caffe, Derby


Saturday afternoons are for guzzling coffee.


Bean Caffe in Derby have branched out and opened a second cafe at Riverside Chambers in the city centre. I've only been to the original Bean Caffe at Friar Gate Studios once, but I enjoyed it so much, I thought I'd give the new one a try!

My friends and I had a coffee each, but we didn't have any food. The prices are really reasonable, it was only £2.50 for a large cappuccino. And the coffee was lovely - Just what we all needed to stop us from walking around like zombies.

The decor is really fancy. And very horny too. I did actually walk into some antlers at one point... (Aren't the cushions lovely though?)

We all really enjoyed it there, and I'm definitely tempted to go back soon to try some food! I've just found out from their website that they double up Hide Burger Bar at night, so I might well have to nip down and sample a burger!
Katie
x
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Wednesday 3 June 2015

How To Make Your Own Lemonade


"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade."


Even though the weather's pretty dire, it's now summer, allegedly. And nothing says 'summer' like a refreshing glass of lemonade. I stumbled across this recipe via the BBC Good Food website, which is packed full of fantastic recipes if you're in a creative mood! If I can do it, you lovely readers can definitely do it.

Ingredients: 
♥ 1 litre of cold water,
♥ 140g of caster sugar,
♥ 3 unwaxed lemons.

Method:
♥ Roughly chop your lemons up,
♥ Place half the water, caster sugar and lemon pieces into a blender,
♥ Whizz it round until the lemon is finely chopped up,
♥ Pour through a sieve, ensuring that you push down on the mix with a spoon,
♥ Add the remaining water,
♥ Enjoy!

Katie
x


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Tuesday 2 June 2015

Is It Really a Year?



Today is a very special day! Katie Writes has turned one! 


Today marks one year since I tentatively pressed 'publish' on my first post: a foundation review. 
I'd like to think my blog has come a hell of long way since then, but there's still work to be done. I'd been debating over whether to start a beauty blog for about 6 months before I actually did it. I'm glad I did, as I'm quite proud of what I've achieved. Seriously, this past year has flown. 

Even now, I'm still learning new things about blogging. I still feel like I'm finding my feet after all this time. It's been a huge learning curve, and there's still a long way to go before I feel like I'll know what I'm doing. 

So, really, I'd just like to say a massive thank you to all you wonderful readers! You're lovely and make this blogging malarkey worthwhile!

Here's to another year of me endlessly babbling away on the Internet! 

Katie
x

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