Wonderful Wednesday #43

HAPPY mid-week dear and lovely faces!  How do i FIND you at the halfway then?  Has your week been brimming with productivity and piled to the very top with positivity?  Or have you been struggling to get through this week a little?  I'm here to RESCUE you! *dons magical Wonderful Wednesday cape accompanied with the most sparkly of magic wands!*  I should probably think that mine has been somewhere in the middle if i am being honest.  We have a new starter at work and whilst this has been exciting and wonderful, it has also been all-consuming and i feel like i have been suffering from a sore throat most of the week.  Not (hopefully) due to any nasty viruses, just because i have talking alot more than usual - if you can believe it!  Inductions are exhausting business!  In amongst the restless nights spent worrying i'll get things wrong or mix things up just come across as a blithering idiot, there have been many little glimmers of lovely to keep me powering through!  I am hoping this little list inspires you to do the same about your own week so far:  

*  Spotting my first sweet little ROBIN friend whilst stood gazing aimlessly out of the window, cradling my first cup of Lady Grey on Monday morning. What a sweetie he was.  I first heard his chirruping - such a loud little song.  I wonder what he was shouting at such an hour?  Then i spotted him flitting back and forward between the trees and teasing next doors big fat ginger cat.  Such a sweet little thing!  It made me feel a little Christmas-sey all of a sudden.

*  Blogger FRIENDS.  I know anyone else who has a blog will relate to this case in point, but i am forever overwhelmed by the kind sorts, lovely people and true real-life friends i have made since making this little space of the world wide web my own.  Whilst it is not possible to meet, have tea or nibble on walnut whips with each and every one of you; i am rather lucky to have stumbled upon the kindest bunch of local blogger ladies that you could ever wish to meet.  We have met a fair few times now and get on so so well that it sort of feels like we have known each other a lot longer.  We are never short of things to say each time we meet and i always come away feeling inspired and in admiration of them all in equal measure.  It is definitely one of my very favourite parts about having this little blog.  

*  Toasted spiced fruit BREAD with stem ginger curd breakfasts.  Was this on last weeks?!  Sometimes i worry i'll repeat myself you know.  Oh hell well if it was, it flipping deserves it because i swear this stuff is the reason i'm still alive after my, now seven day stint at Monsoon Towers!  Warmed through and crisped ever so slightly in the toaster, it fills our kitchen with the most delicious Christmas-sey smell:  all cinnamon, cranberries and clementines.  I have been enjoying it with a little cup of milky spiced chai tea in the mornings on the days when i fancy a little change from porridge.

*  'Old Money' by Lana Del Ray.  I know i know, every week a different SONG!  Ipod shuffle and Spotify are my go-to mid week musical motivators of late.  Try and say that fast i dare you!  Lana can do no wrong she really cannot.  'Born to Die' has always been my pick for late and lazy summer day bike rides.  But this song is taken from 'Ultraviolence' her most recent album and oh, i just adore it.  It's a soft and sultry, velvet cushion of a love song that is just magic.  You can just float along on it and become lost for its whole entirety.  Please give it a listen HERE

*  HEARING the Mr utter the very best words he can ever utter when food shopping on Tuesday evening:  'I think its got to the time of year when we should treat ourselves to a macaroni cheese.'  If we weren't right in the middle of the supermarket i may have whooped.  It's dangerous macaroni cheese for us you see.  We could exist on just that and not even care.  We'd be so happy and full of warm cheesy pasta-ey goodness…that we probably wouldn't fit through the front door!  It's a treat-type dinner and i cannot wait.  Served alongside a huge pile of tender-stem or purple sprouting broccoli, it could very well be up there as one of my very favourite dishes EVER.  Ever, ever EVER.

*  Birthday-shaped PLANS.  So I might have mentioned that I'm 30 at the start of December.  I'm not a fuss-maker, i really can't bear the idea of a big and whopping fancy pants party, or anything overly extravagant.  I just don't feel like it's me.  So we have found the most beautiful little flat to rent right in the centre of Edinburgh for a few days and i am so very excited!!  After months and months of the Mr asking me what i would like to do and everyone insisting that 'can't not do anything' it suddenly came to me.  We both love Edinburgh a lot and i have never ever been at this time of year.  I am so excited to explore, have lazy lie-ins and beautiful meals in sweet little places and to wander Christmas markets!  CHRISTMAS MARKETS!  Can you imagine?!  Sipping on mulled wine, wrapping up warm in tartan and holding hands and outdoor skating?!?!?  I might just burst with excitement.  We'd both be ever so grateful if you've got any Edinburgh recommendations for other things for us to do?  Museums?  Galleries?  Favourite restaurants?  I am also thinking i might film it.  Well parts of it anyhow.  So i can make a little memory VLOG and something for us to look back on.  

*  Ebay EXPERTISE.  I go through phases with Ebay.  Lately has been a good phase.  I managed to find a beautiful dress i have been hankering after for years…okay at least two years.  Any way, i snagged a brand new one for £4 on Monday and i am eagerly awaiting it's arrival. High fives all round!

*  Finally lighting my huge and whopping Neom Organics CANDLE.  It was expensive and to be honest it was keeping our little bedroom prettily scented just as it was.  I told myself i'd wait, wait until it was frosty and cold enough to really appreciate the full effect.  It was worth the wait.  I have been lighting my 'Enchantment' candle most nights when i am finding it hard to switch off.  Sitting flicking through Alice in Wonderland with camomile and honey tea and my sweet candle makes the sweet dreams come a little easier.  

*  The MR.  For not minding that on Tuesday nights shopping escapade i wouldn't let him buy the chicken in the supermarket because i didn't like not knowing where it had come from.  Or the fact that it had a very long date on it.  (Is that just me?  Does anyone else do this?!)I am trying my very hardest to buy locally and we are usually good at this.  Most of our meat comes from local butchers etc, when we do eat it.  The temptation to just get everything in one place is hard though.  Especially when we both work full time.  Bless his heart for putting up with my chicken education/slight rant in the middle of Morrisons.  Sorry to anyone else who had to witness it or was put of their tea.  Whoops.

*  Naked bars Christmas Pud flavour.  The BOMB!  I love the Naked Bars in general:  all pressed raw ingredients with no added nasties and a great taste.  My favourite has to be the Chocolate Orange.  A great alternative to chocolate or other sweet treats when the munchies start.  Their new festive Christmas Pud flavour is just YUM.  

*  HOT WATER BOTTLES.  No explanation needed.  The very best sleep is achieved when you sleep with your tum against a hot water bottle in a hot water bottle cover that is bedazzled with pom poms.  Fact.

*  WILTING roses.  There is something so beautiful about a rose as it starts to wither, droop and bow its sweet little petal-ey head.  I couldn't bear to throw away last weeks pale pink baby roses from our bedroom side table.  Instead i dried them off, trimmed them down and sat them on my little desk under the window in the office.  Such romantic little beauties. 
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Now it's your TURN!  Tell me what's been making your week so wonderful below.  Or if you have been having a tough one, dig extra deep and find those hidden GEMS that have been cheering up your sweet cheeks.  There is always something, no matter how small and that is exactly why i write and enjoy these little posts quite so much.  It's not often i stop (ever!) and take time to remind myself of the positives.  This is my place to do just that, no matter what else is going on in my day-to-day.  Let me tell you something, doing it is really rather cathartic.  Why don't you give it a go?  Leave me your week's best bits below, or you can tweet me with your #wonderfulwednesday.  I'm @sallytangle.  Don't forget to link me up if you write anything similar, i'd love to have a GOOSEY GANDER.