A to Z of 2009

A…is for All That Glitters. 2009 has been a great year for All That Glitters.  I sorted myself out a website, got this blog going and have actually kept it going, been to a craft fair, had a good few sales and I have learnt a lot!  Hopefully 2010 will be as successful if not more 🙂

B…is for baking. 2009 and my new kitchen have reawakened my baking bug.  Just bought a cooling rack in the Lakeland sale (also bought a load of other stuff I didn’t need but it was cheap!)

Cupcake Tree

C…is for cricket. Who knew I liked cricket!  Being in Bristol we oddly have Gloucestershire County as our local team!  There was also plenty of Twenty20 action too!  We are even looking into a joint membership!

D…is for dolphins. And the lack of whales!

E…is for entertainment. In 2009 I saw Baroness, Chesney Hawkes, The Mangledwurzles, Bill Bailey, Dave Gorman & Eddie Izzard. 2010 has Billy Connolly and KISS lined up so far…

F…is for fat. It’s still there!  There was a brief spell of successful weight loss but then moving house and Christmas happened.  Not been brave enough to stand on scales yet but lets just say the baggy trousers are not so baggy anymore!

G…is for growing up. 2009 has seen a lot of my friends buying houses together, getting married, splitting up, having babies and settling down.  It’s strange! But good!

H…is for home. In particular my beautiful new home that I have made with the lovely Mr Sparkles.

I…is for I AM THE ONE AND ONLY! In June me and my friend Tony went to see Chesney Hawkes at Puxton Park.  Mr Sparkles bought me 2 tickets for my birthday but ‘un-selfishly’ let Tony go with me!!!

Mr Hawkes Rocking Out!

J…is for Journey! My anthem of 2009, strangely!

K…is for knitting. A huge thanks to Susie at The Wool Sanctuary for teaching me to knit again.  My Granny would be very proud of me for starting knitting again.

The front of my house doorstop

L…is for La Rocca baby! AWWWOOOOO!  Hopefully 2010 will see a few more visits.

La Rocca Beauties!

M…is for marinated. Our fantastic weekend spent at Dannah Farm Country House in the Peak District in a room with our own private hot tub!  We spent far too much time in it!!!

N…is for NFL. For the 2^nd year we managed to get tickets to the NFL International game at Wembley.  I love going as it’s a chance to get together with my little bro and to have a day waving a flag about like a right idiot!

O…is for old tat. 2009 saw the official start to my old tat (or vintage) collection.  Accompanied by LB, The Queen of Old Tat, I now have a lovely wooden boat, French 1920’s cushion covers, a folding mirror and a few other bits and bobs!  2010 will hopefully see this collection expand.

P…is for pain. The sheer pain of my own stupidity!  Why did I ever think that I would be able to snowboard?!?!?!

One of my Snowboarding bruises

Q…is for quality cider. Yep I have become a proper resident of the South West and I officially proclaim to the world I AM A CIDER DRINKER!

R…is for riding. This year I got a new bike.  I LOVE IT!  It’s the bestest bike ever!  During the nicer months of summer and autumn we were out almost every Sunday on a trip somewhere.  I am very much looking forward to some nice 2010 weather!

A ride through Bristol

S…is for Swine Flu. Poor Mr Sparkles managed to contract the piggy flu on the 22^nd Dec so there was a bit of a last minute stay at home for Xmas.  But it just means we get to do Christmas at least twice more!!!

Christmas brought to you by Tamiflu

T…is for tantrums. I have had a few of these during 2009.  Mostly at myself or inanimate objects.  It would appear that I am not as good at dealing with stress as I thought I was!  Thank you again to Mr Sparkles for bringing me tea and being so loving and understanding.

U…is for unknown. This time last year I couldn’t have told you I would have done most of the things I ended up doing in 2009.  Hopefully 2010 will bring some fantastic unknown adventures too!

V…is for Vegas. Went to a brilliant wedding of our great friends Mark & Bobbie complete with Elvis!

Elvis is in the building!

W…is for walking. This year I took part in the SunWalk in Bristol, I managed to complete the Half Marathon course and rewarded myself with a big ice cream!

Mr Sparkles, Me and my Medal!!!

X…is for eXtreme amounts. 2009 saw extreme amounts of paperwork enter our lives: mortgages, bank accounts, life assurance, the list goes on and on!  We also joined Costco so we have been bulk buying all sorts: toilet rolls, ketchup, Fairy liquid, Pepsi, water, beer, Oreo cookies…  Last night we realised that we wouldn’t need to buy dishwasher tablets again until approx April 2010!

Y…is for happY. (is it obvious I’m struggling to find things for the end of the alphabet?)  2009 has seen a lot of things that have made me very happy.  My lovely boyfriend, my lovely house, my lovely nice normal neighbours, my lovely friends and my lovely family.  And of course my lovely blog readers!

Z…is for ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Hopefully now that the stress of moving and unpacking is out the way I can get back to the plan of long lies, cat naps on the sofa and hopefully if the weather is good to me afternoon naps in the back garden all summer long!

Wishing you all a very happy and glittery 2010!

A letter to my friend

Dear Chy,

 

At La Rocca in the Tuna Does Disco top

You are a wally sometimes!  But I understand what is going on in your head!

 

I know I can tell you until I am blue in the face that it’s all in your head but as we both know it helps at the time, but then at 2am when he hasn’t texted you back it all comes out again.  Like a really bad zit that just won’t die!!!!  But trust me, I was the same as you.  But it’s mostly all gone now and I am so happy it has!  I can’t lie, every now again there is a tiny thing that sparks the little voice in my head to think something stupid but then I remember those thoughts are attached to a different person in a different time not this person now.

 

I don’t think I’ve ever told you how much I admire you for being able to go back to University to follow your dreams.  I can’t even drag my butt to Wales to do a distance learning course in something I am already doing.  Whereas you moved here from a whole other country to learn to do something that you love.  You are one of the bravest people I have ever met.

 

AAWWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOO!

I know it’s difficult for you and you are desperate to get back to your ‘normal’ grown-up life where you can happily make a cup of tea without having to fumigate the kitchen first.  But you only have a few months left to suffer and then you can get on with it!

 

And the boy loves you.  Stop thinking about it and try to just enjoy it.  He’s a lovely person and mot even a little bit of a twat!  My twat-senors are finely tuned and I’m telling you this one is OK!  The pair of you just go together like La Rocca and the Hunger Hatch! 🙂

 

I would also like to thank you for moving to Bristol at the same time I did.  I would like to thank you for being single at the time.  Otherwise we would never have met.  The Bridget Jones Society has a lot to answer for!  I would like to thank you for being there for me on my many disastrous quests to find Mr Right.  Luckily I did find him eventually!  Thank you for sitting through a Metal \m/ birthday party,  I will forever owe one!

 

Looking for a love getaway?

And so I move on to the thing that oddly unites us more than anything, cheesy disco!  To be more precise La Rocca – our spiritual home.

 

Some of the best nights out EVER have been with you in La Rocca. 

You probably have every idea just how excited I am to be going again in November with you and Laura, as I am sure you feel exactly the same!

 

I am truly thankful to count you as one of my best friends.  It upsets me to see you going through all this upset on your own.  I just wish you weren’t so far away from me now.  And I would like to request that you return to Bristol as soon as possible.

 

Why drink and La Rocca are bad for your health

But in the meantime, here’s a little something to get you in a FANTA-ASTIC mood.  You will need to supply your own bottle of Strongbow/Peroni!

  

Just remember I love you for being daft, for La Rocca, for wearing glued together shoes, for fending off randoms, for Balloon Fiestas, for wine tasting, for gin & tonics, for cups of tea, for long train journeys and for you being my friend.

 

NOW STOP BEING DAFT AND FINISH YOUR BLEEDIN DISSERTATION!

  

AAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!