August instagram

Oh, I LOVE YOU AUGUST. Without a doubt it is the most ridiculous, exhausting, pal-filled, brilliant month. I've survived lots of very late nights (and some very early mornings), a knackering publication schedule at work (four issues in one month, eek), and loads of shows.. some good, some bad, some brilliant!

I am now in need of a very big sleep.

1. Admiring the big cats at The List's festival party at Summerhall.

2. An amazing Gemma Correll tote bag from Hannah Zakari, I love it!

3. New solar-powered lanterns up in our garden. I am absolutely in love with my garden, everything is growing so nicely and I just feel so relaxed and happy when I'm in it! We have managed to attract a few birds, bees and butterflies too, which is ace to see.

4. The Book Festival is always one of my favourite things about August, and this year was no exception. My highlights were Jeanette Winterson (I love her, she was perfect), China Mieville & Neil Gaiman. If there's a book festival near you - go! They are great.

5. My lovely pal Steph was up for a few days and it was brilliant! I don't get to see her nearly as much as I'd like as she works in movies & is always jet-setting somewhere or other & it was so nice to have chilled out time to catch up properly.

6. Cupcakes from Cuckoo's Bakery - YUM!

7. Doing 'The Face™' with Lucy (my pal from work). She does this in all of her instagram photos, and it became a bit of a theme on our work end-of-festival lunch!

8. Beautiful roses from Craig on our six year anniversary. Oh, you sop.

9. Pals (and me!) at the So You Think You're Funny awards party. I got to wear a bit feathery headdress and it was so much fun - I wanted to keep it!

10. We went to Ting Thai - a pop up thai street food restaurant on Forrest Road. It's really good, loads of nice thai food for £5. Apparently they are hoping to stay open after the festival.. fingers crossed they do.

11. Muzz, Craig & I in freebie sunglasses LOOKING COOL (obviously).

12. End of festival/return to real life commences. SALAD. I plan to eat only vegetables for the next few weeks (and start running again... more on that soon!). It's hard to stay healthy when life revolves around comedy clubs!

2012 festival show count:

Underbelly launch, Gilded Balloon launch, Assembly Gala, Dead Cat Bounce, Late n Live, Axis of Awesome, Carl Einar Häckner, Pajama Men, Ceilidh Club, Neil Gaiman, Stanley Odd, Paul Simon Treatment, Sammy J & Randy, Frisky & Mannish, Neal Stephenson, Late n Live, Neal Stephenson (again, a science talk), Jeanette Winterson, China Mieville, Iain Stirling, Foster's Comedy Award showcase (Pappy's Fun Club, Dr Brown & more).

Phew!

Restarting running

Well it's not really a surprise that I stopped running over August. I knew it was going to be hard. The whole month was full of very late nights (both for fun & work) & trying to get sleep when I could. Running, or any sort of exercise, was at the very back of my mind. I'd also really struggled on week five of Couch to 5k and was fed up.

But now I am EVEN more fed up. I have hardly any energy and just want to hibernate - the days of getting up at 6.15am to exercise before going to work seem totally unreal and undoable. I'm not that fussed about eating healthy. I've watched Craig work his way up to regularly running 5ks and feel jealous, but weak. Wah! Things have to change.

By That ARThletic Girl (who does the loveliest inspirational drawings!)

And they will. Yesterday I restarted Couch to 5k and the 30 Day Shred. It feels like I'm being a bit of a quitter, starting all the way back at the beginning, but I think I need to be sensible and gradually work my way up again. It's only been a month and already it felt SO MUCH harder - which is sad as I obviously had started to get a wee bit fit, but I know I can do it again.

I'm also going to monitor things a little differently. Last time I weighed myself on the fancy machines in Boots and was so disappointed not to have lost any weight after a month (even though my BMI went down, AND I was feeling better). It was only afterwards that it was pointed out that muscle does weigh more than fat, so I must have lost something to keep my weight the same when getting fitter. So this time I will be ignoring the scales, and keeping an eye on my measurements instead. I'm doing this because I want to feel fitter and be more active... so no more stressing over stones and pounds!

I'll be blogging with weekly updates (which is massively helpful for my motivation!) and am keeping a close eye on these motivational blogs:

Daft Wee Runner | A Rosie Outlook |  Where Are My Knees? | Spikes and Heels

Wish me luck! And please share any words of wisdom that you might have. 

Outfit: lazy Sunday

On Sunday I had a really nice day hanging out with my dad - we went to the Foster's Comedy Awards showcase, then a mosque kitchen lunch & a bit of "show and tell" of my favourite festival spots.

Summer has been practically non-existent this year, so it's been quite hard finding clothes that don't feel too autumnal but are still warm (I've had to wear tights FAR too much in August, sob). This is such a comfy outfit - I'm afraid I refuse to give up on a tights/shorts combo, but it's comfy & perfect for strolling around the city.

Shirt - H&M
Shorts - New Look
Shoes - Moony Mood from Spartoo*

I've had the shirt for a while now, but absolutely love it! I am a sucker for polka dots and it makes me feel a wee bit smarter than if I had just chucked on a tshirt.

My black flats are from Spartoo and they are ace. I have a few pair of Moony Mood shoes now and I really like them as they have a proper sole, no more paper thin flat shoes for me!

Red glittery nails

Barry M - Red Glitter

LOOK AT THIS NAIL POLISH!

It's such a dream. I am an absolute magpie, and am easily drawn by the smallest flicker of potential sparkliness on a nail varnish shelf. It can be disappointing when you get a glitter polish that looks really promising, but actually takes about 10 coats to build up.. not this one though!

It's by Barry M & is the bargain price of £2.99. I used a nail strengthening base coat and a top coat of Seche Vite, and it's lasted with no chips so far!  I'm so pleased... it feels like they've bottled up a pair of ruby slippers. 

Ski holiday!

I've reached the time of year when I am just desperate to go on holiday - my work doesn't let us take any time off over the summer (because of the Edinburgh Festival), so by the end of August most people are starting to plan trips to lovely looking places.

Now, I may have the skiing ability of Bridget Jones (ha), but a skiing holiday sounds wonderful. Just picture lovely snowy mountains, roasting fires, log cabins (on a very fancy scale!), private spas & scenic views. Ski chalet Zermatt has all of this and more.

Isn't it gorgeous! I can just imagine sitting on a balcony, wrapped up all cosy with a glass of wine gazing out at the mountain.

Or making Craig cook me a massive meal (ha ha) in the wooden cabin, chilling & watching snow fall. It would be totally perfect as a new year's getaway with a big group of pals.. and much classier than watching the bells in a local pub! 

I want to go! You don't really have to ski on a ski holiday, do you?

(It does look AMAZING though!)