Sunday 30 June 2013

A great weekend in the great outdoors

Hello chaps and chapesses
 
I've had a lush weekend.  I've spent a lot of time out in the great outdoors with Graeme and Toby, and it's been lovely.  Yesterday evening we went for a mini hike up to Castell Dinas Bran, a 13th century castle up a hill near Llangollen.  There's not much actual castle left now, but the views of the Dee Valley from up there are just gorgeous. 
 
We had a leisurely hike, told Toby off for chasing some sheep, and then had a flask of tea when we got to the top.  It's not the most rock and roll Saturday evening of my life, but it was lovely.
 
 
 
It was so lovely, in fact, that we decided to have an impromptu day out in Betws y Coed today.  It took us about an hour to get there, and it was so worth it. 
 
We intended to do the four-bridges walk, but we got a bit lost in the woods and never made it to the fourth bridge.  We did have fun trekking through the woods though, and not being quite sure where we were going made it a bit of an adventure.
 
 
 
Being out in the fresh air for most of the weekend was brilliant.  It's so easy to spend the weekend pottering about the house, catching up with housework and all the little jobs you put off during the week, and never really taking some time out to properly recharge your batteries. 
 
I'm lucky to live in such a lovely part of the world, and I fully intend to take more advantage of it in future (Graeme is pricing up OS maps online as I type...).  Being out in the open air was just lush, and it did us the world of good.
 
How was your weekend?  Do you like countryside wanderings as much as me?

Monday 24 June 2013

100 things that make this chapess happy - part 1

I came across the idea of showing you 100 things that make me happy on It's a Blonde's Life.  I thought, seeing as the blog is called Happy Chapess, it would fit perfectly.

I'm going to post 10 things that make me happy every Monday for 10 weeks - I like to think of them as Happy Mondays.  See what I did there......


1. Graeme
Graeme is my lovely boyfriend, and without getting all gooey and smushy, he's the single best thing in my world.

2. Toby
Toby is our dog, and he's cute, silly and thoroughly adorable (not dissimilar to Graeme, actually....)

3. Sunny days
Who doesn't love a bit of sunshine?



4. Reading a good book
I've loved reading since I was little.  I can still remember the day my mum took me to join the library because "I was costing her a fortune in books" - her words, not mine.

5. Baking
It's therapeutic, I consider it a bit of a life skill, and let's face it - who doesn't like cake?



6. Browsing a big branch of Boots
For me, one of life's pleasures is taking my time to wander around a really big, well-stocked branch of Boots.  You know the ones that have ALL the make up counters.  I can never get away from this with much change from £20 though.

7. Tea
I've been called a teapot on many occasions because of the sheer quantity of tea I can get through.  There's really nothing in the world that quite matches that first sip of a really good, hot cuppa.



8. Getting my hair done
Going to the hairdressers feels like a real treat - especially the bit where they wash my hair and give me a scalp massage.  It's expensive but I love it.



9. Running
Just to be clear, I'm no athlete. I really have to work at it, and I'm not often happy while I'm actually running, but the post-run feeling is just brilliant.


10. Kids' films
I'm talking old-school Disney, Shrek, Despicable Me, Ice Age - the list is endless. 

So those are the first 10 things that make me happy!  Look out for the next 10 next week!  I'd love to hear about your happy list - let me know what makes your world that bit extra sparkly in the comments.

Friday 21 June 2013

Don't be scared to get in a spin!

Once upon a time, I used to go to a weekly spinning class.  It was hard work, but it was a great way to improve fitness.  I ran regularly as well, and the spinning definitely made running easier.  I was telling some work colleagues all about the amazing benefits of spinning last week, and I felt so inspired that I called the leisure centre and booked a class there and then.
The class was on Wednesday.  I was a bit nervous beforehand, as this was something I hadn't done in over a year, and I thought it would be a killer. 
It was great!  It was hard work, and by the end there was sweat dripping off me (literally - eww!) but I actually enjoyed it.  So much so that I'm booked on to next week's class.
I thought I’d tell you a little bit about what a spinning class involves, because I remember how intimidated I was before I did my first one, and there's really nothing to be scared of.  Much.
The basic premise is that everyone has an exercise bike, and the instructor is at the front of the class on an exercise bike facing the group.  There is loud music, and you have to cycle in time to the music.  In the class I go to, it's a mixture of pedalling while seated, standing up, and hovering - where your legs are moving but your torso is still.  It's harder than it sounds.  I have been to other classes that have included some extra moves like push ups on the handlebars, but I think all classes will contain the basics I've listed here.  The instructor will tell you when to increase the resistance on your bike.  The higher the resistance, the harder you'll have to push to move the pedals.
The great thing about it is that it's a group class, so you're motivated by everyone else - nobody wants to be the only one sitting when everyone else in the class is standing.  You naturally want to be seen to be keeping up with everyone else, and that pushes you to work hard.  On the other hand, you're in control of your bike, and you decide how high to set the resistance, so you can push yourself as hard as you want to.  So you get the best of both worlds, of being motivated in a sort of team-like environment, and being able to decide for yourself what you do.
The first time you go, it will be hard.  I thought my first class was horrible, and by the end I was sweating, shaking, nauseous, I had cramp in one foot and my ladybits were on fire from the hard bike seat.  But, I went back the following week, and it was a bit easier.  The week after that, it was easier, and I could push a bit harder.  The point I'm trying to make is, try not to be put off after one class, because you will improve quickly.  Take a towel, a bottle of water and grit your teeth, and you'll soon learn to love it.
Are you a spinning newbie, or a seasoned spinneroonie? What are your thoughts?

Tuesday 18 June 2013

26 things



We’ve all made new year’s resolutions in January.  It makes sense – January is the beginning of a shiny new year , a new start, and it gives you a clean slate where you can set goals for yourself and go after them enthusiastically.   

I don’t know about you, but I get a similar sort of feeling around my birthday.  It’s the start of the next year of my life, and it feels like a good time to take a step back, evaluate things, and think about what I want to get out of the brand new year that’s just beginning.

So, I’ve come up with a list of 26 things to do while I’m 26.  I’ve seen a few of these sorts of lists around the web, and thought that my birthday would be a good time to come up with a list of my own.  These are not meant to be rules or restrictions, and they’re not intended to put extra pressure on me, they’re just some real things I’d like to achieve, that I think would make my life that little bit more joyous and sparkly.

  1. Plan a date night every month (with my lovely boyfriend Graeme, just to be clear!) 
  2. Find a good perfume. 
  3. Read 3 non-fiction books. 
  4.  Complete a half-marathon. 
  5.  Take a cake decorating class. 
  6.  Buy one or two new items of clothing every month (instead of leaving it until everything is worn out and needs replacing) 
  7. Knit a patchwork blanket. 
  8.  Tone up my arms. 
  9. Read a book every month. 
  10. Buy (and read!) a newspaper every weekend. 
  11. Try a new recipe every month. 
  12. Go to a pantomime. 
  13. Try seafood. 
  14. Meditate. 
  15. Enter a writing competition. 
  16. Try some new make-up looks (I’m so lazy with make-up….) 
  17. Plan a holiday somewhere new. 
  18. Go on a picnic.
  19. Acquire a nice fancy copy of Jane Eyre.   
  20. Find a hairstyle that works. 
  21. Take photos, and get some of them printed. 
  22. Go to a theme park. 
  23. Do a pub quiz. 
  24. Visit a museum. 
  25. De-clutter my cupboards and sell the stuff I don’t need any more on eBay. 
  26. Document this list. 
I’ll be keeping you up to date on how I get on with these over the coming year – watch this space!

Sunday 16 June 2013

Happy birthday to me!

Today is my birthday.  I'm 26.  I realise that 26 isn't old, as such, but I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20.  I'm a Proper Grown Up.

Or am I?  Yes, I have a full time job, a council tax bill and a steady live-in boyfriend, but I also still love kids' films and fairy cakes and laughing at stuff that's really silly.  I read somewhere that your twenties are supposed to be your selfish years, when you can have fun and do whatever you want without having to worry about responsibilities.  It's your chance to make some great memories to look back on when, to quote a slightly more grown-up friend of mine, "you have kids and your social life dies".

Doesn't that put us under pressure? Does it mean we should be making the most of our opportunity to go out clubbing and drinking and being irresponsible and debauched?  I did all that when I was a student, and I'm tired of it.  I've graduated from noisy clubs to bars where I can chat with friends, from Lambrini to gin and tonic.  And sometimes, shock horror, I don't even want to go out.  Sometimes, I want to watch a film at home, on the sofa, in my pjs.  Youth, as they say, is wasted on the young.

Your mid-twenties are a strange time.  In my case, I've grown out of the going-out-and-getting-wasted-every-weekend thing, but I'm not at the marriage-and-kids stage just yet.  What happens in between?

The answer is, it's up to you.  Personally, I'm using this time to focus on me (which might be selfish, but as I said, that's what these years are for).  I'm looking after myself with exercise and eating (reasonably) well, I'm spending time with friends, I'm having quality time with my boyfriend, I'm reading as much as I can - I'm just doing things that make me happy.  That's what I think the in-between years - and, I guess, life - is all about.