Top Picks from 2011

Since 2011 is over i thought i'd take a loot back and list a few things that i absolutely loved from then. Yes, it's another list and no, i'm not sure how long this list is going to be. And yes, it will be a bit picture heavy too.

So...
* iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S.
Literally could not live without my phone now. Not for the reason we usually have a phone (to call people) because no one EVER phones me on it. Although i did get a nice surprise phone call the other day from someone who was just about to jet off on holiday. That was particularly nice. No, i use it mostly for the internets. The usual Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Words with fricking Friends. Frankly i could not live without a phone. End of. My trusty 3GS saw me through two years without so much as a slight glitch. The quality of the 4S is more superior and aside from the stupid data usage scandal(!), i actually do LOVE it. That is no exaggeration. I can hear folk groaning at reading this but hey, we all have our things we love don't we.

* Instagram.
I know some folk have only just cottoned on to Instagram [you know the type. The social media luvvies who always seem to be 3 weeks behind on the latest thing! Would you trust anything you read from them?.. No, me neither]. Anyway, some folk have only just cottoned on to the fact that Instagram deserves it's title as App of the year on iTunes (probably the only reason they cottoned on to it). I was an early adopter having posted my first photo on 15th October 2010. And i know this because I got this cool little badge from Statigram (that i run alongside Instagram). It's full of cool stats about your Instagram stream.

What I love about Instagram is that you can see a shot, take the shot, enhance it with a filter if you want and upload the photo and share to the web all within a matter of a few minutes. Seconds even but i'll stick with minutes. The filters are basic and cool, there's enough for now. There's a great community feel. I follow Instagrammers from all over the world. I love seeing photos and lives from the perspectives of these people. It's grand. Take a look.


* blogs.
I've discovered loads of new blogs this year and i'm going to list them below. A list within a list. These have been keeping me entertained all year. Thank you Bloggers!
Vivianna Does Make Up - the clue is in the title. Fab young beauty blogger.
RocknRoll Bride - Kat does a fantastic blog about alternatives to the 'big white wedding' every girl is supposed to dream of. Frankly, id rather my wedding day be like one of those featured here. Fab Fab Fab.
The Daybook - lovely lovely Sidney shows us fashion a shares stories from her life with husband Tyson and new baby Ever. Such a lovely family.
Whatleydude - Whatleydude's happy place. Discovered this one back in April/May time, I think. Love the variety of posts. Some days there's the writings from his Moleskine's. Other days there's three lines of words. Always interesting and sometimes cryptic. But always a joy to read.
Pacing The Panic Room - ok, this is a cheat. I've followed this blog from Ryan Marshall for years. It's so incredibly fabulous i just can't describe it. It's honest and candid and the family are just the cutest. It's the ups and downs and he shares a lot of it right there on the page. He and Cole are also massive Instagrammers too. Hearts.
Miss Smidge - LOVE THIS BLOG. Honest, great writing. Fab recipes. Real stories from the life and times of the writer. Miss Smidge also loves shoes, which makes me happy.

* Elemis skin nourishing body lotion
does exactly what it says on the bottle. I have dry skin all over really, except my tummy, i have a really nice smooth flat tummy. But anyway this lotion sorts my dry patches out and smells lovely and clean. Like a new born baby. It's a bit on the pricey side but i'm on my second bottle from a set i got for Christmas last year and hopefully it'll last until my birthday when i might get another bottle?! someone?

* Converse trainers
Except they're not really training shoes are they. They're the comfiest guttie i've ever worn. My purple 2009 affairs were heading on their way out. The sides have started to split and the purple was feeling a little old so i decided it was time for another pair. A RED pair. I love them. Except i made the mistake of wearing them with new dark indigo and black jeans a few times and now they have that annoying faded mark on them from the colour rubbing. Grrr... Oh well, this means i can buy another pair when we're heading into spring / summer. There's bound to be a nice bright colour i can get.

* Cineworld cinema card
I've now had my card for exactly 1 year and it's been a godsend. I've seen more movies than i ever would have if i didn't have that card. Let's face it, the cinema isn't cheap so £15 a month isn't too bad. If you go to 3 movies per month you're already saving money. Oh and i only did popcorn once. Never again. it was like eating the most tasteless balls of rolled up cardboard, and that was the sweet flavoured one too. No, my munchies of choice were salt and vinegar crisps and a bag of sliced apple. Oh and a wee bottle of Irn Bru of course. Anyway, i'd recommend the card if you can afford it and like going to the cinema. Some favourite films were The Hangover Part II, Drive, Blue Valentine and 50/50. Not sure if i want to see The Iron Lady though....

* nail polish
I was never ever really into nail polish. You'd never catch me wearing scarlet red nails... until this year. In particular, the summer gone. I suddenly become more than just a pale Rimmel French ivory girl and ventured into yellow Mimosa from Chanel, bright pink strawberry margarita from OPI and even Rainbow collection glitter top coat too.

It's fun and certainly can brighten up your day when you've got nice nails. It depends what mood i'm in too. Some days i'm all about the nudes, others the reds and lately i've even headed towards the nearly blacks. Brave of me. But i'm not buying any more. I bought some more from a great eBay shop (US) which sells all the top brands (OPI, Essie, China Glaze) much cheaper and they were delivered within a week. They're at least 50% cheaper than here and that includes delivery. Pretty good but i have to stop. As you can see there's not many colours i don't have. Oops.

Anyway that's all for now i think folks. What were your top picks from 2011?

Angela x

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The people of 2011

As a new year draws closer I wanted to .... pay tribute?.... no. Recognise. I wanted to recognise and acknowledge the people who have listened to me, chatted to me, laughed with me, given me wise words, cooked for me, taken me places, watched movies with me and have made me smile in 2011. I thank you all and hope there's more of the same in 2012.

Laura Woods. A wonderful lady and I'm lucky enough to now call her a friend. So glad to meet her, twice, in 2011.
Linda. My colleague and friend. Baby Kai's mummy is her new name. I've certainly missed our random and funny conversations a work. Hurry up and come back! 

Neil Fox. What can i say. Inspiring is what I'll settle for just now. A great great man destined for many great things. My friend Neil.
Karlie MacGregor. Lovely lovely lady who I've got to know the past few months and I'm glad she has appeared in my life. Always there with the right words and girly chat. Oh and a fellow email chatter, which I love. Hey Laura, another one!

Jonny Rose. Smiley Jonny Rose. He had me at tweeting me a picture of an array of ice cream tubs from his freezer when I couldn't find Ben n Jerry's Fairly Nuts anywhere!! Ya little scamp!

Adam Morland. One of the good guys and with two gorgeous boys too. Solid. 

Matthew Smith. Otherwise known (to me) as the guy who works on xfactor but has absolutely no influence on the final votes whatsoever. So he tells. He also let's me win at Words with Friends. Good lad.

Ian Daniels. The Surf Punk. Lovely, kind, generous, sings a mean Beyonce, drives too fast, first in the great Mac'n'Cheese off of 2011! Watch out, Ian, I will regain that title in the grudge match of 2012.

Adam Lannon. The next James Bond or at least Colin Firth. Keep an eye on this guy. He's got stars in his eyes.
Rob Green. Not been around much lately. He calls it 'being a grown up'. But he was there a few months back when I needed some things sorted from a guys perspective. Good man.

The two elves. Simon and Fraser. Finally me them a few weeks ago and I can confirm they're really lovely guys. Who won though?... :)

Photo credit: Simon's phone. I added the effects! hehe...

Sir Chris Hoy and Chris Sacca. The former tweeted me once, the latter tweeted me a few times and favourites some of my tweets! YO. And both those things make me smile.

Pyllon. A rock steady friend and always there. Always. A true gent and brilliant inspiration. He has a busy few years coming up I believe and I know he's gonna do great.
Mr Geoff. Idle Bull. Hadn't had a Milkybar in years til 'Santa' (me) brought him some the other week. Lucky fella.
Craig Zielinski. Lovely Zee. He's not around Twitter as much but these days but good to know he's still there. Somewhere.

Miss Smidge. That's not her real name but i'm not sure her real name is anywhere so i won't add it here. A fellow blogger who i met only a few weeks ago but so glad i did. She's ace. Her blog is ace and she's one of he few people who comment on here. Bonus points!

Lilacswizzle aka Nicola. A lovely lady who gave me good advice this year. I took it, the situation never worked out the way we wanted but still, it had to be done. Thanks Miss!
Illegal Jack. I don't think he's really called Illegal. You'd have to ask him. I can tell you he cheats at Words with Friends, but it's a laugh. Ok, ok so he doesn't cheat so much as places tiles and guesses at words. More often than not he wins though. Cheers dude.

Kevin Gilmartin. Forever now known to us as Gok, for his acute sense of ladies fashion (from nothing other than one twitter conversation). 

Lovely John Heath (@hejmusic) who I met on my trip to London in April.

Andi Kis. Wonderfully chatty, fun and a great raconteur. I could listen to her stories all day long. Someone who you'll never forget.
Wee Bri. My cousin. He's currently probably laying on a floor in a Sydney apartment somewhere after already celebrating the turning of the year. He's was my spin bike partner in crime until he left in September. I've kept him one though, at the front, for when he comes back!
Catherine Anne, Kelly Anne, Karen, Ryan and Connor. My family. They're here. Even when they're not. Those boys are my angels.

Maw and Paw. Aka Kate and Jimmy. Couldn't really ask for a better pair to be honest.

Thanks all for making 2011 what is was.

Angela x

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Five Things...

So I opened up twitter this morning and there was the usual mix of morning/breakfast/exercise/travel/weather tweets. If you can navigate your way through this river of greige, you can always find a few gems hidden. Like, there was also the much tweeted link to the little ditty played by Zoe Dechanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. I decided to watch it and it was sweet and nice. I've followed both people here, well over on Twitter, for a while. They're quite good value.

In addition there was a post over here by @Whatleydude. Have a read. I decided that I'd try the five things list on this blog, after all, yesterday in my Mission 2012 post I did say that I'd like to get this blog going again, make it huge, and we all know I like a list! So here it is... Except it's not quite five things, it's from the past year so it'll be a little longer than five. Next week will be the five things list. Ok enough. Let's go...

•  Multicolour trousers - mostly from Topshop. Awesome. 
• Ryan starting school and getting on fine, what a relief. 
• Meeting Miss Laura Woods. An amazing person and friend. Also on that same trip south in February I met lots of Twitter people who really we're lovely. It can happen. 
• Getting fitter and losing weight. 
• Hello size 8 little black dress. Okay dresses. Plural. I bought two! 
• Three beaches in one day with Surfpunkian. Awesome awesome day. Thanks dude. 
• Finally meeting MisAKis. Fun, bubbly and lots of great stories about social media 'darlings'. Haha laughed so much. 
• My first Illegal Jack's. I'll be back. I did. A few times. 
• Loving painting my nails. With glitter! Me! Glitter! WOWSERS how times have changed. 
• Cycling 55 miles from Glasgow to Edinburgh. Fantastic feeling. 
• Giving blood for the first time. 
• Becoming unofficial aunty to baby Kai. Gorgeous. 
• Weekend cinema trips. A sanctuary. The cineworld card has been a godsend for me. 
• Favourite movies: Drive. Sherlock Holmes. 50/50. The Hangover part II (obviously). 
• Elemis skin nourishing body cream. Smells gorgeous and keeps my skin soft and err nourished. 
• Twitter. My love affair with it will never end. Not for the foreseeable future anyways. 
• Baking cupcakes. Several good attempts. 
• Seeing brilliant Twitter friend @pyllon finish one of his races. I was going to say "for the first time" but what I'd mean is I saw him race for the first time. He's raced loads. And done very well, thank you very much. These are no ordinary races, oh no, they're across tracked up and down hills and are usually never any less than about 50 miles!! No mean feat. 
• Meeting Miss Karlie MacGregor. A wonderful person. Damn straight. 
• My love of spin bike class. I can't miss any now. Except I am right at this minute missing one, but you get what I mean. 
• Seeing Mr Neil Fox (@drgonzolives) perform at the Edinburgh Festival with his fab Great Brain Robbery comedy mates. What a laugh! 
• Finding fabulous blogs to read, like Whatleydude's. I've nearly finished reading all the away back James!
• New Red Converse. Only my second pair in two years. I think I deserve another and I think I found them today! 
• Buying my iPad 2. Finally. Although it may be going on sale soon. I love it but... The screen thing still irks me a little. 
• The joy I had doing my walk with Instagram back in October. Me, my iPhone and Instagram. Walking around Edinburgh. Good day. 
• Taking the boys and my sister to the National Museum in Edinburgh. They had a ball. 
• Seeing Kings of Leon at Murrayfield in June. Sounded just like the cd. Great gig. 
• The Killing (Danish version). I love that programme! 
• My trip to London in April. Three days exploring that fab city. The weather was brilliant too. I'll be back.
• My trip to Philadelphia in August. Ok ok it wasn't the real Philadelphia but Glasgow. The film set for a new Brad Pitt movie. Hope it's good when it comes out. 

So that's a few of my most memorable good things from the past year. Next week it'll be just five things from the week. It'll hopefully be a regular post. If not, shout at me!

Angela x
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Merry Christmas

Just popping on to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hope your day is filled with family, food and fun.

Take care of each other,

Love Angela x

Last Day of November

It's the last day of November. the 30th. St Andrew's Day, and yet I don't really know anyone that puts much effort into this Scottish day. Do you? Do you even know an Andrew? whose a saint...

It's also a day when most people at work seem to be on strike. Over pensions. And the Government. I don't really understand it. All I know is the I can't afford to take a day off work so i'm here. And it's my right to be here just as much as it is their right to be out there, striking on a picket line, or alternatively shopping. Because in my building alone there are about 85 people and there's only about 8 of those we've seen on the picket line... That's not to say others aren't elsewhere but really? i don't think so. Anyway this post wasn't going to be about that. But i shall say this. I've been thinking about cashing in my pension for ages. It's quite a big hit off my modest monthly administrator's wage. Plus, by the time i retire, the age will have jumped up to 85 or 90, the money won' be worth half as much and i figure i could actually use the money i have sitting there to out a deposit on a house, or something more practical like that. Couldn't I? I hate having to pay something into a pot of money that will probably go down and down and down until i retire. And prices will inevitably go up. Should I plan that far ahead, or should i just say to heck with this and live a life now? These are the decisions I think about. It's a big one. Do we need a pension? My mum retired after paying into a pension for years with the council. She gets a pittance back. Rubbish.

Anyway, like i said, this post wasn't to be about pensions. Oh, wait, I've got another thing to say. There are some posting things from high on their pulpits about public sector workers not thinking as much about the people they are serving as they are on strike. How about you walk in their shoes for a few hours on their wages and see if your opinion changes then. ok. Right, that was my last word on that subject.

So it's the last day of November. Only 32 days until 2011 ends and 2012 begins. I've done a lot of things this year that I'm proud of. But the list goes on and on of exciting things I want to do. And with you by my side I will do them. Do we have a deal? Well do we?!!

We have December to look forward to with all its glitter and tinsel and Christmas cheer (well some of us are cheery). We have January to look forward to. The nights start to get lighter (honest, they do. I timed it each night in January last year), the year is young and fresh and we start to plan for the summer. We have February, the month of fake love day. the day when couples feel obliged to do something together. If you're a couple you should be doing things like that anyway, or else where's the fun in that! March. Lovely, lovely spring green March. The month of my birthday (get it in your diaries), the month of breaking out your spring wardrobe (mine never changes!), the month of impromptu mini breaks (well in my head there is). The best month of the year in my opinion. Then we have April. A transitional month. When the nip in the air becomes slightly less nippy, you could even go out with out a jacket on if you're lucky. Then we fly ever faster into May. Generally nice weather. Day trips. Heck perhaps there's even a trip to a beach with a picnic, now wouldn't that be nice. June and we're rollerblading head on into summer mode. Pink skin a-plenty. New hair. Summer fun has well and truly started. July comes hot on June's heels. More summer fun, more hotter days (we can dream!) and more and more days out. Remember, we're all going to Alton Towers in July - get that in your diaries too. August bumbles it's way into your life and you're not nearly all summered out but your getting there. The street lights are noticeably on earlier, you can sit out the back and with your cardi thrown over your shoulders but goddammit it's still summer so you ain't putting a jacket on. Here comes September. All browns and yellows and drawing in nights. We like September too, don't we. There's a little bit of wind but still time for adventures, back to that beach maybe. Then we hit October. All blacks and inky blue skies but the stars never stop twinkling so we like that too. We can buy new winter coats and wrap up in them whilst walking through a duvet of crinkly freshly fallen leaves that are just waiting to be jumped in. And there we go, we're back to November again. All sparkling fireworks and wind blown hair. What a year we've had. What a year!

Let's make it a good one, shall we :)

Angela x
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Fabulous December

Occasionally I tweet a few #Angefact's on Twitter and the other day someone tweeted back to say they weren't sure my Ange Fact's were true. Well, they are true. Every single one of them. Perhaps it's because some of them are a little silly? Here's what it was, I said I'd never had a hot chocolate before. That's true. I haven't, but that got me thinking...

I decided that in December there are loads of things going on and loads of stuff to do but i always seem to just Christmas shop my way through it and then kick myself for missing out on the fun. I figured, like i usually do that I'd blog about all these things and turn then into AngeFact's that i have actually done! Good idea eh. And if i blog the list of things i want to do then they're sure to happen, right? So here goes...

1) well it has to be have a HOT CHOCOLATE! This may seem silly but I've never really liked the idea of hot chocolate. Mostly because I'd only ever seen that light brown powdery stuff in the purple tin tub (you know the one). My idea of a perfect hot chocolate would be something along the lines of nutella, but a little more runny. Not bitter stuff mind you. That would put me right off. Can you recommend anywhere that sells nice lovely tasty hot chocolate?

2) wander around the Christmas markets in Edinburgh. I've only ever had a flying visit. Passing through sort of thing on the way to somewhere else. It wasn't enough time to stop and browse and buy little goodies you can't find elsewhere. Want to come along?

3) following on from number 2 is have a go on the big wheel in Princes Street (or George Square). I'm not fussed. Note, if it's windy I'll probably pass up the opportunity.

4) take a long exposure photo. I've always wanted to learn how to take one of these photos. Winter seems like the perfect time to do it. With all the car lights, spinning big wheels, torch words! Let's do it!!

5) blog more. I've totally been slacking of late in the blogging. But I'm going to (try) blog every day in December. I'll try not to put too many photo only posts up.

6) make plans for January. January is a strange month. It's like limbo. Post Christmas blues set in and it seems like there's nothing to do except wait on the new series' of TV programmes to begin. So, I'm trying to add things to my diary to do during this limbo month. What are your January plans? Anything exciting?

7) not go and panic buy more presents on or around 21st December. I plan on having all my Christmas shopping done by mid December at the latest. I've got a few bits in already so that's good.

8) have a night out in my new dress! It's a gorgeous little black dress that I've never had before and i love it. I'd never have worn it a few months ago but now, yes, it's time to get the glad rags on and go out for a night out. Wahey!

I'll leave it at 8 for now. But i may add to this list. Are there little things that pass you by? Things that you might think nothing of doing but never seem to get around to it? Let's all do them!

Angela x
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Thursday Three

Welcome to the first Thursday Three on here for 2011! For those who don't know Thursday Three posts are posts where we list three things about a subject chosen by the people and post them on a Thursday, simple. See previous Thursday Three posts for further details. For example, there have been Three ideal dream holidays, Three things you want to do before the end of 2010. This weeks Thursday Three subject is... Three things you are looking forward to in 2011. So lets begin...

I'm looking forward to taking a holiday this year. Maybe not a big fancy two week thing in an exotic land but a nice change of scenery away from the norm. I calculated it has been nearly 6 years since i even had a long weekend away, barring the trek to Nepal of course but, although a wonderful and fantastic time, that was no holiday I can assure you. So yes, a holiday. Its been a very very long time since i felt the warmth of the sun on my face and the breeze of a foreign wind tickle my skin. I need this. Where would you recommend I take my little mini holiday to?

This might seem like a boring one but I'm really looking forward to getting some savings in the bank. I don't make resolutions at the tun of a new year but I've decided  I'm going to make a budget and stick to it. I keep a spreadsheet with all my monthly spendings on it each and so I've planned all the way up to June. It looks pretty healthy, well for me anyway, so I can't wait to get on that road and sticking to it. Hopefully by doing this then my holiday above will be good.

I think I'm just really looking forward and excited for the next 11 months of this year. I hope they will be filled with fun, laughter, good times, sunshine, bikes, snow, friends old and new, meeting new people, meeting old people, nephews, work, outdoors, hills, runs in the car, a beach walk, a gorgeous sunrise, a bungee jump!, a Chinese lantern, writing in my diary, lots more blogging, making people smile and being a good friend to the people who have shown me kindness and confidence and understanding and friendship. I hope you all want to join me on the journey of this year, my year, our year, 2011.

Warmth
Angela xx