postcards from Maids Moreton

there's no one available to take your call...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 13:25:00 +0000

I'm not here much. You've probably already worked that one out for yourselves.

two exciting things have happened since my last post... if you keep up with me on facebook this is old news... scroll on past.

I was contacted by the production company for HGTV's House Hunters International. They filmed Carl and I for three days here in England and then also out in California. It was a very exciting/stressfull experience but really interesting to see how these things are done! From what I understand our program is still being edited but when I learn of an air date I'll pop back in here and let you know so you can watch it in all it's cringe-worthy glory before I do. They will be sending me a dvd eventually as the program isn't aired on any of the channels here.

Roller Derby is the other thing that has happened to me. I fell head over heels, smitten like a kitten, with it. So much so that you can find me writing about the trials and tribulations of a nearly 40, wanna be, derby girl over here. DerbyNotDarby.

I hope life is treating you right... and I'll pop in again at some point I'm sure.

Sarah Xx

do you street view? do you safety dance?

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 16:35:00 +0000

Google Street View has finally come to my little corner of the world and I'm absolutely fascinated by trying to find local cars and people I recognize out and about.

And when I tired of that last night I went on a search around the village of West Kington, Wiltshire... home of the epic Safety Dance video.

Have you seen the Safety Dance: Literal Version? Oh how it makes me chuckle!

I've also got other news to report... I think, at least for the time being, I'm done with retail management. I don't want to be a Manager and no one will hire me as an Assistant Manager because I have to much experience... so until I figure out what I want to be when I grow up I've taken a job as a receptionist at a hairdressers four days a week. I'm hoping that this will also encourage me to work more on writing, photography, and personal enrichment... plus I get all my hair cuts/colour comp! result!

copy and paste

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:53:00 +0000

No news on the job front yet, I've been to a few interviews... but no call-backs as of yet. To be honest, and yes I was probably kidding myself but, I never thought it would take me this long to find another job. I started out confident but I'm feeling decidedly less so every day.

I have an interview tomorrow that I hope goes well. I feel fairly prepared and on outside appearances it looks like someplace I'd like to work... let's just hope they like me.

My days feel really empty lately.

A friend came to see me yesterday and gave me some good advice. " Just do 3 things a day" he said. 3 things to put you on the path to achieving your goal, whatever that may be. 3 sounds like an easy enough number so I'm going to give it a try.

A side effect of the empty day syndrome is spending WAY TOO MUCH time interweb trawling. Between shaking my head at some truly lol-worthy facebook dramas and watching the live Hummingbird Cam or Barn Owl Cam (yes things are this bad) I've been spending time on Vimeo. So here... let me share with you!

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Cinco De Mayo Carnival from Andrew Curtis on Vimeo.

Beached from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

Eclectic 3.0: The Roads Less Traveled from Ross Ching on Vimeo.

never fully dressed without a smile.

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:48:00 +0000

I was walking down the High Street the other day and within 20 minutes I had two different people say something to the effect of "cheer up!". This is not the first time this has happened either. I have been asked, in a crowded room with all eyes on me I'd like to add, "are you ok? you look like you're going to cry."

But it always takes me by surprise because I never feel particularly dreary when it's said to me.

I've become really self-conscious of it lately to the point of worry even. It's a vicious circle... I trade looking sad for scowling. fail/fail

So what's the answer? I see people wander through this world with a permanent smile across their face. Looking like pure positivity. Looking like I want to look. Are they faking it? Is it purely genetics?

Tomorrow I'm starting a training program...

Step 1; The Smirk.

what if?

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 20:53:00 +0000

I'm very much a What If? kinda girl.

What if I had gone to a different pub the night I met Carl?

What if I never left California?

What if I never drove this silly little car?

I can tell you the answer to that last one... I would have missed out on meeting some of the most fantastic people I know.

I've known them all for less than two years but when we're all together it just seems effortless... like we've been getting together for years. We have conversations that are so brutally honest that sometimes they take me by surprise. These are the kind of friends that don't judge, they listen, they nod in agreement... or freely disagree, and they encourage google image searches of ugly babies. I really enjoy their company. The simple fact that our paths probably would have never crossed without the Figaro makes their friendship, and their willingness to try and teach me how to play cribbage even more special. They are the ones that share their bag of Percy Pigs, give you a cuddle when you look like you need one, they know when to ask if everything is ok and more importantly they know when to tease you mercilessly for being an American.

So what if I didn't drive this car?

I rather not think about that.

Welcome home.

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 23:22:00 +0000

I'm late in reporting about my Amsterdam trip but since coming back it's been non-stop around here and I'm only just starting to feel caught up.

In short Amsterdam was absolutely amazing and three days was not enough time to see everything I wanted to see. The flight over was cheap and quick and having the train station right below the Schiphol airport is genius. The first thing we did on arriving in Amsterdam was to buy a 3-day tram/train/trolley/bus pass. I can't recommend this enough... the public transport there is clean, efficient, and easy to figure out and while most of the city is accessible on foot many of the museums are a bit further out.

I won't bore you with the details but the architecture is simply breathtaking and good golly those Dutch are an attractive bunch.

the Good;

A visit to the Anne Frank House was very poignant. Rijsttafel at Puri Mas. Coots - or Ping Pop birds as Carl and I called them... they make a fantastic noise and have the freakiest feet ever! The big windows on the houses and the fantastic interiors beg you to be a voyeur... and I LOVE to look in peoples windows.

the OK;

Eden Hotel. Rooms were beautiful, location ideal, service ok, food just about bearable and view... none. The Coffee Shop experience can only be summed up in one word... meh. I ain't a toker. Van Gogh Museum. I am also no art aficionado, I know what I like and even that I can only stand so much of. After about the 20th painting I lost interest and there was at least another 3 floors to explore. le sigh. hours HOURS of my life gone FOREVER!

the Bad;

There has to be something right? While spending an evening walking through the charming red light district, looking in the windows and playing a rousing game of "female or tranny?", I tripped arse over tit as they say. There was an audible gasp from those around us and Carl swears he even heard those ladies behind the glass cry out "Noooo!" It was too late to save myself though. I fell into a Red Light District puddle, the holy trinity of any puddle in any questionable corner of the world, one part dirty water, one part urine, one part vomit sprinkled liberally with cigarette ends. Since my dignity was lying on the Oudezijds Voorburgwal I went ahead and had a good cry right then and there.

If you'd like to see the photos full size click on the mosaic to go to my flickr set. The weather was so grey while we there that all my original photos looked washed out and dreary so I switched to B&W.

This trip was fantastic. I know I said that already but really, more than anything it was such fun to smile, and to laugh, and to see the world outside of the depressing tunnel I had been living in. On the return home, coming through immigration, I slide my US passport across the counter, the agent doesn't bother to ask about the purpose of my visit but instead turns to the page with my visa on it and says...

welcome home.

Amsterdam

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:53:00 +0000

We are anxiously watching the weather since the last two mornings we've woken up to falling snow. We have a flight out to Amsterdam quite early tomorrow morning and If our trip is mucked up in any way I'm going to be one part upset and three parts mad as hell.

Neither one of us has ever been to Amsterdam but the photos always look so amazing, and everyone I talk to that's been says it's wonderful. While I can't afford to splurge while there I am looking forward to just looking. Looking at the buildings, looking at the people, looking in shop windows, looking at life in a different way.

Carl and I call this New Screens. Like when it was 1996 and you were playing Tomb Raider on your Sega Saturn and you unlock a new level... New Screens.

I adore New Screens!

So obviously I want/need this trip.

Amsterdam, I'm on my way... be good to me ok?

*edited to add photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits/331201743/

memories.

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 17:34:00 +0000

We have been clearing the loft for a special project... and it has been a most welcome distraction over the last two days. There's cobwebs, wasp nests, old musty boxes, treasures lost, forgotten and found again.

There seemed to be more un-packed boxes from California than I remember. There were boxes of things that had been neglected, and some things ruined, others preserved just fine... but most importantly every single one of them has made me smile.

In one big bundle of bubble wrap and tape were these three paintings I must have done when I was about 20. I took a still life painting course then and looking at them now I've decided that 1) I will never have a career painting jugs and 2) If I think guitars have three strings I'll probably never have a career as a musician either...

There was a box full of eleventy squillion bottle caps that we saved for a project... and even though we have no idea what to do with them now, we still couldn't bear the thought of getting rid of them so back into the loft they've gone before I could snap a picture.

And there was the most amazing box of all... full of love letters between Carl and I, newspaper clippings, journals, and baby photos, etc. I'll probably share some of it when I finish going through it myself.

And winner of the Best Thing Ever Found in a Loft at my Address;

Some quality vintage porn circa 77/78 shoved under our water tank... and yes that is a copy of Big Girls. hehe. This stuff is amazing!

looking

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:50:00 +0000

Stripped down, no makeup, shiny red nose, dark circles, washed out... but wanting to try out a new photo app for the iphone I absently snap a quick picture.

the eyes. Even I notice the eyes.

This is the look that sums it all up. I look like I could be stood on a train platform waiting for an important arrival... like I'm waiting for hope, like Im waiting for someone - something to find me. And then more importantly realizing that only I can find me.

If I only knew where to start looking.

do I cry? do I scream? do I start over?

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Obviously I haven't been around much. There's one major reason for that... my choice of career over the last year has been the most soul sucking experience of my life.

Many of you know, some of you don't, that I was working in retail management in the high end luxury goods market. You'll notice the was. Why the was? Because last night I was sacked. I'd been broken, worn down, in ill-health, and pushed to the point of relying on pharmaceutical products to keep me asleep at night and cheerful during the day... and after spilling forth a barrage of home truths to my director I'd given up the will to fight any more.

Obviously there's more involved than I'm letting on. Details that would bore even the most die hard human resources enthusiast. But in short I realized about two weeks ago that I hated what my life had turned into since becoming a Store Manager.

For a good chunk of my working life I was a 911 Dispatcher that made life and death decisions in split seconds... where I could have very possibly killed someone due to my actions. That was a fucking cake-walk in comparison.

So where do I go now? Do I take a step back? Do I jump right back in again? Do I go down a different path all together? I hate loose ends and here I am with an armful of them.

All I can say now is at least, for the first time in year, I feel like writing again.

Xx

and thank god that's over...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:56:00 +0000

of course I mean Boxing Day. Don't get me wrong I love LOVE that we stretch the Christmas festivities out just that little bit longer by having Boxing Day... however... I'm in retail management and Boxing Day is fairly equivalent to Black Friday in the US. This year felt like being punished for past indiscretions because we had TWO Boxing Days!!! The 26th fell of course on Saturday... whheeeee! Let's shop!! but because it was on Saturday the people demanded (insert me being over dramatic) were also given Monday the 28th as their Boxing Day public holiday... whheeee! Let's shop!!

I've never seen so many abusive, aggressive, downright horrible people in one location in all my life... The holidays seem to bring out either the best or the worst in man. Customers were arguing with other customers, with staff, with their own family. There was "f'ing an blind'ing" aplenty, abandoned vehicles, queues for food, queues for the till, queues for toilets, queues for queues.

I just laughed to myself writing this because all of the sudden I remembered how awful Thanksgiving an Christmas were when I worked in the 911 call centre back in California... again, stabbings, shootings, domestics, drunkedness. It really is the same everywhere.

What makes this time of the year so horrendous? Family and alcohol :) The magic combo for disaster. Luckily when my family and alcohol combine ... you get this.

Happy Christmas!

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 22:12:00 +0000

A wise man once said to me... "Farmville? Nay. Write your blog inside."

It has been a while hasn't it? So where do you start when you haven't checked in for over four months.

I'll work on that at some point but in the meanwhile I'm too happy basking in the Christmas glow. My house is suitably cheery and the halls (and every conceivable corner) are decked with lights, tinsel, and the intoxicating smell of mulled wine - hate the stuff but omg does it make a home smell like Christmas should. We had our family with us, a few bottles of wine, a lovely lunch with quite possibly the best goose yet and most importantly a feeling that this year was pretty good and that next year could possibly be amazing.

It's also times like this that I miss my family back in America so much. This sadness is only softened by remembering that I got to spend Thanksgiving back in the states with a select few and how wonderful that time was... and Walmart that was pretty amazing too.

Christmas... oh how I love you! I hope you all had a wonderful day with friends, family, joy and the feeling that at least for the day... all was right with the world.

Sarah

weekend correspondence

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 14:49:00 +0000

Dear U2,

Thanks! I continue to be amazed by your longevity as a band and I applaud the way you managed to connect with 88,000 fans at Wembley on Friday night. I've grown up with you guys, becoming a fan with the release of War, attending as many gigs as I could, and all the while thinking you four just keep getting better and better. However; the sound was a bit ropey boys... and dare I say it... the global awareness political soapbox bit is getting tiresome.

forever a fangirl,

Sarah

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Dear Wembley Stadium,

I'd like to take this opportunity to say Wow! The stadium is truly huge and impressive, the queues (even for the loo) were short, and considering the quantity of people packed inside it emptied efficiently and quickly at the end of the show. Unfortunately I have some issues to pick though... Considering how much I paid for the tickets in Block 105, Row 44 I was disappointed to find the view obscured by the overhang of tier above us and we could've done without the 100watt light bulb above our heads that remained on the ENTIRE time... blah blah health & safety nonsense... I needed a sun visor.

GA all the way... next time,

Sarah

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Dear couple next to me during U2 show,

Hi! Remember me? I was the one that was enjoying myself :) Did you have somewhere better to be... because between checking your watch, sitting down and (I swear to god) having a nap it didn't look like you were feeling it. If you were bored you should have been watching the guy in front of you Twitter thru the whole show... his updates were hysterical. To be honest I was glad when you left but did you have to throw your drink over me and my camera while you were trying to get your jacket on? And then step on my feet to get past me?

you're both assholes,

Sarah

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Dear Wembley Stadium Station,

It's not often that I sing the praises of British efficiency but holy shit you're awesome! To have that many people empty out of a stadium that huge and to have a good 70% of them taking the train home is a recipe for chaos. Your signposting was excellent, the queuing system fast and when it was our turn on the platform it was a 4 minute wait for the train. 30 minutes from leaving our concert seats to being sat on the train pulling away from the station. Amazing! Well done you!

next pint's on me,

Sarah

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Dear Carl,

Whatever you decide, about you know what, you know I'll support you 100%. And if you've got any jobs going I'd like to submit my CV.

prospective employee with additional benefits,

Sarah

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Dear Oxford,

You crack me up with your 5pm drunks. I'll make it a point to drop in on you more often.

sober but amused,

Sarah

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Dear Nathan & Kelly,

I'm lucky to know you, and privileged to call you friends. Thanks for suggesting we go out and picking a great cocktail bar and and even better restaurant. Let's definitely do this more often!

a friend for life,

Sarah

ps thanks also for the mini tour of the secret garden of I've forgotten what college.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Dear Kitchen,

I haven't cooked in you for three days how can you be this filthy?! You've had plenty of time to sort yourself out and I'm not impressed with your time management or organisational skills.

doing a job right, doing it herself,

Sarah

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Dear In-laws,

please please please get a puppy!

dogs are for life, not Christmas,

Sarah

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Dear those having dramas,

Please leave me out of it...

ta very much,

Sarah

Saturday Notes

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Totally still on a high from yesterday.
Cat slept around my head again last night.... woke up with cats foot in my ear.
Reading book four of Twilight saga. Still can't stand it.
Carl volunteered to go to IKEA... on a SATURDAY! what?
Still completely enjoying looking back through last weekends photos of my 20th High School reunion that I missed.
I think I might be done with Big Brother. First year ever where genuinely I just don't care.
U2 next Friday :)
Horsemen is an ok film. Dennis Quaid plays an asshole and he looks dirty all the time... but then you could probably say that about most of Dennis' films.
I still have euros in my purse and I keep trying to pay people with them.
damn you Luella Bartley.
I have "dust bunnies" the size of shetland ponies in my dining room.
my hair smells lovely!

Dear Employer,

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:00:00 +0000

Today you received my formal written notification of my intent to resign my position as Store Manager. Since I have worked for you specifically, I have no time to blog anymore. If I don't blog my readers forget about me. If my readers forget about me, they stop leaving me lovely comments. When I don't get that lovely "full inbox" I get unhappy. When I'm unhappy I eat a lot. When I eat a lot I get fat. When I'm fat it affects your company image. When your company's image is affected, trade is also affected. When business is down, you become unhappy. When you're unhappy I assume you will eat a lot, like me. When you eat a lot, I'm afraid you will become fat, like me.

So you see, it's a vicious cycle. I have done this for your own good, because I care for you and the company.

Happy trails,

Sarah

questions... questions...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 12:31:00 +0000

More than two months and nothing posted... um yeah.

A while back I was tagged by the super wonderful Kelly and I figured today would be a good day to answer her challenge.

What is your current obsession?
Attempting to learn French. A recent trip to the Dordogne has left me helplessly smitten with the idea of France… as future holiday destinations, and of pulling up stakes and living there permanently. Sadly Carl doesn’t share my enthusiasm (for learning a new language, not France) and so I’m left wandering around the house, talking to myself, the dog, the cat…

to see a glimpse of what I fell in love with check out my photos here.

What is your weirdest obsession?
Googling people from my past. It’s just my way of checking in on them… not stalking at all thankyouverymuch. Some of them though… OMG!!! Hahaha.

Coffee or tea?
Tea, hot or iced, makes no difference to me. If hot I like it with milk and 1.5 sugars… plain ol’ PG Tips suits me fine. If served iced then I like it with plenty of lemon and just as much sugar!
I don’t mind coffee, and I love the smell of it, but given the option I’ll always choose tea.

What’s for dinner?
I’ll be roasting a chicken using some seasoning rub from Nando’s, making some homemade oven chips and I’ll probably make coleslaw to accompany.

What 5 words best describe you?
Why is she so moody?!

What was the last thing you bought?
A Cath Kidston sun lounger… originally £78 but in sale, and with a £20 voucher towards it, and some extra staff discount I paid £13-something for it! Yippee! Now I just need sun.

What are you listening to right now?
I’ve just discovered Sia. Ok not really discovered… I always liked her work with Zero 7 but only recently realized she had 3 solo albums. Right this moment I’m listening to Butterflies.

What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
I do love ice cream! Particularly fond of the brands Amorino and Mövenpick… I’d go for any flavour except vanilla which I think is the stupidest flavour ever… it’s a waste of a flavour… it’s so vanilla that it’s vanilla!

What do you think of the person(s) who tagged you?
She’s loverly! I wish we lived closer so I could force her and her fantastic husband to hang out with me regularly.

If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
I’d to pop “home” to Lompoc, California and check on my Grandma. I miss her.

What is your favorite colour?
Duck egg blue… so peaceful, and lovely… mmmm.

What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
At the moment it’s my black Laura Ashley dress, in my mind I look polished, chic, and slim when wearing it. In reality everyone around me is probably saying “oh god is she wearing that again!”

What is your dream job?
I would love to be housewife… a bit like Martha Stewart, Nigella Lawson and Lucille Ball in one. I want to tend to my little garden, get an allotment, have time to volunteer, make cakes and have a pinny for every day of the week. Sadly my husband and I have shopping habits that neccesitate a consisitent wage coming in at the end of the month.

What is your worst habit?
Picking my chapped lips. I carry around eleventy squillion lip balms/glosses in my bags, there must be one in every room… but I let my lips get chapped and then I pick at them until they bleed. This drives Carl mental.

What's your party trick?
I must get a party trick… I’ll start doing the research right away! I feel like all these years have been incomplete because I didn’t know I needed one!

Do you admire any one’s style?
Kirstie Allsop. I like her retro yet modern style. I like the pointy shoes and full skirts she wears… and I wish sometimes I had her glossy brunette locks.

Describe your personal style?
ASDA with a smattering of Laura Ashley. Work wear is black trousers or dresses with a cardigan. On days off you can usually find me in jeans and t-shirts… and cardigans.

What are you going to do after this?
I keep thinking about starting to the Couch to 5k program, and today would be the perfect day to start… but I think I’ll need a cup of tea first.

What are your favourite movies?
Ones that are no longer than 100 minutes. I can’t stand long films. I quite liked the “Mexico Trilogy” that Robert Rodriguez did. I also adore Doris Day and could watch her in anything, over and over again.

What is your favorite fruit?
Strawberries

What inspires you?
This is hard. I don’t feel inspired by anything really… or maybe it’s because I feel that I just muddle through these days not really making any headway.

Your favorite book?
This is such a dumb reply but it’s got to be Marley & Me. This the only book that I have ever talked about and made people borrow and read.

Do you collect something?
China. Royal Albert, Old Country Roses. So ridiculously old fashioned and not cool!

What is your favorite smell?
Roses.

What are you most proud of?
I have been in the same relationship since 1991… at 38, and seeing so many other relationships around me crumble I feel pretty damn smug that we’ve managed to hold it together.

How many times do you press the snooze button before you get up?
Never. Most of the time I rise without the alarm. I’m an incredibly light sleeper (hence the nearly permanent dark circles beneath my eyes) and I hate being startled… once that alarm scares me awake there is no recovery and no chance at another 15 winks.

Cats or dogs?
Both! Oh that’s not what you asked. Cats then. I love the way they snuggle, and purr, and you don’t have to walk them, and they are perfectly happy pooping in a box.
But I also love my dog and would miss his company if he were’nt around.

What’s your biggest fashion mistake?
I’d like to think I was just ahead of the times… but yeah I wore some pretty god-awful stuff as a teen. I think the Siouxsie Sioux eye makeup is probably the most lol-worthy.

Complete the following: Love is...
Letting me get my way most of the time!

What's the best life lesson you've learnt?
If you take cocaine, bad things will happen.

If you could be a fly on the wall in any person's living room, who would it be?
Bono. I wonder what his family dynamic is like… and then as a fly I’d like to somehow sneak onto the space shuttle and be like a mini astronaut!

My question: If you had one day in your life to live over, which would you choose and why?
I would not have gone to SLC Utah on that skiing trip if I had known it was my Grandfather’s last days. He as a person probably had the biggest influence on how I was raised and who I am today. It absolutely shattered my world to ring the Sunday evening I returned to California and was told by my sobbing Grandmother that he had died. And I wasn’t there. sniffle

1. respond and rework; answer the questions on your blog, replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention.
2. tag four other people.

I won’t be tagging anyone with this… do it if you want… let me know if you do… that’s good enough for me.

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Wed, 27 May 2009 21:50:00 +0000

I know some of you have seen this... just indulge me.

Witney, Oxfordshire Figaro Meet from Sarah Day on Vimeo.

what I did today...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:53:00 +0000

errands from Sarah Day on Vimeo.

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:23:00 +0000

hello! still alive.... still kicking... but really really tired... need holiday bad.

watch this: Department of Eagles, No One Does It Like You

sproingy

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:17:00 +0000

the sun, when it finally came out today, was warm on my face and even though the wind was bitter I thought "have we turned the corner? Is winter done?" The signs that Spring is upon us are here...

crocus? uhhuh

snowdrops? yep

daffs? coming along quite nicely....

But the most important sign of all...

LAMBS! We Got Lambs People.... LAMBS!!

as Jim Kerr would say... "Alive & Kicking"

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 12:14:00 +0000

life has been amazing lately and really I do have so much to say... but to say not enough brain capacity at the end of the day to pound out an entry would only be the tip of the iceberg.

work? wow! I have never expected the changes and conversations and opportunities. And I'll leave it at that.

U2's new album.... genius. Some of the tracks make me weep they are just that good.

Family? yep. Haven't heard from my granny in weeks though... I'll assume til I know different she's merrily sailing the seas around Australia & NZ.

Car? still looking rough! Don't marry a mechanic, your vehicle will always be the last on the priority list. Next Figaro meet at the end of the month in Brighton... do you know I haven't actually really been to the English seaside since I moved here? lol! so much for living on an island :D

I have an amazing holiday booked to France that I'll tell you all about soon... and I'm still trying to make California in Aug work.

And I just had to share this, though I'm probably late to the party on this one.... but it is so amazingly beautiful, enjoy.

just a quickie...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 13:52:00 +0000

since when did the Academy Awards turn into "The Oscars"?

because I never have enough on my plate...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 21:32:00 +0000

once upon a time I thought... "ooh Id like to start another blog and have it all cottage, garden, cooking, crafting, shopping, etc!"

and then I came to my senses and realised there would be nothing left here.

This blog is so far removed from what it use to be but then so am I. I don't have much to say on emigration, pets scheme, visa requirements, international shipping... there's very little of "an American in the UK" feel to what I write these days. I know the content has changed from where I started in 2004 but then so have I, and isn't that what it's all about?

About a million years ago (I'm probably exaggerating) when Live Journal first launched I had an account there under the name "soz" and wrote about everything... the good, the bad, the totally ugly. I eventually rolled that account over to "soupsake" on LJ. At some point I must have had waves of nausea looking over old entries and deleted en masse D: I really regret not just making all those posts private but what can you do. I wish I could look back and read what I was thinking back then... this is the downfall when you stop writing down your life on paper. Delete is too easy... whole sections of your life, memories, and in my case photos... erased. oh well. no need to dwell on that I'm getting away from the point I was trying to make.

I decided that I didn't want to start another blog, I wanted this one to reflect who I was in 2004 right up to here and now. And I realised that I was really just looking forward to creating a new blog header, layout and background. So instead I pimped my blog a bit... have a peek if you only ever read through a "reader"... and I'll be discussing "readers" and specifically my lover "Google Reader" in the near future.

And because I never have enough on my plate... and I'm still itching to create I'm offering my services to at least one person. You give me your ideas, a theme perhaps, whatever and I will use Photoshop to whip you up something using your photos, my clipart, and good old Google Image search.

god I'll be gutted if no one takes me up on this. I promise not to cry if you don't like my end product and refuse to use it! honest.

ok I might pout.

but I'll get over it.

EDIT: Thanks for the response both here and via email... I'd be willing to do a tutorial but I think there's a few out there already that are written much clearer than I could ever hope! I can supply the graphics and some of my favourite links for layout code, with a minimal amount of html cutting and pasting you should be able to get a fully custom look. I'll put together another post in the near future with some links.

Happy Valentines

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 09:52:00 +0000

I know it's a commercialized mess... and I know it's not "done" in this country... But gosh I loved being in Elementary School and getting oodles and armfuls of valentines from friends. I've been "collecting" images of vintage valentine cards lately and some of the ones from the 70's have me in hysterics... because I remember them!

and it comes again...

soupsake@gmail.com (Sarah D) — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 18:58:00 +0000

In preparation for driving to work in the morning I spent time this afternoon digging my car out of the snow bank. I knew that if it froze tonight there would be no chance of getting free from the ice in the morning. So I got the shovel out and cleared every speck of snow and ice away from my car :)

I just popped outside and was met with this;

lol! I give up.

in other news... I made a cake.

and in other other news... Costco has the best customer service I've ever experienced next to USAA.