Category: Uncategorized

s o l o

On By lex270In Parenthood, Surfing, Travel, Uncategorized2 Comments

For my birthday this year, I asked for a weekend with no kids.  Yes of course I love them so much it hurts, but theres not much time to be a couple with a family of four.  I wanted the gift of time.  I wanted to be able to hold hands and hang out together and be the people we used to be pre kids.

Well, that hasn’t happened, yet.  But I got a call from Nalu Beads and they wanted to set up a shoot down at the coast.  I could have turned it into a family trip with a bit of work however it didn’t really work out with the husbands job. I half jokingly suggested that I could go on my own for three days, which would be enough time to get the shoot done.  And he say YES!!  I was stunned, three days away, on my own?  This was serious business as I don’t get much alone time these days, and as much as I love being around people but I also very much like being on my own.

So the week came and of course, my youngest decides to be a bit under the weather. I stayed at home for two days straight with the kids to rest them up so they could attend nursery so that my husband wouldn’t need to be off work, or worse… I couldn’t go on my trip.  Kids know, they just know when you need them to be well.  Crafty buggers.

I packed my car up with my hiking gear, surf gear, wake gear, travel gear and a skate board, just because.  In preparation for my trip I had already cleaned my car inside and out, I even cleaned the inside of the windows.  I had no child seats in my car and no blanket on my backseat to prevent child grime.  Off I went.

I arrived at the most beautiful cottage (I’ll blog about that separately), where there was a wood burner fired up ready for my arrival, to make it all warm and cozy. The fridge was stocked and there was wine on the side along with snacks and yummy Devon fudge.  I was in heaven.  Until I went to bed, and then I was even more in heaven surrounded with gorgeous bedding (and the thought of knowing I wasn’t going to be woken up at 6:30am with “muuuuuum, can you wipe my buuuuum?”).

The following morning, after a glorious sleep-in, I enjoyed my cereal in peace while watching netflix (I don’t have netflix at home – will reconsider immediately). We were shooting with photographer Gareth Williams until around 3pm and then I was free to do as I pleased.  Seriously?  No plan or agenda.. what the hell was I going to do with myself?

Well I went to check the waves of course.  There were waves, decent size, but no one was out.  I watched and waited.  One person went out and another one suited up. I didn’t need to think twice, well I kinda did because I didn’t know how cold it was going to be, but I quickly changed, put the fins in my board, faffed with the key pod (we don’t use this any more as one of us is always on the beach with the kids – and if you don’t know what a key pod is, its basically a giant padlock that you store your car key in and lock it to the car somehow), and off I went!

I was in the ocean!!  Life was good.  I can’t say I had a good surf; but I definitely had a fun surf.  I was in my Mystic Diva 5.3.mm (neck entry – I’ve never surfed in a neck entry suit before… turns out, its pretty damn great! Should have done it sooner).  I was also in 7mm booties, 5mm gloves and a bloody surf hood that had a little peak on it which I forgot about but it was very handy when duck diving to keep the water out my eyes.  Now, props to those wintery surfers that can crush it with all the gear on, but I most certainly did not.  I hadn’t surfed in the UK in the winter since 2010/2011, thats a lot of years out of practice.

Surf done and kit packed away, I headed to the local watering hole to grab myself a shandy (I know but I was driving) and a bag of dry roasted peanuts.  I sat outside in the late afternoon sun and watched the waves rolling in with salty dreads in my hair left over from my surf hood (surf hoods are a girls worst nightmare, even with braids).  Complete and utter heaven. Following this slice of heaven was another slice of heaven brought to me in the form of cocktails and a yummy dinner with the great company of a local friend of mine who is also the owner of NB.

Netflix and chill.  Shower.  Bed.

After another uninterrupted nights sleep and a completely quiet and blissful breakfast, I was ready for another day of shooting.  We ventured off the beaten track to find a secluded cove, and once we were finished up there, we chowed down on some locally made slices of peanut butter and chocolate goodness – they were ridiculous!  Fuelled up and ready to go we hiked up into the forest for the next part of the shoot.

Again we rounded up around 3ish so there was time for a surf.  We bundled into the Gareth’s van and off we went in search for waves.  Rae (from NB) and I surfed together back in 2011, so it had been a while, but I’m so stoked we got to finally surf together again on this trip! (She’s a pro, trust me).  Unlike the day before, the swell had died down and cleaned up a bit, 2-3ft offshore, it was perfect!  I followed Rae around like a white on rice – because she’s local and knows her shit.  Needless to say I had my best ever hooded winter surf, and possibly one of my best surfs in the UK because there was no one out, we just kept getting waves!  After that we all headed to the local for a well earned pint..

That evening I headed back to the cottage where I stuffed my face with local fish and chips while enjoying some wine and you guessed it, Netflix.  Seriously, I know I said I was in heaven previously, but I really was in heaven.

After another lovely lay-in and child free breakie, I met the guys at the NB HQ to check out the shots from the previous two days shooting.  The shots are amazing and I can’t wait to see the finished product!

After some shop talk I left to go check the waves to see if I could get another surf before I made the trip home.  The swell had completely died off so I grabbed a sarnie from a local deli, grabbed an ocean side pew and enjoyed my lunch watching the ankle nippers rolling in.

I got home just in time to see my babies before they went to slumberland.  It was worth leaving a bit early just to see their little faces when I walked through the door, they were so cute.  I wouldn’t change being a parent for anything, but my god it was great to get away for just a few days for a bit of down time.

Silverstone

On By lex270In UncategorizedLeave a comment

Just over a week ago I spent the day at Silverstone racecourse.  I got to drive a Ferrari on the southern part of the main course!  One of the best days ever!!

I woke up that morning and I got nerves immediately; I do this, if I have something big planned I usually wake up and freak out not wanting to do it, but once I actually start doing it, I’m fine.

Once I got to the course, I signed in and waited to be called up for the briefing. Our time was called and so we filed into the classroom – I wanted to snap a pic because out of twenty people, I was the only female, and the youngest by about a decade.  Too funny.

After being talked through the turns, how to take them and how not to die, it was down to the pits for some helmet fitting.

I got shown to ‘my’ Ferrari, I don’t know what it was… but it was a shiny and blue and beautiful. I know, such a girl.  The first lap I was in the passenger seat while the instructor drove me round the course.  He went fast!  I had the biggest grin on my face the whole time.  Then it was my turn.  In my first stint, I had four laps to burn some rubber and get to grip with the corners and the gear paddles.  I was definitely a tad messy as obviously its completely different to how I drive on the road (as I always have two small children in my car and I drive super responsibly, of course).

I came in and after I pestered the main instructor for more information on how to get a better performance, I was up for my second outing.

This time was way better.  I was going into the turns later, coming out of the corners faster, accelerating more on the straight, (yeah I crushed the Hammer Straight), and generally having a smoother ride while the instructor was giving me commands such as: up a gear, foot to the floor (yes thats a term), break, break hard, down a gear, turn etc.  I was gutted when I was over.

The most annoying thing is that I have absolutely no idea how fast I was going. No fucking idea.  All I know is that I was going way too fast to even think about flicking my eyes down to the speedometer.  I would have crashed.  It was fast though because when the instructor was telling me to “Break hard” before a corner after one of the straights, I could feel him using the dual break pedal.

Happy days though, I got 89% in my assessment which might be the highest mark I’ve ever achieved (no, seriously), along with the comment “Give up the day job!” next to it – I had to pay the instructor for that one.  I loved every minute and can’t wait to do it again!  Anyone got a spare Ferrari?

diet: eating for life

On By lex270In UncategorizedLeave a comment

I frequently get asked what I eat.  So I thought I’d address this in a blog so its out there should you be interested!

Growing up I was always active and never cared about what I ate because I was always burning off the energy.  Needless to say, I ate a lot of junk, fast foods at school lunch times, chocolate bars, fizzy drinks etc.  I don’t need to tell you that with a diet like that (and being a teenager), I suffered from terrible acne.  It was horrible, I didn’t want to go to school and I tried countless products and prescribed medications.

I then read an article in, wait for it… Just Seventeen – remember that one?  It was about a girl who had terrible skin and started to eat cleanly (even though that wasn’t really in fashion back then).  So I took it on board, I must have read that article about 50 times, seriously.

I cut out the burgers, pizzas, chocolate, muffins, fizzy drinks and changed it up for healthier options, the main change being water.  Over a few weeks, my skin changed, I could finally wear halter or vest tops because I didn’t need to cover up my back and arms!!  My skin was less oily and my acne massively subsided.  So this has stuck with me since then, as even to this day, if I don’t get enough sleep or eat too much junk food, I can see it on my face over the following days.  And I feel sluggish too which I’m not keen on.

Like anyone, my diet goes up and down depending on whats going on in my life, but at the moment I feel like I’m eating well, and feeling great!

SO, what do I actually eat?

Breakfast: Cereal. This changes because I get bored but its usually some form of granola or muesli which I add nuts and fruit to and I have either full fat cows milk or soya milk. Or porridge with cinnamon and honey.  I have a cup of blended tea (70% green tea and 30% black tea), with full fat cows milk and two sugars, (I know, I know I should just cut them out but I only have the one cup of tea a day and I love it.)

Mid-morning snack: A handful of nuts or a Naked cereal bar and a coconut water.  If I’m at home and been up since the crack of dawn, I’ll have eggs Benedict, two eggs, one slice of seeded wholemeal buttered toast, a whole pack of asparagus, shop bought hollandaise sauce and salt & pepper.  Or two eggs scrambled with cantaloupe melon, strawberries and a croissant.

Lunch: At the moment I’m big into quiche and salad, and a bowl of homemade parsnip soup to start with.  Other staples are a tricolore salad, tuna mayo on seeded wholemeal toast, toasted cheese sandwich, and caesar salad – which I make so big I eat out of a mixing bowl.  I’ll always have a pint of water, and maybe some dark chocolate afterwards.

Afternoon snack: Smoothie time!  I am addicted to 1/4 of a honeydew melon, one banana, soya milk, honey, cinnamon, chia seeds and cacao powder smoothies (makes about a pint of smoothie).  The kids love them now so I always have to double up on the ingredients as they easily demolish a pint between them.  I make other smoothies variations but this one is easily my favourite.

Pre dinner: I feed the kids around 5pm but I don’t eat dinner myself until around 7:30pm.  I crack on with some Roquefort cheese, I eat about a fifth of the block? Literally, on its own, or possibly with a small glass of wine.  I might munch on some tortilla chips and dip if I have some.  Also more water.

Dinner: Roast, chilli, lasagna, salmon with veg, maple syrup & mustard chicken with sweet potato roasties and veg, cod with homemade chips and veg, steak with dauphinoise potatoes and veg, pulled chicken fajitas, prawns with couscous and veg.  I’m big on broccoli, I go through two of them a week.  Yes I do buy the occasional ready meals but 95% of the time, dinner is made from scratch because its cheaper, its healthier and you get a bigger meal.  And if we fancy a take-away meal, I’ll make it at home so we know whats in it and also saves on the dollar.  Drink wise, you guessed it, another pint of water!  And maybe another glass of wine or beer depending on how the kids have performed that day.

After dinner: I always have some dark chocolate with a pint of water.

So there you have it, my daily food breakdown.  I would love to hear what you guys eat as I’m always in need of new ideas!