My 2018 Resolutions

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a lovely evening celebrating Hogmanay, whether it was a giant party, out and about, an early night, or like me with snacks, bubbles, cats and happiness. It's 2018, you guys!

I quite like setting up a few resolutions, and these are the ones I'm hoping to achieve this year.

1. Phase out our use of plastic water bottles

They are so bad for the environment, but I buy and use them far too much. This year I'm determined to use metal water bottles for out-and-about, and have bought some pretty glasses for our nighttime glasses of water - I'm hoping my having specific glasses we'll bring them up/downstairs each day rather than creating a glasses graveyard by the bed!

2. I would like to get better at phone calls

I love catching up with people but the London whirl can get in the way, and before I know it months have passed! I'm going to carve out an evening/afternoon every fortnight and make some phone calls/Skype people. You have been warned, loved ones.

3. I want to get back into my blogging and writing

I love this little space and it's truly part of me (after a dozen years, it should be, right?). I want to focus more on writing, on sharing, on enjoying my blog and on being part of the blogging community. I want to find a post pattern that means I can share and stay on top of things, but not overstretch. Watch this space.

4. I'm going to give up social media for Lent

A funny thing to type after point three, you might think, but bear with me.

I love social media, but it's SUCH a timesuck. And every year around this time I start thinking of what to give up for Lent, and the minute social media popped into my head I knew it was the one. Why? Because I got a vague twinge in my belly. I felt a little worried. And that concern, that pause, is what tells me it's exactly what I should give up!

So during Lent, Mo-Sa, no facebook, instagram, or twitter. Blogging still v much on, and whatsapp, email, youtube etc totally in play. Social, however, will only be allowed on the Sundays of Lent (which don't count towards the 40 days). I won't lie, it'll be a challenge!

5. I would like to do some more London things

I love this city and have lived here for nearly nine years, but there are still so many places I've yet to go and explore. This year feels like a good year to change that!

6. I would like to write up the many, many travel posts I have pictures for, just waiting to share

I've been so lucky to do so much travel in the past few years. And now I'd like to focus a little and write about it more!

7. I'd like to get back into saving a little 

For house things. For travel. For rainy days.

Alongside these seven I'm also doing Dry January (Matthew is, so I'm joining in solidarity!) and will be hoping to build on the healthy habits I started cultivating last year. I lost 25 pounds in 2017, and would love to do the same again this year.

What do you have planned for 2018?

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23 Things I Would Like to Do This Autumn

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness...as soon as the calendar moves over to September I'm ready for all things autumn. One thing I like to do in each season is make a list of things I'll try to do - soem are basics for that season, others are personal favourites for this time of year, and still more are new things I fancied adding to proceedings. I'll keep you posted on progress as we move through the season!

1. Make flapjacks

2. Go for an autumn walk in each of my favourite London parks (Hampstead Heath, Regents Park/Primrose Hill, Hyde Park, Green Park, St James' Park, Victoria Park, and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park)

3. Unpack warm clothes

4. Buy a new bubble bath

5. Stock up on goodies at a farmer's market

6. Read Pride & Prejudice

7. Make some mulled cider

8. Bake a pie

9. Have corn on the cob with lashings of butter

10. Watch When Harry Met Sally

11. Write letters

12. Get up early for a walk and catch an autumn sunrise

13. Plan and serve an Oktoberfest inspired meal of beer and brats

14. Make granola

15. Celebrate Halloween (and actually dress up!)

16. Cook using apples & pumpkins & squash while they are in season

17. Watch Hocus Pocus

18. Decorate a pumpkin

19. Make veggie soup

20. Buy some candles with autumnal scents

21. Make chilli

22. Get out of London for a walk in the woods

23. Donate items to a Harvest festival

What things have you feeling super autumnal? Do you have any yearly traditions? Do you make a list of your own?

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Happy Monday #19

It's Monday, it's the start of the week, which means it's time for a lovely, positive start to the week. Katy and Jasmin inspired me with their cheery posts each week, and now, when schedule allows, I join in with a happy Monday of my own. Let's go!

1. New blogging projects

I've been thinking for ages that I'd like to set up some spinoff blogs from this main one. My blog is a lifestyle one, and while I adore the breadth this affords me, I've been thinking for a while that certain elements that I write about are more niche, and I've been toying with the idea of setting up separate domains for them. So this past week I set up CMClaire Cooks, CMClaire Reads, and CMClaire Travels. I have no idea how this experiment will play out...but I'm excited to have a play! I've been writing here for almost eleven years now (good heavens!), and it felt like time to try something new. Worst case scenario, I'll fold 'em back in here!

2. Catching up with friends

It's been a fairly social week, and I've had lots of time with some of my favourite people. Always a tonic!

3. Lumos at the House of Lords

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Home etc: Sitting Room Plans

It's been a while since I've linked up with Home Etc, which is a shame because I always enjoy writing about our home. Right now it's a swirl of chaos as we get ready for Christmas visits, are putting up trees and wrapping dozens of gifts for friends and family, as well as trying to get everything spick and span and organised before I return to full-time work in the New Year! In between packing and sorting and wrapping, however, I'm having a very jolly time planning for how we are going to rearrange our sitting room in the early part of next year.

Our sitting room is currently made up of two parts - a front section with sofas, shelves, TV and a back section with a 'home gym' we rather optimistically installed when we first moved in. Four years on and the use it gets is so minimal we've decided to donate or sell the equipment in order to make one big sitting room with space for TV watching, book reading, and light work.

Matthew and I both have our own offices/studies too (both our careers require a healthy amount of take-home work, and it's lovely to have space to do this without impacting the others space) but I'm looking forward to having a little space in the sitting room where we can work alongside each other too. When I first moved down to London we both shared the cutest little study (it was less than 6 foot by 7 foot), and while we had to take turns moving our chairs out (we sat back to back, meaning negotiations if you wanted to stand up and get to the door), I loved have a little hub together. Having workspace downstairs also means that if we decide we'd like to repurpose a study at any point as a spare room / nursery / extra bathroom, we'd have that option. I'm also super excited to have more space for books!

We'll be planning in depth over the Christmas break (yep, this is our idea of fun - a notebook and a tape measure!), then saving up towards the project in the first few months of 2017, but in the meantime I'm enjoying browsing online and thinking up ideas. Now we've lived here four and a half years we know the house, we know what gets cluttered (him: shoes left in the middle of floors. Me: magazines and catalogues) and I'm having great fun thinking up methods for storing things and making it a space we can enjoy!

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #8

Joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week, albeit a little later than usual! Here are my ten happy things from the last week and the present time :) 

1. Books, books, books

Come on autumn, I want to get cosy...

Always. Whether it's a great proof from a publisher (thanks, guys), or a new biography I just treated myself to, there's always time for books!

2. Discovering Kikki K

Yeah, I bought colour in postcards. They look so fun!

I can't believe it took me so long!

3. Trying. Failing. Learning

I've tried out for a few things in the last few weeks...and been unsuccessful. Not proper face-plant, wow-you're-rubbish unsuccessful, more you-are-okay-good-maybe-even-great, but not good enough. As someone who spent a lot of my teens and twenties feeling perpetually not enough and/or too much, I've been quite pleased with how I've handled the disappointments, in a reflecyive, mature and proactive way - even if a good one-tenth of me wanted to collapse on a sofa with some ice cream! Hence, happy.

4. Manchester

There may have been afternoon naps on the schedule. There was also an amazing deep bath with bubble jets - I went to Lush to buy a bath bomb to celebrate the latter fact!

Up high!

How beautiful are these Hawksmoor menus? Divine.

Love the bar at Cloud 23...and the drinks they serve, too.

Matthew and I took a lovely trip up north for our anniversary last week and it was great to have some time together to relax and spend a little time together, with good food, culture and cocktails aplenty. We stayed in a lovely room at the Hilton, with great views over the city and the comfiest bed. It was also handy to be in the same building as the brilliant Cloud 23, where we enjoyed many a cocktail. We had lunch on our actual anniversary at Hawksmoor, which was a triumph, as you'd expect!

5. Exploring Chinese food with Charlie

I believe Dancing With Pandas was the sequel to Dancing With Wolves...

Totes mature

So. Much. Great. Food.

Yeah, we went there.

On Saturday the lovely Charlie was invited along to the London Chinese Food Festival, and she very kindly invited me along as her plus-one. It was great fun to catch up, take selfies with people dressed as pandas, and eat some cracking food.

6. Thinking about teaching

I've mentioned here before that while I'm enjoying this season of career meandering, I am missing teaching too. Especially right now, when I'd usually be setting up my new classroom, labelling books, working on curriculum and getting ready for the new intake. As much as I'm loving trying other things, I can feel my vocation calling. One thing is helping a lot though when it comes to distracting me...

7. Holiday excitement!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! So ready for a nice long holiday and some adventures! I've been doing lots of research on the hotels we've chosen (the Library Hotel, the Boxer, the InterContinental and the Aria) in the four cities we are visiting and I'm just getting more excited by the moment!

8. Cocktails with gorgeous bloggers....

So good catching up with these lovelies!

Perfect cocktails and bubbles

On Thursday I met the lovely Emma and Angie at Forest on the Roof atop Selfridges and loved catching up with them both over cocktails and skinny champagne. Love a good catch up!

9. ....and brunch with other gorgeous bloggers!

Yesterday I got to have brunch/lunch with several of my Bangarang cuties, and also got to visit Dishoom for the first time too (I drank oh-so-much chai). Katy, Charlie, Erica, Jasmin, AJ and Charley, I adored seeing you all!

10. Fry-cat

Even when I'm feeling a little blue, a good snuggly cuddle with my purrful little black cat never fails to lift the spirits! Fry may not be able to miaow particularly well, but man he can purr like a pro!

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Happy Monday/Ten Happy Things #6

Joining up as ever with Katy and Jasmin for a lovely, positive start to the week! Here are my ten happy things from the last week and the present time :)

1. Planning ahead.

When you're a planner fiend like me (am loving the combo of my Erin Condren* as a control station on my desk plus a chic Moleskine for in my handbag!), the chance to get organised and sorted for the time ahead is a true pleasure! With lots of travel ahead (Newcastle, New York, Boston, Toronto, Las Vegas, Amsterdam, Inverness...) plus writing work, catch up with friends and loads of plans for the blog and other online adventures, I'm loving getting organised for a busy season! 

2. Cooking.

Now the temperature has dropped a little I'm loving being able to use the kitchen a little more - when the temperature is over thirty degrees we don't turn our oven on!

3. Writing.

By posting here a little less often (3-5 times a week), I'm carving out more and more time for other writing. This makes me really happy! It's so great to have time for both blogging and other writing in this season.

4. Fun co-working dates and lovely lunch dates.

Whether it's a lovely lunch with Charlie at The Life Goddess, or co-working with Jaye and Ghenet at Heal's and Dillons (pints of tea you guys. Oh my gosh), I love the mix of days when I'm all work all the time at home, and when I manage to get out and about a little.

Seriously. How delicious does this look?

Such fun to work in such a bright, light space at Heal's.

5. Exploring new parts of London.

The back roads around UCL. Wandering aroung Spitalfields on my way back from the farm. Researching routes for an upcoming day out with Hannah (we are going on a mission - stay tuned!). The city never fails to surprise with its many new places and things to enjoy.

6. Wedding invitations and anniversary plans.

In every year we've been together, Matthew and I have attended at least one wedding, often several. This year, however, we've had none. On the one hand this has been fabulous, with a little more money and time for other projects and travels, but on the other hand I've missed the wedding circuit - love the whole thing, me, from the dresses to the confetti to the music! So it was lovely to get not one but two save the dates for weddings next year in the mail this week. Bring on 2017!

Speaking of all things nuptial, next week will be out 2nd wedding anniversary (and the eighth anniversary of us meeting, too!), so it's been great fun to plan for some Manchester based adventures, whether it's a stay in a lovely hotel, a great meal on the day itself, or catching up with some dear friends while we're up north.

7. Happy mail and fun gifts.

I've been very lucky on the blogger gift front this week. From proofs from Penguin and Little Brown and clothes from George, the postman has been my bestie this week. I also picked up my goody bag from the Thirty-Plus Awards from Erica (I'd been silly and left it behind in the restaurant after the shindig - thank you for scooping it up for me, Erica!) and was delighted to find it full to the brim with The Body Shop goodies - I'm having a whale of a time trying them all out. Love good beauty products.

I also received a fab carafe from Brita this week. As chlorine is (one of) my asthmatic triggers, we've had to filter our water forever. We have the jug filter and it's a godsend - so lovely to be able to hydrate and not get wheezy. This week Brita very kindly sent me one of their 'fill and serve' carafes, which is super pretty, and smart enough to have on the dinner table or a desk. We are so enjoying using it at mealtimes.

A carafe so chic, even Fry wants to crash the picture!

8. Healthy, noisy cats.

On Saturday we had to take the gang for their boosters at the vets and their annual check ups. They do not like going to the vets, but it's so important to make sure they are healthy and covered for any nasties. Our vets are super (shout out to Midland Veterinary Surgery - if you need a great vet in East London we'd highly recommend) and the appointment was mercifully swift, but it was great to hear they are all healthy and thriving. In between all the miaows and yowls of disapproval from the trio!

Fry was soon back on chilled and happy form at home. 

Leela spent the afternoon sleeping off the exertion, 

And Poppet definitely had her eye on me for the rest of the day! 

9. Lazy Saturdays with Matthew.

After the drama that is getting three cats to and from the vets, Matthew and I decided to have a lazy afternoon together. We wandered over to Leyton Food Market, had a drink in the Leyton Technical, and pootled along to visit the new pub on the block, The Leyton Star.It was such a nice way to while away an afternoon together.

Such a pretty fountain in Coronation Gardens - lovely for the local pigeons and sparrows to have a little wash in from time to time! 

Blue skies and cool beers? Yes please! 

10. New books.

My Sister's Bones. Hygge. The House In Quill Court. Swing Time.

Very, very excited to dive in, and loving the hot off the press tote bag too! 

I will never tire of new additions to the TBR pile!

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday and a cracking week ahead!

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Planner Love: My Erin Condren Life Planner :)

You may recall that last month I wrote about how much I adored my Erin Condren planner (please note, referral link used - it's not an affiliate link as such but I always like to flag up anything different :) If you make a purchase using this link, you should receive a $10 discount, and I'll receive money off my next purchase too. I'm all about saving that money!), and how excited I was to be ordering a new one after trying out different planners in the first half of the year. Well, now it has arrived and I am loving it! I opted for a pale blue-green cover with an inspiring quote on it - in this current season of my life it's nice to see something inspiring at the start of every day!

As well as the planner I also opted for a bundle of extras and I'm excited to see how they work out. Already I'm learning that some of them are perfect, and others are less my speed! I adore the elastic bands for keeping everything neat and pretty, and the stickers are such fun for making planning each week happy.

Stationery makes me so happy, for serious. I'm also loving using my trusty Pilot Frixion (affiliate link) pens in my planner to keep everything bright and busy. I love that I can erase them, it makes the planning process a lot easier and allows for the flexibility we all need!

How cute are these little extras? The meal planner bookmark is a godsend - I love that it's right there and so easy to see what we're eating. As I check my planner often, it means I'm always aware if I need to pick up ingredients or beverages when on my travels.

And this is how I'm planning week on week. I think the coloumn on the left will be great for noting longer-term projects such as chapters, freelance pieces and the like. The area below I'm using to track stats - really handy.

So all in all, I am adoring being back on the Erin Condren team. Settling down on a Sunday evening with my planner and lists is a real treat and definitely helps me to feel I have a handle on all the things I need to do. I use a google calendar too, but writing it all down makes me feel much more on top of things - how about you? Which planner do you use?

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Christmas Preparations: My 8 Weeks of Fun, Planning, and Getting It Done!

Those of you who've spent more than a few moments chatting to me, or reading here, will likely know that I am a liiiiiitle bit obsessed with Christmas and all things Christmassy.  My family joke that I am part elf - nothing makes me happier than singing carols, trimming trees, buying presents and spending time with loved ones!

Cosy cosy Christmas sofa - bring on the Christmas moviefests!

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