fashion - AnnaTheApple

October 19, 2015

Happy things…when I’m still waiting

I still haven’t moved. I wouldn’t mind but it’s hard to really plan ahead for weekends if I don’t know when I’m going to be moving… meaning I’m kind of in limbo. I know a lot of people have been in this situation so I’ll stop moaning. It’s just the negatives of moving house!

This weekend started really well with a Friday night movie and take-away evening with my friend Louise and her husband, Tom. They have a small person called Jacob and I got to witness the whole ‘evening routine’ with him which was quite enlightening. He’s around 17 months (I think??) old so is walking and babbling, very sweet.

The movie of choice for the evening (after Jake was safely in bed) was Silence of the Lambs. It came up in conversation a week ago that I’d never seen it so we arranged the movie evening. It’s an iconic must-see movie so I knew I needed to watch it, I’d just had a mental block on it as when I was little my parent’s had a VHS copy of it and the cover alone used to give me nightmares (I was a sensitive child…).

It actually wasn’t that scary or gory at all (the fact that it had a very 80-90s feel helped). I felt like I needed to watch it as I’m still so obsessed with the Hannible series and the film comes after the series in the time-frames. Anthony Hopkins does Hannible really well but I still prefer Mads Mikkelsen.

Lou is an amazing baker and she’d made a carrot and walnut cake for the evening as well. Look at that beast!

Despite eating an Indian take-away I still had room for a slice (*cough* or two) of the cake. Superb!! She even cut me a huge chunk off to take home with me.

The next day I went to parkrun to volunteer again. My leg still isn’t better… a post for another time. I took Alfie again and headed down to set-up. Alfie absolute loves it as he races around off his lead while we set up. It’ll be a bit of a shame not being able to bring him when I do get back to running. I can’t run with him as he hasn’t run that far before and, no offence Alfie, but I’m not keen to go on one mile runs to build up his mileage. I’m not sure he’s suited to running anyway – he stops and sniffs far too often. I can’t leave him tied to a bench while I run either as he’ll get anxious and probably start barking. It’s not very fair.

It was my friend Mike’s 50th parkrun and he made chocolate tray-bake biscuit things (one Toberlone-style and one Malteser-style). I enjoyed a Malteser one while having a hot drink sat outside the cafe afterwards with a few of the running club guys (another pitfall of having Alfie with me means we need to sit outside).

So tasty! I even got to take a few home with me! People just love to give me cake it seems hehe 😉

Then I headed to go shopping with my parents to pick up my new phone (iPhone 6s). I needed moral support as (and this is embarrassing to admit) but I haven’t really dealt with getting a new phone on my own in quite a few years. Ben had always dealt with the phone side of things. I pride myself on being an independent woman… but seems I need to get myself sorted in certain areas!!

And while passing through John Lewis I couldn’t help but look at the beautiful bags, in particular the Michael Kors ones. I am very much a saver. I rarely make large purchases (apart from holidays) unless they’re absolutely essential. Yes I have a weakness for workout clothes and good food but other than that I’d rather put money into savings, just in case.

That said, I saw a gorgeous handbag that just seemed to call to me. I was feeling down about not being able to run and not having moved yet and just thought “sod it, I’m going to treat myself”.

I have zero regrets. It’s beautiful and I love it. I do have a weakness for handbags but I’m very lucky that my mum does too. She often gives me her ‘off castes’ and I’ve been lucky to have some very nice second-hand handbags from her. But to buy my own and for it to be brand new… well it was just exactly what I needed to make me feel happier. Yes material things are a shallow way to gain happiness, but I can be sad now with a pretty handbag 😉

I’d love to say I had a jam-packed Sunday but the reality is… I didn’t. I packed, I cleaned, I walked Alfie and I rested my leg while watching TV. It was a lazy and dull Sunday, but I felt the better for it.

And my little niece, Ellie, got a Junior parkrun PB!

Look at that running form – what a pro!

Her mum (my sister) and dad are split up so she did the Junior parkrun nearest to her dad which is some distance away annoyingly. I hope at some point I can take her to my local Junior parkrun. I saw my sister on the Saturday and Ellie was telling me all about how she wants to be just like me and do lots of running. I have never felt so proud! I won’t lie, I do struggle with young children and knowing what to say or do but it’s lovely to have something in common and something I can hopefully help her with. I feel useful!

How do you make yourself happy?

Have you ever been to Junior parkrun?

What iconic movies do you love and recommend?

August 12, 2015

Rants and Raves #17

I do enjoy writing my Rants and Raves post because I often have a collection of little thoughts or events that occur during the week that I want to share but don’t always cohesively fit into a good narrative. If you’re bore of the Rants and Raves though, please let me know!

Rant: I work in an office and it drives me mad when people come in ill. I’m not a particularly tolerant person it must be said – I don’t have a lot of patience and I know I need to work on it but this is surely not an unfair complaint. When people come in and spend the entire day coughing up their lungs (not just a little cough, a real lung-blasting one) within a rather enclosed space, well it takes a lot of mental willpower to not yell “GO HOME”. Work is not that important that you need to come when you’re really not well. It’s not good for them and it’s not great for us either!

Rave: Food parcels from the parents. It’s like being 18 again and my parents are sending me back on the train to Cardiff University with a bundle of food.

Ahh university. Those were the days that I was too cheap to buy magazines, chewing gum and quilted loo roll. Small luxuries I still cherish to this day. But back to the food. This time it was more that they were going to throw away this food if I didn’t take it because it would go off.

My parents, I’m sure they don’t mind me saying, are notorious for wasting food. They both have dinners at different times in the week because of when they finish work so what usually happens is my mum randomly buys a load of food from M&S despite my dad buying a load of food from the supermarket. Not all of it will get eaten. This is a rant in itself because I hate wasting food. They do have the best intentions and never set out to waste it, but often as not something will get left behind in the week. And I’m more than happy to take if off their hands.

So I received a half roast chicken, a Cumberland sausage and two slightly iffy looking salad boxes (once the soggy cucumbers where picked out it was fine. I’m not fussy when it comes to eating food past it’s best!).

From this I had a delicious BBQ sauce chicken stir-fry (yes, I know BBQ sauce is practically just sugar…that’s why it tastes so good).

I literally put the entire half a chicken in there and it was massive. I was fairly full!

I used the Cumberland sausage to do something similar but this time used balsamic vinegar and some herbs to flavour it and included some roasted butternut squash and chickpeas.

This was so good! Definitely need to repeat it. At the weekends at the moment I tend to be eating rather random meals as I’m slowly eating my way through the freezer ready for the move (still no date). This also means the hardship of eating all the cake in there too. *Sighs* it’s tough.

Rant: I’m an animal lover through and through but I will always prefer dogs to cats. Sorry but it’s true. I’m sure if I ever owned a cat I would feel differently (though from speaking to other cat owners, you never really “own” a cat…). I own a dog though and I’m pretty sure he would not be happy knowing what was happening right outside his front door.

The absolute audacity of this cat. And when I (gently) shooed it along before opening the door, it sloped off slowly with an indignant air. When I later walked Alfie it was still within proximity to the door and Alfie attempted to do the Big Dog thing of barking at it but then, when the cat simply glowered back, Alfie quickly backed off into the road. *Sighs* My little hero.

Rave: Ahh watermelon. How I adore you.

Such a refreshing and tasty snack. And you can eat so much without filling up as it’s practically water! And it’s so good for you with it’s great anti-inflammatory and antioxidant support.

Rant: I wore a dress to work yesterday. Big mistake.

Bargain dress from H&M; cardigan from New Look; belt not sure

My bare legs were rather chilly. But I refuse to accept that summer is over. I realise I can’t stay in denial forever but it’s August.

And finally this really made me laugh:

Quite amusing! I relate most to Belle I think in terms of nerdiness and book-reading. And I did used to have a boyfriend at college that my friends weren’t keen on – though I wouldn’t have called him at beast!

What Disney character do you most relate to? I think we all knew a Jasmine at school!

What’s your favourite summer food?

Do your parents give you food parcels? One birthday when I was at university my parents surprised me with a hamper of goodies, like sweets, beauty products, chewing gum, magazines and food. It was one of the best presents I’ve had, so random but so useful and appreciated.

July 27, 2015

Lee-On-Solent parkrun, Beefy’s and YOLO

How’s everyone this morning? If you’re from the UK, then hopefully you’re not still damp from our rather soggy Sunday! Feels all rather autumnal to me. Winter is coming…

Friday night I stayed over at my parent’s house. I wanted to try out the new Lee-On-Solent parkrun that had started a few weeks ago and it’s about three miles from my parent’s house. It runs alongside the beach on the promenade and is really flat. It’s actually part of my long run route when I stay at my parents.

I hadn’t run since Ultra12 last Sunday as I was concerned about my shin/calf (I say shin/calf as I’m actually not sure where the ‘issue’ is – it’s just a general discomfort and tightness of my calf that then aggravates closer to my shin, if that makes sense). In the week it was feeling grumpy and niggly and the last thing I wanted to do was annoy it further. I ran 20 miles over 12 hours (and a parkrun a few hours earlier) so I’d definitely pushed it out of its comfort zone and I needed to give it time. Check me out being all sensible.

My plan then on Saturday was to drive down to the beach car park about a mile away from the start and run down. This meant that I could judge my leg before I got caught up in any parkrun buzz and adrenaline and could walk back to my car if it felt rubbish. At Netley my warm-ups tend to be very quick and I knew if I went I wouldn’t bail on the run as there were so many people I know there and I’d have been embarrassed to have dropped out last minute (stupid, I know).

Annnnyway, I did some dynamic stretches and then began running down. Everything felt fine. I literally had the biggest smile on my face running to parkrun. Thank god.

Beautiful blue skies and the parkrun start ahead

I got to the start in more than enough time and chatted with a fellow Hedge End Running Club member. It was nice to see a friendly face, though to be honest everyone was very friendly and lovely. But then all parkruns are welcoming! 🙂

This parkrun is very flat and with few turns (it’s an out and back twice…you run along one way, then turn to go back, then run past the start/finish area, turn and run back) so it’s ideal for those wanting a PB, if the wind isn’t too bad. Because of my recent niggle I wasn’t looking to go crazy. I just wanted a quickish run to get the legs turning.

As I started I felt good and my legs felt nice and fresh. I was listening to music but not my usual “GO GO GO” music on my Running Playlist that encourages me to go faster. Instead I just put on music that was in the charts that I was liking lately as I didn’t want to get lost in the moment and push myself too hard. Basically I was looking to enjoy myself 🙂

Photo credit: AmandaLou Hall and Ethan Gee

The first mile was great. Despite not setting out with the ambition to smash the pace I felt very comfortable at sub-7min/miles. I just went with it. I noticed there weren’t any other females around me and felt quite content.

At the turnaround I checked to see if there were any ladies in front of me (I say I wasn’t racing, but it’s always nice to know your placing!). There was a young girl storming ahead and that was all. As I turned to go the other way the full force of the wind smacked me in the face. Ah so that’s why my first mile was so lovely. I was being pushed along nicely! The second mile was therefore a lot harder and a bit of a grind. My pace dropped but I didn’t mind (a completely different story to last week’s parkrun – what a difference a change in mindset makes).

At the next turn around point, where we would then head back to the finish, I passed the girl. She was really struggling. Again the wind was now behind me and it was suddenly easier again. I sailed nicely to the finish.

I finished in 21:37 as first female and I was chuffed. A hard but enjoyable run.

Sadly I’m an absolutely idiot (this might not be that much of a surprise). I sat down and caught my breath. I went over to the young girl who finished second I think and said well done. I chatted to a few people. Then headed over to the barcode scanner. Oh wait, where’s my finisher’s token?

Cue panic.

Arghhh, I’d put it down somewhere! Despite spending a good amount of time searching the area with the help of a few kind people, I couldn’t find it. It was very windy so I was worried it’d blown away. I spoke to the marshal in charge who took my name, my Garmin time and my barcode number and promised to sort it. I felt terrible though as I know they’ve had a few problems lately with tokens going missing. Long story short, after a few emails they managed to get me on the results on Sunday. I was mortified to have caused such a faff and felt suitably guilty. I donated £5 because I felt so bad. It costs them £70 to buy 100 new tokens (they can’t buy them individually).

I ran back to my car as a cool down, which was also a great way to check how my niggle felt post-run. Things felt fine! Hurrah. I still think I need to be careful and I’m now including calf raises into my strength training because clearly this is a weakness I have that keeps cropping up. I regularly change my trainers so I really can’t think what else I can do (apart from not go crazy with jumping up my mileage).

Later in the day I went shopping with my mum and decided to do something I’d been considering for a while. I’ve always liked the thought of having a tattoo but can never really make my mind up on what or where I’d have it. I also know I’d probably regret it later. And I’d just look stupid. Years ago I used to have my belly button pierced but I let it heal over. My belly button, I think, is really quite ugly so I thought what better way of improving things and doing something a little bit (for me) crazy.

You can see where the plaster had been on my tummy

It didn’t hurt as it was numbed beforehand and it was very quick. I’m very pleased. You only live once!

I also splashed out on a new outfit that I could then wear to the meal my parents and me were going to that evening. I bought this beautiful long skirt from Monsoon, and then paired it with a very simple strappy top, a white cardigan and a necklace in the sale all from New Look.

How pretty is that pattern and those colours? The skirt is of really good quality – there is a lot of material there and it fits beautifully.

The restaurant we went to was called Beefy’s in Southampton. It’s located in the Hilton hotel at the cricket grounds, The Ageas Bowl. It’s rather posh and very lovely.

The service was impeccable. They were so attentive, pleasant and friendly. And the food was gorgeous. Yes it is expensive (relatively so – mains are around £12-15 but can go up depending on what you choose, obviously. My dad had a steak for £30!).

You choose a type of bread to start (I went for olive bread) and then I had a sharing platter with my dad of hummus, feta, olives, bread, roasted vegetables and local watercress. For main I had a char-grilled sweet chilli chicken salad. My dad and me joked that we’d both expanded our culinary choices by me choosing that salad and not the Caesar salad and him having a Porterhouse steak rather than a rump steak. Small steps. For pudding I had sticky toffee pudding with ice cream. It all tasted amazing. Definitely worth a visit!

And then the weather turned and I woke up to stupid amounts of rain the next morning. Originally I’d planned to go for a long run with some guys from the club but I didn’t know if I was going to stay at my parent’s again or not (I did) and I was still being cautious about my niggle. The last thing I wanted to do was go for a long run and ignore any discomfort. I wanted the option of just cutting things short without feeling the need to explain things to people (I know everyone would have been lovely about it but I would feel awkward). So I went solo.

It was absolutely tipping it down and I only had shorts and a sleeveless top. It wasn’t cold per se but it was miserable out there. My run felt fine. There was an awareness of my niggle at the start but nothing to hinder me or make me feel I was “pushing through” discomfort or pain. Then for the rest of the run it felt fine. I actually felt really good and fresh (despite being soaked to my skin).

I did get yelled at by a driver though. I was running along a relatively short road where there were no pavements and he pulled up next to me and yelled that it was a stupid place to run. There was more than enough room for the both of us (and cars the other way) and I had made sure I was in full view of any oncoming cars. *Sighs*

The run felt good but I still don’t know where my head is at for the Cheddar Gorge marathon in a few weeks time. I’m 90% certain I’ll do it. The only thing that will halt me will be if that weekend is really rainy (because it will just be a mud bath and I want to enjoy it) or if my niggle becomes anything bigger.

Decisions, decisions.

And I’ll leave you with the joys of running in the rain with long hair.

I’m sure it’s so much easier being a man…

How was your weekend?

Have you got any piercings?

Have you done anything stupid at a race before? My life is full of stupid moments…

July 17, 2015September 18, 2020

Trespass Summer Style

It’s Friiiiiiiiiiiday! I have a little review for you guys today from the outdoor clothing shop Trespass.

I was sent two items from their summer range (though this morning it has been raining and doesn’t feel much like summer…standard British weather *sighs*).

Betty Womens Long Sleeve Top (£12.49)

The first item is a long sleeved base layer. It’s ideal for skiing or, for what I plan to use it for, before a race to keep your body temperature nice and warm. Though we are in summer, most races start in the morning and it’s still rather cool so rather than standing their feeling chilled this is ideal to keep me warm but not too hot. Obviously it’ll be great for winter as well underneath a jacket or coat for the extra added warmth (it’s all about layers!). It’s very soft and fits nicely. I like the zip as well as it means you can keep your neck warm skiing/walking, or if you’re too hot zip it down.

Elesie Womens Floral Playsuit (£13.99)

I never thought I’d be a playsuit type of girl, but I love this! It’s so pretty and easy to wear and perfect for hot summer days, having a BBQ or picnic. And no worries about the wind blowing your skirt up or protecting your modesty while lolling around on the grass 😉 I like that it has a belt-like tie as well so gives a bit of definition rather than being sack-like.

It’s not something I could get away with wearing to work however (my work are very relaxed about clothing but not that relaxed). The shorts area are quite high (but not indecent!). The only thing I will say, and this is true for all playsuits and not this one specifically, is that it does make bathroom visits a bit of a saga as it’s a one-piece item.

Trespass have a great range of summer items (I never knew they did ‘normal’ clothing and was pleasantly surprised by their selection – has quite a nice ‘festival’ theme) and obviously all the usual outdoorsy type stuff, like camping equipment and outdoor sports clothing.

Do you buy anything from Trespass?

Do you go camping a lot?

Are you a fan of playsuits/jumpsuits?

**Full Disclosure: I was sent these two items for free in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own honest ones.**

July 13, 2015

Too much of a good thing

I think I need another day off…this weekend was so rammed, I’m not sure I’ve recovered.

It was my friend’s wedding on Saturday in Dorset. I live in Southampton so that’s about an hour and a half away. Originally I was going to camp there overnight as that’s what the invitation stipulated guests to do as they had an entire field booked for the wedding where the marquee was set up. Then I (thankfully) found out my couple friend and their one year old son were driving up and back. So I scored a lift with them, hurrah!

I sadly couldn’t make parkrun (breaking my 18 week streak *sob*) but I got up early to get in a four mile tempo run. I warmed up on the first mile and then aimed for 7min/miles for three miles and I was meant to cool down on the final 0.75 but I was really pushing for time and needed to get home quickly. Standard Anna procedure: only give yourself the very bare minimum of time and end up rushing like a madwoman.

The run went well though and I felt strong. I did miss parkrun but it was an OK alternative, even if I was running in the opposite direction to those running to the local parkrun 🙁

It was so warm and then having to have a shower and blow dry my hair was just a nightmare. Nothing like feeling super hot and sticky while trying to get into a nice dress.

Like I said previously, I went for a very simple dress so I could jazz it up with accessorises. My mum has lots of lovely fascinators so I went for a cream one and added pretty statement necklace.

For the first time in ages I wore heels! I sensibly took a pair of flip flops with me as well for after the ceremony when we got to the field – there’s only so much heel wearing I do.

The ceremony was gorgeous, set in a beautiful courtyard on the grounds of a castle.

It was fairly windy though which was slightly problematic for my skater skirt! It was a beautiful ceremony with Sarah, the bride, arriving on her horse (seated on it in the traditional side-on way ladies used to back in the day) and I felt a bit emotional – which is so unlike me! It was such a lovely touch as Sarah is very into her horse riding and the couple are both very outdoorsy (they were camping that evening too!).

Her dress was beautiful too. Nicely fitted with lots of lace detailing – she looked stunning. Afterwards we had the usual photo session and there was homemade elderflower champagne – oooh er!! Delicious.

We then left for the field for the wedding breakfast. My best friend (and lift), Louise, looked lovely in a white and blue dress with matching blue heels. Yummy mummy indeed!

We both enjoyed a glass (*cough* or three) of Pimms and I felt far more relaxed in my flip flops. Unfortunately I’d applied my suntan lotion a little too late and could already feel the slight sun burn tingling. Gargh!

The marquee was fantastic. They’d done everything themselves in terms of arranging furniture, catering, doing all the decorations and flowers. Honestly, Pinterest would have exploded.

Outside there were hay bales to sit on and space hoppers, giant Jenga, balls…it was brilliant.

They had handmade jam favours that had labels saying “Spread the love”. I mean, wow! Such great attention to detail.

The food was BBQ food which was very tasty indeed. The sausages were really good quality and the beef burger handmade.

Lots of salad and BBQ sauce as well, of course 😉

The pudding was Eton mess, very light and tasty.

Ohh another glass of champagne, a sneaky gin and tonic…I was quite on my merry way. We played with the balls and space hoppers outside, danced lots and basically just enjoyed ourselves.

Then the fish and chip van turned up as the evening guests arrived. Now I don’t even like fish and chips and somehow there I was in the queue waiting my turn for a battered cod and greasy chips.

The portion was huge. Though that didn’t stop me from consuming all but three chips. Honestly, I have no idea what happened! But it tasted good and I enjoyed it. The chips weren’t those horrible soggy ones, they were nice and crispy. Not quite content with consuming a ridiculous amount of stodge I then proceeded to eat three (albeit small!) slices of wedding cake. I can only blame the good atmosphere, my lack of self-control and the alcohol. But you know what, it was bloody fantastic. I did feel sick though and far too full. And massively regretted wearing a belt 😉

As I headed outside to walk to the nearby toilet facilities an elderly man was staggering back. He stopped in front of me and said (quite politely) “Excuse me, but you have lovely legs”. I sort of laughed and said thank you and he continued saying “you made an old man feel young earlier in the courtyard when your skirt blew up. My pacemaker went wild”. I’m pretty sure I just stood there laughing awkwardly. What do you say to something like that?? It was somewhat flattering I suppose…

I have to say, there’s nothing like a wonderful wedding to make you feel quite significantly alone. I wouldn’t say I’m lonely at all right now, being newly single, but being at a wedding where there are lots of couples and love-themed things…well it does sort of salt the wounds a bit. I tried not to dwell on it and just enjoy myself.

Eventually though it was time to head off home around 10pm. I had nicely sobered up by this point (well, I had been drinking since 12) and felt very tired. When I got home and collapsed into bed I fell asleep immediately. Only to wake up at 1.30am to be sick several times (sorry if this is TMI). Not my finest hour. Especially considering I had a half marathon the next day, though thankfully it was at 10.45am and not far away so I would get a lie-in at least. But honestly, I felt so ill. Being sick did help but I also felt very cold and shaky. I reckon being in the sun all day and not hydrating properly along with the alcohol and stupid amounts of food really did a number on me. But hey ho, life is meant for living right??

Not the best way to prepare for a half marathon for definite, but I wasn’t planning on going for it anyway. It was just a nice catered training run on hilly and off-road terrain. PBs were certainly not on my mind! I’ll leave it there for now and recap the race in another post!

Do you enjoy weddings? What’s your favourite part? There’s a lot of standing around…but there is also cake 😉

What handmade touches have you noticed at weddings before?

Have you ever gone to a race hungover and feeling delicate?