Top 10: Snack Foods you could eat your weight in

I'm a super snacker. I love snack food. It's a recent thing, I think.

1. Crackers. I love crackers. I have to put some in a baggie at the start of the day to ration my intake. The day I discovered Goldfish crackers was a glorious one.

2. Cheese. The perfect companion of crackers. For snacking I have to say String Cheese.

3. Popcorn. Never used to be such a fan but I love flavoured popcorn... cheese flavoured funnily enough. White Cheddar ORRRR Salt and Vinegar. YUM! Husband is also a flavoured popcorn fiend.

4. Crisps AKA Chips. I like plain salty crisps. With dip... with my mum's cream cheese and onion dip. Happy memory: sharing a bowl of said dip with my older brother late one night over Christmas. Pringles are maybe my fave Crisp.

5. Muddy Buddies. Really, who doesn't love those?

6. Ice Poles AKA Otter Pops. Lime and Orange are my favourite. Blue Raspberry is too but I'm never bothered about giving it up for someone else as long as there's a lime or orange one for me.

7. Soft Pretzels. Love! It's such a treat when we go to the mall and husband buys me a hot buttery/salty soft pretzel. I love them a lot.

8. Chocolate covered Raisins.

9... I can't think of any more. Tell me yours...

Top 10: Nostalgia

When I go to bed at night the window usually open. I like to be cool during the night and I guess it's also habit. I love me some fresh air! (even if it does make husband snore.)

Anyway, when I snuggle down there's always at some point (1.) A train going by in the distance. When I hear the soft toot-toot of the horn (I don't think trains have horns, you kwim though?) I get this twist in my stomach. It's familiarity and maybe also yearning. Comfort but a pang of aching. To me that's what nostalgia tends to feel like. It's happy and sad. The sound of a train on a summer night is so familiar to me being an ocean apart from the original memories make it so strange. - That's where this post is coming from.

2. Music: a huge source of nostalgia! Memories get attached so quickly to music. Happy and sad. This morning I made the "mistake" of watching this and now I have the song stuck in my head but also the memory of a dear friend doing the whole dance routine in a swim suit and tights whilst I laughed my head off. I love that!

3. Sweetpeas = my mum. Just thinking about sweetpeas takes me back to my parents tiny back garden. I can see her clipping some of the pastel coloured flowers and making a little posey to wear to church.

4. Air: I know, this one is weird. But you know when you've been far from home for a while and you get back and the air is different? It smells and feels like 'home'? I hope someone understands this because last time we were in Scotland my oldest brother thought I'd gone mental for talking about gobbling up as much air as I could. There's seriously nothing like filling your lungs and your belly with air from home. When we come back to Seattle I can feel it too.

5. The first snow of winter. That means Christmas is soon who doesn't feel nostalgic around Christmas? Traditions. That's what it's all about! The musky smell of the Christmas tree when it first comes out the box. The music, the decorations, the treats. The good cheer.

6. Wearing a new outfit for the first time. It doesn't happen very often for me now that I have a whole brand new outfit but when it does it makes me think of weddings, baptisms, first day of school, Easter...

7. Husband's aftershave. When he wears the same aftershave he wore when we first met I'm 18 again. I remember the sensory overload during that first kiss, holding hands for the first time, that last breath in as he'd let go of me to leave for the night. Yum.

8. When something random catches your eye: In Urban Outfitters a couple of weeks ago I spotted some shoes and had that tingle run up my spine. Husband looked at them and said "they are so you and these ones are totally Emma." I was like "Yes, those are totally Emma!" The style of shoe, the pattern, everything was Emma and there I was in the middle of Urbn happy to be remembering Emma and sad that she's so far away but SO happy to have that memory.

9. Dreams: The other night I had a dream about a friend who's parent's are friends with mine. It was so weird. Even though I'm a good few years older than him in this dream we were doing weird things you only do in dreams ie. drawing on all the walls in the bathroom with soap. But when I woke up I was hoping it had been real. It wasn't but I was still happy he'd snuck into my dream. It was happy like old times.

10. Random things: We were watching Sabrina The Teenage Witch last week and it was the episode where Sabrina moves to Paris with her dad. He magics Britney Spears over and she's singing and stuff and at the end Sabrina and her are talking and dancing. Sabrina does this crazy dance move. And right then I remembered watching that same episode with my little sister, Beki and her doing that dance move at youth dances and stuff. It always cracked me up and I could never do it without falling over. Happy times that I'd totally forgotten about!

What makes you nostalgic? How do you describe nostalgia? Is it that same happy and sad thing?

Got a list? Share it.

Say hello to my little friend... no seriously, say 'hi'.

I know Kirsten through my sister in law. I don't know when I first met her or when she became one of my favourites.

10 Reasons why K-Diddy is my fave:
1. She is hilarious! 
2. She eats honey roast peanuts on her salad and now I do too and love it.
3. She's hyperactive in the best way.
4. She is adventurous.
5. She's punctual - very important to me.
6. She's completely non-touchy but gives the best hugs. I treasure the one she gave me.
7. She has trademark phrases she uses with trademark pitch and tone and hand gestures.
8. She has a vast vocabulary.
9. She loves Queen almost as much as I do.
10. She's like the sister I never had... or fought with or shared a bed with.


Do you have someone you instantly clicked with? 

"Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up. These are the best days of our lives."

I often get glum at the thought of being an adult. I'm shocked everytime I realise I'm not 17 anymore. The truth is I'm just not done with silliness. I think it was Megan who was telling me about her dilema in that sense too and how in the good book it says not to cling to childish things but go on your way and grow up. (That was you, right Meg?) We were talking about how hard that was. We also worked out that it didn't nessessarily mean 'stop having fun' or 'no more rolling in the mud/dressing up like superheroes!'... well, it might mean that last one a little BUT it doesn't mean 'Stop having fun!' It means to every thing there's a time and a season - also in the good book ;) Be silly but not all the time. Be sensible when you're meant to be.

I did my second 2 Silly Girls shoot of the summer this past week and was feeling a little glum not to have Megan there - leaving our university town, with a husband means I'm for sure not 17 anymore. The pictures turned out great though and everyone had fun. Basically the whole 2 Silly Girls mission was accomplished. I need to do more of these. 

I think everyone loves being silly. When it rains I can't be the only person over the age of 7 who wants to be outside in my swim suit splashing in puddles, right?

Is there something silly you always want to do but brush it off because you're an adult now?
Are you still silly? How? Got a Top Ten list of silliness? Share it!

My top 10 list of favorite silly moments/things to do:
1. Dress up.
2. Play hide and seek.
3. Say "cheeeeeese!" when I'm getting my picture taken.
4. Use too much bubbles in the bath.

5. Blow bubbles.

6. Stick things to husband's back and see how long it takes for him to realise.

7. Wear glitter. A lot.

8. Sit on my mum's lap.

9. Make screeching sounds as we go around a corner in the car really fast.

10. Remembering silliness and laughing over and over and over about it.

Mostly, being silly means that someone else is being silly too which is my overall fave.

She taught me my gypsy-ish ways...

1. Her wise words that I treasure.
"Take loads of pictures and be famous." "Make it a Wonderful Life."

2. The Secret Mother/Daughter meetings at the super market for hot chocolate and sausage baps.

3. When I first found husband it was online (shush!) and I didn't have money to visit him. I think my dad was glad but then husband told me he would buy my tickets. My mum talked my dad into letting me have the adventure. I deserved it after all. When she was the age I was she had her own American adventure. 

4. She's so cheeky. The morning I left home she climbed into my bed and licked my face to wake me up. She's a real rascal - in the picture she's planting bulbs in a friends garden when they were at work.

5. She's selfless. I've witnessed her deal with heartbreak - the loss of a child amongst other painful  things. The sadness and tiredness is evident in her eyes and yet she has a hug and a smile - maybe tense but still a smile - for everyone. Most people have no idea that she could use some help herself.

6. Whenever I see a burnt orange, rusty colour I think of her and her freckles, brown eyes and never dyed hair. She looks years younger than my dad. I can't tell you the age difference or who's older than who because I'd have to kill you. Trust me though, you'd be surprised.

7. When she tells a joke the punchline comes first making the joke even funnier - especially to herself which makes it funnier to everyone else. Countless times she's been crippled and crying with laughter, doing the pee pee dance before even getting to the middle of the joke.

8. I've never seen anyone knit like her. She doesn't have to even have her eyes open and her knitting needles are breaking all sorts of laws of physics. She knit her first adult size sweater when she was 10 years old. She's like a machine.

9. When she's in the kitchen she sings, usually Scottish songs. Songs I'll sing to my children when I have them. Especially the one about the blind orphan. How does that go again, mum? If I have a daughter and name her Maggie it's because of this song she always sings.

10. She's easy to love because she's so wonderful. If I'm ever a mother I'll be lucky if I'm half as good of one as her - my kids will be even luckier.

I love you mum and I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise of never leaving home and staying with you forever and ever - is that why you sent me to America the first time? You beast! It's all becoming clear! I'll talk to you about this later ;)

Send us your mother inspired lists and pictures.

This post is part of a world wide blogging tribute to Moms led by TheBlogFrog

I want to teach the world to sing...

I make a summer list every year of things I want to do so when I have a quiet moment I can't say "I'm booooored!" I just look at my list and find something to do. You can see the beginnings of my 2009 list here and Megan's here. (If you make your own list let her know.)

On the topic of summer and lists I want to see what 10 songs you'd make your summer 2009 playlist. Email them to us to be posted - don't forget to include a gypsy feet picture too.

Here's my list - for now:

1. Don't Stop Me Now - Queen  
2. Big Girl - Mika
3. My Hands are Shaking - Sondre Lerche
4. Ruby - Kaiser Chiefs
5. Lullaby - Jack Johnson & Matt Costa
6. Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop - Landon Pigg
7. Starlight - Muse
8. Mona Lisa - The All American Rejects
9. Lovebug - Jonas Brothers (I like it OK!)
10. Potential Breakup Song - Aly & AJ