Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Halloumi

If I could live on one food and not get ill or not get fed up of it, I would chose cheese. I love cheese. I love lots of cheese. I meant that both ways. I could eat mountains of different varieties of cheese. Except Stilton. I can't stand food with mould in.
If I had to narrow my choice down to one cheese it would be Halloumi. I love it. Oh my goodness me. Just writing about it is making me drool.
So when your friend makes a sneaky trip to Cyprus, the home of Halloumi, what does she bring you back?
Mega.

I can't wait to try it. I'm interested to see if it is the same as the Halloumi that I am used to.
If you've never tried Halloumi, you need to. It's amazing.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Jus' Chillin'

Sunday, June 27, 2010

'Gauranteed'

Well, Thomas Cook, with this sign you have pretty much 'gauranteed' that I will never buy a holiday from you.

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Where I Talk More Sport



Anyone catch that Wimbledon Federer first round match? Oofa! That was a bit if a doozy, no? I was a little torn, I must say, because I would quite like to have seen an upset but I was also kind of hoping that Feds would pull himself together and turn Terminator on the other guy. Not sure why I was hoping that cos I am not a Federer fan. At all. He's *yawn* so... so.... bori..... *zzzzzzzzzzzzz*

He never really did turn Terminator until the last set I guess. A little too late to be convincing. Maybe it'll make the rest of the tournament a whole load more interesting this summer though!
I can't talk sport without mentioning the rugby boys, you know my new best friends. Scotland won both their test matches against Argentina which means that they have won an away test series for the first time ever. That also meant that the team have won three away matches in a row for the first time in 26 years.
Good job, guys! They also rose two places in the IRB world rankings to seventh, slap bang in the middle of England and Wales. Oh yeah!!!
Proof. Ha!
See? Who needs football??

Monday, June 21, 2010

The Thing About Vuvuzelas

Wimbledon starts today. I'm not going to lie. I'm mega excited about it! Let's be honest, it hasn't come a minute too soon. Anyone else sick and tired of the constant moaning of the people yapping endless on about that other sporting tournament that has been going on lately? No, not the US Open.

There is usually much more hype about Wimbledon but this year I guess that it has been overshadowed. I think that has to be a good thing. I can watch it without any preconceived ideas about how players are going to play because I have no idea about whether they are fully fit or how they've been playing lately! Is Roger Federer going to win it for the hundredth time? *Yawn* Is it going to be Nadal? Will it be Murray's year? Or will it be someone else completely? Does anyone really care about women's tennis? Who knows! But at least it'll be more interesting than the drivel that has been gracing worldwide TV sets for the last week and a bit. Anyone seen a good match yet? I must admit that I have been working most of the time so I haven't caught much of the football at all. Not that I'm missing anything!

And may I just say, John Terry, if everything is alright in the England camp then why the 'Clear The Air Talks'??!

So, the most talked about thing this World Cup, other than the French team, has been the vuvuzelas. It has been the most talked about because it has just been impossible to get away from them. People have complained that they have ruined the normal football atmosphere of singing and generally yelling abuse. Um, so what? It is a different kind of atmosphere! Ok, so it sounds like there is an angry swarm of wasps following your every move and it might get a little grating but it is something that is uniquely South African. Why shouldn't they be able to celebrate holding a worldwide sporting event in their country in their own way? Just because it is not something that we are used to..... I, for one, hope that the tournament organisers will not bow to pressure.

The All England Club have already gone ahead and banned vuvuzelas from Wimbledon. Um, why? I highly doubt that anyone would be trying to bring a vuvuzela into Wimbledon and if they did it wouldn't be every third person like at the football. This isn't South Africa and they aren't readily available. And no disrespect to football fans (I used to be one - Still am really but just for Scotland. All other football is irrelevant.) but I don't think that Wimbledon attracts quite the same kind of crowds that the football does. It is Pimms and strawberries, not beer and mushy peas. Just saying. Totally different ball game. Literally.

Anyway, Feds is set down in his opening match so already this is more exciting than any of the World Cup games played so far!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Still Raving About Reeth


We had a wonderful time at Reeth on Saturday. Can you tell??

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Flora And Fauna

North Yorkshire is such an amazing and beautiful place!
I sometimes find it hard to believe that this is all on my doorstep!

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Smiles


How I wish I was in New York with these sweet faces!

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Not Even A Little Bit Ashamed!

The fact that I am a little bit of a stalker is not a new thing to those of you who know me. Examples of this can be read about here and here.

When I lived in New York I got to the point where I figured that when an idea got lodged into my head, however ridiculous I would come across to anyone in the sane world, that I would regret it if I didn't just go ahead and do it. This lead to waiting a good four hours for Daniel Radcliffe in 2009 and I haven't looked back since.

When I visited NY at the beginning of May (I can't believe it was already a month ago!) my stalker tendencies emerged once again. I had it in my head to go and see In The Heights which is a musical that I haven't seen before. The added bonus is that currently starring in it is Corbin Bleu of High School Musical fame. I was gutted when I went to the box office and they told me that there wasn't an evening performance that night. The matinee was in progress at that point. I had planned to see the show and then wait outside for autographs and photos (much like with The Little Mermaid). So I missed my chance to see the show and Chen Li and I went to go and get cupcakes.We each had a Red Velvet and a S'mores from Magnolia in Grand Central. Yum!!

Anyway, we decided to (well, I forced Lili to) go back to the theatre and wait outside for Mr Bleu and get his autograph and picture.
Job done.

And I went to see Wicked that evening and thoroughly enjoyed it (again). I may or may not have wept through the whole second half (and maybe most of the first!).

So that was my first stalking incident in less than 30 days. It is pretty similar to my previous other adventures (i.e. waiting outside a Broadway theatre.... blah, blah). For my second I took a step into the sporting world.

I went to see Scotland XV against Japan Select at Murrayfield last week. I went by myself so didn't have to worry about embarrassing any of my friends. I waited around after the game to get some photos.

The first excitement was that I ended up standing about 5ft from Gregor Townsend (hero!!). I did draw the line at asking him for a photo because he was with his sons. I'm not so crazy!
But here comes my most stalkerish happening ever. My favourite Scotland player is Dan Parks. He has been a favourite for a while, not just since every man and his dog has loved him.

Whilst every other crazy person waiting for the team was waiting by the barriers, I was standing back a bit..... trying to act cool. I failed but I spotted Dan Parks (who hadn't been in the squad so I wasn't expecting to see him) leave by the door. I literally followed him round half of Murrayfield before I got the opportunity to ask him for a photo. This is the first time that I have actually hunted someone down like that.

You might think I'm crazy but you don't have a photo with Dan Parks, even if it is a little blurry.Seriously, I can't believe that I did actually chase after him but it was totally worth it. Ha! I'd do it again!

After that excitement I went back and waited for the other players..... I think I got some pretty good pics!

And finally, I hopped on the team bus. I was clearly quite pleased with myself for doing this!