The Buddy I Knew

Well hello there!

I haven't blogged for quite a while now...who missed me!?

I'm spending some quality time with my nanna today and I had a parcel waiting for me when I got there; a DVD I ordered.

Sherry Holley sent me a copy of her dad's DVD, 'The Buddy I Knew'.

This is probably the first time I've mentioned it on my blog, but I'm a huge Buddy Holly fan. For those of you who haven't heard of Buddy Holly, I strongly suggest you search him on YouTube.

My dad was a Buddy fan. I get most of my musical taste from my dad, and Buddy was no exception.

If you are a fan yourself or want to learn more about the him, there are a lot of websites and books available, but you can also purchase Larry's DVD 'The Buddy I Knew'. It is available from his website; http://larryholley.com

You certainly won't be disappointed.




Laura x

Gift Exchange

Hi!
Sorry I haven't blogged in a while, I have one ready to write up later but I'm a little bit busy today.

I joined a gift exchange a while ago and as its so much fun, I thought i'd start one that all my followers can join in with. All you have to do is sign up to take part and add a few items to your wishlist, then you will be paired with someone to exchange gifts with. I love getting things in the mail, so if any of you are like me, you'll really love this!

There is a spending limit, so everyone spends around the same amount on their gift, but ultimately it's down to the individual to find something their recipient would like (you can do this by viewing their gift list, or sending them an anonymous message).

Obviously, the more people who participate, the better. So lets get the ball rolling; click HERE to sign up.
I hope there will be a significant interest in this :)

Laura x

Cupcakes!

Red Velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (decorated with some crumbled Cadbury's Flake)




Laura x

Cake!

Here is the first cake that I made today :)



A vanilla sponge with vanilla buttercream and strawberry jam filling!

I have another cake in the oven now which will be the same, but it's a birthday cake... Pics to come!

I found some interesting cupcake recipes online over the weekend so I may try my hand at those too :)

Laura x

Happy Father's Day

I'd like to wish a Happy Fathers Day to my Dad.

I really wish I could be spending the day with him, but that's not possible.

My dad passed away unexpectedly on 19th May 2010, aged just 55 years old.



We may not have always had time for each other, but I loved him nonetheless. My dad taught me to read and how to ride a bike... He passed on his passion for music and his love of animals and fig rolls.



I could never thank him enough for introducing me to music. He taught me that it's okay to like stuff that isn't necessarily "popular" or even mainstream and it's okay to step outside of your normal genre. He was one of the few people I know who can go from listening to Buddy Holly to The Beatles, Vengaboys to Enya, Meatloaf to Lindisfarne or The Everley Brothers, even Jive Bunny! To you he might not have had the greatest taste in music but he was so passionate about it.



When my dad passed away, one of the things I kept was his "stack" (you'll have to google it) and his records. There is nothing more perfect than listening to your favourite album on vinyl...the first time I listened to Adele's '21' it was on my dad's record player.

I wish I'd have spent more time with my dad when he was alive.



There are times when I find myself watching a movie that I think he'd like (though falling asleep as soon as he seen the opening credits was usually the case), I can't watch 'The Boat That Rocked' without crying because everything about the movie reminds me of my dad.



There'll be times when I go out for dinner with my family and I think about how many plates of food my dad would eat, or what would be his favourite...then I get a sinking feeling in my stomach.



There will be times when I miss him so much, I won't know how i'll get through the day. Days like my wedding day when I have nobody to give me away and I don't get to have a father/daughter dance, or if I ever have children.



Then there are days like today when I just miss him...for no other reason than the fact that he was my dad and I love him and he's not here.



Happy Father's Day, Dad.
I love you x

This is the song I was named after, dad's choice, of course. My sister told me that when I was born he dedicated the song on the radio to me & my mum.



And a song that will always remind me of him;



Laura x

1 down, 1 to go!

So far I have planned Chloe's party and it's going to cost almost double the budget I have been given!

I've cut down on everything I possibly can (I even found plain coloured paper plates instead of Toy Story ones!) but I'm very over budget...

Going to see if I can book the venue tomorrow, then I can start sorting out invitations, yay!

Laura x

New Project!!!

My sister has just asked me to organise Bethany and Chloe's birthday parties this year!

Bethany will be turning 5 in November and would like a princess style ball - so much fun! She'll have lots of new friends to invite because she's starting school in September too.

Chloe will be turning 4, but she doesn't start nursery until September, so she doesn't have many friends to invite. She's going for a 'Toy Story/Buzz Lightyear' theme which is equally exciting (especially for me because I'm a huge Toy Story fan!).

I've been given a budget for each event and have to organise invitations, venue, cake, catering, entertainment and party bags. Can't wait to get started!!!

Laura x

43 Things

I rediscovered my '43 Things' account last night and after tweaking it a little, I thought I'd share my list with you all :)

1) Visit New York
2) Visit Paris, again
3) Visit Italy
4) Visit Australia
5) Visit South Africa
6) See Santa in Lapland
7) Go to Disneyland
8) Write a song
9) Learn to play guitar
10) Take singing lessons
11) Take ballet classes
12) Stop being in love with the idea of being in love
13) Fall in love, for real
14) Kiss in the rain
15) Get married
16) Start a family
17) Become a foster parent
18) Own a Labrador
19) Own a pet pig
20) Over come my anxiety
21) Get more tattoos
22) Be a better person
23) Care less about what unimportant people think of me
24) Make others feel better about themselves
25) Forget
26) Own my own coffee/cake shop
27) Move out
28) Learn to drive
29) Swim with dolphins
30) Lose weight
31) Be confident
32) Be happy
33) Send a postcard to Postsecret.com
34) Make more friends
35) Visit my friends more
36) Find penpals/Skype buddies from other countries
37) Learn sign language
38) Write a book
39) Take better photographs
40) Do something for charity
41) Change someone's life
42) Make a difference
43) Be remembered

What would be on your list?

Laura x