"A change is as good as a holiday" Proverb

As much as I love the cold nights, cosy jumpers, cinnamon scented candles and woolly scarves in December, by January I am over the whole dammed winter thing.

One reason I hate early January is the lack of new stock in any of my favourite shops.  I absolutely HATE sale shopping, it feels like little more than a jumble sale, trawling through old stock for marginally reduced prices.  My one exception to this is John Lewis, who often display their sale stock the same as their regular stock with great savings to be had in Ted Baker, French Connection and Whistles.  Zara are the absolute worst - I'm sure I saw a dress in their sale I purchased two summers ago..!

With that in mind, a few of my favourite retailers have began to take in their new 2015 stock - some of the highlights below:

The Victoria's Secret New Ultimate Half Zip - perfect for my new couch to 5k running programme...and lazy days!

I have a real lack of what I call "in between" clothes, as in not work/going out/lounging stuff.  This Jack Wills shirt would be perfect for going out for dinner.

I am dreaming of the days when I no longer need my massive parka or heavy wool coat! This Joules cornfield yellow rubber jacket is the perfect transitional piece as winter subsides and we head into spring. 

Hubs and I have a charity dinner/dance coming up - this Virgo's Lounge Danica dress to TDF!!!

Let's face it - it's still winter, so we need cosy clothes! This Cashmere jumper via the White Company is still stylish with a block black back. 

Adidas Gazelles - a classic! I have been loving the sports luxe/trainer trend.  This is a little bit more streamlined than those chunky New Balances everyone seems to be wearing, I am a sucker for bright colours but would ultimately probably order them in black or navy.

"How sweet it is to be loved by you"

My hubs celebrated the big 3-3 recently..! He is extremely laid back and low key, and therefore wanted an extremely laid back and low key birthday celebration.  As well as some gorgeous bits and bobs from his favourite local shop Attic (http://www.atticclothing.com/) and tickets to the Sports Personality of the Year awards in Glasgow, I decided to give him exactly what I knew he would love...a quiet night in! There is no in between with hubs, he loves a night out with the lads or a night in doing absolutely nothing.

Along with picking up a Chinese from our favourite take away place EVER (since we moved it's now a 30-45 minute drive away and therefore a very rare treat), I decided to order him some cupcakes from 'Tasty Little Cupcake' in Aberdeen.  I know the whole novelty cake/cupcake thing has been done to death, but these cupcakes are something special!  I sent Kim, the owner, an email listing all hubs' favourite things, and created a unique cake for each interest.  They were so special and had an unbelievable WOW factor.  I would highly recommend Tasty Little Cupcake for any birthdays or celebrations you have coming up.

I mentioned hubs love of football, golf, Oasis, Barbour, VW Golfs and the fact that we got married at the Old Course Hotel.  I was so chuffed with them and even more delighted with Scott's reaction :)

The whole beautiful box! We demolished all of these...

Barbour jacket

Football boots!

My personal favourite - Oasis albums!

"Running is the greatest metaphor for life, because you get out of it what you put into it" Oprah Winfrey

I have never been athletically gifted.  I come from a reasonably sporty family, with golf and football being the main focus, but slogging my guts out on a pitch or, to be honest, spending 90 minutes watching other people slogging their guts out on a pitch has never appealed to me. 

Getting fit has long been an ambition of mine, and other than a couple of half heated Body Attack classes last year, I've never really done anything about it. Fuelled by the motivation of Christmas weight gain, I signed up for the Garioch Couch to 5k running classes along with two of my equally unfit pals.

The classes run every Saturday morning at 9.30am from the Garioch Sports Centre and consist of a run/walk programme.  The aim is to get you running for 30 minute solidly which is the equivalent of a 5k...apparently!

I donned my leggings, Hubs' football training top, a hoodie, under armour and a woolly hat to being my first session on one of the coldest days we've had this winter! We began with a two minute walk, followed by intervals of 30 seconds running, and two minutes walking.  I have absolutely no stamina and managed this fine, as did most of the group. 

I was so inspired that I purchased a stop watch so I could  continue the training outwith the group, and a fleecy headband to keep my ears cosy.

I was a little sore the following morning, but this was predominantly my arms as I was so tense from the cold. My sister-in-law (sista!) gave me a handy little tip - when you run pretend you are holding two pringles, this will stop you from clenching!

I am planning to try to get out running/walking three times per week - with the aim of running the Garioch 5k in March. More information here... http://www.rungarioch.co.uk/

"Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man" Benjamin Franklin

It’s seems to be everyone is fed up of New Year’s Eve/Hogmanay. It’s become de rigueur to be a little blasé about the last night out of the year, with some people claiming to prefer not to celebrate at all.  I am almost fanatical about Christmas but a massive piece of my heart belongs to Hogmanay.  For the last 21 years my family has packed up and headed to Craigendarroch, a resort just outside Ballater.  I’ll do a separate post about our Hogmanay trip but I wanted to share the silent promises we all make to ourselves in the dawn of a new year, with 365 days stretched out before us.  I’m sharing them partly because I think it makes you more accountable, and also because I get ideas for my own resolutions by reading others.

Tiny little ones:

Lose weight/exercise more – these two obviously go hand in hand.  One of my best friends is getting married on the 24^th and I have a gorgeous (but unforgiving!) dress to slip into before then! But overall I’d like to be a bit healthier, weight loss aside. I have a massive sweet tooth and eat out/get takeaways far too often. I used to be able to crash diet for a week and lose half a stone but the closer I get to the big 3-0 the harder this seems to be!

Regular date nights – Scott and I leads ridiculously busy lives so as a result most of the time we spend together tends to be at home.  I love this however it’s very tempting to put your PJs on, and sit on the sofa in relative silence while browsing social media and watching TV.  I want us to have a fortnightly date night where we actually dress up and leave the house…

KEEP THIS BLOG UP TO DATE. Enough said.

The Big Ones:

Be more grateful.  I have a lovely, lovely life and it’s very easy to get dragged down by the negatives in positive situations.  For example, I always have loads of nights out/weddings/hen parties/engagement parties etc – instead of complaining about how busy I am and ticking these events off like a to-do list, I should be grateful that I am surrounded by such wonderful friends and family who want to include me in their plans.

Live in the present.  I am constantly planning the next holiday, our next weekend away, even what I’m going to have for dinner that night! I am going to try and enjoy the moment more.

Love more. Very simple but extremely necessary.

2015 is shaping up to be a very exciting year, two of my best friends are getting married, we’ve got a few holiday plans in the works including a wedding in NYC, Scott’s brother is getting married in Canada and MOST EXCITING, my niece of nephew is due in March! I’m hoping that a combination of sticking to my resolutions and all the fabulous plans we have will make for a truly spectacular year indeed.