Not an awful lot, but a sunny day outside the French Deli.

Day 58 - 28th February 2013

I can't believe I've reached two months of the list already!

Not a lot happened today, but it was pretty sunny for February, so we sat outside the French Deli and watched the pigeons. I've done pretty much everything in preparation for my EPQ presentation next Thursday, and so I spent this morning looking for updo's for people with no hair (like me ;)) and getting really excited about the fact that after almost a year, I finally have enough hair to contemplate putting it up! I really want a pretty way of doing my hair for the Dudley Youth Awards next week, so that's what I'm working towards.

Then I came home and did some research about reusable menstrual pads. I love love love love looovvee my mooncup, but I've been thinking of getting an IUD fitted, and you can't use internal protection for like 6 weeks after. I really can't stand going back to disposables, so I did a bit of sewing and made a few pads...although they're a bit....'unique'....I'm planning to do a bit of refining. That shouldn't be happening for a couple of weeks, since I'm giving blood next week and I want to make sure I don't do myself in too much in one go.

A vaguely tidied room, lots of EPQ and a fringey t-shirt.

Day 57 - 27th February 2013

Not an awful lot happened today, I tidied my room a bit, while Lily did some textiles, so we just hung out in my room all evening. Then I chopped up a leftover tie-dye t-shirt from the other day, fringeyness and tie-dye....what could be better?

Bowling!!

Day 56 - 26th February 2013

We finally managed to go bowling this evening after our plans last week flopped. It was super fun and I even one a game! I think that's the first vaguely sporting thing I've won in my life! Then Lucy's brother and Sophie cheated on Skeeball and won LOADS of tickets (like 2 and a half thousand :o ) so we bought loads of stuff with them. Jack got a rugby ball, Sophie got a cuddly monster (ADOOOORRRRAAABBBLLLEEEE), Lauren and Lucy both got Hello Kitty stationary, James got some Star Trek top trumps, and I got a bubble sword, PLUS loads of sweets. Since the bowling is super cheap on a Tuesday we all came away feeling like we'd just robbed the Bowlplex! Now James' freezer is broken so we're gorging ourselves on Ben and Jerry's before bed. N'night.

Action shot.

B is me by the way ( B for boob)

Bubbles in the bus station!

Sophie's adorable monster :3

First day back.....boringgg

Day 55 (or 6?) - 25th February 2013

Not a lot happened today, since it was the first day back at college it was pretty normal. I did however, get an email from Festaff saying they're taking applications (in preparation for #32 Work for my ticket at a festival), and I wore this adoooooorrrable foxy t-shirt...I'm planning to use it as a template for chopping up the tie-dye t shirt that I was planning to fringify asap.

#87 Ride the number 1 bus. (And a film and a burger)

Day 54 - 24th February 2013

Today was just one of those days that gets awesomer and awesomer. Since it was the last day of half term, me and James decided we had to make the most of it. So, I planted my mushrooms this morning (ready for #61), then we headed up to town. We saw Wreck-it Ralph at the cinema, partially with the hope of getting a voucher for the Handmade Burger Company like we did last time. But it wasn't there on the back of our tickets. Oh well, never mind. Then we got a drink. No voucher on the back of that. Then, I guess because I was sad about not getting any vouchers, I got some popcorn, which I never ever do. And there was a voucher on the back!! How incredibly awesome is that?? BUT the voucher was only valid after 5pm on a Sunday, so we decided to hop on a passing number 1 bus, and cross off #87 on the list. So that was fun. Then we headed over to the Handmade Burger Co. and had THE BEST BURGER EVER. We both got bacon and cheese burgers, and they were beautiful. I'm not even a burger kinda person, but it was gorgeous. I didn't take a photo because I was ravenous by this time, and it was just tooo good. Then, we made our way back, got some Ben and Jerry's on the way, and now we're watching Robots. Quite frankly the best day I've had in a long time.

Feeling the end of the holiday...

Day 53 - 23rd February 2013

I've really been feeling the half term holiday drawing to a close, making me a tad miserable. I went up to town today with Dad, Jacquine, Johnnie, Joe and Joe's friend Dom. We saw the Notebenders again, who we saw quite recently. They were pretty good, but their last two songs were utterly captivating. They have three drummers who rotate, and one is only 10 years old! The girl is amazing to watch and I think the 10 year old boy might be her brother, because she helps him out by clapping the beat if he goes off at all. Not a particularly eventful day, but it was still a day, so I'm glad of that.

Tie Dye Time!

Day 52 - 22nd February 2013

Me and Lily did a load of tie-dye this morning, while all the others went to the air museum at Cosford. They have a red arrow and a vulcan (or is it falcon??) bomber, so Johnnie loved it :) Then we had chapattis, cheese and chorizo for lunch (what ethnicity is that meal anyway?) and did a load of homework. We were in the little pocket of warmth that is the breakfast room, while it was around 10 degrees in the rest of the house, and just above 0 outside. So that was nice. Then we all shnuggled up this evening and watched Rio for the first time (second time for Joe and Johnnie). I really liked it, I LOVE SAMBA :)

Tie-dye drying, I'll post some outfits tomorrow :)

Half-hearted charity shopping and best old friends.

Day 51 (or is it 52?) - 21st February 2013

Today I attempted to clear the junk out of Joe's room (only semi-successful), the guinea pigs moved house (into Joe's room), and I went charity shopping with my oldest and bestest friend Ruth. Then we watched the latest PramFace (Ruth hadn't seen it yet) and I introduced her to The New Normal. She stayed for tea and got to meet Jacquine and Johnnie too :)

Dorridge!! #89 Take the train to Dorridge with James

Day 50 - 20th February 2013

Today, James took me to Dorridge as a slightly belated 2 year anniversary treat. Going to Dorridge is a bit of an in-joke with us, because there's a train to my local station that terminates at Dorridge. And the train ready-out voice lady says it really funny, and we just always said we'd have to go. So we did. And it was extremely and incredibly boring xD

There was LOADS of nice houses (which I didn't take photos of because I didn't want to offend anyone.) and the best thing we found was a nature reserve, which was a field. I imagine that on a nicer (warmer) day, the park would have been really lovely, but it was freezing today!

We did have a nice picnic though, and we're still full. It didn't help that when we'd exhausted Dorridge's resources, we came straight back to Birmingham and got Krispy Kreme doughnuts and hot chocolates! Then we went to James' nans to warm up, which made us soo tired, so we spent the rest of the afternoon dozing on her sofa.

Despite the freezing weather, and the lack of stuff to do, I actually had an awesome day :) Thanks James!

End of forced bralessness and a trip to Merry Hell.

Day 49 - 19th February 2013

Today, I went to Merry Hill with Sam and Lily, since they got some money for some new clothes. Me and Lily bought some plain white T's, that we're planning to dip-dye sometime this week...no doubt I'll post about it!

Today also marks the end of my month of forced bralessness... and I've got a few pearls of wisdom that I've learnt to share:

1. Don't worry! I didn't tell anyone about this challenge until I was 3 weeks in, and when I did, they were all really surprised! Nobody had had any idea I hadn't been wearing a bra. If anything, I think I might have got more compliments on things like how well my clothes were fitting me because of my reduced boobiness! Of course, as soon as I told anyone about it, they were staring at my chest all the time... but that was only once I'd told them.
2. A little vest goes a long way. As well as holding them still a bit, a vest top underneath your clothes helps to prevent nipple viewing.Of course, doing this in the winter made it slightly easier, in that I was rarely wearing less than a jumper, giving me pretty good all round nipple coverage. Layers are key in this area!
3. Plan ahead. Although generally being bralessness wasn't a problem, if you know you're going to have to do some brisk walking, you might want to think twice about it. This obviously depends on your boob size, but since I'm a 32DD this was a slight issue. If you need to run up stairs for any reason make sure you hold them still! It's better that people know you haven't got a bra on, than your boobs end up in pain and around your knees!

I hope this is helpful, and maybe even convinces a few of you to give bralessness a go!

Hopefully going bowling this evening, I hope you've all had a good day!

Walking, gardening and chicken cleaning.

Day 48 - 18th February 2013

Gorgeous weather yet again today, so I really wanted to make the most of it. James was being boring and lazy, so I walked home through Leasowes (which was BEAUTIFUL) and then I came home, did some gardening, cleaned the chickens out, then did a bit more crochet. Dad was surprised I was cleaning out the chickens, but they stank and since I refuse to eat eggs from battery hens, I thought it would be a little hypocritical letting them go on living in about 4 inches of poo.

Tomorrow is my last official day of bralessness, so I'll probably write a post about what I've learnt ;)

Mum's deathaversary and a walk over to Illey

Day 47 - 17th February 2013

Today it's two years since my mum died. I haven't really been thinking about her much more than normal, I think I thought more about her last week before my birthday. It's funny how sometimes I'll really miss her for no reason, and then when it would make sense for me to miss her, like today, I find that I don't feel that same pain. I guess that's just how it's always going to go, and I can't force it. In a lot of ways, it feels really good to be able to look back on the last two years, and be proud of how my and my family have dealt with it. I don't think it's damaged any of us, I really think it has made us all so much stronger, and I think mum would be really and truly proud of that.

We went for a walk over Illey today, because the weather was gorgeous like it was yesterday, so I took a few nice photos. :)

3 days worth; clothes and ponytail; flowers; broken car, beautiful day and To Kill a Mockingbird

Missed a couple of days, because our internet inexplicably went down, so here's the blogs for Thursday and Friday.

Day 44 - 14th February 2013

I have tried to blog, but my internet's down so I'm here (word doc.) instead. Today, I had a ponytail, wore my new skirt and tights, and went for a horrible exhausting run with Lily. I was then trying to stretch my legs out to lessen the pain tomorrow, so I got out my birthday yoga book (Thanks Maria!) and had a go at that. I really love stretching, and especially yoga.

I'm finally getting somewhere with my EPQ, it's really getting to a finishable point, and I did loads today. Yay!

Day 45 - 15th February 2013

Internet's down again! I think it might be this meteor that's passing close. Today, James bought me flowers because we had a stroppy argument; we did the signing choir for Hannah's EPQ presentation and I ate a lot of oreos. Tomorrow we're going to Clive and Lotties, and I'm excited to do lots of reading (just started 'To Kill a Mockingbird') and loads of crochet over half term.

Day 46 - 16th February 2013 (today)

We were supposed to be going to Clive and Lottie's today, but when we were about 5 minutes away from home the car went ker-plunk... We stopped to check it out and apparently the front suspension had basically pinged off, so that was that. Now we're all sitting around doing not a lot. I went for a run with Lily and James, and guess what? Running on my own is worse that running with one fit person, but running with two fit people is just demoralising. I'm exhausted, and starving and I don't think my legs will ever recover.

In other news, I read To Kill a Mockingbird today (and last night), and I can so see why it's a modern classic. It was beautiful, and it's had me thought-provoked all day... and wanting to call my first son Atticus ;)

I think it just makes me really deeply consider the little prejudices everyone carries around with them, everyone stereotypes certain people, and I think that's something I would love to work myself free from, to view everyone as a separate person, and not to make assumptions about them based on their previous actions; I think if everyone could possibly even try to think like that, the world could be fairly close to perfect. That leads me to thinking that; isn't that what a lot of religion is supposed to be about? Acceptance and Forgiveness. And yet religion and race are still today a big cause of conflict and war. I think that might be why I find religion such a difficult concept for me to accept. I believe in the ideology of religion...I just don't believe it works in practice to be governed by anyone but yourself, because if you've got a God to rely on, it helps you not to take responsibility for what you've done. 

Or that's what I wonder anyway...

Today was gorgeous weather, just thought I'd mention, it had that very early spring smell, like the smell of good things coming.

Clothes, socks and holidays.

Day 43 - 13th February 2013

I went to Merry Hill today to spend my clothes voucher gift card things. I had £20 for next and £15 for  H&M. I didn't find anything I wanted from next, but I did quite well in H&M. I got a really nice 100% cotton dress for £7, a tight stripy skirt (which I've been looking for for a while) and some nice tights, all for £14.98... so I have 2p left on my gift card! I'll put some new outfit posts soon, but it was too dark by the time I got back to take anything nice.

Me and James were getting excited about our holiday today. It's our 2 year anniversary today, so we went for a romantic pizza at No. 1, and talked about our holiday. We're planning to get inter-rail tickets for Europe. We're talking about doing Paris, Marseilles, Venice, Florence, Rome, Munich, Berlin and Amsterdam, or something like that. I'm so excited! I've been buying things with packing in mind, things I can pack up small, and layer and wash easily. It's going to be so so so so so so soooooo fun!

I got these lovely 'Green Treat' bamboo socks from TKMaxx as well today, they're so soft and snuggly :3

Also, I might be able to write a post about my month of bralessness soon, I've got some tips for the future, and a few interesting observations.

Crochet fun and a giggly Hannah.

Day 42 - 12th February 2013

Had a pretty good day today, I got a lovely (slightly late) birthday present from my adoptive daughter Mary, a crochet pattern, hook and wool! It's for a slouchy bag, and the colours are gorgeous. I wasn't sure how to read patterns, but Mary picked one with little pictures to help me, and it's going pretty well! There's a picture underneath of my progress so far.

This was so funny. We found Hannah in the bus stop on the way home, and she had the giggles so bad! I've never seen her like it. It was all because of this little sloth she put as a background on her phone, and so every time she looked at it she was in absolute hysterics. IT WAS HILARIOUS!! xD

Must sleep must sleep...

I've just finished putting away all my birthday goodies, purely so that I could get into my bed. Now all I need to do is brush my teeth and sleep!

Alastair's velcro face!

Birthday!!

Day 40 - 10th February 2013 - MY BIRTHDAY!!

I had such a good day! My birthday treasure hunt went off with a hitch, and it was well worth the excitement. We had croissants and mangoes (a present from Jacquine and Johnnie) for breakfast, which was probably my favourite part of the whole day. Hannah stayed over, and I'm so glad she did because it made it all feel a bit more special and birthday-y. Then we went up to town and had the treasure hunt, and the reconvened at Pizza Hut were we stuffed ourselves silly, and everyone gave me their presents, and I gave everyone their little presents I brought. They were keys off a keyboard that I put funny messages on the wrapping paper, but I stupidly forgot to take a picture, so this probably doesn't make a lot of sense.

If anyone else likes the sound of doing their own photo chase/treasure hunt here's the gist...

• Pick a set of things you want people to take photos of in your town or city, a few examples from mine include; a banana, a cashier that looks happy, a bra, a copy of fifty shades of grey, something red and a couple of funny place names.
• Split your friends into teams, set a time limit and a meeting place, and go!
• Meet back up over some pizza, and give homemade medals out to the winning team (whoever got the most things off the list) and for the best picture.

I also got lots of great presents to help me with the list, but they're at home and I'm at James', so I'll put them on some time this week.

Signing and birthday food :)

I had a birthday tea today :) Which admittedly I had to cook myself, but it was still great. We also did Hannah's signing choir today, so I learnt 'Three Little Birds' by Bob Marley in sign language. It's surprisingly easy and it was really fun! Hannah's a great teacher as well, you should have seen us all doing bangra in the courtyard last year, and Ho Pan doing Gangnam Style.