Wonderful Wednesday #69

Happy mid-week dear and sweet ones!  How are you bearing up?  Has it felt like the   l-o-n-g-e-s-t   week in the whole wide world or can you hardly believe your peepers that it's Wednesday already?!  I'm in neither camp, but i'm somewhere, tiredly dangling in the middle!  I worked Saturday last week and then was lucky to be off both Sunday and Monday.  At the time it felt super-duper luxurious, but at the same time i neither know if i'm coming or going this week and i'm convinced i'll do something on the wrong day simply because i don't seem to be able to distinguish one from the other lately!  I'm having a spell of bad sleep too which i dare say isn't helping!  I'm somehow getting the hours right, i just can't seem to sleep at the right level?!  I'm not even sure how much sense that actually makes.  I'm sleeping much lighter lately and that's not like me at all.  It's resulted in many a night's 'sleep' going a bit like this:  Awake.  Asleep.  Awake.  Asleep.  Toilet.  Awake.  Asleep.  Drink water.  Awake…oh i'm sure you get the idea.  Do you ever get those times?!  
Let's not get ourselves distracted though - this little spot is not for discussing my sleep patterns (although some top tips on deep sleep are always greatly welcomed!) it's for all things WONDERFUL and WEDNESDAY shaped!  So let's hop to it shall we?
1)  Progress.  That's a happy-making feeling in whatever ever form you find it for sure.  For me so far this week it's all been about exercise development.  I used to think my tummy was flat purely because i cycle a lot and that was what must be keeping it in check.  Until i attempted some form of 'Ab Exercise.'  Safe to say i've discovered that my flat 'tum is purely down to luck - the hard way!  I've spoken a lot about how much i LOVE the Mary Helen Bowers exercise sessions on You Tube. They're based around ballet and are slow but you can really feel them working! I was first introduced to this lady from dear Rosie and i haven't looked back. I try and do her 'Swan Arms' and 'Leaner Thighs, Tum' etc at least three times a week on top of tootling about on my bike here and there.  I've noticed so much difference!  Her sessions are short and sweet manageable at 5-15 minutes and i like that you can focus on specific areas.  This week we've been focussing on lower stomach muscles and strengthening the core in just a 6 minute session.    Easy-peasy!  I thought.  I've never had so much pain in such a short space of time!  I couldn't even finish it first time around!  Now i can get to the end and i'm really enjoying feeling the difference!  Go me!!  Her exercises are short and strenuous but not impossible to pick up.  And for someone like me who hates most forms of exercises that aren't on two-wheels and in the park she must be doing something right to keep me interested!  
2)  Florence and the Machine's new album:  'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.'  Because it's all I imagined it would be and more!  The gal can do no wrong and because of my sheer love for Flo i simply hit download without even listening to a single track.  And she doesn't disappoint!  It's a million miles away from her very first album and you can tell she has really grown up and so too has her sound.  That said it's still very much peppered with her signature tones, harmonies and beautiful lyrics.  It's an album i just know i'll listen to backwards, forwards and sideways and one which i can imagine will translate beautifully live.  Hello new Summer soundtrack.  Well you know, when Summer decides to show itself….
3)  Rainbows.  Because well if you've got to find a silver-lining in all of this crazy weather that has been thrown at us over the past few days then this is surely It.  There's predictably some kind of magic that you can't help but deny that comes from spotting a rainbow.  It's a little bit Fairytale, one of those things that you just can't believe can occur naturally (much like a perfect cloud formation or a dreamy sunset) and something which feels so special because it doesn't occur all too often.  Well unless you count this week.  This week i've seen three and it's only Wednesday!  Three or not, each one has been different from the last and has had me racing for my camera regardless.  Now if someone could tell me where that pot of gold is hiding….
4)  True surprises.  Monday morning i tootled downstairs to pick up the post, only to discover a little note from the Postman from Saturday to say that i had missed a parcel.  I was mystified.  I hadn't ordered anything.  It wasn't my birthday. And i was pretty certain i hadn't done anything to warrant any kind of celebration or gift-giving.    I can't remember ever feeling quite so excited about opening anything since the days when you opened your birthday presents having not ever asked for anything because you were far too small to really grasp the whole gift-giving game.  I was that excited.  I opened the sweetest little brown box only to find the most beautifully wrapped and decorated biscuit with the most lovely personally addressed dear sweet note - only from the lovely faces at Loaf !!! It warmed my heart beyond belief!  And let me tell you it was just what i needed after a rubbish night's sleep!  I'm sure you've probably heard of Loaf by now?!  If not may i suggest you bob right over to their beautiful website quick-march and marvel at what is most certainly the most wonderfully designed furniture and home-ware that you might have ever, ever seen.  The beautiful biscuit was to celebrate Loaf's first #LoafShack which is opening up in Battersea, London this Autumn!  It's what they're describing as an open 'Slow-room' unlike any other kind of showroom.  They'll be fun and frolics-galore including an ice-cream parlour and 'The Snugville Mattress-Testing Arena.'  I wont waffle, but i sincerely LOVE Loaf.  They care you know?  Everything is made with us in mind and they just get each and every little detail spot on with everything they do.  The Mr and I are going to try our very hardest to make an excuse to be in London at the time just for an excuse to say hello and have a nosey. It all sounds too fab to pass up and i think it could be well-worth the train trip from Cumbria.
5)  Sweet potatoes.  'Cos they've sort of been my go-to 'i'm feeling lazy and it's just me for tea' type…errrm dinners?! The Mr has been scampering about practising for a gig in Edinburgh that was last night.  I never fancy putting too much effort into dinner when it's just me.  But luckily i've progressed somewhat from my uni days where dinner was more often than not porridge, or….cereal.  I've been baking sweet potatoes in the oven until the outside goes crisp and the inside is soft, squishy.  After a generous sprinkle of sea-salt, i pile them high with homemade lemon, herb and chickpea cous-cous, baby kale and a great big dollop of hummus.  Wham bam!  Yummiest solo-dinner in the world.  Okay well maybe just in my world. Sometimes if i'm feeling really indulgent i slice up some avocado and give an extra squirt of freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice for extra yum.  Mmmmm!
6)  Bike shops.  For knowing about bikes (no less!) and for not making me feel silly and unknowledgeable (which i am - let's face it!)  and for fixing dear sweet Willow's poorly gear cables and stretched chain.  Poor little two-wheeled friend!
7)  Being extra specially lucky enough to attend a Lush Cosmetics blogger Summer Skincare event.  It was a little scary at first but it was something i really enjoyed!!  I've always harped on about how much i adore their skincare and so it was nice to spend time learning about new products i hadn't tried and also sneaking some samples too!  Plus i love an excuse to meet up with our local bloggers - they're all such inspirational ladies that being around them is the greatest!
8)  Climbing back aboard the porridge express to yummy breakfast once more.  I had all but given up on porridge until next year in favour of granola, almond milk and chopped banana which is usually my warm weather breakfast.  But this weeks sideways, backwards, forwards and quite frankly upside down weather and crazy temperatures (Five degrees i'm looking at you!) has had me scurrying back to my cold weather breakfast.  If there's one good thing to come out of unseasonable temperatures, this could well be it!
9)  Sat curled up on Monday afternoon, after all of my jobs had been completed and Willow had been dropped off at the bike shop, with a blanket around my shoulders and a big mug as big as my head of Lady Grey tea and a chocolate brownie and the skylight window open.  It was freezing (see previous point) and my 'moment' lasted probably not much more than exactly that, but it was a little bit like heaven and for a few sweet moments i felt like i was camping.  Sort of.  And my tea and brownie tasted extra special because they were munched 'outside' so to speak.
10)  Belgian Dark chocolate-covered rice cakes.  Because miracle-of-miracles i don't really like rice cakes and i can take or leave dark chocolate to be honest BUT put them together and they're a bit of alright and a half!  Who knew?!  They taste somewhere between popcorn and chocolate biscuits and if we're being really honest with each other (which i like to think we all are here) then they're probably not much healthier than a Kit-kat.  But you know dark chocolate and rice?!  Sounds better for you doesn't it?  (NB i may or may not have actually slathered Nutella on ordinary rice-cakes in a terrible attempt to re-create said find when there were none left the other day.  The result wasn't great.  And it resulted in me playing a game of 'one for me, one for the rice cake' with the jar of Nutella for longer than i'd like to admit)   
11)  Treating myself to a new white t-shirt from H&M. Incase anything happens to the five squillion i already have squirrelled away.  White t shirts are a staple though.  And even if the imaginary 'capsule wardrobe' i'm curating stops only at white t shirts, well then it's not entirely a bad thing is it?!  It's 100% cotton (rare) and has the softest feel and pretty flute-y massive floaty sleeves so it's win-win in the white tee book as far as i'm concerned. *  *  * Roll up!  ROLL UP!  For it's your turn!  What's new?!  What has been floating your boat this week?  Have you been basking in warmer temperatures?  Which, if you have can you please leave details of your exact whereabouts because let's face it, we could all do with some sunshine and a little holiday!  What are you looking forward to for the rest of the week?! Please do leave a sweet comment below, pop me a tweet over on Twitter or Instagram with the hash-tag #wonderfulwednesday  I'm @sallytangle on both. Happy mid-weeking!