Flower Girl....

Aren't these pretty!?! I always love to have fresh flowers around the place but sometimes I just don't have the time to pop to the shops to get some. The last year I spotted some beautiful silk hydrangeas in Bedeck made by a company called SIA they are also stocked in Selfridges but at £12.50 per stem I hadn't been able to bring myself to splash out.

Then on a recent trip to Northern Ireland to visit my parents I popped in to Dunnes Stores, which is a store only in Ireland like a cheaper M&S or more expensive Primark. I always make a visit whenever I am in Ireland because I can buy clothes that none of my other friends have and it is sooooooo affordable.

While I was at the till paying for two pairs of skinny jeans and a beige mac my mum spotted these silk flowers, not quite the same quality as the SIA ones but not far off. So I bought 5 white stems and 3 green stems, each at £3.50!!! AMAZING!  They just make me smile every day!

For those in Ireland or just visiting I highly recommend making a visit, sorry to those that can't got get them, unfortunately their website isn't quite up to scratch for buying things on line. But these are too pretty not to share!

Kate
xoxo

016 Saturday Matinee

I love this film it makes me happy and sad all at the same time! It is the perfect film to watch on this wet Saturday afternoon as I am forced to stay indoors with a horrid cold. It all starts with a chance meeting between two intrepid explorers Carl and Ellie, as they grow up love blossoms, they marry and have a content life together. It is not without its up and downs but soon Carl realises that they have never been on their adventures, sadly Ellie dies and Carl ends up going it alone. He feels forced out by the big city developers and when he is about to be made to leave the home he built with Ellie he flies away...

It is a hilarious film with lots of humour aimed at adults, although my favourite joke is pure childish humour.... SQUIRRELS!

If you haven't seen this before then what is wrong with you?!? Pixar is not just for kids!!

Kate
xoxo

M.I.A.

Well I am back in the land of the living hopefully doing things that interesting enough to blog about, maybe doing a little shopping and generally getting on with my life. But I thought I would take the time to write a little bit about why I haven't blogged in such a long time... I may not have mentioned this before but to make ends meet I am a Structural Engineer, really it is more than making ends meet it is my career and something I love to do. If you stop by here to read my general life bits and bobs then you most likely don't have a clue what a structural engineer is or does. So here is my basic explanation, an Architect or Client may have an idea about how they want a building or space to look and then we get involved and make sure the whole things stands up and defies gravity, wind and the general demands made on a building.

I love my job, I love creating buildings that will still be here long after I have finished my career and hopefully long after I have left the planet. There is nothing more satisfying than leaving your mark on the planet for a good reason!

Anyway after spending 5 years at university getting a masters in engineering I then started working but that wasn't the end of my examinations. After accruing a number of years experience engineers can go on to become Chartered, meaning they are competent to design a structure on their own. In September 2011 I submitted my application for Chartership and in November I had an interview to make sure my submission was accurate and I was competent to sit the chartership exam. On Friday 13th April 2012 I sat that examination, it was the longest and shortest day of my life so far. It was a 7 hour exam which seems like such a long time but you are asked to do so much in that time that it absolutely flies by and that the end you just want 3 more hours to finish the paper properly.

I had spent such a long time working up to it that the satisfaction of it being over has been a little overwhelming and I am just so happy to be "living" again! I just have to wait now until August to find out if I passed or have to resit....