Just back in from the hospital. My gran had a bad accident and fell in her kitchen. She was lying there for an hour before my mother just happened to go along. If she hadn't, goodness knows what would've happened. She's broken her hip in a very awkward place and has a huge gash on her forearm. There was blood all over the place when mum got there due to the arm wound - she got such a fright seeing my gran in that state :(

She's seeing specialists tomorrow who'll decide how to go about things. The operation won't be straightforward as she has heart conditions and breathing problems that will cause complications.

It's been an absolutely awful day ... to see my gran lying on the floor, in so much pain ... it was heartbreaking.

Please send her good thoughts and wishes, we'd all appreciate it.

Ok, so I really need to do an update. Tonight isn't the night, though.

Mummy is taking me away on a surprise trip she's had organised for ages for my Birthday. I'm so excited. It's going to be in Scotland somewhere and we'll be away two nights. It's wonderful not to have been the one who has had to organise everything. I have absolutely no idea where we're going!

I'll do a mammoth update about everything when I get back.

<3

Well, this is the last entry I shall write as a Twenty Something.

This is the last hour before I hit 30. Three O.

I've been dreading this moment for the past five years. I can't believe it's here.

I don't want to write a list of things I've learnt, seen and experienced right now, and I don't think it's wise to reflect at the moment, but maybe this will be a new chapter. Maybe things will start to go my way now.

Farewell Twenties ♥

If I'm not around, or don't respond to orders over the next wee while it's because my Internet is frakking up.

Hope to have it fixed ASAP.

Is there anyone who can tell me about some really good hotels in the Hollywood area? I'm looking for a safe location, reasonable prices and somewhere that is super-close to all the attractions.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Take your answer to each question and type it into Google Image Search. Post one of the images from the first page of results.

Age you will be on your next birthday:



Yep ... the dreaded day will soon be upon me. A couple of weeks of being in my 20s left :/

Place you would like to travel:



Prince Edward Island ... I still might decide to go for my 30th.

Your Favorite Place:



I've never been, and it actually doesn't exist, but I know if it did it would be my favourite place.



The Luxembourg Gardens in Paris is a truly perfect place. I've spent many hours there ... one of my favourite statues is there also.

Your Favorite Object:



Your Favorite Food:



It's the Marie Antoinette in me.

Your Favorite Animal:



I love cats and dogs equally. This cat picture was so cute that it won out over the other options.

Your Favourite Colour:



I was always a stalwart purple girl, but I've now gone to the Green side.

The Town You Were Born In:



The Town You Live In:



I prefer not to post the exact town, so I'll go for the county.

We left when I was just born, so I've no idea what the place is like.

The name of a past pet:



I've had a lot of my little ones pass on ... Tamara's name came to mind first as I can see her picture from my desk. I like Tamara de Lempicka's work.

I want to start up a blog for StephariA and I'm wondering which service to use.

Which blog providers do you use, or recommend?

I thank you <3

What everyone's been waiting for for far too long! I've finally gotten around to getting the site up and running again. There are over 130 new items to look at (and buy, plz), including shawls, corsages, wall plaques, the last two Faerie Doors and tons of new jewellery items.



( A few examples. )

Remember to refresh loads of times, if you've been there recently. Also, if there are any errors, don't tell me - I hate Dreamweaver!

Compliments are a great way to boost a person's self esteem, they can raise your spirits when you're down and just generally make a person feel good.
So... leave me a complimenting comment! Am I a good listener? A good writer? Do I have mad rambling skills? You can make my day with just a few nice words. Then, be sure to post this in your own LJ so that others can do the same for you!

Goddess knows I could do with some positivity at the moment.

I've decided to do a little weekly review of the mundanity of my life. Sounds riveting, I know, but I'm hoping it'll act as an anchor to this place because I feel I let too long pass between entries. I also rarely seem to write these days ... I kinda miss it.

Last weekend I went to see a Fleetwood Mac tribute act called "Rumours of Fleetwood Mac". They were awesome musicians. The woman singing Lindsey Buckingham's songs/harmonies was sooo like her; She had that deep smoky sound, and spot on harmonies. The girl singing Stevie Nicks had a very strong, powerful voice. She definitely had a Stevie vibe, though she was deeper and without that beautiful warble and vibrato Stevie possesses. We saw it at this funny little theatre in Dunfermline called The Alhambra. It was so cute ... like a tiny old fashioned music hall. I went with my mum and our friend, and we were in stitches most of the show due to these two dudes in front of us. They were definitely in their mid-50s and were quite clearly Superfans. All through the show they were giggling and nudging each other. One was practically vibrating in his seat and couldn't keep still for the life of him. We had tears rolling down our faces when he started playing the drums along with the songs and whooping like a banshee ... with such vehement enthusiasm. I thought he was going to implode with excitement at one point. The most hilarious thing was that they'd been to see them play the night before in Dundee ... bless them. They even bought the CD. One wonders how many they have now.

Went for lunch with a friend on Monday. Had a delicious pastrami, gherkin, tomato and American mayo sandwich, and a good chatter. Also went to the bead shop and dropped £20 on more beads that I totally don't need. They're too pretty to resist, though!

Tuesday, my mum and I met with crafty friends in Queensferry for lunch. Quite a sweet restaurant overlooking the Fourth Rail Bridge, where I had the most garlicky of garlic chicken sandwiches - I dared not breathe near other humans for three days. We had such a lovely day in Edinburgh, though. We went to Harvey Nichols and spent a ton on MAC makeup and Nails Inc. Eeeeh, I love "Honeylust" eyeshadow ... it's such a gorgeous, flattering shade. We then went to Jo Malone and bought the new limited edition fragrance ... Dark Amber & Ginger Lily - it's divine. We also topped up on Tuberose, which is an enduring favourite. Then we went to a restaurant and had a chocolate fondue dessert - vanilla and chocolate hot fondue with warmed brownie pieces, strawberries, marshmallows and warmed Belgian waffles, all dusted with icing sugar and sherbet. Sweet mother Mary, it was heaven on a plate. We headed home after a lovely walk through the Princess Gardens. It was such a sweet day. I'm having a real Edinburgh moment. I think Tom and I might go this weekend to see an exhibition.

The rest of the week was rather mundane. Saw a couple of films and that was about it, really. Just lots of crafting in between.

We did have our "garden" over-turned last Wednesday. A huge massive JCB came and bulldozed over everything, including trees! I do have pictures somewhere, but I shall upload them when we eventually landscape it all and get things looking tiptop. I envisage that taking quite some time because it's rather massive and in quite a state. I'm certainly looking forward to its completion, though, as I'm going to have a Faeries Tea Party for my 30th birthday, and I want a little marquee in the garden, set up with a magnificent throne and mermaids and Ambrosia and unicorns. I also want to have a go at growing my own vegetables and fruit, which obviously isn't as realistic a goal as the Tea Party. I do realise that this is rather ambitious, though, as I am sadly the girl whose watercress wouldn't grow in class when I was six, and whose GRASS wouldn't grow in class when I was seven. I want to at least give it a try. I shall deal with the inevitable failure when the time comes with gracious resignation, no doubt.

So, yes, that's my first weekly life review. Wasn't it thrilling? I wish I was doing more interesting things about which I could update! I must invent some exciting jetset lifestyle. I'll need another name for that - a pseudonym ... perhaps it will be "Valentina Rouge" and I'll wear frisky hats, emerald shoes and pearl leather gloves. Very exciting.

Steph is going to go to bed now though. Adieu.

My first time...

Oh my! Josie gave me a journal thingy! *dances around* Hehe! *knuffles for Josie*

I don't know what I'm doing yet...It's a journal so might be an idea to say what I've done today...Well that will take all of thirty seconds...

Woke up...Went to the doctor to see about my shoulder...he gave me pills...They're so much fun...Make you feel all zippy! Then came home, sat on the sofa, went online and faffed around for a few hours! God, the excitement.

Now I have this to play with! I don't know what to do with it, but I get to make LJ icons! Josie told me all about them...I foresee yet another addiction!

Ok first entry finito...Aww jeez, I said "finito"...need help. :D

Wow, I was so bouncy.

Seven years, eh? Bloody hell.

I love LJ, but it this actually made me a bit sad considering what happened with the whole Josiegate thing. I'm glad despite that though, as I've met some genuinely lovely people here. It's also good to look back through old entries and see how you change over time and also to document things that would otherwise be forgotten. Good old ElJay. <3

Life is pretty much hectic with preparations for the upcoming fair season, so I'm working on stock most days and into the nights. Tom's working late shift this week, so it's allowing me lots of time to get on with things. It's quite nice actually, as we wake up, Tom cooks us some breakfast and we have a little time together before he goes out, then I have nearly ten hours to get on with things before he's back and we can enjoy the late evening together.

I've begun a new line of crafts, which is taking up more time than the jewellery at the moment ... hand-painted wooden faerie houses, faeries, faerie clothes, cats and various other fae-inspired shapes. They've really turned out quite well, so I hope they'll be popular. I'll take some photos when they're all done and post them. They do take a lot of doing, though, so I'm hoping they'll be viable. My dad's jig sawing out the shapes for me and mum's often painting the base coats, so I'm doing the detail painting and the majority of the base coats. Mum's working on her shawls and corsages and hats, so we have a whole cottage industry going on. My first event is at the end of May. I still have gallons of things to do, but I'm getting there. Hopefully I can get enough stock to last for three or four shows, which will mean I can rest between them and not get all worked up about things. That's the plan but I doubt it'll run to course!

I've been doing quite a lot recently, but I never get around to updating in here. I'll do another update soon and I'll document briefly some of the happenings, but for now here are a few pictures taken recently, including a couple from when Tom and I went to visit Fernie Castle and a nice wee park in the village a couple of weeks ago.



( Up, Up & Away )

I've been taking loads of photos, but there are too many to post at once, so I'll post them in another couple of batches over the next couple of weeks. I've missed posting pictures!

And now ... I sleep.

I was so sad to hear of Natasha Richardson's death. She was such a beautifully talented actress.

I always wanted to look just like she did in "Widows' Peak".

:(

Natasha Richardson

RIP

So, I went into Lush the other day for shampoo and conditioner and came out with a hunk of "Caca Brun" henna. The sales girl assured me that it's great for the condition of your hair as much as for colour.

Basically, I'm asking my very knowledgeable and wonderful flist if any of you have experience with Henna, in particular Lush henna, and if you have any tips and such for application etc. It seems a rather daunting process.

I'm thinking azhure might have some henna skillz and tips in particular?

<3

I so loved the Oscars this year. I think it's been one of the most entertaining for quite a number of years. Hugh Jackman was an interesting host and, yeah, Bring Back The Musical!

KATE WON.

Kate won! I was so pleased. She looked incomparably beautiful. There were some beautiful dresses and such from a lot of the actresses attending, but when she appeared, close to the last one to arrive, she looked reminiscent of Grace Kelly - she's so seriously in a different league. Aaah ... perfect Kate, I too had a shampoo bottle.

I can't really be bothered to go into detail about much else, but I was sad Mickey Rourke didn't win, but pleased for most of the other winners. Very, very good year for British talent, also.

Before I go though, I really would just love to slap all hale out of Brangelina. WTF is up with them? Seriously, neither of them are so great that they can behave as arrogantly ignorant as they have been doing so at various awards this season. They absolutely need to get a gigantically fruitful reality cheque. What is with Ange and her sour, pained expression ... as though she's too good for attending and it's all such a boring, wretched endurance. If that's the case, fuck off home to your thousand babies and be done with it. Brad ... well, he's a pretty useless actor at the best of times, and has as much depth as an ipod nano's profile, but he's absolutely absurd at the moment. The way they won't speak to any of the reporters on the Red Carpet programs ... they just race off, full of their own importance and won't speak! They either throw out a few monotonous, generic and awkward comments as they're walking away, or ignore people entirely. Rude little bastards! Blargh - off with their heads. They're just infuriating me at the moment ... and I'm seeing that I've gotten myself in to quite a rant ... hehe, I ought to go to bed before I implode.

Before I do, have two loser pictures!

Ooooooooooh, I'm all a-flutter. Only a couple of hours until the Oscars!

Am mucho excited. I even roped Tom into helping me make my very first Grown Up dish ... Dauphinoise Potatoes. Everyone knows what my culinary skillz are (not), so I was taking a bit of a risk. It turned out beautifully, though, if I say so myself. It was absolutely delicious. *bows to the gloriousness that is Gruyère cheese*. I'll definitely make it again, though perhaps with a two year interim due to the INSANE calorific content - a whole tub of double cream - lordy.

Tom has valiantly agreed to staying up through the night with me to watch the show, so that's nice. Mum always watches it with me, so she's all prepared. Snacks and chilled beverages are sorted ... all going according to schedule.

I might be a sad loser for the last time this year (I'm 30 next year, so I well and truly can't get away with being ridiculous), and put on all my glam-a-ram stuff ... red lips, ploofy dress and high heels I can only wear when sitting. The last Oscar ceremony of my 20s must be marked in some way, even if I look like a prick!

Ok, I feel sick now after too large a serving of potatoes, so must rest before I have my final Botox shot before my acceptance speeches.

Argh, I can't get my ipod to show the new playlist I made in itunes. It's on automatic sync. Halp me please with the kind suggestions of how to make bastard playlist work.

Ahthankya <3

It's been a while since I did this, so now is the time.

If any of you have MySpace, Facebook, Goodreads , or whatever , let me know!

Add me if you so please ... Please note that I rarely use some of these things (Twitter being one of them), but it's still nice to see people there.

MySpace
Facebook
Goodreads
Twitter
Flickr
DeviantArt

I've been keeping a document of all the films and books I've watch thus far in my handwritten journal, but I've decided to do it here, too, in the hope that when I update it and link to it periodically people can offer more suggestions, recommendations and comments etc! Makes everything all a little more interactive.

This is a document only, as a review post will be separate, and hopefully coming in the not too distant future.

( Book List )

( Film List )

Like mythosidhe, I decided to actually make up my cover in Photoshop. It's awfully angsty and emo. I was hoping I'd get something a little more Stevie Nicks-esque :p

Your Album Cover:
A random Wikipedia article is your band name.
The third picture on the first row is your album cover.
The last three words of the third quote is your album name.



In other news, we're snowed in. I fucking hate it.