Reasons I'm smiling....

So Reader, yesterday I was on a train home, grinning to myself, when I overheard a lady kiss her teeth and say 'I don't know what SHE's got to smile about'. So I thought I'd share some things. In the hope that it infects. Maybe it'll get back to her and she'll not be able to help but use some of those face muscles! 

REASONS I AM SMILING GORMLESSLY

1. My train station is on a hill. Which means on my way home, I get to run down it, giggling to myself. I do this every time I come back alone, even if there are other commuters. It is JOLLY GOOD FUN.
2. I am getting to spend time with lots of my fabulous friends at the moment. Which I am LOVING.
3. Autumn/pre-christmas Winter is my favourite time of year, because of all the reasons in this video and more. I also start my Christmas prep in October, with Christmas pudding making and starting to hand design Christmas presents for my non-adult relations.
4. Halloween is just round the corner and me and two of my favourites have come up with a BRILLIANT costume idea
5. I am having some adventures in non-Englandy places soon-4 days in Italy with the parents, then 4 days in Ireland with the Partner In Crime and I can't wait!
6. I am really excited about a new career path that will hopefully run alongside my acting/vlogging/writing work. And I'm feeling motivated about it! Which is all jolly nice.
7. I have discovered exercise is actually giving me more energy than usual and am actually ENJOYING working out four times a week ( I know, feel free to throw shoes at my head etc)
8. I am baking on Wednesday. I blooming love baking.
9. Guardians of The Galaxy exists. And for that we should all be grateful.
10. Everywhere smells of autumn at the moment-my room has orange and cinnamon candles burning, walking home from the station I could smell bonfires and damp and roast dinner smell eminates from every home. Lush.
11. Curly One has moved into THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GROWN UP HOUSE and it is only 20 minutes on the train from me. Which is just deliciously delightful. And I was able to help her move in, which made me happy.
12. I got to catch up with my beloved make-up artist/prosthetics guru SJ this week. Long time followers of this blog may remember that SJ and I used to do cake shop reviews here-keep your eyes peeled on my vlogging channel-this Christmas, we are potentially doing a short Christmas series! Cakes, crafts and canny behaviour...
13. School kids are back in school. Which means the streets are mine again! (I love having non conventional working hours...)
14. This year, long flowy coats are in fashion. Which means walking round pretending to be a Daphne Du Maurier heroine
15. I was introduced to THE GREATEST TEA PLACE today at the Leicester Square Arts Theatre. It's called Madd Hatter's, and they make Tea Lattes. In flavours so wonderful you'll want to cry, like candyfloss. And they have Oreo cake. And iced tea that tastes like it has a bucket of sugar in but actually only has one teaspoon per TEN SERVINGS. I may never leave.

Anyway my dear darling lovely Reader, I hope you have lots of reasons for smiling too-and remember-you're all reasons for me to smile too!

Remember not to kick piles of leaves-hedgehogs like to sleep there

Ash

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Move those hips!

Reader, I am a complete ding-bat and managed to do something atrocious to my back in an aerobics class full of old ladies. I've been trying to get healthy for Christmas so that I can eat like a pig and drink like a fish and not feel too guilty about it, so I've taken up doing a really long exercise class every saturday, carrying on jogging three times a week and am going to pilates tonight. God help me.

I was always that child who pretended to be ill to get out of exercising at school, pressing my head against a radiator to make me feel feverish and limping to fake a sprained ankle 'I think it might be broken Miss!' so as you might guess, exercise does not come naturally to me. But because I've worked out that it gives me the chance to be unbearably smug, I now throw myself into it whole heartedly. Sometimes too wholeheartedly, as my crooked back would tell you if it could talk. Actually it probably wouldn't say that, it would probably just groan and ask for a hot water bottle.

Apart from the back issue, it's been a great weekend. I went out for drinks with the work lot on friday, dressed in a shockingly bad wig to be Uma Therman in Pulp Fiction, got far too drunk on Tesco gin and tonic in a can, gave strangers on a train cupcakes and got lost walking back from the station at about 1.30 in the morning. Saturday I went to a friend's Halloween party dressed as a bright green demon magician and got face paint EVERYWHERE (thank god she put dust sheets all over her gorgeous designer furniture!), Then finally yesterday we hosted an afternoon halloween tea for the kids in my family (and some big kids too). My gorgeous godson AG was particularly enthralled by mine and the lad's costumes and showed off his new skills at walking and chewing place mats. He's at that brilliant stage where 'peek-a-boo' is still the funniest thing in the world, and he's just learnt that crawling away really fast is a fun way to escape family occasions. Brilliant child.

On that note Reader, I'm off to go and sort out my costume tonight, must NOT let the trick or treater's down!
Ash
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