SURPRIIIIISE!
Happy Monday!
(I very nearly wrote Happy Birthday there. But nope, that’s next week!)
So yesterday I announced that I’d be launching my new design at 5pm today.
And err… in case you hadn’t noticed? It’s not 5pm yet.
Why the early bird access?
Well. I wish I could say that it was for some ACTUAL purpose. Y’know, some really super-significant reason full of meaning.
But, um no. LOL OBVIOUSLY NO. This is me we’re talking about remember?
What actually happened is that I managed to somehow break my site at about midnight last night. I was doing one last check before I went to sleep, happy that I’d done everything I needed to… And then it broke. Like, SERIOUSLY broke.
Like, my site disappeared and I couldn’t get in and there may or may not have been tears.
Thankfully, I finally managed to get it all fixed at around 2am this morning.
But the thought of re-hiding it all again just cos I said I’d wait til 5pm made my heart hurt.
I was SO scared in case I broke something again. So I just left it.
And here we are.
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK?!
I’m so happy with it. Like really, insanely, can’t-stop-grinning happy over every single bit of it.
The lovely Jemma Dorkface designed my new header. She is an absolute babe. Seriously guys, she’s so lovely and patient. I kept changing my mind and going backwards and forwards about things, and she was just a joy to work with.
The actual site design is by Solo Pine and customised by your truly!). I have a fancy new font range, and a slightly reduced and much brighter colour palette. The polka dots are still there because DUH.
I’ve also updated all my info pages and re-arranged all the categories and tags, so hopefully things are a bit more stream-lined and easier to find now. The archives are arranged with little thumbnails so a) they should load quicker and b) SO PURDY.
Most exciting of all (for me), is that the photos are now SO BIG. I’ve not gone through and re-sized all my backlog (because LOL have you seen how many photos I have on this site?!), but I’d already started prepping for this last week so you can see the full effect in my latest outfit post.
I think it’s going to make a huge difference and I can’t wait to start sharing food photos now. Just IMAGINE what That Burger picture would have looked like at this size?!
Exactly. You’re welcome.
1. Spending time with my sister. On Friday night we watched Tangled and ate sausage pasta bake and drank pink wine and then danced around the flat to Spice Girls. On Saturday we had this lovely little breakfast setup before she had to run off into town, and I got some blog work done whilst grinning like an idiot. Honestly, she’s like human prozac. I love her lots.
2. Nailing my recipe + food photography. After Ches left on Saturday, I created an AWESOME recipe (#modest) and then took what I think are my best food photos yet. There’s nothing quite like the buzz of a job well done!
3. FITTING BACK INTO MY SKINNY JEANS. OK so about 3-4 months ago, I tried to climb into my ripped skinny jeans (these ones) and couldn’t get them past my hips. Food blogger problems eh? But on Friday night I thought I’d give them another go and HURRAH THEY FIT AGAIN!
4. Audrey Hepburn. Oh Audrey. WHAT A BABE. I’ve been dying to go to the National Portrait Gallery’s exhibition for aaages so when Joe Blogs invited me along for an afternoon tea and a trip to visit Audrey, I couldn’t say no! The exhibition was beautiful (how it could be anything less?) but it was also much shorter than I think we all expected it to be. Then we ran back to the fab Amba hotel next to Charing Cross station and stuffed ourselves with tea and scones and the most divine smoked-salmon-on-brioche sandwiches EVER. A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon!
5. Getting arty with my Starbucks cup. I’ve been itching to do this ever since Erica posted that first pic of the Starbucks Autumn Cups. I’m so proud of how it came out haha!
6. Sitting happy on the tube. This week has been a brilliantly happy one for no particular reason. I keep having sudden bursts of realisation that I’m SO HAPPY WITH MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. Listening to Shake It Off (never gets old) on the tube was one of those special moments.
7. Monday antics with Erica and Charlie. We went to an event on Monday night and ate a lot of good food and accidentally got very drunk. We laughed A LOT and there are some excellent photos from the night, including one of all of us attempting a drunk high-five. These guys. ♥
8. Looking back on my blog. Going through all my archives and sorting out everything on the technical side has made me so aware of how far I’ve come with this site. I found screen shots of my very first blog designs, read through some of my cringy writing and flinched slightly at some of my old photography “skills”… and it just made me so happy and proud. So I’m taking Jasmin’s advice and shouting it out :)
9. Marylebone Food Market. I went to an Italian cooking class yesterday (post coming soon) and it started with a trip to the Farmers Market to buy ingredients. I wandered around in the crisp September sunshine, taking photos, sampling cheeses and apples and garlic mushroom pâté, smelling all the flowers, smiling at skipping children, and generally feeling totally at peace with life.
10. Bangarang Birthday. A bunch of us Bangarang Babes popped over to Farringdon to celebrate Charlie’s birthday at Bourne & Hollingsworth (remember I reviewed it?). We got well drunk on bottomless bellinis, stuffed our faces with an afternoon-brunch feast, and then sang a harmonised version of Pitch Perfect on the tube to the pub. Excellent afternoon/evening/night.
It’s been a really, really, REALLY good week.
And I’ve got a sneaky feeling it’s got a lot to do with this glorious weather we’ve been having. It’s amazing what some blue sky and sunshine can do for morale eh!
I hope you all have a wonderful week and don’t forget to upload your happy moments to Instagram with the hashtag #LittleHappyMonday.
And tell me what you think of the new design!!! :)
