. hEllo jUly .

{ dream . believe . do . repeat }

hEllo jUly

. starting off the month with a fAbulous sUmmer market .

. a little bit of running .

. a very chocolatey Clandestine Cake Club event somewhere secret .

{ the theme is . Death By Chocolate . lets hope not }

. there will be a little bit more running .

&

. then a lot of Dirty Dancing at the Secret Cinema .

{ lots of secrets this month eh ? }

. before indulging in a tipple or two at the Cocktail Weekend .

after all that

. a little more running may be in order .

&

. a lOt of healthy eating to balance out the cake & cocktails .

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hEllo fEbruary .

{ i love you to the moon and back }

looking forward to a fabulous fEbruary

full of

. beautiful new cOllections at bUbble lOndon .

and

. welcoming in the yEar of the mOnkey .

. learning how to make better bread .

and

. indulging in a few pancakes on shrOve tUesday .

. celebrating vAlentine's by baking lOvely cakes .

before

. ending the month by running arOund brighton .

. have a fAbulous dAy .

. hEllo nOvember .

so the penultimate month of the year of upon us . i'm trying not to become too reflective too soon . after all there are still 8weeks { or 61days . quite a few hours . lOts & lOts of precious seconds } still left to make the very most of . & . looking at my diary & my list of things ' to do ' & ' to achieve ' those weeks / days / moments are going to be nicely busy ones .

. nOvember .

starts with a little trip to the lAke district

{ and i can't wait to stay at the RumDoodle which just looks the cUtest of b&b's }

&

a 10K run to celebrate the wedding of some very lovely running bUgs

followed by a weekend of birthday celebrations for my little sister

{ * whispers * who turns 40 ! which in turn makes me feel sO old }

&

looking forward to a creative month of doodling & drawing . making & creating

all in readiness for christmas

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hEllo oCtober .

i can't quite believe that we are on, what feels like, the countdown to the end of the year . the shops are filling up with wInter wOolies . with scAry gOodies for hallOween . & . chrIstmas crAckers and cArds .

oCtOber

a last bit of baking for the GreatBritishBakeOff final next week

{ but which classic british cake to make ? }

another trip down to lOndon town to see Audrey

&

just maybe a treat of afternoon tea at Bea's

after which i'll be running 13point1miles

{ to run off all that cake eating ! }

&

then it's onto making & baking lots of scariness for hallOween

{ another fun month }

. have a hAppy dAy .

. hEllo aUgust .

jUly went by in a flurry of pink { & mud ! } . lots of tea & coffee was sipped { & a few cookies and cakes were baked . & . ate } . pretty things were purchased at the sUmmer mArket . & . summery things were spotted at bUbble lOndon .

so we wave gOodbye to jUly & say hEllo to aUgust .

aUgust { for me } is a month of birthday celebrations .

&

that { of course } means cake

. lots of cake .

i'm ridiculously excited about the return of the GreatBritishBakeOff

so much so that i've even had to start a Pinterest board just to save all the GBBO baking inspiration

i'll be spoiling my dAd with this { wonderfully bOozy } cake

&

then my mUm gets treated to a ferrero rocher inspired { indulgently chocolatey & delightfully nutty } cake

complete with homemade ferrero rocher truffles

&

in between all the cake making i think i'll be running

. lots .

. have a hAppy day .

. hellO jUly .

is someone secretly stealing days out of all the months ?  how can it be jUly already . i haven't quite finished enjoying jUne yet ?

i have been out & about . here & there . & . have sO much to share . which i promise to do very soon . { well as soon as the sun's stopped being so wonderfully shiny ! } . & . i owe you a little jUly calendar to pretty up your desktop too { oops ! } .

goodbye jUne & hellO jUly . 

jUly will be a little quieter than jUne

{ possibly }

but i'm still looking forward to

. celebrating 4th jUly along with the UsA .

. running the rAce fOr lifE around the lovely rAgley hAll .

&

. then getting prEtty mUddy at cOfton pArk .

{ eek }

. visiting the sUmmer mArket for craft & cAke .

. spotting the new trends for kIds at bUbble .

with

. a little bit of shopping out & about in lovely lOndon town .

ok

perhaps jUly will be as { beautifully } busy as jUne

2ndjUly . 

as they say . better late than never .

your jUly calendar to download .

. jUly 2015 .

. have a sunny day .

. hellO jUne .

& nearly half way through the year . mAy was a whirl of work . with a little travelling about . a little coffee & a little . well ok . quite a lot of cake ! it was lots of fun .

so goodbye mAy & hellO jUne .

and

i have some incredibly lovely things to look forward to

. seeing the alexander mcQueen exhibition at the v&a .

. and spending a lovely day in lOndon with friends .

. a little bit more running . this time between 2castles .

&

. a little bit of something sweet at the cAke&bAke show .

followed by

. even more sweet things with afternoon tEa at bEtty's .

&

. ending the month with some nostalgic shopping in mAnchester .

. have a joyful day .

. hellO mAy .

hAppy mAy dAy . i hope the sun is shining for you today . i spent a little time looking through my april instagram photo's yesterday . in the whirl of day to day living it's so easy to forget all the lovely things you've done, all the lovely things you've found the time to bake & cook . all the coffee's with friends . & . also those quiet moments . reading & remembering . 

& so we say hellO to mAy .

i'm looking forward to

. running my socks off in bIrmingham on sUnday .

. visiting the selvedge spring fair in stroud .

. lots of reading & book love at the hAy festival .

on my to-read list this month

 . alice's adventures in wOnderland .

&

. mrs dalloway by virginia wOolf .

. have a hAppy mAy dAy .

. MindfulMonday .

just after christmas i was browsing the app store . if i'm perfectly honest i cannot remember what i was browsing for & it's not something i do on a regular basis . but for whatever reason i was browsing & spotted in the ' best new apps ' something called ' YOU-app ' . again if i'm perfectly honest it was probably the fact that it was ' YOU-app with Jamie Oliver ' that caught my eye . so i took a closer look . & the words ' happy ' . ' healthy ' . & . ' inspiration ' jumped out at me . if i could sum up my hopes & wishes for this year i'm not sure you could pick better adjectives ( well, technically two adjectives & one noun ! ) . so i downloaded the app . signed up . & using the daily micro-action prompts started making small changes . making more conscious choices . acting more mindfully & positively .

each day you are given a micro-action which you complete with a picture . it's fun . it appeals to the instagram addict in me . it's connected me to some wonderful, likeminded people all over the world . some micro-actions are easier than others . some make you think more than others . i love the fact it's not just about food . it's about food . mindfulness . movement . & . the things we love . it reminds us that health is not just about physical health . it's about an all round positive attitude . but it's also about accepting that we're not perfect, that not every day will be a perfect day . one of the last lines of their manifesto is .

. Life is being perfectly imperfect .

take a look . 

. YOU-app .

. instagram / twitter / facebook .

if you do join in come & say hello to me .

search for lilyandBloom .

 . have a happy & healthy day .

. the rOad to brightOn .

today i run my first half marathon . if you are reading this between 9am & 11:30ish then i will be running & counting down those 13.1miles to the finish line . it's not quite yet a year since i first put on my trainers & dared to step outside the front door to take that first run & i can't quite believe how far i've come in such a short space of time .

running has become a real passion for me . i know it's good for me . i know it's made me into a healthier person . it makes me a happy person . in a lot of ways it fulfils the part of me that is very goal oriented . with running you can always aim to go further . or faster . or both !

running has led me to meet some amazingly supportive people on the rUnning bUg & make new friends that understand that passion for running . it's also made me realise what amazing friends i have already . they have patiently allowed me to ramble on about how many miles i've run . where i've run . what i wore when i ran . what i ate when i ran . and on . and on . & have had nothing but amazing words of encouragement & support . 

& lastly, through entering the brightOn half marathon running has allowed me to raise an lOvely amount of money for mAcmillan cAncer .

so if you are reading this between 9am & 11:30ish give me a little thought . i'll be looking to that road ahead . putting one foot in front of the other . knowing that i've trained for this . prepared for this . shushing that little voice in my head that's telling me it's hard & my legs hurt . & listening to the great big voice in my head that reminding me of how far i've come & isn't this just the most incredible feeling .

. 13point1 .

. have a happy & healthy day .

. update .

where do i start . what an incredible experience . i feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to do this . to have been able to have the time to train for this . to stay free from injury . & to make the most of my first hAlf mArathon . i was so nervous up until the run started . i started running with a huge smile on my face & enjoyed every single minute . even those minutes when my legs were begging me to stop ! i'd had a time in mind that i wanted to achieve . if i could have ran a time of 2:10:00 i would have been thrilled . so to run my first hAlf in a time of 2:00:59 { yaAaaaaaay } was just the icing on top of the cake & i don't think i've stopped smiling since .

the biggest thankyOu to the amazing crowds in brighton who came out & cheered all the runners on . a thankyOu to the amazing organisation of the whole event, all the volunteers, & from me a big thankyOu to the girls in the Macmillan marquee who were just so incredibly lovely & generous to all the team Macmillan runners .

. i run for bling .

. so now onwards to birmingham .