Thank you

A massive Thank you to everyone who sponsored me for my first ever proper run, I was so pleased to raise over £300 for The Teenage Cancer Trust; a charity that did so much to help one of my good friends when she was diagnosed with Cancer. It was an absolutely hideous day and so windy in Southsea but a playas gotta play and even though I looked like a drowned rat when I ran over the finish line I was pretty pleased with the achievement.

Even though it wasn't miles and I have ran quite a few kilometres in the past couple months I am pretty pleased that I can even run, I've mentioned before exercise really wasn't my kind of thing unless you count dancing drunk in nightclubs as exercise but now I would much prefer to go out for a run on Sunday mornings and feel fresh as a daisy rather than waking up with the hangover shame learning over me. With that said I did go out Saturday night for a few wines to celebrate but was home tucked up in bed with Bryony and a pizza by 2am.

I also have to share the lovely little celebration selection I came home to on Saturday, My mama had gone on holiday in the morning so couldn't come and watch but I think its safe to say she was pretty proud.

There are 30 kilometres to hit before the end of the week which should be pretty do able, I have been waiting for the Vans x Liberty fall collection to drop to pick my reward however after various trips to Office I am yet to find the floral fancies on the shop floor so I had better get to thinking of something to keep me motivated. 

I also need to get back on my baking game and whip up some treats for everyone who sponsored me, I just need some puntastic inspiration...

Go go go go go go 'head

This month has been a really weird one for the running; I've barely been to the gym and have been mostly racking up the kilometres outside. I've been focusing on outside due to the fact its the Great South Run at the weekend and about a month ago I hadn't even ran a 5k outside properly however I am pretty haps and confident about running outside now.

One of my best pals Bryony said she wanted to come running tuesday night so we geared up and I explained I would have to listen to my music but would signal her every kilometre and told her planned route so she could stop and catch up if need be. Well there was no need for such a detailed route as she was cracking up for the first minute and then decided it was boring and walked home so I continued as a solo playa..until...I only went and got caught up in some sort of running team and with the momentum of team spirit ended up completing 7k in 35 minutes which I was really happy with. Not sure the actual members of the running club knew what to do with a candy flossed hair rapping runner in the mix but I definitely want to look into running with a club as its much more fun even if I still listen to my music its nice to run with other playas.

So I had October target set at 120K and the reading is currently standing at 67K which isn't ideal but I have been hustling hard at work and on various other personal commitments meaning the miles had to take a backseat however I am currently composing a motivational playlist for this evenings run and hopefully I can whack it up at least 5k, 10k if I get some proper club bangers on the mix.

My ultimate running song however is a little embarrassing but playas need the motivation and when it gets to that last kilometre I hit the power songs on the Nike App to which this plays...and I 100% imagine Drake singing it about me. There was no video but its probably a treat for everyone to have a rap along too..

Mos Zests

After what can only be described as the wedding of the year on Saturday, today (2 days later I may add) I still felt pretty vulnerable and baking was the only thing that was gonna get me through the morning. However a massive congratulations to my best friend Liz Holt who married the love of her life and the fat ox that is Steve Bega at the weekend, I'm not even being biased in saying that she was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen and everything about the day was perfect. It was a shame I managed to go from refined playa to falling over on the dance floor and passing out face in a pizza by the end of the night but hey your best friend only gets married once.

So I decided to whip up a treat for the Size? playas tomorrow and  went for a classic zesty carrot cake with a cream cheese topping. Mos Def got it right on these bad boys...''Is Sugar and Spice all you made of?''..Damn straight alongside a few other ingredients thrown in the mix you'll have yourselves your very own ''Mos Zests''.

Mos Zests Muffins

I actually tried to make these last week and freestyled some recipes resulting in another hip flop bake off so this morning in my vulnerable state I stuck very closely to a BBC good food recipe which you can find here. So obviously its pretty essential you have the tunes on for this as you spend most of the time waiting for them to cook which gives a perfect window for a rap off or practicing your best Beyonce dance, don't stoop to a Miley twerk.

 I should really go for something a little less cliche but this track is ULTIMATE Playa status..

Damn, why they wanna stick me for my paper?

I decided that running was taking over my life slightly, I have been known to get obsessed with things, once I like something then I really like it and sometimes the phase passes like the sun-bed stage and sometimes it stays, luckily I haven't got bored of running however I have been known to get in from a night out stuffing my face with a chicken land at 4am and then get up at 6 to go running thinking I can redeem myself from the chicken burger bonanza few hour previous. What I am trying to say is sometimes I forget it's okay not to do something even when you're used to a routine so this weekend I took the weekend off running for fun times.

Saturday I spent the day shopping for my outfit for my best friends wedding this weekend and then the  evening at the pub with a few of my favourite playas, unfortunately I had a baking disaster else I would've provided some treats for the occasion however I have found the flaw in the recipe and I'm planning a re bake this week. I had quite a few ciders on Saturday evening so was definitely a bit woozy when I woke up sunday morning but trotted on round to Bryonys for our B.unit day out which included breakfast at Halldays tea rooms which was a treat and a half, smoked salmon and poached eggs on toast with a skinny lattee, now if that isn't a full time playa brunch I don't know what is.

Following this delight we headed to the Seacity Museum for "The First Cut" exhibition, it's so weird lately I have become obsessed with paper cutting; my favourite Instagram at the moment is a lady called "Poppyspapercuts" which I saw ages ago in Vogue, everyone should check it out cos she is off the chain. So when I saw this exhibition advertised I thought my prayers had been answered and it didn't disappoint, featuring one of my favourite paper cut artists Rob Ryan and a new favourite James Aldridge it showcased 2d large scale papercuts to installations crafted from paper and other methods of creating via folding, creasing and collaging.

Rob Ryan.. 

James Aldridge...

 And a close up to show how intricately and precise this guy cuts that paper...

I was absolutely blown away by the work displayed and definitely recommend anyone who has a spare couple of hours in Southampton to go check it out, a lot of the artists draw on social and economical issues within culture which makes interesting pieces but you can also see personal perspectives of the idea of life from previously mentioned Rob Ryan. A mere 5 dollars and I guarantee you will leave feeling pretty inspired and ready to create your own masterpiece. Well that's how I felt, I got home found an old drawing and proceeded to think "Yeah I can be a papercut playa" on the kitchen chopping board with and old craft knife..lets me just say this didn't go as well as I had hoped and I have drawn out something new to try second time round... You can see below I hadn't quite realised you needed to keep the lines connected!

Can't lose tradition now and not post a track so here it is..I got the mac Biggie tell me what you gonna do? 

Don't think about it too much...

Timing in all aspects of my life is never great, my pals know if I say I will be there at 8 it actually means I will be there about 8.20 in a big old fluster with cake icing in my candy floss Barnett. Usually I have cakes to share so can pull off bad timing with my treats! I've mentioned before I'm not bothered usually on times on running as I like to enjoy the run, listen to some bangers and generally have a great time though unfortunately lately I've started to look at times and been less than impressed with my achievements. A cross country style run and there was some serious hills and bog to deal with saw my 5k time go from treadmill 26minutes to forest 38minutes; I got pretty annoyed at myself about this and later in the day had to go back to the gym and just check I could still do it in under 30minutes.

Although I prefer the run on the treadmills the autumnal colours are a real treat for the eye and I should really take advantage of the fact that I live somewhere so exquisite, Deerleap is right near my house and Liz and I have been going up there for years walking equipped with pepsi max and OJ. I am going to try more runs outside this week as I know a few routes from my days as a little horse riding playa that I can attempt.

So this weeks playlist has been a real variety however the stand out track of the week is from the album I claimed hit the bottom of the pecking pile however I am quite enjoying. This week I plan to not think too much about time and kilometre reading and just enjoy the actual running, often I think to far ahead and should in fact enjoy the process rather than outcome.