::inspiring Mondays::

It's March and Oxford is freezing. We were teased with a glimpse of the spring to come, only to have it removed from us and be left to deal with sub-zero temperatures and cruel winds. I needed hot coffee this morning to defrost my facial expression from within.

There is one good thing about the lingering cold - lazy days underneath the duvet. Oh yes! With a hot water bottle, tea and a good film. Oh winter, sometimes I can almost forgive your delayed departure.

:: Mum and Dad. 

:: a Little Brother who has the patience to help me choose the perfect yarn colour for my next project. to the most subtle shades. several times just to be absolutely sure.
:: working on my Project Life album. it's magic seeing the pages come together with all the photos and journaling. 

:: Friday night cocktails. It had been too long!

:: Saturday night partying. I had a great time!

:: choosing my next knitting project.

:: a new knitting shop in Oxford. with a table. and coffee.

:: enjoying this space more and more.

If you're in the UK, I hope you survived the cold. If you're elsewhere in the world, I hope your Monday was warmer than mine. For all of you, I wish you a lovely start to the week... can you believe it's almost mid March?

LMJ on Facebook

Little Miss Joey is on Facebook. I have been there for a while, but I wasn't really there. Now I am. I'm enjoying writing about the small daily things that would never amount to a post. I'm enjoying managing the page from my phone, which is what makes it possible for LMJ to really be on Facebook. I'm enjoying the thought of welcoming you all there too :) Join me, if you'd like! 

a British education

Costa Coffee at Gatwick Airport

Oh.my.god. Am I one of them?

This is the question I've been asking myself since I had a heart warm moment on seeing Costa Coffee at Porto Airport.

I am a fan of Costa's. I am. And the only coffee parlours I like more than Costa Coffee are the independent ones. What I see as the proper cafés.

Cafés (and bakeries) are abundant in Portugal. You find one in every corner and much like the British pub, most people have a local café where everyone knows them and they know everyone. It's a good feeling! Coffee chains are only just appearing in Portugal and the majority of said cafés are independent (not a word we use in Portugal, as that's what's expected anyway!).

I'm a big fan of the Portuguese approach to cafés (and bakeries, let's not forget the bakeries) so it was a huge surprise to me to feel cosy at the sight of a Costa Coffee at the airport. I'm now very concerned about my Britishness levels!

Running three times a week :: final thoughts

I loved it!

Running three times a week in February has been just great! I love running and the more I do it the more I love it! In fact, I love it so much I'm keeping it as a goal for March. Yep!

Unfortunately, the love of something is not always enough to make us do it so I wrote a little list of "notes to self" for future reference.

:: once you set your goal, tell the world about it. Everyone you know. Make yourself accountable for it. That will keep you going when all else fails.

:: don't pressure yourself. Just go out and do it. For the first few times, anything you achieve is a bonus.

:: by the end of week 2, I set myself small goals for my time. I didn't mind at all with distance covered, I just wanted to run for a longer period and increased it gently.

:: by the end of week 3, things became so much easier! I could run for 30 minutes without feeling I had a panda sitting on my chest.

:: the feeling after every single run is AMAZING!

:: looking at the mosaic above makes me want to do it all over again. Love!


In case you're wondering, I am not a runner. I am a person who goes out and runs. All my February runs were under 33 minutes covering 3.5 - 4.8 km per run. To me it's about doing it!

::inspiring Mondays::

I'm finding it hard to see how I could enjoy today, not because it's Monday but because after being home in Portugal for five days I miss it too much and I'm home-over. In case you are wondering, a home-over is very similar to a hangover but instead of a headache you have heartache.

To inspire myself I think about the last few days and go through my memories selecting only the heart warming moments. Today I shall not think about any not good news. In three minutes I'm filled with strength and happiness. Ta mucho for the exercise, inspiring Mondays!

:: my family. How good it is to be part of a unit.

:: my Father. For being the rock that he is for us all.

:: my Mother. For being there.

:: my Brother. For being the optimist which carries us all.

:: my extended family. So much more than backup.

:: my little 7 year old cousin giving me the tightest hugs ever. All the time.

Memories. When all else fails, we have memories. And that's how my blue day changed into an inspiring Monday.

Hope you're having a lovely start to the week, memory sponsored or otherwise.

March goals

Hello March, how are you? If you were to ask me how I am I'd probably say scared and determined. Scared for things unknown. Determined in staying strong and focused. Be kind, March, and be welcome.

In January I embraced change. In February I created change. In March, I want to learn to deal with change.

:: be positive

:: embrace my love of all colours (minus pink)

:: finish the design of a new creation

:: run at least three times a week (I had to include it!)

.......................................................................................................

You can read all my monthly goals posts here and my change :: one little word posts here.

change :: February update

It's a funny thing, change. The most important thing I've learnt about it is that you have to do what makes you happy, even if that means not changing or especially if that means not changing. And that is my change. 

When I saw 2013 as my year of change, I thought I would embrace all of it and see it as a great achievement of my goals whatever happened. I would feel happy and hopeful in what it would bring me. Then Mum was ill and I knew immediately I didn't want that change. That was not part of the plan. Of course that's an easy one, that's not even to be considered as a part of change. So I held firmly to my one little word and set my goals for February and hoped for the best.

When other things changed, I had to pause for a moment and look deeply into what was happening. How could this word be so powerful and out of control in my life? Did I want it after all? Did I not want it? What did I mean by it, really? And that's how I learned something new about myself, my outlook on life and life in general.

When I chose my one little word, I had dreams about all the things I wanted to change, from the little ones to the big elephant size ones. For most of them, I didn't have achievable goals or well thought out plans; they were a beautifully lit dream. And with this, I forgot three things: 1. to pin things down and plan it, 2. knowing when not to change is also change, otherwise known as growing up and learning, and 3. I'm not in control of all that will change and I don't have to like it all, my word implicitly means positive change.

Yes, it's a funny thing, change. Right now, I'd like most things to stay just the same! All I can hope for is that this change works out ok...!