Rescued Corrupt xls, Highly Visual, Prof. Brian Cox & iphone Points Counting

WEDDING.xlsx

There have been a good few tears shed since Sunday. I was firing up the macbook to show the wedding budget to my parents when I discovered that the whole file had become corrupt. This is the spreadsheets to beat all spreadsheets, it trumps my Money.xls which has become my lifeline, and rains on my Body.xls which tells me when I should be menstruating and how my weight is doing.

This spreadsheet has been the main focus of my spare time since, well the day following the proposal. I am talking guest list, names, addresses, email, invite status, are they parking, camping, coming for the full day or evening, are they an adult or child? Another page contains all the suppliers, and a comprehensive budget, costs, monies paid, monies due and deadlines. There are pivot tables that show me the totals at a click of a button. So when the little error message blipped on my screen, my 4 month organising spectacular came crashing to a big fat stop, I was quite inconsolable.

We tried allsorts, bought file recovery software, I accidentally wiped Rob's Microsoft Office, all with no result. So there were a few more tears, then I felt quite ridiculous, while my friend is worrying about her ill father, and our sister-in-law is sick while expecting twins, I am sobbing my heart out over a spreadsheet.

So what if it cannot be recovered, I can start from scratch. I have decided that it was a well needed wake up call. Being such a control freak, I was convinced that I could do all this wedding planning on my own, and in truth, I am struggling, and I'm tired and this damn chest infection just will not shift. So I am calling in the cavalry, I am giving lists of jobs to Rob. Good Friday I will spend the whole day with Mum, sharing all the info to date.

I emailed the spreadsheet to James in IT at work, just on the off chance. He has only bloody fixed it!!! The pivot tables no longer work, but the vital bits are there, all the addresses are back, I can once again see who has RSVPd with a parking request. James is my hero and everyone should know it!

Highly Visual

Check out the movie trailer on you tube I must have seen it 15 times and it still makes me laugh. I cannot wait for the next installment. Watch this space for updates.

iPhone Weightwatchers

So I'm very excited about all the applications that are available to the iphone, one for my periods, a countdown to the wedding and one to track my running. So in that I am back counting points with Weight Watchers, I was searching for a points app, a quick calculator or quick tracker. There is nothing available on the apps list, and the Tracker cannot be viewed through Safari on the iphone. After an email enquiry to Weightwatchers, I have received a reply. The tracker is created in Flash, therefore will not function on many of these remote devices, but they are looking at developing technologies to work with them, unfortunately there is no timeframe set for this. In the meantime I am tracking my weight (as well as on eSource)on the iphone free app Target Weight, a clean looking easy to use weight tracker with graph, BMI calculator and target date. The only complaint you may have with this, would be if you wanted to see your weight in stones, this only does kilos or lbs, but it really is not hard to convert your stones into pounds, either that or drop into 2010 and start using kilos.

Final thought

As I type this, I am watching Prof. Brian Cox on BBC2's Wonders of the Solar System. Just had to hit record on the Sky+ as this requires my full attention, so I will rewind a re-watch later on this evening. I know I am coming into this series rather late, and yes Chris Evans has been banging on about how fantastic he is for weeks, but not only does this look terribly interesting, but Brian is rather easy going on the eyes. I could have done with him for a science teacher when I was at school, rather than Dobber Donnelly, I may well have paid more attention in class!

xxx

Buddha Lounge, Boundary Mill, Afternoon Tea and iphone Easter Eggs

Spoiled rotten!! I was presented with a cup of tea in bed, along with my birthday cards. We are saving for the honeymoon so had agreed not to waste money on birthday presents for each other this year. Rob wanted to get me a token gesture, and as anyone who knows me will know, I am a sucker for chocolate. In that I was born on Easter Monday, my birthday usually falls on or around the Easter period, so I tend to get at least one Easter egg as a birthday present and I certainly never complain.

This year was no exception, Mr Hallam had purchased a large Thorntons egg, yummy, I particularly love the Continental selection, so thought I'd sample taste for my birthday breakfast. Rob wanted to tuck into the egg, and as I cracked it open I noticed an addition, something wrapped in kitchen towel. Assuming it was a selection of chocolate bars, I eagerly opened the parcel, laughing to Rob about how cute he was to add extra bits. The paper fell away, it was not a selection of chocolate bars after all....... it was an iphone!!!!!

Rob had painstakingly heated a knife and sliced (hacked) into the Egg, placed the bounty inside and sealed it all back together. Could I be marrying a better bloke? I think not.

The whole day was lovely, Mum and Dad came over and we had afternoon tea in the Spread Eagle in Sawley near Clitheroe. Would thoroughly recommend it, finger sandwiches, clotted cream and jam scones, moist lemon drizzle and ginger cake, and an Eccles cake. Although I am not a fan of Eccles cake, Daddy is so they came home wrapped in a serviette for later. We were actually a little early for afternoon tea, but they are so welcoming and accommodating, they bent the rules for us. I have eaten here a few times, so can also recommend the Meat Platter, in fact if you just want a drink it is worth coming the the Spread for the location and decor alone. We moved on to Boundary Mill to look for wedding outfits for Mum and Dad, and I ended up buying my bridal headpiece, eek!

Tabatha, Graham, Brad and Bernard joined us for the evening. We had the early sitting at the Buddha Lounge in Ramsbottom. Always greeted with a lively atmosphere, we were seated in the window and served efficiently. The food is beautiful, I had the succulent chicken parcels in pandan leaves, followed by Massaman Curry with coconut rice and for desert, I had to have the Movenpick swiss ice cream. I was a little worried that we would be rushed in that the second sitting is at 21:00, but we were never pestered, even though we didn't actually ask for the bill until just after five past.

I had a wonderful day, despite turning 32, and would like to thank peeps for coming over to spend time with me, and a big thank you to all the lovely cards and messages I have received.

xxx

Pink Floyd tribute act Manc Floyd

Another project I have been working on recently is the website for is Manchester based Pink Floyd tribute band Manc Floyd. My cousin Phil is the drummer so you might think me biased, but when I was invited to photograph their debut gig at the Met in Bury, I was blown away.

Although I do not profess to be an avid fan of Pink Floyd, in that I do not own any of their material (yet) I do have fond memories of cruising around the country roads between Mellor, Marple Bridge and Glossop, in the back of Jim Brough's customised Toyota Tercel. There was usually a few pubs involved to add to the haze, but we would have The Dark Side of the Moon on tape playing through the car stereo and I would be transported to some higher plane.

So back to Manc Floyd, mind blowing! My fiance Rob has never really come across Pink Floyd, but was so impressed by the tribute band's performance, he bought Dark Side of the Moon on CD the very next day. Since then I have been developing the website for Manc Floyd and it is now live, although still in it's relatively early stages. The site will be posted with forthcoming tour dates, and you can follow the band on twitter, you tube, myspace and facebook.

The next gig is on the 1st May at the Moses Gate in Farnworth. See website for further details.

Clare xxx

Wanted Rosazissimo Green Louboutins

Want want want want, I'm sick with envy for the gorgeous green Rosazissimo Louboutin shoes that I have seen on the feet of beautiful brides but cannot find them anywhere!!!
To be honest I could never allow myself to spend so much money on a pair of shoes for my wedding. Rob and I are marrying in a field, so my heels will have to be carried with my bouquet until I am on firmer ground, even then, they will be kicked off 10 mins into the disco. Therefore I could not spend approx £400 on a pair of shoes that I wasn't actually going to wear!
With the elusive green shoes unavailable, I trawled the internet for alternatives, with a few possibles, still in the region of a couple hundred pounds. I decided to head into Manchester and see what the stores had to offer.
I stumbled across my wedding shoes in Office (which are nothing like the ones pictured Rob!!!!) in fact it was the Office Sale shop off St Annes Square. I climbed into them and could not stop smiling! The shoes are ludicrous, I cannot describe them at this stage as Rob wants everything to be a surprise, but I can say that there is no way I could possibly wear them outside, without support, let alone in a field. So I was more than thrilled to see that they had been price slashed to a tiny £30.
I put in a call to my good friend, and style guru Kate Deakin, describing the almost comic shoes, and the Louboutin predicament. She sensibly suggested that if I am wearing my shoes for probaly just the morning, whilst getting ready at my mum's, then I should plump for the cheapies that are making me grin from ear to ear.

I still would buy the green shoes if I found them at a reasonable price on ebay, as I know I would wear them time and again. But I am happy with my wedding shoes, a pair I will never wear again, but will keep in a special memory box. The shoes are now at my Mum's ready for the big day. I have had a few practice sessions in them, as have my 9 and 6 year old nieces, and 3 year old nephew. Not one of us have broken an ankle yet, and they still make me grin when I'm wearing them. I can't wait to show them off properly, but for a teaser, think Ziggy Stardust meets pole dancing bride.

Clare x

Rossendale Pole Dancing

Since the closure of Vibe Studio in Edenfield intermediate and advanced pole students have been without a venue for pole tuition. Former Vibe tutors Marble aka Andrea and Stacey have been offering in home tuition, providing pole and mats for those without their own. This can be on a 1-2-1 basis or group class.

I have been having lessons with Stacey in my front room, with neighbour and good friend Tabatha. The home lessons are great but we have really missed the group of fellow students that became our friends, monthly get togethers have been fun, but a darn sight more difficult to arrange than just popping into the studio.

So you can imagine my joy when I heard the news on the grapevine that a new studio is on the horizon, and I am currently developing the website, www.viceversastudio.co.uk work in progress so be patient :-)

In the meantime you can book tuition with Marble and Stacey through Marble Pole see their facebook page for details http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=187504703350&ref=ts

I want to offer all the best to the girls, cannot wait to test drive the new space xxx