Thursday 29 March 2012

Introducing The Fairy God Father - "The Big G"

Fairy dust in hand, and lots of magical sparkle, may I introduce you all to Milly's Fairy God Father - The Big G!

Hey Dudes!


Now, the Big G is sooooooooo COOL that he put the OO in the COOL
And with his fairy dust in hand, Milly is hoping he can work his magic by fixing all the technical stuff.
As we know, Milly is fairly useless at all of this computer stuff, so much so, that she managed to add the "Author" as a follower!

So, Big G has spread lots of fairy dust which should mean that you can now follow Milly on email!


But do let Milly know, if anything looks strange, and she'll get Big G to sprinkle some more fairy dust and magic, failing that she'll give him a kick up the bum!




Especially for U - Thank you













Wednesday 28 March 2012

Positive Vibes - Please God!


So, today was the day when Milly was meant to get back on track with her Quests.

Asked Flick The Dragonfly and Lou The Ladybird






Quest Task: Get Fit 
Running was a non-starter
Milly had tried to go for a run, and could barely manage 5 minutes!
Her leg was so painful that she nearly started to weep
With the London Marathon less than a month away she is getting slightly worried....

More worrying is that she can feel those newly acquired muscles slowly fading away! 

So please dear friends, send some positive love,
and sparkles to Milly.
Let's hope she recovers from her leg injury soon!



Swimming was non-eventful too!
Milly was too busy at WORK...
Swimming lesson is tomorrow and she hasn't practiced since last week!

Will she be able to swim front call by next weekend? Who knows?
Did I mention, Milly has booked a a coastal traversing activity for next weekend - She needs to be able to swim up river for at least 25 metres!!!!  
Let's hope they don't mind if she brings her floater along or then again, perhaps she can use a life jacket?!

Quest Task: Learn to Draw & Write
Milly has so much to share with you but there aren't enough hours in the day!
If only she could skip sleep BUT she loves and needs her .....



So, on the drawing and writing front, she has:
    • Thought of a new character on her way to work
    • Finished editing her journal from her climbing trip
    • Written a little poem today - perhaps she will share with you one day!
    • Received great feedback on her blog from Lou The Ladybird

Quest Task: Learn to Sew
She managed to doodle some designs tonight.
Inspired by the pink lilies (well she thinks they are) Prince Charming bought her, she has created a:
  • Dress
  • Hat & 
  • Cape 


That fashion design course taught her a trick or too it seems!
Once she has worked out how to scan her pics she will share with you.



Quest Task: Learn to Budget


As Milly mentioned last week she wrote up her budget.
Yippeeeeeeeeeeee
She made this really pretty spread sheet which explains how much she has at any point in time
The trouble is that Milly has already blown her budget AND she only got paid last Friday!
What a disaster. 
Milly just doesn't like to budget!
She likes the idea of budgeting but she finds the reality of doing it much more difficult, and she would much rather hide behind a spread sheet!
But at least her spread sheet is pretty! I think we should put this Quest on hold for now...............or forever!



Quest Task: Have Fun
  • Plan for the weekend: 
    • Enjoy the sunshine with a cool Pimms & Lemonade!

    Reality Bites....

    Whoopsie, this week has been a bit of disaster for Milly so far.

    Despite her best laid plans, getting herself in the right frame of mind, and getting her va va voom back, disaster has struck in the shape of "Reality"!





    Why is that you may ask?

    They say "a picture is worth a thousand words", so look below and you will understand why...


    Yes, the "W" word reared it's ugly head.
    Milly had to slave away at work - SO NO TIME to spend on her "Quest"!


    How has Milly dealt with this?
    Has it affected her "frame of mind"?

    Well, Milly was feeling a little SAD this morning BUT
    She realised that she needed to keep the negative voices at bay.

    So, Milly got out her list of fun and cool things that she's done (as well as the funny things that happened to her over the weekend.)

    And do you know what, it made her smile.....

    So here are a few snippets of the things which made Milly smile!

    #1:WENT HIKING UP A HILL IN EDINBURGH with Prince Charming
    Little did they realise, that what they were wearing wasn't suited to skipping over rocky steps, climbing and scrambling over a 2 metre rock surface which saw Milly do the splits.

    MILLY IN HER COOL OUTFIT DOING THE SPLITS

    So what were they wearing?

    Milly was wearing:
    • A mini leather skirt
    • White blouse
    • Cream coloured jacket
    • Accessories included a little "rock chic" hand bag, and high heeled boots
    Prince Charming was wearing:
    • A dark navy velvet jacket
    • Fitted black jeans
    • A floral white shirt
    • Accessories beige loafers (weren't great for walking through the wet grass!)
    All I can say is that Milly and Prince Charming were the best dressed hikers that day!

    #2: MYSTERIOUS SMELL
    Prince Charming was quite distraught on Monday morning.
    He was attacked by a mysterious pungent pong coming from Milly's direction.
    The smell was preceded by a loud "Raspberry" sound - The source of the smell remains a mystery!




    So although Milly hasn't progressed with her quest over these past couple of days, these funny experiences have helped Milly to maintain the right frame of mind.






    This time next year.....





    Fingers crossed today will be a better day!

    Saturday 24 March 2012

    Oops Tehnical Stuff

    Milly's not a technical whizz.
    She has discovered that anyone following her by email will lose out on the Milly experience as anything she writes in white disappears!
    So if possible please read the blog through the following link
    (until she has worked out which colour to use instead.)

    http://adventuresofmillyfriends.blogspot.co.uk/

    Have a wonderful and sparkly day!

    Xxx

    Friday 23 March 2012

    Today's List of Cool & Fun Things

    So, as Milly explained in her last post, to keep all the negative thoughts out she is going to keep a record of 
    • All the cool things that she has done 
    • All the nice things that happened to her 




    Quest Task: Learn to Draw & Write
    • Blog posting done
      • Cool comments received from friends
      • New characters added
        • Lou The Lady Bird Gigi The Snail 



    Quest Task: Get Fit 
    • Brill swimming lesson 
      • Confidence regained after Tuesday's panic attack (Milly thought she was about to drown, despite the pool being only 1.2 metres deep!)
    • Left leg  on the mend
      • Only one more week of shuffling to go
    • Went to Pilates
      • Cool pilates teacher gave me fab tips for sorting out my hips and legs


    Quest Task: Learn to Sew
    • Courses booked
      • Booked pattern cutting and garment construction courses start in April


    Quest Task: Learn to Budget
    • Budget for the month done
      • Fingers crossed I stick to it
    • PAYDAY 
      • Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee - I have money


      Quest Task: Have Fun
      • Printed boarding passes by myself
        • Although checked myself and Prince Charming in 4 times on the BA flight!
      • First Easter Egg devoured
        • I love Easter

        The Right Frame of Mind

        Quest Task: Get Fit


        Sunday's run was uneventful, in that it didn't happen!
        So what happened? 
        Milly just didn't feel like running......

        You would think ....
        With the marathon just around the corner, and all the training Milly had done, that she would be up for running given any opportunity

        BUT NO



        In fact, she felt like a pair of Trackkie Bottoms
        • Comfortable Would you want to be complimented on how "comfortable" you look? 
        • Boring Like watching the paint dry....
        • Unsexy:  Running tights accentuated her frogs leg; Sweat was always dripping down her face whilst she was out running; She smelt so bad after a run, that even Prince Charming would comment! The ultimate passion killer!

        Her motivation had come to an abrupt end.  
        She had lost her
        • Mojo
        • Va Va Voom
        • Stilleto from her shoe

        She had morphed into her worst nightmare.... 
        A pair of smelly, sweaty, trackkie bottoms when all she wanted was to be a beautiful smelling flower!













        So Milly didn't  bother running on Sunday, instead she went off to her Fashion Design course.
        And do you know what? 
        She started to feel sparkly again. 

        Whether it was her hormones making her feel unusually reflective and deep 
        (men don't know what they are missing out on.....), 
        She knew that she had lost sight of what her real motivations were

        Milly realised that the reason that she was NOW running was because she either 
        • Felt Guilty for not training
        • Scared at failure 
        • What other people would think of her

         She had forgotton her reasons for wanting to get fit:
        • She wanted to do lots of cool activities such as kite surfing or mountain biking down a steep hill! 
        • She wanted to be free to 


        Just like Maria had done in the "Sound of Music"


        That was why she wanted to get fit, to learn to swim, and to learn to ride a bike, and nothing else!

        She had forgotten about the fun stuff.

        So Milly turned around to "our friend" the dark, cloud, called Reality and said


        AND instead of listening to Realities negative thoughts about the stuff she hadn't done yet, 
        Milly looked back upon what she had achieved over the past 6 months, and 
        she LOVED WHAT SHE HAD DONE!

        • I can now run 13 miles when I could barely run 1 mile before!
        • I have bags more energy, and focus
        • I'm not stressed with life - Exercise has helped me to release my angst and frustrations
        • I've had some some really cool adventures in Kilimanjaro and South America
        • My skin has cleared up, and now it glows without the need for a facial (extra tick because I can save on facials!)
        • Best of all I have uber cool muscles in my arms and bum!
          • Milly has never had muscles in her arms or legs before ever!
        Wow Milly had come so far!
        She sat back and let her achievements sink in.
        • She basked in her glory, lapped it up!
        • She celebrated, sang, danced around the flat much to Prince Charming's amusement

        It was a fantastic feeling!


        She felt so light and free as if a huge weight had lifted from her shoulders 
        (Even with her new found muscles, she could feel the heavy burden she had been carrying!)

        She realised that she had been a hamster. 
        That she had been trapped in a cage,    
        running  round, 
        and round 
        and around
        Chasing her  tail - that never ending goal! 

        What had meant to be a fun activity had turned into a chore because 
        • She had forgotten to celebrate her successes
        • She kept comparing herself to other people 
          • Feeling rubbish because everyone else was better than her

        I mean you wouldn't expect Gigi The Snail to move as quickly as Lou The Ladybird would you?
        How silly!


        Just look how different they are in both size and shape; 
        They have their own strengths and cool things about them which make them unique!

        Milly realised this.
        She realised to keep the the right frame of mind she had
        • To celebrate her achievements
        • NOT compare herself to other people

        With her new found frame of mind, guess what happened? 
        As if by a magic, Milly found her Va Va Voom again!



        So with the Voom back in her stride, and celebrating each step she took, off she went for a run on Monday:

        And do you know what? 
        She managed to run 17.2 miles! And she did it in under 3 hours!
        Unbelievable I know. 
        That's the longest she has ever run been on her feet in one go
        (Apart from when she's out boogeying!)

        Wow, she realised, focusing on the the things she did, and ignoring what other people got up to, put her in  right frame of mind where even the impossible was possible!

        Perhaps she would be able to be able to swim by Easter after all.....

        So Milly's Top Tip is to Get yourself a Diary!

        Milly has found a great way of keeping track of 
        • All the cool things she has done
        • All the cool and fun things that happen to her
        She jots it down in her diary planner - just a quick note.



        So when
        • Prince Charming bought her some beautiful lilie,s she wrote this down
        • A lovely lady gave her two free Aero bars, she wrote this down
        • When she swam 10 metres in one go, she wrote this down

        So now,when those negative voices start talking in her head, she can banish them because all she needs to do is look at all the fun and cool things that have happened to her.


        Tuesday 20 March 2012

        Stepping Stones - New Pages To Be Published

        Hi Milly where have you been?
        You've been quiet.
        What happened to the long run on Sunday and the Fashion Design course?

        Well, Milly has been doing some thinking since her last post.....


        Milly giggled to herself, no one could possibly think that I suddenly woke up one day, and magically:

        • Was fit, and able to run 10 miles off the bat
        • Knew how to go about making clothes
        • Knew how to draw, write, let alone set up a BLOG
        • How to budget?- Okay I am an accountant

        IF ONLY it were that simple! 

        In fact, Milly found getting started was the biggest challenge for her because

        • Where 
        • How do you start?

        She had to

        • Do lots of research
        • Plan
        • Try lots of different things  

        Before she finally worked out what suited her.

        So over the next couple of weeks, watch out for the pages on each of the quests explaining how Milly got started. Once you know how to, you can too!

        Sunday 18 March 2012

        The Quest Has Begun

        May I have a drum roll please, the blog has been released!
        Milly's adventures now begin in earnest.

        As Prince Charming sleeps, Milly has been busy designing and finishing off her blog.

        Quest Task: Draw & Write
        Milly can safely saw that she has begun this in earnest.

        In the Whose Who section you will find the characters of our story.
        We have Flick the Dragon Fly, and our Baddie "Dark, Grey Cloud" called "Reality"



        Will they make the final cut, and make it into a children's book?!
        Who knows.

        More to follow.

        Quest Task: Learn to Sew
        Milly has a Fashion Design course in the morning - well in 8 hours time. Not quite sewing but it's around the same topic, so a good step in the right direction. Another pat on the back for Milly!

        Quest Task: Get Fit
        Milly was meant to go for a run today - she is training for the London Marathon.
        Did you manage to get out of bed?
        Nope. She had a big fat lie-in!
        Resting is just as important as exercising says Milly.
        Not sure if that counts - let's give her the benefit of the doubt this time.

        Quest Task: Budget
        Milly's hardest challenge.
        Well not a great start as her and Prince Charming went out to dinner again.
        Well there's always tomorrow to kick-start the budgeting....