10 Things I learned this Weekend

This feels a bit late on a Wednesday - I am full-speed ahead running into next weekend, but I couldn't post this last night because my laptop trackpad is broken which means I can't do anything that isn't up, down, left and right. But that's another story...
Also this is the type of posts I'm going to be writing more of now. Thank you so much for all your amazing comments on my last post - the sheer number of comments on that post demonstrates that you were all thinking what I was thinking and that's awesome.

1. Phil is pretty good at making Saturday morning brunch

Saturday brunch is kind of my thing. It usually goes get-home-exhausted-from-Parkrun-make-something-overly-ambitious-from-Pinterest-with-eggs but on Saturday even though I didn't make it to Parkrun (more on that later), Phil insisted he make breakfast, and he even went out for extra eggs, bread and mushrooms. What he made was "something I saw on LADbible" for a toastie thing contained in one piece of bread. You cut out a square of the bread and put it in a pan, add an egg into the middle and whatever else you want, then add the square back in the hole and flip it over. I don't know, but it was magic.

2. Saturdays last forever, Sundays barely last longer than the blink of an eye

On Saturday we got up, didn't go to Park run, got ready, had breakfast, put the washing in, did the food shopping, came home, put the shopping away, watched an episode of True Detective and it was still only 3.30pm. On Sunday I did a work out DVD, made a fish pie and then it was suddenly 2pm. Disappointing.

3. Going for a run because I'm bored and restless is apparently a really good idea

I am a creature of habit. I crave routine. Last week was messy and confusing and not good for my routine. We had a race on Sunday which meant I skipped my Monday workout cause I could barely move. Then Tuesday night I stayed at my parents' which meant I missed my Wednesday workout. So I worked out Friday instead of taking it as a rest day, but then missed Park run which is my usual Saturday workout.... Anyway, I was all confused and out of sync, but I had made peace with the idea of not working out on Saturday. Then we were being lazy watching TV and it was the middle of Saturday afternoon and it was sunny... so off I went. It was weird and busy on the streets (I usually run early in the mornings, and I live in the middle of a city) but it led to...

4. I can run 3 miles in 29 miles 08 seconds

If you're a really fast runner, please stop reading now. I can't express what a big deal this is for me. A few months ago I was just about eking out a 11i:15ish minute mile. Over the last few months however, something has changed and I'm suddenly running better and better and faster and faster. This was my fastest ever 3 miles, my fastest ever pace and my first run with all my miles under 10 minutes. Only a few weeks ago I was over the moon that I was finally running miles under 11 minutes. I am so proud of myself and that 30 minute 5K is just around the corner.

5. Living in the city centre is great when you have an amazing Thai curry on Friday and go to Chinatown on Saturday morning to buy massaman curry paste

6. I have no idea what a normal serving of vegetables looks like

I don't think we've had a meal yet where Phil hasn't gotten towards the end and asked "Do you want these carrots/sweet potato/peas?" I never say no.

Speaking of food, I hit 10,000 food pins this weekend. Um...

7. Making fish pie is great, but stressful

Who knew it would require every one of the burners on my hob? One for fish, one for potato, one for eggs and one for the sauce? Who knew it would take over an hour just to put it together? Who knew I'd put it all in a casserole dish that we didn't realise was too big to fit in our oven, and Phil would have to put it in at an awkward angle and I would have to sit on a beanbag in front of the oven to watch it cook to make sure I didn't spend my evening cleaning mashed potato off my oven?

8. Still Alice might not have been the best choice for a Mother's Day film

Don't get me wrong, it was absolutely brilliant. So brilliant in fact that I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to stop crying. When Phil said "are you okay?" at the end I did that weird gaspy trying-not-to-cry more thing that happens whenever anyone asks if you're okay. I was worried I wasn't going to be able to leave the cinema without being a mess, but it was fine - you could tell everyone who had come out of our showing by their red eyes and tissues.

But seriously, go see it. We weren't sure if it was actually going to be brilliant film or just a brilliant performance but it was undoubtedly both. Sad, but not in a ramming-it-down-your-throat way. Not over-sentimentalised, just brilliant.

9. Dunelm is the grown-up equivalent of going to the toy shop

"Can we have this candle?" "Oooh jars, can I get these jars? I need jars." "Oooh I like these deer bookends" 

We did come away with the fluffiest most amazing rug in the whole world though. I just want to lie on it.

(Promise flat tour photos this week. Even though in the week since I took the photos the flat already looks different and we've already bought way more stuff). 

10. We can tick Psycho off my list

I love films, but I very rarely watch them on my own. There's something about committing to doing nothing for two hours that I just can't do. Sure I'll sit and watch three hours of Parks and Recreation, but I never go into it knowing I will spend three hours clicking "load next episode". We also never watched a lot of films at home - watching a film with my parents is a real treat, not a weekly occurrence. As a result there are loads of classic films that I haven't seen.

Now Phil is hugely into films and managed to put up with my constant "Oh... I've not seen that" for almost a year and a half, but now we live together I can't get away with it anymore, so we've written a list of all the films I just need to have seen by now. So far I've seen for the first time Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (I know), Jurrasic Park (I know, I know) and Jaws (I KNOW!) so on Sunday we watched Psycho. It's strange watching a film for the first time which has become such a part of the cultural psyche because you feel in a way as though you've already seen it, but it was great and I can't wait to watch more Hitchcock.

I promise flat tour photos this week. Provided that I have a mouse.

Charlotte x