It’s no secret that my fiance & I don’t actually get to spend a lot of quality time together, despite living under the same roof, what with our clashing schedules— so when we do have a whole weekend together, we always try & do something to make the most of it, rather than laying in & lounging around the flat. This weekend, we took a day trip to the quaint little town of Arundel, in West Sussex at the recommendation of Ashley’s boss.

It was lovely & full of farmer’s markets, local bakers & butchers, country pubs, bric-a-brac & charity shops on every corner, little cafe’s selling cream tea, not to mention the huge castle & cathedral and boating lake!  However, my fav shop of the day has to be Sparks Yard— it has everything I love under one roof!  The owner describes it as “A place filled with desirable things to give as presents, keep for yourselves and generally make you smile, inspired by stores in the States.”  It reminded me of Urban Outiftters, except without all the clothes!  It was a treasure trove of notebooks, Moleskines, jewellery, children’s toys & quirky items, then upstairs a magnificent corner full of all the most amazing, colourful, silicone kitchen utensils you could ever need or want, plus a whole host of cookery books, American imported foods and a lovely coffee shop.  It was a little slice of geeky heaven for us!  Had we not already moved out & bought everything for the kitchen, we could have spent a bomb there.  A mini egg frying pan?  Yes please!

And now, I’ve discovered that they trade online, so Ill definitely be indulging when I have the funds!

Arundel seemed pretty much untouched by tourism & everyone we saw appeared to be locals.  It is definitely the kind of place I’d love to retire!  We saw an old couple sitting by the lake, and I could totally see that being us in 50 years!

We’re looking for more exciting, different (& perhaps historical) places to visit.  Where would you recommend?  Perhaps there’s somewhere near to where you live, that you think everyone should know about? Let me know!

My brand new photography portfolio / business is now live, so spread the word! You can now browse through aimeemariephotography.co.uk to see my photos that have all been painstakingly re-worked— they’re newer, brighter & better than ever— & I’m also now officially available to hire!

You should see something similar to the images above, so please let me know if you don’t! As always, aimeemarie.com is still your one stop shop for my portfolio & blog, as you can reach both from the main page, here.

Photo by Toni Blay

Catch-up with parts one & two, here & here.

41. I love love love the smell of coconut toiletries— body scrubs, shampoo, anything! Yum.

42. Not many people know about my ‘online life’, despite the fact it’s hugely publicly accessible!

43. I love me a good notebook. Mmm, notebookey / agenda / diary goodness! It probably comes from my organised side, although I’m a bit of a perfectionist & hate making that first mark / note on a fresh new page, & end up scrapping it because it didn’t look quite right! Ah. Moleskine, anyone?!

44. I didn’t go to university, despite friends & teachers expecting me to. It’s just not me for me & I hate the way people are shocked if you don’t go, nowadays! There are other things to do in life, you know! Grrr.

45. Growing my hair is one of the hardest things ever, even though I haven’t actually got to do anything… I’m just so used to having shorter, manageable hair that I love, but I’ve set myself a challenge & I shall complete it! Long, naturally wavy hair, you will be mine!

46. I’m the least sporty & athletic person I know, but I plan to get a lot more active in the new year, without paying stupid amounts for a gym membership— jogging, all the way!

47. I have a really good memory, particularly for the smallest, insignificant details!

48. The first band I saw live was Lifehouse.

49. I did work experience at two big teen / young adult magazines in their fashion cupboard.

50. I rode into a washing line when I was younger, on my cute little pink bike & then fell into a rosebush. It hurt & I still have the scars to prove it!

51. I can’t click my thumb / finger together on my right hand. It just won’t work. There’s no sound. What’s up with that?!

52. I learnt to play the recorder when I was younger, like most 5yr old girls! Me & my gal pals did it, because we loved our teacher & her gorgeous, curly ginger hair! We thought she was amazingly cool & I even used to write to her when she left our school. Aww.

53. I get a little bit of secret road rage with other drivers sometimes, but for all the right reasons— if they cut me up, drive right up my arse or they’re on their phone. I hate people who use their phone while driving. Why are there never any police around?!

54. I’m a bit skeptical of horoscopes & star signs, because I think you can apply the vague attributes to most people.  However, as a Cancerian, I’m meant to be emotional, moody, imaginative, cautious & protective— & I definitely am!

55. My fav TV show is probably Eastenders.  You can’t beat a bit of unrealistic, over-the-top London life!

56. I passed my driving test the second time around.  Apparently the first time, I didn’t observe on my manoeuvres— no, no Mr Examiner, clearly you weren’t the observant one, because I did!

57. I’m agnostic— there might be something out there, but none of this building the world in 7 days jibber jabber.

58. I hate bad grammar.  The odd mistake is totally forgiveable, but I despise the way some people seem to communicate these days, by doubling letters in a sentence eg. ‘I lovee myy family andd frieendss. Ur gr8″ (Taken from an actual Facebook status.) The fact that this bothers me so much, make me feel old!

59. I always have my toenails painted, no matter what the season.

60. I fell into a rosebush when I was about 8yrs old, because I rode into a washing line on my shiny, new pink bike, knowing full well what I was doing  (I was a bit spesh like that) & still have the scar on my hand to prove it!

Photo by Lauren Marek

If you’ve yet to celebrate Valentine’s Day, follow Kate’s top tips for a fret-free day of l-o-v-e, love!
No one to share the lurve with?!  Then feast your eyes on Gala’s 100 Ways You Can Start Loving Yourself.
Despise your day job like I do?  Maybe we should learn to love it a little more!
Sarah Kane is back from Texas & her snapshots of the landscape never cease to amaze me.
The gorgeous Em really makes me want to go to Tokyo– It’s like an adult adventure playground! Yes please.
I think I’ve fallen in love with Luke & Charis’ wedding.  Simple, gorgeous & rustic.
Nothing Bad Mag, the love child of Katie Coleslaw & Georgina Bacchues is now live.  Check it out!
Heidi Montag, is that really you? Too Weird.
Do you take a packed lunch to work? You should, says Harriet!
It’s Shrove Tuesday tomorrow, but why not start flipping pancakes now?! Yum.

Well, I’ve been scoffing pastries, getting addicted to Cadbury Twirls, making spotify playlists, spring-cleaning and rearranging furniture around the flat, applying for My Dream Job among others, hating the odd flurries of snow, catching up with family and friends, slacking on my 365 project… oh and launching my brand new photography portfolio and business!

Yes, that’s right.  This girl’s in business!  Spread the word! I’m still in the very early stages of the business aspects, but it’s all very exciting.  As you’ll see, it’s not quite up yet, but I couldn’t keep it under wraps for much longer— I’ll let you know when it’s live!

I had a realisation after months of being seriously unhappy in my retail management job and too many shed tears— why am I doing this to myself?! I was very flattered when I was asked to undertake management training and it blinded me from the fact that I never wanted to go down this route! All of the unhappiness of late had clouded my vision and I temporarily lost sight of my creative dream, but I’m now beginning to get back on track. I’m still there until I find another job, but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, rather than darkness! I kept telling myself that there wasn’t much need for creative services during the recession, but I was wrong & now I’m working towards my own destiny, rather than letting it fall into my lap.

It’s all about positive mental attitude. When someone asks what I do, I now say “have fun!”— we all need some enjoyment & shouldn’t be defined by our job (particularly if it’s one you despise!) I think it’s really important to forget about your day job when you get home & distance yourself from it, before you get bogged down.

Separating my (semi-personal) blog and professional business portfolio now means I can focus on both, without worrying about the boundaries between the two, merging.  The blog can become more fun / personal and I’ll still have a working, slick portfolio for my clients.  Hooray!

If you’re a regular reader of this blog, then you’ll know that I got engaged, after my fiancé proposed last year, on a beautifully magical winter’s day in Paris. Ever since, I’ve been on a anything-wedding-related binge, spurred on by my mother-in-law-to-be, showering me with bridal magazines & natter about ribbons, favours and anything, as well as absolutely everything! The same style of invitations, typical black & white photos and colour schemes seem to appear on every double-page spread though, which is why I was so excited when I stumbled across Rock’n'Roll Bride— it’s edgy, daringly different and shows you that you don’t have to have the same polished, carbon-copy wedding as every other loved-up twosome. In fact, even if you’re nowhere near this stage in life, you can adapt this girls philosophy & buoyancy to your every day existence!

Photo of Kat Williams by Marianne Taylor Photography
Hi Kat!  For those people out there who don’t know about the Rock’n'Roll Bride, who is she and what does she do?
The Rock n Roll Bride is obsessed with kick ass photography and unique and inspiring weddings. On my blog www.rocknrollbride.com I combine both these loves by sharing the very best alternative weddings and photo shoots from all over the world!

How would you describe yourself in just three words?
Pink, feisty and weird!

What 5 tracks would be essential to the Rock’n'Roll Bride soundtrack?
Contrary to popular belief, being rock n roll is nothing to do with music – it’s a state of mind, it’s your personality and your individuality shining through in whatever way it might manifest itself… And Oh God I have such bad taste in it! Eclectic is the word. My favourite songs right now are probably Rage Against the Machine Killing in the Name Of, Britney Spears Toxic (oh yes, rock n roll? me?!) All you need is love by the Beatles (our first dance song) Tiny Dancer by Elton John and…The Power of Love by Huey Lewis and the News. I told you it was a random mix!

How might a typical day in the life of Kat Williams go?
Well I still have a full time job where I work evenings. So on a usual day I get up at 9 or 10, check my emails, read my Google reader and write some posts. I schedule my posts throughout the day and try and plan and write everything at least a day in advance. If I have time I get going on some of my other writing commitments like if I’m guest posting for someone or writing for one of the magazines I work with. Then I have a bath, some food and get ready for my ‘day’ job. I work as a television producer for a shopping channel here in the UK so I head of to work, plan the show and produce 3 and a half hours of live tv! I head home at either 7, 10 or 2am (depending on what shift I’m on) When I get home I either go right to bed (if it’s 2am) or otherwise I eat, give my husband a kiss and turn my computer back on. The emails have undoubtedly built up so I get cracking on them and plan the next few days’ posts before heading off to bed!

I love seeing so much diversity, uniqueness and inspirational work and weddings! No two days are ever the same!

You got married a few years ago.  When and where did you meet your husband?
We met in a bar actually. He was 21 and I was (shh!) 16! We didn’t actually get together until I was 18 though as I played hard to get! He texted me on my 18th birthday and asked if I wanted to go out for a drink and after much discussion with one of my girlfriends (as we do!) I agreed.

Is there anything you’d change about your own wedding day?
Yes! Living and breathing weddings it’s inevitable that I’ll look back and see what we could do differently. I’ve had pink hair since I was 16 – I had pink hair when I met my husband and it was pink when we got engaged, but I went brown a little while before the wedding. Looking back, I wish I’d gone back to pink, because it’s pink again now and probably will be for the new few years. Brides often tell me: “I thought my ideas were weird, but now I’ve seen weddings that do things differently, it makes me feel more comfortable about having what I want.” I asked my florist for pale vintage colours. The reality? Bright Purple. It didn’t matter on the day, as I was so excited about getting married, but looking back I think, “Urgh, they’re not what I wanted,” and I wish we’d done them ourselves.

A lot of weddings take place in July- September time.  Why did you choose April?
April 12th was our anniversary of getting together. Gareth proposed on the 12th April 2007 – our 5 year anniversary. We wanted to keep this special date for our wedding day too.

Photos of Kat Williams by Marianne Taylor Photography

Which is better— Winter or Summer weddings?  Why?
Oooh difficult! I wouldn’t say either was necessarily better, it’s just what’s right for the couple. We personally would have never got married in the height of summer as neither of us are great fans on the sun – I’m so pale that I actually melt! The longer days do have their advantages of course especially photography-wise and you can do more outside and have less stress about the weather. However there is something so romantic about the winter – being all bundled up in the cold and dark, candlelight, snow and moody photography. It’s really important to have your wedding at a time that suits you.

Describe the most inspiring wedding you’ve ever seen.
That is even more difficult! I literally couldn’t pick just one. I see so many amazing, unique and different weddings everyday. What I adore about what Ido is the diversity of the weddings and couple’s I see. I actually wrote a round up on some on my favourite weddings of 2009 this month so be sure to check these two posts out for some of my faves.

What top 5 tips would you give to a bride who’s stressing about planning and budgeting for her big day?
1. Stop, breathe, chill!
2. Get organized – write lists. Lists are good and very therapeutic and having stuff written down will stop you mulling it over so much as you know it’s all there. Writing all your tasks down will give you a sense of relief.
3. Ask for help – friends and family are there to support you
4. Take a day off, go shopping and meet a friend for a no-wedding-chat-allowed coffee
5. Don’t forget that at the end of the day it’s the marriage that’s important not the wedding!

What do you enjoy most about the niche blogging that you do?
I literally adore writing! Not only is it therapeutic but I end up finding myself more intelligent when I write things down – weird huh? I am also obsessed with pretty pictures and so I get to combine both of these things. I have always liked to pride myself on my individuality. I’m impulsive and controversial and I love it. The best thing about Rock n Roll Bride is how different it is to all the other wedding blogs out there. Not that I don’t adore them (because I do and spend hours of my procrastination time reading them!) but I find by standing out from the crowd I have drawn a very specific reader base and so I not only get sent the most unique weddings (that don’t crop up on all the wedding blogs) but I have been able to offer a very niche readership base to anybody to gets their work or company features on my site. Quite apart from that I’ve loved meeting so many amazing and inspiring people though the blog, both in real life and online and I certainly wouldn’t have been able to do that if it wasn’t for Rock n Roll Bride.

Is Rock’n'Roll Bride your full time job?
Not yet no, but I am hoping that 2010 will be my year!

Would you ever go into wedding planning?
Definitely not! My passion is imagery and writing. Although I adore weddings, I wouldn’t want to have to directly deal with the madness that can be planning a wedding every day!

You’re a photographer too, right?  Who’s your fav?!
Nope I’m not, not unless you count me playing around with my Fuji Instax! I have been lucky enough to model for some of the best UK photographers but I haven’t taken any of the shots on my site myself.
Again it is really difficult to choose a favourite photographer out of the hundreds I see, but some of my favourites include David McNeil, Tinywater, The Sloans, MangoRED, Steep Street, FeatherLove Photography and Jonas Peterson.

Besides weddings, what makes you jump-in-the-air happy?
My husband, my new pussy cats (we get them on the 7th Feb!), Mac make-up, finding the perfect new dress and a tidy house (yes I’m a total geek!)

What’s next for the Rock’n'Roll Bride?  Where would you like to be in 10 years time?
I would love to still be doing what I’m doing. Oh how I love it so! I’d also really love to expand my freelance writing avenues so to write for some more magazines both here in the UK and abroad.

And finally, a quick fire round: What’s your fav…
Shop: Topshop
Book: I’m a rubbish reader! I don’t have time for fiction really. The last great-countn’t-put-it-down book I read was probably The DaVinci Code!
Website: www.galadarling.com
Season: Spring
Band / Artist: Michael Jackson
Food: Sushi
Cupcake flavour: lemon or carrot
City: Tokyo

Thank you for your time, Kat!

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Remember, you too can feature in the Aimee Marie Loves series. If you think you’ve got what it takes, let me know!

05/01/10

Myself & my fiance are trying to eat healthily this year (isn’t everyone?!), but these arctic conditions that the UK has been left with, really is not the best time for chicken salads & the like, so I whipped open an extra thick tomato & herb cup-a-soup, to fill a little hole. Yum!

06/01/10

I’ve not been able to go very far this week at all, on my GENUINE non-snow-day week off of work, which is gutting! I have spent a lot of time looking for new jobs though & even succumbed to moving my entire iMac from the study to the sofa, so I could get cosy. I miss having a laptop sometimes!

07/01/10

I took a well deserved break from all the housework that I seemed to have done over & over again this week, & had a little home pampering sesh!

I know, I know— we’ve all heard it a million times already this decade, but this really is a great opportunity to start a fresh!  (Yeah, I’m still on a big ‘new year, new you’ kick.) If you haven’t already thought about setting goals, it’s never too late & I urge you to do it! It’ll give you some direction & help you make your life as sparkly & amazing as you dream it could be!

Image by Hanakoyo

Cleanse
Have you still got your Christmas decs up? Empty boxes from your Chrimbo presents scattered on the floor? Draft blog posts unfinished? You can’t start a fresh if you’re still living in 2009! Stop dwelling on the past, pull your finger out & have a tidy up. Trust me, you will feel so much better after it. If you’re feeling really motivated, you could not only tidy up, but clear out— your wardrobe, make up, paper, CDs & DVDs, & anything else that’s cluttering up your life. Read this article I wrote in December 2008(!) for some tips.

And the same goes for people. If there are individuals in your life that you feel are holding you pack, putting down & generally making your life a misery, then cut them out. Either completely (delete them from your phone, Facebook & any other kind of contact you have with them), see them less frequently or have it out with them— tell them what they’re doing & how it makes you feel. Perhaps they don’t even realise they’re doing it.

Focus
Once all the chaos around you has been sorted out, you can zero in on what it is you want to change or improve. Have a really good think about this one! Sure, if you stop biting your nails, they’ll look lovely by the end of the year, but is it really going to have a big impact on your life? Dwell on one or two things that could really ameliorate your being— perhaps a new job, or a new home? Increase traffic to your website? Make them challenging enough that they’re not undemanding, but remember they must be achievable too. And of course, they don’t have to be dull— resolutions aren’t there to make your life boring or stressful! They should be fun, exciting & magical. Pressing. Stimulating. Invigorating. Intoxicating!

Deliver
It’s so easy to lose sight of your goals once they’ve been set. The key to success, is setting yourself small steps to reach your aim— for example, if you want to move out this year, strive to view potential properties by the end of February. Chip away at it & you’ll get there! I find it a lot easier to write my goals down in my Moleskine, as it’s somewhere I look every day, but if you don’t use a journal, decorate your living space with post-it notes, write on your calendar or use an application on your phone.

So what are you waiting for?!

If you’ve set goals this year, what are they? And if not, why not?

04/01/10

I’m loving planning my wedding!  Cutting out photos of beautiful dresses, looking at colour schemes & thinking about my guest-list, taking inspiration from blogs & day-dreaming;  Do I want a small ceremony & a big party?  What should we have to eat during the wedding breakfast?  Do I want a classic car or a horse drawn carriage?  Where should we go on our honeymoon?  I wonder what the speeches will be like?  Who should we get to photograph the wedding?  What kind of music will we have?  I’m an obsessed woman!  It may not be for a few years yet, but I don’t want to to leave anything to the last minute or miss out any minor detail.