Frump to Fab 2016 - Lets make it AWESOME!!!

chanie

Hi fabbers,

I am back, following a week in Greece.

We've all come back with lovely golden tans. I've got quite a bit of catching up to do on this thread, so I'll pop back once I'm up to speed.

Carmen

Good evening ladies,
Just popped in to say hello before I go to bed.
I will catch up with the posts tomorrow and get back to 'chatting'
Carmen xx

chanie

Good morning to all fabbers.


I have had a catch up with the thread and am all up to date now. I won't comment on previous posts other than to say that I hope those with health concerns are okay.


First day back at work, today. I'm the first one in the office, so its nice to be by myself for a while.


Greece was nice, although the children found it too hot and both and bouts of D & V. It was a bog standard beach holiday, so nothing exciting to report, although I did try some new thing, particularly some Greek food. I bought myself some Greek style leather sandals, which are sooo comfortable and they were only 18E, so a great bargain. I also bought my first sun hat. I've never worn one before, but I thought I'd give it a go. Its a straw hat, with a wide rim and is flat at the back, so its kind of bonnet style (think Miss Marple or something). Its something I could wear over here too.


I've decided to look into joining Weightwatchers again, as I'm fed up of my weight and I really want to loose it again. I didn't do too badly on holiday, but it is difficult to eat healthily when you away.

maman

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself on holiday chanie despite a few problems. I haven't been to Greece for some years. I remember a travel agent saying to us that if we liked Greece we'd love Turkey and she was right so we always go there for sunshine holidays. Food is very similar mainly because they have such fabulous weather and vegetables are so plentiful. Their tomatoes are so tasty compared to those at home and they do super things with aubergines and courgettes. It would be easy to become a vegetarian in the Mediterranean.


Nothing like a beach holiday for making you take stock of your weight.:( I used mine as a goal to get in shape and it was worth it. It does help to have something to aim for. Maybe looking good at Christmas or some other event. I've never done WW but having a plan to follow (as I do with SW) really helped me focus.


Wow! baibelle, you're sounding very energetic. :T on the weightloss. The exercise will tone you but it's healthy eating that will lose the lbs. Some of us have been decluttering with MK. I've yet to complete the whole house but have been quite successful with my clothes. I wouldn't say I have a capsule wardrobe but I've certainly cut back to things I really love and enjoy wearing.


Dancing tonight so I'll be doing some fabbing. The weather's still good here so a knee length skirt will feature: either a patterned White Stuff one or a flouncy linen one. Although I've been back from my holiday for over a month I've managed to preserve my tan. I do it every year by mixing a small amount of fake tan with my body lotion/moisturiser.


Have a good day all.:)

chanie

I like you top about the tanning lotion and moisturiser. I hope you have a nice time out tonight and that your fabbing is going well.

maman wrote: »

Sounds like you enjoyed yourself on holiday chanie despite a few problems. I haven't been to Greece for some years. I remember a travel agent saying to us that if we liked Greece we'd love Turkey and she was right so we always go there for sunshine holidays. Food is very similar mainly because they have such fabulous weather and vegetables are so plentiful. Their tomatoes are so tasty compared to those at home and they do super things with aubergines and courgettes. It would be easy to become a vegetarian in the Mediterranean.

I must admit, I do prefer Greece to Turkey, but then, I have young children and want somewhere child friendly - although I haven't been to Turkey since having children. I think Spain is probably the child friendliest place to take children. When I say 'child friendly' I mean the food is 'everything with chips' and there are lots of bouncy castles in restaurants etc. I know its very Brit abroad, but it keeps the children happy.

I did love the tomatoes in Greece. I remember showing one to OH and saying it was such a lovely deep red colour and it looked so inviting. I had mousaka in Greece and I'm thinking of making a version for dinner (mince, aubergine and potatoes) at some point. The children like mince and it will make a change from bolognaise and shepherd pie.

Carmen

Good evening ladies :wave:
Sending hugs to all that need one and a pat on the back to all that earned one
Chanie, I please you had a nice holiday. DH and I used to go to Corfu about every five years. The north of the island was our special place, but it has changed so much I'm sure there are still parts of the island that are wonderful, but harder to find, I find that with Spain too?
I am hopeless at finding nice things in charity shops, usually end up coming out with a bundle of books :rotfl:
Maman, I hope all goes well tomorrow? Your post reminded me to make a appointment.
I'm with you Twinnie, I used to like cooking and baking, but now I find it a chore. I do try to batch cook and freeze but it never tastes the same as freshly cooked.
After my visit to the dentist last week I ended up with a very painful infection under the tooth :eek: I had a bad reaction to the first antibiotics so not a happy bunny, but starting to feel more sociable with the new meds. This episode has made my mind up about finding a new dentist. Apart from that I have had quite a good week:)
Good night all

Carmen xx

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies

I'm awake so thought I'd catch up with you all, just had some yoghurt and a cup of tea.

I'm off To Belguim on Thursday. Back On Monday so just a short visit. Travelling on Eurostar which will be a first. We have upgraded to premier so dad will be comfortable. Have checked the weather forecast for Ghent and it looks to be set fair so hopefully all will be fine.

Bit worried about how dad will cope - he is 90 after all - but we will,just go at his pace, which will probably be quite slowly. Given that I'm still recovering from the car crash that suits me. I don't feel like rushing around. Still very sore. Had my third Physio yesterday. Everything just feels so tender to the touch - no external bruising though.

Re diet......well I have just reread the Blood sugar Diet and am ready to go when I get back.i have steadily been changing my diet over the last year or so. Am due some blood tests. I'm determined not to develop full blown diabetes.

I now eat a largely Paleo/Mediterranean diet. I agree about the actual produce though, especially the fruits and salads, they do taste so much better than the stuff we get here.

When we spent time at our aPartment in Spain it was a joy to go to the market and buy fresh fruit and vegetables. They were so fresh, so cheap and you could somehow just taste the sunshine in them.

Although sad to say many of the younger local Spanish people were getting out of the habit of buying fresh. They tended to go for convenience foods in supermarkets. It was mainly older people shopping in the markets.

They always used to have cafes or bars either in the markets or right next to them so shopping was such a fun activity. And what Could be nicer than a stroll round the shops in the evening when it was cooler, browsing, stopping off for a drink or an ice cream.

Thanks to the lovely weather I gave been spending a lot of time in the garden, not working but just resting. I have a nice light tan, must have just topped up from my winter holiday. Even my legs are tanned.

I haven't needed it but I have some Dove self tanning moisturiser which gives a nice glow so I will use that as and when.

Glad you enjoyed your holiday Chanie. Don't Worry about being a "Brit abroad". I think that when you have young children you don't really have the same ability to "go native". It's only when they get older that they become a bit more adventurous with food. But the moussaka would be a good place to start. What do you think of the mezzes.....I love them, same as tapas.

We didn't really holiday abroad much when the boys were young. Ds1 was 14 first time.

However, when my children were younger and we didn't go out much we would make winter Saturday nights a bit special. We would Rent a video and Saturday tea/dinner would be "pick and mix".

I would buy a French stick and a variety of cooked meats, cheeses, pates etc, olives, nuts, crisps, grapes, humous. I would try and ring the changes so it was never the same but there would be a few favourite standbys, like jam or peanut butter.

. So sometimes it would be a bit like an English ploughmans, and sometimes a bit like a tapas supper and sometimes like a mezze. It was a good way of introducing them to different foods without any pressure. and it gave me a night off cooking.......:rotfl:

The food would be set out and they would just just help themselves and graze over a period of two to three hours whilst we watched "Gladiators", "Blind Date" and then our chosen film, usually what I call a "boys film" like Die Hard or Mission Impossible, "Back to the Future" .......

Later when DVDs became cheaper we built up our own film library. We still have most of them and often dig one out.

As they got older and more adventurous every so often we would a "foreign night", usually a Friday.

I would get the boys to help choose the menu. We would try and theme things, dressing up, dressing the table, choosing some appropriate music and trying out a few words, printing out a menu on the computer. it was a great activity to do during the school holidays and half term breaks, it kept them amused for a couple of days.

During the dinner they would tell us all about what they had learned about their chosen country from Their research.

By the time we could afford to holiday abroad they were older and had been thoroughly primed to try anything, the more exotic the better, tucking into frogs legs and snails, baby squid and all manner of exotics foods without batting an eyelid.

We all drew the line at the crunchy roasted insects in China though. I think I would have to be very hungry......:rotfl:

Twinnie. What a horrible experience at your dentist......Tooth/gum infections are awful. Hope you feel better soon.

By the way "the spot" has cleared but I will get it checked out anyway. I also have a milia quite near my eye. I'm not going to mess with it, I am going to get it removed professionally. I also have a mole on my back which I want looking at........so I think I'll get them all checked out.

Ah the joys of aging but as we get older I do think it's important to pay close attention to our skin, especially if, like me, you have had a misspent youth soaking up the sun without adequate sun screen or sun protection.

Did anyone else used to sunbathe using olive oil and vinegar:eek:

Thank goodness our young people are more knowledgeable than we were.

Right I'm getting nice and sleepy so back to bed .......:D

maman

Great news about my second stage breast assessment. They did an ultrasound and everything looks normal! Apparently they get another radiologist to check the images but she seemed very confident that they won't want to see me for 3 years.:D:T


Your reference to Blind Date took me back LL. We were visiting an Afghan friend locally and he was telling us how much he enjoyed programmes like Question Time and other political programmes where anyone could criticise the government. He compared it with Afghanistan where you could be imprisoned for looking the wrong way at a traffic warden, His little lad kept trying to get a word in and when he finally did he said 'And you really like Blind Date dad!'. We all have our hidden vices.:rotfl:


I think it's horses for courses with holidays chanie. There are resorts in Turkey I wouldn't dream of going to. Our favourite is all based on fabulous Turkish restaurants and smart beach clubs and not really child friendly. But that's what suits us now, when the children were young it was different.


I can't remember if I said but this year our hotel was overbooked so they gave us an upgrade to an apartment but still part of the hotel with breakfast thrown in as it was their error. We really enjoyed the extra space and facilities and took the opportunity to make a few light lunches. Nothing complicated, but it was a joy to shop in the market for tomatoes and cherries particularly. With some bread and cheese we were happy.


I haven't made moussaka for ages but when I last did I lined the base with potatoes too. They're really tasty as they soak up the juices. I got the tip from a taverna in Crete. It works just as well with beef mince as lamb and personally I like cheese sauce on top.


Weather's still lovely here. I might sit in the garden later, I feel like relaxing.:)


P.S. Have a great time in Belgium LL.

lessonlearned

Maman.......just a quickie......so glad your test results were good. Sounds as if they were very thorough......

Aren't we lucky to have these tests offered to us.

A bit cooler here - so I'm just pottering and resting indoors, cat curled up,next to me.

The insurance have now settled my claim and have just credited my bank. I'm rich.:rotfl:

Actually I am finding going car free surprisingly easy. Last night I borrowed my sons. It's a lot "nippier" than mine, it goes like a little rocket. I'll have to be careful.

maman

Thanks LL, certainly a weight off my mind. You're right we are lucky to have all these tests but I think I've had my fill for the time being. I'm happy to let someone else take a turn!:rotfl:


We share a car too. After I gave up full time work we realised after 6 months that we only used one regularly. Our driveway is such that the cars were parked behind each other and we just took the outside one. We resolved that if it ever became a problem we could always buy another but it hasn't done. We live very close to the city centre so public transport or walking is a much better option (especially if wine is to be involved at some point):D.