The 2011 calendar I bought in the sale from Calendarclub.co.uk arrived this week. There were so many vintagey type calendars to choose from but in the end I settled on this Elvgren wall calendar. My first choice would have been the one featuring various 1950s wallapers but this one had already sold out. The vintage railway poster themed ones were also lovely.

My mum and I took a trip to the tip recycling shop this week and I picked up a few bits and pieces including this old enamel dish and some chipped china plates. I can’t resist pretty china even if it’s chipped or cracked and at some stage I think I’ll put it all to good use by smashing it into smaller pieces and using it for some sort of mosaic.

I also bought this book from the tip recycling shop and it’s really interesting, with lots of great pictures. The vintage wooden egg cups were also from the tip shop and are now sat on a shelf in my spare bedroom.

On Thursday evening I went to a Muscular Dystrophy Campaign fundraising meeting for the new Neuromuscular Centre in Birmingham. I came away with lots of ideas and will be getting myself into gear to get going with them over the next few weeks/months. Before the meeting I went for a meal with my Nan, Granddad, uncle and friend. I shared a Mezze with my granddad (he’d already had some sort of pork belly dish but had room for more) and it was absolutely delicious. Although I love hummus, flatbread, tzatziki and falafel, I’d never had them all together before and didn’t even know mezze’s existed. It’s definitely my new favourite meal and luckily I can eat this kind of thing with my band (excluding the flatbread).

I had my first band fill this weekend which was totally painless and it was fascinating seeing my band on an x-ray and the barium stuff I had to drink going through it. My weight loss had come to a standstill in the last week as with my band no longer tight I had been really hungry and had increased my calorie allowance slightly. I still lost 2lbs in the last week but with my band now nice and tight again and with me back on a diet of liquids and then mushed food for 6 days I’m hoping to lose a decent amount before my birthday night out on February 19th. The only problem is I can’t plan ahead with my outfit as I could lose another 10lbs to a stone by then depending on how good I am. I haven’t even seen any outfits that I like, but perhaps that’s because I’m still looking at clothes and going ‘oh I can’t wear that my hips are too big, my arms are too chubby’, when by the time my birthday night out comes they may not be. Well not as big or chubby anyway.