Thinking of Moving

If anyone read the title and thought, even for a second, Steve & I are moving you're off your rockers! Ive spent most of my morning up to my noes in boxes and trying to get most of our stuff out of boxes, put the rented kitchen stuff into boxes so it can be stored in our guest room & making room for the IKEA order that arrives tomorrow...

Yes Steve and I went back to IKEA this weekend in search of wine glasses and glass bowls and we ended up buying bookcases & a TV stand and more square bookshelves. We might almost own more furniture now then we did in the US, except for our epic couch - which I still miss!

I am considering moving my blog from blogger to wordpress. I feel like back in the day, before google bought blogger, it was great. My old blog looked pretty good with free content I got online & I had 200+ followers. Now I have a whopping 2 followers yet I hope know I have more then 2 readers. I know there are some who just read & don't comment & that's ok, but one of the goals of a blogger is to have a successful following. I would love to have some sponsored posts & a real blogger following.

Unfortunately I'm getting the feeling that this blog isn't getting the traffic it deserves because you have to be a google circle person to "follow it". I have a google account but I don't even know how to use it! I also feel like wordpress is prettier - even just the basic offerings. In time I will buy a proper layout and get someone to design my blog but until that time I want people to still see my blog & think "wow that looks really good".

What platform do you use? Which do you prefer? Any advice for transitioning?

Spilled Milk Photography

If you've been reading my blog I'm guessing you've seen all of the pictures I tend to post with 80% of my entries. I recently got a decent DSLR camera & I've been trying to take better photos and sort of find my artistic voice. I'm not sure how well it's going but I figured I'd give it a try. One day I would love to be a professional photographer but I also know how many talented people share this dream (I searched photography on kick starter last night and got loads of people asking for money to start their dream photography business).

Don't worry, I'm not going to try and hit anyone up for money, though I do know a few good charities if you're thinking of tossing some mullah my way. I have, however, started my very own Etsy shop. If you're not familiar with Etsy its a bit like eBay meets a local craft show. Sort of. I've bought tones of things on there, from vintage pins to shampoo & conditioner to address return labels. All Etsy sellers are small businesses, they either sell vintage items, craft supplies or something they make. As of June I opened my own shop, calling it SpilledMilkPhoto... The full name didn't fit. But I still like it. I don't have any fancy descriptions or shop policies, as of right now I only have 5 photos listed but everyone has to start somewhere. I'm only charging $5 for a pdf of my photos. I'm a tad worried that's even too much but we'll see how it goes. I am going to add some more photos soon and if I ever decide to get crafty watch out, I'll be posting those things too.

The name does seem a bit odd, but I sort of like it. I didn't think Bridget Schiller Photography was exciting enough and BSP just seems like an odd ailment you get in your mouth. I also think one day I can get a cute icon made (hello more Etsy shopping).

If you're interested in any of my photography (Mom, if you're reading this I mean people aside from you) please drop me a line. I am a true beginner but I really enjoy it & if I can't make it a career I can at least make it a good hobby.

Here's a link to my shop: Spilled Milk Photography

Link Up

Link Up Here

Back when I used to blog on my old blog Atl Yankee Belle... not sure if any of my old readers have come over to this blog, but I love a good link up. I feel like its a good way to get some more people reading my blog as well as it gives me a subject to write about (aka I get stumped on topics or I have good topics but not sure they're worthy of a post). 

So this post is about getting to know little old me. Since my blog is still pretty new and I haven't gotten a fancy designer layout I don't have a "all about me" section. 

• I've recently started my own herb garden. Since we don't have any outdoor space, not even a balcony I've had to make do with a windowsill 

•  I'm 5'7, telling your height seems to be a thing for this link up so I figured I should include it 

•  I speak a tiny amount of french. After living in Belgium for 5 years this shouldn't surprise anyone yet Steve was shocked when I spoke french when we visited Belgium last weekend

•  I've recently started my own Easy shop featuring my photography. I'm very much a beginner so I'm not charging much for these pictures but I am hoping to make it a real business Spilled Milk Photography

•  I can't drive a manual car. I tried to learn a few years back in an ancient pick up truck in a field full of goats. Needless to say it was a failure of a lesson and I never went back

•  I am not much of a gamer, I don't play PS4 or Xbox or magic or geeky board games, what I do play is the Sims4. Ive been an avid Simmer since the original came out when I was in 8th grade... not so many years ago

•  I'm an excellent procrastinator aka the reason I started this blog post as opposed to running errands or unpacking or starting one of 3 loads of laundry I need to do today 

•  I hoard collect cook books. I had a huge collection at home, at least 50 or so. Yet I never use them when looking for a recipe, I'm all about google. I only packed about 10, but they're pretty so I can use them to decorate

•  Since I've been in the UK I've made 8 dishes I've never cooked before. I've had plenty to time to find new recipes and online shopping has helped too as I don't have to wonder around the supermarket for hours looking for something

Feel like your readers don't know much about you? Why not join this link up! Don't forget to add your post to the main website  

Wordless Wednesday

I am taking a page out of Cole's book today & I am joining a link up from the SITS Girls. I love that my readers are mostly family & friends but I would like to get my blog out into the bigger blogging community and reach a wider audience & I am hoping this might be a good way to start. Unfortunately I missed the first 2 days of this link up but today's theme is a Summer Bucket List. Since it's still Wordless Wednesday I am going to use both themes by making a bucket list of places we want to visit this summer!

Stop The Summer Slump

Barcelona, Spain - some friends spent 3 weeks there last month and I just spent an hour drooling over their photos. Beach + culture + good food = LOVE











Marseilles, France - We just found out the Eurostar goes to the south of France! I can practice my french while laying on the beach... How do you say "another class of wine please?" Haha

Edinburgh, Scotland - Not your typical summer vacation spot but we figure its nicer to visit in the summer when its not freezing & covered in snow

St Agnes - This is in the UK. No, I'm not lying (though I had to double check google maps a few times). It's a tiny island off the coast of Cornwall






Spit, Croatia - Eastern Europe is often forgotten by Americans & can be less expensive then some of the more obvious beach destinations. Plus I want to swim in this waterfall!

Greece - anywhere really. I've never been and I'm dying to go and take photos and lay out and eat amazing food.

These are just some of the places I would love to visit this summer - What's on your summer bucket list?

Air B&B

One of the most exciting parts of our trip to Belgium was getting to stay at our first Air B&B! If you've never heard of it, its a website/company which allows normal people to rent out part or all of their home to people. It sounds a little weird but its based on the concept of a bed & breakfast. This concept is very normal for me as my aunt & uncle run a B&B out of their beautiful home in upstate NY. So I was very gung-ho about trying this concept - Steve not so much. He's a fan of normal hotels but since budget is always a factor in our travel, renting an apartment for $75/night vs a hotel room for $150 I figured it might be worth a try.

After a pleasant Eurostar ride into Belgium & a terrible experience with Enterprise (this will be covered in another post) we were pretty exhausted. Mind you it was also HOT in Belgium - something I don't remember. It was in the high 80s, not that hot coming from Atlanta but when your packed and dressed for high 60s it felt like the Sahara.

Catherine, our Air B&B host was so sweet, we were running late because of the rental car fiasco & she was still there waiting on us with cold waters. We took a tiny elevator up to her 3rd floor flat and opened the door and wow! The photos on her posting don't do it justice. She gave us a quick tour of everything - kitchen was fully stocked with pots, pans, plates - everything you could ever ask for in an apartment. The views out of the kitchen window were amazing. She handed us they key and the place was ours for the weekend. Coming from our box filled flat this was just perfect. The bathroom was more like a spa then an apartment & the bed was very comfortable. If you are going to be visiting Belgium for 3+ days I highly recommend this listing! Its a great value, in a wonderful neighborhood & has everything you could ask for. Catherine is so sweet and speaks enough English to be a great host.

I'm sold on the concept, Steve is still weary but I think he would give it a go again. Sorry for the lack of photos - totally forgot to get them but you can see all the pictures as a part of her listing.

Dave

If you're reading this Steve & I are hopefully up to our ears in our stuff. The movers are due to be here tomorrow (today) and we are super excited & a little nervous about where we are going to put it all. I have recently figured out how to plan posts so I can write a post the night before.

Right now Steve and I are laughing our asses off as we watch the Top Gear's Christmas special when they did some long distance lorry (big truck) driving & bridge building in Burma & Thailand.

If you think the show is all boring, a couple of wealthy guys talk about cars none of us can afford - you're right. But while they do do that, they're also exceptional funny. Its the dry "I'm not actually trying to be funny but I am" which is my favorite. I'd say their Christmas specials are the best - they're about an hour to an hour & a half. They typically are sent to a random country, given no money so they buy old cars and are given a crazy challenge that many modern normal cars couldn't handle.

We watch this show on a channel here called Dave. Seems like an odd name for a TV channel, right? That's what I thought. So I decided to do some research to see who the show is named for. The Brits have lots of famous Daves' - Beckham, Cameron & Bowie. Nope, its none of those.

It's this Dave...

Are you a fan of the Hoff?

Wordless Wednesday

One of the biggest thing we said before we moved here was this was going to be a new start for us - we were going to be healthier, kick bad habits and just live better, happier lives. Unfortunately we've fallen into the same sort of rut as we were in back home. Recently we figured making a few small changes would put us on the right path. I bought us a smoothie blender which has helpful with breakfasts. Steve is walking either to or from work to get in some steps as opposed to taking the bus both ways.

Ive got a few things I would love to have to help on this lifestyle change - here they are:

We have a bender but I would love a more powerful nutribullet! My dream blender is a Vitamix, but since they're $700+ here its a long way off

Simple black speedo. Steve found a local gym with a pool that I'm planning to join next week so having a simple athletic looking swimsuit would be great to have. 

These old school, bright colored New Balance sneakers! Maybe not to the gym, more for day to day but how cute & comfy do they look? 

These sassy wedding workout tanks are so cute! I plan on ordering one (or 6) when we go back to the US in October. 

What items would you make your healthy lifestyle more on point? Own any of these things? Love them? Hate them? Let me know!