Valentine's Gifts - Is It Just For New Couples?

How long have you been in your relationship? How many Valentine's Days have you had together? How many Valentine's Day gifts have you received? Do you remember each one, have there been so few it's easy to remember?

Recent research has that 60% of Brits receive their best Valentine's Day gift in the first year of their relationship. 23% of those people received jewellery during the honeymoon period.

The honeymoon period varies between 9 months if you are between 16 - 24 and 2 years if you are 45 - 54.

The stats reveal that the longer you are in a relationship the less likely you are to make an effort. As my parents are approaching their 40 year wedding anniversary and they still do gifts we hope to be doing the same. Their gifts are never extravagant but a minding to show that they are still thinking of one another. We plan to always do the same. After all it's never about the money - just the thought!

Likesism.com

My parents, and us, are thankfully not part of the 20% of couples who stop giving gifts after the first few years of a relationship. Or the 10% who stopped giving gifts all together after the first year!
Protect Your Bubble conducted the study as they insure gadgets, including phones and jewellery. they point out that if you do receive jewellery it might be worth insuring it!

Here are the stats when it comes to your probability of receiving jewellery:

Interestingly the likelihood of receiving jewellery varies widely between cities:
The results show that you are 33% more likely to receive jewellery, in your first year, if you are living in Southampton or Sheffield (44%) than in Bristol or Liverpool (11%).

The study also showed that Brits love a sentimental gift with a high percentage opting for a photograph or something sentimental (definitely Laura and I).  But by the 5th year only 4% of couples opt for a thoughtful gifts and, according to the research, Bristolians are the least sentimental of all cities though. 

Unsurprisingly flowers are still the top gift, 40% of couples receive them in the first year with dinner as the second option with 27% of couples heading out. 

If you are looking for something thoughtful, a little bit different and cost effective - no matter how long you have been in a relationship then check out our post on Valentine's Gift Ideas. 

And remember:

I am about to blow your mind!

Well okay I won't blow your mind I might just change the way you think about certain things and if you are anything like me when someone tells you something that changes what you once knew *mind blown*!

Here's an example: Mount Everest is the tallest mountain - I have always been told this is true or had I always thought this was true? All I know is if I had ever been asked the question I would have answered Mount Everest. However the tallest mountain is in fact Mauna Kea, Mount Everest just has the highest peak!

See *mind blown*

How about this one: The forbidden fruit mentioned in Genesis is an apple - right? Wrong! Well maybe right but in actual fact the bible doesn't actually name the forbidden fruit it's just been passed through the history books that it was referring to an apple! Makes you wonder what else in the bible has been interpreted the wrong way or in a way that suits the person reading it- sorry I won't go there - but seriously I have only ever seen pictures depicting an apple!

I was reading a list of misconceptions that people believe to be true in the paper this morning, the article is here, and it is fascinating. The study was conducted by Ripleys Believe it or Not in London. I love history and I love knowing how things started or how phrases originated - I did a fun fact Friday on it way back when: here and here (this was the original)- so these kinds of articles always get my attention.

Source

It never fails to amaze me how much we take as fact without ever doubting it, whether it be an old wives tale, a superstition or just out of habit or because our parents did it yet how much has the world changed? How much more do we know now compared to ever 20 years ago? How much do we now turn to Google for instead of our parents? However old beliefs die hard and I for one know first hand that changing someone's mind can take years even if you are armed with all the facts.

I always love to drop in that homosexuality is present in every species yet homophobia is only present in one because that tends to end any debate on 'being gay is a new thing' or 'why are there so many more gay people now - it must be because more people are reading about it'!

Now a few of the misconceptions I did know about or had figured out but vitamin c is not an effective treatment for a cold - what! That's right it builds up an immune system helping prevent cold and flu but once you have it scientists say there is little or no evidence that vitamin c will help you fight it!

That goldfish only have a 3 second memory - I always thought this wasn't the case and now it has been proven - goldfish actually react to light and music and other sensory cues! I knew Nigel and John (my goldfish of 12 years) were listening to me although my family convinced me I was imaging it.

And that shaving doesn't make hair grow back quicker - I have been told that it does by Laura on a regular basis and now I feel like I finally have the proof! It does appear that shaving encourages hair growth but in reality it's just stubble - hair grows at the same rate and thickness whether you shave frequently or not.

Another one I will have to drop into conversation at some point is the fact that we don't just have 5 senses - did you know we actually have at least nine and research says it's actually more like 21!

Finally and because I have one bothering me now - houseflies only live for 24 hours - not true! They can live for a month in the wild - right let me find that fly swat I can't work with the incessant buzzing!

The buzzing by the way is the beating of it's two wings #notsofunfact.

So there you have it - did I blow your mind? Have you got any misconceptions that you always thought were true until one day some article or some person challenged your very beliefs?

Oh and a quick dog fact - the 1 human year = 7 dog years is just a myth, it can vary depending on the size and breed of dog quite significantly.

Have You Heard About Shared Parental Leave?

Have you heard about Shared Parental Leave?

Here in the UK if you child is born or adopted after the 5th of April 2015 you may be able to benefit from the new maternity / parental leave scheme that is coming into play!

While this may not be relevant to all our lovely readers or indeed us we thought it was such great news that we would share it as it is a change that anyone even thinking of becoming parents here in the UK should know about!

We think this is definitely a positive change for parents and kids alike, raising a kid should be a joint venture never left to one parent and should we ever have children I know that Laura and I would both bring very different attributes to the table so sharing leave is an ideal solution.

Having heard about this earlier in the year we had done a bit of research prior to today's announcement and couldn't believe how soon it was actually happening. The change comes with an aim to create a culture change for families and for employers focusing on flexibility that will benefit everyone, while allowing both parents to have an increased input into raising the child should they wish. All good things right?!

The starting point is of course the eligibility so here's the highlights:

      To qualify for Shared Parental Leave (SPL), you must share care of the child with either: 

•       Your wife, husband, civil partner or joint adopter, 
•       The child’s other parent
•       Your partner (if they live with you and the child)
•       You or your partner must be eligible for maternity pay or leave or Maternity  Allowance or adoption pay or leave.

     You must also:

•       Have been employed continuously for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week  before the due date (or by the date you are matched with your adopted child)
•       Be employed by the same employer while you take SPL
•       Your partner’s eligibility

During the 66 weeks before the baby is due your partner must:

•       Have been working for at least 26 weeks (which can be discontinuous) - they can be employed, self-employed or an agency worker
•       Have earned at least £30 a week on average in 13 of the 66 weeks

52 weeks to share - amazing! Laura and I have always said if we do have kids (it's a long ongoing debate that has ended with a puppy......news on that another time!!) we would want to split the first year allowing us both to bond with the baby as well as share the task of going to work. So this plan will help us do exactly that. Of course a few of the details will depend on our employers but that's always been the case.

On the www.gov.uk/sharedparentalleave website you can check out all the exact details and this example is just one way that they explain:

The other good thing is the inclusion of Shared parental leave in touch (SPLIT) days in addition to the 10 ‘keeping in touch’ (or KIT) days already available to those on maternity or adoption leave. It allows you and your partner can both work up to 20 days during Shared Parental Leave. These are called ‘shared parental leave in touch’ (or SPLIT) days. Catching and kinda does what it says in the acronym.

For anyone wanting to know more check out the website or there is a free online guide here! 

And here's a real-life case study I came across that I think sums it up, the fact that the lady in the example works in my industry is a coincidence but it explains the way it works perfectly for me:

Real life case study from: Government News

Hannah is a Senior Project Manager in the e-learning industry and her husband Chris works for the Civil Service. When their son Euan was born they decided to split their leave entitlement. Hannah returned to work on a 4.5 day week when Euan was 8 months old at which point Chris took 7 weeks of additional maternity support leave to look after Euan. Both Hannah and Chris feel that sharing leave has been a very positive experience for themselves and their son.

Hannah said that knowing Euan was at home with Chris was very reassuring when she returned to work:

Chris and I felt that this would be one of the few opportunities we would get to spend an extended period of time with Euan before he started school. Going back to work it was nice for me to know that Euan was with Chris rather than going straight into childcare and when I returned to work we were able to meet up for lunches as a family which was great. Sharing leave is something we’ll definitely do again.

Chris said that having father and baby time together during the period of leave he took was very special:

During the 7 weeks I had with Euan we were able to take part in a range of activities like swimming, music and baby sensory sessions. It was brilliant to have that father and baby time together. It’s something very special and I felt that both Euan and I gained a lot from it. I’d really recommend it to any other dads-to-be."

SFFF - We've Got That Hawaiian Feeling!

So SFFF has been somewhat AWOL through March so apologies for that. You may have seen that we have been busy on a Big Egg Hunt mission and celebrating our 3 year anniversary. As Spring has officially arrived and March draws to a close it’s party time. Our friend Martha turned 30 earlier this week and is having a Hawiian themed party so in honour of this SFFF has taken a Hawiian twist!

The state of Hawaii consists of eight main islands: Niihau, Kauai, Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kahoolawe and the Big Island of Hawaii. It is the most isolated population centre on the face of the earth. Located 2,390 miles from California; 3,850 miles from Japan; 4,900 miles from China; and 5,280 miles from the Philippines. Or in my language a 17 hour flight from London, 11 hour flight from New York or a 7 ½ hour flight from Boise. And from east to west Hawaii is the widest state in the United States.

Hawaii was first ‘landed’ in 1778 with the arrival of British explorer James Cook. Originally he named the islands the "Sandwich Islands" in honour of his sponsor John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. He published the islands' location and reported the native name as Owyhee. This spelling lives on in Owyhee County, Idaho, after three Hawaiian members of a trapping party killed in that area. Check out the Idaho link!!!

Cook only visited the islands twice. Upon his departure during his second visit in 1779, a quarrel ensued, involving Cook's men taking temple idols and fencing as "firewood" and The natives then took a small boat belonging to Cook’s ship. Cook then abducted the King of the Big Island of Hawaii, Kalaniʻōpuʻu, and held him as ransom aboard his ship for the return of the boat, a tactic that had worked for Cook in Tahiti however Kalaniʻōpuʻu's supporters fought back and Cook and four Marines were killed as Cook's party retreated to the beach and launched their boats. Not the best ending!

It was down to Cook's visit and the publication of several books about his voyages, that the Hawaiian islands received a lot of European visitors: explorers, traders, and eventually whalers who found the islands a convenient harbour and source of supplies. Early British influence can be seen in the design of the flag of Hawaii which has the British Union Flag in the corner. Heck yes to the British link!

Nowadays more than one-third of the world's commercial supply of pineapples comes from Hawaii- you know your tropical when that’s true.

There are only 12 letters in the Hawaiian alphabet. Vowels: A, E, I, O, U Consonants: H, K, L, M, N, P, W!

The Hawaiian Islands are the projecting tops of the biggest mountain range in the world. Not something I ever knew! In fact they were formed when under-sea volcanoes erupted thousands of years ago to form the islands. And it currently sits on Haleakala Crater (Ha-lay-ah-ja-lah), the world's largest dormant volcano!

Hawaii was the 50th state admitted to the union on August 20th, 1959 and it has its own time zone (Hawaiian Standard Time.) The time runs two hours behind Pacific Standard Time and five hours behind Eastern Standard Time. And for anyone in the UK the clocks will go forward by one hour on Sunday 25 March as British Summer Time begins for another year- yippee! The official time changes at 1.00 am, moving forward to 2.00 am across the UK.

There are four counties in Hawaii (Kauai; city and county of Honolulu; Maui; and Hawaii). Each city has a mayor and council in charge.

There are no racial or ethnic majorities in Hawaii J Everyone is a minority. Caucasians (Haoles) constitute about 34%; Japanese-American about 32%; Filipino-American about 16% and Chinese-American about 5%. It is very difficult to determine racial identification as most of the population has some mixture of ethnicities.

Honolulu is the largest city in the world -- at least it has the longest borders. According to the state constitution any island (or islet) not named as belonging to a county belongs to Honolulu. What that really means is all islands within the Hawaiian Archipelago, that stretch to Midway Island (1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii) are part of Honolulu.

Then there’s the whole reason why people LOVE Hawaii and that’s the beaches! More than 100 world-renowned beaches ring Honolulu. Kind of makes my stay in Manly seem a million miles away. The island of Oahu draws more visitors than any other to Hawaii. One-third of the state's best surfing beaches are on Oahu.

So I hope where ever you are I hope you wake up to sunshine tomorrow…..

Enjoy you weekend

Love

Sarah

xoxo

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!! March is Here!!

Welcome to March, and the First Fun Fact Friday of the month! In London we are enjoying nice warm weather and hoping that this may be the start of Spring – BRING IT ON! I like my weather extreme – extremely hot or extremely cold - just don’t let it rain.

In folk law if ‘it rains in March so it (will) rain in June’ – seemingly faulty logic, but lets hope that doesn’t happen!

March used to be the first month in the calendar and it was named after the Roman god of war- Martius, it is also known as Hlyd montha (stormy month) because of the typical weather.

For anyone religious, it’s also the time for Lent - the Christian observance from Ash Wednesday to Holy Thursday. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer—through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial. After 40 days, if then culminates in the celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. I went to a Church of England school, so grew up observing Lent but nowadays I don’t partake.

Did you give up anything for Lent this year?

Outside of Lent, we don’t have to wait until April for celebrations– before then we have St Patrick’s Day on the 17th – and who doesn’t have some Irish heritage or relation or distant cousin? In the UK, the pubs turn green and wherever you are there will be some sort of celebration. It commemorates Saint Patrick (c. AD 387–461), the most commonly recognised of the patron saints of Ireland, and the arrival of Christianity in Ireland. It is also widely celebrated by the Irish descendants, especially in places such as the UK, Canada, the United States, Argentina, Australia, and New Zealand, among others. Today, St. Patrick's Day is

probably the most widely celebrated saints’ day in the world.

Originally, the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue - but by the 17th century, Green had over taken as the more recognised colour. You will also see plenty of Shamrocks - Saint Patrick is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pagan Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.

Further to the day’s celebration, it has also become a festival in Dublin! The first Saint Patrick's Festival was held on 17 March 1996. In 1997, it became a three-day event, and by 2000 it was a four-day event. By 2006, the festival was five days long; more than 675,000 people attended the 2009 parade. Overall 2009's five day festival saw close to 1 million visitors, who took part in festivities that included concerts, outdoor theatre performances, and fireworks.

As it turns out, Laura was actually there for the festival!! Her report was that it was crazy busy, lots of drink and there were a TON of Canadians there. And that she can’t really understand Irish people. Thanks for the valuable input, Laura!

Yes, Laura used to dye her hair dark brown! I was surprised too.

As well as Dublin, many other cities, towns, and villages in Ireland hold their own parades and festivals, including Cork, Belfast, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford.

The biggest celebrations outside Dublin are in Downpatrick, County Down, where Saint Patrick is rumoured to be buried. In 2004, according to Down District Council, the week-long St. Patrick's Festival had more than 2,000 participants and 82 floats, bands, and performers and was watched by more than 30,000 people.

The shortest St Patrick's Day parade in the world takes place in Dripsey, Cork. The parade lasts just 100 yards and travels between the village's two pubs. I'm sure there will be plenty of Guinness consumed in those pubs :)

At the Guinness Factory in Dublin

In London we will be holding our St Patrick’s Day parade on March the 18th (also Mother’s Day in the UK!) this year– starting at Green Park it precedes through the streets to Trafalgar square. All 32 Irish counties are represented and dressed in traditional county colours.

Apart from St Patrick’s Day, March had a few momentous occasions in history:

In March 2000, the Disney Company reversed its 43-year ban on moustaches for its theme- park employees. A memo sent to the 12,000 Disneyland and Walt Disney World employees said guests would be comfortable with “neatly trimmed moustaches.” Founding father Walt Disney sported his own moustache, but that didn't stop him in 1957 from banning facial hair. He did this to distance his crew from stereotypical county-fair “carnies.” The grooming code at the theme parks still bans beards, goatees, piercings, and unnatural hair colours. Hahahaha.

In March 1986, pop star Michael Jackson received the biggest commercial sponsorship deal in history at that time from Pepsi-Cola. He was paid $15 million up front to appear in two TV commercials, and Pepsi agreed to sponsor his first solo tour. Also, a 1984 Pepsi sponsorship of $7 million was split among the other Jackson brothers. As you may know, Laura and I are Coca-Cola fans (and big Michael Jackson fans) but Pepsi do great marketing, we can’t deny that – check out my favourite Pepsi video here!

On their way from Chicago to Los Angeles, 55 Oscars disappeared on March 10, 2000. Nine days later, 52 of the stolen statuettes were found next to a trash dumpster in Los Angeles’ Koreatown section. Willie Fulgear was the lucky man to find them and as a reward, he was invited to the 2000 Academy Awards as a special guest.

"Happy Birthday" was the first song to be performed in outer space, sung by the Apollo IX astronauts on March 8, 1969. It’s also the month of my Mum’s birthday! But no, they weren’t singing it to her.

So let’s get the party started – from Mardi Gras to St Patrick’s, the excuses just keep coming!

Enjoy your weekend!

Love, Sarah

The Versatile Blogger Award!

Happy Saturday!!

We have great news today to share with you! We have been lucky enough to receive our first ever award!! It was given to us by our new lovely blogger friend Jennifer at http://jenelizlouise.blogspot.com/, so go check out her blog!!

So these are the rules:

1. Nominate 15 fellow bloggers
2. Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Thank the blogger who nominated you.
5. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your blog post.

And I Nominate:

http://whatwegandidnext.blogspot.com/

http://notesonallure.com/

http://www.mondayswithmac.com/

http://www.laceyinthecity.com/

http://lockerroomgirls.blogspot.com/

http://www.jesseandlauren.com/

http://lostandfound-bailee.blogspot.com/

http://wakingupwithher.blogspot.com/

http://www.2bridesto2mummies.blogspot.com/

http://fabulousfashions4sensiblestyle.blogspot.com/

http://www.5ohwifey.com/

http://asummerfullofpeaches.com/

http://thiswouldbeshaysblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.kikiandlalainwonderland.com/

http://www.thecuriouspug.com/

7 Random Facts About Laura & Sarah

1. We set the alarm every morning 15 minutes earlier than we need to get up so we can have some serious morning CUDDLE TIME!
2. After rent and bills, our next biggest expense by far is Diet Coke.
3. We never go more than one month without eating a Nandos.
4. Our car is called The Captain, because it is practically a boat. It also goes by 'Oh Captain, my Captain!'
5. Before starting this blog, we had never met another lesbian couple.
6. Since being together, we've never had separate jobs.
7. Between us we have 4 tattoos and 8 piercings. And we really want more tattoos!!

We hope you are enjoying your weekend!!

Laura & Sarah xo

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday!! Happy Mardi Gras!!

Despite having both Valentine’s Day and our 35^th Monthaversary (we watched Call The Midwife and had Chinese takeaway to celebrate, it was delicious!) this week, it has still been a long and hard one at work. So we are VERY glad it is Friday. Sarah has been so busy this week, that she’s had to give up her Fun Fact Friday throne! But don’t worry, I’ve rushed in and saved the day. All hail Laura, Queen of Knowledge!! Honestly, I’m more of the Queen’s awkward niece by marriage of knowledge, but I’ll give it a go.

As if this last week’s holidays weren’t enough (plural because I know you all celebrated our monthaversary with us!!), this coming Tuesday is Mardi Gras!! Time to party!

Mardi Gras, meaning ‘Fat Tuesday’ in French, is a Catholic holiday - a day of celebration before Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. Falling 40 days before Easter, Mardi Gras is traditionally meant for people to eat fatty, unhealthy foods before giving them up for the Lenten season. That’s a holiday I can get behind!! However, it’s more widely known for its wild carnivals in places like Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and New Orleans in Louisiana, where they base their celebrations on the slogan Laissez les bons temps rouler (let the good times roll), and the questionable tradition of women receiving necklaces of beads for ‘flashing’ people is still going strong. Girls Gone Wild, anyone?

(source)

In the UK, Fat Tuesday is officially called Shrove Tuesday – and is much tamer than the American counterpart. The day is commonly referred to as Pancake Day, and it is traditional to eat lots of them on this day! In Newfoundland, England, small tokens are frequently cooked into the pancakes. Children take delight in discovering the objects when eating their treats. For example, the person who receives a coin will be wealthy; a nail that they will be (or marry) a carpenter, and so on. Surely cooking a nail into food to give to children is unsanitary and dangerous!! Also, there are ‘pancake races’ staged throughout the UK. In Olney, Buckinghamshire, they stage a race where people dressed in aprons have to run a course while flipping a pancake on a frying pan a certain number of times. The tradition is said to have started when a woman was so busy cooking pancakes for the celebration that she lost track of time, and didn't realise until the church bells rang – then she ran all the way to church still flipping her pancake! Since the ‘50s, Olney have been running twin pancake races with a town in the USA – Liberal, Kansas. They both run their courses, and compare times! Kansas has won 37 times, and Olney 25. I’m already prepared with my pancake mix for Tuesday!!

Speaking of pancakes, I tried to make some on Tuesday as a Valentine’s surprise for Sarah. But here’s the clincher – I put food colouring in them to make them pink! Pink for V-Day, clever right? Or so I thought – I’m not sure if it was the amount of dye I put in, but when cooked, they came out grey. Not pretty pink, and frankly, unappetising. Which is why you didn’t see them in our Valentine’s Day post. But it’s the thought that counts, right?

With all of the pink around from V-Day, have you been feeling a bit more relaxed? Studies have shown that pink makes people happy and passive – it’s very difficult to be angry when surrounded by pink. Iowa University’s American football team famously painted the opposition’s locker rooms pink in an attempt to put the opposing team in a passive mood, and emasculate them. It must have worked – the Western Athletic Conference now has a rule that team’s opposition locker room cannot be painted a different colour from the home team’s! And a specific pink, Baker – Miller Pink, is used universally to calm violent prisoners in jails. I love pink – I would definitely say it makes me happy!

Apparently blue is the most popular colour in the world, though – 40% of people list blue as their favourite colour. Sarah and I are two of them! Blue is said to make people more creative, and people who wear blue are statistically the most successful in job interviews and making sales. I will remember that! Oddly, people with blue eyes are also statistically likely to earn more money than us greens, browns, greys, and hazels. The colour mentally focuses you and communicates to others that you are loyal and trustworthy. This is why politicians tend to wear navy suits when making speeches. Crafty, right?

Whether you're a Smurf or the Pink Panther, I hope you've enjoyed my special edition of Laura's Fun Fact Friday! Next week we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming!!

If you enjoyed this Fun Fact post check out others HERE!

Love always,

Laura xo

SFFF - February Fun Facts!! & L&S Photo A Day 1-3!!

Welcome to the first Fun Fact Friday for February – how’s that for some alliteration!

If you are in England or certain parts of the states you are no doubt feeling the cold – as I write this it’s approx -2 degrees here – lets just say I’m glad I didn’t put my warm clothes away.

On with the facts:

February first appeared when the Roman calendar was expanded from 10 months to 12, it comes from the word ‘februa’ which means clarification or purification, and reflects the rituals they used to undertake before spring. I imagine this as the Romans doing a spring clean! For Laura and me, February is when we get out of our January post-Christmas work haze and start planning our year ahead. January is hard work, but February is the where we start to see the light and the fun in the upcoming year.

The name ‘February’ is only 100 or so years old, before that it was ‘Februeer’ and back in Shakespeare time it was ‘Feverell’. The Anglo-Saxons called it Sol-monath (cake month) as they offered cakes to the gods during the month, the Saxons called it ‘sprout-kale’ – I kid you not, it’s because the kale/cabbage sprouted then! – How original! And then the Welsh called it ‘y mis bach’ or ‘little month’ because it only has 28 days in non-leap years.

Speaking of Leap Years, we are in fact having one this year. It happens every 4 years, and means that there is one more day in this year than the next three – February 29^th. Fun fact, jailbird rapper Ja Rule was born on February 29^th of a leap year – does that mean he only gets to celebrate his birthday every four years? Talk about aging slowly!

Did you know that in Idaho, Laura’s home, February is officially the month of the potato! Oh yes, our favourite state is having an entire month dedicated to my favourite vegetable (see HERE)! It’s organised by The Idaho Potato Commission and helps celebrate the wonder of the Idaho Russet Potato (now also available in ASDA in the UK)!

It is also the month for chocolates because of Valentine's Day. Apparently, Americans consume about 13 pounds of chocolate per person each year...5 lbs of that are consumed during the month of February. Obviously there are a lot of lucky-in-love ladies stateside!

In the USA, Groundhog Day is celebrated on the 2^nd February every year. On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil, the famous Pennsylvanian groundhog, emerges from his hovel, and makes a weather prediction. Yes, you read that right. If Phil sees his own shadow when he emerges, gets scared and runs back inside, we will have six more weeks of winter. If he doesn’t see his shadow, Spring will come early! Now I thought Laura was joking as I’d only ever heard of ‘Groundhog Day’ in the Bill Murray films, I didn’t know it REALLY existed - but in FACT it does. This year, Phil saw his shadow – signalling a longer winter. However, his rival, groundhog Chuck of Staten Island predicted an early spring and a Giant win at the Superbowl! Let’s hope Chuck is right.

Other events that go on in February:

• Valentine’s Day (we’ve got a post coming dedicated to this) - it was originally thought to be the day that birds chose their mates. That’s adorable!
• Candlemas is celebrated on the 2^nd – a traditional festival to commemorate the purification of Mary, 40 days after the birth of Jesus.
• Kissing Friday – follows Shrove Tuesday & Ash Wednesday – traditionally it was the one day a year that boys could kiss girls without punishment or rejection. This ended in the 1940’s. In Sileby, Leicestershire, they had their own twist and called it ‘Nippy Hug Day’ – this basically meant a man could ask any woman of his choice for a kiss, if she said no then he was entitles to ‘nip’ or ‘pinch’ that ladies bum! What a tradition!
• On the 22^nd, it is officially ‘Thinking Day’ – well it is, for Scouts and Guides – as they remember their founders, Lord & Lady Baden-Powell on that day. 

February Photo-A-Day!!

And finally, now you have all the unnecessary yet interesting facts, I shall leave you with a an update on our February challenge – spotted on http://cinnamon-bubbles.org/ we are posting one photo per day in February. As it’s the 3^rd already, we're on a mission to get our first 3 photos up by midnight tonight - so check back later!

SO - here we go!!

Day 1. Our view today - 

We chose the view from our office - of Lower Grosvenor Park in Victoria, London - SW1W, baby! We are lucky enough to work together, and as our desks weren't inspiring enough to photograph (Laura's looks like a paper bomb went off - she was told by facilities the other day that she's a fire hazard!) we chose to go for our lunchtime view - we love working in Central London!

Day 2. Words -

This is a picture frame that Laura made for me when we were living together in Australia and I left her for ten days to visit Bali with my Mum and Aunts. She worked on making this frame every day that I was away - out of a box of Diet Coke - and painted it with watercolours and everything! The lyrics are from one of 'our songs' - 'Lucky' by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat.

'They don't know how long it takes, waiting for a love like this. Every time we say goodbye, I wish we had one more kiss. I'll wait for you, I promise you I will...' Awww.

Day 3. Hands -

Here are our hands - exciting, we know. We are sitting in our lounge at the moment, so you might wonder why we are wearing gloves. IT'S FREEZING. London's frozen over and our little radiators simply can't handle it, so we are combating the cold with gloves, cute furry heart blankets and lots of cuddling! No complaints here! xo

We'll keep you updated!

See you soon!

Sarah & Laura

P.S. if you liked this facts check out the other SFFF HERE!

Sarah's Fun Fact Friday - Happy Chinese New Year!!

Welcome to a Sarah's Fun Fact Friday that we hope brings you lots of luck, love and happiness!

We love Chinese takeaway above all others - in Laura's case it's a bit of a novelty, as it's one of the types of takeaways they do slightly differently in the USA- think Panda Express (which we love), but it's more 'throw in a box all together' rather than get different dishes in plastic boxes and take home to eat. But on top of noticing that our favourite takeaway is closed, we've also been keeping track of the celebrations for Chinese New Year - it is, after all, the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays!

This year we will be celebrating the year of the Dragon (also the animal of Laura's birth year woohoo!). For the Chinese, the image of the dragon is of a highly revered mythical beast that is admired for its uniqueness, beauty and auspicious powers (much like Laura). Although the dragon tends to look angry, it is actually meant to be inspiring for society- the dragon's anger is aimed at wrong-doers. So watch out!

'They say the streets have rights upon you. If you hang around on the streets and see some evil you then it is upon you to stop it with your hands if you have the might. If you don’t then at least make an attempt to stop it with your tongue. And if you cannot even do that then at least in your heart know that the act is evil and this is a very low level of faith.'

Yo!

I'm the year of the pig - definitely not as cool- although the pig is associated with fertility it also represents generosity & goodwill. The pig is honest & trouble free- ah now that kind of sounds like me!

Funny how true these are :) 

The Chinese New Year falls at a different time to the Western world, as the west makes use of the Gregorian solar calendar and the Chinese have always maintained the use of the lunar calendar. Their New Year depends upon the cycle of the moon and falls on a totally separate day than the western New Year. 

Here's a couple of fun facts that you may not know about Chinese New Year: 

• In China, it is known as the "Spring Festival".
• Spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. 
• The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day. 
• Chinese New Year's Eve is a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī or "Eve of the Passing Year." 
• Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year". 
• Chinese New Year is the longest celebration in the Chinese calendar.

The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and the New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. London is hosting their annual celebration this weekend - and we'll be there! Look out for our next post about it!

Each region and area of China celebrate the New Year in their own way. Like the Western world at Christmas, the Chinese will pour out their money to buy presents, decorations, material, food, & clothing. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. (Just like the Scottish and their first-footing!!).Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper origami and couplets with the most popular themes being "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity".  The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. A message we could all do well to echo.

That just leaves me to wish you a very Happy Chinese New Year and I'll be back soon with more SFFF! 

Until next time, Sarah  xoxo

If you've enjoyed this read and want a few more facts check out my other SFFF HERE!