Life Labs

A Step Back In Time
Yesterday I went back to school. Not to learn, or so I thought, but to give a talk about blogging to some pupils at a local primary school as part of their World at Work Week. As it turns out I probably learned as much as they did. First of all, primary school...

Dog-Friendly Edinburgh: Cafe Tartine
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary, our fourteenth to be exact, and even though it was a school night, we decided to go out to celebrate. After all, fourteen years is rather a long time. Now, obviously there’s no show without Punch, so Miss Kimber Dounis would have...

Ten Things I Love About Kimber
Today, 20th February, is apparently 'Love Your Pet' Day! I don't know who makes this stuff up, and who these pet owners are who need a specific day to love their pet, but hey, all blog post inspiration is good. So here we go, Ten Things I Love About Kimber. One: I...

Motivation, Overwhelm, And Fear Of Failure
One of the benefits of working for an organisation is that someone else has decided the components of your job, and your role is to execute that to the best of your ability. When you work for yourself, you have a lot of decisions to make around what you do and how you...

Recipe: Healthy Cream Cheese Tzatziki
Last May the husband and I decided that we really should do something about becoming a bit healthier. He was pretty good on the exercise front, but we both needed to lose some weight. So I signed up for Lean & Learn, a health and fitness programme designed around...

Writing Inspiration: Seamus Does Chinese New Year
Today's Writing Inspiration was to write about Chinese New Year. Instead of writing, however, I got the idea for a cartoon and this was the end result. Stories come in many forms: they can be told in written prose or poetry, spoken, acted out, or in pictures. My...

Writing Inspiration
Beat the blank page and get writing using this foolproof tip.

Choice: Friend or Foe?
Back when I was wee, when I had to eat whatever was put in front of me, I longed for the freedom of choice. Freedom to choose not to eat 'that', but to eat something else instead. Freedom to choose to eat at a restaurant, instead of at home. And of course, freedom to...

The Hidden Danger Of Self Comparison
This morning I woke up to a text from my friend, urging me to rise and shine, announcing that it was Fridaaaaay, and thanking me for being a good friend. It was the best text ever. Mainly because I'd woken up feeling really crap about myself. I haven't been writing,...

Recommended Edinburgh Eateries June 2018
I've eaten out a few times this month, and since I've had only good experiences, I thought I'd share them here. Normally I only eat at dog-friendly places, but I had occasion to be out and about without the pooch this month, so I took advantage of that and tried a new...