Number 47: Exercise 3 times a week for 3 months

Having conquered the first hurdle of actually attending a Barre Concept class, I challenged myself to exercise three times a week for three months.  I did a combination of cycling and classes and I think having the challenge as an impetus really spurred me on.  I'm never going to be super fit or mega into exercise, but hopefully I'll keep my body in better nick for a little bit.

Photo source

I completed this challenge early in July and managed to keep up attending Barre Concept until I moved home.  Since getting back I've basically done nothing, but last week I started doing a few of Yoga with Adriene's videos, which I'm really enjoying so far.

Number 35: Take a cooking lesson

For my birthday this year, my parents bought me a bread baking lesson at the Cambridge Cookery School.  Having never made bread before, I was a little nervous about nearly a full day of baking!  But the day was really good fun - baking four different types of bread (Scandinavian soda bread, cinnamon rolls, bread rolls and white tin loaf), each using a different technique and then eating lunch as a big group and sampling some variations on the recipes we'd tried.

Spoils of the day...

Since the lesson, I've tried making the cinnamon rolls again and, although they weren't quite as perfect, they were edible #nailedit.

Number 90: Meet a celebrity

Having already scoured the shelves of Waterstones in Piccadilly for a signed copy of Mary Portas' memoir Shop Girl following her signing, which I sadly couldn't make, you can imagine my excitement when I spotted that she would be speaking at the Cambridge Literary Festival.

After listening to a lively discussion, I queued up with the rest of the hoards to meet the lady herself.  She was so lovely, exactly like she is on the telly, even though I was completely tongue-tied at meeting her in the flesh!  

Number 19: Discover 10 new favourite restaurants - Bill's

I know that I'm pretty late to the party but I'm loving Bill's at the moment!  I'd never come across them until I moved to Cambridge, but since then I seem to come across branches everywhere I go!

I really like the laid back atmosphere, the rustic décor and the deli feel.  The food's always been great (the ginger and blackcurrant smoothies are a winner) and the service has been good, even when I freaked the staff out by eating alone!

Bill's holds some good memories so far - the first drinks out with my new colleagues in Cambridge, a solo work trip to Salisbury and an impromptu reunion in Manchester (their first "northern" branch).

The most northerly Bill's (photo c/o Justin)

So, whilst there may be nothing extraordinary about Bill's I still love it and hopefully there'll be lots more good memories to add to those that I've already collected there.  

You've got to love a restaurant that hands out healthy snacks...

Number 80: Go to a play

Last week, we took full advantage of the beautiful weather and decided to go to the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival.  Every year, the University college gardens are overtaken with Titanias, Prosperos and Benvolios (so Cambridge!).

We decided to go to A Midsummer Night's Dream, which was being staged in the Fellows' Garden at King's College (I'll be straight with you, this was the main draw!).  We were treated to a beautiful performance in a magical setting.

We stuffed ourselves with picnic food and pink lemonade and some of the party took advantage of the mulled wine being sold at the interval (it was getting a little chilly by this point!).

The Fellows' Garden, King;s College - fancy!

We had a fantastic evening and fully intend to go see another play (and explore another garden!) before the end of the summer.

Number 94: Go punting

Last Friday I spent a wonderful evening punting on the river (so Cambridge!) for my friend's birthday.  This was no ordinary punting though - this was a bat safari!

From here...

I've actually not yet experienced "normal" punting - the only other time I've been we went on a punting ghost tour (where I discovered that my Dad has an unhealthy knowledge of hanging techniques...)!  Both tours have been with Scudamores who I can't recommend enough, as both tours were fantastic!  If you fancy something a little out of the ordinary, you should definitely try them out.

Back to the bat punting though... I wasn't expecting that we'd see any actual real life bats, but I was proved completely wrong.  Armed with detectors, some information sheets about the various bats we might spot and a very informative volunteer guide from the Wildlife Trust, we managed to spot some Pipistrelles and some Daubentons (which feed by swooping down to catch insects from the surface of the water).  They were completely captivating to watch and tracking and spotting them pretty exciting (so much so that I didn't take any photos...).

So that's punting more than ticked off!