missiecindz.com | Missie Cindz

Life’s too short for sheets of procrastinating!

The FIRST winner of my #MissieNotebookGiveaway is: Jane Stammer (twitter: @tippletails)! Congratulations :) I will be picking another winner this time next month…. Because BIG IDEAS start from pen to paper! The video in twitter link below shows you how I literally picked the winner’s name out of the wok…

June’s #MissieNotebookGiveaway winner revealed on twitter & the blog. Thanks to all who told me what they w… https://t.co/DCNzQdbzFM

June 3, 2013 6:14 am via Vine – Make a SceneReplyRetweetFavorite

@missiecindz

Cindy Cheung

For those who didn’t know, I am giving away a year of my own branded notebooks. To enter, simply pop over to the blog post: Win your own Missie Cindz notebook and then leave a comment under that blog post telling me as a kid what you wanted to be. People who have already commented will be re-entered each month for a chance of winning their own personalised notebook (I will hand write and illustrate something on your first page :)

One winner will be chosen at random on the 3rd of each month and will be contacted by email, and announced on the blog and twitter! The competition giveaway began on 04/05/2013 and ends 03/05/2014 ~ this competition is open to international readers. I will cover all postage costs.

{Photos by Cindy Cheung}

Some everyday creative inspiration…

1st January was the beginning of a personal 365 handwritten notes challenge, and I called this my #Cindy365Notes, where every day I will write a page of notes in my Missie Cindz notebook, and actually put my written notes into ACTION! A big thank you to those who have been following my progress and for your encouraging words. It’s been amazing how a simple notebook has completely changed my way of approaching work, business and life – and I’m not even half way through the year (book) yet!

You can follow my progress here on Pinterest or via Instagram here under the tag #Cindy365Notes

Please feel free to share this post and my challenge with your friends if you like what I am doing – we all could do with some good notes of encouragement to get things done.

Finally, make YOUR STORY count, EVERYONE has a personal story to tell! Have a great new week…~ Cindz x

It’s never too late to build your future.
Write down your own future in a Missie Cindz book.

Writing isn’t magic and it isn’t some kind of innate talent that one either has or doesn’t — it’s motivational, endearing and inspirational. At least for me. A simple notebook has completely changed my way of approaching work, business and life this year ~ read my blog post: Good everyday notes worth eating via #cindy365notes.

On the 3rd of each month I’m going to send one budding, current, or retired writer their very own Missie Cindz Recipes, Snap or Ready notebook in which to start your own true tale of liquor, adventure, entrepreneurship and big shot ideas, and because that first blank page is always a bit intimidating I’m going to mark it up for you with a Missie Cindz note of ‘Do It‘. No excuses, get to writing.

Even Sir Richard Branson tells the importance of having a notebook “Anyone who aspires to lead a company must develop a habit of taking notes. I carry a notebook everywhere I go.” – source

How to enter
All you need to do to be in with a chance of winning one of my notebooks is to tell me, in 30 words or less, as a kid what did you want to be when you grow up ~ perhaps it’s something you still want to do now? I’ll select one winner at random on the 3rd of each month. You can send me your answer as a comment below or by tweeting me: @MissieCindz and the hashtag #MissieNotebookGiveaway. You can comment as many times as you want but it doesn’t affect your chances of winning, your name will be entered into the competition for the rest of the year.

The competition giveaway begins today 04/05/2013 and ends 03/05/2014 ~ Winner will be announced on the 3rd of each month and is open to international readers. I will cover all postage costs.

Feel free to spread the word. Good luck everyone and I look forward to seeing a year of beautiful writings and doodles from you! ~ Missie Cindz

Notebook information: The notebooks are 52 page A5 sized 100% recycled books that are perfect for dropping in a handbag (or totebag), desk drawer or leaving in the car or beside the bed for when inspiration strikes in unusual places. On the inside front cover, there is a small tag to scribble your name. Printed in the UK on heavyweight recycled luxury paper and card. To see more of my notebooks visit my shop > here <

Tea: making new memories and people happy

On Wednesday 24 April, 200 tea-lovers joined Yorkshire Tea for a trip on the Orient Express to celebrate the joy of a proper brew. We were treated to a tea-lightful afternoon chugging around the London countryside whilst enjoying afternoon tea with champagne and tea, and to finish off, the Yorkshire Tea Brass Band got everyone dancing whilst supping exclusive Yorkshire Tea cocktails served by Jake from Jakes Bar.

For the last few months, I’ve been thinking a lot about what brings me motivation and joy. Sure, I love a good cuppa tea or a slice of good cake…but making other people happy really tops that list. What Yorkshire Tea did this week was deeply generous, and truly made lots of people happy; creating new (lasting) memories and experiences which even money couldn’t buy! ~ well, you could if you had a lot of it but we don’t; and Yorkshire Tea also gave tea-lovers something positive to talk about, simply to bring a smile to someone’s face.

We should all think about doing something to spread a little positivity. Those moments of happiness are so important especially during bleak times like these.

Making new friends over a proper brew
Here’s a sneaky peep of my day captured as photographs – afternoon tea, finger sandwiches, cakes, champagne and more!

Onboard the train, I met Steve Jones of TunneltoTowers Run London (T2T), one of a group of fire fighters who went to help with Hurricane Sandy relief and Yorkshire Tea sent tea to. I’m looking forward to supporting his charity run and helping with some fundraising this summer. Lots of support is still  needed for the T2T charity run ~ see here for more details: www.tunnel2towersrun.org

Thank you Orient Express, Yorkshire Tea, Sam Ward and everyone involved in making the day so memorable! A special thank you to Peter Hamblin for the photograph of me (first photo), you captured my day perfectly! :) – Missie Cindz

{All photos from Cindy Cheung. First photo from Peter Hamblin Photography}

Yorkshire’s coming to London!
I’m going on the historic Orient Express with Yorkshire Tea next week and ‘Excited’ is an understatement.

On Wedneday 24^th April, the generous people at Yorkshire Tea are taking key influencers, journalists, bloggers and Friends of Yorkshire Tea on a magical journey for the #TeaOnTheTrain experience aboard the world famous Orient Express. I’ve been told it’s a fun-filled three-and-a-half hour experiential journey filled with afternoon tea and goodness, creating tea-cocktails, all in the fantastic company with fellow lovers of a proper brew.

Having just relocated to London, it’s been torture missing a ‘proper Yorkshire brew’! ~ I’m looking forward to next week, no doubt it’s going to be a slurping good day! – Missie Cindz

{photos of Yorkshire Tea by Paul Winch-Furness from BlogNorth4 / paulwf.co.uk}

Satisfying my sweet tooth emergency at Konditor and Cook. Please note, the Treacle Stout is not available in-store (this was my own for fun decoration only :)

Did you say cake?…
I get excited at the thought of discovering and trying new cake places. To satisfy my sweet tooth emergency I popped over to Konditor & Cook on Shaftesbury Avenue to visit their Curzon shop (not far from Soho).

I ordered two slices of cakes for myself and a friend; Lemon Chiffon (lemon zest sponge cake filled and covered with a smooth citrus chiffon frosting) and one of their bestsellers, the Chocolate Curly Whirly (a dark chocolate sponge with vanilla bean frosting), plus two little mini cakes. All the chosen cakes were delicious and not as dense or overly sweet as I expected (but I do have a very sweet tooth). The Curly Whirly was definitely one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve had in a long time.

There are six Konditor & Cook outlets in London where you can sample their beautiful confections choosing from cakes and pastries through to savoury lunchtime options including homemade quiche, tarts, fresh salads and sandwiches. They also do whole cakes made to order or individual slices to take away which is ideal if you need that ‘cake fix’ to take back to the office or home.

If you’re a baker or wanna-be-baker, check out the recipe to make Konditor & Cook’s Bestseller, Curly Whirly cake over on The Guardian’s website here ~ definitely something for my cakey followers: @Clarek56, @weekendbakers and @vagabondbaker. Bake-In’s the new going out afterall!

Happy weekend everyone ~ and I hope you satisfy your taste buds on nice treats too.

Note: All my posts are about things I love and want to share with my readers. The integrity of what is written is extremely important to me – all my thoughts, writing and opinions are solely mine (unless stated otherwise) – Missie/ Cindz

{photos by Cindy Cheung as shared on Instagram – Thanks Oliver Denton for the sweet company, I had so much fun!}