Friday Lust

Happy Friday everyone! Today is pay day for me but I need to be wise and save my pennies because I’ve splurged a lot recently and need to pay something off my credit card…eek! However, that does not stop me window shopping and adding things to my “if this goes in a sale, I’ll definitely get it” list. Here’s is today’s piece of eye candy:

ASOS Pencil Dress In Dogtooth And Animal Print, £40.00

Animal print and dogtooth in one dress, I LOVE IT! I may not be able to hold out until I have spare pennies, it’s just too amazing. If you feel the same as me, get yours here 🙂

Enjoy the rest of your day, we are so nearly at the weekend!!! x

The Curse of the Power March

One thing I’ve noticed that modern offices are plagued with these days is semi powerful women marching across the floor with an effect similar to a herd of elephants stampeding past. If you work in an office I’m sure you know the type, you may even be the type; low to mid-management women whose power has gone to their heads and who have decided that the way to demonstrate confidence and assertiveness is to tread heavily…very heavily!

Why? What is it that these women thing they will gain from such heavy-footed traversing? I don’t know about you but I’ve also noticed that these women seem to spend A LOT of the day stomping around the office, I don’t know where they are going but their

laptops don’t seem to be following them wherever it is!

My question is simply “why?”. I just cannot work it out, where did this dominant stamping phenomenon come from? What purpose does it serve other than to annoy colleagues and cause them to mumble rude things under their breath? Is there anyone out there who can answer this!?! x

Experiment: Acupuncture for a Needle-Phobe

It’s a well known fact and something I happily share with the world that I am scared of all things blood-related. This actually doesn’t stem from a phobia of needles but from a phobia of things making holes in my skin… this usually leads to bleeding! I don’t know why I am like this and logically I know it’s crazy but it’s there and it gets worse and worse the older I get.

On this basis, I’d never really considered acupuncture as an alternative therapy that would be right for me. However, I’ve been really struggling with my bloated tummy and stress recently and lots of people have said how amazing acupuncture is. Admittedly, most of the people I actually know who have had it, have had it for muscular-skeletal problems but I figured it was still worth a bash. This is not to mention that ALL of them said you barely feel the needles and they are far less painful than a vaccination. I figured it couldn’t be that bad so I booked myself an appointment; this is what happened.

My therapist conducted a full consultation of why I was there and what issues I was having, etc. and then proceeded to check my pulses, etc. Yes, in Chinese medicine you have multiple pulses, not just the standard heart beating one. I found out some interesting things:

1. My broad tongue means I have lots of “chi” (energy)
2. This chi must be the bad kind because my pulses show I am lacking in most of the good energies
3. My heart has negative energy (apparently this is not a physical heart issue, more an emotional thing)
4. My gut contains damp heat…still not sure what that is!
5. My energy type is fire – apparently this means I want to be liked and loved by everyone – I disagree with this one

I did learn loads of other things but the trouble was she was telling me during the needle process or afterwards when my mind was otherwise occupied.

So, on to the needles. Having seen the episode of SATC where Charlotte goes for acupuncture, I expected the needles to be really long and kind of sway in the breeze whilst they were in me. I was wrong. The first needle she got out, I didn’t see until it had been removed from me. She stuck it in my torso, just under the middle of my rib cage (I think this is where you compress for CPR). Bloody nora! Everyone lied! The blasted thing stung like hell and I could most definitely feel it there. After 10 seconds of stinging I was too scared and made her take it out… it continued to sting! OUCH! Do not do this!

After that petrifying experience, I was loathe to allow any more needles in the torso region so she stuck one in my thigh. This needle was thinner and I did honestly barely feel it, much more what I’d expected. Unfortunately though, I was too het up to allow any more so this was the only needle I braved. Instead, my session became an acupressure session; someone just pressing on me here and there is much more my thing.

Post acupressure (+ 1 needle), she re-took my pulses and apparently the energy change was for the better. Did I feel better? I’m not sure. At first I felt good but I think that was just elation that I had survived having a needle stuck in me. When I got home to an empty house I felt lonely, something that I honestly almost never feel. Then I felt depressed and bombarded the bf with tears when he came home. The following 2 days, however my gut was better than it had been for ages so who knows what happened!?! Maybe the tears were some of the negative energy escaping or maybe my gut was better because I was no longer worried about needles being stuck into me.

Either way, I now have to decide whether to go back this Wednesday. Has anybody else been through this? Can anyone vouch for it’s effectiveness? Your views are more than gratefully welcomed! Until next time… x

The Best Things About the Internet

I spend so much of my time online these days that sometimes I really struggle to imagine how my life was and how it would be without the internet. I question how people ever knew where to go on holiday or what the latest fashions were or how to make black bean sauce because they just decided they needed it for their stir fry; this information just wasn’t there at the click of a mouse. Most of the time however, I take this insane invention that changed the world completely for granted and have almost no appreciation of how much easier it makes many aspects of my life. So, here are some of my favourite things about the internet:

Those 3 Magic Letters

1) Reviews

Reviews galore; I can find reviews of literally anything and everything and sometimes this really does save me spending my hard earned cash on sub-standard products. It’s great to know what other people really think and as such, I add my fair share of reviews to this pool as well.

2) Travel Photography

I have seen some truly stunning photography online and for me it is one of the most inspirational things, it makes me re-evaluate my life for a few seconds every time and focus that little bit more on seeing more of the world rather than just existing in my tiny corner of it.

3) Recipes

No matter what it is that I have leftover in the kitchen cupboard, I can always find something tasty to cook to use it up – enough said!

4) Blogs / Reality Internet

For me, blogs are a bit like watching a multitude of reality TV shows from all across the globe. I love them; they satisfy my curiosity about other cultures and my nosiness in general. They also work well for me from a personal perspective as they help boost my feeling of significance in the world. People read what I write and I get involved in conversations about what other people write – my world feels much bigger than it otherwise would and my sphere of influence has grown infinitely. LOVE!

5) Shopping

It no longer matters if I can’t find what I am looking for in my local town, I’ll find it online. I may pay something of a premium or it may be half the price, you never can tell which way it will fall but you do know that you will find it. Case in point, my bf has a lovely suit but he ripped the trousers; the suit itself was bought in the sale so was an old style – no more trousers in store. Uh oh, time for a new suit…or a gf who can find ANYTHING online and found him more of the trousers. The internet wins!

So all in all, I think the internet is pretty darned nifty; how has it transformed your little world? x

When the Shoes Make the Outfit

Sometimes in life, you have your mind set on something so much that you just can’t adapt or change, it just has to be the way you imagined it. So what happens when we can’t find what we imagined and there’s no way around it, shoes for example fall into this category. When you dream up your perfect pair and you can’t find them, there’s very little you can do to change it. This happens even more regularly if you are someone like me and have slightly unusually sized feet, either on the short, long, wide or narrow side.

Well I am here to tell you there is a solution and for those of us in the UK, it’s just on our doorstep and it’s sooooooo much fun! Upper Street London is my new best friend…they make shoes, lots of beautiful shoes designed by fabulous women just like us! Here is their website, seriously check this out. If you register you can create designs for your ideal pairs of shoes and save them into your collection and then when you’ve made your mind up, you can go right ahead and order them, even if your feet aren’t quite a standard size.

Now you may wonder what the point is in designing your own shoes if you’re only going to have to pay more for them but let me put it to you like this… you could buy 2 or 3 pairs of high end high street shoes that loads of other people have which you like OR, you could buy 1 pair of custom designed, 1 of a kind shoes that you absolutely love and can’t wait to wear with anything AND you know they’ll fit like a glove because they’ll keep adjusting them until they do 🙂

I went to meet the Upper Street crew yesterday at their studio in London and not only are they lovely people but it meant I got to see some shoes and feel some fabric swatches. Well, the shoes are gorgeous and not a splodge of glue anywhere (Primark and New Look I’m looking at you!) and the fabrics are super luxurious. When they say leather, they mean leather, none of this leather effect malarky, only the real deal. Seriously, have a play on their website and then add your favourites to your Christmas list, I really don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I’m just deciding which ones my wardrobe is most in need of myself!

Here are a couple of the designs I have stored in my collection to get you started off:

Animal Hair with Leather Toe, Back and Heel and Silver Studs

Patent Turquoise and Fuschia Leather with Silver Studs

If you can’t see what you’re looking for, give them a call as some things aren’t on the website. Much love and happy designing! x

Rewind Festival (Henley) 2012

I did it! I finally went to a festival! When I say festival, I mean a civilised one and when I say I went, I mean I went for both days but I went home overnight to sleep and wash, etc. but still, I did it! My festival of choice was the Rewind 80s festival in Henley and my festival partner of choice was my daddy 🙂

The festival was last weekend and we had some crazy hot weather for it; I don’t think I’ve ever been so hot as I was on the Saturday, I even had to sit down for Right Said Fred – sorry Fred! What was great about this festival was not only that it was pretty civilised as most people there were my dad’s age but it was pretty easy to get to the front right by the stage so we could actually see the acts. There was also some pretty tasty food on offer and I very much enjoyed chowing down into some goat curry on the Saturday. Anyhow, I had some great retro fun and I thought I’d share some of my pics. They’re taken with my phone so they aren’t amazing but I like them and if you are thinking of going along, I’d highly recommend you get tickets for this next year 🙂

Sinitta with her So Macho dancers!

 

Tony Hadley giving it some

Adam Ant

OMD

Me as an Angry Bird

 

What does it mean to “rescue” a dog?

For anyone who doesn’t know me that well, one thing I can’t get enough of is dogs! It all started way back approximately 15 years ago when my parents brought home Winnie, our gorgeous Old English Mastiff puppy. Suddenly my previous fears about dogs evaporated as this cute puppy grew into a giant, slobbering, clumsy oaf with the biggest heart you could imagine. I realised that big dogs really aren’t scary and that I’m happy to just rub that slobber into my jeans rather than freaking out and screaming about the slime that just landed on me. My world was changed.

Winnie being abused by a party hat!

Since then, my lovely Princess Winnie has passed on and my parents have a new pooch in their lives, Rudi the Miniature Schnauzer who has featured on this blog before. Rudi really is the dog’s doo-dahs, he is just so cool! He’s got this great personality which really brightens up everybody’s day and nobody, I mean nobody who meets him fails to fall in love with his cute, beardy grin.

The dude that is Rudi!

My problem is that I don’t live at home any more so dogs pop in and out of my life only briefly and I’m always pining for the waggy tail and chew toys that are missing from my world. I have quite a hectic lifestyle, so for me a potentially good option would be to adopt an older dog; one who is a bit calmer and happy to spend chunks of time on their own without ripping the house to shreds. I’ve looked into this a few times but haven’t yet seen quite the dog for me; a lot of rescue dogs need extra attention due to a traumatic past whereas I need one who is happy with people and dogs from the get-go. What I have done though is spoken to a few rescue centres; initially this was great but recently it’s started to worry me…

I won’t name names but the most recent rescue I contacted really don’t seem to care about the dog I enquired about and I can’t imagine they’d be much different about other dogs. I rang up to check how this particular dog would be if left alone for a few hours at a time and also to understand more about how she is with other dogs (getting on with Rudi is essential). Well, I was told that the dog is living in a kennel centre at the moment and the rescuer really doesn’t know how she’d be if left alone but I could always put her in a crate. I was also told that they think she is ok with other dogs but again, this hasn’t really been tested. So then I asked about the rehoming process and was told that I’d need to go and visit the dog and so long as I liked her, that was pretty much it.

Now you may be wondering what my problem is; well, my problem is this: that dog has been overused for breeding in the past and then dumped. She’s had a hard life. Now, although she has been “rescued”, it seems that the rescue centre are happy to palm her off on anyone who wants her. How do they know my house is suitable and that I have open space for her to go out? How do they know that she will fit my lifestyle? Why don’t they care about my motivations for getting a dog? What about experience? This dog is a bull breed, she could seriously harm another dog if left alone and she turned; when are they going to mention this? Essentially, anyone could pick her up, take her home, mistreat her and then dump her again because actually she wasn’t the right dog for them. Thankfully other rescue centres have been much more thorough and conduct home checks, etc. and then follow up with you about the dog afterwards to make sure everything is ok.

So I am angry and this is my rant; I appreciate that this dog has been rescued from being put down at the pound but I question the point of doing that if she is later to be used and abused again. Surely the point of rescuing a dog is to improve their life, not just move them around, so the rescue centres need to do their best to get to know the dogs and their potential new owners as best they can to ensure this is the case. That’s all, just had to get it out of my system and I’m hoping this little lady is still there when I can visit in 2 weekends’ time! x

And the winner is…

Sorry for the slight delay in getting this post out, I’ve had all sorts going on, not least a broken car – poor Vixen 😦 [yes I name my cars, all the cool kids do!]. I have indeed drawn the winner of my first giveaway and the lucky lady is Anna K., from Russia! Well done Anna, your prize will be mailed to you this weekend 🙂

The Prize – A Swarovski Aura Eau de Parfum

Thanks to everybody who took part, please keep reading my blog and in return I’ll make it as interesting as I can and host regular giveaways! Hopefully at some point over the next few days I’ll have a bit more breathing space and I’ll be able to post something a little more substantial. Until then, have a great second half of your week! x

Are you getting enough sleep?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll probably have been through a least a short period of time when it seems almost impossible to fit sleep into your schedule; this may even be the norm for you. You have to work all day but you don’t want to miss out on the fun parts of life, yet you also need to fit in some exercise to compensate for sitting at your desk all day and suddenly, 24 hours in a day just isn’t enough!

I’ll give you an idea of the sort of thing I’m talking about… a few months ago I decided I wasn’t doing enough with my life, that I could work more to earn more, socialise more and get more involved with my hobbies, especially am dram. Suddenly I found myself with weekdays looking like this:

6.45am Wake up

7.30am Work

9.00am Finish that job and travel to the next

9.45am Start second job

6.15pm Finish work, travel into town for…

7.00pm Business meeting (3rd job – also had to grab some food here instead of dinner)

9.00pm Leave business meeting and head to audition

9.15pm Amdram audition

10.30pm Head home

11.00pm Go to bed – cannot sleep as mind is buzzing, end up with about 5 hours’ sleep

Since when is that a great way to live!?! Not only that but I also started packing out my weekends too and now often find that I can’t sleep at night because I’ve been so busy right up until bed time that I simply can’t switch off which reduces the sleep time even further.

What I should have been doing!

So what did I do? I ate more, mainly sugary, wheaty, naughty foods which made me more tired. I stressed more which made me more tired and I ignored it all, pretending I could do everything I wanted. What did that do? I’ve gained weight, gained wrinkles and frequently have a mouth full of painful ulcers. Hmm…not quite what I was hoping for! Don’t get me wrong, I have achieved a lot too and I’m happy that I have done so but it’s really time to re-evaluate. How can I manage my time better?

Now, I am in the process of making small changes: budgeting better so I can drop the additional job; blogging in a lunch break so I don’t need to do that in the evening; picking up my reading hobby so that I can relax with a book before bed instead of Tweeting whilst watching TV and online shopping all at once. You see, there is a fine balance between doing enough and doing too much, you need to work out what is right for you and what gives you that sense of accomplishment whilst also making sure you don’t age prematurely and stick with it! For extra motivation, remember that people with crazy sleep schedules are meant to be 3 times more likely to be overweight…

I’ll let you know how I’m feeling in a month, see if I’ve shifted my social jet-lag and I’d love to hear how the rest of you juggle these crazy lives we lead! x