26 and Counting…

Shock horror, today is my last day of being 26 so funnily enough, all of my thoughts have been focussed on the fact that tomorrow I am officially old! There’s just something I’m not loving about the number 27; it looks funny and it sounds way closer to the big 3…0… than 26 is.

However, looking back at being 26, was it all that great and would I want to repeat it? The answer is mixed to the first part and a definite no to the second part of that double question.

This time last year I was eating a super scrummy dinner in Reading’s number 1 restaurant (according to Trip Advisor). It was my last day in a job that I had worked really hard for before being made redundant and I was a smidgen panicked about my lack of job. Since then I have taken a Christmas temp job at Boots, a permanent HR role, a temporary, additional receptionist role and now a Sales role. I’ve been abroad twice, had 2 cars fall apart, split up with my bf who I lived with and quite frankly I’m pretty darned tired. It’s been one of those years of building the foundations for the future but boy am I hoping that 27 is a bit more relaxed!

On the one hand I feel like 27 could be a great year where I finally get closer to where I want to be; on the other hand I’m worried it’s going to be another year the same as 26 with everything up in the air the whole time and with a few too many new starts. How do I take control of this year and make sure it’s a winner? How do I learn my lesson and make sure I don’t spend any of my time in a relationship that’s meant to have ended already?  And… can I actually do this Sales thing and earn enough money to start making the debt figure go down rather than up?

So many questions and so much unknown, (365 days to be precise) for now all I can say is… Thank you 26, you weren’t what I expected you to be but you’ve definitely made me stronger and more ready to take on 27. Bring on the birthday!!! x

Kissing Frogs, Toads and Princes: What are the Rules of the Dating Game?

A Frog Prince, really!?!

Having been single for a couple of months now, one thing I have spent a lot of time thinking about is men – much more so that I did when I was with one (not sure if that is normal or indicative of the reasons my relationship broke down!). The sorts of things I think about are whether I want another boyfriend, what I’d want said boyfriend to be like, where I will meet him and to be honest, whether I can actually be bothered with dealing with all of the above. Let’s face it, relationships take up a lot of your time and given that I have mainly been in relationships rather than single, it might be time to just think about me for a while.

Regardless of what I decide re the boyfriend though, I’m definitely not giving up men full stop. There’s so much fun to be had with meeting new guys and no, I don’t just mean getting down and dirty fun, I mean sometimes you meet people you just click with and have a great time. It doesn’t have to turn into anything to be a great time, you can just enjoy it at face value right there and then! However, there are so many obstacles and pot holes on the dating scene that I never even knew were there; I always thought the ladies in SATC were exaggerating but already, just a few dates in, I’ve found some of these problem areas! So I’m putting it out there to see what the rest of you think – how does this “dating” thing work? Here’s my theory:

Frogs

Frogs are just normal guys. It really is like the princess and the frog story – sometimes you kiss a frog and he turns into a prince (more on those later). Sometimes you kiss a frog and he remains a frog, that’s all there is to it! It’s ok to kiss lots of frogs and sometimes all you and the frog want to do is kiss; that’s ok too because you both know where you stand. Problem areas with frogs are when they turn into toads or when they want to be your prince but all you see is frog. Already in this measly short time of being single, I’ve found myself a standard frog and a frog who wants to be a prince – needless to say, I’ve had to “friend zone” the frog who wants to be a prince!

Toads

Ugh! Toads are vile creatures and tend to either be upfront and toad-like from the off; some women seem to be attracted to this. Expect these  toads to be the ones that forget your name when you’ve only been chatting 5 mins or the ones staring at another girl whilst talking to you. Or, toads masquerade in the clothing of frogs and even princes! You think they’re normal and you’re having a great time, you kiss him and thing he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He’ll feed you compliments and show you “the real him”, you’ll start to let your guard down and then BOOM! He doesn’t call or text, he misses a date, he just vanishes off the face of the earth. You’re left wondering WTF happened there? A word of advice ladies, never give a toad a second chance, he’ll still be a toad and you’ll just feel foolish for doing so!

Sadly I have already encountered a toad as well. I’m not sure how I was suckered in, I’m usually far too cynical to let my guard down so easily; I think it was because I already knew him and he was on his second chance…Oops!

Princes

Awwww! Princes are just adorable and do not fear, there is more than one prince out there for you. Princes are the guys who you end up feeling like you couldn’t live without; the ones who make your life a brighter place and make you want to spend every moment of every day with them and do weird things like cook for them! It’s not that princes are few and far between, it’s just that the compatibility has to be perfect to find a true prince. Sometimes you even find a prince and later on you realise he was just a frog – note that these are different from toads. As people grow older, they change so someone who was once your prince can become just a frog again. If a prince changes into a toad, he was always a toad.

So now I’ve pretty much covered off the differences between what I would consider to be the 3 types of blokes, I’d like to establish 1 ground rule and this bit is for the men to hear: JUST BE YOU! If you are frog, be a frog and one day somebody will see you as their prince. If you are a toad, put it out there; some women are just drawn to toads and they’re probably the type of women you want. If you are a prince, well, revel in it because you’re only a prince because somebody thinks you are. Don’t try and pretend you’re just a frog or a toad, keep being the prince that she wants.

Obviously the dating game is massive and there are loads of caveats and funny rules but essentially I believe in what I have said above. I’d love to hear from you, male or female to get your point of view on all of this too 🙂 x 

Friday Lust

Happy Friday everyone!!!

Surprise, surprise, this week’s Friday lust is yet another pair of shoes that I definitely don’t need but can’t help obsessing over! These little beauts are brought to you by Topshop and here they are:

Gasoline Glitter Flame Heels, £55

I love everything about these shoes from the on-trend pointed toe and ankle strap to the edgy rock flame styling and of course the Christmas sparkle! If you love them as much as me and your bank balance permits, you can purchase yours here. Personally I will be using every ounce of my willpower not to duck into Topshop on Oxford Street tomorrow and grab myself both these and the navy and silver version!

Have a super weekend friends 🙂 x

Time Out in Marrakech

Hello blog friends!

Oh boy has it been a long time since I wrote a blog post; in fact it’s nearly a month! Well, you’ll be pleased to know that heart-break Sam is gone – G.O.N.E. Done and dusted! In the past month I have been on holiday to Marrakech, resigned from my current job, put myself out there on the single scene and generally taken time to reboot and refresh so that now I am ready to move on up 🙂

Hectic is the word I would use to describe single life; I’d forgotten just how much I like to ram into each day given half a chance and without anybody more laid back to help me reign it in! I’ve been up to all sorts, including watching my new favourite musical: Rock of Ages and getting far to drunk in London and ending up calling my daddy to rescue me from Paddington station at 4.30am – this is the life!

Anyhow, a few weeks ago a couple of friends and I ventured over to Morocco, to a small town you may have heard of called Marrakech. What an experience! Our hotel, the Kenzi Club Agdal Medina absolutely knocked the socks off where we stayed in Kos last year and the rest of the trip was a learning curve. So, starting with the hotel, this was a totally bargacious all inclusive and it is fabulous. The staff are very attentive and the grounds of the hotel are incredibly well kept and very beautiful. Going slightly out of season as well meant that it wasn’t too busy and it was pretty child-free so we made a few friends while we were there too 🙂 If you do ever end up visiting this hotel, be sure to go to the “discotheque” – it’s so empty it’s actually almost cool and you can properly boogie on down in there!

Just a small part of 1 of the pools…

Other than the hotel, there is loads to see and do if you visit Morocco and we went completely unprepared so all we managed to do was a bit of quad biking through what was essentially desert land and a small bit of exploration of the city centre, including the souks. Things you can do include Sahara treks and visiting waterfalls, etc. Things we did do mainly include lying on sun loungers and drinking… what can you do when you’re in an awesome hotel with free drinks, hey!?!

We did venture out a few times though and one word of advice I would give is that you do not walk anywhere on the roads, especially ladies. We had a couple of instances with guys on mopeds which weren’t pleasant and we were lucky we were on guard so we were able to spot what was going to happen and keep ourselves safe.

However, when you are out, you simply must visit a spa and have the full hammam experience; there’s loads of them over there. We went to Les Bains de Marrakech on the recommendation of a friend and it was fab, even if the ladies that scrubbed us were insanely masculine and nearly skinned me alive! Then, once you’re done with relaxation, you’ll be ready to hit the souks.

The souks are scary and maze-like and you need to be on-guard the whole time for people trying to steal things from you. Crossing roads to get to them is also insane, you have to pretty much suck it up and take your life in your hands. However, you will find loads of beautiful things and it’s an experience you simply must have. You then have to go back at night when the square is transformed by street food traders. It’s crazy busy but the food is great and it somehow feels authentic even though it’s all clearly put on for us tourists. Here are some of my snaps:

The colours are fantastic

We took a pit stop here when quad biking

The square by night

Chilli olives

I do of course have many more snaps, especially of drunken dancing in the discotheque but I figured you only need to see the pretty ones 🙂

For now, that’s me done – normal service has resumed though so watch this space for some reviews soon! x