Wednesday 23 January 2013

new year new blog

you may see the dates on these past posts and realise they're all from today...while i'd love for it to be saturday and monday at once, and to have just been to the west country and have watched vintage eastenders all day....in fact i've just transferred all my previous nonsensical ponderings to this new blogspot. 

i shall now endeavour to be more proactive and do more so i'll have more material and experience to share...in the words of bridget jones as she's skydiving into a vat of excrement*...let's see shall we?

*obvs i'm not in ANY way comparing writing blogs to jumping into a pile of shit. (more like jumping into this blog likely to be a pile of shit. really selling myself here. 
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blue monday


so, blue monday is almost over...and while it was clearly invented a few years ago as a pr stunt, i definitely didn't feel on top of the world as i sludged (verb?) through the sludge to the bus stop to wait in the cold and the falling snow, for a bus that took its sweet time coming, to a slow, mundane monday (it's my new discovery that monday and mundane are practically homonyms and so that's why mondays are always so mundane).
my still-hungover-from-saturday-night-and-i-hate-snow face
my still-hungover-from-saturday-night-and-i-hate-snow face
so here are five things to make you banish the monday blues...they work for me at least.
1. girls is on sky atlantic on a monday night
hannah eats cake naked in the bathroom. what of it?
2. property porn. this is my fave thing to do to love / hate my life and lack of long term forward thinking savings plan. i often like to go to zoopla.com and find the most expensive house in wherever my area of choice is at the time. case in point: this amazing former pub in bethnal green. i would totally pay like all my savings to live there (unlikely the owners would accept), but do away with a lot of the junk (though let's face it i'd easily fill it with a lot of my own...
my future home...?
3. talking heads - this must be the place (naive melody)
i will be dancing to this when i'm bridesmaid at (one of) my bff's weddings next year. i need to learn a routine.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVrVY540xdc]
4. jeurgen teller. he is my idol and i wish we were bffs and he could just follow me around and document my life in amazing photos. he is exhibiting in london starting in just a few short days at the ica so i am making it my mission to go at least once. i wish i could narrow my favourite photos of his down to one or two, but i can't. here are some that i love.
kate moss chez ronnie wood
marc jacobs daisy
wet puppy - not a euphamism
5. buzzfeed. my current addiction for all things cutefunny, and quiz-based.
best proposal ever?
i need cake!!!
..and there we have it! if you can get away with a sneak peek at any of these in your lunch break (definitely not when you should be working, no way), then it will definitely lift your spirits and / or inspire you to stop spending money down the pub and instead invest into owning one...likely to happen? oh fuck it - live for the moment.
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scent from heaven


i don't know about you, but without a good spray or three of perfume i don't feel ready to leave the house...
my current obsession unfortunately is on the more expensive end of the scale, in the form of diptyque paris' classic philosykos, with its fruity but not too sweet tones ... or, as diptique perfumiers put it rather more poetically, the sun is at its peak. the famous fig tree comes in a different guise, less fruity and warmed till white-hot by a mist of cedar. wooded and racy, the nourishing accents from its bark and luxuriant foliage envelop the scent.philosykos_resizei've also got my eye (nose?) on the lates offering from jo malone, earl grey and cucumber, which i have yet to smell for fear of being hooked...
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another one of my loves is gin, and when i wandered into a perfume shop in brighton a year or so ago i was immediately drawn to the penhaligons section, for their amazing packaging if nothing else, and then i saw juniper sling. a hilarious dialogue between me, my dad, and the sales assistant ensured, going something along the lines of
sales assistant: would you like to try the juniper sling?
me: oh yes that's lovely - smells like gin....but if i wear it will i smell of gin? 
dad: no change there then
me: i mean if i wear it will people smell it and think i'm an alcoholic? 
dad: no change there then
2012-Juniper-Slingi'm always on the lookout for a new fragrance, fruity types are my thing...if anyone has any recommendations let me know!
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les musiques que j'aime: poolside



poolside are a daytime disco duo from la and they are fucking amazing. this particular cover of neil young's harvest moon (his way spine tingling original) is unbelievable - i must have listened to it ten times a day since i first heard jarvis cocker (dreamboat) play it on his bbc 6music show on sunday. listen to their sounds on their soundcloud page - it will transport you from wherever you are to a rooftop pool and 30 degree sunshine...
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music for hangovers

music for hangovers
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tender is the night / valley of the dolls


tender is the night / valley of the dolls
books for looks
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to the left to the left


that way
museum of everything.
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rules to live your life by


Written by Regina Brett, 90 years old, of the Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 42 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written.
My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:
1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short – enjoy it...
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. 
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
9. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
10. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
11. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
12. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it...
14 Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
15. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.
16. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
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17. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.
18. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
19. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
20. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
21. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
22. The most important sex organ is the brain.
23. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
24. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'
25. Always choose life.
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26. Forgive but don’t forget. 
27. What other people think of you is none of your business. 
28. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does..
31. Believe in miracles.
32. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
33. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
34. Your children get only one childhood.
35. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
36. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
37. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
38. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have not what you need.
39. The best is yet to come...
40. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
41. Yield.
42. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."
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the cure - catch




Yes I know who you remind me of

A girl I think I used to know
Yes I'd see her when the day got colder
On those days when it felt like snow

You know I even think that she stared like you
She used to just stand there and stare
And roll her eyes right up to heaven
And make like I just wasn't there

And she used to fall down a lot
That girl was always falling
Again and again
And I used to sometimes try to catch her
But I never even caught her name

And sometimes we would spend the night
Just rolling about on a floor
And I remember
Even though it felt soft at the time
I always used to wake up sore

You know I even think that she smiled like you
She used to just stand there and smile
And her eyes would go all sort of far away
And stay like that for quite a while

And I remember she used to fall down a lot
That girl was always falling
Again and again
And I used to sometimes try to catch her
But I never even caught her name

Yes I sometimes even tried to catch her
But I never even caught her name


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reasons to be cheerful


i need to get a new job for the following reasons. 
1. today i spent twenty minutes rummaging in rubbish as the bin bag that was balanced on a pile of bin bags and squeezed into a cleaning cupboard broke and i had to rehome each bit of coffee stained rubbish into another bin bag.
2. i spend more time on mybuilder.com than is healthy.
3. i am an hr manager with none of the recognition (money).
4. it's bloody boring.
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heaven or las vegas


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hyde barn


this weekend i fled smoggy pollution filled london for fresh air filled hampshire, and swapped my "bijou" flat for a huge barn. as if this wasn't a good enough call, i was with fourteen great friends. the weekend wasn't too dissimilar to what i get up to in london on a weekend - lots of food and alcohol, but this time it was in some spectacular surroundings and it was found in a little old hamlet called hyde, and in a grand old barn called hyde barn.

















hyde barn was the venue for our friend mark's 28th birthday - his lovely girlfriend jen organised a surprise weekend away for a load of us, and we arrived on friday night to find the fridge and cupboards overflowing with goodies - chocolate, gin, cheese - it was heaven.

while we didn't do too much more than just eat and drink lots, and while our country walks consisted of the quickest way to get to the pub, it was bliss. one of the highlights was the huge window that spanned the width of the barn that we could view amazing sunsets from the comfort of our sofa - the tv remote was hidden all weekend (aside from when boys forced rugby upon us).

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house of the rising bun


i've recorded a few episodes of cooks to market, with the lovely and gorgeous gizzi erskine. two pairs of cooks bring their products and make them to sell at markets, the team making the most profit from selling their wares getting the opportunity to present to important food industry big dogs - buyers etc - with a few to getting the opportunity to sell to high street volume retailers. basically i love this product by the brilliantly named house of the rising bun. their idea is to make a natural cake mix for people who want to bake, but lack the baking knowledge to follow recipes, and can just add eggs and butter to the mix and produce delicious and natural cakes. baking is one of my favourite things and was my favourite thing to do with my mum and brother growing up so any product that allows people who might not have grown up with baking to do it easily is a winner in my book. and with cakes that look like this - i'm totally going to buy one of these mixes when they hit the shops or actually maybe i'll just order some online now.
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dreamboat


the hours i spent dreaming of paul nicholls when i was about ten. i even went to the lengths of writing a letter to eastenders asking for a part as his latest love interest. i'm now revisiting vintage albert square time with his first episode. all hail the wonder of youtube. 
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saturday


today i'm obsessed with para one. they are getting me through the hangover of doom that began with a dishoom naughty chocolate chai at lunchtime and ended somewhere in the depths of dalston. i also had a taxi driver of nightmares who i vaguely remember making me hold his hand as he changed gears. if that's not a euphemism i don't know what is.
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