Monday 29 June 2009

Saturday shopping

When I was but a young teenager and slowly finding my fashion feet, me and my friends would head to the town on a Saturday afternoon. It was like a ritual. Each week we'd get ourselves smartened up to hit the shops and we'd spend hours trawling round, trying stuff on that we could never afford to buy and generally making a nuisance of ourselves in all the shops. These days it tends to be charity shops that I hit on a Saturday and all other shopping is reserved for the last hour after work. Until this weekend that has just passed.

Saturday found me, R and T hitting the shops. Obviously the first thing we did was arrange to meet up and eat lunch cos you can't think about shopping until you're all fuelled up! After lunch we ventured in...and within minutes of the first shop/changing room situation I was shaking my head at the sheer AWFULNESS that was the Saturday afternoon shopping experience.

First up: the fashion. I'm kind of loathe to call it that at all as there is nothing remotely stylish about what is out there at the moment. Hideous neons are just the beginning. Shapeless sacks that are supposedly tops are another. Way way too many leggings, and whoever thought that wet look and leggings was something that should be combined seriously needs to be exterminated, preferably whilst wearing their wet look leggings and slowly being tortured by visions of people in said leggings who should not be. The growing trend of wearing leggings as trousers is just beyond wrong - hello camel toe! I am shaking my head in vain at the unnecessary nastiness of this. Put. It. Away.

Next up: the changing room fun. I know you're not supposed to gawp at the sights but wow, it's hard not to. The sizing is amazing these days, there doesn't seem to be an "average josephine" anymore, instead people are either really really teeny or really really big. I actually saw one teeny teeny girl in Top Shop changing room who had a belt holding up her leggings as they were falling down off her skeleton frame...yes you read that right, a belt to hold up clothing that is essentially lycra and therefore clingy. What the heck is going on, dear readers? Having said that we did have hilarious changing room moments with R as she emerged in various sack shape dresses that were so awfully bad all we could do was fall about laughing.

Third up: Bikinis. I'm not a bikini person anyhoo, being a bit shy about exposing so much of my pale flesh to be burned on holidays, but even if I were, I would not be wearing some of the creations that were available. They were neon. And shiny. And studded and beaded and surely not designed to be worn in water? I picked up one in Top Shop and thinking that it was a size 10 showed it to T. When we actually looked at the label we found out that the 2 very small triangles on both the top and the bottom were designed for size 14 girlies such as myself. When I stretched the small triangle posing as a top over my size 14 boob, the coverage was not exactly ample shall we say. Are there actually people who wear such things???

Fourthly: I am aware that I'm sounding like a grump about the fashion but that's so not the case. I love my fashion, readers. Everyone knows this. I especially love cheap, wear for one season and throw-away fashion. But I do not like this current trend for 80s hideousness. Do we think it will go soon? But even worse, what's going to come next...?

Monday 22 June 2009

I've Moved!

Actually I moved a couple of weeks ago but things were so hectic that I haven't had time to blog...

At the last update, I still had nothing in the bathroom and the kitchen units were going in. Come moving day, all that was finished and there were piles of random stuff everywhere, the spare room taking the brunt of it as you would expect.


The garden used to have a herd of evil light-grabbing trees



But now one tree has been removed and the others pruned right down so it looks like this


Not very inspiring I know but just wait till next year.

Oh but the best bit, now that I have my very own fridge
he he! I love it!

Wednesday 17 June 2009

The Birthday and beyond

Well folks I had a lovely birthday. Not a big party night but just a really nice day! The sun was shining, I was wearing my new floaty maxi dress and all was right with the world.

I started the day with brunch at the The Waffle House http://www.wafflehouse.co.uk/ THE most delicious (and organic) waffles in the world (so far!) I would highly recommend a visit if you're ever visiting St Albans. This was followed by a bit of a shopping spree in St Albans itself, managed to get a few things I've been meaning to get for ages plus some mirrors for when I move at a completely bargainous price and some wicker drawers (which are currently taking up residence in our already crowded living room til the time comes to move!).

Later in the day we headed to the cinema and saw The Hangover which wasn't bad - maybe not quite as hilarious as the critics made out but quite amusing and then headed home via the patisserie in Southgate which does the most amazing cakes (treats galore!).

These were the ones we got:



And this was the how they anded up:


Yummy!

After that we headed home had something savoury to eat to cancel out all the sugar and then headed to bed feeling completely knackered - I'm definitely getting too old!

Today I woke up feeling excited about the prospect of the year to come and found that I was...


very itchy! :(

I've developed a nasty red bumpy rash all over my arms and legs, My very sympathetic housemate L has assured me (read - told me to quit my whining!) that its just a heat rash (which it probably is) but I feel like I will be shunned if I were to step into the outside world oh woe is me!

Here I submit the evidence for your perusal:

My rash covered knee!

Anyhow I'm sure it'll go away sooner or later weird that it didn't happen while I was away in Sunny Spain!

Hopefully I'll be clear by the time I'm visiting next but for now I'm heading to bed as I (really desperately) need my beauty sleep!

Night night!

PS I apologise if my images are huge not sure what's going on - did select the small image on importing...

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Birthday song

Everyone join in please:

Happy birthday to you...
Happy birthday to yoooouuuu...
Happy birthday deeeeeeaaaarrrrr Tiiiiiii-iiiizzzz,
Happy birthday to you!

Hip hip! Hooray!
Hip hip! Hooray!
Hip hip! Hooray!

Tizz is 30 today. Welcome to the gang Tizz, trust me, best decade yet!

Have a soooper day. Eat lots of cake. Big birthday hug. Can't wait to see you next week! XX

Sunday 14 June 2009

Green fingers

Time to blog the plant progress. The chilli plants were bought way back on May Bank Holiday and the pepper plants came along via Wavey's dad shortly after that. They were all really teeny when they arrived on the Magic Windowsill (I know ideally there would have been a before and after but there isn't...so there you go).

First up is the pepper plant:

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From what I understand the flowers eventually turn into peppers, exciting!

Next up is the chilli plant. These were literally a teeny weeny stalk with 2 leaves when I bought them for 50p each. And now they're this big:

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The next one is to show how much is crammed onto the Magic Windowsill at the moment:

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I know it doesn't particularly look very magical but you have to believe me, it truly is! I put plants on there and they thrive and grow, it's amazing!

From now on, I'll do my bestest to report on the progress. Imagine how exciting it will be when the first peppers and chillis appear!

Saturday 13 June 2009

Shoe graveyard

One of my most favourite things is my shoe-rack. It's filled with all manner of lovely shoes - funky flats, hottie high heels, wobbly wedges and it used to have a pair of yellow trainer pumps from Peacocks. I loved those yellow pumps. They were fabby. They were bright and colourful and comfy and looked excellent with jeans. Then they broke. I was a bit surprised by this as I'd only had them for about a week. Admittedly I'd worn them probably everyday that first week, but even so. I took them back to the shop and told them what had happened and please could I have an exchange, which they did and very nicely too. I took the 2nd pair home, and the very first day I wore them they broke again! In exactly the same place, a big crack right from one side to the other. Noooooo, wailed I. How can this be? I know I'm heavy on my feet but I can generally make a pair of shoes last longer than one day! Everyone kept telling me to take them back (which I know I should have done) but I didn't want another pair and I was very upset at their loss. And I'd only paid £5 for them so wasn't too bothered about the money, I wanted my shoes!

Anyhoo, since the day that they broke I have had to throw out so many pairs of shoes. I don't know what's happening. My bedroom bin has turned into some kind of shoe grave. And I'm very unhappy with this situation. First up was my black flipflops. The sun came out to shine and so the flipflops came out to play. Okay so they were from last year and I probably battered them into the ground then, but I put them on and they broke. The shoe grave opened its hungry mouth and schlurrrrrrp, swallowed them up. Next up was me deciding to throw shoes out as they were my ugg-a-likes from the winter. And they were battered (are you seeing the theme here?) and the sun was shining so time to throw them out too, schlurrrrrrrrp. And then another pair of trainer pump type things that were flowered. I'd worn them to go to an 80s night and there was a lot of glass on the floor and the soles just couldn't stand it. Another pair bites the dust.

Yesterday, I was happy at work in libraryland. I was up on the 3rd floor doing some prep work for the journals relegation which involved a lot of kneeling and squatting down to read what was on the bottom shelf. I thought my shoes started to feel a bit odd but wasn't too concerned. Until I returned to my desk, checked the sole and found that they'd ripped! Bloody bugger. Another pair gone!

You know what folks? I've had enough. I can't just keep replacing all these shoes. So I've got vacancies on my shoe-rack. This is not good. I like an overflowing shoe-rack. If I don't have shoes on the rack, and overflowing from a basket next to the shoe-rack, and in the wardrobe, and in a carrier bag then I'm feeling like I haven't got enough shoes.

I'd put out a plea to ask what I should do but I know that immediately R will be on here telling me to stop buying cheap shoes, buy expensive ones and they'll last longer. It won't make a bit of difference when I tell her that I paid 10 whole pounds for the pair that broke yesterday...but if anyone's got any size 7s going spare, you know which direction to point them in.

Wednesday 10 June 2009

Do you want to sign up?

Towards the end of last year here in libraryland, we got a new big boss. And this big boss? She's got lots of ideas. One of them is improving the social culture of libraryland, making us more social networking type peeps. I can you hear you all thinking that this sounds like a great idea, colleagues getting together, chitting the chat, netting the network type thing...oh-ho, if only things were that easy.

My boss (not so big) kindly volunteered me to be part of the social committee who would be responsible for this new chitty chat, netty networking thingie. She's so nice, isn't she? I guess, thinking about it, you could consider me a social bod. I'm always chitting the chat with as many people as possible. And because of this I know a lot of people, and, perhaps more importantly, I have great powers of persuasion and might be able to make them think they want to come to our event.

When we had our first meeting I started to worry about how successful this first event was going to be. Mainly because we were kindly informed that we had zero budget. And nowhere to host it. And no idea what to do either. Yikes! A tricky challenge, thought I. But! We valiantly rallied around and came up with the idea of a Games Night. Yep, between 4-8pm on Friday 3rd July we will be playing giant Jenga! Giant Connect 4! Giant Downfall! Twister! Table tennis! Curling! Skittles! There'll be food! And alcohol! And you know what? No-one wants to come. How pants is that?

On the sign up sheet there's only about 7 names, and 4 of them are the social committee people who have to be there. I've been bigging it up to as many people as possible and got a few hesitant verbal agreements, but the rest of them in libraryland? Nope. Have to do this, have to do that, don't wanna come, that sounds rubbish; you name it, I've heard it. Oh, one kindly colleague said that if I agreed to flash him my boobs then he'd come along...of course I said no to that but on reflection, and with such small numbers it might just have to come to such extreme measures...

So here's my appeal lovely readers: how can we persuade people to sign up?

Any of you readers in libraryland who haven't signed up yet, get your name on the board NOW!

All suggestions gratefully received...as long as they don't involve me showing off parts of my body.

Thanking you all most kindly.