Monday 13 December 2010

The Toy Elephant...

...is almost finished, I just need to sew up the feet and add some buttons for eyes.

I'll post a pic when it's done but I have to tell you that it currently looks as though it's had really bad surgery on it's trunk and the legs won't stay straight so he looks as though he's collapsed onto his stomach in an elephant drinking binge.

On a separate note...Ouch!! I've lost 1 follower :(

Wednesday 1 December 2010

The Festive Season

So December is upon us already!! It's only 24 days until Christmas and I've surprised myself by completing almost all of my Christmas shopping. I braved the madness of Oxford Street and got a heck of a lot done, not forgetting to make a lot of stops for hot drinks in between :) 

I have a challenge for anyone who reads this blog you!! 

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to MAKE a gift for someone this year. I'm trying to make felt toy elephants for the various small children in my family or friendship circles because I think they're they toys that mean the most and will hopefully last a lifetime (depending on my craftsmanship!)

If you feel like sending a photo of your handmade gifts that would be brilliant. Maybe I'll make a post dedicated to them entirely; I can't give you a prize for the best one but I can make a certificate saying that your gift is awesome. How about that?

I better get back to the toy elephants, those bad boys aren't going to sew themselves :D

Me

Monday 8 November 2010

My Blog Sucks

It's official: my blog sucks.

That's mostly because there's hardly any content to it and also mostly because I can't think of anything to write at the moment because my brain feels like this:




One story I can pluck from the brain scramble is that R and I made a "Hap-Pie" from scratch last night. For those of you who don't know, a Hap-Pie is a pie with a smiley face made out of left over pastry on top. Obviously...

Friday 29 October 2010

Change

This post now resembles nothing like it did ten minutes ago!! First of all, the words are different.

This is my fourth attempt at writing something about change but it keeps coming out wrong. It was supposed to be a good post about adapting to change and how hard it can be but it turned into me feeling sorry for myself which, if we were watching the Eurovision Song Contest would score me nil points (FYI I have just seen the best spelling for "nil points" on the internet... "Nil pwa" I give un point for imagination!!)

What was the point of this post? Oh yeah, change.

I'll come back to it, now is obviously not optimum post thinking time. Any suggestions on change are more than welcome!!

Wednesday 27 October 2010

Thanks an' all, but...

Brain, I understand you're trying to help me by injecting more hormones into my body when I feel happy because you think the chemical balance is wrong but hey! Would you mind not doing that so much because now you've put me on an unjustified downer and that ain't no fun. I was enjoying that carefree feeling last week; I would understand if something negative had happened thus making me feel depressed but no, nada, nothing.

Don't forget you're in my skull therefore you belong to me and you should do what I say. I don't want to have to stage a strike ok, that's no good for anyone.

Tuesday 19 October 2010

A Few of My Favourite Things

In no particular order...

[ Crisp and sunny Autumn mornings.

[ My boyfriend when he's being all cute and sleepy.

[ Dark chocolate.

[ My friend's little girl who has just learnt how to walk and has now started to climb up on their coffee table unaided... Uh oh!!

[ My cousin's little girl asking me to read to her...constantly... And accidentally calling me "Uncle" Jackie. The innocence of youth!

[ Yoga, especially brahmari breath and dharunasana though not necessarily together.

[ Unplanned days out to London markets with my boyfriend and his friends which turn out to be so much fun and etched in my memory forever.

[ My northern best friend's northern accent "Hiyyyaaaa, wot yooouuuu oop toooo?"

[ My southern best friend expecting a baby!

[ Moving to new places.

Sometimes it's important to stop and appreciate the things that make you happy. It's too easy to think about the things that don't.

Monday 18 October 2010

It's the Little Things

Being new to blogging and not having any many followers, I get stupidly excited when I do get a comment from anyone someone.

To me, that means that a person has taken the time to read my simple and sometimes inane babble and has thought it worthy of a reply. Thank you! It seems such a silly thing (note: I accidentally typed 'suck' instead of 'such'... Freudian slip?!) but when I see the my comments have gone from "0 comments" (sad face) to "1 comment" (really happy face!), I genuinely cannot wait to see what's been said.

Reading someone's comment also leads to discovering new blogs which is what the blogging community is all about isn't it?

When I'm on another person's blog (The Bloggess/Hyperbole and a Half) I'm forever clicking on other people's blog links and 95% of the time, I'm pretty happy at what I find! It's good to know what's going on in other people's lives instead of focusing on your own stuff all the time. I can't think of another word for stuff. I've read a couple of blogs that make me sit up and take stock of my own life and think "wow I really don't have it that bad at all". Sometimes, it is all relative but we should always take the time to think about what others are going through and send good vibes out into the world.

Anyways, that's my 2 cents worth for the day. I'm going to get some water because I have had precisely 0 glasses of it today and I'm pretty thirthty.

Bye y'all!

p.s. I got the job. YAY!

Wednesday 6 October 2010

Not Much Happenin'

Not much happenin' around here lately.

I'm still flat hunting with Louisa but not having much luck - the market is slow but there seem to be a lot of people looking for property at the moment! For those of you who have read Eat Pray Love, you know the part where she's on a book tour with her friend and she writes a letter to the universe asking for help finalising her divorce... Well, I did that. Yup. Except that I didn't ask for help with my divorce, mostly because I'm not even married, but I did ask for help with flat hunting. I was feeling a bit despondent about our bad luck with scammers and not being able to find a place so I asked the universe to present some opportunities to us and promised I wouldn't ignore them. And you know what? Aside from the fact that you shouldn't use "and" to start a sentence? The universe answered! It was bizarre actually, I wrote the letter then I found three properties online pretty much straight away and after ringing the letting agents, one of them had a great three bed place in Kilburn (which is awesome FYI) which we arranged to see that night. When I met up with Louisa to head to the viewing, I told her about the letter and she said she'd prayed for the same thing that morning for the first time in her life. So the universe totally heard our call! We didn't get the flat but that was down to the fact that the letting agent was a complete douchebag and kept lying to us. But I think that was the universe telling us a couple of things... 1) that there ARE properties out there, we just have to keep looking and b) watch out for dishonest letting agents. See universe, I am paying attention! We've seen a couple of other places which have been better than the ones previously so I'm confident we'll find somewhere soon. I'm looking forward to living in a flat with my own room instead of living out of a bag!

Woooaaaaahhhh, sorry I should have broken that paragraph up a bit.

On a positive note, I went for an interview on Monday morning and I've just had a call from the recruitment agency saying that I've been invited back for a second interview. Joy!!

My life seems to be full of agents right now...

Anywhoosle, that is literally it, my life is flat hunting and job hunting.

The End.

Thursday 30 September 2010

Scammers

I've recently been the target of not one but TWO money scammers from a well known website that ends with "tree" and starts with "Gum". The first scammer contacted me via an advert I had placed looking for a flat in London; it was a cleverly thought out scam, offering me a beautiful flat that belonged to her parents in Spain but by the second or third email, she desperately needed verification of funds so that a journey from Birmingham to London to show me the property wouldn't be wasted. The words "Western Union" and "transfer money" appeared in the email and the red lights which had slowly started flashing previously were now flashing at full speed!!


Imagine this flashing at full speed...and maybe with a loud alarm playing.


The second scammer was offering a property in Camden. I innocently emailed him thinking it was a legitimate advert because why well, wouldn't it be? His reply came, I read, and I wondered. His English was poor, the story seemed like it could be as much a lie as it could the truth but that part of me that wants to believe in people hoped that he was speaking honestly, so I emailed asking for his phone number. His reply came and that's when I knew he was another scammer.

So, I thought I would have some fun with my reply. Read on...

On Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 2:04 PM,


Hi,


Thank you for your interest in my apartment. I have the apartment from my aunt.I have it from 2008 with completely new furnishings are new and electrics .The apartment is in a very beautiful area and there are no problems with the local population . I am in this apartment for two years .because this property brings back many memories that I decided to rent it.


My occupation is a consultant in the marketing , I have a new contract in Spain. the employment contract have 5 years.the apartment is at the disposal and you can be active at any time you want.I am looking for serious people and I liked to rent the apartment for a longer time.The rent for one month amounts to 600 GBP including all costs (water, electricity, internet, waste disposal, heating costs). You have everything you need .Everybody is welcome there for me no problem as long as you keep the apartment clean . I liked to rent the property as quickly as possible. send me an e-mail i would be happy to answer your questions


Date: Wednesday, 29 September, 2010, 14:59



Hi ****



Do you have a telephone no. I can reach you on? It would be good to talk about the property over the phone instead of via email.



Thanks


Date: Wed, Sep 29, 2010 at 9:54 PM


Thank you for your response.


I can come anytime to show the flat to you, but first of all I need to be sure you really are really serious and will come to meet me. Last week I was there in London to meet a potential client and when I got there nobody answered any of my calls. I even paid euro 300 GBP for the plane ticket and trust me I don't wish to happen this again. Please email me fast so we can decide on how to proceed further! Greetings !



Ok, let’s toy with this sucker…


Dear ****



I'm sorry that you have experienced some problems in the past with potential tenants. I want to ensure this doesn't happen to you again so I will transfer £16million to the bank account of your choice so that you know that myself and my friend are serious about renting your flat. I may have to move some money from my offshore bank account but it shouldn't take too long.


Obviously the £16million will come off the rent so in essence, we can live there for free. Everyone's a winner!!


Thanks!


His *unexpected* reply


You will live alone in the flat and the bills are included in the price. Do you have a good friend in UK ? I have thought with my wife and we found the easiest method for the two of us. For my security I will ask you a very simple way to prove me that you are serious and also that you will come to meet me when I will get down in the UK . You will have only to send the amount of 600 GBP ( 1 month rent ) from your name to a friend , relative name in UK ( someone that you can trust in ) via Western Union and email me the scanned receipt as proof .



I will immediately call at Western Union and verify the transfer and if the money will be there available I will book myself a ticket for next day and I will come to meet you , visit the flat and sign the contract with you , in the case that you will be 100% satisfied .



Please read carefully , I don't ask you any money in advance , you will send the money to someone that you can trust.


Thank you and please email me with your decision .

He obviously doesn't understand sarcasm. Or negotiation. I can't decide whether to respond with a higher offer, of say £20m or to tell him his mother would be ashamed.

To be continued...

Tuesday 14 September 2010

Worst Post Yet

K, so two things have kind of happened simultaneously...

1. I sort of forgot that I have a blog.
2. I've lost any inspiration to write anything interesting.

I'm not sure what order these things occurred but they don't make for great blog writing. Not that anyone reads my blog. Technically, I'm just talking to myself.

If this were a social event, we'd all be sitting round the table and there would be a happy pause in conversation that slowly turns into an uncomfortably long pause with a small cough punctuating the silence and we'd all look at each other willing someone to speak and then we'd start looking at our nails or at the ceiling or getting our mobiles out pretending that someone has text just to save us from the awkwardness of that silence that was happy to begin with.

Potential blog subjects:

I think my boyfriend's house is haunted.
Job hunting.
Yoga.
Exhaustion.
Stuff.
Holiday update!

Sorry. This is possibly the worst post I've written to date but considering I've only written about 5 posts so far, that is some easy maths.

Thursday 9 September 2010

In Spite of All the Danger

"In spite of all the danggggeeerrrr.

Ah ahhh ahhh ahhhh.

I'll do anything for you. Anything you want me to....

In spite of all the danggggeeerrrr.



Ah ahhh ahhh ahhhh.

I'll do anything for you. Anything you want me to....

In spite of all the danggggeeerrrr.

Ah ahhh ahhh ahhhh.

I'll do anything for you. Anything you want me to....

In spite of all the danggggeeerrrr.

Ah ahhh ahhh ahhhh.

I'll do anything for you. Anything you want me to...."

These lyrics have been on repeat in my head since about 07.45 this morning. It's now 14.09.

Where's the key for "I'm going mad"

Wednesday 1 September 2010

I Went to Bed with my Boyfriend and Woke up with Dylan Moran*

*not to be taken literally.

It's a weird thing when you go on holiday with your boyfriend for the first time (who is Irish FYI...yummy) and when you wake up together every day, you realise that first thing in the morning, he sounds EXACTLY like Dylan Moran.

Thursday 12 August 2010

You Know How...

You know how sometimes you feel like eating something sweet so you go to the shop right next door to the office because it's convenient and you a) can't be bothered to go any farther and b) you haven't got time to go any farther but they don't really have anything you fancy but you still want something because you've made the effort to go to the shop so you pick a chocolate muffin even though you don't really like them and they make you feel sick every time you eat them but it's the best they have on offer and you think that this could actually be the magic muffin that is so delicious and non greasy that it won't make you feel sick so you buy it and take it back to your desk and start to eat it and not really enjoy it but go ahead anyway because it's all you have and then about 3.2 seconds after taking that first bite, the sugar rushes to your head and you get the shakes but you keep eating because you've started damn it and then by the last mouthful you can't possibly eat any more because your insides feel like a vat of pure oil and if you eat one more bite you will simultaneously be sick and start pinging around the office like a bouncy ball on a rubber floor?

Yeah that's me today.

Wednesday 11 August 2010

Spell Cheque

Friends status on Facebook:

Spent what seemed like forever today typing up my case study for Utopia mag! Gonna look stunning! Yea I'm good! X

And her friend's response:

How did you cope without your personal thesaurous?!!!!

*Insert obvious dictionary joke here*

Tuesday 10 August 2010

Irrational

This morning I sat opposite a man on the train who for some reason brought out an irrational feeling of intense dislike within me. I have seen this man a couple of times on the morning commute up to London and so far all I can surmise is that this person appears to be an imbecile.

I don't like having mean thoughts about others, especially people that I don't know because those thoughts are unfounded but this man really stirs something within me that makes me want to throw something at his head.

For the purposes of this post, let's just call him Man.

The first time I saw Man a few weeks ago, he was sitting next to what I gathered was his work colleague. It took me all of three seconds to ascertain that Work Colleague does not like Man. His body language told me everything I needed to know. Man was quite frankly talking b*ll*cks in a loud voice and behaving in a way that told the world, or the train carriage at least, that he thought he was very popular and we all needed to hear what he had to say. He was sitting too close to Work Colleague for comfort -- if life were Dirty Dancing then he was in his dance space without the "let's cha cha!". Work Colleague was trying to be polite, nodding along to the conversation and occasionally smiling a meak smile but you would have to be completely oblivious to realise that he didn't want to be there. I felt a bit sorry for Work Colleague; we've all been stuck in a social situation where we can't escape but so desperately want to.

This morning he irritated me immensely. I sat down opposite Man and remember, this is morning rush hour commuting... A lot of people on the train. Man was sitting in the middle of three seats with his pile of "things" on the seat next to him. If this were a late morning or lunchtime train with hardly a person on there, that wouldn't bother me so much but on the morning rush hour train, putting your things on the seat next to you instead of on the rack above or at least on your lap is like saying "I couldn't give a cr*p if you want to sit down, my stuff is more important than you". It's not pertaining to commuting etiquette! (I apologise for my poor grammar). So Man sits there, reading something or other and then I happen to look up as he is rooting around in his nostril, perhaps hoping to dig up some prehistoric bogey. It actually looked painful he had his finger shoved up there so hard. I should have called Tony and the Time Team. He then pulled his finger out of his nose, looked at the tip and put it in his mouth. It's making me gag just reliving it! Seriously people, if you want to pick your nose in the privacy of your own home then please go ahead but please don't do it and then ingest your findings in front of me on my way to work.

At this point, I couldn't be sure whether I'd uttered something in disgust out loud or not but then I began to wonder why Man was invoking such a reaction in me. I don't know Man and he is not part of my life so why sit on the train feeling annoyed at his (disgusting) manners? My theory: early morning + rain + packed train + Man = annoyed me!

If I were to guess, I'd say that Man actually has low self esteem issues so becomes loud and rude in order to make himself feel better. That's just my crude, early morning psychological analysis of this person!! Alternatively, he could just be a pain in the a** who just happens to have sat opposite me on the wrong mornings and p***ed me off!! The other 50+ people on the train don't annoy me in the slightest though? Hmmm.

This is not my best nor most positive post so I apologise. This won't be a frequent thing, I just felt I needed to write about it. I am a good person really!

Monday 9 August 2010

Busy

What a busy weekend!! My boyfriend (R) and I had so much to do as we're going on a two week cycling holiday next Sunday and had much to prepare.

Rundown of Saturday:

Early start; R headed to Euston for work medical, I headed home to collect my new bike from the Parcelforce depot. Took (boxed) bike home and dragged it up the stairs to keep on landing while waiting for R to collect me and bike. R arrived to find me sitting on the sofa eating those chocolate biscuit sticks (can't remember the name) and watching DIY SOS. Took bike back downstairs and loaded into his car. R is moving to Medway to study as a mature student in September so drove to Gillingham to view a room that he'll be moving into. Met nice landlady, viewed room, liked it. Very close to town centre and station and uni is only a 10 minute walk (or a three second cycle!) Drove around Medway so R could get a feel for the area. Romantic picnic lunch sitting in the car in a "passing place" with an industrial area as our view. Continued driving and found an RSPB track so spent some time walking around and picking local berries. Thankfully not poisoned. Drove back to London, both pretty exhausted so reheated Friday's dinner, ate and passed out on the bed.

Sunday:

Another early start. R got online almost as soon as we had woken up to order some things for our cycling trip from Argos to be picked up from the Streatham shop. R in pretty narky mood. He was having a lot of back pain from previous injury so felt very uncomfortable. Breakfast of croissants (yum!) and coffee then headed to Streatham to pick up our bits from Argos. R still feeling narky and tired so drove us to the Balham shop by mistake. I don't know the area so had no idea! Got back in car and drove to Streatham and picked up our things. Drove back to R's and started assembling bike. Very exciting!! Few bits that need adjustment such as gears and the front wheel is slightly bowed. R did a great job. Managed to cheer up R; hurrah!! Had late lunch, went to room to chill out. Decided to go for bike ride to test out lovely new bike and so headed through Brockwell Park and ended up in Dulwich Village - very pretty place with real character and chilled out vibe. Potential location for my move to London? First time cycling on London roads so felt a little nervous but we made it back alive; maybe alive is a little strong as R tried to make me race him home uphill. Ate a late dinner and watched a bit of Alone in the Wild while trying to alleviate pain for R by giving really hard localised massage. Didn't work :( R had another early start this morning (05.30) so suspect he will be very tired this week. Holiday can't come soon enough!

We managed to achieve a lot in two days and have only a few more bits to get before our adventure. I can't wait to go on holiday with R! We need this break desperately as we've both been quite stressed and are in need of relaxation and stress-free time together. R is looking forward to sampling Belgian beer as we make our way around the Netherlands. Personally I'm looking forward to the cheese markets!!

Friday 6 August 2010

Welcome!

Hey

Wow, first post. Exciting!

Thanks for coming to read my blog (secret: it's just an online diary/way to talk to myself without looking crazy) I haven't written a blog for a while so I'm a little bit rusty but bear with me and hopefully, what I'm sure will start out as rambling will improve to the point of being readable!

By the way, my imagination is pretty much at point zero and I really couldn't think of a real, decent, imaginative name for this blog so if you can come up with anything then all suggestions welcome!

Originally I wanted to come on here to remind people out there that you have to make yourself happy before you can make others happy but I can't just write a great statement like that and not back it up with anything, it doesn't really fit. So here's how I came to this conclusion...

Me in a nutshell at the moment: stressed. Majorly stressed.  (by the way, whenever I hear the word nutshell it immediately takes me to Austin Powers "I'm in a nutshell, how did I get into this nutshell?"...Anyyywayyy)

I've been putting so much pressure on myself lately to learn something new (guitar), be a good girlfriend, secure a permanent job, flat hunt, practice yoga, see friends, read an important book etc all in the name of bettering myself. All of these things compounded so much so that my great friend Amy called me earlier to give me a pep talk because I was in fast danger of ruining one if not all of those things. Especially my relationship with my boyfriend which is relatively new. Without wanting to go into too much detail because I don't want to over-think things again, I was close to the edge and needed someone to pull me back. Amy did that; if she ever needs to re-consider her career I would recommend counselling! She has an innate understanding of human nature and has a real way of putting things into perspective so that you feel confident and calm at the same time. She reminded me that I need to do things to make myself happy instead of constantly trying to make other people happy and that I will burn myself out if I carry on the current path that I am treading. She reminded me to stop and take time for myself, to find joy in my hobbies again and not to feel afraid to say no.

So with her wise words, I have returned to my desk at work feeling more peaceful and ready to face the world. For the coming week, I am not going to fill my diary with activities every night so that I am left with no time to rest or feel happy. I am going to find the time to do things that I enjoy such as watching my favourite film, practice yoga and relax.

Sometimes I go through phases like these and it just takes a little reminder that it's ok to stop and breathe. I'm thankful for friends like Amy because without her, I'm sure I would go mad!!