3 More Sleeps to go!!!!!!!!!

Dec23

So it’s almost the big day. The Christmas cake and pudding has been made for some weeks which threw my senses into the Christmas spirit even if no other part of my body followed. The kitchen was filled with nutmeg, cinnamon and fruit smells whilst I sipped a snowball, the first of many! Lol! It seems as though the whole country was late in feeling Christmassy this year and then December arrived and suddenly Christmas songs blared out in shops and on the radio along with Heart beginning their sleeps ‘til Santa countdown. This was a refreshing change to the usual pattern of it beginning in August. Even Rufus my rabbit is now in the Christmas spirit!

My cousin and I revisited our childhood Christmas’ by losing ourselves for a few hours in Hamleys. We also enjoyed a visit to the Hyde Park winter wonderland and browsed the German Christmas market before warming ourselves up with a coffee and some roasted chestnuts; another smell which alerts us to the holiday season. I took my friends little boy to see Santa the other week and as a new twist, it also included a 3D film about the reindeer. I’m not sure who enjoyed the trip more, me or him? What did I ask Santa for; well that would be telling! Cards then began to drop through the letter box on a daily basis. Christmas is one of the few times of year when the postman delivers something other than bills and junk mail! Wouldn’t it be nice if we all still wrote letters to each other; I used to love to receive a letter to read over breakfast. The advent of modern technology has unfortunately diminished the nation’s letter writing skills. Text messages encourage brevity and the notion of even a good long phone call seems to be less and less popular. Now don’t get me wrong text messages do serve their purpose and I’m not about to join the English language experts debate on text messaging being responsible for the declining standards of spelling, however in my own experience I have found that they often can cause misunderstandings and fail to convey true emotion. With this in mind, I had four very enjoyable phone conversations with friends and family today. You would think with all these wide ranging methods of communication people would never lose touch but sadly there are people who you have no contact with from one month to the next, yet the sign of true friendship is that when you do meet up with that person it is like you have never been apart, as I found with an old school friend at my annual festive get together this week. Anyway getting back to Christmas cards, where did this tradition come from? I watched Victorian Christmas the other day and found the origins to this and many other traditions; we have a lot to thank the Victorians for. Henry Cole sent the first Christmas card in 1843 as it would have taken a long time for him to have written letters to all his friends. Those he had left over he sold. The popularity of these was helped by the post office introducing a half penny stamp for Christmas cards. This was made possible by the expanding railways which made transporting post faster and cheaper.

Another tradition we owe to the Victorians is the Christmas tree. They became part of the British Christmas after Queen Victoria’s husband put one up at Windsor castle in 1841. They were of course at that time decorated with candles; an accident waiting to happen if you ask me. My partner and I put up our tree and dusted off the nativity scene the first week of December in preparation for an early Christmas dinner party I arranged. Aside from the desire to catch up with some very good friends of mine, my partner and I also attempted to play matchmakers for two of our friends. Sadly it was apparently too early for me to acquire a sprig of mistletoe! It was a most enjoyable evening and I enjoyed making the years first mince pies. Now these pies go back to the 13^th century when European crusaders returned home with recipes from the Middle East. By the Victorian era, meat was no longer used in these sweet treats but suet remained an ingredient as it still does today.

The Victorian era has long been a fascination for me and with so many Christmas traditions being a result of that period too; when my partner was off work we decided to go and visit the Victoria and Albert museum in London. I got a bit of a shock having to pay for a train ticket for the first time in eight years! The museum was rather a let down; we had misunderstood it to be a museum of the Victorian era when in fact it is a museum of art and design, simply named after Victoria and Albert. Then to add insult to injury, the fashion room is currently closed much to my disappointment.

At the time of writing, I have now been officially unemployed for almost a month and the time has flown; I almost wonder how I ever had time to work and I still haven’t completed half the things I intended to. It is now starting to hit me however that this is not a holiday and the job search now needs to begin in earnest; the financial situation has not been helped by my continuing shopping addition! After all the perfect Christmas dress is essential for any girl; or in my case two but they were a bargain in the sale. The quest for the ideal dress is never easy but just think of poor Kate Middleton who needs no less than five dresses for her first Royal Christmas day. I did resist the urge for a gorgeous pair of heels I saw in Topshop; thinking about it though that may have been a mistake given that according to a Metro survey, 13% blokes would like their girlfriend to wear nice shoes. Talking of shopping, the present’s bill hasn’t helped either but I so enjoy giving people a thoughtful gift. This year I did the majority online which was far easier than battling the shops, except for the fact that one parcel has still yet to turn up. Some think tanks estimate as much as a 16% rise in online shopping this Christmas. Perhaps this online explosion of choice and price cutting has led to the demise of Barratts and La Senza; both now in administration which one close friend of mine has felt acutely.

I have done some productive things with my time since leaving work though. I spent a week volunteering at another local primary school; this time with the children in the last year there. I greatly enjoyed it; some of the children even got me Christmas presents. Whilst doing this experience I also had some good news, I have an interview for my teacher training course so fingers crossed I’m on my way to becoming a teacher.

Now with little time left to wait for the special day which cheers up the long winter, I must get on with the rest of my wrapping and make some paper chains. Merry Christmas readers!

Childhood Revisited

Nov27

The last month has been an opportunity for me to reflect further on my childhood and adolescence along with considering our commonly held understanding of the notion of childhood. The Oxford dictionary simply defines it as ‘the state or period of being a child.’ It defines a child as ‘a young human being below the age of puberty or below the legal age of majority.’ This dictionary definition appears to concur with what was the generally held belief in history until the advent of romanticism; children were small adults. In history, children were expected to work and to dress as miniature adults (something which appears to have had some what of a renaissance in recent years but not without controversy; why a child needs to wear a thong I will never know! Mini Ugg’s however are a must!). Academic education was seen as a luxury which many could not afford up until the Victorian times when education up to the age of 10 became mandatory in 1880 and became free in 1891. The years following this led to the age for mandatory education to be raised and in Britain today it is now 16. Nowadays, no child can work (excluding in the arts and family businesses) part time until they reach the age of 13 and full time work is only allowed post 16. Elders will always suggest that children grow up much faster these days but in fact, children are now entitled to a childhood which hundreds of years ago didn’t exist. The twentieth century is commonly thought of as ‘the century of the child.’ Over the years the way children are brought up along with the toys available, have gone in and out of fashion and if anything children have greater control over their lives than they have ever had. Sylvanian Families appear to have been given a new lease of life. I loved these as a child, getting my first as a present for my bravery. The girls at the school I recently did my work experience at were very in to them and even asked if they could have my collection but I can’t part with them; they currently clutter up Mum and Dad’s loft! It’s amazing what you can now get for the Sylvanian’s too, I used to have to improvise and make accessories for them. There are so many toys now, I do wonder if children have the same imaginations as we used to have? I affectionately recall hours of fun in the garden with a simple sheet to make a tent. Most people are lucky enough to be able to look back on their childhood with fond memories and I am grateful to be one of those.

Since 1928 when Mickie Mouse was first unveiled, one thing that has endured is children’s love of Disney. One of my favourites has always been the Lion King so it followed that I dragged my partner to the cinema to see the new 3D version of it. I enjoyed it as much as I did as a ten year old and also watched Beauty and the Beast on DVD with the children at the school during their golden time. Sometimes I really wish I was Peter Pan or even that I could go back and do things differently. Mind you our past makes us the person we are today so perhaps I wouldn’t want to change it. As Walt Disney said ‘Adults are only kids grown up, anyway.’ I still long for a trip to Disneyworld Florida. My best friend recently went for her honeymoon there. The Disney legacy along with the general love of fairy tales means that for girls at least, we grow up believing that one day our prince will come. Thankfully mine did eventually although I had to kiss a lot of frogs first!

Image courtesy of Google Images

Image courtesy of Google Images

When I entered the reception classroom on my first day volunteering at our local independent primary school (originally built in 1906 as a council school), the first thing that struck me was how small the chairs were; it was like I had walked into a dolls house! The children had swimming on my first day so you could say I was thrown in the deep end (pardon the pun). Trying to get a swimming hat on a bouncy, excitable child is like trying to stretch an elastic band around a large ball! Now I know why my Mum hated it so much when she helped out with swimming when I was at primary school. The children were adorable and it was so satisfying to see them understand different concepts. I was amazed at their French skills. I especially enjoyed reading to them. I loved books as a child and my Dad would read to me every night, doing his special voices and adding his own bits into stories. I’m sure he knew ‘The Owl who was Afraid of the Dark’ off by heart! When I was recently ill with my eye again meaning that I had to cancel my greatly anticipated Halloween party; I couldn’t watch TV, read or use the computer and I longed to cuddle up to my Dad whilst he read me a story. Children bless them are so observant and honest. One little boy asked me if my hair was turning blonde; definitely time for a trip to the hairdressers! Mind you it could have been worse; at least he didn’t ask if it was turning grey!

Anyway I came back to earth with a bump after the two weeks at school and returned to the office. The experience had confirmed to me, what I was already certain of; teaching was definitely the right road for me. Consequently this blog has been somewhat delayed because my creative writing talents have been focused on my personal statement for my teacher training application. I’m sure like all teacher’s I shall amongst everything be teaching children the importance of reading the question; advice which apparently I was incapable of following myself being that the first draft of the personal statement I did was some 4000 words instead of the required 4000 characters!

Despite my attention being swallowed by my application, I did however still find time for some therapeutic internet shopping and purchased this years must have; a tuxedo jacket. The tuxedo dates back some 125 years when it was first introduced as a less formal alternative to the tailcoat. The women’s masculine look is widespread this season. I shall be wearing mine with a glittery top, black shorts and of course sky scrapper heels!

Talking of shoes, I was less than impressed when a navy suede pair I had hardly worn became collateral damage of a girly weekend in Cambridge. We went up there for a friend’s birthday; had a meal, drinks and then on to a new club called LoLaLo. It was lovely to catch up with my friends and the majority of the time was most enjoyable. It was lovely to see my friend enjoy her birthday so much. However call me boring but I am failing to see the attraction of being squished by people with less than perfect personal hygiene when you are trying to dance, overpriced drinks and a floor sticky with spilt alcohol; clubbing is definitely something I seem to have grown out of. Even worse than this however was a guy throwing up in the middle of the dance floor, making no attempt to try to go to the toilets; hence my ruined shoes. I guess that’s students for you. I can’t say too much though as I was some what of a hedonistic wild child during my short stay at Newcastle University when I was 18. Recollections of that time came flooding back when my boyfriend and I went up there on Guy Fawkes weekend.

I chose Newcastle for university partly because the place felt like home (my Grandad was from the North East) but mainly because I wanted to get away and have the freedom to go where I liked, rolling in at anytime of the morning and trust me, rolling in is an apt way to describe it! Once given this freedom, I was not only off the rails but a total train wreck. Keeping Kookai in business single handedly, having my nose pierced and an ambulance picking me up drunk were a few of my antics along with attempting to steel a traffic cone! What I was going to do with such a thing I have no idea but it seemed that the student trophy was either this or a road sign! I finally got to see my beloved Newcastle United FC at St James Park for the first time on this latest trip and it was an historic game being that it was the last game played before the stadium was renamed after over 130 years, the Sports Direct Arena. We won 2-1 against Everton for those of you interested and were second in the league for a matter of hours. My initial reason for supporting Newcastle was fancying Alan Shearer but that is of no consequence now. Whilst up in Geordie land I visited one of my friends who has just had a baby boy. This made me even more broody as did the other weekend when my brother, his girlfriend and my niece came to visit us. I guess being a mother is someway off though being that I have not yet had the joy of becoming engaged. I cheered myself up however with a new addition for my wardrobe; a navy polka dot silk dress.

I want to take this opportunity to wish a happy thanksgiving to all my American friends. Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday of November each year. The ceremony is an occasion to give thanks for the harvest and a hope of good growing conditions in the spring, much like our harvest festival. I was involved in the harvest festival at the school I volunteered at, helping the children to make apples and seeds. For days afterwards I was still singing the ‘Johnny Appleseed’ song! The festivities for thanksgiving are much like our Christmas ones in the respect of a turkey dinner; however this is generally followed by pumpkin pie, rather than a Christmas pudding. In fact in the USA more importance is put on thanksgiving than Christmas itself. I would love to visit New York during thanksgiving or Christmas; I bet central park is stunning under a blanket of snow! Perhaps I would even get a nice surprise from Tiffany’s and a skate in on the central park ice rink. Mind you given our experience in spring this year on the ice rink there, I think my other half and I would both end up on our knees and not because he was proposing!

Image courtesy of Google Images

Talking of Christmas, it is just around the corner now; 27 days for those of you counting! The festive songs are beginning to be played on the radio. This is my favourite time of year, a magical time and definitely all about children. I am a big kid myself though; the advent calendar for 1^st December is ready and waiting, mind you as Dickens said ‘if you let the child in you die, you are in effect dead.’ I will definitely be taking a trip to Hamley’s and I must start looking for the elusive party dress! This year as in previous years I took part in Operation Christmas Child. For those of you who don’t know what this is; the initiative is run by Samaritans Purse and dates back 21 years. A wrapped, gift filled shoebox is delivered somewhere in the world to a child in need. After all Christmas is all about giving and children and imagine the smile you could put on a child’s face. Unlike children in this country, the shoebox will probably be the only gift they get.

Image courtesy of Google Images

I shall sign off now and continue searching for a replacement for my shoes, not that I need an excuse to buy another pair! Happy Christmas shopping!

‘It’s Pimms O’Clock!’

Sep29

I shall begin by apologising for the delay in posting but one of the things I wanted to write about needed to be common knowledge first. My blogs this week will be rather like buses; you wait ages and then two come at once!!

So I take you back to the start of September. I don’t know about you but since my school days, I always feel that 1^st September marks the official end of summer. The evenings start to become darker and the cardigans begin to come out! X factor has begun and the countdown to Christmas starts.

In order to make the most of the last of the good weather, my boyfriend and I decided to go to Broadstairs, Kent for the day, which was where we went for our very first date. I love Broadstairs and it is often referred to as the ‘Jewel in Thanet’s Crown’. Charles Dickens regularly visited there between 1837 and 1859 and wrote David Copperfield whilst staying there; it does inspire my writing imagination too. Today Broadstairs still retains the vibe of the traditional British seaside resort minus the donkey rides.

We began with a game of crazy golf, followed by fish and chips on the beach; it always tastes better by the sea even if you do get a sand garnish! The first Fish and chip shop that opened in London was in 1860. Railways played a big part in fish and chips becoming a staple of the working class diet as it linked cities to the coast and they also can be credited with the increased popularity of a holiday at the seaside. We followed up with an ice cream, then on to the arcade with the great 2p machines. I even dipped my toes in the sea but wasn’t brave enough for a swim! Many were braving a swim though; perhaps apart from protecting their modesty, the Victorian swimwear which covered most of the body was made as a result of Britain’s inclement weather? It was funny when my partner and I went to Egypt and our guide in Cairo was saying it gets quite cold in the winter, around 20 degrees and we said, in Britain if the mercury reaches 20 then we all have our shorts and flip flops on!

We finished off with a Pimms in one of the local pubs. Pimms was actually invented by the son of a man from Kent in 1823. It is now a drink very much synonymous with the British summer, hence its popularity at events such as Wimbledon.

That evening we went to friends for dinner which was a most enjoyable end to the day. I remember being sent to bed whilst my parents entertained friends at dinner parties and now I’m attending dinner parties; how time flies! The food was restaurant standard which sets the bar high for when we invite them back.

During the week I treated myself to some star print palazzo trousers after realising that my other pair of plain black ones had been badly torn by my high heels. At least now I can be on trend with the star print. I spent many evenings browsing the internet for a perfect pair of shoes to wear as Godmother at my baby nieces christening at the end of the month. My boyfriend looked over at my surfing and said ‘you really do love shoes, don’t you!’ Had it really taken him this long to notice??? Men, eh! I couldn’t find what I was looking for but did find a gorgeous pair of shoes for my baby niece; after all, got to start them young!

Image Courtesy of Google Images

That got me thinking about my first pair of shoes; little did my parents realise that they would be the start of a life long love affair. I think I inherited the obsession from my maternal Grandma; when she died my Mum found enough shoes in her wardrobe to open a shop! I’m only sad that she died when I was 7. I think we would have been great friends. My main memory of her is sitting for hours and drawing together and how she always gave us a small bottle of lemonade, some fun size sweets which were a new concept then and £1 pocket money. My Mum says she always said if you couldn’t decide which dress to buy, she would say get both! For my first birthday Mum says she bought me a dress from Bentalls which was £25 then. She was always generous to a fault. No wonder I live to shop, it’s in the genes.

I remember when Mum and I went to Bromley to get my first pair of welly boots and ended up on the wrong train on the way back! I was so proud of those wellies!

Later once I started school I remember we all had the Clarks Magic Steps shoes, mine were patent burgundy. You were no one unless you had them. These had a key in the sole. My friend actually tried to smash the key out. They made you feel like the princess in the adverts. Even now some of my most glam shoes make me feel like a princess. The power a piece of footwear has!

Image Courtesy of Google Images

This reminiscing called to mind some other fashion and footwear trends over the years. There were jelly shoes, heeled jelly shoes, crocs and Ugg boots to name a few. Does anyone else remember the Bon Bleu tracksuit? I always wanted one but alas we can’t always have what we want. It’s quite ironic really that on own clothes day at school, most kids wore the alternative uniform of the Bon Bleu tracksuit!

On a more serious note and the cause of the delay on this blog; a bombshell was dropped on me at work. They are closing our department and I will be redundant at the end of November, unless a suitable alternative within the company can be found. Guess this means I will have to seriously curtail the shopping habit! The shoe collection will certainly suffer. We had expected the day would come but I don’t think any of us thought it would be quite this soon. They sent us home early and I literally felt sick with shock. I’ve had chance to get used to the idea now though. I’m doing my best to look at this positively, as an opportunity. Perhaps this is the push I needed; after all, what I really want is to be a teacher and a writer.

I should also mention that the complaints to the shop where we got Rufus finally paid off and we got the Vets bills refunded as well as £30 of vouchers which I intend to treat Rufus with. It does pay to complain!

I shall leave it there and consol myself with a drink; perhaps ‘it’s Pimms O’clock?!’

Stepping Back in Time

Aug17

I know for most people history was probably one of their worst subjects at school but it can actually be quite interesting; you just need to find an area that fascinates you.

Having a long weekend to enjoy after the wedding, we decided to check out the Titanic exhibition at Chatham Dockyard. I must admit it wasn’t quite what I expected and I was disappointed that I couldn’t try on the heart of the ocean necklace; but I did enjoy it and it awakened my interest in history, as well as reminding me of when the film was released in 1997 when I was a teenager in love with Leonardo DiCaprio. I remember wanting to watch all his films and Mum only allowing me to see ‘Basketball Diaries’ if she watched it with me as I was too young for its 18 rating. At the time I think my walls were covered with Leonardo and Backstreet Boys! I would dream that I met them and they fell in love with me.

My boyfriend and I recreated the famous scene from the film on the railings. That evening we decided to watch the film and I cried yet again! It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I watch it, I still ball my eyes out.

I think one of the most moving things about the Titanic disaster was the arrogance of human nature. They really believed that the ship was unsinkable so saw no need to ‘clutter’ up the deck with life boats. It is also sad to see how class determined whether you were to be saved; 34% o f first class men were saved whilst only 30% of third class children.

Sunday evening, after enjoying a roast dinner, I tried to get my boyfriend to sit through the film Coco before Chanel. He was having none of it though so I compromised with The Cashmere Mafia. We were barely 5 minutes into it when the television and DVD player turned off. Turns out there was a fire in a junction box in the road and so we had to endure a power cut for the rest of the evening. If I didn’t know better, I would think my boyfriend had arranged it to get out of the girly films. I was just annoyed to already be in my pyjamas when there were fit fireman just a few doors down!

We lit some candles and amused ourselves with cards as well as polishing off quite a proportion of a wine box. It wasn’t like we could make a hot drink, so of course we had no choice but to stay on the wine! I paid for it the next morning though and even woke up talking French, much to my boyfriend’s confusion! It got me thinking about what life would have been like for the first occupant of our house in 1898 without all our modern amusements. The next day I got researching and found the name of the first owner and his occupation.

This led me on to think about Victorian and Edwardian fashion. This autumn Victorian is one of the many trends making a comeback, along with cord, 40’s and 70’s. I love the lace of the Victoriana clothes, so girly and pretty. I found an interesting website for anyone interested in learning more about fashion especially of shoes at the time of the Titanic sinking.

http://www.vintagedancer.com/titanic-edwardian-shoes-for-women-buy-or-make/

In my parents collection I discovered this old picture of my Dad’s side of the family which would have been taken around 1914. It’s interesting to see the fashion of the day.

Let’s have fun and experiment with fashion this coming season! So many eras to choose from for inspiration; where to start?

Getting back to the sinking of Titanic which will be 100 years ago next April; there was such a sense of excitement at the time it set sail, a feeling of hope and dreams of endless possibilities. This can be likened to how most of us feel as we grow up. As teenagers we believe we are indestructible and can do anything we want to do but as we get older we realise this is not always the case.

At the wedding one of our friends pointed out that we left school 10 years ago. What a scary thought! When we left we created a yearbook and put in it our dreams for the future. We probably felt full of optimism, much like those Titanic passengers. Circumstances get in the way though and we often end up treading paths we didn’t imagine. This is sometimes for the better however.

I went for a friends birthday drink with people from school, in a bar in Soho during the week called Barrio Central. I must be getting old as I don’t have the stamina I used to for drinking on a ‘school’ night! Was nice to catch up with friends I hadn’t seen for a while though, despite the ‘mouthwash’ cocktails on offer (a Mojito with an extra large helping of mint!) I was glad that the riots had calmed down; otherwise many of us wouldn’t have wanted to venture out in London. The riots were really quite scary and give us an insight of what life during the Blitz must have been like.

The weekend just gone, my boyfriend and I met up with a friend and her other half. I got to continue my birthday as she gave me my present. We got on to talking about when we first met at school at about the age of 13. It’s funny looking back and reminiscing. Perhaps it’s something about approaching 30 that we are all starting to look back.

Sunday was spent working in the garden. It felt really satisfying to get it looking nice but I got very sunburnt. Strange that I find a sense of enjoyment from gardening now, if you had asked me 10 years ago, I didn’t have the slightest interest! How things change. The neighbour kindly gave us some plums from her tree so I made a crumble; how very domesticated! Both my boyfriend and I ached like crazy that evening though; a snapshot of 50 years time when we will be sharing our aches and pains!

From bridal shower to baby shower, Sunday evening was spent making invites for my brother’s girlfriend’s belated baby shower. As I stuck down the Disney princesses, it struck me how we all dream of that happy ending. On the train the other day, I overheard a girl of 8 saying that she must keep her drawing safe as it was the plan for her wedding!

The important thing I take from these last couple of weeks is that despite us all progressing through the book of life at different rates; some travelling, some married, some parents and some in between them all; us friends can all still find time to come together on the same page occasionally. That’s true friendship for you. We share a history and despite each entering new chapters, we share a common bond. Friends and family make the world go round and always will.

blahnikgirl

Archives

3 More Sleeps to go!!!!!!!!!

Childhood Revisited

‘It’s Pimms O’Clock!’

Stepping Back in Time