Dizzy Heights

Aug9

When I turned 30 two years ago I felt like I had reached a peak with nothing but a large descent into old age ahead of me. I thought that birthdays would simply become more and more depressing. How wrong you can be! Since turning 30 my life has only got more interesting and fulfilling. Yes 30 brings with it fine lines and grey hairs as well as a difficulty in shifting those extra pounds from over indulgence but at the same time a new sense of acceptance of who you are and how you look means there is a lot less anxiety. Suddenly what other people will think becomes less of a restraint and we begin to please ourselves more. What clothes size we fit into or that spot on our face becomes less of an obsession and we make way for simply enjoying ourselves and grabbing every opportunity that comes our way. Having tick boxes is a great motivator but as an article I was reading the other day said, these should all be things we want to do and not things we think we should do at our age. A survey by the Huffington Post concluded we are most happy at the age of 33. With all this in mind I am looking forward to flying through the next 8 years by the seat of my pants and having many new experiences to write about before as the saying goes ‘life begins at 40!’

By way of celebration of my birthday this year I decided that to arrange a big event would be too much like hard work, so instead I had a number of mini parties; the first of which was the preceding weekend.

A friend and I attended Cocktails in the City which took place in Bedford Square Gardens in central London. This event comprises of 25 London cocktail bars coming together with pop up stalls, along with street food sellers and entertainers to create a festival with a difference.

Those of you of a similar age to me will fondly recall Sex and the City – my love of this series deepened my already growing love of cocktails. The exact definition of a cocktail as well as the origin of the word is unclear however the first recorded use of cocktail to describe an alcoholic beverage was in 1806. Over the year’s popularity of cocktails had waned until the mid 2000’s when mixology suddenly came to the fore of fashion again and more and more complex cocktails were made. You can’t help but feel glamourous with a martini glass in your hand.

Our £15 entrance ticket included a guide to the event and one free drink. I headed straight for The Craft Cocktail Company from Bethnal Green for a cointreaupolitan, being that like my nemesis Carrie Bradshaw, my cocktail of choice is generally a cosmopolitan. I was not disappointed with this twist on the classic drink – however it tasted less like alcohol and more like fruit juice which ensured it didn’t last long!

There were presentations throughout the day and we chose to sit in on one entitled The Motorcycle Diaries. The Motorcycle Diaries was a 2004 film where two friends travel around South America on their bikes so this session focused on alcohol that is local to South America. I dragged my friend to a front row seat – determined to be front of the queue for any possible tastings. I was invited up to the stage to make a Pisco sour. Pisco is a brandy made in Chilie and Peru and on its own it is horrible, what I imagine paint stripper to taste like. I was instructed to put a small measure of Pisco into the cup – naturally my small measure is probably most people’s definition of large and the guy found this quite funny. I then added lemon and lime juice. The final ingredient which I was rather sceptical of was egg white which apparently makes it a smooth drink. It was then time to shake the cocktail and the people leading the session claimed that your face when shaking a cocktail is your sex face! I then poured the mixture into a previously chilled glass and topped with bitters. It was such a laugh doing this and I got to keep the cocktail afterwards which was actually quite delicious. Various other drinks were made by people and then we all left with a complimentary margarita shot.

By now we were well away and decided that food might be a sensible option. This would be my only criticism of the event as for hot food only pulled pork was left by 3pm which my friend sampled and I had cold chicken with tomato salad.

I found my favourite bar – Trailer Happiness, Portobello Road, otherwise known as the Bacardi bar! When not drinking cocktails, wine or bubbly; Bacardi has always been my spirit of choice. We were given a small balloon to hand to our favourite bar so mine went to them before I even tried my drink. My Bacardi cocktail had a fabulous garnish on it with a banana leaf and a flower.

One of the bars, Barrio had set up a table and paints for you to paint a wall tile that will be used in one of their branches. It was really relaxing to put some head phones on and just let the creativity flow.

Next we visited The Rivoli Bar at the Ritz and indulged in champagne.

Next stop, we visited Loves Company, a Tia Maria stand which had a pop up beach and we relaxed in a deck chair whilst enjoying a salted caramel cocktail.

To finish up we both had a repeat of the drink we chose on arrival. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great way to relax on a Sunday afternoon after a busy week at work. For the event I wore a green dress from Torza boutique with leggings and my trusty oasis flip flops.

The Saturday before my birthday, my husband and I went to our favourite restaurant in Rainham, Eight which I have mentioned on here before. For this I wore a grey polka dot dress which I got from Pink Flamingo in Rochester; it is a little daring for me so I wore a white basic vest top underneath. Grey can be a depressing colour so to lift the outfit I wore my red LK Bennett wedges.

On the Sunday we had a nice family tea at Mums. Mum made me a coffee and walnut cake which is my favourite and she decorated it with an Audrey Hepburn icing plaque as we enjoyed the exhibition the other week so much; see I Believe in Pink blog.

On my actual birthday – I took the day off work as usual (I never went to school on it so why should I have to work it?) and Mum and I went to Rochester. Rochester is my new go to place. I adore looking around the unusual and vintage shops. We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant and then rather than ordering pudding went to Fleur de The – a beautiful shabby chic café/shop and enjoyed coffee and scones. I couldn’t resist purchasing 2 miniature cups and saucers with a butterfly motif on them from there.

The Saturday after my birthday I went with my friend to Greenwich. Our birthdays are only a fortnight apart so as a joint celebration we decided to climb The O2. The O2 is a large tent like construction which was built as The Millennium Dome to celebrate the start of the third millennium and reopened as The O2 in 2005. It was constructed with Greenwich’s role in time and date in mind. It has a diameter of 365m (equal to number of days in the year). It has 12 yellow support towers (representing either 12 calendar months or 12 hours on standard clock face). The dome is 52m high at its central point (representative of the 52 weeks in a year). The climb is a 190 metres tensile fabric walkway over the top of the Dome with a central platform at the top with 360 degree views of London. It was quite a challenge as going up the walkway is 28 degrees steep and coming down 30 degrees. The fabric is also quite springy like a trampoline. The views at the top make it well worth undertaking though – you can see Canary Wharf, The Gherkin and the Olympic Park amongst other sites.

Afterwards we ventured into central Greenwich on a Thames Clipper which I had never been on before. These are high speed catamarans and I don’t think I have ever travelled on water so fast; they have a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Once there we got lunch at a pub in the market area and soaked up the cosmopolitan atmosphere. We then discovered a wealth of unusual, quirky shops and visited her friend’s new vintage store, Joli Vintage Living. Look out for a future blog all about this fab store.

There will be one more chance to celebrate at the end of August as for my gift; my husband bought me day tickets to the V Festival so look out for an upcoming blog on that too.

Enjoy the summer!

Birth’days’

Sep21

Birthdays come and go and whereas you can never wait until your next birthday as a child even counting halves of a year; as you get past 21 they decline in significance until a small peak at 30 and then enthusiasm rapidly declines there after. This year I hit 31 – if 30 made me feel like a proper adult, 31 cemented the fact. Consequently I decided against a big celebration opting instead for a small family affair; a BBQ at home. My Mum made me a Sex and the City cake which was fantastic and I sipped Cosmo’s – what could be more perfect?

I have kept up false nails since the wedding as I couldn’t bare to go back to my rubbish stumps and I wanted to share with you my birthday nails – I thought these looked amazing but unfortunately the bows were less than practical, catching on everything; at least I had an excuse to put my feet up!

Whilst on the subject of nail varnish, I have got very into OPI nail varnish lately I love these Disney inspired ones – ‘Kermit Me to Speak’ (from The Muppets) and ‘Minnie Style’ and ‘Innie Minnie Mightie Bow’ from the Minnie couture collection.

Muppets OPI nailvarnish

I finally am the proud owner of a pair of GHD (Good Hair Day) hair straigteners thanks to my wonderful husband. These might have been around for over a decade but their position as top manufacturer of straightening irons reins supreme. I got the violet edition ones to blend in with my purple boudoir; all that remains for me now is to learn how to curl with them as well as using them for their traditional purpose.

People obviously know me well and know I love elephants as I also got an elephant adoption and a couple of gifts from ‘The Elephant Parade’ which I originally saw in London in 2010 but apparently visited Bromley this summer. The parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition and seeks to raise public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation. One of the gifts was an elephant for me to paint myself – not sure my art will be anywhere near the standard of the actual artists versions but will give it a go! Pictured here is the one designed by Diane Von Furstenberg for the Hong Kong leg of the tour.

One of the advantages of not having a big party is the opportunity to have lots of mini celebrations. On a Friday night, 3 friends took me for cocktails followed by a meal in Covent Garden’s Café des Amis which was most enjoyable. As an early celebration of my birthday and a late one of my best friend’s birthday (we were both in Australia for our respective birthdays) we treated ourselves to a meal at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant – Maze in Grosvenor Square London. The website describes it as a fusion of taste and style and it certainly made us feel special. Admittedly we probably wouldn’t have ventured there had we not thought there was an offer on, which it turns out, was not valid on Saturdays! However the staff were fantastic and still gave us the free Bellini’s we were expecting and also did a deal on the cost of the food. Each dish was quite small but expertly presented and by the end of the meal we both found ourselves to be suitably full. I highly recommend this restaurant.

One of the many delicious courses at Maze

Sushi at Maze

The Sunday after my birthday a friend and I had a belated birthday celebration at BB Bakery in Covent Garden. Set in the bustling hub of Covent Garden is this quaint, vintage, Parisian style tea room. The windows are adorned with birdcages, hat boxes and display domes containing beautiful tea cups and saucers. We were seated and then served champagne afternoon tea. The tablewear is vintage style and the walls are white with cute cartoon drawings of women with bakery shopping bags. The savoury plate contained a mini quiche, a blini with smoked salmon, a cream cheese and cucumber sandwich and a role containing cheese and ham. The cake selection was divine and so colourful. There was a lemon meringue, a raspberry tart, a chocolate brownie which was just the right consistency being slightly moist in the centre, a cupcake with strawberry frosting and a macaroon. We were full already but we still had the delight of a warmed scone with cream and jam. Everything was delicious and served with a smile. It cost £33 each which I think is quite reasonable especially as aside from the champagne we also had a glass of freshly squeezed orange and numerous teas and coffees. I will definitely be popping in there again soon and for those Sex and the City fans out there; it reminded me very much of the Magnolia Bakery in New York with the added bonus of being able to eat in.

Talking of Sex and the City – one of my friends got me this brilliant Sex and the City bauble for my birthday present which, along with the return of the X Factor, has me counting down to Christmas!

The summer is almost over; although it’s still warm, we will soon need to be considering an autumn wardrobe. A great transition piece from spring/summer is the kimono. I got this one from New Look and this Paul’s boutique bag compliments it brilliantly.

Our annual visit to Broadstairs was made more exciting this year as we took my Mum’s friend’s from Long Island, New York along during folk week. There were various parades, stalls and bands. Ironically there was a US stall and on recommendation I tried a drink called Mtn Dew and it was fantastic – might have to get some shipped! Their visit made me feel quite old as my mum’s friend’s granddaughter who came is 16 and I was roughly her age on my first trip to New York when she was just a baby – time really does fly. My Mum’s friend has obviously discovered eternal youth as she never changes.

I’m looking forward to 2 weddings in September so look out for my blogs on those! Meanwhile put your feet up with a glass of wine, preferably a glass like this one!

Sparkling Sunset by the Whitby Coast

Jul26

This blog is my final entry before I turn the big 30 and begin a new chapter, leaving behind my twenties. I am happy to announce that my boyfriend and I are now engaged – something I never thought I would get to experience and write about in a blog.

The other weekend my partner and I decided to go for a long weekend in Yorkshire and we happened to have some of the best weather so far this year – must be our weather magic.

We arrived on Friday in York and began by going on a haunted tour of the city. The guide really made this tour as he took us round to the Minster, Guy Fawkes birth place and the shrine to Margaret Clitherow – the martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. He involved different people including my other half in acting out being hung drawn and quartered. I think even the tour guide jumped though as we stood in the historic street ‘The Shambles’ where he explained butchers would hang up their meat and people emptied chamber pots so blood etc would make a river down the street, when someone pulled loudly shut a window above us.

We then met up with my friend and her other half for dinner in the Mumbai Lounge. Pregnancy is really suiting her. I predict it will be a baby girl – watch this space! That night we stayed at The Golden Fleece pub. This is the oldest Inn in York – mentioned in archives as far back as 1503 and is believed to be haunted. We stayed in Lady Peckett’s room. Lady Peckett’s husband owned the Golden Fleece around 1702 and some guests have reported seeing her ghost. The pub has great charm with its uneven floors – our bed had a block of wood under one leg to make it level. Whilst we didn’t see the ghost of Lady Peckett the waiter at breakfast, we joked, seemed almost ghost like!

We met up with my Mum and Dad the following day and visited York Railway museum for the 75^th anniversary of Mallard doing the fastest speed of a steam train in the world at 125.88 on July 3^rd 1938. Little did I know that when my other half and my Dad went somewhere for a quiet chat it was for my now fiancé to ask my Dads permission for his daughters hand in marriage.

That evening the two of us travelled on to Whitby and had a most enjoyable fish and chip tea in the famous Magpie Cafe. The building itself was built in around 1750 when it began a long association with fishing and shipping. It opened as a cafe in approximately 1939 and is widely considered the best place to get fish and chips in Yorkshire.

Full from our meal, my other half suggested a walk along the beach and then as the sun was setting, colouring the sky red, and the sea was rhythmically grazing the shore; he dropped down onto one knee and produced a stunning sapphire and diamond ring.

Engagement rings go back to the 13^th century in the Western World and are worn on the second finger on the left hand as this is believed to be the shortest distance to the heart. I was so stunned – the first thing I said was are you joking before giving an enthusiastic yes. It couldn’t have been a more romantic proposal given that our first date had been fish and chips on the beach in Broadstairs. We celebrated in Wetherspoons of all places with a bottle of champagne which the staff had to dust off!

Champagne was actually discovered by mistake when the cold winters halted the fermentation process only for it to start again in the spring creating a bi product of carbon dioxide which remained trapped in the wine. It is now generally seen as the drink of choice for celebrations and in a book I am reading that I was kindly bought as an engagement present ‘How to Wear White’ it is said that the UK spends over £5million a week on champagne! There is some suggestion however that the consumer trend this year is towards people buying Prosecco over champagne to celebrate with.

The following day was spent walking round the town, playing crazy golf (where I got a hole in one) and in arcades as well as going on a boat trip. I’m sure those cuddly toy machines are rigged! I couldn’t resist this gem of a satchel – so like the ones of the Cambridge Satchel Company but far cheaper, which I discovered on a market stall.

We had a fish and chip tea down on the beach again whilst the sun set and I dipped my toe into the cool sea.

We then finished our stay with a trip on the North Yorkshire Moors railway and a visit to Goathland where Heartbeat was filmed. On arrival back at Whitby, we grabbed some freshly baked doughnuts only to be dive bombed by seagulls!

We returned home to break the good news to both sets of parents. I still can not quite believe it has happened to me – the little girl who said no one would ever marry her. I cannot stop admiring my ring and feel like I am on cloud nine. This wonderful event also ticks another box on my bucket list, so I have achieved 4 out of 10 of the items – got engaged, been to India, done the Moonwalk and started riding lessons again. The others will be carried over to my new bucket list to do before 40.

We now have around a year to plan our special day and I can’t wait to get started. Look out for lots of wedding planning themed blogs over the next few months!

First Steps

Jul6

Last Saturday my friend and I visited a mini paradise; a shoe exhibition at the Design Museum in London. This exhibition celebrates 20 years of the iconic Christian Louboutin – his designs and his inspiration. As we entered the foyer of the museum, anticipation and excitement rippled through us. In preparation we had both worn heels – mine being the new LK Bennett wedges mentioned in my last blog being that sadly I do not own any Louboutin’s yet! Thanks to an article in Look Magazine I have however treated myself to a pair of Louboutin lookalikes from Zara.

We walked up the stairs to the exhibition, our appetite being wet by a selection of Louboutin shoes hanging in hula hoops. The glamour and the indulgence greats you straight away as you enter the exhibition with a plush, red carpet under foot and a magical carousel with cushions displaying shoes, rather than the usual horses. There is a mini theatre set up with a hologram of a sparkly shoe which transforms into Dita Von Teese performing a burlesque show. This is in honour of showgirls, who Louboutin claims inspire many of his designs. Luxuriously covered red chairs are available to sit and watch the show and in front of the stage are many of his shoes with the lights behind set in gold oyster shells. The gold shoes worn by Carrie in the second Sex and the City movie twinkled like cheap glitter shoes never can.

The desire to touch the shoes is overwhelming and it took all my strength to resist. His designs truly are beautiful. My friend had joked beforehand that she better escort me to hold me back from breaking the displaying cabinets and running off with the shoes! I guess they had prepared for that possibility by only putting out one of the pair. One thing that caught my interest was the attention to detail he places on getting the curvature of the shoe perfect in order to lengthen a woman’s legs and show them in the best possible light. He sees shoes as being quite sexual and uses transparent materials such as lace in some designs to suggest nudity and make the shoe at one with the body i.e. invisible. He claims “If there was to be just only one fetish element in a woman’s wardrobe, I think it would have to be her shoes.” There is a fetish section of the show where the shoes are more like sculptures than something to wear.

Now whether you are into shoes or not, most people know that Louboutin uses a trade mark red sole to identify his shoes and there was a court case with Yves Saint Laurent in 2011 when he tried to use red soles. A debate ensued over whether a colour could be trade marked however it appears it can what with Tiffany blue and Cadbury’s purple but it is the colour being used in a specific context rather than the colour itself. What is interesting however is that some years before this in 2002 Louboutin actually did a design collaboration with YSL for the final YSL couture show.

Louboutin’s journey to become the icon he is today is somewhat fascinating. He was born in France in 1963, the only son to French parents with Cameroonian heritage. He had three sisters (bet you wish your brother designed shoes!) He was expelled from school on numerous occasions and ran away from home aged 12. He worked backstage at Folies Bergères as his first job and was captivated by costume and set design at the cabaret. Louboutin believes his love affair with shoes began with a visit to Musée national des Arts d’Afrique et d’Océanie where he saw a sign from Africa forbidding women wearing high heels through fear they may damage the wooden floors. He wanted to develop shoes to give power to women. He sketched many shoes in his early teens. He spent time in India and Egypt; the influence of which can be seen in some of his shoe designs.

He went on to be Roger Vivier’s apprentice and then freelanced designing shoes for many couture houses including Chanel. He abandoned shoes to become a landscape gardener for a brief period. This change of direction is reflected in the exhibition where some shoes are displayed on stone plinths inside a topiary archway. His first boutique opened in Paris in 1992. It is claimed that he made stilettos popular once again.

There is a section of the exhibition dedicated to his shoes that have not been massed produced but rather made in their hundreds or on occasion just one pair. I was left spellbound by his unique imagination. There were shoes with heels containing real flower petals, shoes made of fish skin or sardine tins and even some designed to look like a Rolls Royce.

We came out of the museum to a warm, sunny day by the River Thames. Its days like this that I truly appreciate how awe inspiring London can be.

Not wishing to end the decadence of the morning we rounded off the trip at All Bar One by the Thames for lunch and I ordered salmon fishcakes along with a Martini Royale. This is Prossecco mixed with Martini Bianco and I highly recommend it as a very refreshing, citrus summer tipple.

Last Sunday was my baby niece’s first birthday party. I really don’t know where that year has gone. I couldn’t resist buying her these striking red shoes amongst other gifts.

My boyfriend couldn’t quite fathom the fuss I made over making sure the correct size and style was ordered and uttered the unmentionable line ‘they are only shoes.’ Clearly he doesn’t realise the importance of putting her in the right shoes from a young age. Shoes finish off an outfit.

Talking of outfits, for the birthday party I selected a pale pink dress fromRiverIsland; the top half of which is covered in lace, gold sparkle heels and accessorised with a light pink rose flower garland which fascinated the babies.

As this is quite an innocent, girly look I decided to compliment it with light makeup. I used Benefit ‘That Gal’ face primer to start; my staple as it ensures my Max Factor foundation goes on smoothly and evenly. I then brushed over Max Factor powder to prevent shininess and a light dusting of No 7 sultry glow bronzer. I used Rimmel mascara and a pinky French Connection lip-gloss completed the look.

I continued the royal theme of June and made princess cupcakes for the party.

So that’s it from me for this time. The exhibition remains open until 9^th July and I highly recommend it; one of the best £10 I have ever spent. Why not go this weekend? For further information follow the link below. In the meantime I would love to hear about your favourite Louboutin designs.

http://designmuseum.org/exhibitions/2012/christian-louboutin

‘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?!’

blahnikgirl

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