London Fashion Week

Feb28

Girls showing off the seasons latest trends or simply just trying to stand out from the crowd with often what many would see as ridiculous fashion statements; it can only mean one thing, London Fashion Week has arrived! London Fashion Week is essentially a trade show for the fashion industry, organised by the British Fashion Council and currently sponsored by Vodaphone, Elizabeth Arden and Toni & Guy to name a few. It was first held in 1984. The show presently held at Somerset House happens twice a year in February and September. London is one of the “Big Four” fashion weeks, the others being Paris, Milan and New York. Now sadly I am not one of the pre invited important few who get to attend the fashion weeks; perhaps one day I might be a famous enough blogger to get an invite, in much the way the Sex and the City girls attend New York Fashion week but for now I shall have to be content with the Fashion Weekend; a girl can dream though! London Fashion Weekend follows straight after at Somerset House and this is open to the general public. Naturally I attended along with one of my equally fashion obsessed friends.

The catwalk show, in a central marquee was fantastic, summarising some of the key spring/summer 2012 trends taken from designers from the Fashion Week. The show kicked off with Prim Rose, a pastel collection. Pastels appear to be the top trend for spring/summer 2012 with the most memorable showcase being at Paris Fashion Week by Louis Vuitton with the Carrousel. In contrast from last season’s brights, the pastels are very feminine and girly as well as being easier to wear for the more shy fashionista; given the right shade, pastels can suit everyone. For me a combination of pastel and lace is the epitome of an innocent, soft girly look and ideal for a first date. Having said that though, Jasper Conran displayed some lovely hot pink garments. Brights were also seen amongst the Olympic inspired, more sporty range entitled Game On. I shall be giving a miss to the trend of high heels with tracksuit bottoms however! Other trends included monochrome and peter pan collars.

After the excitement of the show I relaxed at the bar. Whilst I sipped on a luxurious berry flavoured champagne, my friend and I discussed the trends as well as having a general girly catch up. We also each received the exclusive Holly Fulton show bag which captured graphic prints and contained numerous goodies; my favourite being the Elizabeth Arden 8 hour hand cream. The catwalk show mentioned this wonder range from Elizabeth Arden and homed in on the tinted lip protections in pastel shades. I always remember my first lipstick as a young girl which was my Grandma’s Elizabeth Arden one in a rose shade which I have never been able to find since; perhaps this season I will be lucky. A key hair trend for the season which was mentioned by Toni & Guy was the relaxed fishtail plait; that is something I will definitely be trying. I used to practice them on my Barbie dolls when I was younger. Essentially, instead of dividing the hair in to three sections as you would with a conventional plait, you divide the hair into two sections. You then take a small piece of hair from alternate sides to make the third section to plait. Hope that helps anyone struggling!

Image courtesy of Google Images

Once revitalised, my friend and I walked around Somerset house itself which contained many labels, each in different rooms with dramatically discounted items. Our favourites were Twenty8Twelve which is designed by Sienna Miller, Olivia Rubin which Fearne Cotton has been photographed in, Lotus London, who had some gorgeous sundresses for beach holidays and Cleo B shoes. I was rather disappointed that there weren’t more shoe designers at the show but Cleo B was a definite favourite. I fell in love with a pair of flat sandals but I resisted. I’m kicking myself now though as they were £40 cheaper at the show than they are online. They are however a previous season, so the discounts are often not on current season stock.

Image courtesy of Cleo B

Wishwantwear had a stand at the show. Here you can hire a designer dress for an occasion from just £27. They were selling off last season’s dresses and there was a stunning green Halston Heritage dress in a similar style as the white one worn by Carrie in the second Sex and the City movie. Despite being heavily discounted though it was still hundreds of pounds so very outside my budget; however call me old fashioned but if I was to have hundreds of pounds to spend on a dress, I would prefer it not to have been hired and worn by many others first!

Image courtesy of Google Images

To sum up, the show was a very enjoyable day for both me and my friend and certainly gave us food for thought for our seasonal updates to our wardrobes as well as introducing us to some new designers. Role on the next London Fashion Week in September; but hey lets not wish the summer away. Happy shopping!

How High is too High?

Feb13

When I was thinking about high heels and how they make you feel; my mind wandered to other uses of the word high; lately many things seem to be prefixed with it. High fashion, high end, high rise, high price, high speed, high definition, high achiever, high life, high class to name a few. The word high can mean of a great height in its literal sense but usually used metaphorically it means superior or above somebody or something. Generally it suggests a positive attribute but I want to ask when is high too high; thus making it a negative connotation?

I believe high definition television is a phenomenon which men have convinced themselves improves their viewing experience. All the women I have spoken to can not see any difference and as long as I can watch my programmes, I can’t see any advantage. I guess when they have splashed out on all this technology (a male equivalent to shoes) they have to convince themselves it was worth it!!

The high life is certainly something you can have too much of! Most of my late teens were spent living the high life which resulted in an awful lot of debt for one thing! When I was in my last job, I thought it would be wonderful if I didn’t have to go to work again but once I found myself redundant; after a while I realized that you can have too much of a good thing and was actually pleased when I started my latest job.

High expectations can also be a way to set you up for disappointment especially when it comes to men and romance. You do however sometimes find yourself pleasantly surprised such as the lovely flowers my other half got me for getting onto my teacher training course.

Now getting back to the subject of the blog; it is generally thought that a heel of 1-2 inches is low, 2-4 inches medium and more than 4 inches high. High heel footwear lifts the heel of the wearer’s foot appreciably higher than the toes. As far back as the ancient Egyptian times, heels were worn by men and women, although often for practical reasons such as for butchers to walk above the blood, rather than the glamorous reasons of today. Pattens which were a high sole attached to shoes were often worn to keep shoes out of mud and debris. Heels were also necessary for horse riding to keep the foot in the stirrup. Actors would wear them to depict the differing status of characters which they played. Let me refer you to my blog on harem trousers; there is some suggestion women were made to wear heels to prevent them from escaping a harem. Far from the high heels being used to raise the status of a woman, they were in fact repressing them by stopping them escaping from men.

The upper classes often wore heels for ceremonial purposes. Their popularity began in France but soon spread to other countries nobility. During the French revolution the wearing of heels declined as they were seen as a sign of wealth but they were resurrected in the late nineteenth century almost solely for women’s wear.

The stiletto heel (one of my favourites) is named after the stiletto dagger and became popular in the late 1950s. The Beetles era saw these disappear from mainstream shops but my namesake Manolo Blahnik reintroduced them in 1974 with a heel called the Needle and shops like Biba also stocked similar styles. The stiletto’s real comeback though was post year 2000. Manolo Blahnik has said he tries to make women feel like princesses. Certainly if I am ever fortunate enough to get married, the shoes will be more important than the dress to make me feel like a princess. It’s a good job that my other half doesn’t feel intimidated by me looking taller than him as heels have always been my statement!

We often hear of the negatives of wearing heels, such as foot and tendon problems but there has also been a study which suggests that they may help tone pelvic floor muscles thus having a positive effect on women’s incontinence. A note to my many friends now entering the motherhood period of their lives; if you don’t have time for your pelvic floor exercises, just walk around doing the house work in high heels! Talking of which, I met my friends new baby girl the other week. There are so many gorgeous outfits for new babies but I eventually chose a cute pink baby grow with embroidered butterflies.

Women however are resilient and will go through no end of pain for the sake of fashion. According to an American survey 42% of women said they would wear a shoe they liked even if it gave them discomfort. (Bouchez, C. “Tips to avoid Foot Pain From High Heels”) I must admit I am one of these women. People often marvel at the height of the heels I wear; only the other day two women at work commented that they liked my shoes but didn’t know how I could wear them all day long! As a woman was quoted by the New York Times as saying to another lady, trying shoes on in Bergdorf Goodman, “if you love them, you’ll learn to walk in them.” The Belfast Telegraph reports that the average woman owns 17 pairs of shoes – that makes me well above average, especially including my latest purchase of red ballet pumps! It also said the average woman spends almost two thirds of her time in heels.

France has long been seen as the fashion leaders of the world and high fashion or haute couture as it is known in French refers to the design of exclusive custom fitted clothing. It is an Englishman, Charles Frederick Worth nonetheless who is seen as the father of haute couture. He made the dressmaker more of an artist and prepared portfolios of designs to be shown on models at the House of Worth. The French protect the term haute couture and firms must meet certain standards to use it, although since the late 80’s it has been misused to describe more ready to wear lines. Chanel and Christian Dior are probably two of the most well known fashion houses that can officially be called haute couture. Now Chanel is another of my favourite brands. The fashion house was founded by Gabrielle Chanel in 1909. She was nicknamed “Coco” when she was singing in a French café. I aspire to her vision of casual elegance. Chanel is classic and is most famous for the little black dress, along with the quilted bags; launched Feb 1955, the bags have printed in them 2/55, and of course one of the only thing my budget stretches to, their perfume. I got my first bottle of Chanel perfume at 16, Chanel Allure which was launched in 1996. I moved on to Chance, launched 2002 but have eventually picked my favourite as the classic first perfume, Chanel No. 5 launched in 1921. To me it is the epitome of simple elegance. I couldn’t resist a red Chanelesque bag, a bargain in the fashion union sale!

So fashion and good shoes come at a high price but perhaps the way they make us feel can help us to be high achievers. I read an article once that said one should dress for the job they want, rather than the one they have. Good clothes and shoes certainly give me an air of confidence. Now whilst we are on the subject of high achievement; this can come with a high cost too. Generally these people are perfectionists and this can lead to anxiety disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder. Their work focus can sometimes cause them to neglect their personal relationships making them lonely people, vulnerable to depression. So there is another example of when high becomes too high.

Depressing January gave way to February and we all woke on the 5^th to a blanket of snow 3 ½ inches deep. It was Rufus’s first experience and he loved it whilst my other half and I went back to childhood and built a snowman. Interesting useless fact here, although origins of snowmen are unclear, the first illustration of a snowman seen in a book dates back to 1380!

I shall end this blog with high hopes of the year to come; Valentine’s is tomorrow and remember girls it’s a leap year this year which means the woman can propose to the man traditionally. When this tradition originated is unclear although there is some suggestion that it was initiated by Saint Patrick in Ireland in the 5^th century. I shall leave you with the excitement of the spring fashions; pastel denim seems to be popular (I have already bought some mint coloured skinny jeans) but more details in my next blog after I visit London fashion week at the end of the month. I also treated myself to a sheer leopard print top which I thought was a subtle way of wearing the trend, not that my other half agreed, lol!

Remember, I like to think of HEEL as standing for Highly Elegant Efficient Lady – no heel is ever too high!

New Year, New Beginnings?

Jan9

Image courtesy of Google Images

The long exciting build up to Christmas ultimately culminates in a few days which fly past at the speed of light and generally fail to meet expectations. We all put pressure on ourselves to achieve the ideal Christmas and I wonder whether this utopia is actually possible in reality? I for one have spent more than a couple of Christmas’ ill; then there have been the inevitable family disagreements, not to mention tears over inconsequential incidents. We all eat and drink too much, have this imagined pressure to enjoy ourselves and added to this explosive mix an extra ordinary amount of time spent in close proximity to all our family. No wonder January is the busiest time for people filing for divorce!

Christmas eve, I gave myself an impossibly long list of jobs; however I did mostly enjoy these final preparations. I made paper chains and some paper snowflakes; which took me right back to childhood. Mum and I used to make these together and then Mum would pin the chains up in the hall with balloons in each corner. One year she accidently put a drawing pin through a balloon and made us all jump! I embroidered initials on stockings for my niece and nephew on my partner’s side. I don’t think sewing is one of my strong points, especially when time is not on my side! I then decorated my two tiers Christmas cake before finally relaxing with my other half over a well earned bottle of fizz.

Christmas day was spent at my parents which was relaxing and enjoyable. I was lucky in the respect that Santa brought me all I asked for. My brother came over with his partner and my baby niece. It was lovely to see her little face with all the presents. I am teaching her labels young, letting her hold the small Chanel paper carrier bag which my perfume came in! Boxing Day was rather less relaxing. My partner and I had all his family over for the day. First thing I was making sausage rolls and mince pies and once people began to arrive, I found myself icing a chocolate log with an audience! Neither of us had anticipated the work involved. We played the Mr and Mrs game which was great fun although I was rather embarrassed when as game host I had to ask my future in-laws how many times they had had a bath or shower together since they had been married!! The day went off fairly well with only a few upsets but I was sure glad to have my peaceful house back afterwards.

Before you know it we are at New Years Eve. My partner and I decided not to go out this year; I resent the fact you have to pay exorbitant rates to get in places and then spend hours queuing at the bar for a drink, I know I’m getting old and boring. Plus we are back to that pressure to have a fantastic time. Instead I made a Biryani which we followed with bubbly and party poppers at midnight whilst watching the London fireworks on television. New Year has a kind of contradiction about it I always feel. In one way it is an opportunity for a fresh start and optimism but it also can be a bit depressing when you analyse the life goals you have still yet to achieve. New Year celebrations may well have their route in the Janus, the God of new beginnings, doors and gates. This God had two faces; one which looked into the past and the other in to the future.

Image courtesy of Google Images

My boyfriend and I joined in Auld Lang Syne on the television at the stroke of midnight which got me thinking as to how and when this became a tradition of New Year. The words are part of a Robert Burns poem which was then put with a traditional folk song. The tradition began in Scotland but is now used worldwide especially in English speaking countries and has been for more than a century. The song is generally thought to be suggesting that we remember old friendships which is something important to me; I always send a text to all my friends whether I see them regularly or not at New Year. This custom of mine ultimately led to my partner contacting me again after some years apart back at the start of 2009!

Now January is upon us. I always find it quite a depressing month and it appears I am not the only one being that Blue Monday (the most depressing day of the year) falls in January. The scientists have even come up with a formula for it. The contributing variables are apparently the weather, debt, time since Christmas, lack of motivation and the failed New Years resolutions. That takes me on to these impossible targets we set ourselves year after year. It is thought this idea may have religious origins with the ancient Babylonians being the first to make them. It centres round looking for self improvement each year. The majority of resolutions fail but success is improved by sharing them with friends. According to an article in the Daily Mail, 9^th January is the day most people give up on their resolutions. In hope of improving my success; I shall now share mine.

Get a job (thankfully this can be ticked off already which gives me some motivation for the others)
Lose weight (this is probably the one with the lowest likely success rate)
Improve my appearance for work (an excuse for shopping, not that I need one)
Stop mentioning marriage and proposals to my other half
Stop worrying so much (hang on I am already worrying about breaking number 2, 4 and 5!)

My cure for this dismal month is simple; fill the calendar with things to look forward to! I already have two weddings to go to which gives me justification for two new outfits. I can’t wait to book a holiday so am enjoying researching places to go. In the meantime a bit of retail therapy should brighten my spirits; after all my shoe queen crown is slipping; so far in 2012 all I have purchased is one pair of shoes and they are for work so don’t really count. Perhaps resolution 6 should be to buy at least one pair of beautiful shoes each month; I’m sure I can keep that one. This pair from LK Bennett may even have to be my reward to myself for my new job!

Happy new year to all my readers and best of luck with your resolutions!

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!

Ik hart Holland (I heart Holland)

Oct11

Mum and I decided on an impromptu trip to Holland as my uncle was doing an opera there in Enschede and so had a place we could stay with him. I thought it would be a nice chance to spend the quality time with my Mum that I have been missing since moving out as well as an opportunity to add another country to my list of travels without breaking the bank.

My boyfriend walked me to the station to get the train to London where I would meet my Mum. As we walked up I noticed a beer delivery lorry from the company my ex worked for and there he was. How strange that he should be delivering locally to me, just at the time I was walking past and on a Saturday which he wouldn’t normally work. Some people would say this was fate working in mysterious ways and once upon a time I would have chosen to see it as some sort of a sign; nowadays however, I would call it pure coincidence and I think my boyfriend found it most uncomfortable. On the journey to Holland I read ‘One Day’ and I couldn’t help but see a comparison to the relationship I had with my ex. Together, not together, together, not together, seeing everything as fate. There’s one difference in our story though, I’m glad we didn’t end up together as it meant I met my wonderful boyfriend, who is perfect for me. I felt quite sad waving goodbye to him as the train pulled out, knowing I wouldn’t see him for nearly a week. He said it took him back to when we weren’t living together and had to wave goodbye to each other after the weekends.

Mum and I got the Eurostar from London to Brussels and had a bit of a wait there for our onward train. Naturally my nose led me to a shoe shop. I saw a gorgeous pair of shoes but sensibly decided to wait until my journey back, when I did indeed purchase them.

Mum and I had a pleasant lunch with a glass of wine and I got to exercise my French vocabulary before we joined the TGV to Schiphol airport. Once on the train however, we were told that due to engineering works we would have to go to Amsterdam and change there for a train to Enschede; it’s refreshing to know we are not the only country in the world to suffer engineering works on the railway! Anyway we eventually made it.

The first day we went to Arnhem. Arnhem is a place of historical importance since the battle of Arnhem during the Second World War. We visited the bridge which the battle was centred around.

We then went on to view the British war graves in nearby Oosterbeek. It was a very moving experience. What a waste of young lives. Even sadder are the dead who were never identified, whose tomb stone simply says ‘a soldier of the 1939-1945 war, known unto God’.

The following day, we ventured to Amsterdam. As soon as we got off the train and into the centre of the city, the air was perfumed with cannabis and bikes weaved through the streets whilst a waterway, lined with canal boats broke up almost every block. We started at the Nieuwe Kerk in Dam Square, which just happened to be holding a fashion exhibition.

The architecture is beautiful too as is the 1655 organ and a stained glass window depicting Queen Wilhelmina to rival the famous window of Notre Dame. Well worth a look.

Next stop was the Anne Frank house. We walked around the annex where the family hid from the Nazis; the entrance to which was disguised by a bookcase. Cuttings from magazines of the time which Anne herself stuck on the walls still remain which was extremely emotive.

Being that Holland is so well known for Tulips, we visited the Tulip museum where I purchased some tulips to plant at home; actual ‘Tulips of Amsterdam’. Next stop was Begijnhof which is an inner court, which once housed religious Catholic women rather like a convent. To this day only women live there. Inside this court yard is one of the oldest wooden houses in the Netherlands which dates back to circa 1528.

I must admit whilst in Amsterdam, I was curious to try one of their ‘coffee shops’ but being with my Mum that was really out of the question. Mum felt most uncomfortable when I took her on the quick walk of the red light district which was suggested by the Lonely Planet City guide. The area does have to be seen to be believed with women in bikinis posing in shop windows. It is worth the walk though to see the Oude Kerk which is Amsterdam’s oldest church dating back to 1306.

We finished the day with a canal boat trip and a nice meal where I tried the local delicacy of herring. I left Amsterdam wanting to see more.

Munster was our next stop the following day. Being that Enschede is very close to the German border; I thought I might as well use it as an opportunity to visit Germany for the first time. Munster was what you imagine a typical German town to be like and we had a very pleasant lunch sitting in one of the squares. I stopped off to buy a beer to take back for my other half at the local Pinkus brewery.

We made the most of the nice weather and sat out in the garden when we got back to my Uncles, sipping wine and eating prawns and other snacks whilst listening to the country sounds of the cows being herded in for milking.

Our final day in Holland, I convinced Mum to join me in a return trip to Amsterdam on the proviso that we would get trams around rather than attempting to walk miles like the previous trip! We visited the Rijks’s museum which everyone says is a must in Amsterdam and saw the famous Rembrandt Night Watch masterpiece. We also visited Vondelpark, Amsterdam’s answer to Central park.

Now my cultural interests had been attended to, it was on to a more apt museum; the diamond museum, after all diamonds are a girls best friend.

Following that we visited the handbag museum; can you believe they have a whole museum dedicated to the history of handbags? The only thing better would have been a museum dedicated to shoes. An interesting fact I learnt from the museum was that the need to make stronger bags from materials such as leather only arose with the advent of train travel becoming popular. By far the best exhibit in my opinion was the cupcake bag as seen in the Sex and the City movie.

Now no trip to Holland would be complete without seeing a windmill which was our last stop in Amsterdam. We enjoyed a nice glass of wine in the bar underneath it.

We rounded off the wonderful holiday in Lucius fish restaurant which I highly recommend. You can enjoy your seafood whilst being entranced by the fish tank. There’s an irony there!

After a good nights sleep, we headed back on the train to Blighty, without a souvenir pair of clogs which my boyfriend expected me to bring back. If you ever get the chance, Holland is well worth the visit.

‘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?!’

Baby Shower

Sep4

From a wedding shower to a baby shower. Last weekend my friends and I organised a belated baby shower for my brother’s girlfriend, to welcome my niece into the world. This is generally seen as an American tradition, to which women only were invited, it was traditionally seen to be an opportunity to shower the mother with gifts, hence the name as well as sharing parenting tips.

The shower was fancy dress which I love. I went as Alice in Wonderland whilst one of my friends went as the white rabbit from Alice in Wonderland and one as Jessie from Toy Story.

It was a lovely afternoon with a high tea and games. I made some baby shower themed cupcakes which came out better than I could have hoped.

We played such games as guess the baby pictures which I won, don’t say baby, guess the M&Ms in a baby’s bottle (there were 197 in case you were wondering!), pin the dummy on the baby, and baby themed Pictionary amongst others. The Pictionary was a great laugh, especially with my lack of drawing skills!

We also tried some baby food. I have been considering going on the baby food diet, popular with the likes of Jennifer Aniston and Cheryl Cole. You can eat one healthy adult meal a day and up to 14 jars of baby food. Now I have sampled it though, I’m not entirely sure that I could stomach it! The best were the puddings but I’m thinking that eating 14 of those a day would probably defeat the whole diet idea!

Sunday saw me being super domesticated. I repaired some items of clothing, did washing and made a pavlova; the recipe on the calendar for August. I also picked my first home grown tomatoes, small but very tasty.

Bank holiday Monday was good weather for a change and my boyfriend and I went to a beer festival with his sister and her husband at their local pub. I’m proud to say that I did sample quite a few of the beers despite not being a beer drinker. They also had a live band called Boneyard Junction who were very good especially with their rendition of Paint it Black.

http://www.boneyardjunction.co.uk/

What better way to spend a bank holiday than drinking and listening to a band. There was also a traditional village fete there and my boyfriend, after quite a few beers decided that he must win the guess the weight of the marrow competition. He guessed 10lb 6oz and it was 10lb 4oz. He was the closest and so we became proud owners of a very large marrow!!

Friday just gone I cooked a stuffed marrow. I thought it was very tasty but my boyfriend wasn’t keen after all that. At least the marrow wasn’t wasted though. It only fitted in the oven at a diagonal as it was so large! They do say marrows are good for losing weight although the filling may counteract this!

Last weekend saw the number of hits on my blog pass 1000! Thank you to all my loyal readers; this feels like a real milestone. I would also like to thank two of my friends who very kindly compared it to Carrie’s writing in Sex and the City, you know who you are; that was the greatest compliment anyone could pay me, being that I am slightly obsessed with that series. Here’s to the next 1000 hits!

Love Hearts

Aug28

Last weekend, I decided that preserving would pay off and we headed back to Chatham dockyard where I finally got to try on the heart of the ocean necklace, as worn by Kate Winslet. I struck the same pose as she did in the film for my photo; the only difference being that I was fully clothed. If the photographer had been Leonardo DiCaprio though, it would have been a very different story!!

What with the necklace and then when I was eating a packet of love hearts; which you may be interested to know were invented as long back as 1933; I got thinking about the use of the heart symbol as well as the different meanings of the word.

Image courtesy of Google Images

The heart can mean the physical organ, it can represent a person’s soul, is used to mean the core of something, as in the heart of the ocean and to mean love. The heart symbol was used on Valentine’s Day cards as long ago as 1910. Its resemblance to the human heart is vague and it has been said to have derived from the female buttocks. The heart symbol is now included in the latest addition of the Oxford English Dictionary after the increased use of the symbol to replace the word love, for example I ♥ New York.

I also started to think of the different types of love in my life; romantic love, family love, parental love and love of friends as well as love in terms of passion for things.

Family love was in high amounts on the Sunday when my boyfriend and I took his niece and nephew for a day out at Diggerland. They were an absolute pleasure to take out and it was lovely to see the joy on their faces.

Image courtesy of Google Images

It certainly increased my maternal urges even more; not that they need much assistance. I did however somehow manage to put his niece’s nappy on back to front and when the two of us tried to collapse the buggy, it was like the Krypton Factor but hey you live and learn!

During the week, my boyfriend surprised me with some romantic love and created a ‘date night.’ This is a wonderful way to keep the romance alive. He created a menu which he printed and placed on a laid table and then cooked and served. The food was delicious.

As the old saying goes, love makes the world go round so whatever love you have in your heart, embrace it, tell your love ones that you love them everyday and as my Grandma used to say, never go to sleep on an argument.

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.