Saturday 31 May 2014

9 Reasons I'm a Nightmare

1. I am on a diet but there was a fair in town so instead of having any willpower I consumed approximately 9 million calories in candyfloss. As a child your parents don't buy you candyfloss but with an adult with my own money I thought it was a good idea. An afternoon at a computer at work proved this was a bad idea, a really bad idea.

2. At the age of 22 I got told off for swearing too much. Being told off for swearing when you are 15 is pretty funny, seven yeas later it feels even funnier but its even more inappropriate to laugh.


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3. Playing "Snog, Marry, F*$k, Dessert Island" and picking the person with the most money to marry is probably a dickish move but hey a girl has needs! And they include shoes.

4. Today I purchased a newspaper for the first time, it was for the sole purpose of papier mache. 

5. I haven't brushed my hair today or actually even taken it down since last night. I also have the remnants of last nights carefully crafted cats eye eyeliner as a kind of poor girl's smoky eye .

6. Aforementioned eyeliner was already smudged down my face - my best friend said cum last night and I laughed so much I cried - I'm mature. He also doesn't know where his own mouth finishes when he threw his drink down himself - I laughed more. I can tell you this because he doesn't read this unless I tell him I have posted about him and for once I am going to keep quiet. (Although I could turn this post very easily into 9 reasons he is a nightmare!)



7. Instead of doing more uni work before my tutorial on Thursday (which I initially though was on Wednesday so didn't go to the gym) to be prepared, I cooked fish fingers and watched Springwatch. I then forgot about said fish fingers while I had this tutorial and burnt them.

8. I cooked a chicken last week and didn't close the oven door properly. Chicken was mildly warm after nearly 2 hours, if dead chickens have feelings this one would have felt like it was sunning itself in Great Yarmouth.

9. Instead of doing uni work now I am writing this post... NIGHTMARE!!



Tuesday 27 May 2014

Internet Things




This video from Lily @ Lily Pebbles about her Milan outfits - how she is this put together I have no idea but I love her outfits and love her editing. Ideas noted for future vlog maybe?!?

These words - I'm not ready to be a mum but when I am I hope I have as much lovely things to say as this blog

So glad my parents aren't this inept at texting but give them a computer and that's a whole different ball game. Watching my mum on my iPad is almost painful - sorry Mum!

This map states that I am "inbred" and "too find of tractors" - well cheers Buzzfeed - what's your home town's stereotype?

This woman getting her groove on - this makes me laugh - thanks to my so called best friend for saying that this is me in a few years time and thanks for calling me esoteric - look it up - he's not being nice.

This workout - I only managed four repetitions the first time and spent most of my time pacing trying not to vomit but pacing still burns calories right? And yes I have noticed her boobs are really out!

This post is beyond cute - and I'm a little jealous - love me someone please?

If I get to be this creative when I am a parent sign me up.

OK so I was googling my own blog posts because yeah I am a loser and I came across this really interesting post. I always used to think people were judging me at the gym but I think you really just get on with it!

Brits did you know this was thing? I don't believe it

And finally, this!

What are you loving on your little corner of the internet?

Monday 26 May 2014

Weekly Wishes #4



LAST WEEK'S WISHES

1. Enjoy my Saturday - What could be more enjoyable than stuffing my face with cake will having a gossip with one of my besties and exchanging smiles with her little boy? The weather was rather changeable on Saturday so no walks for me but there is always today! Although massive heavy DIY is happening at mine at the moment so I am on cooking duty.

2. Update my Blog Love - Instead of having list of blogs I love which I don't think would be very interesting I decided to catalogue together all my posts about blogs/blog posts I really enjoy reading. Currently it's still a bit empty but I have some posts planned so if you are looking for new things to read definitely check out here

P.S I used this really great tutorial on how to do this but if you need any help at all then please ask! I also managed to get the whole gif thing working which explains this post.

3. Clean my car - Another big check on this one. I found a ridiculous amount of glitter and my own hair in my boot, maybe I was kidnapped by Kesha?

THIS WEEK'S WISHES

1. Go to the gym three times - My good friend gym got put to one side this week. Working 11 hour days is not conducive to wanting to work out but shoving my face with flapjacks and Chinese is! I still managed to lose weight this week but it was a miracle and to be honest I have missed it. Who am I?!?

2. Get back on track with my Open University course - Yeah I am blaming work again but I am maybe a couple of days behind where I should be on this. I have a tutorial on Wednesday so I need to have made a bit more of an effort.

3. Pick a book and stick with it - Started my fourth book yesterday and yeah that's pretty much a no go too. I started it a year or so ago and got a good half way through and gave up so yeah probably a book I am never destined to finish. Where are all the good books?!?!?


Sunday 25 May 2014

Life Lately... - May

Currently...

Reading - Nothing! I currently have three books on the go but I can't get into any of them. I need suggestions people!

Watching - I am trying to get into Homeland which I have had recorded on my Sky box for absolutely ages and I was struggling a bit. It's one of those ones where you don't know who the good guy is and I don't really know how I feel about some of the characters. I really want to like it especially as I have heard such good things so I'm persevering (and watching it now!) I really like Carrie but I just can't get on with Jessica. And to be honest I am getting into it more.



Listening to - I heard this Jason Derulo song for the first time on the way to Giraffes on Thursday night and I couldn't really believe what I was hearing. It's one of those so crap it's good songs, I think? Maybe it's just crap! I'm really into listening to songs from my emo youth at the moment. They really destress me after a long day at work. Panic! at the Disco to me is like jazz for a normal person. A song that always get me through my more emotional stages is The Verve - Love is Noise. I did something I really regretted once and I listened to this song on repeat while I walked crying through the rain.




Loving - My new ability to cope with pressure. Pressure is something I struggle with dealing with sometimes. I have crazy expectations of myself sometimes but this past couple of weeks while looking after a colleague's work I haven't lost it at all.

Loathing - How tired I am. While I haven't lost it I have been working 11 hour days and I'm really glad its over.

Weight Loss - Since last month (the day I wrote my last Life Lately was the say before I started my new diet) I have last 5 and a half pounds. I'm still fat and I've had good and bad weeks. While I haven't lost it with the pressure I have shoved more than my fair amount of Nutella in my mouth.

Saturday 24 May 2014

Dear New Person at Work

Dear New Person at Work,

I don't like you. No that's not true, I don't know you, but I don't like the idea of you. I don't like change, I don't like worrying that I am too in your face or intimidating or weird or inappropriate for other adults to like me.

I like knowing where I stand, are you my superior, inferior or equal? Will you look at me in disgust when I shove a Kinder Bueno in my face on a Friday afternoon? Will you judge me because I don't brush my hair everyday or wear makeup when I should? 

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Will you be better than me? Will people like you more? These all sound like such pathetic things to worry about but here I am worried. I'm not in high school anymore but to me office environments feel rather cliquey. It's like Mean Girls but all a bit more underhand because you have to be openly professional.

An office setting is a little bit like life in a fish bowl, you are on show, and you can't have a meltdown because your day has been f*&king awful or just because you are female and dammit sometimes I just need to cry. In an office setting you are thrown together with people that you wouldn't necessarily choose to spend everyday with and sometimes that's stressful. And yeah sometimes I don't cope with stress that well, which lets say can make getting on not exactly smooth sailing.


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Maybe it's just me but I have preconceptions of a person before I have met them. I am more likely to pick out the bad in a person before noticing the good. I'm never ready to say I like someone until I actually know them and I hate that people get upset when I have an opinion that they don't agree with, don't ask me if you don't want to know. 

So dear new person, it's not you it's me.




Thursday 22 May 2014

Things I Suck At...

There are some things I am just not good at and these are some of them...

Putting on makeup. If I can be bothered to put makeup on at all, which is very rarely, I am like a small child smearing dirt on my face. I really wish I was as good as some of the beauty bloggers I read but I'm just not that confident.

Painting my nails. My nails don't even go past the ends of my fingers which is why I claim that I am rubbish at painting my nails but the fact is that I am just cack handed. If I want them pretty then I have to ask my sister to paint them!

Being a food blogger. The fact is I can't take a picture before I start shoving food in my face. Pictures taken tonight from prove this!! 


Thai Duck Stir Fry and Banana Split Waffle was really good from Giraffes and the fact that I get 25% discount with my student card is also an added bonus. And the food comes out presented better than the pictures above would indicate!

Not being a giant hypocrite. I get really angry at pedestrians who walk in the road and meander about but I am honestly that person. I also get really angry at people who cannot drive but yeah I'm pretty sure I fall in that category.

Handling my alcohol. I am not a good drinker but yeah tonight deserved cocktails. Its been a really long couple of weeks at work and I've been struggling but Mango Lime Daiquiris make things much better. And they were half price!!


Being serious. Which this picture proves....


P.S. I'm as shocked as you that I have two pictures in a row of myself with my eyes open!!!





Tuesday 20 May 2014

Things I Have Missed About the Internet

How did people cope without the internet? I have been without it for a whole week and there are so many things I have missed.


All the adverts about how to lose 10lbs and how this magical berry will make you lose inches of belly fat. How were people skinny before the internet? 

Not going to bed til gone midnight because I have been staring at a computer screen all night... after staring at a computer screen all day.

Telling everyone how witty and funny I am and how many times I have been to the gym and how my diet is going. You can only tell a certain number of people that you have only eaten a yogurt before they start thinking you are a mental human being.

Hearing how witty and funny everyone else is and how many times they have been to the gym or how their diet is going. How else am I meant to know this stuff?

Consuming my calories (and burning them) through Pinterest. I have had to eat my cravings and actually go spinning.



Ok so I might be being sarcastic but I have really missed blogging and reading your posts. What do you miss most about the internet?

Monday 19 May 2014

Weekly Wishes #3



It's been quiet around these parts recently due to the most part the fact that we left IT support to my mother who turned the router off and it failed to come back on! Tried it again yesterday by turning off at the plug and back on again and bingo internet.


LAST WEEK'S WISHES

1. Clean my car - So I grabbed a carrier bag full of crap out of my car but didn't manage to take the biscuit tins and carrier bag of assorted foreign money out of my boot or give my car the hoover and wash it deserved. A wish for another week

2. Update my Blog Love - Due to aforementioned lack of internet this has been another failure. It is something I really need to do

3. Don't cry at work - I am very pleased to say that I have coped. Things have got a bit hairy at some points but I haven't cried. That doesn't mean that there hasn't been a lot of stress and a lot of stress to come

THIS WEEK'S WISHES

1. Enjoy my Saturday - These two weeks will have been pretty full on and instead of wasting my Saturday watching Homeland, I am actually going to get out and do something, maybe go for a walk and use my camera.

2. Update my Blog Love - A repeat from last week but an important one

3. Clean my car - or get someone else to clean it for me... now there's an idea!

Monday 12 May 2014

Weekly Wishes #2


I really enjoyed Weekly Wishes last week - thanks for all your lovely comments. It was nice to have some direction in my goals this week rather than just meandering along hoping to get stuff done! Hope you had a good week.

LAST WEEK'S WISHES

1. Clean my room - it may have taken me a whole week to actually get this completed and may have had me pulling a half eaten rabbit from under my bed (thanks Felix!) but my bedroom is pretty much spotless. Ok so my desk is still a bit of a mess but its relatively organised for me.

2. Buy one piece of grown up makeup - I actually decided against this one. Looking at what is available on the market and how much it costs and how much I actually care about makeup I decided it ultimately wasn't worth it. I need to pay my Dad back for my car and need to start saving for a house not spending £30 on a foundation.

3. Enjoy my first yoga class - I enjoyed the first class, it was the stressful journey home that I didn't enjoy (see this post). I may have laughed every time there was a group exhale for the first twenty minutes (these people can breathe like dragons, they have massive lungs!) but I actually found it good fun. The class already looks to be fully booked for next week - teaches me to be slow to book - but will definitely go again.

THIS WEEK'S WISHES

1. Clean my car - I have started my cleaning binge and hope to continue you it this week by cleaning all the crap I have accumulated out of my car. Maybe it will hate me less!

2. Update my Blog Love page - This was meant to be all about the blogs I love and like all good intentions I just really didn't know where to start so it sits there empty and people must think that I don't love any blogs but seriously I do!

3. Don't cry at work - I'm not planning on it but next week I am looking after a colleague's work while he is on holiday which ultimately is increased pressure (mainly from myself) so basically this wish is just to try not to stress myself out and just keep doing what I know I can do.

Sunday 11 May 2014

Book Review - The Book Thief - Markus Zusak

"Nine-year-old Liesel lives with her foster family on Himmel Street during the dark days of the Third Reich. Her Communist parents have been transported to a concentration camp, and during the funeral for her brother, she manages to steal a macabre book: it is, in fact, a gravediggers’ instruction manual.
 This is the first of many books which will pass through her hands as the carnage of the Second World War begins to hungrily claim lives. Both Liesel and her fellow inhabitants of Himmel Street will find themselves changed by both words on the printed page and the horrendous events happening around them."

This book made me cry - not just a silent single tear but proper crying. Yeah I am emotional when it comes to books but this book in particular is one that really affected me. It is similar in essence to The Boy In Striped Pyjamas which isn't one I have read but a film I watched in the cinema and sat shell shocked at the end. The stories that stay with me the most are the stories that do not have the happy ending that you expect.

The story is told from the perspective of Death which I think adds a really interesting aspect to the story. The idea of death is never far from your mind when Death is your narrator. I loved Leisel and Rudy as characters, they are such high spirited characters and its sometimes easy to forget that they are so young when they have to deal with such grown up topics. While death is obviously a heavy topic throughout the book, the theme that stood out the most for me was the love between family, between friends and of a community. 

It was a book I found difficult to read mainly because I ultimately knew exactly the direction this book was heading and it was all a bit overwhelming. I didn't want to get to the conclusion that I knew was coming. Definitely an emotional read but a good one all the same.

Saturday 10 May 2014

Diet Derailers

I am currently on another one of my diet phases. Its my new obsession, I can't think of anything else and I know it's an unhealthy but healthy obsession. There have been tears after I broke my healthy habit and shoved a Magnum in my face that tasted like crap anyway. Even though healthy eating and exercise is all I can think about I'm finding it much harder to put into practice. Here are a few of my diet derailers:

"I want" - If I want then I'm generally going to get. If I fancy something then that is all I can think about and I am more than likely to put it into my shopping basket and ultimately shove it in my face!

"They have" - If someone is eating something, even if its not an "I want" derailer it will quickly become one. Some is eating McDonalds - I get genuinely annoyed that I am not. I have a serious case of food envy.

Costa Coffee - Two people from work had Costa last week on consecutive days and I turned it down twice!! Piri-piri chicken panini, chocolate brownie and a hot chocolate - get in my face!! (Yes all in one sitting - don't judge me)

Carbs - A meal is not a meal without a minimum of one carbohydrate and can be made better by adding additional carbs. I am a carb junkie!

Gym Hunger - Exercise makes me really hungry i.e. if someone handed me a burger after half an hour on the treadmill, I would probably bite their hand off.

But the weight is steadily coming off and I'm still excited and motivated. Sometimes I cheat but then that's life



Thursday 8 May 2014

Car Hate

When life gives you lemons shove a Nutella sandwich in your face.




This wasn't the post I had planned today, I planned to be so relaxed after my first yoga class but my car hates me and yeah I hate it too.

On the way to the gym this afternoon my windscreen wipers broke and it is absolutely chucking it down. The arm has just randomly snapped - what perfect timing!!

So here is an ode to my car ... an ode of hatred

Your windscreen wipers break at the most inappropriate times. Driving with my head out of the window trying to find a place to pull over is not safe or fun!

Your fan doesn't work so when stopped with my hazards on the temperature starts to go into the critical stage and you start flashing telling me to STOP. I am stopped that's the bloody problem because apparently you can only cool if I'm moving forward.

Your exhaust decides to throw itself at the floor whenever you want so I sound like a boy racer while driving through the city. Old people were gawking at me ... thanks car!!

You are so loud but your indicators don't make any noise at all which you know isn't annoying at all.

You consume fuel as if its going out of fashion - it is not and is bloody expensive and talking about expensive you are a crap car and you cost too much money!!

Thanks to my dad for coming to save me and thanks to Nutella for saving my sanity!

Wednesday 7 May 2014

Things That Annoy Me on Facebook

People that cannot spell definitely - yes you have just typed "defiantly" - read it - it sounds exactly as you have typed it. "Defiantly up for the zoo..." What are you defiant about? Does someone not want you to go to the zoo? If so you go girl, if not type the right bloody word!

People that change their pictures to ridiculously old pictures of themselves from like six years ago. They have probably dyed their hair four different colours since then and put on about twenty pounds and then when people comment saying that they look really nice who obviously don't see them that often they are just like "oh this is really old" as if it is some kind of trap

And people that change their profile picture or cover picture every twenty minutes - not necessary!

People who have opinions that make me want to smack them upside the head ... or comment telling them they are a moron - they try my self control and self control isn't exactly my thing. Also opinions about things that people have no idea about - if you aren't informed shut up!

Also people airing their dirty laundry on my News Feed - it makes me uncomfortable and makes you look silly.

The "if you like this we will send a unicorn to a child in Africa and if you don't then you basically just stomped on a fluffy bunny - BUNNY KILLER!!" type posts - oh my god - shut up already! Unless you are thirteen or have four brain cells you must know this isn't real - seriously you must - please tell me you do!

What are the things you find most annoying about Facebook?




Much Love 

Toyota




Monday 5 May 2014

Weekly Wishes #1


I loved the A-Z challenge last month. It made me feel part of something which I really enjoyed so I decided that I wanted to do something. Something that celebrated the every day and acknowledged my need to achieve but also my new found need for community. And I settled on Melyssa from the Nectar Collective's "Weekly Wishes". In it you set out what you want to achieve in a week and review how you got on with last week's wishes or as Melyssa much more eloquently describes it "for people who like to get shit done" It's something I really enjoy reading on other people's blogs and it's nice to hear about the everyday in a world of blogging perfection.

THIS WEEK'S WISHES

1. Clean my room - I hate putting clothes away and hate ordering my everyday stuff. I don't want to put my makeup away - it needs to be randomly strewn all over the place. I need that random pile of gift wrap and that other random bag of generic stuff. SAID NO ONE EVER!! (apart from hoarders that get buried under a pile of falling junk and then get eaten by their pet cats)

2. Buy one piece of grown up makeup - Natural collection/ dream matt mousse - it's all a bit thirteen years old. I'm not sure what yet as I need to have a little research but I'm thinking MAC shop here I come!

3. Enjoy my first yoga class - I've been thinking I should try yoga for a few years but I don't know - I keep putting myself off. Thanks to a certain Essex person and my gym changing their class timetable, I am giving it a go.

Wish me luck guys


Sunday 4 May 2014

Beauty Review - Natural Collection Coverup Stick


I am very prone to black circles and blemishes on my skin but I am also not a fan of a full face of makeup so I need something that lightly covers but still covers. Also I am a cheap skate and this product fills all my needs on this one. At only £1.49 this cover up stick isn't going to break the bank.

The texture of this product is relatively light and isn't greasy which is the problem I have had with some cover up sticks I have used. It blends easily and gives an adequate if rather light coverage. 

The packaging on this is cheap which is no more than you would expect and there are only three colours. This is the lightest and I would say its probably a bit too yellow for my skin tone. Also if you twist too far, well you going to end up with a broken cover up stick.

I have definitely used better concealers but it does as advertised and is something that I would buy again for every day use.

P.S I am looking for a light coverage foundation - do you have any recommendations?



Friday 2 May 2014

Hot/ Crazy Scale

If you are guy, just go nod along in the corner and if you are a girl go ask your guy friends about this and you will get a knowing smile because apparently it's a thing.

I was in the pub the over day - where all good conversations occur - and we were discussing past girlfriends' crazy antics (I do not have a past girlfriend - just to clarify). These guys had put up with some crazy shit and my only question was - Why?!?! Why put up with it all? The answer was the Hot/Crazy scale (and probably sex but I am not willing to discuss that!)




I originally assumed that they meant the hotter a girl was, the crazier they were. But the direct correlation here is if a girl is more attractive you are willing to put up with more craziness. 

Lets take an example -

You are a guy, you are in a club and there is a semi attractive girl who obviously finds you attractive who seems relatively normal. Lets call her Girl A. Now lets take Girl B - she's drop dead gorgeous, the girl of your dreams -  but she has a pair of cat ears on, keeps purring and insists you pat her on the head. Who do you pick? 

Logically you pick Girl A for a relationship because who could put up with that amount of crazy? Girl B needs to be sectioned! 

But Beyonce gets it right when she sings about being "Crazy In Love" because while the right relationship can bring about your better side some relationships can bring out your worst. One of my worst habits in a previous relationship was that I loved to pick a fight, if I was bored or tired or annoyed I would pick and pick and pick until... BOOM argument!

Obviously I was not hot enough for him to put up with that amount of crazy!!

Hot/crazy scale - what do you think? What's the craziest thing your guy friends have put up with? Ask them and when they tell you - laugh - because that's what I did.


Thursday 1 May 2014

A to Z Challenge


The A to Z challenge is over and I am feeling a mixture of relief and sadness at the prospect. When I started the challenge at the beginning of the month I had just come back from a blogging hiatus and this would either be the thing that killed my love of blogging or made it flourish.

Luckily it has been the latter. I have blog posts planned for this month and have ideas for future posts throughout the year. This never happens. I am not a planner but planning for this just feels right (and all you other bloggers keep telling me I need to plan to blog more efficiently) I can see myself doing this all the time again and I have had positive feedback from friends and from you guys which makes me sitting at my desk at all times of the night all seem worth it. I have had more comments this month than in all my time blogging and I now need to make sure I am doing the right thing with them (make sure I can reply to you and you aren't a no-reply blogger because I want to chat with you!!) Honestly comments make me smile - thanks people.

Blogging every day has had its challenges. Yeah some of my blog posts throughout April have been crap, some of them have been really short and some of them have been the most boring thing that I can imagine but I'm not sorry for putting them out there. If I'm honest (which by know by now seems to be one of my more annoying catchphrases - sorry) life sometimes is boring so why should every blog post be me raving about how exciting my life is? It really isn't - its just my life. Writing about lots of different topics tells me what type of posts are most popular and also what I enjoy writing about the most. 

Thinking of content is also a struggle sometimes and sometimes you just don't want to write but I am definitely looking to blog a minimum of three times a week and hopefully more. Staring at a computer screen all day does not exactly spread joy at the thought of doing more staring!

Thank you if you have stopped by from the A to Z challenge and I hope you stick around for more fun and games.




P.S I am also now on the sidebar of Two Thirds Hazel - go check out her pretty blog