Monday, December 31, 2012

New Years Resolution (traditional style) 2013 or 'I saw this and thought of me!'

Now I know it wasn't all that long ago (2 rows of chunky crochet, half an hour of Pinterest browsing, and a side of roast salmon, to be exact) that I was busy posting about changing my unrealistic NYR's into NYH's ( come on, you can make the leap....or just read the post before this one if you can't).

However, I saw THIS and it all went up the chimney as I drooled.

The dress is from Pinupgirlclothing.com ( check the link and it should take you there), the photographer is Laura Byrnes and the model is Doris Mayday who has the enviable proportions of 36D, 28 waist and 40 hips, plus a towering ( to me at any rate) 5'8"!

Now, even in my tallest heels I won't make the 5'8", and its a long time since any of the other measurements came any where near hers, but Oh!, she is what I longed to be when i was 14 going on 24, wearing my midi pencil skirts and seamed tights ( it was the 70's - the only stockings I saw were in the support section of the lingerie department at Allders of Bromley, and swaying along in my favourite black suede peep-toe platform courts .

So, as my one and only Traditional resolution:
I solemnly resolve to reduce my waistline in 2013.
For this Dress.


  
                       

Hopes for the New Year

I've been thinking about New Years Resolutions in between the washing up and taking the duck out of the freezer ready for tomorrow's dinner.
Dinner?
Lunch?
Who knows?
I always AIM for lunch, but somehow between the peeling and chopping, the forgotten pre heating, the getting distracted by the setting of the table and,well, life - it ends up more like dinner.
Which is fine if you are someone who goes with the flow ( me - mainly).
And you can stop sniggering right now if you've seen me stressing when I cook.
What I mean is that, unless I'm bound by time pressures beyond my control - trains, planes, theatre productions or uni submission dates, then there is no such thing as late.
Things will arrive when they are done.
The stress comes from making sure that they finish AT THE SAME TIME!

But I digress.

I can count on one finger the successful New Years Resolutions that I have made. Even then, you have to sort of squint, tilt your head and wait till your eyes tear up from the effort of not blinking before the term 'successful' is what said resolution looks like.
OMG, I hear you gasp!
A successful resolution!
How? When? Why? What?
(I was so close to adding 'who' but you will be pleased to see that I have refrained - you don't need to press me with open questions !)
I will tell you, dear reader. (See)
My one and only semi-successful resolution was to eat something green with every meal.
At times I've had to resort to counting parsley or green gummi bears ( you try finding lots of green stuff to eat at breakfast ) but I think that I'm successful at least 75% of the time

*stands up and drinks in the rapturous applause*

What do you mean you're not impressed!?!?!
I can tell you now, pre resolution I was the queen of the yellow dinner! Not by planning - they just seemed to turn out that way. A predilection for chicken and sweetcorn didn't help :D

So, and I'm now getting back to the point of this post, what ( if anything ) will I be resolute about next year?

You see, I think that's the problem. We set ourselves up for almost certain failure by saying we will do things that we obviously have no intention of doing. Things beyond the realities of our day to day existence. Like losing 5 stone, or growing taller, running a mile a day or learning to fly.
For some people these are possibilities, but for most of us, no.

So this year I'm thinking about my New Year HOPES.

I hope I can FINISH some of my projects.

Unfinished work :(










I hope I can IMPROVE my organisational skills

Re-organised bookshelves:D










I hope I can ......

Nope, nothing else is coming to me right now, so I'm going to leave it at those two.
Wish me luck!

Happy 2013 everyone.
:D








Sunday, December 02, 2012

It's Christmas! ( well, nearly )

Yes folks, it's that time of year again. You know the one - when it suddenly dawns on you that you've just had the last payday before Christmas, people are fighting over wrapping paper, it's suddenly impossible to get a parking space.....

Ok, that's my bit of Bah Humbugism over and done with :D

Now it's time to get excited ! It's time to elf yourself, and dress the tree, and follow Santa via NORAD.

I started getting in the mood at work on Friday. It was the grand 'Switching on Sevenoaks Lights' and we stayed open late. We decided not to test as the high street is closed for the festivities and parking is often an issue, but had mulled wine for the adults and hot black currant for the younger visitors, plus mince pies , shortbread and chocolates.
It was really nice to be able to have a more social time with the patients that came in - though we did fit in some adjustments, collections and dispensing a between handing out warming mulled wine to our chilly visitors.
Watching the rides and being part of the atmosphere was lovely.
Perhaps next year we will see if we can take a more active part in the festivities :D

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Eric Bristow, Roller Disco king???......Really!

As I was driving home today, listening to the Dermot O'Leary Show I had one of those 'No!...Really?...' moments.

Now, one of the things I like on Dermot's show is a little feature that has Celebrities choosing a selection of tracks close to their heart.
Nothing unusual about that , I hear you think.
But I beg to differ.
Nigel Haver's with Rave tracks, Esther Rantzen's Reggae, and now Eric Bristow serving up Roller Disco tracks!
[ If you get the chance to listen to the Esther Rantzen sections grab it - the tracks are gorgeous, and listening to her talk about them is brilliant radio ]

But that isn't what caused the moment of surprise.
It was the fact Eric Bristow was a Roller Disco Champion!
I mean...Eric Bristow! World Darts Champion multiple times could skate?
And skate well?
And most shocking of all.... it was Disco!!!!

I nearly choked on my mango slices.
[ yes , I am on a healthy eating kick at the moment, so out go the Foxs Glacier Dark   and in come the mango slices as my in car nibble of choice ]

Now just in case you have no idea who Mr Bristow is , or what roller disco c1980 was like, here is a sample of both.

Eric Bristow is the tall one :D






And that is Roller Disco c1980

Roller Disco c2012 is a bit smoother....



But it's still not a combination I would have ever put together.



I wonder if anyone has asked him if he fancies giving Dancing on Ice a go?
I'd watch him.
:D


Thursday, March 29, 2012

Petrol Pump Etiquette

Along with many other people I'm sure, today I had to queue for diesel at my local station, so had a fair amount of time on my hands to check out the other drivers, cars, pedestrians, the state of my nails ( still slightly lime green, if you are interested ) but mostly, the manners of everyone around me.

Now, I'm aware that, given the recent irresponsible Ministerial comment, stress levels are high, and that said petrol station had only just re-opened the pumps but:

If you need unleaded and of the 6 pumps available, only one has diesel, please don't queue for unleaded on that particular pump.

If you can only force £5.00 of said unleaded into your BMW 3 series, please don't then pick up a shopping basket and stroll around the aisles in full view of your fellow diesel requiring queueing motorists.

If you need to get past other cars, please be patient. They have not ended up bumper to bumper just to block you from going past. There have been lots of manoeuvres aimed at letting people who need diesel but who have gone to an empty pump before it reached this state of affairs.

Should you ABSOLUTELY have to get past RIGHT THIS MINUTE then please ask the car drivers politely to back up until you can squeeze your Merc through the gap.
LEANING ON YOUR HORN ONLY IRRITATES PEOPLE.

Ok.
This short chat about politeness has been brought to you by the color red and the numbers 77.51

Le sigh.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Holidays = Updating

Yes World, I have managed to scrape together a whole week of time off from work.
Well, when I say 'work' I'm referring to the kind that I get paid for, as opposed to what I'm spending my days doing on my [supposed to be] R&R.
This obviously means that I am actually trying to catch up with a few of the many and varied tasks that need doing in my house.

As I write this, I am still vaguely green around the fingertips and am wafting the aroma of eau d'espirit blanc as i wander around clutching a cup of [particularly pleasant] rose tea.

The green is from the not-yet-finished repainting of my front door, from a dark green to a vibrant lime green. I had in mind a quick couple of layers of gloss and hey presto! a zingy new look.
Simple yes? Sadly No.
I'm on day 3, 2 coats of undercoat, followed by 2 of gloss, sanding down between coats, a stubborn door number [still in place because the screw head broke] and its going to need at least 1 more coat.

So I'm taking this morning off to let it dry completely again, hence the update, interspersed with a quick
 [who am I kidding] shufti around Pinterest.
That'll keep me entertained for a couple of hours at least while I decide if I will go to to the Body Adorned exhibition at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill tomorrow.

Time to put the kettle on again and ponder...