The Ten Loves of My Life #3

So I'm still having teething problems trying to find time to post- sorry about that. I went straight to bed after clicking "publish" on #2 and didn't even notice that my pictures hadn't uploaded properly. I've removed them for now but when I have chance I'll try to add them in again. Since then, we've had two newbies at work who I've been responsible for because my manger was off, so it's been busy! On the plus side I've got a £35 pizza express voucher as a thank you from work :)

So, here are the last five "loves of my life", without further ado:

6) ARK

I was a huge tomboy when I was younger (hence the love of football, I guess) and my Mum despaired that she couldn't get me into fashion. Since secondary school though, the one clothes shop I always agreed to go into was Ark, I'm not sure why but I loved the prints and the quirkiness. Back then they didn't have many stores and not many people had heard of them, and the Derby store that I shopped in was pretty out of the way. I still love it, but now it's a lot more mainstream, and it's what everyone in Derby/ Nottingham/ Leeds/ York is wearing. They have great sales and offers, and over the years have featured some of my favourite brands- Glamorous, Motel, Sugarhill Boutique to name a few. It's so affordable, and their main brand, Hearts & Bows, stocks the prettiest things ever. When I went to uni there wasn't a store nearby, so I started ordering things from their website. For ages they did free delivery on all items; now it's on everything over £20 which is still awesome. Their customer service has always been great too, sending discount codes if there's anything wrong with your order etc and always happy to help. Check out their website, www.arkclothing.com. 

7) POETRY

I love English at school and I'm never sure why I didn't do it past GCSE, but the part I loved most was poetry- reading it, and writing it. I think it's because I want to enjoy reading but I don't have the patience for novels! When I was in my teens, I had a mild obsession with Edgar Allan Poe (ya' know, "The Raven"- my party trick is reciting all 100 lines of it!), and my teachers were always recommending classic poems for me to read. I started writing poetry after reading Stephen Fry's "The Ode Less Travelled", which I thoroughly recommend to anyone intrigued about poetry and how different types of poems are composed. I find it really relaxing and great fun to sit down and write a poem about something. It doesn't have to be serious and old-fashioned... take Spike Milligan for example!

8) LOOKING LIKE ME

Like a lot of people I guess, I don't feel at all confident if I don't look like "me". This means hair straightened for hours to reach an "acceptable" level, a non-cakey face of foundation, pinky lipstick and eyeliner and mascara. I'm sure people who know me wouldn't think I spent as long as I did on my appearance, but my hair's naturally weirdly wavy and my face is still quite spotty. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to not look like me and instead look more like Alexa Chung or something, but this is what I've got and it makes me happy to be able to spend the time making myself feel vaguely confident before I leave the house! I panic if I have to go camping or swimming or somewhere where I don't think I'll be able to achieve this! 

9) WRITING LISTS

I wouldn't be able to survive without writing lists or reminders for myself. The rate I get through sticky notes at work is pretty crazy, and I have to set myself alarms on my phone to take medication, or- as my Mum regularly teases me about- alarms to tell me to eat/shower/sleep! I have a notebook that I carry everywhere with me that has several short, medium and long term "to do"s in it, now spread across several pages. For instance, "put front door on freecycle"/"buy a green maxi skirt"/ "keep up with learning French". I feel much more organised and much more able to prioritise (which is important, as my time management isn't great!). 

10) EBAY

I'm obsessed! Once you've started buying cheap shoes and clothes, I don't think you can go back to regularly buying from the more expensive high street shops, e.g. topshop, river island. My weight and body shape (and style!) have fluctuated so much in the last 3 years or so, that during my second year at uni the postman was making special trips on some days just for my parcels! Come to think of it, that's probably what made me so broke- it all adds up! I don't buy so much anymore, just because in the past I've been too hasty and ended up bidding on things that I haven't really wanted/ needed/ liked. I sell a lot though, and "put everything on ebay" is a recurring item on my to-do-lists! 

SO... I hope that gives a good insight into me! I'm taking the afternoon off work to travel down to my Dad's 50th birthday party tonight, but I'll be back on Sunday and fingers crossed have a post planned :)

Jess

The Ten Loves of My Life #2

It may not technically still be "tomorrow", but here I am with the second part of my introductory post about the things I love most in life. Last time we had dodgeball, hippos, and coke. This time you're getting:

4) TED

This is "the boyfriend". He's too shy right now to agree to me uploading his photo, but I'm sure I'll convince him in due course! We've been together almost three years, we live together, and he's just plain lovely. He's studying for a phd so one day he'll be Dr Ted, haha, and we pretty much do everything together. I'm not sure what else I can (or need to) add without turning overly soppy!


5) IPSWICH TOWN FOOTBALL CLUB

Yep, I realise most of you will have switched off at the word football (or am I stereoptyping too much?), but I absolutely love "the beautiful game". In fact, when me and Ted first got together, he said he loved that he could talk to me about football; now he hates it, because I know and care far more than he does! I'm not going to bore you here with football facts, just tell you that I like going to football matches when I can, am obsessed with "fantasy football", and I support Ipswich Town because my dad's side of the family are from Suffolk. 

I'm sure you can all share my alternative reason for enjoying watching football- bodies like this!

...the other five loves will be coming up in the final edition. Right now I need to go to bed because I'm going to a ball tomorrow, and I've had a massive panic over what to wear - it's black tie, but I just don't do maxi dresses, and I haven't found a cocktail dress that's smart enough and I like. All I have is a black peplum dress with mesh above the bust... a little too simple and casual for a ball, I can't help but think, but it will probably have to do! It's not like I'll be glamming it up with killer heels, either...these are so comfy:

In case you didn't notice, I'm not that great with computers, sorry!

   

The Ten Loves Of My Life #1

Hello, 

There are no excuses for how long it's been since I last blogged (actually there are many- a busy working life, lots of migraines, and a laptop that really doesn't like me, for starters). 

But here I am, underway again, hopefuly this time for good... so I thought I'd write a "get to know me" style post. 

These, in no particular order (and of course, excluding my family and friends), are pretty much the things I love most in life...

1) DODGEBALL

This is a sport like no other! I got introduced by a flatmate at uni, started playing in tournaments all over the country, and have never looked back! I encouraged the boyfriend to play, and when we graduated and moved up north we realised that we loved it so much we just had to set up a team up here! So we did all our coaching qualifications and started "Leeds Dodge" (anyone who lives up this way, please come and try it!), and after one season we already have a team in both the men's and women's leagues, yay! I'm also England women's reserves coach, and the boyfriend is in the Scotland first team to play at the European Championships in August... exciting times, and it takes up a massive part of my life! This is a very old picture of me with a dodgeball below:

Anybody reading this who wants to know more, please let me know! 

And if you are wondering, yep, it's a bit like the film, but more fun! Two teams of six, three balls, you throw balls at each other and try to get the other team out! The main ways you're out are if you get hit, or if someone on the other team catches a ball you've thrown... I love that it's basically just throwing and catching (two components of sport I'm actually alright at), and because games are only two minutes and you don't really move unless throwing, you don't actually have to be that fit to get involved and play well! 

Here's our (soon to be updated) website if you're intrigued: http://leedsdodge.co.uk/index.html

2) HIPPOS

There's just something about hippos. I'm a long way from an animal lover (it took a lot for me to allow the boyfriend to have his cat come live with us), probably because I hate that some humans seem to prefer animals to other humans, and I can't deal with that. But hippos, well. I know they're not cute, but I think they kind of are... particularly in all the cartoon versions of them you find in kids story books. I know they're not friendly (most dangerous animals in the world, according to some), but I'd like to keep one as a pet. And I know that they spend most of their time wallowing in mud, but... actually I don't have an answer for that one! I think it also helps that I love moomins, and they're sort of hippos... right? 

I've not done that well with collecting hippo "memorabilia" thus far, because it's not often you find cuddly hippos etc, but I'm trying and hopefully soon I'll have a collection to write about! 

3) COKE

I hope this picture clarifies that it's the soft drink that's the love of my life, not something else! I'm verging on addicted, and have been since I first started working at a fast food restaurant during my A levels (I'd drink it all day every day whilst at work). My "habit" got particularly bad during my second year at uni... I'd be drinking 8-12 cans a day depending on how stressed I was. I'm not sure why I find coca cola to be great stress relief, but I definitely do have the sensation that I "need" it. Plus, one of their tag lines is "open happiness". With the boyfriend's help, I've got a lot better, and am now on 1-2 cans a day, but it's still not good, particularly as I prefer the real full fat stuff (sorry, wallet and stomach!). I'm trying to convert to diet, and to cut down further, so wish me luck...

...I hope you enjoyed part one of "the ten loves of my life"... part two's coming up tomorrow (I promise, I've already written it!)

Jess