My Top 5: Shops For Clothes/Accessories Online & Out 'n' About.

My Top 5 Shops For Clothes/Accessories Online & Out 'n' About.

I'm not known for being terribly girly. That's not to say I'm a tomboy either. I see myself as a good mix somewhere in the middle. Sometimes I like to hang out with my guy mates, sometimes I want to do girly things with my fave girls.

Anyway I recently cleared out my wardrobe and decided to buy myself some new clothes. So I decided to use one of my Top 5... posts on my fave places to shop. So here we go in no particular order:

No 1.) ASOS:
I have said it before and will probably say it again. I love ASOS. I think I love ASOS more than a girl should love a online clothing site. Here are some of my favourites: Blue Chiffon Bubble Hem Bust Dress, TFNC Tie Waist Detail Shorts, and ASOS Best Friend Forever Vest.

No 2.) Primark:
Ok, ok I know its a huge buget shop. But with the world in a recession what's a girl to do. I must admit though there are some great finds in there. And affordable.

No 3.) River Island:
This is my absolute favourite place to go to for jeans. I have yet to buy a bad pair of jeans from this shop. What else I also like from here is the accessories section of bags and purses. I tend to buy stuff from here that goes in my everyday wear section.

No 4.) Debenhams:
I love this shop so much. I always manage to get a nice dress from here for every special occasion. Weather its a nice going out dress for a wedding or a night out with the girls this place has something for everyone.

No 5.) La Senza/Ann Summers:
Ok so technically these two are lingerie. As my friends will vouch no shopping trip with me is complete without a little lingerie shopping. I have a problem. At least I know I have a problem though. I just have to approach either of these two shops and my bank card starts to get scared. Very scared. To the point where I have more draws of the stuff than most shops have. But oh well. Somebody has to keep them in business he he.

New Chapter, Onwards & Upwards

Today marks a new and exciting time in my life. After being in unemployed for the last four months or so things are now starting to look brighter. A lot brighter.

Today I attend my first 'Childminders Briefing Session'. Nobody was more surprised than my very close friends that I was choosing to go into child care. I have always been very adamant on the subject of not wanting any children of my own. Not to say I don't adore other peoples kids. Including my best friend KG's child. Now I have had time over the last two months or so (when I first decided this was something I wanted to do) to go with it or not to go with it. And I feel more than ever that this is something I am going to love to do. At the end of the day I'm going to be self employed and working from home.

With my mum already a registered childminder I see that I'm going to have a slight advantage here. I already know what I'm getting myself into (paperwork wise etc) and I know that if I have any questions she'll be a great help. After all she has been a registered childminder herself for over 15 years.

So here's to the start of a new chapter.

My Top 5: Things To Do On A Lazy Afternoon!

This weekend boy have I been lazy. Like really lazy. So while I was twiddling my thumbs Sunday night it got me thinking. Why not write a blog post about it. So I have decided to do a series of Top 5... blog posts over the coming weeks or so.

After all everybody does it. Some people do it alone. Some people do it with their boyfriend/girlfriend. And others do it with their pets. But at the end of the day its something we all do. So find below 5 things I love to do when I'm having a lazy weekend:-

No 1.) Sitting around watching a dvd box-set.
Its not something I do every weekend but every so often I love to just lounge around watching one of my many dvd box-sets. Sometimes it can be a new one (Criminal Minds). Sometimes it can one I haven't watched for ages (Prison Break).

No 2.) Surfing the net looking for new blogs to follow/clothes to buy.
I spent this Saturday just gone looking for new blogs to follow. Before I knew it most of the day had gone by :). I also like looking online for clothes as well and absolutely love looking on the ASOS website. They have some great variety of clothes weather your looking for something to wear during the day, or a new dress/shoes etc for a night out with the girls.

No 3.) Reading a new book or an old book off my bookshelf.
I am a huge bookworm. I have long lost room on my bookshelf for some of my newer books. I've currently got on my to read pile: 'Poor Little Bitch Girl' – Jackie Collins, 'I, Alex Cross' – James Patterson; and 'Club Dead' – Charlaine Harris.





No 4.)Watching really old movies either off the tv or from my DVD collection.
Its true what they say. They really don't make movies like they used to. I love sitting in front of the tv on a lazy/rainy afternoon watching old Humphrey Bogart/Alfred Hitchcock. There is a reason why its hard to find a film today that you would call a 'classic'. I think the main reason is because movies today you have to have special effects and what not to even get made. Back then though it was all about the characters and the story.

No 5.)Listening to my music collection while reading through magazines.
This is something I have not done for a while. Maybe the next time I decided to have a lazy day I'll do it. I have a pretty wide variety in my cd/i-tunes collection depending on the mood. Sometimes I'll listen to Rat Pack/Frank Sinatra collection, sometimes I'll be more in the mood for something along the lines of my Dashboard Confessional collection.

I'd love to hear what anyone else likes to do when they have a lazy day/weekend :).

Age Is Just A Number!

(Photo Credit - Google Images)

I was reading something recently about dating people older (like a lot older) and the stigma that is attached to it. This kind of thing really dose my head in. For a few reasons. Not only because I too have dated someone older (ok maybe more than one). And that kind of narrow-mindedness really annoys me. Here's why:

What does it matter if a guy is a year older than you or 15 years older? At the end of the day if you as a couple don't think it is a problem then other people should just mind there own business.

Nobody ever has a problem when some 50+ old fella is dating someone in there 30's. Why should it be a problem for someone in there 20's to be dating someone in there mid 30's? It shouldn't.

As long as both parties are consenting adults it shouldn't be a problem. I don't think somebody who is 15/16 for example should be dating anyone in there 20's. Just so we're clear.

The only thing people should consider when dating somebody with a 'big' age difference is do you have things in common? And really people should only date people they share common interests with or enjoy being with. Age shouldn't even be a factor.

From my experience age is just a number. Sometimes its higher, sometimes its lower. Whatever it is it isn't really anybody's business but the people who are dating. As long as they are both happy together and enjoy being together what does it matter? Your the two people who are dating each other. Only you know what your relationship means/is. Sure the relationship may not go the distance but as long as you have fun along the way isn't that what dating is all about. Isn't that what matters.

So the next time you think a guy/girl may be too old or too young just think about the above. You may be missing out on the love of your life just because of what other people/your friends think.

Pet Peeves

(Photo Credit: PhotoAlto)

I was thinking the other day about pet peeves. It got me thinking. My own pet peeves are not that bad compared to other peoples. So below are a list of my pet peeves and why they drive me crazy!

No 1. All my notes have to be facing the same way and in order:-
This started a few years ago when I was working at a shop. It must have been around that time 'cos I can't think of why it would bother me before that. It annoys me a lot when notes are not all facing the same way, the same way up and in order of value. It just makes sense to me that to be more organised and to find something more easily they should be in the correct order.

No 2. People not saying thank you when you open/hold the door for them:-I think this has got to be my biggest pet peeve. I mean its just polite behaviour. If someone opens or holds back a door for me, I always say thanks. What is a little kindness out of your day to just say 'thanks' in passing!!

No 3. When people borrow something off you (with out you knowing) then put it back in the wrong place:-Let me start off by saying it's not the borrowing that annoys me. Its when it gets put back in the wrong order or wrong place entirely. All of my dvd boxsets are all in order. (Surly it makes sense to put season 1 next to season 2 and so on.) Now then my book are a little different. Unless they are part of series of books, my books will be put on my self in author order. (Again this can't just be me surly??) What is the point in having multiple books by different authors and them just being put a shelf willy nilly??

No 4. When parents can't control their children in places people go to relax:-I know kids can be a pain in the ass. But there is nothing worse than when you are sat in a restaurant or places like that and a child on the next table is playing up. It annoys me even more when the parents just sit there as though the child is doing nothing wrong. Can these people not see the child being horrible or are they not care about people around them?

Do you have a pet peeve or something that annoys the hell out of you that other people find strange, weird, petty or all of the above??? :)

My First Love That Never Let Me Down... writing :)

(Photo Credit: Getty Image)

I recently spent an afternoon clearing out the family garage with my mum. I was surprised at some of the little gems we found. Some of the things have been there since we moved house five years ago. As anyone who has read my blog before knows I love writing stories. What might surprise you is that in one way or another I have been writing stories as a child at Primary School.

Some of the short stories were things I wrote when I was no more than eight years old. While the punctuation and spelling were not great (to this day my spelling has it's moments) it's been funny to look back on. I always thought my love of writing stated at Secondary School. It was where I remember writing stories that went on for pages and pages. At 13 I remember the class being told to write a story for our English homework. Everybody else in class did a story in two maybe three pages long. Mine was handed in at 13 and a half pages long. I remember my teacher at the time commenting how long it was. It has always stuck with me the encouragement she showed me. In hindsight I believe that it was her encouragement that made me carry on writing stories in my spare time. I still have every story I wrote growing up. I found them all in the back of our garage. Of course the older I got the longer the stories got and most of the stories that followed exceeded well beyond 100 pages.

As a child my mum said I used to love being told stories. Weather they were being read from a book or my grandad making up stories. My (late) grandad was huge influence on me growing up and he always believed that I had a talent. My grandad always had a great story to tell. I like to think that I get that off him.

Day 13 Nadal Makes Sure There's No Surprises Today!

(Photo Credit: aeltc - N. Tingle)

It's Sunday July 4th and that can mean only one thing. It's the men's single final day. For the first time in nine years Federer was not one half of the draw. Is this the start of Nadal's reign at Wimbledon? Only time will tell.

Two men set foot on centre court at just after two o'clock. One one man would be leaving the winner. That man was Rafael Nadal. After the first couple of games it looked like Nadal was going to have a fight on his hands. After all this was a guy who has beaten the world numbers two and three to get to the final. Unfortunately for Berdych Nadal was playing some of his best tennis. Berdych was just not allowed to play his best game as Nadal had the Wimbledon title firmly in his sight.

So now the end of another Wimbledon championship is here. A tournament that has seen records made, champions fall, 54,000 balls used and NO rain!! If there is one thing you can't say about Wimbledon 2010 it's that the tournament has been boring. So here's hoping we have another exciting Wimbledon next year.

Day 12 It's Ladies Day

(Photo Credit: aeltc - N. Tingle)

The second Saturday of Wimbledon, as always, was to feature very heavily a Williams. Wimbledon 2010 was no different.

With sister Venus Williams out of the picture, you got a sense that Serena Williams could enjoy this years Wimbledon ladies final. While Zvonareva has had a chance to shine this tournament and having some good wins under belt, she shouldn't feel like a looser this tournament. Facing one of if not THE toughest woman on the WTA tour Zvonareva should look back and think to herself 'I played well'.

Serena Williams has now won her fourth Wimbledon title (one more and she will be equal to her sister). This also marked her 14 grand slam win. She still has a long way to go though to beat Margret Smith Court who won 24.

Day 11 Men's Semi-Final Day

(Photo Credit: aeltc - M. Hangst)

It was a day when history was going to made. A day that for the first time in seven years wasn't featuring Roger Federer. It was a day when each man had to fight for a place in the men's final.

First up on centre court saw Djokovic loose against man of the moment Berdych. Berdych was on fire in much the same way as he was against Federer the match before. Djokovic looked like the unluckiest man in the world in his match. But that not to say that Berdych played excellent and was playing the better game. A fully deserving men's semi-final winner.

Next up was the match the whole country was gearing up to and both men had a lot to prove. Murray was always going to have the home court advantage but Nadal is not exactly hated at Wimbledon. Both men played so well and its a pitty both of these men were in the same half of the draw. Think how great a final this match could have been. But unfortunately Nadal was (only slightly) the better man on the day. Here's hoping Murray will find all the success he truly deserves one day. After all he is the only man in the top four who hasn't won a major title yet. But I do think it will happen for him one day. And I think that day will be in either the US Open or Australian Open.

This years mens final is at least going to be a little different this year.

Day 10 Ladies Semi-Final Day

(Photo Credit: aeltc - N. Tingle)

What I liked about this years ladies semi-final matches was that both winners really had to work for there wins.

First up on centre court today saw Zvonareva and Pironkova. I must admit that at the start of this match I really wanted Pironkova to win after her performance against Venus Williams in the quarter finals. But by the third set I think Zvonareva had really been able to turn the match around. The former world number five was a real force and played so well and really deserves her place in the final.

After Kvitova pushed Serena Williams to a first set tie-break it looked like we had another possible shock at Wimbledon. Unfortunately for Kvitova she just didn't quite have enough shots to win the all important tie-break. While Williams won in straight sets the score doesn't quite give Kviova the credit she deserves. At times she was really pushing Williams and this was by no means an easy win for the American.

So Friday 2nd July will see the men's semi-finals and I honestly don't think I have seen a more exciting and wide open semi round in years. However my predictions for tomorrow are Djokovic to win against Berdych in four sets and Murray to beat Nadal in four sets.