Happy New You

There’s nothing quite like the new year to get you thinking about ‘stuff’ – careers/relationships/ friends/ hobbies/ that one room you still haven’t gotten round to finishing painting.  Things never seem as glaringly obvious as they do at the start of the year. Lest I spend yet another year ‘fudging’ my way through day to day activities and mental skirmishes, I’m turning my hand to writing some new years resolutions.  2012 is the year of achieving; the year of ticking boxes; the year of tasting sweet success - hopefully not in the form of a tub of chocolate orange as i currently know it. Basically the year I don’t end the year pondering what I’ve done with the past 12 months. So without further ado, I present a first draft of my 2012 resolutions.

1. Blog more. Indulge inner Carrie Bradshaw and Bridget Jones by throwing verbal diarrhea into the computer and making public to the unfortunate eyes of mr and mrs joe bloggs (pun unfortunate but relevant). Refrain from trying to make blog posts sound clever and ‘career driven,’ it’s awkward and uncomfortable for both reader and writer and as natural as a TOWIE tan or Keira Knightly’s acting ability.
2. Learn the full causes behind the Korean War. A result of not knowing the social context of one episode of Mad Men.
3.  Get printed in a publication. For something ‘cool and interesting.’
4.  Get Sky broadband so I can write these damn posts in the comfort of my own home rather than sat at my desk at work in a cold office when I should be home in my pjs and eating my gingerbread house. Importance of ginger should be noted!
5. Meet Stephen Fry.
6.  Plan more sober activities with friends. Well activities that start out sober. Vodka and jager have left us all still catching up from 2009. This must change. Girly brunch officially arranged at the breakfast club for Saturday by yours truly. No time like the present as they say.
7.  Do something to add to my CV and self worth.
8. Win something. Deliberately vague due to difficulty. Sadly with no exceptional skill sets this will prove a tricky one to complete. Not won an award since first year of uni.  Dining off ‘Best Hair award,’ proving increasingly challenging 6 years on.
9. Visit a foreign city to experience another culture. Unusual beer in Prague/ pedaling in Venice. Location and experience TBC just DMH (definitely must happen).
10. Spread the self-coined word ‘amazeballs’ - definition meaning: fantastic, wonderful - so that by the end of the year I hear one person I do not know, utter the word with genuine zeal.
11. Locate the 3 x A4 pad ‘book’ I wrote at the age of 8 and lament at how my linguistic skills have not moved on since.
12. Own THAT Chanel bag. Having paired up being successful at ‘life’ with possessing that quilted black , I’ve decided this is the year I’m finally going to achieve the desired state of ‘successfullness.’

Now with draft one of my resolutions out there on paper, a friend of a friend shared a lovely little tradition he does with his friends at the start of a new year and any other ‘momentous’ occasion. A list of things you a grateful for. Normally overtly nice conversations such as these leave me lunging for the bin but in the spirit of the game i'll seek to overcome my unease and play long. 

So, things I am grateful for

1. Porridge. I am neither normal nor nice without the stuff. Without oats I am much akin to a fish on dry land. Grotesque, unsightly, abnormal (including movements) and near dead.
2. Ginger. The flavouring.  I have been known to inhale an entire packet of ginger nut biscuits before Tracy Barlow has the opportunity to utter the words ‘stupid cow’ on Coronation Street. To Harriet at Dorset Cereals, I thank you for providing with my gingerbread-flavoured porridge. The moleskine Christmas gift you received was a sign of eternal gratitude at marrying 2 age-old love affairs of mine.
3. Feel it’s appropriate to include people at some point now so point 3 is the number for my friends and family to get a look in. 
4. Securing a winning pitch to Kellogg’s back in December 2011 ensuring I keep my job and fridge/cupboards full. Also helps with various previously listed resolutions.
5. Living in London. A city that finally gets me. Or perhaps I’m borderline boring and pale in comparison to the Shoreditch ‘London dickheads.’ I’m sorry that I’m not dressing my 20/20 vision with lens free glasses.
6. Fleecy socks. I swear there is no-one on gods green earth with colder feet than mine.
7. Oyster cards. Left my card in my pre Christmas gift purse and had to purchase a Balham to London bridge return ticket this morning. £8.60? Boris, mate, you having a laugh?
8. Epipens. A brush with death several months back has resulted in a new love for the adrenalin filled jabby things. It’s as in the daily bag as my benefit blusher. NB: must practice on an orange with an out of date one this week.
9. McDonalds for adding those slimy Gherkins to their burgers. Without them those tasty artery blockers could not be legally classified as food.
10. Innocent for providing me with real food to help reverse damage caused by gratitude 9.

As the weather outside is as dark as my liver on Christmas Day – Christmas Eve was a tad ‘merrier’ than planned – I simply must dash off to the cosy banklet and dinner awaiting me at mi casa. The blustering winds of this morning have not subsided and so if you never hear from me again it is not because I fell at the first hurdle of resolution 1, but because my umbrella has caused me to do a ‘Mary Poppins’ around London and beyond!

Ciao just for now. hopefully.

Happy New Year all!!

x

What the Ancient Chinese did that our predecessors did not

this image can be enlarged by clicking on it

Whilst we in Britain are still being left to dry out in the barren world of graduate recruitment courtesy of the greed of our predecessors, the Chinese as usual appear to be thriving. 

Maybe their proverbs are more literal on closer inspection. 

I would have appreciated more sowing of seeds from Generation Y.

The North/South Divide

PC
Political Correctness to a Southerner
Prevention better than Cure to a Northerner

During my Easter visit back home I came across this sign outside a local newsagent. Nothing could have summed up the North/South Divide better. 


To learn more about the campaign visit the Guardian Northerner Blog.

Darron Gibson. Pecked to death in under 2 hours

Whilst the rest of us were tweeting merrily away and enjoying the last day of our prolonged Easter weekend, Manchester United midfielder Darron Gibson was being savagely pecked to death on social media site Twitter.


In just 2 short hours Gibson had signed up, stood alongside many of his fellow team mates and also shut down his account as a result of barrages of abuse being launched his way. Rio Ferdinand, his team mate and the man behind informing many a tweetee of Gibson's arrival to Twitter, asked his fans to 'show him some love tweeps.' And the tweeps tweeted, but not of love.

Some such fine examples are as follows:

@dgibbo28 my mate thought you were about 33 years old in the heart of midfield! Movement like pirlo!!

@dgibbo28 Nothing would make me happier than if we sold you in the summer, you're probably a nice bloke, but an awful footballer.

@dgibbo28 your performance on saturday was one of the worst I've ever seen of any utd player. scared of the ball much?'

@dgibbo28 hasn't tweeted yet. Seems somewhat fitting after the countless anonymous performances we've seen from the 'footballer'

@dgibbo28 team do all hard work keeping possession then u hit row Z every fuckin time!!

@dgibbo28 the biggest compliment i can give you is that you are better than Carrick

Then again, with Rio Ferdinand single handedly managing your PR, what was to be expected? Would you trust a man - who at the time of writing - has his Twitter status as 'Hacienda classics are getting blown out the system!! Voodoo ray....don't scandalize mine....salsa house!! Rave in the room Oi oi !!' 

Ferdinand has been keen to quash rumours that Gibson departed due to abuse and the reality was merely that he had found Twitter boring - is it just me or is this increasingly sounding like an atrocious marketing campaign? Ferdinand tweeted: "He came on to see what the lads were up to....he came off because he couldn't be bothered with it not any other reason.” 


97 minutes and he's already bored? It's a bloody good job a game of football doesn't last any longer then isn't it...

Tip: How to get your 5 a day this week with just 1 vegTABLE

If you are what you eat then I sir am a vegTABLE

The Sun is Shining and the Sky is Blue

Straight down, right at Camden Locks - the girl with the Chanel glasses, blue wide brimmed hat and pint of cider = Me
For full size image click here 

A potential recipe for disaster is innocently saved

So it would seem that my previous post on my love of the Innocent brand is something in the way of a tale of two parts.

Upon querying dear 'Grandmother's Lemon Merigue Pie' as a traditional dessert, I felt compelled to write to those in the know and put the question to them myself. My now good friend Tim was singled out as my chief point of contact and was awarded the following 'you have a new message'...

Good Afternoon Tim.

I hope you are just super on this Thursday afternoon and are looking forward to the prospect of packing away your halo tomorrow for a weekend of devilishly fun antics.

Before you do however, I do wish that you could help me on a small matter? I am led to believe that you are something of a fellow foody like myself - if I am correct in my assumption that you are behind the tantalising cheesecake blog post that is - and thus have you down as a chap who knows his brandy baskets from his bread and butter pudding.

Being originally from Manchester - and it is common knowledge that us northerners are particularly well adept in the art of baking - my grandmother has continually supplied our family with an assortment of sweet treats over the many years. She makes a mean Meringue, not too dissimilar from your own 'most popular' recipe in your Great Recipe Archive. I have noted that there does however appear to be one rather large difference. My grandmother makes a luscious lemon 'meringue' pie whilst yours makes a 'merigue' pie. Now I simply must enquire as to whether this is a traditional English dessert I know nothing about, or whether this is merely a sugar induced typo from one too many slices of cake.

I confess I would be much relieved if it were a case of the latter. Confirmation of such would be ever so re-assuring to my pudding prowess...

best wishes,

eve

True to the image I uphold of them, I received a warm and much welcomed response from Tim at the Fruit Towers.

Hi Eve
Thanks for taking the time to write to us. We’re not entirely sure what a ‘merigue’ is either. The Great Recipe Archive is of course user generated content and our website isn’t clever enough to pick up the finer culinary details like the misspelling of meringue. Then again maybe we’re both wrong and this is a yet to be discovered variation of the classic lemon meringue pie.

Have a fantastic day and don’t for get to have a Guinness or an Irish Coffee.
Thanks
Tim 

*****************
Hey, pressed O
Our favourite new squeeze is here
www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/juice

So I wish to lastly thank Tim for his speedy reply and inform him that when next in my local Sainsbury's, I'll be sure to be on the look out for his new squeeze.

Who's that Girl??

Hi, my name is Eve and what's new with me? 
Well,I'm loving living in London!

You may see me getting on the tube at Camden town where I now live, viewing an art exhibition at Southbank, involving myself in a fashion shoot in Oxford Circus, having lunch in Covent Garden with friends old & new, experiencing the theatre in the West End or even simply perched on a bench in Soho engrossed in the latest edition of Creative Review, Vogue or the Observer (if it's Sunday). 

I am a self confessed fashionista at heart and an admirer of all that goes with it. Working in shoot co-ordination with fashion designers & photographers, account managing in marketing & creative agencies, organising events, writing copy & PR - if it's creative, I'm fascinated.

Most of all, I'm loving this city and all the exciting opportunities it's already bringing, through the many new, like-minded & creative people from diverse genres I'm now meeting along the way...

eve