With bubbles..

Another new year.. and no doubt another long list of past 'failures' addressed via an even longer list of resolutions.. I've come to the conclusion that January is the worst time to attack body issues.. Christmas left over stock is still hanging around and none of us have booked the 'bikini holiday' yet so wheres the incentive? I have instead chosen a far more simple task..
My new years resolution is to have a bath every Sunday night. With bubbles. I know it sounds silly but theres is something selfish and serene about a long soak in the tub.. And I think this is the sort of resolution I may actually stick to.
Before starting my new job I indulged in a bath at least twice a week.. Since starting said job I've managed 3 in 4 months. My evenings now leave me with precious time to spare and Sunday nights are all about cramming followed by a sleepless night.. A shite end to a weekend. So now.. Once I've finished working.. I have a long soak in the tub and just breathe..
Three Sundays' into January and I'm still keeping to my resolution (rather predictably not to the diet).
Sometimes doing nothing really is the best use of your time.. *yawns* Night.x

And so a brand new adventure begins..

...and yet it doesn't feel so new. I've spent the last few days contemplating a new blog entry and toying with new names... "The adventures of my Essex slippers".. etc etc. But there's been too much change recently so for now I'm sticking with it.

As some of you readers will be aware (is there anyone there?), I've recently made some massive leaps personally and thus have ended up with many 'firsts' and 'news' to face. Whilst some of these have begun, I now find myself in a very in-the-middle place. It's an odd little place between the past and the future where mostly I just eat toffees and watch Jeremy Kyle. But unfortunately this place has left me too much space to think (despite not having enough space for shoe or cake tin storage).

During one of my long days of watching shite daytime television I happened upon a favourite film of mine which, I usually avoid. I know how odd this sounds but it's one of those movies that strikes such a chord with me that I usually feel far too emotional to watch it. So anyway, I was watching 500 days of Summer and feeling completely miserable about everything in life, as per usual (and washing up.. such a fucking grown up these days) and got thinking about past relationships. Now I wont bore you with the heartbreak stories of my past, you all have your own. It's what secretly bonds many of us together and what I find so emotional about this damn film .. everyone at some point in their life has felt like Tom feels in that movie. Shit.

The point in the film which always gets me in particular is the moment he observes his dream woman showing off her engagement ring to someone and realising he's lost her forever. Everyone has those memories of important parts in every love story when you realise it's all gone horribly wrong and sadly those are the moments you will always dwell on. As I said before, I love this film but I do think there's one massive part to this story that they missed. Maybe it would be 'Day 501'... the day you can look back on all of it, good and bad, with a smile on your face. Past relationships are as they say on the tin.. in the past but whilst packing and unpacking my whole life over the last few weeks I have noticed how many items are linked to these past incidents.

I, like most women went out of my way to destroy and remove most visible signs of past scars by binning jewellery, photographs, underwear, letters and anything else that reminded me of them. But now I realise.. they're everywhere. They're in my cd collection, they're holding my jewellery, they're hanging in my lounge and hiding in my bookcase.. and I'm ok with that. Living in the past? Naaaa... I wear my scars on the outside and most of them are so pretty.

and don't worry.. I'll watch Disney films tomorrow and cheer the fuck up. X

New Wellies..

My last entry was a small rant about the insane distances I had been travelling in a week and I'm afraid to say it didn't stop there.. but it was worth it. The result of my driving missions has been a new opportunity and adventure to begin after this summer.. and I couldn't be more excited!

It does however mean packing up my shoes and moving to a new place.. which isn't such a bad thing and will of course mean needing new wellies (taking my Portsmouth or Norfolk wellies just wouldn't be right!). Before the big move there will of course be houses and furniture and all sorts to find but I'm going to put that off until at least the start of the summer.. I still have unfinished business here for now. I do feel happier however, thinking that at least come new year there will be something to reflect on as defining 2013, well more than just one thing. Change can be good.. and sometimes just feels like the necessary next step.. even if just a few steps at a time.

Some more change from this week.. these are, of course, my new slippers.. You would think we were out of slipper weather but the snow this week confirmed it for me.. its never safe to put your slippers away! In other shoe news this week, I'm having real trouble deciding on what footwear we wear in this weather.. one second its raining, then sunny, then snow.. fleece lined flip flops perhaps? Lets see what the weekend will bring..

P.S. I found this article about a couple who have photographed their feet on travels around the world (I didn't copy them I swear!).. Its a nice read and I'm very jealous their feet have been to such beautiful places.. Happy Reading :)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293001/The-feet-saw-world-couple-documented-life-photos-feet.html

Busy Feet

Over the last few weeks my shoes and I have been rushed off our feet. Several cross-country trips have been endured in our trusty yet very dirty little Fiesta and many scary tasks completed. Unfortunately, my last post was a negative in anticipation of the hell-ish week which was last week.. and yet when it actually arrived.. it was alright. I am yet to know the success or outcome of my meetings etc but I felt like I deserved a treat.. so I bought myself these little pink roses.

I know traditionally flowers should be bought by a man as a gift.. but you don't need a man to have pretty flowers. I deserved them so I bought them.. a motto I rely on too much (and probably why I have so many shoes).

Since the rubbish part of the week ended my comfy boots have taken me to some shops without much money spent luckily.. for my bank balance..and so what of next week? I need to keep my slippers on and get my head down on some work.. but that seems such a dull idea.

I think perhaps I'll just waste/reallocate time to playing with my little friend here. She's settled in well and is busy learning what she can bite, chew, attack, eat and sleep on.. it's a tough life. I think I want to swap.

P.S. A recent purchase of some new tights has left me to conclude that you don't need to pay big pennies for nice tights. I bought some black 150 dernier from Asda for £3 and they're looooovely.. get yourself some.

 Growing older without growing up..

Since our last meeting I've had a birthday.. not a big one but a birthday all the same. I've also bought some new shoes. A connection? Perhaps.. the beige heels were for birthday drinks and the animal print with birthday pennies. Otherwise I feel the shoe and birthday link breaks away.. as most things appear to be unlinked to the growing old process.

Last year (in birthday years) was very much a 'getting through it' year. In the middle of a three year course it neither felt like the beginning of the end of anything and so expectations for last year were so clear.. survival. This year however, is very much the end of something. The race is on and the end of my three year itch is fast approaching.. but where to go next?

The last few weeks have thrown up opportunities to posh-frock up and present a more solid version of myself than I feel, to potential employers. More are lined up and so it would appear that progress is being made, lessons learned etc.. I'm not so sure. It's hard to move onto the next chapter before you've finished the last few lines of the previous.It's just premature.

For the time being, I'll be focussing on my juggling act and also on finding a cosy chocolate brown jumper dress to match some new tights I was given as a present.. any help in this quest would be much appreciated.

The only new chapter.. scrap that.. new book I wish to share with you is Belle. She is a beautiful bundle who has moved in to take advantage of the garden and space and to liven the place up a bit. So far I've not had much of a chance to get to know her but very much look forward to sharing her with you all.. once I've had fun having her all to myself!

and obviously.. a picture of her paws will follow :)

Not so new beginnings... 

Every year how to celebrate 'New Year' seems to be topical and of great importance for most.. and I usually, get dragged into believing it is an event worth celebrating despite my heartfelt hate of the meaning of New Years Eve. A new beginning is sold as a chance to 'right the wrongs' of the previous year as if to suggest last year was a wash out and a chance to stage a miraculous development into a thinner, healthier, more successful version of yourself. How can we begin to become a thinner version of ourselves when we still haven't drunk the cupboards dry of all the odd bottles and haven't even opened all the Christmas biscuits from various persons who clearly do not know you that well "Dark Chocolate... Thank you!" Euggh. 

What I hate about new year and in particular new years resolutions the most, I think, is the rather ungrateful way in which we assess our last year on the planet as if to insist we could have achieved so much more had we have just be thinner and healthier etc etc. With some exception, I'd say 2012 was a bloody good year for me. I worked as hard as I could, spent as much time with my loved ones as I could, got the most out of limited money including treating myself frequently, went on holiday (twice), went to the Olympics and managed to finish the year surrounded by the people I love the most. How can I improve on that? 

Well obviously this year should be something of a transition of sorts for me and 2013 could turn into something of a big year.. but aren't they all? No one can really say they stood still for 2012 and even if they did there is a big reason to be pleased with that.. They didn't lose anyone, didn't make any big risks that didn't pay of, didn't go for a dramatic hair cut and spend 6 months in hats, didn't get ill or flooded out of their home or sent to war etc etc.. This New Year business is really quite morbid you know. 

and so my new years resolution is.. more of the same please. No one really likes change. 

Friday Night

After a week that felt longer than would be measurable on a ruler, Friday seems a complete wash-out. All I want to do is sleep but since going to sleep at 6pm would make we wake up at 4am I found myself something to do.. I donned my onesie and treated myself to an episode of Homeland. With fresh orange juice.

Anyone who knows me, knows I have a slight fetish for think/fluffy winter socks.. but fluffy socks and a onesie? Please... Its not December yet. And so I de-sock.. and to my horror unearth the most disgusting winter toe nails you ever did see. Oh.The.Shame. Chipped nail polish is not the most unsociable of beauty laxes, especially not in winter, but I usually pride myself in exceptional toenail grooming.. Which made me think, when did I get too busy to paint my toenails? It's a task I usually enjoy, along with my a self-manicure and eyebrow tweeze.. It just makes you feel neat and proper.. so when did I let this slip?

I removed nail polish from my fingers yesterday that had been chipped for well over a week, Oh.The.Shame.

Clearly a busy schedule is to blame, I have spent longer than I can remember apologising to friends I've not had time to see and apparently now I'm letting myself down too.. this isnt on. How can we be ready to face any challenges a day can bring when underneath our tights and socks we're vastly under-prepared? It's an insult to shoes.

So I had a stern word with myself.. and a tweeze, ex foliate, moisturise, floss, polish and brush. And when I get up in the morning (after what appears to be a long overdue beauty sleep) I'm painting my toenails. Bright Pink.