Trying to be a Good Girl

Harry Potter

2008-02-05T18:47:00.000Z

I've just finished rereading all 7 Harry Potter books, a task I set myself at Christmas. Last July I was lucky enough to be one of the 1700 people who met J K Rowling at the midnight launch of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and here's an account of that night:

Our allotted slot was 2 o’clock so we left our hotel (my mum insisted on booking a hotel) around 1:30 and arrived at The Natural History Museum at 1:45 and joined a long queue outside. We were sandwiched between a pretentious family of 4, the children looked like Rod and Tod from The Simpsons and their conversation revolved around the gargoyles on the apexes of the roof and a really cute couple who were at sixth form and were discussing myspace.

Around 2 o’clock a security guard appeared and announced JK Rowling would be taking a 20 minute break and then they would start letting people inside again. Half an hour later we were given free smoothies and the queue began to slowly move inside. We got inside about 3 and we were given our Goody Bags which contained the Book, balloons, stickers and a bookmark. We then faced another wait in the holding area inside, we did have a nice hot chocolate whilst we waited though. About 3:45 we joined the queue to meet Jo, I had managed to read the first chapter by then, but only because a kid behind me seemed determined to spoil it for me, Mum had unwittingly read a passage from the last chapter and knew who didn’t die.

Finally it was my turn, I handed my book to Jo and said “Thank you for signing my book, I’m really looking forward to reading it “ she replied “I hope you enjoy it” I said “So do I” then she said “it’s my favourite”

Next, it was Mum’s turn, Mum said “You must be getting tired now” and Jo replied “No the adrenalin has started to kick in, thank you for coming” (I’m not sure if this is verbatim as I didn’t hear their converstion)

It was 4 by that time and I was ready for bed, worth it though

Resolution #9 - Get a Fringe

2008-02-04T16:37:00.000Z

I've wanted a fringe ever since watching Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation back in 2003, but I've never had the confidence to go for it. In the meantime I've had bobs, I've gone blonde, I've gone back to brunette and I've grown my hair long again.

On Saturday I decided it was time to bite the bullet and get a fringe cut in (the photo on the left is an artist impression as I haven't had a photo taken yet!) It looks pretty good though, even if I do say so myself, I've just about gotten used to it, apparently it brings out my cheek bones and eyes. Last year when I went back to brunette a lot of people remarked I seemed happier than when I was blonde, so I'm hoping that my new fringe will bring me a new confidence.

Resolution #8 - Watching the News

2008-02-01T13:24:00.000Z

I've never really been a big fan of the news, I generally find it quite depressing as it's always horrible things that are reported, however my ignorance about current event is quite shaming. So in a bid to become a more rounded person, I have decided to take an interest in the world affairs. Every morning I watch the news at 8am on GMTV, I haven't really started watching the 10pm news yet though, but I do now spend more time everyday reading the various news stories on the BBC website, well mainly the ones about showbiz news like Britney Spears' hospitalization, but it's a start.

Pub Quiz

2008-01-31T14:32:00.000Z

Tonight there is a pub quiz at work, well technically it is a restaurant quiz, as our company has hired a restaurant from which to host it, but the general emphasis is on the quiz and not the location! This is the 3rd quiz in 2 years and I have high hopes of coming in the middle somewhere, it's all actually quite strict you are only allowed 6 members in your team and team have to be submitted 1 week in avance to secure a place. There will be 5 rounds and a picture round, last time my favourite round was about luxury items like caviar and rolex watches. We also get copious amounts of free wine, beer and pizza. The winners will get bottles of champagne and the losers will get a wooden spoon. The quiz is normal over by 9 and then the serious drinking starts. Several more serious teams have been practising all day, my team has been practising drinking!

Masterchef

2008-01-30T23:08:00.000Z

I have a new addiction to the cookery show Masterchef. When I was growing up Masterchef was quite a naff show, even though I loved it. It was presented by Lloyd Grossman and each week 3 chef from a different regions would compete, there were nine heats which lead to three semi-finals and a final, the winner was given the dubious title of Masterchef 1993 and not much else as far as I can remember. There was a red, blue and yellow kitchen and each chef had a couple of hours to cook a very pretensious 3 course meal. The judges Grossman and 2 other semi famous people would deliberate, cogitate and digest before reaching a decision.

Thankfully the format has been updated and now the prize is your very own restaurant. It now starts with 6 contestants per show and runs 4 nights a week for 8 weeks. We are currently on the firts heats where for the first challenge the contestant are given a variety of ingredients from which to make one dish, for example liver, bacon, potatoes, smoke haddock, cream and summer berries, I always like to imagine what I would cook at this stage, it's never very inspired. The best 3 go through to the next round, which is to cook in a professional restaurant for one service, I don't think I would particular relish this part of the competition and it doesn't really seem to have any bearings on choosing the winner. The final stage is when the contestants get to cook a two course meal of their choosing for the judges, I have yet to decide on my two courses. We haven't got to the semi final yet so I'm not sure how the competition progresses, but I can't wait to find out.

Juno

2008-01-29T21:37:00.000Z

Tonight I went to see Juno at free preview screening organised by the lovely people at the Sunday Times. I had seen the trailer for Juno and thought it looked really funny and fully intended to pay to see it when it is released in England next week, so it was great to see it for free and early. Unfortunately the film did not live up to the trailer, that's not to say it isn't a good film, it's just not that great either.

Juno (played by Oscar nominated Ellen Page) is a 16 year old girl who just found out she's pregnant, unable to go through with an abortion, she decides to have the baby, but then give it away to a couple who can't have children. My main problem with the film is that I can't believe 16 year old American teenage talk the way Juno does, she so sarcastic and wisecracking that the dialogue sometime seems a little forced, a little to hip, a little to trendy. That said Ellen Page is a very good actress, and the supporting cast is also excellent. The film reminded me of Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine. There are some extremely funny and touching moments and the soundtrack is great. I did enjoy the film, but I wouldn't rush out to buy the DVD, or buy when it's on sale.

Resolution #7 - Going Wireless

2008-01-28T12:56:00.000Z

So I don't really think making my laptop wireless is going to make me a better person per se, but you never know, prior to this weekend I could only use the internet in our lounge and seeing as how I normally avoid our lounge, I wasn't using the internet at home. This is actually probably a good thing, but at the moment I am job hunting and flat hunting so I need to be able to access the internet all the time. So now I am experiencing the joys of a hazy internet connection in my bedroom and it has made me very happy!

End of an Era

2008-01-25T13:44:00.000Z

It is with a heavy heart that I share the news with you that the company I work for has finally banned Facebook. To be fair I'm kind of over Facebook anyway, I still experience the occasional moment of joy when I discover someone who bullied me at school is now fat, but aside from that there are several low points, for example finding out someone I bullied at school is now happily married, or having to trawl through 20 applications before I can write on someone's wall. However several times during the past couple of days I have found myself at a loss of what to do at work as normally i would log on to Facebook for those few moments. I'm sure I'll get over it quickly though and find something else to entertain me!

Resolution #6 - Ballet

2008-01-24T21:46:00.000Z

Some of you who used to read my old blog may remember that I used to go to weekly Ballet Classes, well that all stopped, mainly because of my then new job. Two years ago I joined a company that's offices are outside of Central London which meant the journey to the Ballet Class was a mission in itself, plus on the same night as the Ballet said company provides free wine for all employees. So Ballet got cast aside for drinking. I've missed Ballet alot and regularly regretted getting plastered at work when I could have been at a different kind of Barr altogether. So tonight I took a stand, I ran out of work at 6 and got to the class with a good 10 minutes to spare. The class was twice as busy as it used to be, but just as good as I remembered, it is still taught by the same Brazilian gay man, who uses sex, relationships and politics as analogies to explain various dance moves. Due to the size of the group from next week there will be a class on Wednesday which finally means I can doing the Ballet and the drinking. I am very pleased!

Ooze

2008-01-23T17:36:00.001Z

Last night we went for dinner at Ooze http://www.ooze.biz/about/index.html an amazing Risotto restaurant. Risotto is possibly my favourite food, although it takes 30 minutes of constant attention, it so satisfying. I make a very nice roast chicken one and vary it by adding asparagus or mushrooms to counter balance all the butter and parmesan. Emma makes a delicious butternut squash risotto which I keep meaning to ask for the recipe of. Last night I had a meatball risotto, which was lovely but one of my meatballs was a very garish pink colour and I’m concerned I might have food poisoning despite not suffering from any ailments today. Sadly Baked Alaska is no longer on their dessert menu so I had to make do with Tiramisu which was yummy.

Oscar Noms

2008-01-22T16:26:00.000Z

I am absolutely delighted that my future husband, George Clooney, has been nominated for Best Actor at the Oscars this year for his role in the eponymous Michael Clayton. I was food shopping in Tesco on Monday lunchtime when the announcement was made, I was in a very swanky Tesco that had a number of flat screen TVs so you can watch the news while you shop, while this might seem like a cool and innovative idea it was actually very distracting! Anyway back on topic, I saw Michael Clayton at the cinema and while I thought Clooney’s performance wasv nuanced I’m not sure that I really understood the film, Tom Wilkinson has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in this film. I was very very pleased that Keria Knightley was not nominated for her role in Atonement as she does not deserve anything for her performance!

Falling off the Wagon

2008-01-21T17:00:00.000Z

So I have broken a couple of New Year's Resolutions this weekend, on Saturday I was at my Mum’s house and was happily drinking a cup of tea, having completely forgotten I had given tea up. As soon as I remembered I put the offending mug down and had a glass of water instead.

Far worse though was on Sunday night when I had a Gin and Tonic as a nightcap, I had been drinking wine, but fancied a spirit and the bar we were at didn’t serve Bacardi. I had to stop drinking Gin in December as after drinking a large amount at a work Christmas Party I said some inappropriate things to a colleague and then woke up the next morning with terrible anxiety. Whilst my behaviour last night was impeccable, I woke up this morning at 5:30 with a panic attack, that can only have been casued by the Gin – I have well and truly learnt my lesson

Lottery

2008-01-18T15:26:00.000Z

I won the lottery on Wednesday, well a tenner, it’s the 2nd time I’ve won recently and I decided to reinvest my money wisely. I buy my tickets online and play the same numbers on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I still had one go left on Saturday, but I thought I would renew my ticket from the folloing Wednesady, however when I bought the ticket for 5 weeks it automatically bought a ticket for the next draw which is Saturday so I now have 2 tickets for Saturday with exactly the same number and nobody can do anything about it! I’d better win big.

Torchwood

2008-01-17T16:56:00.000Z

Last Night saw the return of Torchwood to British screens. Torchwood is a spin off of Doctor Who and whilst Doctor Who is family friendly Torchwood has a lot of swearing and sex in it as this is clever.

The first series of Torchwood was awful, the only good thing about it is John “Sexual Terrorist” Barrowman, to be honest there are only 2 reasons I intend to tune into the second series 1) James “Spike from Buffy” Marsters was in the first episode and may pop up later in the series, and 2) Martha Jones (Doctor Who’s companion in the last series) is definitely going to be in 3 episodes.

The first episode was really mixed, I loved James Marsters, but found the Torchwood team as annoying as ever, Captain Jack (Barrowman’s character) cannot keep it in his pants, he got very upset when Gwen announced she was engaged, he snogged James Marsters and then asked Ianto out on a date. There was an awful fishlike alien at the beginning, that spouted philosophical nonsense about the team before it was killed. The plot was ok, but very silly, I know I’ll continue watching and I know I’ll be disappointed.

Yo Sushi

2008-01-16T10:14:00.000Z

Tonight me and some of the girls from work are going to take advantage of the 50% sale at Yo Sushi. Yo Sushi is a hideously over priced restaurant, if you’ve not been, Sushi goes round on a conveyor belt on colour coded plates, each colour denotes a different price for example, grey is the most expensive at £5. You help yourself and at the end of the meal your plates are counted up and you nomally end up paying out a small fortune for not very much food. However once a year, everything is half price and therefore reasonable. There is a small price to pay though, and that’s that you normally have to wait an hour for a table.

Red Light Robots

2008-01-15T13:28:00.000Z

Last Night I went to see my friend Duncan’s band Red Light Robots perform their first ever gig in Kentish Town, I thought it was a bit weird going to a gig on Monday night, but I was obviously in the minority as there were tons of people there, mainly students so I felt quite old.

Luckily they were the first band on so we didn’t have to wait to long to hear them, Duncan played the bass guitar and sang their best song. The lead singer despite being Northern sang with an American accent which was odd, I’m please to say the band were good.

Rather than watch the next 2 bands though we went back into the bar to chat, which I think was preferable. I quite like going out on a Monday Night, it’s wrong in a good way!

27 Dresses

2008-01-11T12:47:00.000Z

Last night me and Emma went to a preview screening of 27 Dresses, it’s not actually coming out in the UK until March so it was quite exciting to see a film for free and months before anybody else. The film is about Jane who has been a bridesmaid 27 times and goes to at least 1 wedding a week, but has not gotten married herself, mainly because she is madly in love with her boss, who doesn’t notice her. Unluckily for Jane, her younger sister Tess comes on to the scene and quickly becomes engaged to the man of Jane’s dreams and Jane is stuck planning their wedding. It’s a very cute and funny movie, it’s also very touching and me and Emma both tear-ed up at some parts, it’s especially poignant for us as Emma is currently planning her wedding and I’ll be her bridesmaid. On a side note, James Marsden stars as Jane’s love interest and I was very dubious at first after not finding him attractive in anything, but he’s surprisingly hot.

Resolution #5 - Drink More Water

2008-01-10T11:25:00.000Z

Now I’m not drinking tea, I’m desperately trying to increase my water intake. You are meant to drink either 8 pints or 8 glasses a day, I always forget which and I normally only manage 3. The problem with drinking lots of water is constant trips to the ladies room, but then that is time not spent at my desk which is a bonus.

Fashion Faux Pas

2008-01-08T13:03:00.000Z

Today I am wearing my green knitted dresss, which I love but which has a very short skirt (to put it in perspective the sleeves of the dress are roughly the same length). I'm quite a short person, so I don't have yards of leg on display, but I am very paranoid about everyone being able to see my bum, I think I must have shrunk the dress in the year I have owned it as the first few times I woreit, I also wore fishnets tights, which did to be fair draw some looks. Today I have teamed it with opaque brown tights and my brown uggs. I have also got on a nice long necklace, sitting down i look hot, standing up I'm not sure. Emma wants me to give the dress to her and after today I might.

Resolution #4 - Healthy Eating

2008-01-07T17:16:00.001Z

My attempts to avoid caffeine have been futile, I haven’t drank tea since Thursday, but on Friday night I drank 3 cans of full fat coke (mixed with 3 large bacardis) this was in a bid to stay relatively sober, so my intentions were pure, but I felt really gross doing it!

On Saturday morning I decided to push on with my health kick, for Christmas my Dad bought me Gordon Ramsay’s Fast Food cookery book and I looked through it for recipes I could make, I have to say I was extremely disappointed, there were about 3 recipes I considered cooking. So I put it back on the shelf. In the end I went to the supermarket and bought loads of fruit and vegetables, and also some yogurts. I’ve had stir fries and roasted vegetables galore and I’m trying to eat healthy at work by taking fruit along to snack on (although normally I don’t snack at my desk so this may be counter productive) I’m also drinking tons of water. Usually my health kicks last about 2 weeks and then I resort to microwave meals as they are easy and tasty, but for at least January I am not going to touch convenience or fast food (apart from a pizza in my freezer that needs eating! Tonight I am going to make some kind of healthy noodle and pork soup, I say some kind as I’m a bit hazy on the ingredients at the moment, but I’m sure it’ll be delicious and much better than anything Gordon Ramsay ever made…

Resolution #3 - Giving Something Up

2008-01-04T16:49:00.000Z

This is going to be a bit of a wishy washy resolution as I am considering giving up caffeine because I know it's bad for you, but my favourite drink is a bacardi and coke. So I think I might just give up tea and coffee and seeing as how I don't actually drink coffee, giving up tea doesn't really seem like a huge sacrifice. I used to drink around 5 cups of tea a day, but just recently I've only managed to drink a cup or two a day and normally I only drink half of that cup. So really this should be a walk in the park. I am concerned that if I cut caffeine out of my daily routine, when I drink it recreationally and mixed with alcohol I might go a bit hyper, but this could also be a good thing. In conclusion resolution 3 is to give up caffeine except for coca cola, which I'm still allowed to drink in moderation!

Snow Day!

2008-01-03T12:26:00.001Z

It’s meant to snow today in London and I am really torn, snow is probably my favourite kind of weather, there’s nothing quite as beautiful as a world turned white, all the imperfections like cracks in the pavement or unweeded flower beds are covered over. I missed out last year as it snowed whilst I was in Australia, so it would be fantastic if we got some snow this year. However when we were in New York last month snow was forecast, we were very excited, but it turned out to be the worst day of our holiday, it snowed quite nicely whilst we were inside Madison Square Garden, but as soon as we got outside, we were pelted by hail that managed to penetrate my shoes and then soaked through by horrible slushy rain. All our plans had to be changed and although it meant we had a nicer lunch than anticipated and that we didn’t have to queue to get into Abercrombie and Fitch, the day was still tainted by the wrong kind of snow. It’s now lunch time in London and the snow has yet to hit, as I’m going out to tonight so I’m not sure whether to wish for snow, or hope that London is skipped over by the snow clouds. There is of course always the chance we’ll get snowed in and not be able to go to work tomorrow, so I guess I’ll wish for snow!

Resolution #2 - Accessorize

2008-01-02T17:19:00.000Z

I guess this probably isn’t going to make me a better person, but it is going to make me a better dressed person. I’m not a great follower of fashion, but I do generally like to wear nice clothes, although it’s mainly jeans and a top, I do have a few dresses and skirts I love. My second New Years Resolution is to team these clothes up with the Accessories they deserve. Yesterday I decluttered my jewelry box and got rid of old the broken and tarnished pieces. Normally the only piece of jewelry I wear is a necklace from Tiffany’s and Co, but from now onwards I am going to wear earrings and bracelets if they go with the outfit.

I’ve also decided to wear heels more often, last year I tended to live in flat shoes and this was not helped when I bought a pair of Ugg boots in New York last month and have worn nothing else since. I am going to wear heels at least 3 times a week (I’m only 5ft 2 so really I should wear heels all the time, but Uggs feel like heaven)

Finally I am reintroducing last years resolution to wear lipstick, because I like it, even though no one else in my office wears it, and I might get funny looks, I don’t care!

Enchanted

2008-01-01T21:20:00.000Z

Today Emma and I went to see Enchanted at the cinema. I absolutely adore The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast, but I've been more than a little disappointed with Disney's more recent offerings (so much so that I've actually forgotten there names!)

Enchanted begins like a traditional cartoon with Gisele and her Prince meeting and becoming engaged, however if they marry the Wicked Queen will lose the crown, so about 15 minutes into the film the Wicked Queen pushes Gisele into a well and she ends up in Manhattan.

In Manhattan, a now human Gisele, is rescued by a lawyer, Robert, and his daughter. She ends up staying with them, and will you can take the girl out of the cartoon, you can't take the cartoon out of the girl and she inlist the New York animals (rats, cockroaches and pigeons) to help clean the house, and breaks in to songs all the time. Her Prince and his Wicked Step Mother follow Gisele into Manhattan and Gisele must ultimately chose between Robert and the Prince.

It's such a cute film, Amy Adams is a truly brilliant cartoon Princess and has all the mannerism down well. Patrick Dempsey comes across much better than James Marsden, but I think that is the point. The plot is littered with several in jokes and references to previous Disney films. It's a kids film, but I really enjoyed and already want to buy it on DVD.

Resolution #1 - Giving to Charity

2007-12-31T19:33:00.000Z

Technically resolution one is blogging, but I'm going to gloss over that. I'm one of those people who likes to think they do a lot for charity, but actually doesn't. Every few months I have a decluttering sessions and end up with bag loads of stuff I take to the charity shop. However this is the kind of stuff nobody actually wants, so while I'm feeling all smug about helping those less fortunate than me, the poor charity shop workers are trawling through my cast-offs silently cursing.

This year Em and I did a 5k walk for Breast Cancer (see the photo on the left!) and raised over £100, but everybodies doing the walk now so you feel bad asking people to sponsor you, not good.

Every year I buy charity Christmas Cards and I have recently started buying birthday cards from charity shops aswell.

After my birthday I set up a couple of direct debits only to discover my little sister, supports more charities than I do so with the New Year approaching I have decided to rectify this and have just signed up to 2 more direct debits.

I also do have a new bag of jumble to take to a shop when they open in the New Year. I wonder if this will count as charity work on my CV

New Year's Resolutions

2007-12-31T00:22:00.000Z

So last year my sole resolution was to wear lip stick, which I didn't really acheive, despite it's simplicity. Well another year is ending, and I'm not particularly happy with a number of things that happened last year. Some were excellent like meeting J K Rowling, visiting New York, Sydney and Tokyo and seeing the Spice Girls live, but other things like living in a crummy flat and my going nowhere job are bothering me.

This year I have decided to change my life by changing little things about me. I will chronicle these changes here on this blog as well as relating general things that happen to me. I hope it's an enjoyable read!

New Year, New Blog

2007-12-29T12:58:00.001Z

I used to want to be Mary Kate Olsen, now I just want t be a better person, so I've decided to take steps to becoming a more rounded individual. One of those is by taking up blogging again (it's going to be one of my New Year's resolutions) I think when I stopped last year, I got out of the practice of being witty, so I'm planning to improve my linguistic (?) skills by posting as often possible. More self improvement plans will be posted in the coming weeks and days.