Cluck Cluck

With the New Year approaching I thought it was about time I dusted off my little blog. Other than finding a job and shuffling through another term at uni there hasn't been much in the past few months worth blogging. Now, 2011, that's where the excitement lies.

Just as soon as the New Year has been seen in through blurred vision, I am rushing off to London in preparation my work placement at FHM. I am so excited that I just had to buy an entirely new wardrobe!! I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing, being in London, acting like a grown up, but I will keep blogging to keep you informed of my experiences and, more than likely, my disasters too!

It's not just my placement that's getting me all excited, while in London I will be getting a visit from a certain someone that I find pretty exciting too. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't one to kiss and tell (where's the fun in that?) but I think I'll keep this one quiet for just a little bit longer, you know, don't want to count my chickens and all that.

So 2011 is set to be another amazing year!
Happy holidays everyone!
xxxx

Bonjour Paris!

So, I've managed to squeeze six dresses, two t-shirts, a pair of harem pants, a playsuit, two bags, four pairs of shoes (inc. wellies) and far too much jewelery into my tre-traveleresque back pack and I'm ready for Paris.

Well... I still have hair to dye, nails to paint, metro lines to learn and french phrases to grasp..so I should be ready approximately by 3am..estimated time of departure! Then after just 17 hours on a coach BOOM we're in Paris. Hmm, really doesn't sound very glamorous does it?

This festival is going to be crazy

Ah well, its not exactly a glamorous weekend I have planned. Other than visiting the Eifel Tower and other lovely Parisian sights, I will be spening most of my time sloshing around in mud in the Saint-Cloud National Park listening to folk music and (hopefully) chatting up some cute french boys!

I literally am the most excited EVER to go to Rock en Seine music festival. One of my favourite bands, Arcade Fire, are headlining, its in a beautiful national park, I get to spend the whole weekend with my sister and ,oh yeah, its in Paris!! Could this weekend be any better?!

I'm starting my very first travel log, that I hope to become very full over the next couple of years. So my blog will be a little bare for the next five days. See you soon blogger xx

http://www.myspace.com/arcadefireofficial have a listen!

Au revoir Swallowfield

So, tomorrow is my last day at the make-up factory and, as shocked as I am, I'm actually quite sad to be leaving. The first few days there were a joke, I never thought I could have stuck with such menial tasks for so long. But, as the team of temporary staff got cut smaller and smaller I found the competition to stay build my motivation. Once I had survived the first six weeks, and had seen around 40 temps laid off, leaving just twenty, there was no stopping me. I had not cleaned eyeliners and labeled lipsticks for six weeks to be laid off now. And now, this is it, I've lasted three months to the day and now get to go out on a high.

It wasn't until more recent weeks, however, that I realised what I will miss the most, surprised that I will miss anything at all! Its not the money or the comical value of the job but the friendly "Good morning's" in the corridor, the banter in the canteen and the sweets swapped between friends under the table. In any job there are people you don't like, people who's opinions you don't agree with but going for a drink with just one or two lovely people makes it all worth while.

Working at Swallowfield has taught me a lot about myself and my ambitions. Firstly, it has taught me that I don't want to work in a factory for the rest of my life! It has given me the motivation to succeed in my degree, sort out work experience placements and aim for that all important 2:1. I want to be proud of my career and make the most out of every opportunity. But most importantly it has taught me that what ever job I end up in, the most important thing in a company are the people! There is no way I could have got through the past three months with out meeting some certain characters along the way. What  ever job I end up in, what ever the pay, I hope I can always say I enjoy working there. 

As far as plans for summer 2011..a few more weeks as a factory temp wont hurt!

Work placement #2 The Southern Daily Echo

Yess! Placement two under the belt. I am so excited to be working at Southampton's local paper in March. News journalism is the best stepping stone for magazine journalism and I can't wait to get stuck in to the exciting world of publishing. Throughout the week I will be shadowing reporters and photographers, researching stories and hopefully getting my own article printed along side my byline. I cant imagine anything more exciting or rewarding. Roll on 2011!

Drink, Drugs and Plastic Jugs

What a lovely and most unexpected weekend it has been! Me and the family went camping near Wadebridge in Cornwall, had lovely weather for it and, minus a few punctured air beds, the weekend went with out a hitch. Who doesn't love a good spooning sesh anyway?! We followed the Camel Trail which was a lovely walk and ate fish and chips on Padstow harbour, one of our favourite family treats!

This, however, was not the unexpected part of the weekend. On Sunday we were invited to a family friend's birthday barbecue. The food was lovely and the weather prevailed. The boys, aged around 15, were in charge of the cocktail bar which lead to the majority of the guests becoming rather intoxicated by mid-afternoon on jugs of pimms that could strip paint! Soon the topic of conversation turned to drugs, or more specifically the funny fags that the host had confiscated from their eldest son. And what was the reaction? Smoke it! My uncle who celebrated his 61st birthday earlier this year said it was something he wanted to try before he died. Sure enough, the  were rolled, lit and passed between older members of my family. It was possibly the most surreal and hilarious situation I have ever been in. Needless to say it wasn't long till both bathrooms were occupied by the rebels now feeling slightly worse for wear! As the saying goes, try anything once and I think this is one thing they will not be trying again!

Work Placement at FHM Magazine!

Today I was very pleased to accept a two week placement at FHM magazine in January. I literally cannot wait, I'm so excited and all I want to do is buy new clothes to wear! haha

Its not that I am desperate to work for a men's magazine but that it would in fact be a very different demographic to one that I would usually write for. Not only this, FHM was one of the first popular men's publications and I feel so lucky to work with a magazine that has been a continuing success for the past 25 years.

As yet I don't know the details of the placement, but I will be staying with my sister in Kingston for the two weeks and commuting to central London from there which is terribly exciting and slightly nerve wracking too. Cant wait!

Celeb Rant #2 Lindsey Lohan

It has been revealed this week that Lindsey Lohan served barely two weeks of her 90 day jail sentence. The sentence was issued after a she broke the conditions of her probation after being caught drink driving.  It is known that many prisons are over crowded and so people are released early due to good behaviour, but I'm sure being a celebrity had more to do with it. And, lets be honest, she was probably staying in some sort of luxury, you know how prisons are these days with their Xboxes and gyms. God forbid we threaten the human rights of these members of the public! Oh hold on a minute, I believe they gave up their rights to be treated fairly when they committed the crime that got them into prison in the first place! The thing is, its not even the first time she has gotten out early from jail. In 2007 she served just 84 MINUTES for the same crime along with some drug offences. So now the weary star has to return once again to the realms of rehab, because that worked out so well the first time! Officials say she was treated like any other inmate, although I'm sure they weren't given an early release and the option of sneaking out the back door to protect their privacy. After multiple offences such as drink driving, drug use and possession and failing to comply with probation charges such as an alcohol education programme, I just don't see how she is continually getting away with this behaviour. A 'normal' person wouldn't and the rules should not bend for her. She needs to realise that she is not above the law, and until the law is enforced upon her correctly she is being allowed to prance around high as a kite putting other people at risk, and it just isn't fair.

Pheww..Rant over.

Regrets: Mistakes you don't learn from

Today at work I was feeling very philosophical, which is good because usually after sticking 6000 labels individually on lipsticks for 8 hours I feel nothing more than suicidal. My mood was prompted when two people simultaneously contacted me this weekend, both who, at one time and another, have been best friends of mine. I was pleasantly surprised to hear from them both and the opportunity to catch up, and make plans to catch up were warmly received. This soon got me thinking of other friends who I don't speak to anymore, best friends that somewhere along the line have been lost. The thing is, I can't think why I ever stopped speaking to half of them, isn't that silly? Just because I'm not best friends with someone now doesn't mean I don't wish them well or want to know what they're getting up to. So today I decided to catch up with a few old friends. In particular, a very very old friend who I have lost touch with in the past year, and another (boy)friend who I lost contact with rather abruptly a couple of years ago. I'm not all for the forgive and forget route, after all, how are you going to learn if you forget the mistakes you make? I can honestly say I have no regrets in my life, and I am the happiest I have ever been, why not share that with the people in my life, present and past?

I'll let you know how it works out!

xx

So I just had a three hour nap..

Okay, so the thing you need to know about me is that one of my most commonly used phrases is 'this is the best day of my life', so you better get used to hearing it A LOT. I am very fortunate to be able to use it so often, every time I think..yeah..this now is the best day of my life..the next one rolls around and is even better. Today was not the best day of my life unfortunately, but only because I am still recovering from yesterday's best day.

Since two of my great friends Zac and Tobias couldn't attend my birthday celebrations last weekend, I thought I best celebrate twice, so not to make them feel left out of course! So with my dear sister and her car Sally Cinnamon, we set off for an adventure in Bristol.

We picked a brilliant weekend to visit Bristol as it was the weekend of the Habour Festival, drawing in huge crowds and, unfortunately, huge amounts of traffic. This meant by the time we got there we had missed much of the festivities, but as the drinks flowed the crowds followed and the Harbour continued to thrive into the night.

Thekla

I picked The Backpacker's Hostel as our bed for the night and it was one of the best decisions of my life. The people were so friendly and welcoming and with the communal TV lounge, kitchen and bedrooms you couldn't help but meet a variety of people. The hostel was clean, the amenities were great and the top bunk that I promptly shot-gunned was a dream.

After possibly a few too many pre-drinks for some (ahem..Zac..) we were lucky enough to enjoy a firework display in the city centre. What could be a better way to kick off a night out than standing by pretty water fountains with crowds of people enjoying such a brilliant display? The answer, reader, is none.

I Love Florence

We stopped for a few drinks on our journey down the habour untill reaching our destination for the evening, the Thekla. A brilliant club that is on a boat. Yes, probably the best venue for a night club EVER. The evening was great, if slighty hazy. With only one disaster, my sister Lucy losing her brand new camera. Worse times could not have been had. So unfortunately we have no photographic evidence of our adventure, but at least we have our health.

To top off the weekend we did a bit off shopping today, treating ourselves to some of Primark's finery. I bought cream, lace skater dress, a floral play suit, a plum coloured velvet dress (In which I embody the spirit of Florence Welch), and some new shoes and accesories too. I will upload pictures as and when I can get my hands on a picture taking device. Untill then, here is a picture of Florence for us all to enjoy.

Much Love xx

Happy Birthday to me!

Hello Dears! Yesterday I turned the grand old age of nineteen! I am very lucky to have a big family that all came over for a barbeque to celebrate. Even the sun was out for the big day! Not only did I have my family with me but some of mine and my sister's best friends too. AND my birthday cake even had a picture of me on it! A highly drunken picture, but still, I was very lucky indeed.

After a few drinks and some food a la Davis, us kids got dressed up and went out for cocktails and dancing. However, the evening quickly declined when I was bought a birthday shot of sambuca, resulting in me hugging a toilet with my false eye lashes sliding down my face. Oh dear.

Ah well, you're only young once!

Luckily today I was felling much better and me and the girls went out for a massive roast and a nice walk, getting a proper Devonshire ice cream on the way. Now thats my idea of a birthday celebration!

Me and the girls drinking cocktails

Too much of anything can make you sick..

Currently, I am working full time in a make-up factory, as if this was not dreadful enough I am also forced to listen to Heart radio station for eight hours a day. Although I enjoy being kept up to date on current affairs, listening to the same five news stories on the hour, every hour does get a tad sickening.

One thing I hate more than JLS's attempt at 'music' are the regular updates on Cheryl Cole's health. For those of you who are blissfully unaware, she is recovering from malaria and, personally, I could not care less.

Up to 500 million people contract malaria every year and every thirty seconds a child dies as a result of the disease. These vulnerable people are not lucky enough to have the brilliant medical care awaiting Cheryl's request, often they have no health care to speak of at all.

I would hope that Cheryl's unfortunate circumstance raises awareness of how serious malaria is. To be fair to the girl, she was very ill. One can hope she will recover and go on to spend her millions helping others survive and prevent the disease.

The truth of the matter is, she'll make a ton in interviews selling her "How I beat malaria" story, 'do her bit' by claiming a bewildered child from Ghana as her own and raise them in a burning spotlight and probably even release a new diet plan "Get malaria, drop a dress size".

This may sound a bit blunt to all you Cheryl fans, but if the worst thing to come out of this situation is seeing a day less of Cheryl's face on television, I count myself lucky. Sorry Sweeny, you'll have to find another shoulder to cry on.

Forever Young

This weekend I enjoyed the anual Green Man Festival in Pilton. With brilliant ska bands to skank to, as well as a number of stalls and even a parade, there was only one thing there I wanted.

I happily queued for an hour and a half with my 20-year-old sister for nothing less than a hair braid. Yes, we were up against a long queue of small children, but as long as the sun was shining our spirits were not dampened.

I am pleased to say it was all worth it and we both love our multicoloured strands. So much so in fact, we have made the decision to learn to do them ourselves.

So, if anyone's interested you'd better get in line!

Getting a braid done by uber cool French lady

Ban the burka?

All week on the news there has been discussion of the imposing issue of women in the UK covering their faces with a burka. Clearly this threatening behaviour has to be stopped because everyone that chooses to wear a burka is obviously a terrorist whose aim is to destroy all Engligh people while they're picking up a few bits in Tesco.

Umm..Hello? Does anyone else think this view is extremely ignorant and offensive?

The argument is that while in England people should respect and conform to an English culture, since wearing a burka ia not a requirement of religion. If that is the case shouldn't we force them to become obese, binge-drinkers and introduce them to the corrupt benifit system?

How about instead, we show repect for another culture, rather that pointing our fat fingers in their face shouting, "Terrorist!"

Warning: Contains obscenities

It's taken a few days but I have just about recovered from Beta Fest 2010, and what a brilliant weekend it was! The first festival, held in North Devon was a huge success and I'm sure one of many to come.

The event was organised by local synth-punk band the Dead Betas, whose headlining act resulted in much nudity and sweating on behalf of the musicians and members of the crowd alike. The last song was even performed virtually naked by the Dead Beta's frontman Tobias.

The line up for the festival was a diverse mix of dedicated and talented performers. Local bands included Reggae inspired Lion Star, Alternative/Rock band Acoustic Dispute, and young Punk/Metal pushers Jackdaws. Further-a-feild we had Psycho Indie Brummies Black Heart Generator, and Indie boys Arts and Crafts from the Midlands and Cry Raphael bringing their sound all the way from North Wales. All were welcomed into our world as the Beta Fest began.

Not only did the line up have a genre to suit every taste but every age too, festival goers ranged from 16 to 56-years-old and all had a bloody good time! The event ran on donations, that everyone were happy to provide, and after witnessing each of the thirteen talented acts, I can assure you they were not short changed!

The venue of choice is known locally as Shan's Barn, a strange experience in itself. The ground floor and stage area homes a variety of photographs, old furniture and carpeted walls and the top floor is an erotic art gallery. This Aladdin's cave of discovery and delirium was the perfect setting for such an eclectic festival.

If you missed out on Beta Fest 2010 FEAR NOT as plans for Beta Fest 2011 are already underway, so keep your eyes and ears on the Dead Betas. They'll creep up on you when you least expect it. No really, they're perverts.

Find more info on the Beta Fest 2011 on facebook.

Here are some links to the band's pages.. Enjoy!

www.myspace.com/messagerecieved

www.myspace.com/blackheartgenerator

www.myspace.com/lionstarmusic1

www.myspace.com/jackdawsuk

www.myspace.com/fleemtfuji

www.myspace.com/cryraphael

www.myspace.com/acousticdipute

www.myspace.com/artsandcraftsuk0

www.myspace.com/gangoftheivesband

Pictured right from top:

The Dead Betas

Black Heart Generator

Tobias with Lion Star