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