Bowery Mural

Photo a day challenge: February 2012

Tuesday 31 January 2012

I've thoroughly enjoyed taking part in the photo a day challenge that I found over at FatMumSlim's blog. It seems that lots of other people have too because there's now a February one! Yay. And she's going to be doing it every month. Can't wait to see my year in photos, all 366 of them.

Here is the February edition. Join us!


Also, if you want to see the results of my January photoset head over to my Flickr page to see them. Pretty neat.

Angela x

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Is Facebook really ripping families apart?

Sunday 29 January 2012

I never read a physical newspaper these days. I never buy a magazine either. They're probably about 87.6% adverts anyway. I get all my news updates online. But this headline met me when I came into the living room this morning.
How silly is it? It totally got me riled. These kinds of headlines really annoy on me. Like that little bit of skin on the roof of your mouth that would go away, if only you could stop tonguing it. I haven't read the story except the first page. That was enough.

"Social media site Facebook is wrecking marriages and harming family life". That is the first line. There are all sorts of wrong with it in my opinion. Let's see... Facebook isn't wrecking marriages. If your marriage/ relationship is rock solid no amount of social media site browsing is going to wreck it. However, if there is something missing in your relationship and its always been a bit rocky but you just won't admit it then Facebook and other social media/networking sites will make it easier for you to have that much sought after get out clause. They themselves will not wreck your relationship, you will. YOU WILL. You will go on there searching for something because of that missing piece in your life. You might see an old school boyfriend/girlfriend and start the "innocent flirting" thing. But that is you, not Facebook. "..harming family life". Hhmmm let me see. I've always thought 13 was too young for anyone to be on Facebook. For all sorts of reasons. Safety, loss of innocence, not savvy enough, loads more. But here parents should be more aware on behalf of their kids. Learn more about the security features in Facebook. Make sure they're set to the highest level, insist on having the password to the account (too far?), heck even friend your own son/daughter so as to keep an eye on them. Limit their time spent online even! That is a parents responsibility is it not. I think so, at least until the child is 16.
"Facebook Addiction Disorder". I mean what the actual fuck?! That's all anybody is needing. Another label for themselves. I wonder if you can go off sick from work with FAD... Seriously! Sure we all spend a lot more time on various sites, some of us blog, some of us read all the news articles we can, some of us do spend lots of time online the days but where does anyone get 35 hours a week to spend on Facebook. Actually, I take that back, we know many people can.

I think social networking sites get a hard time in stories produced with headlines like that. They are the facility but they are not the cause or reason for your failed marriage/relationship or your wrecked home life. Don't get me wrong, there are some people who openly flirt online, you see it LOTS on Twitter. They may label it "innocent flirting" but is flirting ever really that innocent? Think about the other person in that relationship... Maybe they have no idea that their other half is engaging online in the so called innocent flirting. I wouldn't like that, would you? There are some people who just do it for attention and have no intention of backing it up with any kind of action (for want of a better word). I have one particular person in timeline who is an outrageous flirt. Sends provocative tweets that are begging for a flirty response, then acts all innocent. The thing I can't get over is that the responses come in, lots, from people who we know are married! I mean, come on. That is not Twitter / Facebook making them do that, it's just making it easier for them to do it. They'd probably find another way to do it in an all-offline world too.

It's about time people took responsibility for their actions. Its all too easy to blame outside factors on our own faults and misdemeanors. If you meet an old school boyfriend/girlfriend on Facebook and start something and end up divorced, that's YOU. If you're openly innocently flirting and cause some strife in relationships, that's you. If you're spending all you're waking hours scouring Facebook, online etc, that's you and you need to stop, think, take ownership and do something about it. Don't blame everything else.

Angela x

I should probably add that this story is in today's Sunday Post newspaper. It doesn't really matter because there's probably another story in another paper along the same lines somewhere else.
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5 things on a Friday #4

Friday 27 January 2012

Another Friday. Another Friday five. It's been a helluva week but there were a few things that I liked about it.

 

  1. On Wednesday I doubled up on my spin classes. The 5.45 velocity class and the 7pm RPM class. I thought I was going to be knackered but it was good. My legs felt a bit heavy afterward and ISS tucked up in bed by 10pm, although not sleeping then. A good night and it's going to become part of my routine from now on.
  2. OBEM or One Born Every Minute. In case you don't know it's the programme on channel 4 about a labour ward. You get all sorts on the programme (normally two births per episode). It's a bit gory at parts and it really it's me off child birth but on Wednesday night there was the sweetest couple ever on it. The lady was called Trish. Trish had been knocked down by a car when she was 13 and the result was she ended up with some brain damage. It meant her speech is a bit impaired and she's in a wheelchair. But this hasn't stopped her. She met her husband at church choir and they told how it was love at first sight. She even asked him out! Brave girl. Anyway they weren't going to have children but decided they would try. So we have them in the labour ward. Honestly, they were the most loving couple I've ever seen on one of these programmes. Trish was being sweet to the nurses and they were crying, I was crying and people who were watching along and tweeting were crying. We all cried. "Don't cry" Trish told the midwife "I like you". Eventually after labour Trish gave birth to a lovey little girl whom they named Elizabeth. We all cried again I'm sure. Her husband was all the while doing everything for her and you could feel their strong bond through the tv, no joke. I thought to myself if I ever got that bond with a special person then I'd be extremely happy. At the end it showed you them at home. The husband would go back to work after 3 months leave and Trish would be getting some help in two days per week just to help with little Elizabeth. It was a beautiful story and I wish them all the love in the world. I also thought that if I worked for any baby brands out there I'd be sending them some things to help them along their journey. They send these sorts of things to celebs all the time so why not this awesome couple and their new baby girl. If anyone would happen to be reading this with some influence, go check this episode out and spread the love to this family. Brilliant. (I'm actually welling up typing this as they were so lovely).
  3. Coriolanus. I went to see it last Sunday and it is a really awesome movie. A bit gruesome at parts but really brilliant. I loved that Gerard Butler was speaking in his own language too. I even got my head around the shakespearean talk. But the best part was the cameo by Jon Snow the newsreader. He was ace. I'd recommend this film to all. Highly. Ralph Fiennes directed as well but you could tell, there were loads of moody close ups (not that I'm complaining!). Go see if you haven't. 
  4. Clear out. I've been toying to clear out old clothes or clothes that don't fit me any more. I'm getting there, kinda. We all need to clear out our wardrobes every now and again, don't we.
  5. Payday! Today that is. So glad. But I'm going to try to budget better and not buy any clothes this month. Hold me to this people. I need to clear out and not buy more. I don't need them for goodness sakes. I won't. I won't. 

So there you have it. Friday Five #4. Hey go check out Whatleydude's post to see others taking part. Join us!

 

Angela x

 

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iPhonography with Camera+

Wednesday 25 January 2012

As you know I'm a huge fan of Instagram, the app for iPhone that lets you capture moments and upload them straight away and share across your social networks. In all truth I'm just a big fan of iPhonography itself and if you ever get near my iPhone you'll discover 3 folders (which contain 16 apps) filled with lots of different photo apps. There's cameras, Adobe express, framing apps and generally anything to do with enhancing and taking pictures using the iPhone. On my home page, nestling in the corner beside Twitter and Instagram you'll find Camera+, another amazing iPhone app. It cost me 69p about 2 years ago and for 69p you get a whole bunch of iPhonography lushness. The app is produced by Tap Tap Tap and was given an overhaul last year. Introducing new filters, a better zoom and focus and for me it's just so easy to use. I currently have 200 photos saved in the app itself in the Lightbox, so good they are I can't bear to get rid of them once saved to the laptop.

In the app there are different camera settings such as...
SCENES - including clarity (love this one), portrait, scenery, auto, flash, fluorescent and more.
ADJUST - to rotate and flip the picture
CROP - to crop
FX EFFECTS - this is where you'll find 3 different folders. Color. Retro. Special, and another called Analogue that you have to pay for. Inside each folder there are 9 different filters. They are all great in their own way. A few of my favourites are vibrant, tail fins and Lo Fi, fashion and so emo.
BORDERS - are just that white, black, thick, thin, viewfinder, grit and the list goes on. All nice borders.

The camera has a stabilizer and burst setting. Admittedly I've not used that one that much but I'm getting there.
Lastly you have the Lightbox where all the photos you take are stored. You then have the option to save to the iPhone camera roll. Of course there is the option to share your pictures to your social networks (Twitter and Facebook), SMS, email and Flickr account.

Over on Mostly Lisa's blog (Lisa Bettany, co-creator of Camera+) I read a great post before Christmas about how to make the most of the app when capturing Christmas memories. Read it here. These are a couple of pictures I think I managed to capture quite well.

cute Santa ornament and tree

a little bokeh effect on the tree lights

And here are a few of my favourite photos I've captured on Camera +

before

after adding filter



Christmas present ceramic cupcake


before: no filter
after: Fashion filter

One of my all time favourite pictures. The detail on the droplets is amazing. 

I love a cloudy sky picture

Again clouds, just before a summer rainstorm hit

And so if you really love iPhonography, my advice to you would be to go out and spend 69p on a fabulous app, Camera+. You won't regret it. You can see more of my photos on the Camera+ website HERE.

Angela x

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OPI Pink Friday - its all about the nails NOTD

Saturday 21 January 2012

I just had to talk about my newest nail polish. OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection. It's the closest link you'll get to Bubbly chewing gums or strawberry Hubba Bubba. I added 3 coats on Thursday night and loved it straight away. It's a cream polish and you definitely need at least 2 coats. It had pretty smooth application but of course the OPI brush helps (these are my favourite brushes. Nice and wide).

I've tried to capture the exact colour in these iPhone pictures but you can't really can you. The polish looked diffent under different conditions. To get more accurate pictures you can head over to The Polishaholic blog. She has great photos amd descriptions. I've shown them with and without flash so you can sorta get an idea. Believe me, this will be a favourite on my nails in the coming months. For someone like me who has never have been a 'pink' girl this colour is awesome. As its part of a collection I'm not sure it'll be around for very long so grab yourself a bottle if you fancy it.




At the same time I also bought Save Me on the same collection. It's a silver glitter polish. The glitter is in little bars rather than hexes and they are almost holographic. You can see pink, green, blue, orange, yellow in differing light conditions. Fab. 

Angela x

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Friday Five #3

Friday 20 January 2012

Friday Five time again.

1 - midweek day off. I decided I would have a wee cheeky day off during the week. Had a long lie. Well, til about 8.45am. Noice.

2 - Lunch with Karlie. A good little catch up and plenty of chat.

3 - Today I was alerted to this TED Talks video. It's from French street artist JR, talking about his work and the projects he's been involved in. It's really inspiring and wonderful and I really want to take part in InsideOut Project. Go watch it the video now! and let's join this project.



4 - Another video. This time from work friend Andrew, a keen cyclist who's lost 7 stone in the post year. You think Danny MacAskill has skills, this fella has too. Such a laugh.



5 - My new nail polish. OPI Pink Friday from the Nicki Minaj collection. It's a proper bubblegum pink cream and is so awesome. I just love it!

Share your Friday Five then people?

Angela x

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Thursday thinking and Tuesday blues

Thursday 19 January 2012

So much to think about just now. Haven't blogged for a few days. There'll be my usual Friday Five tomorrow. I have got a post lined up on another of my favourite photo apps, Camera+. I did have it set to go live last night then i noticed someone else done a post on the same thing so for now I'm holding it back.

I feel a bit bleurgh just now due to eating too much chocolate fudge and sweeties whilst sitting in the cinema for an hour on Tuesday night and not a film to be watched. Disaster. Well, maybe a bit annoying really. Booked tickets to an RBS Film First preview screening of Haywire. It was at the Odeon on Lothian Road in Edinburgh. I met Karlie for a lovely catch up lunch at Illegal Jacks, went for a wander around then headed to the cinema around 6.15. I handed over my ticket. He never checked it against my bank card, which they're supposed to do to make sure you are who you say you are. Anyway I headed in and it was screen 3, small screen which was already half full. I sat in the back row. I like to sit quite high up so I can see the screen properly through my glasses. Anyway, I opened my crisps and ate them. It was now full. I swigged on my juice. The lights went up. The lady told us due to demand that more people had turned up than they thought would and RBS generally over subscribe the screens in case no one turns up. I suppose it's a good idea in principle but in January when its cold and people have less money of course they're going to go along to a free cinema screening.

Anyway we moved into screen 2 which was much bigger and sat down. I opened my chocolate fudge ate a few pieces, then a few more. The music suddenly came on over the system. By now it was 6.45 and the film should have started. About 5 minutes later the lights came up and the lady came in again to say the film would be another 10 minutes (7pm) as it was taking time to load onto the servers. (Is this how they do films these days?)...

7.10 still no film. We were now onto All Saints greatest hits album over the speakers. People were getting tetchy. I saw a few people go out and then come back in. A lady told a few people what she'd been told and they got up put their jackets on and were leaving. Around this time i was tweeting and sending comments to the RBS facebook and twitter pages. Someone else who was in the same cinema was doing the same. A reply came via Facebook that they were trying to find out what was happening. After about another good 10 minutes I decided I was leaving. My plan was to watch the film and be out to catch the 8.38 train home to Stirling. If the film only started now I would be catching the 9.38 train and not getting home til gone 11pm. I decided to cut my losses and leave and a few others did too. It didn't really matter to me. I can see the film free on my Cineworld card but still, that wasn't the point. By the time i got out (with a free cinema ticket from the lady at the door, but no explanation) i decided to try and run to Haymarket. It was no use. I wouldn't make it so i double backed on myself and walked along a creepy empty Princes Street to Waverley. By now too my phone was completely dead. I had the iPad but its Wifi only. I arrived at Waverley with 40 minutes til my train was leaving - the 8.33pm. I managed to log onto The Cloud wifi - 15 minutes free. Then headed for the train. Good job i had my wee iPod to keep me company. I'd have looked like a right knob sitting with the iPad out listening to music haha.

That was a longer post than i'd planned. I bought more Haribo sour cherries tonight and have eaten half the packet already so you can imagine how bloated i feel. Spin class tomorrow though and i'm going to totally blast it. Friday night classes are my favourite. Oh and i'm double dipping on Wednesday. Two classes back to back from 5.45pm til about 8. Phew. My thighs will definitely look like Chris Hoy's at the end of this. Or maybe Cav's.

Angela x

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Inside my bag

Sunday 15 January 2012

I'm still doing the 31 day photo challenge folks. If you want to see my pics, click on my Flickr page as I've been keeping them all there.

Anyway, yesterday's photo was Inside My Bag. I took the picture and thought I've got so much stuff in there and thought I'd share it with you to see if I'm the only person to carry two notebooks and lots of Sharpie marker pens?... No? just me then. OK here's a few pictures and at the end a short (long!) description of the contents of my bag. My work bag is a fuchsia pink The North Face Base Camp Messenger bag - I think it's a medium sized one (large enough for a laptop). I bought about 2 years ago in a sale for around £35. It's tough and keeps everything I (don't) need in place.

In my bag


1 Moleskine 2012 diary
1 WH Smith academic year diary 2011-2012
1 Moleskine notebook
1 Petzl Tikka XP2 head torch
1 pair of iPod earphones
1 set of keys for the office and my desk
1 bottle of antibac gel
1 doodle book
1 Little Book of Confidence
1 silver Sharpie
1 pack of Extra chewing gum
1 iPad2
1 white Elemis make up bag containing:
       2 Moo.com sticker books of my photos
       1 Moo.com mini card holder with mini cards inside
       1 each of black, red, blue and green Sharpie fine pens
       1 each of pastel pink, blue, green and lilac Sharpie maker pens
       1 Mac Hue lipstick
       1 Mac Shy Girl lipstick
       1 Nars Lara sheer lip treatment balm
       1 Mac pocket mirror
       1 OPI avoplex oil for cuticles
       1 L'Occitane Shea butter hand cream
1 green purse from Topshop
1 packet of ibuprofen tablets
1 letter
2 payslips
1 bottle of Boots refreshing eye drops
1 charger and cable for iPhone

*you can get a larger picture of what's inside  my bag by clicking on the picture above.

So, over to you now. What's inside your bag?

Angela x

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Friday Five #2

Friday 13 January 2012

Number two in the Friday Five series. You remember this from last week, right? Five things that made this week great. Og and we're always on a Friday.

1 - walking in the front door the other night and seeing these...

They just melted my heart. Ryan's first pair of football boots that Santa brought him.

2 - I gained some clarity on a thing (for want of a better word). It had been playing around in my head for a while. Relief, and a slight sense of smugness if i'm honest. Winkey face.

3 - this little blog of mine reached 20,000 views, whatever that means. I read it in the stats section behind the scenes. If you can tell me what that actually means i'd be eternally grateful. Thanks.

4 - got back in to spin classes. For a split second on Wednesday night I was ready to drive home but i never and decided i was gong to do a double class. But sadly the second class was full. Next week though, I'm going for it.

5 - the car had it's MOT on Monday. Two new tyres and two new number plates and it passed. Cost me £218 but hey it could've been worse. I was expecting worse (ever the optimist!).

Angela x

Oh wait, here's a bonus number 6. I got my new iPod delivered through the Apple replacement programme on the first generation iPod Nano's. My wee skinny white Nano was engraved on the back but they sent me a little silver square Nano (current model). It's tiny. X
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Anti-socially too social?

Thursday 12 January 2012

I think we are. This is something I've been thinking about for a while. These days we're all connected in approx. 7.3 kinds of different ways. That's not scientific, just my own conclusions. We're on Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, Pinterest, Path, Flickr, Instagram... the list could go on. But yet we're all a bit anti social aren't we?

Admit it. When was the last time you actually wrote on someones Facebook wall? You actually took the time to go to their page and write on their wall. When was the last time you tweeted someone (that wasn't an @ reply) just to say how the hell are you? We're all guilty of this. Being socially anti-social.
 
Is it to do with the overload of information available? I mean we can all see from Facebook if our "friends" are adventuring/having fun/getting married/engaged/announced a pregnancy/been on a date/got dumped.... It's like we're immune to them now. Endless status updates provide these little insights. But in reality they're only a tiny window into someones life.


There was a story (true) of a guy on Twitter who had over 100,00 followers and indeed he followed about the same amount. I always found that bit daft, i mean you can't really keep up with that many people in 140 characters. It must just look like a constant stream of social noise. You can't really be forming any sort of relationship with them all, some yes but certainly not all. Anyway this guy was seen as a bubbly figure, a nice guy, a guy who outwardly it appeared didn't seem to have any troubles. And yet he did, sadly. But how many of his 100,000 or so followers actually noticed or took the time just to send that one tweet (that isn't an @ reply remember) to say how the heck are you? Believe me it can make all the difference.

I'm currently sitting at around 41,000 tweets. I used to feel ashamed by that but I figured at least I'm actually talking to people, getting to know them, forming some sort of relationship. I try to reply to everyone's @ replies too. (Don't you just hate it when people don't reply?). Because to me this is the way that I'm social - I don't get out much. It has brought me some great offline banter too. You could very well do yourself a favour if you work for a brand and actually spoke to people - Engagement Currency? Sometimes a simple little tweet of acknowledgement would suffice.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that we all get too caught up with being on the latest new social play thing that we're there all present and correct, yes, but are we really listening and taking notice of people we are supposed to call friends (or indeed we are trying to sell our clients' product too. Think about that). Don't get caught up in the numbers game. Having been on Facebook for four years I've only just hit 100 'friends' and there's even some people on there I'm thinking of taking off. Having forty squillion (or at least a few hundred) followers on Twitter is nothing if you're not actually having any dialogue with them and by dialogue I mean actual conversations, not you tweeting out the link to the latest cat video or blog post or... well, whatever. Those snippets are all well and good but if you aren't actually (and I'm going to have to use that word that I hate) ENGAGING (cringe) with people, then what's that actual point?

So, go, tweet someone you haven't for a while, if only to say hello. Write on their wall. Comment on their check in at the local sandwich shop. Smile at their Path. Write them a letter. Before it's too late...


Angela x

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"I'm ok" "are you sure?"

Monday 9 January 2012

It's funny, Christmas is a joyful happy time of the year. A time when you take a break and get together with your family and close friends. It's also a time of new beginnings what with new year and all that. People make resolutions that are never kept. People write lists that are stuffed in notebooks and probably never read again.

News flash. I do like Christmas. I love it in fact. I like what its meant to be, I like the joy it can bring but more often than not what it actually brings to me is strange feelings of complete and utter loneliness. And don't even talk to me about New Year. Oft. I could actually crawl off the face of the earth at new year.

I get really down when I think of people sharing this special season with friends and loved ones and stuff. And yet still some of them seem to moan. They don't realise how lucky they are. Don't get me wrong, I do spend it with family. And that's good and all but I crave the company of peers, people my own age doing fun stuff. 
............................

Wandering down a wind blown street yesterday I was thinking how I don't really have someone who I can confide in, I mean *really* confide in. I've probably not had a best friend since I left high school. There's no one I can share my news with - good or bad. Or to tell my inner most thoughts, fears and dreams to. Or someone to know that i need a hug from them at the end of a day. I have a few trusted people but they seem to stay way too far away to want to sit and have a chat with about this stuff. And so you dear readers are getting it, warts n all.
..............................

A few days pass and then you go back to work and you get the dreaded question "did you have a good Christmas?". And what kind of freaking monster would I look like if I turned around and said "actually no, it was ok but I felt so low that I just wanted to curl up on the bed and weep".

OR did you do anything for new year? Yes, I slept through the bells and on new years day I went to the cinema to escape the party that was going on in my house. 

Yeah. That would make me really popular.

So the next time you ask someone if they had a good time. And they reply "it was ok" and that's their only words. It probably means that it wasn't ok and you should probably ask "are you sure?".

By the time the third of January arrives I feel a heaving sense of relief and a wonderful calm comes over me. Plus we had macaroni cheese for dinner.

Comfort.

Breathe.

I wouldn't have had the courage to publish this post if I hadn't read these honest accounts of Christmas from RyanLuca and Miss NoSweetNothings. Good blogs.

Now?

Now I'm loving the ever lighter nights and looking forward to my birthday. It's soon. Then it's summer...

Windmills

Angela x

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Five Things I Liked This Week #1 - 6 January 2012

Friday 6 January 2012

As a follow up to my Five Things post last week, here's the start of a weekly Five Things series. 


1 - Christmas presents...
...from friends you've met on Twitter. A lovely little surprise waiting on me when I got in from work on my first day back. Was it timed that way? Not sure but it was a welcome little addition to a not too bad day at all. The contents were even better and the kind of presents I wish my family thought about buying me. Just my thing indeed. 

2 - Extra day off work
Not an extra day to me but it seemed to be one day longer than most people had off. That was good. I spent it with mum and the nephews. One was grumpy so me and Ryan spent about hour or so watching Fireman Sam on the iPad and then he tried his hand at tweeting. Not technically old enough for a Twitter account (being 5), but he soon got the hang of it. He even remembered the little search magnifying glass icon from YouTube. "that's what we press then type in Fireman Sam isn't it Angie?". Proud. He didn't tweet much wisdom, instead he chose to type words of things lying around. Irn bru. Phone. Calculator. Wee cutie.

3 - Songs that transport you
Zane Lowe has been on the Radio 1 breakfast show this week and he does a feature called Zane versus... On the morning I was up early to go to a spin class (Wednesday), it was Zane versus Matt Smith aka Dr Who. The first song the Doctor chose was ERASURE - A Little Respect.


Oh my god it just transported me back to happy places. If i hadn't been driving the car i'd have been jiving around my room. However, i find that car-seat-dancing is the new dancing around your room. Try it. Carefully though.

4 - A Two Day working week
ah those extra little holidays mean that this week i've worked just Thursday and Friday. Bliss. It's been quiet so got things done. But also, i'd rather have these two little days back than try to haul myself out of bed on Monday morning after two weeks off. That would be hard. Praise be to small little victories like this.

5 - Sherlock Holmes: a game of shadows and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo


I can't tell you how much i was looking forward to seeing Sherlock Holmes. I saw the first film two years ago on New Years Day sat in a late showing at my local cinema. Me, alone, and about 7 other couples. Cringe. But i liked it a lot. The chemistry between Holmes and Watson was fab and it didn't disappoint in this new one either. Honestly, from the first scene i was grinning like a loon at the screen. It's witty, clever and RDJr is just ace. Jude Law does help too. Also there were a few surprise appearances from actors I didn't know were in it. That was a nice addition to my viewing.


I was looking forward to The Girl WTDT ever since i saw a sneak peak of the trailer a few months back. I'm not a huge fan of Daniel Craig (I've never seen the Bond films he's in), although I did like him in Layercake. But I was willing to give it a go. I watched the original version of the film on a pixelated laptop screen via the LoveFilm website at the beginning of last year. It was good. Very dark and gritty and gruesome at certain parts. I wondered if 'hollywood' could capture that. My verdict is a big fat YES. It's just as dark and gruesome but with a Hollywood sheen over it. Rooney Mara is good and I almost forgot about the original girl. Daniel Craig is blooming marvellous as Mikael. There's even a cameo from Jim Robinson off of Neighbours (he pops up everywhere). It's long at over 2 hours but honestly I didn't really notice the time. It would be too obvious to say it has a bit of the look of Seven to it since Fincher directs here too but I thoroughly enjoyed it and warmed to Daniel Craig more than I thought I would. I would even say i like him now.

I hope they're doing the full series, it would be wrong not to. Can anyone confirm?

One week. Five things. Lots of smiles.
What are yours?

Angela x
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Blog Sale: Make Up (updated 24 Jan)

Thursday 5 January 2012

Hello
UPDATE 24 Jan: I really want to get rid of the few bits below so i've lowered some prices. Have a look! :)

So, I don't normally do this but i'm going to use my blog to sell a few bits and bobs of make up that I don't use any more. They're listed below with as good a picture (or two) as i could take. I did consider using eBay but the rules say that any make up should be brand new and some of these items have been swatched only once.

Blog sale rules:
  • I only accept PayPal
  • UK shipping only. Postage will cost £1.50 for each item (or if you buy more than one item i'll take £2.50).
  • No returns or exchanges. I've tried to take pictures to show as best i can how much has been used. I'll indicate where items are brand new.
  • I've added links to the websites of the products so you can see the colour or the texture of the products.
  • Not responsible for damages or lost in posting, but i will package up as best i can with bubble wrap/padded envelopes etc.
  • First come, first served basis. 24 hours to pay.
  • Leave a comment below and let me know which items you want, along with your paypal email address.
  • Happy Shopping!!
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Inlight 100% organic daily facial oil, 30ml
Brand new in box. Sells for £25 on the Inlight website.
PRICE: was £10 now £8 SOLD
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Illamasqua Pure Pigment in shade Marvel.
A yellow golden colour (no longer available).
Brand new in box. Sells for £17.50.
PRICE: was £8.50 now £5 SOLD
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tried to show the light one swatch usage in this picture

Illamasqua Cream Eye Shadow in shade Touch.
A light beige cream colour.
Lightly swatched once. Sells for £15.50.
PRICE: was £5 now £2.50 SOLD
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Bare Minerals SPF15 foundation in shade Light. 8g size tub (this is a full size jar).
Brand new. Sells for £23
PRICE: was £12.50 now £10 SOLD
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Bare Minerals Well Rested for eyes.
A neutral light beige colour. Great for using as a base to even out eye lid colour.
Brand new. Size 0.57g.
0.85g jar sells for £19
PRICE: £6    NOW SOLD
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Bare Minerals all over face colour in Warmth.
This is a dark bronze colour for all over the face. It looks dark in the jar but a little goes a long way.
Used 3 times but still over 95% full jar. Size 0.57g jar.
2g jar sells for £19
PRICE: £3.50 SOLD
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Christian Dior backstage cream eye shadow jar 6g.
Shade 002, white light disco. white shade with shimmer. (a few years old).
Lightly used 3 times, still over 90% full.
Sells for £18
PRICE: was £3.50 now £1.50 SOLD
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Nail polishes - selling as a 3 pack
Barry M in Pink Flamingo.
Used twice.

Models Own in Feeling Blue.
Swatched on one nail.

OPI in I Do! I Do! (white cream, 3 coats will be opaque).
Used twice.

PRICE for 3 bottles: £4 SOLD
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Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eye Liner, 3g jar. (comes in box)
Shade: Ivy Shimmer Ink - 14. A deep emerald green.
Used once.
3g jar sells for £16.50
PRICE: £10  NOW SOLD
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Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eye Liner, 3g jar. (comes in box)
Shade: Violet Ink - 4. A violet purple.
Used once.
3g jar sells for £16.50
PRICE: £10 SOLD
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Happy shopping. Any questions about the products, just leave me a comment below.

Angela
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Top Picks from 2011

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Since 2011 is over i thought i'd take a loot back and list a few things that i absolutely loved from then. Yes, it's another list and no, i'm not sure how long this list is going to be. And yes, it will be a bit picture heavy too.

So...
iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4S.
Literally could not live without my phone now. Not for the reason we usually have a phone (to call people) because no one EVER phones me on it. Although i did get a nice surprise phone call the other day from someone who was just about to jet off on holiday. That was particularly nice. No, i use it mostly for the internets. The usual Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Words with fricking Friends. Frankly i could not live without a phone. End of. My trusty 3GS saw me through two years without so much as a slight glitch. The quality of the 4S is more superior and aside from the stupid data usage scandal(!), i actually do LOVE it. That is no exaggeration. I can hear folk groaning at reading this but hey, we all have our things we love don't we.


Instagram.
I know some folk have only just cottoned on to Instagram [you know the type. The social media luvvies who always seem to be 3 weeks behind on the latest thing! Would you trust anything you read from them?.. No, me neither]. Anyway, some folk have only just cottoned on to the fact that Instagram deserves it's title as App of the year on iTunes (probably the only reason they cottoned on to it). I was an early adopter having posted my first photo on 15th October 2010. And i know this because I got this cool little badge from Statigram (that i run alongside Instagram). It's full of cool stats about your Instagram stream.

What I love about Instagram is that you can see a shot, take the shot, enhance it with a filter if you want and upload the photo and share to the web all within a matter of a few minutes. Seconds even but i'll stick with minutes. The filters are basic and cool, there's enough for now. There's a great community feel. I follow Instagrammers from all over the world. I love seeing photos and lives from the perspectives of these people. It's grand. Take a look.


blogs.
I've discovered loads of new blogs this year and i'm going to list them below. A list within a list. These have been keeping me entertained all year. Thank you Bloggers!
Vivianna Does Make Up - the clue is in the title. Fab young beauty blogger.
RocknRoll Bride - Kat does a fantastic blog about alternatives to the 'big white wedding' every girl is supposed to dream of. Frankly, id rather my wedding day be like one of those featured here. Fab Fab Fab.
The Daybook - lovely lovely Sidney shows us fashion a shares stories from her life with husband Tyson and new baby Ever. Such a lovely family.
Whatleydude - Whatleydude's happy place. Discovered this one back in April/May time, I think. Love the variety of posts. Some days there's the writings from his Moleskine's. Other days there's three lines of words. Always interesting and sometimes cryptic. But always a joy to read.
Pacing The Panic Room - ok, this is a cheat. I've followed this blog from Ryan Marshall for years. It's so incredibly fabulous i just can't describe it. It's honest and candid and the family are just the cutest. It's the ups and downs and he shares a lot of it right there on the page. He and Cole are also massive Instagrammers too. Hearts.
Miss Smidge - LOVE THIS BLOG. Honest, great writing. Fab recipes. Real stories from the life and times of the writer. Miss Smidge also loves shoes, which makes me happy.

Elemis skin nourishing body lotion
does exactly what it says on the bottle. I have dry skin all over really, except my tummy, i have a really nice smooth flat tummy. But anyway this lotion sorts my dry patches out and smells lovely and clean. Like a new born baby. It's a bit on the pricey side but i'm on my second bottle from a set i got for Christmas last year and hopefully it'll last until my birthday when i might get another bottle?! someone?



Converse trainers
Except they're not really training shoes are they. They're the comfiest guttie i've ever worn. My purple 2009 affairs were heading on their way out. The sides have started to split and the purple was feeling a little old so i decided it was time for another pair. A RED pair. I love them. Except i made the mistake of wearing them with new dark indigo and black jeans a few times and now they have that annoying faded mark on them from the colour rubbing. Grrr... Oh well, this means i can buy another pair when we're heading into spring / summer. There's bound to be a nice bright colour i can get.




Cineworld cinema card
I've now had my card for exactly 1 year and it's been a godsend. I've seen more movies than i ever would have if i didn't have that card. Let's face it, the cinema isn't cheap so £15 a month isn't too bad. If you go to 3 movies per month you're already saving money. Oh and i only did popcorn once. Never again. it was like eating the most tasteless balls of rolled up cardboard, and that was the sweet flavoured one too. No, my munchies of choice were salt and vinegar crisps and a bag of sliced apple. Oh and a wee bottle of Irn Bru of course. Anyway, i'd recommend the card if you can afford it and like going to the cinema. Some favourite films were The Hangover Part II, Drive, Blue Valentine and 50/50. Not sure if i want to see The Iron Lady though....

nail polish
I was never ever really into nail polish. You'd never catch me wearing scarlet red nails... until this year. In particular, the summer gone. I suddenly become more than just a pale Rimmel French ivory girl and ventured into yellow Mimosa from Chanel, bright pink strawberry margarita from OPI and even Rainbow collection glitter top coat too.
It's fun and certainly can brighten up your day when you've got nice nails. It depends what mood i'm in too. Some days i'm all about the nudes, others the reds and lately i've even headed towards the nearly blacks. Brave of me. But i'm not buying any more. I bought some more from a great eBay shop (US) which sells all the top brands (OPI, Essie, China Glaze) much cheaper and they were delivered within a week. They're at least 50% cheaper than here and that includes delivery. Pretty good but i have to stop. As you can see there's not many colours i don't have. Oops.

Nail colour



Anyway that's all for now i think folks. What were your top picks from 2011?

Angela x

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Photo a day challenge: January 2012

Yes. That's right. I'm going to do one of those photo challenges as mentioned in the title. Simply because I love taking pictures. I may not be a photographer with all the equipment but I have an iPhone and a digital camera and that'll do me nicely. We all know i post loads of photos everywhere.

The challenge is over on Fatmumslim blog. See all the details here. What I'll do is post my daily photo on Twitter, Instagram, with Camera+, on Google+ but I'm going to collate them in a set in my Flickr account. See the wee box on the right hand side of this blog. The hash tag to be used is #JANphotoaday so that everyone who's taking part can see. And now for the challenge.
Listed below.

photo credit: fatmumslim.com.au

Hit that link above to Fatmumslim blog and you'll see more details.

Hope you enjoy.

Angela x
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Happy New Year: 2012

Monday 2 January 2012

Happy New Year. 2012. So much is going to be happening in the world this year. The Olympics for one. I can remember when it was announced that the Olympics were to be held in London, back then 2012 seemed so far away. And now it's not. It's here.

Time has flown. I'm still pretty much in the same place as I was back the when that announcement was made (2007?) if I'm honest. But i didn't have the hunger and vitality that I have now, she says as she sits on the bed in the fading light still in her jammies at nearly three o'clock in the afternoon.

I don't know why I think this year will be different. I'm no fortune teller or future see-er(?). But it's that feeling. You know the one I'm sure. Perhaps it's the company you keep or the people you surround yourself with. Sometimes you just gotta clear everything or everyone out that is not on the same mindset as you or who, frankly, never contact you EVER, and you gotta let the good times roll. 

Fuck. Is this me being optimistic about the forthcoming year? I nearly fell off the bed there. Talking of which. I read a post the other night by Whatleydude (i think it was actually from a few months ago). I was about not being able to sleep because of distractions in the bedroom. No. Not like that! TV, sitting on the bed to watch tv, to read a book, to just hang out, when actually your bedroom should be your sanctuary. A place where you can find sanctuary and sleep. I suppose i should get off this bed and sit on the chair to type out a blog post, shouldn't I? 

My bedroom is my sanctuary. It's where I have all my stuff. Still living at home with mum and dad means this is the place where I do come to find solace and seek peace when the house is bustling (like it has been for the past two days). Only now have people left again after new years visits. So you see, when I sit here on my bed, typing away at this blog post, I am relaxed. I could go to sleep [although I have a rule that I never sleep during the day. I just can't anyway. Think of all the things you're missing out on when you're sleeping during the day. Shudder].

But back to my point. The room does need a tidy. There's still Christmas bags lying around with presents I'm going to regift as they'll be useless to me. Plus, it's time to get myself in order for 2012. Starting with a clear out. Clothes I don't wear or are too big fr me now, stuff I don't need but yet somehow it manages to edge it's way into my sanctuary. Is time. It's 2012. It's all systems go.

Angela x

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