Secrets to Success from Sir Richard Branson

May 15, 2013 in Books, Celebrity, Entertainment, Featured, Lifestyle, Money, Work

He’s one of the richest men in the world, owns a bevy of successful companies, is known for outrageous PR stunts (stiff competition in his undies, apparently) and he’s going to space for God’s sake. So how does Sir Richard Branson manage, in the flesh, to be so completely unimpressive? Some might call it unassuming or down-to-earth, as though he’s just an ordinary guy untouched by fame and wealth (or a man with nothing left to prove). And he is all of those things. But he’s also just plain unimpressive – in the most compelling way possible. I was expecting [...]

My Top 5 Board Games

May 14, 2013 in Entertainment, Lifestyle, Technology

For many years the phrase “board games” has immediately reverted me back to childhood with memories of Monopoly-fuelled rage and overturned games of Connect 4. The inevitable realisation that everyone you know is actually a complete twat, and no one ever gives you a break when you’re not as good at games as anyone else. OK, so maybe that was just me. The point is, I hated board games. With the exception of Canasta and Guess Who, I perpetually avoided playing games of any kind as I knew myself well enough to know I was bound to take it personally when [...]

This Week: My Birthday

May 4, 2013 in Lifestyle, Self, Work

We haven’t caught up for two weeks so I’ve got a few photos to share with you today. The last two weeks have been fairly eventful and today is my birthday just in case my constant updates left you in any doubt. So be warned that next week will be all about my birthday, even though it’s actually today. The first big thing in the past two weeks has been JJ stepping back from blogging, which has had a huge impact on the site but as always I’m behind him 100% in what he wants to do and I can’t wait [...]

28 Is My Scary Age

May 2, 2013 in Gender, Health, Parenting, People, Pregnancy & Birth, Self

When I was 18 years old I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and told I may have difficulty when I came to trying for kids. Up until then kids had been a footnote in the plan I had for my life. I was happily cruising along, fresh out of high school with a steady (dickhead) boyfriend, planning to head into modelling, acting, singing and all the rest of it. So the doctor looks me straight in the eyes, ”This does not mean you will never have kids, but for your best shot you should have the first one before you [...]

Would You Regift?

March 26, 2013 in Lifestyle, People, Self

Have you ever regifted? I haven’t. I don’t think I could. I feel guilty enough having a present cupboard or buying things on sale. Often I’ve been known to find an item on sale and then buy other items to make up the difference from the discount I got. Which is, of course, ridiculous as the person receiving the gift wouldn’t even know if it was on sale or not, but I have a certain level of paranoia about gift giving. In the past few years I’ve been given a lot of scented candles. I mean a lot of scented candles. [...]

Don’t Read Posts On Weddings (Except This One)

March 25, 2013 in Marriage, People, Relationships, Self, Wedding

As you all know, I got engaged recently. Even though many people expect me to be like Monica from “Friends” with a massive binder filled with every wedding idea I have ever had, I’m not. Surprised? You aren’t alone. I am enjoying filling the amazing wedding binder I bought from kikki k and the “wedding notes” book my lovely sister gave me. You see, while I haven’t planned everything already in my head, I have waited my whole life to plan a wedding. This may be less impressive to some given the fact that I am only 22, but I [...]

Then The Bill Came… And It Stopped Being Fun

March 18, 2013 in Anecdotes, Dating, Friendship

This piece was supposed to be just about fun. Not artificially engineered creative workplace thinking or playing tetris on your iPhone while on the train type of fun, but the play-like fun you had as a child. The fun that’s made by your own imagination, wearing you out til you’re dog tired and giving your stomach muscles a workout by laughing so hard. But now it’s about fun, playdough, dinner and halving the bill, or not. Because nothing says unfun like a calculator app at the dinner table. When I was little, the best kind of fun I had was when [...]

So Boring It Should Be Free

March 15, 2013 in Home, Lifestyle, Money

There are some things in life so boring they should be free. They’re so boring, inconsequential and essential I had just assumed they came with the house until I was setting up a house of my own and realised, to my dismay, we actually had to buy these things. I’m sure you know the kind of things I’m talking about. Things like pegs and laundry baskets. Coat hangers and plugs. Plugs! Surely plugs just come with the sinks, right? Then to add insult to injury, you can’t take your sink to the shop to find out what size plug you need. And [...]

How Do You Do Pocket Money?

March 14, 2013 in Children, Finance, Lifestyle, Money, Parenting

Way back in the Christmas holidays, I started pondering the subject of pocket money. I have two boys, 5 and 8, and the subject of pocket money had come up now and then, but never seriously. As my youngest was about to start school for the first time, and my older child got old enough to be able to save for things, I resolved to make a decision on the subject before school started. I thought I’d share my thinking process with you all, as some of my friends found it helpful to think about too. I opened up the [...]

Random Acts of Kindness or Random Acts of Self-Promotion?

March 12, 2013 in Friendship, Lifestyle, Money, People, Society

The idea of random acts of kindness is a good one. Wikipedia defines a random act of kindness as “a selfless act performed by a person or people wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual person or people.” Further to that, being selfless is defined as being motivated to act without concern for oneself. I really like that idea. I like that fact that you just do something with the intention of just helping. But there is something with the random acts of kindness that really gets my goat. It’s when people use random acts of kindness as [...]