Just three bad traits

So when asked to write about my top three worst traits, I of course came up with about 20 bad traits in my head didn’t I?! So I’ve spent the last ten minutes trying to choose my worst three and I think I’ve finally decided (I think that’s possibly a sign of my inability to make a decision – a bad trait yes, but not one of my worst!). So back to the bad points about myself.

I have a lack of willpower – whether it’s when faced with a bag of peanut m&m’s, a Starbucks grande mocha or part way through a 10k run, my willpower always seems to desert me at the most inopportune moments.

A suffer from a severe lack of confidence – I hate putting myself in situations with new people or when I’m not sure what to expect. I’m rubbish at making conversation with people when I don’t know what they like or what they do and I’m always concerned that I’ll  make a total idiot of myself by saying something stupid or doing something ridiculous.

I love a good old gossip – Yes I admit it I’m a bit of a gossip and I’m also not great with secrets. It’s not done in a malicious way at all but I just seem to have a thing about sharing news. I try to kid myself that I’m doing a service by keeping people informed but let’s be honest it’s not is it – it’s a bad thing. Hence why I’ve popped it in my worst traits post!

Eurgh, things I’ve learnt whilst writing this post? That I hate this sort of thing – I should not spend so long pondering my own issues. Now where’s the chocolate? I have some serious emotions to eat.



Pinterest Corner #22 – Non school lessons and Pinterest learnings

Things I’ve learned that school didn’t teach me:

  • Bright coloured nail varnish is brilliant at cheering me up
  • Whatever the problem, cake is always the answer
  • Friends and family are THE most important thing in your life. They are the ones who will be with you through thick and thin
  • The ability to escape to an entirely new world through the pages of a book or via a film can be life altering
  • A smile is one of the most beautiful visions in the world and a laughing fit is one of the best feelings ever
  • and finally, I’ll leave you with these two very sound pieces of advice from the wonderful world of Pinterest:

source and source


A pet peeve

Today’s challenge is to rant about something that you feel strongly about, something that annoys you about someone else, a pet peeve or a controversial topic. Well, okay then if you insist! To be honest there were a number of things that I could have focused this post on, everything from tax evasion – is the company at fault or the government that allows this evasion to be legal and to continue? I have very strong opinions on this!! – and cheap clothes from Primark to the rudeness of people who use London’s public transport system. But I’ve decided instead to focus on my current pet peeve, as thanks to my upstairs neighbours this is something that has been particularly infuriating over the past week.

To set the scene you need to know a couple of things about my flat.

  • I life on the third floor of a four floor block of flats
  • It’s about three miles from central London, so whilst Clapham Common is nearby there’s not loads of open space on our doorstep
  • The flat above mine has wooden floors

So this leads me to my pet peeve. My upstairs neighbours have a dog. Yes in a top floor flat, with no carpet and very little outside space they have a dog. Not a small dog like a chihuahua, but a fairly large bulldog. So, my pet peeve? People that own dogs in houses that are far too small for them.

Yes I get annoyed that the dog enjoys running around the flat making lots of noise on my ceiling at annoying times of the day – mainly when I’m trying to sleep – but mainly this absolutely infuriates me because it’s not fair on the dog. I can’t blame the poor dog for being loud and annoying and always thumping across my ceiling, as he doesn’t know any different. It’s in his nature to want to run around and let off steam. It’s the fault of his owners who keep him cooped up inside all day and who don’t life somewhere that gives him enough space to run around or do what dogs do. So yes, that’s today’s pet peeve – don’t own a dog if you can’t give it the open space and time outdoors that it needs, not just so I can sleep better, but so that the dog can be happier.



The search for the perfect pair of wedges

So Summer’s just round the corner, no it is I’m 99% sure it is, and when it arrives I will want to get my toes out of their covered pumps and embrace the bright coloured nail varnish. I’m all set on the nail varnish, with about 450 bottles (containing pretty much every colour) ready and waiting to be used, but when it comes to footwear I’m a bit stuck. I have a trillion pairs of flip-flops and flat sandals, but I don’t want to wear them all the time, especially at work as I’m not sure it makes me seem particularly serious or ambitious when I head to meetings in my purple Havianas. So I’ve added another item to this year’s Summer shopping list – a pair of decent, comfy and lovely looking wedges. And so far my search has unveiled the following lovely pairs of shoes….

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1 – Woven wedges from UGG – this sort of seems odd as the Ugg shop should only do warm woolly boots, but they are really lovely looking. Sadly I don’t think I’ll ever be able to get over the high price tag – £135! Ouch.

2 - Black wedges from New Look – These are much more in my price range and they are black so will go with pretty much everything I want to wear over the Summer.

3 – Cream wedges from Oasis – These are lovely aren’t they, too bad they’re £55, I’m not sure I can justify that much on a pair of shoes that I might only wear once if the weather doesn’t improve.

4 – Leopard Print from ASDA – Oh these are lovely, with the bits of gold, the cork, rope and leopard print they’re basically ticking every box aren’t they. Also, as they’re only £16 I’m actually very tempted to buy, buy, buy!

5 – Tan twisted strap wedges from New Look – Oh I LOVE this, except I fear I’d break an ankle if I tried to walk in them. Perhaps not the most logical shoe for a work day!

6 – Mint Wedge from Debenhams – These are the only wedges I’ve found that are in this seasons spring colours, and I have to admit I’m a little in love with them AND they’re in the sale!?

7 – Glitter Wedges from Oasis – Oh sparkly pretty shoes, I WANT! Plus as they are nude and sparkly they’ll basically go with anything and everything I choose to wear them with!

My favourite posts

Oh I love today’s Blog every day in May challenge, a round-up of some of my favourite posts, what is a great opportunity to remind myself what I’ve written over the last few months. Thankfully I’ve realised that not all of the posts I’ve written are dreadful, hooray. Strangely enough though it was easy to pick out favourites, as the ones below are a mix of everything on my blog – funniness, ramblings, honesty, happy things and ponderings. I hope you enjoy this reminder of Fi’s daily Ponderings.

This Smiley Happy Things post, mainly because I forgot I owned this nail varnish and the reindeer head made me smile – I still need it in my life!

This post I wrote about my Gramps was very hard to write and I considered not posting it as it’s quite personal. But I did in the end as I love it as it allowed me to remember him for a few minutes on one day and is an important letter to him.

This Pinterest Corner post about my thoughts on reading.  love that a good book will stay with you long after you have finished it and I adore that I often talk about my favourite characters as if they were real people.

My Lately post which was a round-up of Christmas fun, because we all know how much I love Christmas and so of course I need to include that wonderful time of year in this round-up

My Life is Very Short post as it’s worth remembering that things happen for a reason, life is short and we shouldn’t focus on the bad stuff but think about the good things.

This recent post about something I’m working to overcome is another favourite as mine as it gave me the opportunity to reflect on something I’ve been working hard on over the past year or so and writing the post made me realise just how much I’ve achieved, even if I’m not quite all the way there yet.

One of my all time favourite posts was my round-up of 2012, as it reminded me of just how much stuff I did in 2012 and how awesome a year it was. So far 2013 is turning out to be pretty darn special too!



Struggles

Blog every day in May, day 20: Get real. Share something you’re struggling with right now.

I’m struggling

  • with losing that last stone of weight
  • to put myself out there
  • to say no to another cupcake
  • to make a decision about my job
  • to save
  • to complete everything I need to
  • to run a decent distance without walking
  • to stay on top of my paperwork
  • to say no to another Game of Thrones episode
  • to keep my living room tidy
  • to have a lie in
  • to have the willpower to walk to work
  • to concentrate
  • to be as good a friend/godparent/granddaughter/daughter/sister as I should be



Pinterest Corner #21 – Indications of good or bad

source

I couldn’t agree more with the above sentiment – J.K. Rowling really knows what she’s talking about doesn’t she? This quote sprung to mind a couple of times this week and I wanted to share it with you all. I’m not going to go into details of what happened to make me think of this quote, as you never know who’s reading this and that wouldn’t be fair to others. But suffice to say I learnt a few things about certain people in my life (not all bad) and I was reminded that it’s important to treat others how we would wish to be treated, no matter their status in relation to us. This goes for simple things like not barging people out-of-the-way on a bus because you have an important meeting to get too or holding open doors but also other things like making sure you allow others to share their thoughts and opinions without judging them.

Baking, working, running and blog love

I follow a lot of blogs on Bloglovin’, so you would expect today’s part of the Blog every day in May challenge to be tricky, however I’m potentially psychic as I have already blogged on this very subject in the past. So for today’s part of the challenge head on over to this post as my favourite blogs still stand. Now that just leaves us with my usually Sunday post – a round-up of my week which went a little bit like this:

  • Birthday present shopping for a work friend – she loved everything including the ‘caviar’ nail varnish, so job well done!
  • The discovery that the Shake Shack is about to open in Covent Garden made my week, I think I actually squealed when I saw the hoardings. I literally cannot wait for July now – squee!
  • Pub Quiz fun times, we weren’t the best to be honest but we had good fun none the less.
  • Walking to work, and treating myself to coffee as a reward – sadly I didn’t walk more than once, but maybe next week I will find that willpower and do every day…
  • A mid-week run around Clapham Common in the rain, cue beautiful rainbows, stunning clouds, cute puppies and the first cricketers of the Summer
  • A new addiction to the Beautiful Mess app
  • Online shopping as it was pay-day. I’m sort of hoping that both dresses end up not fitting as I probably can’t afford them, but you never know they might fit right? One has flowers, the other has flamingoes – I figured they were both wardrobe essentials, yes?!
  • Finally watching Star Trek into Darkness with a mocha and Pret sandwiches. The film was epic – not only was it emotionally charged, beautifully acted with a brilliant storyline, it also had awesome action sequences and hilarious one-liners. Benedict Cumberbatch and Zachary Quinto were absolutely spectacular in their roles, although I did feel the need to get out a pair of scissors and sort out Benedict’s random hair! If you’ve not seen it yet, get on it asap!
  • Lunchtimes spent either at my desk, shopping or reading a brilliant new book – I’m so pleased I’ve finally caught the reading bug again!
  • Curry night with a double episode of Nashville. Perhaps the most perfect Friday night ever?
  • NANDO’S! My first trip for ages and it was delicious, it reminds me I should go far more often. I mean potato and chicken are good for you yes?
  • Another cinema trip, this time to see the awesome Fast and the Furious 6. Don’t judge me it was brilliantly good. I can’t help my love for these films I basically grew up with them, although I did have to ignore the fact that they tried to pass off Lambeth Bridge for Moscow, yep they basically failed at that! But still Paul Walker, yummy!
  • An epic Sunday of baking and running – two of my favourite things. The run was 3.75 miles (not bad) and I’ve baked delicious peanut butter and chocolate cupcakes to celebrate National Baking Day – they’re really rather good, even if I do say so myself!
  • Still to come – Carbonara, a spinning class and yet more episodes of Game of Thrones



Great adventures in Dorset

Day 18 of the blog every day in May challenge is to tell a story from your childhood. Hm this one will be tricky as my memory of past events is particularly shocking. I can never remember full details of the things that happened in my childhood, and those that I do remember I often wonder how much is thanks to my memory rather than from hearing the stories repeated by various family members.

That said I still need to complete today’s challenge so I’ve decided to focus on the many days spent at my grandparents’ house during my childhood. I used to love visiting their stone clad house with the blue paintwork. It always felt like a grand adventure as often my sister and I would go and stay with them for a week in the summer without our parents when we were 5 or 6 and we’d have a ball!

* Making the very tricky decision of which breakfast cereal to eat from an eight pack variety pack. Inevitably the cornflakes were left until the end and Grandpa finished those up!
* Snuggling up on our very own room under the eaves
* Sneaking unseen tuck biscuits from the glass jar
* Warming up next to the Aga
* Sneaking in to Grandma’s bed for morning stories – The Little Girl who Lived in the Freezer and The Bedspread were particular favourites
* Swinging in the hammock and lazing in a deck chair
* Helping them complete their crossword
* Hunting for fairies in the garden
* Walking along the river to see the ducks and stopping at the library or the WI for books and half a Kit Kat respectively.
* Completing puzzles whilst watching Fantasia for the umpteenth time
* Sitting on the concrete posts outside their house swinging our legs and looking out for the parents’ car

Those days spent with my grandparents were so much fun and they are definitely some of my favourite memories from childhood. Just thinking about those days has made me miss them immeasurably but I’m glad to have these lovely memories of days spent with them.

A silly, yet favourite picture

olympics

I absolutely adore this picture of myself, yes I’m pulling a stupid face and yes I look like a bit of an idiot but I love it anyway. The reasons why I love it?

  • It features two of my favourite people
  • It was taken during one of the best Summer’s of my life (2012) during the epic London Olympics. That Summer was awesome and I really wish we could have the Olympics in the city I call home every year.
  • It was taken when I was having a brilliant time and laughing hysterically with my sisters. We weren’t being sensible, there was a lot of tears of laughter and I wasn’t worrying about anything at all.
  • I have glittery stickers on my face. Enough said!



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