Argh, it's all gone mad!

I abandoned my wee blog for ages, but then just today I thought I'd add to it again, cause I quite like writing it, actually, so here goes...

First of all, bloody Blogger has gone and changed everything so it took me ages to figure out how to even get in to write a new post.  And in other changes: I have a new job - I'm working in the Corinthian Club in Glasgow and *drumroll please* I'm going back to Uni this September.  I'm going to be doing the LLB (Graduate) degree in Law.  So I can do it in 2 years instead of three for the heart-stopping sum of £6,500 a year - that's at Strathclyde where I eventually had to accept.  I wanted to accept Edinburgh but they put their fees up to £8,750 a year, which was, frankly, well out of my range.  So, Strathclyde it is, and actually I'm pretty excited about it, though I'm not sure anyone else can tell.  

I'm off to Italy next week to visit the flame-haired dynamo ED who has been living on-and-off in Sicily for about 9 months.  I'm flying through London (7 hour wait in Luton, snore) and back through Pisa (one hour connection time, mad dash from Arrivals straight back into Departures and Security) and I've made it so I get 7 full days in Sicily with the two days travelling tacked on either end.  I'm uber excited and already have several lists of things to pack.  I'm not taking a suitcase, 'cause it would have cost me an extra £60 (screw you, Ryanair), so I need to pack smart and think of things I can double up into at least 2 outfits.  I'm also trying not to buy anything new, because I already have loads of summery clothes that I don't get to wear enough, but the one thing I do really want are a pair of sequined shorts (I say shorts; they're not much more than giant knickers) that I've seen on Asos.  The problem is, the colour I want is the cheapest but sold out in my size, so I don't know if I should go for a different colour instead or kid myself into thinking I can get into the smaller size.  I think, of all things you don't want to be wearing too tight, an unforgiving, tiny pair of shorts is about top of the list, so I might have to forgo the lovely navy and go for black instead.

I need to decide today, really, so they arrive in time for me leaving on Tuesday.  Last time I was going away to Tenerife, I couldn't find my bikini, so I bought one on Asos the day before I left and forked out for their enxt delivery and hoped for the best.  They turned up just in the nick of time, and all was well.  So I have faith in the Asos delivery system, at least!

Tomorrow is my mum's birthday, so I've booked us all a table in Brown's to go for breakfast en famille, and then we're hitting the Swarovski shop to buy her a ring she likes.  So far so good, except my dad still hasn't got her anything and seems to have no idea what to go for, so I'm now racking my brains to try and think of something else that he can get for her.  This happens every damn year, and I'm pretty fed up of it!  If anyone has any genius ideas for a mum-worthy gift, please send them my way before the shops shut tonight...

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Talk about a culture shock!  After ten blissful, warm days in Tenerife I come home to find Scotland is getting hit by the tail of Hurricane Katia.  A few days for cosy socks, tea and snuggling under blankets, for sure! 

I had an amazing holiday - me and Paul (my brother) were sharing a flat and my mum and granny were staying in another flat in the same complex.  We spent loads of time at the pool, and went snorkeling on the beach a few times too!  The first day we went we didn't see many fish - the odd stripy one floating about, but we did see a big sword stuck in the floor of the sea, which was pretty cool.  The second day we went, the water was much rougher and quite cloudy from all the sand getting blown about but we saw loads more fish - I swam right through a school of sardines!  Wish I had an underwater camera for such moments!

I'm happy to say I picked up a good tan, and narrowly avoided getting burnt!  I also did a good bit of shopping and got a lovely wee dress and pair of leather boots.  I'm usually quite fussy about boots - I don't like ones that come too high up my leg cause they make me look stumpy (!), and I want them to be chunky but not too much.  Anyway, I stumbled across this pair in Stradivarius, and despite the roasting heat outside, I immediately saw their potential as replacements to my treasured others that are well past their best - I've had them re-soled and re-heeled so many times that the last time, the cobbler told me he wouldn't be able to fix them any more!

I'm happy to report that they're very comfy, very waterproof, and have already been put to good use in the 3 days since I got back!

I also got a lovely wee star-print dress (in case you hadn't noticed, stars are the print to be seen in for A/W 2011), which actually goes quite well with the dress:

Hmm, that picture isn't the best, but you can check it out online here, if you like.  Happy shopping times, indeed!

So, I'm not exactly thrilled to be back - I've mostly been reading in bed since I got home, to be honest, but once I adjust back to the weather I'll be back on form.  Probably.

I've had a couple of call-backs about jobs - though I still haven't actually been given a job.  But it's more than I've had in a long time so I'm hoping that something will come out of it and in the mean time I'm still bombing out the CVs and applications.  Positive thoughts, please, peeps!

Viva España

Before you all think I´m wasting my time blogging when I should be out holidaying, I´m just waiting on hearing back from someone on Facebook about meeting this afternoon - totally miss being able to use my blackberry and check Facebook on the go!

So far the weather has been lovely, having a great time catching up with people etc.  It´s very strange - when you´ve lived somewhere and you go back for a visit you feel like you´ve never left but then cause I´m not going to work or anything I still get the holiday vibe!

Had a bit of a crazy weekend, the details of which will never be put to the public in my blog! Suffice it to say, money was spent, a hangover was had, but it was totally worth it.  Good times.

That´s all for now, I´m off to catch some serious rays...

Holiday!

That Madonna knew what she singing about alright, holidays rock!  How do I know?  Because in approximately 39 hours I will be jetting off to sunny (it better be sunny!) Valencia for a ten day spree!  Saturday morning I'll be hopping a flight to London and after the Hours Of Boredom In Stansted Airport (of which I am now, unfortunately, a connoisseur) I get another plane to Valencia.

In the interest of saving money I decided to only take hand luggage and this leaves me with the interesting challenge of making sure I have enough to wear for ten days and nine nights in a small suitcase weighing no more than 10 kilos.  So far I'm about 3/4 packed and I'm at about 7 kilos though I still have to stick a few things in.  The key, dear reader, is all in mixing-and-matching it up.  Loads of nice separates but nothing goes in unless it can be worn with at least two other items on the list.  Also, a few things like jumpsuits (hurrah!) and was-maxi-now-midi (thanks, belt) dresses are whole outfits in one go! 

Having obliging pals to put you up and provide towels and other stodgy space-stealers is also recommended.  I have a lush pair of new wedges to grace the pavements of Spain, too.  From New Look, and with a much appreciated 20% discount, here they are.  Crafty New Look don't seem to let you copy pics off their website so you'll have to go and have a swatch.

I'm not always convinced by wedges, especially when they become so ubiquitous over the summer months, but I love these - they're like my lovely shiny spike heels in a similar colour, but done down for summer.  It must be said that wedges go well with maxi dresses, especially when you're vertically challenged like me, and this lovely nude colour really lengthen the legs.  I think they'll go with everything and (fingers crossed) be comfy for hitting the cobbles in search of Sangria!

In other news...

The beautiful Grecian dress I got for my cousin's wedding was a bit small in the waist (bloody vintage!) and it needed altered a bit, despite my gym efforts.  Well, I was terrified to have it taken out in case it ruined the drop of it and the lovely shape, but I'm happy to report that I had a shorter zip put in the back which means I can do it up fully now, and not only is it now a perfect fit but you would never even know it had been altered.  The woman that did it is a lovely lady called Andrina and you can check out her alterations website here.  It took just one week and was a very reasonable £8.  So there you go - don't throw out your favourite trousers after a summer of excess - just get them altered and have another slice of cake!

Don't Sweat It

Well, last week after my successful Spin Fit class, I trotted home and booked myself up for the same class this week.  This was all fine until last night when I realised that the class is at 10am and, frankly, I totally couldn't be bothered!

So, I set my alarm to get up at 8...and hit snooze for about half an hour.  Then by the time I rolled out of bed and got ready it was too late to get to the class on the bus. (Thanks, First Glasgow.)  To make up for that I decided to go to the gym this evening.  I signed myself up for a Pilates class and headed to the gym half an hour early, so I could do a punishing interval routine on the bikes.  Well, OK, it was hard but it wasn't that punishing. Still though... 

The Pilates class was good, but I don't feel as sore in the tummy muscles as I did after my last one.  There are two possible reasons for this: 1) I've gotten better at it, and it wasn't such a shock to the muscles, or 2) I wasn't working the abs as hard as I could have been.  I'll wait til tomorrow morning, judge the pain levels and then let you know! 

The teacher said that it's harder for women to build up good tummy muscles and/or get a 6-pack because the testosterone levels in men make it easier to form muscle mass.  So there you go:  Muffin Top is not your fault. Fact!

In light of planning a holiday (ha, I just typed 'party' when I meant 'holiday' - that pretty much sums up what I'm planning to do while I'm there!) at the end of May, and hopefully spending a good proportion of the time on the beach, I'm trying to get my arse into gear and keep up the work-outs.  I'm totally fine once I get into it, but as soon as I miss a planned gym-slot I'm screwed and I fall off the exercise wagon for a week or so, and then I psych myself up to go back...and so the cycle (gettit?) continues.

But no! This time I will keep going, and I will only fall off the wagon when its due to exhaustion and not even my hyper-toned core Pilates muscles can save me!  This is the plan, and I fully intend to stick to it...  I don't have a picture of me at the gym, so I did a quick Google, and I found this photo here, which is pretty accurate.  Y'know, except for the obvious:

I would never have that hair.

Holiday Time

Yup, off to Tenerife this morning, good times.  I'm a bit knackered cause I went to this family party thing last night and didn't get away til after 11, so we didn't get home til 12ish and then I fannied about for a while before I went to bed.  Never mind, maybe I'll sleep on the plane!

Bought the Dawn French memoirs, so I'll read that on the plane.  I started reading the first wee bit on the train home from town yesterday to get me into a wee bit and I was nearly killing myself laughing already, so I think it bodes well!

After much deliberation, I've decided to take my laptop with me to Tenerife.  Hopefully while I'm there I can put some time to good use and get my CV re-written and stuff, even if I don't actually get online.  Also, if I get bored I can play games on the plane.  It's a 5 hour flight which always seems uber long, to me!

Anyway, coffee time I think.  See y'all in a week!

P.S.: I'm happy to report that although bbc weather has been saying all week that it'd be hail and rain showers while we were there... now it's saying that it'll be sunny all week.  Ahoy!