I should be asleep, instead...

A girl can dream/save up :)

Psssssst

Don't tell anyone! Look what Mr Amazon brought me today... Woooooop.

The 'Encounter' range by Lonely Planet is my favourite travel series ever.. They just pack the very best info in the appropriate amount of detail and put it in a handy travel size. They break each city down into a zone-by-zone format and include tips from locals as well as brilliant short reviews and shiny, shiny pictures. The books have a main writer (always a resident of the city) and at the back there is always a fold out street map. Phew! I've got three now (Barcelona, Paris) and they're just fab fab fab.

I didn't really know what to expect when I bought the Moleskine. I've been completely sucked into the romance and extravagance of the brand and couldn't resist the shiny New York edition Moleskine. I've thumbed through it a few times now. There are maps, notecards, and pages and upon pages of... lines. From what I gather, you sort of write the guidebook yourself. You keep it through the years and add to it each time you go there or research your visit. It's too clever, honestly. How often would you go to a restaurant/cafe/general place and think 'I need to come back here', well you jot it down in your city notebook and you'll never forget where it was. Jeez, how did I survive before I found this?!

'Long story short'...

Sorry if this reads like a rant! It is, sort of.


I got a new BlackBerry Bold 9780 in January this year. I know, please don't be jealous and hate me. In February this year it stopped working. Last week I gave it to the 02 shop. They took £25 deposit from me and gave me a 'replacement' handset, while my top of the range, shiny, new, shitty phone was being repaired. So far, so predictable.

02 phoned today to say my phone was fixed and I could come and pick it up, anytime.

'Any time?', I asked. I was nearby the shop.

'Yeah come over now, just bring your receipt and your loan phone.'

I had stopped using the loan phone almost instantly because it hurt my fingers (and eh, smelled dirty?!) So I told The Guy, 'Ok I don't have the loan phone, but I've got my receipt for the return. I'm not too bothered when I get the £25 back I just obviously want my BBerry as soon as possible.

'We would need the loan phone back before we can give you your BlackBerry.'

So, in short. 02 thinks it's cool to give you a brand new phone on a 2 year contract that breaks within a month. They'll also ask you for £25 as a deposit on your loan phone but hold your own phone hostage in the event of your loan phone being left at home!! While you still pay for your BlackBerry! While they still keep your money! Someone call Scotland Yard, there's been a robbery.

Did that come out right? I don't know. It makes sense in my head and anyway, phew, I feel better now.

Still,

02 - 1
Me - 0

Glasgow

Where I'm from, people like to do things a little differently.


The calf muscles on him!

Worst Place in the World to be Gay?

A documentary by Scott Mills, Radio 1 presenter was aired tonight on BBC3. It forms part of a series exploring the rights and freedoms we enjoy here in the UK. The presenter is taken out of their comfort zone and into challenging situations.

In the episode I've just finished watching, Scott goes to Uganda to speak to those on the bottom rung of the social ladder, who have been castigated from a normal existance and who face prosecution and jail or execution on top of relentless, violent persecution. For being gay. Eh??

I know Africa is a different continent to us. People everywhere have different customs, beliefs and laws. Taking religion, morals or anything else that helps you forget that we are all human beings and all that stuff out of the argument, and what are you left with? That's right, a witch doctor who will try to 'cure' you of being gay. Hooray!

This weekend I...

This weekend I took my lovely friend Adele out for her birthday dinner. We went to Cafe Rouge in Glasgow's Royal Exchange Square, had a bottle of champagne and ventured over to The Corinthian for more cocktails and banter. We got a little too tipsy and I woke up thinking my head was about to fall off the next day.

On Saturday mum and I went shopping and I bought a lovely red bag for New York (Yes, I'm too organised. Please see previous post and pictorial evidence of said bag on the left.) It's from TK Maxx, Tommy Hilfiger, should have been £75 but was £28. Nice sturdy craftsmanship.

On Sunday I went through to Edinburgh with Ronnie for Valentines Day. I'm never a big one for the Hallmark Holiday (usually I'm single) but we decided to take the brilliant Mercat Ghosts and Ghouls Tour, have some lovely time away and oh, stay in a bloody massive suite at the Hilton Grosvenor! The tour was brilliant, (creeeepy) the room was brilliant (creeepy) and best of all (perhaps,) I got a SLANKET!



Today I was brought a Starbucks in bed (aww!) and watched Gilmore Girls in the 'living room' after Ronnie went back to bed. On our way home we stopped off in South Queensferry, had a coffee and took some pictures. The town was named after Saint Margaret of Scotland who used to cross the firth from Fife to here in order to attend mass at Edinburgh Castle. She eventually died at Dunfermline Abbey in 1093, when she would have made her last journey here. It was quite overcast and pretty cold. It was nice though :)

Looking ahead...

In August this year I'm taking a trip to America for the first time ever. Seeing my family in Philadelphia, running up the Rocky steps, brushing past the Amish community, turning 25 in the Big Apple, climbing the steps to the top of Lady Liberty, gazing longingly into Tiffany's, taking a picnic to Central Park, riding a big yellow taxi, buying a hot dog from the sidewalk, having my 'New York moment' at the top of the Empire State Building.. It's more than six months away and Ronnie keeps telling me to calm down. I can't. It'll be too brilliant :)

Orchids

The most widely cultivated type of orchid goes by the more familiar name of Vanilla, and is popular as a food colourant and perfume ingredient.

The literal word Orchid comes from the latin 'órkhis', meaning erm, testicle. The root of the plant is said to bear some resemblance and was given the name by John Lindley, a botanist, in 1845. (Men eh..?)

An extinct species of stingless bee was discovered trapped in amber. On it's wings, the bee carried the pollen of an orchid. The amber dated from about 15-20 million years ago ago and was the first evidence of fossilised orchids to date.

Orchids are a cosmopolitan plant, flowering in almost every habitat apart from glaciers. And most recently, on top of my chest of drawers :)

Mademoiselle

So I treated myself :)

Happy February!

Love,
Me x

It's been a while!

I started this blog year ago this month during a fit of poverty as a way of tracking my spending. More of an accounts sheet than anything else.

My manifesto for this year has changed slightly. I'm in a shiny, new, happier place and wanted to record some of it for posterity. I'd also like to get into the habit of writing something each day, as there is a book inside of me somewhere and I'd like to meet it one day.

I've got a new job, new band, brilliant friends and lovely things to surround myself with. So I suppose this version of 2000 and Then, might be better, more brilliant and lovelier still :)