And They’re Off!

Glitter is taking a trek out West for a few days – I’m off to Galway Raceweek! I love going racing! Mind, I have to admit, over the last two years I didn’t so much as make it out to Ballybrit, preferring to watch from the comfort of a seat in whatever pub over the few days. Sacrilege? Hmmm.. maybe, but if you’ve ever been on say Shop Street at 8pm on Ladies Day you’ll know that the combination of grass and loads of people can become a fairly muddy affair and I’ll take the craic and buzz around the city centre, see more of the racing close to a big screen over the battle that is getting to the bar or tote out at the racecourse. Oh, it’s not that the racing is incidental, it’s not, its just that there’s so much going on right across the city that it’s better to be in the thick of it, ready to hop to the next pub rather than spend ages waiting for a shuttle bus and then getting stuck in traffic.

I’m staying with friends, the bathroom thing each morning is fairly painless, even with a majority of females in the house and then there’s always a few drinks around the kitchen table when we all manage to get home late at night and that’s only either side of the great days. Oh I can’t wait! And sure I’ve met loads of people that live there now, those that are part of the gang. I’ve two frocks waiting to get their first airing, there’s a new handbag to swing over my shoulder and well, any excuse to climb into my skyscraper shoes!

I’m not even going to hazard a guess as to how much [read little] sleep I’ll be getting over the next few days and thankfully, I’ll have a few days to recover before going back to work.  What I do know is that I’m going to really enjoy myself!  See you next week.

The Naked Truth

I saw this piece recently, just the headline, a few words and I was a bit taken aback. It’s actually been bugging me whether it was true or just a prank or some kind of publicity stunt, so I’ve gone and read the article.

Much to my bewilderment, a company in Newcastle, England, did actually have a ‘Naked Friday’ day in their office and everyone spent the day at work naked. In the nip! No clothes on. At work. For the day. It was an idea from the MD that prompted this in order to boost team spirit and morale – Lord knows I hope it was the only thing ‘boosted’ during the day in the mixed office, ahem…

I just don’t get it. Why on earth would you want to spend a day in work, naked? And neither do I get that even though I’m sure it was greeted with perhaps more than a little hesitancy from co-workers, somehow they were persuaded it’d be a good thing to do - makes you think that getting away with a 10% reduction in salary in order to keep your job mightn’t be the worse that could happen, huh? It was done to boost morale, in these difficult times and I’m sure the company has been hit hard as it’s in the Design & Marketing industry, but what about seeing fat Freddie or stick thin Tracy in the bare naked flesh as they type or make phone calls at the desk beside yours could possibly be appealing? I think it’s great if you’re very comfortable with your body, but very few people are and then the flip side of that is if you’re comfortable showing it off, there’ll always be people that don’t really want to see your bits and pieces. In the run up to ‘the day’, people were encouraged to photocopy their eh, bits and pieces to get more comfortable about what would be on show and the company brought in a nude model so that employees could do a bit of sketching and ask questions.

I’m still not convinced. I would not like to see a parade of willies in front of me as I try to talk a client into spending some money with my company. Nor would I like to be hit in the eye by some wayward boobs if someone leaned over my desk to borrow a stapler. Oh God! I’m getting all kinds of visions now! Toilet paper stuck between someone’s arse cheeks, skidmarks on the chair in the kitchen. Huge skin moley type things, all uneven in colour and shape or a bit of sagging skin akin to a turkey don’t seem anyway as bad in retrospective – but I’m still not rushing to see what my colleagues have underneath their clothes yet!

And just in case you’re wondering, it has all been filmed as a documentary to be shown on the Virgin satellite channel.

Impulse Purchase

This took me back. Remember when you were a teenager and started wearing deodourant? You had to slip it into the trolly in the supermarket when in Dunnes or Quinnsworth when your Dad had decided to do the weekly shop. And then there was always ‘posh’ cans of Impulse on the supermarket shelf beside the deodourant; Impulse being a body spray that technically you didn’t need but someone in your class always used it and was the same wan that was allowed use her Mom’s very grown up perfume as well, as opposed to the one bottle of Anais Anais you got from a very progressive Aunt at Christmas that you’d been ’saving’ to use until you were allowed go to the local disco.

I wasn’t an Impulse girl. My younger sister was though and it was something I would notice her wearing by the sweet smell that would waft from her bedroom when I was home from college for the weekend.

Now that I’m nearly grown up though, I’ve become an Impulse girl! I commute quite a bit for work and weatherwise it’s been very heavy and humid lately. I just thought I needed something to be able to freshen up a bit during the day. I saw this on the Irish beauty reference point for many girls, Beaut.ie and was quite intrigued. And so I got to try it out for myself, the verdict – it’s really nice! It has a very delicate but inviting smell. The main ingredients are white wood and wild violet roses no less and is called ‘Romantic Spark’. I would think it’s one of those fragrances that prompts a lot of ‘Oh, that’s lovely! What is it?’ type questions! You will definitely be surprised by this – it’s a lot different to the Impulse fragrances of old – it was developed by Anne Gottlieb, who works for Givaudan who are one of the biggest fragrance houses in the world. And if you don’t believe me, she has worked on scents for Calvin Klein, Caroline Herrera and on Sarah Jessica Parker’s ‘Covet’ perfume!

Impulse Romantic Spark is available in chemists and supermarkets, RRP €3.59

Friday Fire

This is definitely the song for today! Myself and Limerick girl are going out tonight and tomorrow night – oh yes, the crayons and sparkles will be in hand for us to do a bit of town painting! Oh I love ‘Friday Feelings’! The whole anticipation keeps me going right throughout the hours at my desk before I can rush home and get into that LBD, throw on the DG leather jacket, climb into my 5inch Kurt Geigers and.. well.. who knows!

This song also came to mind as I was having an online chat with an old friend. We met in South Africa and had an absolute blast out on the piss in Cape Town for.. oh.. what was it? 1 week? 2? Just how many times did you change your flight home?! And she’s at the really exciting stage of having just met a new guy – oh the excitment! And if anyone can party, it’s her. Hehe… we’ll definitely have to be in the same country, same pub again soon, I should start putting energy aside for that weekend now! 

So, this is for Anja – go get him Tiger!

My Sister Went on Holiday….

.. and all I got was this T-shirt!

I was presented with this the other evening. My sis and her boyf are just back from Italy and last year she got me some Hello Kitty stuff as well as Italian biscuits and chocs, bits and pieces for mom and some fancy pasta, naturally. I can’t remember where she was the year before, but I’m fairly certain she got me some Hello Kitty stuff then as well.

You see, I heart,  heart Hello Kitty. Handbags are my main HK vice, at the last count I’d over 20 and sure I’ve had HK everything at one point or another. I’m fairly easy to buy presents for in that regard, but perhaps I should really have grown up just a bit by now.

So, when I looked at this t-shirt, a very familiar character instantly came to mind. And I smiled. And then I was slightly taken aback and with eyes like saucers when I turned to my sister, all she could say was ‘I know!‘ and we both squealed with laughter.

So, would you wear this?

Boo Hoo for Jordan.. Not!

I’ve reserved writing about this piece of trash for some time now. In my aim to present both sides of the argument, on one side, I will say unashamedly say that Katie ‘Jordan’ Price appears to be a very clever and astute businesswoman. Well, she’s worth something around the £30m mark and she’s only in her early 30’s, is a self made, one woman operation that has diversified and multiplied the brand name that is Katie Price to become one of the most well known ‘celebrity’ figures around right now.

On the other hand, she’s a slapper. She started off making money from glamour shots of her taken from every angle and for a hefty sum, these pix made it into every type of rag magazine that feature such ‘glamourous’ pix. She did the Playboy centrefold. Morally, you judge where this lies against say, the girl that sat beside her in school that’s now a policewoman or an accountant. The humongous and plastic and attention seeking Jordan wanted more, so she forced her double F’s or whatever into people’s faces and nothing was beneath her as she embarked on a quest for fame and money that sent the most hardened paparazzi into a spin. No nightclub was too trashy for her to fall out of at 3am, no male not worthy of being groped, no brand name was giving her too little money to plug, no one was going to get in her way. And just when we thought we’d seen it all, Brand Jordan went into overdrive. 

It’s literally staggering how much stuff you can buy with this slag’s far-too-made-up face, false hair extensions, false eyelashes and false fingernails emblazoned all over. I did say she’s clever, she knows how to and when to make the money [Well? What on earth will she look like in 15 years time when she's literally the oldest slag on the heap]. And then there’s always the several installments long of her ‘Autobiography’ so far….

I actually don’t feel like I can type about yer man Plastic Pecs the soon to be ex Mr Jordan. We’ve seen them together. They met. They made us cringe. Then they made us vomit when they got married. And now they’re getting divorced. And SHE’S the one doing all the wrong things. I don’t begrudge her a ‘holiday’ but this happened to coincide with her writhing all over an Ibiza beach shooting for her new calendar. And sure the light wouldn’t be great after dark, so she ‘went on for a few drinks’ in between wearing the various wee bits of string she posed in for the calendar and took off some clothes to relax in.

Or as we’d say in this part of the country – she went on the complete batter, fell out of every pub and club, made no bones about the fact that she’d a grope along the way and no doubt she also threw up into her designer handbag [that the luckiest  nearest fella in the previous 5 minutes got to carry for her] at some point along the way. A fine example of a Mom of 3 in hr early 30’s, no?

The blabbing or blubbing to Piers Morgan last weekend in a finely crafted interview did her no favours. No favours what so ever. I don’t feel sorry for her that she was dumped [dumped by Peter Andre, oh the shame!]. She pissed me off by forlornly looking over her false eyelashes claiming how it was breaking her heart, but it took her all of 5 minutes to claim that ‘Pricey was back on the market! Look out boys!’ And I certainly don’t feel sorry for her that she miscarried a few weeks before the separation was announced – she admitted there were a lot of problems in the marriage, they’d had counseling etc, eh, not exactly the right time for another kid, love. Hopefully that little soul will go to a stable family. She’s hates the paparazzi! Newsflash! She wishes they’d leave her alone! Oh. My. God. How pathetic, like that’s going to happen when you court them to such excess that even the late Princess Di would’ve been embarrassed. And rumour has it that she was paid £100,000 for this latest tell all interview.

Oh! Those poor kids! Being touted out for more pix every time they’re passed from Malicious Mommy to ‘Destraught’ Dad before each parent can resume their normal jobs of seeking attention while the nannies take over. We can only hope that when Princess Tiamii [Jesus! That poor, poor child] and Junior grow up that they use their trust funds wisely to stay as far away from Mommy and Daddy as possible. I presume Harvey, Jordan’s eldest and profoundly disabled child will no longer be ‘cute enough’ to parade for the cameras and he’ll be in a 24/7 care home.

Have you guessed which side of the Love Katie / Hate Jordan debate I stand? And finally, just how easily did ‘Katie’ slip back into being ‘Jordan’, with most Press referring to her as such now? For a while she was ‘Katie’, she nearly had us fooled but a string bikinied, pneumatic boobed slapper won’t ever change it’s spots.

Pic via Perez Hilton

Ding Dong! Guess Who!

There are certain commercials that everyone remembers and even if you weren’t around in the 1960’s when Avon launched in the UK, you’re bound to have heard the iconic phrase, ‘Ding Dong, Avon Calling!’

A copy of the latest Avon catalogue landed on my desk a few weeks ago. I was really impressed with the amount of products they have, the bang up to date make up colours [especially the eye shadow palettes] and the fabulous range of skincare lines for all ages. Then there’s jewellery, lingerie and haircare as well. I will definitely be ordering, once I can actually make up my mind what I want! There’s a nifty new ‘7 in 1′ lipstick, the SpectraColour, which allows you turn the dial and change the colour of your lipstick – from light and glossy daytime to dark and vampy nighttime in a range of pinks, lilacs or browns. And apparently the ‘Bust Firming Cream’ is great – according to the Brunette in the office. She asked if any of the rest of us had tried it, ‘I wish I had a need to’ was the exclamation from the Blonde… She ordered something else in the end!

The star of the very first UK TV advert was Faith Hines and she’s pulling out all the stops to try and find a copy of her starring role in the 1965 ad. I’m sure you’ve noticed the beautiful Reece Witherspoon in the ‘Hello Tomorrow’ ads and more recently there’s been a bevy of new Avon ladies gracing the small screen, all real life Avon representatives. It was actually this new campaign that prompted Faith to try and track down a copy of the original, she has a Facebook page and she’s on Twitter hoping someone can help find a long lost copy. Faith still looks great today in the video above, 50 years later! And she seems like the nice kind of lady that would thank you profusely for finding it too!

Faith’s Facebook page is here and her Twitter here

How Every Friday Should Be

 

As suggested by the lovely Glamazon in celebration of not just Cathyfly getting a fab new job.. but in celebration of you! And you! And you!

It’s Friday Girlies! Go out and dance your little stilettos off! Throw them in the corner when your feet hurt and get back on the dancefloor! Oh yes, sisters are doing it for themselves!

Hindsight Is Wonderful

A post on another blog got me thinking today – credit where credit’s due, Lyndsay! This is a toughie though, what would you tell the 21 year old you if you were to meet her/ him? Some days I feel that so much has happened since I was 21 [which isn't today or yesterday] and then other days I wonder what on earth I’ve been doing in the ahem, few years since I was that age.

The first thing I would tell her is – and I’m so annoyed that I’m using a classic ‘Mammy’ line – time doesn’t stand still and that it won’t be that long before before you consider yourself old[er] and wonder where all that time went. Aaaarrgghh how depressing! But, FFS, it’s true! So don’t sit on your arse procrastinating about what you’ll do when you grow up!

For me, my twenties were all about adjusting. Adjusting to life after college, adjusting to having a job and earning my own money, adjusting to the big, bad world – to use a terrible cliche. Some things you have to move on from. Some things you have to take a run and jump at, maybe with your eyes closed because it’s not something you actually want to do but you realise you can’t avoid. And also about adjusting to people outside of the cosy family scenario, working with people you don’t like, sharing a house with people that are initially strangers and getting used to the fact that they do things differently to how you do them.

Another thing I would say is to question when and why you feel comfortable with any given situations. Comfortable can be good, if it’s different to a situation you didn’t like but comfortable can be bad when you’re just plodding along, letting things pass you by. Comfortable was my downfall in my 20’s. I stayed with a guy too long and ’wasted’ years and I stayed in a particular job too long as well. I’m not going to say I regret either as I learned a lot about both situations in hindsight and sure that’s the main thing, moving on and learning from mistakes!

Definitely I found that I’ve become happier within myself now that I’m a couple of years into my thirties. I’ve been through shitty times and really shitty times but have come out the other end. Sometimes you really have to put everyone else aside and concentrate on looking after number one.

Which stems from my next point of picking and choosing your friends. In college you’re in a big gang, that gets smaller after college and gets smaller again as people move away with jobs etc but there comes a time when you have to realise that you’re not still in the school playground. There will always be a loudmouth bully who dictates what you do as a group and where you go as a group – sidle up to the person you really like hanging out with, the one who makes you smile and who you form a really good friendship with and let the others do whatever they like. When you have a bit of money it’s always great to be part of the cool gang but they won’t be on the end of the phone when you’ve a broken heart and won’t care if you’re struggling to pay your rent.

Accept that people are different. There’ll always be someone that lands a fantastic job, always someone that seems to jump from one perfect relationship to another. There’ll always be someone with more money than you and there’ll always be someone that has less money than you. There’ll always be people you don’t like and there’ll always be people you envy. Accepting your lot in life isn’t easy but when you do, the smiling makes up for anything you think you may have missed out on.

My final point would be to say that if you’re sad or lonely or just not happy, the only person that can really do anything about it is you. Therapy can be great, getting someone else to help you see things another way, having friends to listen to you and suggest how you could change things. But when it comes down to it, you have to get yourself out of the hole, decide to pick yourself up, get on with things and do them for you alone. Having friends and lovers to share your days with is fantastic and if they really love you the dark nights will become shorter and shorter. So don’t have regrets, they’ll eat away at you, just live your own life and make the most of it.

Take That Shameless Girl Home!

Iosa Chriost people! Just watch this video [if you can turn on the sound, the comments are hilarious!], taken from someone’s apartment window in Glasgow, right beside where the recent Take That concert was taking place.

This wan is clearly plastered – oh watch her struggleto get those jeans back up *cringe* – and she doesn’t seem to have a care in the world! She clearly isn’t at all phased by the fact that she’s peeing up against a lampost with absolutely nothing to hide her considerable arse, there’s no cover, no semblance of anything to hide behind, she’s just peeing in full view of anyone walking past. Watch this for the sheer laugh out loud moment when she falls over and can barely get up! Oh. My. God.