Stratford + Shopping = Stressed



Crazed Primark Shoppers!



So, I decided to pop to the new Westfield centre in Stratford today with Vikki from work, to check it all out and a have a butchers at the sparkly new Topshop. Oh. My. Word. Firstly you need to bear in mind that this new super-duper shopping centre only opened on Tuesday, so this is the first Saturday it has been open. I think every single person living in London must have been there. With every member of their family. Each with 2 prams. At one point, while trying to fight our way past Primark, we got stuck in a huge mass of people and it took us about 15minutes to get past that one shop. Insane. The place is pretty spectacular, everything is very pretty, and the shops are amazing, but I'd probably recommend waiting a good couple of weeks before visiting! And I think at Christmas I will be avoiding it altogether!! I've never been so stressed and exhausted after window shopping!!



Completely open-fronted, the store was simply incredible.

Topshop, however, was AMAZING. It just looked so pretty!! Working on the Topshop International team I didn't really have much to do with the Stratford store (actually, I had nothing to do with it), but I still felt excited and proud to see it in all it's glory! And I may be biased but compared to the other high street brands it just looked in a league of its own, everyone else just looked second rate next to it. If  only my stores in the Middle East and the Mediterranean looked as amazing as this! (Ha.)

Considering we were only in the centre for an hour and half, and did no shopping, I now have a huge headache and am totally exhausted!! And the best thing to do when you're feeling like that? GORGE YOURSELF ON JUNK FOOD!!

YUM!!!

Don't judge me. I've had a tough day...



That is all.

Fate: Only Smarties® have the answer.



One Day

I've just finished reading One Day by David Nicholls. In an attempt to get it finished before tomorrow's cinema trip to see the film version with some of the work lovelies, I've been reading it obsessively over the last week or so. I have to say it was an absolutely amazing book, I think if I had to choose just one word to describe it I'd have to say captivating. Aside from that it's funny, clever, and moving, and I don't think I've ever warmed so much to any fictional characters before (well, since the days of Harry Potter anyway...). This bizarre attachment to these fictional beings did mean however, that at a particular 'event' towards the end (and I'll try not to spoil the story too much) I was so stunned that I re-read that particular page about 5 times to make sure it had actually happened, and then practically blubbed my way through the last few chapters! I'm not sure I'll be able to cope with the film now!! (Although I'm sure Anne Hathaway's 'realistic' Northern accent will keep me entertained throughout.)

So anyway, this book, with it's 'event' and whatnot, has really got me thinking again about one of my good old favourite topics: Fate. Anyone that knows me well will tell you that I have some fanatical obsession with Fate, the 'everything happening for a reason', the 'signs' that give us subtle hints as to what we desire and how we can get it, and how I believe that life is (or at least should be) like the film Serendipity, my second favourite film of all time. Now first of all don't get me wrong, I don't think that everything is mapped out ready for us, that our 'destiny' is awaiting around the next few corners, simply sit around and wait for it to happen. No, life HAS to happen, we have to try to find the things that make us happy, the things we want, and make mistakes along the way, whether they turn out to be regretful mishaps, or unexpected pleasant surprises. We will fail at certain things, be knocked down, and get hurt, but it is how these little misadventures make us feel, how we react, and how we recover from them that start to indicate just what it is that we are looking for, and determine whether we actually find that desired 'thing'. As they say - "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me (for not listening to Fate, you silly wench)". OK, so maybe not that last bit, but you get the idea.

But what if you don't see these signs? And what if these signs are all directing you to the one thing you don't realise you want? It is said that you can live you whole life without realising you had everything you could ever want right in front of you, but just never realised. Also, what if you miss your chance? Or realise what you're looking for, only it's now too late to do anything about it? What if you had everything you ever wanted, or ever needed, but threw it away because you thought the signs were telling you something different? Does Fate have a replay button??

So clearly I'm in over-thinking mode. And I obviously don't have any kind of solution to anything I've just rambled on about. It's not like Fate is some kind of science that can be tested or measured. So I'm afraid I don't have any answers. But then I knew this already because only Smarties® have the answer. Everyone knows this. Hmm, I want Smarties® now...

That is all.

Time to get a little deeper?

I’ve been thinking recently about trying to make my blogs a little bit more meaningful, really stirring up something interesting, perhaps even getting deep? You know, the really nitty-gritty, makes-you-think, life-changing, revolutionary kind of thing.

So then, what to talk about? Politics? No. War? Nah. The current economic situation? Yawn. The truth is I’d rather talk about how Morrison’s own buy chicken noodles are far less chicken-y than Sainsbury’s own buy chicken noodles, or mention that I saw Matt Smith from the current Doctor Who series in a shop in Camden, or discuss whether David Guetta really is taking over the world one ‘song featuring famous singer’ at a time. The really hard-hitting stuff.

I guess I could go a little deeper than all that and discuss the morals and ethical issues regarding whether killing a spider with hairspray and a shoe is the right thing to do or not. And just while we’re on the subject of that, I don’t condone violence, nor the mindless killing of animals, but that spider was running at me at speed with menace in it’s eyes. Purely self-defence I tell you.

I think my point overall is that why do I need to talk about all the deep, gloomy, depressing nonsense that just so happens to be all over the newspapers, and on the news channels? Do I care about what’s going on in the world? Of course I do, but it’s just that it’s all a little, what’s the word? Bleak? Life is too short to be depressed all the time. Yes, the world has a lot of awful things going on, and it always will do, world peace just does not exist. Some will say I’m shallow, unintelligent, or ignorant, but the truth is I just want have fun, some happiness, and as much excitement as I can fit into my 60 years left on this planet (optimistic perhaps? Let’s say 50 years and see how we go…). I go out and get drunk a lot, I do random things, most of what comes out of my mouth is utter nonsense, seeing celebrities in the street excites me, I love trashy television, and I love to go shopping and spend money I haven’t got on things that I don’t really need. But do you know what? I’m having an absolute blast, and I think I’ll keep using this blog to document all the silly things I get up to.

That is all.

Songs of the moment:
Katy Perry - This Friday Night (TGIF)
The Saturdays - All Fired Up
Maroon 5 - Moves Like Jagger ft. Christina Aguilera

 Recent Celeb spots:
Gok Wan (again) - Topman, Westfield Shopping Centre
Matt Smith - Shop in Camden Town
Jamelia - Topshop HQ
Nick Grimshaw - Outside Fitness First, Oxford Circus

I'm only bloody going to see Britney!!

OK, so I've not blogged in a long time. A very long time. And the funny thing is that a lot of stuff that would probably be blog-worthy has happened during my absent months, but I've just been too lazy, or too preoccupied to actually update it. And while I was hoping my next blog would be some kind of revolutionary, thought provoking, epically interesting piece of writing, the truth is it isn't any of those. Sorry. The fact is I just need to announce that I'VE GOT BRITNEY TICKETS FOR HER FEMME FATALE TOUR!!

That is all.

(The next blog will be interesting. Honest.)