Carry on camping

The great oudoors to most conjures the image of fresh air, greenery, tall trees, cute woodland creatures, walking, nature and general well being.

Camping is of course part of this and is again widely seen as a tranquil way to enjoy the best of nature and relax, forgetting the pressures of modern society perfectly exuded in this image:

This view is sadly a tad lost of me, and all I can picture is this:

Ok, so that's an image from the Glastonbury Festival but you catch my drift.

Rain, mud, wind, clammy, wellingtons, dirt and uncleanliness - we don't really see eye to eye.

So how do you think I will fare when I visit Snowdonia in North Wales this weekend? Myself, The Boy (TB) and TB's mum and dad are going up there on Friday pm until Sunday. I will be walking up Snowdon and hopefully frequenting the local pubs and shops.

We will be camping, I haven't camped outdoors since I was 15 so I am nervous about how I will respond to this. I'm not good with being cold, uncomfortable or having light in the room as I sleep... don't stand a chance do I?!

Well this is my attempt of being a good girlfriend and being more positive and embracing (slightly) the things TB really enjoys. Would I prefer a weekend in London trawling Covent Garden shops? Of course I would, but theres a little thing of compromise to consider.

So here's to being more positive about being outdoors (minus Bears, they can smell menstruation you know)

Love, SGS xoxo.

Fortune favours the brave, well I must be a chicken s**t

I have been a bad blogger, yet again...

Unfortunately at this moment I seem to repel technology and good fortune. So far this month these events have occured to me:

• downloaded a virus on my laptop (getting fixed)
• home phone was broken (got replaced)
• Broadband and telephone signal not working (now fixed)
• reversed into a skip and smashed the rear windscreen of my car and dented boot door (windscreen replaced, not thinking about dent)
• got flashed by strange member of the public (was not attacked, told police and just slightly emotionally scarred)

So as you can imagine I have had no laptop, no internet and no means of using my i-phone to update and although Broadband is fixed, my laptop remains poorly and infected with porn etc.

There are many things I have wanted to blog post about: new music I'm liking including Katy B, films I've seen - Going the distance, fashion - circle lenses as featured on Lady GaGa and the Robsten/Kribert kiss in Montreal.

So I think I might just briefly upload some links etc to convey this weeks likes in audio/picture format.

Music





Film

'Going the distance'

Fashion

Circle lenses to recreate GaGa's bad romance are causing a stir



Rob Pattinson and Kristen Stewart - proof they're a couple?!

Love, SGS xoxo

Do you dare to dream?

I am a person that has high expectations, not in life generally but from myself. I know the things I am capable of and the person I am and strive to be and I hope or dare to dream that things in my life will be live upto my expectations.

One of these expectations (you may already guess it) is having a good job.

I want a good job, I want to mentally stimulated, motivated and enthusiastic about what I do.... but is that way of thinking just leading to more disappointment?

Some of the interviews I have had in the past have been with some incredible companies and organisations and the opportunities presented have been genuinely exciting. I'll list some to see if you'd feel the same...

• London Olympics 2010
• Millennium Stadium
• Comic Relief
• Sport Relief
• The Prince's Trust

Any of those floating your boat? because they are certainly floating mine.

Sadly I wasn't successful in any of those jobs, the dream capsized on those opportunities but just going to the interviews with some of those organisations was completely inspiring. I know any one of those opportunities would've given me the job satisfaction I crave, and so I refuse to believe that there are no jobs that can't make you happy in some capacity.

Of course, not getting these opportunities was very disappointing and to a point upsetting, the higher the aim the further you have to fall and it does lead me to wonder if it's worth pursuing a dream?

It might be considered stupid for me to dream about getting what I deem is a good job, but I think if no one had dreams or pursued them the world might be a boring place. I like having something to aim for and although I get disappointed easily then I am glad that I can bring my focus back to achieving something I've wanted for a long time.

I'm not one of those people that think that I am never going to enjoy work, I have been in a job where I literally lived for work, love what I did and maybe you could argue that gave me a false idea of what work really is but I cannot shake that feeling of being proud of what you do.

Work is such a big part of our lives, we spend most of out time there (minus teachers, gits) and why shouldn't we enjoy at least part of what we do?

I don't want to just live for the weekend, I want to live for every day and I'm not going to give up on my dream even if it's painful and agonising along the way.

I'm going to channel the power of @kanyewest @iamdiddy and @revrun on Twitter who constantly send out positive vibes.

Love, SGS xoxo

Tunes on a Tuesday

This Tuesday I'm gonna 'get down on it' to these beauties.....

The Pretty Reckless - Miss Nothing



Taylor Momsen aka Jenny Humphrey from bitch fest US TV show 'Gossip Girl' is fronting a rock band, didn't you know? I featured the first track from The Pretty Reckless on this blog a couple of months ago, 'Make me wanna die' featured Taylor growling like an old hand to a rock backing track - I loved it. Here is the second single and 17 year old Taylor shows us her new found penchant for nude basques, suspenders and hooker shoes - her mum must be so proud.

Magnetic Man - I need air



This track by Magnetic Man is Radio 1 ALL THE TIME, so it must be cool... it certainly is. Magnetic Man is a live electronic music project consisting of dubstep producers and DJs Skream, Benga and Artwork. This single reached Number 10 in the UK charts last Sunday and with the combined airplay and championing by Radio 1 DJs I'm sure it's going to reach new peaks by next week.

The Hoosiers - Choices



The Hoosiers have forgotten about Ray and come back with a bang or an electro beat with new single Choices. The three piece have changed theit sound, not that the old one was bad, and it works for them. Taking inspiration from the current influx of electro/synth pop into the charts their new sound reminds me of Alphabeat + Erik Hassle + Sia = Good record.

Sky Ferreria - One



So this isn't the video - you can download that here. Not only is Sky talented but 18 and bloody gorgeous too and looks like she's walked out of 90210 or at a push Hollyoaks (too pretty for that really). Sky is a Portuguese-American singer–songwriter and actress from Los Angeles. She is currently working with Paul Epworth, Bloodshy & Avant, Dallas Austin, Linda Perry, and more on her debut album to be released on January 11, 2011 - is just me sick with jealousy?! Awesome track.

Love, SGS xoxo

Good luck vd Bad Luck

Yesterday was a truly odd day, what went from good luck in the morning (very tempting/exciting offer of new employment) spiralled into a frenzy of bad unfortunate events....

1. I went to buy some new work shoes from M&S (black, patent, heels, drool) and realised that I had left my bank card in my going out bag I used on Saturday night. I had no cash and no cards, so they were put to the side for me... store assistant gave me a mock sympathetic look that very much said "dear, I think you are outright lying or you are a silly billy"

2. I was buying maps in Blacks for TB (obv not for me, outdoors consists of shopping on the High Street) and left my phone on the cash desk. Panic ensued as I realised I didn't have it....

3. The land line phone started flashing at me 'Base 1, Base 1, Base 1' it was either trying to get home or broken, think the latter it would not reset or do anything I wanted it to. I of course after throwing the contents of my bag about like a chimp with a new toy and realising I left my phone in Blacks, couldn't ring them because the landline wasn't working

4. After retrieving my phone, buying my shoes and settling down for a sandwich decided I couldn't live another day without seeing new Mad Men Season 4 and decided to find a link online. After a few unsuccesful attempts I thought I had found one when alas, instead of bringing me Mad Men it delivered a virus... right on the kisser, that took pure delight on putting porn links on my desktop and not allowing me to download antivirus software and generally wreaking havoc... the bastard.

Today so far, has been ok... Thank God.

I am mulling over the job offer, preparing for another interview tomorrow and so far not forgotten anything or caused any damage. I think the phone (if it had a mental capacity) has gone home, but physically remains and flashes and my laptop is still poorly but might be on the mend after TB intervened.

Tomorrow, as they say, is another day. Good luck to you.

Love, SGS xoxo.

Babies, babies, babies...

In the words of Natasha Bedingfield, "I wanna have your babies, get serious, like crazy".

In fact that's a load of rubbish, I don't want anyone's babies for the moment but I do feel they are now everywhere I turn.

I'm an only child so haven't been around babies much in my life and they scare me. I don't have a phobia but because they are so little and I have a tendency to be clumsy then I fear I will accidentally harm or maim them in some way.

My irrational nerves stem from the fact that when I was younger I had a child minder for the mornings before school and she had a baby called Ethan who was super cute. She asked me to watch him on the sofa while she did something in the kitchen, of course I got distracted and he rolled off the sofa and screamed until he was projectile vomiting on her jumper. Cue silent tears from me and apologies aplenty. Of course I didn't really get told off or blamed, but that scream is forever burned in my memory.

My friend recently gave birth to baby Harri, and this is a friend who I never thought would be pregnant anytime soon. Most of my friends don't have children, some are still trying to work out how to have adult relationships and others are still drinking their body weight in beer and living for a weekend.

Anyway, seeing her interact with Harri has really opened my eyes to the responsibility of having a baby, it's such hard work and I really salute Mums, Dads, Grandparents and anyone who is helping raise children. All of sudden this tiny person inside you is born and becomes the most important thing in your life. Sleeping, eating, socialising and bathing all take a back seat to the bundle of joy who is so dependent on you.

I know I'm not ready for that responsibility, I have so many things I want to achieve for myself and with TB but it's nice to know as a fake Aunty I can sometimes step into that world of responsibility and view the reality of raising a little one, it ain't always like a Hallmark card.

There are two more babies on my horizon, my cousin and friend, K, have baby bumps and It'll be nice to know some more little ones, and they will be shorter than me.... yesss.....

Love, SGS xoxo.