Happy Gagaween: Creating a Lady GaGa Halloween Costume

Halloween is a big deal for me, I love dressing up and it's a night to let the 'freak' out.

When I saw Lady GaGa's 'Born This Way' video I knew instantly what my costume was going to be for 2011 - GaGa Skeleton. A perfect blend of scary and chic.












Lady GaGa in Born This Way

To create this outfit you will need:

• Black bow tie
• White shirt
• Black suit - trousers and jacket
• Pink wig

• White and black face paint
• Black eye liner - don't forget the sharpener
• A range of make up brushes - including lip liner, thin, thick etc

To help me with the make up I used two tutorials from YouTube as inspiration, both are excellent and really helped me recreate the skeleton make up.

It's easier to paint your face white first then draw out the hollow black details and shade in.

Here are some close up shots of the make up and the costume combined.

Lady GaGa stands for freedom of expresion and being exactly who you are. I absolutely loved dressing up as her for Halloween, it was so liberating and fun, roll on 2012.

For Amy Winehouse

I did not know Amy Winehouse.

I have never been an addict.

I am not a journalist or a music critic and my words cannot match what others have said about her music and her talent.

I don't think her death glamourises drug use in any way.

I just remember how I felt when I heard this for the first time.

RIP Amy Winehouse - I hope you are in a happy place x


Amy Winehouse - stronger than me Live On Jools... by koala47

The Path to Weight Loss is a Bitch

A few weeks after Christmas I jumped on my scales and was pleasantly surprised with what I saw - I was only a few pounds heavier than I thought so instead of thinking "Well, why not lose the excess and some more?" I clapped myself on the back and rewarded my 'not as bad as I thought' weight with leftover Christmas chocs/nuts/crackers and got into a terrible habit of eating Quality Street for breakfast and one before bed.

I weighed myself again recently and was the same weight post Christmas, but I realised this really wasn't great and decided to act on my new found enthusiasm for weight loss.

So I joined MyFitnessPal.com and have been on a calorie controlled diet for a month. It's a simple methodology you enter your height, weight, desired weight loss, age and the clever programme works out how many calories you need to consume daily to lose weight.

Any exercise you do earns you calories back so I have been going to Zumba once a week (where every week I am encouraged to do air guitar to Ricky Martin), walking to work occasionally, doing dodgy moves to Just Dance on the Wii and tried cycling yesterday (still saddle sore) but I'm not entirely convinced with eating calories back.

I am on 1200 calories, the minimum a women should consume. I was aiming to lose half a stone then decided to input a stone for the hell of it, I think that coupled with the fact I am only Snooki size at 5ft tall has meant the low calories.

Some days I can completely cope with 1200 calories, other days I feel like curling up into a ball and sleeping for eternity to try and rid myself of the gut wrenching hunger.

So far results have been mixed, the first week I lost a pound, then I put it back on (I blame London trip), stayed the same and have to weigh tomorrow knowing full well last Friday evening I went into a Dorito haze and scoffed chocolate from my Nan's sweet tin.

I've been wondering why it's so hard to change my mind set?

I'm a pretty determined person and I don't like failure but when it comes to food I have a weakness. It's a constant in my thoughts and the last thought in my head as I hit the pillow is what I'm having for tea tomorrow.

Psychologists might say I am eating to fill an emotional void, such bollocks, I eat a teaspoon or 2 of golden syrup out of the tin because it tastes amazing as does spoons of jam, pesto, peanut butter and chocolate spread.

I am trying to be better and to change how I think about food, I weigh things now, try and control the portions, think twice before eating a chocolate biscuit and attempt to choose a healthy dish on the menu if I eat out.

Gah, it's boring but it'll be worth it - the golden syrup is on lock down.

Love, SGS xoxo.

Balmain rocks the MTV Movie Award 2011 red carpet

The MTV Movie Awards 2011 red carpet was an homage to Balmain with three starlets choosing sparkly numbers to rival the pizazz of the golden popcorn awards.

From L - R:

Leighton Meester rocked up in a long sleeved dress from the Balmain Fall 2011 collection reminiscent of a disco ball with great shoes and perfectly tousled hair (as seen on the Balmain runway).

Mila Kunis sensibly added a simple black top to her multicoloured shiny mini skirt also from the Fall collection with dead straight Morticia Adams hair.

Kristen Stewart picks yet another winner on the red carpet with a red leather mini dress adorned with safety pins, studs and jewels from the Spring 2011 collection (in the style of this jacket from the Balmain runway). Really like the sexy tousled hair in this too, thank God that fugly mullet crop grew out so quickly!

All the ladies look fabulous but I think Kristen is getting better and better at picking her red carpet dresses so kudos to her and her stylist.

Love, SGS xoxo.

How to make a Lady GaGa disco bra: A step-by-step guide

Ever since I saw Lady GaGa cavorting on an inflatable animal in a paddling pool in her debut video for 'Just Dance' not only did I develop a HUGE girl crush but wanted/needed her disco bra.



What, may you ask is a disco bra? It's a bra with mirrored disco ball attached on the cups and looks friggin' awesome as the GaGa demonstrates below.

So, how did I make it?

1. Bra selection - you need a black bra, don't bother with another colour and make sure it has straps and is pretty sturdy as after you attach the pieces it gets pretty heavy (you don't want boobs-ahoy). I chose a multi-way bra with detachable straps.

2. Mirrored pieces - these I found pretty easily on eBay, it seems if you live in America you can get buy them from online shops but being a UK girl I found a UK based seller on Ebay - type in mirrored disco ball pieces and they were around £5.00 for 200 pieces and I ended up using close to 400 pieces which I suppose depends on piece sizes and size of bra (mine is a 36C).

3. Super glue -I used a normal shop bought super glue and applied a blob of glue to the tile and then used a cotton bud to spread it over the the whole tile - beware I glued pretty much all of my fingers and nails, it's a tricky process!

The stages of disco bra

Voila - la disco bra!

Finally owning a disco bra is life changing. I have been wanting to make one since 2008 and if I were Prime Minister I would make it law that everyone possess one.

Lady GaGa and her disco bra have made a massive impact on my life and have even influenced my Twitter name - @discobra so please follow me if you like GaGa, food, film and angry rants!

Love, SGS xoxo

I'm back, bitch: ranting about social media.

Wow... so it's been since January 7th that I've not posted on this blog for.... shameful!

In my defence A LOT has happened in the ol' game of life since then and I let this slide intentionally, but lately I've been wanting to come back and write some more blog posts, give my opinion, talk nonsense etc.


Twitter, Tumblr and Facebook give a snapshot of who I am, what I think and feel and I of course realise not many people give a shit about what I think, but here at least I have more than 140 characters and space than a status update to air my views.


My new job in January, especially at the beginning, came as a shock, going from 2 days to 5 days permanently in a brand new sector has not been a completely smooth transition and I knew that I couldn't blog like I used to so I decided to give up for a bit. I wanted to regain my passion for words and try Tumblr as a quicker, easier form of social media available as an app on the iPhone. 


I've come crawling back to Blogspot, so erm, please keep reading! I've decided to do assessment of my experience using different social media and please keep in my mind this is my personal opinion and I wrote this yesterday when I was angry (office move has had me on an tantrum bender for 4 days).


Facebook
I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook. Why can't I quit you?!


LOVE
I love that I can keep in touch with people that I don't get to see anymore on a regular basis, especially those people that live abroad, organising things with a large group of people seems to be easier using messages, music/fashion/media/companies I like are on Facebook and I like seeing their posts.


HATE
However the mun dainty of it 'xxxxx is really tired this morning', 'I'm going to KFC' or lately it's all baby related statuses 'My baby just burped, give him a purple heart medal' makes me want to rip out my heart and stamp on it. I have too many 'Hates' so I'll bullet point them:

• Status updates - unless they are remotely interesting, don't bother. I've hidden many people simply because I cannot take anymore of their inane bullshit
• People 'checking in'. I don't give a shit where you are
• Friend suggestions - If I wanted to be their friend I'd already have added them
• Poser photos - you are not Britain's Next Top Model
• People with constant sickly couple profile pics or scans of unborn baby profile pics - YOU ARE YOUR OWN PERSON - I don't need to see a pic of you canoodling with your other half to know you're in love. Every baby scan looks the damn same
• Chat - if you want to speak to me, pick up the damn phone!
• Pressure - friend requests from people you can barely remember from school and work colleagues wanting to be your 'friend' - I don't know you, do one.

Tumblr

I joined Tumblr to really find out what the fuss was about, I knew a few celebrities/cool people that have Tumblr accounts and thought it would be easier to follow them on there. HitRecordJoe aka Joseph Gordon Levitt, Rich Sommer aka Harry from Mad Men, Terry Richardson and Oscar PR Girl are all people I follow on Twitter and admire.


What I like about Tumblr is the variety of pictures, audio, video, words that I see day in, day out relating to people and things that I like. I'm able to post very specific things about my likes and dislikes that don't involve words at all and then people respond to it. I'm always amazed when people like or reblog things that I've posted because in a way it's validation - it's ok for you to like/dislike this because other people do - which could be seen as negative but then I always look at the users who have responded to my posts and have found some really interesting people from all over the world.


I think my one dislike of Tumblr is that there does seem to be a lot of people who try to hard on there and on occasion it's too young. (I never liked Bebo either, ridden with emos/goths and 14 years olds who are 'like so not mainstream'. WAKE UP - we're all involved in mainstream culture, you are not that different to me).


Oh yes, I also got a death threat because I posted a photo of Christina Aguilera looking a state and mentioned that she looked like a crack whore - apparently they were going to slit my throat. Luckily I sleep with a machete under my pillow, so suck on that hater.


Twitter
Probably my favourite at the moment. Instant, relevant, informative, insightful and I love twit pics. My interests are best served here, it's where I feel most at home. 


The people/organisations I follow (on the whole - I have a few vices to lame things) are more interesting than anything posted on Facebook.


So from now on I will try and post on here when I have something real to say.


Love, SGS xoxo.

Age ain't nothing but a number baby!

Do you ever get sick of the impersonal nature of having to phone your bank? The endless number of options to choose from, the dreaded 'hold' - cue terrible elevator music or even worse Jack Johnson and the just sheer incovienience of having to try and get a query answered. Let's face it, we ring the 'Helpline' because we cannot face the winding queue at the bank that never seems to goes down and ages you 10 years at least.


Well when a 98 year old woman got fed up with her bank, she did something about it and sent them this letter - sheer brilliance. The letter was even published in The Times as the Bank Manager thought to submit it.


Dear Sir, 

I am writing to thank you for bouncing my cheque with which I endeavoured to pay my plumber last month. By my calculations, three nanoseconds must have elapsed between his presenting the cheque and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honour it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my Pension, an arrangement, which, I admit, has been in place for only thirty eight years. You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account £30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.

My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, but when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become. From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by cheque, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate. Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope.

Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative. Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Solicitor, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof. In due course, I will issue your employee with PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:

1. To make an appointment to see me.
2. To query a missing payment.
3. To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4. To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5. To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6. To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7. To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is required.
A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized Contact.)
8. To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through to 8.
9. To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service. While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.

Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.

May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.

Your Humble Client 


Faith restored in humanity,


Love SGS xoxo.

Christmas Excess

Christmas Excess

So Christmas has been and gone, leftover turkey made into curry, chocolate wrappers in every sofa orifice and the zip on your jeans heroically tries to 'do up' when you dress in the morning, God, I love Christmas.

Like all good things it has to end and we move into 2011 which has marked a period of immense change for myself. I have a new job and a new flat which may seem like a drop in the ocean to some people, for a person who isn't great with change it's pretty significant.

For so long I have craved change in my work situation and for some reason I have felt scared and apprehensive of my new and much improved job. I however obsess over the small things, the route to work, the process of opening/locking up, traffic, will my colleagues like the way I make tea/coffee? Yes, it is exhausting being me sometimes, I don't think even Woody Allen would swap an hour in my brain.

I have decided to 'man up and shut up' both the job and flat situation has been greatly improved and I'm going to embrace the change, welcome it with a big, warm hug and just get on with it. I've written myself a note:

Dear SGS,

Stop being such an idiot - see the positives you headcase, these life changes are GOOD.

Yours faithfully, 

SGS xx