In praise of colleagues

For those of you who don't know I currently spend 75% of my working week in an office on my own. Initially this concept appealed to me as I can be a miserable old sod sometimes and am great with my own company. I also thought how irritating colleagues can be and also how distracting, so I thought it was the ideal set up. 9 months later it has fast lost its' appeal, especially when so many of my friends have started new jobs in buzzy, busy offices.

When I landed my first office job almost ten years ago my first department was 'okay' but they didn't really get me. I'd say something witty or scathing and it was usually met with a 'tumbleweed' moment! Also the office manager was obviously in the throws of some sort of eating disorder and would comment "that's 4 now" or other such remarks as you went for the tin of chocolates! Hmmm. A nice enough group of people but I didn't really fit in.

Eighteen months later I was promoted to a similar role for the Export dept. From day one I slotted right in and realised I didn't have to tone down my sense of humour and could say what the hell I liked and even better than that people thought I was damn funny!

Pub club on a Friday was a regular highlight. Putting the world to rights over a hearty, usually chip based feast and then returning to the office usually 2.5hrs later, having come the longest possible route back from which ever public house we had patronised. Sometimes we would swing by the cake shop or more often a newsagent to get some treats for the afternoon. Whatever time we waltzed in the old maxim always applied "Too late to start anything now" and a glorious afternoon of snacking, arsing around, visiting the BT3A website ensued. For a period of about 18 months I was more often than not also going out on the lash/pull with one of the other ladies that worked there so we'd usually start plotting our night out.

Lorry watch was another popular past time in this department,as we overlooked the Sainsbury's depot. You got extra points for a Prestons of Potto lorry but not many for a Vitacress one. These were emblazoned with the slogan "Watercress makes a meal" um, I beg to differ?

I count myself lucky to have worked with such an amazing bunch of women and I am still in touch with them all with some of them being some of my closest friends.

Unfortunately I was passed over for promotion a few too many times (ha, I did actually do some work in case you're wondering so it wasn't because of that!) and had an ongoing issue with my salary so had to leave and head off to the big bad city to work for another publishing house. Again I found myself working with a good gang and made some more chums.

As soon as I joined I was inducted into the cult of Cake Friday where there was a rota and everyone had to take it in turns to bake. Although some people did cheat and buy it in instead. It was highly competitive and actually quite stressful! Having to find something to make that hadn't already been done and also trying to transport the bloody thing in on my 1 hr 20 commute proved tiresome! At the end of each rota there was also a Cake Idol scenario where we had to vote who had made the best one on that round, essentially a popularity contest. Apparently the politics around Cake Friday haven't changed, I've been told, and some of my ex-colleagues got there knickers in a real knot a few weeks back when gasp! they thought the new girl had forgotten to bow to cake Friday and were apparently debating this extremely loudly 'oh my god I can't believe she hasn't remembered' etc! Moments later a picture perfect Victoria Sponge was proffered so they literally had to eat their words...

End of month drinks were also a feature on the last Friday of each month. I didn't manage to go to many of these due to my commute, or I was working from home or had another social engagement to get back to. Wads of cash were put behind the bar by the company and it usually got very messy!

And now it's just me, myself and I. I always have to make the tea, there are never any goodies and there's no one to go to the pub with. Which is annoying as there is a very nice one a stone's throw from my office. It's really beginning to get me down and is one of the many reasons why I need to get the hell out. I guess it's not all bad... I did most of my paperwork for my fitness assessment at work, I've read books and magazines, drafted blogs, painted my nails, arsed around on Facebook & Twitter, watched things on I-player and even had a few crafty power naps at my desk. Swings and roundabouts I suppose...

My love affair with Sex and the City

SATC2 opens next week and I am very excited. Tickets have been booked and pre and post Cosmopolitan swigging has been planned. Normally I am not a huge fan of chickflicks and romcoms and I suspect that if the SATC films were not spin offs of the much adored (by me) HBO TV Series I probably would wipe my hands of the films completely and opt for watching something much more gritty instead...


I can hold my hands up and say that I am not a bandwagon SATC fan. I was there from the start. I saw the pilot advertised on Channel Four and thought I'd give it a go. I had never been a huge fan of American comedies (Frasier is 'quite good' and Friends is 'ok' IMH) but decided to give it a go anyway. I can't remember how C4 chose to trail and brand the programme but however they went about it it appealed to me as a 22 year old woman (sigh, so young...). From the start I was totally captivated and enraptured by it. The sheer glamour! The amazing outfits! The cocktails! Exposing how ridiculous men can be! Great - bring it on! chuck in some glorious location shots of NYC, some hilarious one liners, the odd bit of eye candy along the way and they got me...

By the time SATC aired it's 5th series in the UK (2003) I was suddenly single and thrown into the chaotic, thrilling, chaotic, frustrating and sometimes quite lonely world of singledom and playing the dating game. Whilst in the past the programme had always amused and entertained me I now found that I could really empathise and identify with some of the situations that happened in the show. I was rapidly finding out for myself how inconsistent men could be and experiencing first hand the mine field that is dating (that's a whole other blog). I even found my own Mr Big who made me act irrationally and out of character and whom I lost not only my heart but my head to for a while.

Once the show finished in early 2004 I had to have something to get my fix so looked into getting the complete box set. This was available supposedly as limited edition at Christmas 2004. I missed the boat and was desperate to get hold of one. In the end I tracked one down on Amazon, it was second hand but never been opened. I am not going to disclose what I paid for it. When I think of it I am quite ashamed. I just had to have it. Of course it soon got reissued and you can pick it up for about £40 now. Oh...and at the time I didn't even own a DVD player. Yes, true fan/addict delete as applicable...


I think what I notice more and more when I watch repeats and my beloved DVDs is how spot on the show is about the nature of women's friendships. Our best friend can be our hero one day and villain the next. We are pleased for her yet sometimes jealous and resentful too. There will be inevitable moments of schadenfreude. We will judge them, worry about them, forget to call them, sometimes put men before them, but also we will always be there for them and God help any man that hurts them and lets them down. I think the relationship that got this spot on was the one portrayed by Carrie and Miranda, especially how angry Miranda gets every time Carrie gives Big another chance. I love the scene in the last ever episode when the girls meet Big at a restaurant in order to get him to go to Paris and "go get our girl". The three women are sat down at a table already talking about Carrie and how concerned they are. Enter Big, he is greeted by a genuine and warm smile from Charlotte and then cut to Miranda and Samantha who are shooting him "that look"! the one that me and my girlfriends reserve and employ when we see some low-life out and about in town who has hurt one of our ladies!


And the outfits! I have always been slightly experimental with my look but I think since SATC it has made me give even less of a f*** about wearing what everyone else is and has certainly influenced my wardrobe, even if I have to be more Primark than Prada. Whilst watching the repeats I mentally note items I will try and source online or on the high street. Of course I am more like SJP with a thyroid condition so unfortunately I can not get away with a lot of the outfits she wore in the show. But God damn I wish I could, especially those metallic gold boots! yowzer!


There's an article in this month's Glamour magazine by the journalist Zoe Williams slating the film for its' pure and unadulterated consumerism and also hinting that it was 'women bashing'. Relax, Zoe IT'S A FILM! and are you not au fait with the concept of SUSPENSION OF DISBELIEF. This is escapism! it's not supposed to be a cutting edge documentary on feminism or on the economy. Yes if we took some of the messages and themes in the series and the film too seriously I can see how things could be misconstrued and distorted. But also, da da da...revelation... just because you are a strong woman and a feminist this does not make you immune to having relationship problems and dilemmas and sometimes you are going to need to share these with your girlfriends, we can't spend all our time dissecting highbrow topics. Sometimes we do need to talk incessantly about men, sex and relationships to try and make sense of this crazy world... It's cheaper and more accessible than therapy, non?

And as for the spending... if these were four women on the dole (or whatever the New York equivalent is...) and they were all blowing their loot on cocktails and designer shoes then yes we could sit back and tut and judge but hello? bar Charlotte these women work for a living and are high earners. What they choose to spend their hard earned cash on is their look out...is that not empowering enough for you Zoe?

Oh dear I am getting a bit riled now, maybe I need to swig a Cosmopolitan? either that or calm my nerves by purchasing the latest pair of Jimmy Choos...

We only do two tattoos

Currently I have five tattoos which I have had done in the last ten years, but as those of you who also have tattoos know; they are curiously addictive and at the moment and can't help but think there might be room for another...somewhere.

Before I divulge about what I have and where I just want to share an amusing anecdote from my childhood (which also formed part of my speech at my wedding). I was never a girlie little girl and when I was four I was taken to see Father Christmas at a department store in town. When he asked me what I wanted for Christmas I told him, very earnestly, The Fisher Price Garage. This being the early 1980s he laughed at me and I felt quite upset that I would not be opening said gift on Christmas morning. Anyway I did receive the Garage but in order to realign gender stereotypes I was also the ungrateful recipient of a baby doll. On opening it I informed my Mum "it's got an ugly face" and rapidly lost interest in it to play with the lusted after garage. By Boxing Day the unfortunate doll had been drawn all over with my new felt tip pens and then became known by the moniker of 'Tattoo'. I think my parents should have known then...

After having multiple piercings in my ears (3 in my left and 5 in my right, used to be 6) and then my nose and my navel I ran out of areas I wanted pierced, I briefly flirted with the idea of eyebrow and lip piercings but am very glad I changed my mind. In 'those days' (we're only talking late '90s early '00s) there was a limit to what one could get pierced! "In my day" there was no back of neck, handweb and the like. It seemed extremely outre to see someone with a piercing above their mouth for example. As a fan of piercing I do personally think it has gone a bridge too far (and no! I refuse to acknowledge that is because I am old!) I think all these facial piercings look really messy and dirty!

So after a stint with henna tattoos and transfers I thought it was time to start getting the real deal. Here are my five tattoos...

1 - butterfly on right shoulder (2000)

First ever tattoo, just chose it from a book at the tattooists (Ian's in Reading) rather impressively passed out whilst having it done. Love being able to show it off in racer back vests.

2 - 3 stars on lower back (2001)

Designed it myself (oh so talented lol) but based loosely on Wonder Woman's outfit and also would like to point out that back then stars were quite unusual as tattoos, really! another Ian's of Reading tattoo. Fainted again. Some people call these lower back tattoos 'Tramp stamps' hmmph! Although I still like the design I think in hindsight a different design in this location would've been better. Nice shot of my muffin top lol.

3 - rainbow and star on stomach/hip (2002)

First tattoo in colour, semi designed it myself by morphing two different tattoos together from a book at Ian's. Again I fainted - wuss. I should've known what to expected by now. Again excuse the muffin top!

4 - flowers on left foot (originally in 2004, redesigned and redone in 2007)

When I had the first tattoo done it was a single black flower and I was told that feet were hard to do and not many tattooists would do feet. This has definitely changed since then! This was done at Area 51 in Basingstoke. I warned the female tattooist that I had fainted before so was treated to a very relaxing experience: sprawled out on the couch eating chocolates to keep my blood sugar levels up! great! However, this tattoo wasn't that great and was very pale I even had it redone the following year. By 2007 it was looking really crap so I got a totally new design over the top. This was designed literally as we went along by Duncan at Area 51. I love it and love the summer when I can show it off more. I think it's quite sexy!

5 - stars on side (2009)

Surprisingly wasn't as painful as I thought considering the top big star is on my rib cage (ok fair point I am quite well upholstered there...) I think I may one day get this star filled in or add to it but at the moment am happy with it. This was done by Steph at Poison Ink in Basingstoke.

For my next (final?) one I am thinking birds! possibly on my right ankle. We'll see...

Hung, drawn and quartered or Things can only get better?

Hmmm, what is this? I was determined not to blog about the election but due to er "time constraints" this weekend (I am spending all Sunday doing a running course in London!) I am somewhat lacking in other ideas this week...forgive me.


Rather than devote my blog to the frankly disappointing (but not surprising) events of the last 48 hours I will instead turn the clock back some 13 years *makes noises and actions they used to do in Wayne's World to signify time travel*


In 1997 I was 20 and halfway through my degree at APU, Cambridge (now called Anglia Ruskin University, oooh get you!) and able to vote in my first ever real grown up general election. This was the time of 'New Labour' and of course the height of Brit Pop, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the two went hand in hand as you saw Noel Gallagher at Number Ten fraternizing with Mr Blair. As a student voting Labour was as expected as experimenting with mind expanding drugs, shopping at Oxfam, skipping lectures, existing on Pot Noodles and toast and sporting tie dye. In fact, it was probably illegal to vote anything else if you were a student. For the record I wasn't pretending to be a New Labour supporter just to stick two fingers up at my middle class background, I have been raised to be a bit of a lefty (with slight support for the SDP as was, all those years ago). My parents read The Guardian don't you know! and although I don't recall my parents being overtly anti-Thatcher I also knew that they did not like or support her...


Oops, going off on a slight tangent here...I was reminded last night whilst watching Channel Four's rather marvellous alternative election evening (love love love Charlie Brooker, can't he be PM?) and they had some voxpops from comedians etc on there. One of whom was recalling how as a child he thought that voting was private and not something that you broadcast around who you voted for. I think that I too was brought up this way and to this day there are probably only a few close friends I would ask outright who they voted for. I suppose I can probably guess their allegiances anyway and if any of them are closet Tory they can consider themselves off the Christmas card list (although I have a sneaky suspicion my husband voted for them...fuming...). Yes I suppose I have always thought that asking people that was akin to asking them their wage packet, anyway, back to 1997... just to put you in the picture I am very thin (too thin) and have hair which is an interesting shade of red/orange before it was made fashionable by Florence Welch, a penchant for 2nd hand clothes, sultanas and wearing too much lipstick. I have a serious (and God was he serious!) boyfriend called Paul and I am house sharing with four girls plus one of their insufferable boyfriends.



I would like to say that I bothered to stay up all night in the SU Bar knocking back pints of Fosters as the results rolled in to experience the jubilation first hand of the new and exciting government, but like a loser I went to bed instead. However, on waking and tuning into Radio One I was ecstatic and overjoyed at the news of Blair's victory and elated and proud that I had made a difference. I remember donning my Union Jack "Brit Babe" t-shirt especially! (This may've been the era of New Labour but it was also the unfortunate era when the Spice Girls influenced high street fashion!). We all felt extremely optimistic and that we had played a part. For me this was the first Labour government I could remember. We generally believed, like the D:Ream song adopted for the campaign, that things could only get better. Well did they? hmmm not in the long term...


Years later, Yes I am still a "Lefty" but I have lost faith in So called New Labour along the way. They did not deliver what we hoped and expected. Thankfully I missed out on tuition fees at University. There is no true right or left anymore and that's what has made the nation so confused at who and what to vote for. I did my homework for the election this time but still vacillated between my old Labour roots and the Lib Dems. I am glad that I did stick by my Lefty guns though and didn't vote Lib Dem as it would appear(at time of writing) that a vote for Clegg is going to go to ol' shiny chops anyway.