Hats beautiful, rather large, hats!

Well things have been rather hectic as usual here.

The Lady's jubilee edition, not to be missed, will be out next Friday so it's been all hands on deck to make sure that we produce the ultimate Jubilee guide!

And even if I do say so myself, it is shaping up to be really quite brilliant.

In other news, I went to a rather fun event at the Sloane Square Peter Jones department store earlier this week. With the races upon us most ladies thoughts have turned to beautiful hats. With that in mind, this week Peter Jones opened their new Hat Academy.

To mark the opening of the academy, Vivien Sheriff, milliner to the royals, hosted an event in which we all got to enjoy several glasses of pink bubbly and try on lots of beautiful, rather large hats. Including one that the lovely Kate Middleton wore to her first royal engagement in Anglesey.

Being a lover of hats I had an absolute blast, and am now looking for an excuse to buy a beautiful Vivien Sheriff hat...

Ascot anyone?

Tea cups and gin

This weekend was yet another opportunity for me to don me 20s get up and party like it's 1929.

New dress on (a beautiful duck egg blue drop waist number) and hair set with many pic curls, my friends and I set off for The Victoria Tunnels in London for this months Prohibition party.

As always, I knew it would be a totally spiffing evening, especially as we had consumed large amounts of booze on the minibus enroute! But the acts of the evening made it a real night to remember!

Tricity Vogue was the star event of the evening in my eyes. Performing real old tunes and new tunes with a 20s sound, there wasn't a lot you couldn't like about Tricity Vogue.

Singing along to Video Killed the Radio Star whilst supping Gin and Elderflower from a very pretty teacup was a real highlight of the evening.

If you've never heard of Tricity Vogue then I'd strongly advise you check her out!

An evening or Sea Chanties and wine

Jazz music is always going to be where my main musical passion lies. But I also love folk music and sea chanties.

There is just something about the sound of a fiddle that makes me want to jump up and jig around- although I usually just keep it to a lively foot tap!

Maybe it's my love of, and the fact that i live near the sea that makes me appricate this music. But i think in the main, it's the melancholy tunes and words that have me hooked. Sailors singing of their love on dry lands, it's so heartfelt how can you not be moved?!

Being an old romantic, melancoly tunes are very much on my radar, so an evening of sea chanties and wine in a little hide away in Limehouse, is my idea of an evening well spent.

Retro Sunday

In sunny Southend on the second Sunday of every month Jiveswing hold a social swing dance night. It's always a great night but after The Essex All Dayer the day before on Saturday I was really quite excited to go dancing again and show off my new moves. Despite my aches from the 12 hours of dancing the day before!

Yesterday however, was a very special Retro Sunday. Myself and three other friends had been working on a Charleston routine for a while and yesterday we performed it for the first time as The Charleston Chicks!

Here it is in video form for you to enjoy, but come along to a Jiveswing event and see us perform it for real! Check out the Facebook page or follow on twitter!

It's only Tuesday and i'm pooped!

Yesterday was probably one of the busiest days I've had in ages!

As well as doing my usual work I was also calling various people trying to get some bands to play at Southend's swing dance night, Retro Sunday.

I had my phone glued to my head pretty much the whole day, but hopefully it will pay off! We now have one band booked, and two other bands interested! All in a days work, yes, I am the queen of organisation!!

It looks like Retro Sunday could really be very exciting. So keep the second Sunday of every month free!

Things that annoy me most about commuters, from the point of view of a commuter

Having recently started a job in London I can now call myself a commuter. And I have discovered several things that really do annoy about commuters. Here is a ranty list for your enjoyment.

1. People who litter on trains. This morning a guy ate a breakfast bar then threw his wrapper on the floor. He then proceeded to get rid of all the annoying supplements you get in a news paper, putting them again on the floor. Littering always annoys me but this particularly annoyed me as we were sitting next to a bin .
2. Little wheelie suitcases and their owners. People who insist on using this form of luggage should watch what they are doing with said case! I have been taken out by many of these suitcases during my commute.
3. People who barge past you. We are all trying to get to work, there is no need to forget manners during the morning rush. 
4. People who do not get out the way of the door when people are trying to get on or off of a tube train. And then they get knocked over and complain...well if you had moved out of the sodding way! 
5. People who do not give up seats for the elderly or pregnant. The other day a pregnant lady got on the tube during rush hour and no one gave up their seat.
6. People who get to the ticket barrier and then decide to get their ticket out causing unnecessary queueing! 

That's all for now, but I have no doubt there will be a part two to follow soo.

Bugle Boy

When I graduated uni, I moved back home with a heavy feeling in my heart that that was the end of life as I knew it. I wouldn't have anything to do and my uni friends were no longer living a stones through away. I was determined to find something to keep me entertained and fill this void I now felt I had in my life.

I've always been a fan of anything and everything vintage so when I found a Charleston and Lindy Hop class in my town I was pretty pleased. So I went along one Monday night and have never looked back!

To say that I enjoy the class is an understatement, I love it! And last night I was lucky enough to attend Bugle Boy, a musical about the life of Glenn Miller, at The Palace theatre and show an audience of people just how much I love it! I wasn't in the show, but myself and some fellow swingers (in the dancing sense) were asked to dance before the performance and during the show in the aisles to get the 500 strong audience in the mood.

So I have my Lindy Hop class to thank for giving me the chance to dance in front of 500 people to Glenn Miller who I just love! And Saturday I get to do it all over again for the matinee performance.

So if you find yourself bored on Saturday, come down to the Palace Theatre and watch us dancing!

First week nerves

As my first week working for The Lady draws to an end, I can safely say that, after the initial first week nerves, I am rather enjoying myself.

This week has been spent working on the new website, which is due to be launched very soon, so watch this space! I've basically been busy mastering the new system and Photoshop, converting all the photos and articles for the new site. And as a bit of a computer novice, the fact that I'm managing this task quite well has made me feel rather clever, smug, and a bit (emphasis on bit) of a computer whiz.

Hopefully the coming weeks and months will see me doing lots more exciting tasks, and hopefully I will get to fit in some writing along the way.

Stay tuned!!

What an exciting week!

So this week started with what I thought would just be a normal week of work experience in London.

Monday comes and goes, all is fine. Then, midday Tuesday I get an email "Come and see me I want to have a chat with you." Oh my god! I had obviously just done something awful and was about to get a rucking. So, shaking a bit, I went downstairs and spoke to the sender of the email... and that's when something amazing happened.

The words, "our editor has been really impressed" and "we don't want to lose you" were ringing in my ears as I went back to my desk. What was to be just a week work experiences had just turned into a 6 month contract!

I couldn't believe it! But the worst thing was that I was supposed to be moving to Windsor on the 12th to start an  internship with a different company...well you know what they say about buses, shame they never give you any hints on how to let down whatever bus driver you intend to let down!

Nonetheless, despite the fact I felt bad that I would be letting someone down, I already knew what my decision was. Yesterday, the contract was drawn up and signed, my decision had been made...so I called the Windsor people telling them I wouldn't be doing their internship any more.

I know business is business, but I did feel so awful about letting them down!

But, I am so excited about this contract! Already this week the East India Company has been in to our office with lots of goodies, and goody bags, for us to try, and next week I'm going to some swanky launch of a pop up bar somewhere in London!

Ahh, I am one happy girl at the moment! And to all of those who thought I'd never do it well pfft!

:D

It's my birthday today!!!


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

That is all :)

A new adventure

Life has recently got very exciting, but very scary at the same time.

My dream job  is to be a journalist, or have a job that means I can write about lots of interesting things. When I left uni I applied for loads of jobs and nothing was happening and I was basically starting to think that I'd be stuck with my job working in a cafe forever- which don't get me wrong, is fun and I enjoy, but it's not the career I had in mind for myself.

But I recently applied for an internship and got it! So from the 12th of March I'll be working as a journalist for a month in Windsor!! But as its for the month, and I couldn't really expect to have a month off work, especially as I had literally just had a week off for a placement at The Lady magazine, I did the crazy thing and quit my job.

Now if you know me you will know that that is a big deal. I have never not had a job and I am always panicking about money, so for me to quit my job is pretty scary.

On the contrary i realised that this is it, no not the Michael Jackson tour that never was but a new adventure! Ok so when the internship is up I might not get a job out of it, but hopefully it will open doors for me that were firmly shut before.

Yes I quit my job, and it is very scary, but I keep thinking to myself bigger and better things could be around the corner...wish me luck! I'll be sure to keep you updated!! 

Valentine's day- embrace it even if you are single!

So the V Day plan was to have a girlie night in with my friend, films take away and wine. But dancing at GNSH, with people from all over the world has meant I've been struck down with a cold, putting an end to that plan!

Now I'm sitting at home, with a bottle of wine and the cat, dinner in the oven in my pyjamas- not because I'm sad and alone on Valentines day, but because I'm single and happy.

Yes, I really do love being in a relationship, I like doing all the usual coupley things. But I also enjoy being single, like being able to do whatever.  So why must single people chose February the 14th every year to wallow in their singledom?! I'm happy being single for the moment, but just because its valentines day I don't suddenly break down and decide that actually, I cant survive without a man!

I say, even if you are single, embrace valentines. If you haven't got a lover to love, then love yourself.

Busy Times

I was worried when I left uni that my life would be over. All my friends would be scattered to the wind after we all went back to our home towns, and I would have nothing to do. The thing that scared me most though, as I went back to my summer job, was would I get a job that would make my three years at uni worth while?

The boredom thing I conquered quite quickly, joining an am dram group and a dance class I soon found that I only had one spare evening! On the contrary the job thing was starting to worry me.

With this fire burning in my belly, i applied to every internship and wrote to every magazine, to see if  I could get my foot on the ladder to being an amazing journalist. Months of nothing, and now, I've juts been given a paid two month internship, one month at home and one month in office, and I have a work placement with one of the longest established magazines on the market!

So I've gone from panicking about a lack of journalism work, to writing 50 articles a week!

I suppose its true what they say, good things come to those who wait...and to those who send pestering emails!