7. dressed to impress

I lost my work last night at 12:25am. I lost my work again, this morning at 9.27am. I will now attempt to write this entry for the third time adhering to the original plan to argue the materialistic/shallow debate that confronted me (by pure coincidence) on many occasions yesterday.

Every day, we are constantly bombarded with images of beauty via various media channels - I get that. But lately I have been partaking in conversations or reading material that suggests that if a woman takes the time to get ready, dress well, buy nice things- in general maintains her appearance - than she must be shallow/materialistic and giving in to what the rest of the world wants her to look like/be.

Whist searching for inspiration for my writing I came across this statement;

“People try to look good to empress others and use it as a tool to get ahead in life.. These people are usually unintelligent and dull and looking good is the only way they can get to the top without trying”.

In contrast to this, I am proud to say that I completely disagree. I dont think that when a girl goes to the effort to look good, take care of her body or indulges in nice things from time to time to time, it means she is trying to impress others and cares to much about what other people think.

Instead I say when a girl goes to the effort to look good, takes care of her body or indulges in nice things from time to time what she really means is; she deserves it. She’s not just doing it to appear attractive to others but most importantly to herself. Pride is a great thing and I know what I get dressed in the morning I want to walk out of the house feeling powerful, Pretty and Proud. Call me shallow or stupid if you like but the fact is, on this topic, I really don’t care.  

Individuals who do not find fashion, beauty and all things related fun are fine to say so, but not so fine to assume the reason others like it is exclusively for just that; others.   

I say get dressed nice, buy Armani sunglasses or shoes. Embrace your inner beauty and have fun with it on the outside. Liking these things does not make you less intelligent, stupid or shallow.

I say Power to feeling Powerful, Pretty and Proud.

6. doing nothing but nothing

After all that talk about motivation, starting new things and experimenting I think I owe it to my self and to all of you, to talk about taking time out to do absolutely nothing. Its important to catch up on nothingness. Spend a day or two listening to the sound of the rain and Sarah Jessica Parker ranting on about single women and Mr Big- for my lovely guy friends out there you can probably compare it to the Entourage and beer.

There are so many expectations placed upon us by family, work, friends, partners and most importantly ourselves, I think if you don't take a moment to think about what you want it gets lost in the clutter. I admit I think that loosing yourself isn't that hard to do and sometimes goes unnoticed. Its not until you remember what you forgot you used to like doing, seeing, believing that it all comes back to you.

I am a huge thinker. I over think, over analyse and overreact at times and I guess the hard thing about that is finding a place where you can just think about nothing.


Its easier to do it in the rain when it looks miserable outside because there is no expectation of enjoying what the sunshine brings - this is because its giving you a break on purpose, for a reason. Don't do anything today. Get into bed and embrace feeling lazy because sometimes (just sometimes) that's what life is all about too.

5. when is it really to late too start?

As always I find the inspiration behind these short blog entries during my daily routine- work, friends, family, coffee. Lately I have been thinking a lot about education, travel and buying houses and to be honest I really only have personal experiences in one of those subjects.

Before I packed up and left my generous paying 9-5 desk job to travel Europe twice over in the back of a van living like a hippy, I honestly had a little voice in my head telling me it was too late to even think of doing anything like that..

But coming back after just getting up and doing it, I am a whole lot wiser. I’ve learnt that no matter how comfortable you are in your job, your friendships, your housing situation- none of this is ever irreplaceable (except the good friendships you have of course) all of that can be rebuilt again.

I think the fear of it being "too late" makes us reluctant to begin in the first place. I had a conversation with someone today in regards to education, we were speaking about how if we started study now, we could be 30 before the time we had finished. Instantly it was off putting. I was a little ashamed of thinking like that at first but something quickly prompted the thought that; its better to be 30 and have a degree than to be 30 without- Even if you do have to start a little later in life than everyone else.

Its never too late to start something you love or will benefit from in the future, the trick is not to convince yourself that in the present you shouldn't be doing it because in the future you will be too old for it.

Anyone reading this, thinking about starting something new but also thinking you have left it a little late- Just do it. Or at the least give it a go.

I would be a very proud 30 year old if I had done all the things I had wanted, rather a 30 year old who had wished my late 20s away because I thought I was too old to start.

Now off to bed to dream up my 6 year plan.

4. getting caught with your pants down.

If you are reading this and haven't in the past I'm assuming that this little experiment worked, you looked at the tittle and thought this could be really interesting- Nope just another blog entry about life and life's friends.


I know most of you would agree with me when I say there are three types of friends that exist in the world. The friends you don't see for a million years, yet you both have that strong connection which makes things just seem.. "organic" (as a special friend of mine put it today). The friends you see often and do or sometimes sadly don't have that level of comfort with, and the friends of friends that call themselves friends but in the end your not really that sure.


Nether-the-less, establishing friendships has always taken a long time for me. Alcohol has always been a huge part of my friendship circle and as silly as that sounds i think its been easier for me to talk to people if i've had a few wines and i envy those who can do it so easily without.


I am thinking of going out sober this weekend, possibly meet some new people and form some "sober" friendships. I might fail, and i might look like a complete dick dancing sober- as I have not done this since the year 8 social. Ill see how i go.


Friends are honestly important to our health. I think people should not only try to keep the relationships they have but also look after them. Make the effort, Call someone you haven't in a while. Things change all the time, and one day soon you could find that it wont so easy to just pick up the phone and make that effortless phone call.

3. a little bit of Paris

C'est la vie"- Such is life

I popped out of the office for a few minutes today (again) to visit my favorite French patisserie Croissont D'Or. For those that don’t know- this place is AMAZING as far as sweets and all things beautiful go.

I walked in and noticed an old teacher from high school observing the chocolate; Mr. Anderson- I was always quite intrigued by this teacher as he was slightly strange but obviously very intelligent. I wrestled with myself as to whether or not I should communicate and do the whole awkward"hello" thing with him. In the end I did say my hello,  and he seemed pleased to see me- I honestly believe he still does not know who the hell I am- nether the less it was sweet.

As he left he told the cashier to choose a chocolate for me, and put 3 dollars on the counter.

It was a Paris moment, in a French patisserie on East Row.  I often think about France and its charm, I often think about how quickly people are to judge the sometimes arrogant French individuals. In saying that I urge people to think about why they appear so arrogant to us. Maybe, just maybe, they appreciate the finer things in life and the charm that should go with it and perhaps they are angry at the rest of the world because we seem to have lost it to a certain degree.


Or they could just be rude. Ill leave that thought with you.

Find the charm in something everyday, its there most of the time. Sometimes it just goes unnoticed because we forget it actually exists so we tend not to look for it.

Sometimes I wish I was back in France, studding French at school lazing by the Eiffel tower on my days off.

2. being a kid

I epically failed to convince a certain someone to become motivated, because I didnt try in the first place. I realised I should have stuck with the thought in the back of my mind; motivation really only happens when YOU make it happen. luckily I didnt act like my gym instructor - so that certain someone should count themselves lucky.


I guess you could try to change for someone else to make them happy, but I don't think that ever lasts- I think it probably works until you realise that all you are doing and believing in is someone elses idea of you..........  So if anyone is reading this struggling to understand what they are doing wrong or why things aren't working for them, I reckon they should go out and just do something for themselves.
That was my little motivational speech for today.


Now onto something really interesting.. Last night I stayed sober while my lovely friends got drunk and probably had a really good time. I was jealous. It was sooo good to wake up fresh though... I went to lollipops playground , for those that dont know what this is- it is a playground that enables 1000s of little kids go feral. I cant stand kids (except for my own brother) so i wasnt expecting it to be the funnest of times. But for 3 mins of my morning I seriously acted like a child and it felt good. I dont really do that anymore, but realise lifes to short for seriousness all of the time. Soooo to add on to my advice above I think you should not only do things for yourself but also act like a child sometimes!


Staying in tonight, woooooo.


Big thanks to those who have said good things about the blog and challenge (you know who you are) honestly appriciate it xxx

1.the experiment

So, I dragged my behind to the gym and for the first part of the class wanted to throw my (small) weights at the perfectly toned, overly happy looking instructor. But as the class went on and the words "come on you can do it" "not long now" were shouted at me, I began to think about motivation- what motivates me, what stops motivation, the fastest ways to get motivated, basically where it comes from.


Wouldn't it be perfect if we could have a little person sitting on our shoulder shouting at us like that all the time? someone to do nothing but simply encourage you to do great things for your body and yourself. I know, I know, unfortunately you cant- without paying a fortune. You could get a personal trainer but isn't that for some people just a short term solution to a long term struggle.


The thing I am trying to get at here is i am trying to understand if the most powerful source of motivation comes from within or comes from external influence. Over the weekend, I will conduct an experiment. I will (secretly) try to be that little annoying person on the shoulder of the boyfriend and will report if the external motivation works or just annoys the crap out of him. 


I think this could be interesting, If i fail, it just goes to show that some things really only happen because you do them yourself. I already know its your own attitude and motivation that is the main contributor to how you feel but if this works it will demonstrate the positive effect that surrounding yourself with motivated people has on your health. Indiscreetly or not.


Hahaha, anyway... I have crapped on enough. Hope you are all still reading as we are earning more money everyday!! 28 days and I shall announce how much.


xx