Why I'm Doing Sober for October

I know you probably don't really care, but I feel the need to say anyway. I certainly wouldn't care if it was me and someone else was doing it. I'd probably just think that they were being bloody boring and if they wanted to give money to charity, why didn't they just do it instead of forcing their sober personality on their poor unsuspecting friends and acquaintances. Turns out that wino friend ain't so fun without a couple of g&ts...

I definitely wouldn't sponsor anyone and likewise I wouldn't expect anyone to sponsor me. Sure it's for a good cause but why should I give someone money for not drinking? That's a personal choice and not like you are climbing a mountain or doing a marathon or what not. You're just laying off the vino. Big woop-de-doo. I'd probably prefer if you were just consistently drunk anyway, it would amuse me more. 

But I'm doing it. Macmillan Cancer Research's "Sober for October" campaign planted the seed and it has rooted and sprouted and here I am on the road of 31 days without London's Prozac and here's why. (aside from the obvious benefit to the WONDERFUL charities I'm supporting, soz Macmillan, I'm spreading the lovveee and all the below charities are fab - see links below to see what they do xx.)

Bender September

First there was the summer of pubs and Pimms and mid-week gins. Al-fresco = el drinko and there's just too many options. Then there was a two week holiday in Crete at the beginning of September full of Greek spirit. Then there was a well-oiled business's trip to Japan followed by days and days of social occasions right up until last weekend and then I stopped and promptly got flu. So sure my body is crying out for this

My Bank Balance Doesn't Want to Sponsor My Drinking Habit Anymore

It's not looking happy (see previous paragraph) with my endless shenanigans. It's basically telling me that it only wants to pay for necessities and occasional wholesome treats and not double Hendricks G&Ts for me and five friends in London's marked up establishments. Look at me, it insists, I'm so skinny right now (unlike you) and I need to get a bit of meat on me before you insist that it's Christmas and you want more sponsor money. I mean really.. Rude. 

To Do: Sort Life 

There's a few things in my life right now that really need sorting, that need some decisions to be made, actions to be taken, the most significant life-admin, possibly. 

I have found myself not to be the most productive when a) hungover or b) planning my life admin around my jam-packed social life. I feel that losing the sauce for a month will propel me in to action, as the thought of a six hour pub session when everyone else is pissed and I'm nursing an orange juice and trying to make sense of dull drunkards conversation is not appealing. 

Health

I haven't been to the gym in at least three months and I have certainly piled on some holiday weight. I need to fight that bitch with all my sober strength and the arse-kicking endorphin loving, clean-eating version of me is not usually present at the same time as lush wine-o-clock me. So one of them has to get packing for a while while the balance realigns...  The end result will be back to moderation in all things...

Just to Prove I Can

Four years ago I didn't drink for 40 days and it wasn't too much of a stretch, didn't really affect my life at all... When I thought about that recently it scared me, hence the need to do it immediately. 

A lot of people will assume I can't do it too and therefore I would like to stick my middle finger up and prove I still have the will power of Mother Theresa when I want to.

A lot of other people may think that this really is not a big deal, no alcohol for a month, but if you are a young(ish) professional in media, in London, with my social circle unless you hate booze... trust me it is no mean feat...

My page is here. 

I don't expect anyone to donate as I said, I bloody wouldn't. I plan to give ten pounds every time I pass a situation when I would usually drink. However, I will be splitting equally between:

• Macmillan Cancer Research
• The Halow Project
• World Land Trust
• Epilepsy Action

Please read more about these wonderful charities on their links.

I'll keep you updated....

On Still Being An Inbetweener

Firstly I'd like to point out that the original series of The Inbetweeners started in 2008 when I was neither a teenager, nor male, however certainly identified with that late-teenage claw through life. Time was when everything was a potential embarassment or fuck-up and you really didn't know whether you were coming or going. Whether it was cringe-worthy encounters with the opposite sex, the endless quest for "cool" or the feeling of being slightly out of place in every possible situation.

I also identified greatly with the sentiment of the "Inbetweener", halfway between childhood and adulthood and not really sure if you want to be either. The thing is now in my *cough late twenties, I would have assumed that my "Inbetweener" stage was over and I'd be well into my adjusted adult phase where everyday life was a breeze and my problems were only important, real things like death and taxes.

I have since discovered that is not the case.

Throwback Post 1: Blue WKD - TB* ASAP

Many a night in the early noughties was spent surgically attached to these things... 99p they were in some places, two or three would get the teenage-girl in question well on her way to inhibition. Medicating by WKD had varying results from the very good: succeeding on "pulling" a spiky-quiffed boy in the middle of Yates's, one hand, crunching his hair, the other still clinging on to the sticky, blue bottle - to the very bad: blue vomit, enough said.

WKD's were around post-crates of Bacardi-breezers; drunk in the park or at house parties aged 14-15; collecting the multicoloured tops for our school diaries. They were pre-Reefs, the "healthy" alcopop - I drunk these at uni when I couldn't afford much more and some bar in Newcastle had them five and five apple sours for a fiver... Ahhh the North.

My friend EHJ - Totally Loving It

My friends and I were extremely over-excited recently, when we found a bar that served WKD's in - of all places - Bognor Regis. And with one tip of the cold blue liquid, a casual clink and a shout of "Strawpedo!"... we regressed ten years.. from the dancing to Breathe by Sean-a-Paul and Blu Cantrell (really?!) and Where is the Love, to seeking out a crunchy quiff amongst the best boys of Bognor...

So like totally TB* yah...

*TB = text back, in-case you weren't familiar, yes in the early-days of the mobile when we didn't really know the etiquette, we used to ask for a text back ON.EVERY.MESSAGE. Absolutely no game, but simpler days as you knew you were pretty much dumped if the message did not say TB at the end.

PS: Before social-media, I think I'd said throwback once in my life.

Just a Little Liberty Fix...

Sunday was my sister's birthday and with an awful hangover from a very late night Halloween party at my house, (more on that in another post) all I felt like on Sunday was a pub lunch and definitely not shopping. However as it was not my birthday and not my choice, I was dragged, grumpy and grouch-like to Liberty of London. 

Now I might make a note here, my mother loves Liberty, something of an interior designer she is inspired by its beautiful surroundings, colours, fabrics and pretty things. I also love Liberty, but I have until recently associated it with an old job I had several years ago, for which I used to work near and sometimes in the store organising events and I remember the stress of running around, while people a lot richer than me bought things that I could never afford. So perhaps, it lost a little of its sparkle to me for a while..

Back to Sunday, I'm ashamed to say I behaved like a complete teenager and stropped and moaned non-stop for the first 15 minutes. It was too hot, too crowded and there was nothing on the menu in the lovely cafe (2nd Floor) that I wanted...  I'm surprised my mother didn't hit me. Or my sister, whose birthday it was for that matter.

Anyway, after I grudgingly ordered a Caesar Salad, things improved. It turned out to be one of the best Caesar salads I had ever had, a bold statement I know, especially since I don't even really like Caesar Salad - not an iceberg fan. It was followed by excellent pistachio ice cream and then I remembered why Liberty was so special.

 

The decor is so inspiring and nostalgic. I wanted everything on the walls. From lovely framed postcards to the pink neon bird lights on the wall - very Emin-esque.

 

Darling, My loving thoughts are for you Sweetheart and hope you find this day with best of luck and happiness. From Ever-loving Sweetheart Tommy xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

 

 

After lunch we meandered down to the stationary department passing some beautiful Peter Pilotto print dresses; works of art in themselves.

I have loved stationary since I was a young girl; beautiful coloured fine paper, textured card, colouring pencils in tins and gel pens. In Liberty, I coveted all the greeting cards, handmade and ornate, humorous and witty. 

There was novelty notepaper that berated the garrulous, filterless and self-indulgent overshares that are so habitual by some on Facebook, Twitter and their less popular relatives. 

As much as I like to mock the superfluousity of some people's social media habits, it was this journal I fell for.

 

 

Harking back to a bygone era it celebrates nostalgia and vintage traditions, with witty little anecdotes every few pages to spark creativity in the lost art of pen to paper writing.

As a youngster, I kept endless diaries written in rambling prose which is likely to provoke a fit of the cringes in me if read now. However they were full of feeling and not published on the World Wide Web for all the world and therefore raw and full of mad-cap thoughts.

I sort of miss that. So I purchased said diary and have resolved to keep it in my bag, even if just for random thoughts or verses of very bad poetry.

Liberty of London, a true London icon.

 

Liberty of London

Regent Street
London W1B 5AH
 +44 (0)20 7734 1234 
Monday to Saturday: 10am – 8pm
Sunday: 12pm – 6pm
www.liberty.co.uk 

PS: It should be noted that what Liberty is really known for is its beautiful prints. Watch out for these... They're so pretty that you'll want to drape entire rooms in them and spend days swathed in the fabrics.