so it's kind of official

on this day of the little fat naked guy with the quiver full of arrows. It's looking up. Miss Hazel had a job interview this morning. And! We bought 2 sofas! Yes folks the impossible is possible today. We are to be the proud owners of two ghetto tastic sofas from the ever so exclusive Argos! Don't be fooled Argos is the new Habitat. Single handedly my flatmates and I will turn Dalston into the new Notting Hill mark my word. Change is a coming!

Okay back in the real world.

Had the funniest experience while getting a manicure on Wednesday at lunch. Highlights included....

* hearing all about the lady who was doing my nail's plans for valentine's day (taking her bf to the spearmint rhino )
* hearing about the other staff member impending labour... and life and relationship with said father of child to be...
* freaking the manicurist out by guessing her second name accurately... come of folks, she was a Sarah... most of us Sarah's are Sarah Elizabeth's

Last night I caught up with the lovely dearbhla and had a great night chit chatting about life and important thinks like fashion and footwear. We quickly left the 'dog house' this pub that's way too smoky in a cavernous basement type of set up... The people were too loud and obnoxious and the smoke was terrible... God what an intolerant non smoker I am! We moved on through the freezing temperatures and ended up at cafe med on dean st. It was so nice and warm (freezing cold loo) but nice, spacious, warm, good menu, good food, good prices! I highly recommend it! Met up with Hazel and her friend Dez and then swiftly shuffled off home!

Just in... Miss H just scored a second interview for monday! *claps hands*

URGENT!

for all you peeps going to the massive anti-war demonstration on Saturday here in London or elsewhere... Please see my friend Dom's artistic contribution that you can take with you on the march....

It's an exercise in social geometrics people. Listen and listen loud.

http://www.fotoplus.org


as Always, Dom, you're brilliant... Please give credit to my friend

Anyone having job leads in Amsterdam (graphic designer type stuff) please feel free to also contact Dom as he's a lookin!

Maybe it's just the February blah's...

but I feel like my blog is slowly turning into a big whinny-fest.

for the second day in a row having left home at half eight it took me till ten to arrive here at work. Not fun. I guess I'm resolved to turn up here at 9am like I have always... if I don't' get on the bus by eight I'm not here till ten, get on it before eight and I arrive here at quarter to nine. There is no justice. Bring on the congestion charge, bring it on!... Get everyone off my god damn road so my bus can go! -end rant-

I'm meeting my cousin who is coming up from Sussex this Saturday for lunch. I'm getting a little concerned as the big anti war march is going to be kicking off around noon and I know the city will just be flooded with people! Wonder what part of town would be go to go to? She's arriving at Charring Cross... any suggestions would be appreciated.

On that note... if anyone wishes to bless me with the winning lotto numbers for tonight's draw, please feel free to do so in my comments feature below.

If I'm not blogging tomorrow, you know I've won... go on, I dare you!

I wrote a big post this morning and it's vanished.

If it had of published... you would have read about:

*working late on friday night
*going on hazel's office party on a boat on the Thames... and enjoying watching her face light up with joy as she pointed out all her 'babies' that she's hired.
*launching the site we've been working on for a month now...
*my new red kitten heeled pointy shoes that I bought for 19£ in Dalston (which is btw the new 'bond st')

too bad it was wiped.

with all the fuss and jingle...

going on at work one finds it harder than usual to blog.

On my way home from the gym last night I noticed just how light it is here in London in the evening. I know of the evils of light pollution and such but it's NEVER dark here... City living is strange that way, especially in such a huge city. I've written about this before ,but some nights the sky is a beautiful orange colour kind of the colour it would be if you poured orange fanta into my mum's old smoky glass tumblers.

Heard from Hannah today, she is off on the hunt for a new job. With Hazel and Sally also on the hunt, I can but hope that good things do indeed come in threes.

I've not mentioned it yet but today marks 3 full weeks of 'happy non smoker Sarah' *said with sarcasm* I've done really well but it's not at all been easy. I can hardly imagine how hard it is for people whom smoke shed loads... I never did smoke much but obviously enough to make it hard to stop. I didn't even really make that much of a conscious decision to quit... I was ill and had a cough so I didn't smoke and just left it at that. Giving up sucks. I miss it.... but i'm sure I'll live a longer life now for having given up... great! If I gain a stone I'll go freaking nuts. So I've been toiling away at de gym with Luke's mantra in my head 'you get back what you put in' so I push myself harder and harder... who needs a personal trainer.... simple fear of inevitable weight gain is motivation enough... at least I hope it is....

Miss Duffy wrote from down and under today to report that she is to appear in a new documentary featuring ex pats living in Oz. She's working for the people they are filming... She's distributing flyers and such at clubs at night. Leave it to miss D to do something exotic. I'm happy she's having such a blast on her world travels! The documentary airs in April here in the UK...

wooo wee wyclef!

my wisdom tooth sure is a hurtin... it started coming in like 2 years ago and then for some reason stopped... now it feels like it's decided to grow in a bit more and dang does it ever kill. Knowing my luck it's just a whopper of a cavity. Now, I'm not at all scared of needles or any other common dentistry thing... I'm terrified of having that frozen mouth feeling. It's worse than anything else I can describe... The last filling I had I asked them to do it without freezing as I would rather the pain than that terrible numb feeling. The lady dentist was a star and agreed to do the filling minus the freeze. It was simple, hardly hurt at all, it was just about two or three seconds of a really cold feeling then it was over. Why they insist on freezing? for the money of course... half the cost of the procedure is the freezing! My consultation with my dentist is on Thursday at noon... here's to hoping for the best.

Our new housemate has arrived and hopefully will settle in nicely...

New massive attack CD out on the 10th... mixed reviews but I'm sure I'll be tempted into getting it...

it drives me absolutely mental...

when feck heads on the bus insist with sitting with their legs akimbo! It's always men and i hate them for doing it. It gives me such London transport rage when I sit next to an offender. What makes them think that just because they have a cock they deserve more room than anyone else? What else bother's me you ask? Well, that mad woman on the bus on Wednesday night who verbally assulted me for 15mins cause she thought I had 'tutted' as in 'tsk tsk' (for cdn peeps) I hadn't even said a word... freak. She screamed at me about how much of a pathetic low life loser I was... Hmmm. I just love the mad people I meet on the buses here.

Hazel is happily departing her tyrant of a work place. In less than a month now she'll be free to work for a more deserving and less horrible place than she is now. I curse those mean people who employ her now...

We're off to dinner tonight with Dan and Sal... Japanese is on the menu. We're going to that place I went with Dearbhla one night... that is of course if Sally's flight arrives on time... London is still reeling from the 3mm of snow that fell yesterday. Can you believe some people spent over 12h stuck on the M11 yesterday... OVERNIGHT in the dark with no food or toilet! WTF!?!?!?!

I hate it...

when she picks at her fruit while she eats it. It's all about breaking off chunks of it and eating it that way... not the normal way. She wont engage in the banana, no no, she's got to break pieces of if off and masticate every tiny little piece of it. It drives me mad. Just bite the damn thing! I think the way people eat banana's can say a lot about them... now i'm not talking Freud... it's just interesting. Life is always interesting in when you look at in under a microscope. So yea, the her I speak of eating the banana, is me, and i'm strange... I just can't help but eat them that way...

We are soon to have a new flatmate. Rent will be much lower, life a little easier. I'm pretty happy about it :)

Plans are a brewing for out holidays in June... Off to Malaga to bake my translucent coloured skin... I greatly fear that I will never come back.

Heard from my friend James today, his son is getting so big I cant' believe it. God it was just yesterday when I held him in my arms! Geesh I was only 18 then, hardly believe that.

Tis the season for job hunting, Sean's mission is looking quite promising. I hope he follows through with the gimmick thing and impresses that lady who's hiring... She seems to be freely contacting him which is a positive sign. He's so charming, how could she resist?

Welcome to my seestor's blog!

it's Friday

and it doesn't really feel like it. it's beautiful and sunny. We hazy is a wee bit sick so she's home in the nest recovering. Guess my cold combined with her co-worker's colds finally got the better of her :( I'm still laden with cough it's mad... unfortunately I don't have a doctor in the country and by the time I get one, and get an apt. then I'll be better... lets hope so...

I've been really enjoying reading the book Todd bought for me for xmas... It makes my morning bus journeys much more enjoyable... Thanks again Todd!

Kaffin is off to the arc hotel in ottawa, this weekend with her new beau. I'm so excited for her, I've always wanted to stay there... mind you, you won't catch me back in ottawa in the middle of their -40 snap... nuh aahh.

I found a link for speed dating here in the UK i'm going to send off Dearbhla and Helena as they said they would love to do it for a laugh! They even have special nights for specific interest groups, religions and occupations! LOL!

I shall report back if I can convince them to go!

sporting...

miss hazel's fabulous new boots yesterday sure made my tootsies hurt... i'm cursed... wearing heels one size too big and trainers one size too small. I swear I picked up the larger size but the clerk rang in the smaller one at the till. I'll never learn

out last night with the fwbl crew. What a laugh they are. Dearbhla is apparently suffering greatly today. Hope her wee stumble didn't leave her with too many bruises.

work is super busy finally!

It's Wednesday already. I can't believe it. Cough is almost gone so it's time to hit the gym again... hello, gym I'm Sarah... and yes I had toberlone for breakfast.

very sad to see kimmy go... didn't manage to catch her on the phone before she left :( best get busy and start importing newsfeeds... *runs away*

The peak of the weekend...

was lying around sat.night after watching the cheezy movie French Kiss. We watched the funniest programs ever. It was on Channel 4 and it was called Comedy Lab. It features numerous hilarious skits, taking the piss out of Shoreditch and the people who live there. For those of you who don't know, it's a part of town not too far from where I live, which is trendy and such... prime target for this type of program! One description of the episode (found here) that we saw was

'The first of Channel 4's latest Comedy Lab experiments provided a guide to becoming a Shoreditch Twat, one of those ultra-trendy scruffs who spent four quid on a beer and apparently know the most stylish ways to vomit.
Most helpful were the tips from a style guru who burst into a loft apartment to sort out the owner who was still, shockingly, attached to last week's tastes. Out went luxury food. In came "ironic trash" – white bread and own-label baked beans. Out went Zero 7 and The Strokes from the CD collection, replaced by Xpress 2, Ms Dynamite and Brown Love. "I guarantee that none of your dinner party guests will have heard this yet." And out, too, went Juliet, the man's girlfriend of three years, replaced by "shirtlifter chic" in the shape of smouldering Frank.'

What this reviewer failed to mention is the hilarious part where a guy was looking for that ever elusive date to go clubbing with... He finds this back street brothel where he has 3 sorts of ladies to chose from... One being the ultra trendy chick with the shoreditch retro 80's hair and clothes... who's requests for the date include a gram of coke and a taxi home at the end of the night. The second being an estate girl, pram face and all, sporting the latest track suit and agreeing to go on a date as long as he promised to pick 'her up some chips on 'e way home... God it was so funny. For some reason I can't remember what the third woman was like but whatever.... Words hardly do it justice. Good work channel 4, made staying in Sat. night bearable.

it's Saturday

and i'm making a very rare blog entry... why? Because I'm at work you see! It's getting to crunch time for the launch of one of our new portals and we're running around like santy's elves and xmas eve. I kind of enjoy the rush of when a project is about to be completed. Don't like losing the weekend over it, but ho hum.

I think I'm finally starting to get over this killer cold that has plagued me since I returned from sub zero Toronto temperature on Tuesday morning. I have cough that makes people on the bus get up and sit further away from me for fear of contracting it!

We went to see Tori Amos last night in Hammersmith... Holy moly is it far away from where we live or what? I guess it's beamingly obvious that I spend all my time in the north/east part of London... apart from when i'm at work which constitutes as the west end but I don't see it that way...Anyhoo... the concert venue was nice and small and it turned out to be a sit down concert which was kind of odd but good for me since I'm not 100% well right now. The show was sadly flat and the stage decor and the lighting effects were something to be likened to a child's school play. I couldn't believe it! She a brilliant musician and the guys she plays with are fab as well but it just didn't do it for me. She played new and old but still it was flat. Ah well. The concert wasn't a total loss as miss H and I marvelled as this woman in the row over from us was crying and singing along feigning what could only be described as an emotional breakdown. Her poor boyfriend sat and cowered, in disbelief of his gf's madness. The highlight was the two young girls in front of us holding hands and jumping up and down holding up their mobile so their friend at home could hear. It was so sweet to see them so excited. That made the night worthwhile.

sentence only uttered by my female boss...

'okay i'm going to go troll some porn'

followed by office laughter... then

'ooh look I found something great! Tom can you translate 'hot girls want you now' into Dutch?'

... a tag line suggested by no one other than... me. God it's funny here sometimes. I love that the inclusion of porn as a revenue generator can cause such frolic in a normally quiet office.

Friday has been a bit manic here for me after having left my mobile at home and thus standing up Kim for our lunch date that was incidentally double booked and then cut short by a last minute conference call request popping into my inbox... quick drink with my favourite dearbhla after work and then over to the lovely Hannah's for supper. Note to self... buy wine...god it almost sounds like I have a life...

Off to Toronto tomorrow for my Grandmother's 75th b'day. The whole gang will be there... lets just hope I manage to stay conscious.

Talks with my mother to convince her to go into the bed and breakfast business with me were cut short when I informed her that her duties would include:
laying in the sun
reading books
and oh yea... financing it

I have no idea why she's not up for it?

*laughs evilly*

Terhi asks me...

what are you going to come up with today... Dunno really. I've actually been busy this morning and have had work to doo... Most inconvient as it's infringing on my blog reading time. *gurlge*

The sun is beautiful and bright meaning it's dang cold. I was watching one of my favourite programs last night it's called no going back. It's on channel 4 and I LOVE it!

This is the one I watched last night:

TUSCANY - Wednesday 8 January 9pm.
Richard Turnbull, Sarah Fraser and their son Gregory have swapped their house in Leeds for a 15 acre olive farm in Tuscany. The plan is to be self-sufficient, make their own olive oil, and convert their barn into holiday accommodation.

One day it will be me on that program... let me tell you... mind you, unlike the folks last night... I would NEED a loo and a hot shower!

Anyone got a nice B&B for sale? I've got a tenner with your name on it!
*laughs but really cries*

the white fluffy stuff

is sure causing a lot of commotion and joy around the office today. The snow that is falling in London today is big, is white and is fluffy... Good packing snow to all us more seasoned snow connoisseurs... but packing snow is no good on no base... alas people are still managing to collect handfuls of the stuff and launch snowballs at one and other. I wish I could share their fervour! I guess I've had too much in my life to be excited by the sight of it... AH well it happens like once every three years here in London so it's not that bad.

I'm burning time from all angles here again at work... I really hope that Mr. Sean lands a job here in the UK, I would be the happiest kitty in the world!

I am the queen of mini disc creation

yea,

whatever.

ode to chucking it all in

I've been battling with the overwhelming urge to just chuck it all in and explain to my boss that I am sooooooo unbusy and that I feel soooo useless. but I think I'm going to fight that for a bit...

she knows and if they didn't want me they would have chucked me out by now... kind of does your head in after a while... the chimes of that awful word 'career' start to ring in the back of my mind and the paranoia feeling that I've taken a job waaaay below my abilities in some aspects and beyond in others nags me... what the hell am I doing here? Why can't I save any money and just chuck this all in and buy a nice little bed and breakfast and have my mum and grandparents move to the place and help me run it... guess they would first have to come to terms with my gayness... do you think the bribe of a life in the sun at a lovely bed and breakfast by the sea could bribe them into just accepting that part of my life? God, imagine if I could do that, sounds like I could solve all life's problems in one go! *runs off to sell soul to buy a bed and breakfast by the sea*

so

here I sit making little sandwiches of sorts with my bag of peanuts and raisins... half peanut on bottom, raisin in the middle and other half peanut on top... I think I will soon need to be committed.

work is slowly trickling in.

it's a deluge going on at home as things between peeps in the flat are boiling over. I do not want to be in the middle. I'm shutting down. I just can not cope. I don't want to feel this way. I want to live in peace. I am simply dreading going home tonight.

There was a terrible commotion on this bus I was on this morning... not sure what it was but it involved the bus being crowded and the driver shutting the door too quickly and what I can only imagine someone getting something caught in the door while the driver abruptly pulled away... there was shouting and screaming and fierce angry words launched from people to the driver and visa versa. My mind froze, my ears started ringing... I felt as if my whole body was just shutting down. It was only 1 minute down the road until we got to my stop. The doors opened and I floated onto the concrete. I was in shock. I just couldn't handle what had just happened. Ears ringing body still numb I arrived at work... to the impending flat spat.

Here I sit. still numb... hoping the little nuts and raisins settle my nerves...

hello new year... this is me.

ahhh...

Friday, not that ANYTHING has happened at work this week, but I've been sat here like a trooper playing with my new mini disc that my mum and seestor purchased for me for xmas. They are far too good to me!

I now sit contemplating the January sales... so many temptations... how ever will I manage this lunch hour????

NYE was fun... contrary to my poll hosted in the right hand column of my blog for the past week... I didn't end up staying home having a hot bath and going to bed... Instead we wound up at Charlotte's house in Stratford playing with Kim and their friends till the wee hours of the morn. It was good fun indeed... however I think the evening's festivities have left me with a bit of a stuffy nose... *sniffle*

oh yea... happy 30th b'day Siobhan!!!!!!!!!!! So sorry I cant' make it to Lisboa tonight (I even checked the cheapie last minute flights) but alas, there is nothing in my budget range :(

Amazon are pants... my CD's never arrived, ho hum... how gracious of them to refund me... no apology no, here's free shipping on your next order... nope, just a nod, and a 'oh yea, here's your money back that we've sat on for the past month' *grumbles*

Todd, you're a star for surprising me with the book from my wish list! Thanks to everyone else for all pressies received... Mark the Japanese Amelie poster is simply stunnig!Lisa, your 2kg jar of peanut butter will last me from now till this time next year... I'm the happiest Canadian in London because of it!

In a burst of social energy, I'm trying to cull a group of peeps together this Sunday for a drinkie and a chill afternoon at the Pool* in Shoreditch at around 2pm... Psychos need not attend as we are mad enough as it is... but if you're reading this and can jet to London or are already here... please join...

*Pool where is it? It's on Curtain Road, Shoreditch, between Old Street and Great Eastern Street. Closest tube is Old Street, although Liverpool Street is pretty close too.

s

I'm baaaack!

I think so anyways. I'm half conscious and sitting at my desk in a semi comatose state. It's quite incredible what sleep depravation can do to your spactial perception. I've been awake now for like forever. I landed in London at half ten and took a cab from Paddington station to my flat. From there I had a cup of tea, a shower then jumped on the bus to head into work. It's all so dream-like... I wonder if I am really here at all?

I slept for about 2h on the plane... it was freaking cold. I was really happy to see that they only played one film and it was the 'bourne identity' lucky in that I had no interest at all in watching it thus wasn't tempted to try and stay awake and watch it.

The rain and the humidity were a joy to me and me alone today. I swear, I'd take it any day over the snow and freaking freezing temperatures in Toronto that I endured over the past few days!

Xmas was great. I had such a fun time with my mum and my sis. Got to see Noeleen, Karm, Mark, Andy, Lisa, Dave, Ashley... and all the family peeps too!

My little 8 year old cousin is such a sweetie. She's so smart. My Grandfather was telling me a story about when she was 5. He had asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up... she responded 'a scientist cause they're the smartest people in the world' my grandfather then asked 'didn't you want to be an artist?' she then quickly replied 'grandpa, I AM an artist!' She's sooo funny. She absorbs everything. She opened her box of animal encyclopaedias from my sister and immediately remarked how she had another set from the same series citing 'the writing is the same on the covers' Woa. Smart or what? Identifying typefaces and fonts at age 8? Man!

I'm feeling mostly woozy now and am not sure just how I'm going to make it home without passing out on the bus and ending up in some part of town I don't know.... think I may need an escort... Miss hazel???? will you come and rescue me?

Signing off...

Well that's pretty much it for me for the year... Heading back to the big bad home land tomorrow afternoon. I'm very excited. I'm dreading flying and missing miss H but I'm sure I'll manage somehow...

Happy holidays...

be back on the 30th eh?