Come on over! You're family

3 (of the many) reasons why I love my fulwood fanny so much:



1)She makes great cakes



2)We do really fun and random things together, like burlesque dancing at a community centre nr rotherham on a friday night, with 40something chain smoking women (that's a story for another time)



3)I got the above message (my title for the post) after asking her if I would be intruding on her mothers day lunch on sunday. (mine is going to Spain.........without me)






Now, you may be wondering who I'm talking about here, it is in fact Louiza, who will from now on go by the name of fulwood fanny since she has become a Fulwood resident. (posh place in Shefvegas). I'm very happy for her and Pete (her beau who I am yet to meet!) and hope they have lots of happy times there. If she lets me, I will put some pics on here of her des res, but you can't go stalking her like ok. Maybe I'll make her a cross stitch present like this as a gift?

Fanny and I go go back to the days of uni, as you will have seen if you read the first post, the name of the blog is thanks to her. She makes me laugh, sometimes so much that I can't breathe. Everyone should have a friend like her in their life.

One of the best memories I have with Fanny could probably be when we first moved to Nice.
We spent a january weekend in Nice, looking for some accommodation for our 6 month Business School placement. We rocked up, thinking we were going to swan into a ready made jet set Cote D'Azur life of big sun hats, cocktails and designer parties on terraces. Or maybe that was just me?
The weekend was spent trudging the not so glam streets of Nice, realising that our shoe string budget would not get us anywhwere to live in this shitty town. Every church we went past, we prayed in. Every bar we walked past, we drank in. And every patisserie we walked past, we drowned our sorrows in a sugar rush of millefeuilles.
After almost ending up residents of an all girls convent accomodation, with a cerfew of 11pm (je ne pense pas), we came to the realisation that it was the end of our weekend, we had nowhere to live, and we were starting the course the week after.
We were tired. We were sad. It was bloody freezing. And we cried.........all the way through our final meal in Nice, to each other, to the waiter, to anyone in the frigging restaurant who looked sympathetic.
(don't feel too sad here, I am laughing as I am writing this at the state we were in)

Then we called our dads.

And cried down the phone to them.

It didn't work,

but we ended up in an Irish Bar.

Here we met some people from our rival uni, who, like fate had it, had 2 spare rooms in their flat.

It didn't matter what it was like, or how much rent it was, it was ours.

6 months in Nice together; living in a 6 bed flat, with an oven that blew the fuse for the entire apartment, a washing machine that secreted rust onto your clothes, a landlord that shagged his misstess the weekend before I arrived, ON MY MATTRESS, a Portuguese workman that was drunk on the job, from our vodka, finishing off the work in our "kitchen", (it didn't come anywhere near to being finished at the end of the placement actually) a devilish addiction to cakes, of any form, and 6 months of secret eating, pretending to each other we were really following the atkins diet really well...and we really did bond and become the best of friends.

We got the parties on the terrace right, but I wouldn't go so far as to say they were "designer".

I think this was my 20th bday party on the terrace. I forgot about that (paddling pool) hot tub.

I love my Mum

When I was little, I used to creep into my mum and dads room in the middle of the night and crawl into bed with them, where I'd continue my nights sleep. I don't know what it was at the time that made me feel like I'd be safer or better of in their bed, and I'm sure it really used to piss them off. Well I know it did actually as quite often my Mum always says "we thought you'd be sleeping in here with us until you left for uni".

If you've read the bit on the side of my blog "about me", you will see that I still live at home. This isn't 100% out of choice... When I finished Uni I thought I would whisk myself back to Paris and work there, but reality kicked in, I couldnt get a job that I really wanted, and so I moved back home to "save" money for a place of my own in Manchester. (Even though I work in Liverpool, I'm not the greatest fan of the city)

I've been at home now for two and a half years. I wouldn't say I am financially better off, however I do feel that I have made some great investments...in Louboutin shoes, Caribbean holidays (life is better with a tan), and city breaks, where it seems perfectly normal to spend £100 on a cocktail served in a treasure chest...when in Rome right?!

If it was really bad here, I would probably motivate myself to save harder to move out, but the reality is that it's not that bad; my Mum still gets up in the mornings with me, and sometimes makes my lunches for work, she does my washing and ironing, there's always wine in the fridge, there's always someone to go shopping with, there's always someone there to give me advice, there's always some comedy discussion going on with my brother and her (mainly about my brother "pimpin" his corsa), Dad helps me wash my car, and from time to time likes to give me some "petrol money" but we really know its for drinking.

It does however bring it's share of inconveniences. Take the regular weekend late night/early morning conversation, coming from upstairs..that doesn't seem to tire:

circa 3am, keys in the door, stumbling in heels

Mum: "Is that you poppet???"

Me, trying to act sober: "no mum it's a burglar, in heels, with a key, letting himself into the house"

Dad, who has fallen asleep on the floor in the lounge, honestly not waiting up for me: "oh I must have fallen asleep watching that film, I'll put the alarm on now".

I laugh now, but I bet the day I do get a place of my own, I will miss the conversation.

It's funny how you remember seeing your parents coming in from nights out when you are little and you are deeply ashamed of their raucios behaviour and lack of proper conversation...and now it's me coming in trying to have the sober conversation with them.


She's only 53, but in some ways, I can see Mum turning into my Nanna (her Mum, god bless her soul). Repetition of stories, forgetting where she put things, buying really awful womans weekly magazines (I made her stop buying them though now, and offered her cosmo).
They do say that if you want to know what your girlfriends going to be like when she's older, look at her mum. I don't know if LLB plans to stay with me when he is older or not, but so far, this hasn't scared him off. If he's looking at this in a physical way, my mum is a hottie. If he's looking at this in a personality type of way...he better watch out! I better watch out! I don't want to be a nagger!

My mum doesn't work anymore, she used to be a trolly dolly back in the day when it was glam - she still is glam now. My American colleague said she's a "cougar" but with this word not widely used as such over here yet, I'm not sure if that is an insult or compliment.
Anyway, not working leaves her to watch a lot of daytime tv whilst she is doing the ironing or cleaning. I blame daytime TV on her drama efforts, which are really good. she likes to do deep sighs a lot, and reitterate the same thing over and over again, sometimes I wait for the dramatic music, or smoke before I reply....as much as I want to giggle and tell her to get a grip, I never do.

I also never argue with her as, annoyingly so, 9 out of 10 times she is always right, and did tell me so. She also holds grudges, and I hate arguing anyway, so I always just let it slide and keep quiet while she vents. I'm never sure if this is a good or a bad thing, and I think that the day that I ever did give as good as I get, she's probably have a heart attack in shock. (Don't get me wrong, I don't always cower away in arguments, especially those with LLB, or my brother.)



Mum worries.





She worries that she has nothing to worry about. I think at the moment, she is worrying about a lot of stuff. There's lots of huffing and puffing, and "where am I going wrong".








Last night, in the middle of the night, I heard my door creak open, and mum got into bed with me.

Mum giving me some style tips->

What an exciting afternoon

I have 4 followers, I've never felt so fulfilled in all my days at work!!! thank you for joining and following me, I promise to answer all of your comments and read your blogs too :) Isn't it an exciting feeling when you get another follower!

Mona and I escaped work early today.
1) I was in urgent need of chocolate
2) Eve my boss is away
3) I wasn't sure how much longer I could sit and listen to moo going on.

moo really annoys me. but like REALLY annoys me. she's one of these people that loves the sound of her own voice, and can change any conversation you are having with her around, so it's about her. I try and avoid instigating conversation with her at all costs, but even when we're working on stuff together, it "somehow" ends up that we're talking about her. As much as I try and stay polite, I don't think it will be long that she pushes me to the point where I end up spitting some profanities her way. She won't get a hug when I leave.

I remember once at a sales meeting she was going ooonnn and oonnn to another colleague, to the point that colleague fell asleep, but moo CARRIED ON TALKING ANYWAY???!!!

She also sticks her nose into everyone else's business, like earwigging into other conversations then swanning over to put her oar in. noone asked you...mooo.



Anyway, more pressing matters::::

Token gay is in bangladesh and I want to send him a parcel of goodies, including mosquito repellant. Does anyone know the best way to send such items, or if you are allowed, to Bangladesh?

17 days, 22 hours, 40 mins...

...Until it's holiday time. I don't think I've ever wanted a holiday as much as right now.

I'm going to Vegas, and then driving to California to stay in Santa Monica and discover the west coast. (I'm embarassed to say that I actually had to do the N S E W thing in my head then to work out that it was west...).

If anyone has been to these placed before I would greatly appreciate any tips of things to do and places to see. I have been to Vegas before, but only stopping off for a few days to break my trip to Hawaii up. At the time I was 19, and found $150 in the filter of the jacizzi at the bellagio. I must have been the only person that holiday to have won money without having to gamble. I'm not a big gambler at all, but I will have a little flutter while I am there this time - it's my birthday after all! (just remebered I put £10 on a horse running at cheltnam today, again, I am not a gambler - this is a client of mine who also is a journalist for a racing magazine, he gave me the tip...so we will see if I'm going to be doing any more bookings with him!)

I'm also hoping to see the cirque du soleil "Love" show. I'm not a massive fan of the beatles, despite me working in their city, but my brother got the rock band game for xmas and since then, my interest in their music has grown. My fave is "saw her standing there" as it reminds me of the shop I used to work in at uni - I used to clean the floor to this song.

It's funny how songs remind you of things....anyone with other links to beatles songs?

Let's start from the very beginning

Well, I had been thinking of doing this for a while...and here I am. I feel somewhat nervous, like I am writing an ad for a dating site?!

The main reason for starting a blog?....I am excedingly frustrated at work right now, and I am hoping that this will be some form of escapism. (And also cosmopolitan (my bible) horoscopes recommended I started a blog) So let's see what happens!

So let's start from the very beginning - I'm fast approaching 25, I graduated uni 2 1/2 years ago with a degree in Languages + business, a passion for fashion and a willingness to party all the time. During the course, I spent time in Nice (Fr), Jaen (Sp) and Paris, where I left my heart.... I actually have an unhealthy desire to return to the city. I'm sure I will talk more about these places and experinces more in other posts.

Right now, I work for a pharma company in "marketing" as a glorified dogsbody to my boss. I was promised the world in my interview, and I'm still waiting, 2 years on. So, after sleepless nights and lots of tears, I had one of those moments where I thought, lets go back to uni!
In September I'm starting a PGCE and going to teach languages. Noone here knows yet, not even my close work friends... June is D day when I hand my notice in, then I have 1 months notice period which I'm guessing will be hell, and August is going to be spent in Spain with my family and friends before I enter studentville again!

I have a boyfriend, LLB - he's also my best friend. We have been together since final year and he has OCD. I worry if we will ever be able to live together because of this....

Other important people in my life who you will be reading about:

Louiza - my partner in crime from uni. The name of my blog is because of her (I used to wear Chanel glasses at uni, and she decided to call me Chanel girl until she learnt my name) I'd say we really bonded in Nice when we lived in a glorified shack together. It had a great terrace though. We also practically spent night and day together in Paris, chasing our dreams, patisseries and parties.

My 2 village girls - Danni and Flopsy. F and I have known each other for 10 years now, she's probably my closest friend that I've known and trusted for that long, apart from Hunter. D, F and I all worked together in the local pub and since then a beautiful friendship has blossomed.

Hunter and I grew up together - he is like my big brother really and we lived together in final year of uni. Despite us still living and working minutes apart, I barely see him which really saddens me. He doesn't like my boyfriend, and I despise his girlfriend. People say it's jealousy, but I guess noone is going to be good enough for your big brother or sister, and I suppose that's the way we see each other. I really want him to get back together with twinkle toes, his ex and a great friend of mine - we met through him, and you know when you have those drunken conversations "if you guys ever break up, we'll still be best friends", well we still are, much to his current gfs disapproval.

I wouldn't be able to get through my days at work without Mona. She's Irish and great, I needen't say more.

The token gay friend is working in bangladesh right now, we were also in Paris together. I miss him.

Lastly, there is Bunny, who I only properly got to know in my final year of uni, and since she moved back to Paris we drifted...she's pregnant, and moving back to the UK soon.

I haven't forgotten my family! who I actually still live with - Mum, Dad, Batman (my hormonal 17 yr old brother).

I guess they are the main people in my life...others pop in and out along the way.

I promise the next post won't be this long, is there a limit? I wanted to fill you in though before I start blogging!!!



...I hope that I get some followers and support on here!! Imagine if it's just a lonely blog in cyberspace!