Tonight's the night.



yep, it's Big Brother.


I am a BIG BB fan, but I really dedicate my time to it, and it makes for a very boring snorin' me according to The Man. So this year, I promised The Man I wouldn't watch, although secretly, I'd decided not to watch on the basis that I have A LOT of work on and I'm never gonna fill bookshelves if I'm watchin' live streams of BB for the next three months.

Except the man has decided to go out this evening, and I'm indoors with a kingsize twix and the remote ALL to myself.
Now, I LOVE the Apprentice, but I can watch that On Demand, so I've figured it won't hurt just to see who's going in, will it?
I don't wanna be a TOTAL social outcast now do I?
Maybe I could just watch one round-up show a week, that way I can write AND still converse with the cool kids on Myspace...

The Man is still seething from the celeb BB, and thinks I shouldn't watch this one out of principle, but the truth is, I LOVE people watching.
It's as simple as that.
The Man also forgets that it was at my BB party for the first series that we became boyf & girlf, so BB will always have a special place in my heart!
The Man's? Not so much!

So in conclusion, I'm going to watch tonight's show.
This DOES NOT mean I'm watching the whole series 'k?

Claim to fame!

I don't know if any of you watched Transmission on Friday night presented by the too, too cute Steve Jones and girl idol Lauren Laverne, but I had just got in from watching Superman 3 - how much do I love that film? Let me count the ways! - and the gorgeous Jake Shears, Ana Mantronix and Beth Ditto were sharing a sofa - when will they work together? That's my dream collaboration right there! As if that wasn't enough, Jake Shears, when asked if he loved Brighton, mentioned how he did rudies in the 'Absolute Love' room at the Hotel Pelirocco.

I have stayed in that room, in that bed!




I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Hotel Pelirocco.

It's a rock n' roll boutique hotel with each room individually designed by artists and musicians, they're incredible! Other favourites of mine are 'Pin Up Parlour' and 'Modrophenia' and if The Man and I ever stay over in our fave city, we always treat ourselves to one of their fabulous rooms, they're super expensive but completely decadent - so swoonsome!



More important than all that though, I can now say that I've shared the same bed as Jake Shears - happy, happy days!

I LOVE Gok Wan.



He's the host of Channel 4's programme, 'How to Look Good Naked'and he's like an injection of self-esteem for womankind. He burns 'Bridget' pants, shows people all their fabulous attributes and how to work them and fills them to the brim with confidence and feel-good deliciousness.
Who wouldn't love this man?!

I LOVE my friends.

Being a self-employed girl has it's advantages as I've pointed out before, I get to work in my tracksuit bottoms - worn with heels and a feather boa - natch and I also get to do things that most people have to wait 'til the weekend to do.
Yesterday was one of those days.
I've got a LOT of deadlines right now, so have turned down bank holiday invites in order to get my work done - how good am I? That does mean missing out on spending time with by bezzie mates so I had a day of it yesterday instead!
I lunched with Miss Sally, had drinks with Swanks and had tea with Chevverchops - I'm now filled with fabulousness that only spending time with friends can bring - perfecto!

Now, you can laugh me outta town but I went to see G4 on Wednesday evening AND loved it!



It is common knowledge that I will out-cheese most people in my tastes, and G4 are no exception, but The Man, who had accompanied me reluctantly, was even up and dancing with me at the end - yep, you even get to dance at a G4 concert, that's how eclectic they are!

I have just bought this...



How adoorbell! Knitted bling, what's not to love about it? The very clever KPS is a totes knitstar, go check out her Etsy!

So, Daniel getting voted off Any Dream will Do?
Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Still, it does now leave a clear path for the hot-to-trot, ahhmazingly talented, (did I mention he was hot?) Lee to win - he is making me slightly obsesso-girl but with a performance like Paint it Black, I'd defy anyone not to feel knee wobbles at his beauty. I am currently spending an unhealthy amount of time re-running it over at You Tube - is that bad?

I am in sucha good mood since getting back from my hols, The Man has only been in the cupboard once and that was because he was talking during ADWD - foolish.
I am crazy busy, but because it's stuff I totally love doing, I feel kinda bad calling it work! Before I went away on my hols, I cleared out our back room and have made it a li'l writing den - I've hung a pink ribbon washing line with cute cards and quotes, I've pinned up my mood board which I posted on here - still haven't done the actual exercise, but it's deffo on my list of things to do - and have made a Lola Love inspired mix CD to play as I'm finishing up book 3 and 4 - could life be any sweeter?!!

I'm back from my hols - it was fab, except some days it was 38 degrees, and as anyone that has ever had to spend time with me in the summer will tell you, I do NOT do heat.
Not only does it cause havoc with my normally poker-straight hair, it makes me ever-so-slightly antsy. The joys of a hotel room with air-con saved The Man from a vay grumpy me!

Luckily, when you're on your hols you don't have to do too much, so I stayed in the shade, ate my body weight in ice-cream - for coolin' down purposes, natch and read lots and lots of books - it was totally bliss kissed...The man is a totes sun worshipper so is now a bronzed chunk of man beauty, I, on the other hand am still working just a slight dusting of sunshine - I don't wanna be wrinkled and leather-like before I'm 30 now, do I?

So, we went to Dubrovnik in Croatia...



It is so beautiful, has amazing beaches, the water is so clear, 'cept we were probably there 40 years too early...seriously, there were a LOT of olden days people there! It was v.cool though, hardly any tourists so we had entire beaches to ourselves...



Went island hopping on a boat trip - that was v.cool...



Looks like I've got no clothes on, but I did have a dress on, honest!

Half way through the holiday, I got bitten. Boo. Turns out I'm allergic to mosquito bites, and what should of been a slightly irritating, itch turned into a super swollen elephant ankle - so, so not attractive!

Left Foot - this is the normal one btw!:



Right Foot - the attack of the elephant!



Poor me! I did feel ridiculously sorry for myself for a day, it got bigger than this y'know, and we had planned a day trip to Montenegro which is a whole other country and everything and was apparently where some of the latest James Bond film had been filmed, so I was all about the glitz and glam, except I had an elephant foot, which is just not conducive to hanging out in a A-list hotspot. Being the brave li'l soldier that I am, I still went, and while there were no celebs - boo, it was deffo a hotspot, over 40 degrees - whoopla!
Montenegro is soo beautiful, the men are super-tall, average height of a montenegro man is 6 ft 9 inches! I know. Unfortunately, I have no photographic evidence of this due to being on hols with The Man, he was not buying the whole 'I need to take pics for research purposes' line. Boo to The Man. Believe me though, they were v.tall and v.attractive...

Instead, here is a picture of Montenegro from the mountains, still pretty though, right?



Croatia gives very good sunsets and each evening The Man and I would sit at the beach bar sippin' beverages, eating something fish-like - I ate a LOT of fish, and looking out over the beach - it was a li'l bit like paradise might be I reckon - my favourite chico and the prettiest sight I ever did see, ahhhhh!

A li'l while back, my partner in NY walkin', Keris, discovered Carrie & Danielle. They run a company that helps people discover their Style Statements - two words that define who you are. The first word is your essence (80%) and the second word is your unique twist (20%).

Basically, this statement then becomes a compass for designing a life that reflects the best version of you. From your wisdom to your wardrobe; from the stuff you love to your bed room, your work, your finances, and the parties you throw - your Style Statement is where your essence meets your expression.

You with me?

Examples might include Elegant Creative, Graceful Innovative, Classic Vitality, Cultivated Magic, Timeless Play...
I, like Keris, thought I could do with a style statement of my own. In order to work out your style statement Carrie and Danielle ask a series of questions, things like:

What’s your favourite colour?
What’s your favourite flower?
What outfit do you feel most comfortable in?
What would you wear to the Academy Awards?
What would you do with a million dollars?
What objects do you collect?
Where do you feel most at home?
Describe your perfect day.
If Annie Leibovitz (super cool photographer lady) was to take your photo, and you were in charge of art direction, what would the photo look like?
And, most importantly, why?

To help me answer my questions, I made a mood board of images and things I loved, like Lola does in Think Pink, and I realised how much I love, love, love cutting and pasting! Not only did I get to play, I also produced this fabulous collage of things I love and wanna attract into my life - check it out!



I'm still working on the actual Style Statement, but the mood board has been brilliant for helping my heart and head get clear 'bout what I want - lots of books, writing, painting, a pink nissan figaro - have you seen those cars? I totes adore them! More travel, more visits to my favourite places, lots of bright clashing colour, inspiro women like America, Nigella, Kelly Brook, oh, and to be as successful as Oprah - cool stuff, eh?!

I've bingo-ing mad!

Yesterday, it was my friend Adam's b'day and we went to Bingo.

It was the stuff of dreams.

I love Bingo. I've even got a badge to prove it.



You can get one too from www.plastic-bat.co.uk

Bingo is completely under-rated.

You have to be quick of the mark, know your numbers and have an attention span longer than 5 seconds - I have trouble with all 3 of these.
It made for a pretty interesting afternoon.

Adam's mum is a bingo rockstar, she has the proper pens and everything. I aspire to be her. I did have a dobber, special bingo terminology, y'know, which makes a dot on the numbers and should make it easier, apart from having more hands NOTHING makes Bingo easier.
It was hard.
Really hard.
There really should be Bingo initiation, because I was completely out of my depth. First we attempted to take a seat, but there is a total unwritten rule 'bout where you sit, namely, nowhere, because the regulars all have a table each, we were banished upstairs, we took our seats and while I was checking out the too-cool-for-school decor, pink and gold - tres chic, it blimmin' started!
I literally didn't have time to breathe, the dude calling the numbers was so fast and the games were relentless, it was all I could to keep up.
I figured I didn't need to worry 'bout getting the lines, and that I would concentrate on getting the full house, except it doesn't work like that, who knew?

By the end of it, I think Adam's mum was in complete despair of me, needless to say, I won nada, nothing, but the experience was like a rollercoaster and no sooner had it finished and my adrenalin was pumpin', I wanted to do it all over again...It's free on a Sunday, so I'm gonna make it a regular thing and get good at it.

Bingo is the new going out.
Serious.

What was meant to be an afternoon of b'day celebration, namely coz I wanted to get home to watch 'Any Dream Will Do', turned into a night of dizzy water-fueled fun thanks to Martin buying Adam Singstar Legends.
I momentarily pined for my sofa, a bar of galaxy and Lee singing me sweet nothings, but the pull of Singstar is too strong.
I baggsied 'Son of a Preacher Man' by Dusty Springfield, Martin took Johnny Cash, Vix and I duetted on 'The Greatest Love of all' by Whitney Houston - what is not to love about a power ballad? and The Man and Adam did 'Rocket Man' by Elton John. We have seriously sore throats this morning and, after eating a tub of ice-cream and a strawberry cheesecake from the container between us all, our bellies are seriously sore too.
Was vay fun though - happy days!

I got my book.

I got my book.

I GOT MY BOOK!

Look at it, it's beeeeeeyoooootifoool!



This is a sneaky peek inside, there are so many totes adoreable treats in there I'm in Lola and The Pink Ladies heaven!



And look how pretty they look together...sigh.



I'm in LOVE.