I had the pleasure of meeting McKenzie Crook star of new movie Three and Out, or you might remember him in The Office... What a nice guy! Absoutlely tiny (or am I just big!?), and very polite. Not as funny in person as I thought he'd be, but hey everyone's got to have their downtime huh?!
Been slacking on the wedding planning lately (yes, I'm one of those people that need a little downtime!!!)
The invitations are out though, thanks to my lovely parents and now I'm just going to have to continuously pesture most people for their RSVP cards! - have to admit, I hardly ever RSVP when I know I'm attending somewhere! But the answer to everyone asking isn't a verbal "yeah, I'm coming" enough? HELL NO!!!!!!
You may remember from season 1 that I travelled to Liverpool for the ultimate bag designing experience with Nook and Willow. Well, for those of you who love your handbags, I just wanted to let you know that you can now get hold of their spring/summer collection on ASOS.com!
If like me however, you like to seek out a bargain, visit their website for the Nook and Willow sample sale (beautiful bags on a budget).
These bags have bags of character! (ha ha – how cheesy of me…)
Summer is here in all it's glory!!.. The skirts, shorts and open toe shoes are out in full force ladies! The only thing is, this is the season when you're that extra bit concious of those excess pounds!
Apparently, studies show that the 1st week in May is the best time to get in the gym and start that diet so you are bikini ready for summer??!!... Well, I'm going for it guns blazing! Not only do I NEED to be bikini ready for the summer... I have to fit into my wedding dress without feeling too snug! Here goes....!!
Oh my gosh, my house in under siege by the annual influx of mosquitoes- IT MUST BE SUMMER! Or is it just a heat wave? And why ARE there always so many mosquitoes in my part of Hackney?
Did you know that only female mosquitoes have that little sucker tube and they don't suck at you for food. The vegetarian 'mosquitas' use the protein in your blood to harvest their babies. So those little bites are even worse than you thought- you've just facilitated the expansion of the swarm........
If you think the mosquitoes should start working for you, have a little look at this ridiculous site offering free mosquito ringtones
Brilliantly they're supposed to be adult and teacher proof tones because the frequency of the 'mosquito call' is too high for old people to hear. Definitely worth testing this out on a grandparent or just using to annoy people.
I have to say I'm pleased to note that I can definitely hear the tones that the site says are inaudible to those over 24. Last week I told my hairdresser I was 25 and he said,'that's ok- you're old but you're still hot.' Is that a compliment?
Ok.... So I'm getting stressed about planning a wedding whilst still trying to manage the many different things I have to get done on a day to day basis!! It doesn't help either that the sun has decided to descend onto the U.K. causing a mini heatwave that is distracting me in more ways than one!
Between trying to sunbathe at every opportunity absolutely anywhere - (yep, I'm that person you see on a random piece of greenery that's usually located in a obscure place!) - and finding excuses to just be 'out'... whether it be for a drink, to meet friends, drive around London with all the windows down in the Fiesta blasting Beyonce, or to run non important errands that involve me being 'out'.... I'M NOT GETTING ANYTHING DONE!!!
Is it too late for a wedding planner!!!??......... HELP!!
WOOHOO - Everyone loves a PARTY!! Ha ha. Oh yes, you've guessed it - it was my birthday at the weekend and I had thee best time. Apart from my little cousin blowing out my birthday candles, TWICE, it was a fun filled and very eventful afternoon and night. I don't think you can get much better than having a house/garden party with all your friends and family...well - I guess a massive beach party would maybe top it! I supplied a lovely little spread (from a trusty source, of course) and a plethora of different drinks of an alcoholic nature. The icing on the cake was the two games of pass the parcel I had arranged - old school classic! The only down side was, I covered the pretty useless presents in pages and pages on newspaper, without realising how ink stained everyones hands would get...and thus waking up to a nicely black patch carpet...oh and some red wine spills - as standard! Great...
I was prepared for masses of food, drink, games and the odd child running around...but I was not prepared for the MESS! Ahhhhhhhh. Took me 4 hours to clear up but it was worth it.
Oh and I got all my fun coloured party ware from www.partybox.co.uk - they have some great stuff. I bought these coloured plastic glasses - perfect to prevent the usual breaks!
I have now decided to have more parties more often - why wait for your birthday to through one...oh yeah, the MESS!
To celebrate almost 2 full weeks of ridiculously good weather, the man and I had a little BBQ at the weekend. Although we're not grown up enough to have a garden yet, we do have what we like to call a 'roof terrace'. Being lucky enough to live above a bookies, we have exclusive access to the roof of its one-storey toilet block.
To complement our roof terrace/toilet cotch we have installed a hammock purchased in haste from Hammock Heaven who delivered it the next day (as should always be the case).
Needless to say the BBQ was hot but happening with our weird ethnic music blending seamlessly with the R n B from the pub across the road where a chap called Abraham was celebrating his 80th.
Although Sunday morning saw the roof looking like I'd turned my house inside out with every chair, plate and knife outside- we quickly tidied away all the discarded meat before heading down to Brick Lane. Boy is it busy there at the weekends but it's all about the people watching anyway. With a spot of luck we bumped into a friend who was selling bacon butties and mojitios- an unexpectedly winning combination.
Our little trip out was cut short by a need to hurry home and set up the hammock cinema. This involved simple ingredients of aforementioned hammock and roof, together with one white bed sheet from Asda and a projector. before we knew it (after a lot of effort) Michelle Gondry's film, Science of Sleep, was 4 feet wide on the roof in front of us. To complete the idyll we added a blanket or two and BBQ'd some salmon. Ooh la la.
I write this blog sneakily in the corner of a studio where I am working on a three day photo shoot. We have eight models coming in a day to get their hair completely transformed by a team of super, serious hairdressers, who have traveled from popular
a popular Scottish chain of hairdresser's based in Glasgow called Rainbow Room International. It is my job, to make sure their outfits specifically fit the coiffure criteria. Rainbow Room International are competing in this year's prestigious 'British hairdressing awards' and every shot taken on this shoot is a potential entry to a specific award, e.g 'Best Scottish Hairdresser' or 'Best Colourist' etc... Therefore each shot is 100 percent hair-tastically crucial. I'm not sure I've ever seen such precision in curling, cutting, colouring and back - combing in my entire life (bearing in mind I've worked on a few photo shoots in my time)... It's quite fascinating. I just witnessed one model perch herself in front of the lense looking like Farah Fawcett after a few 'urmmms' & 'arrghhs' by the gurus with the brushes, the decision was made to volumise the look, within literal seconds she'd become Dolly Parton. Oh & how weird is this... I just sneakily text Laura to see whether she knew the 'Rainbow Room' in Glasgow .... She only gets her hair cut there! Another 'Bite' coincidence!?
Really got to get back to work now...another day, another garment.
Gemma
Xx
This is one of the models, waiting for her official turn in front of the camera blissfully unaware, she's texting away on a sofa in the corner of the studio...
Here she is again, on set...& I popped in there too, to show you how bloomin tall she is! If you look closely enough you'll spot the clip sticking out the back that I had used to pull it in about for the pictures (secret trick of the trade)!
I know it's dull to keep jabbering about your own wedding (I know because every time I hang out with my girlfriends it's the only thing they want to talk about) -- BUT a wedding is inherently self-indulgent and I need to vent a little anxiety over the distinct lack of a dress!
There’s about 4 months to the wedding which to me seems far too long to wait- but in wedding world is as scandalous as having a nuns and vicars theme at your wedding and asking all your wedding guests to bring their own food and drink. The one conclusion I've come to though is that I do not want a dress which was designed to be a wedding dress. The theory behind that being that I'd rather not look like some 9 year old girl threw up her duvet on me. Case in point:
Despite this crucial revelation I don't seem closer to finding the ‘dream’ dress - apparently I am supposed to have seen the whole wedding play out beautifully in my dreams and have the entire thing sorted out by now.
For those of us 21st century ladies who haven’t been spending our formative years fantasizing the specifics of our wedding, the overabundance of generic wedding literature sadly offers little further assistance.
Never fear- recent inspiration was found in the form of live accessories for the modern bride such as:
Yes, that’s a goat she’s got. I'm sure it helps make the ‘tossing of the bouquet’ an extra memorable moment, with photographic record taking pride of place in the wedding album.
For the moment my wedding muse is the dangerously addictive style.com which will have you clicking through catwalk shows like a coked up fashionista well into the wee small hours. Check out a small lookbook I just made here
bearing in mind few of these dresses are either white or affordable. It appears I rather like ruffles though and I think it’s very important to avoid taking yourself too seriously on your wedding day, which brings me to wondering if I could pull this off:
Although I suppose the only box that needs ticking is whether the groom can pull it off at the end of the night right? So what’s all the fuss about…….
Wow!
I had the most amazing time in this weeks episode, very emotional too!
When I was 9 (a long time ago) I was part of Scottish Opera and toured with them for years. I grew up in the theatre and this week I went back for a trip down memory lane and bumped into some familiar faces – although they didn’t instantly recognise me, they were soon reminded and it was the best reunion EVER…they said I still had the same voice! It has definitely topped the list of favourite bite features for me. Make sure you check out the episode to see what I grew up doing – AMAZING!
Gosh I look so young in these photos! I remember that blue dress being so wide that I had to walk through doors backstage sideways…and hold my breath.
Seriously, if you get a chance to go and see the production of Falstaff (up and down the country), then why not have a nice wee night at the Opera?! Trust me…you’ll be blown away. Do it for me eh?
Since I was a child I have adored cats. We had a cat while I was growing up (Husky we miss you!) and my parents have one now.
I always remember the cat we had when we were younger to be so loving, always wanting to snuggle up to me and nestle it's little head in my lap.
However, the cat my parents have now (Halle, the cat from Hell!) is the total opposite. She thinks she owns the house, prancing about with her tail in the air and never wants to 'snuggle' like good old Husky!
So you're asking 'is there a point to this long winded, random story!?'.... Well, for a long time now I've wanted a pet and my fiancee has said he will buy me one as a wedding present... SO because Halle has taught me I can never have my Husky back, I'm getting a little King Charles Spaniel........ok, so there is still no real point to my story, but hey I'm excited about the arrival of my puppy!!!
A little click-hopping through YouTube really does leave the mind wondering where this 21st century past time of self-broadcasting will lead us all. Only in the Noughties can you film yourself in your own bedroom looking silly and talking silly and have a thousand strong viewership, several of whom will take the time to write inflammatory, bigoted comments cocooned in their online anonymity while others, keen to share the worldwide stage, will even post video responses.
A recent London Paper article written by a 15 year old pointed to the fact that the young folk are too busy updating their facebook status to partake in the usual teenage pursuits of illicit drinking and clumsy underwear fumbles. I know my fiancée’s younger sisters, all living in Los Angeles, share Chris Crocker quotes at the table and, although they haven't gotten into kissing boys yet, have seen Two Girls One Cup. (if you haven't seen that I'd save yourself the nightmares- just imagine what bodily fluids and solids you and a friend could get in a cup and then try to swallow)
Chris Crocker's mission statement style, big-shout-out-for-
the-only-gay-in-the-village video repartee is worryingly captivating. He appears in various states of distress and makeup and as '2prty2bstr8t' comments on one video does 'really look pretty with eyeshadow.' One emotive video posted of himself crying about the media's lack of respect for Britney Spears is ominously un self-aware except in the sense that the tears and the pout are clearly exaggerated for the camera. The video made it onto the Jimmy Kimmel show in the states where millions nationwide had the rare opportunity of laughing at a Youtube clip simultaneously.
Needless to say a clip of the clip appearing on the show made it back on to YouTube and has currently had over 7,000,000 views. My favourite Chris Crocker is his vitriol against the use of the phrase 'it's so gay', his reasoning being that 'gay is not an adjective.'
The world of the blog is a world without editor- a world where having something to say is all you need- because in the noughties we have Ultimate Immediate Free Speech. A quick read through the comments posted to Chris Crocker's videos is enough to show you the linguistic implications of this freedom (and by that I mean the swearing, racism and general climate for voicing aggressive intolerance, rather than the comparatively innocuous spelling errors)
Something I am rather fond of however is a video response parody by someone posing as Chris Crocker's dad which appears in the Jimmy Kimmel clip.
So in this environment of virtual flashing from reality’s trenchcoat, I've found the rather fabulous 'Faceyourpockets'. Empty your pockets onto your scanner, place your face against the glass and press Scan. Voila! you’ve bared your soul to the uncaring world.
But of course it's not that easy- these images are truly art not just an online confessional. Put some thought into it. Can you find mine?
I have just made the best "rediscovery" EVER! You have got to join in!!!!!
So, this morning I was getting the usual boring weekly food stock supply and as I walked through the home baking section (you all know I LOVE baking) I came across an absolute old skool FAVOURITE dessert of mine…you ready?
ANGEL DELIGHT!!!!!!!!! Butterscotch flavour of course…no others will do. Apparently this is Simon Cowells favourite pudding of choice, with added milk to form a milkshake, but this is simply WRONG! The only way to enjoy this classic treat, in my humble opinion, is to whisk the powered ‘delight’ firmly into the desired ‘moose like’ consistency, spoon it into a very large bowl, sit back and eat the whole lot very slowly in front of the telly (while childhood memories flood back)…that’s if you can resist licking it out the mixing bowl first.
I just HAD to share this find with you and now that I have, I know for a fact you will be searching your supermarket isles for the bright blue packet. Bonus fact – it is not that bad for you at all so you can afford to eat it all yourself!
I had the pleasure of meeting McKenzie Crook star of new movie Three and Out, or you might remember him in The Office... What a nice guy! Absoutlely tiny (or am I just big!?), and very polite. Not as funny in person as I thought he'd be, but hey everyone's got to have their downtime huh?!
Chris Crocker's mission statement style, big-shout-out-for-
