Something a little fishy

I know this isn't anything new but I have recently had a fish pedicure.

For those of you who have not seen it, you put your feet into a tank of small fish who come and nibble off dead skin leaving your feet feeling soft and supple.

I have always wanted to do it but never had the time or the money to do so, so for my birthday my sister bought me a voucher, which meant that I had a time frame to do so six months and didn't have to pay.

I went in and there were some women giggling and mildly screeching, it did feel me with some apprehension so when I got there with my feet waiting to go in I thought 'this is it, now or never'. What did I do I hear you ask, I just put my feet straight in, no point milking it just get it over and done with.

The sensation was not unpleasant, it felt a bit like pins and needles. But not painful or uncomfortable, like little vibrations all over your feet. It felt strange though when they went between my toes but not awful at all.

You have your feet in for fifteen minutes and then you get a lovely foot rub. They even go up your leg which is very strange.

They say that after one go you notice a subtle change, which I did my feet were softer and some parts looked different, but they say that to get the full effect you need to go quite a few times.

I think I would go again, it is a cheaper thing you can do to pamper yourself, doesn't take all day and is nice and relaxing.

For those of you interested in the details. The fish they use is a garra rufa, a member of the piranha fish which use suction to nibble off the dead skin cells, leaving healthy skin to grow.

Not a very in depth review but if you want it done I would recommend it.

Me with my feet in the tank.

Birth of a cupcake monster

In my pursuit to be a domestic goddess I feel I am becoming a bit of a cupcake monster.

It all started when my boyfriend bought me a Hummingbird Bakery cupcake and muffin book, it was all very innocent to begin with. I love cupcakes, Swallow Bakery in Chichester is one of my favourite places to have a sugary piece of heaven. And as I have said in a previous post I would love to be a domestic goddess being able to produce heavenly cakes for all to admire. My boyfriend knowing this and being happy to reap any rewards that I might make was very happy to purchase the book to help me on my way.

Next step getting the book and choosing what to do all simple enough. Now this is where the obsession and transformation into the cupcake monster rather than cupcake Queen begins.

I bought all the ingredients for my first ever batch...chocolate and hazelnut cakes. I got the flour, sugar, eggs etc, I got the cupcake cases, the baking tin and Tupperware to put them in when done. Me and my boyfriend spent last weekend making a delicious batch of cakes which were enjoyed by both sets of families.

My boyfriend thought, bless him, that this baking session would be enough to tame the beast. But no, my head was busy planning what my next load of cupcakes would be, maybe Strawberry Cheesecake? Or Marshmallow? Or the Pecan and Maple Muffins?

I then knew I had to buy more equipment: a measuring jug, sieve, silicone cupcake cases and a icing piping thing. I paraded my purchases with a massive grin on my face, much to the bemused looks of my family.

My next purchase would be a hand electric whisk, a Kenwood one was seen on BBC 2's The Great British Bake Off programme. I get a flutter excitement about it in the same way I do about shoes and bags.

It seems that my fixation is never wavering, in a Waitrose I can stand merrily looking at the baking aisle treats, looking at the different sprinkles, food colourings and decorations like a pregnant woman looks at baby clothes. I just don't know what has come over me, I think it is something practical I could potentially be good at.

Out of my sisters I am not the practical, doing one. My youngest sister is a trained hairdresser, I couldn't do that at all. I am very theory based, which is why I think baking appeals to me there is a list of things I need and a step by step guide on how to do it, deviate from this and error rears its ugly head but as one who likes instruction it is my perfection. Something that cannot possibly go wrong if I follow the recipe to the letter.

And so another part of my puzzle has fallen into place, I bought the very stylish Cox Cookies & Cake bake book, filled with cupcakes that are sexy and out-there. Also cookies, brownies and other delights. With decorations including skulls, lips and underwear it is the naughty side but with chocolate and peanut butter offerings I cannot wait to get stuck in.

The sugar eyed beast is looming again, and my boyfriend cannot but stare, wondering what happened to his normal girlfriend who prefers not to cook. She is in here somewhere, behind a apron and a cloud of flour and baking powder.

It's a man's world....

'But it would mean nothing without a woman or a girl.'

Is that really true? Even in today's modern world there are still professions where men still dominate and women find it hard to break the glass ceiling. At work we have a blog from a female soldier and it is refreshing to hear this side of the story from a very strong woman living what is traditional seen as a mans world.

I am reading a book at the moment called 'The Best of Everything' by Rona Jaffe when it came out in 1958 it caused an up roar and people thought it was obscene. It is about four women in New York who work for a publishers trying to get ahead through merit rather than through sleeping with bosses.

It shows how women had jobs in typing pools just as a midway point before they got married and did their real job of house wife. I think many man still wish it was that way, as it certainly was easier...for them anyway.

The gender divides are also seen in 'Mad Men' and 'The Hour' where woman have to be very masculine or very sexual to get far in their career. Although you like to think that the world is equal in terms men and women I think the reality is very different.

I have read things about The City and it seems this is very  testosterone filled, and women have to compete with men on their level to get promotions. It is just sad that many people have to be who they aren't just to get on in the world.

I think there is a fear sometimes with women that if promoted they will go off and have babies and leave the company in the lurch.

Working in the journalism world I am worried that to get ahead I have to forget my gender and act like someone I'm not to get ahead.

You think that in a modern world is there such things as a male job and a female job, you would like to say no but you know that isn't the case. My boyfriend is to train as a nurse, and as brilliant as that is, it is hard as you do know that some people just think about Gaylord Focker in Meet the Parents. But shouldn't people do the job they want no matter if they are male or female?

I would like to think so, and hope many people can break through the barriers and do what they want without having to try and be someone else.

Coming up....

I have a couple of posts waiting in the wings to delight and entertain.

My job is going well, news galore.

Recently I went away to Cornwall, so once I can a post will be uploading about that.

In a couple of weeks I will be off to Greece, sunning it up and chilling out, maxing. Afterwards, I will share my experince out there.

Not much else really.

Take care and keep checking back for new posts.

Chanel - "Imitation if the highest form of flattery."

Coco Chanel once said "Imitation is the highest form of flattery."

However, I don't think many other designers would share this idea.

I love bags and shoes, and quite often I fall head over heels in love with designers items that I cannot afford but wish I could. In those times I look to the high street as more often than not they produce the bags that make you happy as they are the quality of designers at more affordable prices.

The Chloe Marcie bag, soft leather piping on the front and tassels, for the small hobo bag it is £845, I bought a very close looking bag by Fiorelli for £29.99, it should have been £65 ohthe joy of TKMaxx. It is even nicer than Chloe if I can be so brave as to say that, but as a Fiorelli bag it is still a good quality bag at a fraction of the price.

The Alexa Mulberry my lust after bag. I walk past that shop that proudly displays them in the window and it makes my heart flip, sad but true. Those bags are about £695 for the small version. I bought one from Next £30, just as gorgeous, it has everything I like about the Alexa.

Now when I talk about imitation I am not talking about those knock off bags you get. Not bags that are pretending to be designer but those that share the same characteristics but that people can kind of tell isn't the real thing. Not the bag that people are second guessing because that kind of imitation I don't think is all that great. Bags that look like it great, bags pretending to be it...not great. 

I suppose it is the same with shoes. Nearly every woman I would think wants a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes, a pair of patent Mary Jane's with a flash of scarlett sole, you are in New Look and you see a pair exactly the same even down to the red sole. However, much you want the patent MJs there is something different about owning a pair of Louboutins, there is a classiness and elegance that owes to owning a pair.

I just think that owning an imitation that is trying desperately to be the real thing is lacking, as something that looks like it is great as it is flattery but something that is trying to be it is a little sad. Well that is what I think anyway.

I do think Chanel is on to something as it is a compliment as if people like it enough to want  a piece of it, it shows that the designer is doing something right.

How easy is it to become a domestic goddess?

I like the idea of being able to cook. In my relationship I am not the cooker though, if I start to make anything and my boyfriend comes in I will slowly be moved out of the way and before I know it I will be moved near the sink and on washing up duty.

There is something in me that would love to be able to bake a cake, or make a huge meal from scratch but being the accident prone person I am, I do fear that it will turn out like Bridget Jones' dinner party in which she makes marmalade, and blue string soup. I once was cooking Spag bol and managed to set an entire roll of kitchen roll on fire, still to this day I don't know how I managed it. I do get nervous if anyone is in the kitchen as I feel they are watching me but I think left to my own devices I think I would do ok.

I think I have the cleaning bit down but to be able to cook would be good, I would love to knock up a chocolate cake, from start to finish and for it to be edible as well.

I have the 1950s tea dresses so maybe I am half way there to becoming a domestic goddess, if all else fail at least I'll look nice reading a Nigella Lawson cook book, looking like I know what I am doing.

I have recently received my Hummingbird Bakery cupcake book and made the hazelnut and chocolate cupcakes and they were a success really yummy! So I am getting there, woo hoo! But then I don't think it is that easy to be a domestic goddess... only time will tell.

Weird crushes...to admit or not admit?

Everyone has a weird crush, those ones that either don't make sense or that you wouldn't want other people to know about, sometimes even both at times.

Heat magazine does a weird crushes poll every year in which you vote for your strange crush. The poll is usually topped by Richard Hammond or James May. These crushes are the ones where the guys are un-cool or they are about the same age as your dad. Thinking about it there is probably a daddy complex in relation to these. These guys could probably look after you, make you laugh or give you a massive bear hug when you need one, it's more the thought of them looking after you than a physical attraction I am guessing...or hoping.

Then there are other weird crushes, the ones when the guys are not like anyone else you have every liked before. I'm happy to admit that my weird crush is Tom Meighan from Kasabian, not when he had long hair though, when he had the crop.

He looks nothing like my boyfriend or anyone else I have ever fancied for that matter but there is something about him that I find attractive.

I really don't know what it is. Is it his stage persona? His cockiness? Or his singing voice? I don't think it's the fact that he is in a band as I usually like bass players or guitarists, but again my boyfriend is neither.

It's almost as if you have always liked big rugby guys who are huge and muscly and you are out and see a skinny indie guy with loads of tattoos and a cool haircut and a flutter in your stomach appears and you think 'huh? How strange?' But then at the same time there is something about them, you don't know whether to tell your friends as you know you will get the look of a 'really? He's not your type is he?' or you know they are thinking 'Oh My God he looks awful, have you no taste? Or are you that drunk?'

I suppose some of them are just that they are so different from what you are used to, it's like if you are a boy and you like brunettes and then you have a crush on Nicola Roberts or Pamela Anderson.

It happens to the best of us though, Sienna Miller and Rhys Ifans, if she was your friend and after Jude Law brought home Rhys Ifans as a friend you would look a little dumbstruck thinking really? But then when she was with him his attractiveness did go up a bit, so he probably became some people's weird crush. I think Anna Friel goes out with him now. 

It's not that werid crushes are ugly but most of the time no-one can figure out why they like someone, may not be weird to all but some. I would consider Tom Cruise a weird crush, why oh why would anyone like him?

I think weird crushes should be embraced, as you never know, if you are single and your usually type never really works out maybe this weird crush will? As they say in Priscilla Musical 'You don't know unless you give it a go.'