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Why we should be Pinterest BFF's!

I remember it well. I could not sleep. I was not worrying about anything. I just could not sleep. I got myself out of my bed and decided to hang out in the living room for a an hour. Maybe two. Let me prefix this story by saying, this is highly unusual behaviour for me. I'm an eight hours uninterrupted sleep kinda gal!

In an effort to make myself sleepy I decided to trawl through the internet. In hindsight this was a bad decision as I ended up staying awake until the sun rose and until the other half woke up too. However, this is where my (little) addiction (and of course love) to Pinterest began.

Months and many, many boards later, many pins have been gathered from all corners of the internet including from many other talented Pinterest folk! So, why should we be Pinterest BFF's you ask? I'm a fun pinner, I don't take myself too seriously and if you're in need of a postive quote or two, well then I'm your gal, look no further, pinning positive quotes is like my religion. I'm also an avid " Wedding board" pinner despite the fact there ain't no engagement ring hanging off my left hand, but hey that's another days blog story.

To conclude, let be Pinterest buddies! I'm interested to see what you're all up to too, so leave some links below and I'll be your BFF too.

The Apprentice 'high heel wearing' women.

 image source

For those of you based in Ireland or the UK, you might know that the most recent season of The Apprentice, with the formidable Lord Sugar has recently ended, with Dr.Leah claiming the coveted title of overall winner.

I've been a big fan of the programme for a long time now and watch with awe each week as they make rookie management mistakes, undertake yet another cat fat and compete to win the weekly task as set out by Lord Sugar and his team. I'm always amazed how competitive everyone becomes, how bitchy the women can get and how cool, calm and collected Karen and Nick (Lord Sugars assistants and spys) remain.

However in saying that, the one thing I am always drawn to year after year is the fashion attire (read: work clothing) chosen by the female candidates. Yes, fitted suits highlighting a womens curves are lovely to look at and particularly on those who are slim, however ladies can we just get real for a teeny tiny nano second here? Can we just get real on those heels?

Let me say, I am a lover of heels. I have a large collection in my spare room and I dig them out for many an occassion (and always with a pair of foldable flats in my bag) and I tot around in them with pride. By the end of the night after dancing the night away at what ever event has taken my fancy, you will see me with my foldable flats on and probably a bag of chips in one hand too. Yes, my outfit now looks pretty crap without my glorious heels, but I'm a woman who knows how much pain she can handle.

As for super high heels in work? No thanks! As much I'd love to complete my work suit with a pair of six inch skyscrapers, we ladies (who live in the real working world) know that this is an impossible feat. If you are someone who has a full time job and goes from meeting to meeting, as I often do, wearing heels of this nature is no mean task. They are impractical and will leave you in pain in a matter of minutes. Yes, they look stunning with your suit and no doubt you feel more impowered, but really Apprentice ladies, who are we trying to kid here? I've worked in a number of positions where I've worn heels, but these were desk bound jobs were my only excerise consisted of buying a round of coffeee or popping down to the basement to compelte some photocopying.

After my first day in my current position (in heels!), I was in agony. This was no heel wearing job and I promptly invested in wearing comfy flats and continue to do so, five years on!

I wonder if there are reels of footage of  said particpants running around in heels and switching to flats as soon as the pain becomes unbearable? Have some of them resorted to taking their shoes off and working sans shoes if only for a moment of relief? If I saw those shots I might then feel that I could relate to them a tad more and my evenings spent shouting "How are they running around London in those fecking heels?" may become a thing of the past?

My flat shoes and I live in hope!

Stuff I know at 31 that I didn't know at 21

source

If you met and knew me at 21, you would have met a girl who could not, for the life of her, stick up for herself. If a situation became hot, I became quiet. If someone shouted at me, I cried and if a boy walked all over me, I let him.

I am (thankfully) a very different person now. I've also gained a bit of personal wisdom along the way that if I was 21, I would share with my young, dewy-eyed self. Maybe you can relate....

1. Your hangovers will get worse and will last longer. Full stop.

2. There will come a time when you prefer a nice seat, in a nice pub, with no loud noise.

3. Heather Shimmer never really suited you.

4. Bright blue eye shadow didn't suit you either.

5. You won't marry the kid with braces from The Goonies or the kid from Flight of the Navigator.

6. Always dress for the body you have instead of the body you think you have.

7. You still don't possess the ability to tan, but that's fine and dandy.

8. You also prefer city breaks than long holidays in the sweaty sun.

9. You thought you would be some young, hip traveler moving from country to country. Surprisingly, you're not that person. In fact, you nearly always prefer your own bed.

10. Never be scared to cut your hair. It took two years to summon the courage to get a fringe! (bangs)

11. Any type of clothing in any shade of neon was never a good choice

12. There will come a time when you won't be embarrassed to buy sanitary products in a shop.

13. You still don't like olives, turnips or brussell sprouts.

14. The friends you had at 21 are different from the friends you have at 31.

15. You can now cook potatoes better than you did when you first moved to college. Hoo-ray!

16. Cleansing, toning and moisturizing from the age of 14 was an excellent idea.

17. The high flying career you thought you'd have at 31 didn't quite work out that way and you're still wonder why.

18. You're still figuring out number 17 and probably will for a long time.

19. You're third serious boyfriend is the best one.

20. Don't sweat the small stuff. Seriously, don't.

21. If you look at cake, you will put on weight. So don't look at cake. Ever!

What advice would you share with your young self?

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Writing the blog you want

Over the last four years, I've written a crafty-type blog (I use the term 'crafty-type' very loosely) over at LuckyRainbowDesigns. I've dabbled in sharing positive quotes, showing those interested, cards I've made,  supplies I've bought and bored people silly about my love of New York City while all the while thinking "mmm, this blog isn't really working out the way I hoped and cat videos are waaaaay more interesting!".

Ideally, a craft blog would or at the very least, should have......you guessed it......crafts! I, however seemed incapable of sticking to this and it soon dawned on me (like a bolt of lightening) that I was more interested in writing a personal / lifestyle blog where instead of boring you with hundreds of NYC photos, I now instead delighted you with product reviews, outfit posts, life in Ireland and extracts from my teenage diary. Now, who doesn't wana hear and learn all about that I ask?

I want to write about what it's like to be 31. (Turns out it's not the worst age in the world.) I want to write about what it's like living in Ireland your entire life. I want to write about growing older, the ups and downs of diets and goddammit I want to write about being a lazy couch potato and my intense drive to try to change it all.....I may also want to share a cat video or two, but you're happy about that, right?

And so, with a deep breath, 'twenty three ashbrook' was born. A unusual blog title you might say. Let me tell you this, it's freaking hard in the saturated land of blogs to think up a title that hasn't already been claimed. by some know.it.all.

The title may change, who knows, but for now, 'twenty three ashbrook' is where the blog I want to write will reside. It's the blog where I'll share my first, albeit nervous, outfit posts. The blog where I'll try to write  about the serious and not so serious issues of adult life. The blog where I'll share reviews of products purchased and perhaps the blog where I'll make new friends and of course gather a few old ones too. I may even venture into vlogging land. (Gulp!)

I'm excited to kick start another adventure and see what will happen along the way. I'm looking foward to writing the blog I want to write rather than writing the blog I think everyone wants to read or even the blog I think I should write! Also, I might add, this blog and this particular post was inspired by this very post that I read today. Maybe you have 'a thing' that you need to start. This new, fun and honest space is mine.

Enjoy!