emily at beSottied.com

Things I have achieved since Last Time
by Emily, aged 22 and a half (and a half!)

1) Phone Citroën to arrange service for Mu.
4) Book a hair appointment!!!!!
5) Think about the bikini!
(Of course, I’ve been to the toilet since, but that should go without saying).

Things I have not done and really, really must:

2) Make an appointment with the dentist.

I left it too late to do number 3:

3) Remember to ask Helen to make me an appointment at the dentist.

But nevermind. I also haven’t done number 6:

6) Put more effort in to writing blog entries.

And present you with another lacklustre entry without photos. I’ll have to get a photo of my new Really Quite Short hair and post that =)

This past weekend, I have mostly been getting my hair cut, going to Laura’s, going shopping and bathing excessively. I’ve also been revelling in my Mutti-and-Keith-free house (X-Files DVDs a-go-go!), and buying new music.

I like lots of different artists, from the Goo Goo Dolls to the Fratellis, the Kooks and the Foo Fighters, A Nice Bit O’ Kelly (that’s Kelly Clarkson), the Wombats, the lovely Rachel Yamagata and a guilty bit of Matchbox 20 and Justin Timberlake. I’ve recently added Kanye West and (gasp) even a bit of Hed Kandi to the ragtag heap of CDs rolling and clacking around in Muriel’s door pockets. I’ve been listening to the charts over the past few weeks, though, and there’s quite a few likeable songs out at the moment.

I always hated listening to the Top 40 singles chart on the radio as a wee nipper. I have to admit that I quite like it now, in fact Fearne and Reggie’s show on Radio 1 is the only radio I voluntarily listen to. Helen makes me listen to the ever-so-slightly irritating Chris Moyles during our half-hour journey to work, just to get my nerves good n’ grated on a weekday morning.

I’ve just downloaded:

• Alphabeat’s Fascination (which I will probably regret in about three hours’ time, and am already regretting admitting in the public domain. Listen to whatever makes you happy, that’s what I say*)
• Guillemots’ Get Over It (which is great for dancing energetically around your house in your pants, with a hairbrush/riding crop/knitting needle microphone, by the way)
• Wiley’s Wearing My Rolex, which makes me smile, plain and simple

I’ve even forayed into the type of thing I normally can’t stand, with:

• Flo Rida’s Low. I challenge anyone to not sing along to the “Boots with the FURRR!” part
• Madonna and Justin singing 4 Minutes

4 Minutes has some crazy lock on it, so even though you’ve downloaded it legitimately, you have to re-enter your iTunes password to “authorize your machine” before the song will play.

Madonna, love, I completely understand wanting payment for your work, but I think you need to get a bit of a grip! I would never have discovered the Goo Goo Dolls if it wasn’t for the file sharing wonders of Kazaa many years ago. Now I have all of their CDs and strut along to their concerts whenever they’re in the UK. Connect the dots, Madge!

*as long as it isn’t the Vengaboys

Listen to my songs on You Tube and if you like them, buy them =)
I strongly recommend the Guillemots. I love Get Over It.

• Alphabeat, Fascination
• Flo Rida, Low
• Guillemots, Get Over It
• Wiley, Wearing My Rolex

I can’t post a link to 4 Minutes because, as we’ve already established, poor ol’ Madonna needs to calm herself down a bit!

Yesterday was Muriel’s second birthday. Oui, really! 15,281 miles on the clock and looking just as stunning as the day I got her =D

Although that’s reminded me of something I need to do. One second while I make a note of it.

1) Phone Citroën to arrange service for Mu.

Work is busy busy busy at the moment. I have some events coming up (want to get involved in your Local Involvement Network, anyone?), a welcome pack for new Councillors to put together, copy to create for a few magazines and press releases, and we’re moving offices tomorrow.

Everyone on my floor has had to pack everything up and relocate to other buildings, because we’re having our snazzy 1970s (there’s a shameful amount of cream, brown and orange fittings) office refurbished. I work on a tablet PC, so at least I can work on stuff I’ve saved locally - it’s just a pain to not have the network, email or printers for the next couple of days. Alas, these things have to be done, and it’ll be nice to move back to my revamped office in the autumn.

Oh, another thing I need to do:

2) Make an appointment with the dentist.

I can never remember to do that. Helen’s appointments are usually due a couple of weeks before mine, so at least I have that to jog my memory. I’ll ask her to book me in when she’s there on Friday.

3) Remember to ask Helen to make me an appointment at the dentist.
4) Book a hair appointment!!!!!

I am beginning to look like a blonde Hagrid, only without the beard, thankfully. My hair is really thick, which means I get an attractive sort of bulge at the back when it’s due for a cut. I’ve just picked up some anti-frizz shampoo and a pot of moisturising masque-y thing as a stop-gap solution.

5) Think about the bikini!

Laura and I are beginning to look at summer holidays. We’ve decided we are (meaning “I am”) far too uncool for Ee-bitz-ur (Ibiza) and are reviewing our options. We normally jaunt off to Portugal and, though we really like it, we’re looking for something a bit more lively this year.

And so, we are feeding in to popular culture and starting the “holiday diet”. Only not really, because I’m still snecking any vulnerable little Creme Egg that passes my way. We’ve been meeting for walks along the blustery seafront in the evenings, and I’ve taken to shouting motivational phrases such as “Pump those crazy legs!” and “Shall we just go to the pub?”.

Ah, it’ll be worth it when I’m stood looking stunning on some beach in the Bahamas Spain.

6) Put more effort in to writing blog entries.

Apologies for the lack of zing in this entry. I have all these cunning ideas for topics to write about, but at the moment it’s finding the time. Especially since I have discovered the joys of the BBC’s iPlayer and ITV’s Catch Up. Though I don’t find many TV programmes worth my time when they’re on during the week, I’ve been finding them endlessly thrilling at times when I would normally knit/blog/bike ride/sleep. Nothing like a bit of Have I Got News For You? on a Sunday morning.

Oh and

7) Go to the toilet, Emily. You’ve been thinking about it since you got home forty minutes ago.

Yesterday morning I went on a quick shopping jaunt. I had a thrilling time in Binns. I was trying a nice bra on, being all ladylike, when the ker-azy shop assistant threw back the curtain, not realising my quiet little self was in the cubicle. I’ll make sure I yodel continuously the next time I go shopping!

As for beSottied’s new layout… Hmm! I’ve mocked up a quick draft version and it seems to work. Now I need to make the real thing, code it properly, and upload it all. I’ll need to check my Wordpress, too, because the link to older posts is called “Newer Posts”, and the link to newer posts is called… “Older Posts”. Estimated completion date for all o’ these website works: July 2009.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we had a night out last night for Helen D’s birthday. We were dressed as sailors, and despite my initial grumblings I actually quite hearted my outfit.

I wore more red suede peep-toe shoes that make me some towering 5 feet 6 tall, or something. I feel gigantic in them, anyway. A navy blue skirt with white polka-dots, under which I sported a rather snazzy hand-crafted red tutu. I had to keep taking that off, though, because it was a bit prickly to sit on!

I had a plain white top, with a ribbon-and-button ‘medal’, red hairband, blue-and-white polka-dot earrings and the piece de resistance: my gloves =D My substandard sewing skills didn’t fail me, and the red bows stayed attached all night.

I ended up going home quite early, around midnight. Because I live out of town now, Laura very kindly puts me up if we’ve had a night of fun and frolics. I wasn’t really in a going-out sort of mood yesterday though, and Helen was driving and offered to pick me up. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse, and so by 1 am I was tucked up in bed with a nice cup of tea and my copy of Starter For Ten. Rock ‘n roll!

I’m now off to fire up the sandblaster: I’ve got me some red OPI nail polish that must, must come off!

My super-whizzy new PC arrived last week, and I’ve had fantablulous fun setting it all up. I didn’t realise how many different programs I had on my old computer. I’ve been replacing things here and there, browsing for new fonts and getting things juuuust how I like them.

I’m still playing around with a new layout for beSottied, but I’m also working on a new website for work (which is all very hush-hush, wink-wink at the moment) so I’m a bit computer’d out, really. I’m off to set to work on my sailor outfit for Saturday.

Yes, I’m 22 and I’m still playing dress up. I don’t understand why we can’t just have a nice night out in a nice frock!