I am off work sick, I am literally sick. About three times this morning to be precise. I think Pizza Express may have poisoned me. Bastards.

I hate being sick. It's not so bad when you are sick from drinking too much, because you are generally too drunk to be fully aware of what's happening and you generally pass out afterwards. But when you are poorly sick you just regress to the vulnerability of your childhood days. I want my mum, and i want to lie on the sofa in my sleeping bag, be allowed to watch TV all day and be nursed with soup and ice lollys. Actually scratch that, I don't think i could hold food down right now. But having my mum would be nice, rather than my empty flat with not even a flatmate around give me sympathy.

Oh well, I'm a big girl now and will have to survive. I have managed to drag myself to the shop for emergency supplies of ginger beer and wholemeal bread before the weakness sets in. Ginger Beer? I hear you say, but this is a gem of Tabby family wisdom, passed down from generation to generation. Well from my Dad. but anyway, ginger beer is the most perfect tonic for sickness. Ginger settles your stomach and ginger in ginger beer form is the ideal way to take it. This, along with dry wholemeal toast, will save you from death via sickness I guarantee.
At any other time I would find it hard to walk into a shop and buy ginger beer and keep a straight face. Ginger beer is the strange forgotten drink that sits in the bottom of the fridge. It lives in the pages of Enid Blyton and your grandad probably used to drink it. But when ever I have sickness there I am, with a face of grim determination, stocking up on the stuff.

Oh and all my lovely new clothes from ASOS will be be arriving today, arriving to my work address. I am sulking.

So, sympathy is neeeded today people, and feel free to share your pearls of wisdom and rescue remedies with me.

Shopping Time

Just treated myself to a few bits and bobs from ASOS. I love and hate this website in equal measures. I think that timers should be in place so limiting the amount of time clothes addicts, like myself, can immerse themselves there. I like to tell myself it's not really my fault that I'm clicking on all these garments, and I can't be blamed for spending money I don't have on more clothes. It's just not my fault....

Anyway, excuses aside, here's a little selection of my new must-have goodies!

A gorgeous navy blue wool mix coat. I love the subtle military style of the double breast and buttons. There was a riding coat I loved just a little more... but it was red, and I have red hair and was not too sure it would really suit me.



A check tulip skirt. Perfect for work.


And then of course I needed a little something to wear with the skirt... a necessary purchase and ticks off the lace trend.


Then I accidentally bought these...


Ooops and this... amongst others.

See why this website should come with a warning label? Maybe the mouse should too. Oh well, nothing like a bit of retail therapy to beat the winter blues. Let's just keep fingers crossed now that everything fits. Spending my lunchtime queuing at the post office would kind of eliminate the benefits of shopping online.

Now, what am I going to get rid of from my wardrobe to make room for all this?

Midnight Potterer

I don't know if it is good blog etiquette to post three posts on the same day, but I am anyway. My last rambling of the evening is just a general moan about being a midnight potterer. I can never, ever got to sleep before at least midnight. There is always one last thing to do, one song to listen to and one last something to look up on the internet. I'm supposed to be rising at 6.30am tomorrow to do a hardcore Tai-Bo workout with my housemate, as I have a rapidly growing food baby that I need to be rid of, but now I will be tired and not get out of bed. And still fat. Life is very hard today. Squawk.

Gordon Ramsey playing away from home

Who would have thought it? Gordon Ramsay having sordid hotel romps with this not-very attractive blonde and a bottle of poppers. And not just once either, apparently the affair has been going for seven years with the woman who's previous affairs include Jeffrey Archer. The woman who classes herself as a 'professional mistress' and even wrote a handbook for other women conducting affairs on the subject. Classy. Turns out she approached Max Clifford to be her PR, and he thankfully turned her down.

Nice pants, love.

One Rebecca Loos in the world is plenty for me. Call me old fashioned but I don't see there is anything to shout from the treetops about having it away with someone else's husband. I hope this tart disappears back under what ever rock she crawled from.

The problem with boys...

At one stage or another they manage to sneak right into your head! I've been seeing D for about ten weeks now and all has been nice and chilled, no stresses really. But then comes the moment when you realise you are starting to get just a weeny bit closer to them than you had planned. Suddenly you feel slightly vulnerable and open to pains of the heart, and I hate this part.

I don't see me and him being together for a long time for various reasons, infact when we met on holiday in ibiza I thought it would just be one night, then just a holiday romanace, then just one meeting back in London and it's just gone on from there. Long phone calls and facebook messaging in the day. I don't really know where the ten weeks have gone but suddenly here we are, and I think I like him. Only I'm scared to like him because to be honest I can just see heartbreak in the future if 'liking' starts to happen.

Saying goodbye to an old friend

I wasn't in work yesterday, instead I was back up Derby for the funeral of my friend. My friend was only 29 when he died two weekends ago. I'm still so sad today and I just can't get it out of my head. The church was packed out, people were standing at the back. He was well loved and so many people were devastated to say goodbye. His coffin was carried out at the end of the service to N-Trance Set You Free, it was so emotional and I hope he has been set free from the troubles of life.

It makes you realise just how lucky you are, and how amazing your friends are. So many people who loved him all came together to remember him and comfort each other, I just wish he could have been there too. I will never forget seeing so many grown men cry, it just broke my heart. Broke my heart for him and everything he will never get to do, broke my heart for his family and broke my heart for all of his friends who have lost a little piece of themselves with him. He was a good lad with a kind heart and he didn't deserve to be taken so young.

We forget how precious life is. I only saw him three weeks ago when I last went home, and no one could ever have known it would have been the last time.

Life is not for wasting, but i think we all do waste our lives away from time to time, in situations we are not happy in, in jobs we dislike and in relationships that are no good for us. I am determined from now on to spend less time worrying about things that don't matter, and more time making sure I'm loving every minute of life and grabbing every opportunity and taking every chance by the hands.

RIP my friend xxxx

I passed!!!

Finally, after four attempts I am now the holder of a full valid UK driving license. Happy is not the word. I much less nervous this time, the rescue remedy seemed to do the trick. Also the examiner had a lovely soothing voice and was nice and friendly, unlike some of the horrors I've had before.

I got four minors, three of which were for driving a little too slowly. Infact when the test finished the examiner said his only complaint was that I drove like a granny sometimes. I think i was just being so cautious I didn't want anything to catch me out. Granny driving ha, that made me giggle.

The other minor was on my reverse round a corner. As I was doing the manouver a car approached me from behind, and then a huge lorry turned into the road. I paniced a little and swung out too wide, but managed to correct it. I even managed to do my parrelel park perfectly.

I;m just so happy, I could have kissed the examiner when he told me. All the blood sweat and tears, and thousands of pounds, has finally paid off.

Toot toot!

Driving test nerves

They say third time lucky right? Well try fourth. Yes, that's right folks I'm about to take driving test number four on Saturday morning. To say I'm nervous would be an understatement. I don't know how anyone can say something gets easier with experience, as all my driving test experiences so far have resulted in failure. Hardly confidence building?

My main problem is nerves. I can drive perfectly well when it is just my instructor and I in the car, but as soon I as get in the car on T-day all the symptoms of nerves get the better of me. Trembling legs, clammy hands, blank mind and deafness. Yes I get it bad. Oh god, I'm getting it now just thinking about Saturday. Oh god.

So, on the day nerves always overcome me and I make a stupid mistake. I've never had more than four minors on a test, it's always one stupid major that gets me. Last test I was so nervous I didn't even notice I had made the mistake he failed me on, I was convinced I had passed until he told me.

I have failed on a variety of nervous majors: lane mistake on a roundabout, causing an obstruction (when I stalled in the wrong gear), something to do with a meeting situation and a major on a manoeuvre. I am starting to feel like I should change my name to Maureen and move to Wales.

Luckily I have a secret weapon for this test. Hmm, maybe it is more of a last resort than secret weapon. My housemate Miss Miller says it helped her to pass her test, and The Boy says his mum used to give it to him when he got upset and cried (this, readers, caused me to laugh so much I nearly weed). It's RESCUE REMEDY to the, er, rescue.

Apparently four drops of this elixir will restore my inner calm and help me feel at ease in stressful situations. I decided to give it a test-run before my driving lesson tonight but accidental squeezed way to much onto my tongue. Not wanting to fall asleep at the wheel I panicked and rinsed my mouth out, so I'm not to sure if I have felt the true effects. Maybe a little bit more than normal? Or maybe a little bit less. However. I did find everything quite funny today, and didn't even care when my instructor was 25 minutes late for the lesson. Managed to do all my maneuvers just fine as well.

Would be interested to hear how many attempts it took you to pass? Keep your fingers crossed for me. If I fail this test my theory will most likely run out before I can get another slot, then it will be back to square one again and I don't think I can take that.

Oh god......

Crimes of Fashion: Amy Winehouse

I'm sorry, but who stole all the mirrors in Amy Winehouse's place. This has got to be the worst outfit I've seen in a long time.

Please love, cover yourself up.

I can't quite work out the string vest and nude bra combination. Maybe she is hoping passersby will do a double take and wonder where the hell her niples are?

Sadly as well as dealing with the effects of shock from this intentional wardrobe malfunction, it looks like we also need to say RIP to the beehive. Maybe the flurry of wino Halloween costumes banged the nail in that coffin.

While it is great to see Amy looking a little healthier again, let us hope the next step will be some pride in her appearance.

Danni vs Cheryl

Can somebody please tell me what the point of Danni Minogue is on the X-Factor. What exactly is she famous for? With a pop career of no real note proudly under her belt she surely just rides on her sister’s success. I’d like to meet someone who can actually name a Danni Minogue hit, because I’m struggling. Whose bright idea was it to make her a judge on a talent show? Surely a judge needs some talent or at very least some kind of successful experience in the music industry? I mean, I’m not expecting Simon Cowell to jump up and sing us a song, but at least I am confident in his ability to spot and manage a popstar.

Last year Danni’s presence on the show could almost be justified as the ‘younger than Sharon good looking one’, but even that argument stands on shaky ground today. Her frozen face and fixed stare somehow reminds me of a praying mantis ready to bite the head off her mate. Quite frankly, she scares me. Compared to Cheryl Cole she is cold, and old. Every heart warming tear Cheryl cries pushes Danni further and further off the radar. Cheryl is real, she has her faults and her personal life has not been the easiest, but that is what the great British public warms to.

I’m not quite sure how Cheryl overnight became a ‘national treasure’, but it has happened. Her rage against the toilet attendant and questionable fashion choices of the past are forgotten. I now find myself amongst the throes of women who now envy her hair, and her wardrobe. Forget pop idol, Cheryl Cole is my hair idol.

And didn’t she look gorgeous on Saturday night’s show. Pretty-in-pink in a Matthew Williamson coral strapless number from the spring 2009 runway collection. Clashing neon-bright pink shoes complete the look. Lucky girl. Stood next her Danni is almost invisible. All hail Queen Cheryl and long may she reign.

Extreme relaxation

Can there be anything more delicious than a lazy sunday with no commitments? I said goodbye to D at about midday as he headed off for sunday lunch with the family, and since then I have done nothing. Sod all. Absolutley nada. I have not even got dressed properly, and why should I? I have watched T4, read the papers and wasted a little more time on facebook. It has been the perfect day. The last few months have been so busy: most weekends spent out of London, and those spent here have mainly been disgustingly hungover. So here is to sober sunday's and extreme relaxation.

Top websites for sunday relaxtion:

Sunday Times: Absolutley essential. Although I would much rather have the paper in my hands that would mean going to the shop. Which in turn would mean getting dressed. Which in turn would mean leaving the flat. This is against the ethos of sober sunday's extreme relaxation programme.

News of the World: More essential sunday reading, required to fill in the gaps left by the Times - trash gossip. Love it.

Facebook: How many delightful hours can be wasted here stalking old school aqaintences and ex-lovers.

Jamie Oliver recipies: Who needs to buy cookery books these days when eveything you need in online. I'm more of a Gordon Ramsay fanto be honest, but I love the selection of recipies on Jamie's site. And a sober sunday is the perfect time to spend the afternoon cooking.

The Superficial: Celebrity commentary. In my oppinion superior to Perez Hilton. Hilarious and catty.

Stylefinder: I love this. My best shopping companion and source of inspiration.

youTube: My final essential website. When you have run our of news to read, clothes to buy and celebrities to laugh at there is youTube. Any song from your childhood you can think of can be found here. Episodes of America's Next Top Model for those unlucky souls, like me, who still only have terrestrial television. And of course funny videos of other people's misfortune just like this - lord only knows what she was doing!

London in October

I have woken up this morning to the sound of heavy rain on the roof, and it is enough to make me want to just dive straight back under the duvet and ignore the day. Sounds dramatic I know, but Autumn rain really depresses me.

Everyone rushes everywhere in the rain, and pays their fellow pedestrian even less attention than is normal for London. People just seem push and shove past each other, with no care for the danger their brollies pose to the other pavement users.

And aside from the health and safety risk of London rain, there is just the fact it hinders most plans! Going for a night out? Will need to take brolly to protect carefully styled hair; but where is one to put the dripping wet umbrellavwhich is far larger than one's disco purse? Shopping in the rain? Forget it; no hands free to hold the shopping bags.

Then there is the risk of spray from passing cars and lorrys in the roads, and the fact that while an umbrella protects the top of your head it does little to keep the rain off your legs. Soaked jeans anyone? And a downpour results in over crowded buses, crammed full of damp miserable commuters who normally walk the few streets from the tube.

So you see, I may sound like a moaning girl on this, but I really feel my dislike of London rain is justified. However, I am not going to let it ruin my day completely. Rain makes perfect weather for checking out a museum or gallery, which is exactly what I plan to do today.

Beginings

Everything starts somewhere. This blog, like many others I'm quite sure, is destined to begin in the small hours when really sleep would be a more sensible option. It is about time I got around to starting this, I've been thinking about it for months now but never quite done it.

So why blog? Two main reasons: 1) I like to write, it goes hand in hand with thinking. And I think a lot. 2) I want something to look back on from my time here in London, a personal journal sitting anonymously in the public domain really.

I expect it will turn out to be a mixture of comment on life, love, the news and fashion with a generous measure of self indulgence thrown in for good measure. We shall see...

Tabby xx