Today I’ve got a corker of a competition for you. In conjunction with eHarmony.co.uk, I’m giving away the key to a knock out new look. There will be two prizes – the winner will receive £200 of John Lewis vouchers, with £100 of vouchers for the runner up. Both winners will also receive a trial three month subscription to eHarmony, which you are very welcome to pass on to a friend if you’re already happily attached.

I wrote a post a little while ago about the importance of a first kiss, but first impressions are important even before you meet, let alone get any smooching action. We all know that red is the colour of love and romance, but the evidence suggests that men find women dressed in red more attractive, whether that be in a photo on an online dating profile, or in person.

It works in all kinds of scenarios apparently, so make sure you wear a red t-shirt if you’re ever hitchhiking! View Post

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Get more Twitter followers

Picture the scene… you’ve signed up to Twitter and you’re regularly tweeting a range of fascinating and hilarious insights. 137 people are following and about 8 of these are actually listening. You know you’re witty and insightful, so how come the rest of Twitter hasn’t noticed it yet?

Sound familiar?

The trouble is, that although we all know the mantra ‘content is key’, there is no point in producing great content if there is no one there to read it. In the UK particularly we are a little bit British about blowing our own trumpets, but when it comes to getting more Twitter followers you can’t afford to be shy.

So how do you get more people to follow you on Twitter? View Post

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Update: I wrote this post originally in April 2013, but rather that start from scratch I thought I would just add new things to my list here as I thought of them and cross off the ones I do. This post has new things since you first read it, so best read it again :-)

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This week, with my 35th birthday looming, I have taken some important first steps in my 40 things before 40 project.

First off, I bought a new notebook. This is possibly the most important step, and I do sometimes wonder if I may not have just come up with the whole idea purely as an excuse to do this very thing. I do love a bit of cutting and sticking after all. However, despite having purchased said notebook, got it home safely, and stroked it for a little while, the novelty didn’t seem to wear off, so it was time to start writing in it.

Best felt tip pens at the ready.

40 things before 40

I am looking for a total of 40 things to do over the next five years, but I figure I don’t have to have them all decided until a year before the deadline, as I am known for being a tiny bit fickle and am sure to come up with new ideas along the way.

Here’s what I’ve got so far then:

  • Eat a meal in a Michelin star restaurant – I did this one on my birthday! Read all about it here.
  • Got to the opera – Done! I went to see Turandot originally and have seen a few more since. I’m not a fan, although I did like that with Turandot we came out into the restaurant for a different course between each act. That was fun.
  • Visit Auschwitz – Done. Read about it here and why I didn’t feel how I expected to feel.
  • Visit the Dark Hedges – Done! Read about it here.

dark hedges northern ireland

  • Ride on the Orient Express
  • Stay in one of the places from the Amazing Spaces programme. – Done! I actually can’t remember where it was, but I remember thinking ‘Oh this means that I can cross this off my list!’ I’m sure it will come back to me.
  • Drink a milkshake in an American diner – Done! See the evidence here.
  • Grow an avocado plant from a pip. – I’m really trying with this one but the damn things refuse to grow.
  • Solve a mystery Nancy Drew style (i.e. in matching hat and gloves) – I went to a mystery evening at Belle’s school and bought a Nancy Drew style hate to wear especially, so I think this counts?
  • Go to a festival on my own. I’ve thought about this one a lot and decided it’s not that important to me anymore. Although I have been to things like the Bath literary festival so maybe that counts??
  • Do a driving experience where you get to go off road and drive through rivers and things like that. (I like driving through puddles at the side of the road when it’s really rainy.) – I’ve done this one – evidence here.
  • Hang out in a 19th century Ottoman mansion and take a cruise up the Bosphorus

Istanbul hotel

  • Sing in public – did you not see my Mariah Carey at the 2017 taunton freelancers Christmas party??
  • Tell a joke at the Edinburgh festival (this one can be just in the street)
  • Cook a souffle – I’ve done this!

  • Visit every house I’ve ever lived in. I’ve decided I’m not that fussed about this one either. I mean, I LIVED in them all, so technically I’ve done it anyway right?
  • Swim (or splash a bit at least) outdoors in Iceland (country not shop) – this was a tiny bit late but I did it a couple of months after I turned 40 – the trip was a birthday present from my lovely sister and brother-in-law.
  • Fly business class – I’ve done this a few times now, only for work when someone else has been paying. It’s pretty nice being able to lie flat but I’m not sure it’s really worth it, unless you have more money that sense. You all arrive at the same time still.
  • Visit Sintra in Portugal. It’s a crazy multi-coloured fairy castle. What’s not to love? – I did this one just a few days before I turned 40!Sintra portgual

Image – Mapics/shutterstock

  • Take an open top bus tour in ten different cities (I am a sucker for these – all the best bits of sightseeing but sitting down!) – I’ve done London, Barcelona, Cambridge, Liverpool, Stratford, Bristol, Bath, Derry, Paris and Dublin. Hoorah!
  • Own one of those wicker baskets that fits on the stairs. (I know this is ridiculous, I’ve just always wanted one.) – My mum got me one of these for my 39th birthday! And very lovely it is too.
  • Live in a tree (even if just for a night) – So is this!
  • Make fresh pasta from scratch – yep!
  • Publish a book – this is happening! This is a weird one as I’d kind of decided it wasn’t something I wanted to do after all, and then TWO DAYS before my 40th birthday a publisher emailed me out of the blue. If that’s not fate then I don’t know what is.
  • Have a family portrait done – yep, we did this one! Courtesy of Life is Crawsome
  • Get a tattoo – done! 

  • Go to a make-up counter for a makeover and learn how to actually put on make-up like a grown-up – I’ve done this! Sometimes I even put the make up on…
  • Have something custom made – yes! I was a bridesmaid at my sister’s wedding in August 2016 and had my dress made. 

  • Sleep overnight on a train in a proper bunk, Hercule Poirot style.
  • Buy a house – Done! Who’d have thought it!

I was tempted to add ‘become debt free’ but I fear it may rather conflict with the other 39. If you’ve counted, you may see that there are only 39 things on the list – I’m leaving one for luck in case anything else amazing occurs to me.

So there we go! Not long left now… If you can help with any of the outstanding ones then please let me know!

 

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If someone had said to you over Easter ‘how about a spot of camping?’ you may well have used an expletive. If someone had said to you ‘how about a spot of camping with a double bed, wood burning stove and flushing toilet in your tent?’ you might have felt a little more inclined to brave the cold.

We fell into the latter category.

We did meet with a few raised eyebrows when we told people we were off on a family camping trip for a few days during a week when the temperature at night was dropping below freezing, but it’s amazing how much warmer you feel when you sleep in a fur hat. Besides, what is living in the UK about if it’s not ridiculously cold camping holidays? View Post

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Two weeks today is my birthday. I will be 35.

(I know it’s hard to believe, I barely look a day over 21, etc etc).

35 seems like the kind of age where you should be making plans. By 35 you feel should have at least bought a house, possibly be married, maybe have some savings. I of course have done none of these things. Whoops.

I never have been very good at long term planning though, and after getting in the whole ‘have children’ thing pretty early on, I’ve always felt that my ‘make a commitment to something Proper and Grown-up’ box has been ticked. Now though, I’m beginning to wonder. I’m beginning to wonder if actually it might not be a bad idea to have a bit of a plan. View Post

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I’ve been reading a lot of blogs lately. As part of my new job with Collective Bias, I’ve been trawling the web, looking for the very best of British writers and photographers. It’s a fascinating job, as there are a lot of amazing blogs out there.

In the process though, I have developed several blogging pet hates, which I’m sure other PR companies and brands must share. They are silly little things, but you’d be amazed at how many people forget them. Your blog might be the most beautifully designed site you’ve ever seen, your photography may make your readers gasp with joy, but if you are missing any of these then you could be holding yourself back when it comes to working with brands. View Post

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I think I might have a problem.

I’ve got this thing.

I do it when I find myself alone in the house.

Sometimes I will do it in bed before Boyfriend comes up and then act all casual because I say I don’t like phones in bed, and I really don’t like phones in bed. View Post

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image

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My trip to Ethiopia was positive on just about every level, apart from one thing. On the flight on the way home, I managed to lose my only pair of glasses. Don’t ask me where they went, I have no idea. I took them off and popped them in the little pouch behind the seat in front while I had a snooze and when I woke up they had vanished.

We waited until everyone had got off the plane, and scoured the floors, took apart the seats, but to no avail. It would seem they had literally fallen out of the sky. I managed to find my way home, squinting at signs and bumping around a little bit, and the very next morning set out on an emergency glasses mission.

Fortunately, a rather funky new opticians has just opened across the road from me. Lunar Optical on the Gloucester Road in Bristol is one of those independent little gems that makes Gloucester Road so popular. When we went for eye tests when they first opened, not only were they incredibly welcoming and friendly, but they also had chocolate brownies and a cushion shaped like an owl – two of my favourite things. View Post

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It feels like a bit of an oxymoron doesn’t it? A rock and roll cushion.

I like it though. It makes me feel like the evenings I spend on the sofa, doing a spot of knitting with my feet and up watching reruns of Jonathan Creek really might be cool after all.*

Even if I’m not though, this cushion most definitely is rock and roll. Come on, look at it!

Rock and roll cushion View Post

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When I was about 15, we went on a school trip to see Romeo and Juliet. If you could conjure up an activity as a prelude to a perfect first kiss, surely this would be it? On the way home on the coach, I sat next to a boy from my class, whose name I shall keep to myself just in case.

It was a long journey, and at some point I dozed off. When I woke up, said boy appeared to be stroking my thigh. I kept my eyes closed and hoped that if I could just pretend to be asleep long enough that he would give up. (At 15 I was pretty scared of boys).

I must have drifted off again, because the next time I woke up, it was from a dream that I was having my face licked by a massive, slobbery dog. Except I wasn’t, I was being kissed by the boy. It was such an all-face-consuming kiss, that when he had finished and I was allowed to breathe again, I literally had to wipe my face with my sleeve to dry it. As you can see from the infographic below from e-harmony, men do prefer their kisses moist. View Post

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That exclamation mark in the title isn’t just me being jazzy, it’s actually part of the name of the attraction. It’s like Ripley’s are saying ‘we are so much fun, even our name is bonkers!’

Ripleys

Belle has been wanting to go to Ripley’s Believe It or Not! in London for a while – she loves weird facts – so given that quite a lot of her Easter holiday is going to be spent amusing herself while I sit in a corner of the living room working and telling her to sshhh, I thought a nice day out at the beginning of the break would be a nice treat for her, and win me some much needed ssshing points. View Post

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