Top Ten Perfumes (w/c 10/05/1999)

1. Tommy Girl
2. Eternity
3. Fetish
4. Exclamation
5. Adidas Womans
6. So...?
7. CK One
8. CK Be
9. Quiddity
10. Hugo Woman

Top Ten Boys (w/c 03/05/1999)

1. Shane Filan
2. Nick Carter
3. Josh Jackson
4. Rich Neville
5. Scott Robinson
6. Jack Ryder
7. Nicky Westlife
8. Dave Moffatt
9. Matt Le Blanc
10 Leo DiCaprio

Annoying London folk!

1.       People who stop as they come off the escalator – WHAT!?

2.       People who walk straight to the front of the bus queue – RUUUDE!

3.       People who drop litter in plain view of everyone else – NAASTY!

4.       People who get to the tube ticket machine, then start rooting around for their ticket – COME OOON!

5.       People who run across the road in busy traffic – INSANE!?

6.       People who put their bag on the bus seat and don’t make eye contact – BAGGY!

7.       People who join the bar queue after you then shamelessly shout their order above everyone – AAASSHOLE!

8.       People who look like they’re eyeing up your bag – SWIPEY!

9.       People who get on the bus to ask the driver for random directions – LAAAZY!

10.   People who walk in front of you smoking with no consideration of those downwind – GROSSIE!

Blogosphere: Week 5

Returned from holiday late last night! I had a great time, despite the 7.10am screeching toddler next door and the questionable hotel food. The weather was stunning, the pool clean and refreshing and the sea crystal clear. I have inadvertantly visited Malia and Ayia Napa in the past 6 weeks because my hotels were nearby. Definitely too old now.

 

I had a sorry case of the post-holiday blues today *cue music*, beginning at half five this morning when Lisa's blasted cat started scratching at my door. Not cool, Millie, not cool. What's with the weather here!? I've spent a week developing a nice golden tan, returning to a London where Ugg boots and coats are out and about. De-press-ing.

There was one ray of sunshine in my day - I won the Apprentice sweepstake at work! Nice one, Ricky Martin. I didn't watch one episode (I don't like the confrontation!) but heard he was a bit of a doofus, a wrestler who thought he was the 'reflection of perfection'. Puke. Anyway, I took my winnings and spent the evening making chocolate cupcakes for my colleagues. Man, they are such a great bunch and I love to spoil them.



I booked a hair appointment for Saturday afternoon and am looking forward to it. Think I'm going to go back to blonde (from Ombre/the grown out roots look) for the summer, with an inch off the end. I like to have enough length for a 'gym ponytail' nowadays, after a decade of the choppy bob too short to do anything with. Happy days!

A massage to forget!

This is written a little after the event, perhaps it's taken this long for me to process the experience and feel able to commit it to text!Whilst reading Cupcakes and Cherries: The Queensbury regarding a Groupon voucher, I was reminded of the only time I've used a Groupon voucher. It was for 75% off an Indian herb oil massage and facial.  I've had mixed experiences when it comes to massages but thought I'd indulge myself one Saturday afternoon in March.

That particular Saturday passed with no massage as I was called on my way there to let me know the shop had had to close for the day and Could We Reschedule? Ok then.

Suffice to say all of the Groupon pictures portrayed a glossy, colourful and professional salon. I arrived at a dingy little office which could have done with a right old spruce up containing one little old lady receptionist in a big coat. She asked for my Groupon voucher and called the therapist out of the 'treatment room'; they proceeded to examine it for 15 minutes before making a telephone call to the owner to discuss it some more. I entertained myself by looking at the selection of products on display in a cloudy display cabinet, all of which were past their sell by date. Yum! The certificates adorning the wall had a distinct Microsoft Publisher feel to them.

I toyed with the idea of 'doing a runner', but I'm just too damn polite.

Eventually I was lead into a room and handed a pair of paper pants. 'No top', she replied when I enquired. I was sat on a wooden chair and warm oil was poured on my head for a scalp massage. Mmm, greasy! I was expecting an oil with a delicate aroma of rosemary, thyme, mint... in reality all I could liken it to was a chip pan.

The room itself had bay windows with blinds across. Blinds which were open. Again I was too polite to say anything but wouldn't be surprised if it acts as a meeting spot for a couple of local pervs.

The body massage wasn't all bad, as was the facial (if a bit 'scrubby'). Two particular points of the experience stand out:

1. Once the face mask was on it was relaxation time "Goodnight". Whilst trying to relax I heard the therapist going to the toilet in the small ajoining toilet. At this point I smiled wryly to myself and wished someone else was there to share the experience.

2. Once the face mask was wiped off, I was lead into said toilet and some facewash was squirted into my cupped hands so I could Rinse Off The Remnants in the teeny tiny wash basin. Now that's pampering for you!! 

I pulled my clothes back onto my greasy chip pan body, pulled my greasy chip pan hair into a ponytail and called my sister to pick me up (to spare the public my appearance and smell). I possibly left the salon more agitated than when I arrived.

Fail!

Blogosphere - Week 4

The Jubilee Weekend has turned me Royalist - Lizzie's beaming face on the front page of the papers melts my ice cold heart a little.

On Saturday the estate where we live had a fair - it was lovely. On registration we were handed food and drinks vouchers with a huge selection of food to choose from; ranging from Latin American epanemas to Caribbean goat curry to fish, rice and peas. Yum! We watched the swing band, ate candy floss, got thrown off the rodeo and jiggled along with a zumba class. Check us out in our t-shirts!

1995...and now

Sit patiently at your enormous computer, trying to
connect to the internet via dial-up, listening to
that inane squealing noise.

High-speed internet, any time, on the move!

Listen attentively to the Top 40 on a Sunday
evening, recording favourite songs and desperately
trying to hit Stop before the DJ started talking!

Any song, available beginning to end on Spotify, on the move!

Pull up the aerial on mum’s heavy mobile

phone, on the One2One network to send a text to a

friend (1/3...2/3...3/3)

Touch-screen mobiles with the capability of a computer, on the move!

Carefully turn the knob on the radio one iota
to eliminate the ‘crackling’ on your favourite station.

Digital radio with zero interference on the move!

Agonise over setting the timer on the video
recorder to tape Buffy/Top of the Pops/

Sweet Valley High.

Programme the Sky+ recorder from your mobile app……

on the move!

Woolworths, I still miss you.

Woolies,

It's hard to believe it's been three years since you left. I still think about you all the time. I think about you when I need fairy lights or a trowel. I think about you when I crave Pick 'n' Mix. I even think about you when my biro runs out. You gave me so much of what I needed and I don't know where to turn now. Standing so steadfast and proud, on the corner by Riva Bingo, I often came to you without knowing why I was even there.

Where, now, can I pick up a bucket and JLS's latest single? You were always so great at multi tasking. Party poppers and plants. Combs and cat beds. Noone does it like you did.

We didn't part on good terms, did we. 'You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone' the famous saying goes, and that's certainly true in our case. I barely raised an eyebrow when the news came through but as time passed I started to realise what I'd lost. Holidays are the hardest. Christmas, Easter, Fireworks Night. You never let me down.

Apparently you've got a website now. I can't bring myself to look, I think it'd be too painful to see your logo. Too many memories.

I'm trying to move on, but it's taking some time. If you ever came back, I'm sure we would pick up exactly where we left off. I know some other people who'd be interested too.

Think about it.

Katie x

Blogosphere - Week 3

Ooh I've had a lovely weekend; a fabulous combination of friends, wine, friends, shopping, cider, sightseeing, beer and, um, shopping!

 Friday I saw a friend who's returned from two years living and working in Brazil. Ended up playing 'Fives' in Opal Bar, drank too much wine and left my cardi in there. Rats!! At least it was only Primark.

 Hauled myself out of bed on Saturday morning for mentoring. I actually took my old diary from when I was her age so we could have a look at it together, then we did a bit of Maths (my favourite!).

Walked down to Brixton to take part in a Cash Mob, which is like a spending flash mob but the group descends on an ailing business to spend some cash and perk them up. My pal Katie works for Yelp who organised it. Following our spendathon, we went to the Duke of Edinburgh and sat out in the massive beer garden for hours, chatting and then went to Gyoza for noodles. Went to the Falcon and the Clapham North for a few drinks but was in bed by midnight..

..becaaauuuse today (Sunday) was megaLondonsightseeingday! Two of my lovely American rellies are visiting the UK so I planned a packed tourist-y day which I was equally as excited about as I've never explored London as a tourist, despite living near all of my life. In all, we managed to cover:

Buckingham Palace
Horseguards Parade
Parliament Square
Big Ben/Houses of Parliament/Westminster Abbey
Westminster Bridge
South Bank
Trafalgar Square
Oxford Street/Afternoon tea
Tower of London

Phew! I had free tickets to ToL through work which was fab as it's flaming £20 each! All in all, it was a really great day with lots and lots and lots of walking; I have a blister the size of a peanut to prove it. BLEUGH!
  Clockwise from top-left: Houses of Parliament in the evening, Cider on Saturday afternoon, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, afternoon tea off Oxford Street, view from Westminster Bridge, National Gallery, Tower Bridge)

Email Home: 05/09/2011 (aged 26)

Kenya - Weeks 3 & 4

Hi all,

A quick note as the other volunteers have just arrived in the cafe next door for 'cake night', which is as amazing as it sounds. I'm foregoing 'Death by Chocolate' this week for a warm brownie on a sizzling platter topped with vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce.

I'm now just beginning my final week in Kenya and it has just gone so quickly! This is the first week of 'term time' teaching, where we follow a set timetable and the days are much more structured (and longer). The classes are also much larger. As volunteers we teach the English and Science classes for our standard/grade, and I am teaching standards 5 (9-16 years old) and standard 1 (about 6-8). The huge age ranges arise since children can't progress to the next year unless they pass the year-end exam, meaning they can be held back (many years, it seems). The standard 1 children are mad, crave one-on-one attention and are very difficult to control so am lucky to be working in a duo. The standard fives are much calmer and the boys are generally more compliant than the girls.

From other volunteers and staff you learn how malnourished the children are. They never eat breakfast and dinner is generally deep fried potato (Kenyan food is VERY greasy). Many children come to school just for the free lunch (which itself is pretty crap, generally rice and boiled beans) so you do get a couple falling asleep in class before lunch as they're so hungry - at least that's what I tell myself. There are stories from other volunteers of children eating dried pasta from artwork and rice from musical instument shakers that were made because they're so hungry.

Email home: 28/08/2011 (aged 26)

Kenya - week 2

Hello!

Thanks for the responses to my last update – am sorry I don’t have time to respond to all, but be assured I look forward to logging onto my emails! Where to pick up from last time….??

Last weekend a group of us went to Shimoni, which is on the south coast of Kenya. There's another GVI project going on down there (mainly wildlife and sealife conservation), so we met up with those guys on the Friday night. Saturday we went on a FIVE hour forest walk across the harshest coral and tree-trunk terrain - it was exhausting. We then got the boat over to an island where the majority of residents are Muslim (we had to cover our heads) where we had a Swahili cooking class and stayed there. The next day we went on a boat trip where we saw dolphins and then did some snorkelling before making our way back to Mombasa.

A Blog About Yog!

Having discovered Snog frozen yoghurt outlets last year, I'm now an enthusiastic follower of the 'fro-yo' movement. I adore mango or passion fruit flavour with raspberries dotted around the outside. I spotted this tub yesterday in Waitrose (the John Lewis food hall on Oxford St.) and prayed that it didn't melt on the bus home. Luckily it's fairly slow melting so was fine. 

This tastes exactly like the pumped stuff and the passion fruit flavour is Out Of This World. It's gorgeously exotic and best of all, it's fat free! Totally guiltless pleasure! I'm a huge fan and spent last night wrapped around this tub. Here it is, posing on my rug.


Katie Matey on Twitter -- Katie Matey on Bloglovin'

My first cheesecake

Give someone a cake and they'll like you. Give them a cake you made, and they'll love you forever.

I like sharing the fruits of my labour with colleagues, so I asked for requests last week. The general consensus was a cheesecake with specific instruction to wait until next week, when S is back from holidays. Once I had the idea in my head, though, I couldn't wait!

I'm not a huge cheesecake fan, but after a wonderful past experience with a lime cheesecake (with a ginger biscuit base), I decided that was The One. I went for this recipe by foodforfriendsyeah which reminded me of the one I'd tasted before. It was really easy to make and tasted lovely! There's a nice contrast between the citric, slightly tart topping and the sweet, buttery base *drool*. I used half-fat creme fraiche so it wasn't quite as sinful, but the reduced fat content did mean it didn't set as hard as you would expect. Not a problem though.

NB: It looks like pond weed on the top, but it's not. It's lime zest.

The only issue now is that my impatience  has made its way to S, who is not happy that I couldn't wait for her return, so I have to face her wrath tomorrow (and possibly make another to placate her!).

I've made another one today at mum's! Nueva favorita!

Katie Matey on Twitter -- Katie Matey on Bloglovin'

Blogosphere: Week 2

Ok, I have well and truly caught the blogging bug. At the end of my second week I have reached 1,000 page views and am really chuffed that so many people have shown interest. Thank you! A couple of people have left lovely comments and I have found some great blogs to enjoy, particularly I Covet Thee, Emily Charlotte and Zoella. What's the antidote for Blogger's Addiction?

Yesterday I caught the bus from mine up to Oxford Street yesterday for a spot of shopping - had to take some bits back to Primark and John Lewis. Although I've lived in zone 2 for three years, I still get awestruck by the tourist sights and snap away merrily as the 159 crosses the Thames! Loser.

Email Home: 18/08/2011 (aged 26)

Kenya - Week 1

Hi all!

After one full week away, it seemed an appropriate point to send my first email home! My time in Kenya so far has been better than expected (although I didn’t have any preconceptions) and everyone is really nice. I was surprised just how quickly you get settled in, and I can’t believe a week has passed! I've sent this email just to those whose emails I had, but please feel free to pass on!

I arrived at the Voyager hotel in Mombasa last Friday morning and stayed one night. All inclusive meant you could order snacks throughout the day (including pancakes) so I made the most of that! Nyali beach is lovely – the sand is like icing sugar but there’s a fair bit of seaweed when the tide is out.

The volunteers live in two houses on an estate near the slums. They’re fairly basic but definitely do the job (given I expected to be in a mud hut). We stay in bunk beds and have fans in the bedroom so heat isn’t generally a problem at night. There’s a chore rota so we take it in turns to clean and cook. We live near the Bombolulu slum (‘village’) which is where the ‘school’ is based. Olives Rehabilitation Centre is essentially a school which is not yet recognized by the government, but that’s the aim for the place going forward.

No idea...

 

Blogosphere – Week 1

This week has flown past (especially the weekend!) and I have absolutely loved my first week of blogging. I have no idea how my visit stats compare to other blogs, but I am so pleased that you have stumbled across my ramblings and hope they raised a smile/wave of nostalgia.

If you’ve enjoyed reading so far, I would love for you to share the link with your friends! You can also receive new posts via email by popping your address in the box to the right. I will be blogging as often as I can – every day if possible so please check in regularly and I promise there will be new titbits for you to read J

The high point of the week just gone was booking a holiday. I’ll be going to Crete with Lisa (yes, we get along now!) to relax in the sunshine. I went out in the evenings a lot this week so am suffering from a cumulative lack of sleep this afternoon but made it to Greenwich to meet friends for lunch following a night in Clapham last night. I’m glad I didn’t spend the day procrastinating.

I finally used a Groupon voucher I had for a massage yesterday and it was just the strangest experience ever. The salon had rung twice to reschedule so I put my foot down when they tried to do it again and thought I’d get it over with. The massage started with the therapist coating me in oil (including my hair!) so I stank of chip fat as a result. The massage was nice enough, but the surroundings were so dank (I could hear the therapist going for a wee in the tiny loo when I was in ‘relaxation time’) and there was no element of luxury or indulgence. Big thumbs down from me! I never really enjoy massages anyway, so I don’t know why I keep going back for more!

This week will be busy at work – it should be really interesting. Hopefully the weather picks up so I can walk home from work and I’m going to try and make up for the lack of gym action this week. Am going to see my favourite band, the Mystery Jets on Friday which should be brilliant, they always put on an amazing show.

V is for volunteering

When I was younger, I enjoyed dancing, swimming and gymnastic lessons and when I moved to London a few years after Uni I was aware that I had no discernible hobbies to keep me busy. I found Pineapple Dance Studios in Covent Garden and went with my housemate for a one-hour Tap lesson each Saturday morning.

Before long, though, the idea of volunteering started to appeal, whether this was with the elderly, teens, children… anything. I think I wanted to feel part of the community I’d moved in to, and I wanted to do something with my free time as I was fed up with going home every night after working late and procrastinating at the weekends.

I remember the A-Z Guide to Lambeth coming though the letterbox and I immediately turned to the ‘V’ section as I wanted to see what volunteering opportunities there were in the area. I was constrained by my busy day job at PwC at the time and was looking for something I could do for an hour or two at the weekend.

Anyway, I found the Baytree Centre in the book which is just a 5 minute walk from my flat and was built after the Brixton riots especially for women and girls from families not originating in the UK. They offer supportive courses for mums (English, Computer Studies, Literacy etc.) and all kinds of clubs for the girls -cooking, street dance, maths club, science club and loads more. I’ve been mentoring on Saturday mornings for two years and adore it. I love having something to get up for on a Saturday morning.

I have a wonderful relationship with my mentee. She is 11, on her way to high school, and absolutely hilarious. Her family is originally from South America, although she was born in the UK. She struggles a bit with Maths, so we mainly concentrate on her homework or practice SATs papers. She’s funny without even realising it. It’s been so amazing to see her grow over two years and become more comfortable in herself and confident in her work. When I met her she was a shy little squirt with High School Musical glasses and a love for gel pens. Now she proclaims that ‘boys are stupid’ and is totally over glitter and sequins. She has high expectations of herself and loves times tables tests at school. I’m so proud of her!

I often get the feeling that she sees me as really old, which makes me wonder how I would have seen myself at that age. At 11, someone of 27 would have seemed so grown up and it scares me how quickly time passes. I think, from about aged 20 onwards we feel much younger than we are, and I don’t think that feeling changes for the rest of your life!

Get serious, get a career.

So my third year at Uni was approaching and I hadn’t given much thought to the inevitable Career. Luckily, I must have been feeling quite motivated as I ambushed the campus’ Career Service and embarked upon a multitude of aptitude and personality tests to try and point me in a direction.

At that time my course mate had returned from a summer interning at PwC, one of the big four financial services firms, in audit, and was raving about it. She liked the corporate atmosphere, the three years additional training for the accounting qualification and the structured graduate programme you’re put on (as well as all the nice looking young men).

Being easily influenced, I did a bit of research and decided, in the absence of a better idea, a professional qualification would be a decent route. Accountancy seemed to be an obvious step on from Maths and I thought getting a bit of ‘business acumen’ would set me on a good track, wherever I ended up in the future. I interviewed for about four firms - a real mixture - and was accepted onto the graduate programme at PwC.

To keep it concise, I spent five years there, completed my exams and qualified as a Chartered Accountant. A couple of years later I was promoted to Manager in the audit/assurance part of the firm. I loved it and made some great friends, however the departure of some of my pals prompted me to look at my senior colleagues to decide whether that was the path I wanted to follow. The working hours were terrible (although I was always quite accepting of that) and the salary only really compensated for the long hours once you were really senior - around 15 years in the firm - and I didn’t have any desire to make it that far. The work/life sacrifice was too much.

Here we are now, in my first role out of practice. I work for a large UK retailer in business planning and analysis. It suits me really well and I like making cakes for my colleagues.

We don't need no education...

I went to a girl’s grammar school in Surrey and stayed there through sixth form (A-Levels). I liked that school, but felt more comfortable as I progressed through the years. Starting at an all-girl school was terrifying (mainly due to my year seven form tutor), and the school was quite traditional in that you had to stand up whenever a teacher came into the room and wear a thick blue kilt which came below the knee. Settling in took me a good few years.

Choosing a degree subject was tricky as I’d never been a ‘life-planner’ and find it difficult to look long-term. I didn’t have a clue at 17/18 what I wanted to become in the future - I was thinking perhaps a teacher or journalist, so I thought the logical choice was to continue with the subjects I was good at and enjoyed which, at the time, were Psychology and Maths.

I chose these for different reasons - Psychology I enjoyed because the teacher was fantastic, whereas Maths seemed to fit with the way my brain works. Yes I found it difficult, but never had trouble grasping the concepts (like algebra) like many people do. I quite like the abstract nature of it!

A joint honours degree in Psychology and Maths isn’t common, and there were about four universities which offered it. The Birmingham campus I just remember being really ‘grey’, so I chose Reading, which was far enough away from home to move there, but close enough to visit home every so often. I think I only put two options on my UCAS form, so it was lucky I got the grades!

So I spent a year on the joint honours course, and it was fine, but I found that the subjects didn’t really mesh well together. Joint honours degrees are tricky as you invariably end up doing about 60% of each full degree, and you need to be able to constantly switch your mindset from one subject to the other. I found Psychology a lot closer to biology than I was expecting, which I didn’t really enjoy so I thought I’d see which set of first-year exams I performed better in. It turns out I did better in Maths, so decided to transfer to the single-honours degree.

I can say for certain that I made the right decision as I really enjoyed the rest of my degree and left with a first class degree in ‘06.