The World Of Velvetfur

Another update! Woohoo!

2010-03-23T17:27:00.001-07:00

This update has to be short because I'm exhausted and about to go to bed :) I just wanted to record the fact that I feel really good at the moment (which doesn't happen often) as I've just had a nice mid-week pamper session with all my lovely Clarins products.. Removed makeup with Instant Eye Makeup Remover, cleansed rest of face with Water Comfort One-Step Cleanser, exfoliated with Gentle Refiner (immediately looked brighter, clearer-skinned and more glowy!), popped on Pure And Radiant mask for 10 minutes, tissued off, toned with Camomile Toning Lotion, and finished off with the new Multi Active Night cream (bit obsessed with that one, it's gorgeous). Before and after all this I've been eating the vegetable soup I made from scratch earlier (I love cooking), and listening to the Charlotte Gainsbourg album '5:55' that I've been obsessed with lately. Has made me feel better after not really being 'into it' at work today, was just far too dead customer-wise :( But I'm off tomorrow, so am now off to bed to indulge in a rare luxurious lie-in tomorrow morning, then I need to go to the supermarket (I love food shopping!) and see if I'll have time to check out this Lakeside shopping centre that I keep hearing about. Then I'll be off south of the river for the 3pm tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which I loved so much last time that I'm going again (!), then in evening is the gig of the band Maleficent at The Water Rats in Kings Cross which I've been to before and wasn't too impressed but maybe they were just having a bad night and this one will be much better :) (was different band - Solsikk - last time; band were fantastic but sound was awful) So, pretty full day off tomorrow so I'd better get some beauty sleep!

P.S. My boyfriend does the tours at The Globe so I get to go on them for free :p

Long-overdue Update

2009-12-14T13:54:00.001-08:00

Sitting here typing this when I should really be in bed in preparation for my 6am wake-up tomorrow, to ensure I'm in work by 8 tomorrow morning :( So will make it a quick post...

* Have moved again - out of the flat I wasn't happy in with my friends, into a room in a shared house, above a hairdressing salon. Room is about the same size as the previous place but a fraction of the price, and bills included this time too, so I've been able to save a tiny bit of money (which I've been dipping into these last 2 months due to regularly draining bank account in preparation for xmas). Haven't made any progress on paying off credit card - have used that once or twice lately too! Almost up to it's limit... *shudders* Anyway there's a couple in the room next to me, who I don't like as they behave like noisy children when I'm trying to sleep at night and they're messy with food and dishes in the kitchen. But I recently completely blew up at them about the noise, and they've been nice and quiet since I yelled at them ;) Below my room is the kitchen, next to that is another couple who are lovely and I get on well with them, then on the ground floor is the toilet, and in the basement is the shower room. I don't really like that the shower is attached to the wall so I can't move it around, just stand under it, but at least it's always nice and hot :) The couple in the room next to me have a cat named Abbey, she has her little space between our two rooms with her bed, food bowls and litter tray. She's a very cuddly and affectionate cat who meows for attention quite a lot, and she loves me and follows me around purring happily, as cats so often do. Is this a sign of my imminent future as a mad old cat lady...?

* Work going well, although sales figures been going up and down by the week and sometimes by the day. Sigh, retail is SO unpredictable! Have made a proper little friend though, Manvir: we've always got on well but now we text each other outside of work too like real friends :D

* Popped into H&M the other day to check out what might be left of the Jimmy Choo collection - totally unimpressed! Tried on a huge leather shoulder bag that was obviously very well-made but was so enormous I could have fitted in it myself! Then there was a so-so grey suede one-shouldered dress, and a wacky Pocahontas-meets-Calamity-Jane black suede fringy dress that would have looked awful on me, far too fussy! Was actually a lot of fun to look at but I can't imagine anywhere I'd go to actually wear it :( Tried on a gorgeous shoe in the style of the Dior Extremes from the first Sex And The City film but they were just a tad too big on me (size 5, I'm normally a 4 or 5 but have very boney foots too), and by the way I've got a pair that look like that anyway...

* Been going to a few gigs of local metal bands lately, usually on Friday or Saturday nights when I'm not working that day or the next - my friend's band is called AffluenzA, and they play gigs with several bands on the same bill (usually 5 of) for prices between £5 and £7, so are always good value nights considering the other bands are usually good too. One of the bands I saw at one of these gigs was Solsikk (female-fronted!), and I was so impressed I've started following them too! Went to one of their gigs recently but this time unfortunately didn't really like any of the other bands - nothing wrong with any of them, just not my kind of thing really. The sound was terrible at the venue too! Monto Water Rats in Kings Cross, in case you're wondering :p Also I have recently acquired a gig-buddy: Woody, who I've known as 'part of the group' for quite some time but it's only recently we've started hanging round together, and he seems to have become my NBF! We always have a good laugh and usually get to some stage of drunkenness and acting silly-ness :)

* Have been reconnecting with Gina recently too, who I hadn't seen for a while through Summer. We tend to have 'culture days' involving museums and galleries and bookshops and cafes/restaurants, all lovely interesting fun stuff and I always feel we've seen and done so much when we've spent time together, which really appeals to my 'must achieve' type nature :)

* I have apparently put wieght on! Not much, but seem to be at the heaviest point that I usually get to on the rare occasions I put weight on. Not happy! Didn't notice that creeping up on me, been a bit preoccupied with work lately! Must start doing yoga again...and attend more Flamenco classes when I get the time/spare money to do so.

* Have had a sore shoulder for a week or two; Woody had a feel around (Oi! Not in that way!) because he's done some sports massage on people in the past, and suspects that I've strained or pulled a tendon on my inner shoulder. Damn. Bet that's from lifting and carrying many bags of stock from stockroom to shop floor during our busy '10% discount' days over the last few weeks :(

Ok that's it for now! Time for bed :)

New! And different!

2009-09-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

I think I'll make this into a travel blog, and keep the updates short like on FB and Twitter. And put lots of photos and bits of info here n'there. Now I just need to decide where to travel to! I'll definately be going to Porto soon though, if only to catch up with the love of my life, heh :p He emailed me today for the first time in ages - he's always been crap at keeping in touch regularly, but after 9 and a half years I'm used to it by now :)

In 'other cultures' type news - I bought a pair of proper Flamenco shoes today! From a cute little dance shop on Drury Lane, London ('theatreland', luvvies). So... I now just have to get back into Flamenco dancing in preparation for my eventual 'running away with travelling Flamenco group' lifestyle. Muy caliente!

Bad week :(

2009-09-04T14:06:00.000-07:00

I don't have 'one of those days'. I have 'one of those weeks'. My sales figures at work have been disastrous, think it may be 'cos the school hols are almost at an end and parents are having last-minute getaways because of it... So has meant I haven't been sleeping at all well lately so been completely exhausted all day in work. Sometimes I've woken up exhausted, as if I haven't slept at all. Usually because I've barely slept through the night. Didn't help that one day I had to work 12:30 - 9pm but was given an 8am start for the next day - giving me just about enough time to get home, get changed, have something to eat, do one or two things online then just go to bed in preparation for getting up at 6:30am. Forgot to mention that I got home to find my flatmates having yet another barbeque that no-one had bothered to tell me about so I had to try and sleep through loud music, singing and very loud conversation until 1am, when they all suddenly realised the time and put the music off because they were also in work the next day.

So I started the week off hating my home situation and not wanting to be here at all, but lacking funds to move out. Also I really like this flat and don't really want to leave, even though my rent is about to go up because the flatmate I'm not speaking to has decided he's not going to pay as much as he originally agreed, to 'help me out', considering we're not friends anymore...even though he earns at least double my wages if not triple (I have no idea how much he earns). So, I decided to go to work as a break from my home situation which has started to have me in tears at night and has also been disrupting my sleep.

So I get into work at 8am, and by about ten to twelve I was in physical pain from hunger - I have never been more than 2 and a half hours without a break before. There had been no note or information whatsoever left for me so I had no idea what time anyone was coming in to take over after my shift ended (11:30? 12? 12:30?), or indeed who it would be. I asked someone where I'd find a manager, she took me over to main tills but couldn't find anyone, I spoke to the people on the 2 surrounding counters and they said they thought someone usually comes in at 12:30 and that I should just go for my lunch and they'd cover the counter for me. So off I went.

While getting my bag out of the locker my colleague Valeriya appeared - she who would be working with me that day. She wondered what was going on, I told her, and she patronisingly and slowly explained that she's always in at 12 and I should have waited for her and shouldn't have left the counter unattended! I snapped back about not knowing when she'd be in as there was no info left for me, and I'm not there all the time (I'm mobile) so how should I know she's always in at 12?! I told her I had the counter covered but she just said I shouldn't have done that, so I cut her off and said I'd speak to Suzanne at Head Office about this.

Then on my lunch I phoned Suzanne and had a good old rant at her! She reasurred me, told me they know they can rely on me, they know what I'm like and that I'm professional, etc... I'm so glad I spoke to her and registered my anger. I've never been too comfortable around Valeriya, always found her a bit patronising (even though she's 2 years younger than me so that makes it worse, to me), but now obviously I just plain don't like her and don't like having to work with her.

So now I'm feeling like, I hate my home life. I hate my job. I have no love-life at the moment but that's largely through choice because of all the other crap... I hate my life at the moment and seem to be powerless to do anything about it. But, strangely enough, I'm more calm about everything right now. Maybe my day off yesterday helped me relax a bit.

I got up early on my day off yesterday to collect a parcel from the postal sorting office - was a bag my sister had bought me, it's lovely! Then at home I made some food, did some stuff online, had a nap (was still exhausted), and went out to meet my date! Went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, and I was glad of the distraction because to be honest I just wasn't into it and hadn't even wanted to go on the date at all after the crappy week I was having. But I didn't want to let him down, and also my curiosity got the better of me - at least if I met him I'd know what he was like!

Didn't feel comfortable with him at all. I don't know what it was, the whole thing just felt awkward. For me, there just wasn't that 'spark' there, it just didn't 'happen' for me. I think he's very shy because his English isn't too good (he's Korean), but it just meant we didn't really understand a lot of what we said to each other and there were lots of awkward silences. Poor guy, I couldn't wait to get away from him! Aaaaw, I feel like such a bitch saying that... I made an excuse about how long it'd take on the Tube to go and meet my friend for the Flamenco show that evening so I could get away from him quicker! I did ask him at one point if I'd told him it was a Flamenco show I was going to with my friend that evening, and he just responded something like "Ah yes, you are going out with your friend this evening", so he obviously hadn't understood the phrase 'Flamenco show' but for some reason didn't ask me what I meant or actually tell me he didn't understand...

So I met up with Jess outside Sadler's Wells theatre for the Paco Peña live show. I bought a programme, she bought a beer, I bought a Jack Daniels with ice, we both bought big bags of peanut M&Ms, and we chatted and giggled non-stop about all kinds of things. I told her about my date that afternoon and she'd had a similar experience recently. The show was breathtakingly amazing, and uber inspiring - I now wish to be a perfect Flamenco dancer and run away with a travelling band of Spanish gypsy Flamenco musicians who just happen to be in need of a wonderful Flamenco dancer to accompany them around the world. Oh and the dresses on the 2 female dancers were gorgeous, the 2 male dancers were not-at-all bad looking, the male singer was quite handsome too, and the large female singer was an absolute character, brilliant. I had a much better 'friend date' with Jess than the 'romantic (not)' date earlier that evening!

I've decided to use this again!

2009-08-20T14:33:00.000-07:00

Oooh, well, so much has changed since I last wrote in here... As you can see from my update profile pic :) Hmm, maybe I should put some bullet points about where I'm at right now...

* Have intense red hair now, since last December (2008); this is the longest I've kept one hair colour, and I'm actually intending to keep it for the foreseeable future

* Have had several disastrous relationship fails, one long, a couple of flings...and am currently utterly heartbroken by a fling that I felt at the time could be The One.

* Changed employer and job from L'Oreal to Clarins. Have been with Clarins for 6 months, enjoy the job but don't enjoy the pressure to achieve sales targets and sell multiple items to each customer. But I do really like my day-to-day job :)

* Live with 3 friends - one best friend who I fell out with as soon as we all moved in together and we haven't spoken since, another best friend who things seem to be fine with up to now, and a new friend who was an acquaintance of the first guy and who I've become very fond of since we all moved in together. Is a 4-bed flat but is a bit expensive for me to be honest - need payrise or better-paid job.

* Have learned how to download!! This only happened last week! Have gotten very into Florence + The Machine and Bat For Lashes, prefer BFL really. Have been obsessed with Spanish and Italian pop-rock music too.

* Got back in contact with the Portuguese love of my life recently - planning to go to visit him in Porto soon, haven't seen each other for 6 years... Worked out we've known each other for 9 and a half years now, and we still love each other but still can't manage to get together as a proper couple. It was only when it dawned on me that we've known each other 9 and a half years, that he's the only guy who still thinks of me in 'that' way after such a long time - most of my relationships don't last past 2 and a half years (for my reasons or theirs). Could this be a sign...?

* My Dutch best friend/Dutch Little Sister worked out that we've known each other 10 years this year! So have been designing a commemorative tattoo for the two of us but have been having major problems with designing a convincing tribal style fish to represent Pisces (her) - she suggests a mermaid instead. Have reached an acceptable form of tribal water jug for Aquarius (me) though.

I'm exhausted now so have to go to bed; will update again when I think of more to put :)

little bit of an update

2007-05-27T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I said I'd put a picture of my bicycle with the stuff I've added to it, so here it is:
Yeah, I know, not very different, but...today I discovered I have a slow puncture in the back tyre, so that's different :(

It still won't stop raining here! It has stopped between now and the last post, but I just seem to want to complain on here when it does, heh :)

I'm in that very restless mood of having loads of things I should be doing but not being able to concentrate on any of them. The most important thing I should be doing is packing my suitcase and huge rucksack - on Wednesday I'm moving down South, to look for a job in London so I can get my own place there. Everyone I know who's already down there tells me it's really easy to get jobs there - it's one of the reasons I'm leaving Liverpool, there's just no jobs here and when I do go on interviews (like, once in a blue moon) I don't get the job :( But another reason I want to move down there is social life - round here people are just so apathetic, I'm always trying to get loads of friends to go out, but people mainly a) are always doing something else, b) never have any money to go out, or c) just don't bother responding to my text messages at all. These are the same people who complain that there's never anything to do around here! Yet when I try to arrange things to do they'd rather sit around wallowing in their own apathy... (well ok some of them, not all of them). Anyway my friends down South are always out and about, always have at least a little bit of spare money to go out doing things, and don't just ignore me when I contact them!

Oh and what is it about Ebay?! I've had quite a few people lately winning things from me but just not sending me any payment, and not responding to my polite reminders. I've opened 2 disputes over unpaid items now, and am still chasing other people up... It's really frustrating because it's really small amounts of money, but I need every little bit extra I can get - I've got far too much stuff cluttering up my room and I'd rather try and sell it and get little bits of money here and there that add up to something rather than just give everything away for free. Also I'm probably going to need every bit of extra money I can get while looking for a job in London (my life modelling contract ended last week so I'm out of a job all Summer...again).

I really should go now, and try to decide what essentials to take with me next week... Oh and do some more Artwork! :)

2007-05-13T14:17:00.000-07:00

It hasn't stopped raining all day! I'm well annoyed, I wanted to go out for a ride around on my bicycle - I'd be ok to go out in the rain on it if I had to, like to work or something, but when it's just for a pleasant little jaunt I don't wanna...
I bought it 3 and a half weeks ago, but only got to ride it for a short time before I had my operation to remove a ganglion from my left wrist, which meant I couldn't ride again for 2 weeks...

Day one - just after having the op done. Looks much worse than it is, due to all the padding and bandaging!

Day two - after taking off all of the above and putting a sticky plaster thing over the dressing... ooh check out the attractive swollen knuckles!! heh :)

Day six - just before putting on another sticky plaster thing due to the other one having got a bit wet in the shower. Again, looks worse than it is, with the ends of the stitches still sticking out at either end!

Day eleven - having just had check up at hospital where ends of stitches were snipped off. Looking good, apart from all the really dry skin around where the sticky plaster thing was, heh :)

Day thirteen (today) - skin nice and moisturised, and scar healing quickly. Yay!

Oh by the way - the bike looks a bit different now since I've bought it a few things it needed. I'll get a photo of my pimped bicycle and put it on here for comparisons! heh :)

Then when I've got used to flying around on 2 wheels again I'll phone the bike school to arrange further motorbike training for myself ^_^

long overdue update

2007-05-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

OK I don't really use LiveJournal anymore so thought I'd put a post on this instead. Can anyone out there tell me how to add friends on this? There doesn't seem to be any mention of such in any of the 'help' sections...how useless :( I want new friends, dammit! If you're reading this - add me! Tell me how to add you! Thanks ^_^

Edit:
Took a while, but think I've successfully added my real-life friend on here. Everyone else still add me tho :)

Ooooh - shiny new blog-thingy!

2006-12-22T04:39:00.000-08:00

Hello out there... I've just got this, 'cos I'm curious. I'll probably only make occasional posts though as I'm on LiveJournal pretty much all the time :)