"They say it's your birthday, We're gonna have a good time!"

So it's the official close to the current blog title - in around 2 hours I officially turn 30 : s

I have to say the last year has gone really quickly and definitely since I started writing this blog earlier in the year.

So what have I learnt on the lead up to this milestone age:

- That it is not possible to do everything before your 30 
- That I can still achieve goals and do new stuff (however big or small) if I am open to chances
- That I still need to improve my work/life balance and give more time to my family/friends 
- That I'm not old, I'm just older
- That I become happier with myself, the more I make my life my own
- That I missed my writing and drawing and I shouldn't have put them on the back burner
- That I can be a creative all-rounder and get on in this industry without always being typecasted
- That I really want a job as a Copywriter/Creative, where I can put my array of skills to the test.
- That I really want to learn how to drive (as I feel I have been left behind on that one)
- That life is for the living, so LIVE IT!

So how am I currently feeling?  Weird and pre-occupied.  I just had a shower and when I got out to see my 30 year old body, I definitely thought "Tone up luv" lol.  

I think back to how my 20s started.  So young, so new to the industry I have now worked in for just over 11 years.  At that age I thought I wanted to be married with kids by my mid-late twenties (and then realised that wasn't what I wanted, I wanted all that to come when I was ready) and still had pipe dreams of performing again (I hate working nights all the time, so it's a good thing that this disappeared, lol).  At that age I had only just found my love for clubbing, so I was doing it all the time, instead of for birthdays and to cheer my friends and I up after a bad week.  Things were simpler then and life seemed less scary and I am sure the post I received was a lot more exciting than now : s

I don't dislike this age though, as I feel I am a lot more confident then when I left college, I know what I want from life most of the time and I may not be as skinny as I was 10 years ago, but apart from some more exercise, I think I can live with it.

So, as you can imagine, the title of this blog will change.  For now, I can't think of a great title so it will be Route to Happiness (mainly because I will continuing going for all the things I want, whilst observing things en route) and I don't want it to be Route to Forty at the moment (one milestone at a time, lol).  There are two reasons I want to carry on with this blog (which I wasn't sure would be the case initially).  One, it is a great way to practise my writing in a creative way but two, I feel it pushes me to strive for things I want (I don't want to be writing a blog just for the sake of it, I want it to have purpose and meaning).

Well, I'm going to leave it at that for now, as it is my birthday and I don't want to be tied to the computer all day.

Love and hugs to all the fab people in my life and see you on the other side : s

Me at 19, a few months before my 20th birthday.

Post title from the fab four: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztoSUhbNntQ

"When the working week is done, Oh, girls just want to have fun..."

I always thought that at some point I'd get too old for a sleepover, but there is nothing like a girly night in with friends : )

I remember having sleepovers when I was still reasonably young (as in between 11-14 years old) but honestly can't remember which friends of that time they were with.  All I remember were things like staying up really late for that age (like 2am) and watching things like "God's Gift".  If you never got the pleasure of seeing this program, it was a show for I'd say women in their 20s upwards, where men did sexy things to gain approval from the female audience members.  It was kind of like a sluttier version of "Man-O-Man"  hosted by Chris Tarrent in the 90s and played in prime time.  It was basically a chance to giggle and joke at men with their tops off and then to go silent if you thought your parents were going to come downstairs.

My next memories of sleepovers were being 16-18years old, when it was all about daring friends, fake saonsis, watching horror films and talking about boys.  These years had fond memories, as I started to make decent friends, who I could have a joke and a laugh with whilst growing up.  One of the funniest memories from this was definitely when we made a pact that whoever fell asleep would be drawn on.  We all tried so hard to stay up but then one of the other girls fell asleep.  It seemed really funny at the time that we should draw on all her limbs where her pj's didn't cover.  Shortly after we all fell asleep.  In the early hours of the day (as in 7am ish) she woke up to find the drawings on her legs and arms.  I can't quite remember if she screamed or just woke us up, but we were soon all laughing and giggling, even though we were so tired.

The years of 19-23, were mainly alcohol fuelled and there is probably many an occasion that I can't remember.  However there is one night that always comes to mind.  Ages ago I had the idea of Anti-Valentines day (or alternative, as I kind of call it now).  It was the idea that anyone should have fun with friends, family or loved ones).  On the first Anti-Valentine's day celebration, a group of us stayed at a friend of ours.  It was a mixed group of girls and guys who were all friends and single and we listened to music, drunk alcohol and just had a laugh.  One of our male mates feel asleep and the whole idea of drawing on his face was suggested.  The other lads got in first, drawing on a moustache and I think colouring in his eyebrows - I think some of it was with biro : s  Then us girls decided to add some eye shadow etc.  We decided we wanted him to look like William Shakespeare.  After finishing out master piece, we let him sleep and carried on having a laugh.  When he finally woke, he was still quite tipsy and being an English Student, we asked him to recite his favourite shakespeare quotes and talk about the man.  He was so hard to hold in the laughter, especially as the alcohol was well and truly in all our systems.  Being the mean people we are, we even let him leave the house and get in a cab wearing all the make-up.  We heard the next day that when he got home, he saw his face in the massive mirror that was in his parent's hallway and managed to wake up his family at silly o'clock.  We also didn't realise he had a big interview the next day and I think he had trouble taking it all off before the meeting.  Oops : s

The last big sleepover I had at mine was for my 25th birthday.  I invited round about 8 people to celebrate getting older and being a quarter of a century.  It was reasonably chilled watching films, chatting, drinking and eating.  It was really cool and a nice way to catch up with everyone.

Between then and now, I hadn't been to a sleepover (other than crashing at people's houses when I'm too drunk or can't get home).  Then a few days ago I went to a mate's house for one for her 29th birthday.  There were 6 of us who all roughly knew each other and the night consisted of a board game, karaoke on the wii, one friend was painting peoples nails, drinking, chatting, eating and laughing.  The thing I liked about it the most is, we all might be mid-20s to early 30s and doing all different kinds of jobs, but when it comes to a sleepover, it's all about having fun.  For our ages, we all managed to stay up until about 1:30-2pm - which is impressive, as we mostly find late nights quite difficult now.  One mate also decided to go with a onesie, whilst I decided to wear my Selk bag (a sleeping bag that has arms, legs and a hood - its very cool!)  

The thing is, you are as young as you feel and although we had a sleepover, it is completely different to when we were younger.  For me, it was just nice to have one night where you could forget about everything else and just have a night in with the girls.  After all, "When the working week is done, oh girls just want to have fun".

Blog title is from this 80s song (and also the title to a film I like from the same period : p): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIb6AZdTr-A

"First drink of the day..."

So I wasn't going to write a post because I'm away this weekend, but I was inspired by our night out yesterday.

I'm up north celebrating a pals birthday over a weekend.  Last night was meant to be the calm before the storm ahead, yet it landed up as quite a night.  The lads went to a brewery for a tour and drinks and then we joined them in town after.  Although we didn't go clubbing we went to two pubs with music and drank to excess and stayed out til 3am - my poor head and throat were feeling it this morning.  And now we have our 'big night' out today and drinking will probably start again soon : s

I'm quite experienced at the 'several days on the trot getting hammered' nights out but I'm getting older and there is nothing I can do about it.  For instance, last night I drank a beer, then some wine, then some cocktails, then some shots, then some spirits and mixers.  Years ago that would be easy.  Now all I have is fear of being sick or actually being sick, urge to eat very cheap takeaway food on the way home and a major headache with tiredness that drains me through the next day.  I don't dislike the experience, I just can't handle it!

As for the second night on the trot, the morning is always the hardest.  Today I woke up at 9am but it took nearly 1hr and 30mins to actually get out of bed - granted I was getting offered tea and food to the room, so I had no inclination to leave, but still.  That is disgraceful!  I used to go clubbing, stay at a mate's, sleep for 4 hours then do a days worth of work - not anymore.  It sometimes takes days for me properly to recuperate!

The thing is I can still have great nights out, it just has to be paced.  No one needs to deal with me becoming unconscious or being violently sick for a day  (both me when I was younger) and although I have only ever been sick in a house in a toilet o a bucket, it's still not right for someone else to deal with.  I'm generally a considerate person when it comes to that - I think : s  I also waste too much tme recovering now, when I should enjoy the other parts of still being 'relatively' young (see not young, apparently that bracket stops at 25).

Also, I am starting to feel older in the 'going out' field in general, which means that you have to play your choices of drinking locations more carefully.  Luckily for last night, not only were we not the oldest in Slug and Lettuce (even though you are normally of a certain maturity age to go there) but we were not quite the most embarrassing (several older guys were rather entertaining on the dance floor).  One of our mates was a close contender but we don't need to mention what he wa doing, lol.

Anyway, time to prepare for drinking part 2 : s   I'm scared!  Hopefully I can handle it like last night.  If not, it's going to be a long journey home tomorrow : s

Today's post title comes from Rathergood.com's own band 7 Seconds of Love's song:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRVhevmDwlk