The Kitchen Is Where You’ll Find My Man

Gone are the days of men being in the pub all night drinking the hours of work away through pints of beer.  In 2012 the place you will mostly see men after their work day is in the Kitchen… well it is within my group of friends anyway.

I have to look no further than my very close to perfection Fiancé, Jamie Oliver… well of course his real surname is Rogerson but his culinary skills bring him much closer to the star.

When we were dating I used my very own culinary skills to impress, I would say I am above an average cook and actually love cooking and baking. The issue is I never have the time to fulfil this passion of mine. After my wowing was done and Jamie and I realised we were on the road to living together and now being engaged and getting married next year – being practical and using our time most efficiently has taken over.

This is something I have seen mirrored in many couples I know and often this has resulted in the man being the chef of the household.

Jamie and I are very sharing in the household chores, as in his chef duties does relieve him of all cleaning duties. I am very particular over the cleaning and I would rather I handle this chore 100% as I know I do  it right, well right in my mind.

The skills of his cooking has really come naturally and I really am grateful that the man I fell in love with can cook more than beans on toast. Anything from curries from scratch to amazing Mexican food I am literally taken around the world each week in meals.

As said this mainly occurred due to me working long hours and our evening would be taken up with me making the evening meal rather than spending quality time together. Whereas, if Jamie makes the food we have an evening to spend time together as well as do every day boring tasks such as put washing on (totally non exciting activities)

Jamie and I feel this works for us and I of course love all the dinners I get and he loves how tidy the house is and we both love our evenings together. However I do know that some men out there would not like this structure and still have the thoughts of yester year that the Kitchen is a women’s place and that’s that.

I wonder if in years to come this will not even be an issue and every man will be as cultinary as the next or is the yester year stigma of the cooking being a women job still around to come… not in my household.

Bride Needs A Kick Up The Bum

Since buying our house it seems that every spare second of time Jamie and I have had has been spent on the house. From painting, decorating, putting pictures up, pulling out trees/bushes/other gross plant/flowery things, putting furniture together, nailing down floors ... the list is endless.

It seems it has taken over our existence ... even though it may sound like I am moaning… I have actually really enjoyed it!

I have seen my creative side come out with making my own pictures, using Pinterest to come up with vintage decor ideas, arranging and painting letters and much more. It really has been another avenue to execute my creativeness.

This has meant a lot of things have been affected ... for instance my gym routine has vanished, the membership team must be rubbing their hands together as the £40 goes out of my bank, with no visits what so ever for 2 months now. This really annoys me to write this to know I have wasted £80 but to un-join I would then pay more than that in rejoining fee's so they basically have me!

Also other things such as big drinking nights out, meeting friends more than once a week and actually chilling out of an evening has disappeared.

However I am really pleased to say by September Jamie and I will be free ... YAY!

Well as my dad and brother has warned me you are never free there is always something to do… which I can see as being true.

This means as ever the wedding is yet to set off at full speed.. something that does play on my mind when I get into bed and run over everything I/we are yet to do.

I do feel though there is certain pressure from all the media out there that it takes 1 year to plan a wedding. Maybe I will be thinking differently if our wedding is a mess but I feel you can plan a wedding in a shorter amount of time.

So once again this week I am going to give myself a kick up the bum and get on with planning the wedding.

As cheesy as it sounds... when all you really care about is marrying your best friend and the love of your life it is hard to get excited about flowers....well for me it is.

I am once again trying on dresses this weekend and I am bringing my 2 out of my 3 beautiful bridesmaids along to try on dresses too. This sounds very fun to me and we have 3 appointments so it should be lots of fun. Of course I will post again about the day as it unfolds… once again I am checking my nude underwear is out of the wash and ready to look totally unsexy in.

 I will get into wedding mode, I will, I will…. Well I can’t promise but will try my best!

Working 9 to 5 the only way to make a living?

Workin 9 to 5

What a way to make a livin
Barely gettin by
Its all takin
And no givin
They just use your mind
And they never give you credit
It’s enough to drive you
Crazy if you let it

Dolly Parton gained phenomenal success from this single having wrote it herself, she must have been smiling all the way to the bank. However I am sure Dolly never worked a 9 to 5 again… (did she even in the first place?)

 Growing up everyone seemed to work 9 to 5 it was the norm, and standard practice when you grew up that’s what you did, it was the only option available to the masses.

As the years have gone by some employers have realised the total restrictions on a person working these hours, 5 days a week, and the miracle of Flexi-time was created. This was like gold dust and people actually hunted for companies with this offering. However still to the masses this genius idea is not available.

It honestly never really bothered me until I became a proper grown up with bank accounts, things to post, a car and now more importantly a house. Since being a home owner working 9 to 5 is as Dolly says “Enough to drive you crazy if you let it”

The stress of house buying is enough to make even the most chilled out person a little red faced, however trying to do this around a 9 to 5 job with hardly any holiday time left is a total nightmare!

Moving your whole life’s possessions in one weekend and then trying to be fit for work at 9am on a Monday is pretty hard going. Let alone trying to get moving vans available on a weekend is near impossible.

Then when you are finally settled, all your furniture deliveries, phone calls or visits to banks and mortgage brokers are only really possible between your working hours. Thank god for family and their kind hearts who come and save the day and wait in for you, go to the post office and pay things into the bank.

In 2012 when nearly everything is possible or someone in a lab somewhere is working very hard for it to be possible, surely working the hours of 9 to 5 is totally out of date.

If you complete your contracted hours by the end of the week and you are not asking to do these hours through the night, surely most employers wouldn’t mind. Or for my sanity shouldn’t by law mind!!

I feel that to be as modern as the world around us 9 to 5 needs to be put in the bin, alongside all other total failures such as the mullet and shell suits!

Ladies...Size Does Really Matter!

It is something that pretty much every single women on earth will need every day of their lives come rain or shine, it supports them through thick and thin and even adapts at times to help them out… sounds like a best friend to me … I am talking about your bra.

I am sure every woman can remember that awkward moment of your very first bra try on and working out what size you were. For me this was aged 11, I can remember moaning about how my boobs wobbled up and down when I was having my horse riding lesson and that was it the following weekend my mum whisked me off to get my bra. The process was slightly clinical yet did the trick and I walked away with my very first bra, a significant part of turning from a child into a young women.


This for many women is the only ever time in their lives they will have their bra measured, something that baffles me completely. It came up in conversation for me in a recent hen do that 4 of the girls have never been measured, they just guessed their size and have worn it ever since.


With being quite openly opinionated, I clearly stated this was madness and they should get measured as soon as possible on our return to royal Britannia.
People would not guess their shoe size I said to which many replied that it would hurt your feet to wear small shoes or be hard to walk in too big ones.


However, just because this does not instantly cause a problem there can be long term health problems ladies!

Wrong bra sizes can give you neck, back and shoulder ache, with your bra not being supportive enough all your muscles are doing the hard work to compensate.
Wearing the wrong bra size can also mean the wires of the bra sit on your breast tissue. The wires should encase and support your boobs and should not be on the breast tissue as this causes unnecessary pressure.


To put it into numbers 80 -85% of women are not wearing the correct size, something that is pretty shocking!


I also thought many of my friends over the years have gained and lost weight and one in particular that yo-yo diets.. are they still wearing the same size throughout?
I know that when women lose weight they instantly celebrate with new smaller size clothes but do they remember their bra … the figures suggest not!


Another point to consider is with all the fantastic bra options now out there from balcony to t-shirt to plunge to push up to strapless to halter your size in each can vary. So you maybe a 32C in one and a 32D in another.

Not to sound too motherly but for goodness sake ladies get yourself to your local Marks and Spencer (my fav) and get yourself measured!


Believe you me it can’t be any worse than when I last got measured, I went into the changing room and awaited the lady to come and measure me… in walks my friends mum which equated in a long awkward process.


Be brave ladies and get those beautiful baps of yours measured.. it is about time!