by Carla Louise | Sep 15, 2011 | Adventures, Memories |
I’m very much back to reality with a bump, work is mad (it’s the middle of our grad week and there’s loads to catch up on from when I was away) but oh, I’m still struggling with the post-rally blues.
May attempt to relieve this with some skating at the weekend, it’s been much too long and I reckon flying round a rink at speed might lift my spirits somewhat.
I have a lovely friend staying with me till Friday, a big work event on Friday and my girlies coming up for the weekend, plus some freelance design work that has a deadline of Monday, so I might be a tad absent over the next few days but I’m sure they’ll help me deal with my blues.
I have had some lovely texts and fb messages which have made me smile muchly since I’ve been home and I know I’m very lucky to have such a lovely life filled with such fabulous people… But I still miss Rusty, and Rob, and the two teams we spent so much time with who are still touring Europe. Haha, maybe it’s just a touch of jealousy…
On the plus side, it’s given me a new lease of extremely sparkly life and I have many exciting things in store. Just trying to get some kind of routine back and then I will be blogging regularly again 🙂
by Carla Louise | Aug 30, 2011 | Adventures, Personal Development |
** Warning – waffly post, no photos and may not even appear because has been scheduled. My fingers are crossed.
I am having a feel-the-fear-and-do-it-anyway phase in my life at the moment… with a whole plethora of things in both my work and my personal life. Taking the plunge and just doing something, and leaving my comfort zone way behind, seem to be the order of the day.
This is not a bad thing, but it’s not particularly restful either… my naturally fretful side (which is usually eclipsed by the laid back, anything-goes side of my personality, but which does rise to the surface during times of stress) is having an absolute field day worrying and analysing and generally freaking out.
However, I am doing these things regardless and I have to say, afterwards, it’s a fabulous feeling! We’re talking a relatively long list of things ranging from wearing red (proper red) lipstick and a vintage dress to work on dress-down Friday, to starting skating again, to organising the company’s Staff Day (which is a massive undertaking I would have sworn I wasn’t able to do, but have actually managed ok so far, touch wood) to my biggest piece of madness to date, agreeing to go on this utterly mad rally.
It’s going to be exhilarating and freeing and liberating, and it will be a massive sense of achievement when I’ve done it, knowing I can drive abroad and sleep in cars and cope with not knowing the language and be in a different country every day and make new friends and let’s not forget talk to blokes on an even footing (as opposed to melting into a terrified puddle every time one approaches). There are all these positives and I am still terrified.
But sometimes, life really is too short not to do things that scare you. And that kind of mood comes around so infrequently (to me, at least) that I’m embracing it and doing things I definitely wouldn’t normally.
On the list of things I would like to do while this mood continues are things like attend a vintage themed event, set up another collective, this time with a theme (that’s an ongoing project anyway, but is going to take courage and luck to actually launch), finally get my shops back up and running, make a start on the book, read my old diaries, have a jumping lesson (on horseback), drive through London, etc. They’re all quite small individually but looking at the things I’ve done, I do and I want to do, and comparing the girl I am now to the girl I was just a few short years ago makes me realise how far I’ve come and how much I am, now, the girl I want to be.
Here’s to adventure and happiness… and a healthy dose of recklessness! (Hell, I’m in my 20s – it’s practically compulsory!)
What do you do that’s unusual, that scares you or that you know might not be entirely sensible?
by Carla Louise | Aug 18, 2011 | Adventures, Collecting |
Despite the rain and the dreariness of being back at work after nine days off, I have found some happy things this week…
- The rally car has a name and is beginning to take on a personality 🙂 Rusty McLusty has very nearly no paint on her bonnet, a roof full of random stuff and a shed load of stickers to be applied.
- Finding Breyers at a car boot sale for the first time EVER – I haven’t bought any model horses for a couple of years, and these were just waiting for me to take them home. I’m not sure Rob was that impressed… but the little girls I bought them from seemed pleased!
- Bristle-and-nylon hairbrushes like this one – I now own two and they’ve changed my life and my hair drastically for the better.
- Lie-ins – I went out for dinner with work people last night, and stayed at my ex-housemate’s new flat in Marylebone. Which is close enough to work that I was able to get up at HALF PAST SEVEN this morning and still be at work just about on time. (As opposed to my usual 5.30am alarm followed by staggering out of bed at 6am and running around like a headless chicken).
- Getting locked out of Julia’s flat and sitting on her stairs having the most random conversations while we waited to be rescued by her housemate
- Living on my own. I miss Jules, but it really is lovely having all this space to myself, and when I came home on Sunday night and let myself in, it really felt like home 🙂
- Jess’s skates have arrived! Which means we can go skating in Hyde Park next Tuesday… assuming the weather picks up and becomes more like actual summer.
I promise I’ll kick myself into gear and do more posts with photos soon – I have loads drafted of stuff I want to share but haven’t been able to get the photos sorted (either haven’t been able to take them in daylight, or have them but have had no time to edit them!)
Hope your weeks have been as full of happy things 🙂
by Carla Louise | Aug 13, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Reading: the Marie Claire magazine I bought for the nail varnish and my Twitter handle in print. Forgot to bring an actual book with me.
Writing: Lists of what to take on the rally, lists of what to buy for the rally, blog posts while the boys aren’t looking, in between looking for stuff for the rally 😛
Drinking: Pepsi max and various ciders
Listening: really old CDs in the car, other people’s laptop noises indoors
Buying: vintage skis, rusty stuff and a suitcase full of naughty magazines.
Enjoying: Knowing my flat is almost there so I can go home and enjoy it instead of freaking out; wandering around random shops, markets and car boot sales looking for equally random stuff to bolt onto the car.
Loving: properly relaxing and realising I worry way too much for no reason… I need to chill out more!
by Carla Louise | Aug 13, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Mostly, when I head for my postbox, I have several letters for the previous occupants (I’ve been there over a year, it’s mental), a bill or two and some junk leaflets. But sometimes I get really exciting mail… I have a small selection of friends who still write the old-fashioned way, including Chloe at Slightly Triangle, Viki at Vicktrr Photography and shortly Amii from Scarlet Pout.
Anyway, the other day I went to check my post and found this waiting for me…
On opening it, there was a lovely note from Chloe and some PRESENTS!! Tiny little beautifully-wrapped parcels… unexpected and very lovely 🙂 More so as I was feeling a bit down for no particular reason, and there’s nothing lovelier to cheer you up than knowing someone’s thinking of you.
Inside the parcel was this utterly gorgeous hand painted pendant by the very talented Chloe, signed on the back and everything 🙂
And some beautiful beads which I shall incorporate into some kind of jewellery very soon, for me to wear instead of to go in the shop.
Thank you so much Chloewoo, you made my day!
xx
(Amii, if you’re reading, your letter is coming soon, and Viki, likewise, along with your Christmas and birthday pressies….)
by Carla Louise | Aug 11, 2011 | Uncategorized |
Boxes and bookshelves and hoovers, oh my!
My housemate’s moved out and I’ve kept the flat. Her room is becoming my craft/sewing studio. Which sounds really easy, but compounded with my need to move everything around so it doesn’t feel like I’ve lost her, this has become a MAMMOTH job. Honestly, I had no clue I had so much stuff!
I don’t think I have any before pictures where the flat isn’t an absolute state, but here is how I started… moving bookshelves.
The whole living room covered in books:
Empty bookshelves in their new place
In the process of refilling the shelves:
Full, pretty bookshelves at the back of my living/dining room
Phew. These were taken last Friday night. It’s now Thursday, and I’ve succeeded in moving everything I own into the appropriate room. It has taken me all week to get to this stage, and I still have stuff to sort out, but it is slowly coming together. I’m away all weekend, and Mum & Dad are coming over tomorrow morning, so it needs to be done before I go to bed tonight. Eeeeeep. (This is also why I’ve been so quiet on the blog front despite being off work!)
by Carla Louise | Aug 7, 2011 | Adventures, Photography |
Bit of a late post, but here goes…
So first of all, CAE stands for Camping Auto Extravaganza. Which should give you some idea of the type of event it is. Last year was the third, and my first. And the first time I’d met the majority of the club members, even though I’d spoken to them all online via the club forum.
In the intervening year, friendship and bant has developed and I now consider them all to be friends and some of them to be close friends.
I had Friday off to get ready and get there, and Brad suggested I join their convoy from Birchanger Green services. So I got there ridiculously early and sat and sunbathed and read a book in the sunshine (and had a sneaky KFC for lunch!) while I waited for him, Jim & Karine and Nigel to turn up.
(Can’t find a pic of my car in the car park )
As it happened the traffic was completely horrific so I had longer than planned to read and chill out, but eventually got a call saying they were there and to head off, and they’d catch me up. Knowing they were all in turboed cars, I did.
And spent the next 30 miles driving as slowly as I possibly dared, letting trucks overtake me and desperately looking in my mirrors for signs of MR2s coming over the horizon! Eventually decided to go off at a junction and over the roundabout to delay myself – got back on the sliproad and they all shot past me! But I beeped and they’d seen me so I caught up, and then the drive got fun! (the traffic was stil horrific and there was lots of stopping and starting, but it’s fun driving in convoy with friends. Jim & Karine livened up the journey by dropping back and chucking jelly babies at us – hit my car but not me, sadly, but the thought was there!
We arrived in Peterborough about 4ish I think, although I was so excited to be there I didn’t actually look at the time. The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur of chatting and hugging and catching up with people, it was so lovely to see old friends, and be introduced to new ones! It was also fantastic to finally meet the people behind the usernames I’d been chatting to for so long J
Michelle and Ian’s place is beautiful, with space for us all and beautifully put together both inside and out. The pool was warm, the hot tub was warmer and they had two BBQs and several fridges for all our drinks J and a BAR!
Friday night was spent munching takeaway, deciding on treasure hunt partners (for anyone curious, this is the closest we got to keys in a bowl, lol – just names in a hat for who drove and who navigated the next morning!) and then drinking, dancing, swimming (Anna and I got in the pool at stupid o clock) and talking. I even braved the hot tub. I drank far too much, to the point where I flashed my floozies (only a little bit!) for Rob and Russ (and Luke – who I then spent ages trying to convince I was normal. I hope I succeeded!) and had an unexpectedly fabulous time – much better than every time I go out clubbing and try hard to have fun. I think I eventually went to bed about 2am, and did that really annoying thing where you try to be quiet and make more noise than you would have done normally. Oops.
Saturday morning was a convoy of all of us, which definitely ranks among the most exhilarating experiences of my life – was such a kick to see so many roadsters and other toyotas all together, revel in the looks we got and know that every car contained a friend of mine J (yeah, I’m a sappy idiot, lol).
My Poppy is the car on the very far end 🙂
Then the treasure hunt was on, and we all met back at the house for a photoshoot and lunch. Look at the pretty cars…
(this pic courtesy of Luke Abbott – I failed to get a decent pic of all the cars together)
Took the opportunity to get a new profile pic too..
Saturday afternoon was really chilled, involving chatting, playing pool, reading magazines and in my case napping *blush*. I came back outside blinking at about 6ish and asked if I’d missed anything. Someone said ‘yeah, you’ve slept so long Amy Winehouse is dead’. Which obviously I dismissed as the usual bant. Then realised it was true and was actually quite sad!
The chilled vibe continued into the evening, only with added alcohol, and I remember sitting at one point by the pool, lit by candles, laughing at something ridiculous (I believe spiderman pants and a drawing of thongs and mankinis were involved) with some of my favourite people in the world and just being the happiest and most content I can remember for ages.
L-R Me, Rob, Wills
Hou in foreground, Anna and someone headless in background
Then we had dinner, then we drank and danced and talked some more, I dropped my duvet in a puddle, we realised it was actually quite cold and broke out the sleeping bags, and I continued drinking and got sleepier and sleepier. We had some ridiculous but wonderful conversational moments (and ahem, educational too) and I gave up trying to stay awake and went to bed somewhere between three and half three.
L-R – Jim, Luke, Wills, me, Beka, Karine, Brad
Anna and I having a silly moment in the hot tub
L-R Brad, Luke, Jim
L-R Jim, Brad, me, Beka
Sunday morning… was mostly full of people ambling around sleepily, talking about the weekend and their plans for getting home. We had an amazing full English breakfast, then people started to wander off. Which made me really sad, actually.
So we said our goodbyes and promised to get on facebook/keep in touch/do this again really soon, and then Anna and I went and spent the afternoon sat in a pub garden talking about how lovely it had been.
Returned home, helped my housemate pack some of her stuff, and then settled down to the flurry of photos, new friends, messages and comments on facebook. Turns out that this year, it’s not just me that’s soppily nostalgic about the weekend and would much rather it hadn’t ended. Everyone’s struggled to get back to reality this week. And I’d like to think that we’ll all stay friends for a very long time, having experienced it together. There’s not many groups of people I could have an entire weekend with without getting seriously cross with some of them at some stage. And I’ve never in my life met so many new friends at once!
Best. Meet. Ever.
And I really hope we do another big one before next CAE – I can’t wait a whole year to see these guys again!
*apologies to anyone reading this who went, my words and photos don’t do justice to how awesome it was.
**apologies to anyone reading this who didn’t go, who is probably bored senseless. But really – if you do one thing this year, buy a Toyota and join us next year!
by Carla Louise | Jul 17, 2011 | Adventures, Photography |
Definitely one of the most beautiful weddings I’ve been to. The ceremony was small and intimate, and we were invited to the reception to help them celebrate. Hevs said she was looking forward to celebrating ‘with all my favourite people’ which I thought was really lovely.
Here are the bride and groom, my first glimpse of them together, cutting their (completely amazing) giant cupcake on top of the stack of Mr-Whippy-style cupcakes (complete with Flake in each one!)
And the obligatory (but very lovely) kiss:
Heather’s dress was Biba, and the whole wedding had an incredible vibe. It was held at the Bluebird Cafe in Ferring, between Brighton and Worthing, right on the sea. They arrived and departed in a sky blue VW campervan, which they are currently honeymooning in at a selection of festivals.
And with the gorgeous bride (left to right me, Heather, Janine)
Their guestbook was a selection of postcards with a box to post them in and a line at the window with little pegs to hang them all. I know mine was fairly sappy, but I didn’t record exactly what i wrote.
They had the first dance, with a live band and singer, and then we all joined them in dancing the night away and taking photos and generally having a wonderful time!
I took a lot of pictures, and will link to the Flickr album when I’ve had a chance to edit and upload them all!
And just to top it off, I got to rollerskate along Worthing seafront AND meet Janine and Sean for a long lazy brunch the next day before heading off to work. Utterly, utterly wonderful weekend. Congratulations Mr & Mrs Tilley – I’m proud to have been part of your celebrations!
by Carla Louise | Jul 3, 2011 | Photography |
Oh, how do I describe the wonder that is the Fling? Here’s the website and last year’s video, for a flavour…
2010 Fling goodness…
Last year there were a few of us. This year, there were a LOT of us. I had the obligatory zebra picture (I want to take that zebra home – suggestions on a postcard as to how I can smuggle him home please) on my own and with other people. I’ll just post the one for now…
me with the zebra - the equivalent pic last year is one of my favourite photos of all time
(I could do a separate outfit-of-the-day post, but I won’t… the corset is one from a boutique in Loughborough, the skirt is a vintage French Connection one, bracelet is my favourite steampunk-ish one which I bought from a car boot sale a while ago and while I’d usually wear heels with such an ensemble, the flipflops are gold leather ones from New Look. Comfortable and much more appropriate for ambling around a field! (I actually spent a lot of time barefoot… it’s that sort of a place where you feel more at one with everything minus your shoes. Or maybe that’s just me. Anyway.)
A ridiculous number of my favourite people in the world were there, and it was so gorgeous to catch up in such an amazing atmosphere. There aren’t really words to describe the Fling, it’s just magical… seven hours of wonder and escapism, and there really is something for everyone.
Lou and Kelly getting into the festival spirit
I did less activities this year than last year, because I was having so much fun catching up with everyone, Pimms in hand, and just soaking up the ambience to sustain me through another year… the weeks after the Fling feel distinctly tedious.
There was music, wordsmiths, burlesque (squee!), sewing workshops, clay, more music, a beach, random performers, a peep show, a silent disco, a fire garden, and far too many wonderful things to mention. My personal favourite was the fairy crown workshop, run by the Fairyland Trust, who do some fantastic conservation work throughout the UK, as well as raising awareness and working with children to preserve our woodland and learn the magic of nature. Our crown-making workshop (complete with storytime!) is usually aimed at 7 year olds, but I fell totally in love with my crown and will be renewing the willow base with season-appropriate foliage for each of the eight season celebrations through the year. I always mark them in my diary but never actually do anything to mark the festivals. And I’d like to.
I was so chuffed with my crown... do I look fairy-like?
(unrelatedly, this photo shows I’ve achieved a lifelong ambition of having my hair so long it doesn’t always fit in photos. Yay!) I am nowhere near as trashed as I look, either – it’s just the sun in my eyes. Honestly!
Here are a selection of photos that made me smile – I’ve not seen the ones taken by other people yet, but I’ll remember this Fling forever… and I’ll be at the next one come hell or high water! Sending huge hugs to everyone who came this year, it was even more fabulous with you all there 🙂 And my apologies for my waffly lack of eloquence, it really does defy words. But it makes me quite ridiculously happy!
Me with Karen - being experienced Fling-ers!
Naomi sewing 🙂
Me with Janine and Heather. Lovely Heather is getting married next weekend!
Wendy and Apryl with the results of their sewing workshop
There are quite a few more pics – more than last year! Waiting to get hold of Lou’s and anyone else’s too, and then I shall sneak a link to a Flickr album into a future post. Massive thanks to Nastassia, Anna and their team at Chelmsford Borough Council – you guys have done an incredible job and made a large number of people very happy. Should any of you lovely readers be in Chelmsford in July next year – go. Really, it’s a perfect seven hours.[Edit March 2012: due to the Olympic Flame celebrations, the Fling will next be held in July 2013.]
by Carla Louise | Jun 23, 2011 | Uncategorized |
I think it’s completely impossible to overstate the importance of friends. All sorts of friends, in your life for all sorts of reasons. Some drift in and out, some are there forever, all are essential to life. Without mine, I would, quite simply, not be here.
I’m particularly lucky in that I have a large number of very dear friends. I don’t tell them nearly enough how much they mean to me and how overwhelmed I am at their continued presence in my life, or how lost I would be without them. But then I’m already considered the sappy emotional one, so that’s probably not a terrible thing! And I’m sure most of them know exactly how much they mean to me.
Much of the time, friendship just ticks along… lovely, but standard. You arrange stuff, you cancel stuff, you call friends to moan about your day. Then you hit a rocky patch in life and suddenly there they are, clustered around you, helping you through it in a myriad of ways. Not just the major rocky patches either, the little ones too. (Actually sometimes it’s the smaller ones that show you the true friends – lots of people will get involved in a major trauma just for the drama of it. The ones who care about the tiny things that make you sad are the ones who truly care about you.)
This week, the early part of which was hellish, my housemate and best friend has listened patiently and offered advice and a shoulder to cry on, despite having an infinitely more stressful job herself; another old and dear friend has let me ramble almost non-stop in texts without ever once judging me, yawning or not replying with wise and sympathetic words. A friend I miss a completely ridiculous amount since I left my old job replied to an email and made me genuinely smile for the first time in days. And unexpectedly, in the midst of a particularly stressful day, a new colleague suggested going for a drink after work to de-stress. We drank, and we chatted, and she reassured me, and we gossiped about girlie stuff (no mean feat as the majority of our colleagues are blokes) and it made me feel eight squillion times better. And work today was better for having a friend in it.
Annie once told me that people come into your life ‘for a reason, a season or forever’. I’m finding it to be truer by the day. So treasure the ones you have, don’t let go of them too easily, and always be open to the possibility of new ones, however unlikely the situation seems.
(*I know, I must get better at titling my posts!)
by Carla Louise | Jun 23, 2011 | Uncategorized |
- a lovely colleague bringing us all rock from Brighton. ROCK. So summery!
- getting the giggles (proper ones) with people in the office – maybe I do fit in a bit, after all
- sitting in a roofless Poppy, stretching my legs after a skate, watching the sunset on summer solstice evening
- Caitlin’s email which brought an actual smile to my face after a day of hell
- Pink, purple and turquoise fountain pens for work, so they don’t go walkies (boys don’t like writing in pink, haha)
- Theatre and dinner with my girlies on Saturday – completely gorgeous if a little bit bittersweet, I’d managed to forget how much I miss them
- my accidental blue scarf – realised on the train my dress was much too low-cut, Sar suggested a scarf, I found a perfect one (blue paisley) in the sale at the station and it worked beautifully with the blue dress I was wearing!
- unexpected drink and chat after work with a colleague/friend who made me feel so much better
- a revelation about a postcard
- my MP3 player is working again after a prolonged sulk – the music on it is a bit out of date but I can block out the pesky commuters!
- I entered a competition to win a classic Pashley bike – crossing everything to win, I adore them!
by Carla Louise | Jun 21, 2011 | Uncategorized |
So yesterday was super-stressful and today I just had loads to do… and then this evening after dinner I put my outdoor wheels onmy skates, put the roof down on the car, drove up to the train station and skated with headphones in for half an hour. Then sat in my car looking up at the sky and the gorgeous colours the dusk was making, and I felt the happiest and most content I have in several weeks 🙂
It really is the little things in life that make me happiest, I think.
(idiot me didn’t take a camera so will do my best to recreate the scene tomorrow evening when I get in from work…)
