The Great Crisp Ban of 2015

I like crisps. I am 39 years old and I like all sorts of crisps. Doritos, Skips, Monster Munch, I rarely meet a crisp I do not like. I am an adult, (allegedly) I know that too much of something can be bad for you. Apart from shoes, anyone tells you that there is such a thing as too many shoes, cut those people out of your life. No-one needs that kind of negativity in their world.

The WORST thing that you can do to me, as an adult, is tell me that I CANNOT eat something, and yet, my darling daughter's school has decided in their wisdom to BAN CRISPS from their lunch box. 

That right, the way to promote a healthy lifestyle in children from a young age is to ban them from having them. 

Now I don't know about you, but I don't want children to think that any food is BAD and that you are not allowed it. Why can they not learn about moderation instead? Crisps are not bad for you. Eating 7 packs of Doritos for dinner COULD be bad for you if you did it all the time, but it has been known for me to do such a thing. If you BAN crisps altogether, aren't you sending the wrong message to children? 

The other argument is, that this will create a black market for crisps, there will be 8yr olds in the school playground in corners whispering, "Pssst, French Fries, Skips, you want them, I've got them...... For a price" 

I am an adult, I am in charge of my daughters packed lunch box and I have yet to send her to school with just 3 packs of crisps and a can of coke for lunch. 

Whatever happened to commen sense? Why not, instead of banning crisps, talk about alternatives, challenge children to create a lunchbox without crisps at least 3 times a week. If you ban something, you only make it more exciting, am I right? 

What are your thoughts on this ban? 

I would love your thoughts.

Big Fashionista X X X 

#NewCitySoul Comes To Bradford

When I lived in London, I spent a lot of my time shopping in Westfield Stratford.

Stratford was revitalised by the 2012 Olympics and then the vitality was kept alive by the new shopping centre, making Stratford a place people wanted to keep visiting. Westfield Stratford was a welcome addition to East London, and brought money and jobs to the area when it really needed them. Stratford is now a completely different place to what it was ten years ago, as an ex resident of Newham, I have seen this with my own eyes.

Now I live in Leeds, Leeds is full of fantastic shopping centres, both old and new, restaurants are springing up everywhere and many people think that Leeds is a superb place to shop and play. (It is)

Just 14 miles from the centre of Leeds, and very close to where I live is Bradford. Bradford has an undeserved reputation of being a sad place, a bit like Stratford had, once upon a time. Whenever I have been to Bradford I have found it to be full of life, culture and host to a range of different independent eateries and stores. But Bradford was tired, full of unfulfilled promises and dreams, while the people that live there are fiercely protective of their home, Bradford was not seeing the investment in development that other areas were.


BUT NO MORE.

On November the 5th, The Broadway,  Bradford will be opening and I for one couldn't be happier.


Currently, The Broadway Bradford @TheBroadwayBrad are running a competition to win the chance to win a £100 Gift Card you can spend in The Broadway.

#NewCitySoul is the perfect hashtag for the opening of The Broadway as this new shopping centre will definitely bring about new life to this beautiful place. Soul? I think Bradford already had soul, but what you need to do for your chance to win a £100 gift card is create a picture using the hashtag #NewCitySoul. Previous winners have spelt out New City Soul in Henna, Lego and lipstick, but there are STILL more chances to win.

Here is my entry,

What would yours be? You can still join in, using the hashtag. The Broadway Bradford is opening on November 5th with Alexandra Burke and I am DEFINITELY going to be there.

How about you?


Let me know.



Big Fashionista x x x x

Wedding Wednesday

So it looks as if this is going to be a bit of a thing each Wednesday, and this week I want to go on a bit of a wedding rant. (Remember the rule from last week, First one to call me Bridezilla, gets it) 


Now the one thing that I have discovered about weddings is that the word WEDDING makes everything more expensive.

Want a pizza? That will be £9.99, free delivery and the option to buy a dessert as well. (I'm hungry) 

Want WEDDING PIZZA? Oh well that will be £47.50 and you have to name your first born child after us.

Don't get me wrong, I will pay for quality. I am not looking to skimp anywhere. I have paid for my photographer without even shedding a tear, I have hired a wedding car that cost more than my first car, and I have shelled out for the most expensive dress that I will ever wear, fully aware that I will only put it on once. I pay for professionalism and skill and quality.

HOWEVER, 

The addition of the word wedding to anything can pretty much double the price immediately.

Pink glitter? Oh that will be £3. Oh it is for your wedding? £33.33, it is WEDDING GLITTER. It has hearts in it and everything. IT SPARKLES.

Can I add that I am not using pink glitter at my wedding. (Well not at THAT price, I'm not) 


Even tiaras, you can buy tiaras everywhere, Easy, Ebay. Individual, hand crafted, beautifully designed, watch the wedding section be three times as expensive as say the prom section.

I need white shoes, if you search wedding shoes, you can find wedding shoes everywhere, white, cream, gold, how about white, cream AND gold? You can find them easily, FOR A PRICE. I just need white shoes. Plain white shoes. I REFUSE to spend £200 on a pair of shoes just BECAUSE they are wedding shoes.

Runs to Google to search White Shoes.



I am not being paranoid here am I? Who else has found this mark up on things that are "wedding" related?

What is the worst case of wedding mark up that you have seen?

OR should I just shut up and hand over my money?


Let me know.


Big Fashionista x x x x

I do not give a.......

Do you know what the best thing about being 39 is?

Do you know what the best thing about being a STRONG, confident, happy and secure 39 year old woman is?

Let me tell you.

I do not give a flying fuck.


I do not care if someone doesn't like me.  (We cannot like, or be liked by everyone)

I do not care if someone cannot keep plans that we have arranged. (Plans can be rearranged)

I do not care if it rains on the school run. (So I get wet, I will dry)

I don't even mind if I step in horse shit on the pavement. (I live in a place where this happens)

I do NOT sweat the small stuff.

At 39 years old, I have found an inner peace and you know what? It is AMAZING.

How many people out there with blogs do you see who will tweet out, "So sorry I didn't blog today, guys. I got caught up at work/fell asleep/had to go out?

Why are you stressing?

What is the worst that can happen if you do not smear your words of wisdom or pictures of an outfit across the internet for a day or twelve?


I don't like cancelling plans on other people, but sometimes it has to be done and I never get upset if someone has to cancel plans we have made, we can always rearrange. It isn't the end of the world.

Of course, I stress about money, I worry about my children and right now I have a checklist for my wedding as long as my arm, but what will be, will be, regardless of how much I stress. I have learnt to let things go.

I remember in one of my first jobs, many many years ago, a colleague took an instant dislike to me. HATED ME, pretty much crossed herself whenever I walked into the room. I worried myself silly, trying to work out WHY didn't she like me. (I'm pretty awesome) WHAT had I done to make her hate me, and HOW could I make her like me. I would go out of my way to be nice to her, desperate for her to like me, and she never did.


Now at 39, I GET that we don't HAVE to like everyone, we don't even have to EXPLAIN why we don't like everyone, we can choose our friends, we can choose our enemies and not liking someone, or not being liked, is not the be all and end all.

Cry me a river, build a bridge and get the fuck over it.


This is life. This is MY life and I have realised that I cannot control what happens in the world, I can only control how I react to it.



Is THIS what people mean when they say, Life begins at 40?


Because this knowledge is powerful, and liberating.


I like it.



Don't you?


Let me know.


Big Fashionista x x x x

Nom or Vom

I cannot believe that #GBBO is over for another year!!!  It is one of my favourite programmes ever, a programme about people making cake? What is not to love? 

To mark the end of #GBBO I had to do this man for Nom or Vom, (I was going to do Mary Berry for Nom or Vom but I KNOW, it would be Nom, all the way) whether you love him or hate him, and I think it's going to be pretty evenly split. (A bit like any cream pat I ever tried to make, if you replace split with burnt to fuck, that is) 

So ladies and gents, I present to you, the one, the only, 

PAUL HOLLYWOOD.

So what do you think?

Want him to roll you in butter and flour and heat you up slowly?

Or does he put you in the fridge of desire?

Paul Hollywood?

Nom or Vom?

Wedding Wednesday

So we have set the date.

May 14th 2016. 

Now there are two different camps, I say the date and half of the people say, "Oh, so ages then?" and then the other half say, "So soon? Wow, you are brave"

Brave?

BRAVE?

BRAVE?

Seriously, bravery has nothing to do with it. If I was getting married over a pit of fire, whilst juggling knives and riding a unicycle, then, OK, we can bandy around the word bravery. But let us put bravery to one side for a second, whether you set a date 7 months in advance, or 3 years, you pick a date and work towards it, right?

RIGHT?

(Please god, tell me that I can do this, and if someone even whispers the word, Bridezilla at me, I will shove this list of invites so far up their backsides they will be able to send the invites verbally on my behalf) 

(Ok, you can whisper the word Bridezilla, but behind my back, don't let me hear you) 

7 months? I don't know if it IS a long time or not? But we will get it done, and hopefully have some fun along the way. (Giggles manically)


Did I mention I already have a dress?

Small side note, what kind of joke is it for Mother Nature to bless you with your period on the day you are going to be trying on white dresses? I wore THREE pairs of knickers, including one pair that pretty much went from my knees to my boobs. I walked through the door thinking, "You bleed on it, you pay for it" (They should have that cross stitched on a sign or something, maybe I can make it as a Thank You?) 

The one thing that had panicked me, as a plus size woman, was that I would walk into a dress shop and they would look me up and down and say, "No dresses for you, Fatty" but thankfully, the bridal shop I visited http://www.bridalhouseleeds.co.uk was absolutely amazing. Dresses of all sizes, colours and I felt extremely comfortable trying on dresses, even ones that were too small. I was held in dresses, padded in dresses that were too big, and tried on dresses that I didn't think were suitable and yet when I put them on, I felt beautiful.


But what dress did I go for?


Want to see????????????



Well, you will have to wait 7 months, won't you? It's not long now, is it?



Big Fashionista x x x x





Shall we do this every week? Same time next week?
See you then.

Bring Me The Coffee, (And No-One Gets Hurt)

Yesterday morning, as I reached for my third cup of coffee, I read an article that was so horrifying, I thought about putting my phone in the freezer. (If you don't get that reference, we cannot be friends) (Yes, I read the papers on my phone, does ANYONE buy newspapers anymore?)

The article was about a future shortage of coffee, genuine, I was so stressed out by this, I needed another cup of coffee.

Now I don't ask for much in the mornings. Peace and quiet, TO BE LEFT ALONE UNTIL I HAVE DRUNK MY COFFEE, and did I mention, peace and quiet?

Coffee is my get up and go juice, in fact I think I am a high functioning coffeholic and I have no intention of giving this up, or even THINKING about the possibility that one day in the future, I will reach for a cup of coffee, and it won't be there.

Like a Dodo, (not that I ever reached for a Dodo, but you get what I mean, I hope.

I drink fresh coffee, instant coffee, my favourite coffee is one that someone else has made for me. I can drink it black, white, I don't care, JUST BRING ME A COFFEE.

A future world coffee shortage is not something that I want to hear about.

I sympathised when I heard that there could be a Prosecco shortage, I did, I grieved with all of you who wondered how you would cope, but let's face it. If the world runs out of Prosecco, you have choices, plenty of choices. The world runs out of coffee?


The shit will hit the fan.

What is the alternative to coffee? What can I substitute for Coffee? Tea?

There are two types of people in this world,

There are the tea people, and there are the coffee people. It is like being a werewolf or a vampire, it is very rare to find a hybrid, I'm sure they exist, but let us be honest. you like one or the other. You don't just swap easily from one to another do you?

Should I start to hoard my coffee, just in case?

Like a survivalist with tins of tuna under the stairs, or your nanna, with her cash under the floorboards? I feel like I should be doing something about this.

My initial thought is to drink MORE coffee now, but then, will THAT be why we have a coffee shortage? Will I be the cause of the coffee shortage, by thinking that there
IS a coffee shortage, did I cause it?

Fuck, it is like Terminator all over again.


How did you feel upon hearing that in the future there may be a shortage of coffee, will you survive? Is THIS how the zombie apocalypse will begin?

WHO KNOWS THE TRUTH?

Let me know.


Big Fashionista x x x x