Embarrassing Moments.

Apart from being a generally awkward and shy person, I also frequently embarrass myself.



Just today I was walking down some stairs that faced a row of cars that had stopped at a red light. Everybody could see me and I was wearing a nice summery dress and then. my foot collapsed. So I sort of had to catch myself on the railing... Not majorly embarrassing... not even funny really, just sort of cringe-worthy.



So, I wanted to write about an embarrassing moment that the three of us share...
Ruth and Catherine don't know that i'm sitting here writing about this... so please forgive me...

We heard about a fancy dress christmas party two months in advance.
With two months to prepare we decided to have the best costumes there.

Catherine was an Elf; Green hat with bell, waistcoat, skirt and green tights.
Ruth was a Christmas bear!; Face paint, Ears, Bow round the neck, red checked pajama trousers.

But I have to admit that mine was the most ridiculous.

A Snow queen. A huge white dress with blue netting and beads all strung round it. and a huge net collar. A Crown. Backcombed hair sprayed silver.



If anyone has ever gone "all out" for a party. This was it. We were taking photographs, we made loads of cupcakes decorated with sweets. and went with great expectations.

If you want to know what my face looks like as I write this blog... its a little bit similar to what a person might look like if they smelled something sour like off-milk.

So we travelled with two others; the north pole and a fairy.... and that was most of the party for the first hour or so.

The host wasn't even in a costume... I think it was just a christmas hat.

So feeling a bit over dressed and eating the cakes (we had made) to pass the time eventually some people turned up... not dressed up.... but to be fair there was one wiseman.

However most of the reactions were sort of like "wow... you guy's really went all out... I thought we were just supposed to wear party accessories".

We did try to make the most of what we had though.
We started dancing to prove that we were having a good time... empty room, with some tables layed out with colourful cupcakes. a little uv light in the corner and a bear, elf, snow queen and fairy dancing around.
In disneyland, we may have looked less ridiculous.
oh heavens.


So Yes. It is a memory that sometimes wakes me up just before I'm about to fall asleep... and not a story which I would usually share like this.



But, we all have them right?... these embarrassing moments.

Why not laugh at them.

Keishin

i said no no no

"Hello everyone, my name's Ruth and I'm addicted to shopping."

"Hello Ruth"

I have always loved to shop; we'd go to this farm/park when I was little and I would always want to go to the gift shop first and was always told that "we hadn't come all this way just to go shopping."

So I would go see the animals, and pet a few rabbits in the petting pens and go see a sheep being sheered (no, really) all the while just longing to be in the cool, air-conditioned sanctuary of the gift shop.

With the many rows of souvenirs, and reels of stickers, and piggy banks shaped like cows and chickens and, (believe it or not) pigs; I would always come away with something in a little paper bag.

This love for purchasing little knick knacks has not been dampened, and I still love useless novelty items that do nothing but cement the idea in my mind that I will be the old lady with all those gaudy ornaments from my travels crammed onto mantel pieces and window ledges and artfully assembled in display cabinets. Yes her.

And I like clothes. And shoes, those too.

And now what with internet shopping and it being as easy as a click of a button I really am in heaven. There are some great clothing retailers online with deals and free postage and all of that good stuff ....

but ...

I've also known for a long time that no amount of money can make you happy, and actually I've been most happy when I've had to be thrifty and count the pennies.

There's nothing more satisfying than feeling as though you've got your money's worth, or getting a great deal.

There are a few phrases or abbreviations like "B.O.G.O.F" or "2 for 1" or my favourite "FREE" that, if printed in red or contrasting colours will have me sprinting, and now with the economy like it is it's become a bit of a race.

Budget shopping sprees are the way forward, and if your really short for cash gazing through the glass and a bit of imagination should sate your appetite until the next pay check comes by.

So yeah; I do like pretty things and will probably always like to shop, but happiness aint gonna be found in a shopping trolley, or an empty purse (uh uh girlfriend) but rather in the people around you the number of times you laugh in a day.

"ha ha ha, that was a good one!"

Ruthx

http://stories-in-my-pocket.blogspot.com/

... as i was sunbathing in the garden listening to my music, i couldn't relax without constantly thinking my ipod is surely going to melt... now this got me thinking - has anyone invented something specifically for this purpose...? now i was on a role... forget the ipod (which i just put under my back..) if i could what else could i invent....?

how about taking a tablet which gives you a special ability (not power) for a period of time - like breathing under water..., shrinking to the size of an ant...., flying....
harmless abilities that just allows you to experience something different....

catherine xx

i simply remember my favourite things ...

I think the best things in life are the little things, those small things that can turn your day from grey to sunny.

I'm looking out of my window onto a field; the greenest green, and when there's a slight breeze, or a sudden sun-kissed gust of wind and the crop moves in ripples, it looks alive; like the ocean, or the fields in Studio Ghibli movies.

I spend so much time worrying about awful things that happen, or could happen; when there are all these tiny moments waiting to be experienced ...

like finding faces in odd places ..

So I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled incase I miss something.

Ruthx

Who doesn't like stamping?

I love that stamp at the library... the one that the librarian uses to stamp the return dates. Its the crunk it makes when it hits the paper.

I came to Japan in February 2010 to stay for six months and try to learn the language. Today I had a look around the room that after these three months, has become my own. I have to say that a lot of the room is pink. Not my clothes, but looking at the little music boxes, letter sets, flowery notebooks and fabrics... you might think the room belonged to a 7 year old girl.

As much as stamping seems like either a sport for children... those colourful stamping pens which you used to go crazy with as a child, or an efficient office appliance for an every day receptionist. I think that it is something that will never cease to amuse me.

Recently I went to a little card shop in a town close by. The shop was filled with rows of the most beautiful cards with cute illustrations and wonderful photography. There was a section for vintage camera's, quirky pill pots and those wax stamps to close envelopes.

However the corner which really had me stop in my tracks, eye's wide and mouth a little open was a desk full of the most wonderful stamps.

They had tins filled with these little themed stamp collections, like sewing set stamps; little spools of thread, needles and thimbles.

There was a set for you to stamp out your own little park; fancy benches, little tree's, birds and Narnia lamposts.

I almost bought a set to create a city landscape. Skinny little buildings which you could just line up like the scene from Peter Pan, when they're flying above London.

The stamps that I ended up comming away with were simple and sweet. A little bird in a bird cage and little crochet patterns; perfect for stamping a letter or making a little present tag.

The joy though, that i'm trying to express is that, when i'm sitting on the floor of this pink bedroom and I take out my little light blue tin of stamps, with the little ink pad, I suddenly feel like the world is a simple place again. I'm a little girl, and in that moment, all I need are these three things... my stamps, an ink pad and a piece of blank paper.

Keishin

when wendy grew up

When ever anybody has asked for my age and I disclose it, I can't help but want to heave (which, let's face it, would not be the best of introductions.)
Hearing it, a statement ... a proclamation ... is always a bit of a shock, like being thumped or slapped.
I may aswell be 50.
It' s as if adult-hood has slowly crept up on me (the little sneak) as if I still haven't come to terms with the whole concept, or rather it still has not come to terms with me.
Everyone around me seems to fill their adult shoes quite comfortably, have adapted reasonably well, where as I've never been quite so keen to leave my childhood behind and through the years could never really understand why anyone would want to grow up.
I'm a bit of a pessimist, so maybe my concepts of adulthood are a bit distorted or a bit dark and sombre.
I know that on the brighter side adulthood brings with it freedom and independence, and possibly children ... and maybe, dare I say it ... love? But I can't help sometimes just longing to be that inquisitive, care-free, no fuss kid again, no stress other than whether 50p is enough for a pack of moon rocks or flying saucers or those chewy raspberry things, or possibly all three.
Yes ... OK, I'm 22 and still love to read George's Marvellous Medicine, am partial to the odd tonne of pick n mix (woolworths, you will be sorely missed) and am the first one on and last off any bouncy castle but I know that I'm not a kid and I know that sooner or later I'll look into the mirror and realise I've run out of years to waste wishing I was five and there'll be all those wudda shudda cuddas ...
So I've come to the conclusion that I like the things I like because I like them and that being that wee bit older doesnt mean I have to leave them behind but that there are lots of other exciting things to like and there are things to come that aren't all pin striped or faxed or wrinkled.
So I'm here, trying to make sense of it all and hoping that soon the "grown up club" or "GUC" will finally allow me full membership and that during meetings the jammy dodgers and party rings will accomodate the same plate as the garibaldis and Tesco's Finest ginger snaps.
Let's keep our fingers crossed. I bagsy the last biscuit.


Do you believe in fairies?


Ruth x

http://stories-in-my-pocket.blogspot.com/

to anyone out there who stumbles across this blog...

As two girls who grew up together, were torn apart, reunited and now on two sides of the globe, we find ourselves faced with the same prospects.
Having not been accepted to university after a 4 year hiatus, we've hit a bit of a quarter life crisis.
Most 22 year olds have already completed a degree and have some idea as to where they are headed, and yet we still have wild dreams of hitchhiking to outer Mongolia or starting a rap duo and now sincerely wonder whether any university will have us.

Having hit this road block, we have decided that maybe sharing our experiences will offer us some enlightenment, or that maybe we need to make something out of this desperate situation.
"l'arte d'arrangiarsi : the art of making something out of nothing."

So now we are faced with two choices, do we resign to the fact that we may end up poor and desolate; two bag ladies wandering the streets, collecting mementos of a life we dreamed about but never avidly pursued? Or do we grasp at any loose strand and try to weave something together, to find new vigour and follow our dreams?

"To be or not to be? That is the question!"

http://stories-in-my-pocket.blogspot.com/