Audrey Hepburn quote to make you smile.

So exciting news people… I am officially moving into London! Loving London life already, so actually being here full time is going to be even better. Whilst getting rather excited by cute interior bits and bobs I stumbled across this lovely wall sticker.

"I BELIEVE IN PINK.

I BELIEVE THAT LAUGHING IS THE BEST CALORIE BURNER.

I BELIEVE IN KISSING, KISSING A LOT.

I BELIEVE IN BEING STRONG WHEN EVERYTHING SEEMS TO BE GOING WRONG.

I BELIEVE THAT HAPPY GIRLS ARE THE PRETTIEST GIRLS.

I BELIEVE THAT TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY AND I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES."

Audrey Hepburn

Sadly I don’t think the landlord would be best please to see a string of words stuck onto the wall but it really does make me smile.

I love how a simple phrase or quote can leave you feeling in good spirits and an all round happier mood. Thanks Audrey/www.notonthehighstreet.com.

The Guardian.

I can't think of a time where I have seen a newspaper really promoting itself through TV commercials but the latest attempt by the Guardian is just brilliant. 

The main story line is taken from the 3 Little Pigs nursery rhyme and has been adapted to relate to the 21st century. 

The storyline is based on real life day to day issues but in a satirical way - I even found myself laughing when the poor pigs were struggling to keep up with their mortgage payments! 

During the commercial you also see the Guardian highlighting the impact and influence social media has on current affairs and news stories. 

The power of social media (twitter/blogs/facebook) has become an increasingly important tool in journalistic practices. 

BA - Olympic's commercial "The Race"

So once again BA have put together a brilliant commercial - this time round inspired by the forthcoming Olympic Games. 

I love the use of traditional sports commentary to track the luggage.

"and they’re off"/"this is anyone’s race at the moment"/"neck and neck"/"the world champion blowing away the field" and "the favourites the USA" - even BA can't deny that when it comes to the Olympics they often are. 

It may be based around luggage but hearing the commentary instantly gets me excited about London 2012. Certainly an exciting summer for the UK.

Carling Cup Final

Wow the Carling Cup Final really was exciting - 2-2 at the final whistle, 2-2 at the end of extra time and then finally a penalty shoot out. To add to it all in the penalties Steven Gerrard was the first to shoot and he failed to score – shock horror and quite possibly tears for the thousands of Liverpool supporters. It was incredibly tense.

The match really was quite an eye opener. Firstly there was the tube ride into Wembley Park. I know commuting can be stressful and horribly busy but this was another level and somehow to the delight of my Welsh relatives we were on a train full of Cardiff supporters. I was thrilled to see that my rather “on trend” electric blue jeans meant I blended right on in and was presumed to be a Cardiff fan too. Although unsurprisingly I didn’t know any of their chants and even if I had, the Welsh accent was proving quite overwhelming. As far as I was concerned it was a lot of tone deaf males shouting what they hoped was something similar to their friends/fellow supporters.

I have never wholeheartedly supported a sport with that same devotion football fans do. It's one of those sports you don’t support because you play it, you support because it's in your family…its expected of you…it's in your DNA......I looked around during the game and it was certainly nerve-racking but my goodness it looked like it was a matter of life or death to the supporters. When one set of supporters was celebrating the others were holding their head in their hands!

I had the luxury of sitting in Club Wembley with a combination of supporters from both sides. As a result it has a strict no football shirts policy and is theoretically “neutral” ground. Well I can certainly say that everyone’s allegiance was well known from kick off! This was unmistakably highlighted when goal numero 1 was scored. Now Sunday was a bit of a family outing as my cousins from Wales came especially for the match and WOW if only I could have filmed their reaction when Cardiff scored the first goal. For starters I think they were quick to realise the majority of Club Wembley surrounding them were Liverpool supporters. I imagine I’d show a similar reaction if I won the lottery but this was simply the first goal. As they jumped for joy, spun around, pumped fists up in the air, high fived one another and hugged it was clear they were Cardiff fans and there was no disguising it.

So that’s fine they are guys but when Liverpool finally won and I turned around to determine where this ear piercing shrieking was coming from, I was shocked to see a rather well dressed 20 something girl behind me who was in fact crying. I mean is this really necessary? And why was her reaction like so many this dramatic?

I get sport and I love it but this whole football craze does shock me and I find it a bit scary. The money people spend to support their teams is huge. Maybe the players should be using some of their HUGE salaries to help fund their supporters supporting costs? It's not just the costs but the time and distance people travel to go watch to. Liverpool fans were even having to get on replacement buses due to the trains being cancelled!

Anyways despite the rant I loved the game and it goes without saying the atmosphere at Wembley is just fantastic. It’s an extremely well managed venue and a wonderful experience being there for such a big event.

Australian Open 2012

In case you didn’t watch or haven’t already been told by a friend/family Sunday’s Australian Open final was truly spectacular. Not only was it an absolutely epic five-setter that went five hours 53 minutes but it has also gone down in history as one of the longest matches ever. On this one occasion it really was the taking part that counts. After gaining the title Djokovic noted, "It was the longest Grand Slam final of all time. Just hearing that fact makes me cry," highlighting the emotion of it all.

I could happily continue writing about the match itself because it was exceptional, but….I actually wanted to draw your attention to another moment in the match. RAIN DELAY. Unlike the infamous moments at Wimbledon when the rather well built British boys come running out with covers, the moments witnessed during Sunday’s final were somewhat surprising.

Who would have thought that the job description for the Australian ball kids in the unlikely incident of rain (it is their summer) required them to get down on hands and knees with towels and wipe the court dry! It really did crack me up - so much so I had to pause and take photos. 

Ball boys drying the courts!

Nokia Lumia 800 lights up London.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when we were all comparing our latest Nokia phones. It was quite simply the phone to have. I remember the adjustable covers which formed a constant discussion point at school. I do believe my first nokia was the almighty 3210 – oh what a phone!

Sadly for Nokia their domination is no more. It’s hard to miss the fact everyone seems to be walking around with the latest blackberry/iphone. Putting that aside they are trying hard to get themselves back out there.

I have previously blogged about their “The Amazing Everyday” commercial but today I want to introduce their incredible light display. I don’t quite know why I haven’t blogged this yet – its not because I’ve only just watched it. I have shown it to many of my friends wishing I’d be there to witness it.

The 4D projection show really is spectacular and with the addition of Deadmaus dj-ing it certainly grabs an audience – not only those present but the nearing 3 million people who have watched it online. I think full marks are to be given to Nokia.

The Boyfriend

Apologies but that thing called Christmas has meant my blogging has kind of died down the last few weeks. In my last post I introduced the wonderful gift given to me by a close friend and now is the time to introduce my wonderful hand made boyfriend.

Along with the help of my cousin I made him one evening in front of the TV. Now I must admit that just as finding a boyfriend has its challenges, making one is equally tricky!  The problem with his plasticine form is that too much handling means he begins to melt so the whole moulding and creative process proved rather challenging.

Despite this I must admit I think we did a pretty good job. People have questioned the choice of a centre parting and it might seem a rather old fashioned option but I preferred it to the quiff or spike styles suggested. I guess a centre parting will just have to suffice.

As you can see below the set even came with a rather stunning scene. I am suspicious about this particular photo as it seems to include a poster of another lady. Aside from that I’d like to think my boyfriend is the perfect gentleman – he even brought flowers!