The Lighter Side of Life

“T'was the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...”

Oh oops I’m sorry. I meant that

"T'was the night before the wedding, and all through the nation,
TVs were switched off to avoid media obsession...”

I’ll tell you, it’s most frustrating that even ‘haters’ are talking about the wedding, albeit how to avoid proceedings (yes yes, myself included but that’s besides the point!) Despite concerted, concentrated effort to shun information, speculation and coverage, my very naive attempt at catching up on news last night led to my plunge directly into the clutches of royal scoop - “Kate and Will in rehearsal ceremony”. Yes, well I don’t honestly care BBC, now if you’ll just let me continue reading about the blasts in Marrakech and the storms in the States puh-lease?! Weather-dependent I’m considering taking my bike and hiding away somewhere in the country-side tomorrow. I guess we’ll see. Marriage is beautiful, but isn't it personal?

It’s been a good day today. Spent a lovely afternoon with one of my sweetest girlies, Avni, and we wandered aimlessly (well, I did atleast while she distributed CVs) through Westfield Shopping Centre. It is the first time I've been there with the leisure of having a proper look around and I can now say that I fully understand what all the hype is about. It’s bloomin’ amazing and absolutely huge too. I think the Harlequin centre in Watford (best shopping centre in Herts, pretty great in its own right) would fit into it four or five times over. And it’s not just that, it’s utterly state-of-the-art...très chic indeed. Amongst other things we...

...marvelled at the cake shops (and clearly, posed next to them too)

...went a little overboard at the Lego store (but my oh my, what a store!)

...took rather a long time choosing which ice-cream to have...

...settled for a Mcdonald’s lunch (classy birds, we are) after being discouraged by the mile-long queue outside Nando's

and also discovered what a “fashion virgin” I am. In truth, I've never even heard of half the stores at Westfield's but some of them were so far beyond the throws of my wildest imagination, I don't think words can fully describe my surprise. Explosions of colour and high-fashion aspirations with store set-ups to resemble everything from nightclubs (Hollister, Gilly Hicks) to beaches (Superdry). Fashion scenes change so quickly and whilst it’s definitely important to create your own sense of fashion, roaming a little further than your regular shopping comfort zone just opens up so many more possibilities – who’d have known there are SO many shops to choose from?!

I definitely feel like I have been out of touch with the lighter side of life for a very long time, but today was a great break away from the darker days. Friends are well and truly like angels. A gift to us to let us know that life is beautiful, people can be trustworthy and time will return a lost smile to our face.

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