Sorry to anyone who got the wrong idea from my post title, but this little addition relates to my new hobby as a Virgin Vie cosmetics, jewellery and homeware consultant.
About a month ago the lovely lady I work with who has been supplying my monthly fix of jewellery and cosmetics moved to a different office leaving me with retail withdrawal symptoms. In addition, I received my annual pay review, which I now call the annual disappointment. This led me to look at our monthly accounts, and after the essentials such as food, fuel, bills and chocolate I found that cosmetics were a big spend for me. I had a couple of options, I could stop buying them - yeah, right - or I could buy cheaper off the shelf stuff - like that's gonna happen! The other alternative was to end 4 years of procrastination and sign up as a consultant. I didn't know anyone who was a current consultant so I went through the web site and filled in a form. Two days later a bubbly lady called Faye gave me a call and arranged a quick drink at the pub after work to have a chat with no pressure. A bit of wine later and I signed on the dotted line.
One week later - my kit arrives. The consultant manual insists that you use everything in the kit so you know what you're selling. Don't have to tell me twice! My house smells fantastic and my skin feels great! I had a starter party at my home that Faye presented so I could see how its done - I've got a lot to live up to after her performance! I had to get bookings for 4 parties, and here I hit a stumbling block. However, I made the age old S.O.S call "MUM!" and I soon had her and my wonderful aunt signed up. My mother-in-law provided a willing friend and one of the many lovely ladies I work with gave me number 4. I was ready.
My first goal was to hit the £225 party average - this I did at the starter party. I then had to do my first solo performance. My aunt stepped up to the mark for this one and after a training session on my mum's face I hit the first party running. Fortunately, I managed to keep all of the make up off my aunts new pale cream carpet and I didn't make anyone look like a drag queen. Always a plus. Party number 2 was the following night (didn't plan that very well) and although tired I managed to pull the bunny out of the hat and impress everyone into parting with their hard earned cash. I'm on a roll and I've now exceeded the £500 sales necessary for my kit offer so I don't have to pay any extra on the start up costs. I'm also very close to reaching the sales necessary for this months special offer on the Christmas kit which I never thought I would do! It goes to show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. All I need now is a couple of Angels to distribute my books and collect orders and a consultant or two to sign up and I'm there! So, if anyone out there in the Warwickshire/Leicestershire area is interested in hosting a party, becoming an Angel or a consultant like me then please use this link and I'll get back to you. x
As I mentioned in the Tattoo post, we went to Edinburgh for our 2nd wedding anniversary. What an amazing place. As I’ve said before, we didn’t get off to a great start, and my mystery tummy pains didn’t help, but despite this I can’t think of anywhere I would rather have been for the weekend.
I can’t believe how much there is to see and do in Edinburgh, especially with the festival in full flow. We watched the hilarious chicken man from Canada strutting his stuff on the Royal Mile and there were many others to watch as you walked along. The whisky centre near the castle was a learning experience, and I made a new friend as I couldn’t drink my tasting sample due to my poorly tummy so gave it to an American visitor. A quick visit to the centre’s scotch shop also scored me bonus daddy’s g
irl points! As you may have gathered from my previous post, the tattoo was amazing and the following day we took a trip up to the castle for a look around. What a view! The ramparts give you wonderful views of the new city all the way out the the Fourth bridge and beyond. For all you glitter struck girlies they also have the Scottish crown jewels on display. My favourite part of the castle was the beautiful little Chapel of St Margaret - perhaps it was something to do with all of the purple that was in there? All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend the weekend and we shall definitely be going back!
As our 2nd wedding anniversary approached, we decided to organise something to mark the occasion. We have both said for years that we want to visit Edinburgh so we thought this was the prime opportunity. However, for some reason, we couldn’t find a hotel with vacancies. As my dear hubby looked into it he found that the tattoo was on so hotel rooms were like gold dust. After some dedicated searching online, hubby dear found a package for 2 nights at the Edinburgh Marriott with a pair of tattoo tickets and we were on our way.
It didn’t start well. I came down with a bad tummy on the day before we were due to drive up, which lasted all weekend and is still bothering me now despite a couple of visits to the docs. The drive up was 4 hours longer than it needed to be due to a lorry spilling its load of cooking oil all over the motorway. We finally arrived at the hotel just before midnight and got ourselves sorted out and off to bed, only to be woken by a fire alarm at 3.30am where we had to stand out in the car park for half an hour.
Morning dawned, and things felt a bit better after a big Scottish breakfast - only wish I could have eaten it without the stomach cramps! We spent the day wondering around Edinburgh, visiting the whisky centre (scored bonus points with my dad!) and watching the live fringe shows along the Royal Mile.
And now for the tattoo. What a brilliant show. The massed pipers looked and sounded great. The New Zealand band were fantastic and had us in stitches as they sent their tuba players flouncing around the arena to the sounds of the sugar plum fairy, before they all downed instruments to treat us to a haka. As for the Top Secret Drum Core from Switzerland, I think the secrets out about how brilliant you are. The tattoo was one of the items on my list of things to do before I die and I’m so glad I did it - especially as I know how green with envy my parents are! We shall all have to go together another year as I don’t think this is the last time I’ll see it!
Final Croatia installment.
So the second half of our day trip to Slovenia took us to Lipica, birthplace of the Lipizzana horse, famous for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. As we arrived, a huge thunderstorm broke out leaving us running for the indoor arena where we were treated to a dressage and driving show by the most talented of the white horses. As a pony mad teenager I always longed to see these horses in action, and here I was. Whilst it was a poignant moment for me, I could see that it was all a bit lost on my poor hubby who prefers his horse power to run on wheels. Fortunately, the rain calmed down a little after the show which allowed us to take a tour of the stud and learn more about the horses. My favourite part would have to be all of the cute little foals running around in the fields. I think my husbands favourite part of the trip was getting back to the hotel in time for dinner!
Another chapter for the Croatia trip.
One of the day trips we booked took us across the border into Slovenia to Postonja Caves. For all you budding geologists this place is a must. A little train takes you on a 10 minute blast underground through jaw dropping caverns, some of which are bigger than a couple of cathedrals. You then hop off the train and walk to your preferred language meeting point for a 45 minute tour on foot through the caverns.
This tour is not for the faint hearted as it goes up and down some pretty steep, wet concrete pavements, and small bridges take you across great chasms as you walk through the stunning caverns. It is all beautifully lit to get the most out of the calcite creations, and they remind you of this by unexpectedly switching 
out the lights for a moment so you can experience the absolute darkness. At the end of the tour the little train blasts you back up to the surface where we enjoyed a slap up 3 course lunch in a snazzy little restaurant, before boarding our luxury bus for the trip on to Lipica to see the horses.
So, as I mentioned in my Croatia posting, there was a harbour in Porec that did day trips to Venice. Too good an opportunity to miss! 8am found our little family unit aboard a large high speed boat called the Princess of Dubrovnik. 2 hours later and we reached the Venetian lagoon. It then took approximately an hour to cruise through the lagoon before we docked, went through passport control and organised ourselves into groups with guides too take us to St Mark’s square.
Unfortunately, our guide must have been ex-SAS as we were route marched at top speed through the narrow, cramped and crowded streets, all of which was a little uncomfortable in the 30+ degree heat - I don’t want to know what the humidity levels were! However, we eventually reached the square. What a place. It was full of people, pigeons, music and was just awe inspiring. Here we met with Edna Everidge’s Italian cousin, who was a vision in red and spoke good English as she walked us around the square giving us the full tour before taking us to a glass factory. After this we were left to our own devices for a few hours as we wondered the streets and visited the Rialto bridge market. What an amazing place. We have got to go back for a long weekend and do more exploration. Its great just wandering up and down all of the little streets as you don’t really get lost, and there are so many interesting little shops and drinking holes. There is also a Ferrari merchandising outlet with a replica F1 car in the window. Plenty of ways to spend your Euros with a cash machine on every corner to help you on your way - as my darling hubby discovered.
When we got tired of our wonderings, we tootled back to the square to await the organised trip on the water taxis along the Grand Canal back to our ship. If you enjoy people watching, then the steps in St Mark’s square are the place for you. We were fortunate enough to see a wedding whilst we waited. After this we caught our water taxi for a cruise down the Grand Canal before going home. This was fantastic as there are so many beautiful buildings along the canal. It also looked a lot safer than taking a 
gondola! We were dropped off right next to our ride home - which my sore feet were very grateful for - and just under 3 hours later we were back in Porec. We were sunburnt, tired and footsore, but if you gave us the chance we would all do it again. A truly amazing place to visit if you should ever get the chance - just take your sun cream and sharpen your elbows!
Apologies to anyone out there who gives a damn about this site for my lack of posts recently, but to use one of my darling husbands favourite phrases, “I couldn’t be arsed”. Also, what many people fail to realise is that I don’t have a life so I haven’t got much to blog about. However, since some of you (mum/hubby) have pestered me about my recent lack of ramblings, I thought I should make the effort. In addition to this, I also have a couple of things worth a mention. So lets start with Croatia.
Some people thought it was a strange choice for a family holiday destination, but hats off once again to my mother-in-law for finding a top class cheap week away! Just under 2 hours on a plane and we were there - unlike the 6 hour endurance test we had to pass to get to Luxor. The airport looked like something from James Bond cold war theme backdrop, but our bags arrived at the terminal almost as quickly as we did so we were quickly on our way for the 45 minute drive to Porec. Well worth the time as the landscape is beautiful and the Thompson rep knew her stuff so the time passed quickly.
We now enter the time warp. Anyone who had a bad acid trip in the late sixties/early seventies should steer clear of the hotels as when you wake up on your first morning you will think you’re having flashbacks and who knows were that could end up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not really complaining. The buses used were always smack bang up to date and better than anything I’ve had to use in the UK. The hotel was clean and the staff were outstanding. The dining room was modern and the food was good every night. However, most of the decor and styling harked back to the seventies both inside and out. You could see where they had already modernised, but as a result, you could see all too plainly what needed changing.
With regard to the town itself, well you decide. Lots of romanesque streets full of pavement cafes, jewellery shops and Itallian style ice cream parlours, and a bustling harbour with boat trips across to Venice. All of this was a 20 minute walk or 5 minute miniature train ride away.
So the flight over was short and the airport processed us quickly, the Thompson rep was enthusiastic and took good care of us, the hotel was clean and comfortable and all of the people we came across where freindly and spoke good English, the town was beautiful, the trips to Venice and Slovenia where once in a lifetime experiences and I even got a slight tan. So everything was cushty? Well not quite. You know I can’t help myself when it comes to grumbling so here goes. Birmingham airport baggage control is an absolute sack of crap. Perhaps we were spoilt by the staff in Croatia but from landing to leaving Birmingham airport took us almost 2 hours. Suitcases that have travelled unscathed to Egypt, Prague and Germany eventually came out on the conveyor belt with locks broken and material damaged. So thank you Birmingham airport for managing to be the crappy welcome home after a truly wonderful holiday.
I’ll start off by apologising to all of the bra burning feminists of the last century for my next deranged rambling, but you really have made a rod for women’s backs!
Life used to be set in a pattern for us girls where you grew up, got married and then took your station in life to look after hearth and home whilst hubby dear went off to earn a crust. Now we grow up continually trying to excel not only in the girlie subjects like home economics and office studies, but we also try to beat the boys at their own games - okay, so we frequently win, but that’s not the point! Whilst there are many boys that claim to be men of the new millennium, lets face facts, when push comes to shove, we girls are still expected to tow the line with the housework, home accounts and children. My husband may cover a lot of the cooking, but his first question every night when he comes in from work is “What are we having for tea?”. I’m still expected to make the decisions and ensure that the kitchen is ready with utensils and ingredients for him to play out his TV chef fantasies!
For those women who have found dream guys who do a full day at work before coming home to pander to your every whim - Congratulations! However, the sad fact is that many blokes, no matter how helpful they are, would rather be sat watching the footie with their mates in the pub before coming back to a clean and tidy home and dinner on the table. To this I say “Fine!”. Many may have complained in the past, but 
a housewives life is not necessarily a desperate one! Imagine if you and all of your girlie friends didn’t have to go to work every day. With the house work up to date, it would only take an hour or two of your time to keep on top of things. Kick the husband off to work, dump the kids at school, a quick flick with the duster and the day is your own until you have to start on the dinner. Coffee mornings and long lunches with your friends, the occasional shopping trip, and regular sessions at the gym with that rather hunky personal trainer who’s in such great demand since the sauna incident.
The alternative is to carry on as you are. Get up at the crack of dawn seeing to everyone else before you rush off to a full day at work. Return home feeling completely shattered and then start on the housework and cooking. Spend your weekends catching up on all of the chores you didn’t have time for in the week, and book odd days off when things really get on top of you. Piles of paperwork, bills you’ve forgotten to pay, and the longest conversation you have with hubby dear is the e-mails you sent from work. Therefore, I’m making a stand. A woman’s place is in the home. My ambition in life is to be a housewife. Now if I could just get that lottery win, I’d be on my way …….
I recently had the good fortune to spend a week in Luxor, Egypt. I realise that some people have become a little nervous of travelling to Egypt after the recent trouble, but it is no more dangerous than going shopping in London. The worst thing that happened to us was being ripped off by our Tour Company, First Choice, when booking trips and hotel rooms. They charged us £20 for the temple light show when it only cost £4 to get in. All the tour guide did was get us on a bus for 5 minutes (the hotel had a free shuttle bus) and he bought the tickets for us - so he probably paid less than £4 a ticket! Also, we were rammed into the plane for the 6 hour flight with no leg room and no ceremony. If they could have got us to sit on each others laps to get more in the plane then I think they would have done! Our complaints fell on deaf ears so needless to say we won’t be using them again.
Things I wish I’d known before hand are:
- Don’t travel with First Choice
- Take £20 sterling for your visa
- Take lots of £1 coins for tips
- Sterling is best when bartering
- Take your own loo roll
- Don’t use the loo in the Valley of the Kings (its an experience, but not one I wish to repeat)
- Try to organise your own trips before booking through the tour operator
Luxor itself is wonderful and the people are lovely. During our week away we visited the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, temples by day and by night and lots of museums. The highlight of the week was watching the sun rise over Luxor from a hot air balloon near the Valley of the Kings. I also enjoyed all of the attention I got from the local boys who love British women, even when they are rather plump, hot, sweaty and wearing no make up! My husband could have been a rich man for all the camels he was offered for me. I’ve been asked if I’d go back and the honest answer is no. I’ve been there and done that - but I can’t wait to go to Cairo!
