One more day of commuting

Thank the lord as it is slowly driving me crazy

I get back from holiday and then get the train in on Monday to work. Within 15 minutes of leaving the house I am already stressed as the stupid train is delayed. Within an hour I'm even more stressed as I am now in London but the entire central line has shut down so I am now trundling along the ancient circle line at about 2 miles per hour. I arrive 30 minutes late for work, my journey should take an hour and a half but instead its taken 2 and a half. Stresssssssssssssssssss.

Last night another fine example, I'm settling back into my seat on the train with my good book (Sister, Rosamund Lupton - very good crime literature) feeling rather relaxed and happy to have not missed the train. Just as the train is about to leave a red haired 40 something lady runs onto the train and sits down with a thud on the seat opposite me. She gets out her blackberry and after laughing out loud and loudly to several text messages (just weird, why would you do that?) then proceeds to make 3 very loud phone calls. I will list these below in more detail so you get an idea of my "entertainment" for the 35 minute train journey:

1. I'm assuming it must be husband - she confirms she is on the train, she asks if their is wine in the fridge as she's had "the day from hell" and "I just can't take it anymore, I mean its just full of b******t". She rants on a bit further about her boss and that she should be home in an hour and then hangs up

She has spoken quite loudly on this call and the packed out but yet silent carriage all breathe a sigh of relief. Myself included, my book is getting good and I don't want to be distracted. But no, she dials again on the blackberry and starts up conversation number 2 at an even louder volume

2. It must be a friend as she once again starts ranting about her horrible job, "But yes darling, you wouldn't understand as you're job is all numbers and figures. Mine's just b******t. Arty farty people who just don't have a clue" but she carries on "Anyway, I don't want to talk about it. How's Susan?" Susan it turns out has broken up with her husband (I assume in their little village clique of friends) and I'm assuming its for some kind of affair reason as red haired lady is not a fan of the husband. "I know what he's playing at. He's trying to give her space and then hope she'll come back. I hope she doesn't. He's a right swine." Poor Susan.

3. Another call back to the husband to confirm she's not far away and then proceeds to read out headlines from the newspaper she's reading claiming all news is b******t and what are they thinking? "Has Pippa Middleton's bum caused the Euro to crash?" She may have a point there.

While all this is going on, about 5 other commuters all crammed into the train around her are giving her ultimate death stares but nothing is deterring her from gossip hour. I have read 1 page of my book but it's not going in as all I can hear is her.

I get off the train annoyed that I haven't read my book, annoyed I'm angry at red haired woman and also annoyed that I will never know what happend to Susan.

This is why people shouldn't chat on their phones in quiet train carriages.

One more day to go - oh yes.

Yesterday did the quick rounds of Forever 21 - very nice. Cheap and cheerful and kind of what I was expecting. Could be good for cute little tops and cardigans though

Wedding on saturday - coral shift dress, cropped balck short sleeved jacket, nude LK bennett shoes, black circular fascinator and black satin clutch bag. Still have a tan so hoping that will mask my enormous tummy and bum which are emerging from below due to no exercise

I will be back on track next week and will be in official training for my triathlon in august and half marathon in october - bring it on

xxxx

I am alive

Oh dear, I appeared to completely drop of the face of blog land.

But I am back and almost recovered from my hiatus.

The last week in the run up to my lovely holiday was rather manic - commuting still and trying to do last minute coursework bits and pre-holiday prep. There was also my trip to Wimbledon - awesome funness and got to see Murray play and pretty solid match. Shame he couldn't go all the way to the final, I nearly cried when he went out in the semis - why, why, why can he not hold it together? Poor chap, I am pretty confident he will do it next year.

I was very pleased with my fashion choice of white pleated skirt and plain white top and cream jacket for my day at SW19. Especially as the Duchess then wore something very similar on her day to the All England Club. I loved the dress she wore, she looked so cute, like she was actually going off to play tennis in the 20s.

My holiday to Italy was just fabulous, not nearly long enough and I am feeling the pressure at work and with my course at the moment. But I will not be overcome and will battle through with some extra energy courtesy of basking in the Italian rays for a week. Some essential shopping was also done - two pairs of just beautiful 100% leather ballet pumps from a gorgeous Italian boutique called Plas in Nocci, a Zara jacket in the sale from Bari and a lovely 100% leather handbag from Fasano. Bellissima! A week of salads, fish, lean meat and not too much bread has left me feeling like I didn't indulge too much but my exercise routine has completely disappeared.

I have a triathlon at the end of the month and a half marathon at the end of October - oh good lord. Never mind - I will power on. Plus just before I went away I did a 50k cycle race as part of a relay triathlon which was hard work but fine and definitely given me something to improve on. Bring it.

So tanned and blonde but could be slimmer! Is my current status but I am happily facing a 4 day week at work due to my boyfriends graduation service on Friday - oh yes I am the girlfriend of a doctor - I love it.

Only one more week of commuting and then I will be joining the ranks of other famous Wessex WAGS before me and moving in my gorgeous boyfriend. He is hilarious, I will leave you with a little story of us a couple of nights ago.

Whilst looking at our holiday snaps, my boyfriend quips up with:

"Gosh, I am selling some serious tickets in that photo"

Me: "Tickets? Im sorry, to what?"

B: "Tickets to the gun show"

I know this shouldn't be funny, but I am one of those hopeless girls who giggle at anything a good looking boy says to big themseleves up. BUT only when its true and luckily my boyfriend does have rather good arms, so he can get away with stuff like the above. Just don't tell him, I told you so

Happy Wednesday x

PS. This post is dedicated to Legs, getting better every day and who I am always thinking of xxxx

SW19 - date with Murray and Nadal please

New balls please because Lottie is heading to SW19 All England Club on Friday with her cousin for a day on Centre Court - not too shabby. This has been a dream of mine since I started playing tennis aged 6 and to go to Wimbledon since I saw Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf play on the telly when I was little. I loved his ponytail and funny walk across the court.

I should hopefully get to see Murray play if a) the rain holds off and he gets to play his match today b) he wins the match and c) he gets put on Centre Court. Today he's on No 1 so I really really hope they put him on Centre. My next dilema is what to wear??? As I'm on Centre I won't need a full proof rain coat as the roof will come on when it rains. However I will need some kind of splash proof outfit as its looking like some kind of rainfall is inevitable.

I want to wear some kind of skirt or dress and a jacket - a summer layered preppy look. I had originally thought - yes, this is another reason to buy the gorgeous blue dress from Whistles. I have my eye on this for my boyfriends graduation and other miscellanous summer day time events. I can't seem to upload a picture of it - grrr. But its a cute bright blue dress with short sleeves and structured skirt. It has a cute matching belt with bow on it. So sweet and conservative. However I am going to resist.

I have instead opted for something out of my current wardrobe and gone for a white pleated knee length skirt, white t-shirt, caramel coloured cardigan, pale green scarf and burberry cropped trench jacket. Will be taking my ray bans with me too - just in case. Plus my gorgeous tan loafers which I love wearing at the moment.

My cousin is bringing fizz and pimms and i am in charge of food for our little sumptious picnic. I'm going to do some salads, little sandwiches and some cold pizza! Perfecto.

I'm so excited. Have a weekend at my parents this weekend but again still have work to do, so will be spending the majority of it working on my essays. What good fun! Maximum fun then has to be attained on Friday to make up for the otherwise fairly tedious weekend. Will be super lovely to see my sister and mummy and daddy though!

Mid week chaps, nearly there x

Moments in life

Does everyone know that scene in Pretty Woman where Richard Gere and Julia Roberts are lying in bed together and she opens up her heart about her troubled life into hooker-ville and Richard Gere simply replies with:

"I think you, are a bright, beautiful and very special person" and its just terribly romantic because all week he's been a closed book and no-one really understands why he's paid Julia Roberts to stay with him and its obvious he's falling in love with her?

Well I did not have a moment like that  last night. No, while I'm literally about to fall asleep my boyfriend turns to me and says "Charlotte...So shall we go with First Direct for the joint account?" Then when I only mumble something back has a go at me for not taking "an active interest in our finances". Oh dear.

I will be taking an active interest in our finances, I am going to try my hardest. However while I will be trying my best to take an interest in something that frankly I find about as interesting as watching paint dry. I fear that my boyfriend will not be taking an active interest in romantic situations for us to experience now we are going to be living together. While I understand our weeks will not be spent on private chartered planes taking us to the opera and polo matches, is it so wrong to want "date night"? Which I am reliably informed is an essential component of living with the other sex. My boyfriend isn't totally convinced but he is a work in progress.

Right I am off to research bank accounts. Maybe if I show an "active interest" in researching bank accounts I can guilt on that he needs to do something for me.

I might even find bank accounts interesting and then maybe thats what we'll do on date night - research investments together

Have a good Tuesday

What a difference some sleep, a run and a couple of swims makes

And I'm human again.

Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that one extremely drunken night and two weeks of busy commuting would turn me into the creature from the black lagoon. But it did. After leaving work early on friday evening only to get trapped on the central line for 15 minutes due to a "signal failure" and then missing my train, getting the next train and then getting off the train to cycle home in torrential rain - I tied my magazine and bag of superdrug goodies to the back of my bike and set off in the down pour. About 2 minutes into the cycle I got severely splashed by a van going past which in turn knocked my goodies and letters and magazine off the back of my bike. I decided to tackle this misfortune in the nature of the mature 27 year old I am. Yes I threw the bike on to the side of the road where I proceeded to scream and jump and shout like a petulant 2 year old in the rain until another car came by and I realised how stupid I looked and sheepishly gathered up my stuff and cycled on. I get home and realise I have left the shampoo I bought on the side of the road. Fantastic.

But it's fine, a nice meal and a lie in on Saturday I wake up feeling headache free for the first time in 2 weeks and grab the hyperventilating dog and go for a run along the river and fields (they have a springer spaniel so it goes nuts for walks)

I return a new woman. Filled with positivity and hope for a new world.

After a few hours of chilling out I went to the hairdressers for my annual highlights appointment. Being a natural dark blonde every summer before I go away I get some highlights put in to give me blonder summery hair. Unfortunately it hasn't quite worked. How can I tell? Because I spent nearly £100 and not a single person has noticed I've done anything to my hair! The idea and brief I gave to the hairdresser was to look "significantly blonder" than I do at the moment. Brief has not been attained and I have to go back next week to have more put in - grrrr.

Sunday my boyfriend returns from a stag do a broken man. He can barely put a sentence together and open his eyes. He has been out every night since he finished his exams and is clearly a dead man walking. I loved that he was proud of his "pacing" and that he was walking around Norwich at 5:30 am on Sunday morning with his friend Simon - well done honey! So proud of you. Obviously what goes on tour stays on tour, but I happen to know that someone was sick all over the boat, several people fell off the boat, even more jumped off the boat and one person was having extreme paranoia meltdown yesterday.

I for one cannot judge as I spent all of last week in a mild case of paranoia. Helped only by boyfriend coming back last night and saying "Did you sing with the band at the wedding last weekend?" Oh good god. Note to self, really need to stop having such a close knit everyone-knows-everyone group of friends.

Sunday evening I also find out that MORE friends of ours have got engaged. They have been together only 2 years but hey who's comparing? (We've been together 6) After the total drunken bridget jones behaviour last weekend that has not managed to escape my boyfriends attention I fear I may be waiting a while longer. Woe be me. Everyone else is glamorous engaged gals or newly weds while I am destined to wander the planet as drunk singer girl at weddings.

Our friends that have got engaged are lovely and make a really lovely couple so I am very happy for them. Plus I just love weddings, they are literally the best things ever. I cannot wait to hear the engagement story and I have a sneaky suspicion this engagement will involve an enormous rock - sparkler to ooooh and aaaah over - I can't wait!

Yesterday I did 25 minutes of swimming and this morning I did 20 minutes of swimming too. I am slightly tired but feeling good and ready to brace the day. Plus this week my boyfriend is at home so I get to see his lovely face every evening. And he has a very gorgeous face. Plus its Wimbledon and I cannot wait to see what Sharapova is sporting this year - will she follow Kate's trend and add some lace to her tennis dress? Or stick to fool proof frills?

Come on Murray - you can do it!

Enjoy your Mondays x

MIA

To be honest I am been so wiped and down about commuting (which I now hate) I haven't had the energy to blog. Bad - yes.

Commuting sucks, getting up early sucks, sitting on a train which smells really bad for 40 minutes in the morning sucks, then getting on a tube which is really hot and rammed full sucks, getting back on the hot stuffed tube at the end of the day sucks and then getting on the smelly train for another 40 minutes SUCKS.

Why am I so down in the dumps? Because I am not doing nearly enough exercise. As my boyfriend said to me the other day "You will need to exercise every day, or the commute will drive you crazy". Well it already has so next week is officially - "I can cope with commuting and still do exercise" Week. I just don't get how these people get up sit on a train, sit a desk, sit on a train and then go home? No wonder everyone on that train looks so miserable.

Me? No no no. I need exercise. This week I played netball on Monday night and went for a run last evening but its not enough. Wednesday I woke up with a splitting headache which I haven't been able to shift all week. I swear its down to the lack of exercise.

So plan for next week (and if I write it down I have to stick to it):

Monday - run before work - 30 minutes
Tuesday - run from office to Liverpool Street - 50 minutes
Wednesday - run before work - 30 minutes
Thursday - run from office to Liverpool Street - 50 minutes
Friday - rest!

A lot but I am an all or nothing kinda girl and also its nothing compared to my marathon schedule earlier this year.

I will continue with mission bikini which has somewhat dissolved into getting-up-each-day-and-trying-to-survive-the-commute mission.

The good news of this week has been:

a. The wedding was amazing! Bride and Groom left the church on a tractor and bales of hay, we all got little pots of jam made from fruit in the orchard from the farm, the sausages and hog roast for dinner were from pigs reared on the farm and Joanna (the Bride) looked incredible. Purely stunning and gorgeous in her beautiful (size 8) dress. They are now on honeymoon in South Africa and then Mauritius - amazing.

b. My boyfriend passed his medical degree and is now a Doctor - wooohooo. He is off on a stag do this weekend which is being held on a boat. I'm slightly scared he might fall in to the river during his insane excitement/drunkeness. My friend Soraya who I saw on Tuesday night simply stated "This makes you so much cooler than Kate Middleton now" Yes it does Soraya. I like it.

This weekend for me is being spent in the books. I have a lot of coursework to start and am going to get cracking this weekend. A mini-break will be had on Saturday to go to the hairdressers for my summer highlights annual appointment and then a further break on Sunday for a bike ride. My cycle leg for the Surveyors Triathlon is looming at the beginning of July and I plan to do a 20 km time trial type thing on Sunday to see how I'm shaping up. Probably quite badly.

Thank goodness it is Friday and thank goodness for weekends and turning off that stupid alarm clock

Have a lovely weekend

Beyond tiredness

What a week. Have been so ridiculously busy it has gone by in a whirlwind.

Commuting is fine, getting up at 6:30 is really not that bad and I could definitely manage a couple of even earlier mornings in order to squeeze in a run or workout. The only bad part of commuting this week has been the one evening being on the train only to be surrounded by a groupd of 15 year old German exhange students who took up the whole train cabin and the smell of BO was really quite something.

Living in the countryside is super lovely though, I love how quiet it is compared to my flat in Fulham and it is rather nice cycling to the station in the morning in the fresh air, even if it is only for a few minutes.

This week I have managed to achieve serveral mini-achievements:

1. I have found Ben and I a flat to rent in Southfields from August. Its a one bed in a nice modern development and although rather tired and in need of some TLC, its bright, spacious with lots of storage. Essential for moi.

2. I ran the City Square Mile race to raise money and awareness for the charity Crisis to help fight homelessness. I did the 4 mile race in 35 minutes (I wanted to do sub 35 mins but never mind!) It was also shockingly hard work. I have lost a lot of my running peak fitness since the marathon. But plenty of time to get that back, so not to worry

3. I have stuck to my healthy eating and feeling a lot slimmer, healthier and happier due to it. Result.

4. I have started my next batch of coursework for the Masters. Second to last piece of the year and its started.

I am now tired beyond tired. But its Friday and I am spending the weekend in Somerset at my darling friends Jo and Neil's wedding, which I am unbelievably excited about. They are getting married in Jo's local church and then the reception is in a marquee on Jo's parents farm. Think apple orchards, rolling hills, cider and hay. Its going to be wonderful. Jo and Neil are friends of mine from University. I met Jo on a night out and we bonded over the fact we had both broken up with our first time loves at similar times and a love of cheesy dance films and shopping. We lived together and she is one of my closest friends. I think I will need the tissues tomorrow. Especially as I count Neil a very good friend too. The outfit is ready - pink dress LK Bennett, flat cream pumps LK Bennett, cream jacket Phase Eight and pink fascinator Hats n Stuff. Mini pampering session this evening so I'm looking glowy and lovely tomorrow and an early night. As the drive from Herts to Somerset is going to take 3 and a half hours and my friends are meeting in the pub at 12:00 pm. Cheeky pimms before the service - has to be done.

Let's all pray there is no rain

I hope you all have lovely weekends