Once upon a time… …there was a young girl called Sam, who loved to dance and sing and do gymnastics. As Sam got older she still loved to dance…but the sports? Not so much. Still, she would dance and dance – at nightclubs and festivals […]
Never underestimate the healing power of a good old…clean? That can’t be right, surely? Replace ‘clean’ with dance, snog, laugh or cry and I’m sure anyone would concur with the statement. But clean?! Those are words I never thought I’d see these idle little […]
Hey girls! Listen up! Before you look at my perfect Insta-worthy body and scroll on by with a sigh, wait a sec… Ha! Thought that’d get your attention. Whaddya mean, I don’t have a perfect body?! Well, maybe not quiiite yet. But I live in […]
So the bad thing about jetlag is being wide awake from 3am. The good thing about jetlag is that I’ve done two blog assignments and written this poem – and all before 8.30… I’ve always valued experiences over things, and this is never clearer in […]
So, will you fall…or fly? There’s only one way to find out: JUMP! To kick off the New Year I decided to take the leap into the unknown. I have no idea if my parachute will open or if I’ll fall to Earth with […]
My social media newsfeeds have been awash with a flurry of engagement announcements this Christmas: loved-up couples beaming contently at the camera, sparkling diamond rings proudly held aloft. Good luck to them, I say. Heaven knows they’ll need it. Nobody likes a naysaying numpty tarnishing […]
I love to travel. Sometimes I even love to travel alone. I’ve backpacked solo around Thailand, no problem. I’m a grown-ass woman after all: big enough, savvy enough…yep, and ugly enough to take care of myself. Sure, there were moments of loneliness; occasions where […]
It’s not the one you’re thinking of, or any from the typical arsenal of word-weapons – the ones we humans launch at one another in moments of anger, when the red mist descends and none of the others are quite hitting their target. No, the […]
‘Tis this time of year, as the clocks go back, the nights draw in and Halloween looms, that the vivid imaginations of Earth-dwellers all over this wondrous planet of ours begin to conjure up images of witchcraft and wizardry; supernatural goings-on. For this blog, therefore, […]
Today is Roald Dahl Day, in celebration of the life of one of the nation’s most-loved children’s authors. It’s also the build-up to Clockwork Orange at The O2 this weekend, one of my favourite parties. Therefore, today’s blog is a little fictional story that I dreamed […]
Okay, so I'd rather I was on the cover of a magazine as the glamorous cover star rather than a sad caption alongside an image of me beaming away in my wedding dress, oblivious to the tough times ahead, but there it is. If someone […]
When you think of a minority group, who do you think of? Those who are discriminated against because of their ethnicity, disability, religion or sexual orientation? So not me, then: a straight, white, working-class, able-bodied woman? If you see me walking down the street, dressed […]
Like all the most interesting characters I’ve had the pleasure of meeting throughout my life, Ibiza has a multi-faceted personality. She is the wild, dancing-on-the-bar party girl, the last one standing at the end of the night; that crazy chica who simply throws back another […]
The dress was pure, unadulterated glamour: little silk flowers intricately hand-sewn onto an hourglass corseted bodice, embellished with hundreds of twinkling Swarovski crystals. My mega-watt smile as I turned slowly this way and that in the mirror to admire it was almost as dazzling; I […]
To some, the word “festival” conjures up fond memories of matted hair, muddy wellies and swigging warm pink Lambrini from a supersize bottle in the pouring rain. If that’s your idea of fun, you may as well keep on scrollin’ sista, ’cause this post ain’t […]
When we were growing up, in the late seventies and eighties, our parents were in charge. Well, Dad was anyway. If my younger sister Karen and I pushed our luck with our mum, we’d soon be silenced when she coolly delivered the killer line: “Just […]
11th June – 6 weeks until Ibiza! Sooo, it’s 6 weeks now until we hit Ibiza for the Clockwork Orange weekender bender and as I sit munching my Kettle Chips and M&S Victoria Sponge Muffins (which are, by the way, orgasmic) with all the restraint […]
Yesterday, I was out and about with my partner Andy at Croydon Food Festival, when a message popped into my Facebook messenger inbox. Followed by another. Then another. All were from women who, like me, had suffered the agony of failed fertility treatment. They were […]
I was contacted recently to ask if I’d be willing to share my story in Closer Magazine, on the topic of failed IVF and the potentially disastrous effect it can have on a marriage. Whilst it is a painful and highly personal topic, I immediately […]
There are two types of people on social media, as there are in the real world: those that are happy to share every detail of their life, keeping their profile set to “public,” accumulating friends and memories, open to every new experience and opportunity, trusting everyone. […]
