And I call myself a writer...

I am utterly ashamed to say that I haven't posted on here since August 2011, but that is all about to change. Yes, a couple of years ago I decided to set up this blog and ended up apologising to it every few months after neglecting it.

Well, I am pleased to say that A LOT has changed since I set up this blog, which was previously called 'The Dog Days Are (Far From) Over,' as the days of me being a struggling freelance journo are over! In August 2011 I landed an amazing job at the Daily Mail Online as part of the showbiz team. Now, the job did have it's ups and downs - the ups being the fact that I worked for the number one newspaper website in the world, met lots of amazing people and gained excellent digital experience, and the downs being the night shifts and hate mail from hardcore Kylie Minogue fans!

But without those 15 months at the Mail Online, I would never be where I am today, and that is at the Daily Express Online! I started working there in February this year, and I absolutely love it! I work with a great bunch of people, I am lucky enough to do sociable hours and I get some fantastic perks (I love a freebie, and I'm not ashamed to admit it!)

So, my excuse for neglecting my wonderful blog is that I've been pretty busy over the last two years, changing jobs, moving house several times and writing neverending stories about the likes of Kim Kardashian and co. but now I'm back, and I'm determined to stick at it - especially as I've become somewhat of a social butterfly lately!

As you'll notice, I have decided to change the name of my blog. This is mainly because the original title represented my quest to find the perfect journalist job, and now that I have my amazing job, I am no longer fighting those dog days. Instead, I have named it after a song by my all-time favourite band, The Gaslight Anthem.

The foursome, now fivesome, from New Jersey are just too good for words and I've been lucky enough to see them live several times and have even interviewed their frontman Brian Fallon. So, to ease you into my brand spanking new blog, I think my next post will be dedicated to that wonderful hour that I spent with Mr Fallon :)

The perks of being a journo....

So, here I am once again apologising for neglecting my wonderful, and rather short blog. Each time I come back to rekindle our relationship, my barely there blog always forgives me :)

Well, I'm afraid to say that the Dog Days are still far from over as my quest to bag a full time journalist role continues. However, I did finally hand my notice in at my part-time retail job and although I'm feeling the full (financial) effects right about now, I certainly don't miss the screaming kids, pile of clothes and ridiculously rude customers of Harrow!

Instead I have spent the last two weeks and one day (today) in the centre of London, Marble Arch to be precise, enjoying the role of Beauty Intern at Psychologies magazine. Yes, yes it was all very sudden and of course I'm going to use it as an excuse as to why I haven't blogged (my last post was in February!) but I am absolutely loving it. Unfortunately I haven't been given the opportunity to do any writing for the magazine or the website as of yet, but I have been doing lots of PR related stuff, which is just as important!!

64 North Row, the home of Psychologies, ELLE, Red and a few other magazines, was of course the starting point for me in terms of wanting to be a journalist. At the tender age of 15 I worked there for two weeks as part of my work experience during High School. The fortnight I spent at Sugar magazine was what made me want to be a magazine journalist and I will never forget that feeling of realisation. It is quite rare for teenagers to be so certain at a young age of their chosen career, but I knew that I had found mine, and being back at 64 North Row this month has reminded me of that.

I may not have much money in the bank and many new garments in my wardrobe :( but I do have my ambition, and the drive to succeed more than I ever have before. Oh, and let's not forget the tons of new toiletries sitting in my cupboard and on my bathroom shelf. Yes, I may be a struggling freelance journalist and I may be one for quite a while but the perks of this job (and by perks I mean FREE STUFF!) is definitely worth having to eat beans on toast for dinner over the next month or so.

Hello again!

Okay, so I realise that in my last post I promised not to neglect my blog...BUT...the NCTJ did take over my life, like I said, and now that it's all over I am determined to become blogtastic once again (not sure if I ever was!)

This long awaited post will be a short but sweet one as I only have one thing to say:

CHECK THESE GUYS OUT!!

http://www.facebook.com/theelectricmodern

xx

NCTJ HELL!!

Once again I am writing to apologise to my blog for months of neglect. However, this time it is not my fault!! This NCTJ course has decided to take over my life! Social life: goodbye, sleep: goodbye, stress-free weekends: goodbye! The past three months have been hectic to say the least, BUT there is light at the end of the tunnel and that light is CHRISTMAS!!! In exactly three weeks today, I shall be sitting down to eat my father's wonderful homecooked Christmas dinner and would have had a drink (or ten!) and will be looking forward to a game of SPOOOOOONS and a bit of Christmas TV. However, this year's festivities will be overshadowed by the fact that I have to fit in some revision as my exams will be taking place in January. But I am hopeful that I can do it and am determined to still enjoy Christmas!

P.S I promise I will try my hardest not to neglect you AGAIN!!

xx

Where have I been?!

Okay so the guilt has finally kicked in...I have totally neglected my wonderful blog for a couple of months now, but in my defence I do have some good excuses!! The Twilight obsession has worn off (for now!), the sunshine has officially disappeared and in a shocking turn of events, college is once again a part of my life. Yes, last month I decided to go back to college to get my NCTJ qualification. Starting on the 6th September at Lambeth College was definitely a bit daunting for me. Even having done the college thing at the age of 16, and the uni thing at the age of 18, the feeling of walking into a room full of strangers and worrying about who you will hang out with on your lunch break is still a scary feeling, even at the age of 22! But luckily I have met some lovely people, and three weeks in, am definitely feeling positive about the course. To explain it in a bit more detail, it is a fast-track Journalism course that only lasts 18 weeks. The NCTJ qualification is a gold star that will certainly make a big difference to any wannabe-journalist's CV. And in my case it will mean that I am trained up in magazines and newspapers.....hopefully making the world my very own oyster.

So i'm back to learning shorthand again, a skill that I thought was of no importance back in 2006 and am now eating my words!! My social life has disappeared as I finally give in to the fact that I have to spend all of my time studying, revising, reading etc! But last night, I had the opportuniuty to go out with a bang as I said goodbye to nights of getting tiddly and spending my money on cocktails. As I'm sure everyone was aware, this past week has been dedicated to London Fashion Week. This is a worldwide famous event that sees all the best designers showing off their latest collections to the best celebs in the front row, mixed in with nights of wonderful afterparties. Yesterday saw LFW close with Menswear day and I was lucky enough to bag an invite to the headlining event, the Ozwald Boateng show. Referred to as a +1 on the swanky invitation, I was accompanying my new college buddy John James, who is no stranger to these events and probably found my excitement a tad weird! However he did state that the show was the best he had ever been to and as we left with our numerous bottles of champers in search for the afterparty, we were highly impresses with the threads we had just seen.

Savile Row King Boateng certainly wanted to leave a lasting impression last night. Famous for being the youngest tailor to open a store on Mayfair's famous fashion street, he brought in 100 models to advertise his latest designs and closed the show with a brief appearance on stage alongside his father. All in all it was a fantastic event and one that I will never forget. It may have been my first ever fashion show, but even a beginner like myself could tell that this was one of the best and I'm hoping that this will be the first of many that I can attend.

Self-confessed Twi-hard!!!!

So the wait was finally over as last week I ventured to my local cinema with my family in tow to watch the third installment of the Twilight Saga: ECLIPSE!! After months of drooling over the trailer (often watching it five times in a row!) on good old Youtube, I finally had my R-Patz fix and dose of Edward Cullen and boy was it good!! Action packed and better than expected (I'm no film critic) I thoroughly enjoyed watching this screen adaptation of the third book and thought that it certainly lived up to the hype. I could ramble on about my favourite scenes, all of which include Edward of course but i'm having a bad enough day/week as it is Robsessing and don't want to make myself worse......let's just say there's been a permanent grin on my face ever since I found out that Breaking Dawn will be not one but TWO films meaning us Twi-Hards have still got a couple of years yet of being centre of attention :)

Happy 40th Birthday Glastonbury!

Rolf Harris, Tutti Frutti cider and a whole lotta she-pees. There is only one place you will find these three wonders altogether on a sunny weekend in June......Glastonbury of course!! Long known as the BEST festival in the world, at the good-old age of 22 I finally decided to find out for myself just how amazing this field in the middle of Somerset is come Summer.

First off I have to say that I love Glastonbury simply because you have to register for a ticket. This therefore means you don't have the annoying problem of missing out and resorting to paying triple the price for a ticket on eBay just because a stupid tout managed to get hold of ten tickets when they initially went on sale! Me and the Rickster were of course Glasto virgins so going for the first time with a group of regular Glasto-goers certainly helped as they knew their stuff. Having only been to Reading Festival previously and camped for a maximum of four days, Glastonbury was definitely on another scale. Glasto fanatics don't pay £185 for a ticket to just watch bands all day long, this festival is about so much more than that. Infact I think it would be possible to experience the five days there without watching a single musician and still have a fantastic time, however I did not sleep on a paper thin camping mat for five nights to miss out on the likes of Julian Casablancas and Muse!

As typical as it sounds, the one and only downside to being at a festival in my opinion, has to be the toliet situation. I've gone to the extreme lengths that most females wouldn't resort to.....I've used the ladies urinals and peed in a bottle but knowing beforehand that Glasto was on a much larger scale than Reading Festival, I was sure the toilets would be a let down. Hallelujah, they were not!! Flushable, fairly clean and a spritz of air freshener every now and then, it was ALMOST like being at home (okay they weren't that luxurious!) So with the reassurance that my trips to the loo would be bearable, I was free to have the best five days and that is exactly what I did! I wish it were possible to see the entire festival from Wednesday to Sunday but it really is that huge that you've definitely got a good excuse to come back year after year!

The highlights of my first ever Glastonbury have got to be: seeing my new favourite band The Drums perform on the John Peel Stage (their album has not left my stereo since returning!), drinking two cups of cider (one Toffee Apple flavour, the other Tutti Frutti) and feeling like I had legs made of jelly and last but certainly not least, I have to say that a memorable part of Glasto 2010 for me was enjoying a set by Snoop Dogg on the Pyramid Stage on Friday afternoon!! Not only were the crowd amazing to watch, but his use of language and the fact that I knew more than two of his songs actually suprised me and had me bopping along with a Smirnoff Ice firmly in my hand!

Happy 40th Birthday Glastonbury.....you certainly impressed me as a Glasto virgin and definitely deserve the title for the World's Best Festival! See you next year :)