Happy new year!

Happy new year everyone! Wish you all a fruitful and happy year ahead! Miss you!
Xxxx

Happy Birthday to Tas and Helena!!

Happy Birthday BusyGirls!!!



Missing you and wishing you an absolutely AMAZING year ahead!! Being such crazy, beautiful, fun, adventurous busygirls anything you wish could be in store for you this year :-)


Let us know you're plans for celebrating and for next year?


Since you're both Capricorns I thought I'd find your horoscopesfor 2012

Capricorn (Dec 22- Jan 19)
People born from December 22nd to January 19th are born under the zodiac sign Capricorn. They have mature personalities accompanied by great intelligence. Capricorns possess lots of esteemed qualities such as having stable mind. Capricorns also portray honorable traits of practicality, patience, and straight to the point attitude. You are confident and you use this confidence with an intense purpose. In fact, there will be more excitements and opportunities for people under this sign. Furthermore, since you are full of ambition, this New Year 2012 will bring you lots of surprising things and well-deserved achievements in many aspects.

Lots of love xxxx

Ive had mail!

Clelia, thank you so much for the BusyGirls Christmas Card!! It arrived today and has taken pride and place on the fridge - I love it!! 

2 sleeps till Christmas!!! Xxx

Its nearly Christmas!!!!

Hi busygirls!!

I've been completely rubbish with updating the blog!! I'm sorry :-((( It will be my new years resolution to be better!! I have been enjoying reading all of yours though :-)

At the end of October I REALLY needed a holiday, and would have LOVED to come to Egypt but couldn't convince Sarah - Tas next year I'll come on my own!

So we went to Tenerife instead which was lovely and hot and suunny - its so nice to getaway that time of year when its getting cold and dark!!

This is a pic from the beach there at dawn (we had a big party night)

Then in Novemeber it was birthdays, birthdays, birthdays with Sarahs, Rob, Amy's and mine within three weeks so it was crazy with parties - and cakes!!

Home-made Bonfire Toffee for Guy Fawkes Night!

A tower of cupcakes I made for Rob's birthday

A Winky-face cake I baked for Amy


Boob cup-cakes I made for Olly Reid's birthday

Haha! So it felt like November was spent baking!!

I did have a lovely birthday - thanks for all your messages - wish we all could have done something together!

Then, as a birthday treat the girls took me to Milano which was Magnifico!!

Here's Becky and Me at the Duomo

It was a lovely, lovely weekend with lots of food, shopping, food, wine, limoncello, food, more shopping, sightseeing, gelato, food, more wine! Perfect weekend treat! Did I mention the food? It was AMAZIN

I really loved Milan - it was a really exciting, beautiful city - Clelia you're so lucky to have grown-up there!

So... thats takes us to December and Xmas parties!! And, your welcome, heres a little Christmas treat:

YES!! I DANCED WITH YAP!!

It was horrible, I had to take one for all the girls! Later in the night he bought a tray of 30 shots of tequila, but crazily tried to take them across the dancefloor! We all knew it was going to happen... someone high-kicked the tray and the shots went EVERYWAH! Lol :-)

The other Xmas parties have been good, to be honest I've been to so many now I forget which one is which, I've basically been over-enjoying/doing it for the last 3 weeks now - I'm throughly exhausted and ready for Christmas!! If you want to hear gossip on anyone let me know and I'll fill you in - there certainly are a lot of funny stories!

I will for sure write again next week as I'm in work with nothing to do! I'm also going to try and find the Egypt Movie to upload

What's everybusygirls plans for holidays next year?? I would like to plan something to see you guys maybe in summer?

If I don't speak to you again - Hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas, that its relaxing (not verybusygirls) and fun-filled - I want to hear all about what you did? Special love to MAP, Clelia and Helena who are away from home - so is my little sister and I really miss her over the holidays :-( I find the only way to feel better is to Skype her and sing White Wine in the Sun to each other (a Tim Minchin song)

Love all you busygirls xxxx

Not just a face

There’s been a pounding voice in my head. It’s been inundating me with begrudging comments. “Update the blog, update the blog, you horrible hermit”, it begs. The hermit bit hurts. It’s obviously got the wrong end of the stick. It’s obviously had too many drinks to even understand what its saying. But this voice has got a way of upsetting me, making me feel bad. It’s time I write...

Like every update, I’d like to write that my life has been exciting and fulfilling. But alas, it’s been same old, same old. A pair of sneakers probably sees more action than me these days. Here are some bullet points – because simplicity is key.

1. You might not know, but I won the Individual Achievement Award across the UK business for my work on clickstream back in July. I didn’t tell you guys, I think because I told someone and they didn’t seem too excited so decided to shut up. It’s actually a really nice thing to happen to me. I’m sad I didn’t share it. But what I will share is the bad news, I was nominated for the Young Technologist Researcher 2011 Award at the MRS awards and found out today that I was unsuccessful in getting to the finalists stage. Boo.

2. On that note, I’m developing a product for the UK business. It’s a really great experience and I’m enjoying the hassle of doing everything myself. No really.

3. When I’m not doing that, I’m working client side. It’s nice and not as stressful. But then again, it’s not amazing.

4. I’m going to Paris for New Years with Julia, Jo (Cathy’s cousin, Cathy’s now moved to NZ) and a few others. It should be lovely!

5. I’m going to Finland for a few days in early January. I’m going husky sledding, snow mobiling and going to see the Northern Lights. Yay!

6. Heading home Feb-Mar for 4 weeks. Can’t wait to see my nephew and my sister’s new baby. I’m also going to be in the delivery room for my sister. CAN YOU IMAGINE!

7. I don’t have much going on romantically. Although I have an awkward situation with someone at work. I think we both like each other but it’s too messy a situation. I can’t write his name here, but you know him. I wish it wasn’t awkward, but can’t see that changing for awhile. It’s not a big deal anyway. Actually, it’s hardly anything. My relationship with Grey’s Anatomy is definitely more interesting.

8. Grey’s. OMG Tas, have you been watching! I’m at Season 8 episode 4. But I read ahead by accident and know things I shouldn’t yet. Come to think of it, this cute guy at the client office has an Alex Karev anger thing about him. For some reason I like that. I’m crazy.

9. Finally, but most importantly - I’ve been wearing my hair up high lately. Hair up = too much face, sometimes. Soon they’ll be calling me “The Face”. I don’t care for that.

The Face 2011 xo

Busy and Tired...

Hey Girls,

I'm so glad to see all the posts since last time I checked. Beril, Helena and Clelia well done. XX, Bella and MAP come one, more news for us :)))))

So for me things here are going crazy. Last week there was a lot of sad things happening in Tahrir Square, 41 people died, 2 of them worked with us in the campaign. the tensity of actions was really high. after 12 hours in Tahrir and while having my only meal of the day, I will get a phone call saying that my candidate might go to tahrir for a press conference and u have to be there... I leave everything and run there. I saw really sad things, kids, women and great men being injured, dying or losing their eyes... for three days, I used to sleep crying when remembering what I witnessed during the day

along with that there was a lot of freelancing work I had to do and then the beginning of this week started the elections. I took some workshops on how to monitor elections to ensure its integrity. Muslim Brotherhood took over and we still don't understand what will happen after that. I'm not afraid r even worried, just need to understand how things will evolve with time.

For Xmas, and it's my birthday too, I will travel to dahab for my advanced diving course (30m) yaaayyyy and a week with 3 great friends, diving, chilling and partying... so I can't wait

Then after I'm back I think it will be just crazy as the presidential elections is supposed to be in June and in that case I doubt I will be able to leave the country till after it

I miss you girls so much and I really wish we will be able to meet some time really soon

Loads of love,

Tas xx

Let the Christmas season beguin

Hello girls

Just a quick hello and post to show you the Christmas decoration. We had a tree trimming session with mulled wine. It was so lovely.

I am definitely in the mood now :)

Nothing really unusual to report other that yesterday's reflective day of graces certainly did make me think how thankful I am to have you in my life. So thanks for being there, you make it more interesting every day that passes by.
Oh... That was a bit porridge , no?

Oh and yes I had the pleasure of seeing Bella cut Poirot into pieces on her birthday. That was something.

Oh and today there were contestants for a new show called The Voice queuing up to audition (shuuut) you're not supposed to know anything.) anyway I may have crossed the path of the next music icon of the year...

Voilà sending you all my love
Miss you tons
Bxxxx

Happy Birthday Bella

Just wanted to send you my wishes darling :)
Have a great Birthday and a magnificent year ahead (maybe including a little trip to NY?)

Miss you!
C

My first blog from my new iPod

I am so disappointed the camera on this thing is so shit. Check the picture I've just taken :(
I was hoping an iPod would be the answer to a poor phone and an even worse camera...but I guess I haven't been lucky with the tech lately!

Anyway...

So nice to hear from you H! Sounds like you are having an awesome time!!! That's great, and the most important thing: life is not just shitty work and crazy boys, although sometimes it can feel like that, right? I'm really happy to hear you are doing lots of fun things, enjoying your life and what Australia has to offer :)

As for me, work has been busy and kind of "business as usual", with the only difference that up until a few days ago I was working on this big presentation for BlackBerry. I am so glad it's over now!!
I was quite stressed about the preso and the meeting; this account was in trouble since BB cut jobs in the summer, which is when we lost our main contact in the business, so I felt all eyes were on me.
I needed to show our directors in London that I'm more than a copy-paste machine, and that all the work I have been doing has made an impression on the client.
Luckily, it went very well, and the guys at BB had great feedback about my work :) I'm hoping for a pay rise now!

Soon it's Thanksgiving, yey, and we get a break! I'm spending it at B's sister's, which should be nice...I'll update you on how family time is going next week ;)

But I'm still thinking hard about what I want to do with my life...kind of waiting for inspiration, kind of decided it's gonna be in the art/fashion space, but I also want to see what happens at work: do we get junior help? A bonus? A pay rise? I wouldn't mind staying longer in this job if we got the right resources.

Some other news: B and I are going back to St John for another week in three weeks!!!!! I am so excited, I love it there :)
And we have booked our trip to the UK: we will be in London from the 12th to the 16th and then to Scotland until the 20th. Really really hope to see you all there!!!!!!

Also, we have started talking about moving in together...
There isn't a date or anything like that yet, but I think it will happen early spring next year.
Most likely I will move to his place for a couple of months, and then we'll look for a bigger place together...
I'm not getting too excited yet, because, as I said, there isn't an actual plan, but I think we are moving in the right direction!

So, we are very happy :) not to say everything is always perfect...relationships are really full of ups and downs.
Sometimes I get so angry about silly things, sometimes I make a big deal out of something just because I'm moody, pms-ing, hungry or stressed out...anyway, you know what I mean...it's amazing he hasn't run off already ;)

I miss you all immensely! Wouldn't it be great to talk about silly and less silly things over lunch-brunch-coffee?
So much is happening to all of us...I want to be part of everything that's happening with you, and I want you to be part of everything that's happening to me! It's hard, but we have to try!

Sooo, please write more on the blog!!
XX, Bella, haven't heard from you in ageeees!!!!

Love,
C

Summer fun

Busy! That is the word that can describe my last few weeks. I wanted to write the blog so many times then the moment I am ready for it, I sit and write on my bed and start falling asleep. Feeling a bit sleepy right now too so will probably keep it short for today but definitely want to keep up with this more often. And I hope you girls write more soon too. Miss hearing your news and stories and everything else.

Summer has trully started here, even if not officially yet. It is hot during the day and the evenings are lighter. Lots is happening. Last weekend I went to Harvest festival. My first music festival in Australia. The setting and the line up was awesome and I spent the day listening to great music and having a fun time. Sometimes there is nothing better than being at a good concert in a cool crowd dancing and singing away.

And this weekend I organised a girls weekend away on a canoeing/camping trip in the Kangaroo valley. 10 of us drove there and paddled with the canoes through the valley, then swam in the river to cool off at the end of the day, set up camp, had a camp fire with 2 locals that were there too and shared some nice stories and laughs. Today we got up early, had pancakes with banana and nutella for breakfast and then canoed for a few more hours. I now feel like my arms will fall off. I have no idea in how much pain I am going to be in tomorrow. But it is a good pain.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Now it is time for me to get some proper sleep in my bed. There's lots more I want to tell you about what has been happening in my life here, how happy and proud I am of my sister who has started the most amazing job as a fashion designer, how I do miss my family and about my travel plans over xmas to South East Asia, how I would like to see you girls and more and more... so that is for the next post. Now it is sweet dreams time for me.

H x

I want news too!!

I agree with Cle, it's been sometime now and I know nothing about you girls... We don't even send emails anymore :((((

Since last time in the desert, I went to Crazy horse for 4 days and then a week after to Dahab for 5 days to see Valentina and Jack and to take my diving course. Now I'm a certified open water diver YUPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

Diving Instructor, Diving Buddy and Happy me :)))

My life is being a bit crazy lately and me trying to do a lot of activities as the weather is perfect and I want to do many many many many things and usually no time

Next month, I'm buying my bicycle and one of my friends will teach me how to play Squash... Sooo Excited about that too

Boys are now always activities' buddies... So i have my diving buddy, my shisha buddy, searching for my cycling buddy now hehehehehe

The general situation is not always good, working in politics turned to be emotionally consuming and I get to a lot of points where I struggle to stay positive or even smile... so that's why, i think, activities level is increasing to make the balance

I really miss you all and I keep talking about you girls all the time,

Lots of love,

Tas

xx

The name says it all

Our blog name that is :)
It's been really busy here too.Where are those hours???

Cle, am so glad you had a great time with the parents. And the 'meet the parents' episode went well too.

Tas: I just think one day you will be the president. This day will come. You're right to take on all these activities because the day you became president you would clearly not have time.

News from planet Beril: We went away on holidays to visit a friend in Morocco. It was a but stressful before I left and it's back to crazy rythm before Xmas. Tas I know what you're thinking, our next trip will be Egypt. I want to go to all these places you keep mentioning!

My dad is over this week, so I will be busy again. (He's so funny; he likes being here as he gets to chill and not do much. Leisurely walking in the Xmas ornated streets and meeting me for lunch, discovering the pleasure of taking pictures).

Today we're starting a Christmas decoration gorilla war at work. I asked my dad to bring a couple of items and obviously I ended up with a bag full of kitch Xmas stuff. Bring it on!
Given Matt doesn't care about Xmas decoration at home, I'm going to satisfy this need with doing it at work.There we go.

Am starting to get excited about Xmas (and obcessed! How many times am i mentionning xmas in this post? Oh dear...).
We will be in france during that time.
What are you girls planning to do?

Looking forward to hearing more about you and seeing some of you on the 23rd :)

Lots of love
Missing you terribly.
Bxxx

So sad to see

That no one has posted anything in a while :(
Girls!!!

My parents left two days ago and I am still very sad they are gone. I think I got used to having them around, also because I don't remember the last time we spent this much time together!
When I go home it's totally different, with friends and family around, while these two weeks were really quality time for us.
Seeing them go was really tough and it's taking me time to get over it. I think I also feel a little guilty for living so far away and spending so little time with them. But I guess at least I appreciate them more? I'm sure you understand how I feel.

Anyway, we had two great weeks. We did a lot of the typical things turists do in NY - Empire State Building, boat tour to the Statue of Liberty, Time Square and a walk in Central Park + rowing in the lake followed by lunch at the Boathouse...oh and yes, lots of eating out!

My parents on the Brooklyn Bridge

They of course met Bernard :) my mum liked him a lot, so much that she started planning my wedding (sic!) Communication was hard of course, I had to translate everything, and Bernard got bored a little at times, but I think overall went very well :)
We spent the weekend away, just the four of us, drove around Long Island, did some sightseeing, drunk some wine in local vineyards...we had a nice time!

Now it's back to work :(

We have a big RIM presentation coming up, so I am super busy on that. Lara ended up having to do all of the reports for Apple because of that (and because I took time off when my parents where here), she wasn't very happy, but hey!

I can't wait for that to be over, and then it will be Thanksgiving.....more time off, yey! And then it's Christmas....can't believe the year is almost over!!!!

Today we watched the marathon, and now American Football....kind of boring...buys and sports!

Love,
C

Up and down Week... Month... LIFE :))

I was just calling XX and here is MAP with a lot of noise in the background and Beril with her Shkoon ana... How nice girls to get a feeling of your craziness...I love you all and stop messing with my blog hehehehehehe

Ok so I think my week was the same... UPs and DOWNs...

it started with a great long weekend in the desert. We went three days off road to reach an amazing cave in the heart of the Egyptian western desert and we were driving just next to the great sand sea. we reached the cave after one day and a half, then went to this peacefull place to camp for the second night, and in the morning of the third day, we visited a couple of other places, did some sandboarding and finished it with a quick swim in one of the cold springs in the middle of the desert... I invited all the people who joined, organized for the trip and I was really happy when everyone fell in love with the desert as I do and were asking me when will be the next time :))) here are some pics of the trip...

AlDjara Cave

Camping and Sandboarding

Crazy Group

White Desert in the Background

Great Sand Sea (The edge only)

And from that, I went back to witness the sad clashes between the army and christians protesting for their rights. 25 people died and 400 injured, I went to the hospital near what happened to donate blood as they were calling for blood donations and saw really really really sad scenes. That was Sunday night.

Till Tuesday night I did nothing except seeing horrible pictures, talkshows discussing what happened and I was constantly crying. It was the case of all Egyptians... well majority at least... it was a mixed feeling of sadness, disappointment and shame of what happen to other Egyptians. Then decided that I don't have the luxury to be pessimistic. We need to work for what we believe in to make it real and to make it happen.

Wednesday, I went to the campaign office and I found everyone there telling me they had the same scenario and it was the first day for everyone to come to the office too. It was a bit sad in the beginning as one of our big supporters died in the clashes and he was a friend of some of the campaign members. but after a while we ordered some food and decided to move on as the only way for us to help him is make the new beautiful Egypt we all dream of, a REALITY...

and since then I'm totally dedicated to the campaign working and loving it more and more :)))

I just told my mum, if my candidate will not win then for me I gave up and I know that my generation will not be the one to make the change... So I will move out of the country. So in a year time, who knows where in the world I will be... London, NewYork or hopefully CAIRO :))

That was a long one, I hope you are not bored :)

Miss you all,

Tas xx

Up and down Week... Month... LIFE :))

XXIt's been sometime for me too but my week was CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYY

hello

Hi what r u doing in my space ?
Hello everyone.
Xxxx

This is the ghost from Christmas past

Yes, it has been a long time

Since my last update. I'm sorry, I kept saying to myself, today I will write a nice long post, but then the day is over and I am exhausted falling asleep the minute I put my head on the pillow.

First of all, let me say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY XING XING!!!!! I should have called you or at least sent you a message or email, but that too, among many other things, slipped off my mind. I am truly sorry :( I have been a bad friend!

The past couple of weeks have been super busy with work and preparations for the upcoming parents trip to the big apple. Also I have been sick on and off, and now I am PMS too! Beril we are in this together ;)

I won't go into any of the work detail, but I have so much to do (most of it totally boring stuff) that I'm not sure I will be able to really enjoy my parents staying in the city - I hope I won't be too stressed and worried about the things I should be doing instead of taking time off and wander around the city with mam and dad!
I know it's crazy right?

The other thing that makes me nervous is that my parents will meet Bernard...I'm not sure how that's gonna work with the language barrier, we will see...but the whole thing is freaking me out a little (remember I am PMSing too). I guess cause it makes it all so real. And serious.
Anyways, I have up and downs like these sometimes, I guess it's normal?

A nice news I have to share is that my cousin (who's getting married next July in the South of Italy) asked me to be her 'Testimone", her Witness, which in Italy would also be the maid of honor (kind of).
I am very excited and was very touched she asked me, it's such a great honor. She called me on Skype one morning (when I was at work) to ask me 'face to face' and of course that made me cry!

So far I have two weddings next year :) one in Scotland and one in Italy - I will try to stop to London either on our way or back from Glasgow, so I can hopefully see you all.
And if any of you fancy taking a few days off to come for a weekend or more to the South of Italy at the end of June, I will be there! I am thinking to go somewhere on the beach for a week or so before the wedding, and you are more than welcome to join!

Have to go now! Work is waiting for me!!!

Love
xx
C

A quick one to update on PMS

Yes how do I remember I am into this phase? By crying when Reading the lovely comments from members of the community I manage !!!
Honestly as if they were my friends!!

Anyway thought that would make you all giggle and reassure you that I have not changed!

I'll write more promise

Love to you all my busy girls and Helena enjoy your bus ride oups sorry date.

Bxxx

Where have you all been?

Hello girls...

what's up? No updates for a while?! I'm missing reading your stories! Write soon!

As for me... my mood is all up and down this week. Lots of good things but of course had to get into bad mood because of more internal politics at the office. Overall, the glass is definitely half full.

The most exciting news of this week for me is that I am finally going back to Thailand and Laos. I am so happy! I love it there and it has been over 3 years since my amazing travels there. So, I am going back over the Xmas holidays for 2 weeks. In a way I wanted to stay here in Sydney as lots of friends will be around but part of me just thought I want a bit of a change and fun away. It will be my birthday too, my 29th. For some reason to me it feels even more of a defining moment than 30... don't know why... maybe as it is such a milestone... my last year of my 20s is going to start and I want to make the most of life and my youth. And I just want to laze in those hammocks in the Laotian countryside soaking up the bliss, sipping a mango shake, exchanging stories with people that I meet on the road and forget about the crazy western world for a moment.

The other exciting thing.... my second date tomorrow :-) I'm feeling like an 18 year old. End of my twenties?? Really?!! I still feel in my teens sometimes....

So... I am hoping to read some updates from you tomorrow when I land in my boring office seat, sipping my morning latte and catching up with the world thru my pc screen. Come on!! There have been 30th birthday parties, husband's birthdays, 1st birthdays, babysitting, Egyptian news (very sad, Tas please send news!) etc.... Any more celebrity spotting? So share your stories and your thoughts soon.

Love
H

Bring on the glitter

Hello ladies

So Fantastic to read about your stories.
Sadly I did not bumped into Daniel Craig nor rallied with Bono these past days but sure will let you know if that happens.

I've got to cook lunch for Matt's birthday this Saturday, his parents are coming over and then I'll take him to see a play in the evening.
And Matthis is going to be 1 year old! Yay! Xingxing are you in London or going to France this weekend?

Hope all is well, putting a pic of my silver shoes - part of my casual look of the week.
Lots of love to you all
Bxxx

Celebrities Everywhere!!

Interesting weekends everyone as Helena said well done :)) ... MAP, I had a celebrities' weekend too... In Tahrir Square, I saw many many many Egyptian celebrities and some International too :)) My weekend was then pretty much normal, breakfast at 2.00pm, shisha, some meetings and a marriage contract ceremony and this one was just after the protests, the groom even told me I thought you won't leave Tahrir square today :)))

and then I was not in the mood to work on Sunday so decided not to and next Thursday it's a public holiday so it will be another one and I'm organizing 3 days in the white desert in Egypt... we will go camping, sandboarding, and then swimming in a hot-spring... I'm so looking forward to it to relax and have some quiet time... I will post all pics and stories when I'll come back

Girls please come to Egypt and let's go to crazy horse so we can all have a great tan, I miss you so much :))

Tas xx

Busy girls' weekend

So, Busy girls! How were your weekends? Looks like pretty busy... partying with Jude Law, shopping with the boyfriend, protesting in Tahir square, tanning in Clapham Common.... Nice work girls!


As for me, I was lucky to have a 3 day weekend as it was labour day today. Who the hell invented the 5 day working week?? I could do with 3 day weekends each week.


My long weekend was fun! Lots of catch ups with friends, brunches, drinks, walks. And the buses seem to be all coming at once again ;-) So funny! I have had 2 friends trying to set me up with 2 guys this week and I met a nice guy at the party I went to on Saturday. He has already been in touch and asked me out! 
And... today I received an email from my holiday romance of a few years ago!!! He was the best holiday romance ever so when I saw his name pop up in my inbox my heart stopped for a second. This guy really made my heart race in Thailand. But that is another post altogether so will leave it to another day.


Missing the writing inspiration today so I best end here and go to bed. 
Looking forward to reading your updates!! 


Besos from Sydney
H

There's something about Jude

I write this on a very sad Monday morning. The weather this weekend was grand and now it's starting to get cold again. Thank god I love winter fashion, or I'd surely shoot myself.

Beril, the "well stretched". One of the best lines you've ever made in relation to yourself. Clelia, the pizza classes is a very nice gift. Bernard is a good man. Although I still know it was you behind the "meow" comment. And Tas, you crazy girl, get out of the way of that machinery!

So anyway, the real purpose of this blog is to EXCLAIM, SCREAM, CRY, FEEL GIDDY and explain how I got to spend some time with the lovely Jude Law....

Jude Law. Oh Jude Law. I may never have actually been a fan, but after Saturday, I'd be more than happy to change my opinion.

Here's a pic of him to keep you happy.

Here's a pic from the play Anna Christie. I sat front row and got to see him with almost everything off! It was amazing. And it was very good. And the theatre was very intimate. Gillian Anderson of X Files fame also rocked up.

So...after the play, my friend Kristen and I headed to a pub where we saw a few of the actors from the play. As we began to walk in, there he was, standing on the outside of the barrier, dirty, dishevelled and unrecognisable. I looked at him, knowing it was Jude and he looked straight back at me. He continued to stare for about 10 seconds perhaps. I headed in for a drink and stood near him. Kristen proclaimed "we need to talk to him". I retorted angrily "no way, I will not look like an idiot". He then picked up his bag and off he went.

Now we could go back to that same pub another night to see him again, but I have my pride. And I was a nervous wreck. There's definitely something about Jude. So I may have to just live with the truth, that he did look at me and for longer than you usually would look at a person. Amazing. Amazing. I almost texted Tas "I'm amazing" after that incident. Kristen and I were on such a high that we immediately went to her friends party at some secret society and danced like idiots. I mean real idiots, where you lose control of your limbs and you can't contain your excitement.

And finally, Kristen is lucky enough to live in Primrose Hill where she sees him and others (Helena Bonham Carter, Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow) nearly every day. Jude parks his car in front of Kristen's house when he picks up his kids from school. Kristen has suggested we go have a coffee at her local cafe to do a little people/celeb watching. Maybe Jude will stare again.

I am ridiculous. But this happened and it was very exciting. I may never come down.

Almost forgot to add a title

Namaste to you Beril, I miss the hair thing every day.

Tas, I might steal your idea - once a month getting dressed for a girls only evening - it won't be the same without you guys, but at least I get to dress up ;)

Another day of charting has gone by and really I couldn't care less. My think my brain has moved permanently to some other place.

The only think worth noting about today is that, yet again, I made dinner for Bernard and it turned out to be very below average. I don't know what's wrong with me. I usually can make something tasty, but 9 out of 10 dinner I make for Bernard turn disappointing. He's still so nice to eat it.

Did I tell you for my birthday he got me a cooking class? We will go together and make pizza! I love the idea; I thought it was so thoughtful of him, considering how much I love pizza and how much I like doing stuff like that. But then I also thought....hmmm....this must be a message....please learn how to cook...

I will keep it short tonight, while he does the dishes I have to look into our trip to Niagara Falls. We are taking my parents there when they come in October. Should be good. And weird. They still don't speak English and he probably knows five words in Italian: cipolla, bisteccha, ciao, pasta, pizza...

A presto!

xx

C

Namaste

Quick relaxed hello from a well stretched beril.

As I write this I can see tas writing her post, it's so funny it feels like am in the same room as her but she did not see me enter ...

Week's gone so fast, I kept thinking we were Friday today.

Nothing much more to say, apart from the fact that I'm finally getting a hair cut tomorrow ( yay ! But no more hair thing ! ... Sorry Cle!)

How was your day girls ? Tell me ...

Love and miss
Xxx

The last half an hour before sleeping

For the last 3 days, I can't sleep before checking the blog and see if any of you posted any new posts and after writing a small thing about my day, I shut down my computer wondering what will be the subjects you will all post about in the next day :))) I'm loving it

Work outfits, mmm... I actually never find a reason why I have to think about that unless I have a client meeting. Else I just decide 5 different things to wear in a week every Saturday night (Sunday in your case) so I don't need to think... I found it then refreshing to take my time in weekends to pick my outfit carefully... I noticed I'm much more picky in Egypt (in weekends only as I mentioned)... me and the girls here actually decided, at least once a month, we have to have a dressed up girls night out where we pick a very nice restaurant and we all have to go and buy new dresses, do our nails and hair and then we have a long dinner talking nonsense... I always imagined you girls coming with me to these dinners and how it will be so much fun :))

Next weekend in Egypt is going to be hooooootttttt, politically I mean, we are organizing for huge protests against the SCAF (Army committee ruling the country now) for elections laws and human rights law... I think it will be big and a bit scary too... we all had enough of their bullshit and we need a real change and they are not doing enough... I really hate them and I can't wait for a civil president to be elected... Pray for us girls

Me during the protests back in January, it was written something around go to hell mubarak :)))

Miss you girls,

Tas xx

How to give yourself a headache

Well, well, well! Pleased to see everyone's contribution on our blog's very first day of life. It's incredibly entertaining to read your stories plus pictures - I wouldn't call myself 'Miss Innovation', so not sure what happened there, but I do feel very proud for coming up with this idea.

So much was the excitement last night that I really struggled falling asleep. I kept thinking about things to write on the blog, how it will look like in ten years time, how our lives will look like in ten years time (and so on, at this point, the sky is the limit).

Since I got my CrackBerry (I just love calling it that, I so have a love/hate relationship with my phone, so sad) the VERY first thing I do when I wake up (and I can barely see) is check all new emails/bbm messages/sms/fb messages and notifications I have, (including work stuff too...) and (yey) I was super excited to read Bella's post.

Then my mood went a little to the basement - another day of copy/paste, something I will very soon have a PhD on, was awaiting me (Helena I feel your pain).
When that happens, finding the right outfit for the day gives me a little more motivation to leave my apartment, and Beril, I might start sending you pics too! Bring on the fashion consultations!

Most of the time I wake up and I know what kind of girl I want to dress like - glam, hipster, casual chic....but then finding the right things in my closet is another story. I am no Carrie Bradshaw here, so my resources are limited.
Anyway, last night I watched a photographer's take on the Fashion Shows in Milan, London and New York off-catwalk style, so what the ladies going to the shows were wearing. Super cool, if you want to check it out Tommy Ton on Style.com, I just loved it, lot's of colors, prints AND jewellery, lots of jewellery.
So of course that's what I wanted to do when I woke up this morning. Put on lots of jewellery! I ended up wearing three different necklaces on a lace top, which looked cool, but not the lightest choice.

I don't have a pic of my outfit, but here is the selection (I cut down on the bangles because I can't type when I wear too many).

Not a very exciting story I am know, but honestly this was how eventful my day was (excluding reading your posts).

Oh no, wait, I did something else today: while copy/pasting (multitasking hey) I listened obsessively to the same song for five hours, but that's another story.

Tas, thanks for sharing the name of the movie, I will make sure I don't pick that next time I want to watch something light.
Thinking about this, a movie that made me cry a lot a few years ago was a Bollywood movie called Devdas.
In a nutshell: they are in love, he rejects her because his family wants him to, she marries someone else, he drinks himself to death because he's lost her forever. He dies on her doorstep just as she runs to him while the gate of her big house are closing. That missed moment, to say goodbye for the last time, always made me cry for hours. Also, this is Bollywood, high drama.
But then, at the same time, what a loser! All he had to do was to be with her and this would have been a happy ending. Men are weird, I agree.

Ok, I have written a lot of non-sense, I shall stop and go to sleep. I hope you don't mind reading it.

Good night busy girls!
xx
C

What to wear and not to wear morning sessions

Hello Girls !

First of all: what a brilliant idea. I'm loving this ... I am so looking forward to seeing how this blog develop.
In the words of a man we would all recognise: Thank you for driving this initiative Clelia, what a great way of leveraging our expertise in the social media.  ;-)  ok ... not so funny .. sorry ... am new to this blog thing...

It's great to hear from you all and seeing the pictures. We do have so many lovely memories. I can't believe you still have the email paper in your drawer Bella! Can you take it home, I would be worried if it falls into wrong hands at the office...

Anyway, all good in Beril's land. Busy at work, intense but fun. Coping with Matt's travels. At the beguinning it was 'yeah great I'll catch up on my sleep , I won't need to worry about cooking " but now it's not as fun especially as he's away the entire week. Not complaining but just admitting that it's harder than I thought. I don't know if I ever told you but when we were young, my dad was working in Turkey and for a while we would only see him every three months or so. That set up lasted 5 years, and looking back I'm thinking my mum and dad were very brave to put themselves through physical separation, for our sake, to keep our school life stable. So definitely not complaining.

So it seems I'm getting into a new habit (still count as habit when you've just done it once right?) .
In addition to my quick exchange on what's app with Helena , my morning waiting for the bus while she is ending her work day , I  decided to have second opinion on what I should wear or not ... Careful one of you may be my next victim... Anyway it was fun to spend time exchanging pics and glad I provided some form of entertainment to Helena. (see below what she had to suffer) But it was also weird because Helena was very bossy with me, (roles reversing here... not sure I like that !) .



Anyway, today we also had some 'sofa time' with the CEO of our company, and having a chat with her about various things : from the future of the company to the nail varnish color she prefers and what type of hat one is supposed to wear at wedding these days. We also did a 'silly' talent show type film to send to our colleagues in America. We all wore masks and did improvisations, pretending to be recruited for a community. I had the Victoria Becham mask, (so the heels were perfect) and others had the royal family, and x factor judes.  Followed by dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Holborn called Shangai Blues.

On wednesdays, after work, we have Olga coming to the office to teach us Yoga ,so we push the sofas and coffee tables,  get changed, unroll our yoga matts and plunge ourselves into deep relaxation. 
My next step is to subscribe to a gym ... yes you heard me I will do it ... otherwise there's no way I'm going to be fitter.

That's it from me.
I miss you girls terribly, looking forward to seeing some of you in London soon (Map, Bella, XX how about next week?)
And thank you thank you so much Clelia for setting up the blog.

Love
Bxxx

Jonsi tells us to "Go Do"

It's incredibly thrilling writing a blog. I feel like some incredibly informed and important person who has much to say. Like everything I do is so important and all must know. Like the Greek, who still runs his own blog and lives off the affiliate marketing leaving him to travel approx 6 months of the year or something like that. If only...

My last few days have been nice. I'm starting to get into the day to day grind of Vodafone, while also getting some work done on my two days a week back at the office. Client side is interesting so far and may only lead to agency side leaving a bad taste in my mouth. Like Bella, I'll be looking to move on after this secondment.

Helena, boys can be horrible, I understand. But there are good ones out there. I don't know whether they're good, bad or just plain ugly at the moment but I know they're out there. I'm still going on dates with meow man. He's not too bad. He seems quite keen as he keeps contacting me nearly every day, but I'm sure that will die down. Oh well, there's always potential at Vodafone - about 100 good looking men there!

As Bella mentioned, we saw the lovely Mathis, Xing and Damien on Sunday. It was so nice to spend time with them. What a lovely little family you have Xing!

Speaking of lovely, this is a fantastic way to keep in touch. I can't wait to see how this blog progresses over time. In the meantime, I wanted to share a picture that always makes me laugh. A few years ago my boyfriend Matt broke up with me. The very next day Tasbih organised a day riding around the English countryside to help me move on. It was one of the best days of my life. Tas, Clelia, a few of Tas' friends and I went bike riding for 6 or 7 hours straight, with the sun shining merrily on us all day. I think this picture encapsulates our mood that day.

Ridiculously giddy

Love and miss you all.
Map

Weird day!!!

Yesterday I worked a lot and then I had this 5 hours meeting for one of the political movement i'm in these days where a lot of arguing, discussions and debating happened (with a lot of food too)... so long story short when I got home I needed to watch a stupid movie to change my mind of that day and start the next day fresh.... went and picked a movie called "A bit of heaven" for Kate Hudson known for her light romantic comedy stupid movies.... AND OMG!!!! the movie turned to be about this successful, cheerful, full of life girl who had some issues who then got CANCER and was dying and it's her journey to solve all her issues till she dies and one of the issues is her ability to love and be loved in return... bottom line SAD movie and I went on crying till 4am in the morning :((((

I woke up at 12pm had a really heavy breakfast, slept again from 2 till 6, woke up, went out for dinner and back writing this and off to watch gossip girl and then sleep

Productivity of the day = 0, nothing was done and the best part is, it's not a big deal as tomorrow I will catch up all delayed work :)))

Lesson of the day for me: Never watch this movie unless u r in a real need to cry, it's mental :((

Love you all,

Tas

My day

As most mornings, today I also woke up a bit grumpy and not in the mood of getting out of bed as a boring day of charting was awaiting me. Great! I didn't sleep that well either as the hairy spider is still residing under my bed (and occasionally pops out to scare me) but have no idea how to get rid of him. Maybe Tas has some tips on this? Anyway... apart from hairy spiders and boring charts... boys have kept me awake at night... sadly not due to the horizontal lambada at the moment but just cos I wonder what goes on in their mind and why are they so complicated...


Then I saw Clelia's email about this blog and it gave me a big smile. A little project to keep us together across all these thousands of miles and rough seas. 


Then another useless day at work followed... but I won't get into that today. That would be another whole chapter. Luckily Beril brightened my last hour at work needing help with outfit choosing for the day. In the end a gorgeous slick black dress, a bit of red lipstick and the right shoes... and there she was ready to steal a dozen hearts today. Gorgeous Beril! And then it was the end of the work day for me. And the start of the fun part of the day.


... not until I bumped into my latest boy on the bus. After we have not spoken in a couple of weeks and after he just emailed me two days ago to apologise for his silence and let me know that while I was on holiday he met someone else and so thought that dating two girls at once when I got back was not the right thing.... Anyway... he didn't even have the balls to come and say hello to me on the bus! As*hole! But a really hot one. He looked damn good today! Thankgod I got off a few stops after and met my girlfriends for some vino and a rant about boys! 


Anyway, this is getting long and probably quite boring. So the end of the story of today was to come home and find in my inbox a note from the same bus guy saying "what are the chances to meet on a crowded bus..." and "you looked good, healthy and tanned"... and that he will keep in touch and see me on the bus. WTF?
I seriously give up!


Good night girls... Look forward to awake to find new stories on here. And another new day. Tomorrow instead of getting up grumpy and running late I will get up early and go for a walk here...  

Love
HK

Bella says hello!!

Hi Girls!!

I love, love, love this idea!! (I still have our 20-page email in my drawer, can you believe that was nearly 2 years ago!!) back in these days....

Dosen't really feel that long ago! Maybe I could find the email and post it all up!

Busy Girls at Lunch - GIR

Map and I went to Xing Xings for lunch on Sunday - we had Fondu which is. for sure, now my favourite meal I think! Mathis is an absolute angel, he's very, very nearly walking and Damien had set-up an assault course around the living room to try and encourage him to take his first steps!

Mathis - September 2011

Cle - I have booked a weekend in Milan for my birthday!! I'm super excited but have no idea where to go or what to do!?  Help!

Also, I have a new favourite word - Disco - it means cool, groovy, fun as in 'This blog is really disco' - I'm relying on you girls to spread the word around the world!!

Finally, I'm almost certain that in January I will look for a new job but not sure if want to stay in London or look further afield, I also don't think I want to stay in a research-only role - advice please?

Love to you all from London!! xx

Welcome girls

it's rubbish weather in London, why the forcast said it's going to by sunny this week?
it's my last day in the office this week, i can't wait for my holidays...
it was nice to catch up with the girls in london last Sunday, hope we could do it more often...
it's early morning, I have no thoughts, no words...
Miss all of you girls, will write a better blog after my holidays...

Memories

I had to post this pic!

My first post

I actually started writing this earlier today, but could not finish.

Then on my way home, I was thinking about all the things I could write about, and how it would be to read about our lives in 10 years time, when we are maybe all married with kids, and what our kids will think when they will read this blog :)

I know...dreaming!

My day did not start well. I found out that all the work I did last week - ok, it wasn't THAT much work, considering that I was sick half of the week, but still - needs to be re-done. I felt like crying. No, I felt like I did cry for a long time, but without tears.

Of course, that did not help me focus on re-doing the work. Instead, I decided it was appropriate to catch up with some emails, and it was while I was writing a reply to Helena's birthday wishes that I thought, why don't we write a blog! And here we are!

Some house keeping - I'm ok for this to be public, it's actually quite exciting! Of course, that also means a little bit of editing, spell-checking and so on, but at the end of the day we are not publishing anything too crazy. We can decide what to do with it once you start your political career, Tas! But to be realistic, it will be hard for someone we know to stumble across it... well, that's my opinion at least!
As for all being authors, of course, I did not realise you could do that - please go ahead and add yourself in the settings area. I will keep using this log in as I have the email account as well, and someone needs to check that every now and then ;)

Now my day is slowly coming to its end - I've had my dinner and I also made it to watch the first episode of the new season of Gossip Girl, which btw is getting a little ridiculous, so not sure I like it so much anymore....

my favourite already-made pasta sauce..actually the only one!

My next project is to paint a huge canvas for Bernard's dining room :) I have made a sketch already...here it is

I think it's going to take me quite sometime, but I hope I can still finish it by Xmas!

And to conclude, I went into Nine West today, and I am in LOVE with a pair of shoes and at least three pairs of boots...if I decide to go shopping (baaaad) I will send you some pics ;)

That's all for now :)
C

Oh! I'm the first one :)

I thought Cle wrote something but found out I will be the first. kind of reminded me of the first scene of our movie me on a scooter hehehehe

Today was a normal working day for me except, it was not a corporate work... I woke up at 11, took a shower and went out for the place next to my house we all had breakfast in when you girls were here (XX and Beril I will take you when you come again :)... weather was nice and stayed there all day working... As I posted on FB, I'm in love with no corporate life working culture :)))

And I have to tell you something, I'm currently in Love :)))) In love with my candidate, the guy is simply great... such a respectable man... I really wish he will be president... He is not great with pictures and below one of his best ones :))))

Dr. Mohamed El Baradei

And as we share the most silly things that can happen to us, I have to share that... a while ago I'm facing an annoying problem... I burned my hair with the hair straightener...yes and please don't laugh... ok you can laugh, I'm laughing now :))) and as you can see in the picture, now every time I try to do anything with my hair I have this annoying thing on the right side of my head... It's funny but annoying :)))

Ok I gtg now and I can't wait to read all of your posts... Just a question, is this blog is going to be public or only for us... I don't like the idea of people seeing my stupid pictures, they will in the campaign and as you know I'm planning to be the first female president of Egypt :)))))

Tas xx

P.S: I love the blog Idea