Balloons and Tunes!

Posted on August 15, 2015 by suzie81speaks

Our local park in Birmingham is holding a ‘Balloons and Tunes’ festival this weekend, and The Bloke and I joined about 14,000 other people to witness the hot air balloon display. It’s not something I’ve ever experienced before, and it genuinely surpassed all expectation – as the sun set they were lit up in time to various pieces of music, with spectacular effect!

Ooh, pretty…

Pretty…

Enjoying the rides…

In fact, the whole event was superb – it was full of people just enjoying themselves on the various rides with friends and loved ones, and it was a great atmosphere…

Even a little pug joined in the fun, although it must have been a bit too much for him after a while as it ended up falling asleep on top of one of the prizes on a stall… Bless.

Sleepy pug…

It’s the little moments…

Life is a Blog Post Waiting to be Written…

Posted on August 11, 2015 by suzie81speaks

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I’m often asked where I get ideas for my posts, and my answer is always the same: anything and everything. Blogging, for me at least, has always been therapeutic. For the first six months, the majority of my posts were focused on spewing out the toxic thoughts that had plagued my mind for a long time, and I was a woman on a mission. However, as my community and readership grew (and an almost blogging addiction started to take hold), I began to branch out and focus on different topics and themes. Now, nearly two-and-a-half years later, almost everything that I do generates potential ideas. It doesn’t prevent me from enjoying an adventure while it is happening, but I will consciously take photographs and write down notes as I am going along for future use.

I’m undecided as to whether this is unhealthy or not, but I have found the process to be incredibly useful when I suffer from the dreaded bloggers block.

The way I approach the act of writing is very different to many others. I have no specific plans, no timetables, no schedules, instead choosing to sit down to create something when the I feel the urge to do so. Saying this, I don’t have the responsibilities of family, and I’m currently taking a little time out from full time work, so it is easy to work in this manner. Suzie Speaks doesn’t have a niche, so posts are influenced by the places I visit, the thoughts I have, the people I speak to, the food I eat and posts that other bloggers have written.

For those of you who have struggled with ideas recently, here are some I have found in my notes section from the last few months.

The Story Behind the Photograph.

My Very First Job.

I Knew It Was Love When…

When Me Becomes We.

Conversations I’m Bored of Having.

What I’ve Learned in 2015.

The Realisation that Familiarity Doesn’t Make a Friendship.

The Power of F*ck You.

Unspoken Rules.

The Importance of Time.

The Worst Chat Up Lines I’ve Ever Received.

Four Things About Me.

My Recipe for the Perfect Day.

And if those ideas don’t particularly appeal to you? Where are you? Could you take a quick photograph? Who are you with? What is your history with them? What do they mean to you? Have you got a funny story about them to share? What are you eating? What’s your favourite meal you have eaten this week? Have you watched a film or read a book that inspired you recently? Did you have an interesting conversation with someone that made you think?

Get out there and take inspiration from your life as you live it, for every experience is a blog post just waiting to be written.

What about you guys? Where do you take your blogging inspiration from?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my Instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks

Image Credit: Deb Fletcher

London Adventures

Posted on August 6, 2015 by suzie81speaks

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The Bloke and I have very different opinions on what constitutes as ‘a holiday.’ Give me a beach, a pool, a bar and glorious sunshine and I’m happy. He needs things to see and do. I like to adopt my inner vegetable and lay like broccoli, while he’s a ‘get up and go’ type.

We both, however, have a common love of London, and we try and visit as many times a year as we possibly can. Booked in advance, train tickets are very cheap and the journey is only an hour and a half, so getting there relatively easy. There’s something about it that we both connect with – the architecture, history and the atmosphere is wonderful, and over the years we have joined the millions of tourists with our cameras to experience everything the city has to offer.

Last Saturday I was attending the Annual Bloggers Bash, so we decided to make a little mini break out of it. We booked a room at the Premier Inn near Euston Station for Friday night and got a ridiculously early train so we would have the entire day to wander around. After leaving our bags at the hotel, we arrived at the Tower of London in time for opening, and it was already packed – it seemed like half of the U.S. had the same idea as us that day.

A panorama of the view from the central building

We spent the morning exploring the buildings in the glorious weather, looking at The Crown Jewels and the views of the city and being amused at the tourists making victory signs as they had their photographs taken in the red phone boxes. Their fascination with them always makes me smile – the British use them for urinating in and for advertising pornographic services. As is always the case, there was building work going on to maintain the architecture, so some of my photographs are blighted by scaffolding and cabins.

The central building

The Bloke testing his new camera

Can’t take him anywhere…

Looking a little more normal…

Afterwards, we went to the food section at Harrods to treat ourselves to a few things for a lunchtime picnic and then ate it in Leicester Square while we watched the street performers. We enquired about discounted tickets for a show, and after discovering that they were a little out of our price range we decided to book tickets at the Odeon to watch the new Mission Impossible film that evening. Granted, we could have seen it when we went home, but this particular cinema is where they host the premier screenings of new films and hundreds to celebrities have been there, so it was something else I could tick off my tourist list.

We went back to the hotel, checked in and promptly fell asleep for a few hours, both being shattered from being awake since 5.00am.

That evening, we went to the cinema and were promptly surprised by just how big the screen was, and the fact that it looked just like a theatre. The film was great – one of the best of the five, and aside from a silly woman sitting next to me who laughed all the way through it even in the parts that weren’t supposed to be funny, I had a great time.

As we were leaving, I picked up my rubbish from the floor and I noticed something underneath The Bloke’s chair. It was an A4 piece of paper, with a still of Tom Cruise in Top Gun. It read:

Congratulations! You have won a prize – please take this to one of our staff to claim it.

Our prize from the cinema – bonus!

We weren’t sure whether it was a prank, but we took it to the manager in the foyer. I half expected him to laugh at me and tell me someone had put it there for a joke, but I was pleasantly surprised when he smiled and asked us to follow him to a little cupboard near the entrance. Our prize was a Guardians of the Galaxy poster and a copy of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars. It was completely random, and looked a little awkward carrying it back on the Tube afterwards, but I was delighted – I had wanted to purchase the book anyway, and let’s face it, it’s always nice to get free stuff!

I don’t remember my head hitting the pillow that night. Despite having an afternoon nap, I was completely exhausted…

I love the fact that we have little adventures together. I can’t wait to see what Barcelona has to offer in September!

What about you guys? Have you visited anywhere recently?

Twenty-One Things That Make Me Happy

Posted on July 22, 2015 by suzie81speaks

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It’s been all doom and gloom here lately, so I thought I would take the opportunity to adopt my inner Monty Python, look on the bright side of life and think about the things that make me happy:

1. Running. I haven’t been for a while, but I always enjoy being able to run around the park with some sort of heavy metal music blasting in my ears.

2. Surprise gestures. Lots of people I know dislike surprises, but I love them – I often receive little surprises from my nearest and dearest and they always make my day!

3. Spontaneity. An unplanned evening often turns out to the most interesting. Continue reading →

Suzie Speaks Summer Blog Party!

Posted on July 18, 2015 by suzie81speaks

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It has been quite a while since I last hosted a blog party, and I absolutely love them! It’s the beginning of summer, and for me its the beginning of a new chapter, so I’m determined to celebrate in style! For those of you that have never participated in one before, the rules are simple:

1. Choose your favourite post from your own blog. The subject of the post can be anything you like – blogging, food, parenting, life, travel, thoughts, photography… Note: This should be only one post at a time or it will get sent straight to the ‘spam’ folder and I may not be able to find you for a while. You can share up to three links, and for maximum impact I would suggest that you wait a little while in between posting them rather than in one go. Continue reading →

Expectations of the Perfect Partner

Posted on June 25, 2015 by suzie81speaks

Our students participated in an interesting set of workshops today. They were all off their usual timetable, instead discussing issues surrounding physical, emotional, social and sexual health. I spent most of the day supervising the sexual health workshops, which were predominantly focused on personal relationships and the expectations that each individual has of them.

The facilitator set the kids a really interesting activity. They were asked to draw out a shape in the form of a gingerbread man on a large piece of paper, with the title, ‘The Perfect Partner.’ Around the outside, they had to write the physical attributes that they would like, and on the inside, personality traits.

By the end of the third workshop, I had developed so many ideas in my head that I did the activity myself.

This was what I came up with:

I’m in a long-term, happy relationship with a wonderful bloke, but being Little Miss Cynical I found myself thinking that the activity was perhaps setting false expectations for the students – surely there is no such thing as the perfect partner because there is no such thing as the perfect person? I mentioned this when I had a conversation with the practitioner after the workshops had finished, and there was something that she said that stuck with me for the rest of the day…

“None of the things that they all listed were impossible or unachievable – nobody wanted a partner that could fly or magic money out of thin air. The idea behind it is not to give young people false expectations, but to have expectations in the first place. By acknowledging things that they want in a partner, it gives them a chance to focus on two things: that personality is far more important than the way somebody looks, and that they will only be treated in the way that they allow themselves to be.”

She was absolutely right. Their ideas were not anything unexpected. Initially, the boys thought more about boobs and large bottoms and the girls talked about the importance of height and blue eyes, but by the time everyone had finished they had all filled the middle of their diagram with lots of ideas that would make the perfect personality.

I asked some of the students after school what they had gained from the workshop. One of them simply smiled and said,

“I am going to go home and do the activity about me instead of my perfect partner. That way, I know what sort of person I want to become and then I can expect exactly the same of my future boyfriend.”

A lesson well learned, I think!

What about you? What would your perfect partner look like?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook and Pinterest pages

http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks
http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks

25 Thoughts for the Day

Posted on May 25, 2015 by suzie81speaks

During my many travels around the internet I always stumble across things that make me laugh, cry and think. While some roll their eyes at the mere mention of inspirational quotes and thoughts, I like to compile groups of them and save them on my phone as a tool to get me through the day. Here are some of my favourites…

1. A fine is a tax for doing something wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

2. School teaches lessons and then gives us a test. Life gives us a test and then we learn the lessons from it.

3. Life was much simpler when Apple, Blackberry and Raspberry were just fruit.

4. There is always an element of truth behind ‘just kidding.’

5. There is always knowledge behind ‘I don’t know.’

6. There is always emotion behind ‘I don’t care.’

7. There is always pain behind ‘It’s okay.’

8. You can’t buy love, but there are times where you may pay heavily for it.

9. Money can’t buy happiness, but it is far more comfortable to cry in a Mercedes than on a bicycle.

10. Alcohol does not solve problems, but neither does milk.

11. We buy things that we don’t need, with money that we don’t have, to impress people we don’t like.

12. If you tell the truth, you never have to remember a lie.

13. If there are no ups and down in life, it means you’re dead.

14. The people with the best advice to give are usually the ones with the most problems.

15. Teenagers have the time and energy but not the money. Adults have the money and energy but not the time. Pensioners have the money and time but not the energy.

16. You can’t say M without your lips touching.

17. You’re now trying to say M without your lips touching.

18. The things that you don’t learn are the most likely things to be in the exam.

19. If undecided about two options, flip a coin. Your instinct will tell you which one you’re secretly hoping for when you feel happy or disappointed with the result.

20. The hardest thing and the right thing are often the same thing.

21. Closed minds are not often accompanied by closed mouths.

22. Fake plants will die if you don’t pretend to water them.

23. You are more likely to wake up at 6.00am on your days off.

24. The little toe is the perfect device for finding the edges of furniture in a darkened room.

25. This will cause a discussion as to whether it is ‘ironic’ or not. It isn’t.

What about you? Any inspirational quotes you would like to add?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks and my new Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks

The Real Truth, Or The Truth We Want To Believe?

Posted on April 21, 2015 by suzie81speaks

My mother once said something to me that I deemed to be very profound and I have never forgotten it:

There are two types of truths: the one we want to believe, and the real truth.

There have been many situations where I have deceived myself into believing that situations were different to reality. I stayed with a sociopathic ex-boyfriend for far too long because I wanted to believe that he loved me, despite the appalling way that he treated me. I’ve continued with friendships that I knew had changed, simply because of the familiarity I felt and the length of time I had known them. I’ve ignored my intuition and repeatedly allowed myself to be taken advantage of by others on many occasions because I wanted to believe that they were good people, and I’ve found myself being emotionally burnt time and time again.

This self-deception, or even willful ignorance to a point, is the easy path to take in so many aspects of life. As good people, we want to believe in the positive – that we’re happy and fulfilled, that the connections that we feel with others are reciprocated and that things are exactly how we want them to be. In truth, and by this I mean the real truth, it is incredibly painful to be able to accept an actuality once we acknowledge that our reality is very different to the way that we would hope.

There are no rules, or the right (or indeed, wrong) way to do things in life. Each of us is bumbling our way through our own journey and whether we believe that we create our own path, or destiny plays a hand, we make the decisions that we feel are right for us in the moment.

But what should we do once the real truth presents itself?

1. Decide what it is that you actually want, however painful it is to acknowledge.

2. Work out the things you can and cannot change. I, and many people around me, get easily stressed and upset by situations that are beyond our control and I have found that it is a huge waste of time and energy.

3. Claim ownership. While others may have been contributing factors to your present situation, it is you that is ultimately responsible for your own life.

4. Put a plan into place, and actually work towards it. Wishing and dreaming about something isn’t going to get you anywhere.

5. Take the risk. To my knowledge, we only have one life, and a life without risks means that we accept the easy path. Nothing worth having is easy.

What about you? Have you ever been confronted with a ‘real truth.’ What did you do?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to visit my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks

Image Credit: susanmillsartistbooks.com

Things That Will Happen When Gay People Get Married

Posted on April 8, 2015 by suzie81speaks

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If it’s a weekday, I will go to work. I will return home ten hours later, undoubtedly with a stress induced headache.

If it’s a weekend, I will laze about in my jammies, catch up on the blog and watch chat shows on television.

An enormous traffic jam will happen somewhere on the M6.

Someone will give birth.

Someone will die.

Mr Shouty Man will sit on the wall outside my house, shouting to himself before he walks to the park and shouts some more.

Old friends will meet for lunch.

My bus will be late and then three of them will turn up all at once.

Someone will be released from jail.

A teenager will disappoint their parents.

A parent will disappoint their child.

Someone will do something that they regret.

Epic movies will be made.

Beautiful music will be composed.

Someone will get finally get their ‘big break.’

I will lose my house keys.

A teacher will mark some work from at least one of their students.

Someone will pass their driving test.

A lovesick One Directioner will beg Harry Styles to follow them on Twitter.

Someone will win a game of poker.

I will burn my dinner.

Someone will dance around the supermarket to their favourite song.

A photograph will be taken from the top of a famous monument and shared on Facebook.

I will look at the flowery curtains in my living room with disgust, and vow to buy some new ones soon.

Someone will laugh so hard that their stomach hurts.

A teenager will Instagram a selfie in front of a mirror.

A drunken phonecall will be made to an ex at 2am.

Someone will inevitably be compared to Hitler after insulting Justin Bieber on YouTube.

My neighbours children, who live across the road, will scream and run up and down the pavement ‘doing races’ for hours.

Someone will vow that they are ‘never going to drink again’ after consuming their body weight in vodka shots the night before.

My cat will undoubtedly spend at least twenty minutes attempting to climb behind the back of the television before sitting on the back of the couch and sneezing on my head.

My other cat will fall asleep on her back, snore loudly and twitch her paws when she dreams.

Someone will hear ‘I Love You’ for the first time.

Someone will hear ‘I Love You’ for the last time.

Someone will lose their virginity.

Someone will get sunburnt after lying on a beach for too long.

My mother will take her dogs for a walk.

A tired student will pull an ‘all-nighter’ after leaving their assignment until the last minute.

Someone will achieve a life-long goal.

A child will meet their hero.

The world will turn, the sun will rise in the morning and set in the evening. The sky will be blue, or it will rain, or snow, or hail. The plants will grow. People will continue to live their lives as they always have.

Above all, if gay people are allowed to marry, then two people, be it two men or two women, will declare their love and commitment to each other. Their decision affects only them, and nobody else, and I wish them all the love and happiness in the world.

I’m proud to live in a country where gay marriage is legally recognised. Other places aren’t as lucky.

Enough is enough. Live your life, believe what you want to believe, love who you choose to love, but let others do the same without fear of persecution and condemnation.

And if you don’t like it? I’ll leave it to the ever fabulous RuPaul to finish the sentence for me…

Sashay… Away

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog, and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks

Image 1 credit: NY Times

Tapas, Alice in Wonderland and Old Friends

Posted on April 3, 2015 by suzie81speaks

I’m on a train ‘up north’ to spend the weekend with my family. It is my sister’s 30th birthday, so we’re all getting together tomorrow night to eat, drink and celebrate. I love travelling at this time in a morning – it’s quiet, calm and I’m able to relax in the carriage and listen to The Smiths without being disturbed.

After a crappy few weeks I decided to take this week off and spend some time having fun and catching up with old friends. I must admit, I feel a little bit rough today. It’s a good thing that it’s Easter – I currently resemble an Easter egg as I’ve done nothing but eat and drink over the last week.

It’s been wonderful. Last Saturday was my friend’s birthday. After living in sweat pants and hooded sweaters for what seems like months, I decided that I was going to really make an effort, and spent hours getting ready. My hair was perfect, I chose an outfit that was flattering, my make up was perfect and I even managed to apply false eyelashes successfully in one attempt without glueing my eyes together. Winner. We went to a live venue where the band (who were brilliant) performed covers of my favourite songs and I danced, drank and sang at the top of my lungs until about 1.30am. The next day I discovered that some drunken fool had spilled red wine down the back of my favourite top, but I didn’t care – it was an awesome night. My hangover the next day was awful, but it was totally worth it – I needed something to get rid of the cloud that has surrounded me for such a long time.

An old typewriter with an invitation for the guests to ‘finish our fairytale.’ Beautiful idea.

On Wednesday The Bloke and I attended our friend’s wedding reception. It was held in a beautiful medieval building (the fact that these exist in this country is one of the many reasons why I love being British), it had an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ theme and in different rooms there were lots of fun and interesting things to participate in, including ‘flamingo croquet.’ I must admit, I was a little nervous about it – she works at the same school as The Bloke and is a former colleague of mine, so I was worried about the prospect of having to potentially see a few characters that I don’t particularly enjoy being around and haven’t had any contact with since I left the school three years ago.

My friend and I took advantage of the photo booth… Gorgeous!

However, when I arrived I discovered that all the people there were my friends, and I had a blast catching up, eating pizza (instead of a buffet, the Bride and Groom ordered a ton of small pizzas – I thought it was a brilliant idea), singing and joining in the different activities that were going on. The Bride (and Groom, of course, but especially the Bride) looked absolutely stunning, and above all, ridiculously happy.

Alice in Wonderland signs that were in the reception room. Unfortunately, the angle of the picture suggests that Alice is feeling a little suicidal…

There were brilliant live performances from their friends, and they had choreographed their wedding dance, which they executed perfectly. It really was a lovely evening, and I’m so pleased for them both. They’re off on their honeymoon to Paris for the next week, and I couldn’t imagine a more beautiful place to spend their first week as newlyweds.

Yesterday was a double food whammy. I met my friend for lunch at our local pub – she’s moving house this weekend after quite a difficult six months and after spending most Monday evenings consoling and supporting each other, we’ve both found ourselves back on track with a new start ahead of us. I’m proud of her – she’s faced a challenging time and has found the strength to get back up and kick ass – she’s a very strong person.

Yum!

After eating my bodyweight in burger, I had a few hours to relax and then The Bloke and I met our friend in our favourite tapas restaurant, Bar Estillo in The Mailbox in Birmingham. I was still feeling quite full after my lunch, but I jumped in and managed to munch my way through filo prawns, halloumi fritters and patatas bravas, as well as indulging in a raspberry mojito (they aren’t cheap, but they’re the best in the city). My friend is really intelligent and interesting, and even though I’ve known her for years I find out new things about her every time we go out. Last night she was telling us about her travels – working in an olive grove in Italy and a sloth sanctuary in Costa Rica, living in Mexico City for a few months, teaching in Paris, visiting Cuba… I keep telling her she needs to write a book, about her adventures. I’m sure it would be a bestseller…

I’ve talked, I’ve laughed and I’ve felt nothing but happiness all week. It’s been amazing and I’m looking forward to the weekend, but I’m glad that I have a day to sleep it off… After a long period of stress, anxiety and feeling quite low I have started to feel like my old self again. Long may it continue!

What about you guys? Have you done anything exciting over the last week?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and don’t forget to check out my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks