Hello, my darlings! I hope you had a heart-warming Christmas Day, and are looking forward to the end of 2010 with happy memories and high hopes for the New Year - or, as Gala Darling calls it, two thousand and heaven!
One of my favourite things about the holiday season is getting all of my most beloved people together for merriment and mirth! I'm planning to see in tomorrow's midnight chimes and fireworks with a gathering of delightful dancing partners, drinking pink champagne, playing board games and twisting the night away! I can't wait!
I also had a fabulous time at the opening night of the club I "promoted" [technically, invited my friends to and then secured us all free drinks!] - it really was just like the bar in Coyote Ugly, complete with fire-breathing and dancing on the bar! Best of all, I got to spend the night with not only The Boy but my beloved Camerado. Our little band of rogues even decided to get some shots - but as you can see, we did not approve...!
Whether we're reviling 'Peachy Schnapps' shots in Barcelona or breaking into secret gardens in Bushy Park, I always have the best of times with my darling girl! What on earth would I do without her?
In so many ways, she is the measure of me; and that's why it helps to think of her when deciding what to do next. And I have lots of decisions to make in the next 12 months! To stay on at my beloved Cambridge and continue studying Theology for an extra, fourth year? Or to take a course that trains me to teach English, and use it to get a job teaching in Italy? There's so much to take into consideration - especially money, and the fact that The Boy has another two years of studying at Cambridge, and I would hate to be far away from him for too long. What to do? What to do?
"I always said I’d be in Gryffindor, but I keep forgetting words like “courage” and “integrity”. I keep hiding inside books, inside blanket fortresses, inside my head. I’ve wandered off the path, stopped tracking Mars’s revolution, dug a hole and stuck my head in it. “Live deliberately.” is penned in thick ink in so many of my journals, on the pale underside of my wrist, but I don’t remember who wrote it. Was it me? Some ghostling? You?"
-
I think Gala Darling's ideas about setting amazing goals might help:
"If you don’t know where to begin, or you feel like you have absolutely no ambition, take some time out for yourself & just allow your mind to wander. Give yourself to permission to dream. Get somewhere comfortable & drift away on your imagination. What kind of lifestyle have you always wished you had? Would you like to live in a hippie commune in San Francisco, or is a brownstone in New York more your style? How about volunteering in India, or owning a fleet of cruise ships? Have you always wanted to run away & join the circus, or would you like to start a community kitchen where people can eat wonderfully hearty but inexpensive meals? Picture everything that would surround that lifestyle. Would you drive a car or ride a moped? Would your bedroom be like a Moroccan retreat or would it be minimal & zen? Would you have a husband, wife, lover, girlfriend, boyfriend, harem, “hos in different area codes“ or keep to yourself? Would you have any pets? How often would your friends visit? What kind of friends would you like? Witty & urbane or comfortable & sweet?
Grab a piece of paper & start scrawling down ideas. Don’t judge yourself while you write — just write. You don’t have to do any of it if you don’t want to, but just give yourself some options. Then narrow it down to things that really turn your crank."
So here's how I imagine who I most want to be in five years' time...
Signorina Cakewise was bursting with excitement as she waited at Rome Fiumicino airport, a bottle of pink champagne in her hand and the lead of her chow chow puppy in the other. Her beloved Camerado was landing at last! It had been years since the two best friends had seen each other - they still spoke every day, but the Camerado had been busy studying in Berkeley, California, before passing the bar with flying colours and joining a top corporate law firm. It just so happened that the company she had been assigned to represent was an Italian one, with offices in the Eternal City - Roma, Roma, Roma! - and they were flying her out for some important meetings. Which meant that our two heroines would be united once more!
And what a happy reunion it was! Miss Cakewise popped the champagne in delight as soon as she caught sight of her Camerado emerging from Arrivals, every inch the professional businesswoman in a perfectly tailored Chanel skirt suit. Miss Cakewise spilled champagne all over it when they fell into each other's arms, but neither of them minded. They spent the afternoon at a cafe table in the Pantheon Square, drinking cocktails, eating gelato, surreptitiously feeding the chow chow the ice cream cones, and talking and laughing as loud as the day is long.
As darkness fell, the Camerado came to her senses. "I really must be getting to my hotel," she said. "I have to meet my clients for dinner, and I have to unpack."
"Nonsenso!" Signorina Cakewise cried. "You shall stay with me!"
So off they went to her apartment at 51 Via Marghuta, exactly where Gregory Peck lived in Roman Holiday. The walls were painted sky blue with fluffy white clouds, the wide windows were thrown open onto the balcony that looked out over Rome, and the corners were filled with books, sunhats, sequinned shoes, sunshine and The Boy's cricket bats. "Don't you just love it here?" Miss Cakewise cried joyfully. "You can sleep on the sofa, with Chow Chow!" The camerado wasn't sure she liked this arrangement, but declined to comment at present.
After her (really rather successful, she thought) business dinner, the Camerado rejoined her old companion and The Boy in their favourite square for drinking and dancing, where they were enthusiastically greeted by what seemed like dozens of Signorina Cakewise's students, who were either waiting on tables or reveling themselves. The Signorina had come to the city to teach at the English School, and had started a blog about all that Italy was teaching her. It became such a success that she had been offered a book deal and was invited to all the most fabulous parties, and she simply couldn't leave just yet, so The Boy had come to live with her - he was so brave that fortune had favoured him too, and he was now setting up his dream business right here in Rome. "And he is learning Italian so much faster than I did!" Miss Cakewise enthused.
The Camerado relished every tidbit of news and shared her own - her recent promotion (which was cause for several toasts), her new friends and her apartment on the beach in sunny California. Yet the men in America were, she had to admit, disappointing - they just weren't Greg Peck.
"Oh, what a shame..." Miss Cakewise sighed, before looking over the Camerado's shoulder mischeviously. She turned around - and there was her old flame from their backpacking adventures in Firenze, Fabrizio! He was more handsome than ever! "Fabrizio! Um, fancy seeing you here! I forgot that you two know each other from long ago!" the scheming Signorina Cakewise enthused, trying to look as innocent as possible.
The Camerado was lost for words as she was swept amongst the dancing couples by her first love, but was willing to bet that this was only the first of many in store for her during her stay - after all, she still had another week in Rome with her favourite Miss Cakewise...
THE END!
So that is where and how I want to be in five years' time. Those are my castles in the sky - now I need to put foundations underneath them! I can start making the magic now, even in tiny ways: like more fairy-lights in my life...
...and dancing!
Now, my idea of exercise has always been a stroll through King's for hot chocolate, but I enjoyed my rock'n'roll dance classes this year so much [and The Boy's atheleticism leaves me feeling so utterly inadequate!] that I bought some highly cheesy but surprisingly fun dance workout DVDs. You pick up steps for the salsa, the cha-cha, the jive etc., and throw them all together at various speeds. It's hard work, but I forgot how good moving around and getting your heart pumping can make you feel. And, oddly enough, I've found that the more energy you expend, the more energetic you feel - after a good forty-five minutes of leaping gracelessly around, I'm much less inclined to spend the rest of the day moping about the house. So my resolution for 2000 and HEAVEN! is to dance every other day.
After all, if I feel like giving up on my goal, I can always look at something like this for inspiration - isn't it amazing?!:-
One of my dearest Cambridge compadres and I have decided to dance together once term begins, and I've wasted no time finding vintage polkadot leotards and neon legwarmers to get in the spirit! I have to say that my new favourite thing is my pair of Irregular Choice trainers! I could never wear anything that is completely and utterly practical, so these are wonderful - they have blue fur, lightning bolts and Lego people!
Isn't it funny how an amazing pair of shoes can lift your spirits and sometimes even give you a whole new persona? Wear the right shoes, and you are filled with confidence: you feel special, you walk more jauntily with your head held high, and everything you imagine and daydream of seems closer than usual. The girl who wears these shoes is courageous, full of warmth and humour, and just a little bit crazy, but in a loveable way. She has strawberry milkshakes and macaroons for breakfast, she sings in public, she is not embarassed to chase the ice cream van down the street in summer, and she is always, always the last one dancing.
A bit like my new favourite heroine, Shingai Shoniwa of the Noisettes - I fell in love with her gorgeous song Never Forget You, her hair, and her account of the year her mother sent her to live with her grandmother in Malawi:
"For my 10-year-old self, the trip was one big adventure. I didn't feel a hint of homesickness. My nan, it turned out, was an incredible woman. She was the only person in her village with a sewing machine, so neighbours queued to get clothes made from local fabric. Red, yellows and greens in vivd prints to match the scenery helped make up what is still the most vibrantly coloured wardrobe I've ever seen. It was the start of my long love affair with fashion."
"Heading back to the airport, I'm still buzzing and emotional. The dusty drive takes me right back to being that little girl, returning to Britain with confidence and optimism. I have that exact feeling right now; to do better, to be better and live life to the full."
"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."
-Neil Gaman
Love, trench coats and chocolate xxx
