As I sat on the tube home today, trying not to get annoyed at the girl eating Burger King in an enclosed space, it occurred to me that the people near me hadn’t even heard the news.
They didn’t know that this monumental moment in history had happened.
They didn’t know that we were all equal.
They didn’t know that it didn’t matter who you loved, just that you loved them.
But I knew.
It made me smile all the way home.
We are all equal.
I do not bake. Measuring things is dry and so I don’t enjoy the precision of baking. So I challenged myself to bake today and here is the result. Modified from a recipe I found on the Guardian website.
Enjoy!
250g plain flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
100g light soft brown sugar
100g dark brown sugar
250ml sunflower oil
2 large eggs
100g ground almonds
1 large mango, diced
Preheat the oven to 180C (fan-assisted 160C)/350F/gas mark 4, and grease a 20cm round sponge. Peel and dice the mango, keeping it to one side in bowl.
Sift the flour into a bowl then add the baking powder and spices in a bowl then stir through. In a large mixing bowl, crack the 2 eggs add the oil and whisk. Mix in the sugar and stir until smooth. Add the dry mix in quarters and fold until fully mixed in, then add the ground almonds and mango, fold until combined.
Put the mixture into the cake tin and sprinkle flaked almonds on top. Cook for approx 30mins or until browned.
Leave to cool in the tin then serve.
BOSH!
I am not a Blairite. Or a Brownite. Or a Bevanite. I am Labour.
I do not care for any internal factions. But I do care about this Party and more importantly, this country.
I supported Ed Balls for the leadership. And my second vote went to Diane Abbott.
I went to Labour Conference for the experience, not for my career.
I am Labour.
I grew up in Ladywood, a Birmingham constituency where half of the the population are from an ethnic minority and where for YEARS we have had the highest levels of unemployment and JSA claims in the UK.
I am from a family of mixed heritage, I went to University and I now work in marketing and PR for the biggest hotel group in the world.
The reason why my life didn’t take the route of so many of my neighbourhood friends? A life of teenage pregnancy and benefits? Aside from good parenting? Labour.
It’s been a long time since I watched Tony Blair on my TV when Labour won in 1997. Tony and I…. well we had a quite a relationship. Had I been on Twitter or Facebook between 2001 and and 2005, I’m sure I would have been very vocal about Tony. I still am. For much of what Tony did, he made the life of my family better. National Minimum Wage, Tax Credits, building new schools and hospitals - as a girl from a council estate - Labour made things better. But he also made some shitty decisions, decisions that still piss me off now. But this blog isn’t about Tony.
Gordon was a bit different. I really wanted him to succeed. There were times when Gordon really shone, but he is an overthinker - too concerned with the Daily Mail to say what he really wants, slightly removed from reality which led us to the 10p tax debacle. But this blog isn’t about Gordon.
Ed Miliband was never a choice for me during the leadership election. I didn’t really get him, and to an extent I still don’t. I didn’t vote for David for the simple reason that I thought he would win anyway. I was pretty shocked when Ed M won, and a little bit worried. I didn’t really know how he was going to connect with the wider public, how many people even knew who he was before the leadership election.
But I was prepared to support him. Many of my great and intelligent friends had voted for him. I knew there must be something about Ed that could make these great people vote for him and I knew I had to support him.
In the past year, supporting Ed has been a struggle. I find his messaging confusing - I don’t know what he stands for or what he wants to achieve. There are launches that go nowhere and statements that anger most members. He seems to want to destroy our record to win votes, something I will not stand for.
The reason I find Ed’s messaging so confusing is that his communications strategy seems to be non-existent, or at best extremely poor. As a communications professional, I find this difficult to keep quiet about. We don’t need to write our policies right now, but we can take a stand on issues without creating own goals.
I want Ed to be a success, but I don’t think his advisors or his team are doing him any favours. At a time when the Coalition are pissing all over the great work Labour did, how about we stop apologising and start criticising THEM, backed up with facts and figures. God knows Cameron hates facts!
I want Ed to be a success because if he is, then Labour are. But as members, we cannot bury our head in the sand. When people who voted for you think you’re doing a bad job, I think it’s time to assess what it is you stand for? Are you still the same man who they voted for? Are you sticking by what you said you’d do or just trying to be more palatable than the Tories? Are you making a difference, winning the hearts and minds to deliver a Labour majority?
We have a year to get our shit together, this country needs a strong and credible leader of the Labour Party, because this country is a better place with a Labour Government.
So, how do you solve a problem like Ed:
Hair. There are very few women, save for the Nicole Scherzinger’s of the world who are happy with their hair.
I’ve never been truly happy with my. I am 26 and I have been chemically straightening my hair since I was 8 (not uncommon in the Caribbean community). When I initially had my hair straightened, it was luscious and long but after time, breakage happened and I could not really ever grow my hair past a chin length.
I have long been after the Holy Grail that is “good hair”. To understand the trials and tribulations black women are willing to go through, I would recommend you watch Good Hair, a documentary by comedian Chris Rock. Chris gives great insight into the madness of lacefronts and finger waves and demonstrates just how far black women in particular will go for “good hair”.
But it’s not just an issue for black women, in fact most women spend an awful lot of their income on their hair: highlight, cuts, blow dries and treatments - this all equates to billions and billions contributed to the UK hair industry. We are all on the hunt for “good hair” and it’s not likely to stop any time soon.
I buy lots and lots of hair products - I considered taking a picture of my bathroom but I didn’t want to come across a little crazy. I have tried most ranges from the cheap (heyyyyyyyy Revlon Flex) to the more expensive (Kerastase, TIGI, Philip Kingsley) , I’ve had bonded extensions, clip ins, short hair, curly hair, red hair, black hair, blonde highlights - I am a hair treatment addict.
I’ve recently stopped chemically relaxing my hair, it was a hard decision but I just could not cope with the chemical burns or weeping scalp any longer. If you’ve never had your hair relaxed, I probably wouldn’t ever bother doing it. It is a truly horrible process, no one enjoys it and it starts off a vicious circle that is hard to break free from. But despite all of this, my pain and suffering has always been worth it for straight hair.
I’ve now discovered Brazilian Blowout and am no longer dependent on what is known as “creamy crack”. Before having a Brazilian Blowout (which I do myself, at home) I would have been genuinely horrified to stop relaxing my hair, even with the burns and breakage - I could not even BEGIN to consider what a nightmare my own, natural hair would be to deal with.
A Brazilian Blowout is a branded hair smoothing treatment, there are lots on the market but none work like BBO. Firstly, with other treatments you have to leave your hair without washing, putting it up, even putting it behind your ear! The BBO is the original and have developed a technique that allows you to pretty much wash it straight after.
So far I’m loving it, it’s a bit long-winded to do on your own hair - I can’t find a salon that uses this particular product but the results last for 6-8 weeks and make dealing with unmanageable hair much easier.
I imagine that for the rest of my life, I will be in pursuit of “good hair”, a pursuit that will likely never be fulfilled - I don’t know if that makes me shallow but I feel much better when my hair looks good - it gives me confidence and makes me feel really great.
Maybe one day I’ll be happy.
I love tattoos. I love planning them, getting them, watching other people get them, seeing other people with and the artistry involved in creating them.
I like to think I am liberal when it comes to body modifications (although I can’t get my head around tongue splitting), everyone does it for different reasons - some to make a point about individuality, sometimes it’s a rite of passage or just sometimes you want to remember a loved one.
I got my first tattoo when I was 18, I could have had one before that but there was something special about waiting for me. I went into a tattoo shop, looked on the wall and chose a tattoo that I felt was pretty (but not too girly). It cost me £40, it’s on my right ankle and I loved it. Then a year later, I decided I wanted another one, this time an Om on my right wrist - £50.
After that I decided I wanted a lily on my foot. At this point I’d watched quite a bit of Miami Ink and was starting to understand how great custom work could be. My boss at the time designed my tattoo for me and I went back to the first shop to get it done. £60 and a whole lot of pain later - top of my left foot.
It was at this time I realised I wanted something bigger and better. I became a little bit obsessed with tattoos, in particular Japanese tattoos. I knew I wanted a Geisha girl, in a garden surrounded by tranquility including a cherry blossom tree and I knew I wanted it on my back. I found an artist who was based in Birmingham, who understood what I wanted and left him with my cuttings and print outs of the kinds of tattoos and imagery I liked.
I have my first 3 hour session then left it a year before I went back. My back tattoo is one of the most beautiful things I own and I am incredibly proud of it.
Finally, I have just added a new floral tribute to my mum on my inside left arm. It’s colourful and striking and even though it’s not healed yet, I think it’s the best one I have.
Very few people in my family have tattoos, very few of my friends have anything beyond a small tattoo - certainly not to the extent that I do. I don’t really know why I have the tattoo bug, why I regularly trawl through tattoo websites finding inspiration through others work. But every time someone sees my tattoos, I always seem to get asked the same series of questions - some bordering on rude, others are just hugely interested in why a “girl like me” has them. So here are my attempts at answering the most frequently asked questions:
What will you do when you get old?
Well, I will get saggy and wrinkly just like everyone else - just that my saggy and wrinkly bits will be a bit more colourful. None of us will look good at 80, why worry about it now.
What will you do when you get married? Your dress will be ruined by all those tattoos?
I don’t live my life wondering about how I will feel about my body on a day that I don’t even know will happen and I certainly couldn’t care less if my dress won’t match my tattoos. Hopefully they man I end up marrying will love me and my tattoos and our friends and family will care less about my tattoos and more about sharing an important moment in my life.
How much does it hurt?
Hard to say really, it’s not comfortable but I don’t find it too painful. Certain areas are worse (spine. foot) but that could just be me. I know people who can relax to the point of napping during a tattoo. I am not one of those people. If anything, I hate sitting in the same position for a long time over the pain of the needle.
What does it feel like?
It’s a bit like scratching your skin when you’ve burnt yourself to me, shading in particular feels this ways.
How long does it take to heal?
Depends on the person, I heal in about 4/5 days usuallt, some people take up to 2 weeks. Keeping your tattoo clean and moisturised speeds up the healing, I’ve used lots of different healing creams: savlon (no), vaseline (no), sudocrem (defo no), Preparation H (not great) and then I discovered Bepanthen, used sparingly it is the best remedy for a tattoo. It’s cheap too!
How much do tattoos cost?
As much as it costs! I came across a quote years ago that sums up my feelings: “good tattoos aren’t cheap and cheap tattoos aren’t good” I pay £70 per hour for mine and I think that’s a great price to have people who are passionate about what they do, give you a piece of art that lasts a lifetime.
What tattoo should I get?
Get a tattoo that you want, that you’ve thought about for ages and are happy with - you’ll have it until you die so why not think it through and get something meaningful.
I’m sure there are more but these are the ones I always get asked. Let me know if you have any further questions.
So today I start The Dukan Diet. I actually hate the word diet, so henceforth I shall just call it Dukan.
Developed by French doctor Pierre Dukan, the programme is about losing weight then maintaining it long term. It’s popularity has been growing over the past few years and has been further boosted in the past few weeks due to the fact that Kate Middleton’s mother is a fan.
I originally heard of the diet last year but it seemed to be a bit of an Atkin’s diet and to be honest, if you’ve ever actually been on the Atkins, you will know that torture and death are probably more palatable than the headaches, constipation and bad breath that are the common side effects of that “diet”.
Almost every woman I know has been on a diet; some version of the Atkin’s, Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Cabbage Soup, Cambridge, South Beach no carbs after 6pm, restriction or juicing. Life isn’t that much fun when you’re counting calories, points, grams of carbs, eating no carbs or eating not much of anything. And for the most part, you never stay on them because you feel deprived.
I remember doing the Atkin’s for 3 weeks, and in those 3 weeks I lost 18lbs but I was miserable. And then, going into my fourth week I had enough and ate 2 slices of bread. With every bite of that delicious bread, I knew my time with the Atkins was over.
At Uni, I experimented with restriction, in league with one of my friends, where we would spend 1-2 hours at the gym in the morning, drink water for the rest of the day, go to the gym again for 1-2 hours in the evening then reward ourselves with a sandwich. It lasted for about a month. Horrendous.
The problem is, I like food. All sorts of food. I’ve grown up within a culture that every special occasion (or not so special occasion) has good food and lots of it. Most of us do. I love trying new dishes, for me food is an experience, not just an energy source. I mostly like savoury dishes, I will always choose start and a main over a main and dessert but that doesn’t mean to say I don’t love dessert - god knows I do.
Many diets advocating eating very little and exercising a lot - which has never struck me as fun. I do try and go to the gym, 2-3 times a week but it’s never a priority, in fact it feels sometimes like a punishment. Once I’m there, I enjoy myself but don’t have the motivation to really go unless I’m going on holiday…
Anyway, back to Dukan. Reading through the book, it seemed… well easy?! It works as a four-step programme designed to suit people of all shapes and sizes.
Step 1 - Attack
This is the most Atkin’s like stage, depending on what you want to achieve you can do this phase for 2 -7 days although you can stay on it for up to 10 days. It consists of eating lean proteins such as beef, veal, rabbit, fish and chicken but doesn’t include pork or lamb. There are no carbs here, but unlike the Atkin’s there are also no high fat creams, oils or butters - it makes so much more sense.
You can also eat fat free yoghurts, skimmed milk and eggs. You also have to eat 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of oat bran per day (available from health food stores) which you can have in the form of little pancakes or just mix into something else like yoghurt or milk. In addition you should be drinking 1.5litres of water, add in a 20 minute brisk walk each day - you can also drink coffee and tea.
This will lead to the quickest amount of weight loss, spurring you on into the next phase.
Step 2 - Cruise
In this stage you do all on the above but you can also now eat 28 vegetables such as cucumber, mushrooms, leeks and peppers. You can also have carrots and beetroot as long as it’s not all the time but you must avoid potatoes, corn, rice - the starchy ones.
The Cruise diet should be alternated with the Attack - you can choose between 5 day of Cruise then 5 days of Attack or 1 day of each. The oat bran intake increases to 2 tablespoons per day, as does the walking to 30 mins per day. this us the phase that gets you to your goal weight so you have to accept that this will be your diet for as long as it takes for you to get to that ideal weight. Dukan gives different scenarios in the books but for example, if you wanted to lose 40lbs you would be on the Dukan Cruise phase for approx 5 months. It’s up to you.
Step 3 - Consolidation
In this phase the alternate days stops and you can eat as above but you can also add in each day: 1 piece of fruit, two slices of wholemeal bread, 1 serving of cheese.
Per week you can have a servings of starchy food, lamb and pork for the first half of your Consolidation days, then two servings in the second half. This phase lasts for different lengths of time depending on how much you have already lost - equate 1lb with 5 days on this phase of the diet (if you have lost 40lbs, you would do this for 6 months); this section includes the celebration meals each week to keep you motivated.
1 day a week should follow the Attack phase to help boost your weight loss efforts. You still have the oat bran and you can reduce you walking time to 25mins per day
Step 4 - Stabilisation
This is the way you will eat, hopefully for all time. Eating what you like for 6 days of the week with 1 day of the Attack, eat 3 tablespoons of oat bran per day, walk everywhere you can (avoiding lifts and escalators) and that is really it!
I will be tracking my progress on here and sharing my thoughts on The Dukan Diet.
