The Importance Of Being Blair

Perhaps one of the greatest fictional characters of our generation, Blair Waldorf (from Gossip Girl, just in case you've been under a rock since the dawn of time) is woman who knows what she wants. Yet, her great outfits (not Serena great, but still great) and perfect hair have nothing on the little pearls of wisdom she imparted on us all during the six series that changed life as we know it. They're words to live by from the biggest, baddest bitch around, and if they we're good enough for Blair, they're good enough for me.

'Destiny is for losers. It's just a lame excuse for letting things happen to you instead of making them happen.' - Blair Waldorf

Look me in the eye and tell me that isn't some real talk right there.

So kids, I've pulled a Blair and about a month ago I fobbed off destiny because destiny. Is. For. Losers.

It was a calm Monday morning, the week before I had interviewed for two internships in London and had heard nothing back, having been told I would have heard before the weekend. 'Never mind', I thought to myself, 'I have other plans'. As you all know, I have been saving for my South American adventure since I moved home in June, and thinking that I hadn't got the internship of my dreams, I decided enough was enough. What was supposed to be a follow up planning meeting at the STA Travel in Covent Garden, turned into me spending my savings and booking my flights.

I'm going to south America. On my own. For four months.
Metal? Yes.
Scary? Certainly.
Brave? We'll find out.

Because, and here's the thing, I was always going to find a reason to stay. From a guy, to my dream to career, to my incapability to save money- if I hadn't have just booked it, I'd still be sat here erm-ing and ahh-ing.

London - Rio - Buenos Aires - Santiago - La Paz - Lima - Quito - San José - LA - London.

Naturally, there will be a blog, because I know you'll all be keen to keep up to date on my where abouts and making sure I'm still alive. I'm a weird mixture of excited and petrified but I sort of can't wait to make this dream a reality. I figure you're only 21 and completely free once, wasting this opportunity to travel the world would be criminal. I'm 99.9% sure it'll be the making of me, so long as I can stand the hostels!

Instantly my mind went into money saving mode, planning how I could pick up extra hours and be the best waitress ever (I'm a horrible waitress, it's a good thing I can chat to people if I'm being honest) so I could save every single penny possible. It was gonna be great, I was going to save like a demon and have the most amazing four months ever...

24 hours after booking my flights, I get a phone call to say I'm being offered the position of social media intern for one of the UK's biggest charities. Unpaid.
But how could I say no? TELL ME HOW?!
I said yes. I haven't had a day off in four weeks, I'm constantly exhausted, I rush from the centre of London back to Bucks two nights a week to make it to Friday's for a 7pm start, and I work all day Saturday and Sunday; but I love it.

I'm happy, I'm focused, I'm making my dream come true and I'm investing in my future.

It's living proof that Blair was right. You don't need destiny. You just need to get off your arse and make life happen.

-xo

Post-Grad Drams (I mean Dreams)

A funny thing happened about a month ago...
I graduated.
I popped on my hat and gown and successfully walked across the stage without falling arse over tit to shake the Dean's hand. I took lots of photo's with my parents and friends, had a lovely meal and then dragged my parents to everyone's fave student bar and got myself so drunk I vommed in the loos of the first class Virgin carriage coming back down south the next day.
Oh yes my friends, I did it.
Success.

Of course, reality soon set back in and I realised the bar job I got myself when I first moved back home wasn't actually for me, so I handed in my notice and got myself my dream job instead...

I'm going to be a waitress at TGI Friday's.

I know, I know, it's another hospitality job and don't I already have one of those?! Shouldn't I be looking for an ACTUAL job?! Doesn't the MMU website have loads of amazing graduate jobs I can be applying for?! But, it's TGI Friday's and I am me. It's a pretty decent combination when you think about it and I have always wanted to work in one, stupid as that may sound.
When I was younger, my parents told me that back in the day if you wanted to work at TGI Friday's instead of interviewing you, they auditioned you, which naturally, struck a chord with me. I have always had a love for theatre and drama, shocking news to absolutely no one, so the idea that I may one day have to audition for a job excited me (especially since I was about 8, and had no idea what an actual interview would feel like).
I figure what could be better than working somewhere that will, hopefully, be a fun environment, in an industry I have huge soft spot for, earning money to make my dream trip come true?
I'm 21, if I start my cooperate life now, I'll never leave. I know what I'm like, and currently I want to do everything all at once. I want to have a fun job and save money and see the world but I also want my dream career and a flat in the city (Manchester or London, no where else is really in the running) and drinks in nice bars and expensive shoes. In true Hayley style, I want to run before I can walk.
I talk to people in their mid-late twenties and can't help but feel a little bit envious. They've been there, done it, and are now actual human beings with plans and life goals who appear to have their shit together... Most of them insist that they are still just as clueless as they were at 21 though, so maybe the true trick to making it through your twenties is simply to make it look like you're making it through your twenties.

My savings account is looking healthier than it has done in a while, so whilst I miss city life and find myself longing for access to 24 hours Dominos Pizza (you know, just in case) and desperate to be able to go for drinks without having to drive, I know that it'll be worth it when I'm learning to Samba in Sao Paolo and learning to surf in Costa Rica.

-xo

There's Still Something About Gaga

Admit it, we all remember roughly the first time we heard Lady Gaga's 'Just Dance' and knew that Pop had found it's new Princess. Four Years later and we have all adapted to crazy of the Gaga. Everyone wants a piece of her, she's graced the covers of Rolling Stones, Elle and Vogue too mention but a few, won more music awards than you can shake a stick at and has successfully been on tour for 374 days and counting.She's a fashion icon, a gay icon, a role model to young women and having seen her in the Monster Ball on Saturday night, it is easy to see why she is still captivating us all.

I first saw Lady Gaga when she opened for Take That at their 2009 The Circus Tour at Wembley Stadium in London. She had just released The Fame. She was only on stage for 45 minutes, but she still managed to fit in 4 costume changes and a flash of her bum. Perez Hilton was still referring to her as 'The Gaga', and I swore to myself that one day, I would see her live in her own concert. Happy to say that on 9th September 2012 that day arrived.

Any concert that kick starts with the artist giving birth to themselves is worthy of at least 7 stars, and thankfully for me, Gaga not only gave birth to herself, but managed to give birth to a side of myself I haven't seen since I was 14 years old and chasing the Jonas Brothers up Oxford Street. Between the powerful dance numbers, the dancer's beautifully sculpted bodies, the crazy costumes (think slightly robotic virgin bride and biker Barbie) and her wicked New York potty mouth it was easy to be swept away in the tidal wave of brash, fast moving, fun that is Lady Gaga.

For me, however, it wasn't the Gaga you see in the music videos or in the magazines that amazed me. Rather, it was the raw, stripped down version that had me on the edge of my seat whooping and clapping and hyperventilating like there was no tomorrow. It was the way she was able to so instantly connect with her fans, whether they were the ones she pulled on stage, or the ones sat up in the Gods. She gave a piece of herself to us all. It's the way that when she sat down at her piano and started to play 'Hair', 'Princess Die' and 'Imagine' we saw that 15 year old girl who worked in dingy night clubs and fought tooth and nail for this thing she loved the most; her music. 

In amongst all the zany head pieces and crazy hair, it was easy to loose sight of the fact that Lady Gaga is truly, truly beautiful. She has a face you can use at angle and a body Kate Moss would die for. Then there was the fact that her inner beauty and the connection she felt with us, her fans, was so overwhelming and strong that it managed to shine through brighter than the stage lights. She is everything 15 year old me wished I would become, strong, independent, different, proud and damn  good at what she does.

She is, without doubt, one of the most talented artist on the scene right now. Whilst Pop's other Princess are busy lip syncing (you know who I'm talking about) and barely being able to hold a tune live (her too), Gaga is on stage, singing live, dancing hard and playing the piano like an angel. She has a voice more versatile than Vaseline. Whether you want pop, rock, soul or opera, Lady Gaga can deliver in ways that haven't been seen on an artist since, dare I say it, the late great Freddie Mercury. And I know people say she's a cheap 21st Century Madonna rip off, but frankly, it's bollocks. Having seen both MDMA and BTWB I can easily say that it was pop's Princess that made the better connection with her audience and that seemed more grateful to be up there, not it's Queen. Two things which over all, are absolutely integral to a concert's success. 

Of course Gaga is half of Madonna's age and the hard-cores will argue until they are blue in the face that she rips of Madonna's style/music/techniques whatever, but even if it were true, doesn't just about every artist out there take the traits and tricks of other artists and use them in their own way?

I am not saying that Gaga is pretending to be anyone other than herself, for she is not. She is still the same breath of fresh air into a stale music industry of prepackaged pop-stars, lip syncers and ghost writers, that she was when she burst onto our airwaves all those years ago. She is raw talent, ever growing and evolving, she is a force that shows no signs of slowing down...

And thank Gaga for that. 

The Greatest City For The Greatest Show On Earth!

It has been an emotional and incredible first five days of the London 2012 Olympic Games and I would mostly like to start by saying that I, Hayley Olimba Devlin, was wrong.

The Games have been the greatest, not the worst, thing to happen to our city and I have absolutely never been so proud to say that I am British and that London is my city.

From the remarkable Danny Boyle directed Open Ceremony, to the beautiful Olympic Beacon and the INCREDIBLE transformation of the East End everything about London 2012 shines. I gush every time I see a foreigner post a picture of the games online and feel inspired by the fact that billions of eyes are watching my city in awe as the Olympic and Paralympic games go on. Everyone in the world should experience this feeling.

I have gone from game-hater to game-lover in 0.3 seconds flat, clocked up lots of interesting Sports fact that may or may not come in useful once the pub quiz season restarts and have managed to add at least four new names to my 'He's Fathering My Children List'. Brilliant.

The pride that runs through me every time we win a medal is starting get ridiculous. Helen and Heather's first Team GB gold was phenomenal, then there's Wiggo beating Sir Steve Redgrave's Olympic title and our brilliant Male Gymnastic team who defied all the odds winning our first male gymnastic medal in a century are merely a few of the our Olympic achievements that made my heart swell. Tom Daley's individual isn't for another 10 days and I'm already wetting myself in excitement!*

Plus, it's not even just Team GB I feel proud and captured by though, oh no. It's all the athletes across all the nations, form the sneaky Kazakhstan cyclist who won the road race in the last few seconds, to the AMAZING 15 year old Lithuanian female who won the swimming and to Micheal Phelps and his achievement of officially being the greatest athlete of all time.

I just can't help it, I've caught Olympic Fever and it's raging through me with no signs of stopping!!

COME ON TEAM GB!


*Alright, so I'm not actually wetting myself.