10 Things I love....

I've been tagged by Betty Herbert so here are my 10 things I love.

This has been really hard to keep to 10 things only......

1. My son

An obvious one but true. Motherhood completely changed my life, within 3 months of becoming a mother my marriage ended very horribly and looking at my baby son, made me get through days when I felt I couldn't even get out of bed. Being his mum has taught me so much. He's the BEST thing I have ever done but also the hardest.  He rocks my world everyday and not a day goes without me being so proud that he's mine.

2. My House

This is the first house I have owned on my own and its needed lots of work, after five years, the only rooms needing attention are the bathroom with the infamous #discobath  and blue ceiling with painted clouds and the spare room *shudders*.  My garden is now lovely to sit in on rare sunny days.

3. Tea

I can't function without tea. When I get up in the morning the first thing I do when I arrive downstairs is switch the kettle on. When my son can make me a cup of tea, my world will be complete. I could give up wine and gin but I couldn't give up tea, and yes I am drinking tea as I write this.

4. Friends

Who else could you make faces out of the table decorations with, in the very posh Leander Club at Henley Regatta, fall asleep in the pub with, dance until 6am in a swanky nightclub in Milan? Seriously my friends are great and have been with me through good and bad times.

5. Shoes

I love shoes! I know most girls do but I really love shoes! If I can't sleep at night I count my pairs of shoes and I'm always asleep before they have all been counted. I bought these Jimmy Choo's when I was getting divorced, they were a present to myself to cheer me up and it worked.

6. Music

I love music and I love all sorts of music, my favourite list of songs changes daily and I'm willing to listen to anything with open ears to see if I like it, my ipod includes everything from Muse and Biffy Clyro to Cheb Mami and Johnny Cash.  I love to go and see concerts, I'm at Hyde Park in this photo watching Kings of Leon with my friend Katie.  This year I've been to see Plan B and go to see Prince, Foo Fighters and Biffy Clyro in July. 

7. Belly Dancing.

I've been belly dancing for over 10 years, I started going to class as I'm rubbish at going to the gym. It's great for you and you can wear sparkly clothes. This is the troupe after we had performed at Waddesdon Manor, we are performing there again on 25th June 2011.  We make all our own costumes which adds to the fun and the stress.  I've met some great friends through dancing, danced at some amazing places.

 This is my tummy and all those sequins were sewn on by my little hands...
8. Henley Regatta

Drinking Pimms at Henley Regatta is also one of my favourite things to do, I love that there are Pimms only and champagne only bars in the Stewards Enclosure and that they will not let you in if your knees are exposed (even the transvestites ensure their knees are covered if not their five o’clock shadow). In all the years I’ve been I’ve watched about 20 minutes of rowing, I like to people watch and assess outfits and boy have I seen some outfits.

Books

I love books and reading them obviously. Like my taste in music my taste in books is wide ranging. My bedside table is overflowing with books onto the floor and I’m looking for more bookcases at the moment, I just can’t quite afford the ones I really like. Reading is my way of relaxing and usually retire to bed with a book, being single sometimes has advantages…

I have been known to read a book cover to cover within a day if I’m really enjoying it (this was in the days before I was a mother).

It would be really hard to choose a favourite book, I love Tim Moore’s Continental Drifter, as well as being a very funny book about re tracing the “Grand Tour” it introduced me to Thomas Coryate who was the original grand tourist and inspired me to read copies of his original 16^th Century travel writing. Karen Blixen her poetry and Out of Africa. Another favourite book is “To Kill a Mocking Bird” by Harper Lee, I first read this book as a teenager taking English GCSE and fell in love with it. This also leads me onto another love

Hollywood Glamour

No not the Hollywood stars of today, but the glamorous golden age of the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s. In the days before 24/7 Children’s TV, my mum on rainy afternoons would sit me down in front of our tv and we would watch an afternoon matinee film. From this grew my love of Katherine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn, Doris Day, Jimmy Stewart, Lauren Bacall, Cary Grant….the list goes on.  This has spilled over into my love of books; I’ve collected lots of books about my favourites, autobiographies, about the studios of the times, the directors such as George Cukor. My favourite book is also one of my favourite films….To Kill a Mocking Bird - Gregory Peck won an Oscar for his performance and said that Atticus was his favourite role to play.

Other things I love that nearly made top 10…

Iphone

Twitter

Cats (although the house is cat less at the moment we have 2 kittens on their way to us in August)

Red Wine

Gin

Handbags

Cornwall

Proper Cornish Pasties

Cheese

Islay

Crisps

Istanbul

London

The list could go on and on and on........