Sigh.

Listening to: 'The Lightning Strike: What If This Storm Ends?/The Sunlight Through the Flags/Daybreak' by Snow Patrol [A Hundred Million Suns]

So I know the idea of 'going to the sales' is that you check out the clothes that are on sale. And I know that you're supposed to stay away from the clothes that aren't on sale, because they are too expensive for you. No matter how adorable they are. No matter how many different Audrey Hepburn-esque poses come to mind with you wearing these non-sale items. No matter how...

Sorry what? Oh yes, receipt in the bag is fine, thanks.

D'oh! But how could I not buy this?! Sigh.

Isn't she gorgeous? Stripy thingy isn't new, I just put that there for contrast.

Oh well, I'm rationalising my purchase by telling myself that since I spent only £110 out of my £200 camera budget, I can afford to spend £40 on a coat. I earned this money, dammit! Sorry what was that you said about a recession? Hmm.

OK me go back to dreaming about prancing around Cambridge in this coat...which is all I'll be able to do with it for a while, it's supposed to snow next week! Brrrrr!

Blast from the past

Listening to: Radio 1

I *heart* Chris Moyles for playing this a few mins ago.

I am such an early '90s girl. Sigh.

The thing about compliments...

Listening to: 'End of the Road' by Boyz II Men [Cooleyhighharmony]

...is that I don't know how to take them, apparently. Now Gehan, hear me out before you start dancing around your room singing 'I told you so' :P

So my friend asked me to sing at his wedding recently. I would rate that as the biggest compliment I've ever received, and I agreed to sing two songs, after checking two or three times that he wasn't pulling my leg. The first song went well, but due to a slight miscalculation on my part (I didn't anticipate applause between the two songs), I missed my cue on the second song and had to play 'catch up' for most for the first verse. I was distraught - I wanted my performance to be perfect for my friend's big day and being the muppet that I am, I messed it up. Anyway, I went back to my table afterwards, feeling awful about letting my friend down and scolding myself for not being prepared for the reaction of the audience etc. etc. My friends, being the supporting kind that they are (and evidently unaware of all the drama going on in my head) congratulated me on my performance. I thanked them and then told them what had happened. Why did I let out my 'secret'? I dunno. I didn't really see it as a secret. I messed up, and I was pretty sure everyone knew. I guess I just wanted someone to say "oh no, it wasn't that noticeable, don't worry".

Fast forward to later on that day, when I was chatting with a few of those who were at the wedding. We're talking about false modesty, and one of my friends goes "Yeah but PR, you can't take compliments either no! We say your singing's good and you go on about what went wrong!" Gulp. But...I was...just...oh never mind.

Fast forward (yes, again) to last Saturday. Another performance, which I mentioned a while back. We were pretty damn good, if I may say so myself, apart from one tiny detail - yours truly forgot to sing one entire verse...kind of a problem when you're singing a duet! We managed to recover, such was the flexibility of the song and the genius of our pianist, but I did feel pretty rotten afterwards. Why, PR, why? Focus, woman! Sheesh. I just wanted to bury my head in a pillow, but I had the rest of the evening to endure! When I walked back to my table, my friends started congratulating me...and my natural reaction was to tell them about my mess up. But I remembered what my friend had said a month earlier, and I bit my tongue. Did I really want my friends to think that I didn't appreciate their good wishes? Hell no. Keep your failures to yourself, PR...no one wants to know. So I did just that. I managed to hold out until lunch on the following day, when in a moment of weakness, I blurted it out. One of my friends said "ah but we didn't notice"...so I said "excellent", and we moved on. Or rather they moved on, and I scolded myself yet again.

I just uploaded the videos from Saturday's performance to Facebook. Not my usual style...I'd much rather someone else uploaded it...I hate blowing my own trumpet. But I'm not the only one who performed, and those boys were awesome, so the videos are for them.

So yeah, there we have it. I don't know if I'm guilty of false modesty, or not being able to take compliments. You can be the judge of that.