doitnowceciliasmith

I'm really upset about Cadburys

Cadbury's chocolate is a huge part of my life.  I grew up on it.  I eat a piece of it pretty much every day. So the thought of the company being bought by US company Kraft is abhorrent.  Not to mention the potential impact at the UK factory.

Founder, John Cadbury would be turning in his grave.

I dont mean to be snobby (or perhaps I do) but imagine the beautiful, traditional English brand of Cadbury's having to share a brand platform with the likes of "Oscar Meyer", "Maxwell House". "Oreo".  It's just ALL WRONG I say.

What do the Americans know about making chocolate? The stuff here is like dog chocolate (I actually used to sneak the odd dog chocolate as a kid - until I realized they put worming medicine in it!).

I still hope to take my son to Cadbury World some day and I expect it to be there.  I hope the UK government can keep this tradition alive;  its part of our culture, our heritage and I cant quite imagine life without it.

So should we be stocking up on the real thing before it turns into some fake tasting rubbish like Hersheys? Look at it -  the website is as boring as the chocolate.

If so, i found this link on the BBC news website and I am thinking of stockpiling.

Do it now: Acquire lime green loveseats

We have a bargain box section in the local paper.  I often scan it, circle a few things and almost never call the number listed, making excuses for myself that its either sold already, do I  want someone else's second hand crap or ... really, do i want someone else's second hand crap!?

But who could resist this one?...... 

ANTIQUE FURNITURE.  Needs restoration and TLC, three pieces, $30/OBO. FREE microwave. Two 60's loveseats, lime green, $20/each. End tables, coffee table, bookcase, $10/each

The location was a  cute little beach house right opposite the ocean in Oak Bluffs. A bit like this one. 

A nice lady called Kathy answered the door whilst being pelted with wind, rain and seawater from the first "nor'easter" of the season.  It was freezing cold and I seriously questioned what I was doing there.

Then I saw them, the lime green color, a stark contrast to the cold gray day.

In the true manner of buying anything second hand, I umm-ed and arrr-ed.... drew in some sharp intakes of breath and told her that actually they weren't really what I was looking for.  After all, the "lime green" cushions turned out to be Vinyl (ewww I hear you all screetch!), and I imagined how cold they would be on ones bottom in the winter and how ones clammy legs would stick to them in the summer - (yuk)..  not really the comfy curl-up-and-watch-a-movie kind of living room seating I was looking for.

But then I got to thinking about that neighbor of mine, with the industrial sewing machine, who makes sofa cushions etc for the decorators on the island...... I asked how much she wanted for them.

Anyway long story short, they are now mine and after a little wipe down with Murphys oil soap, they look pretty cool in my "rapidly becoming a film set for Mad Men", living room!   I think Joan Harris, (nee Holloway) would love it!

 

do it now: check out Top Shop NYC

This is not strictly on my life's to do list, but I had to squeeze it in here somehow! 

TOP SHOP is OPENING IN NEW YORK CITY TODAY!

Why I am so excited about this? After all its not as though I am prepubescent and anticipating my first prom dress.   I'm in my forties for goodness sake!

BUT it’s TOP SHOP .. for anyone who grew up in the UK in the last 25 years, it’s the quintessential clothing store for all things knocked off from the high fashion runways; cheap and gorgeous, "throwaway ", even.

Guest designers, like Richard Nicoll and Celia Birtwell (the music on her website is hypnotic BTW), creating diffusion collections of their high end stuff.  Kate Moss and her lovely (albeit slightly over priced) collection of must haves.

do it now: let the devil make a playground of your mind

Could all this talk of procrastination be making me more of a procrastinator?   I am worried that the whole self indulgent nature of this blog of mine is making me worse, and perhaps,  (I was reminded of this wonderful phrase yesterday), my idle mind is creating a devils playground?

A bit on procrastination.

Contrary to my previous post alerting you to the pros of procrastination, I am beginning to really dislike this word.  I think it's too harsh and a bit accusatory. I remember my husband once used it to unfairly describe someone he knows who was having a particularly hard time deciding which city to move to after college. He called her "such a procrastinator" and I always thought it was a bit unkind to label someone so severely for being uncertain about something so life changing.

His opinion was that she was young, the world was her oyster and she should jump at the chance to live in New York - he was right, but it was important for her to come to her own decision by whatever process she needed. If you are a quick decision maker, a risk taker, (like my husband), then its hard to understand someone who needs a to weigh up the pros and cons of something before they leap in, (like myself). 

Perhaps, 'though, she was the kind of procrastinator who was looking for someone to make the decision for her, (not unlike myself!).

do it now: get up, take a shower, get dressed

I cant get motivated this morning. I am hoping its just the hour we lost this weekend when the clocks "sprang forward" and not that I'm sinking into some deep lazy depressed state of mind.

Perhaps its just the time of the year... back from vacation, its raining outside and I really dont seem to have much of a purpose other than to get my 6 year old off to school on time and the perhaps tackle the untidy house. Which, of course, cant happen until I've checked facebook, this blog (which no-one except my mum, and a couple of friends read so who am I kidding?), Jessica's and Amy's blogs (and okay perhaps a couple of others), and my emails, which these days seem to mostly come in from Google Alerts, J Crew and Boden.