Jen’s Happiness Ten: May 2015

Oh my goodness. MAY. You hot mess. What a whirlwind. I really don’t know where to begin. Apparently the beginning’s a good place to start, so we’ll try that.

1. This Skirt

I mean. Upon turning 28, I figured it’s probably time I started dressing as an adult. This fleeting (and entirely ridiculous) notion lasted all of 30 minutes as I perused Westfield, until I found this here skirt, which succeeded in making me feel like a 6-year-old princess as much as it made me feel like Sandie from Grease. I wanted to get my Rydell High pompoms out in celebration upon its discovery, settling instead for spending the day last Sunday twirling around like an excitable child. But guys, surely it counts as adult if it’s from Marks & Spencer, no?

2. This Book

Oh wow. was I gripped! I’m not normally one who can plant myself in eras gone by without aid (she says, having spent three years of her life doing so for an English degree), but Jessie Burton’s descriptive passages left me almost tasting and smelling prosperous 17^th century Amsterdam within the pages. There was SO much to love about this book. Even my beloved TED Radio Hour got suspended while I devoured this one on the commute – and as it professes on the cover, I’m far from the only one to think so (#original). 18-year-old Petronella is rather abruptly dumped into a new life in the thriving trader’s city after an arranged marriage with a handsome merchant. She is extremely naïve, yet as the reader explores this new world with her, with its greed, circumstance, danger, hypocrisy and tension (not to mention sex, lies and heartbreak), she becomes rather worldly in her fear. I was left in a permanent state of suspense, turning pages furiously throughout. Get near a cosy fire (although perhaps not in May…), shut out the world and curl up with this one.

3. The C Word

Have you read this book? You need to. Have you seen this blog? You should. The C Word is a BBC adaptation based on both, written by the fabulous Lisa Lynch, who I followed on Twitter for a long time before The Bullshit took her from this life. She brought so many together by relaying her emotional journey after being diagnosed with Stage Three breast cancer (aka The Bullshit) at 28, and thanks to this drama (and many, many things besides) she continues to do so with force. Lisa was and is everything I aspire to be in a writer – honest, witty, candid, unapologetic, but smart, thought-provoking and so so earnest in her words. In this adaptation Lisa was played wonderfully by Sheridan Smith, and my god I bawled my eyes out because it felt so REAL. Which, of course, it was.

4. Crux London

You likely know how I feel about ladies just getting on with doing their thing and absolutely owning it in the process. YES YES YES. Katie Woodward is one such example. She is the creator of Crux London, a gorgeous jewellery range that is classy but edgy (the ultimate in combos, surely?), described as ‘a decadent twist to clean, modern luxury’. I had a little stalk of her Insta after she followed me, and very quickly felt the need to comment on a photo, telling her that her pieces are fab – because they are. She sent me a lovely message thanking me for this here little blog because as a fellow type 1 she has related to a lot of it. WAIT A MINUTE A TYPE 1 SISTER SPREADING POSITIVITY AND HAPPINESS THROUGH HER CREATIVE TALENTS? Goals, people. Goals. We are VERY SOON to meet in real life, to eat cake no less, and that makes me entirely giddy. But seriously, go feast your eyes on her creations, please. LOOK.

5. Izzie

There is absolutely no happiness to be gleaned when a creature that brings you so much love and delight passes away. But I’m so very very happy that I got to make friends with this sassy, funny, wobbly, fragile and loving little lady. We knew when we brought Izzie to the flat that she was old and tired, and just needed affection and attention (as she always did) while she chilled out in the later part of her life. But for something so tiny, and for something really quite inevitable in the end, she really has left a gaping hole in our home. I might be sounding like a crazy cat lady to you right about now. But pfffft, I’m in no way sorry for my strength of feeling for such a gorgeous thing. She was a feline dream.

6. 19 Whole Years as a Type 1

Is this a reason to be happy? Sure. I have a shitty condition, but I’m here. I’m LIVING. It feels great. My health is good, I have a sense of responsibility for and ownership of my disease, and although it’s freaking frustrating at times, and scary in the long term, it also means I’m accomplishing the shit out of the everyday just by keeping myself alive. Which, given my track record of a rather haphazard approach to life in general, is really quite something. So yayyyy to that.

7. BIG BLOODY WEEKEND

I could write a whole gushing separate post about this one, but I’ll restrain myself and constrict it to one paragraph…

I have a great job, that’s no secret. But like every job, you have your bad days and your frustrations and your moments. And then you pack off to Norwich for Radio 1’s flagship event of the year, Big Weekend, and you spend three days in a field running around like an absolute mentalist wondering how you managed to get lucky enough to get here and get paid for it. It was crazy, hectic, silly, ridiculous, hilarious, exhausting, exhilarating and amazing. As was the eight days earlier in the month which I spent also in Norwich, running the digital side of things for a project that was entirely different, but equally as rewarding. I came away at the end of it having been spat out the other side, aching and delirious, but with a heart fit to burst. I’m entirely aware that it’s not a given that a job will do that for you in a whole lifetime.

8. Disco Shoes #2

My beloved silver kicking-ass-about-town shoes have been through a lot. They’re kind of battered post Big Weekend, understandably so when the body attached to them comes away feeling like its run a marathon. I was after some brogues, but when I stumbled on these shiny smart bad boys – the only pair left – in my size – I just went for it coz FUN. They’re a smarter reincarnation of the original pair, perfect for jeans (which I struggle to wear on account of the fact that I just can’t make trainers work for me outside of the gym) but also still so FUN. It’s all about the fun, right? These happen to be a New Look steal. For 20 of your English pounds, they can be yours.

9. Big Weekend Big Birthday Love

Big Weekend also happened to coincide with me entering my 28^th year on this earth. I absolutely love birthdays in general for how full of joy and love and wonder they make you feel about the people you’re surrounded by. I know they’re a particularly dazzling breed of special, but my friends never cease to amaze me on any given day, from nowhere; whether we’re sat on the sofa in our PJs crying into a bucket of red wine, or jumping on a plane to travel across the world. So when you get them all together in your flat to have brunch (as if I needed a reason to eat eggs and avocado of a Sunday) and then just have a really bloody nice afternoon of chatting, eating, drinking and feeling rather wonderful about with how really bloody great the people in your life are, that’s really bloody nice. It also ended at 1am with a karaoke rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing In The Dark. Welcome, 28, welcome.

10. Coming Home

As glamorous and exciting and fun as some of the events of this month sound, May has been hard work. I have learned over the years that routine is both good for my diabetes and my soul – as much as I love to think I can also be spontaneous and free-spirited when the feeling takes me. I glean contentment from the knowledge that I’m sleeping enough to get up for the gym, that I can prep my lunch in order to eat well, that I have the breathing space to live in order to do the best for my diabetes and to be a happy and calm human as a result. Hotel rooms and event catering and long days in new places testing your brain and body to the limit kind of throw that off a bit, as gloriously, wonderfully, outrageously fun as it is, and as lucky as I am to be having these experiences at all. But to get back to the city that feels like home, to your little haven of a flat, to your favourite coffee shops and friends and partner and your sofa and your bed – that’s immeasurable by all accounts. For 27 years of life I’ve never felt that to such completeness. So amen to May – you chaotic, beautiful, outrageous mistress – because you’ve shown me that.