Best Bits: Bonfires, Braces, Books, Blogs and Burberry

A few days ago, Mettch of of the charming blog La Route du Mimosa tagged me. There were two parts, and I recently did something pretty similar to the first part so I'm going to concentrate on Part 2. What's really fabulous about this tag is that it ties in perfectly into what I was going to write about anyway. Thanks, Mettch!

The rules are that I need to mention 6 unimportant (well, relatively, in comparison to major world news etc) things which make me happy. Exactly what I was going to do! Oddly enough they all seem to fit very niftily under the letter B - so I was able to use the alliteration that I love so much. Another serendipitous little occurence there, no?

1) Let's start off with some pretty fireworks. In England, we make a huge deal out of an aborted terrorist attempt several hundred years ago by setting off a ton of beautiful fireworks. These festivities torment dogs and cats for about a month between October and November but really cultimate on Bonfire Night, or the Saturday after Bonfire Night. Sounds stupid, I know, but I can think of some much sillier festivities which aren't half as pretty.

2) The next thing is something I briefly mentioned quite a few months ago: my braces. It's been a long journey, beginning when I was still in Primary School with some 'train-tracks' to fix a couple of bite alignment issues. It's continued for several years through Secondary Education as we battled to to get free braces under the new, stricter rules. Many humiliating months passed once the procedure had begun and I received my Ugly Betty-esque headgear, which thankfully was restricted to the realms of my bedroom. In the days leading up to finally getting my braces, I experienced several panic attacks in which I desperately weeped that boys don't like girls with braces. And for almost a year photos of me suffered from a bizarre mouth-twisting smile which satisfactorily covered the evidence. You might almost call it a pout.

And yesterday I reached the day which would unveil my brand new set of teeth. I still couldn't smile properly, psychologically unconvinced that the braces were actually gone - but they were. The journey's not over yet (and it will continue for a long while...) because I still have to wear retainers for 12 hours a day, but I'm still feeling extraordinarily happy.

At the top are beautifully displayed my modelesque teeth. Inset is one of the only pieces of photographic evidence of my braces - I was taken unawares. And at the bottom, the photo which was my screensaver for several months reminding me why I was putting myself through this torture.

3) This next point is going to make me sound unbelievably geeky, but I already decided a while ago that geek is the best type of chic, so what the hell - lots of books make me happy. Last week I finished the monumentous novel that is Anna Karenina, one which took up all my reading time for a whole month. I loved this book very much and it taught me a great deal. Nevertheless, by the time I'd finished it, I felt immensely liberated. Right now, my bedroom is literally littered with books; as I sit here typing I can see seven different things which I am reading currently reading simultaneously: including: two poetry books, a collection of detective stories, The Great Gatsby and How Proust Can Change Your Life. I am not reading any of these books particularly successfully, but I am still having a great time dipping in and out of them as my mood takes me.

4) To most, the 250 words I was asked to write by the theatre itself (so no publication then) and the sub-standard seats I received, are not particularly impressive. But yesterday, when I made my critical debut at a press night for a big play I felt particularly joyful. I just love getting free stuff!

5) Perhaps even more exciting that the event itself was the opportunity to get all dressed up. Well, actually, I think I was the most dressed up person there (and I was especially over-dressed beforehand sipping tea in Costa) but still, wearing my posh frocks always makes me feel happy. This was my attempt at dressing down a silk Burberry dress:

I thought the sparkly and pink backrop befitted this ensemble more than the usual mess

6) Last, but certainly not least it's all the fantastic blogs which I just love to read. There is such a wealth of wonderful writing and hilarious content which makes me think and laugh - and it's probably the people reading it right now who write it! So thank you, and now I'm going to tag some of you to share 6 little things making you happy. Really, it's the funnest time you'll ever have doing a tag (and don't worry, it doesn't have to be as protracted as mine).

WendyB
La Belette Rouge
Already Pretty
Good For Travelling

And anyone else who fancies it, please do!!