Awh shucks

So as you all know, last week was Twestival. Laura and I pulled it off and i'm so super proud of us! It came along at a weird time for me, the day I first heard about it was the day my granny died so my head was inside out and upside down so I didn't think about it. Then I found myself with no 'real' job so figured I had nothing to lose by helping with a bit of PR. Things flipped about again when I was given Lead. It scared me more than anything had scared me before. As I got to thinking about it, I realised how much work was involved in an area that I had no experience in whatsoever- I mean, i'm the girl who loves bands, band boys, music and i've even dated a few band boys. But soundchecks, equipment, load in, bookings...that was all completely new to me. The day I met Laura, I had a bit of a flap. Twestival was two weeks away and there was no venue. There were no bands. Right until then, there was just me. Trying to not freak out when I had to stay in mums house alone for a week, running errands, trying to have even half a social life - I spent my evenings on the sofa with Maisie, my cuddly cat (cuddly by nature rather than fat), twittering and blogging about twestival- at that stage I could never have even dreamt about pulling it all together.

When it came to it, there were a few twits who really dug me out of a hole. Laura was literally my right hand woman. We've both probably got RSI from tweeting and texting from mobiles- we spent so long together in Clements I can tell you she prefers her tea in a mug, with a splash of milk. I like a pot, with lots of milk. She's my brownie sharing, life saving queen.

Abi is also a legend. She's the regional co-ordinator for the UK. She got lots of whiney, confused, begging, desperate emails from me, at all times of the day. We did skype calls, pow wow's and she bent over backwards to help us get lots of tickets sold in advance. So thank you Abi!

Leah and Kata were assisted by Karen and Claire from Concern- they let us get on with our thing, checking when pizzas were being delivered, cupcake dramas while they sold raffle tickets and made sure no one snuck in! We had so many sponsors, I'm just gonna link you to the Twestival Blog . Everyone on their was so so helpful and i'm sure our prize winners will be excited at the prospect of their noms, CD's and movie tickets! Our official photographer on the night was the brilliant Nico. He shot some beautiful pics and made me look human (mega kudos to you there good sir- I always look whack in pictures!). Here is his blog with a write up about the night, and here is the link to the photos on his Flikr site.

I can't think of anything else to say, other than- I want a job that allows me to organise events. Or to meet more amazing people. I think if i'd been drinking on Thursday night, every single person in that bar would have got a hug and a kiss from me! I left on a high (in a red van with Joe and Dominic from Seven Summits - thats gonna be my claim to fame when I hear them on't radio ;) ). I've learnt alot from this.
First off- everything is possible. Even if no paying twits had turned up, we had everything else to hand. Seeing one of the guys from Seven Summits walk in with a bass drum I almost died from excitement and adrenaline overload. Then the rest of the band. Then ANOTHER band. And ANOTHER. And the wonderful Nico, the Leah, Kata, Claire, John and Lesley from Slide, Gavin- every time another person showed up I got more and more excited.
Second - The generosity of people shows no bounds. It's more difficult to raise money and support for a charity like Concern, in comparison to something that is more urgent, like the Haiti earthquake appeal but we're expecting our final total for Belfast to be in the region of £500-£600. Not half bad for a nights work.
Third - the Marshmallow Grove cupcakes are officially the way to my heart.
Fourth - A surprising number of foxy boys arrived at Slide. Note to self: make singles wear stickers.
Fifth - If it all goes tits up, i'm robbing a bank and setting up an Events company. I'll even do weddings. If I have to.
Sixth - RAMS' Pocket Radio, Seven Summits and Cutaways are amazing. And Shauna from Silhouette was brilliant. If I get my way, we'll all get a catch up and plan our next joint venture!

I think thats enough now. I'm rambling. Go look at the pics. And listen to the bands.

Latest goings on!

I've been a bit of a bum recently. I'm yet to find a new full time job, so i'm being a waster and just working in the Odyssey a few days a week. To be honest, I bloody love it. I didn't ever have that 'i'm finished uni and i'm going to do mid week drinking sessions and not find a job until I absolutely have to' period so i'm doing it now. I fill my days with long showers, tidying, laundry, This Morning and lots of tea.

I'm also one of the lead organisers for Twestival in Belfast. Basically, it's a charity event to raise money for Concern Worldwide. The cool thing about Twestival is that it's happening globally on March 25th- I just had a conference call with a few other organisers and it's so much more fun having a few people doing the same thing! It's also given me something to do on the days when telly's a bit rubbish!

I heard about Twestival last year when it was happening but wrote it off as a geeky thing. Now that i'm actually organising it, I've seen how non-geeky it is. We've got a few awesome bands lined up, a DJ who sounds like he's gonna be my new BFF (the promise of indie music combined with hip hop is something i'm digging) and a raffle full of prizes i'm actually gutted to have to give away!

It's only a fiver entry, for a night's craic and some board games (how fricking awesome- i'm gonna have a game of guess who and a magners to start the night in style) and it's not just twitter people who are invited!

For more info, and to buy your tickets go to http://www.belfast.twestival.com

What is wrong with them?

I've always said that all boys are idiots, some more than others. In recent weeks, with John Terry, Tiger Woods, Ashley Cole, Howard Donald and the love of my life Mark Owen all fessing up to affairs, my opinions of these boyos has changed. Terry and Tiger- fair enough. I've always thought you pair were ballbags. Ashely, erm, you're married to perhaps the most stunning woman and you cheat on her? You're mental and need psychiatric help, or your eyes testing. Howard, you're such a scamp. But you were my least favourite one in Take That.

Mark though. (Lets note that I am crying real tears at this minute in time). I thought Mark was a lovely boy and if he was going to run away from his lovely wife, it'd to be with me. I can't look at him right now (we just had to turn the DVD off).

But it has taught me a few things. First off, I was right. They are all idiots. Second, it's popped my bubble that I need to date a nice boy. Fuck that. Bring me the bad ones. What's the point in women putting so much effort into finding boys who are nice when even the nice ones fuck a whole host of other birds? Mark's only saving grace is that he stopped banging round him when he got wed.

Happy birthday to me!

I've just noticed that I've started at least three posts now with a greeting of some sort. Wonder what that says about me? Speaking of which, mum picked up a keyring with my name on when she was in Tenerife (you have no idea how hard it is to get things with Lorraine written on them- I really appreciate it when someone finds them for me!). It says 'a name taken from the French region. She is thoughtful, business-like and unpretentious. A straight forward lady; you know where you stand with her'. Today I picked up a copy of the Sunday Times. I like the supplements, so 120 pages of Style goodness sold it to me. And I found this inside- 'Blonde moment', An article written by AA Gill. 'All the associations for blonde were good. Who doesn't like a blonde? The Blonde was fun, liked to eat out, wore high heels and had a dirty laugh. She is witty and intense, quick to take offence and quick to make up. Blondes have opinions, swear and get jokes.' (This is possibly the most random tangent I could have gone on, and it has nothing at all to do with what I originally planned to blog about). Basically, I think at the minute, I'm definitely a blonde. Everyone has a different opinion on my hair colour. Right now, it's the closest it's been to it's natural colour in ages (there is no blonde at the back anymore) but what AA Gill says makes sense to me. I feel like a blonde. I like being blonde. I don't dye my hair to fit in, or be liked, or because of any social connotations that people may attribute with blonde hair. Some of the things he says, like the keyring just suit me. I read it, and I nodded. So, for the minute, I'm staying blonde. We really do have more fun.


So back to my original blog post-
birthday thinkings.
I had such a nice birthday. I didn't do anything. I went for lunch with my mum, I was woken up by my nephew, I sat on the sofa and watched rubbish telly and I eat cake. Of course there was some mayhem too- it wouldn't be a Lopsi birthday if I didn't go out. So the fabulous Rebecca, lovely Lynne and cute little Laura and I hit up Madison's. The ever lovely Dave made us birthday cocktails, which went down a treat! We sailed off on vodka cloud to Sketchy, where we danced and drank the night away (helped of course by birthday drinks from Rigsy - I cursed him something shocking the next day). Anyway, everything was great. Such a fun birthday night, even if I did spend the whole next day dying an absolute death!

Saturday night was Hockey in the S&A with David. After dragging him round town because I was stubborn (and a little unwilling to rush while getting ready) we didn't make reservations but ended up getting squeezed into AM:PM which happens to be one of my favourite restaurants! We headed to Hockey, my feet killing me after all the walking, where I had such an amazing time. The band were phenomenal. I absolutely loved every minute of it. Even David didn't mind going. We finished the night as drunken messes in the Limelight, where I stole a poster off the wall and danced with the band!

All in all, 23 kicked off in style. Nothing awful has happened yet, nothing I would even consider changing, several things I'd do all over again if I was lucky enough to get a second chance.

Happy V-Day

Well, it's my second single V Day. Last year I called it Single Losers Day. This year, I haven't had much time to think about it. It's a 'holiday' I disagree with- and not just because I'm single. If I'm with a bloke, I don't want to guilt him into roses for V Day. I'd far rather have tulips (or any other flowers I actually like) on any other day of the year. As for the cards- I HATE how Clinton Cards reduce their usually good range of cards to make room for all the mush. I'm a fan of cards. I like buying them, and pride myself on finding the perfect one pretty quickly and I like to buy them for no reason rather than this whole guilt thing. This past week has been a nightmare and our house is full of cards, none of them covered in hearts or mush.

2010 so far has treated my wee family pretty badly, it's shown me better sides to some people but I wish I didn't have to see it. Already we've had two birthdays, one death in my immediate family, another in a close friend's family, a house move, a huge fundraising success, two of us looking for new jobs and in the next two weeks there are three more birthdays. It's a busy time in the Anthony house.

I had written a post on my mobile one morning a few days ago but didn't post it, mainly because it was unfinished but I'm going to keep it, just for me. My wee granny got a namecheck in a blog over xmas, she was such a great lady and she passed away on February 8th. She always had a cheeky grin for us, and saying something silly would remind her of a rhyme she learnt as a child, so I'm going to try and post them here when I remember them ( I know that if I attempt to write them on paper they'll get lost). Katie also constantly asked me if I had a man, it was her who provided the inspiration for the name of my blog- she told me I'd never find a man if I still have cats. I know if I told her about the blog, apart from being confused about what it is, she would have found it hilarious that I let everyone know I'm single by writing about it on the internet. She would also tell me i'm better off not getting married until i'm 30 and i'm too young to worry about being single. Well Kate, you're right. I am too young and i'm definitely not worried.

More off topic.

So the longer this blog goes on, it appears to have lost it's initial topic of boy hunting. Yes, i'm still going out and getting horrifically drunk, but not as often and I'm not so preoccupied by being single. I've said it before and i'll say it again- i'm very content the way I am now!

So the past few weeks have been hectic to say the least. First off was the job situation. I'm a writer for a magazine and was told a few months ago they needed me until April. Fine, only a temporary job and it gives me lots of time to find something new, in the meantime i'll sit tight and give my other job lots of availablility to soften the financial blow. But last week, I was told that I was only needed until the end of February which has basically left me job hunting like a maniac to try and get something sorted before I turn into Skinty McSkint :( (right before my birthday too...bad times).

In the middle of all of this, some mentalist (@lisam75) decided that a charity race to raise money for Haiti would be a good idea. Her and @austinslide (also mental) knew from my profile on twitter that I do PR so asked me to do a wee press release- nothing major I figured. Until it spiralled out of control - in the best imaginable way.

We were all throwing ideas about, what we could do, where we'll do it, how the press will work for us- the usual things you have to work out when you're arranging something like this. We had our first meeting in McDonalds in Glengormley (the most terrifying place in the world) and I met Austin for the first time. I remember sitting at Austin's house with a cuppa, with Lisa's gorgeous kids playing with Zane's cars, thinking - oh my god- they have done so much already - this pair have figured out everything.

The reality started to dawn on me when I called a t-shirt printing company and they laughed when I said I needed the t-shirts in a week. The guy thought I was mental trying to sort everything at the last minute, but it wasn't the last minute, we'd just given ourselves two weeks to do it all!

My days were filled with emails, my blackberry was never more used in it's life (I really don't know where i'd be without it), my nights with twitter, more emails and lists and lists of things to do. It seemed like once something got sorted, we had a new brainwave that took more and more planning but somehow we managed to stay on top.

Race day rolled around, complete with the terror of Gerard McCarthy (Kris from 'Ollyoaks) having his flight delayed and Dame Mary Peters disappearing like a theif in the night every two minutes. We ran out of numbers, we were mauled for t-shirts, we had so much cash the box wouldn't close but once those people had ran past me, and I joined @Chunkybum3, @lynniebean27, @ladybolan, Chris, Alfie and Donna to walk a little bit, the relief and feeling of weightlessness was incredible.

We had over 500 runners, walkers and dogs in Ormeau Park and we raised around £7000. We had celebrities, buns, water, t-shirts, bikes, kids, red bull and lots and lots of tweeple. Most importantly, we helped so many people in Haiti.


Sunday 31st January was such an incredible day (cheese to the max- I know), and I'm so grateful I got to work with Austin and Lisa. You guys literally thought of everything- it was amazing, I'm in complete awe of you both! I can't wait to work with you both again soon!

I know it's not about finding a boy...

...but i'm more content being single now than I have in a long time. I don't know what's changed, I guess I feel that I need to be at home much more often which isn't leaving much time for anything but I like how things are now. Able to get into bed and chill with Lynne watching telly, listening to music when i'm in Belfast, not having anything to worry about and for some reason I'm not even looking for any hugs or snuggles!

Anyway, the main reason I decided to post tonight was to tell ya'll (probably the four people who read my blog coz they follow me on twitter) that i'm helping to organise a fun run in Belfast to raise money for the Haiti earthquake fund. (www.belfast4haiti.com for more info please folks...) but recently I had been thinking 'shit man, I shouldn't have done that masters, I don't know if PR is for me, i'll be rubbish at it, I'll never get a job etc etc'. My job is fine- there isn't anything I find taxing, it's not too boring, it's an alright atmosphere to work in and I get a nice feeling of satisfaction when I see the magazine in a shop but it isn't what I want to do.

When I started working with Austin and Lisa to organise the race and get us lots of press coverage, it made me realise that it is something I can do, and more importantly, something I enjoy doing. If it turns out to be just the charity side of it, then happy days, but whatever I end up doing, as long as I get the opportunity to do a little event management and I'm working for a brand that I like and believe in, I'll be happy.