If you haven't been living under a rock for the last 4 years, you will know that today the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics is taking place in my home-country, Great Britain. There's been an incredible amount of hype and cheesy lines about 'our Olympic Legacy', but for most of the UK residents the whole olympic thing is getting old. The TV coverage I've been watching leading up to the ceremony has involved several interviews talking about showing off to the world 'what Great Britain can really do' but I'm not sure if the message we put out will be entirely good.
One of the things I am talking about it this: the embarrassing flag mixup at the women's football match. I'm not sure if you'll have heard of this abroad, but in britain its become the first of many laughing points to come in our olympics. What happened was, while the North Korean woman's footballers ran onto the pitch, the South Korean flag was displayed. Now, the two mations may share a boarder, but they couldn't be any more different. The North Koreans were outraged, and stormed off, delaying the play and embarrassing the whole nation on one of the first events of the 2012 Olympics.
So, the Opening Ceremony is next and it'd better not disappoint! It's been planned to pinpoint accuracy and anticipated eagerly, but will it all go well, or will it be an embarrassing failure like the flag mixup? Are you going to be watching? I certainly am!
You know how I love to edit photos! This is another edit I did, and I was thinking that if the readers of this blog want an edit done of themselves they can send in a picture and I will edit it! Simply leave a tinypic of yourself in the comments (click on the link to upload) and I will reply to you with a before and after tinypic :)
Make sure the photo is good quality and of a plain face if possible. The less makeup the photo begins with the better it will look afterwards!
Adii thought Pete had betrayed her, but infact it was only a rumour. After Pete received Adii's angry text message, he immediately called her to put things right. He had got his former girlfriend, Kara, pregnant and she proposed to him even though they weren't in a relationship at the time. Of corse Pete said no, he had dumped her for a reason and didn't want a marriage with a girl he didn't love.
They apologised to each other for the misunderstanding, and somehow it strengthened the relationship. Pete's baby with Kara was born, a little boy called Lloyd, and soon after Pete proposed to Adii. She was sure he was 'the one' and so she flung herself into his arms and said a massive yes. So Adii isn't Adii Breckenridge anymore, she's Adii Nowell!
In other news, Adii is now not only a wife but also a mother-in-law! Sophia just turned 16, the legal age for marriage, and was keen as hell to marry her girlfriend Briany. They married and moved out to a house on the other side of town, the happiest couple in the world. The couple went to the hospital for some IVF, where they took Briany's DNA and found the man in their sperm bank with the closest match to hers. Then they impregnated Sophia with him, so she is a soon to be mother! Which means, Adii is a soon to be grandmother!
Adii has been spending a lot of time at the hospital one way and another, what with being onto her second impregnation from the sperm donor library and her fertility treatment to improve her chance of twins and triplets. One of the workers there caught her eye a few times, he was a blonde and muscular man just slightly older than her by the looks of it, very handsome indeed by her account.
She started talking to him one day and found that they had more than a little in common, he was incredibly friendly and a devout vegetarian, called Pete Nowell.
She got his adress and visited his house late on a Saturday evening to 'drop by some medical papers' although they both knew it was for something more. They had a chat over a mug of coffee, then they kissed and hugged on the bed. Nothing more though. She knew he was already in a relationship, but she asked him to dump the girl and he did as she said. She went home the happiest girl alive, convinced she had found her life partner.
Then the surprise came 2 months later. She had just returned from his house after a good night with him and perhaps a WooHoo or two..... She was convinced he would soon propose, but when she got home some bad news was waiting for her. Pete had just proposed, but not to Adii, to his girlfriend Kara, the same girl who he had told Adii he dumped. Kara was pregnant with his baby and they were having a quickie marriage in a weeks time. Adii was furious and immediately texted him angrily, saying they should never meet agin. The love of her life had betrayed her, just confirming that men were useless.
She had her 13th baby soon after, a gorgeous girl called Ava with a sperm donor father who requested to remain unknown to Adii. Adii then returned to the hospital and straight away booked another impregnating session, requesting a female doctor. This wasn't the first time that a man had broken her heart, but she swore that it would be the last.
Adii's latest two births were twins, the biblically named Ethan and Noah. Their father, a previously unknown sperm donor, was found using DNA analysis after the twins' birth. He turns out to be Keon Broke, another happily single man who would be a perfect match to Adii, infact she was toying with the idea of meeting up with him until she found out that he was her ex's half-brother! Paul McDermott, her red-headed ex, is incredibly close to his half-brother, being orphaned since a young age with only his half-brother and his grandfather to look after him. While Paul and Adii parted as friends, he wouldn't react too well if she tried to hit on his best friend and only living relative.
So that relationship was out of the question, and for the time being Adii is still wanting to remain single. On the other end of the spectrum, her bisexual oldest daughter Sophia, has found herself a girlfriend! It was a tentative at first, neither of them quite comfortable with each other to begin with, as they had both never had a same-sex relationship before. But soon it grew, and they realised they had almost everything in common with each other! The girls name is Briany Epps, she's a complete stunner and all the boys are after her, but there's no chance she'll go out with one since she's 100% sure of her sexuality and would hate to betray her lesbian traits.
The two lovers have been in bed together, but Adii is glad of the fact that there's no chance her daughter will be eating for two anytime soon.
Adii recently had her 10th child, a sweet baby boy called Jayden. Her and her new boyfriend couldn't have been happier, they constantly kissed and hugged in the park (Making passers by gag at the extreme public displays of affection) and their baby was doted on.
One day, Jarrod got down on his knees and proposed to Adii, expecting a resounding yes and then a lifetime together. But the fates had different ideas about how long their relationship would be. Adii had seen this coming for a long time, and had made up her mind that she was too young to be in a marriage. She didn't want to get settled until later when she knew she was with 'the one'. Of course Jarrod didn't take this too well, he stormed off with his possessions and the newborn baby, leaving Adii all alone in the world.
Months passed and Adii grew up into an adult. She invited her oldest daughter, Sophia, to come and live with her. Sophia is now a teenager, trying to make her way in the world, just as her mother was doing at that age. She's having bullying problems though, because she's bisexual and can't get any girl to even look her way, let alone enter any type of relationship. Both girls having love troubles, Adii decided that she would take a break from boys for a while. She became pregnant with a sperm donor at the hospital, and is currently living happily 'single'.
Adii's dyed her hair a more mature tone of brown and taken to wearing blue contacts sometimes. She's losing weight too, her bones are beginning to show and her face has become hollower. Sophia says its the stress of her recent breakup, but Adii feels that she is 'fat' from her pregnancy. Is it possible that the loneliness of being single has made her feel inadequate, like she continually needs to loose weight to prove her worth to men?
What do you do when you have a free weekend? This weekend I'm planning for what I call 'Spa Saturday'. It's basically a day of pampering where I make myself some home remedies and treat myself to a day at the spa without the cost! I enjoy this treatment once every two weeks, or once every month. Here's what I do:
1. I condition my hair: I own no deep conditioner, but for vaguely the same effect you can wet your hair under the tap and then massage a good handful of your favourite conditioner into your hair tips (Try to avoid the scalp if you have oily hair, as it will make the problem worse) You will wash this conditioner out after you have completed all the other steps.
2. I exfoliate: It is important to exfoliate before and after you epilate to avoid ingrown hairs. You can use your own exfoliating scrub, or you can make your own by using 5 tablespoons of sea salt, 2 table spoons of granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons of bicarbonate of soda and 10 tablespoons of olive oil. This is my own recipe that I adapted to work best with my body, of course you may need to find your own recipe because everybody's skin is different. Make sure to only use half of the mix, as you need more for later.
3. I epilate: epilation is a hair removal technique that is less painful than waxing but does the same job (by pulling out your hairs at the root) A good epilator can cost upwards of £30, with some more up-market ones costing £100 or so. It is a long term investment, but incredibly worthwhile, because your hairs regrow slower and thinner than they would if you had shaved. To see more about epilation watch the video below, and remember to make sure all the exfoliating scrub is gone before you epilate, because most epilators can't cope with much moisture of any type.
4. I exfoliate again: I rub the remaining exfoliating scrub into my arms and legs and then wash it off using a wet sponge and some moisturising shower gel. I then towel off my legs.
5. I moisturise: I use my favourite moisturiser or body butter on the parts of my body I have epilated. It helps to calm the pain and stop irritation. In summer, if you use a tinted moisturiser it adds a lovely golden glow to your body.
6. I use a face mask: I make my own face mask using a tablespoon of plain yoghurt, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of turmeric. Before I apply this to my face, I boil the kettle and brew a cup of green tea using two tea bags. Once the tea is brewed I take out the bags and leave the tea to cool while I lather the face mask over myself. Be careful to leave a lot of space around the eyes, because they can be very sensitive. Once the face mask is on, place the tea bags on your eyes and drink the green tea. Green tea is full of antioxidants, so it's very good for you. Leave the tea bags and face mask on for 5-10 minutes and then wash it off using a towel with warm water.
7. I use teeth whitening: I don't own any whitening solution, and of course a proper mixture would work better, but if you haven't got the time or money to buy any of that stuff I have a recipe you can use: just mix 1/4 - 1/2 of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda with your mouthwash and run your tongue along your teeth to make sure you spread the mix all around your mouth. Then rub a tiny amount of bicarbonate of soda into your toothbrush and put a small blob of toothpaste on to then brush thoroughly. It is a good habit not to wash your mouth out after brushing, because the chemicals in the toothpaste continue to work after you have brushed, and if you wash out those chemicals go away.
8. I scrub my lips: To make a lip scrub you can either take 1/4 a teaspoon of vaseline and mix it with sugar or you can mix a few drops of olive oil with 1/2 a teaspoon of sugar. Massage this onto your lips and then leave it there for a few minutes to sink in (IT CAN BE SO TEMPTING TO LICK IT OFF, but you have to resist the urge! If it helps you not to lick it off, use salt instead of sugar)
9. I moisturise my lips: I use my favourite lip balm and apply a fairly thick layer to my lips just to make them as moisturised as possible.
10. I wash my hair: I usually just wash my hair under the tap to wash out the conditioner I put in on step 1. This is because I don't want to completely wash off all the natural oils that I have put on my body, I want them to sink in over-night to make my skin as lovely as possible. Find a high chair (High enough so that you can lean back from it and your hair will be in the basin) and then massage your scalp and tips to wash the conditioner out.
Tips!
-GO NATURAL: If you would usually wear a lot of makeup (especially full face makeup like foundation) then it can lock in moisture and oil, making your skin more acne prone and oily. On Spa Saturday, treat your face to a bit of time out in the fresh air, don't apply any makeup and your skin will really thank you.
-NO HEAT: You will find that straightening/curling your hair causes a lot of damage. For Spa Saturday, leave your hair in its natural state to let the conditioner do its work. Your hair will feel much more soft! Also, avoid hairdryers, because they too can dry out your hair and make it very frizzy. This is especially important if you have curly hair.
-DON'T SLEEP WITH WET HAIR: It can cause irreversible damage, especially if you toss and turn! If you are very pressed for time in the evening and you have no time to let your hair dry you can put it in two plaits and sleep with it like that. It still isn't wonderful for your hair, but it minimises the damage. When you wake up and undo the plaits it is likely your hair will still be slightly wet. Let it dry naturally if at all possible.]
-UNDER EYE BAGS? If you usually have problems with under eye bags, I have a solution! Before you go to sleep apply a layer of vaseline to your under eyes. You may think that it would cause oily skin to become problematic, but in fact almost eradicates eye bags and does nothing else bad! I wouldn't advise doing this every night, but for 2 or 3 times a week you can enjoy being bag-free. If you have no vaseline, I have found that a layer of nice lip balm will do.
Thanks for reading and please be sure to try this at home. Your body will really thank you, especially with all the home-remedies giving yourself a natural and well needed rejuvenation. This is my preferred routine, but of course feel free to alter recipes and add/miss out steps.
