7 Question Thursday!! #2

It's time for another 7 Question Linkup with Gentri Lee!!

First, here's our funny photo:

Hey look, we're dressed up as Chinese princesses at Sydney's Chinese Garden of Friendship!

No joke, a lady asked us if we were dressing up as something to do with our heritage. 

And now for the questions!!

1. What is your favorite day of the week and why?

S: Saturday, It never used to be until Laura and I came back from Oz. I suddenly, and still over a year later, wake up excited to spend 2 full days with Laura. Seriously I get kid at Christmas excited, which annoys Laura no end, but working, travelling and not having long evenings mean I LOVE the time with Lau and sleeping through most it seems a waste :) I also like the fact that if you do stuff on a Saturday you can still have a lazy day before going back to work.   

L: My favourite day is also Saturday, but not exactly for the same reasons as Sarah. I love it because I can sleep in (as long as Sarah                                                      doesn't wake me up with her 'excitement' too early) and relax doing whatever I want all day without the stress of impending doom that is having work the next day.

2. If you decided to change your name, what would you change it to?

S: I always wanted a name I could shorten so friends could call me something different to Sarah. Originally I wanted it to be Rebecca - shortened to Becca or Becky. Nowadays though I like Sarah - it's uncomplicated and traditional -like me. 

L: I always wanted a different name than my own - something more interesting! I even took the 'U' out of my name when I was in 8th grade to become 'Lara' (still pronounced the same as 'Laura' though!) in an attempt to seem more interesting - but that backfired because people didn't pronounce that correctly. My go-to makeup name was always Ruby Buckingham - it was the epitome of wealth and class and beauty and everything I wanted for myself - then I actually got to live her in a musical my choir did, where I was the Mayor's wife. I had a boa, and an awesome 20's dress, and it was lots of fun. But now, like Sarah, I'm alright with my name - I think my personality completely makes up for my regular, English-sounding name!

3. What is one product you use (it can be for anything) that you feel is a miracle worker?

S: It'll have to be Diet Coke. Seriously for a headache, for tiredness, for feeling worn out, over worked, stressed, hyper - ANYTHING - Diet Coke is my answer. If you are home or abroad and you get sick = DIET COKE, if you are out and about or sat at home and need to feel better = DIET COKE. In fact I can't think of anything a nce cold diet coke won't cure! 

L: As you can tell by... pretty much every 'about us' post we write, we are obsessed with Diet Coke. I tried, tried, tried to think of a different product, but I just kept coming back to Diet Coke - for the reasons specified by Sarah. Sorry, I can't even pretend to be more creative than that. 

4. High heels, flats, sneakers, or boots?

S: This is sooooo situation dependant for me - my go to is normally flats but dating someone taller than me means heels are a must if we are going out (it also saves stretching in photos), but I love boots for walking around or work. But if I had to go with just one it would be flats - they accommodate any situation and most importantly can deal with the work to 'after work' transition. 

L: Flats all the way! Being 5'10'' means I've never really learned to walk in heels - I like being tall, but especially living in England, most women (and some men) are so much shorter than me and I'm paranoid about missing conversation. (How's the weather down there?!) So I rarely wear heels, because if I did, not only would I be over 6' tall, but I stumble around like I'm drunk and fall over everything - it's not a pretty sight. So instead, I have flats in lots of different colours!

5. You see your favorite celebrity (it can be any kid of celebrity- movie star, singer, writer, political leader, blogger) walking down the street, what do you do?

S: Working in central London this is something i've ad a chance to perfect (well kind of), in my opinion it's celebrity dependant - if they are A-list there's no way i'm going for the 'Hi'- thats a photo op, so I dive behind things and start snapping! That way you have proof! It's it's a lower league film star such as the guy who played Draco Malfoy - well he's not that famous so a photo op with him would be my request (if possible)- same goes with TV stars and footballers! Or in the case of Rhys Iffin (Notting Hill) i'll say hello as if I know him (to be fair I thought I did -oops). Celebrities just have that unfortunate thing of looking familiar. I even said hi to Prince William in a club because of that, being a nice guy he said hi back, but he had every right to be like - you don't know me!   

Our most recent 'celebs' for the non-UK readers Neighbours, Home & Away and Emmerdale are soaps that  most Brits grow up watching! And if you haven't watched Notting Hill - you're missing out!

L: When I see a celebrity that I am genuinely a big fan of - I am not very 'cool' in these situations. Or, I may look cool on the outside, but on the inside I'm having a complete crazy excited meltdown because that person there is in the movies! Or music, etc. WHATDOISAYHOWDOILOOKISMYHAIROKAYDON'TSTARTCRYING,SERIOUSLYWHATDOISAY?? And I always go with 'You're so amazing' or something equally as awkward. Or, in the case of Jason Mraz when I was in high school, I sassed him. But that's another story for another post. As Sarah said, living in London has allowed me my fair share of celebrity spottings, but possibly my best one was in my hometown of Boise, Idaho. 

Which brings me to what I do when I'm not a giant fan of someone: 

Matt Damon was in Boise, premiering the Bourne Ultimatum (one of the producers I think was from there, so they did the premiere downtown) - I am not a giant fan of Matt, I mean I don't mind him, but I'm not into action movies or anything, so I didn't think too much of it. I was on my way to work, and saw a big crowd of people - I parked and went to see who was there, saw it was him, got a scrap of paper from someone else, and made my way to the front of the crowd (again, being quite tall, it was pretty easy) got him to sign it and got a few pics of him. Then I made my way to work - and I've still never seen the Bourne Ultimatum.

6. If you could pick one item to never have to pay for again, what would it be?

S: OMG my answer would have to be diet coke again - we spent 1/4 of ALL the money we earnt in Australia on Diet Coke and buying it when you out in he UK is over £1 each so not having to pay for it would save on approx £500 a year! That's almost a holiday! 

L: Okay, if it WASN'T Diet Coke (which, who are we kidding, it would be) I would want to never have to pay for my haircuts/colours again. In London, its easily £120 for a half head of highlights and a cut. Because of the price, I don't keep up with it as much as I'd like to. I'd have awesome golden blonde locks if I could afford it!!

7. What was your favourite TV show or movie growing up?

S: Friends - and still to this day. Programmes come and go and I could reel of current favourites but growing up the go-to-show was always Friends. From memory it was one of the only shows that would come on and no-one would complain. My parents liked it, my sister liked it, my friends liked it and that meant I could always have it on. Watching episodes nowadays makes me remember Friday nights round a friends house waiting till 9pm to watch a new episode - I can't believe we have channels that meant you can watch it all day now. And every episode still makes me smile. Can you believe it started 18 years ago and finished recording 8 years ago - scary!   

L: I don't remember having a TV show I watched while I grew up - I mean, when I was in high school, my favourite show was Project Runway - I actually had PR parties at my house every week! But my favourite movie my entire childhood was always Beauty & the Beast. I knew every word and song to that movie for ages!!!

Please answer any of the above questions, we love getting to know YOU better!!

Love always,

Laura & Sarah xo

February Photo-A-Day Catchup!!

Wow, we didn't realise what commitment-phobes we were. We thought posting a photo every day (or a few every other day) wouldn't be that difficult - boy were we wrong! First it was 2 days, then 4, then a week - and our resolve went downhill from there. This is reminiscent of basically every 'healthy eating' plan we've ever been on. So we are catching up here and now - we can't promise this won't happen again, but look on the bright side - February is almost over already!!

So, lets catch you up - click HERE for the rules and Days 1 - 3, HERE for Days 4 - 5, and HERE for 6 - 7. Seen it all? Great, lets get this party started!!

Day 8. Sun - 

This is a picture Sarah took from our bedroom balcony of the sunset over the Thames River the other day. So gorgeous, right? The park across the river still had some snow on it, and the sun was beautiful. We have said it many times, but we love love LOVE living on the river - it makes our days less concrete-y & city-y!!

Day 9. Front Door - 

Our flat front door is pretty uninspiring, so we thought we'd post the front door to our office! It's a very old building in Victoria, Central London (around the back of Buckingham Palace, so we can say HEYGURLHEY!! to the Queen), which everyone keeps telling Laura used to be the American Embassy. As if that means she should naturally know her way around the place. With five floors and countless rooms (some we are convinced used to be panic rooms), we are constantly getting lost, almost a year into our employment!

Day 10. Self Portrait - 

Wow, so many to choose from! Us two girls are masters of the self-taken photo, self-timed shots, arm-out.. we rock at it. We decided to go with one we haven't yet put on this blog, of us when we met Wegan last week. We originally were going to go with something sillier, but we came across this one, and we just look so happy, we loved it! :) Couldn't not put it up!! Because at the end of the day, that's what we are most - HAPPY!!

Day 11. Makes You Happy - 

The obvious choice for this one is each other, but its Saturday afternoon, and you know what's making us happy at the moment? Our big and little laptops. The pink is Laura's and the purple is Sarah's - a Christmas present from Laura & the Smiff family!!

Day 12. Inside Our Closet - 

Oh dear, brace yourselves - two girls plus one closet equals mayhem!! Sarah wanted to take a picture of Laura's 'floordrobe' but that was motivation enough to pick it all up haha!!

Day 13. Blue - 

We've only recently started using Twitter regularly, so we thought we'd highlight this - to be honest, Laura thinks Sarah overdoes it - she literally Tweets everything Laura says for like an entire day. That may be an exaggeration, but you'll never find out unless you FOLLOW US!!

Day 14. Heart - 

This is the first present Laura ever received from Sarah - upon her return from one month in Australia just after we got together! It's a silver heart-shaped bell, and reminds her that she always has Sarah's heart. Awww!

Day 15. Phone - 

You knew this was coming - matching phones!! We both have the Samsung Galaxy S on Orange - we are def Android fans! Laura recently got her plan down to cost only £15 per month - woot! Because the only person she calls/texts is Sarah. Some may call this sad, Laura calls it thrifty. Again - pink = Laura, purple = Sarah. Starting to sense a theme here?

Day 16. Something New - 

Sarah's new swimsuit for Thailand!! She got it from Pinup Girl Clothing! Does it look familiar? It should, it was featured on Glee!! Sarah looks beautiful in it and can't wait for summer to wear it!!!

Day 17. Time - 

We don't own watches, or an alarm clock - the only way we ever know the time is on our phones. This is the background on both of our phones. A great reminder of each other throughout the day, and only mildly awkward when it flashes up occasionally in front of coworkers/grandparents.

Day 18. Drink - 

(source)

Diet Coke, holla!! 

Phew!! Glad we get that out of the way. We promise to try harder, but don't be surprised if the last 10 days of February are all in one post too. Hope you've enjoyed it!!

Hey, why not become members of our blog, follow us on Twitter, Youtube and also Tumblr!! We would love it, and we're sure you would too!!

Love always,

Laura & Sarah xo

What We Love Wednesdays!! For The Love of Diet Coke

If there is one thing we know a lot about, it's brand loyalty. If you know us, or as you do get to know us through our posts, you'll discover that we are very loyal and passionate towards the things/people/brands we love. And so we come to today's WWLW topic, the one that started it all for Laura and Sarah - Coca Cola, or more specifically, Diet Coke.  

Ohhhh, YEAH!

My (Laura's) love affair with all things DC (yeah, we love it so much we have a pet name for it) began as a child in Idaho, the land of 80 cans for $10 (£7ish). (AMAZING, right?). My Mum, me and my brother used to drink it so much we installed a can crusher in our house just to make room in the recycling bin for all our cans. Sarah's mum apparently used to drink it all the time until she was pregnant with Sarah, when she stopped and now doesn't drink it anymore - obviously she passed her love of it onto Sarah instead.

We love it in cans, glass bottles, plastic bottles, 2 liter bottles, and mini cans. What do we love about Diet Coke? I'm not sure we have time to write all the reasons out (How do I love thee? Let me count the ways), but we'll try.

We love the taste. Don't whine 'it doesn't taste like Coke' at us - because this is a selling point! Diet Coke doesn't need to taste like Fatboy Coke - it's ALWAYS more refreshing, and tastes less like syrupy sugar.

We love the caffeine / bubbles. The bubbles make your nice cold can of DC last longer, and the caffeine makes long work days just that much better. It also gives you a lift halfway through a night dancing, or helps you survive long tube journeys during peak hour. 

We love the fact that Diet Coke doesn't stain when you spill it. At least, in our experience (Laura is very clumsy), it always comes out.

We love the brand colours - red and silver! Over the years we have bought a LOT of DC SWAG, because we love it, but also because it's all so pretty! We have the below limited edition bottles by Karl Lagerfield in our flat!

We love the history - I suppose this is more Coca Cola, as Diet Coke has only been out since 1982, but we go gaga over the old advertisements, the classic Santa that comes out around Christmas time (Did you know that Coca Cola were the first to give Santa Claus a red coat and hat? Before that, he was dressed in green!), the classic coke bottles, everything.

Jolly old Santa, thanks to Coke!

Santa, you're looking a little green!

We love that they give back. Coca Cola, and Diet Coke, raise money pretty consistently for different charities - Diet Coke specifically raises money for 'The Heart Truth', in support of women's heart health. They also give us, the consumer, lots of great freebies!

We love that its such a well known worldwide brand. Since being together, we have sampled Diet Coke (or Coca Light) in six different countries (USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand, France, and Italy - and we will soon try it in Russia!). Though they taste noticeably different to the DC connoisseur's palette, we trust the brand and are happy that we can guarantee they will have Diet Coke in most countries we travel to. This is important when you travel as much as we do.

How much do we love it? Laura and Sarah have driven 11 hours from Idaho to Las Vegas, where we revelled in the magical place that is the Coca Cola store. We met the Coca Cola polar bear, and bought some great DC stuff! When we lived in Sydney last year, our biggest expense besides rent and car petrol was Diet Coke, hands down. There, $13 for 24 cans was the best deal we could get. Yikes! When we spent 10 days in a campervan travelling the South Island of New Zealand, we lived on eggs and spaghetti-O's - and as much Diet Coke as we could afford from not buying real food. We judge restaurants on whether they serve Coke or Pepsi, and are less likely to LOVE a restaurant that serves Pepsi (Nandos, last week's WWLW (which you can view HERE), serves Coca Cola, of course). Similarly, we find that we tend to like the company of fellow DC lovers. Perhaps it's the common interest, but they are great people.

Getting eaten by the Coca Cola polar bear in Vegas!

Peace!

In fact, we love it SO much that we dedicated our 2nd ever WWLW to it - and we are drinking DC while writing this. 

If you didn't think we were obsessed before, it's a sure bet you do now. 

And we're willing to bet our last can you are going to go get a Diet Coke now that you've read this!