7 Question Thursday!! #3

Welcome to your favourite time of the week - a new episode of Glee 7 Questions Thursday with Gentri Lee!!

Here's our funny photo:

This was at Megan (from Wegan)'s birthday party this past weekend (check back tomorrow for more about that!!) - Megan spilled champagne on Sarah's top, and Laura was merely trying to help. Nothing dodgy, we promise.

1. You just invented the next big thing! What is it called and what does it do?

S: Transport that travels at the speed of light – or really, really fast and cheap! I would love this world to be smaller so I can get to people I love quicker! It would be called ‘Swift Time Voyager’!

L: Ummmm... damn, I wish I knew this was coming. I always think of amazingly ridiculous inventions, but can never remember them!! I'm the same with jokes. Terrible joke teller. Laura, stop avoiding the question! Bras with pockets for all the things I keep inside them? That is totes not TMI, you know you do that too. It's a lame invention, though, pockets would probably just limit the loot I keep in there. Keys, phone, ipod, change, bills, ID, occasionally wrapped chocolate eclairs (the candy kind, not the pastry kind), the list goes on and on. Great, now you all thing I'm odd.

DEFLECT!

Want to hear a joke? - What's the hardest thing about rollerblading?

Telling your parents you're gay. *badum dum!*

Think of this joke next time you see someone rollerblading. ('Ohhhhh, it's so true!!!')

Ok, moving on...

2. Are you a lover or a fighter?

S: In general I’m a fighter – I am fiercely loyal and will defend anyone I love. Equally when I have an opinion that someone disagrees with for no reason I will fight to make them see mine. I am logical and hate illogical arguments so things like marriage equality and people hating people because they are ‘different’ really gets to me. Having said that I am growing more placid and becoming more of a lover as I get older – well everybody needs more love in their life

She's a fighter... and he's her father.

L: Can I be both? I'm stubborn, hot headed and argumentative, so definitely a fighter, which makes for interesting arguments between Sarah and me!! But I'm also very emotionally driven, idealistic, empathetic, and I love the family and friends I have more than anything. I think life is about having people around you who love you and whom you love (you know, and travelling). So, I'm a very conflicted person haha!

3. It's almost mothers day- if you could tell your mom anything, what would it be?

S: Thank you for making me who I am – we may have different views on things but deep down you taught me to be independent, strong and capable and I thank you for that. We always get on so well when we are together if you could learn to accept Laura, we would love to spend more time with you!

L: Happy Mother's Day!! Since moving to London (and growing up a bit) I've learned that I have it so good with you and Dad. You are endlessly supportive, helpful, loving, and so much more. I wish more Mums were like you in this world - there would definitely be a lot more love in the world. You really define 'unconditional love' - with me and my brother - and I hope that someday I can be just as wonderful a mother as you have been to me.

Like Mother, like daughter!! :)

4. Do you like your hair curly, wavy, or straight?

S: My hair has been the bane (no pun intended) of my life – I used to have it short and blonde (thankfully there are only limited photos in existence) but that came from never being allowed to dye my hair when I was swimming. I have been growing it out since and I have thankfully got it to a length where it has a nice wavy-ness to it. When it was shorter I used to have to straighten it so it would stick out!

L: My hair was stick straight when I was younger, lank and unable to hold curl - then I made the bold and questionable choice to get a perm in 8th grade. I know, what was I thinking? But when it relaxed, I found I ended up with the best of both worlds - now, my hair is straight, but holds curl/wave rather well. I love it wavy/with big curls the most. Thank you silly teenage hairdo!

5. If it was your last day to live, what would you do?

S: OMG this is hard – I would want to spend every second of it attached to L and we would either lay in bed and go through photos of all our amazing adventures OR I would get everyone who has made me smile in life – family, friends (old and new) to one place and have a big reminiscing session. Not that I like to look back but my life (especially since meeting L and certainly recently) has been AMAZING and every day, and especially on my last day, I’d want to take time to appreciate that.

L: I would spend the whole day with Sarah, most with my parents and brother, and then end it skydiving without an instructor person, or something death-defying. I'm going to go anyway, right?

(source)

6. What colour are your eyes? Do you like the colour?

S: Brown – kinda hazelnut brown and I can’t say I don’t like the colour as any other colour would be weird so I haven’t thought about changing it.

L: My eyes are, as I used to say around the time I changed the spelling of my name to Lara, puke-green. I have always loved being a green-eyed monster (as its more common to have blue/brown and I like being special!), but I used to hate that they weren't more committal in their green, and wore green coloured contacts that kind of made me look like a cat. However, I now like the colour of my eyes, and go for 'olive green' when describing them instead of 'puke'. I hope our kids have green eyes too! Just putting it out there.

7. Fish, beef, poultry, wild game, or tofu?

S: Poultry comes first on my choices – if you have read our WWLW on Nandos you’ll understand why. I love the versatility that chicken has and that it’s a safe bet – no blood or weird stuff!

Nandos in New Zealand!

L: My favourite meat is beef - I love red meat, much more than I probably should. But I definitely eat more chicken (see Sarah's answer - Nandos!) than any other meat. Accidentally being the opposite of the lesbian stereotype, we are pretty big meat eaters, and also we don't like cats. Please don't kick us out of the club!! ;)

Also, while we have you here, we are mentioned (and very flattered) on two friends' wonderful blogs!
Please visit Sarah & Lauren's blog, to read about our trip to Birmingham to Cadbury's World, and Wegan's blog to see Megan's 25th birthday in Windsor!! So go check us out, them out, and admire their gorgeous blogs!

We'll be writing about both of those events and more soon, so check back!!

As always, we are curious - what are your answers to any of the above??

Lots of love,

 Laura & Sarah xo

What's Happening Hot Stuff 7th May 2012!!

What a week - or maybe that should be weekend - we have had personally- we started off in Birmingham on Friday where we met up with the wonderful ladies at http://2bridesto2mummies.blogspot.co.uk/ and spent the day at Cadbury's World - we'll have a post about that later in the week! And then we've just come back from Windsor where we celebrated Megan (from Wegan's) 25th Birthday!

Before diving into the news we came across this video that gave us a few bits of info regarding sexual orientation that we didn't know and thought we'd share:

The rest of the world has had an interesting week too, so to cover it all in one post we thought we'd give you the links so you can read as much or as little as you like - and of course we will give our thoughts on the contents!

In London it has been confirmed that Boris will have another 4 years as Mayor - it's controversial but we're happy it's not Ken - he's creepy! The outcome was announced as voters across the UK took to the polls and results swung back in Labour favour. The change in support had some papers speculating that David Cameron, the British Prime Minister, will retreat over equal marriage - according to this article (HERE) that's not the case - thankfully!

Stateside, US Vice President Joe Biden, an outspoken, lovable 'Uncle' figure (in Laura's opinion) came out in support of gay marriage. This short video clip on 'Meet the Press' shows him explaining a point that we very much support - that gay marriage is a simple proposition - it's about 'who you love and will you be loyal to the person you love?'.  

It also brings up how 'social attitudes are changing' and making it more normal to be gay - he references Will and Grace starting the change, and it is amazing how many top shows now have lead gay characters - our favourite is still Brittany & Santana in Glee as we see ourselves in the characters.

JC Penny is once again hitting headlines because of One-Million-Moms. Are we the only ones who see the irony here?!?! Every time One-Million-Moms comes out against a campaign, it helps promote it - this time they want us to dislike an advert with lesbian Mums with a child. We covered the group's disapproval of Ellen back in February, check it out HERE.

Colorado has also moved a step closer to supporting civil unions- the Washington Post explains what's happening. The proposed measure would not allow couples to marry but it would entitle them to the same rights. Republican Don Beezley explain why he came out in support of the bill “For me, it really came down to that basic issue of fairness and doing the right thing.”


Shocking news - 'man up' - beat the gay out of your kids- that's the suggestion of a pastor in North Carolina! If you haven't already read the article it's here BUT be warned the contents are AWFUL! The overriding point is that the pastor thinks that children should 'conform to gender norms' and if they don't they should be FORCED to! One quote that highlights this is  “ when your daughter starts acting to Butch you reign her in. And you say, “Oh, no, sweetheart. You can play sports. Play them to the glory of God. But sometimes you are going to act like a girl and walk like a girl and talk like a girl and smell like a girl and that means you are going to be beautiful. You are going to be attractive. You are going to dress yourself up.”! Terrible, just terrible!

A Texas rapper makes a gay is OK music video - you may have seen this on our facebook page earlier in the week, but listening to it again we thought it was worth including in in this post:

Annoying - Denmark gay bar ban straight people kissing - because that's the way to get gay people accepted - NOT! Read about it here. We understand that gay bars are environments for gay people to feel safe and they shouldn't be turned into straight bars BUT surely this kind of attitude would mean that straight bars can ban us from kissing and then we start the cycle of 'the same but different' that we are trying to break. When we are out we want to be just like everyone else - we don't want to just hang out with just gay people!

As you may know, we got our 'What's Happening, Hot Stuff??' title from 16 Candles, a film about a girl coming of age, featuring the lovely Molly Ringwold - and lo and behold, in the news this week the actress, now 44, is going to have a lesbian fling with a new female character on ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager, according to gaystarnews.

Right, well, that's it for this week - we're sure there has been far more happening but these are the things that caught our attention!

Have a great week

Sarah & Laura

xoxo

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

What We Really DON'T Love Wednesday!!

Today's WWLW is going to be a little different. We don't know if it's the rain, work, or what, but something has got us annoyed this week. So annoyed, we want to tell you all about it, like the cratchety old ladies we are. So please enjoy our little rants - hopefully you'll agree with us on all some of them!

Things We Really Don't Love!

'Is Pepsi okay?' - If you're a Diet Coke drinker, like you should be we are, you will have at some point had wait staff hurl this abuse at you. Every time we are asked that question, the restaurant goes down in our esteem. We are actually more likely to go to restaurants that serve Coke rather than Pepsi. Sure, Pepsi is cheaper, but that's because people don't like it as much. This site says it PERFECTLY. Just the fact that they have to ask should make the answer obvious. You never hear 'Is Coke okay?' because that, friends, would be a rhetorical question. Of course it is.

People who don’t know tube etiquette - 

(OK so this is just for those who ride the tube, but we think you’ll understand even if you don't!)

If you are on a crowded train, and it is approaching a station, DO NOT stand up and start pushing past before we even arrive – announcing ‘EXCUSE ME, EXCUSE ME’ - for all you know EVERYONE between you and the door could be getting off at the next stop, and pushing people who have nowhere to go is NOT going to get you there quicker! Nor is squeezing past people so they are off-balance just as the tube stops- it’s just so ANNOYING! And if people are like us, and we are sure they are, when you do this, we make an effort NOT to move out of the way for you. So if you be a regular person, you'll get off quicker. Ironic, right?

There's NOT always room for one more!!

 Also, diving onto a packed train at the last second announcing ‘There's always room for one more!’ is never acceptable – just because you SAY IT does NOT make it true – in fact, it achieves nothing except squeezing everyone in a little tighter and pissing off the people around you. And for those of you who do dive in, DON’T lead with your bag – that’s just painful! Or your elbow, for that matter - Laura almost got a black eye from the 'always room for one more' guy! 

Chris Brown - 

This kid is the reason we don't believe in karma. We mean, really - he beats his girlfriend within an inch of her life, doesn't ever, not once, act like he is actually sorry about it, but still comes out with these horribly catchy awesome tunes that make us simultaneously want to dance and feel really guilty for liking them? How is this even fair? His apology was forced, and looked more like a reluctant kid who was made to apologise by his mother than an adult pop star who was quite rightly apologising to his fans and his girlfriend for letting us all down. And since then, all he has done (besides made frustratingly dance-able music) is complain how people won't let it go, and how he's so hard done by. Ridiculous. Even Rihanna decided to collaborate with him, after first walking away 'to be a good example' to her fans, admittedly because she could make tons of money from it. THE MAN BEAT YOU!!! It's sad that in this day and age, dignity can be bought so easily, even by someone who doesn't need the money. And now he has young girl fans all over the internet, saying things like these gems:

So we think we can all agree that his continued success and existence is a bit of an epicfail, society.

July 2012 UPDATE!: To make matters even worse the media is now reporting that Mr Chris Brown is also homophobic! And not keeping quiet about it. The latest slur from the 'charming young man' was aimed at Frank Ocean. Of course he is now tweeting up an apologetic storm BUT other instances show that he's being homophobic in the past.

Via RadarOnline, Star Magazine reported that Brown used anti-gay comments during a basketball game. When shooting hoops at a 24 Hour Fitness gym in L.A. on June 29 Brown began hurling cuss words when the game intensified.

“He got really ticked off when things didn’t go his way during the game, saying, ‘That’s gay!’ and ‘You’re a f—– a–!’ to the other players, ” an eyewitness told the tabloid.

Just another reason to dislike the man!

Smokers -

OK, not all smokers – we’re friends with a few- but smokers who invade our outdoor space to chain-smoke without any regard for the people around them, and just want to make sure we’re enjoying their smoke and not FRESH AIR! The most recent example that started this off – on the one sunny day this week we took our lunch to the park, found our space and sat down in the nice green grass (checking no smokers were already there).  No sooner had the sandwiches been unwrapped, a man sat less than 2 metres (like 3-4 feet for us regular folk haha) from us and smoked at least 5 cigarettes, with the wind in our direction the entire time – we returned to work smelling like we’d been on a night out, not a park lunch!!! We understand some people just need to smoke, but please have the courtesy to find a space where you aren’t ruining lunches, polluting the insides of bus shelters or being unsociable!

Doesn't it seem ironic?

If you could also stay away from door entrance/exits, it would also be much appreciated. As we exit a building (or tube station, those are especially bad for it - I mean what, you couldn't wait another few steps to light up?) we do not want to be greeted with a face full of smoke, we prefer fresh air. And as we enter, we don’t want the next person we greet to get the smell of smoke – we spend money on perfume and would prefer that be the first thing people smell.

And finally, 

French Connection - 

Have you seen their new ad campaign? Talk about making us not want to wear their clothes. It features ads such as the following:

This is the only campaign we've ever seen that has actively made us decide not to go there anymore. Until they make it up to us, with a less-douchy ad series. Talk about alienating your customer - we thought 'I am man' and 'I am woman', their last campaign, was bad, and couldn't have imagined it getting more confusing.

Oooh, totally want to buy that hula hoop.

So now when we see this ad, we don't think 'I want that dress' but SERIOUSLY, CLOTHES DON'T HAVE FEELINGS!! 

The collection looks like an idiot.

We must admit, its powerful advertising - we actually get physically annoyed whenever we see the adverts. Even right now we are tense, writing about it. 

NO it isn't - if anything, the wind is.

Maybe we aren't their target audience - but as 20 something young professionals in London, surely we can't be THAT far from the target audience for these silly things? The Collection is not happy, forgetful, playful, lactose-intolerant - they are clothes.

WTF??

What do you think of these things? What is really getting your goat lately??

Love always,

Laura & Sarah xoxo