The Perfect World

Do you ever get that feeling that everyone’s is having a bigger, brighter, more fantastic life that you are?

As a blogger and an avid blog reader I have read about so many other people’s lives and it’s sometimes hard to remember that what they are showing you and the image that they are portraying is one of perfection of their own making. Now don’t get me wrong – some of the blogs that I read, I really do think that their life is like that. Especially the lucky ones that are able to blog full time and are endorsed and sponsored to travel to far off places and go to amazing social events but the majority (I like to think deep down) are just a normal people.

I sometimes wonder what the image of me is. I like to think that I come off as a cool fun adult who lives in London, who hangs out with her close group of friends and goes to fun events, whilst maintaining my full time job and gaining a degree, all the while cooking and balancing a mixing bowl on one hip and sipping a drink with the other hand. Or maybe people just think I’m really boring, pretentious and they wish I would stop posting my blog columns on facebook and clogging up their newsfeed.

The thing is, the reason that I really keep the blog, is because it is a way to keep a diary of everything. Having failed spectacularly at keeping a handwritten one past my 22^nd birthday I now find that this is the best way to remember everything that I have done. I’m not going to lie, this is the whole point to this post – I do sometimes sit there and count my followers and wish that I had thousands of followers who hung on to my every word but I know that at least 40 people read my columns when I post them and that makes me happy (One of my posts reached 100 views the other day which made me smile lots!).     

It’s just so easy to portray a lifestyle that you want people to see on the internet. The amount of times that I have posted about something, and told a little white lie just to make it sound like I know what I’m talking about, before my friends – the ones who were there with me – call me out on it. Sometimes I’m not even aware I’m doing it! Photographs are the other easy thing to fake. The right light, angle and background can make the double chin disappear and the face seem radiant.  It is the same with pictures around the house. Look at my perfect tidy house, it is always this way with no mess at all…

Oh no wait……
 

We live in a world and a culture where everyone is always trying to keep this façade of perfect up. I want to know how all these other bloggers find people to take pictures of them as they walk down the street. I know that my friends wouldn't follow me around with a camera, waiting while I posed!  I say this not because I plan on changing it but because I am trying to make my own self aware that this happens so when I see someone else blog about that holiday with the pictures of perfect bliss:

Or the beautifully lit food shots that make your mouth water, I just have to try and remember that they have probably spent an hour trying to get that one shot and they burnt the first batch:

What do you think? Would you prefer to see the messy side of things, rather than the perfect? Would you prefer to hear about the slightly rotund girl who is forgetful, a bit of a bitch, loves a gossip and can’t go a day without eating cheese (hence the rotund-ness). The girl who spends 20 minutes taking pictures of food before she will eat it, and won’t let her boyfriend eat either. The one who much prefers to sit on the sofa watching TV than actually exploring the amazing city she lives in and who tried to cram a year’s worth of revision into 4 days because instead of revising she was baking lemon cakes and getting pissed with her friends.     

I just needed to have a bit of a chat today actually, and this is the most diary like post I’ve done in a long time. Sometimes I just need to sit down and talk. Not that it’s changed anything though – I’m still a bloody jealous person who wishes I could be paid to write a blog and travel the world but I guess sometimes it’s much more preferable to sit at home with the boy and the cat and eat an entire melted camembert with a four pack of cider.

C xxx

Fresh as a daisy

There is always something nice about starting a shiny new blog.

In this case though it is something of a challenge to leave behind my other blog on tumblr which I have been updating with my heart and soul for the last 3 years. I am having a few problems with the features on tumblr – you can’t comment on your posts and you can’t easily access old posts which means that you have to click like mad to get to old posts. I am hoping that I will love this one just as much as my old one!

But I’m not one to start something on a downer so welcome to my blog! I started blogging about 3 years ago and gradually it over took my diary writing and now I write all manner of things on my blog. I find it soothing to know that there is a record of my life somewhere out there, and I hope that the things I post about are helpful and provide some fun into a dull day.

For the most part my blog will be filled with recipes, London and my life in general as I skip along into my late twenties.  A little bit of background information is always required: My name is Cara, I am 25 and live with my boyfriend of 3 years and our cat of 9 months in the East of London. I moved to London 2 years ago and I wish I did more on a daily basis. I am in Business Development but wish I was in PR or Events. I am also a Open University student studying English Literature part time – I am currently in my 4^th year, with 2 more years to go before I receive my degree. It has been going on for so long I feel that I will never reach the end!

I am a social network-aholic. I like cheese in unhealthy amounts. I hardly ever wear make-up. I wish I had never given up horse-riding. I giggle a lot.  I can’t stand to be alone for longer than a few hours. I always dreamed of travelling but responsibilities won out. I can never find anything to wear. My life is a bit like candyfloss, full of happiness, sugar and air. How profound.

This is my life....