New year, new me

Today was my first day being an independent woman, so seen as though it is New Years Eve I decide to make some resolutions to suit my new role.

1 – Always be confident in everything I do

2 – Work hard and strive to achieve at Uni and at work

3 – Don’t rely on men or relationships, treat them as if they need you, not the other way around

4 – Dress for myself, wear clothes that help me feel like a strong, independent woman

5 – Be more assertive, don’t let others walk over you, make sure you put yourself first

The perfect gentleman

I had a date this evening. I knew the boy and had been on a date with him before so was able to explain why I was behaving so out of character and he agreed to play along.

He picked me up at 7pm and drove me to a very nice local restaurant. I made sure I was dressed as a young lady would on a date, not revealing too much flesh. We had a lovely meal, which being the perfect gentleman he paid for, and pleasant conversation and then he drove me home for 10pm. We even shared a very modest goodnight kiss.

I really enjoyed my date tonight and it was refreshing to be treated like a real lady and I can see why this was the way all those years ago. It’s a shame that dating isn’t really like this any more.

Be-Ro brilliance!

I decided to explore the idea of a lady being a good housewife today so turned my hand to some domestic duties.

I got up early and hovered and polished the entire house and then cleaned the toilet and bathroom and mopped all of the tiled floors.

I had a rummage through the old cookbooks in our kitchen drawers and found an old-fashioned Be-Ro baking book. The perfect pastime for a lady! I decided to keep it simple and opt for a good old Victoria sponge!

I paid very close attention to keeping my mixture light and fluffy and made sure I preheated the oven and the final cake was actually quite successful for a first attempt! And I even had enough time to make a chicken dinner for my parents arriving home.

After dinner, which surprisingly went down quite well, I washed the dishes and made sure the kitchen was spotless before soaking into a nice hot bath.

An exhausting day! Thank goodness I don’t have kids to pick up from school as well!

Total time spent doing things for other people: All day!

Nunty!

Nunty is a Northern word that simply means ‘frumpy’ or ‘dowdy’. It also sums up exactly how I felt last night!

It was my friends 21st birthday and we went out to a club in Grimsby. My friends were wearing short dresses and mega-high heels and I was wearing a flowery silk dress with thick black tights. Grimsby is not a thick black tights sort of place!

My friends got chatted up all night and had all their drinks bought for them while I was ignored. Things picked up when we hit the dance floor but I found it slightly tricky to dance in a ladylike fashion to ‘Dirrty’ by Christina Aguilera and ‘Get Low’ by the Ying Yang twins!

Not the best night out I’ve ever had. The lady may have been the perfect catch 60 years ago but she seems to have lost her place on the ‘what a guy wants’ charter.

Sales etiquette

As a bit of a shopping junkie I decided to hit the sales today. Not the best decision I’ve made recently as it was absolutely manic! People were pushing and shoving in every direction, but of course being a lady I couldn’t do this. All I could do was smile sweetly and try and find my place in the crowds of people.

At one point another girl and I both reached for the same dress in Topshop, it was the last in that size, and even though I had been drooling over this dress for weeks I simply let go of the hanger and let her have it. It was agony! I could have cried, if it weren’t for the small feeling of satisfaction at having done a good, ladylike deed for the day!

Respect your elders!

It’s a Boxing day tradition that my Nanna comes for dinner so, in the role of a courteous young lady, I volunteered to go and pick her up.

When I arrived I made sure she was wrapped up nice and warm, carried her bags for her and helped her into the car.

On the drive back to my house I talked to her about when she was a young girl and she said it was simply expected that you behave like a lady. From an early age she was taught how to sit properly, how to behave around adults and even how to politely drink a cup of tea. She also said:

‘If you weren’t ladylike then you’d have no chance in finding a decent husband, because back then men wanted looked for qualities in women that would make a good housewife and that they could have on their arm at parties.’

This made me think, is the modern glamour woman simply an updated version of the tradition lady? I mean both couldn’t be more different, but both also seem to be the way they are to please men. Although I found that being a glamour girl was pleasing to me and not just to men, I also think it is what some men today want in a girlfriend and it has been engineered to appeal to modern young men’s desires, which is surely what the traditional lady was also supposed to do?

Total time spent doing things for other people: 2 hours

Christmas festivities!

Christmas Day! A day for family, food and festive fun! And it certainly was!

My sister and her two teenage sons came for Christmas dinner and while they were lounging in the front room eating chocolates and watching television I was helping my Mum and Dad prepare the dinner and set the table, as a young lady would!

During the meal my nephews broke out into a series of crude jokes and conversations but rather than laugh and join in I merely continued to eat my dinner and maintained perfect table manners.

I think my nephews might now think I’m a complete stuffy snob. But they are wrong, I am simply a lady!

Total time spent doing things for other people: 3 hours