Dryathlon: Weekend One

So the weekend is in full force and I've nearly completed it in all my glory. 

Thursday 3rd January: 

Celebrated my friend's 25th birthday down the pub with a 
few soda and limes... Strangely enough those drinks made me feel rather hyper.

Friday 4th January:

 I braced myself for a mad Friday night with 2 massive Rock 
Star energy drinks. I went into Brixton where I enjoyed a free soda and lime, 
once inside Plan B I bought myself another soda and lime but after the £2.20 
price tag decided to stick to tap waters. Those energy drinks must have done 
something to me or maybe it was just the amazing music that sent me on a natural 
high as I danced the night away. It was such a nice feeling walking home, 
grabbing some food... You definitely last longer when you don't drink (that 
sounds naughty!)

Had my first 3 donations... Many thanks to Aria, Alice and Yaisa :D

Saturday 5th January:

After rolling in last night at 5am and having an excitable 
day going nandos, visiting the gym (a rare occasion on a Saturday as I'm usually 
nursing a tiny hangover) and then best of all booking my summer holiday to 
Ibiza. Hoping all this no drinking and more gymming will have a great effect on 
my summer bod.

Next week I have a gig, comedy show and dinner/ bar date with my friend Sarah... 
How will I fair?

If you would like to donate to my Just Giving #Dryathlon page for Cancer 
Research UK, you can text NESS51 to 70070 or visit http://www.justgiving.com/dryathlete-vanessa-carby

Thank you for reading x x x

Put the drink down! Dryathlon time!

I told my brother the other day about Dryathlon, an idea thought up by Cancer Research UK to raise money and get you fitter and healthier. In lamens terms, the Dryathlete will not touch a drop of alcohol for the entirety of January in 2013...

I've decided that I would like to take part in this and even if I only raise £50 I'd be happy and proud of myself. Now some of you might think this quite an easy challenge but I'm nevous although I know I can do it, I've never had a reason to not drink. I go out and a friend will buy a round, I go to a club and a guy will offer me a drink, I've had a stressful day and that's a good enough reason to buy a bottle of cider. More worringly I've realised just how much alcohol I can put away, I could literally drink some men under the table and that can't be good for my health.

A night not long ago included- 1 large cobra, 1 small becks, 1 can of JD and Coke, 2 tequila shots and a sambuca, 3 jagerbombs, 2 more JD & Cokes and 4 Red Stripes. This was an evening when I had gone to Winter Wonderland armed with my own alcohol, drinks for tube journey to camden, drinks before a bar, drinks in the bar, drinks in a club and then drinks in another club... disgustingly I think I've missed a drink or 2 from this shocking list. I don't drink to this extent every weekend but I'm no stranger to mixing, drinking doubles and accepting drink because I simply like the taste of alcohol.

If you're worried about how much you're drinking but don't want to go teetotal as I've decided, you might want to head to http://www.drinkaware.co.uk/ wherre they have some useful bits and bobs that show you what's normal, challenges and tips on cutting down. Hopefully I'll keep a diary on here so you can follow my progress and Drink Aware also have a 14 day challenge should you want to crack down.

Now you may be thinking but huh you want me to donate you a few quid for you not drinking for 4 weeks & that just maybe that I should run a fun run like they do for Breast Cancer. The thing is, I would love to do a run for charity because even after the amount I drink, I'm extremely physical, strong and have a lot of stamina, so doing a one off run would be easy. However leading my normal and quite social life where drink is forced into my mouth, well that's the tricky bit.

I respect if you would like to wait into week 2 of 4 to track my progress but if you do want to support me, you can by donating to my personal Just Giving account ::: http://www.justgiving.com/dryathlete-vanessa-carby

New Years Eve will be my final blowout and then it's all about soda and limes ;)

Much love,

Vanessa Carby
@Oi_CARBY

Change... that's just the way it is, things will never be the same

Happy Sunday!! So this morning I'm finally getting round to some Carby ramblings and today this is me evaluating change in people's lives.

Some people change for the good and some change for the bad, only you can determine which category you come under and for me to evaluate my 24 years on earth, I know I've changed dramaticaly for the better. As a teenager I was hard on myself, at times I hated how I looked, felt I didn't have good relationships with my friends but looking back at my 14 year old self, I'm like URGH what a Jafooly. 10 years later, I've changed for the good but some of my friend's don't see that. Many of my friend's have changed and I can't say for the good or bad but things happen in life; some of them have children or long term partners and whilst they have their responsibilties, so do I. As a blogger for www.iammusic.tv I need to dedicate time to reviewing musicians and events, so it means I sometimes have to turn down offers of evenings out, and as a music loving, party hard bitch it's a struggle finding time to meet up with my baby mama's as their body clock is in a completely different zone to mine (they are used to getting up at 5am, when some day's I don't rock up hom until that time... usually sporting a hangover.)

I have a lot of friend's, some that I've known since Primary school, some from Secondary, a handful from places I've worked and then there's just the random friend's I've made on nights out that were too good to let go. As we grow our interests and ambitions differ, so where I was hanging out with my still very good friend Yaisa 24/7, I don't see her half as much as I used tnoo. She's become my gym and cinema buddy, whereas aged 16 and armed with fake I.D, she was my partner in crime and we did everything together. But by our 20's she was being to get bored of the party lifestyle and we both saw less and less of each other. It's not a bad thing that we're not as close but it is funny how things change. My other friend Kirsty think's that I've changed and that I don't make time for her anymore but I still love her as much as I did as that crazy loud 16 year old shoutin BOGIES down the school corridor. I think she has changed too but this isn't to say whe's changed for the bad. Kirsty is now a mummy and a fiance and when I celebrated her daughter's christening I was proud and shocked at how mature she now was, she looked a different person with this air of grace and womanlyness.

So this is just a blog to say that we will all encounter change, whether it's a change in friendship, a change in personality, in interests and careers. At the beginning of 2012 I was doing well, I had a respectable job and took my family for granted. In April my grandfather passed away, a few weeks later my dog also passed away and then a few month's later I lost my job. Things in life are sent to try us and I've got a lot stronger from all these events. I miss my grandad and dog more than anything but all I can do it continue to be grateful for the life that I'm living. I hope that the people I've known for years will continue to come along on my rollercoaster ride that is my life and just hope that all these struggles will soon pay off.

Sorry if none of this make sense but hopefully you will take from it whatever you want.

Bless x

Rihanna shines bright in the video for 'Diamonds.'

Finally the video for Rihanna 'Diamonds' is here. Hip Hip Hooray! Apparently I'm the 303rd person to view it but with 36,007 likes that could be wrong.

What can I say about this video? Whenever I hear a brand new song that is yet to have a video, I mentally shoot my ow video in my mind, so for me I saw lots of diamonds... in the sky of course, lots of sparkle and maybe a sexy co star for her to wrap herself around.

This is yet another beatifully visual and stunning video from Rihanna but then it would be wouldn't it. Rihanna sings in a field with wild horses running around her, walks through riot police with a dirty face and sings huddled in a living room with floating objects. The video reminds me of 'Take Care' which features Drake, with random shots and in 'Diamonds' we witness burning roses, tattooed arms, Rihanna smoking reefa and Ri Ri floating in the sea all by herself.

It's random but I love it, so go and see what the fuss is all about... also she looks hot as always.

Oh Rihanna, can you do no wrong?

Written by Vanessa Carby

Ouch my ears hurt!

This could music video from Tara Palmer Tomkinson could well be the worst video I've seen all year! The video for '5 seconds' seems a bit of a piss take and if you ever watched Smack The Pony back in the 90's you'll get where I'm coming from. The thing is her singing voice isn't that terrible but the faces she pulls and her amateur acting falls short.

For the lady that has everything and probably the longest running British socialite, I wonder what possessed Tara to record this song. Perhaps she is a woman scorned or just felt fit to splash the cash and embark on a music career.

'5 seconds' makes me love 'Gangnam Style' and I quite disliked that. Have no fear because I'm certain this will not make it onto Radio 1, Kiss Fm, Choice Fm or Capital Fm, and it definitely won't make it into the charts... unless she buys every single couple. I feel bad for Tara because she comes across as a nice lady but when you're making Geri Halliwell, Victoria Beckham and Jessica Wright of Towie look like Rihanna, that's telling you something.

Don't give up the day job, whatever that is honey.

Peace. x

The girl who was 3 boys!

Firstly! What the absolute fuck? Are teenager's these day's completely
 stupid?  So if you didn't watch Channel 4's 'The Girl Who Was 3 Boy's,' you missed a topical delight because not only was i shocked and baffled but i had to head straight to Facebook to vent my bewilderment. This girl Jessica created 3 male alter ego's with 3 different styles and personalities, somehow duping her 2 best friend's into believing she was a teenage boy. She invested hours of creating facebook profiles to groom her 2 best friends but how could they not tell it was their best friend of 2 years? I feel like teenager's desperation for a boyfriend or girlfriend is sinking to low... back in my day we'd hang around the Bentall Centre or the Trocadero but these day's teenagers are just chatting on MSN. Are you dumb, naive or both? People don't always seem like they would have you believe online. But back to the victims... What made me laugh was that Jessica (he/she) duped her friend not onze but twice. The girlfriend's never quized why their boyfriend never took his phone off and never noticed the un- canny similarities between all 3 boys. Now I'm an inquisitive women and I'd like to think I'd notice it if my mate of a afew year's was dressed as a boy... Otherwise I'd move country out of shame.

You can understand why one of the victims chose to have her face blurred! Now sorry to get a little bit grimey but when Jessica aka Cona, Aaron and whatever the other fake lad's name was tried getting some sexy time with one of the girls, she striked lucky and used a friggin dildo on her. Even if you've never used one in your life, how would you not notice it wasn't real... Unless this pretend boyfriend had splashed the cash to get a top of the range one. And what about the girl that got done over twice? She said when the guy she thought was a guy started touching her down there, she told him to stop, bear in mind her nan was downstairs. Would you or would you not scream the house down if a guys was being a bit too much? Or maybe it's just me and people know I won't take sh*t!

I feel bad that I didn't actually feel bad for the victims, they say it sounds crazy but he/ she had everything on point- the dialect, the walk, the clothes but still, I can't believe you wouldn't bé able to tell a boy from a girl. The programme finished with me ranting about how desperately teens of today must want a boyfriend. I know people of 17 that have had more boyfriend's than me but the fact is, it's because they're not fussy. High five to my dad for telling me to ignore boy's until after university. Sorry dad, i may not have lasted until university but you did leave me with lasting morals. I decided after the documentary that my children, failing common sense, will not bé allowed on facebook and MSN without major safety measures. I'll also bé inviting the boyfriend/ girlfriend and their family to my humble abode so I can quiz them (I'll leave the lie detectors at Jezza's) but to bé honest my children will bé savvy like me.

URGH! Foolish children.

50 shades of Zzzzzzzz

I probably should read the blurb of this erotically penned 3 part hype before I knock it (so bear with me as I get to grips with it ;) There we go, I'm done!

Now just the other day as I was huffing and puffing my way onto the tube home, I spotted a lady in her mid 30's holding a kindle and sporting one hell of an aroused face... it makes me chuckle every time i remember and I would have bet a tenner that she was reading 50 Shades of Grey. Good for her that I have no hard evidence that she was reading this story but for everyone else reading it with it's evidentially obvious front cover, a sense of embarrassment shudders through me. A few of my friends have warned me that I will be expected to read the trilogy and far from being a prude, I will read it, I just don't like jumping on the band wagon and even at it's 3 for £10 price tag at Tesco, I'm still not over- joyed.

Friend's had read the instalment's in the same amount of days which makes me think 1) you're either sex deprived 2) have nothing better to do 3) are just really really really kinky and into that whole Mills & Boon drivel.  I reckon it would take me at least 3 days to read one of the books (and before you knock me for having the reading span or abilities of an 11 year old, I'll have you know that I've always enjoyed reading and was top of the class... I'll have myself to believe anyway's.)

It's probably that I'm just a bit bored of EVERYONE talking about it and people's statuses about wanting a Mr Grey are cringing me just a bit. I'm not cussing people at all, I'm glad it's got the nation reading and it even inspired myself and a friend to word our very own erotica story whilst casually working out in the gym; we thought it would be the perfect place to set a hot and steamy sex scene and we continued the innuendos until we couldn't contain out laughter any more! Like the Harry Potter books that I left untouched as a child, I'll be waiting for this sought after book to hit an Odeon near me... someone once told me this would be a bad idea and would be worse than reading the book. Well I say bring it on and I know what I'd rather be doing than reading this book and I think the majority of men would ask their wives and girlfriend's to put that sh*t down and come upstairs!

Peace x