Out (Up) and about: Up at the O2

A few weeks ago I thought it would be clever to book tickets for Up at the O2. It didn't occur to me that being scared of heights it might be a bad idea. Or that I'm physical activity-averse and it might require some hefty physical input. Nope. I ploughed straight in, roped in my friend Kim (a fellow Wharf-dweller) and booked us up for the 8pm slot last Wednesday. People asked us why. We said "why not?"

It wasn't until the day before when we got a reminder email that we also asked ourselves "uh, why are we doing this?"

It turned out we needn't have worried! We turned up at Base Camp at the required 15 minutes before departure and were issued with clipboards, pens, "if you fall off you can't sue us" forms to sign and the obligatory information about filming and photography so as to flog it to you at the end. Our guide came in introduced himself, talked us through the forms and the whereabouts of the loos, cracked a few jokes about being scared of heights and falling off and then hit play on their safety instruction video which was a tongue-in-cheek take on a video diary from an arctic explorer at Everest Base Camp. This made me feel much, much better. If they weren't taking it too seriously then I shouldn’t be too worried about the heights and safety.

Climbing gear

After the safety video we were furnished with jumpsuits (with inbuilt camera and phone pockets), harnesses, caribiners and a locker for our belongings. Everyone swiftly put it all on. And then swiftly took it all back off again when the instructor told us to start again and showing everyone individually how to don the harness properly. Ah, so they ARE paying attention to safety after all!

We then lined up and had a quick demonstration about how to lock on and off of the safety wire with our harness and how to move the clip correctly and then we were off!

The start is incredibly steep and requires a bit of effort to get up it and then it levels off slightly and is actually quite fun.


The Ascent

We took it slow as there was a big group and we had to travel at the same pace (even though Kim and I were leading the group - err, obvs!) so there was a lot of time to take in the view and the surroundings.

The walkway itself is bouncy and deliberately so, to replicate how the material of the O2 canopy might feel. Clever! We got told off for bouncing on it. Not clever. We also earned some other clever little factlets we were told we're about the construction. As it was originally created for the millennium it's a tribute to time: there are twelve posts that hold the canopy aloft to replicate the twelve numbers on a clock, the circumference is exactly 365 metres to represent the days of the year and the highest point of the dome is 52 metres to represent the weeks of the year. And we all thought it was just a big tent!

On reaching the "summit" or the viewing platform, you are disconnected from the safety wire and free to wander. At this point Kim and I noticed that everyone else was in a couple or on a date. Who'd have thought the top of the O2 was a place for romance?

on the hoome straight...

I suppose the lovely views over part of the city and across the river to Canary Wharf in all it's luminescent glory (including the nightly light show on the Pan Peninsula buildings) is a great setting for a romantic stroll! We could also see the Orbit structure over in the Olympic park glowing red and firey in the distance. I'd like to head back during daylight or at sunset to catch a different perspective of the city.

After a little while at the top, and a few photos (I forgot my camera so my iPhone pics are all I have unfortunately, so please excuse the quality) and we were locked back on to the wire and ready to begin our steep descent.

On reaching the end our lockers had magically arrived so we disrobed, handed back our equipment, visited the gift shop (obvs) to check out our videos (I looked ridiculous, and so didn't purchase), said our goodbyes to our guide Gary (he was a bit of a dude!) and we were on our way home to bed!

 

From start to finish I think the whole experience took less than two hours, was really well organised and was very reasonably priced. For more information and to book please click here.

If you're looking for something fun, different or, apparently , romantic to do this autumn I would definitely recommend it.

Smells like trouble

Recently I've had a bit of an Obsession (ooo, clever!) with perfume adverts. Adverts in print, on the TV, in store, on billboards. I'm not interested in buying the stuff, I have plenty to be getting on with, but all of a sudden I've taken a keen interest in the branding, the message, the "face", the bottle, the composition... I wonder why.

Maybe all this living in a cross between a squat and a building site is leaving me in need of some glamour and glitz? Maybe because I feel rough as old boots right now and I feel like I need a radical make over show to come round and sort me out! Who knows.

My current faves in the advertising stakes? Well, they're also two of my top three fave smell-nices right now as well: Coco Mademoiselle (which I chose to wear for my wedding) and Miss Dior Cherie (just for the record the other is Viktor and Rolf FlowerBomb).

I can't decide which of the two I like more, they're both so similar, not just the names, bottles and actual aromas but also the adverts. The soft lighting, focus and colours. A beautiful cityscape and a stunning apartment. Soft curls, luscious (bare) skin, sultry vocals, a rather lovely co-star, crisp white sheets... they're both so girly girly girly. But do I prefer Natalie Portman and the LBD, the bow tie, the shades, the bath and the roses or Keira Knightley and the jumpsuit and matching helmet, bike and boots with that amazing bob?

If I had to call it, if I really really had to, I think it has to be Chanel.

Always Chanel!

Inspiration

Following on from my last two posts about the Olympics and optimism in general it seems only fitting that I post something about the Paralympics. But what to say? I'm not sure I have the words in me.

I didn’t really want to do a “highlights” post, as I didn’t want it to be a comparison to the Olympics in my mind. I mean, really, what could compare to those amazing days? Well, I think I was wrong, the full eleven days of the Paralympics was just one big positivity trip. The whole event was just full of elation, triumph over adversity, personal achievements and national pride, but all in all a massive tribute to positive mental attitude. Everyone is writing about how the Paralympics changed society’s attitude toward those with disabilities, has created a whole new world of role models and raised awareness about a number of worthy causes. Of course I recognise that, but for me, it goes even deeper and perhaps that’s what I should write about?

Honestly, I think the Olympics changed Britain and the British forever. They made it ok to be proud of London and the UK, made it ok to be patriotic, made it ok to be happy. The Paralympics cemented those feelings, and then built a great big skyscraper on top of the Olympic foundations. It’s not just ok to be proud of Britain, it’s ok to celebrate Britain, what and who we are, and what we’ve done (let’s not forget, we conceived the Paralympics). It’s ok to scream our patriotic love from the rooftops of London. It’s ok to radiate happiness and positivity and ignore the weather. It’s ok to speak to strangers on the Tube. Crumbs.

If the Olympics was about the general feeling around the event as a whole, for me, the Paralympics was about the Paralympians as individuals, regardless of the team colours they were wearing. Basically, where the Olympics was about the 'macro' and affecting society, the Paralympics was about the 'micro' and changing people one by one.

I like to think I’m generally a positive person and at the very least, even on my darkest days, I’m a pragmatist so I didn’t need a happiness hit, especially after the great year we’ve had, but I think the Paralympics was like the BCG jab we all had at school (a strange analogy, but stick with it!). We’d heard rumours and rumblings about it, but we didn’t know we needed it until one day there was a memo, we queued up to get it, it made some of us cry, we had it once, we’re protected against TB for life, we talked about it for an age afterwards about how it affected each one of us differently (mine went straight down, with no trouble and i have a tiny scar. Boring. No dramas). The Paralympics is a shot of Pure Positivity - we didn’t know we wanted it but we got it, one day we all hustled for tickets to the unknown (Murder Ball? Wow!), we queued up and we watched in wonder, it made a nation pay attention, hold their breath, whoop, scream, punch the air and cry, and now? Now we’re protected against maudlin thoughts, cynicism, ingratitude, bad attitudes and self-pity forever. We will talk about it for a lifetime and how it changed us.

To put it simply, we are inspired, or in fact #inspired :-)

These athletes just took my breath away, and have very probably changed my life. I’m well known for my usage of the phrases (often spoken to myself, out loud!) “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and “There’s always someone worse off than you, so stop whinging and be grateful!” but these people live these phrases, without someone telling them to.

Legs blown off on the front line of duty? Come home and weep? No! Come home, get well, get fit, compete on the world stage. Be amazing.

Injured, and almost died, in the 7/7 bombings by a turn of fate one morning? Sit down and let it consume you? No! Get up, find a focus, find a new purpose, compete on the world stage. Be amazing.

Sporting career ruined by an unfortunate accident? Sink in to depression about your loss, give up and let the world pass you by? No! Re-train, find a new sport, compete on the world stage. Be amazing.

Born with a body that doesn’t work in the same way, or look the same way as the rest of the kids in your class? Hide, watch from the side lines, accept your weaknesses? NO! Make dreams a reality. Ignore what other people tell you is a weakness and find your own strength. Become a sporting icon. Break boundaries, and then world records. Be amazing.

Be a superhuman. Be a real life super hero. Be amazing.

Every single person that competed in the Olympics worked hard to be what and where they are and for what they achieved. Respect. Every single person that competed in the Paralympics worked longer and harder to break down barriers so they can be what and where they are and for what they achieved. I witnessed those achievements on Channel 4, in the news and with my own eyes at the stadium and they were indescribably inspirational not to mention overwhelmingly emotional. So I suppose the only thing for it is that I do do a list of my highlights from the last 11 days. and here they are...

Seeing it live: I finally got to the stadium on the penultimate day of athletics and… I GOT TO SING THE ANTHEM! Yay! Great work Josie!

I was there!

The opening ceremony: Scientific narrative set to dance music. Shakespeare in floating umbrella-boats upon a sea of people. 62,000 people crunching on apples simultaneously. Gandalf/Magneto (see what they did there?) brandishing a human rights placard. A theoretical physicist saying words that make me weep (and not because they confuse and baffle me!) rather than yawn. A stadium full of flying, dancing, singing, partying, grinning Superhumans. Being A.Mazing.

The Belgian dog hitching a lift: The. Cutest. Thing. Ever.

The umbrella bearers: Those outfits, umbrellas and the whole concept ROCKED!

We got to belt out the anthem!

The chairman of the Paralympic committee: sitting next to the queen during the opening ceremony and head bopping to the music, delivering some rousing speeches to the world and doing so without a plummy accent. What a dude.

The polite request: As is customary, for those that are able, please stand. Of course.

Rocking our ParalympicsGB scarves!

Superhumans, jaw-dropping SUPER-humans:swimmers with no arms, rugby players in chairs, footballers that can’t see, sprinters with no legs, high jumpers with only one leg, and many more besides. Human bodies are amazing. It’s a fact. We are all in agreement. Humans that defy the odds to compete on a global platform despite severe disabilities and physical impairment? There are, literally, no words… but thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanking the crowd!

ParalympicsGB: Amongst so many others, David Weir - what a ledge! Sarah Storey - great work! Jonnie Peacock – wow! Ellie Simmonds – GOOD. LORD!

Thiller Thursday: That is all.

Job done!

Sportsmanship and teamwork: the Germany v GB table tennis final? I can’t write it without crying, so I’ll let you look it up for yourselves! Morris and Darke attempting to share bronze in the cycling so neither lost out on the bronze after years of training together. Pistorius grabbing Jonnie Peacock after the T44 100m final and genuinely congratulating him on the win. The Marcel Hug and David Weir Bromance, (H)hugs and fist pumps for luck despite competing against each other. The way all the swimmers seemed like besties after every race, regardless of where the medals went. Heartwarming!

In fact, all the camaraderie: the athletes all seem to be the best of friends, seemed to know each other very well and respected each other enormously. They all competed with the utmost sportsmanship, they got out there and went hard for gold, but once across the line they were best friends again. Human spirit? Superhuman spirit.

The emotion: Matthew Walker’s tribute to his late father. The Brazilian 100m girls and their guides on the podium. Oscar Pistorius’ outburst and subsequent, heartfelt, apology. Ellie Simmonds every time she was in front of a camera. It was all too much. I gave up on mascara after about three days.

The stories: there are so many inspirational stories but the one that stuck with me was Martine Wright who lost both her legs in the 7/7 bombings, the day after it was announced that we’d won the Olympic bid. What a tragedy role model. When she retires from her sporting pursuits can someone convince her to set up a one-woman tour of motivational speaking appointments. I will attend them all.

 

Jonnie Peacock and the “shhhhhhh”: an entire stadium silenced. Breathtaking. They should hire him out for school assemblies.

Oscar Pistorius: There was fame, there was expectation, there was groundbreaking participation in the Olympics, there was that controversial interview, there was his official “apology but not retraction” statement, there was his utterly adorable actual apology interview, there was the interview after Jonnie Peacock won the gold in the 100m - exuding genuine happiness, then there was his final race and his long awaited gold. What. A. Guy! (He is also WAY hot!)
 
Li Duang (a blind long jumper from China): the best pre-event prep I’ve ever seen, ripping off his trousers to raucous applause. Brilliant.

Richard Brown, the sprinter, on the 100m podium: have you ever seen anyone happier? Happy happy happy!  I want him and Nicola Adams to wake me up every morning with those big bouncy smiles.
 
Diversity: aside from physical disabilities, what also struck me was the age range of our athletes, specifically how young some of them were. How can we still be talking about "bored young people" when talking about town facilities? Now London2012 is (sadly) over, can we send TeamGB and ParalympicsGB on a roadtrip under the banner “Aspire to be something, then you'll have something to do" (I can say that, I'm 30 now. That means I'm a ‘grown up’ and can be bossy to ‘young people’). I wish I'd seen something this inspiring when I was growing up. When I was that age I was worrying about saving up my dinner money to buy nail varnish. These kids are Paralympians… highly decorated, world famous Paralympians.

The Last Leg: Channel 4’s saving grace. Just.

The closing ceremony speeches: “Made in Britain”, Pirates as Paralympians, “Kids just get it”, Legacy. Some great, great words that we should cherish forever.

Group Mo-Bot

The Victory Parade: hours and hours standing in Trafalgar Square so I could witness Our Greatest Team (and Our Greatest Presenter, Claire Balding) drive past on trucks for 13 minutes while we screamed, waved our flags and did the Mo-Bot, en masse, a zillion times. Worth every single second.

The Montages: Jesus, Channel 4... what are you trying to do to me?!

Best. Speech. Ever

BoJo’s speech at the Victory Parade: BAFTA-worthy. Period.

The Message: a quote in the voice over of the final montage before the closing ceremony“Paralympians don’t do self pity”. What a line. What a message. No, no they don’t, and so neither should the rest of us.

And finally: My homeland is the birthplace of the Paralympic games. Inspired. Proud. Amazed.

Optimism

I’ve spent the past few weeks formulating a post about positivity, optimism and gratitude, mainly inspired by the flush of Olympic and Paralympic fever I’m feeling, and also because of numerous life changes occurring right now. However I just couldn’t find the right slant, words or message.

I wrote about five or six drafts and, where I normally I just write from the heart, check back through then hit ‘upload’, this post kept getting stuck in blog limbo. The words came out, they just didn’t sit right on the page. The thoughts were there, I just couldn’t get them in order. So I let it go, to re-visit at another time.

And then this letter turned up in my Dad’s office building…

 

And it says it all.

***

5^th August 2012

Hello, enclosed is one lottery ticket.

I am a student at University and a YouTuber who has recently started receiving daily messages of hate (specifically homophobic) including some telling me ‘to die’.

These comments have been hurtful and I will admit they got to me. I don’t believe in responding to hate with more hate so instead I chose a different approach because the smallest things can make or break someone’s day.

This address was chosen at random, no record of it will be kept. This is one of ten letters I will send.

I hope this brings you some hope and helps to restore some faith in humanity. Most of all I hope it has brightened your day.

Good luck for Wednesday Saturday :)

***

So you see now, why I just couldn’t find the words…

Because, really, there are none.

Summer of Slipper

How did that happen?

One minute it was June, I was whinging about being homeless and moving house with the mother of all hangovers and then all of a sudden it’s nearly September! I never got around to a July round up as my June round up was a bit late and August arrived too quickly, so I thought I’d mash it all up in to a Summer of Slipper post instead.

After a ker-flipping-razy June, July calmed down slightly and I spent most of my weekends and quite a few evenings decorating, ripping out 1970s fitted bedroom furniture, dragging out carpets, painting squares of colour all over the house and having minor (plus one major) domestics in various furniture and DIY stores across the county. We spent most of July living in what looked like a cross between a building site and a squat, only a bit more messy. On a fun scale of 1 – 10, I’d put July at about a 4. Until, that is, THE GREATEST PARTY ON EARTH CAME TO LONDON (and then they handed the flame over to the home of what used to be the Biggest Party on Earth!).

Handing over to Rio

Yes people, the Olympics happened.

And that was that for decorating and refurbishing until the middle of August. I sat on my sofa, when I wasn't jumping on it, or leaping off it, and was glued to the coverage for hours... or in fact weeks!

I can’t put in to words how much I loved those two weeks of Olympic hysteria. I tried my best in a  little post of highlights and also a little round up for Florence Finds, after I attended the tennis at Wimbledon. The Olympics made what could have been some very stressful and lonely summer evenings (Mr G was working at them and hasn’t been home since the end of May, basically) rather enjoyable. I would also like to send my apologies to my Facebook friends for filling up their news feeds for two solid weeks with my Olympic wittering. Standby for the Paralympics!

Olympic fever!

In amongst the decorating and Olympics I did manage to fit some other activities in, mainly focussed around cocktails, cupcakes, weddings and birthdays. Of course!

I felt very un-cool whilst checking out Apples and Pears over in Brick Lane for a cocktail tea party. It seems that I’m just not down with the funky East London kids. I am however perfectly qualified to much on cupcakes and drink cocktails all night!

cocktails and cupcakes at Apples and Pears

I drank cocktails on the highest roof terrace in Europe at Sushi Samba, but freaked out in the lift on the way up and down (40 floors in an exterior glass lift!). Scary times!

What a view at dinner?

View from Sushi Samba. Eeek!

I caught up with my Powder Puff Girls/Disney Princesses for a Mexican (cocktails) and Thai (food)combo Claire’s birthday and we gave her one of the best presents ever. All will be revealed in a blog post coming soon.

I watched an open-air Michael Jackson tribute concert from our private balcony party at Wahaca in Canary Wharf and embarrassed myself in front of my entire team pulling out my aging Thriller moves!

Open air concert in the Wharf!

I drank tea, ate cake, stuffed myself with scones, guzzled fresh lemonade and caught up with some old faces at a tea party with my lovely Tea Shop Luvvies.

Afternoon tea with the Luvvies

I partied Hawaiian style  on the hottest day of the year, so far, at a garden BBQ, whilst toasting the arrival of a friend’s little girl with a coconut cocktail cup full of water as it was just too hot for anything alcoholic (what a day to be pushing?!).

Hawaiian party style!

I attended a lovely wedding and felt very Great Gatsby (how sad am I that it’s not due out now until next year?) with a ceremony on a lake, garden games and bubbly in a beautiful garden by an ornamental pool.

Wedding on a lake

I went a bit crazy on the midi length dresses worn for various weddings and birthday celebrations. Must be because I'm getting older now? He he!

Midi dress one

Midi dress two

I unfortunately missed what appeared to be an amazing hen party for someone special, but I was there in spirit and will make up for it at the wedding!

We all finally turned thirty, but nothing really changed!

I rounded off my summer, and my youth it seems, with a rave in a field to celebrate the last of my school girls turning thirty. Because our raving days are done, now that we are all finally the big Three-Oh, we started the day with a grown up champagne breakfast chez moi, having finally gotten the ground floor in a state to receive guests.

Grown up pre-raving breakfast!

Raving in a field!

I spent the best part of a day trying to convince Mr G that we need to get a puppy, specifically one of the siblings of our friends' teeny, tiny miniature cockapoo puppy. The. Cutest. Dog. EVER!

Katy having puppy snuggles!

And last, but not least, I appeared on Florence Finds as a REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR with a “Girl About Town” column! Yay me! Check out my posts on the last Tuesday of every month.

Phew. What a summer. It’s nearly Autumn and the BBQ I bought Mr G for his 30^thhas remained largely untouched. I'm whiter than white. I have barely worn swimming attire. I also haven’t even gotten close to planning a house warming party. Let’s hope we have an Indian summer and I’ll try and fit it in then…

Anyway, what’s next? Well, it’s back to school in a BIG way with an extremely busy September and hopefully a break in October when Mr G finally gets released from his Olympic shift pattern on 1^st October.

Stay tuned for all the September excitement…

Vx

P.S. Check out my Instagram feed for all the details in picture form!

Disney Villains

I love that after all these years of Disney Princesses, TinkerBell and friends and cuddly goodies, the Villains are finally getting in on the act. Great work Disney.


Logo from here

I wanted Cruella de Vil's number plate, I coveted the Evil Queen's perfect eyebrows and red lippie so much  that I replicated the look on my wedding day, no one rocks a scarlet nail and a cocktail ring like Maleficent (I bought one just like it a few years back and think of her every time I wear it!) and don't get me started on the Queen of Hearts. Anne Hathaway almost convinced me to join the White Queen fan club with her crazy-unhinged-rather-than-sickly-sweet personna, but I stood strong. Either way, I prefer them both to Alice! And then there's the Wicked Witches of Oz, poor misunderstood Nessarose and Elphaba. Glinda/Galinda (depending on if you've read the book!) just got right on my nerves.

I seem to have this urge, when faced with a sickeningly sweet storyline that's clearly going to conclude with a happy ending, for everything to just go wrong. I wanted The Penguin to win the election. I wanted Poison Ivy to take out Batman and Robin with her mate Dr Freeze. I wanted Rachel to get on the plane with Emma and leave Ross in New York. I wanted Andie to tell the boyfriend to rack off in The Devil Wears Prada and stick with her job. I wanted Keira Knightley's character in Love Actually to run off with the best friend. I like it when the baddies get away or central characters get cut unexpectedly, Harry Potter or Game of Thrones style. I liked The Hunger Games' slightly bitter-sweet ending. I hate, hate, hate Barbie and all her plastic, squeaky pink-ness. I only had one Barbie and I cropped her hair, coloured it in with black marker pen and gave her an early version of goth make up. Ha. My sole Sindy doll faired slightly better, just.

If there has to be a “goodie” I like them to be a bit dark – (new) Bond, Bourne, Batman, even Harry Potter has that strange dark side where he’s not sure if he’s going all Slytherin with the Parseltounge and what not. That's why I loved Inception (no spoilers!). Who’s the “goodie”? Who’s the “baddie”? Who cares… it has one of the best film endings, ever!

Anyway, we all know that Disney is my happy place, mainly because of the unending positivity and the themeing. Themeing everywhere! But the fact that the Villains are finally getting their time in the spotlight makes me very happy!

I was never really in to dolls, as I mentioned above, but if they had these dolls when I was a kid I would have made a few exceptions. Probably a bit old for all that now, though. Dammit.

Just to clarify, I don't often peruse the Disney blog - I navigated there via an article on another site. Promise!But just to get back to the grown up side of things, have you seen the Christian Louboutin Cinderella Slipper? Or that a number of designers will be creating gowns for their fave Disney Princesses for Christmas window displays at Harrods? And that Minnie Mouse will be featuring in a fashion show at London Fashion Week?

There you go, I managed to turn it around from cartoons to shoes just before the end. Phew!

x

P.S. I am 100% of sound mind, am not a psycho/serial killer/manic depressive/recluse/devil worshipper. I like nice things too, just not a sugar-coated happy ending, all the time. :-)

London 2012 Olympic Games

Withdrawal symptoms kicking in. Someone get me to Olymipc rehab. Thank god for the Paralympics in a few weeks!

Olympics > NOlympics.

I have loved every single second of London 2012. From the minute the announcement was made that we had won the bid, through the years of build up, watching the stadium take shape every day, the breathtaking Opening Ceremony and being glued to the TV at every available opportunity (so much for house renovations and writing blog posts!) until the final note of the Closing Ceremony. I have cheered, whooped, cried, sobbed and screamed. I have loved every. Single. Second. However, of those seconds, I am able to pick several highlights and a few low points. Read on and I’ll share them with you.

The low points

I want to stay positive, and this isn’t a time for “dislikes”, so by way of constructive criticism, here is where I saw room for improvement to start with so we end it on an utterly positive note.

Athletes, stop apologising! Gold medal? You are AMAZING. Did you win a medal that wasn’t gold? You are AMAZING. You didn’t win a medal? You went to the Olympics and competed on the world stage. You are AMAZING.

Empty seats. Broke my heart. Shame on you giant corporations of the world.

Venom. Once again, football is the cause of national venom. If it inspires so much negativity, why do we continue to support it as a national sport? Cheer up people - we lost - big deal. In other news? Great athletes did great things, regardless of what colour kit they were wearing!

Negativity. Newsnight, couldn’t you just wait a week or two? Whingers of the Square Mile, see, it was fine. Trains worked. Tubes worked. People were happy. We did well. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it you sour faced old farts! Didn't "get" the Opening Ceremony? Read some books, watch some films, listen to some music, learn about your homeland and what makes it great. Didn't like the acts that played in the Closing Cermony? London, and Britain as a whole has been the birthplace of some of the greatest muscial acts of all time. No one is asking to you love them all, just acknowledge that they exist. Also, people are different. They have different taste. One Direction had as much right to be there as Madness. Jessie J represents our music scene just as much as Brian May. The Spice Girls define a generation, just as much as the Beatles. Old or young, new blood or been in the charts for 50 years? Who cares. Enjoy the bits you like and respect that others enjoy different things to you - i.e. BE BRITISH! This is what we stand for, diversity and respect. London did the Olympics proud and you should be proud of London.

And so, on to the stratospherically-high, high points

Attending! I was lucky enough to attend one of the events. I wrote about it for Florence Finds.

The hot pink. London is an oooooooold city. The most colour we get is some red, white and blue on big occasions. Hot pink is probably the most un-London colour there is. It worked! It also kept London neutral, no flag has hot pink in it (or maybe there is one, and I missed it? And if there is I want to become a citizen!) so there could be no accusations of bias!

Wenlock and Mandeville. I don't care what people say. I think they're brilliant. And clearly so do Usain Bolt and Mo Farah.

source

The organisation. There were signs everywhere, people everywhere, BoJo on the tannoy giving travel announcements, London commuters helping out tourists with impromptu tour guide skills. Commuting became a surreal and fantastic experience!

BoJo. No other Mayor could have carried the games with such comedy, sarcasm, dance moves and bumble as he. He made me smile! He made me cheer!

Bling. Third in the table? Most medals, ever. Nuff said. But just to clarify, in the words of one of our legendary song writers (yeah, that's right, I think she rocked it with Brian May and did the song, and Freddie proud!) it Ain't about the ba-bling, ba-bling. Wanna make the world dance. We did!

Leftie multicultural crap. Kenneth Branagh reading Shakespeare. Four anthems. One anthem. A world of flags. Mr Bean playing Chariots of Fire. JKR reading Peter Pan. “Mr Bond”, “Your Majesty”, the Welfare State, Sufragettes, immigration, music, tributes, the fact that seven unknown future champions lit the 204 petals so that every competing nation contribued to the lighting of the cauldron. Only in Britain. Danny Boyle you deserve a Knighthood! Aidan Burley, you can jog on.

Homage to g(G)reat British culture, old and new. Muscial legends. Acting legends. Comedy legends. Fashion legends. Dancing legends. Landmark legends. YES, LONDON, YES!!!

The way we were so terribly "British" about everything. Queues, polite responses to international criticism (yes, Romney, I'm looking at you), apologising repeatedly, the stiff upper lip, the "leftie multicultural crap", "we did it right"... no, WE DID IT GREAT! I'm so proud of who and what we are, even if sometimes I feel we should be a bit less British, I'm glad we never will be.

Loosening of the Stiff Upper Lip whilst widening the Thin Blue Line. Those police officers high-fiving tourists and attendees all over East London, one of whom is my hubby. Yeah, our Bobbies rock! They’ve given a lot to make these games happen and despite the stupidly long hours, lack of free time and hard work, I think they’ve truly enjoyed every single minute. And apparently the thugs and criminals of London enjoyed the games too – I’ve not heard a single report of any trouble. Unless of course the PR people are also working overtime to keep it all quiet!

Teamwork, across borders. The way the US runner, and silver medallist, Galen Rupp (I think) whooped for Mo Farah as he crossed the line in the 10,000m final. Apparently they train together, and despite running for different countries you could see how happy he was for his training partner taking gold. Sport unites, it doesn't divide. Footballers and fans of the world - take note!

Inspiration across borders. James, who came in first, asked Pistorious, who came in last, to swap name badges after the 400m heats. Inspirational on so many levels. I cried.

Admiration across borders. This picture says it all

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Breaching protocol. After winning a silver medal in the 20km Race Walk, and the first medal ever for his home country Guatemala, Errick Barrondo decided against the usual handshake and grabbed the guy who gave him his medal, embracing him in an emotional bear hug. So great! They’re knighting him apparently when he gets home. True story!

Commuting. Every tube journey was an emotional high and fun filled. Flags, face paints, comedy announcements, more track suits than a JJB megastore, happy and helpful volunteers and TFL staff and, shock horror, Londoners and commuters actually conversing with strangers on public transport. I genuinely looked forward to my Tube and train journeys every day!

The Royals. The Cambridges and Harry hugging and whooping like commoners? Totes amaze! Zara getting in amongst it with her team mates? Down with the kids! Zara's mum giving her her medal. Too cute! James Bond and Queenie? Speechless...

Presenters. Gabby Logan and Clare Balding showing the dudes how you present a sports programme (with style, humour and lots of layman's terms for us non-sporty types) and pundits forgetting the cameras and screaming for the athletes. Brilliant.

Going to work. My company went Olympics crazy, condensing working hours, celebrating with free drinks and gifting us all chocolate gold medals on Fridays to say thanks for making it in to work. Too cute.

A nation of whingers and complainers SILENCED. I spent months staying positive (despite my usual hatred of public transport) and telling people that London would step up, it would be fine and to stop whinging about congestion and Tube delays. People were actively seeking out issues to complain about until about two days in, when they realised it wouldn’t be tolerated, their usual fellow whingers didn’t join in and quite frankly, no one wanted to hear it. Ha. I didn’t want to say it, but I TOLD YOU SO.

Facial expressions. Jessica Ennis' and Mo Farah's faces as they crossed finish line. Mo Farah's daughter and heavily pregnant wife as they track invaded. Greg Rutherford as he realised what had happend to him. Vicky P with the love heart and the mouthed words. Chris Hoy not holding it together. The Ugandan guy who just grinned at the interviewer. Nicola Adams as she smiled like a Cheshire Cat. Happiness is infectious. I smiled a lot... when I wasn't sobbing of course.

Making history, pushing boundaries. World and Olympic records. “Firsts”. Titles retained. Female boxing. Most decorated athletes. Women in every team. Oscar Pistorius...

That 800m race. Our poor guy would have taken gold in the last three Olympics with his time, but came in last. SuperHumans! Also goes to show - no matter how good you are, you can always be better. Isn't that what the Olympics is all about? Always striving to be bigger, better, faster, stronger? Reality TV z-elebs take note...

Jamaica. Bolt and Blake in the 100m. They went on the B of the Bang. The 1, 2, 3 in the 200m. The skits to camera before they run - how are they so chilled? The press ups. The conga line. Jamaica House. The Mo-Bot as Bolt crossed the line. What a team.

Team spirit. That US sprinter who completed his leg of the relay with a broken limb... So he didn't let his team down? And they qualified. What. A. Legend. He should get a medal for that alone. Actually, the Queen should make him an honorary British citizen so she can give him a knighthood!

Andy Murray, finally! I wanted Federer to win Wimbledon, but a few short weeks later, same people, same place. Different result. Hurrah.

Roger Federer. Always such a gentleman. Always so dapper, so polite, so gracious. I heart.

Montages. A montage always gets me, especially an Olympic one. The music that the BBC use on their montages at the end of each night either makes me dance in my living room or cry. Often both. 

WINNERS! Michael Johnson's quote (referring to Christine Ohurogu) - she didn't lose Gold, she WON silver. There's a difference.  Remember it.

Nicola Adams! How cute is she? How deadly? But really, that smile, that laugh, that jubilation? I want to bottle it and keep it in my handbag so I will never, ever, ever feel down again.

Saturday 4th August 2012. One year on, exactly, from when London's spirit almost crumbled under the riots, London came back and gave us so much to be proud of. #SuperSaturday
 
It happened. Thank you LOCOG, the Gamesmakers, TFL, Danny Boyle, London 2012,Team GB and all the national teams for making these last two weeks some of the best of my life.
 
Inspire a generation. Consider us inspired.