I heart www.bigwardrobe.com

I discovered www.bigwardrobe.com today. It's basically a site where you list clothes, bags, shoes etc that you don't want and you can request either a swap, cash or combo of both in exchange for your item - how awesome is that?! and better still, its free to list your stuff. I listed a few things - I want to sap them for something. I'm kinda interested in the swapping aspect rather than the cash - I'd like to see what I could barter! I like the idea of being able to swap something with someone - that way we both come away with a new piece of clothing - rather than a few quid - the new item means more, you know? Anyway, check it out - it's ace.  I also listed a few books on www.greenmetropolis.com today too - and got an email about an hour ago saying one had sold! Hooray! Anyone who's shared this sweet pleasure will understand how pleased I was to sell my book - it's weird cos it's only £3, but the amount doesn't matter - I think it's the whole "one woman's trash is another woman's treasure" thing. 

A good day for recycling, all in all. 

Welcome..

Hello there! 

So, let's get right down to answering some immediate questions..

Why Obsessional Confessional?

 

 - So, I decided to name my blog Obsessional Confessional (hereonin referred to as OC - remember Seth/Summer/Ryan and Marissa - sigh, happy days) because, and a few of you may understand where I'm coming from, during day to day life, I get mini obsessions - whether they the latest political hot potato, the latest mini trend in the fashion world, what Im reading on other people's blogs, social commentary etc etc. Now, I'm not saying I'm some kind of authority on any of these things, but I love a good soapbox moment - I am known for having a bit of a rant. I care about things enough to want to know a bit more about them and talk to others about them. So, blogging seemed to be a good way to confess all of these musings - et voila, here I am. 

What kind of things are your current obsessions? 

 - Now, these can vary from week to week with me - but there are a few love affairs that are long term, no chance of trial separations: 

          

- New York City

Most people who have been there will agree, it's quite simply as though you are wandering around a giant film set when you hit those steaming sidewalks. Devouring a delicious cupcake whilst wandering around the tree-lined parks in Greenwich Village, getting neck-ache while starting up at all the giant buildings on Fifth Avenue, or wondering how it really is as though you have left Manhattan while dodging joggers in Central Park - it rocks. Fact. To be honest, travel in general is pretty much a big obsession of mine - I'd much rather spend money on holidays, soaking up new cultures and experiences than p*ssing £100 up the wall every Saturday night. Simple as that. 

         

-  Fashion 

Let me clarify here, I'm not some loon who only wears Burberry raincoats and Manolo Blahniks and funny headbands (no judgement). When I say fashion is an obsession, its from an artistic perspective - urgh, how pretentious does that sounds? But, it's true - in terms of building a 'brand' from clothing, being able to create an image and therefore a perception of self and change it whenever you want, I think that's pretty cool. I do still like just looking at nice clothes, shoes and bags though :)

- Personal Finance

A relatively recent one for me. I suppose the recession has brought this to everyone's attention, but it has really struck me how much you need to understand your own relationship with money to be able to make the best of the dough that you get. It occurred to me that, even after doing micro and macro economics at uni, I still didn't             really have the foggiest how the world has ended up where we are now, and what the implications are for our future. At school/college/uni, no one really teaches you what a mortgage means, why savings linked to the stock market can be a risk, why ISA's are cool etc etc. So, I've really started to re-educate myself - on things like being a bit thrifty, how I want my finances to work for me, assessing my spending habits (hell, thats a whole other series of posts!!) and basically gen-ing up. On my travels through the world of the internet, I've found some really cool blogs/websites/articles on all of these - all of which I'll reference somewhere in the blog as time goes by. (you'll see a few of them listed to the right I think)

- Cooking/Baking

This is another childhood thing - I can remember terrorising my ma by dragging a kitchen chair over to the worktop every time she started to make a cake - I loved cooking, and still do. Many friends find it very odd indeed that I actually cook to relax - for me, it provides me with a much needed way to stop my brain whirring and whizzing - its my meditation, man. My latest craze is for baking - am totally loving making cupcakes, icing birthday cakes etc - I'm turning into a feeder, forcing vanilla cupcakes or chocolate ganache biscuits down the throats of anyone who comes within a 4 foot radius of me. I'm Jane Asher. 

- Beauty Products

Another fluffy category, but no less important. Scrubs, lipgloss, serums, gels, mousses, glitter, sheen - whatever, I love it. BUT, lately,I am only interested in products that are actually any good, that haven't blinded a few bunnies on their way to the pharmacy shelves, don't cost the same as three bedroomed semi - basically, I'll only part with the cash if they are "worth it", to coin a phrase. 

- Our Society

This one was a tough one to categorise - basically, I obsess on a few issues that could be termed as current affairs within our society today - firstly, politics and the responsibility of those 'in power' to guide our world. I often nearly blow a blood vessel over Question Time every Thursday night (it's that soapbox again) when some out of touch politician goes on about how the reason that kids act up at school is because they are just inherently evil troublemakers who will go on to lead a life of crime regardless of what anyone says...grr, there's the red mist again... 

   Another obsessional channel for me is the whole green movement and how we can all take little steps to help - I won't evangelise, I promise, but it riles me when people just simply can't be arsed to recycle - hello?! It's easier than ever - they even colour code the bins!! Another couple of topics linked with this are the organic food movement and healthy eating in general - another topic I could go on about for aeons. 

Well, I hope this gives you a bit of an insight on the type of issues I'll rant about on this blog. One thing I really would like is for anyone to comment on anything I post - I'd really like to create a bit of a community feel - after all, everyone needs a sounding board now and again, right? The blog set-up is a bit sparse at the moment, as time goes on, I'll build up different functionality - tips always welcome!