Regardless of the ‘lack of cards, balloons and banners with 25 written on them’ (my mums words not mine) 25 feels like a pretty big deal, I mean it is half a century after all (again my mum’s words, thanks for that reminder mum)
So it’s to be expected that this year, in particular, I’ve felt a great deal of anxiety in growing another year older (god that sounds awfully depressing) a definite shift from last years birthday blog post titled 23 things I've learnt, realised and discovered about myself whilst being 23 where I discussed my thoughts and feelings to approaching 24. That's not to say that I don't also have a lot of apprehension and excitement about this midpoint in my twenties over the things that are still yet to come, a feeling I've felt pretty strongly about in the most recent weeks and something I'm eager to speak more about in the next blog post I'm planning but for now I wanted to keep this post pretty light-hearted by following my traditionally scheduled age-related blog post, something that somehow seems to get harder and harder to write each year (god help me when I’m 50+ if I’m still blogging then that is)
So with that in mind, I decided this time to write 25 things you may not know about me an idea I settled on after taking to my Instagram polls to help me decide (that's how everything is settled nowadays isn't it?)
Which leads me to my first fact being I'm awful at making decisions
Always have been always will. I recall realising that about myself when trying to make a decision between two pairs of trainers in Sports Direct back when I decided to take up jogging during university. I went where with the hope to find a pair that would at least make me look ready to embark upon this new lifestyle choice I'd made for a week or two (to be fair to myself I think I actually kept it up for two months and hated every second of it). Anyway, It took me probably over an hour to decide between two different styles, sweat dripping from my brow fast forward about 4 years and I've only just got rid of those said trainers so you could say time was well spent that day.
Even now though, I'll spend hours in a shop trying to make a decision to the point where you could find me staring at a shelf whilst my brain is racing frantically toing and froing between which to choose. Quite often I've made a set decision on something, walked away done a 360 and headed back to square one before trying to make a decision all over again, honestly it's chaotic.
I’m a tiny bit of a control freak
Something I came to realise once I thought about how every birthday I insist on making on my own birthday cake. Most years I think up an elaborate idea that I want to execute then frantically try to bake it and decorate it the night before all so that I can make sure it's perfect, not that I don't trust anyone nor that my baking skills are off the chart but its the one thing I can try to ensure is right for me on my birthday, honestly I realise how writing that sounds so self-obsessed. This years birthday cake, however, was made by my mum (so I'm getting better) after I requested a coffee cake with Biscoff frosting. My mum has since been informed that this cake must now be made weekly until the day I die, needless to say, she hasn't obliged.
This fact also seems to be mainly related when it comes to food, something me and Jay clash over time and time again in the kitchen whereby he'll try to help me with something and I'll insist I have it under control and try to do it all myself all because I want complete control over it all.
I leave everything to the last minute and worry about everything
Heavily in relation to the baking-my-birthday-cake-the-night-before scenario, much of my life follows in a similar way. I shop last minute for Christmas, I push deadlines and leave myself stressed, I try to get work done all in one day, I pack about an hour before I leave to stay at Jays which also falls into packing last minute for holiday then wonder why I'm sleep deprived, hallucinating and having an anxiety attack in the taxi on the way to the airport (true story)
Which in turn often leads to a lot of unnecessary panics. Have I left my straighteners on (a common one) Did I put in the right email? The right address? Did I click the right button? Did I close that door? Did I clock out at work? Did I reach that deadline? What if I didn't? What have I forgotten? The list is endless.
I’m a notorious night owl
If they made a David Attenborough style documentary on me, which would be weird but anyway if they did the voice-over would go a lot like 'you can find a Paige in her natural habitat around 2 in the morning with a fluorescent glow on her face whilst she scrolls endlessly on her phone for no apparent reason, or the quiet mutter of the Spanish language as Money Heist plays on her laptop' or a new and slightly healthier sight maybe 'a book in her hand with a decaff cup of tea on the side all before her eyes begin to slowly shut around 3.30 in the morning'.
I don’t do sad songs
I used to buy a lot of CD's when I was younger and as you know with CD's they play in a particular order, yes you can skip tracks but in turn that makes the album go quicker and the quicker it goes the faster you have to get up and change the CD to a new one and well that took a lot of effort as a teenager so I used to listen to the album as the artist intended, in track order (now not so much thanks to Spotify). So a lot of the time I would find myself tolerating listening to a slow or sad song despite the mood I was in, but the more I grew up the more I found myself hating listening to slow songs. I went through a phase where I used to listen to sad songs if I felt sad which then, in turn, used to spiral me into an even worse mood than where I started off so I just stopped listening to them. That's not to say I don't listen to them whatsoever anymore, I still love a handful of slow songs from Artists like Foals or Ben Howard who I used to be obsessed with but now it wouldn't be my first choice to listen to chuck anything with a good beat or a bit of groove and I'll be happy.
But I do sad films
All of my favourite films make me cry, About Time, La La Land and 1917 to name a few. I'm more likely to be sat watching a sad or sombre film as a pose to a comedy when going back a good few years ago I used to only watch Rom-Com style films so you could say I've done a reverse on those two facts.
I used to be a vegetarian
I feel like I've spoken about this on my blog previously? But for those that may not have read that particular post or even if I wrote it at all and just imagined it. I used to be a vegetarian for 6-7 years a dare that believe it or not stemmed from my sister betting me over a Saturday afternoon lunch in the garden after a trip to Asda that I couldn't go without eating chicken. Don't say I don't take dares seriously. To this day I still try and opt for vegan/vegetarian options where I can.
I always need a reason or occasion to treat myself
I don't know why but I've never been one to just spontaneously buy things. For some reason, I always have to find an excuse to. A lot of the time I wait for a Friday to treat myself or for around Christmas or my birthday. Much like this year, pretty much from the start till the end of July I can somehow justify spending money on myself because 'it's my birthday' I can treat myself. When I come to think about it's both a good and a bad thing. Good in that it stems from my sensibility to being cautious with my money but also toxic in the way that you don't always need a reason to treat yourself right?
I have really weird vivid dreams most nights
Again one that has been a been a recurring theme from as long as I can remember, something that I think comes from having a vivid imagination. Honestly, my dreams are wildly bizarre some nights to the point where sometimes I wake up exhausted from the dreams I've had during the night. I also find that my dreams often set the tone for the day sometimes I've had sad dreams I can't seem to shake until I go to bed that following night. Around 2 weeks ago though I woke up laughing much to Jay's amusement. Quite often I'll wake up in the early hours of the morning and have to write down what I've been dreaming before falling back to sleep which is why I requested a notebook for my birthday where I could write all my dreams down in, my notes on my phone are getting FULL. They are also quite entertaining to read back.
I’m obsessed with Tom Holland
Jay still regrets the day he dragged me kicking and screaming away from my love affair of the Andrew Garfield x Emma Stone version to watch the new Spider-Man. I think I recall saying 'why is there even a new Spider-Man again??' Before moodily watching my way through it. Later that night I found myself running a google check of him and well the rest is history.
I’m a late-night snacker and Jaffa cakes are always my go-to
I don't know why but I always feel hungry between the hours of 12-1.30ish so you can often find me rustling through the cupboards for a late-night snack around then. Usually, I'll be reaching for Jaffa cakes, they're just the perfect snack. If you're feeling a little bit peckish or if you fancy a bit of chocolate or if you're really hungry you can eat a whole packet and not really feel guilty over it because it's a Low Syn Snack on Slimming World according to my mum.
On that subject, I get random cravings a lot
Jays dreading the day I send him out at 3.00am in the morning for something I'm craving whilst pregnant, but to be fair it wouldn't be that much of a surprise given that I'm often coming out with random things I really feel like eating. Ginger biscuits, carrot cake, marmite or beetroot, the most recent being iced buns- still craving them now actually...
Orange, lemon and mint flavoured things are my favourite flavours but Biscoff is my new favourite
Lemon cake, Chocolate Orange, Mint Choc Chip Ice-Cream.
I'm also one of those people who likes pineapple on their pizza.
I have really good smell and hearing senses
Which I find to be both a blessing and a curse, more often than not a curse. If I hear a sound in the distance, be it vibration from somebody's music, a bird, or a voice, guaranteed I'll hear it and then won't be able to un-hear it again.
I've always had a fear of polystyrene
Which is why drinking tea out of them at festivals is my worst nightmare (I'm also cringing now thinking about it) and why I'd hide whenever anyone opened a box and god forbid the packaging included polystyrene *shudder*
I have an unhealthy obsession with bags
For some reason, bags don't seem to fall under my rule of treating myself. In fact, bags don't fall under any rules at all. As far as I'm concerned they are in fact, essential even if most of them can only just fit my phone, purse and keys in them, they're essential okay? You can never have too many honestly it's just not a thing, okay??
I have a secret language
Okay, this one is low-key embarrassing to admit but for as long as I can remember I've always had names I've made up for mainly food-related items, much to Jay's embarrassment in the supermarket. So here it goes:
Charlie Perchula: Cup of Tea
Panclackers: Pancakes
Wafflers: Waffles
Granogalong: Granola
Pot-pots: Potatoes
Tranners: Trainers
Panu's- Pan ou Cholcalts
My favourite meal is breakfast
I'm a big lover of pastries, croissants, Pain ou Chocolat, Danish Pastries, Fruit pastries you name it. I'm also down for a Full English, which most of the time I opt for as a vegan option. I am quite particular about having avocado, Hash Browns (a must) a slice of bread and an egg on my plate. In the week I tend to stick to healthier options like tropical granola and yoghurt, or oats with fruit.
I drink a lot of tea (and coffee)
If you left me alone with just some dairy-free milk, sweetener, a kettle, a cup (and a toilet) for 24 hours guaranteed I'd have drunk at least 16-20 cups. If I find myself working from home or spending the day in the house the kettle continually gets clicked on. Get up, kettle on, mid-morning snack? Kettle on. Afternoon slump? Kettle on. Early evening pick me up, kettle on. Cuppa after dinner, kettle on. You get the gist. I've also always been keen on coffee but finding myself enjoying a cup whenever I get the taste for it but over the recent few months, I've been finding it a go-to instead of tea in the morning, not necessarily to wake me up but instead because I find myself craving the taste of it. A joke I keep making is because I’ve moved now onto coffee granules as a pose to the flavoured sachets of coffee I used to buy and refer to the reason being moving to the harder stuff has made me become low key addicted to it.
I have weird ways of eating things
Something I don't think I realised I did quite so much until Jay began to point it out. If I'm eating a cake with a top icing layer, I'll save it for last, I eat around the outside of my jaffa cake then eat the sponge at the bottom, then the orange and chocolate last or I mix it up depending on my mood. I eat the chocolate around the wafer on a KitKat, I save my favourite things on my plate till last if it's a roast guaranteed it'll be a roast (sweet or normal) potato.
I love long deep conversations
Bonus points if it's after midnight, I love nothing more than talking into the early hours of the morning whilst watching the light begin to seep through the window as you begin to hear the birds whistle. I also tend to find that you can really get to the nitty-gritty of the conversation then, god I'm such a cancer.
Which brings me to I Stan being a cancer so hard
If I could audition for the poster girl of 'being a cancer' I would. Like most, I am die hard for my own star sign so with the fake news from a dug up blog post from Nasa resurfacing last week with the threat that we'd have to change Star Signs I wasn't having any of it, me a Gemini?? Noooooo.
I also tend to freak out when I find facts about Cancers that fit so well with myself, it blows my mind.
I love home comforts
Wrapping up in a blanket to watch a film, candles lit, popcorn on the table, cup of tea in hand after a long soak in the bath, a face mask on and my foot spa on. I thrive in my own home much to why I found lockdown not so bad at all. Also, give me a night in over a night out any day.
I used to want to be a choreographer and pursue dancing
I often find my mind wandering into my 'ghost life' territory something that really fascinates me to think about when I do. I think that sometimes in life you can really pinpoint those moments where things could be very different for you now, what lead you to where you are or where you may not have hoped to be. The butterfly effect I believe it's called. One of those moments is when I found myself obsessed with dance movies, Step up, Honey, Stomp the Yard and Save the Last dance when I look back who wasn't?? But at that point, I really loved everything about that life. I decided I wanted to take Dance as one of my GCSE's and pursue life as a dancer, I'd previously been a cheerleader so I was fairly familiar with that environment. The one thing that put me off taking it? I didn't like the teacher teaching dance, I also didn't happen to like the girls in the class either so I opted for Photography and Fashion as two of my GCSE's instead and that's pretty much where my journey into those fields started. I still wonder where I'd be if I'd decided to really push that goal of one day being a dancer or a choreographer. where would I be now?
I’m low key psychic
If you read the beginning of my post Like everyone else I fell in love with Normal People I'd say that demonstrates this fact quite well again this also happens to be a well-known trait for Cancerians. I think somehow it's just built in us to have this psychic ability to be able to sense things or pick up on things before they happen.
What's your opinion?