Day 5

NatWest's Customer Charter advertising campaign has stood out for me recently as it's not often you see a business actively trying to better themselves and encouraging customers to get involved in helping them do so. I also really like Compare The Market's meerkats ads - sheer genius all the way and I love how they're taking it all to social media now too. My least favourite ad is probably Go Compare with the opera man just because he is so infuriating.

I don't discuss advertising very often with friends or family but tend to if it is nostalgic in some way.

When it comes to the media I use in a typical day, I probably log on for the first time mid-morning and check my work and personal emails as well as BBC News. If I have time during the day I may check Facebook or the Times Educational Supplement online for news, gossip, advice, resources and banter but this is more likely to be something I do after I have got home from work. Youtube is another favourite site for me, with me visiting several times a week; I also love Amazon and again will visit several times a week to update my wishlist. I also have 3 blogs, so these keep me busy too! I don't have a TV, so any TV I do watch is online via catchup services after the programmes have been aired, quite often while browsing the web at the same time. I don't browse the internet from my phone or anything like that; I figure I spend enough time online as it is, so while having something like an iPhone would be cool, it probably wouldn't actually benefit me, so I'm in no rush to get one.

During the week I'm sometimes still reading our weekend paper (the FT) which we get delivered, as well as The Economist (also delivered weekly). I read The Times online though and sometimes also read features from the Telegraph, Guardian and Daily Mail online too. I don't watch films very often (in the cinema or at home) but will often watch an episode of The Simpsons or Fawlty Towers on DVD before bed. The appliance I use most after my netbook is my MP3 player: my commute is long (an hour and a quarter each way) so it gets a lot of use! It really helps me to wake up in the morning and to wind down and destress after work. I have a Creative Zen now because I found iPods weren't durable enough (went through 3 in under 6 years!); it seems alright for now but occasionally has a freezing problem, so I may try a Sony next. I don't download music that often as I prefer to have the physical quality of a CD (e.g. artwork).

Day 4

Two of my favourite brands are Miss Sixty and Waitrose. I like Miss Sixty because their clothes are attractive and comfortable as well as being of high quality - plus, their customer service is good. I like Waitrose because its slogan - 'quality food, honestly priced' - is true; even their value ranges are excellent and they stock a good range of familiar and unusual foods. I don't think I'll ever grow out of Waitrose but think I may grow out of Miss Sixty in my 30s or 40s. I'd like to be able to grow into brands such as Gerard Darel, Reiss etc which require a more elevated income.

My least favourite brand is Bratz, which I find trashy and feel enforces all the wrong values.

Bratz would be one example of a brand that I feel behaves irresponsibly as it promotes immoral ideas. Brands that I consider to be behaving responsibly are brands that promote recycling, human rights and reducing the carbon footprint, such as Lush and Kiehls. I think it is quite important for a brand to behave responsibly; there is less and less of an excuse for big brands such as L'Oreal to not be taking the lead.

I don't think I go around forcing my views on brands on my friends; however, if they ask (which they often do, about beauty products, since I have my own beauty blog), I will not hesitate to give my honest views. I ask them if I think they can help (especially about technology products) but I am more likely to look around online at blogs and reviews before purchasing. I think the brand I last recommended was Jergens body moisturisers; someone was asking on an online forum what a good body moisturiser brand was and I responded. I recommended it because it's a very nice and affordable natural product.

Day 3

My goals for the next five years are to move to a bigger flat, to travel to America, Japan and Australia, and to have my first child.

Preventing me from reaching these is money! But I am saving so this will help me to achieve them :)

I would also ideally like to have one or both of my completed novellas accepted for publication during this time, but whether or not this happens is outside my control; it relies on my continuing to be determined and hoping for luck to be on my side.

My positivity for the future comes mainly from the happiness and security I derive from my family, friends and job.

The negativity I feel about the future stems from the fact of my not being in the career I really want due to bad advice I received in the past; this means I have to work so much harder to even have a chance of getting into that career. I also feel negative about the future due to the dumbing down of UK education and the increasing sexualisation of its culture, as well as the increasing pervasiveness of technology: it is this world into which any children that I might have will be born and grow up, and I worry about what kind of childhood and youth young people today will have as a result.

The three things I would like to change would be the sexualisation of culture and the pervasiveness of technology as mentioned above; I would also like the work ethic of people in the UK to be increased as there seems to be a viewpoint growing in popularity that it is OK to get something for nothing, or that it is OK to want to be famous without knowing or caring what for.

Day 2

Shopping is something that I really enjoy and find relaxing and exciting, and while I wouldn't say I spend loads of money on shopping (anything over €100 is really a big deal for me), this probably says more about the fact that I am a SERIOUS bargain hunter rather than anything about the frequency with which I shop ;) Luckily my husband, family and friends enjoy shopping too!

My shopping experiences have been marred of late due to having recently got married - the name change appears to have caused problems with my bank and so I now have been unable to shop online at all for the past few weeks. Several abortive/attempted purchases at Amazon and Marks and Spencer are the result of this! My last *successful* bit of shopping, then, was on Friday, when I went to an outlet village with my husband and purchased some tops, pyjamas and underwear.

I really enjoy shopping at Amazon, because you can always find what you want there. Clothes shops like Miss Sixty and New Look, as well as mid-to-high-end supermarkets such as Sainsburys, Waitrose and Marks and Spencer, also give the shopper a great experience due to their careful and friendly approach, which results in excellent customer service and a happy customer. I don't really enjoy shopping at Zara: while I like their clothes, their stores are always so busy and shop assistants are not always willing or able to help you.

I love online shopping - it is so quick and convenient and you can quite often get discounts online that you wouldn't get in store. I can also go through a points website that I'm a member of and get points for shopping online which can then be exchanged for other things. I buy a lot of books and CDs, but also buy DVDs, clothes, new technology and decorative homewares. The last 'treat' I bought was a new pair of jeans that were 2 sizes smaller than my last pair due to having lost weight recently. If money was no object, I'd definitely buy an iPad - or a first class round the world trip! Or a house! Or why not all three?!

The last thing I bought online: a mail order boyfriend (...only joking...it was tickets to see this guy...Neil Hannon...play live in July)

A possession I value: my ferret toy, given to me by my husband. We both love ferrets :)

The project

Hi there!

Just want to welcome you to the blog project. We're really wanting to learn as much as we can about you through this blog so through the questions I'll be sending you over the next few weekdays I hope can give as much as you can to the blog. Try to reply on the same day as the questions are sent out and hopefully enjoy it!

Jing
x

Day 1

I most value my friends and family, especially given that I moved overseas a few years ago - during such a transition you really realise who the fairweather friends are and friendships of convenience were, and who is really there to stay. One of my life's biggest challenges is integrating into my new country: to me, integrating means having friends and a social life with people of my own age who are actually from that country and speak that language - i.e., not expats. This is made more difficult by the fact that most people my age from the country where I now live are still at university, whereas I have been working for the past three years, and by the fact that I don't enjoy going to nightclubs and bars, where I appreciate I would be more likely to meet those my own age. I have more or less resigned myself to the fact now that I will likely not have a non-expat circle of friends here until I have kids and can meet other parents at mother-and-toddler groups and so on. Another challenge relates to my career: due to bad career advice, or lack of good careers advice, I am now stuck in a profession which was only ever my second or third choice, and I am now having to work twice as hard around that to try to break into my first choice profession.

I am lucky that I am able to work part-time - not only so that I may spend the rest of my time working towards my principal career goals, but also in that my husband works full-time and that therefore between the two of us we are comfortably off financially. Saying that, though, we seem to spend most of our money on having a good time and not on saving an awful lot, although I am trying, having opened a savings account in October 2010.

My friends would probably describe me in one sentence as being quiet, clever and loyal.

My favourite film is Love Actually. This partly stems from the fact that when it was released in 2003 two of the storylines in particular resonated strongly with feelings I was having and a situation I was currently going through. However, even though that time of my life has now passed, it also remains a favourite because of its seamless execution, its humour, the quality of its actors and actresses, and how Christmassy it always makes me feel.

While I watch a lot of documentaries, my favourite of these is probably any documentary by Adam Curtis (especially The Power of Nightmares). They merit repeated viewings for their complexity, their analytical depth and sophistication, their humour, their unique use of sounds and images, clear explanations, and original ideas. For something more frivolous, however, a show I never miss is Deal or No Deal (the UK version), due to the fact that it appears outwardly so simple (and indeed has a format that anyone can follow easily) but deep down can be quite psychologically and emotionally complex, with each game being so different in a way that just doesn't happen with other game shows. It can also get you really deeply involved in its vicissitudes of sadness and excitement, and I have even been to see the show being filmed a few times, which has only increased my enthusiasm for it.

The BBC probably provides the widest range of programmes, so if I were told I could only have access to one channel for the rest of my life, I would stick with that. However, I also enjoy Channel 4/E4, Dave, and Challenge.

My favourite social networking site is probably Facebook; I spend more time there than on any other website, catching up with friends and updating my status. I'm even there when there's probably nothing new to see (kind of like the fridge...you know what's in there but you check it anyway...). My favourite website in general is probably BBC News; I can't go a day without checking the news. Google Shopping is another favourite - I go there before I buy anything to make sure I'm getting the best deal.

My favourite newspapers are probably jointly the Times and the Financial Times. I only read the weekend edition of the FT, but it's more like the Times used to be, with high quality and unusual coverage and features. The Times I continue to read out of habit, mainly for Chris Woodhead and Jeremy Clarkson's columns, but it's more tabloidy than it used to be. I don't read many magazines as I don't like the thought of buying something that clutters up the flat so much if bought regularly and that will only have to be thrown away, even though you've spent money on them. It's for this reason that I'd quite like an iPad so that I can get more subscriptions paper-free. When I do read magazines, it's likely to be the Economist, the Spectator, Zest, EasyLiving, Red, or Weight Watchers magazine.

I enjoy so many different types of music (pop, rock, jazz, classical, folk, indie...) that it's difficult to pinpoint a favourite band or artist. In June I'm going to see Handel and Neil Hannon in concert, but in the past I've also seen Ronan Keating, Angus and Julia Stone, Andrea Bocelli and Michael Jackson, so this probably gives a fair indication of the range of my music taste. In future I'd like to see Celine Dion and Elton John live.

Online, my favourite shop is undoubtedly Amazon - anything I want or need can usually be found there at the best possible price. Offline, I love browsing real bookshops such as Waterstones and looking in clothes shops - my favourite is Miss Sixty for jeans, and Gap and Zara for workwear, but I love popping into independent stores for unique items too, such as Electric Gypsy in Exeter.

People I admire in Britain are often intellectuals who speak their minds and people who have been driven to achieve their goals, such as Chris Woodhead, Jeremy Clarkson, India Knight, Tom Daley, Steve Redgrave, Melanie Reid, Floella Benjamin, Bill Bailey, Andrew Marr, and Margaret Thatcher. In a British and a world context, I would extend this scope of admiration to the unsung heroes who try to help make the world a better place, such as firemen and nurses.

People and places that are important to me:

Bayside Inn, Key Largo, Florida. Holidayed here a lot with my family when I was young and miss it horribly. Best get saving up to go back!

My new husband; we have been together since 2004 and got married in 2011 after nearly a 2-year engagement. He is truly my rock and I don't know what I'd do without him!

Without my time at Exeter University, in the south-west of England, I wouldn't have met my husband, or the fabulous friends that I made there. I also wouldn't have got to know a part of the UK that was hitherto unfamiliar to me, or had the great experiences that I did.

The family is, of course, of great importance. With me there on my wedding day above are my parents and younger sister. They know me better than anyone else and are still there for me afterwards no matter what I've been up to. Lucky!!