Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years On
I read all the Sweet Valley books when I was younger. It was like a rite of passage; You read the Sweet Valley High books before moving on to the Judy Blume stories (which were more realistic to my teenage mind) and then you moved on to things like Danielle Steel or if you were lucky your Mum's Mills and Boon (I so want to write a Mills and Boon story) where sex was more than just the fluttering of eyelashes and more the throbbing desire and burning looks of lust dancing over the heroine's perfect nakedness. Never mind the put a condom on a cucumber sex education lessons and the "how to use a tampon" talk in the school hall this was the real stuff.
Then this week I was in Tesco when I saw a book that I didn't know existed. Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years On. Finally a book that I can buy that is going to bring back my childhood memories, that is going to transport me to California and to the people I know and love and oh look it's in my trolley already. It took me less than two days to read it (I read a little under half of the book on Tuesday and the rest Wednesday) and I was a little confused to be honest. This one was written by the Francine Pascal not a ghost writer the creator of the blonde haired, aquamarine eyed (reminds me of Flowers in the Attic children) perfect, pretty, popular and loving twins and their athletic older brother and devoted (but a little boring) parents.
The problem was that Francine Pascal has forgotten a lot about the twins and the people around them and suddenly they are all acting out of character, more than the time that Elizabeth woke up from the coma with the bitchy selfish personality. I mean having Alice Wakefield (the Mom) shouting "Bring out the Fucking Cake" isn't something that would have happened in Sweet Valley with I was a girl. And yes I know that the stories had to incorporate modern things like Facebook and Twitter (Jessica uses both in her job launching green make up for big brands) but it just seemed out of place.
I knew these girls, heck I had read every single book ever created about them, I had watched the TV series and whilst I didn't go as far as some and dress up as them for Halloween (for the downtown Cincinnati library event just in case you wanted to know) I knew them well, I knew that they weren't going to be the women in this book when they grew up even if they had dealt with evil twins trying to avenge their own evil twins death, friends with drug issues, alcoholics, coma's, accidentally killing your twin's boyfriend and having to work out that the nice English teacher didn't touch up the stupid teenager girl...
So what happened? Well with only the spoilers the blurb on the back gives this is the book in a nutshell.
Jessica commits the ultimate betrayal for Elizabeth and this time Elizabeth can't forgive and turns in to the evil Jessica type character. Jessica is heartbroken (so is Elizabeth really) and is leading a good life, or at least trying to whilst erm planning something which isn't actually mentioned that she is planning and I would have thought there would of been more mentions of the something she is planning considering by the end of the book it is one of the biggest social events of the year...
So some more spoilers but not saying too much so as not to spoil the book for you. (Skip this if you plan on reading it!)
Two people come out.
One of the Twins sleeps around a bit.
Alice Wakefield is actually more manipulating than you ever thought.
Nobody has had kids.
Money makes you a git and then you die.
Sex in California is a lot like in a Mills and Boon story (pg 280 if you have the book)
It was a nice trip down memory lane, even if the twins have gone from being older than me to younger than me and nothing really ended the way I dreamt it would. I only spent £4 on the book as part of a buy two for £8 offer but it is in Tesco for £4.48 (RRP of £6.99) and whilst I an annoyed about a few aspects of the book and how a few characters turned out it's nice to know that Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are out there still, turning heads and doing their thing.
So what about you? Are you going to read it or are you going to let your memories stay the way they are?
Then this week I was in Tesco when I saw a book that I didn't know existed. Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years On. Finally a book that I can buy that is going to bring back my childhood memories, that is going to transport me to California and to the people I know and love and oh look it's in my trolley already. It took me less than two days to read it (I read a little under half of the book on Tuesday and the rest Wednesday) and I was a little confused to be honest. This one was written by the Francine Pascal not a ghost writer the creator of the blonde haired, aquamarine eyed (reminds me of Flowers in the Attic children) perfect, pretty, popular and loving twins and their athletic older brother and devoted (but a little boring) parents.
The problem was that Francine Pascal has forgotten a lot about the twins and the people around them and suddenly they are all acting out of character, more than the time that Elizabeth woke up from the coma with the bitchy selfish personality. I mean having Alice Wakefield (the Mom) shouting "Bring out the Fucking Cake" isn't something that would have happened in Sweet Valley with I was a girl. And yes I know that the stories had to incorporate modern things like Facebook and Twitter (Jessica uses both in her job launching green make up for big brands) but it just seemed out of place.
I knew these girls, heck I had read every single book ever created about them, I had watched the TV series and whilst I didn't go as far as some and dress up as them for Halloween (for the downtown Cincinnati library event just in case you wanted to know) I knew them well, I knew that they weren't going to be the women in this book when they grew up even if they had dealt with evil twins trying to avenge their own evil twins death, friends with drug issues, alcoholics, coma's, accidentally killing your twin's boyfriend and having to work out that the nice English teacher didn't touch up the stupid teenager girl...
So what happened? Well with only the spoilers the blurb on the back gives this is the book in a nutshell.
Jessica commits the ultimate betrayal for Elizabeth and this time Elizabeth can't forgive and turns in to the evil Jessica type character. Jessica is heartbroken (so is Elizabeth really) and is leading a good life, or at least trying to whilst erm planning something which isn't actually mentioned that she is planning and I would have thought there would of been more mentions of the something she is planning considering by the end of the book it is one of the biggest social events of the year...
So some more spoilers but not saying too much so as not to spoil the book for you. (Skip this if you plan on reading it!)
Two people come out.
One of the Twins sleeps around a bit.
Alice Wakefield is actually more manipulating than you ever thought.
Nobody has had kids.
Money makes you a git and then you die.
Sex in California is a lot like in a Mills and Boon story (pg 280 if you have the book)
It was a nice trip down memory lane, even if the twins have gone from being older than me to younger than me and nothing really ended the way I dreamt it would. I only spent £4 on the book as part of a buy two for £8 offer but it is in Tesco for £4.48 (RRP of £6.99) and whilst I an annoyed about a few aspects of the book and how a few characters turned out it's nice to know that Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are out there still, turning heads and doing their thing.
So what about you? Are you going to read it or are you going to let your memories stay the way they are?
You know when I won Masterchef...
You know when I won Masterchef right? Yes, you do I made a Lemon Cheesecake in the invention test and it looked like this;
Well, I discovered they made a song about it today.
 |
| Tasty looking right? |
Well, I discovered they made a song about it today.
(Video can be seen at http://youtu.be/IfeyUGZt8nk)
I knew putting Ginger nut biscuits in the base was a good idea.
Things I wish my parents had told me (or I wish I had listened to if they did)
I had a good childhood, I've mentioned that once or twice before over at the family blog and yet the way I was raised left a few areas of my life strangely lacking in knowledge and so I present to you things I wish my parents had told me... or I wish I had listened to if they did.
1 Good things happen to bad people.
Over the past few years I have watched bad people get stronger, get richer and get everything that they want without a toss about who they hurt to get it. I've seen people struggle with absolutely nothing because they are sticking to the rules. What lesson do I learn from this? Stay being a good person, sure they might have to struggle but they never lose the good in them oh and revenge plots are great fun to think up.
2 There is no Happily Ever After.
So you get married and have babies and live happily ever after just like a Disney Cartoon. Yeah, that doesn't happen. Marriage and family life takes a lot more than a fairytale wedding to set up a lifetime of happiness. You have to work at it, be open with each other, communicate, set goals, reset goals and be honest and even then it might not work out for you. Happily Ever after isn't about having everything perfect, it's about working together and being happy together.
3 Life is what you make of it.
If you want something to happen in your life then you best get on with planning it. Sure sometimes things drop in to your lap but for the most part you have to push yourself to work harder, get better at what you do until finally one day you reach your end goal. And then it starts again with a new goal, just make sure that whatever you do it makes you happy.
4 Learn from your past but then let it go.
Everyone has a past and can remember a time where they succeeded and there is normally a regret or two thrown in for good measure. The important thing is that you learn from the mistakes and from the successes of your past but then you let it go. You can't live on past successes and you can't forever think yourself to be doomed because of past mistakes you can change the direction of your life if you want to.
5 Get over yourself.
Self belief is great and needed. You have to believe that you can do what you set out to do, but you're not a genius, you have a lot to learn from others, you aren't better than anybody, you make mistakes and will have to fix them.
So there you have it. What do you wish your parents had told you?
1 Good things happen to bad people.
Over the past few years I have watched bad people get stronger, get richer and get everything that they want without a toss about who they hurt to get it. I've seen people struggle with absolutely nothing because they are sticking to the rules. What lesson do I learn from this? Stay being a good person, sure they might have to struggle but they never lose the good in them oh and revenge plots are great fun to think up.
2 There is no Happily Ever After.
So you get married and have babies and live happily ever after just like a Disney Cartoon. Yeah, that doesn't happen. Marriage and family life takes a lot more than a fairytale wedding to set up a lifetime of happiness. You have to work at it, be open with each other, communicate, set goals, reset goals and be honest and even then it might not work out for you. Happily Ever after isn't about having everything perfect, it's about working together and being happy together.
3 Life is what you make of it.
If you want something to happen in your life then you best get on with planning it. Sure sometimes things drop in to your lap but for the most part you have to push yourself to work harder, get better at what you do until finally one day you reach your end goal. And then it starts again with a new goal, just make sure that whatever you do it makes you happy.
4 Learn from your past but then let it go.
Everyone has a past and can remember a time where they succeeded and there is normally a regret or two thrown in for good measure. The important thing is that you learn from the mistakes and from the successes of your past but then you let it go. You can't live on past successes and you can't forever think yourself to be doomed because of past mistakes you can change the direction of your life if you want to.
5 Get over yourself.
Self belief is great and needed. You have to believe that you can do what you set out to do, but you're not a genius, you have a lot to learn from others, you aren't better than anybody, you make mistakes and will have to fix them.
So there you have it. What do you wish your parents had told you?
You probably think this blog post is about you
How many times have you walked past a group of people and thought they were talking about you? You know how they stop talking as you draw near or make excuses to leave as you join them? How many times have you read a blog post or a tweet and sat there thinking that it was about you? Well this post isn't about you and if you think it is then your a bigger narcissist than the person* this is about.
- Sometimes it isn't all about you, believe it or not nobody sits around talking about you.
- The world is a big place and there is more than enough space for us all to be who we want to be without everyone claiming that they had the original idea first. And even if they are copying you imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
- It doesn't matter what you think or how you behave, if a spade is a spade believe it or not others will see it as a spade.
- Not everybody knows who you are, you aren't that important.
- Not everybody is out to get you. And even the people who you think are probably don't even know who you are.
Now stop sitting there feeling sorry for yourself, get off that rather large posterior of yours and do something.
*And just so we can be perfectly clear this is about me and my own stupid insecurities.
The dream and the reality.
With Emma's wedding possibly being next June that gives me roughly 10 months until it is the last possible second to go shopping for a bridesmaids dress. I can lose a stone in about six weeks by diet alone so with exercise lets say that means a stone a month. That's ten stone I can lose right there. That's how much I want to lose. With such an important event as the end goal, and knowing I need to stand next to the super slender Vic, it's almost certain that I would be extra focused, extra dedicated, extra... oh who am I kidding? Emma will morph in to brideszilla in about two months time and that 10 month weight loss plan is nothing but a dream and also if I lost a stone a month it would be a sign of the end of the world and I don't think I want to be responsible for that. Emma would never forgive me.
So what's a girl to do? Well, this girl is going to really start pushing herself with harder daily exercise, with a renewed concentration on her diet and paying more attention to The Biggest Loser. No longer will I sit on the sofa with a snack taunting the contestants... right now I am so fired up I will even start going swimming again!
I will lose weight. I want to lose weight. It might not be the ten stone, but it will be a start.
So what's a girl to do? Well, this girl is going to really start pushing herself with harder daily exercise, with a renewed concentration on her diet and paying more attention to The Biggest Loser. No longer will I sit on the sofa with a snack taunting the contestants... right now I am so fired up I will even start going swimming again!
I will lose weight. I want to lose weight. It might not be the ten stone, but it will be a start.
Dear So and So - The last week or so
Dear School Secretary,
Yes, Big Boy has grown! Children have a habit of doing that. No, I don't think it is funny to see him walk he has been doing it for a while so I think I would be more worried if he wasn't walking.
Love
Pippa aka Playground Mum
PS Thank you for saying it was nice to see my MIL. It wasn't.
Dear Big Boy.
I don't care that you don't think I'm not your best friend any more, because I'm your Mummy and that outranks a best friend.
Nah-nah-ne-nah-nah.
Mummy
Dear NHS,
Take good care of my friend. Please.
Thanks in advance
Pippa
Dear Travelodge City Road London,
There should be a new circle in hell for your lifts. You already have the heat part sorted.
Tired of going to the Ground floor from the 4th floor via the 5th even though nobody was there.
Pippa
Dear Husband,
I'm sorry I kept waking you up the other night. I just like to check you haven't been kidnapped or run away.
Always yours
Pips
Dear Sid Punk,
I'm sorry you are hidden in a bag under my bed. Please don't come out when my MIL next comes round.
Lustfully yours
Your Creator.
Pop along to Kat's blog for more Dear So and Whatevers...
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