Rebecca Adlington - Swimming

Born on February 17, 1989 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, Rebecca Adlington is an English freestyle swimmer who will be representing Team Great Britain at the Summer bad credit loans Olympic Games in London in 2012. Her second Olympic appearance, Adlington is the previous winner of two gold medals via the 2008 Games in Beijing. Her victory in her specialty events, the 400m and 800m, made Adlington the first British swimmer to win two Olympic Gold medals since 1908.

While Olympic swimmers like unsecured loans Michael Phelps receive most of the notoriety around the world, Rebecca quietly excels in any event she enters, standing out as one of the greatest swimmers in British history. She owns multiple swimming records, including British, European and Olympic records, and at only 22 years of age, 2012 may not even be the midway point for Adlington.

Sporting Career

Rebecca Adlington grew up around the Mansfield area where she was born and started swimming at an early age via the Sherwood Colliery Swimming Club. Excelling at swimming at such a young age, Adlington was handpicked by the Nottinghamshire County Swim Squad, where she has been swimming and training for years. True to her roots, Rebecca has never sought out the lavish training accommodations that so many athletes do. She has remained grounded and humble despite being one of Britain’s most formidable athletes.

Adlington had some success as an amateur swimmer, but before she could ever get her feet wet in the professional ranks, the 2008 Olympic Games were arriving and Britain needed a talented swimmer to represent them. Rebecca gladly accepted the call and competed in the 400m and 800m events. After being put on Team GB, Adlington broke the Commonwealth record in the 400m freestyle just months before competing in the Olympics.

During the Games in Beijing, Adlington was an underdog to American swimmer Katie Hoff. In the 400m event, it looked like Hoff would defeat Rebecca and the rest of the field handily, but after their last turn, Adlington surged into the lead in the final 20m of the race, making her the first Gold Medal winner for Great Britain in 1960’s Anita Lonsbrough. With her second Gold Medal of the Games, she became the first Briton to win Gold multiple times since Henry Taylor did it in 1908 (3).

The expectations were extremely high for Adlington in 2009. Going from a relatively unknown 18-year-old swimmer to a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner, the pressure was on Rebecca as she entered the World Swimming Championships. Even though Rebecca would put up personal best times, she couldn’t pull away from the competition and ultimately finished with two bronze medals and a 4th place finish in three events. 
Entering the 2012 Olympic Games, Adlington no longer has the element of surprise. Every swimmer will have her in their sights, and Rebecca seems poised and ready for the challenge.

Katy Perry Meow!

Meow perfume has a similar type of bottle as her last perfume Purr. The Meow perfume bottle is a softer shade of purple, almost a rose shade, with a bit more detail in the design.  The milk glass, cat-shaped bottle, or vial is a paler purple, accented unsecured loans with crystal cat eyes, and a metallic “M” charm around the cat’s neck.  The softer color was to evoke coziness, and warm feelings.  Katy got the idea of the milk glass cat for the Meow perfume bottle design, from going to local flea markets when she was young, and she liked how the glass sparkled.  Meow perfume bottle is unique and lovely.

Meow candy fragrance

Katy’s debut fragrance, Purr, was a floral fragrance.  Meow is sweeter smelling, with an aroma of candy, or sweets, playing right along with her Candyfornia bad credit loans theme.  If you follow Katy, you know that she goes to extremes, and this may be another in the fragrance field because Meow not only smells sweet, Katie describes it as more “edible” than her first perfume.

Meow fragrance cat theme

If you are wondering why Meow fragrance has a cat theme, you need to know that Katy Perry adores cats.  She and her ex-husband had three cats at home. Her cats were called Kitty Purry, Krusty, and Morrissey.

Katy has real affection toward her feline friends. Because cats are very independent, Katie mimics this feline attitude by doing things in her own sweet time, and just how she wants to do it.  Her unique style is exhibited on tour in her ode to the Golden State theme when she descends to the stage from a cotton candy cloud, to sing with giant Gummi Bears, and lollipops.  This candy theme is inspired by her Candyfornia tour, which led Katy to the sweet “edible” fragrance idea for Meow.

The Meow fragrance

Meow perfume is made of honeysuckle, and pear, and has a base of vanilla, musk, and amber.  Katy wanted Meow to smell edible, because she believes that a pleasant scent makes you remember a special time, place, or happening in your life.  Honeysuckle has a sweet, gentle smell.  Musk has been described as a soapy, clean smell, and amber, as a light musky scent of pine wood.  Amber has been treasured for its deep sensual properties, and the ability to calm, and relax the body and mind.  These fragrances, along with the vanilla and pear scents mixed together, are candy-like, or sweet, to make the wearer forget the mood that they are in, and remember a good place, person or time to make them feel better. Katie wants us to be able to make memories of people with Purr or Meow, in the same way that a song can remind us of special people and events.

How Meow got its name  - with a little help from Twitter

Katy got the name for Meow perfume with the help of her twitter friends, who were trying to guess the next perfume’s name.  Katy demanded that there was an exclamation point added to Meow! because she thought that the fragrance was such fun, that Meow! needed the exclamation point at the end.  Some may say that it was because the exclamation point embodies her everlasting energy, as seen in the Katy Perry California Dreams tour.

Meow perfume partnership

Meow! perfume is produced in partnership with Givaudan, the world’s largest producer of flavors and fragrance.  Founded in 1895 by Leon and Xavier Givaudan, the company has operations worldwide, in 100 countries.  They have created fragrances for designers such as Calvin Klein, and Ralph Lauren, and celebrities like Michael Jordan, and now Katy Perry.  They are headquartered in Vernier, Switzerland, but also have a US base in New Jersey.

Comparing Katy Perry Meow! to Purr

Most people who have smelled Meow fragrance, compare it to Purr, the sister fragrance. The best way that I can describe it is that Meow perfume is similar to Purr, but smells sweeter. I love Meow and I’m sure most young women will too.

Meow Fragrance is wonderful, and a great reason to buy Meow perfume. I suspect, however, that many Katy Perry fans will be buying Meow! for the bottle, as much as for the fragrance, or will want to buy it, and keep the bottle as a Katy Perry collector’s item.

Meow! Perfume is available online now from Amazon. Do be careful where you order from though, because perfume can be counterfeit. It really is worth buying perfume from a store like Amazon that you can trust

There is no doubt that Meow will be selling fast so why not order Meow for yourself, or as the “Purrfect” present for someone special today? Meow! by Katy Perry Eau De Parfum Spray for women is available NOW from Amazon…but don’t count on stocks lasting long.

The Gossip Girl Reveal

The worst kept secret on the internet this morning is that (Spoiler) is Gossip Girl!

Who is she? Or he? Who is that enigmatic blogger sharing the secrets of socialites on the upper east side? The 100th episode of Gossip Girl finally revealed the identity of G.G.

It’s exciting and fun for the show to tell us who Gossip Girl has been this whole time. But there are some gaping holes in the logic! Certainly we aren’t the only ones wondering how Georgina can possibly be the mastermind of this all.

Hai guys! I just came by to steal the title role of this show, now I gotta jet!

Gossip Girl knew all about Blair’s wedding, but Georgina seemed almost shocked in the beginning of the episode (unless she was merely shocked that Blair was getting good press i.e. Princess Diana references.) Either way, wouldn’t Georgina have plotted her devious plan earlier than just upon the day of the wedding? unsecured loans Other questions arise because Gossip Girl kept going even while Georgina was soulful at Bible Camp and all over the place.

The identity of Gossip Girl was a big deal, and to cram it into an episode as an afterthought really didn’t do the mystery much justice. Blair’s royal wedding was too big of a deal for the show, and it overshadowed everything else going on. Almost more insulting is the fact that Georgina is Gossip Girl at all…

While Michelle Trachtenberg is lovely, she wasn’t part of the show from the start. And for a while she was on her own TV series (Mercy, anyone remember this?) and in a conference call that we took part in, bad credit loans she said she’d be glad to return to Gossip Girl but there were no plans to at the moment. Had Mercy taken off as a hit, she would have likely been too busy.

So, what does that mean? That the show didn’t have an idea of who Gossip Girl would be when they started. There was no end game. They were just as clueless as fans. You can’t go back and search for clues, because none of that stuff will have really mattered. They might as well have picked the name out of a hat. And Jenny (Taylor Momsen) or Vanessa (Jessica Szhor) would have been much more surprising in the role.

Georgina is Gossip Girl. How do you feel about that?

London Fashion Week

 I've got really behind on my London Fashion Week coverage, and because I don't want it to spill over too much into the news from Milan and Paris I've decided to do a supersized show report from day one - starring Corrie Nielsen, Bora Aksu, Maria Grachvogel and a poodle puppy. Why a poodle, you may ask. Simply because it's not LFW without an adorable pup!  

 

 

For Autumn/Winter 2012 Corrie Nielsen took inspiration from the Scottish Highlands, so naturally there was a lot of tartan running throughout the collection. Corrie is renowned for her dramatic and theatrical designs, and the final two looks to unsecured loans hit the runway definitely lived up to the high standards set by Corrie's previous collections. 

 

 

Outside Corrie's show I bumped into Tallulah, the poodle puppy who was celebrating her first London Fashion Week with makeup artist, stylist and photographer Fiona Fletcher. Tallulah stole the "cutest pup at LFW" crown from last season's winner, Lenny the pug...

 

 

Next up it was Bora Aksu, where Kitty from The X Factor was sitting front row (for reasons unknown to me). The Turkish born designer bad credit loans somehow managed to make the palest shade of pink work with a zesty orange, making this my favourite collection of the first day. 

 

 

The Bora Aksu collection started with hints of orange lace on top of blush pink chiffon, and built up to dramatic blocks of colour. The level of craftsmanship and detail was amazing...

 

 

Finally it was over to Maria Grachvogel who showed her Fall 2012 collection in most gorgeous setting: the ballroom at the Savoy hotel. With Maria it's all about glamour, so as a red carpet obsessive I was in heaven. Here are some of my favourite looks from the collection:

 

 

Were you impressed by the first day of shows at London Fashion Week? Which collection was your favourite?

Joanna Rowsell takes individual pursuit

Sir Chris Hoy leaves it late in the Keirin at the Track World Cup in London (© Dene Percy)

Sir Chris Hoy has picked up Great Britain's third gold medal of London round of the UCI Track World Cup Classics this evening, winning the keirin in the Velodrome where, come August, he hopes to defend his Olympic title. Joanna Rowsell subsequently made it four, adding the individual pursuit to the team version she helped win yesterday. unsecured loans

In the Keirin, Hoy made his move late however, coming from a very long way back to come off the final bend high on the banking with three riders still ahead of him, finishing powerfully to beat Germany's Rene Ender bad credit loans by half a wheel with France's Mickael Bourgain third.

Afterwards, Hoy told the BBC: "I made it very hard for myself there. I sat behind Mickael Bourgain from France and I knew that he was going very well today, he had some very impressive performances earlier on, so I was confident he was going to close the gap on the leaders, and I wass going to try and come around him, but he left it pretty late.

Roared on by another capacity and highly partisan crowd, Hoy added: "With half a lap to go I wasn't sure if I was going to make it, but the crowd, the noise they make when they see you making a move is unbelievable.

"That feeling crossing the line, it's the world cup, a big event but not a massive event, but it feels like a World Championships or even Olympic Games with the support we get here, it's unbelievable."

There was disappointment for another Briton who will defend her Olympic title in London this summer, with Victoria Pendleton losing the individual sprint semi-final to Australia's Anna Meares, the current world champion, who won the third and deciding heat.

Pendleton, who yesterday partnered Jess Varnish to team sprint gold in world record time, missed out in bronze in the deciding race to Hong Kong's Wai Sze Lee.

The final itself produced another surprise result ahead of next month's World Championships in Melbourne, China's Shuang Guo beat Meares 2-0 to win the gold medal.

In the women's individual pursuit, Rowsell, who had ridden to victory with Dani King and Laura Trott, went off quickly against New Zealand's Alison Shanks, leading by 1.2 second a third of the way into the 3,000 metre race. Shanks would come back in the second half, narrowing the gap to just under half a second, but Rowsell responded to the threat and with the crowd on its feet crossed the line 1.042 ahead of the New Zealander.

Two other events remain to be decided tonight, and one is guaranteed to end with a British rider taking gold or silver with Joanna Rowsell up against New Zealand's Alison Shanks in the final of the women's individual pursuit.

Meanwhile Ben Swift took the scratch race in the Omnium, having earlier finished fourth in the individual pursuit, making him the form rider of the first two events of the second day of the competition. With just the time trial to come, he lay fourth, on the same points, 32, as third placed Zach Bell of Canada.

However Swift's time for the kilo was only the 11th fastest as his earlier efforts took their toll, and he dropped to sixth in the final standings of the competition, which was won convincingly by Juan Estaban Arango of Colombia.

Madonna Stalker is now Halle berries

There have been reports that Halle Berry wants to leave Hollywood and move to France, and bad credit loans has exclusive details on the reason why — the actress fears for her life and that of her daughter, Nahla.

The crazed stalker who threatened Madonna in the 1990s has now set his evil sights on Halle, 45, who plans to flee to boyfriend Olivier Martinez’s homeland with Nahla.

“Friends are scared for her life because Robert Hoskins wants to kill her,” an insider told She is terrified for her safety.

“The LAPD told Halle that Hoskins threatened: ‘I’m going to kill that bitch, I’m going to cut her throat.’”

The homeless man from California rose to infamy when he was arrested in May 1995 for making terrorist threats against the Material Girl singer. He claimed that she was his wife, and when she rejected his proposals, he threatened to slice her throat from ear to ear and also said he would kill her bodyguards.

Rather than making empty threats, Hoskins scaled the walls of Madonna’s house and tried to steal her security guard’s gun, who was then forced to shoot him in self defense.

After serving a 10-year prison sentence, the unstable man got out last year and was then sent to a psychiatric hospital near Los Angeles, but now he is on the loose and after Halle.

“When he came out of prison, he said: ‘F**k Madonna, I want to cut Halle Berry’s throat,’” a source exclusively told unsecured loans

“They sent him to Metropolitan State Hospital last fall but he escaped on Tuesday, and it’s really frightening because he told everyone there that he was going to kill Halle.

“Halle has hired 24-hour guarded security at her home and the LAPD has been visiting her since the escape,” revealed the insider. “The police are serious about this guy because he always travels with a knife and gun.”

The Oscar winning actress and her ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Aubry, have been embroiled in a bitter custody battle over Nahla, which unsecured loans has been getting increasingly toxic since a nanny claimed Aubry physically assaulted her.

“Gabriel is upset that Halle wants to leave the country but he should understand that they have to for the safety of his daughter,” said the insider. “He doesn’t seem to be taking it seriously, he feels like it’s just Halle’s problem.”

The warring parents are due back in court on Friday to fight over papers Halle filed requesting permission to move with their three-year-old daughter.

“Friends say she’s tried other options to protect her family like renting a home in Northern California but things have become so dangerous now France seems like the best option because of Olivier,” said the source.

Halle’s previous stalker, Richard Franco, pleaded not guilty to felony stalking and residential burglary last October. He was sentenced in January to 386 days in jail and five years probation.

Low TSH Means Your Doctor Lowers Your Dose - Womens health

Many people write to me asking me to please explain "why, when my TSH results show that my TSH has dropped, does the doctor want to LOWER instead of RAISE my medicine?"

Or, "doesn't a high TSH mean I have too much thyroid? And if that's the case, why is the doctor INCREASING my thyroid hormone medicine?" BAD Credit loans

This is one of those issues about thyroid treatment that tends to confuse people. So here's a basic explanation.

The thyroid gland produces thyroid hormone. When it functions properly, the thyroid is part of a feedback loop with your pituitary gland. First, the pituitary senses the level of thyroid hormone that the thyroid has released into the bloodstream. The pituitary then releases a special messenger hormone, known as "Thyroid Stimulating Hormone" (abbreviated as TSH). TSH stimulates the thyroid to release more thyroid hormone.

When the thyroid, for whatever reason -- illness, stress, surgery, obstruction, for example -- does not produce enough thyroid hormone, the pituitary detects this reduction in thyroid hormone, and it moves into action. The pituitary then makes MORE TSH, to help trigger the thyroid to produce more thyroid hormone. This is the pituitary's effort to return the system to "normal" and normalize thyroid function.

There, a TSH that is higher than normal suggests a thyroid that is underactive and not doing its job of producing thyroid hormone. So, in general, HIGHER TSH = UNDERACTIVE THYROID / HYPOTHYROIDISM. 

If the thyroid is overactive and producing too much thyroid hormone -- due to disease, or taking too high a dose of thyroid hormone replacement drugs -- the pituitary senses that there is too much thyroid hormone circulating. The pituitary then usually slows or shuts down TSH production, so that the thyroid will slow down its production of hormone. This drop in TSH is an attempt to return circulating thyroid hormone levels to normal. 

So, a test to measure the amount of TSH in your system will usually show lower than normal TSH when the thyroid is overactive.

So, in general, LOWER TSH = OVERACTIVE THYROID / HYPERTHYROIDISM. 

During diagnosis, most doctors use the TSH test to evaluate your thyroid function and determine the optimal course of treatment. [NOTE: however, that some practitioners feel that relying solely on TSH -- a pituitary hormone -- without also evaluating the circulating levels of actual thyroid hormones T4 and T3 -- may not be able to detect more subtle thyroid problems, or conditions that are resulting from improper conversion of thyroid hormones. TSH is also not necessarily sufficient to monitor hypothyroidism during pregnancy. For these reasons, some practitioners also include other valuable blood tests, including T4, T3, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, and antibodies tests.]

A major hitch in this connection of TSH to hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism is an ongoing disagreement in the medical world. As of 2008, at most labs in the U.S., the normal reference range is approximately 0.5 to 5.0. So levels below 0.5 are considered possible evidence of hyperthyroidism, and levels above 5.0 would be considered possible evidence of hypothyroidism. There is, however, an ongoing, five-year dispute among thyroid experts, because as of late 2002, some endocrinologists believed that the range should be narrowed significantly, to 0.3 to 3.0. Endocrinologists have not yet reached agreement about a standardized normal reference range for the TSH thyroid test, despite the fact that they consider this test the gold standard test to use in diagnosing and treating many thyroid problems.

When you are being treated for hypothyroidism with thyroid hormone replacement drugs, doctors will typically attempt to medicate you into this so-called "normal" reference range -- of a TSH of .3/.5 to 3.0/5.0 (Patients who have had thyroid cancer, however, are often given suppressive doses that maintain TSH near to 0 in order to prevent cancer recurrence). 

So, when you've gone for a checkup, and your TSH comes in below normal (and your doctor does not have you on a suppressive dose of thyroid hormone), they may want to REDUCE your dosage of thyroid hormone, because levels below normal are considered potentialy "hyperthyroid" (overactive.) unsecured loans

[Another point of controversy: Once on medication, some patients may find relief from hypothyroidism symptoms only when the TSH level drops below the normal range. In that case, some doctors will also check Free T4 and Free T3 levels, believing that it's acceptable for a patient to have a below-normal TSH, as long as Free T4 and Free T3 levels are normal.] 

And if your TSH test comes in above normal, some doctors will want to INCREASE your dosage of thyroid hormone, because levels above normal are considered potentially "hypothyroid" (underactive.) 

To recap:

LOW TSH suggests you are closer to HYPERthyroidism (overactive), and have too much thyroid hormone circulating. 

HIGH TSH suggests you are closer to HYPOthyroidism (underactive), and you don't have enough thyroid hormone circulating.

If you're being treated with thyroid hormone drugs (such as Synthroid, Levoxyl, Armour, Thyrolar, etc.), and your TSH comes back as too low, your doctor may suggest lowering your dose, or running other tests such as Free T4 and Free T3. 

When TSH tests come back as higher, that suggests HYPOthyroidism (underactive), and doctors may suggest an INCREASE in your medication dosage.

Baaps - Lolz

People considering cosmetic surgery procedures have been urged to go to a professional clinic.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) told people that having a procedure done at home bad credit loans instead of in a legitimate medical environment is not worth the additional risks.

During a BBC programme, entitled Botox Britain, discussing the rise of non-invasive cosmetic surgery procedures, such as botox, BAAPS told individuals to be careful, do their research and choose a practitioner with the right qualifications rather than going for the cheapest option.

"The public must understand that the delivery of cosmetic injectables is medical and while home treatment may be convenient for the patient, the environment may fall short of what is desirable or safe," Liz Bardolph, president of the British Association of Cosmetic Nurses, told the unsecured loans BBC.

Recently, founder and editor in chief of Beauty in the Bag Wendy Lewis said that women are unlikely to give up their botox or anti-aging treatments to economise but may instead opt for cheaper alternatives.

Take me out scadels

 Up to 90 contestants of the ITV dating show, hosted by comic Paddy McGuinness, went to the two-night bash.

Many paired up for sex and bad credit loans obscene snaps were posted on Facebook.

Drunken mobs ran amok in the South Wales pile.

Partygoers told last night how the bash to celebrate the new series turned into a frantic sex and booze tear-up.

One of the revellers told how a flirty unsecured loans party game led to "lots of s******g".

Another said: "There was loads of sex going on — people were doing it in front of each other."

Smooch operators ... snogging couple

A third told of an "insane" girl who bedded three men and canoodled with nine others during the do at the mansion in Chepstow.

Dare to bare ... bloke in mankini

And a fourth source claimed "two or three thousand pounds-worth of damage" was caused by drunken mobs who trashed the Grade II listed pile.

The gathering of contestants from ITV1's hit dating show was organised over last weekend by one of the wannabes.

The recorded show, hosted by Paddy McGuinness with his catchphrase "No likey, no lighty," sees a guy try to impress 30 girls who turn out lights as they lose interest.

Things turned steamy after revellers played a "lock and key" game in which girls are given a padlock and men a key.

They circulate until a match is found, then get replacement locks and keys to do it again.

Crashed out ... girl lies on crumpled bed beside champagne bottle

Cornish girl Carrie Patrick, 24, who featured on Saturday's show said: "People got to know each other pretty quickly."

Carrie did not see any subsequent sex romps. But couples disappeared into bedrooms or frolicked in an outdoor pool.

Fun time ... revellers pose for group shot

And another partygoer said: "Everyone just cut loose. There were condoms everywhere."

Some revellers stripped naked. One girl said: "No one seemed to care what they did as long as they were having a good time."

Smashed ... door at mansion

Explicit pictures were later posted by some on Facebook.

Music pumped out all weekend and around £3,000 was splashed on booze, triggering mayhem.

Fixtures and fittings went flying and drunk lads kicked doors off hinges. A source said: "There were smashed champagne glasses and bottles everywhere. And the carpet got really filthy."

The mansion, Wyelands House, is owned by wealthy property developer Paul Bailey.

His daughter Rachel is keeping an eye on it in his absence. There is no suggestion they knew about the raunchy antics.

Host ... Paddy McGuinness

Rachel said yesterday: "People showed disrespect but I won't be pursuing it."

ITV said they were "relaxed" about the do. A source said: "Take Me Out is known for attracting 'up for it' young people so it's no surprise they want to have a fun party."  

Bacon Butty - Girl with 2 vaginas

 

Have you ever felt different? Maybe you were born a little different. And for Thursday’s ‘Health & Beauty’ tips I wanted to talk about being different, and how we should love our self regardless of how different we are. Yes normally, every Thursday there’s a new tip on how to drop the pounds, how to see if your man or woman is cheating, or how to get rid of those wrinkles. But today I wanted to mix things up, and showcase the story of different ladies who are a little different, but yet are able to love themselves, as well all should love ourselves, in order to love another….

As a child, Hazel Jones’ very rare condition remained undiscovered, but when she reached puberty she realised something must be wrong. Hazel says: “I used to suffer from horrendous cramps and my periods could be very heavy. I now know that my periods were worse because I have two wombs.”

After diagnosis, Hazel was offered surgery but decided bad credit loans that it wasn’t worth it, despite being relieved to have an explanation. Having two fully formed vaginas is so rare that doctors have labelled Hazel one in a million! In a recent interview Hazel said “My quirky condition does not make me shy or hold me back….In fact, it’s something I celebrate.”

Uterus Didelphys, a condition which means the woman has two fully formed vaginas.

Regardless of the situation, or as Lady Gaga says “Everybody is beautiful in their own way… God makes no mistakes! No matter how you were born, unsecured loans you were meant to be here. I was born this way!”