Image via Wikipedia

It is well known that some couples are choosing to delay marriage until they are well into their 30s. As society changes, so do its citizens and customs. Waiting to get married is not the worrisome act it was in the 1950s. Slowing down the journey to the altar can certainly offer advantages, such as having the time to focus on a career or being able to establish oneself financially. It is both possible and acceptable for a bevy of brides and grooms to slip on engagement rings after the age of 40. Here’s a look at some benefits of postponing the big day.

Older couples have a better chance at entering relationships and marriage with a level of self-awareness that younger marrieds might not yet possess. Knowing oneself better – needs, wants, goals – helps when it comes to looking at sharing one’s future with a partner. Taking the time to really know oneself will positively affect compatibility and likely lead to a happier union.

Read the rest of this entry »

Friends is the most popular long-running sitcom series the world has ever seen. The 6 friends were watched and loved from the minute they came onto our screen in September 1994, until the very last episode 10 years later. The ratings were consistent throughout all 10 series, but there were a number of episodes that stood out in terms of the viewership. Here are the top 10 most viewed episodes in history:

The One with Ross’s Wedding: 31.6M
This episode was filmed on location in London and had cameos from Richard Branson and Jennifer Saunders. Ross marries Emily after a short relationship and says the wrong name at the alter leading to a whole wave of problems for the newlyweds, and Rachel who is still in love with Ross.

The One with Ross’s New Girlfriend: 32.1M
This was the first episode in series 2 and featured Julie, who was Ross’s new girlfriend he met in China. The episode shows the mixed feelings Rachel has for Ross and introduces the 2nd series of the franchise in great style.

Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

Home-owners have been constantly told that if they can’t afford to move then making improvements around the home, renovating the kitchen, redesigning the garden and knocking down the wall separating the lounge from the dining room, as examples, are the way to add value and make the home a better place to live in. But is that true?

Thanks to the static housing market then the truism that “if you can’t move, improve” seems to make perfect sense but rushing into home improvements could actually see you wasting your money, not only that, do a bad enough job and you could end up devaluing your property even more than if you had done nothing.

The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) took a poll of estate agents throughout the UK and found that about half felt that homeowners were considering remodelling rather than moving thanks to the sluggish housing market. Clearly the notion of remodelling rather than relocating was held most firmly in areas where the market was at its worst: 75% of agents in Northern Ireland and 71% of agents in the West Midlands reported that householders were staying put.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hey there fellow bloggers and readers of Blazing Minds, can you believe that we have got to Friday so quickly, before we all know it it’ll be Friday again, I swear someone puts the clock in overdrive during the week Anyway enough of all this frivolousness banter, it’s Friday, so I’m using today for an excuse to shout out to those on Twitter that have been friendly to Blazing Minds over the last week.

Twitter FollowFriday – Are You Listed!

If you are on Twitter and following me @BlazingMinds you will have already seen my FollowFriday (FF) tweet, if you haven’t then here it is again

#ff @drrus @knitwitshair @commentluv @askkim @famousbloggers @numcrunchingmom @tlb1321 @gingermommy @ditesco @shairbearg (via @ffhelper)

June 17, 2011 4:50 pm via #FollowFriday HelperReplyRetweetFavorite

@BlazingMinds

Karen

Are you in the FF this week, if you are then it shows that you have ReTweetd and Mentioned @BlazingMinds and the blog posts over the last 7 days, so cheers and the drinks are on me
Read the rest of this entry »

Since opening up Blazing Minds to Guest Bloggers, I’ve had some amazing guest posts coming in and these have been extremely popular on the blog as can be seen by the rise in the Alexa rank and the comments that have been left on the various posts.

Now the only problem with opening your blog up to Guest Bloggers is those that will take advantage of this and just register to try to SPAM your blog with awful posts, now for me, I’ve always had some guidance for my guest bloggers to follow and luckily everyone has followed these to produce some great article.
Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

If you’re thinking of getting away this summer then you might have another reason given to you by British Airways as they cut their fares by up to 30% on their business class routes and up to 60% in their first class cabins if you can find a destination you want and can book before June 21, 2011.

British Airways will be slashing the prices on tickets to over 80 destinations, the offer on discounted tickets includes tickets booked before the end of the month for travel before New Year’s Eve. Business flights to Caribbean destinations including Grenada and Jamaica are attracting discounts of 24 to 29%. As well as the flights, BA are also offering holiday packages, offers include stays at resorts like the 4 ½ star Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa located in Montego Bay. It recently received a Five Diamond AAA standard. They’re also offering holiday deals in Dubai, booking now could put you in poll position when the F1 Grand Prix arrives later on this year; the BA offer includes stays at the Ritz-Carlton anmd hotels further into the desert such as the Al Maha Desert Resort and Spa.

Read the rest of this entry »

Spring is upon us and that can only mean one thing, it’s the Wedding Season! Whether you’re going to travel abroad for your wedding or you’re just going to get wed here and then travel abroad for your honeymoon you’ll want to stay somewhere which offers a great deal of luxury.

It used to be that a girl dreamed of a church wedding in a big white dress, these days though it’s becoming ever more popular to tie the knot by the sea on a beach somewhere tropical, white sand in place of confetti and palm trees instead of chapel bells. Even if you are getting married at home the glitz and glamour of the marriage of Prince William to the now Princess Kate has encouraged every bride and groom-to-be to up their game when it comes to the lavishness of their luxury holiday.

For many prospective spouses booking a flight over to the Bahamas with your whole family in tow is something which will have to remain a pipe dream, so what are your options if you have champagne tastes but a lemonade budget?

Laterooms.com has published the results of a survey that they carried out recently which found that eighty two percent  of the British who are getting married this year are feeling the pinch and won’t be able to afford to pay for the honeymoon they want and seventy six percent said they are intending to make shorter breaks. Most people normally want to take a long honeymoon, however, twelve percent say they would be happy to make do with a break away for seven days or fewer, forty five percent would take a ten day holiday. So, while the ideal would be to spend 14 nights on a Caribbean island drinking rum punches the reality is more likely to be a week somewhere closer to home in Europe, at least it will be for fifty four percent of people planning to make a honeymoon this year.

Read the rest of this entry »