About - Arienya.com

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Hi there!

I’m Ari! (full name: Arienya Etoile, and yes – that is actually my name)

I’m actually pretty awful at talking about myself at length, so below is a big list of frequently asked questions.

If you have a question it’s probably there, and you can easily find out how strange I am. Some of the questions can be a little personal, but I have nothing to hide and don’t mind telling you most things.

If you want to know more, connect with me on social media and ask me there!

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What do you do for a living?

Hmmm, well I left school at 16 with 5 GCSE’s and got a job in retail. I was running a flagship store by age 20, and had moved into retail op’s by 24. I have also worked for myself, assisted with company startups, and freelanced over the years in the spare time that I had. I am no longer ‘working’ though.

My mother was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease 2 years ago, and it has progressed to a stage that I had to leave work to look after her and my brother (who has cerebral palsy).

In case you were wondering, I get about £400 a month to live on and pay all my bills while looking after them – if the council replaced that care, they’d be spending nearly £2000 a week. I’m not ashamed of what I do, or the situation my family and I are in, and I am more than happy to answer any all questions about this.

If you are also a carer, particularly if you are a young carer, drop me a line – it can be really scary and isolating, and if I can help or support you in anyway, I will try too!

Where do you go to uni?

I currently study with the OU (see ‘what do you do for a living’ to figure out why) but I will be going to uni full time in September 2016 to finish my degree. The degree I will be doing then is in biochemistry and molecular genetics, and I’m hoping to specialise further into immunology towards the end.

I’m not going to tell you which university though, for the sake of privacy, but it is 700 miles from my current home. scary, huh?

What are your current obsessions?

Pyrex and lok’n’lok kitchenware, buying nail polish for £1, shiny things, dressing up for a food shop, matching lingerie, merino yarn, making summer dresses, revising for my exams!

How do you cope with life in general?

Prescriptive medication! (I say it as a joke, but actually it is kind of true)

I stay sane by generally keeping my world in order so I can enjoy things like – reading in bed at 3am, scented candles, crocheting, and hoarding all the internet so i can play online.

You spell things wrong all the time!! WHY!

…. I’m gonna assume you’re not from my side of the pond? Hi, I’m British *waves* and therefore pink is a colour, foil is made from aluminium, and chips are something you eat with fish (or battered sausage) on the beach while wearing an anorak. It’s not personal, but I’m afraid I speak British English and that’s not going to change.

How tall are you?

I’m 5’8” and seven eighths … I AM NOT 5’9” – i refuse to be!

Have you got any pets?

A very smelly and dirty Westie called Jess. She is perfect and she is mine!

How do you describe your style?

Home and interiors – the sugar plum fairy got lost in a graveyard.

Clothing, etc – the above used to apply here as well, but now it’s all neutral, functional, and comfy – lots of skinny jeans and baggy jumpers.

How much do you weigh?

…. I have no idea … and I have no interest in finding out.

Your dress size?

I’m a UK size 10-12 depending on the shop – as of today I’m 38-29.5-42.

You would share your body measurements with the world?

Sure, why not?

I’m completely comfortable with my body and it’s size. I’m not chunky, I’m not skinny, I’m curvy in the places I want to be, and I fit into the clothes I own …. oh, and I still get to eat roast dinners every fortnight!

What are your favourite places?

Edinburgh airport (I really like the shops and I seem to be there a lot)

Chicken bridge (a small bridge in the woods near the village i grew up in, so named as it was covered in chicken wire)

Disney, Florida (the cleanest place i’ve ever visited, and that includes hospitals!)

Great Ormond Street Hospital (handled my brother’s bone marrow transplant back in 1995, and yet we still see it a happy place. If you have to go there, I recommend the carrot cake from the peter pan cafe!)

What can you not live without?

At the moment – headphones, Xbox Live, Paperchase eco notebooks, ‘wheaties’, PG Tips, Blizzard (my obsessions with their games has now lasted over 18 years!), Adobe CC, my dog, Post It Notes.

Do you have ‘issues’?

By ‘issues’, i’m going to assume you mean physical health or mental health issues – then yes! Physically, I have osteoarthritis in my left elbow (following a nasty accident) and some crazy allergies. At the other end of the scale, I have OCD. I won’t go into it in too much detail as it gets pretty strange, but I do take medication for it.

OCD is really not about being a bit meticulous or being clean or any other ‘thing’ people call OCD; it’s actually quite terrifying to live with at times. Although I know the things I do are not always logical, the panic and anxiety that otherwise happens is terrifying.

Would you rather be a parent or a carer?

Not being a parent, I don’t think I can assess this fairly.

That said, my best friend has 4 children (yes, I think she’s crazy too, but I love them all!) and we often ‘compare notes’ so I can give you a rundown of that.

I think a big part of being a parent is the learning process you go through – you get to develop as a parent as your child grows. This is invaluable, and not something I got to do. Also, I would imagine your child would mostly see you as the authority figure and know what you say goes, even if they try to ignore it. Again, try telling my mother that I’m the one in charge! We joke about it to other people, but I know that she hates it and is scared by being in that position.

I don’t regret or dislike what I do. Yes, I really didn’t get a choice, but if I had been given one, I would still have put my family first. But the learning curve has been huge, with lots of friction along the way. I still regret nothing!

How do you cope with life in general?

Prescriptive medication! (I say it as a joke, but actually it is kind of true)

I stay sane by generally keeping my world in order so I can enjoy things like – reading in bed at 3am, scented candles, crocheting, and hoarding all the internet so i can play online.

Something you think everyone should have a go at?

Living! not just existing but actually living and functioning as human being. It’s great fun and I highly recommend it on most days.

If you could give one piece of advice?

Breathe! – it’s something I have to remind myself to do quite often. Often, we get so busy that we can be overwhelmed, and I think it is so important to just calm down, breathe, and collect yourself for 30 seconds before powering though again.

You spell things wrong all the time!! WHY!

Do you exercise?

Not specifically, I really have no need to right now… if you want an epic work out, come and spend the day with me and see how badly you ache at the end of it *big grin*

Are you a vegetarian?

Nope, but I don’t eat a lot of meat – i just don’t like the texture of red meat too much and consume a fair amount of stuff like quorn. I just eat what I enjoy and have everything in moderation.

How much tea do you actually drink a day?

Warning: this much tea is really not good for you!

It really depends on what I’m doing, but on an average day between 8-14 cups. If i’m out the house for hospital visits or stuff it can be as low as 6, and I think the most has been about 18. I always drink 2 glasses of water for every cup of tea I have, and I drink decaf after 9pm.

If you’re putting the kettle on, I have it brewed very strong (5+ minutes) with milk and 1.5 sugars, thanks!

Have you got a sweet tooth?

Every 6 weeks or so, I will consume a lot of chocolate in a few days (like a wild animal released from the zoo). But generally no, I’d rather have cheese (applewood smoked cheddar, at the moment) than something sugary.

So you don’t like chocolate?

Now, i didn’t say that, did i? If you were going to present me with chocolate, the one’s I cannot resist are gooey liquid caramel inside dark chocolate … yum!

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