Catchups, Cakes & Clowns! The week got off to a good start when I was told Aum was going to Pontefract after school on Monday, so I had a nice coffee and cake at Costa with Abi in the afternoon, and then once I had picked Aum up and dropped him at home I was free to go back to my house for a bit of a break before my shift at the pub. We were really busy that night - I made triple the amount of tips I usually do! On Tuesday I was able to lie in, as Aum wasn't back until half twelve, and then I took him into school for the afternoon so he was in a very good mood after such a shortened day. On Wednesday I went to the gym and did a proper workout which was good, and then in the evening I went to see The Vaccines with my friend Rick (see previous post). We went to Factory afterwards for a night out, and I bumped into the ex-boyfriend of a friend which was strange - he had completely changed! It was good to catch up, and Rick and I had a really good night, even though I got home at 4am and had to be in work at 7.45am! Thursday was Aum's birthday, which got off to a great start when I locked my keys inside the house, forcing us to have to start walking to school whilst we waited for his mum to drive back from work to pass me a key! It worked out OK in the end though, and he loved his present from me which was a bonus. As they were going out for a meal after school, I finished once I had dropped him off in the morning, so promptly went back to bed to catch a bit more shut-eye! On Friday after work I drove to Lancaster to see my friend Weronika. We were supposed to be going for a meal, but we decided to stay in and have some pizza and garlic bread at hers before going out for a couple of drinks. We met some friends in The Friary, where it was the rock and indie night which took me back to my Urbis days! Despite us intending going home fairly early, we managed to find our way onto the free guestlist for Sugarhouse so continued our night in there, before a group of us went back to Weronika's for an 'afterparty' which went on until 7.30am! On Saturday we woke up at 10.30am, so I was completely knackered, but livened up a bit after having some scrambled eggs with toast and beans and getting ready. I drove into Manchester at 1pm, and Weronika came with me so we could do a bit of shopping. I bought some lilac hair dye, which is going to be my project for the Christmas holiday! On Saturday evening I went round to Emily and Smeed's where we made a cake for Aum's birthday party. (see previous post). It was nice just to chill out for once on a Saturday, and get a relatively early night. Today I had a super lie in, and then got ready for Aum's party, which was at the Marriott. He had two entertainers called Kuki and Krumbs who kept the kids occupied, and then there was a mini disco, which a few parents joined in for! There was a bit of food for the adults (bagels and cupcakes etc) and drinks, and people were all chatting and enjoying themselves, so it was a nice day. I got home at half 6, and spent the rest of this evening watching TV and having a catch up on the phone with Lydia. A nicely varied weekend!
Volcano Cake! Tomorrow is Aum's birthday party, and Emily and I had said we'd make his birthday cake. Sounds like a relatively easy task - except for the fact that he requested a 'volcano cake'! We made a normal chocolate cake (see recipe below) but made sure the top layer was a little smaller than the bottom, and we also made a few cupcakes with the leftover mixture to help with the construction! Once it was all cooked and cooled, we made some buttercream (again see recipe below) and used it to sandwich the two cakes together, and using the cupcakes cut in half, we made a little stack on the top to add height to the 'volcano'. Then we put the buttercream all over the cake, which made it easier to mould into the shape we wanted. By now it was starting to look like it was supposed to, then we just had to add the 'lava'. We used normal icing sugar, but didn't add quite so much water so it was a little less runny. Emily had some food colour pigments that we used, which are a lot more concentrated than traditional food colouring, and produce much better results (they are also easier to mix to create different shades etc). We managed to create a really good orange colour, and we literally just dropped spoonfuls of it onto the top so it dripped down the sides, creating an authentic effect. We did the same with yellow icing, and then using a cocktail stick dipped in red colouring, drew some streaks into both the orange and yellow lava paths for a finishing touch. After an hour in the fridge it was set and looked brilliant, and we even found some sparklers that we can put in the top on the day to make it look like it is erupting! Cake Recipe 175g butter 300g caster sugar 3 eggs 200g plain flour 75g cocoa 200ml sour cream 50g cream cheese 1 tsp vanilla essence We also added 1 tsp orange flavouring to make it chocolate orange flavour! Buttercream Recipe 75g butter 175g chocolate 300g icing sugar 125ml sour cream
The Vaccines Last night I went with my friend Rick to watch The Vaccines at the Manchester Apollo (now known as the O2 Apollo). We had a few drinks in the bar beforehand, so didn't see the support acts, but of all three I hadn't heard of a single one! The band came on quite late I thought, at 9.45pm, but it worked out well for us as we had only arrived at around 9pm. I saw them at Benicassim this year, but being rather drunk at the time, couldn't remember much apart from that they were really good! It was cool to see them again being slightly less intoxicated. They played a good mix of songs off the old and new albums - Wreckin' Bar (Rarara), Tiger Blood, Wetsuit, Post Break-Up Sex, If You Wanna, No Hope which they opened with, I Always Knew, Teenage Icon, A Lack Of Understanding, All In White, Blow It Up and a slow one that I don't really rate so I went to the bar during it!
They played about a 40 minute set, but then took a while to come back on for the encore, which left us feeling a little uneasy as to whether there was one... luckily for me it included Bad Mood (my fave off the new album) and Norgaard, another classic. Overall a top gig, and I bought a really nice vest top for a tenner as well - looking forward to wearing it!
Ceilidhs & Chippy Tea! Another fairly quiet week, but it's been good as I've had a couple of easy days at work due to it being Diwali on Tuesday so I finished a few hours earlier (and I got given a huge box of Thorntons Continental!) and Aum having a playdate at a friend's house on Friday so I dropped him at school and finished for the weekend! Aside from working at the pub and doing the usual gymming, I didn't do anything sociable on weeknights week, which is probably for the best as I'm running very low on pennies at the moment! On Friday Abi decided to come home from uni at the last minute, so the two of us went out in Alderley Edge to The Botanist for a couple of drinks. I drove as was leaving early on Saturday morning for Devon, but it was nice to get out of the house to somewhere with a bit of atmosphere. We were home by midnight which was ideal, so I got a decent sleep despite having to get up at 8am! It took us just over 3.5 hours to get to Brixham in Devon, but Dad was driving so I could have a nice snooze on the drive there. We went to say hello to the Smiths (no, not the band) the family friends we were staying with, before going to our families house to catch up with everyone. There was definitely a house full! We then went back to where we were staying to get ready for the party, as it was my great auntie and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. We had been told it was a ceilidh (where an irish band play music and the guests are shown dances and then perform them) but weren't told about the 'barndance' dress code, so we were all in nice dresses whilst most were in cowboy boots and checked shirts! I wasn't too bothered though, I am often overdressed for family occasions, it's not like I shy away from attention! It all kicked off at 7.30pm, and everyone quickly got into the spirit of things dancing away. I have never been to anything like it, but it was so much fun, and made the night very social as everyone spoke and danced with each other. As the night progressed everyone was more and more drunk and making mistakes which was hilarious! We had a break in the middle to eat some food, which was amazing - there was a choice of chilli, beef stronganoff, curry, a prawn and salmon creamy casserole and a couple of pasta dishes which you could have as much of as you wanted, and then there was chocolate torte, pavlova, fruit salad or trifle for dessert, and a cheeseboard! I was very full afterwards, and had to sit out the first dance, much to the compères dismay, as he'd taken quite a shine to me, and was ridiculing me in front of everyone! The party ended at midnight, and we all took some cupcakes home to eat in the taxi which were delicious. I was really tired so pretty much went straight to bed, but the 'adults' stayed up until the early hours quaffing wine - I felt very clear headed compared to them this morning! We had bacon sandwiches and packed up, before saying our goodbyes to both houses and setting off for Timperley. It took us a little longer on the way home, but we were still back by 4pm, ready for a chippy tea and I'll be indulging in an early night I think!
Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami - 2 stars ** I love Murakami books, and this was one I bought for my sister that I was yet to read (convenient) so I stole it from her uni room when I last went to visit.
I'll be honest, I was disappointed. It took me a while to get into, and I felt almost no connection with the lead characters, who are normally so interesting and three dimensional. Though I did enjoy the comment made by one: 'I have a thing about losers. Flaws in oneself open you up to others with flaws.' The plot confused me as there were a lot of scientific theories and explanations throughout which I really struggled to understand. (and I'm not a stupid person!). Even now having finished the book and taken a fair while to do so, I'm having trouble remembering what it was actually about... I know it has two parallel stories that seem to focus on the same person, but in different worlds or mindsets - the 'normal' streets of Tokyo that then descend into an underground world of INKlings, and a dream world where people have their shadows removed upon arrival and lose all their sense of emotion. They are then doomed to live eternally as cardboard cut-outs of their former selves. As always, the text is well written, Murakami has a talent for creating poetry out of prose, and making the most mundane of situations appear fantastical and beautiful: 'She turns on the dim light and the shelves of countless skulls float up through the gloom. Pallid shapes, covered thick with dust, jaws sprung at the same angle, eye sockets glaring vacuously their silence hangs over the stacks like a ghostly mist. A chill creeps over my flesh again.' Overall though, I wasn't impressed - poor show Murakami!
Designer Focus - Alice Temperley I am going to change the format of how I showcase my Candid articles, and rather than copy the text here and add my own pictures, I will simply just include the link to the website where it is available to view for free. It not only looks more professional this way, but also gives you the chance to have a look at some of the other articles on the site (plus it is so much easier for me!). Enjoy! x http://candidonline.com/designer-focus-alice-temperley/
My week got off to a good start - on Monday I sampled my first Christmas Starbucks coffee of the year (Toffee Nut Latte), which was amazing, and I also started a book by one of my favourite authors - Haruki Murakami. I worked at the pub in the evening, but it was really quiet as it was Bonfire Night, gutted I didn't get to see any fireworks this year! On Tuesday I got a very exciting piece of post, a Save The Date from my best uni friend Laura and her fiance Dickon for their wedding next summer, unbelievably happy for the pair of them! I went to see Billy Talent in the evening after work (see previous post), which was a crazy rush as I finished late, but I made it in the end. I went for a coffee and slice of peanut butter and chocolate cake (as awesome as it sounds!) whilst Aum was at drama club on Wednesday, and then babysat for him until about 11pm, so it was nice just to have a chilled night in at home on Thursday evening. On Friday my parents went away for the weekend, so I cooked myself fish and sweet potato chips for tea and relaxed in front of the TV. Lydia came around later on and we had a good natter until 2.30am - time always flies when we get chatting! I got up early on Saturday without a hangover for once, and the weather was so lovely I went for a run in the sunshine instead of the gym session I had planned. I spent the day doing some writing and research for a couple of magazine articles, and then in the evening Emily came to mine and we had a little Chinese banquet courtesy of Iceland! Then later on Tasha came and we had a few drinks before heading out into Altrincham.
We started in The Classroom with a cocktail, but there were some sketchy looking people in there, so we moved swiftly on to High Society. The bar staff were ridiculous in there - having to check the menus for what was in cocktails, and Emily's was basically chocolate Frijj with Baileys in! We ended the night in Bloom Live, which is always a fun night, and there was a really good Gospel type band on which got everyone in a good mood. I saw my gym instructor and one of Aum's teachers in there which was a little weird, but everyone was enjoying themselves so it wasn't awkward at all. Once the band had finished normal music came on, and by this time everyone was well up for it, and we stayed dancing until half one before getting a lift home. Today I had a leisurely lie in before making some pancakes for my breakfast, and then I met up with Abi and Tasha for a coffee. Afterwards I went to TK Maxx with the intention of looking for ski boots, but came away with a black floaty dress and a gold spiked bra, typical me!
Billy Talent Last night, I went to see Billy Talent at Manchester Academy. I went with my high school ex boyfriend and his best friend, who I had not seen for five years! We had a few drinks in a bar to begin with, and then headed to the venue at about half nine ready for the show to start.
The gig was in Academy 1, which is the largest of the three arenas, and I was surprised at how busy it was, considering they are not a hugely well-known band over here. I saw them in 2007 with the same people in the same place, so it was fun to take a trip down memory lane and feel like a teenager again! They were really good live, and I was impressed at the range of tracks they played - unlike a lot of bands that try to plug the newest album by playing every song off it and then chuck in a few oldies to keep the crowd happy, Billy Talent actually performed at least two tunes off each of their previous three albums as well as their new material. I was especially happy that they played Line and Sinker, as not only is it one of my favourites, but it also really reminds me of being young and jumping around to it at home with my sister! The tickets were only £17 which I thought was really good value (considering I have just forked out £26 to see Ellie Goulding in the smaller venue) and we went for a few more drinks afterwards in an old haunt called The Garrett which ended the night on a high!
Skyfall - 5 stars ***** Last night I went to see the new James Bond film with my dad. It was an 8.10pm showing and I was really tired, so I was hoping it was good enough to keep me awake until the end, which it definitely was! The title sequence was amazing, the graphics were really gothic which is right up my street, and there was no shortage of naked women silhouettes for the men (or women) out there. The only thing that grated on me slightly is the fact that Adele does the theme tune, but with her success this year, it came as no surprise really. The story revolves around a hard drive that has been stolen, containing classified information about the secret agents working for MI6. At the beginning of Skyfall, James has a brawl on the top of a train with the man who has it, and is believed to be dead when another agent shoots him by mistake when aiming for the opposition. We later learn that this is not the case, when Bond returns to help after a terrorist explosion hits headquarters. The man behind the attack, Silva, has history with M, and James has to choose where his loyalty lies, as she is in bad books as it is down to her that the hard drive went missing in the first place.
I really like Daniel Craig as James Bond - aside from the obvious - as he seems to have a fragility that other actors haven't portrayed as well, and there are points in every film that he has done where you genuinely think he is going to die. It is all very well James Bond seeming invincible back in the days of Sean Connery, as I find them to be vintage classics that aren't always meant to be entirely believable Nowadays though with the high-tech advancements in special effects and stunts, it is clear that the movies are made to be credible, and obviously nobody is immortal! This 'volume' if you will, really plays upon Bond's relationship with M as well, and it was good to see a different side to the character that we all seem to be so familiar with. The 'baddie' in this, played by Javier Bardem, is really well developed, as an audience member you somehow end up feeling sorry for his situation despite the havoc he is causing, and I think that is always the sign of a good villain, if you can work out why they have become the monsters they are. I was slightly disappointed with the Bond Girls in this though - there weren't many sex scenes at all, and only two love interests, the best of which (played by French actress Bérénice Marlohe) is killed off halfway through!
Overall, this was a bloody good Bond film, perhaps my personal favourite one with Craig in. I would recommend seeing it to anyone, even if you can only make a late showing - it will certainly keep you awake!
Lego, Dining Out & Bond Aum was on half term this week, so it's been quite varied. On Monday and Thursday he was at a drama club during school hours though so I didn't have a completely manic week luckily! On Tuesday we went to the Manchester Museum (see previous post) and on Wednesday his parents took the day off and took him out, so I got to have a random day free which was nice. I babysat in the evening, and Lydia came with me so we had a good catchup once Aum had gone to bed which was nice. It was Halloween, but surprisingly we had no Trick or Treaters come knocking both at Aum's or at home, which must be a first, it was quite depressing to see everyone on Facebook dressing up and going out when I had no plans this year - obviously shows that I am getting old!
On Thursday after work I went out for drinks with an old colleague who I had coffee with a couple of weeks ago - we have loads in common and it was nice to have a drink with a guy as a friend and it not feel really awkward or forced, refreshing! On Friday I took Aum and his cousin to the Legoland discovery centre at the Trafford Centre, but I was quite disappointed to be honest. Obviously I wasn't expecting to be entertained as it was for the kids to enjoy, but for the £12 entry fee you don't really get very much - there are a couple of little rides, a ballpark and a few interactive things where you can build a car and race it, and watch someone make a lego model and you can copy it and keep it, but I'd say you easily do the whole centre in a couple of hours. It was an experience though, and at least I know to advise people not to bother with it now! In the evening I went out for some drinks with Lydia in Hale, which was fun. We had a cocktail in Hale Bar & Grill, and then moved on to Piccolinos where we got chatting to a few different people. Then we went to Suburbia until it shut, which totally wasn't part of the plan for a 'quiet couple', but it was a really good night nonetheless. On Saturday I had arranged to meet my friend Claire from university for lunch; she lives in Paris and was flying into Manchester so I picked her up and we went to Gastronomy in Hale. I had a bacon, brie and caramelised onion hot sandwich and then we shared a big pot of tea and a bowl of chips. It was great to catch up, especially as Claire is working as a nanny as well, so we had plenty of stories to share! In the evening I went into Manchester for Charlotte's birthday and we ate at Dukes Grill (see previous post) before heading on to Revolution. Most people left relatively early, but Lydia and I stayed out until it closed, before going back to a flat with some guys we had met for a few more drinks. It was a really funny night, Lyd and I always seem to have the best times when we get together! Today I went shopping in Stockport with my mum, despite having no money to spend! I still managed to come back with a jumper, and a t-shirt from Primark with popart Marmite pictures on the front which is cool. We drove back home and had a lovely king prawn stir fry for tea before I went out to see the new Bond film with my dad. It was really good, and didn't finish too late like I thought it would, which is a blessing as I am absolutely shattered!
Dukes Grill, Manchester Last night it was my friend Charlotte's birthday, so a group of us went to Dukes 92 in Castlefield, Manchester. There were ten of us, so we had to choose what to eat off a special party menu, which was a shame as it limited what we could have when there was some seriously tasty sounding mains on the normal menu. We shared a load of varieties of garlic bread for starters, a normal one, cheese and tomato, plain cheese and a rosemary and chilli one, that were all really good - we could have polished more of them off I think! I didn't really fancy anything off the mains section, so I had haddock and gruyere fishcakes off the starter menu, with some herb crusted skinny chips to create my own main. It was gorgeous, the haddock was perfectly cooked and went really well with the melted gruyere, and the rosemary on the herby chips complimented the dish. I was undecided about whether to get a dessert, but gave in eventually and ordered the sticky toffee pudding. It was a really treacle tasting one, with pecans in and served with vanilla bean ice cream, I definitely didn't regret choosing it!
Because there were so many of us, we had each paid a ten pound deposit which softened the blow of the bill, but I thought it was fairly reasonable anyway - after the reduction mine came to £18.10 including a tip and five bottles of wine between seven of us, which you can't complain at for a three course meal in a nice restaurant in the city centre. I had eaten there before, but it was about five years ago; hopefully it won't be that length of time until I eat there again!
Catchups, Cakes & Clowns!
Thursday was Aum's birthday, which got off to a great start when I locked my keys inside the house, forcing us to have to start walking to school whilst we waited for his mum to drive back from work to pass me a key! It worked out OK in the end though, and he loved his present from me which was a bonus. As they were going out for a meal after school, I finished once I had dropped him off in the morning, so promptly went back to bed to catch a bit more shut-eye!
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