Weekly Update!

Pet Hens & an Edinburgh Hen Party!

This week has been pretty placid to be honest, mainly as I was gearing myself up for my friend Laura's hen party this weekend. On Monday we got some pet chickens! It's been a seriously long time coming, but we are now the proud owners of Mildred, Daphne, Fifty Something and Little Poppy! In the evening I went to see Kings Of Leon with my friend Rick (see previous post) and on Tuesday I did a spinning class and then had dinner at the Country Club in the evening. This week I was a little naughty and went for the club sandwich, which had chicken, bacon and salad in it on ciabatta bread, with a side order of chunky chips! Aum has had it before and it looked so good I had to try it myself, and to be fair I shared the sandwich with him this time so it wasn't a huge portion. It comes with a gorgeous paprika mayonnaise dressing that really adds to the flavour of the meats.

On Wednesday I did a Body Pump class and ran a few errands, then Mo came around in the evening. It was payday so I finally paid off all my debts and booked a bag for our flight to Mallorca which is coming up soon! On Thursday I collected Aum early from school and drove him to his grandparents in Pontefract for the weekend, meaning I had Friday off work which was a nice bonus. I didn't do much, had a lie in, did a Body Combat class and then popped to Stockport to pick up some bits for the hen party, the weather was awful so I got drenched despite having an umbrella!

It was Emily's birthday so I went round to hers with a card and to say hello, as I missed her party with being away this weekend. I packed my bag, had fish and chips for tea and then went to Mos for the evening. He left early on Saturday to do his CBT test (which he passed!) so I went home and got ready to catch my train at 10.20am to Edinburgh. When I arrived I shopped for a bit until the rest of the girls got into the city centre, I bought an amazing dress in the Topshop sale for just £10! At 4pm we went for afternoon tea at the Caledonian Hotel (see next week's post).

Afterwards we headed back to the house we were staying at, and got ready for a night out in formal evening dresses! We had a toast to the bride-to-be and a few predrinks and nibbles before getting taxis in to the city at 10pm. We started in a bar called Dragonfly where we had some very tasty and unusual cocktails, mine had basil, pepper and raspberries in with gin, and I bought Laura one that had egg white, elderflower syrup and gin. They both tasted amazing and it's always nice having something a bit different. We moved on to the next place after a while, called Lulu's, where we had tequila shots and skittle bombs to get the night going! We ended in a club called Opal Lounge that was underground, it played some good tunes and we were lucky enough to be on the VIP list so got entry into a separate room with tables and a different DJ. We only stayed in there for a while though, as the main room was more atmospheric and had better music on! We eventually got home and had a feast of cheese and bread before bed at 4.30am.

This morning we were up surprisingly early, and dressed in a Secret Garden theme for a beautiful brunch that Laura's sister and mum made. We started with fresh fruit with yoghurt and granola, followed by poached eggs with asparagus and sourdough bread, and finally homemade cinnamon buns that were incredible! It was lovely to all sit around recounting the night, and then we all gave Laura a few presents and a scrapbook for her to make with letters from us all (including some who couldn't make it) and some bits and bobs to remember the occasion. Then we all packed up and headed off in our separate directions to go home!

I got back just before six, and got a lift home from Mo, who then stayed for a Sunday roast with everyone, including my Grandpa who has been to stay for a few days. I am so tired after the weekend's activities that I feel I will crash into bed fairly soon!

Summer Sounds...

Kings Of Leon

Last night I went to watch Kings Of Leon at the Manchester Arena with my friend Rick. They were supported by The Weeks, but we skipped them in favour of a few more drinks - I'd not heard of them anyway! The main act came on at 9pm and weirdly opened with a song off the new album that not many people knew, so it wasn't the best start. It was still a great atmosphere though, and the arena was the most packed I have ever seen it. It apparently wasn't sold out, but must have been incredibly close to capacity as there didn't look to be spaces anywhere!

They did a pretty good set list, really mixing the old and new, including Four Kicks, Molly's Chambers, Taper Jean Girl, The Bucket, On Call, Pyro, Radioactive and a couple of tracks off the new album. I was a bit disappointed they didn't do Charmer as I love that song, but overall I was pleasantly surprised at the number of songs I knew, as I am not a die-hard KOL fan. I loved the fact that they played Knocked Up, as it is a personal favourite, and the chorus kicking in always makes me a bit emotional!!

They left the stage after an hour, and then came back on for the encore. They did Sex on Fire and Use Somebody as well as another new track in the middle which was quite heavy and pretty good. Everyone started filtering out, and we managed to get on a met by 11pm - it's just a shame some idiot pulled the emergency cord so we were stranded on it for the next hour, and I eventually got to bed at half midnight!

Summer Views...

Man Of Steel - 2 stars **

On Friday Mo and I went to see Man of Steel, the new Superman film, at Parrs Wood cinema in Didsbury.  It is directed by Zack Snyder of 300 fame, and stars Henry Cavill as the leading man, who it must be said is rather pleasing on the eye, and this is coming from a fan of skinny indie boys, so muscle men are not usually my thing.

Having never seen a Superman film before I didn't really know what to expect - I didn't even know the basic storyline. The film begins with Jor-El (Russell Crowe) strutting around a space age room during the birth of his son Kal-El (who we come to know as Superman), and then zooms to a view of an apocalyptic scene of the planet Krypton, where they live.

Crowe enters a chamber where what appear to be leaders are all sat around in a council, only to be disturbed by head of the military, General Zod, who declares a coup. He is reprimanded, and his team sentenced to hang in space in pods for a long period of time; but not before he has murdered Jor-El, and vowed to kill his son. Shortly afterwards Krypton begins its final destruction and Superman's mother shoots him towards the safety of earth in a probe, just before the planet is seen to self destruct.

Action then zooms to Earth and Clark Kent's (Superman's Earth name) current situation as an adult, detailing a few of the 'miracles' he has been a part of in the past, including one where as a child he drags a school bus out of a lake where it has crashed, saving all his classmates. It is then that he makes a decision influenced by his father to hide his abilities so as not to disturb the balance and create fear with the people on Earth.

Lois Lane (Amy Adams) is then introduced as a scientist working on a glacier that has been found to be thousands of years old. On a late night walk, she discovers a ship hidden inside it,  which turns out to be Zod's, the rebel leader who has now come to Earth to fulfil his promise. She becomes endangered by technology onboard, and is saved by Superman who hears her and comes to the rescue, before disappearing. Lane then begins to search for her mysterious saviour, and discovers his whereabouts, just as Zod makes a threat to Earth to hand him over or he will destroy the planet.

The citizens of Earth comply, but then it becomes apparent that the Kryptons wish to steal the planet for themselves, abolishing humans in a mass genocide. So begins Superman's battle to save Earth and at the same time convince humans that he is on their side and won't harm them.

The first thing that I can say about this film is the special effects and action sequences are incredible. Technology is shown in a really finely detailed light and despite being literally light years ahead of what is currently possible, you find yourself believing it. Apart from that though (which, granted, is a large part of the film) I didn't have many more positives to say.

The dialogue is stunted and often cringingly cliched at times, and Superman just isn't that likeable as he is too flawless - he takes the moral high ground, cannot die and is very nicey nice all the time. It is also pretty laughable that he is still getting around in a rubber suit with a cape when everything else in the film is so high-tech and advanced. His relationship with Lois is pretty far fetched; they meet a few times, barely talk, and all of a sudden seem to be a legitimate couple! Amy Adams is like a blushing schoolgirl around him which doesn't fit with her hard-as-nails scientist persona shown originally either.

I don't know if this is the start of a series of films or simply another remake with a slightly different slant, but whichever it is, I will be remaining someone who just isn't that bothered about Superman's adventures!

Weekly Update!

Tattoos, Fancy Dress & Rusholme!

This week started nicely with a meal out at Strada in Wilmslow for Dad's birthday (see previous post) which was a good reward after a spin class during the day. On Tuesday I wrote an article for Men's Fashion Week and then had dinner at the Country Club. The weather was great yet again (I can't believe it's lasted) so we sat outside and I had chilli edamame beans and the king crab and asparagus sushi roll, which I have had before and really enjoyed. It is still not as good as the crunch roll though!

The rest of the week was fairly quiet, Mo came round on Wednesday, and on Thursday I babysat; then on Friday I had my tattoo done! I went to Loaded Forty Four in Swinton as it had good reviews online, and a friend had also been and said it was good. I got a treefrog in colour on my left side, which cost me £120. It was pretty painful, especially at the top of my ribs, which just happened to be where the most colour blocking was, but it was over in a couple of hours and I'm so thrilled with the result - the pain was definitely worth it!

In the evening I went to watch Man of Steel at Parrs Wood cinema with Mo (see next week's post), we were both really tired and nearly didn't stay awake until the 11.30pm finish time! Saturday and Sunday were lazy days involving lounging around in bed and eating, broken up by my birthday night out on Saturday that was 80s themed and awesome! 

Everyone made so much effort with costumes; there were Dallas housewives, Kiss members, glam rockers, neon ravers, yuppies, Kylie, Del Boy, Cher and myself as Madonna! Emily made an incredible Rubik's cube cake and Abi baked some gorgeous treacle and cherry cupcakes, and my Mum made a few 80s nibbles, including cheese and pineapple hedgehogs. We went to Poptastic which was really fun, and had bacon sarnies on Sunday morning to soak up all the excess alcohol!

This evening Mo and I went to Rusholme to a place called Jaffa, where we had mixed chicken and lamb shawarma, falafel and hummus - it was amazing and just what was needed on a hangover. I couldn't eat it all as the portions were huge, but I snaffled what I could and it was only £13 for us both including a drink each, bargain!

Candid Article 32

Paul Smith at London Collections: Men

Please click the following link to see my latest article on British fashion designer Paul Smith's latest menswear collection:

http://candidonline.com/lcm-paul-smith-ss14/

New Tastes...

Strada, Wilmslow

Last night we went out for a meal as a triple way Fathers Day/ my birthday/ Dad's birthday celebration. We chose Strada in Wilmslow, mainly because Mum can get £40 vouchers to spend there using £10 of her Tesco clubcard points!

We booked a table for half seven, but there wasn't really any need to as there was only one other couple in there, which was quite nice as we got the pick of the restaurant for a table. We ordered some drinks, I had a glass of Pinot Grigio, Jas got a coke and Mum and Dad shared a bottle of Chianti. Dad also got a Peroni for before we got the food - well it was for his birthday!

We decided to order one of the big platters for a starter with some extra ciabatta and oils to go with it. It had two types of salami, parma ham, buffalo mozzerella, tomatoes, rocket and tapanade with some garlic bread. I love getting a sharing dish as it makes it much more sociable, and also means you can graze on lots of little bits instead of having to decide on one thing.

There were loads of mains on the menu that I fancied, but I eventually went with a pork dish, which had crispy pancetta on top with a sage and onion jus, served with green beans and mashed potato. I don't really like mash, but my sister's chicken came with roast new potatoes and she doesn't really like them, so we asked the chef to swap the two over - perfect! The pork was really well cooked and the jus was just strong enough to leave a flavour in the mouth, yet wasn't overpowering.

Always one for a dessert, I was in the mood for something fresh to cleanse the palate, like a lemon torte or suchlike, but unfortunately the dessert menu was a little lacking in my opinion. The only options were a chocolate fondant, two types of pannacotta, tiramisu or a few different ice creams. I appreciate that they are obviously trying to stick to Italian classics, but I'm pretty sure it is a country well known for tasty desserts, so could do with expanding the choice a little.

I had the Bunet Piemontese, described on the website as 'A soft rich custard made with Italian chocolate, hazelnuts, crushed Amaretti biscuits and a generous splash of amaretto liqueur'. It was really yummy, and the amaretto certainly was generous, I was glad I didn't have a second glass of wine as with that I'd have definitely been over the driving limit!

Altogether the bill was over £100, but we did have wines, beers, and three courses etc, so I don't think it is too bad, although without our Tesco vouchers I would have thought it rather pricey for a typical chain restaurant, despite the good quality of food. The service is always really friendly (we were served by a brother and sister team who had some good banter) and I am sure we will head back there sometime in the future!

Weekly Update!

A Week of Birthdays!

This week started slowly due to the previous weekend's antics - I was knackered on Monday! I spent the day mooching and then went to Mo's in the evening to watch the final Game of Thrones.

On Tuesday I got back into gym routine and tried a new piece of apparatus - the stair machine - apparently I climbed the Statue Of Liberty four times! I went for a swim with Aum after school and ate at the country club, I had chicken yakitori skewers which had a lovely sweet sticky sauce and were garnished with spring onion. I had them with chunky chips, a bit naughty but I worked out hard.

On Wednesday it was Hannah Gordon's birthday so after work and tea Tasha and I popped round for some amazing homemade lemon meringue cake and mojitos. Was lovely to see Hannah, and I'm very jealous of the gorgeous bluey stone coloured Burberry trench coat that her boyfriend Matt got her as a present.

I babysat on Thursday, so as a treat after school we went to The Cake Gallery, where I had a triple chocolate brownie that was still melted in the middle - delish! So glad that I discovered this little cafe, it's a proper hidden gem, and always surprisingly bustling despite its residential location. I only worked until 10pm in the end so managed to grab a much needed early night.

Friday was my birthday, although it wasn't that exciting during the day as everyone was working; I even dragged myself to a Body Combat class to keep occupied! In the evening when everyone was home I opened my presents - I got a beautiful pink, turquoise and purple Swarovski necklace shaped like a little bug from Mo, and the Khuranas got me an amazing Rachel Ruddick black leather studded clutch and an orange patterned sarong that is perfect for my holidays soon!

I got lots of bits and money for furniture from Mum and Dad, vouchers and money from the family and some nail varnishes and Soap and Glory toiletries from Jasmine, very lucky girl as usual!

After I had unwrapped everything Mum took Mo and I to Sokrates, a Greek restaurant in Sale where we had a meal with Tasha, Jack, Emily, Smeed and Hannah (see previous post).

On Saturday Mo and I went for a nice wander around Knutsford and Tatton Park as the weather was lovely despite the bad forecast. In the evening we want round to Ellie's for her birthday night out. We started in Underdog on Oxford Road, the sister bar to Northern Quarter's Black Dog Ballroom, and then moved on to 42s. It was a fun night as loads of people were out and it was cool to go back to 42s as I've not been there since February last year!

Today I was pretty hungover so spent most of the day being lazy, but Jasmine came back from uni for summer, so once Dad was home from work in the evening we all sat down and had a special Father's Day buffet tea - samosas, wontons, crudités and dips, chorizo, popcorn chicken, mozzarella sticks, blue cheese and green bean fritters, pâté on toast, cooked meats... It really was a banquet!

New Tastes...

Sokrates, Sale

Last night for my birthday meal out, I went to a Greek restaurant in Sale recommended by Emily and Smeed (who were in our party). There was a group of 7 of us, and we all opted for the mixed meat buffet, which was where you paid £20.50 each and had a selection of dishes brought out in stages and put into the centre of the table for all to share. I had been told that a massive amount of was food provided, so much so that I was warned not to eat lunch! The four girls shared wine, which I was pleasantly surprised to find quite dry but really palatable and refreshing, as Greece is not particularly favoured when it comes to wine.

The first course to be brought out was lots of different dips with pitta bread, dolmades (vine leaves stuffed with flavoured rice) and a huge Greek salad. There was the traditional yoghurt and mint tsatsiki, houmous, sesame tahini and fish based taramasalata as well as a garlic and mashed potato mixture, a tomato and butter bean one and an amazing concoction that had red peppers and feta cheese in. We were brought two huge baskets of pitta bread, and more was offered if required (it wasn't); I had to be careful not to fill up on it as it is a definite weakness of mine, especially as the dips were all really tasty so it was hard to stop!

The next course was still part of the appetisers, this time deep fried calamari, falafel and grilled halloumi cheese were brought out on a platter. My personal favourite was the falafel, as it was really flavoursome, if all veggie food tasted that good I would happily turn. The cheese was very salty, but I am aware that it is a feature of halloumi, so just made sure not to eat too much to save drinking all my wine! 

Next came the first lot of meaty treats. There were marinated chicken wings, 
pork souvlaki sticks, spicy sausage similar to chorizo and lamb shish kebabs. It worked quite well as a few of us, including me, didn't eat chicken wings, yet a few disliked calamari, so we shared it out equally and none was left behind. The souvlaki sticks were beautiful, I don't know what the marinade was but I'd love the recipe!

The final round was the main courses, moussaka, beef stifado and a chicken breast casserole type dish that had cream, mushrooms and onions in. I love moussaka anyway, but this particular one was perfect, and the beef in the stifado was incredibly tender, it must have been bubbling away all day.

We couldn't finish everything on the table, because we were all completely stuffed, and had been since about course two I think! The bill was £30 each for the wine drinkers and a bit less for the boys who had been on beer and whiskey (!) and that was including a tip, which considering I had to be practically rolled out, I think was pretty cheap! Would recommend any locals take a trip there!

Inspired by a bad mood

Low

A smile, a laugh, like all is fine,
an actress poised to speak a line, 
a talent honed to turn and hide
from birds that peck the brain inside.
Whispering voices drill in fear,
to alienate those who come too near.
A cloud that rests upon the head; 
steals emotion and fills with dread.
A day, a month, a year goes past,
demons lay dormant, then, at last,
when they seem like a rotten dream
they fly back in and start to scream.
The path of happiness? Never for you,
stolen from those with a soul that is true.
And now it is time to give them it back
and return to a world shrouded in black.
On days full of grief these words take a hold,
cutting your heart out and leaving you cold,
but in the moments where blue sky breaks through
set free all the monsters to reclaim you.

Parklife 2013

Day 2

Ill be honest, after the disaster of the first day, I wasn't too thrilled at the prospect of round two, but I forced myself to get ready, and got a lift with Mo into town to meet Ellie and the other guys I was going with. The weather was beaut again, so we headed to the park, but sat outside the gates for a while having a few drinks in the sunshine before heading in.

The first thing we did was go on the big wheel, which I wasn't too bothered about, but I'm so glad I did as the view was amazing! Toddla T Sound were on as we were on it, and the crowd were insane so we had fun watching from above and rocking out in our little pods to it! Afterwards we went to get some drinks and saw a bit of Iggy Azalea's set, which isn't my cup of tea, but she was really going for it on stage and had some brilliant dancers so it was a good show. The first act we properly saw was Joker, who got the day off to a good start with some awesome tunes that got us bouncing around. Then we went across to the Now Wave tent to see Liars, who I hadn't heard of before, but Africa and Phil who we were with rated them so we hopped along. They were an indie sort of band and were quite good, will be checking out some of their stuff.

I went with Jonny and Dom back to the first tent before Liars finished to catch the end of Benga, as I've always wanted to see him live. The tent was absolutely rammed, and the atmosphere was electric, really glad I bothered crushing through to see him perform. There was a bit of a gap music wise after that, so after a brief stint watching Jurassic 5, who were OK, I went back to the base where everyone was and got some nachos with sour cream and cheese, and sunbathed for a while. I bumped into Benn that I went to Benicassim last year with, so was good to catch up with him, and then I went back inside the Now Wave tent as Everything Everything were next to play.

This for me, was the reason I was looking forward to Sunday, as I love the band's new album,  Arc, and they were amazing at Xfm's Winter Wonderland. The lead singer had an incredible live voice, especially considering some of the songs are really high pitched and difficult to sing. Last time they only played five songs as it was a mini set, so it was great to see a full performance, and in particular when they did Kemosabe and Cough Cough, the crowd went wild.

The Horrors were next, who I have seen twice before so wasn't overly bothered about, but they did a good job nonetheless, and we just sat to one side and chilled out for a bit as the tiredness and alcohol were getting to us at that point!

The final act we saw was Julio Bashmore, and despite only knowing one track, everyone got really into it, and he cranked up the tempo until the final song when everyone went mental, which was a great feeling to finish off the festival on. We left quite quickly but then struggled to get a taxi, eventually paying £9 each (there were 7 of us) just to get back into town from Heaton Park! I was at work the next day so wanted to get a taxi straight home, and luckily everyone else was exhausted so did the same so it wasn't completely extortionate!

Parklife 2013

Day 1

Today I am pretty knackered after a heavy weekend at Parklife Festival in Heaton Park, Manchester. It is the first year I have been, and is also the first year it was held in the current venue, due to a big increase in performers/ attendees.

On the Saturday I went with Abi and her brother, and we were lucky enough to get a lift in, so escaped the crowds (and the hassle of a car crashing into the met causing them to be cancelled!) and we were in the venue for 1pm. It was quite busy, but to nowhere near the extent it was later on in the day!

The weather was gorgeous, so we spent the first couple of hours lounging around soaking up the rays, and I got a really tasty lamb pitta burger, which was fairly reasonable at £5.50, as it had stacks of proper roast lamb inside, as well as a mint yoghurt sauce. We could hear various performers on around us, but there wasn't a great deal of massively well-known acts on early on, so we decided to save our energy.

The first band we watched were Delphic, who were on the main stage. They came on at 3.15pm, so it was when everyone was starting to properly arrive and the atmosphere was really good. We missed the beginning, but I got to see them do 'Baiya', which is my favourite track off the new album, so I was happy. We had a bit of a dilemma afterwards, as we went to the bar and got split up from Abi's brother Joe, so ended up trying to find him for about an hour, before stationing ourselves near Nandos and hoping he received our text to meet there! The signal inside the park was atrocious, so most people couldn't contact anyone.

Whilst we were queueing for the bar, which we were at for nearly forty minutes due to the lack of people working on it, we heard The Temper Trap perform, and saw a little bit of Rudimental before we finally found Joe. We then went to the Hospitality tent, which was mainly for dance acts, where we saw High Contrast, which definitely cheered us all up and gave us some much needed energy. We went to get some Chinese chicken noodles for tea (they were so good!), and then headed over to the main stage to watch Maccabees.

I saw these guys at Benicassim last year, but didn't really know their stuff, so since getting more into them I was itching to watch them perform live again, and they didn't disappoint. They did a good mixture of older and new tracks, including a couple of my faves, and they always have an amazing crowd reaction, so even Abi and Joe commented that they enjoyed it, despite not knowing many songs.

By this point we were all getting a bit tired, and alcohol was wearing off, so we thought we'd counteract it in one of the dance tents. A French DJ called Madeon, who I was recently introduced to, was playing in the Drop the Mustard tent, and his set was electric! Abi and I got chatting to some guys, who put us on their shoulders too so we got some great views! Straight after him was Fake Blood, who I saw at Beni two years ago with my sister and all her friends, and strangely enough we bumped into them all in there, which was a coincidence. We were all dancing away and having fun and then he finished on his famous 'I Think I Like It', which sent everyone crazy!

We headed out at 11pm once all the music had finished, and Abi's dad kindly picked us up, which saved us lots of drama trying to get home. I was tucked up in bed at 1am, yet my sister got home at 3am and had to ask someone's mum to pick them up!

Weekly Update!

Picnics, Sunbathing & Tequila!

I thought I'd write this today as I'm about to go to Parklife Festival, so will do two separate posts about that early next week. This week so far has been pretty fun as the weather has been actually amazing (I have a tan and everything!) and Aum's been off school so we've had fun going to various places to keep us entertained.

On Monday he had a friend round so we went to Pizza Express for lunch, where I had a Bosca salad, which is garlic mushrooms, baby mozzarella, avocado, roasted tomatoes, spinach and rocket with a balsamic syrup. It also comes with four warm dough sticks with a honey and mustard dressing that are so delicious! Afterwards we went to Stamford Park, and the boys had a kickaround while I soaked up the rays.

On Tuesday we tried another park - Wythenshawe, which was much better than I expected! Not only does it have a massive play area, but a farm, pitch and putt, duck pond, botanical gardens and lovely hall that you can look around. We took a picnic and ate that and then Aum played for a while before we had to go to the country club for his swimming lesson. Afterwards we sat outside to eat tea, which was lovely, I had udon noodles with king prawns, which was heavy enough to be filling, yet quite light for the warm weather, and the soup left at the bottom of the bowl was really flavoursome.

On Wednesday Aum had a tennis lesson so I did a double whammy of a spin class followed by Body Pump, was completely exhausted afterwards! Luckily the afternoon was spent at Anchors Away indoor play area in Wythenshawe with one of Aum's school friends and his nanny which was fun, always nice to have a bit of company! That evening I stayed at Mo's as he got back from a work trip to London.

On Thursday Aum was on a playdate all day so I went to the gym and got my nails done a really nice magenta purpley colour with blue glitter in, as I fancied something a little jazzy for the festival. In the early evening I drove Aum to his grandparents in Oldham and then Mo came to mine for the evening.

Friday was the best day weather wise, so I sunbathed while Aum had his tennis lesson, and then we got some lunch by the pool. I had crayfish bruschetta, which is probably the best dish I have had there so far. There was a mountain of crayfish on each mini bruschetta, which was then drizzled with a pesto style dressing, and there was a basil mayonnaise dipping sauce in the middle. It was also finished with rocket and cress, absolutely amazing. My dad happened to be there so he tried some, and he loved it even though he doesn't usually rate seafood. That evening once I had finished work, I put on a nice summery dress and went for some drinks in Hogans in Hale. Despite driving in and intending sticking to the one glass of prosecco, I ended up leaving my car in favour of many glasses of wine and some tequila shots!

Weekly Update!

Dubstep Spinning, Holiday Booking & A Cheeky Northampton Trip!

This will be short and sweet as I've already written a post on my trip to Hull that took me to Tuesday night. On Wednesday after I had unpacked I took my car for a service and then went to a Body Pump class. As it was my day off I chilled out in the bar afterwards with a protein shake and wrote my journal until my car was ready for collection.

Once I'd picked it up I went home and read for a bit (finally finished my book!) and worked on an article on Disclosure's new album (see previous post). In the evening I did an awesome spin class that had some really good dubstep tunes in it - much more motivational. 

Thursday was back to work, but it's the holidays so not too bad really. In the morning we just chilled out and played on the Wii as they only got back from their holidays quite late on Wednesday so Aum was pretty tired. I wrote my article, then in the afternoon I quickly went for a gym session whilst Aum had a golfing lesson. Once I'd got home I typed up my article and sent it off and then Mo came to stay.

Friday was a gorgeous day, so I took Aum and his friend Max to Stamford Park, and then once he'd gone home we went to the Country Club and he swam outside whilst I had a sunbathe. He was supposed to have a lesson but it was cancelled last minute, which was a shame as I'd have had a swim if I'd have known! We drove home and I finished quite early so went home and sat in the garden until the sun disappeared. Mo came round at 7pm and we ordered a Chinese and booked flights to go on a trip to Majorca, excited!

Saturday I packed quickly for a trip to Northampton to see Geoff and Matt. I got the train at 13.11pm so arrived just after 4pm to enjoy the last of the sunshine in the park. Timna had been there for the Friday so I got to see her briefly before she went back home. We had pizza for tea and went out with some of Geoff's mates to a cocktail bar that did fabulous cucumber gin mohitos, and then went onto a club that had a rock night on - the tunes were incredible!

Sunday I was pretty hungover but perked up after a sleep on the train home. Mo collected me from Stockport and we went for a wander around Lyme Park before going back to mine for a roast dinner and to book the hotel for Majorca. Sun makes everything nicer!