Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Forty (Part One)

'Rather a broken bone than a heart of stone.'

(K. Tolnoe)

This has been one hell of a week, and it's not over yet! Those of you that are observant may notice I am writing this on a Friday evening instead of my usual Sunday, and this is because at the crack of dawn tomorrow (4am to be precise) I am heading to the airport for a quick jaunt to Hamburg in Germany with my dad and sister. As I am sure we will cram lots of antics in despite only being there for 36 ish hours, I thought I would do a separate post recommending stuff to see, food to eat, and mainly, establishments to drink in when I get back on Sunday night, so check back in for that!

Back to this week, and I HAVE to tell you about the most incredible dessert place I tried out on Tuesday with my friend Timna - Icestone Gelato. It is on Oxford Road in the city centre, just near Footage, and I sampled the peanut butter waffle, which had the obvious peanut butter on, as well as chopped up Snickers bars and caramel sauce, served with vanilla ice cream, man it was good!

That evening was Matter of Sound's fifth Band and Bean event at Grindsmith in Salford Quays, and although one band cancelled very last minute (grr) we had Lyons and La Zel, and Taff Jr playing, who were both perfect. The former have a reggae feel to their material, and the guitarist manages to beatbox whilst simultaneously playing the flute which was quite the spectacle! I have stuck a video of them performing on the night above, as my track of the week is in part two of this post, but I didn't want you to have nothing to listen to as you read, and they are a cracking little duo. 

On Wednesday a group of us met up for food at Byron Burger on Deansgate, as a last goodbye to Laura who leaves to travel around South America/ Australia and New Zealand next week. I had the Oreo milkshake, and chose the Byron Burger (a beef patty with bacon, cheese, burger sauce, red onions, tomato and lettuce) and shared sweet potato fries with Ellie. The food, when it finally arrived, was classic and tasty, but the service was shocking; it took the waiter ten minutes to come over for us to order drinks and get the menu, and over forty for our food, which considering there was only us and one other table was unacceptable in my eyes. We had chosen there as we had a voucher for 50% off food, but despite the discount I wouldn't rush back as my experience was marred because of our excessive wait.

Yesterday I went into Manchester with Moj to check out Manchester Food Festival in Albert Square. I got crab fritters from Holy Crab (omgosh, amazing!), rhubarb flavoured prosecco from a cute little metal trailer and we sat and listened to Larkins who I saw at a Sofar Sounds a couple of years ago who happened to be performing inside the tent. We went for an espresso martini by the open fire in Albert's Schloss afterwards, and a final cocktail in Impossible before heading home.

Today I packed my case and am heading to bed soon ready to be up with the birds!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Nine

'If you laid in your own thoughts, would you sink?'
(Anie Hart)

I started Monday by getting a poem up on Instagram, read it here. The beginning of the week was fairly unremarkable, so I will stick my track for this week in below; it is one that I am sure you will have heard as it is everywhere, but you can't ignore the public opinion when it is this en masse, Cabello is killing it!



On Thursday I went on a date with Moj to a restaurant that we have both wanted to try for a while - Randall & Aubin in Manchester centre. It is the second branch to open, the first being in Soho, London, and is predominantly a seafood and fish place, famous for its fresh oysters. We got the French dozen, served with tabasco, lemon and an onion relish, and they were delicious. As a big seafood fan, I was surprised at how different they tasted from everything else I have previously tried, and varied so much in flavour from the cooked and battered variety, which I sampled whilst in Boston a couple of years ago. 

For main I actually had one of the starter dishes: six Manx scallops served with pancetta and a caper, lemon and garlic butter dressing, and ordered a side of potato gratin to accompany. I would recommend R&A to anyone who likes a chance to dress up and go somewhere a bit classier than the average eatery, but are still conscious of overspending; it is a tastefully decorated, well thought out venue with a tasty menu to suit all budgets. The bill with a tip came to approx 30 quid a head, which I think is reasonable for two mid-price-range courses, albeit that being sans alcohol with my current sober status.

On Friday Aum had a random day off school, so we invited his friend Anay over for a playdate and then I took them for lunch at Pizza Express in Hale, an easy go-to. I tried one of the new pizzas, the Campana (pork and fennel sausage, garlic oil, tomato, mozzarella, friarielli and parsley) it was so huge I had enough to take home for my tea as well! That evening I met up with Lydia and Tasha at The Elk in Hale for a couple of drinks (though still just coffee for me) it was mint to catch up with them both and we had a proper gossip/ giggle.

Yesterday I had a chilled day, cleaned the flat and got some washing done, then rewarded myself with my first alcoholic drink in three weeks at Laura's leaving party for her going travelling, which was at The Con Club. She is a super popular girl so there were lots of people to mingle and chat to, and I surprised myself by not going too overboard on the espresso martinis - I actually feel pretty perky today! I have just got back from having tea at Mum's but apart from that I had a lovely little lie in and then walked the dog today, top Sunday.

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Eight

'Hate is a self-destructive emotion. It is how a soul commits suicide.'

(Michael Faudet)

First things first, my song for this week is below, and I am buzzing off her at the moment, if you're a fan of wistful sounding female vocalists mixed with experimental electro noise then check her album out. She was the girl discovered by Pharrell - you may have seen the video that went viral where she played him Alaska her debut track.

It has been a week of tranquility and rejuvenation, which doesn't happen very often in my life! On Monday I did a yoga class in the evening, which always gets my week off to a gorgeous start and helps to detox my mind of any chaos still remaining from the weekend. On Wednesday I met up with Moj at the gym that we are both members of, and we went in the sauna/ steam room/ jacuzzi which was a way of saving money on a date but still getting out of the flat and doing something!

I had tea at mum and dad's on Thursday as my grandpa was visiting, and on Friday I had a night playing domestic goddess and made a veggie curry and some sugar free spiced carrot scones from Fearne Cotton's Cook Happy Cook Healthy book. On Saturday we drove my grandpa home to Yorkshire and then went to see my other grandparents nearby. I spent the evening watching crap telly and browsing Rightmove with dreams of moving into a house, whilst being fed copious cups of tea and sweeties, and was in bed for 11pm. Today (after watching a tractor rally drive past my grandparent's house!) we took the dog to Hornsea beach for a run around, and then drove back home and I'm currently catching up on some TV, I'm nearly finished with Riviera, a crime/ drama with Julia Stiles set in Monaco that's decent. 

I think most would agree that the body craves a bit of mindless downtime now and again, but for me whenever I am at home I get swept up into doing odd jobs, feeling guilty about work that I should be getting on with or invariably get called up for a spontaneous drink that turns into regret and a hangover. It was so relaxing getting away even if only for a night, and recharging my batteries. Listen to your bodies folks!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Seven
'Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life, where the histories of all people are connected'
(The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho)

This week has been one of those that steadily plods along with plenty of activity to keep me occupied. I saw Moj on Monday, babysat Tuesday, and on Wednesday evening I met up with the Matter of Sound crew to celebrate our third anniversary. We went to The Deaf Institute to sample the new menu there, which includes lots of yummy veggie and vegan options. 

I gave their vegan hotdog a try which is made with seitan, a wheat gluten apparently (thanks Google). It had a slightly strange taste, but as meat subtitutes go was decent enough, and it was covered with mac and cheese, 'bacon', sweet potato cheese, jalapenos and Tijuan barbecue sauce so there were lots of other flavours to satisfy me. I also upgraded the accompanying fries to 'pimped' ones, which were topped with sweet potato cheese, red peppers, guacamole, jalapenos, cashew sour cream, siracha mayo and Tijuana barbecue sauce; needless to say I couldn't finish it all! I am digging how places are amping up their veggie and vegan menus at the moment, it makes my part time veggie habits much easier to stick to.

On Thursday I went for a walk at Chorlton water park during the day with Mum and Ferryn, who got rather muddy! On Friday evening Moj and I went to Levenshulme night market, which I had wanted to try for a while. It was full of trendy hipsters, had live music on and lots of really tasty food stalls. We shared a box of mixed samosas from Samosa Shack to start with, and then I had a Peruvian pulled pork roll from The Hungry Llama Street Food followed by a construct-your-own dessert from Yes Doughnuts. Mine was filled with custard, glazed, and topped with pretzels, oreos and walnuts - incredible! We popped into Heaton Moor on the way home for a drink at Tusk which had a funky design inside, though I have given up drinking for a few weeks so was I good and had a coffee.

Yesterday was a chilled, quiet one. I met Mum for a wander around Sainsburys and John Lewis in Cheadle and we stopped for our usual free hot drink and cake in the cafe (you get a voucher every few months with a My John Lewis card which doesn't cost to sign up for - go  go go!). We stuck with two classics, carrot and chocolate fudge cake, and afterwards she came back to the flat to dye my hair. FYI - the track for this week above is one I've found through Candid and I love the summery vibe it has, I'm clinging on to the sunshine for as long as I can get away with! I also got a poem up on Instagram, read it here.

Today a few of the girls toddled over to Abi's for coffee and a catchup, as we have not seen each other since Hana's wedding. I then drove into Manchester to meet Moj at Chapter One Books, a super cute coffee shop that has a beautiful interior complete with fountains, statues and fairy lights, and is open 24 hours a day! You can also buy second hand and new books from there so I was in my element lounging on one of the massive sofas oogling them all. We also finally had 'The Conversation', where we both said though we like spending time with each other and are happy continuing with how things are, neither of us really see it having a proper future, which was quite a relief to know we are both on the same page (pardon the bookstore pun). For now, I'm happy going on pleasant dates with a fit dude until the time comes that I want something more concrete.

We both felt a bit peckish after coffee so decided to stay in town for some food. Moj suggested Habesha, an Ethiopian place in the gay village. We shared two dishes: yetsom beyaynetu, a combination dish of various vegan curries and vegetables served on injera, a thin spongy pancake type Ethiopian bread with a slightly sour taste, and lega tibs which was a tomato based stewed dish with cubed lamb and vegetables. The injera is used to scoop up the dishes with your hands so no cutlery is needed, which was a fun experience. It was cool trying something completely different to anything I have eaten before, and the restaurant had a very casual vibe, almost like being sat in someone's house. For all its flaws, that's something I enjoy about the whole dating game, discovering new places to visit from people. I am back at mine now, stuffed and feeling strangely unburdened after our emo chat, ready to begin a new week!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Six

'If you were to show me her soul in a photograph I wouldn't even ask to see the others.'
(Christopher Poindexter)

This week, Aum went back to school, hallelujah! He didn't start until Wednesday, and I have definitely not missed the two hour daily school run, but by God it feels good to be back in some form of routine. That evening I went out with Moj to Altrincham Market, where we had a two person steak from Tender Cow, with a bottle of red wine and triple cooked chips. It was a hearty piece of meat with a lovely garlic butter and chimichurri dressing but wasn't huge, so Moj ended up getting a takeaway on the way home! Afterwards we went to see Logan Lucky, the new Daniel Craig film, which was bizarre but actually pretty decent (and co-starring Adam Driver so I was always going to be happy watching it!).

On Friday I got a poem up on Insta here. In the evening Geoff and his girlfriend Louise drove up from Exeter ready for a long overdue uni reunion weekend. They arrived at 10.30pm so we had a few bevvies and chatted until the early hours before hitting the hay. On Saturday we headed into town to meet up with Chris and Rick, and ended up traipsing around a few places looking for somewhere to eat, finally settling on Artisan, which is definitely higher end than the joints we normally reside in! I had the moules frites, which was a huge portion served with a bread lid, and as I had to drive later on just stuck with a coffee. We went for a couple in Knott Bar and I toddled off to Primark for a gander before heading back to mine to get changed ready for the evening's festivities!

Back at mum and dad's, who are currently away on holiday, snack bowls were filled, beer pong was set up and the music playlist was prepped ready for when people began arriving at around 8.30pm for one of mine and Jasmine's infamous Miles parties. So many people turned up, it was fab! I wore my pinstriped velvet catsuit, got sloshed on prosecco, and the kitchen turned into a dancefloor as the night progressed, below was a particular favourite of mine that we boogied to! 

Anyone who knows me knows that I thrive off being a good host, and that paired with having everyone that I care about enjoying themselves and getting drunk all in one place is literally one of my favourite things ever. The buzz from people texting me afterwards to say how much fun they'd had (and invariably how hungover they are) always makes me smile, and there is never a lack of gossip after a house party, which has distracted me from how much my head hurts and the mess the house is in today!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Five

'It is a poet's curse to be able to write about love but not have it.'

(Jessica Katoff)

For those that read my previous post, you will know that this week started amidst the dregs of Leeds Festival, battered and sleep deprived. I drove the three of us home and then I hibernated on the sofa with Moj and a takeaway Chinese back at mine which was just what the doctor (and hangover) ordered. I was in work on Tuesday and the week passed relatively unremarkably - on Thursday Aum had a playdate so we went to play Paradise Island Crazy Golf at the Trafford Centre and ate lunch at Coast to Coast, I just had a couple of nibbly bits (pretzels and spicy calamari) as I was out for a meal that evening.

That night I met Moj and we went to Bundobust in the city centre, it does vegetarian Gujurat inspired street food and is up for the award of Best Overall Restaurant at the Manchester Food and Drink Festival 2017. It is in a basement in Piccadilly gardens, and is super relaxed, with a great menu and impressive array of drinks (I went for the prosecco ofc). With all the dishes being small, we got a load and shared them tapas style, sampling the okra fries, biryani bhaji balls, idli sambhar, paneer and mushroom tikka and massala dosa. SO. TASTY. I chased it up with a cocktail at Sugar Rays which is a cool underground drinking den on Newton Street.

On Friday I took Aum and his mate for lunch at Pizza Express, and then dropped Ferryn at my parents as I was going to Tetbury in the Cotswolds for my friend Hana's wedding. I got a lift down with Tasha and her boyfriend Tom to the big house that eleven of us had hired out, and we arrived at about 10.30pm in time to have a couple of glasses of fizz and watch Naked Attraction with everyone, classic!

Yesterday we all woke nice and early and had breakfast together before starting to get doled up. The weather was stunning and we headed to the venue (The Kingscote Barn) in dribs and drabs ready for the ceremony to start at 1.30pm. It was a beautiful day, filled with love and laughter, a really gorgeous celebration for two glorious humans. The food was the best I've ever had at a wedding (goats cheese bruschetta, pork belly with dauphinois potatoes and chocolate creme brulee) it was an open bar all night, and the groom's sister Beth sang Florence and the Machine's version of You Got The Love for the first dance (hence its inclusion as my track of the week above). I was the Master of Ceremonies with a guy called Robbie so we had various announcements throughout the day to make, including the entrance of the bride and groom, each course of dinner, the speeches, and the surprise fireworks which were magnificent!

Today I have been super hungover, but it was definitely worth it. We packed up and left quite early as it was a long drive back to Manchester, stopping on the way for some much needed hangover cure mac and cheese in a cute little place called The Bank Cafe in a village called Dursley. Early night to bed required!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Four

'Your vibes speak louder than your words'

(The Universe Has Your Back - Gabrielle Bernstein)

This week's post is a weird one, because for once I am sitting writing this on a Friday morning, as I am off to Leeds Festival later (woohoo!) so I will update the post with this weekend's antics when I return, very much worse for wear I imagine, on Monday afternoon. Track for this week is taken from the new Coasts album which is a cracker, check it out.

The week thus far has been glorious, as Aum has been at cricket camp, meaning I have had the day times to myself, very much needed in amidst the seemingly neverending summer holidays. I've been able to fit in some gym sessions, clean the flat, do a food shop, and all the other niggly jobs that get put on the back burner when working full time.

On Tuesday some of the fam were over at my parents' from Derby, so I went to Dunham Massey to meet them for a little picnic and dog walk before the monsoon style rain made its appearance, and then we had a corking spag bol and garlic bread for tea back at the house. On Wednesday I had S to my flat for tea, and showcased my culinary skills by making slow cooked beef bourguignon with dauphinoise potatoes, and serving a baked camembert for starter, which all went down well. As this was date number seven and after a month is still going swimmingly I will reveal his actual name is Moj; I use the initials for a degree of anonymity for the poor souls (or lucky sods) who don't last very long. It appears this one is sticking around for a while so privacy is out of the window. 

Yesterday evening (Thursday) I caught up with some of the girls for takeaway sushi from Osechi One at Ellie's house, and we got to ogle Abi's beaut engagement ring and hear all the details from her holiday in Croatia. Although I know I am super lucky to have been globetrotting all summer, I really miss my girlfriends when I am away, so I was grateful to get the chance to listen to their stories and fill them in on what I had been upto, and have a gossip of course!

This morning has been a mad dash to buy last minute festival supplies and pack my mammoth rucksack (thanks to my gal Natasha for lending me one!) and I am off straight from work to try and find my sister and Frankie in the fields of Bramham Park... wish me luck and check back for all the deets on Monday!

UPDATE: Leeds you have ruined me!! I arrived to Liam Gallagher's drawling on Friday eve after work, but as I was directed to the brown car park which seemed to be the furthest trek away from yellow where we were camping I arrived about forty minutes later, sweating my ass off, curls having dropped from my hair and in desperate need of a drink. Jasmine and Frankie had battled to the front of the main stage to see Muse, but I wasn't so bothered having seen them before so went to watch Haim. The girl trio were so enthusiastic and electric live, and Marshmello who I went to afterwards managed to get me dancing despite being alone. We rendevous'd back at the tent once the bands had finished and were knackered so we were totally rock and roll and were in our sleeping bags by 11.30pm!

Saturday started bright and early as is always the case at festivals; we ate food that we had brought with us and grabbed a coffee before starting to get ready with copious amounts of glitter and gems. I had a three litre bag of white wine with me, so made a start on that interspersed with the occasional shot of apple sours, keeping up with the majority of 17 year old other festival goers around me! 

The first act of the day was Oh Wonder, which set the perfect tone for lounging on the grass with some ciders in the sun, followed by a bit of old school in the form of Jimmy Eat World who attracted quite the crowd. 2 Door Cinema Club performed next, and it was so funny to see the development of their lead singer from an awkward gangly teenager on a tiny stage on opening night of Glastonbury 2010 when I last saw them, to the leopard print coat wearing cool-as-all-hell frontman with swagger by the bucketload that he is now.

Bastille followed and then the headliners, Kasabian took to the stage. Safe to say they absolutely smashed it, I am regretting not buying tickets to their arena tour in December now! I can totally appreciate the famous sex appeal of Serj since watching them as well, his charisma and presence is so quintessential rock star. After topping up our bags with booze back at the tent, we queued and went into the silent disco for the night - so much fun as everyone is pumped from a day of drinking and buzzing from all the amazing artists they have seen. I think it was around 4am when we got to sleep!

Yesterday the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with us, so we tried to have a bit more of a lie in and went in search of a caffeine kick at about 10am. The first act we wanted to go into the venue for was The Pretty Reckless at 3pm, so it was chilled getting ready and predrinking. After them it was my ultimate faves PVRIS, then Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes who I had never seen before but they rocked it, one of the highlights of the weekend for me. Then we met up with our friend Laura and her boyfriend Otis and went back to our mosher teen days with Korn (yes the lead singer still wears a kilt), and ended the night dancing along with Everything Everything, Major Lazer and Eminem. Eminem put on an admirable performance, including all his old classics and collaborations to really bring the whole weekend of music to a fantastic closure. After he exited the extent of our sleep deprivation hit and we were pooped, so retired to our tent to start packing up a few bits  to leave the next morning. (see next week's post for continuation!)

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirty Three

'I've never found sin in pleasures of the skin

Not when I've never been with a man that did not worship me in his hands.'

(Lauren Eden)

This week started in Pelican Hill with another lazy day by the pool, and the news that one of my besties had got engaged; a fabulous beginning to a Monday, congrats Dave and Abi! In the afternoon we went for a drive to Huntington Beach and for tea at a beautiful seafood restaurant called The Cannery overlooking Newport Beach. I had the crabcake to start with, followed by a shrimp pot pie and shared some delicious rose, it was quite pricey but one of the best meals I had whilst in the area, I would totally recommend it to anyone heading that way.

On Tuesday we checked out and drove to the airport to fly to Vegas. It literally took an hour, and it was like stepping into an oven when we arrived, over forty degrees. We then got a taxi to our hotel, The Cosmopolitan... oh my goodness, best hotel ever! It is all very modern with a sexy twist, the lobby has huge screens with naked silhouette illusions on, but they were abstract enough that it wasn't lewd, more Bond-esque. They changed constantly to include different scenes and styles, I could have watched them all day. 

The second floor has a chandelier that encases the whole level with jewels, the restaurants are all very avant garde - one is called Rose. Rabbit. Lie. and looked to be Alice in Wonderland themed, my fave! In my room, the little cubicle where the toilet was and inside the wardrobe had the coolest printed wallpaper in metallic and with Victorian womens' heads respectively, and there was a massive bathtub with a blind that could be raised so it could be seen from the bedroom. All that doesn't even start on the incredible view from the balcony, which had a round sofa on to take it all in. It literally felt like I'd stepped into a dream!

We had reservations for tea at Yellowtail Sushi in the Bellagio hotel, so after unpacking and getting changed we walked there (it was the hotel next door). It is one of my boss's favourite places so she ordered for us all, as well as a few of the specials that the waiter recommended we had tuna 'pizza' (tuna tartare on super thin flatbread), seafood 'dynamite' (scallops, shrimp and mushrooms in a spicy citrus sauce) and the 'Mile High' roll which was tempura crab with avocado and asparagus with assorted sashimi on top. I am a sucker for sushi anyway, but this was up there with the tastiest I have ever had, and the uniqueness of the dishes added a wow factor.

After the food I was 'released' as Aum was staying in his parents' room that night, so I took advantage of a free evening, put my glad rags on and went for a cocktail in the hotel casino on the ground floor. Although I didn't fancy a flutter, mainly due to having no idea what I was doing and not wanting to look like a knob, I ordered an espresso martini, which was an eye watering $20 once I'd added a tip. It was fun to watch the world go by for an hour before the jet lag hit me like a shovel to the face!

On Wednesday Aum's parents were at a conference all day, so after a ridiculous buffet breakfast in the hotel (it had chocolate truffles, a carvery and even sushi available from 6am!) we had a relaxing time sunbathing by one of the two pools - the other was for over 21s only as it had a DJ and copious amounts of booze, so I very reluctantly had to give it a miss. Whilst we were there they played The Strokes track Games which is one of my favourites, and is one of those that transports me back a few years ago, so I have picked that as my song for the week, check it out below. The temperature soared to the early forties so we went back to the room to escape it at around 3pm to get ready for an early tea at Hard Rock Cafe. Afterwards we walked to the MGM Grand, to watch their Cirque du Soleil production, KA. 

Now I am not a huge musical theatre goer, I much prefer watching more traditional plays, but my God, KA was out of this world. There was zero talking in the whole piece (they used a make believe oriental based language to communicate) but the choreography, special effects and costumes made it a visual feast that kept me open mouthed yet silent for nearly 2 hours, and those that know me will confirm that is a rare occurrence! At one point they created a shipwreck scene where acrobats seemed to sink underwater by being suspended from the ceiling, there were fireworks, fight scenes with huge scimitars, and a double upright centrifuge where the actors ran across the barrels without harnesses 25 feet in the air! Mind blown.

On Thursday we decided to walk along the strip to have a gander at some of the different hotels. They all have their own quirks and are like a mall within themselves, with casinos, theatres, multiple restaurants, shops and attractions inside each one. We started at The Bellagio next door, which has a huge fountain and light show outside every night, and inside has a chocolate fountain of Willy Wonka proportions, a botanical garden that changes theme every season, and a stunning glass sculpture all across the lobby ceiling designed by artist Dale Chihuly.

Next up was The Venetian which, as the name suggests, was decked out to feel like the canals of Venice, complete with gondola rides available on the waterways throughout the interior, and loads of swanky Italian designer shops. It was so collosal inside we got lost quite a few times! We had another couple of hours chilling by the pool after the hectic morning, soaking up the last hot rays of 2017!

That evening we went for tea at Paris Hotel which, you guessed it, is Parisian themed. We ate in The Eiffel Tower Restaurant, which overlooks The Bellagio fountains so we had a great view of the show whilst dining. As it was our final night I treated myself to three courses, which Aum helped me out with. I opted for the slow cooked octopus with beluga lentils to start, followed by crusted sea bass with a clam jus and finally we pre-ordered the special, a blueberry lemon souffle, which was the lightest thing I have ever put in my mouth! 

After our gorgeous meal we caught a taxi to Hershey's Chocolate World and M&M's World so Aum (and I!) could buy some sweets and presents for people back home. Satisfied with our zany coloured M&M's and Hershey's Kisses we took some photos of the strip all lit up on the walk back, especially New York-New York with its replica Big Apple sights, our last night in Sin City!

 

On Friday we were up and packed bright and early as our flight was just after 10am. We ate breakfast at The Henry in the hotel (a proper waiter service restaurant open 24 hours), where I had a doorstop sized French toast with berries and syrup - seeing America off in style for another year! We landed yesterday morning after nearly 24 hours of travelling but headed back to bed for a few hours as it was still night time in the US and we were like zombies. 

In the afternoon I went back to my flat to unpack and repack a bag for a few days as I am staying at Aum's to look after him until his parents return on Tuesday. S came round for a coffee to say hello, it was nice to see him, I've actually missed being able to talk to him so often because of the massive time difference. He came to Aum's that evening later on and we had a bottle of wine and chatted for ages; he'd bought me a really unique wooden phone case from a trip with his family to Cardiff which I thought was super thoughtful (and exactly my taste, impressive for such a newbie). It put the little token gifts I'd brought back for him from Las Vegas to shame!

Today I got to be reunited with my doggy! We took her for a walk to Sale Water Park with my mum, stopping for ice cream as the sun made an appearance. We went back to hers for a roast dinner with the family and my Aunty, and I am now back at Aum's waiting for S to come and visit again - it seems I have found a boy who actually wants to make an effort and see me often, hallelujah!