Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Seventeen
'Whoever said the small things don't matter has never seen a match start a wildfire.'
(Beau Taplin)

So continuing on from last week's post in Ibiza, on Sunday evening we all went to a bar called Can Terra which was around the corner from our apartment. We were recommended it by a fellow resident in the lift who said it did amazing pinchos (like Spanish bruschetta with different toppings) and the wine was only 1.60 a glass, so he obviously knew us well! We didn't arrive until nearly 11pm but even for a Sunday it was buzzing and still had loads of food left, you just helped yourselves to the pinchos platters on the bar and kept the cocktail sticks from them and they charged you per stick, a very trustworthy system! 

 We made friends with some Italian guys after we had finished eating, who suggested we went to a club called Teatro Pereyra, but it was shut by the time we got there so we went to a cute little bar in a square around the corner for some sangria. We stayed out until quite late but weren't as messy as the previous night as we wanted to be up earlyish for our last day. 

Monday was spent wandering around the picturesque Old Town, including indulging in some to-die-for pistachio and white chocolate ice cream from Vivi's Creamery (voted #1 parlour in the whole of Ibiza) and then walking it off along the historic walls up to a viewpoint that gave us some great photo opps. We were lucky enough not to be flying home until late at night, so could take advantage of another full day in the sunshine, and made the most of it by finding a lovely little bar called L'Escalinata for some lunch and drinks that had beanbags to lie on outside. I had a panini with tapenade, prosciutto and mozzarella and a couple of glasses of wine, ideal!  We got our flight home and I got to bed just after midnight, absolutely goosed.

The track I chose for this week is by a New Jersey electronic trio called A R I Z O N A that I was sent via Candid. I checked out their back catalogue and they have created some mint material, this one in particular is perfect to bop around getting ready to, and the video made me well up, so sweet!

On Tuesday to beat the Ibiza blues, Emily and I met up for lunch in Chorlton at The Lead Station. They had a £10 two course lunch deal on so we both opted for that; we had fish tacos to start and then a goats cheese and squash puff pastry pie for main. The menu was original and food well made, and interior of the place very tastefully done, totally not what I was expecting from the outside. It is inside an old police station, so they have made full use of some of the original features to make it a quirky place, and whilst writing this I have learnt that it has been nominated for the 2017 Bar and Restaurant Design Awards, so I must have a good eye!

From Wednesday onwards I was housebound looking after Aum until this afternoon whilst his parents were in London. It is the longest I have done it for, but wasn't so bad with him being at school, and we broke the weekend up by going on a nice walk and picnic to Rivington yesterday with my mum and the dog, and my auntie and cousin came along too. The sun was shining, and we managed to find a tea rooms that served ice cream once we had finished (Eton mess flavour in case you were wondering). 

Last night we met up with Emily and Smeed at a new restaurant in Altrincham called Prosecco for a meal. We shared a variety of starters - garlic bread with cheese, breaded calamari and prawns in a chilli and garlic sauce, and then for main I had an oven baked pasta dish called Penne Gratinata which had mushrooms, onions, ham, cream and tomato and was topped with mozzarella cheese. The food was really impressive, one of the better Italian meals I have had, but unfortunately even for a Saturday it was pretty quiet which didn't create much of an atmosphere. It wouldn't stop me going back though, their tiramisu was perfect!

I have just been released from Aum's after a morning/ afternoon spent in Sheffield at the National Fencing Championships. Unfortunately he was knocked out, but he did so well for his first proper competition and wasn't phased when he lost fights, proud nanny alert! I am getting ready to head into Manchester for Laura's birthday now (aided by gin); every year we do a bar crawl en masse, which after five days babysitting alcohol free I am definitely up for, I will post about our antics tomorrow!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Sixteen

'A quoi sert la lumière du soleil si on a les yeux fermés? – What use is the light of the sun if you have your eyes closed’?'
(Arabian proverb)

I wrote the majority of this week's post as it happened, as I am currently on my best friend Emily's hen do in Ibiza and knew I would be hard pushed to get much done due to being preoccupied drinking and celebrating! 

The run up to the trip went surprisingly quickly, but the Bank Holiday Monday definitely helped. I spent it chilling out and recovering from the weekend, topped off with a roast dinner at my parents' house. I was back at work on Tuesday and it was the last day of the holidays, so after getting a lot of school-based errands out of the way, Aum and I went to Sweet Octopus Japanese patisserie in Altrincham for a coffee and cake. I had a chestnut creme patissiere filled cupcake, whilst Aum had a raspberry and white chocolate one. It is such a cute little place that not many people know about, and the cakes/ pastries are really top-end and professional, I would highly recommend. 

That evening C came to mine and we cooked a stir fry and watched Donnie Darko (I embarrassingly admit I hadn't seen it before) which I thoroughly enjoyed. It was nice to see him for longer than half an hour this time, and I'm having fun getting to know him better, I think we are quite similar in that we are both pretty kooky so it makes me feel like I can be 100% myself and not have to reveal it in layers of crazy!

This week's track is an old classic from my secondary school days, but I heard it on Gaydio whilst driving to work early this week for the first time in ages so had to include it, what a tune!

On Wednesday I had a monumental event in my writing career, as I interviewed Danny from McFly all the way from L.A! I was really nervous preparing, and getting the wifi/ signal/ recording all sorted was an absolute nightmare, but once we got chatting I actually felt quite relaxed, and got some great material for the article I am writing for the next print issue of Candid (front cover baby!).

Thursday and Friday were spent prepping for my holiday (and I got an Instagram poem up, check it out here), packing, hair dyeing, having my nails done etc. and I went straight from work to collect Abi and together we went to Tasha's for a lift to the airport. All went smoothly, and our nine strong party arrived pretty pissed on prosecco at our home for the weekend in Ibiza Old Town just after midnight, where we opened some wine and christened our incredible apartment.

Yesterday we got up to catch the ferry across to Formentera island for the day. It was a short taxi ride away to the port at Playa d'en Bossa where the boat left at 11am and cost 22 euro return for a 35/40 min trip. Once we arrived we flagged taxis down and went to Calo de Sant Agusti, a beautiful cove that we had entirely to ourselves. We ate before sunbathing at Can Rafalet restaurant, where all nine of us shared a huge paella and some sangria which was delicious.

After a day basking in the rays, we took the ferry home at 6pm and all got spruced up for the evening's antics. We had arranged for two guys (shoutout to Gary and Steve) from a company called Sabor to come to the apartment at 7.30pm to make us cocktails and cater a barbecue on our roof terrace. It was such a gorgeous night and felt so much more special and personal than going for a meal in a restaurant. We could play whatever music we wanted, had unlimited drinks (we chose margaritas, French martinis and mojitos) and the food was insane - jacket potatoes, marinated chicken, a variety of sausages, burgers, three types of salad and for dessert: chocolate brownies and vanilla frozen cheesecake! I would definitely consider using them if I were to go back with a large group again.

Stomachs lined and all feeling suitably lubricated with alcohol, we left the bride and groom's mums at home and went to Pacha for a boogie. It was 50 euro to get in which nearly made me cry handing over the credit card, but it was so much fun and the place was bouncing with energy - and there were some rather attractive men in there! We fell into bed at about 5am after a fabulous start to the trip.

After a decent lie in and some scrambled eggs with toast to soak up the booze, we went to Malibu Beach Club on Sant Jordi de ses Salines beach today, where we found a good spot and got back on it with some cava sangria kindly paid for by my best friend Lydia who couldn't make the hen due to travelling Australia. A bit later on we ate some food there that I had preordered - mussels, chicken Caesar salad, nachos with chicken and cheese and mixed paella. It was all so well presented and tasted amazing, and together with the stunning views and 22 degree sunshine it made for a perfect day.

I am going to sign off this post here and fill in the rest of the holiday's antics in next week's post; off to put my gladrags on and have a chilled gin!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Fifteen

'Don't be eye candy, be soul food'

(unknown)

So I started off this week with a stonking two day hangover after seeing 2manyDJs on Sunday, who were AMAZING! Such a fun night, we had a few cocktails (espresso martinis were needed to keep me going) in the bar section of Gorilla first before heading into the gig venue at about 11pm and we left at 2am when the event finished.

 My track for this week has to be their alter ego project Soulwax's remix of Tame Impala's Let It Happen, as the original is an absolute tune already, but they somehow manage to get away with mashing it up, and when it played last night it sent the crowd wild. 

I managed to power through the pain on Monday and met my mate MC who I'd gone to the gig with for lunch, though sunglasses had to be utilised! We went to Dough in the Northern Quarter where we both opted for the Surf and Turf pizza, which was delicious, but then what's not to like about steak, chorizo and king prawns on a pizza?!

On Tuesday I went to Grindsmith coffee shop in Media City to support Matter of Sound's first live event; Band and Bean. Three acts played: Violet Youth (babyfaces with great potential), Dantevilles (proper Mancs with beaut voices) and Natalie McCool (kick-ass rock chick, I saw her back in 2014 at my first ever Sofar Sounds) and I had a latte and a glass of wine and chatted to Hattie and Emily the girls I used to help out at the channel with. I took C with me as thought it would be a nice chilled evening, and I finally got a kiss out of it - waiting until 4th meeting is a new record, slow burner is definitely working!

On Wednesday I went to watch Dua Lipa with Ellie at The O2 Ritz as I am writing a review of the show for the next print issue of Candid Magazine. I drove as felt like I needed an alcohol detox, but it was still a lively, dance filled night, and Off Bloom the support were cracking - a Danish band full of electro beats and angst that really warmed the crowd up. 

I was back at work on Thursday, but it wasn't too bad as Aum had a playdate and I took them to Energi Trampoline Park in Wilmslow; so I had a coffee and muffin and did some work whilst they tired themselves out. It is an awesome place, I am going to give it a go myself next time, it had a dodgeball court, gymnast hoops over a sponge pit, a climbing wall and Gladiator style battle area as well as all the normal trampolines. 

That night I went out in Manchester with C, to a DJ night called Love Dose at Hidden club. We went to Stage and Radio beforehand for a few drinks, where Simba the resident DJ from my uni days at Sugarhouse happened to be playing which was a fab surprise! We stayed out super late and got very messy and I wore a new top I have been saving - it was one of the best nights I've had in ages, and a welcome change to the venues I normally go to in town.

On Friday after a LOT of faff with cancelled trains, I eventually made it to Leeds 1.5 hours later than anticipated to visit my friend Bex who lives in a cute little suburb called Chapel Allerton. We had a proper catch up over her homemade chili and a couple of bottles of fizz/ wine, and then went into the city for a night out. We started in Banyan, which is fairly new, although we only stayed for one as despite being 10pm it was pretty quiet. After we went to Roxy Ballroom, a cool bar with beer- and ping-pong tables (that coincidentally is opening in Manchester at the end of April) for prosecco and shots, and then had a couple of cocktails that were 241 (the salted caramel espresso martini was perfect!) in Mr Nobody, before heading home as Bex had hit it a little too hard!

My parents picked me up from Bex's on Saturday lunchtime en route to my grandparents in Leven, Yorkshire as we were meeting up with a group of the family for a celebratory meal for my Grandad's 80th back in January. 17 of us went to a standard 241 pub called The Nag's Head, but it was so impressive! I had a dish off the huge special's board; the salmon, king prawn and cod lasagne, served with garlic bread and a really yummy side salad of parmesan and sundried tomatoes, and then I shared the raspberry ripple bread and butter pudding with Mum. Considering we were a big group the service was excellent, and everyone raved about the food, lamb kashmir curry, ribeye steak, chicken and gammon pie, spare ribs - all top notch! My aunt and uncle have recently bought a sweet shop (Sweet Sensations with Tradition in Hornsea), so my cousin made us all personalised little favours with sweets and a cupcake to take home to mark the occasion which was very cute.

Today I was awake quite early, so I made the most of the pleasant day and went for a stroll along Hornsea beach with the family and the dog - it was the first time Ferryn had encountered sand, or the sea! I had some classic seaside doughnuts with Mr Whippy ice cream as a treat before we ate a massive buffet courtesy of my grandma and then travelled home to Manchester. C came 'round to mine in the evening (and brought Chinese, what a babe!) but he was on call so barely finished his starter before he had to leave for a job he was needed on. It was a blessing to be honest as I'm absolutely pooped, I'm so glad to have the Bank Holiday off tomorrow!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Fourteen

'And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.'
(Nietsche)

This week I have been off work, and had specifically not planned very much with the intention of chilling out, getting some jobs done around the house, and having a few spontaneous days/ nights out; and I have done exactly that! 

I eventually got the review of Lewis Watson's gig that I went to last week up on Candid, read it here.On Monday I had a seriously lazy day after the busyness of last week; I watched a load of telly, got a poem up on Instagram (read it and my other from this week here) caught up on some work emails, did a relaxing yoga class in the evening and then made barbecue pulled pork with roasted sweet potato and squash for my tea. 

On Tuesday I met up with my friend Hannah and we went for a walk around Tatton Park with the dog. The weather turned out to be gorgeous in the afternoon so we even managed to have a cheeky honeycomb ice cream in the courtyard before walking back to Hannah's for a brew.

That evening I went to C's house in Poynton about 15 mins from me, as he had invited me round for dinner. He cooked us some lovely spicy fajitas and I had some prosecco, though I was driving so had to be sensible. I still didn't really know what to expect after last week's date (if it was even that?!), so went with an open mind. Again it wasn't awkward, conversation flowed and considering I was pretty much sober this time I felt totally chilled and had a good time. There was a bit more flirting, but even after walking me to my car at the end of the night there was still no proper kiss, which is completely unheard of for me haha! Not sure if he was nervous or just waiting for me to make a move...weirdly though it doesn't worry me, I know he's interested, I think I've just not had my head in the game recently so have been a bit oblivious. I left definitely feeling more into it than before so I'm just letting things happen, maybe it's a slow burner!

On Wednesday I met up with Rosie for a late lunch at Beech Road Cafe in Chorlton. I had the most amazing poached eggs, served with tomato chutney, spinach, grilled halloumi and mushrooms on a buttered bagel - it was that delish that I took home a slice of their coconut and raspberry bakewell tart for dessert to try. On Thursday my mum and dad were finally back from Sri Lanka, along with crazy tans, lots of photos of cute elephants and some great presents; I got some Sri Lankan tea leaves, an elephant keyring and some incredible harem pants that I cannot wait to wear!

On Friday I met Ellie in Alty for tea and a scone at Sugar Junction on her lunch break, and afterwards I did a spot of shopping and had my nails done. In the evening a few of us went to Ellie and Jordan's to celebrate their housewarming with some homemade sangria, and I managed to find some prosecco scented candles in cut off bottles, which I thought was a fun twist on a traditional bottle of fizz for a gift!

Yesterday we headed to Leeds mid-morning for my cousin's wedding at Woodlands Hotel. The weather, bride, venue, in fact just about everything was beautiful, and lots of family had travelled a long way to be there so it was a fantastic celebration. Lots of prosecco, dancing (the above track for this week had everyone on the dancefloor!), photographs and laughs were had by all, and I eventually made it to bed at 4,30am after doing sambuca shots at the bar with the Best Man, and Groom's friend. 

A very sore head was endured today, but luckily the sunshine kept up and we enjoyed a huge picnic and couple of pints of cider at a local cricket club before going back to Manchester, where I am about to go back out to Gorilla to watch 2manyDJs, making the most of still being off work tomorrow - update to follow!

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Thirteen

'Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.'
(Alan Cohen)

 Welcome to April guys! I can't believe how quickly this year is flying by, I have now been single for nearly 3 months, I am going to Ibiza in 20 days and my best friend gets married next month - lots of exciting things to look forward to.

On Monday I scored some free tickets to The Royal Exchange theatre from my boss, to see a performance called The Suppliant Women. I went with Emily, who kindly lent me a top to wear and cooked me tea beforehand as we were in such a rush that I had to go straight from work. It was definitely an interesting play - probably not something I would usually watch but it was entertaining even if we didn't entirely understand what was going on! 

We popped into the Slug and Lettuce for a boozy hot chocolate post-show, where I was approached by a (completely sober!) guy who awkwardly sat and talked to us before asking for my number as we left. He was lovely and fairly good looking, and despite not being my cup of tea I still fist pumped in my head considering I was completely void of makeup. As an ex-acne sufferer who endured Roaccutane for 6 months, getting chatted up without my war paint was a fantastic ego boost for a Monday evening!

The track above is one I discovered via Apple Music, as it is on their 'Today's Chill' curated playlist under the 'Chill' tab on the 'Activities & Moods' section. The whole playlist is really cool just to stick on as background or car music as it is a mix of uptempo dancier beats with some more sombre relaxing tunes now and again, but this particular song kind of has a sad quality to it that, being a bit of a glutton for sentiment, resonated with me this week.

On Wednesday it was tattoo day! I went to Sacred Art in Chorlton at 10am for my appointment with Marko, who specialises in line and dotwork and realism, and loved what he had drawn up for me based on my specifications. It took a little over an hour for him to do and hurt like a bitch but I am so thrilled with the outcome, it was worth the pain, and now I have a little homage to Manchester on my calf. I treated myself to a triple chocolate brownie and a hazelnut praline hot chocolate at Cocoa Tree chocolatiers around the corner from the parlour afterwards, some sugar for the shock!

That evening I went into Manchester to Matt and Phreds with one of the first guys I matched with on Bumble ages ago (enter alias C). We were messaging for a while and arranged to meet up a couple of times but he was flakey and I lost interest so deleted his number. He recently randomly got back in contact and suggested meeting for a drink as he doesn't know many people around here. We shared a bottle of wine, did tequila shots, watched a jazz singer and had a laugh, and conversation was easy, but there wasn't much flirting or chemistry, so it felt more like a good platonic fun night, but we shall see!

On Thursday I went to Victoria Baths in Manchester for the Gin Festival with Emily, Ellie and her friend Hannah who I have met a couple of times before. What a venue! I fell in love with the place, it is all Victorian coloured glossy tiles, glass ceilings and fairy lights. There was live music and magic tricks, and of course, lots of my favourite, gin! We had to swap our money for tokens (£5 each) and one token got you a gin with mixer and funky garnish, in a gorgeous goblet that we were given as a souvenir upon entry. 

Across four bars (two British, one international and one flavoured gins) there were over 100 types, and many that could be sampled in the second smaller room next door. I tried Brockmans with ginger ale served with pink grapefruit and blueberries, Wight Mermaid with light tonic served with cucumber and juniper berries, Le Gin 1 & 9 with ginger ale served with chilli pepper and Zymurgorium Sweet Violet with lemonade served with lemon, which is made right here in Manchester, and tasted like Parma Violets! 

On Friday I got a review up on Candid of GOOSE's new album (read it here) and after work I drove to my friend Luke's near Garstang with the dog, as a group of seven of us were heading to the Lake District early yesterday morning. I didn't arrive until half nine so just had a glass of red with some chocolate and got an early night, ready for action climbing some mountains. After a bacon and sausage sarnie and packing the cars up we drove for a couple of hours to Wasdale Head, and started our ascent of Scafell Pike. It took us 5 hours to get up and down, but that was tying in conquering Lingmell next to it, so pretty good going, and I was super proud of Ferryn, who has never walked more than about 5km! 

We were in the Wasdale Head Inn for 4.30pm with a pint, and left the four guys to put up our tents (£5 per person to camp, bargain!) whilst the three girls had a natter, and we all stayed there for the rest of the night having a few drinks and some tasty food (I had duck spring rolls and then a sticky toffee pudding with custard). James, Kirk and I were troopers and made it to midnight before creeping to bed slightly worse for wear after a 7am start. I had come prepared with fleece pyjamas, a sleeping bag and a blanket so was nicely toasty in the tent, and although it rained during the evening/night it had cleared up by the morning ready for a day of glorious sunshine today! 

We did another walk today up Kirk Fell, but it was incredibly steep, to the point where we were using our hands at one point, and when we hit some loose shingle I had to call it a day as knew the dog wouldn't be able to make it to the top. Andrew and his girlfriend Sarah came back down with me, and we had a drink whilst we waited for the others to complete it which only took another 90 mins or so. Then we all packed up and drove home (with fish and chips for tea on the way) and now after a much welcomed hot shower I am so ready for a proper bed!

I've got to admit it has been a bit of a mixed up week. I've been sleep deprived due to having so much on, which has manifested in some pretty zany dreams so I've woken up feeling on edge and anxious on a few days. Because of the constant going out I have had alcohol every day bar one, and I've only got into the gym once which is usually what gives me some focus and headspace, although the walking at the weekend helped. I've also had out of the blue contact with 4 of my 5 exes (how's that for bad luck ha) which though majority positive, doesn't do wonders when you're already feeling drained and sensitive! 

I'm not saying any of that for a sympathy vote, but purely as I know a lot of my posts are very... WOO, party, gigs, fun, tea, cake and prettiness, and it serves as a reminder that being continually busy, boozing lots, not looking after yourself physically, or taking time to process things mentally just equals a tired, emotional, skint human. I have had an awesome week socially but my God I am glad I have next week off work to recharge!