'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!
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!
'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!
'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!
