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 Eight
'Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal'
(Albert Camus)

Since Wednesday this week I've been on 'house arrest' (living at Aum's whilst his parents were at a conference in America) so on Tuesday I went on another date with W to try and enjoy what little time I had free. We went for food at Solita in Didsbury and then to the cinema at Parrs Wood. I had (a margarita and) the simple chicken burger, which was huge - I have a pretty healthy appetite and it completely defeated me - but was delicious nonetheless. I also scrounged a cheeseburger spring roll off W's starter, which was AMAZING, like a Mcdonald's in a roll! 

We were so occupied chatting that we totally lost track of time and missed our cinema showing (we were supposed to be watching Lion) so ended up seeing John Wick Chapter 2 instead, as there wasn't much left on. I haven't seen the first one but don't think it mattered; it was your typical explosions, violence and fast car filled action movie, but to be honest I was brought up on that stuff so it was easy viewing, and Lion is supposed to be really sad, so at least it saved my mascara. There's also got to be a positive to us both being too busy to pay attention to the time!

This week's track is another mainstream chart tune I'm afraid, but I have such a girl crush on Dua Lipa (I'm trying to blag tickets to review her Ritz show in April for Candid) that I couldn't resist, and it has a great drop! I also posted a new poem on my Instagram page on Tuesday, a twist on a traditional sonnet, which you can read here.

On Friday Aum and I went out for dinner to try out the fairly recently opened Côte Brasserie in Hale. We went fairly early at 7pm as it is quite an adult oriented restaurant, and had a choice of tables. The atmosphere was lovely and staff were very attentive, taking our coats and orders promptly. I had a glass of white wine and Aum went for a cloudy lemonade, and we shared a couple of starters; the saucisson sec (like French chorizo) and the reblochon (cheese and thyme) version of the pissaladiere (flatbread with caramelised onions). I had a simple steak frites with Roquefort butter for main, and Aum had the duck with gratin potatoes and cherry sauce. Everything was cooked to perfection, Aum particularly enjoyed the potatoes, I've never seen him eat so much! Portion sizes were spot on as well, small enough to eat everything but big enough to fill you up, although we still managed to squeeze in dessert (I'm a sucker for a creme brulee). 

Yesterday morning we went to the Runway Visitor Centre for a tour of Concorde to help with his project (I don't half do some random things because of my job!). I honestly thought I'd be super bored and itching to leave asap, but it was actually interesting, the amount of buttons and levers in the cockpit was incredible, and the speed and times it took to get to places was totally mind blowing - we got a certificate to say we'd been on board and everything, geek!

 

In the afternoon we went to Oxygen Freejumping, a trampoline centre next to the Trafford Centre. I didn't take part as felt like having a couple of hours to read and enjoy a coffee by myself - entertaining kids is exhausting! Aum seemed to have a fab time though which is always the goal. We got a few small dishes to share for dinner at Pesto at the Trafford Centre afterwards and then just had a chilled night in.

Today I finally got released! After a quick brew at home I met up with a few friends for a dog walk at Styal Country Park followed by a good ol' roast at The Ship Inn, I love having them both on my doorstep. The roasts at the pub are insane, my friend Laura and I shared a lamb shoulder for two with all the trimmings, and then had room for sticky toffee pudding for dessert. There were seven of us and we ended up staying for ages, sheltering from the horrible weather chatting and having a laugh, lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I am going out soon into Wilmslow for a few drinks since I have basically been teetotal all weekend, looking forward to a cocktail or two!