Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Twenty Six
'I'm not for everyone, but once you taste my energy, you'll always be thirsty.'
(Sylvester McNutt) 

Most of this week was spent getting organised for coming to America with work, I dyed my hair, researched stuff to do (helped greatly by re-watching Made in Chelsea: LA) packed, and managed to cram in a couple more dates with F. The first was on Tuesday, where we met in PLY bar in Manchester and then moved on to Lost in Tokyo. Again, I had a great time, we spent the majority of the night laughing which is always a positive, and the time flew by. We saw each other again on Friday evening, he came to my flat and we had some food and a couple of bottles of wine, and watched and bitched about Love Island (!) it was a really welcome break from the stresses of holiday prep and helped me to switch off and relax ahead of the mammoth journey ahead.    

This week The Maccabees were in Manchester for two nights for their farewell tour, and although I didn't manage to make it to either gig, I haved loved them ever since being dragged to watch them at Benicassim in 2012 so felt it necessary to pick my favourite song of theirs for my track this week, gutted that they have disbanded but I'm crossing my fingers that a reunion won't be too far away. 

Yesterday I was up bright and early as I had to be at the airport for 10am as Aum and I flew to LAX at midday via London Heathrow. After a quick pit stop brekky in Costa my dad nipped down to see me off as he was working which was a nice surprise. The 17 hours spent travelling actually passed fairly quickly and I managed to get a bit of kip, as well as watching Collateral Beauty (oh my gosh, such a weepie) and the new Beauty and the Beast, which was easy viewing. It was about 3am UK time by the time we had touched down, collected bags and caught a taxi to Westwood Village where we were staying, so after greeting Aum's cousin and his nanny Jen who we are sharing an apartment with, we collapsed into bed pretty much as soon as we could!

Today we woke up super early as we were still on English time, so we were up, dressed and out for breakfast by 9am, crazy for a Sunday. We walked five minutes around the corner to the main shopping street near us and stopped at The Corner Bakery for food. I had pancakes with eggs and bacon, drowned in butter and maple syrup - the brunches and breakfasts here are a major part of what I look forward to on our U.S trips!

This afternoon the boys had their orientation at UCLA for the summer camp they are here for, so once we had sat through a talk Jen and I were free until 9pm, some much needed downtime after nearly 48 hours of non-stop children-watching. I spent the time unpacking and had a bit of a nap, and we grabbed some sushi for tea on the way home from collecting them that was just from the supermarket around the corner, but it is all made fresh and tastes incredible. Desperately in need of some sleep now though, it's 7am in the UK!

 

Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Seven

'You feel good, you feel bad, and these feelings are bubbling from your own unconsciousness, from your own past. Nobody is responsible except you. Nobody can make you angry, and nobody can make you happy.' 

(Osho)

This week was half term meaning I have had Aum all day, and Tuesday was Valentines Day, so I thought I was going to have a bit of a crappy week. However, my best friend got engaged and asked me to be her bridesmaid which I was so chuffed about (congrats Lyd & Rob!), and although there's always that one annoying person overusing soppy hash tags on social media, I felt genuinely happy for the people who are in rewarding, fulfilling relationships. It was good confirmation that being single hasn't made me bitter and cynical, but excited for when it's my turn again in the future to build something with someone new.

The track I've chosen this week I heard as one of Radio 1's 'Track of the Week'. It is a total pop guilty pleasure, but sometimes you need a song to bop around to right? 

On Wednesday Aum and I went to the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester as he's currently working on a project on the history of aviation (which basically means I am doing it too!). Not going to lie, the highlight of the trip for me was probably the food in the restaurant; I had a squash and Garstang blue cheese tart with salad and cous cous which was a really tasty flavour combo, but I guess it was pretty fun messing around doing the science experiments on the top floor. Sometimes I get so caught up in the monotony of the school runs and homework that I forget how much I love my job, actually getting to spend time doing fun activities with Aum reminds me I'm not really a boring nagging bitch!

On Thursday I popped to The Cake Gallery in Bowdon with Aum as a reward for getting some homework done (I think it was more for my benefit!) and I had a day off work on Friday, so decided to make the most of the situation and head for some drinks on Thursday evening with my friend Alice. There are so many places in Manchester that have deals on a Thursday that we were spoilt for choice, but we settled on El Capo tequila bar in the Northern Quarter, where cocktails were 2 for £10, tequila was 4 shots for £10 and a bottle of prosecco was £16. We had a margarita each and then shared some prosecco before heading on to Matt and Phreds where they had a jazz band on, so there was an upbeat atmosphere. I was sensible and got the last train home at midnight, but we still got suitably merry and had a laugh, and it was a bonus to check out town on a different night to just the weekend.

On Friday I had a date with the guy I met out in Hale last week, I'll refer to him as W (again, no relevance!). We met in The Alchemist on New York Street and had a couple of drinks (French Martini) before walking to Salvis in the Corn Exchange for a meal. I was impressed at the restaurant choice, I'd never been but it was a lovely setting, the right amounts of private/open and fancy/casual. We shared a four seasons pizza for starter, and then I had the seafood risotto for main and we got a bottle of red wine. The food was rustic and flavoursome, which I think is often the charm with Italian places. 

It was cool getting to know someone initially in person, as opposed to having already chatted loads like when it's via a dating app. I felt more curious about what he had to say as I'd not preempted anything. He has quite different qualities to anyone I've been on a date with before, and it was a welcome change. He actually seemed to be absorbing everything I spoke to him about, and we had lots of things in common, but clear contrasts which kept it interesting. He was funny and confident, but not in an obvious, attention seeking way, and I could tell he was enjoying himself but he wasn't fawning so it kept me guessing. 

After food we decided to go for drinks in the Northern Quarter, and since he had planned both the previous places (again another plus point), I took him to a couple of my faves. Firstly we went to the 'secret' bar in Cane and Grain - those who haven't been should check it out (if you can find it...), it has table service and does awesome cocktails. I went for the Bloomsbury Tale and North Pole drinks, both of which were gin based but the first was fruity and sharp whilst the latter was creamy with amaretto soda dust; and W had the City of Gold (a rum punch type thing) and Negroni Ristretto, which was a whiskey and campari concoction served in a coffee pot. Feeling pretty tipsy at this point, we decided to sack off the train/ tram home and stay out, so went to Hold Fast for a few drinks and a bit of a dance. Bloody good date with a (thus far) bloody nice bloke!

Yesterday I did something I've not done for years, and went out AGAIN making it three nights in a row, but if the opportunity's there, why not! I went back into Manchester for my friend Emily's birthday, this time to a place I'd not been in before - Eastern Bloc Records. It is a cafe and record shop during the day which turns into a bar at night (we were there on the funk/soul/blues night); full of hipsters obviously, but try and find somewhere in the NQ that isn't. I had to hit the espresso martinis as I was flagging a little, but made it to PLY for some prosecco, and then got the tram back into Altrincham when my friend Ellie was leaving to meet W from last night again. We went to the Con Club for a bottle of wine, and then left when it closed for a drink in House. It was completely spontaneous, which is not my usual, but I am really busy next week so knew I probably wouldn't see him and the weekend had been so much fun already I didn't want it to end!

Today however, has been AWFUL. Serves me right for polluting my body with so much alcohol I suppose, lesson learnt. I've been totally restless; I tried reading, meditating, sleeping, watching a film... I couldn't even concentrate long enough to eat all my tea. Good job I'm working a lot next week so will be detoxing slightly, my poor liver needs it!