A Good Christening!
Last night was my long awaited flatwarming party, and what a party it was!
After 'sending out' invites (Facebook of course!) to over 50 people, I expected about 20 to turn up, if that. I put this mainly down to the usual, other commitments, too far to travel, difficult to get home afterwards - HOWEVER. Upon checking around with people, I had 28 confirmed, which quickly multiplied on the day to 31 in total; we struggled to fit in! In fact, by the end of the night, people had spread into my bedroom and the spare room lounging on the beds, creating a proper house party vibe which I loved.
The first of my guests arrived on Friday, having travelled from Newcastle and Exeter, hence wanting to prolong the visit as much as possible. A couple of Mo's uni friends that I have got to know came for dinner on Saturday, which was nice, definitely the calm before the storm! My mum was an absolute star helping me with last minute preparations, buying breakfast and snack stuff and cooking a spaghetti bolognese (the carbs were appreciated later on!) before leaving us to it.
More uni friends came on Saturday evening, including a friend from my course who I haven't seen since we graduated, followed by all my friends from home, my ski rep from last year and his girlfriend, more of Mo's friends, and later on, even a few who had been at a gig in town and made it - I was so chuffed at the effort everyone made! Mo managed to break down, but made it for 9pm, so not too shabby!
All the food got eaten, I got bought some beautiful cards and presents, (including a miniature orchid, booze, chocolate and a candle in a glass jar that smells like heaven!) and everyone genuinely seemed like they had an awesome time. With a sore head today, it has been lovely getting so many texts commenting on a great night, and asking when my next party will be... soon I hope!
The Final Chapter
So this is it - my final 'New Flat' instalment, as most thing are now done, and those that aren't are not worthy of a post! From time to time I'm sure I'll include things in my 'Weekly Update' posts about items I've bought etc, but for now, here are the last few photos of things that have happened this week in my lovely abode.
The first major development, is that I now have gorgeous floor-to-ceiling wardrobes, with enough space finally for all of my clothes (or very nearly!). They are high- gloss grey and were £450 from Ikea, this included the frame, doors, 3 clothes rails, 3 shelves, two wire baskets with hinges and home delivery. It may seem a lot, but it is great to be able to make your own package with whatever configurations you want inside, and to be fair, wardrobes are always a bulky investment anyway. The only other thing that has changed this week, is that the shelving unit in my hallway is in place, and I have put lots of knick-knacks and pictures on it, to make it a bit more homely.
Moving out and sorting and furnishing a whole new flat has been a very long, stressful, tiring draining and expensive process, but I am so thrilled with how everything has come together, and I wouldn't change a thing... at least for a few years!
First Week At Home!
So this has been my first week 'living' in the new place; said in inverted commas as I have actually only stayed here for three nights, and two of those were shared (with Mo on Tuesday and my friend Claire on Thursday). On Monday I had a chilled evening and then went round to Mo's for his homemade macaroni cheese (perhaps the best thing he makes, it is amazing!) and on Tuesday he came to mine and I made us Ikea meatballs with roasties.
On Wednesday I finally got the internet, and Mum came to mine for liver and bacon casserole for tea, mainly as we are the only two people I know who like it! Thursday was Claire's visit (she stayed as she had an interview in Manchester on Friday) we managed to sneak in a glass of wine and a chat before we went to bed despite her flight not landing until 9pm.
On Friday I had my nails done and dyed my hair before going out for a meal at Danilo's in Hale for Abi's birthday (see previous post). Afterwards we went to Suburbia where we had lots of free drinks after scoring a place on someone's table, and danced until we could dance no more! Yesterday I stayed in bed until 12pm, and then went to the flat to do some housey stuff with mum before going to Cafe Gourmand for some late lunch with Smeed and the girls. I had the special which was chorizo, pea and mint risotto topped with a poached egg - it was awesome, and warded off the last of my hangover.
I babysat in the evening, though not until very late, and played taxi driver ferrying the rest of the family back from an Egyptian themed murder mystery night, which they all looked brilliant for! Today Mum made gorgeous blueberry pancakes for breakfast before I left. I have spent the rest of the day pottering around the house, and am currently at catching up at Mo's as he has been away in London since Thursday. Pretty quiet first week, though I am sure after my housewarming party next weekend I'll be grateful of a quiet one!
Danilo's, Hale
Yesterday I went to Danilo's Italian restaurant in Hale with the girls, to celebrate Abi's birthday. It was very busy when we arrived so we sat upstairs for a while and had a bottle of the house white until a table was ready. We were a group of five, so not huge, and after forty minutes we still hadn't been seated, so we went downstairs to be told it was indeed ready for us then, so we took our seats. As Abi has been visiting for years with her family, they gave us a free bottle of prosecco, though I think it was partly to compensate the wait as well!
For starter we all shared a garlic bread with cheese which was lovely, and then for main Emily and I got a dish each and shared so we got to taste two off the menu! We got the Penne Primavera with chicken, and another pasta that was creamy tomato with salmon flakes and parmesan. I have had the first meal before, and was sad to see that the presentation (and possibly recipe?) had been changed; it was still delicious, but not quite as good as its former self. The salmon dish was gorgeous though, I would definitely have it again.
We didn't get any desserts, although Abi got some pistachio and vanilla ice cream on the house which we all dug into, and we had another bottle of prosecco. We were then lucky enough to be some of the last diners in, so managed to get free sambuca and tequila shots and Jaeger bombs courtesy of another guest who was feeling generous! We each paid £24 including a tip, not bad for all the booze and food we consumed, and then we went on to continue the night in Suburbia!
