What A Week.

What a week.  Allow me to recap:

On Wednesday I had my third meal out with three work colleagues, one of whom was also celebrating a birthday this week.  We started out at Bar Epernay in the Mailbox, moving on to Cote Brasserie for a lovely meal.  We drank fizzy wine drinks and chatted away, then after our meal we went up to Marco Pierre Whites for champagne cocktails.  It's a lovely place to go at night as it's located on top of a building called The Cube, where you are surrounded by full length glass windows and able to admire all the twinkly lights of Birmingham City.  It's probably a much nicer view at night than during the day, where sunlight will reveal the greyness of the city and surrounding roads. Following this, we opted for a quick stop at Malmaison for a final drink before getting the last train home. 

On Thursday I popped back into Brum to attempt to find an outfit for Saturday night.  I had ZERO luck and was starting to panic considerably at having nothing to wear.  I got back in time for a few quick drinks with my friend Hannah at our favourite local Sutton pub.

Friday saw a final, now desperate, attempt at outfit shopping in nearby Tamworth- again with no such luck.  Though  I did manage to find a nice shirt/top to wear for the evening which I was really looking forward to: A meal at Jamie's Italian, followed by a trip to The Electric Cinema to see Danny Boyle's new film Trance.  Jamie's Italian was a nice dining experience- with a nice relaxed atmosphere inside- not too stuffy or pretentious.  I had bread and oil to start along with some cured meats and fresh baby mozzarella, followed by a beautiful crab risotto and side salad. It was delicious- but as most risotto's are, it was very filling and I couldn't manage a dessert too.  Gutted, as this is usually the best part of any meal! I would opt for the introduction of a dessert starter so I can get the best of both worlds! 
The cinema is the UK's oldest working cinema and has a truly nostalgic feel complete with old style tickets.  I had booked a sofa, called Keaton, which came with  a text waiter service.  It was lovely to be able to watch  a film from the comfort of a sofa.  The whole cinema felt homely and familiar, warm and friendly with it's deep red walls and cosy sofa's.  It is a MUST if you're in Birmingham and there's a decent film showing you want to catch. 

And so to Saturday, the morning of which I spent trying on clothes for my night out.  I had booked a small side room in Bacchus in Birmingham for my pre-club drinks to celebrate my birthday.  Getting there early to order food, my family and I were closely joined by colleagues and most of my closest friends.  We whiled away a few hours here, laughing and drinking, with a few compliments on my chosen outfit on the way. :-)  It was lovely having everyone I cared about in one room, and whilst I was disappointed with a few cancellations and no-shows, it became clear that the people who really mattered to me were all in one room.  It was heart warming.  At about 11pm a few people peeled off to go home or to other venues, while a small hardcore crowd of us headed to my favourite rock club in Brum.  It was heaving when we arrived- good to see it so busy as the last few times we've been, albeit a few months ago, it's been fairly quiet.  The dance floor was packed for most of the night, with some perfect song choices for our Uni Rock night reunion.  It was such  a good night.  The club was still in full swing when we left at about 3.15am, they were obviously staying open an hour later than usual due to the clocks going forward.  We sleepily arrived home between 4.30 and 5 am at our prospective homes and lodgings. 

This brings me onto today which has been spent feeling incredibly sleepy and nursing our sore dancing feet. I noticed a small spikey-shoe-related injury to my left foot where I've obviously spiked myself at some point.  Despite our wrecked bodies, we opted for a bracing walk into Lichfield for a mid-afternoon coffee or hot chocolate, before heading home to say our goodbyes.  

It's been a truly awesome week off work, much-needed and welcomed.  I've been spoiled, treated and blessed with some wonderful nights out with truly awesome people.  I have one more day off tomorrow before I return back to the daily grind.  Tomorrow I'll be off to Nottingham to see family and relax a bit before the working week begins again.  I'm sad it's all over to be honest- but at least I really made the most of it.  And my bank balance proves it. :-)

Grr...

My Dad picked up his new car today.  It's a rather swanky Jaguar XF Sportbreak.  It's the size of a plane, but a plane filled with cream leather and wood grain inside.  It is ... the bees knees.  I've been reliably informed that I will be put on the insurance for this absolute (pricey) beast of a car.  The very thought of being in control of a car the size of a small cruise ship frankly terrifies me.  Especially when you consider the fact that my current choice of vehicle, little Franko, is probably the smallest cars you can find on the market!

 

 

 

It is a very well equipped with about the same amount of dashboard functions and gadgets as a Spaceship.  A very beautiful spaceship.  It's automatic, 8 gear, 2.2 litre engine. I've never driven an auto before and can't quite imagine what it will feel like having a left arm and left foot.  It must be a very strange feeling.  I'm not entirely sure I'll ever pluck up the courage to find out!

Both my Dad and the Jaguar dealership men were unimpressed with my name choice for the car - Barbara.  All I can say in my defence is that these names come to me.  The vehicle chooses it's own name, I am but the receiver of their will.  This car looks like a Barbara. 

Welcome, Barbara.  :-)

Hello Thirties!

Well, here I am blogging from the ripe old age of 30 and two days! Whilst I'm struggling to come to terms with the fact I've already used up half my time off work, my two days of being thirty haven't been too shabby!

I received this wonderful little beast for my birthday. He's an HP Envy X2 which is a convertible tablet/laptop.  He comes with Windows 8 and so far I'm loving it! The little compartments are perfect for my organised brain; everything is easy to hand and in the right place.  It doesn't come with a great deal of storage as it's only a mini PC by all accounts, however considering I only really use my laptop for internet access anyway, I'm pretty happy this is going to replace it nicely.

 

In addition to this, I have been given money to spend on the obligatory accessories for the above! I bought Windows Office for it and finally managed to download it successfully after Microsoft managed to block three separate bank cards and screw up three transactions.  Idiots. Still, he's all up and running and I'm using him now to blog this very post! Looking forward to getting his case through the post so that he can be fully mobile!

 

I have also been treated to a years Gym membership at Virgin Health club, which I am both chuffed and slightly nervous about! It's perfect for me in order to complete my Resolution to be more active.  Come the first of April, there'll be no more excuses not to get there and get fit.  It couldn't have come at a better time.  I also received two tickets to see Derren Brown in May! Woot!

 

I was treated to a beautiful meal at Malmaison in Birmingham which started with Mal Lollipops (Tempura Prawn, Marinated Chicken, Tai Fishcake, Tai Pork and Crab Spring Roll- all on handy sticks!) with dipping sauces; followed by Coq au Vin with potato and turnip gratin and purple broccoli; finishing with Mal-athon bar slices with Milk Ice Cream completed with a truly delectable Black Forest Cocktail.  It was simply devine... with some truly lovely company to boot; I couldn't have had a better thirtieth birthday evening. :-)

 

I have a busy week lined up- with more birthday celebrations tomorrow when I meet some work colleagues in town for cocktails, champagne and another slap up meal on Wednesday; and then drinks on Thursday with a friend;  a haircut, visit to Jamies Italian and the Electric on Friday and the finale is on Saturday night for drinks with chums in Brum and then onto Eddies which will conclude my week long birthday celebrations.

 

BOOM. :-)

Goodbye Twenties!!!

Today marks the last day of my twenties. 

It's a big deal actually- and since most of my plans have been wrecked by the Snow Storms I'll be opting to celebrate the start of a new era, rather than mourn the loss of the last one by enjoying all my birthday celebrations over my week off, culminating in a big night out next Saturday.

My twenties have been eventful from the get go.  I entered my twenties in complete uncertainty having just finished a brilliant year studying my Art BTEC Diploma at college.  This is the year that I think cemented who I am, what I'm about and defined me.  Following this, I started my first year at University in my twentieth year. I started blogging shortly after starting uni, my first post being in 2004, in my second year- so much of this blog has seen my through some of the toughest, and also the most awesome times of my life.

I think I've managed to stave off any huge fears about turning 30.  It is, afterall, just a number and most of the time people don't believe that I'm anywhere near that age anyway so hopefully I don't have to be reaching for the wrinkle cream just yet!  It's more the fact that I still feel very unsettled and aren't all that sure where I am going.  I think this may be something I always feel, and so this too, doesn't scare me as much as it used to.  Friends and family are settling down, getting married and boring the fuck out of me on facebook with countless photographs and updates about their babies... so times are definitely changing.  It does feel different, but I don't think my expectations of myself have changed.  I've spoken to a number of women who say that their thirties became a time for knowing exactly who they were, what they believed in and what they wanted.  Well, I already have the first two nailed but I certainly and hopefully welcome a time of greater scecurity in myself, my believes and perhaps more importantly my body.  This is an issue I've struggled with long before my twenties started- however the idea that my thirties could be the age that I finally feel comfortable in my skin is a welcome one.

Goodbye to my twenties, goodbye youth!
I've opened the door... the big 3 0 is on it's way in.

I'm dreaming of a White Easter...

This snow is doing my nut.  All but one of my weekend plans has been ruined by this freakin' snow.  We've had about 4 inches over the last two days and it's showing no signs of stopping.  AND it's officially Spring!

Numbers.

Just half a day left until I get a WHOPPING ELEVEN days off work. 

I have been having half days all this week, finishing work at ONE pm to try and use up some flexi leave I've built up.  But after tomorrow- I get a whole week and two days off work.  My birthday on Monday which I will spend with my best friend.  Then I have the whole week to enjoy, culminating in a birthday weekend on the 30th March where I'm hoping my bessie mates and work colleagues will join me in celebrating me becoming old. 

Sadly I have to spend part of it looking up insurance quotes- major bad timing having to renew your car insurance round your birthday, however, on the upside my birthday is also PAYDAY! WOOP.

I can NOT believe I'm 30 on Monday.  It feels BIG.  Important.  And right now, I'm ready for it.  :-)

Boreas.

Your silence replaces empty words.
Your honesty hangs in doubt.
Your laughter and kind heartedness I can now do fine without.

Your claims all now unfounded,
unjustified and lost.
Your integrity, hung out in cold air, a covering of frost.

Your etchings in my memory
I've tried to scratch away.
Your friendship in the distance, blurred and edges frayed.

Your message clear, caustic yet cold.
Your warmth now shards of ice.
A cut, A lie, A shrug. You're gone.
A goodbye would have been nice.









L is for... Lie.

Some Songs.

One of my favorite times to listen to music is in the dark.  As a passenger in a car, travelling in the dark, it's an ideal space to shut myself away into an imaginary musical closet for a while. I was listening to this on the way home tonight...



It used to remind me of someone, used to mean something... it still does, but now for the right time, right person and for the right reasons.

Cue Bon Iver. Perfect song for my mood.

Skinny Love. Bon Iver.

Come on skinny love just last the year. 
Pour a little salt, we were never here. 
... Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer,

Tell my love to wreck it all,
Cut out all the ropes and let me fall.
... Right in this moment this order's tall.

And now all your love is wasted
And then who the hell was I?
And I'm breaking at the britches
And at the end of all your lines.

(Can you fill the silence?)

 

Bastille 09.03.13

It's been a while since I walked through Digbeth; a place of potholed streets and shabby chic, where the indie scene breathes through vintage shops and traditional crumbly brick pubs.  It was here I joined a queue of inappropriately dresssed young people to see Bastille.  I'd like to point out that although I am close enough to my disappearing youth to remember being 16, I am now old enough to appreciate an adequate number of layers when it's freezing outside.  I don't, therefore, consider wearing a coat to a gig at which I have to queue outside for about 40minutes to be too much of a hardship even if I do have to carry it while I'm in there. 

Once in the warmth of The (HMV) Institute, I joined the small crowd gathering near the stage.  It was only when the first distinctly average, but not overly offensive support act started to play that I realised I was stuck standing behind the worlds tallest man.  By the time the second act had started- a carbon copy of Florence and The Machine- again, not rubbish but entirely forgettable because it had all been done before, I realised I was standing next to a woman whose posterior seemed to have a circumference of saturns rings. At one point, she started dancing and if I hadn't been wedged in, I'm pretty sure I'd have been bounced out of the venue and back to the Bullring. 

The Tall Giant man kindly moved aside and I squeezed in to see the stage for the first time for Bastille's hour long set.  I've been a fan of theirs since I heard Flaws just over a year ago on Alex Baker's Kerrang show.  I have him to thank for Maybshewill and Awolnation also.  I think I have all their music, two albums being released for free by the band despite the sound quality being poor.  I'm always appreciative of originality in music wether I like it or not, especially these days because it's so rare.  I remember being struck by Bastille because I couldn't lable them, I couldn't fit them to a genre, and still can't really.  Their love of rythmn really speaks to me and as such I've been a fan of theirs from the get go.  I had been worried that Bastille wouldn't live up to my expectations live since they rely on a lot of digital layers but my concerns were proved wrong immediately.  On the contrary, they sounded fantastic and didn't disappoint.  They played an absolutely blinding set and I was glad to have caught them at a time when they were still humbled and dumbfounded by their newfound fame and success.  They struck me as down to earth and genuine.  It was even nice to see Dan's amazingly upright hair gradually flatten throughout the night.  A truly great night... with each song played met with mass enthusiasm from a young crowd.  I was just really pleased for them and happy to see truly fresh, creativity in the heart of Birmingham. 

 

"It is not enough to be dumbstruck"

Crawl!

My neice has finally started crawling! Here she is showing off her skills- both forwards AND backwards! She is now 9 months and absorbing so much, copying actions like clapping, exploring surfaces and textures.  It looks like she's really pleased with her newly acomplished mobility.  She always puts a smile on my face. :-)

I have just finished a particularly manic week at work.  The weeks just seem to get busier and busier, and the nature of it can be stressful at times.  I realised today that I've not taken any big chunks of annual leave for about a year- choosing to have odd days here and there rather than a week at a time; I think I've suffered for it.  Whilst it's been important for me to be at work while my home life has been unstable, I wouldn't be surprised if my lack of leave has been one of the reasons for my general fatigue and many illnesses over the last few months.  To quote Bilbo Baggins " I feel thin... sort of stretched... like butter scraped over too much bread".  I always loved that quote; Tolkien was a master of similies and I think thats the only way you can use language properly to describe.  Words don't fit many things, but a similie or metaphor will paint the perfect picture.  Anyway, I digress.  I now have FOUR days off work.  Count 'em, Fri, Sat, Sun and Mon.. that's FOUR whole days.  FOUR.  Four days not having to get up at six o'clock.  FOUR days. I will sleep.

Tomorrow I plan to spend the afternoon catching up with my good mate Markuuuus as it was his birthday today- Happy Birthday Dude! We will chat and laugh, have a good grumble, eat food and have a few bevvies in a bar in Brum. The perfect way to spend a day off! Saturday I will be going to see Bastille (omgomgomg can't wait) and then Sunday is Mothers Day so I'll be off to Nottingham to see family.  Happy times!

Did I mention I have FOUR WHOLE DAYS OFF!!!!

(Not so) Baby Sister

So, this weekend was spent moving my sister up to her first rented house up in Newcastle.  No matter how old she gets this she's my lickle baby sister and it's both happy and sad that she's finally flown the nest. 

She has a lovely little house up there in Newcastle and I really wish her the best of happiness. My little sister is all grown up!!

Whilst Saturday was mainly spent travelling there, a trip to IKEA and unpacking many boxes, we spent a little time this morning having a walk round Newcastle city centre.  I picked out a pretty cool pub for her to try out before I next come to visit- I think it was called Brew Dog, and it had a giant Octopus hanging from one of the walls. 

On the way home, we also stopped by The Angel of the North.  I'm a big Gormley fan, and although it's an iconic image already seen by most of the UK popiulation, it's always worth seeing something like that with your own eyes. 

A nice weekend, which went far too quickly! Roll on this Friday for my four day weekend! Woop!