Well folks here you have it, I thought I would update my blog.

You may remember last week I was a little excited at having been asked to be a bridesmaid at my friends wedding? Well that day just kept getting better, because I got home and found a letter from one of the prospective pen friends whom I had written a letter to weeks previously. She is from Louisiana; she is really nice so I will be writing back to her and no doubt using some of my beloved Smythson stationary.

Saturday night, I was invited to a friends’ birthday party, so Peter couldn’t make it unfortunately, so I went with my mum. My mum knows the person whose party it was anyway, so that was cool and we had a really good time. Had a dance and it was just really nice.

Sunday, I was up early for church, which seems to be a newly revived habit now. I enjoy it though, then afterwards we went to the antiques fair at the Ricoh arena, this is where the fun starts. I had gone with the intention of buying only a nice pill box as I am fed up of getting packets of paracetemol out of my bag when someone asks for them… and a pill box would take up much less space, but on my way around I first found a bargain Wedgewood plate (I collect wedgewood and cameos) so I bought that, and made up with it carried on looking around, when what should I stumble on but a kigu park a bag. Well you can imagine my joy, now for those of you who do not know what one is the Park-a-bag is a wonderful gadget, it folds flat in your handbag and then when you get to somewhere like a pub, club, café or anywhere else that you would not want to put your Chloe Paddington bag on the floor, you unfold the hook, it balances on the edge of the table where you are seated and the hook hangs down for you hang your bag under the table. Well I am sorry but I think this is the gadget of the century, something so damn simple. You would think that with people spending thousands of pounds on a handbag nowadays that these things would be through the roof in popularity, but they aren’t so I couldn’t believe my luck… I further couldn’t believe my luck when it only cost me £5… I fully intend to use it, and everyone expects me to pull something totally random out and use it anyway because all of my friends and family accept that I am a quirky somewhat individual … individual! Oh yes, and I bought a limoge pill box!

After dinner at the Holyhead pub the rest of the evening was spent relaxing at Peter’s new pad, what a way to spend a Sunday!

I’m so excited, I simply have to share my news with you all my blogstream friends. My friend has just asked me to not only arrange her Hen night, but also to be a bridesmaid at her wedding.

I think it is really nice that she trusts me to arrange her ‘last night of freedom’ but also that she wants me to share in her special day. The wedding is next year, so I have a lot of time to be excited in now!

I had a really busy weekend. Friday night, I was to be going out with Mr Mc in the evening, so I got togged up in my nice black skirt and pink corset and he picked me up at about 8.30pm. We headed straight off to Prague bar. I’ve kinda got attached to Prague, reason being I love drinking champagne, when you get a glass of Champagne in some of the other city centre bars they give you the cheap Mercier brut when you order by the glass, but in Prague they give you a mini bottle of Piper Heidsick… you can get mini bottles in Careys too, Veuve Clicquot, but it’s much more expensive. Anyway, after a couple of hours posing in Prague we headed up to Carey’s… god was that disappointing. We left soon after.

Saturday morning I was up with the lark ready for my mum and I to go on our shopping trip to London. We have been planning this for a couple of weeks, we were going to visit Camden market, then Bond Street and my mum was looking for a new handbag. So off we set to Camden on the tube… I hate the tube, it freaks me out ever since July 7th, but then I guess it’s a necessary evil so I haven’t much choice. What I love about London is that almost everyone carries a designer bag, it’s great just to see them all going past… unfortunately about 70% of them were carrying the same designer bag as me, the Chloe Paddington. Camden market was great; it always has such a buzz about it. We bought some gorgeous Moroccan food, I wish I could cook it because the taste was heavenly, then we went around Camden, they have great replica stuff there, but I didn’t buy any. They also have some great vintage stores; I was so pleased when I found a white vintage 80s evening dress. It’s knee length and low cut, it’s ruched the entire way down and has a big jewel detail on the front, it’s so flamboyant… and yes so 80s, I can’t wait to get out in it. I hope I look cool vintage wearing bird though and not 80s throwback. Mum is soaking it as we speak to restore it to it’s former sparkle. Mum couldn’t find any bags on Camden… I was tempted to buy Peter a lovely Louis Vuitton Damier man bag… but all he ever does is moan about man bags and say he doesn’t want one; I think it would have looked lovely on him. Shortly after it started snowing, we decided it might be time to head back to Bond Street... so we battled back through the punks and skin heads (who look so cool) and finally got to the tube.

Green park! What a lovely stretch of greenery that is, you get off the tube at green park and come out at Hyde Park Corner, that’s where we were, we then headed past the Ritz… mum was keen to get in and have a look, but she had jeans on so I had to remind her we wouldn’t be allowed in. It’s smart dress only at the Ritz. Bond Street was great, we went in all the best shops Prada, Chanel, Dolce, Cartier… and we saw the most amazing 45 carat diamond in the window of Graff. We had coffee in DKNY and it was all very glamorous. However I couldn’t help noticing while we were sitting people watching in DKNY the stark difference between Bond Street and Camden. In Camden market, people are less well off, they are looking for bargains, but it’s fun, there is a buzz in the air of happiness and joy and the fact that people are hunting for the ultimate bargain just makes it even more lively. There is music, hustle and bustle and the smell of beautiful food coming from all directions. There are lots of tourists and bargains, and so much to see. On Bond Street however, it seems more solemn, people are generally alone, and although they carry arms full of designer carrier bags, they don’t carry smiles with them. They shouldn’t have a care in the world… the woman sitting next to us paid £15 for 1 sandwich (!) I could never afford that, and yet her face was as long as the Thames… it kind of made it clear that money does not buy happiness… there were people on Camden market buying entire outfits for the price of her sandwich… and yet they were happy!! I wouldn’t like to lose my happiness in that way. Anyway, back to Bond Street, as we were walking along a chauffeur driven Rolls Royce, gleaming black, pulled up opposite Van Cleef and Arpels. I stood amazed, it had the personalised registration SAB… and soon a crowds was gathering, security men were scattering taking into headsets (I wonder if those work Bluetooth like mine) and the crowd was getting bigger, it was obvious someone famous was in our midst.. but who? People kept asking me, but I didn’t know, and then the rolls drove away… we moved along to look at the jewels in the next window and soon it was back… the crowd getting even bigger, and then a young foreign girl asked if it was mine?! I wish… I know I am a lady, but c’mon! Anyway, whoever it was, was not going to come out of the shop… so we carried on shopping, Burberry, Furla, Jimmy Choo… and then my beloved Smythson. I have decided I am going to buy a lovely leather bound London A-Z… I am in London frequently, so I think I can justify it. It’s £90, but I will want my name embossed on it which will make it nearer the £100 so I am going to give £10 a month to mum until I have enough to buy it. I can’t wait, won’t I look posh on the underground with my Fuchsia pink leather A-Z. I also still want a writing file from there; I might save for that when I have bought the A-Z. We eventually reached bond street and had a great time in the massive Selfridges, I bought a cool new umbrella and then we headed off back for the train… mum didn’t get a bag, but she had a good day. Peter was waiting to pick us up in Coventry, he brought us home and mum put on a video for us all while we warmed up… unfortunately I fell asleep on Peter though, I was just so wrecked from a busy day shopping.

Sunday morning, I was woken by my mobile, I thought it was Peter phoning me to remind me to get out of bed for church… but it was my friend Jenny with the wonderful news that she was in Coventry and her and her boyfriend were now engaged. Wonderful! They are such a sweet couple. Peter came and picked me up for church, it was lovely and then we bought all of our Easter cards in the church shop and Peter bought some new things for his house. We headed into town to meet Jenny and Gareth, Heather was there too. Jenny’s ring is lovely, tanzanite and diamond and we had drinks and looked at wedding magazines in Browns. Peter and I left though after about an hour and headed off for lunch at another pub. It was lovely to spend time like that with him, and the subject of marriage did come up… I’m not sure how I feel about marriage. I think I would like to get engaged one day because it means so much more that just being in a serious relationship… it’s a commitment isn’t it? Marriage is scary though, so it would probably be the world’s longest engagement, it would be nice though. Anyway after looking round some shops we had a lovely coffee in Prague before heading home. What a lovely way to spend a Sunday I say. When I do bother to get out of bed in the morning it does be a nice day loll. I spent the rest of the day vegging, and finally finished lipstick jungle… but that is a whole other blog entry.

Well, it has been a rather long time since I last updated my blog, and as Peter pointed out this morning, I have a lot to update you on… so I suggest you go and make yourself a nice cup of tea, you can make one for me too if you like (black one sugar) and settle down for a read of my life since last Wednesday, God, has it really been a week since I last got to this? Ready? Ok, I’ll begin.

Thursday I made the silly mistake of putting my novel, lipstick jungle for sale on ebay. I was so sure that 10 days would be plenty of time to finish the second half of it, but now I find it is coming to the final days of the auction and I am still trying to read the book… hopefully I’ll get it finished before the cheque is cashed, but it really is a good book. Also, at some point last week, I wrote to 2 prospective penpals, I found them on Sassociations and as many of you will know I have been moaning for some time about the lost art of letter writing, well it seems there is a whole community of people out there just dying to send and receive mail… proper mail, not email. So I settled down last week with my Smythson writing paper and Smythson envelopes, and wrote to 2 different girls in the states, I just hope they reply. Then Thursday night, Peter and I decided we would go out to the pub. Such a wonderful pastime… well at least it was until I decided I wanted to sample something called ‘pink Clove alcoholic cordial’… it tasted like the mouth rinse that they give you at the dentists after they have given you a filling… not nice at all, so I won’t be making that mistake again.

Friday after work, I had tickets booked at the Loft theatre in Leamington, for me and my mum to go and see Blithe spirit, the Noel Coward black comedy. One of my acquaintances from work was playing a role in it, which made it even more desirable to go and see, but it’s a wonderful story anyway. I seem to be getting rather used to sitting in theatres, but we both agreed that was a fantastic way to spend an evening. The actors were wonderful and really did the play justice… it made me want to get into amateur dramatics myself, although I had to admit to myself that between the work, the boyfriend, the photography, the calligraphy, the reading, the shopping, the courses and the social life, I might not actually be able to fit any more in… well not at the moment anyway.

Saturday morning we were back in Leamington shopping. We seem to spend lots of time there lately, it’s a good job it is so close. I went in to get my Prada glasses checked over at the opticians and saw the most gorgeous pair of Chanel glasses, I wanted them, but mum said that they didn’t suit me… so they are still in the shop. Saturday night Peter and I went out again… this time we went into town, I had my favourite (and Peter’s favourite I should say) mini skirt on, and I can’t remember which top. But we had a fabulous time in Dogma and Prague, drinking baby Piper champagne and eating pitta bread dips and potato wedges. There was quite a good crowd out and we had one amusing episode where these 2 young girls kept moving positions in order to be in Peter’s line of view… that made me laugh, I think it made him laugh too after he had gotten over the initial feelings of discomfort.

Peter has been mentioning for some time that he would like to go to church… and to a catholic church too as we are both Catholics, although you would never guess from the amount we attend churches. So Sunday morning, I went to pick him up (I forgot to tell you before this that I had had a hire car for the weekend from work so that I could drive up to Manchester on Monday morning for a meeting, it was a ford Mondeo, 2 litre diesel and brand new), so I went to pick him up in the hire car, and me him and my mum went to Christ the King church, it was absolutely packed, I never realised so many people went to church nowadays, and what a lovely service it was too. We all really enjoyed it, and polished of the morning with a visit to the local pub, the Holyhead for drinks and a snack. I spent the rest of the afternoon at home with mum, we went for a long walk around the park, then I read some more of the book which I need to finish urgently, before Peter came back to pick me up again at 4pm. It was time for our tour of the new gym which we have joined at the Ricoh arena. It isn’t open yet, so our inductions are booked for the 21st of this month, but I think it is going to be lovely, with a massive view over the pitch and LCD televisions attached to some of the equipment, I’m really looking forward to us going to the gym together and getting fit and healthy, and about time too.

Monday!!! Well I’m not a morning person, but I had to be awake at 5am Monday morning to drive to Manchester. Mum decided that she would take up the passenger seat in the car and keep me company along the way as she likes Manchester… I’m not so sure she liked it that much when we hit the snow, but we got there in the end, and I went off to my meeting while mum busied herself in local shops. When I came out we drove out to the Trafford centre, which is a big shopping centre in Manchester, they have Selfridges and John Lewis and the like, we spent some time there and I think the shop assistants in Selfridges thought I was rich because I was carrying my Chloe Paddington bag, they kept saying hello to me… as it transpired all I could afford at the time was a new pair of knickers… and they were off the sale rail. I was looking for a nice jumper to wear out of an evening in this cold weather, but unfortunately the shops are now full of summer season stock, and I didn’t like the ones in the sale. When we left the Trafford centre though, we were taken by surprise. Sitting in the car in the car park, I looked up to where the hedgerow was on the embankment between the car park and the motorway, when what should I see but a big cat! By big I mean Puma or Leopard… I tapped mum on the arm and pointed to what I was seeing… I won’t repeat mum’s words, but needless to say we were shocked, it really was a big cat… we aren’t imagining it… we wouldn’t get out of the car and that was the subject of much conversation on the drive back to Coventry. Yesterday morning when I got to the internet, I reported it to the big cat society, in a way it is quite a scary thing to see… in another it is quite awe inspiring to think you have seen one… especially in such unlikely circumstances. It’s ashame I was so shocked or I might have got my camera out and taken a photograph.

And so yesterday was spent a quiet evening at Peter’s mums house, teaching her and her partner how to use their new mobile phones…. Talking of which I didn’t tell you about my new mobile did I? Well it’s the one below… fab or what.



Oh and mum wants a miniature Daschund now… I still want a pug.
I hope you enjoyed your cup of tea, I did warn you it was a long one.

I went to see ‘Casanova’ at the pictures lastnight. I’m not sure about it, I mean I liked it, partly because it had Heath Ledger in, but in reality I was expecting much more debauchery and less fantastical comedy. I think I was expecting it more to be like the ‘Libertine’ which stared Johnny Depp which was out last year. I can’t really say I was disappointed, it was still a good film, but just not as good as I thought it was going to be.

More importantly though, my chanel earrings arrived yesterday, ooooh they are lovely, they are the little CCs like Paris Hilton wears. I’m really pleased with them… much more pleased with them than I was the film.