so, friday was my last day at work before starting my new job today. as is the tradition, a last day in a job almost certainly calls for some sort of commiseratory after work drinks, which almost always ends in tears. well, a good friday night out normally ends with me in tears, but i was on such fine form; i'd gotten through the whole last day, the amazing leaving poem my friends and colleagues had written for me and read aloud to the whole floor, and my unprepared little thank you speech after being presented with some wee parting gifts too (the new daisy dream by marc jacobs! oooh aaah). during all of that, i wasn't sad. i was glad that it was all coming to an end so well. i said all my goodbyes and headed to the pub to promptly get pissed with my mates.hours in, i was still fine. bleary eyed, yes, but fine. it wasn't until my line manager got up to say goodbye as she was leaving, that i completely lost my shit. the waterworks didn't stop after that, but... who can blame me? it's supposed to be a sad thing, leaving a job. and i'm bloody scared about what's next, so it's only right i have a few feels about it all at the moment.
so, saturday morning was tough. i... don't know how i got home, but i did. i am almost positive i was trying to execute ninja-like moves to ensure i was quiet as a church mouse so as to not disturb my flatmate who i suspect was asleep, but failed miserable. i even remember turning my radio on when i got in? circa midnight? who does that. me, apparently. so yeah, apologies to my flatmate nicola for that sorry state of affairs. i stayed in bed much longer than necessary, then... put a load of washing on? adulting: you're doing it right. by about 1pm i'd realised i hadn't eaten food since lunch the day before (editor retracts the previous adulting comment), so had a shower and left the house in search of food.
while out in the sunshine i made the impulse decision to get a pedicure - to treat onesself, too, so ended up sitting in a comfy chair for another hour while a little asian man went to town on my talons. ahhh, it was beautiful watching him work. a couple hours later i was fresh as a daisy, polished, primed and ready to head out again to back it up and hit the town with another bunch of incredible people. hopefully no more tears.
about half past four i wanted to quit life because it was so goddamn hot, and there's just no respite from the heat. knowing i had to meet people in an hour and a bit in islington, i gave in and headed for the train early, knowing that the overground is almost always frostily air conditioned, and even if it meant i was way too early, it also meant i would be far less hot -- a compromise i was totally happy to have made. it was a rookie error wearing my fringe down, i'm telling you. you'd think after years of having this thing on my forehead, i'd know when to call it a day...i met carmen and amy around 6pm at the white swan in inslington, where we planned to eat and drink and be merry before we headed across the road for out big party plans; another night out at musical bingo! this would make it my... fourth? i think? maybe fourth including gospeloke... i can't keep track, but either way, it was these girls' first time at the rodeo. i was so excited, but could tell they were a little apprehensive... people are when they don't know what to expect. hint: expect an incredible time.
so, with my resolve to cut out red meat full-time (have i told you this yet? i don't know. it makes me sick), and try to avoid chicken unless i've prepared it myself, it really limited my options. i've always though, oh being vegetarian can't be that hard (options wise - i get a lot of them are extra fussy because of the ethics of it all, which isn't why i'm doing this. and there's no judgement here; everyone just do you, yeah?), but when scanning the menu for the vege options, i was limited to... salad, or pasta. and, the pasta that i wanted had onions in it that couldn't be taken out. so, that left me with one salad option (that i could have outside of other dietary restrictions... you guys, my life is hard); the freedom salad. it had cous cous in it, which filled it out a bit, but... salads are not the one when you're planning to drink.
within the hour, our threesome had become a seven-some, with the addition of davinia, ani, nat and cat, and then an hour on still, another four joined the party and we headed over to the garage for the party!
it was stinking hot. there was no air, and no respite. and it was only going to get worse. we ordered our drinks, took our (reserved! wahoo, vip baby!) seats, and waiting. the first round kicked off with the infamous 'queens of pop' round, which saw us belting out incredible renditions of 'eternal flame', 'crazy in love', turn back time', and many many more. there were confetti cannons. there were glow in the dark bracelets. there was a dash to the bathroom to pin my fringe up and out of my face. this was only an hour in. the girls whose first time it was at bingo were having the time of their lives, just as i knew they would.next round was karaoke classics, which could only mean one thing; it was singalong time! what's incredible about the whole musical bingo affair, is that no-one's there to show off, to pull, to pick up - everyone is there to have a fun night out, and let loose, and so when the first few bars of 'bohemian rhapsody' came on, everyone in the room - all 200 of us, got to our feet and belted it out at the top of our voices. falsetto. tenors. head banging. the whole opera. saturday night's aren't really like this, are they?
another hour in, and there was carmen, on stage, singing 'creep' into the microphone, flanked on all sides by sexy burlesque dancers, showered in confetti, and applauded by the masses. she's even on the musical bingo instagram, if you follow them (do, if you're in london, then come to the next one!), and considering not three hours earlier i'm sure she was trying to get out of going, i'm going to call that a win and announce that my work here is done.
i turned the gothic princess into a musical bingo goddess for one night.
i am legend.
