my my, haven't i been a busy girl; barely time to breathe since we last caught up - what with work, packing, handing shit over, doing good in the community, and then heading off, it's been a bit of a whirlwind really. let's start at the very beginning of the (last) week, shall we, and see what's been keeping me busy, and been the silver lining in another otherwise hectic and stressful week:
dinner with a difference: on monday, charlie, katy and i headed into a secret dining room in the back of a weird shop on brick lane, for a charity dinner/blogger event with a twist; every course was retro themed and perfectly paired with a deliciously boozy drink from the same era - the 70s. with abba and tom jones and fleetwood mac vinyls spinning in the corner, the ladies from marie curie really knew how to whet our appetite, before they genuinely did feed our appetites. more on this in the week, including some faaaab photos of the three of us.
early birthday presents: during the week, little gifts kept making their way to my desk, and getting me all excited for my impending birthday. last year's was a bigg'un so this year, i kind of decided to just let it happen and not be too fussy about it. obviously there was a trip to turkey with my gal, but there were no boozy dinners or drinks out, i kind of swept it under the rug (bar a few hints here, natch). so to have a couple lovely friends remember and send me sweet parcels in the post made me very, very, happy. especially when the contents of said parcels included more unicorn paraphernalia for my unicorner at work, and well-timed hair pins that matched my wednesday outfit... perfection!
a big old change up: on thursday i got my hurr did. like, did did. a whole lotta did. i made a decision and went with it, and some moments regret everything and at other times am glad i had the balls to do it. i've wanted pastel hair for as long as i can remember, but... i'm not sure it suits me. not yet. and it's not quite the colour i'd hoped for, so i have a second appointment at rockalily in a week to have another go at perfecting the recipe. wish me luck; full update to come.
holidaaaaaze: on friday, rebekah and i finally took off, istanbul bound, for four days of sightseeing, late-summer sun, and unexpected (turkish) delights. but not before heading to world duty free for a bit of a vip tour around the new and improved shop (it's masssssive!), the offer of a make over (we had no time!) or hand massage (it was so busy!), and quick stop at their tasting bar for vodka martinis - yes, thanks to belvedere vodka, we started our holiday right! i was sleepy within the hour, but thanks to the spesh birthday baggy they handed me over the counter, i had all the rejuvenating serums i needed to look my best at arrival. thanks so much to managers nicola and jane for making our departure so much more fab than usual!
tasty treats: istanbul has many a wonderful delicacy to offer its visitors, but none more wonderful than baklava, and limited edition moschino coke cans. ok so the cola tastes mainly the same, but oh so pretttttty, but baklava? how have i gone through life never knowing this tasty treat? this sweet, honeyed, pastry treat? that's a great question, and one i cannot fathom an answer to. obviously i had a sheltered upbringing, but fear not, for once you taste baklava, you cannot escape the desire to have it again. because of this, we ate it a lot over the weekend. a lot. and i don't regret a thing.
and that brings me to wednesday night, sick as a dog since i landed, in no way thanks to six hours of recycled air conditioning, thirty hours of summer rain, or many, many hours without a proper sleep, but hoping for a better day tomorrow. x
