this was the first of my eight weeks of mondays off, and boyyy did i need it off after being away in bournemouth over the weekend. it got to a point where if i didn't do any laundry, then i'd literally have no clothes to wear. not ideal. in my short week at work, i feel like i worked extra hard because i was out of the office for a day and had a bunch of work to catch up on. but then i was also like "four-day week, yeah!" and didn't really care, and counted down until the weekend. awful conundrum to be in. this was also the week of that special time of the month we all look forward to - payday; counting those pennies in the purse in the days before that wonderful event is always fun, isn't it? other things that are fun:
autumn colours: i know it's been autumn for a while now, but through the cold mornings and rainy days, sometimes it's easy to miss the beauty in the season. it's my favourite season too, you know. and that's not because of my birthday, because i'm a spring baby; i was born in the southern hemisphere. also, australia is bloody hot - leaves don't turn the colours they do here back home; we miss out on the reds and pinks and yellows because they go straight from green to, well, burnt. that's even if they're green to start i mean. so to be reminded of the season by way of an entire wall of red and pink leaves on my walk to work on tuesday was juuuuuust wonderful.
hangover food: on tuesday night i went round mike's to impress him with my stir fry making skills, and ended up being shown up with his incredible beer bread making skills instead (boy has mad kitchen skills!), so gave in and drank a bottle of wine while chatting to his flatmates about how much better die hard with a vengeance is over die hard. karma's a bitch, because i missed my connecting tube and had to get the last train from london bridge at 12:40 wednesday morning, meaning the pork crackling roll from eat was pretty high on my agenda on wednesday. i regret... nothing.
finally getting the joke: i had an afternoon off on thursday for a personal development afternoon as imposed by work. i'd completely forgotten about the session, and had nothing planned. so i decided to do something that would develop me as a person in the 21st century, and watch back to the future, so that i could finally be on the same page as everyone else. and so that these amazing (and not-so amazing) brand pieces could make more sense to me. i thought i'd hate it - that's why i'd never seen it. like, never! despite knowing much about the films, obviously, i'd just... never gotten around to it, so when little shaun hooked me up with the trilogy, i knew i had to just give in and do it. and it was great! i really enjoyed it - despite the dodgy 80s make up and effects, i really, really, finally, get it.
all the food in london: i've eaten a lot of meat this week. i am still in a meat coma, and i will go into this in detail soon - i swear. but maaaaaan alive, i definitely did my stomach proud. in one 72 hour period i ate: rib ends, chicken wings, swine fries, tacos, some kind of indian slider things, apple strudel, pork roast, dripping chips and a beef cheeseburger. i meeeeaaaaaan, what even.
group hangs: on friday my wider team at work got the afternoon off to go and celebrate how awesome we are, and we did that by heading to the new hawker house "street feast" offering in canada water, and ate all the meat (see above) and drank all the bier. for free, because: awesome, which i mentioned. this year has been touuuugh, we have been biiiiiiizy, and very, very understaffed, so it was really bloody nice to get a bit of some time back to ourselves, and a bit of beer money to show us we've been doing a great job. go team!
re-pinking the pink: on saturday i redid my hair for the firsts time by myself without a hairdresser's help. it's not as pink as it was when charly at rockalily did it, but it's nice. she mixed a rose and a lilac, and i went a straight rose over the copper blonde, so it's just a really soft peach. which is pretty! i think next i will try a darker and more permenant pink with a touch of apricot, to keep it golden. still loving the unicorn hair though! caught up with my galz on saturday and they were all so complimentary, which is always a bonus!
galz palz: on saturday i got to have a catch up with some of my favourite ladies; pals that i made in my first job way back when, and who i see very frequently these days, but for who i have eternal time for and the pleasure of having in a group whatsapp chat which mostly covers topics that range from strange bodily noises, my frienddaughter lexie jean, carmen's impending trip to australia, and the fact lou's now engaged. these girls are some of the best i've ever met, and four hours with them literally feels like one hundred. oh, i mean, barely anything. *wiiiiiink*
black out: after lunch on saturday i headed east to meet bex and fingers at the pub to watch the rugby. you heard me! sport! i watched the rugby! so i used to live in new zealand right, and you kind of ~have to like rugby. it's unavoidable, because it's the national pastime. my first ever rugby game was an all blacks game, so naturally i have been supporting them in the world cup. no, not australia. because i don't care about australian sports, but i care about the all blacks, and how they effect an entire nation. they are sportsmen; team mates; brothers; warriors. they leave everything on the field, and no matter what the score, they go home to a nation of a few million as heroes every time. no passing the blame. no letting a country down. no excuses. genuine good sports, top blokes, good boys. so yeah, i support the all blacks. and this weekend, if/when they face australia in the final, i will wear black.
early nights: as per my netflix and chill post recently, after the rugby i went home and rested. because tired. because needed a break. because a lot of socialising is hard work, and sometimes i just need to chill out by myself. and that's ~totally ~ok... don't you think?
