The Libertines at Leeds Academy

At the beginning of December Sam and I went to Leeds to see The Libertines. They're my favourite band, ever, and I've spent the last decade and a half watching them and their associated bands. I didn't see The Libertines themselves until 2014, when they were back together to make a new album. It's still amazing to me that they're still going, despite everything!

So when tickets came out in September and they were playing close by in Leeds, I asked Sam if she wanted to go. She had a Ticketmaster gift voucher, so said yes. She and I met through The Libertines originally, way back in 2006, on Livejournal, but she isn't as bothered about them as I am. Still, at least we would get to see them together, which was nice.

We went before doors opening as I needed to get a seat on the balcony. My friends Rachael and Sarah were there so we chatted to them before going in. The support bands were okay - a guy with a guitar who I quite liked, and then Cruel Hearts Club who are a bit too electronic for me but sounded alright. Sam and I had a couple of drinks as my mum had taken me and Lee was picking me up as parking is a nightmare round Leeds Academy!

The Libertines were good - sounding tight, fast, enthusiastic. They got the crowd absolutely bouncing and even from the balcony we had a decent view. I love them a lot, and am looking forward to hopefully hearing new music from them soon.

Me and Sam before they came on

Taking a bow right at the end

And a copy of the setlist, although they put Bucket Shop in and finished with Don't Look Back Into the Sun, which I was glad about as I LOVE Bucket Shop and can take or leave I Get Along!

Band of Gold at Leeds Grand

At the beginning of December Sam and I went to Leeds Grand Theatre to see Band of Gold. I saw it advertised absolutely ages ago and asked her if she wanted to go. I was a bit too young to see the TV show back in the 90s, although I think my parents watched it. I like Kay Mellor's work so wanted to go.

I arrived early to the theatre and there was a red carpet outside! Kay Mellor herself was there! Apparently the show was being filmed for something, and that was why. I went in to sit just inside to wait for Sam, and the actors who play Priya and Vanessa on Emmerdale came in too! Gaynor Faye was in the show so I guess they had come to see her, which was nice.

Sam arrived and we went straight in to sit down in the theatre. The show has quite a lot of transitioning between scenes which I found a bit distracting. It's quite bitty, you know? I did think it was funny and I liked seeing it, but I probably wouldn't see it again.

In the interval I moved out of our row to let people out and managed to trip up a step between our row and the next. I fell over completely on to my face, and I really shocked myself. Sam came running over, first aid arrived too. I had banged my arm and my knee so I was given some ice packs for them. I was okay, just a bit shaken. I managed to watch the rest of the show, and then drove home. Once I got home my arm was starting to swell up and then I got a massive egg shaped bruise on it. My entire body hurt the next day. Not a great end to the night!

The banner outside

And Kay Mellor!

What I Wore 2nd December

On the 2nd of December I went to craft club like I do most Monday mornings. It was a cold day so I pulled out my Christmas jumper and this dress. I haven't worn it in ages. Laura gave me it a few years ago, and I love the paisley pattern and the colours. I feel like it's a bit of an odd shape on me, but I'm also trying to not care too much. I think it looks fine in the photos, and it's really soft and quite warm, so I'm going to try to wear it more often. It's a nice length and the sleeves are a good length too.

My jumper is lovely and cosy, but when I took it off when I arrived I realise it had a few marks on it, so I didn't get a photo of it. I threw it in the washing basket when I got home.

Jane took this photo of me as craft club finished, bless her!

Films of the Month - November

I didn't watch many films in November, or at least it felt that way, although the actual number is eleven. I was busy writing for Nanowrimo. I didn't actually write 50,000 words of one project, but I did write 50,000 words over several projects! I got three zines finished ready for sticking, and I wrote a fanfic for an exchange I'm doing. I'm counting it as a win! Sometimes rules just need to be broken.

Here's the films I did watch:

Someone had recommended Girls Trip to me so when I saw it on Netflix I thought I would watch it. I enjoyed it

This was on when Lee and I were away in Grassington. I loved this film as a kid and enjoyed the rewatch

I've never seen Reservoir Dogs so Lee and I watched it while we were on holiday. I thought it was okay

Airplane is one of Lee's favourite films so we watched this while we were away too. It's daft but I like it

I've seen The Help before but watched it again, I really like it

I read the book Let It Snow last Christmas (my review is here) so when I saw that the film adaptation had come to Netflix I watched it straight away, even though it was a bit early to be festive. I liked it, although the book is better

Netflix also recommend The Laundromat, which is about money laundering. I thought it was really good, I would recommend it

I've never seen the live action version of Cinderella and I liked it. It looks really pretty

Lee and I watched Life of Brian and it never fails to make me laugh

I've never seen Mrs Brown, either. It's about Queen Victoria and a man she got close to after Albert died. It's really lovely, Billy Connolly is great

Lastly I watched the Secret Life of Pets 2. I liked it, although it's not as good as the first one

Seeing Friends in Mirfield

At the end of November I got together with three of my four friends from 6th form college. It's not often the five of us manage to get together and unfortunately Michelle wasn't able to make it from London. But Ailsa was coming up from Didcot so me and Gillian and Amy made plans to see her.

We all went to Gillian's house in Mirfield. She made jacket potatoes and Ailsa had brought a three bean chilli and an avocado salsa which were both so good. I was beginning to feel better and could actually taste the food, which was delightful! We sat chatting for ages and then Ailsa had to go.

Gillian had baked gingerbread, including vegan gingerbread for Amy, and then she made royal icing (again with some vegan - made with aqua faba - for Amy) and we made really little and cute gingerbread houses. I'm not very artistic with things like this but I enjoyed gluing together with the icing and using all the sprinkles to make them look pretty.

I was wearing my hand tie-dyed top, originally a white t-shirt from Simply Be, and my Scarlett & Jo skirt with this gorgeous yellow pattern. I thought they looked really good together, very bright and colourful. I also put this pastel heart bracelet on - I've had it forever but don't wear it often. It is very 90s mosher aesthetic, don't you think? 15 year old me would have worn this every day of her life!

I also put on my rainbow lace sparkly trainers from the vow renewal. Ailsa hadn't seen them before and loved them!

Ever so carefully decorating our little houses

Mine - I do love the sprinkles!

Rainbow shoes

I still wasn't at a hundred percent but I think I was looking a lot better than I had been

Very cute little bracelet that matched the outfit

Christmas Shopping in Sheffield

I usually go shopping with my mum one day before Christmas and have a bit of a special day doing Christmas shopping and having a nice lunch. This year we had planned to go to Manchester. I wanted to go to the Northern Quarter and go in all the indepdent shops there, and then have lunch there before going into the Arndale centre for some shopping too. We had decided to go at the end of November and had even booked train tickets from my village.

Then I caught a cold. At the beginning of the week it didn't feel too bad, but then it got worse in my sinuses and I felt awful, especially at night. Whenever I laid down my face would hurt, which would stop me sleeping very well. I ended up only getting about four hours a night. On the Friday morning that my mum and I were supposed to be going shopping, I messaged her and said I was too ill to go.

She managed to get a refund on the tickets, minus an admin fee, which was pretty good. But I still needed to go shopping and time was running out. So I suggested we go to Sheffield. We parked at Nunnery Square on the Park & Ride and got the tram to the cathedral. My mum's never been on a Sheffield tram before! She was very excited.

We got off and went into Caffe Nero for a drink. I had their hot chocolate Milano which is really rich and yummy. I could barely taste it though, which was a shame. Then we went down Chapel Walk into the small shops there, where I picked up quite a few presents. The Christmas market was on the main precinct there, which was an unexpected surprise. We looked at all the stalls there, then wandered into Orchard Square to go in the shops there. By this time we had both managed to pick up most of what we needed, so we went down to Pizza Hut for lunch. Again, I couldn't taste it too well, but it was just what we needed.

We got back on the tram and back into the car, then went to Asda for the rest of what we needed. My mum wanted a new top for Christmas so she tried a few on. I got nearly all of the rest of what I needed in Asda. By this time it was around 3.30 and my mum wanted another drink, but because of what the Parkway can be like I said we should come back closer to mine.

We ended up getting a drink in our gym which has a Starbucks concession in it! It was nice though.

I had managed pretty well even though I was streaming with cold and leaving a trail of tissues in my wake. And I felt better knowing that I had crossed so many things off the list.

I didn't take any pictures except of the drinks I had, so here you go:

Chocolate Milano

This black cherry cream soda is my favourite drink ever, but I can never find it to buy anywhere. At some point I'm just going to have to buy a case of it! 

This Starbucks Christmas hot chocolate is toasted marshmallow flavour and it's really nice, I would recommend it!

Sunday Out in Sheffield

Robin Stevens, one of my favourite authors, was doing a signing at an independent children's bookshop in Sheffield, back in November. I immediately decided Lee and I would go, and then I said we should have something to eat for lunch afterwards. Lee agreed, so it was bright and early on a Sunday morning when we set off to Sheffield.

The bookshop, Rhyme and Reason, is on Eccleshall Road, and it's really lovely. It's absolutely crammed with books and I'll definitely have to go back and have a proper browse. Robin did a little reading then signed her books. I waited until the end because it was just me and then lots of small girls, and I didn't want them to wait for me, that's not fair. Lee and I had a nice chat to Robin - she's very, very lovely. I got all of my books signed (there's ten and I own them all!) and by the time we had finished it was still only half past ten!

It was a little bit early for lunch so we decided to go to Graze Inn, where we went in the summer with Bettie and Jen for brunch. We liked the food before and indeed, I had the same thing, a vegetarian breakfast. Lee had eggs Benedict but without bacon. If you're having brunch then you get free toast and juice which is nice and appreciated.

We got home at about half past twelve, meaning I could relax for the rest of the day, which I really needed as I was coming down with something.

I wore my burgundy Scarlett & Jo Lollidot dress with hearts on, it's one of my favourite dresses and although it's thin cotton it's fine to wear in the winter with a cardigan on.

Robin reading part of her latest book

Look how beautiful the book set up was!

Robin was SO gentle with her young readers, which I really loved

Me and Robin - her dress had tiny macarons on it!

My nail polish was Nails Inc Carlton Gardens. I wasn't sure about it at first, but I think it looks better from afar than it does up close. I like the colour

Breakfast! Poached eggs, garlic mushroom, a veggie sausage, a chargrilled avocado, a potato rosti, and halloumi sticks

I took this when I got home but you get the idea. I was wearing leggings but had taken them off already

I got a bookmark and a badge and the only book that I didn't have, which I bought in the bookshop