Afternoon out with Bettie and Jen in Derbyshire

On the 11th of June Lee and I had a little trip to Matlock with Bettie and Jen. Lee and I had decided to go anyway and I invited Bettie and Jen just a few days before. We haven't seen them in ages so I was really glad they could come with us. We picked them up and set off for Tansley, where we had booked a table for 12.30 at The Gate Inn. Lee had chosen it and it was a good choice - the portions were absolutely huge! I had a goats cheese and balsamic pizza and some chips. Really good! 

We then drove to Matlock and went in a couple of shops. It was incredibly hot though so we didn't go too far. We then drove to Matlock Bath and had some delicious ice cream. We drove to Cromford to find the river, hoping we would be able to dip our feet in. It was lovely - cold and quite a difficult scramble down the bank for me but I'm so glad I did it. 

We then went to Cromford Mills and just got a drink in the cafe there. It was just after 4pm and we were all hot and bothered so we drove home after that. But it was a nice relaxed afternoon in the sunshine!

Here we all are in the pub!

My delicious pizza. It was huge so I brought half of it home to eat the next day

Lee and I paddling

Sam's Birthday Day Out in Leeds

The 10th of June was Sam's birthday and she wanted to go to Leeds, so she booked bottomless brunch at Turtle Bay for me and her and Jacqui. Then she added a booking at The Alchemist on Greek Street for after that, too. We considered going to the cinema but decided instead to do an escape room! I've never done one before so that was really exciting for me! We met near the escape room in The Light at about 12.30pm. 

Sam had chosen the Blackbeard themed escape room, so we were shown to it and then left in it. I'm not sure how much use I actually was but I had good fun doing it. We asked for quite a bit of help because we would just get stuck on one thing, but there was no penalty for doing so. We finished in 53 minutes! We were pleased with that, and our games master said that we hadn't asked for loads of help and to bear in mind that there were only three of us whereas some teams have six or eight people. I really enjoyed it and would do another one in the future. 

We went down to Turtle Bay for 2pm. We had tons of cocktails - three the same so we took it in turns to choose each time. You can choose any of the brunch food or wraps and burgers, so I went for the vegan chicken sandwich and had some sweet potato fries on the side too. Service on the drinks was a bit slow but the waiter kept taking orders which was good. You get two hours and it's just over £30 which I felt was good value. 

We finished our drinks and walked to The Alchemist. I've only been in the one on Greek Street a couple of times and it was busy because the weather was so nice! We ordered some drinks and some desserts. My first drink, a Screwball like the ice cream, was not that great; I wouldn't get it again. But my dessert was delicious! It was a s'mores cookie dough thing and was utterly gorgeous. I also had the colour changing cocktail which I love at The Alchemist. 

We all walked back to the train station together and I got the train home to Barnsley where Lee picked me up. It was such a lovely day for Sam's birthday! I was wearing one of my new dresses from Lady V Vintage; I bought four recently when they were on sale for £15 each. It's the first time I wore this one and I really love the watermelon pattern. 

It's summer so I'm trying to wear my contact lenses and then I can wear my pretty sunglasses too! Lolly gave me these ones and they're so much fun! I thought they and my lipstick (a Models Own one) matched the watermelons on my dress perfectly

There's a cinema in The Light so I had to go and play in the Barbie box. I am very excited to see the film!

These are some of the different escape rooms available

We escaped! I am really pleased we managed it!

The three of us in Turtle Bay

I don't remember which this cocktail was but it was nice

My vegan motherclucker burger - it was delicious!

Mojito! Nice and refreshing

This was in The Alchemist, isn't it fancy?! It had disco lights in the bottom too 

My gorgeous dessert

And finally the colour changing one!

Lunch and Shopping with Friends at Meadowhall

On the 4th of June I headed to Meadowhall to meet up with Lolly, Becky, and Georgina. Becky has been living in Canada for a fair few years but now she's back in Leeds so Lolly wanted to arrange a meet up. Georgina lives in Sheffield so we invited her too - she hasn't been out much because of the pandemic so I was really pleased she said she would come along! We arranged to meet at Starbucks near Yours at 11am, so once we did that we each got a drink and chatted for a bit.

We then headed into The Perfume Shop; Georgina is a brand ambassador for them and we both love perfume so we tried some new ones and smelt a ton! Then we headed into Next - Georgina had been recently for the opening of their new beauty hall so wanted to show the rest of us. It's lovely - it looks really fancy and the staff were all really helpful. I picked up some Next perfume, which I think is really nice for the price you pay for it. This was a small bottle so perfect for chucking in my handbag for use during the day. I also got some White Pear and Nectarine shower gel from a brand I haven't heard of before but I love the scent of it. 

We had a table booked at Las Iguanas at 12.30 so Becky and I headed there so that we weren't late and waited for the others. Georgina uses a wheelchair so we had said this on the booking and it was no problem so that was good. I had a passionfruit mocktail and then tapas - nachos, cauliflower bites, and beach cheese which is a bit like halloumi and is served with a chilli jam. Everyone liked their food I think and the drinks being two for one is always good!

After lunch we headed back to Yours, I looked at a few bits but didn't buy anything. By this time Becky had to go catch her train so Georgina went that way with her, and Lolly and I popped into a couple more places before walking back to Marks & Spencer where I had parked and where Lolly could go catch her train too. It was a lovely afternoon though, I am so glad we did it and hopefully we can do it again soon! I was wearing one of my new Lady V dresses that I got in April and haven't worn before. This one has pale pink hearts on the dark background and it was nice to wear. It is perhaps a little bit big on my top half, but never mind! I was wearing my black shrug too but I took it off in Las Iguanas as it was warm! 

Here's all four of us in the restaurant

My passionfruit mocktails

I took this but struggled to get us all in haha

Nachos

Cauliflower bites and beach cheese. I do love tapas!

And finally Chloe had asked for a full length photo of me as a reference for something, showing off my dress perfectly!

Films of the Month - May

I watched fourteen films in May which was a good amount. I watched three of those while I was away in Northern Ireland with Lee as we just hopped on Netflix and browsed for a bit. I saw some good stuff otherwise too! Here's what I saw: 

Someone recommended Shiva Baby to me ages ago and I finally got round to it. It's about a young bisexual Jewish women who attends a shiva (a mourning event when someone has died) with her parents - it turns out her ex gilfriend is there as well as the man she is currently seeing, and his wife and child. It's funny and chaotic but poignant too. I recommend it!

I was reading again about the murder of black metaller Euronymous by his bandmate Count Grishnach, and read that there was this film about the events, starring Rory Culkin and with a Skarsgard for a bonus! I watched, it's pretty funny in parts as well and just being like 'wtf just happened'

Lee and I watched Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey which is my favourite because I like it when they play games with Death 

Netflix recommend Carrie Pilby to me and I'm glad it did because I really enjoyed it. It's a bit like Booksmart or Ladybird in that coming of age of an awkward young woman kind of way. I liked it, I felt sorry for her

I had been meaning to rewatch Velvet Goldmine for a long time and finally got to it. I love it, it's so ridiculous but it's one of my favourite films about music for sure!

Lee and I watched the Empire Strikes Back which is my favourite of all the Star Wars films, it's a perfect middle-of-the-trilogy, up the ante film 

Netflix recommended this to me too. It's a documentary about five Hungarian Jews in the last year of World War II when the Nazis invaded Hungary and started deporting all the Jews. It's really interesting and incredibly sad obviously, but I'm so glad I watched it. One day there won't be any Holocaust survivors left so stories like theirs are so valuable

Lee and I watched Inglourious Basterds on our first night in Northern Ireland. I have seen it before but I think I got so much more out of it this second time. I like it

We also watched The Hunger Games, Lee suggested it and it is forever since I saw it

We then also watched Boyz n the Hood which I have seen before and do like

The new film about Anna Nicole Smith was being trailed heavily on Netflix so I gave it a go. I did like it, I learnt a lot about her. I think she led such a sad and tragic life

I then also watched Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It, which is brilliant. She's a brilliant actor and there was so much great stuff in it about her life and work. It was emotional watching her talk about her relationship with Marlon Brando, and her work on West Side Story which is a film I love. I would recommend this if you like her!

As I had watched the first To All The Boys I've Loved Before film in April when I was away by myself, I decided to watch the second one. I want to watch the third one and then watch XO Kitty too, which is about Lara Jean's younger sister

Finally it was Peter Cushing's birthday so Lee said we should watch this version of Dracula, which I've never seen. I loved it, what a ridiculous and campy film

UK Crime Book Club Event in Leeds

On the 3rd of June I went to Leeds with my friend Sarah for a UK Crime Book Club event. I had seen it on Elly Griffiths' twitter, because she was appearing at the event, and asked Sarah to go. This was way back in January! Tickets were £20 and we were both looking forward to it. Sarah picked me up and we drove to Leeds and parked in The Light. It was a bit difficult because the satnav took us to the wrong side of The Light, but I managed to turn us round and get us to where we needed to be. We walked to the Carriageworks Theatre and got signed in and everything. It was a good building because it's all accessible and it was really clear where we needed to be.

The first panel was all Yorkshire crime writers, so that was good. Sarah and I both really likr crime novels and we heard of about twenty to add to our lists in this panel, by the panellists themselves and ones they suggested! It was great to hear stories from two ex police officers and about how that influences their writing. And it was nice to hear about why and where they've set their books in Yorkshire. I need to pick some of those books up! The next panel was in a different room and it was called "The Evil Within", but it didn't focus very much on that which was a bit of a shame, but the three panellists were really funny and engaging. One of them was really young (a rarity in crime writing, I think!) and his books feature counter terrorism and stuff like that, so I would like to give those a go! 

Then it was lunchtime and Sarah very nicely went to Greggs to pick something up for both of us. We sat in the square in the sunshine which was completely glorious! We went back in and headed to the next panel which was "Women in Crime". That was a very funny panel, but I will say that I really wish that people would use microphones when they're available. There was a lot of background noise coming from the bottom of the theatre and it was distracting. People think they can speak loudly enough and they really can't! 

We went back to the second room where some signings were happening. I had bought three books in the morning, and picked up a couple more. I had also taken three of Elly's books to sign that have come out since last time I met her, which was in November 2018! The headline panel was next, which was Elly, William Shaw, and Lesley Thomson. I've read a couple of William's books and enjoyed them. I haven't read any of Lesley's but it was one I had bought. This panel was brilliant - they're all friends which made for a really funny panel full of inside information and stuff like that. It was an excellent ending to the day. 

We headed back to the bar area to get our books signed and had great conversations with Elly, William, and Lesley. I had worn my Bruce Springsteen t shirt especially for Elly as I know she's a fan (and so is Ruth Galloway in her books!). Sarah was thrilled to meet Elly too. The event was definitely worth £20 and I would go again.

We then walked back to The Light and had tea in Prezzo. I had burrata and tomato and pesto salad to start with and then a lovely mushroom and vegetable calzone. It was nice to go there! We got back to my house about 7pm I think and I had a little lie down. Lee was out at a gig so I could just relax for the evening. 

The Yorkshire writers panel

The next one in the smaller room. I would estimate there were about sixty people there

Sitting in the square eating lunch

Women in Crime panel, with the organiser Caz on the left hand side

Lesley, Elly, and William in their panel

Elly and me afterwards

And Elly and Sarah!

Me and Sarah in Prezzo

And my delicious food!

Trip to Edinburgh - Day 3

On the Tuesday of our trip to Edinburgh it was BRUCE DAY but of course first of all we had the whole day, so we decided to go to the seaside. We drove through Leith and then ended up at Portobello beach. My friends Sam and Jodie happened to be there too! They also had tickets for Bruce and they had got a bus to Portobello. My mum and Lee and I walked on the beach and my mum and I paddled. Meanwhile Sam and Jodie walked up to where we were so we all said hello and then we all went in the amusement arcade. I played on 2p machines for ages and then played Lee on Mario Kart but sadly he won both times (boo!)

Sam and Jodie said goodbye as they were heading back into town and the rest of us had lunch on the seafront. It was really lovely, really nice and sunny and the food was lovely. We then drove over the Forth bridge which was cool, and back again, and then stopped in Queensferry nearly under the original Forth bridge (where the train still goes) to look at it. I then found us a cafe just in the village. We parked and walked to it - it is apparently the best place for ice cream in Edinburgh! I had raspberry sherbet sorbet and iced caramel latte, both of which were really nice! We bought some souvenirs too including some shortbread for our neighbour as she had been feeding the cats while we were away.

We got back to the flat around 4.30pm; I wanted to sit for a bit and charge my phone before my mum and I went out to Bruce. We knew Bruce was coming on at 7pm so we knew that we needed to be there quite early. My phone is totally rubbish with keeping charge these days, too. Plus it was nice to relax. Then Lee took us to Murrayfield. We had to walk a little bit but not too far, and we got in easily. We decided we wanted a t shirt each so we joined two queues at the merch stall. She got there first - we went for the same t-shirt in the end!

We considered having something to eat but we had had such a big lunch and then ice cream so we weren't really hungry. We found our seats instead and then played I Spy with Sam and Jodie who were down on the rear floor area. We could see them and waved! 

Then Bruce! He was SO good! My mum and I saw him before back in 2012, in Manchester, and it was absolutely brilliant then too. He plays for three hours and he just doesn't stop, it's so good to see even if you don't know all the songs. Steve Van Zandt is always good to see too. The whole band is really tight and the sound was so good. Highlights for me were Badlands and Thunder Road. It is expensive but we had such a good time and I'm really pleased we were able to go and that I could do this with my mum! I'm very lucky to have her. 

Bruce played an acoustic song last in memory of his manager, which was a really lovely way for it to end. We had to wait a little bit to get out of the seating area, but otherwise it wasn't too bad. I bought some donuts and we walked to the edge of where the surrounding roads were closed and then ordered a taxi. We had to wait maybe fifteen minutes for it, but it wasn't too bad as it wasn't raining or cold and we found a wall to sit on. The traffic going away from the city centre was fine so we got back to the flat in good time. We were late getting to bed but I had had such a good time.

Portobello beach - I was surprised how many people were there for a random Tuesday (it didn't appear to be half term in Scotland or at least not for all kids, we saw lots of kids in school)

My mum paddling

And me. I had rolled my footless tights up to my knees! It was freezing!

But very very beautiful

Selfie of myself in the amusement arcade

More of the beach while I was sitting waiting for lunch

I do appreciate that you can buy Irn Bru anywhere in Scotland. I don't drink caffeine a lot but I couldn't resist

You can just glimpse the old Forth bridge through the railings of the new one

And this was where the ferry used to leave from, and the old bridge in the background

Isn't it beautiful?

These are the other two - the one for cars and one that is just for buses and taxis

Queensferry is very cute

And so were these old signs in the ice cream parlour

Lee had this

And this was mine

See, I told you

I took this out of the car window just before we drove under the bridge

Look at the old bell pulls on the tenement we were staying in

I love them so much!

Heeeere we are! Ready and waiting!

Where's Wally featuring Sam and Jodie

And now here's Bruce!

I took some videos as well

Finally here's me and my mum in our matching t shirts at about half past midnight!