your old buick

This evening I have been listening to Charlie Parr and Ox, knitting, patching my jeans and dreaming of what ifs. It has been a fairly quiet reflective day; packing up my belongings ready for the move in a weeks time - realising I own too many things, leafing through books I forgot I had and musing over photos of a 16 year old me with pink hair and too baggy jeans.

London was a weekend of good times with my big bro. We walked around a lot, I took photos with Henrietta the Holga (which I will hopefully be getting developed soon) we drank good coffee, ate amazing homemade cheesecake, saw his friends band play in Camden, I bought some exquisite new old shoes, and we rode around on bikes and saw chafinch's playing guitars at what was quite possibly one of the weirdest but coolest exhibitions I've ever seen at the Barbican. I do like London.

Spring is here I do believe. I may have to leave behind the winter plaid coat and don something more suitable for the warmer climes. Exciting. Bike rides, picnics and lighter evenings are just around the corner!

hey, guess what...?

See that super awesome cute house down there with the pretty wallpaper and the old fireplace and the big tree in the front garden? Oh yeah, THAT'S MINE NOW!! Yes, me and Laura got the house of dreams! I'm so so excited about moving in, I cannot even begin to tell you. 27th March is moving day and Ma and Pa Fish are going to be coming up to help me move as I am without transport, except my bike. I've bookmarked most of Sweden aka IKEA on my laptop and I've been pouring over house websites such as this - www.apartmenttherapy.com for inspiration and ideas. Expect lots of photos once we've moved in!!

So that exciting news was temporarily blighted last week by an evil stomach bug that caused me much upset and discomfort for the whole week. It was one of those where I thought I was better, so would start to eat normally again and then bam, uber stomach cramps and sick again. No fun. I was living on meager amounts of toast and porridge, but I'm happy to report my appetite has come back and I cooked a proper meal for the first time in over a week today. Go me.

In other exciting news, I'll be down in London town this weekend visiting this chap -



my most awesome brother. Plans include hopefully fixing me up with a new bike, bombing around on said bike, drinking lots of coffee, getting Ed's diner milkshakes, checking out Sam's new band play, seeing some art, second hand book shopping and generally hanging out, as it's been too long and I miss him lots.
From there I'm heading back to Bham for Mothers Day to surprise my Mum and cook them both Sunday lunch and spend some quality time with the rents.
So lots of cool things are happening but I'm still kind of stressed about finances. Moving house always dents the bank balance temporarily what with deposits, first months rent upfront, new shit etc etc but because I'm so good with my money generally even though I earn very little, I'm just a bit scared of being so poor for a while. It'll be worth it though, just need to keep telling myself that and looking at the photos to remind me of the little haven that is waiting for me!

Oh and Spring is definitely in the air, which has pasted a big fat smile on my face the last few days. That and seeing Mic Macs last night. AMAZING. Go and see it if you can, I cant recommend it enough!

home sweet home

Keep your fingers crossed - I'm going to view an extremely cute house this afternoon. I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I can totally see myself and Laura living there. And its on 'Falcon Grove' which is just an awesome name for a street in my opinion!

Oops. I must get better at this whole writing on here thing.

So whats been happening....well it was my birthday a few weeks ago, quarter of a century! My celebrations officially started on the Thursday night, with a night spent in the company of some very special lady fiends round at Kaz's place. Lots of red wine was consumed, good food and then the night turned into an episode of footballers wives, minus the bling, champagne and hideous females, as we all stripped down to our swimwear and jumped in the hot tub. I still find it equal parts hilarious and amazing that Kaz and Mike have a hot tub. I think its more an American thing than a UK thing. But in temparatures nearing the minus, I don't need to be asked twice if I fancy getting in what is essentially a very big bath with bubbles and lights. Er, yes please!
Saturday was my actual birthday, and bright and early (after staying up till 5am after work on Friday night, playing connect 4 (badly) and very unpolitically correct 'Guess Who') I dragged myself after only 4 hours sleep, to have a birthday breakfast at the Warsaw American Diner with Naomi and Jonny. We all opted for the "badass" breakfast, complete with pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, hash browns, bottomless tea and coffee and orange juice. Oh my was it good! Although I couldnt move afterwards it was well worth it.
Saturday evening was spent in the company of more wonderful friends celebrating with a few drinks and lots of laughs. I didnt take many photos which was a shame as the girls on Thursday presented me with my birthday presents, which included a beautiful new dress which very happily solved my "what the hell am I going to wear tonight" dilemma.

Since then, there seems to be birthday celebrations every weekend. Leanne's the week after mine, Zack's the weekend just gone, and then Mike's this coming weekend. When will it end??
Im rather happy today. The sun has been shining, I walked home earlier from my staff meeting with coffee in hand, Rilo Kiley in my ears and a smile on my face. That's also possibly due to me finally taking the leap and booking an appointment to get one of my sleeves started! So its not till September and I shall be travelling to Norway for it but yes, excited doesn't even come close to it! Hopefully Matt will come with me for some good hang outs and Oslo adventures.

Im also stupidly excited as I'm going to see one of my favourite bands of late, Yeasayer, with Naomi in Birmingham next Tuesday. Mini road trip! I think a call into Selfridges for krispy kremes may also be on the cards.

little bit of rain

I guess I should start by saying Happy New Year..!
I'm not the biggest fan of New Year so I decided it'd be kinda fun to work it. Ive worked a couple before a few years back and they're always pretty fun, a few drinks, dancing, general good atmosphere. This new year, not so much!
Not sure what it was, but none of us had a particularly good time. I managed to knock back a fair bit of champagne (read: bad sparkling wine) so that made things slightly more fuzzy. Things were perhaps dampened slightly by a group of customers stealing 11 bottles of said champagne from behind one of the bars. One word - WANKERS. We got our revenge and chucked them out and told them they are not welcome again.
I have however welcomed in the New Year with some lovely company and yummy food. Naomi came over and we had good chats with numerous cups of tea, mince pies and I made us all amazing meatballs, spaghetti and garlic bread. I swear, best thing ever!
I am now feeling ill though and I stress that it is not alcohol related. Honest. My sinuses feel all blocked and my head feels about 5 times the size that it should be. And I have to be up early to go into work and do the big annual new year (how many times can I possibly fit that phrase into this post?) stock take. Groan. So I am soothing my ears with Karen Dalton. If you don't know who she is, seriously check her out. Incredible voice. Slightly weird, husky, blues. Think a white Nina Simone with a tinge of bob dylan.
These lyrics of hers some up 2009 quite well I think.

If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Warm days filled with sunshine
And just a little bit of rain

And if you should look back
Try to forget all the bad times
Lonely blue and sad times
And just a little bit of rain

If I should leave you
Try to remember all the good times
Long days filled with sunshine
Just a little bit of rain
Just a little bit of rain
Just a little bit of rain

bah..sherbert?

Im really bad at this. Like really really super bad. I will only use the excuse that I've been stupidly busy at work over the past month (anyone who works in customer service, bar/cafe etc type work will probably also loathe the Christmas period)

There is also lots and lots of exciting exhibitions happening in the gallery in the new year so theres been lots going on with that too. Meetings, emailing, admin, getting flyers/posters printed, you name it, me and Naomi do it all.
Only two more days of work then 5 days off. I cannot wait to sit on my arse, listen to Sufjan Stevens xmas tunes, drink copious amounts of tea, knit, watch films and hang out with Ma and Pa Fish. My only current concern is that I'm developing a stinker of a cold. I cannot breath through my nose and this does not bode well for Christmas dinner and general festive activities that include eating and drinking. Gutted. Im planning on mulling some cider this year, maybe that will make me er, feel better. yeah?

I'm going to be making Christmas cookies tomorrow and I hope not to sneeze in them. Im thinking of making a mixture of white chocolate and raspberry, dark chocolate and orange and pecan and raisin. It'll be the only handmade gift that people will be recieving this year which is sad but I just haven't had the time to make stuff. I think next year I need to start in the summer..

I leave you with a picture of me and one of my most favourite people. Gnomes is my fellow gallery director, co-worker, best friend, dancing buddy and general amazing friend who I love dearly. And she clearly thinks Im awesome too. That or we were all slightly merry on the booze.


I think Im going to return to watching gremlins and try and summon up the energy to make some tea.

I have been a bad blogger of late so I'm here with a lame attempt to make up for it. My brain isn't in proper functioning mode today though, so you might just end up with some photos. I have been working lots but also having some fun times to make up for the working. It was one my best friends birthdays on Monday, so a bunch of us had the most loveliest of days. We started out with breakfast in Cafe Rouge, where I consumed a dish with enough cheese in it to last me a year and possible cause my cholesterol levels to quadruple. Its a good job I like cheese.
We then ventured out to Derbyshire and ended up in the pretty village of Bakewell (home of the famous tarts and pies. Oh yes) Sadly there was torrential rain for most of the day, but we did manage a wander round, ate cake and drank champagne in the back of the car (classy) and then ended up at the nicest little restaurant for a late lunch, complete with roaring log fire and picturesque view over the valleys.

I'm happy to say my Christmas shopping is going fairly well so far. I'm also hoping I get time to make and/or bake some treats for the famille and friends. There's an awesome looking chestnut chocolate biscuit recipe in todays Guardian. I've made chutney the last two years in a row so Im trying to think up some other things. Jam maybe??

Anyway, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure...mostly of Derbyshire and my friend Sarah's leaving do. She's gone off travelling for 3 months. I'm highly jealous but also very happy cos she's going to have an incredible time. She landed in New Zealand last night and she's spending new year in Sydney!

Me and the Birthday girl


Cake of joy that I did make. Chocolate and Guinness. I had people tell me it was the best cake they had ever eaten. I might have to agree with them


There is more than one way of wearing a party hat. And I wasn't even drunk. Here we have triceratops, bird and unicorn.



Tea with the ladies

Bolly and cake in the car
aaand finally the mad night that was Sarahs leaving do. There was dancing on the bar (not by me this time) and licking of faces. Matt is friendly.