So, despite me thinking things would be quieter towards the middle of the year, it’s all gone off! I’ll try and summarise some highlights for you (with plenty of photographs), but there really is too much to remember!
We haven’t had more than 3 nights in over the course of June – July… so busy busy busy. Really nice though! Caught up with old friends and family and made some new ones and been to lots of exciting locations… well… I’ll go back to the beginning shall I…
3rd – 5th June (Erick’s here)
We were lucky enough to have a visit from our wonderful friend Erick on 3rd… after a brief SOS meeting with Jo in the park post-work, we hoofed it to the Ropewalk on St Paul’s Square to enjoy some moderately warm sunshine and some lovely cold pints. It was really nice, as Jo had never met Erick – but they got on really well and we all sat out and drank far more than previously anticipated.
On the Wednesday, we had booked a day off to hang out and take Erick somewhere fun. Obviously, we settled on one of the funnest places in the UK – Alton Towers! Despite getting there early and it being a Wednesday, it was surprisingly rammed. It didn’t spoil our enjoyment though and we managed to get on 13, Nemesis, Ripsaw and most of the big rides. The highlight was definitely the new ride though – Smiler. Despite advertising a 3.5 hour queue (seriously), we chanced single riders and got on within 30 mins. Totally worth it. We left after that, figuring that nothing else would be as good!
We were back at work Thursday, but it wasn’t too bad. Erick was going to see some other friends, so it wasn’t any skin off his nose and it was nice for us to have a break from work – even if it was just one day.
7th June – Judder!
We filled the Thursday night and managed to adequately prepare for Judder on Friday… Judder is a club night in Cheltenham run by our lovely friend’s Lee and Charlie. We managed to blag a last minute hotel for just over £30, so after work it was all systems go! Bags packed, fancy dress outfit prepared and a dash in the car later – we were ready for our first taste of Cheltenham goth. The theme was comic books, and the company and costumes were brilliant! We had a fabulous night chatting and dancing, and to top it off – I won best dressed female (in a borrowed Tank Girl outfit), so it really was a night to remember. I can’t wait to go back!
Saturday was Cheltenham Science festival. So slightly hungover, we made our way to the town hall to soak up some knowledge. We didn’t stay for long, but we did have a lovely mooch around and saw a mock surgery – which was really interesting.
9th – BBQ fun in the sun!
On the 9th, we had a full day planned. However, I had taken a bit of a spill on the Friday night so was limping quite drastically. I sat out the art installation (A universe of sound) and did a few chores, before meeting up with the others for sun, a few beers and some grilled veggies and meats. Ended up being a lovely afternoon filled with catch up chats and giggles.
The Monday and Tuesday were blessedly quiet and a good chance to catch up on charity stuff for work and the JQNF posse. We also booked our flights to Vienna in September, so that’s something else to look forward too!
12th – Bollywood Dancing
On the 12th, I learned how to Bollywood dance. It was a free event put on by the CBD, and was great fun! The day had been very pleasant, but it unfortunately rained when we were due to do our workshop – which was probably a blessing in disguise as we got to do it indoors (away from the eyes of the people working in the CBD). I’m not very graceful, but I gave it my best and me and Jo danced until the sweat was going in our eyes. Not a lovely picture… but fun all the same!
On the Thursday I had a well overdue catch up with Cate at the 6/8 Kafe. It was good to hear she was doing ok, as many of my friends are having a bit of a rollercoaster of a year…
15th - Ritual Noise
For the life of me, I cannot even remember what I did on the Friday now… it’ll have probably been eventful on account of us not being in on a Friday for weeks – but I couldn’t honestly tell you… Saturday was a rush day. Got up nice and early, went to market, did some chores before shoving some stuff in a bag and dashing to Lancaster with Jon in tow. We were staying with our friends Jex and McBain who put on a monthly club night at “The Park” hotel. Once we had got there, we settled down with a couple of drinks and had a quick catch-up before heading to the venue for 8pm. A mad might ensued with seeing old friends, meeting new ones, dancing and teapots filled with cocktails before dying a tired drunken death at about 3am.
The next day was father’s day and Dan’s niece’s birthday. It was lovely to catch up with Dan’s family, and we had some tasty BBQ food and nibbles, as well as plenty of coffee and squash (to hydrate from the night before). Luckily, we woke up quite spritely – so running around after a 2 year old and a 4 year old was more fun than a difficult obstacle to overcome. They are just so darn cute – it was good to get lots of cuddles and play with their new circus tent.
Monday and Tuesday I was out and about playing catch-up with people again – having non-alcoholic cocktails and coffee (as I’d packed in booze for two weeks), before networking Wednesday…
19th – Birmingham Futures
On Wednesday, me and Jon went to a Birmingham Futures Networking event at KPMG (Snow Hill 1). We were lucky to blag our way onto the guest list, so we had a great evening of watching the sun slowly set from one of the highest buildings in Birmingham and hearing some really inspiring speeches about the progress of regeneration and tourism in the City Centre. I sing Birmingham’s praises all the time, but it’s nice to see people with real power and authority showing their love for the City. Jonathon Cheetham (Head of Retail Birmingham), hit the nail on the head with his speech. He culminated with a statement along the lines of, “We have something really special in Birmingham. The problem is, we don’t shout about it.” It’s true. We have everything here, from fashion and art events, to live music, world firsts, food festivals and more free museums than you can shake a stick at! I came away filled with love and a renewed commitment to sharing my experiences in Birmingham with as many people as would listen…
On the Thursday, I met up with Cate once again. This was a nice quiet evening and a good chance to get an update on gossip with her and Jo. Friday was exhausting. After a long week at work (lots of meetings, late finishes and early starts), I had arranged a Zumba event for Charity. Come 5’o’clock I was nervously waiting in the lobby of my building praying people would turn up and pay their £3 to strut their stuff. It was a hot day and a Friday evening, so I was pleased with the turn out of 11 people (seeing as about 10 dropped out on the day). We had a great time and made £40 for charity – which the company should match – so will be £80. Not bad for an event that cost nothing to run.
22nd – sober gigging
So Saturday 22nd. I had managed one week sober at this point and was determined to carry on… after another day of chores and normal Saturday things, we met with Clare and some of her friends at the Island Bar. Did you know if you buy 4 alcoholic drinks you can get a none alcoholic drink free? It was a revelation to me and meant that I had 2 lovely fruity cocktails for the princely sum of nothing. After this, we headed down to the Sunflower lounge to see 3 bands for a fiver – a bargain in my book! Linerunners (from Hereford) were a well-rounded and post-punk influenced band. We drank in their original compositions and duly tapped our feet, clapped along and shouted our approval all through the set. They were followed by Batsch, a massively underrated British Electo indie outfit, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The last band were Bella Diem from Birmingham. Whilst being very tight and sounding very mature, they were a bit AOR for my tastes – so we slunk off halfway through their set to grab a much deserved good night’s sleep.
On the Sunday, me and Dan spent the day together. We hung out before heading to the cinema to see “Man of Steel.” Whilst it was not groundbreaking, we both enjoyed it far more than we thought we would and got a free drink (courtesy of a voucher emailed from the cinema), so it was a nice chilled afternoon.
I had to have a chilled one due to a 5:30 start on Monday morning to catch a train to Cardiff. Dan duly got up with me (to drive me to the train station). Bless him. The journey was a bit of shock to the system, but the training course was really good (I am now officially a BSI trained auditor) and I fell in love with Cardiff. I stayed in a Holiday Inn over the road from Cardiff Castle and next to the stadium, so was bang in the middle of town surrounded by its clean streets and pretty shop fronts. It was hard to be away from home for a couple of nights, but I did enjoy learning a new skill and meeting people from all different industries.
26th – Food Fair
On the 26th (straight off the train), I met with Dan and headed to Yelp’s food fair at Hotel La Tour. I had never been to this venue before (even though I did a lot of the permit’s to help build it) and was pleasantly surprised.
By the time we had got there, the majority of food had gone. There were still a few people milling about, and it was nice to catch up with Gilly, Rickie and a couple of other friends I hadn’t seen for a while (whilst eating some delicious macaroons). There was a load of free booze left, much to my despair (as I still wasn’t drinking), but it was still worth a visit and a look at some of the gastronomical delights that Birmingham has to offer.
The foodie theme continued on the Thursday, as we attended the #BYY Food Rave. We got there quite early, which was a pain – but did mean that the lovely coffee people gave us some free hot drinks to warm us up. Once inside, we partook of some delightful starters from Lasan, some delicious vegan food from a deli in Moseley and the biggest Chilli Dogs you have ever seen – all in all, a good first event for the Brum Yum Yum crew.
27th Storming the Castle
On the Friday (after an early night – luckily), we took Carolyn and her birthday princess (4 years old) to Warwick Castle as a special treat. After a fairly rude awakening (not the lie in we would have hoped for), we wrestled with the car seat and got safely to our destination without incident. Lacey was a treat, full of excitement and wonder when looking upon the eagles, princesses, knights and towers of this historic monument. We had a delicious picnic lunch and finished the day on a high, presenting the birthday girl with a princess hat to congratulate her on her exemplary behaviour. After cooking them both a spot of tea, we threw some stuff into a bag (once again, our trusty backpacks did us proud) before another early morning.
We caught the 8:10am train to London Euston on the Saturday morning (the penultimate no drinking day). After a pleasant journey spent reading and yawning, we caught the underground to Camden before walking to London Zoo. We were meeting Steve, Jo and co. at around 1pm – so took the opportunity to see all of the animals which are our favourites before the majority of families arrived (with lots of over excited children) and scared the animals into hiding. When the others arrived, we were shattered – but grabbed a spot of lunch before a pleasant meander around the more popular animals (mine and Dan’s favourites were the Aardvarks, Ant eaters, Bats and night time animals) in the blazing hot London sun.
Once we had seen all we could see, we headed to Soho (through the Pride masses) and grabbed a gorgeous burrito – before breaking my alcohol fast early (only 5 or 6 hours, mind) with a cold, cold pint of British lager in a swarming street. After visiting a few Central London bars, we headed back to our friends house for a nights kip in preparation for another bid day Sunday..
30th It’s a nice day for a… goth wedding…
I woke up feeling AWFUL on the Sunday. I wouldn’t have minded, but I was very sensible on the Saturday (drinking plenty of water and eating lots of food). It was a long slog to get ready… but we did it. Once I had finished offloading the contents of my stomach (which wasn’t helped by being out in the sun all day on Saturday sans headwear), I managed to make myself presentable for our trip down to Camden Town Hall to celebrate the wedding of our friends, Lysa and Alex.
It was a lovely day, filled with old friends, tears and a sense of celebration that lasted from the start of the celebration to when we sadly had to leave and catch our train. I was definitely ready for bed when I got in, but had a real life affirming “Love is all you need” sort of day.
Luckily, we had the Monday off work to recuperate. I had a charity quiz to run in the evening (another £200+ raised for the Children’s Hospital), but it went without incident and my dear work colleagues won (again). It wasn’t a late night, but after leaving the venue (Temple Street Social), further pints were enjoyed in both the Old Joint Stock and the Wellington… meaning I might have been a little merry.
3rd July – CBD launch
Wednesday was a big event for me! I had my magazine debut in the Colmore Business District Area guide! It was all a very fancy affair (at Hotel Du Vin, don’t you know) with lovely food, wine and good company… made some great contacts and got commissioned to write another piece! I ended up staying up waaay too late, but it was worth it and put a big smile on my face for the rest of the week.
4th July – Independents day
Another night… another swanky event… on Thursday we went to the celebration of Independent retailers in Birmingham. The night started with a coffee and a read of some free comics at the 6/8 Kafe, before moving on to the Great Western Arcade for free cocktails (courtesy of Bitters’n’Twisted), nibbles, interesting conversation and live jazz. Called it a night pretty early as it had been another busy week, but had a really good time with Jon, Caroline and Jo.
5th – 8th July – Carnival in the Sun!
The last few days to give you an update on… Finally went home and caught up with the parents in Milton Keynes at the weekend. It was my brothers birthday and carnival weekend – so it was the social height of Buckinghamshire’s calendar! All joking aside, it was a great chance to actually put my feet up, catch up with the family and see some of my friends..
So… I’m going to leave it there for now, but stay tuned blog fans! We’ve got a busy weekend this weekend, next weekend and pretty much until the end of August (not even counting all the stuff planned in the weeks!).
