The last thing I was writing about was the long weekend at the end of May so will try and recall everything from then.
The Monday that was the actual bank holiday we decided to finally make a plan to go to the theater and since we wanted to see Equus and it was closing on the 9th of June we choose to go see it. We missioned off at about lunch time to get the tickets from the half price booth on Leicester square. We also decided that since it was Gary's last night with us and since Simon was also visiting we would drag them along for the experience. After getting the tickets C and I headed off to Oxford street for some retail therapy. The shopping trip was a great success and many items were bought - cept we didn't think about the fact that we would then have to take the shopping bags with us to the theatre! We braved the infamous Primark and then went and found C some nice slim fit shirts.
Laden down with all the bags we find a starbucks across the road from the theatre to wait and meet up with the others. I have definitely never seen such a busy coffee shop with loads of dressed up people all going to one of the many theaters in the area.
As usual I was pretty nervous about seeing the play as it had been alot of my decision on which one to see and I was taking 3 guys into a play that had Daniel Radcliffe running around nude for some of the play and topless for alot more. But it was a success all round with Simon raving about it since he has never done anything like that in his life. It was a very powerful play with a very heavy but well put point. I really enjoyed it and am so glad we got to see it before it went off. It was also cool when I heard that it was the play that my mom had seen when she came to London in the 70's.
After a gloriously long and busy weekend it was back to the grindstone. I think that it was in this week that the design director of the company that I was temping asked to have coffee with me and to see my portfolio. Basically we had coffee and discussed what i wanted and he told me that the team liked me and they are impressed with the quality of my work and would like me to stay on permanently. I was like so happy - a permanent job -yay. I did still feel like I should think it over. So on the 1st I told him that i was keen and would he just let me know what package he would be offering me. Once he told me I have to physically hold myself in the chair i was on to stop myself from jumping up and screaming at the top of my lungs...ok so maybe not that dramatic - but I was seriously shocked and pretty much said yes on the spot. By Monday afternoon (after I had to go mission off to the local job centre for an interview to get a national insurance number - basically so that I don't pay the maximum tax) I had the contract all signed and sealed !
So back to that weekend (1 June) on the Friday we went and met C's work mates at a local bar/clubby venue, Alibi, for drinks and had Simon join us as well. Drinks went on to dancing and then moved over to a club called Bedouin Bar (bed bar to the locals) causing C and I to head home alot later then we hoped, and caused usage of the night buses to get home! Not always a pleasant thing depending on your state of soberness.
Sat morning had us up relatively early for me and off to the borough market to meet up with Simon. I absolutely love borough market - i mean a market with loads and loads of yummy food - what more could you want...alcohol, it has that too! We got young french wine straight out of the barrel into a bottle that you can bring back and reuse. Its a litre of either wine or rose wine for a fiver ! 
After partaking in loads of little food tastings and buying a few choice things including the ostrich steaks for the braai we were invited to down south (Wimbledon), we made our trek down. Miss M and housemates were having a braai and invited us. It was really good catching up with her and getting to meet more people - loads of saffas in London type thing. We sat and talked and ate more and braaied of course - the ostrich steaks were fantastic ! Then there was a call to go play around in the park across the road. So there C and I sat and watched them play soccer ..oops FOOTBALL! (it is def NOT called soccer here) and some touch rugby as well. Then once it was getting later and all the little kiddies had gone home we went to play on the playground equipment....lots of monkeying around was done my all - but mostly by C. I just love the little child in him as he jumped around and played. And then scaring all the others with his what seemed daring jumping off of tall jungle gyms and his attempts to dynoing off the rings. Which helped him find a fellow climber in the group of people. I would like to comment at this point about the lovely squishy tar that they have in the playgrounds here - not like the hard tarmac like back home...it is basically little bits of rubber put together as a tar looking surface ! SO cool. Had me bouncing everywhere I went! anyway - pics to follow as the pics speak louder then my words. Finally C and I had to make our way as there was the long trek home north again. 
So the next work week - I've said that the contract was signed and then I started to get some of my own projects to work on which was great! It turned out to be a week of serious steps forward with the new job and also opening a joint bank account with C. So on Thursday night I took C out to dinner to celebrate. He found this great restaurant in Camden called the Camden brasserie where I had the most stunning lamb steak and creme brulee - was a lovely evening - just perfect :)
And suddenly it was another Friday night which of course meant drinks with C's workmates. It was a certain mates birthday celebrations at a bar called the fence. Was really nice evening with me getting to meet more people that work with C and having to relate again and again our story ...and having more of them telling me he is LOVELY !!! Lol, like I don't know that already !!! :P
We had decided to throw a bit of a dinner party while the housemate was away in Palma in reciprocation to the dinner party Paul and Alice invited us to. So we had a plan ... clean the flat and make bedroom into lounge /dinning room and go buy tuna steaks and fresh produce from the borough market (yes we love that place) All the plans came together perfectly with us all ready and unstressed when Paul and Alice arrived. We had a whole load of picky things for starters including a variety of olives and nuts etc from the market. As well as the most awesome snack that I've been missing out on all my life...DOUGH BALLS --- yummy balls of happiness as Alice calls them :) So good ! Then we had the tuna steak cook beautifully if I say so myself since I cooked them. And finally trifle for desert. And then ending the evening with a whiskey and chocolate (well no whiskey for me) We, as we seem to always do, over catered and sent home very stuffed guests and ourselves with bursting tummies where left to stash the dishes and make up our bed again. It was great to see that our bedroom can do the whole lounge thing really well. And it was also good to give it a clean and organised...cept it is back to utter chaos since this last weekend.
The Sunday was Mom's birthday and so of course started with a call back home to wish her a very happy 60th birthday. I still cant believe that she is 60! She just doesn't act that age :P
We then missioned off to the docklands to the Grand Designs Live show. Which is basically a big design exhibition like design for living back home but centred alot around the self build house projects. But there was still a huge interiors section and a shopping section too. We spent the afternoon wandering around there - me getting loads of idea and inspirations for designs at work and just see what is available here. And C was a very good boyfriend and didn't complain at all :P
We had then been invited to a pub in the old street area by Miss M for a small little Sunday afternoon gig by a friend of hers which just happened to be on the way home. So we stopped by and had a couple of drinks and social time with Miss M, her housemate, Tom and the artist...Tim Kay who happens to be guy behind the title song for Jamie Oliver's new show - Jamie at home - On tv screens in August. Tom was one of the guys that was one of the 'fifteen' graduates, very cool guy. These are all Miss M's friends as she worked with them! Really great down to earth people.
Finally last week was just a crazy crazy week with me having to complete 2 presentations for the end of the week causing me to work late most nights. C was great and stayed late as well to come home with me (we work 2 blocks from each other btw) and cooking me dinner cause I was too exhausted - plus I had a bit of a flu things going on but refused to let it take hold. I must say I was really happy with our decision to have a chill weekend doing nothing since our time has been constantly filled everyday. Thursday saw us having drinks at the castle with his mates and then an early night.
Friday consisted off me rushing my ass off to get to the bank in time to collect our bank cards and then heading home to crash into bed. C worked late to make ready for a new guy starting under him at work today. We then cuddled up and watched alpha dog (brilliant movie! even more hectic that it is a true story !!!) and another early night :)
While lazing in bed on Saturday morning there comes a knock on the door and its the delivery of C's new server that he bought that week...So Saturday was spent setting up new server and then heading out to buy a sound card for it to become a media centre for watching movies, series and listening to music - and now we also have tv channels on it. But he is still figuring out the codex for the video with Linux. So the rest of the weekend was me watching series and playing computer and Callum playing with computers and lots of little naps in between - it was a really great weekend. But now our room is chaos with boxes and stuff everywhere and laundry everywhere and 4 computers (!) and us still having to pack for Spain leaving first thing, bright and early on Wednesday morning! it is a very early start so want to be packed today so that we can get to sleep early as we have to watch up at something like 2am for the train to the airport!!!
well, that is it for now ...I would just like to say that I cant believe that I am where I am. That One night a year ago I firstly told my brother that I would make a plan and def come and visit in a year and that was the night I met C and how that set off the chain of events that got me where I wanted to be - and I still have to pinch myself and wonder how everything could have fallen into place so easily and that I could be in such a different place within a year mentally and physically.
So that is finally it until I'm back from Spain...
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