I'm back..................

Hello there guys and gals, I have now returned to the bloggage to coin a phrase and just wanted to say thank's very much to Natalie and Naill for their guest post's :)

So what have I been up to this last week apart from studying very hard for my CIM! 

Well on friday night i did the same things but they were new and different for a new friend of mine, we had a few drinks, went for a vietnamise and ended up in the good old Dolphin,  My flatmate Gina was in there trying to leave flyers for her friends night called Frietag on the Saturday.  I grabed a few flyers and started going up to people and telling them about the night, and ended up speaking to a few' hot guys' - always a bonus.  This is some of the music DJ called jamie Anderson was playing on the saturday, have a listen below:-

I was good and stayed in Saturday, Sunday & Monday doing my assignments but had an urge at about 4p.m on the Saturday to buy a bike! That is taking procrastination to a different level, truth be told I couldnt think and was really hungover, so as my friend Matt said ' when all else fails, buy a bike'!

So I headed of to stoke newington and found a bargin Raleigh shiny blue one!  It's achieving 2 of my New Years resolutions, doing new and differnt things and keeping fit at the same time :) and seeing as I havent set foot in the gym (because i've been studying!) or actively done my diet for 2 weeks!  I had to do something really, here's the little beauty:-

It's an 18 speed and really light too - I'm hoping it doesnt get knicked though like my last one, from inside my appartment building!

I rode to and from work today so that's 12 kilometers, 30 min there and 30 min back - I aim to be quicker by the end of the week!  Anyone fancy going on a bike ride let me know :)

I have also invested in a Morocan cook book and have decided to pick a new recipe to do each week.  Tonight I tried Algerian Chicken & Chick Pea Soup, check out the book shop and my soup - they look pretty similar!!!

It took about 50 mins but was yummy, well Danni my flat mate liked it :)

Tommorrow night i'm going to see West is West with a few friends then Friday i'm checking out the Theatre again to see Ghost stories, stay tuned for posts later on in the week.

So Scores on the doors .............

I think i've been pretty good this week actually top score on doing new and differnt things, getting a bike is helping me excercise and I think I have lost 3 pounds due to stress of assignments!
I even managed a couple of cheeky snogs, no time for dates at the moment!

= TOP MARKS !!

It's now time for the 2nd guest host post the lovely Niall........

It's now time for Niall to blog about doing new and interesting things, here's a photo a few years back thinking about his career in fashion striking a pose...........

Hello, my name is Niall and my good mate Angela has for asked me to contribute to her blog, so here goes…

So last week was London Fashion Week, my job involves managing one of the venues used for Erdem’s Autum/Winter 2011 show, it was certainly an eye opener.  I was looking forward to seeing models behaving like crazy, drug hungry whores but alas, there was none of that mischief. The show was super slick and professional, as were the models…BORING!  I even caught some of the super skinny minnies stuffing their faces with…SHOCK/HORROR food!!! Anyway, I got to meet a plethora of cool (and not so cool) celebs including the Prime Minister’s wife Samantha Cameron & Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue.

Wintour has become an institution throughout the fashion world, widely praised for her eye for fashion trends and her support for younger designers. Her reportedly aloof and demanding personality has earned her the nickname "Nuclear Wintour". I thought she was fabulous.  Here’s a backstage snippet :-

http://skyliving.sky.com/latest-on-fashion/erdem-shines-at-lfw

By the week’s end I was ready to enjoy a fun night out with my friends but I felt shattered with the beginnings of a cold brewing…destination…the sofa!

So come Sunday I’m slowly climbing the walls and feeling better and so head out to meet friends.  I Discovered a new pub called The Nelson’s Head, a gay place in ‘gay free’ Hackney.  Nice crowd with DJ Scrangelina, AKA Angela putting on some top tunes on the free juke box, courtesy of Blondie & Madonna!
One bottle of brandy lead to another bottle of wine and Sunday night melts away into Monday morning, I don’t do this often so don’t feel too guilty about it on this occasion.

Tuesday it’s back to work and another new installation and launch to organise, this time courtesy of American Avant-Garde artist Anthony McCall, who specialises in cinema & projected film. McCall was a key figure in the avant-garde London Film-makers Co-operative in the 1970s and his earliest films are documents of outdoor performances that were notable for their minimal use of the elements. His latest exhibition Vertical Works is free and worth a peek:-

 http://www.fadwebsite.com/2011/02/25/anthony-mccall-%E2%80%98vertical-works%E2%80%99-at-ambika-p3-from-tuesday-1st-march-2011/

That's all for now folkes have a good week love Niall x

The first guest host post is Natalie.........

Over to Natalie and here's a lovely pic.......

So I agreed to write a piece for Angela’s bloggage.. The pressure to try and be funny and entertaining! I just canee bear it.

Okay so first of all I will tell you a nice little story about ‘meeting new people’ or not rather. I was recently contacted by someone on Facebook whom I had known of from my hometown of Matlock, Derbyshire. He was the younger brother of someone I used to go out with. He is totally gorgeous and we have nothing in common, but hey, I decided to reply to his incessant texting, and little by little he kind of charmed me and we were speaking on the phone regularly.

So he was booking his ticket to come and see me this Saturday coming, and the last time I spoke to him was Saturday night. Anyway on Sunday last week, I open up FB to have a small peruse of what is happening in the world, and there is his status, we shall call him Mr B .. Mr B had such an amazing night, and I met you!!!!!

I knew it wasn’t me of course, unless he has travelled forward in time Marty Mcfly style. No word from him.

Then it's Monday, Mr B and said girl are ‘ in a relationship’ and I haven’t heard from him since!!!!

The shame, I have been blown out by someone I have never even met. Of course I sent him a nice curt verbal post mortemesque text in a not bothered kind of way!??! I tried to refrain from Jeremy Kyle references, and kept my dignity.  Lesson learnt. Being shallow does not pay.

I am trying to be healthy at the moment, except a certain somebody who we shall affectionately name as Aube keeps buying me Brioche bread, I love it so much, but I could literally open up a stall with my supplies. I have also put on a stone in a week!!

The trying new things is perhaps my play that I have been rehearsing for in the last month. I play the Model (cue the jokes) in the Blue Room. It is basically a play about encounters and relationships. I found out on Wednesday that I am to have a ‘When Harry Met Sally in Katz Deli ‘scene. Arghhhhh .. More on that another time… that’s the first instalment from me folks. I will make a video next time.. :) Nat

P.s .. Aube has also been buying me fruit and in an effort to make things more interesting,  I melted a bit of a  bar of Galaxy in the microwave to dunk my strawberries in and it burnt!!! So I am losing weight, the weight that I would of put on with that family sized Galaxy bar :)

It's time for the New Guest Bloggers Post's

As I am beevering away doing my 3 assignments for my course this week, I though i would share the blogging love with 2 of my very good friends who are keen to tell you what new and interesting things they have been doing this year.

Firstly let me introduce Niall, who's 35, married lives in Herne Hill with his lovely husband Will.

Nial has been working at the University of Westminster for a good few years now in the events team and has recently been seconded to work at a venue which has recenttly been hired out by London Fashion Week!

Here's a video

http://fashion.telegraph.co.uk/videos/TMG8339441/London-Fashion-Week-Erdem-autumnwinter-2011.html?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4d64312d49f208ee%2C0

This is an amazing opportunity, so over to Nial to talk about what he did.

And next is Natalie, 32, Northern, been my best mate in london for about the last 7 years.  She lives in Blackheath in a flatshare.  Here's a photo

Natalie has had the acting bug for a couple of years now and has been attending acting classess and courses whilst also working.  Her persistance has paid off and she has landed a role in a play called 'The Blue Room' soon to be shown.

Here's a quick video clip of the play

http://vimeo.com/3060655


and over to Natalie to talk about her experiences.............

Wednesday 17th February

Hello all - so the week so far there have been up's and down's literally!!

Monday 14th February - alas I had 0 cards, perhaps the postman was sick or had an accident on his bike before he got to my flat.......?

Anyway I have been quite active on a certain dating website this week (POF) and have been conversing with a select few potentials, so watch this space for a date update :)

I also lost 1.5 pounds at WW, not sure how as I have not stopped eating, although I have been going to the gym more!! I do have a video but tehre seems to be a problem uploading it!!

On the doing new and different things, I attended the CIM Integrating Digital Media course (the reason for this blog) which was great I even learnt something!!

I have invested in an audience club card which is £25 per year and means you can see various shows, comedy's concerts etc for a small fee of £2 per ticket - a fantastic investment for seeing and doing new and different things, check out their website http://www.theaudienceclub.com/

On Friday night myself and the girls went to see an armature production of the musical rent - see below a clip on you tube:-

It was really good as musical goes,  I thought the main female character was amazing I normally like a bit of talking but managed to follow it!!

Saturday was supposed to be a day of study, I read a chapter of one of the books and typed a bit of my blog, which of course all goes towards my assignment :). 

Danni, my flatmate found a great new place to go for brunch,  called 'a little bit of what you fancy'.  There is a great review in time out:-

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/venue/2:27961/a-little-of-what-you-fancy

It was fantastic, great food and atmosphere or perhaps that was the bloody Mary's, prosecco and red wine.  We, the girls and the lovely Matt, then went to 2 pubs in Stoke newington, then we had dinner in Somine restaurant a delicious Turkish place in Dalston, then headed to the junction where we were joined by Matt's boyfriend Joe.  We headed to the hobby horse, then ended up at Zigfrieds for our friends dj night called 'Freitag'.  That's alot of brandy and diet cokes!!!

It was a great place to chat to single straight men and I spoke to a few with a cunning plan, people were wearing stripey tops for a birthday event, so i recruited a few people wearing checked shirts to be in the anti stripes gang, a little bit ridiculous but ended up giving my phone number out and getting a little snog at the end of the night!

Anyway so great night but totally hungover today and now must do some work on the other tasks in the assignment - 2 weeks before the draft needs to be in eek!!

So scores on the doors......

New and differnt things done = 3 - CIM course, new restaurant and theatre show
WW points = I think it's fair to say I havent been doing it proerly and am quite frankly a little bit sick of being on a diet!!! perhaps I'll start again Monday?!
Meeting single men = Top marks :)

Saturday 12th February

Here's an update from the last couple of days..........Firstly I cancelled my date as I  chipped my tooth and had to go to the dentist!!!  So off i went (to be ripped off) they tried to tell me i needed 3 fillings that would cost me £270, i couldn't believe it, then when I asked more questions i didn't actually really need them! I paid £30 in the end for a check up and x rays - time to change dentist!!

Friday was a fun day of doing new and different things. Firstly I met a couple of media clients then went to a French Bistro restaurant.  They decided to share a 'Raclett' between them, and i had a small sample (it would be rude not too).  Here's what it looked like:-

it's basically melted cheese with meat and onions and potatoes - yum!

Later on  it was the office girls bingo night out, all uber excited at the though of doing something new and maybe even winning some cash!  We said from the start that we would share any winnings (obviously thinking of the big prize!)

So here we are about to get started - Mecca bingo joined, dobber in hand and free bubbly given to us by the management.  Well truth be told it was 'champerry' and 5.5% but hey it was a nice gesture......

We decided to order some food before we started, it was a very grueling schedule 6 games in a  row, then another 6 then a break before the national when you could win £25000!!!
The menu was not WW friendly at all; scampi and chips, wedges and cheese, nachos with sour cream and guacamole! i only had a little pick!

So then we were all set to go and the commentator says 'eyes down best of luck'............. 

I had to lay off the champerry and go on to brandy and diet cokes to keep me alert! (bargain £3.78 for a double)

First of all it's 1 line, the 2 lines then full house.  So we played game after game after game and NOTHING! then I got 2 lines 'i've done it' i shouted! and the claim checker came over with a microphone and then I released it had to be 2 lines in the same box not 2 different ones.  'faese claim' she said and the whole bingo hall groaned - how embarrassing!!

So we played again and again even did the 'late game' and NOTHING even between 5 of us!, so all left a bit disappointed, but I would try it again definitely.

So scores on the doors

Number of different things done = 2
Number of straight single men met = 1 but that doesn't count as he was a client and as i canceled the date and there were a few gays at bingo, this probably means negative points!!
Number of calories eaten = 1 million!! although i did do a workout at the gym at lunchtime for 20 mins

New Year New Me

So like everyone else I have decided to do a few new years resolutions and have decided to blog about it.
I have a great social life, am out every weekend seeing poeople who I have made friends with in the last 10 years I have been in london  (I am originally from Manchester).  Some how along the way I seemed to have collected alot of gay male friends; both married and single! there is a term called ‘fairy catcher’ a believe?!
so first resolution - meet more single straight men
As a lady in her 30’s, I am feeling the need to do a bit more with my life both career and different social activities activities.  I have already taken step one and am doing a marketingh course about digital media (this is actually one of the assignments to start a blog!)
second resolution - Do new and different things
Like everyone else I have over indulged over xmas, well actually since I moved in to a new flat at the end over November and take away and red wine has become my middle name!
third resolution - loose weight

Friday 28th January

So what has happened so far?

Well I have officially lost 5 lbs on WW :)

Do new and different things - Myself and 3 friends are going to see Alan Carr's Chatty man tonight to be in the audience - the two friends are of course GAY (opps) and so is Alan Carr - potential of meeting straight men = not very high!

video's to follow.........

Satuday 29th February

see below a little clip before the show.....no cameras allowed whilst filming!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150137665800775&comments

look out for the guy with ginger hair in front of me he had a thong on!

Billie Piper was the first guest though she was brazilliant! just down to earth and funny and said how her and her husband went clubbing to fire (a gay club in vauxhall) - made me like her even more -fellow fag hag!

Usher was next, not a great fan really but they showed a clip of him being kicked in the face by a fan which was funny!  durran durran did a quick performance, i quite liked it but that might have been the 2 brandy and diet cokes + a cocktail inside me?!!

Those gypsy people from that tv programme were on with a big pink dress - proper car crash tv! then Juliet Lweis was the surprise guest at the end, who was a bit 'jet lagged' and got a bit uncomfortable when asked about Brad Pitt when he was her boyfriend ages ago.......

ended up going for a few drinks after, then a kebab (opps) so scores on teh doors:-

WW Points had = about 45!
No. of straight men met = 0
Differnt things done = 1

right i'm going to go have a jog around the park to ease the guilt!

Sunday 30th January

Ok so i didnt have a jog yesterday or do much other than lie in bed and try and sleep whilst watching True Blood 3 - love it, 2 episodes to go then i'll have to move onto Vampire Diaries............

By the time it got to 7.30 I felt a bit normal just in time for my points to literally go flying out the window and have a gorgeous gastranomical delight cooked by flatmate danni.  We were also joined by matt (ex flatmate and best friend = Gay) and Joe (Matt's lovely partner).

The menu consisted of smoked salmon pate and bread

pheasant with butter beans, a gravy and choritzo meat balls

the lemon cheescake and chocolate cake for desert with elmlea double light! (token diet jesture by myself)

then a bit later Pizza!!!

We played a game of articulate matt and joe were in a  team and me danni and gina in a team. 

You basically ahve to describe a word without saying it.

Funniest comments:-

matt 'it's something that is made of dough is round and you put tomatoes, and different vegatables and meat on it'

joe ' a chopping board'

answer Pizza!

danni ' a famous paul'

matt 'jack daniels'

It was a funny night, probably worth mentioning that it was the first drink matt and joe had had for 4 weeks!

this is the aftermath

doing new things = playing articulate and eating pheasant

weight = no comment on last night, 25 min jog today though !

meeting straight men = does the old turkish man in the corner shop count, who says 'hello beautiful'?

Tuesday 1st February

It's the day before 'weigh in' day at WW, so I thought i'd better stick to the diet!  I have 29 points in a day so here's the menu so far :-

Breakfast - 1 slice of brown bread with peanut butter                             5 points
Lunch - Cous cous with seafood and veg and a bit of Pesto                   7 points
Miso soup                                                                                            1 point
skinny Popcorn                                                                                     3 points
Dinner - salmon with Asparagus and Lime                                              6 points

I am going to use this video to help me:-

http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-make-salmon-with-asparagus-and-lime

I will let you know later how it tastes :)

I didnt have time and ate a shish kebab instead (again) shhhhhhhhhhhh

I have also decided to take the bull by the horns and join a few dating agencies.  I have joined plenty of fish today and had a few people contact me.  The question is which one should i date - perhaps you can help?

Tuesday 8th February

 

Sorry it's been a while i've been away! Went back to home town of Manchester for both work and play.

 

 

Thursday 3rd Feb I had a networking evening which i though would be a good opportunity to meet straight men, it was a bit nerve racking walking in a place where i knew nobody but soon recognised a couple of people and all was well.  I even got talking to a TV supplier who took a shine to me and asked if i'd like to go bowling back in London with him!

 

Speaking of dating, one particular website has been pretty good and i have even got a date this week.

 

Travelling made the diet a bit harder but I tried to stick to it, spirits rather than wine and cider anyway!

 

Weight  loss last week was only half a pound (but at least I didnt put on!) getting weighed tommorrow so fingers crossed.

 

Scores on the doors

 

Meeting men = joined dating sites (5)  dates asked out on = 2

weight lost = not enough, i should probably stick to it!

Doing differnt things =  Bingo planned for Friday :)