Chickens, Cocktails and Sunny Tales

It’s been another crazy week but as you may have seen by my earlier blog entry it’s been a week that started really well. In amongst a very crazy day I received final confirmation from HR that my promotion had been completed and I was to check my new contract and authorise it to confirm the change in the system… After careful reading of the contract with Richard I happily ticked the box and am now the Digital Design Manager for Central Marketing 🙂

This could not have come at a better time as we are just about to go on holiday and Richard and I are in the process of buying a house.

As this was a four day week (and one which led most people into an eleven day bank holiday), it has been very very busy at the office. Everyone has been scrambling around to tie up loose ends so that as much is achieved for the 3rd May as possible. You wouldn’t have believed it was 26 degrees and sunny in London last week as I only managed to have one lunch break (Monday) and the rest of the week I was constantly trapped in meetings (and sadly in some of the darkest rooms in a very bright building!).

Still my book of the week led me to sunnier climbs and put me in the mood for my holiday… Chickens, Mules and Two Old Fools is an account from Victoria Twead of her ambition to move to Spain. Victoria and her husband decide to give it a go and buy a run down house in Almeria with a view to make a decision to stay after 5 years.

I think if I were to write a book it would be in a very similar style to Victorias as it’s more diary led and full of anecdotes which makes Chickens… a pleasure to read. I must say though that the end of the book seemed to be a lot more focussed on events rather than telling a story but that aside I did thoroughly enjoy the book.

As a Brit who travels to Spain a lot, staying in a pseudo Spanish community I find it very witty that Victoria has such views of the Spanish and them of her… All the stereotypes are there but I guess that’s what makes the book fun as it feels like a true account.

There is a whole cast of characters in the book and some moving stories – if you’re heading to Spain this is a great holiday read. I did intend on only starting it but managed to finish it by Thursday!

I cannot complain though as the Kindle is full of new books to read whilst on the beach or by the pool next week.

Victoria was very kind to send me a tweet and a mail following my I have finished comment from my Kindle. This seems to be an interesting emerging trend as I have since befriended Gruff Davies, author of The Looking Glass Club.

As I have already mentioned Richard and I are off to Spain tomorrow and we cannot wait to get away. It’s been a very turbulent year for us so far and we simply wanted to get away from all the distractions at home and recharge our batteries. We’ve managed to make the most of the extended bank holiday as we have 3 days at home, 5 days in Spain and then a further 3 days at home before returning to work.

So far on this long break we have been to Essex, Suffolk and London – tomorrow Spain then who knows where next weekend!

As I have already recorded we had dinner and drinks in the Gem Bar in London with friends yesterday and although I gave the venue a poor review (possibly one of the worst I have written), we did have a fun time. We started our escapades in B@1 Bar where we took advantage of the happy hour cocktails. Mind you before I had even had a chance to sup my Thom Collins I was nearly taken advantage of by the very cute barman (Richard) *blush*.

Following cocktails we then went onto Gem, left a couple of hours later and entered the quieter brighter streets of London (compared to the inside of Gem!). Full of food and wine we headed over to Soho and the Duke of Wellington where we got caught in a shower. I was not surprised to see all the queens and bears hiding under the awnings out of the rain.

I was surprised to see Russell Tovey in the bar and it looked like he was having fun. We tried to convince Richard to have his photo taken with him but he chickened out. To be honest I am not sure whether Russell liked the attention or not (but then again he was dancing like a fool in a crowded bar so I guess he was lapping up any attention he had).

The Duke of Wellington was absolutely rammed last night and full of queens of all shapes and sizes – it certainly seemed that everyone was making the most of the Easter weekend.

So far it’s been a lovely weekend/week/holiday/whatever and long may it continue. Easter Sunday is going to be a quiet day for us. I shall cook some lunch and we can chill out today – well once we have got around to packing for tomorrow!

Whatever you are up to and however long you have off – make the most of the time off and have a great time. See you all on the other side!