Snow and pantomimes and cocktails...oh my!!

What a busy weekend it's been! So busy that I'm really glad I booked today off to recover, especially as I've not been feeling 100% today. But along with the busyness, there's also been lots of fun with some of my favourite people so I'm really happy to be reliving the past three days through this post! Let's start off with Friday...

Friday
On Friday, I'd booked a half day at work so finished just after 2. I hurried home grateful that I wouldn't be commuting through the heavy snow that had been forecast for rush hour that evening. I then spent some time visiting some of my favourite websites before having a shower, grabbing some tea and then getting ready to make my way to the first performance of my drama group's pantomime, Jack and the Beanstalk. My mum and dad had got tickets for opening night so we all piled into their car and drove carefully through the heavy snow that had been falling for an hour or so. As always, the nerves were jangling and there was an adrenaline rush that could probably be felt by all the cast and crew, but I think it's safe to say that we all had a fantastic time on stage and the audience seemed to love it too! Then the show was over, and we left the warm and bright church hall and stepped into a veritable winter wonderland! The snow clearly hadn't stopped falling for the entire performance, and it lay thickly on each and every surface around us. The drive home was tough, even though we were only driving a very short distance. We were still in the grip of the snowstorm and even the major roads hadn't been treated, meaning the only way to position our car on the road was to look out for the tracks made by other drivers! I honestly can't ever remember driving in conditions like that before and  it was a bit worrying at times, especially when we could see cars skidding in front of us! Luckily we made it home safe and well, and I spent the rest of the evening warm near the fire :-)

Saturday
I had a lazy morning, before acting in my second performance of the weekend. After the show, I went round to the home of my friends The Performer and The Guitarist (both of whom were also involved in the panto), where we met up with a couple of others and then all headed off for a post birthday meal at one of my favourite restaurants: Pacifica Cantonese. Seriously, if you're ever in the Manchester area, I'd highly recommend it, even if you're not normally into Chinese food! The king do ribs and spicy Mongolian beef are to die for! After eating, I'd planned to go to the restaurant's upstairs cocktail bar for a few drinks, but it was booked for a private party so when my friends who'd just planned to have drinks with me had arrived too, we took the short walk to a pub known for its low prices. 2 pitchers of cosmopolitan for £10? Yes please! The night ended with a cold and rainy walk home in high heels...never the best idea! And judging from the blisters I had when I got home, I think my feet would agree with me!

Sunday
The first part of my day was basically the same as Saturday's (a lazy morning followed by the pantomime), then I grabbed a quick Subway sandwich with the Performer and the Guitarist, before the three of us were picked up by the Guitarist's brother and taken to the cinema where we watched Les Miserables. We opted to book in for Gold Class, which whilst being more expensive than your standard cinema experience, meant that we got leather reclining seats, free popcorn and access to our own private bar! Don't mind if I do! And as for the film itself? Well, as a fan of the musical, I was sure I'd love it and it's safe to say it didn't disappoint! I laughed, I cried (at least three times!) and was taken aback by the sheer spectacle on many an occasion. I'll definitely be seeing it again, and if Anne Hathaway doesn't win an Oscar for her role as Fantine, then there simply isn't any justice in the world ;-)!!

Monday
Basically the laziest of lazy days! :-) I watched Murder, She Wrote with a cup of tea, got dressed and took a brief walk before lunch, then spent the rest of the time either on the Internet, watching TV and/or eating! It's been a lovely way to round off my long weekend, although it's really making me not want to have to get up at  5:45 for work tomorrow :-( . Roll on 4 pm on Friday when my week's holiday from work begins!

And that's pretty much it! Hope you've enjoyed my weekend round up. What did you get up to? Was your weekend as busy as mine or much more chilled out? Let me know, it'd be great to hear from you!

'Til next time...

Easter Weekend Round Up 1: Good Friday and Easter Saturday

Just because I think my weekend round up would be too long if I tried to squeeze all 4 days into one post, and also because I can't think of anything else to blog about today, here's part 1 of my Easter weekend (in a handy bulleted list!)

Good Friday

My Friday was mainly spent:

• Having a lazy start to the day: lounging around in pjs, eating yummy hot cross buns for breakfast and having a leisurely shower before getting dressed and ready to face the world!
• Being veggie for the day: although I'm not particularly religious, my family and I keep the tradition of not eating meat on Good Friday, which meant my Mum's home made fish mornay with chips for lunch and a jacket potato with cheese and beans for tea.
• Helping my friend N with his lines for a play he's appearing in in a couple of weeks. It really makes me want to act again!
• Dodging the rain and laughing at dodgy covers of songs with my friend E as we did a bit of much needed shopping (well, she did whilst I browsed and tried on hats lol!)
• Helping E sort out her wardrobe with the help of a couple of other friends; if Aerosmith had been playing, it would have been practically the perfect reenactment of this scene from Sex and the City (minus the ridiculous poses and champagne!)
• Spending a chilled evening at my friends J and B's new flat with a group of other friends; drinking wine, eating pretzels, mini Cadbury creme eggs and home made choc chip cookies, chatting and high kicking (well, attempting to anyway!)

Easter Saturday

On Saturday I was:

• Stressing far too much about what to wear: despite the fact I've got a HUGE wardrobe, I just couldn't find anything I wanted to wear yesterday morning. And my stress was made worse by the fact that I knew I had to get a second outfit sorted for the evening (but more about that later!)
• Eating a delicious meal with my closest family and feeling far too full afterwards: I had a chicken melt (chicken breast topped with bacon and cheese), the best chips I've ever tasted, BBQ sauce and salad and it was amazing (and huge!) Somehow, I still found room for dessert though : vanilla ice cream with strawberry sauce and wafer curls. It goes without saying that the company was great too, and I also had fun testing out my new camera phone by taking lots of pictures!
• Buying a second confirmation card for my friend M: I had originally bought one on Thursday but then got home to discover that it was no longer in my possession! I still had the receipt but no card! So I had to make a dash to the nearest card shop to get one yesterday instead; not that I minded too much as it meant I could attempt to walk off my lunch!
• Sorting out part of my wardrobe: having been inspired by E, I decided to finish the job of clearing out my wardrobe and managed to fill another carrier bag with things I'll never wear again!
• Sitting (and standing!) through a very long Easter Vigil: Whilst I'm not Catholic, it was my friend M's confirmation last night, so I, along with a few other friends, went along to show my support. I'm glad I was there for his big night, but I don't think I'll be converting to Catholicism any time soon! (No offence intended to any Catholics out there!)
• Eating late night takeaway, drinking a mug of tea and being taken back to my college days (2001 to be precise) by watching a programme which was showing all the number ones of the 21st century so far. It took me right back to being 17 again...it seems like only yesterday so it's rather scary to realise it was 9 years ago!

And there's Part 1! Stay tuned for Part 2 appearing in a couple of days! And one last thing...have a very happy Easter, and make sure you eat lots of chocolate (I know I will be!)

There are no words...

to describe this so I guess I'll just post the video instead! As you're watching, just bear in mind that these guys are meant to be one of the twelve best acts in this year's competition...