Just Let Me Go. Please.

I have started to speculate to accumulate for the wedding by ordering 3 'craft' books from Amazon. They are hopefully going to be an inspiration and kick start me into action on planning for the big day. The Wig and I will definitely be making all the stationary ourselves, but do our guests really need heart shaped fans, coffee filter pom poms and rosette boutonnieres. What is a boutonniere? How have I managed to get through life thus far without ever hearing of them/it or requiring them/it? And what on earth is a 'bride and groom shakey'? Having worked in the Production of commercials for a very long time, I should be feeling confident about this particular production but I just don't know where to start and now am worried I am going to turn into one of those wedding bore's. This is the 2nd time I have mentioned it on this blog this week. I'm boring myself.

Also since I started sniffing around possible venues on the internet,  I am pretty much an expert on places in London that you can hire for weddings. (I could do a London Walk on Wedding Venues. I won't but I could, if I don't get a proper job). I first noticed this annoying trait when I did my sightseeing day with my brother.  As we walked past Tower Bridge ("You can hire a place inside the bridge for a wedding you know? Imagine that!"), by the Tower of London ("There's an amazing old Music Hall near here that you can hire. It's pretty much my dream venue. But too expensive"), through the city ("Oooh, this is near the Coq D'Argent! My friend had her reception there!") etc etc... Yawn....

It also happened when I when I went out for 'industry' type drinks on Friday night. They were being held at 1 Greek Street, which I must have walked past a gillion times but have never been inside. Its a charitable organisation that you can hire with a percentage of the revenue being put back into the charity. But as soon as I went out into the courtyard I recognised it instantly. Fairy lights, little chapel, another venue! But after exclaiming "You can hire this place for a wedding, I recognise it from my wedding venue research!" Suddenly I found myself alone. I reckon I should try to keep my wedding venue tourettes under control in future. If I want any friends.

http://www.quintessentiallysoho.com/

Anyway, last night The Wig and I got round to watching "Never Let me Go". Neither of us have read the book but we have both in the past been bought copies by different friends so I had high hopes for this story. If our friends like the book enough to buy it for us then it should be right up our alley. However, after watching it, I think maybe it is the kind of story that works best in a book. I think that you need more details than you can squeeze into a film to understand and appreciate the story fully. It was also quite hard to watch since The Wig kept whispering about how depressing it was and how it was giving him chest pains. Whereas I just wanted to get to the end. We considered a double bill of 'Beaches' and 'Steel Magnolias' when we got home to lighten the mood.

Andrew Garfield does a brilliant vulnerable young man (you should check him out in 'Boy A' too) and Carey Mulligan does a very varied range of 'one side of mouth smiling' to enhance her passivity. The Art Direction, Cinematography and Wardrobe were all superb, and I will also mention the fabulous screenplay since my friends' brother wrote it but sadly, the subject matter was a bit too heavy going for me. Not even Keira Knightly's mighty bottom jaw could distract me away from this fact. Maybe if I had read the book though it would have been a gentler introduction to the futility, rather than being whacked in the face in the first ten minutes. So, I'm afraid"Never Let me Go" scores 5 organ donations out of a possible 10. Sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiRZhDEo8A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VaSQNUt9H4

Alexia

Please check out the link below for something I have just been working on with a very inspirational person:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNgpJRVsFc&feature=player_embedded

If this doesn't put things into perspective I don't know what will. 

You can find more information on this project if you follow this link: 

http://www.facebook.com/#!/rnibuk?v=app_10442206389

Appointment

There was no point putting it off any longer. The more I put it off, the more I didn't want to do it. But last night I faced up to my fears and my best friend, Twit McPhee aka The Twit, and I, ventured into a wedding dress shop. Shudder. As expected it was an exceedingly uncomfortable experience and I am thinking today that, perhaps I might feel more comfortable with a themed fancy dress wedding. Maybe a theme  based around my favorite food . It would be far less intimidating and I'm sure the wig wouldn't mind. In fact I think he would make a lovely prawn.

The shop I went to is a 'vintage' shop which in my head meant less pricey than 'new'  but in reality meant 'Granny's net curtains circa 1976 if Granny smoked 60 Marlboro Reds a day'. Not only did the shop make me feel very uncomfortable but I didn't really get the concept behind it.  It only seemed to have 3 (yellowing, net) dresses which to me does not constitute a shop, and when I probed the girl behind the counter about how it all worked, I was really none the wiser.

Me: "Hello. So, how does this 'work' then?"
Girl: "Have you made an appointment?"
Me: "No".
Girl: "Ok, well you need to make an appointment".
Me: "Why?"
Girl: "So you can try the dresses on".
Me: " Ok, well do you have more than 3 dresses?
Girl: "Yes, they are out the back. But you need to make an appointment".
 Me: " I don't know if I want to try them on if I don't know what they look like".
Girl: "You have to make an appointment".
Me: " To look at them?"
Girl: "Yes".
Me: (confused)
Girl: "Or you can look at the dresses on our website, but to be honest its not updated very often so probably they will have been sold by the time you make an appointment. Are you getting married soon?"
Me: "Not at this rate, no".

And then my brain exploded. Again.

What a weird idea for a shop. 

The Canvey Island 2

So when I said London want too bad, it was a sort of lie. The last 2 mornings, London has been hell.  Firstly, my overland trains have been delayed to Liverpool Street, then its been almost impossible to get on the tube. Yesterday I had to let 5 tubes go before I could squeeze into one. Having to let 4 go, so to speak, is my record after 15 years of working in Soho so I should really feel happy that I beat my personal best. But all I felt when I finally made it to my work station was dirty and traumatised. Being squashed between the BFG's rucksack and Charles Bronson with a cold made me want to go home, have a bleach bath and a good cry. I can't bear to be squashed against strangers on public transport, its revolting, you don't know where they have been. I know some people like this kind of thing, but not me. It makes me feel a bit sick.

And it was for that reason that I needed a stiff one after work last night. The stress from public transport and trying to put off the journey home drove me to it. Luckily it was 'white wine wednesday' at a pub off of Regent Street where all the wines are £10.95 a bottle. I met up with my best friend and a few of her workmates from Live Nation (you might have heard of them, and if not, check them out here http://www.livenation.co.uk/, I'm not on commission, just spreading the word . . . .). Well, I say she is my best friend but quite frankly she is skating on thin ice at the moment. Not only did she call my boots gay last night (whatever that means) but she also said this blog is boring. Luckily the March Hare does not discriminate and I still want her to be a bridesmaid at my non-existent wedding, but she definitely needs to mind her lip for the foreseeable future.

I was not intending to drink wine on a school night but as I said, it's  TFL's fault, but I'm so glad it did as if I had not stayed out, I would not have been travelling home at 10pm and I never would have met the Canvey Island 2!  When I did finally muster up the stamina to face the tube home I obviously found myself on the carriage that was completely empty apart from 2 rather inebriated, tracksuit top wearing teenagers. Not only were they loud (in volume and attire) they had created a rather large pile of Pringles on the floor. Normally ie if I had not been drinking cheap wine, I would have turned around, got off the tube and waited for the next one, but for some reason I felt drawn to these characters. And I'm so glad I was. It was the best tube ride home I think I've ever had. It turned out that they had travelled all the way into town from Canvey Island (which we all agreed is a complete dump) to go to a gig. On arriving at the gig they were turned away for being too drunk so bought some supplies and got back on the tube to go home.  After buying Vodka and Fanta they realised they had nothing to mix them in, so they emptied the Pringles onto the floor and created a huge Vodka/Fanta/sour cream and chive cocktail. Which they had been drinking from for quite some time. An unusual combination but ingenious none the less.

Anyway, in a nutshell they were just 2 very nice kids. Obviously I can't remember their names but can safely say I have never met 2 nicer 19 year olds ever. The female of the duo told me that she worked in a curtain factory on Canvey Island and last week their oldest member of staff retired at 70 years old. Apparently the old lady got mugged 2 days later by a teenager. The female was obviously disgusted by this and said "How awful is that? But the problem is, I know people look at us and think we're yobs, but we are aren't, we wouldn't hurt anyone". And I think she had a point. It was only because I was a bit tipsy that I sat near them but they weren't dangerous hoodlums, they were funny, and sensitive and very resourceful with a Pringles tube. So, in future I will make more of an effort with teenagers and think everyone should do the same. Hug a teenager for 2011! Its my new manifesto.

Sore balls

The new shoes reminded me yesterday why I don't usually wear heels. I had the most excruciating balls when I got home last night. I'm not sure where that leaves my new image if the one thing I have bought to wear renders me unable to move around. I may have to have a rethink. What also didn't help was that I had to do a lot of trotting around yesterday, making trips through Soho to the new office I shall be working out of over the next couple of weeks. It’s pretty exciting but not too good for the old peds! The new office has a phone, the internet, a printer, a desk I don't have to share, post it notes, highlighter pens, a stapler, a ladder, need I go on?  This probably doesn't sound too exciting but it definitely beats working from home (Judge Judy is too damn distracting) and it also beats sharing a desk, power lead and chair, which is what I have been doing for the last week. It will be great! I don't know how long I will be working there for but I guess that’s the 'excitement' of being freelance. One thing that isn’t exciting about being freelance though is the all the boring financial and legal stuff like National Insurance, tax, finding an accountant apparently . . . etc  . . . etc  . . . if you could hear sounds through this blog, you would just have heard the sound of my head exploding.

Apart from sore feet yesterday I also had a sore brain thinking about the wedding again. I met up with my friend last night who got engaged a month after me but who has already got her wedding planned for this May. Amazing. I like to think I am a fairly organized person but her organisational skills have put me to shame. And if that wasn't bad enough, while she was telling me about her plans we were having a rather disappointing dinner. 

(NB: Yesterday Auntie Margaret emailed me and said all my blogs about food were making her feel queasy and that it was no wonder I was feeling a bit tubby considering all the food I am consuming. Auntie Margaret has a very good point, although Auntie, you may want to look away now). 

My friend and I met at the O Bar on Wardour Street, I’d never been before, but think I will definitely be visiting again. It had beautiful chandeliers, an extensive bar, friendly barman, leather seats, I would definitely recommend for a cheeky wine or cocktail and rate it 9 cocktail umbrellas out of a possible 10.

http://www.the-obar.co.uk/

After the nice drink, however, we the crossed the road to Satsuma. Oh dear . . . I have not been to this Japanese restaurant for a few years, but it’s basically a Wagamamas type place. It has the same seating arrangement as Wagamamas whereby you share long benches rather than having individual tables and pretty much the same menu, but sadly nowhere near as good on the décor or customer service front.

http://www.osatsuma.com/

Satsuma looks very tired and grubby and not only were the toilets revolting and the staff extremely mardy, when my friends food came and was not what she ordered, the waitress said it was too bad and there was nothing that could be done about it. Customer Service at its pathetic worst. But, when I asked to see the manager suddenly she changed her mind, was very apologetic and brought the correct food out. Now there is always a bit of a dilemma in this situation though since they have most probably put something horrid in the food by this point as you dared stand up to them. Should you eat the food and hope it isn't tainted by some sort of chef/waitress secretion or just quit while your ahead?  Dilemma . . . .  And its for these reasons I would rate Satsuma 0 gyoza out of a possible 10. This place is to be avoided particularly since there is so much choice in Soho for good places to eat. I should have taken more notice of the 'No Entry' sign next to the front door and just not gone in.