Girlie trip to Nottingham!

So what is the best accessory for a holiday? Something you need to have with you? Maybe you will pick straighteners, or make up, to make sure you look the part during dinner in a posh hotel. Or maybe you won’t leave home without your phone, or camera to capture the adventures you get up to in a new place. Well, until recently I would have agreed with all of the above. But after my weekend away in Nottingham I would say that the best thing I can take on holiday is my best mate Faye! Not just because of the fact that girlie holidays are fab, but also because she keeps me safe, and once again saved my life!

What can go wrong on a three day break to Nottingham you ask? Well, when one of the people on the holiday is me anything can happen! Including getting lost inside our hotel, almost electrocuting myself, and injuring myself in a swimming pool. All in a days work for me!

The first catastrophe of the weekend happened on the Friday we were due to go. I was merrily flicking through my photos on my phone at Faye’s while waiting for her to finish in the bathroom. Smiling I came across a picture of my ticket for Peter Andre, who I was due to see on January 26. However peering closer at the ticket I realised it said Jan 12th! The very next day when we would be in Nottingham! Cue a very upset phone call to my sister (who was coming with me) to confess that I had been an idiot and written down the wrong date! We didn’t make it to the show, and a text from Jodie read ‘tee hee! you prat!’ She wasn't too upset (I had slightly twisted her arm into seeing him in the first place) but I was devastated!

Heading to Nottingham I quickly forgot about it, as Faye and I started on our ‘eat as much nice food as we can before Faye starts her shakes diet’ plan. Stopping at a garage to buy screen wash (those who know me know I go through a lot of this) I walked into a window trying to get in. In my defence it was not obvious where the door was! I then needed Faye to open my bonnet for me so I could pour it in. Apparently all the time I have spent at the gym recently has not increased my strength!

Arriving in the location of the hotel we were directed off the road by the sat nav through a forest. All very pretty, but no sign of the hotel. Emerging 15 minutes later, having driven through acres of woodland imagine our amusement as we spotted the hotel directly opposite the entrance we had taken into the woods. Good job we had not stopped someone for directions, it would have been very embarrassing to be directed across the road to the hotel that was in clear view!

The hotel was beautiful! It had lovely views across the forest, and inside was warm and welcoming. Just what we needed during this cold spell! Dumping our bags we headed off to the spa for our manicures. As I type I am sporting lovely metallic blue nails which so far (touch wood) I have not chipped much. Once our nails were dry we went into the pool, and it was here that I acquired the lovely cut and bruise on my ankle. I mean, who puts hidden steps in a pool!? Yes, ok, maybe they were not too hidden, as Faye managed to see it and avoid it. But in my eagerness to escape the water (which was pretty cold) I kicked out with my legs and struck the step, causing the damage. Ouch!

The rest of the evening passed quite uneventfully, apart from us getting lost in the rabbit warren of corridors of the hotel. From the outside it didn’t look that big, but inside was a different story!

On the Saturday we headed into Nottingham, on the trail of Robin Hood and his Merry Men! Our first stop was Nottingham Castle, which was fantastic! It was also the scene of my near electrocution! Seriously whose bright idea was it to put two doors next to each other in the toilet, one to the exit and one to the cupboard with the electric mains in!? Having washed my hands and not drying them properly I missed the exit sign over the first door and ‘danger of death’ sign over the second door, and walked into the cupboard. Faye shouting ‘no no no no!’ behind me was the first indication of my mistake! The second was the mound of wires my wet hands were very close to! All was ok in the end - thanks to my life saver friend!

The rest of the holiday flew by, with no big accidents or mishaps. Faye once again failed to see the Criminal and Justice museum, as we were 10 minutes late. The first time she had tried to get in was about 10 years ago, and they were closed. We had lots of lovely food and were stuffed by the time we got home. We had a snowball fight in the middle of a forest. Note to anyone reading this - don’t start a snowball fight with Faye. She gets you back 10 times worse and you end up with snow down your neck!




So, a lovely weekend was had by both of us! I hope to return to Nottingham again, and will be taking my best holiday accessory with me - Faye!

My gym journey so far

Most people make New Years resolutions to keep fit and join a gym. And every year I laugh at those poor souls slogging away on rowing machines and struggling to lift heavy weights. However not this year. This year I am one of them! I am right there, red faced and sweating as for the first time in my life I have joined a gym. Honestly, stop laughing, it’s true. I have the aches and pains, and the shiny green members card in my purse to prove it!

However, unlike most people this was not a New Years resolution. I did not stand there at midnight on New Years eve and vow to get my butt to a gym straight away. No, I started in November, and so had a good month to get used to the quiet empty gym before January 2nd, when it was invaded by millions of new members (note: I may have exaggerated slightly!)

Joining a gym is not something I have ever wanted to do, or ever thought I would. But sadly, at the age of 27, I have come to realise that I need to put some work in to stay a size I am happy with. The thought of running outside in the cold horrified me. Actually, the thought of running at all horrified me. Cycling is not really my thing, as it requires more balance that I have - my current level being none! So I thought I would brave the gym, and signed up with Joe.

The first thing that concerned me slightly was the five personal training sessions you get. I had an image in my mind of a mean, muscly instructor shouting at me and making me do press ups! GET DOWNA AND GIVE ME 10 YOU HORRIBLE LITTLE GIRL!! But the reality could not have been further from the truth. Yes my instructor was pretty big and strong, but no, he didn’t shout. I did however spend much of the first session apologising. Sorry for my lack of muscles when he asked me to tense so he could measure them, sorry for my weakness when he had to drop the level of weights down for me, sorry for spilling my water on him when drinking from my leaky bottle…etc…etc.

40 minutes after the first session I left with aching muscles and a workout plan – that included the rower, bike, cross trainer and weights.

So fast forward two months and I have turned into a person I never thought I would be. I don’t yet have abs like Jessica Ennis, or a flat, toned tummy, but I do have a new found confidence that I can lift weights cope with a gym. I have seen benefits too – in particular a new level of fitness. The only problem that I can see is my ‘blonde’ moments, which have seen me drop a weight on the foot of the person next to me, fall off the exercise bike when I accidently made the seat loose instead of tighter, and walk into the door while looking at a good looking guy on the treadmill. But hey, no amount of improving my fitness will sort out my blonde moments!

Top 100 books challenge: 45. Brideshead Revisited

45. Brideshead Revisited, Evelyn Waugh

I managed to start the new year having finishing a book on the list. I did cheat, and start my new years challenge at Christmas, but I figured that I needed as much of a head start as possible to get through the 55 books I had to read on the list!
When I first started Brideshead Revisited I was not that sure I would enjoy it, and thought it would be a chore. It is quite slow to start, but I soon found myself engrossed in the life of the main character Charles Ryer, and his involvement with the Flyte family.

Brideshead Revisited is told in the first person by Charles Ryder. In the prologue he is in the British Army at the beginning of World War II moving to a new camp, which he finds is the estate called Brideshead. Yes, he has been here before. The remainder of the novel is the telling of the circumstances of his prior knowledge of this beautiful estate.

The story follows the relationship between Charles and Sebastian Flyte, who he meets at University. Charles quickly becomes involved with the Flyte family, something that sticks long after Sebastian is no longer around. It seems like the Flyte family, and their house Brideshead, is an addiction for Charles. No matter how often he leaves the house he keeps coming back, or meets one or other of the family on his travels. He can’t even escape when he goes abroad, bumping into Sebastian (who is now heavily dependant on alcohol) or his elder sister Julia.

I think the reason for his infatuation is the family seem glamorous  to him, compared to his quiet, and dull homelife with his recluse of a father. Charles is an artist (something that later in the book he travels abroad to study) and he sees beauty in Brideshead and the family, especially Julia, and he greatly admires Sebastian’s mother Lady Marchmain.

The book ends in World War II, with Charles back at Brideshead.
My only criticism of the book is that you are left wondering what happened to the family. With the exception of Sebastian’s parents you don’t know how their life panned out, and what has happened to them. I especially wanted to know the fate of Sebastian, who I had come to really like. Other than that a good read, and a book I would recommend. Stick with it and get through the slow beginning, and you will enjoy it.


Rating - 7/10