Birthday weekend

(Consisting of Friday 7th & Saturday 8th Oct...)

On Friday morning we went into London again, this time going straight to Leicester Square to try and get cheap tickets to Legally Blonde the musical that night. Janet & Caitlin were happy to come see it again, & Rose was going to come in just to see it - for the 3rd time; unfortunately we had to get 2 groups of 2 tickets in the upper circle, but it turned out fine.

I was possibly going to be meeting Gen from VET last year that day as she was travelling with 2 friends and was heading home on Tues, but that didn't end up working out :( We headed to Portobello Rd though and spend a good 2 hours making our way up the market. G & J bought me a pair of earrings I was going to get as a present, and I finally made it up to Janet for her birthday by getting her a couple of pairs of cute studs, and a single tiny feather stud for myself. I also ended up with a huge floral dress - yep, the kind I got lots of a couple of years back and altered - plus a bright pink blazer type thing I'm not sure I'll ever wear but I couldn't not get it for £3, a lambswool light blue jumper which was very welcome later on in the day when the sun faded, and a flowery sheer shirt thing from an actual shop. Janet also found a really nice white cardigan with pearls on the front on a £2 rack, which I was a bit jealous of.

We got lunch on the way up the road, I had a fairly average olive/rocket/sundried tomato/mozzarella roll & the others got felafel wraps. After all our shopping we headed back, stopping in a frozen yoghurt place Alex & I went to in summer, and sat in there for a good while, just needing to relax for a bit. We're still getting back into working mode even though it's been a few weeks since holidays, and we could barely contemplate doing anything else.

We ended up going to Green Park where we knew there was a Starbuck's we could sit in, although the first one was too crowded so we had to find another. We literally sat in there for 2 hours, the others bought drinks and we just sat and/or read.

Eventually we headed towards Chinatown & got dinner at the Vietnamese restaurant we went to on our first Friday this term, and again it didn't disappoint. Still not sure quite what the 'soya bean drink' I got was, most likely just soy milk.

We met Rose at Leicester Square, got her some food then made our way to the Savoy Theatre. It's actually a huge hotel, and there were loads of groups of women all dressed up for their night at the theatre. We went up to the grand circle, as they call it, we had to work out who would sit with me in the middle, while the other 2 were a row back right on the left. Fairly, Rose sat with me and even though we were high up, they were still good seats (for £23.50). Anyway, I LOVED it! I'd been listening to the soundtrack for a good 2 weeks straight (and still am) and it was really good to know the songs. I eventually got a program, as they ran out quickly, as a memento.

After the show, we took the train back and went to the flat via Highlands to get dressed and went out! It was a lot later than we've ever gone, since we got back about midnight and didn't leave till 1am or so, but it was still fun. The girls got me a birthday shout-out from the DJ which was nice :)

I was working in the morning of my actual birthday, the Saturday. The boarders sang happy birthday to me in the house, then at breakfast, then again back at the house - Amanda sent me off to do some photocopying at school and when I came back they were all in the common room and started singing and there was a cake and cards. It was so cute! We spent the rest of the morning making clay pots, Georgie was over helping as it was Open Day, and colouring in patterns for our Diwali Festival-themed service this sunday.

I went to lunch, and then I was off work so I skyped Mum & Dad, and had a nap for a bit as I wasn't feeling very well. I went back over to the flat and Georgie, Aisling, Rose, Em and I went down to town to have an early-ish dinner and see a movie. I was hoping we could go Zizzi's, an Italian place Sam & Amanda had recommended, but they were booked out so we ended up at the 'New York Italian' place called Frankie & Benny's up near the cinema. It was so. good! I got cannelloni and the others all enjoyed their pizza/pasta/steak/bruschetta. We also got 'the godfather' dessert to share which consisted of ice-cream, cream, brownie bits, malt balls, chocolate & toffee sauces. YUM!

We went and saw Midnight in Paris, which was good since I've now been there and recognised a lot of the shots, especially from the first 2-minute montage. We all mostly liked it, in a Woody-Allen kind of way. Then we headed back up the hill, and guess what was waiting at the flat for me? Well, apart from Louisa?! A whole lot of chocolate, a cake and more pressies, organised by the boarding gaps who'd all been working! I can't say it was exactly a surprise, as we've done it for everyone on their birthday, but it was so nice! Except, as usual, I ate too much chocolate in many different varieties. But it was my birthday, so it was okay.

So basically, I had a great birthday - thanks girlies!