I have to admit that I am quite proud of myself today when it comes to my spending.... I have spent a grand total of £12.80 and that includes lunch!
Now as I'm sure you are all very much aware, I have the ability to spend obscene amounts of money that would take a normal person all day to part with in a matter of minutes. However, today this was not the case.
Following a Boxing Day evening, on which I did not consumer any alcohol apart from an incredibly weak white wine spritzer after the shameful Christmas eve carnage that if I'm being honest is still a bit hazy, when I only spent £1.80 on a bottle of water and £5 on a taxi home I was feeling quite alert and had every intention of going to the gymnasium. Though this did not happen as just as I was about to get into my sweats to venture to the gym I received a text from Chloe asking if I'd like to go to lunch with the girls and decided that I would much rather sit in Enigma and eat more food instead, so bang went that idea!
So I get to Enigma and the girls are already there bar Nush, who arrives whilst we are all at the bar ordering, so we have a good old chin wag and catch up on the previous night's events as we usually do the morning after the night before. It's really busy in there so all five of us are crammed around the smallest table until we spot somebody leaving on a big table and literally make a run for it. We're chatting away the whole time, filling each other in on what has happened to each of us on the previous two nights out, I am still none the wiser about Friday. We also discuss the plan for our new year 'fuddle' (apparently this is a Nottingham word) at Nush's, something that we are all very excited about! Finally our food arrives and this is the only time that the five of us actually shut up!
As it's the first day of the sales after we've eaten we decide it only right to visit the Accessorize sale as everything is half price! Brilliant! Now this is something that could have been detrimental to my bank account! So many beautiful bags, purses, hats, scarves, belts, earrings and necklaces all at half price.... I find myself attracted to a turquoise tote. It's beautiful, so vibrant and it would definitely fit everything that I carry around with me on a daily basis. At £18 it's an absolute bargain! I strut around the store modelling it for the girls, they agree that it is very beautiful.
Chloe and Laura are like the little devils on my shoulder telling me to buy it, while Kate is more the voice of reason as she is really good with money, where as the other two like to shop like me! In an impulsive spell of guilt I quickly replace the bag from where I got it from, figuring that if it is meant to be then it will still be in Monsoon when I return in a few days. My bank balance is saved! However, not completely intact as I leave the store with a pair of earrings for £4, the same pair that I bought for the MHMT Christmas party and then lost one of them after a few too many glasses of rose!
We then move on to the Altered Egos sale. As I have said before, I love this shop! So many beautiful things under one roof and Stokesy, Betty and Abs are great! They are all very good at their jobs as they often get me to part with my money! The sale in there absolutely kills me, as I see most of my wardrobe has been reduced. I say this, but it doesn't upset me that much as I have had a good wear of everything that I've bought from there with the exception of a couple of party frocks that I just haven't found the occassion yet. As I already own most of the store, I come away empty handed but Laura buys a jumper at an absolute bargain price. Their sales are great if you get to head down!
As is customary to any girls trip around town, we obviously have to pay a quick visit to New Look. If I'm being honest I rarely find anything in there clothing wise that I like, but when I do I wear it to death! I am more a fan of their footwear, I bought a pair of biker boots a couple of months ago and I have pretty much lived in them! You know me, I have all these lovely clothes and shoes, then you'll mostly find me wearing band t-shirts and converse trainers or biker boots! Anyway, not overjoyed by the New Look sale we leave empty handed.
We are about to call is a day and go home when Chloe darts into Superdrug claiming that makeup could always put a smile on her face! Never has a truer word been spoken. I, however, had my makeup fix on Friday when I pretty much purchases my whole makeup bag! So the girls are looking at foundation while I take the opportunity to peruse the array of lipsalves available. This might not sound incredibly important, but when you're suffering from ridiculously dry lips because of Roaccutane lipsalve is a vital purchase. At the moment I'm getting through the stuff like it's going out of fashion. I should also take this opportunity to apologise to everybody whose glasses now have lipsalve marks on.
After much deliberation of this important decision, and a little bit of eenie-meenie-minie-mo I finally choose a tube of Carmex in cherry flavour as it has come very highly recommended for £2.49. I should add that this means that I now own 3 lipsalves and a tin of Vaseline all of which I believe are in my suitcase of a handbag, at least I'll never run out! We then decide that it's about time for us all to go home. Chlo gives me a lift back and we chat about our upcoming 'fuddle' and our plans for ice skating and firework watching!
Once I get home I'm on Facebook, something that we are all admittedly addicted to, thinking that I have no plans for the evening and about ready to get into my PJs when Jo invites me over for a girly DVD night round hers. I quickly raid my ridiculous DVD collection for a few girly classics before heading over to hers. We decide to watch Never Been Kissed, chatting while it's on about Christmas and the like.
By the end of the film we are both too mesmarized to talk and I am crying as Drew Barrymore finally gets her man.... I am such a schmuck! Realising that Eastenders is on, we decide that it's very important that we keep up to date with what's going on down Albert Square following the Christmas day, Boxing day shinanigins. I love Eastenders, I think soaps are one of life's guilty pleasures. I personally never find it depresses me, fair enough it's not a happily ever after kind of programme, but it bears no reflection on my life so I don't get all that involved! I can dip in and out of it as I please as I'm out most of the time anyway and rarely get to watch it. We re-watch the Miranda Christmas special giggling all the way home before I decide it's time to call it a day and head home to stuff my face with yet more yule log and mince pies!
Here I sit on my PC and I have not spent a single penny more today.... although I do admittedly have the Topshop website open on another tab on which I have found a gorgeous playsuit that I think I might need in my life for £50. However, this would be covered by my voucher so it's like I'm not spending anything at all! I might wait until I actually go into Topshop as I am not quite sure what size I am anymore after mission extreme weight loss! I have Jimmy Eat World playing in the background and this is not shopping music. I may have just been on the iTunes store but I did not buy anything, just the FREE 12 days of Christmas app for my iPhone. I have been and will continue to be good today!
Monday, 27 December 2010
Sunday, 26 December 2010
Boxing day.... bring on another debauched night on the town!
Here I sit watching Enchanted, what I consider to be the perfect Boxing Day film, feeling rather festively plump after the biggest left over dinner known to man. There is no longer any turkey, stuffing or any remains of Christmas dinner left in the Waterfield household and I feel like I will not need to eat until at least Wednesday!
I have been excessively lazy over the last few days.... as should be only way to live at Christmas! I wake up at 10am, the whole family is already downstairs so I take the opportunity to get my dose of Winchester beauty and watch an episode of Supernatural in bed. Following this, deciding I should be more social I head downstairs where my family are watching Birds of a Feather (brilliant!) and proceed to make myself a sausage sandwich for breakfast as it is far too cold to have cereal.
We spend the morning watching telly and attempt to watch Funny People, one of Andrew's Christmas dvds which soon becomes very apparent is inappropriate for family viewing with all of the f-ing and jeffing going on.... neither my mother or Grandma were very pleased. The Railway Children is quickly put on which I leave them to watch in peace.
My Dad arrives back from his epic walk that he and Rob left at 8am for (why on Boxing Day? Mad men!) and dinner is very promptly served. A platter of cold turkey and buffet style food is a mandatory feast in the Waterfield residence on Boxing Day.... I get so carried away eating the I forget to take my tablet, pour myself a drink and pull my cracker!
After dinner I sit and have a chat with my Mum and Grandma before realising that it is time for Enchanted to start. As the rugby is on, all of the men congragate in the living room for an afternoon of manly sport viewing while I settle down in the kitchen to watch Enchanted subjecting them to bad renditions of That's How You Know and True Love's Kiss every so often.
Another huge Boxing Day tradition, I will shortly be heading out for yet another evening of debauchery with the girls because a) it is Christmas and b) it is the 28th anniversary of Miss Sarah Butlin's birth. So far today I have spent no money, I do not intend to spend an awful lot tonight as I don't think I should drink what with my next blood test being on Wednesday.... famous last words. I'm sure that I'll probably be updating this tomorrow to say that I decided that it was a good idea to have a couple of cocktails at The Oat Hill as they are mostly fruit juice and good for me or I decided that a small glass of rose wouldn't hurt.
Speaking of which.... I'm due at a house party in a couple of hours so I should actually think about what I am going to wear.
I have been excessively lazy over the last few days.... as should be only way to live at Christmas! I wake up at 10am, the whole family is already downstairs so I take the opportunity to get my dose of Winchester beauty and watch an episode of Supernatural in bed. Following this, deciding I should be more social I head downstairs where my family are watching Birds of a Feather (brilliant!) and proceed to make myself a sausage sandwich for breakfast as it is far too cold to have cereal.
We spend the morning watching telly and attempt to watch Funny People, one of Andrew's Christmas dvds which soon becomes very apparent is inappropriate for family viewing with all of the f-ing and jeffing going on.... neither my mother or Grandma were very pleased. The Railway Children is quickly put on which I leave them to watch in peace.
My Dad arrives back from his epic walk that he and Rob left at 8am for (why on Boxing Day? Mad men!) and dinner is very promptly served. A platter of cold turkey and buffet style food is a mandatory feast in the Waterfield residence on Boxing Day.... I get so carried away eating the I forget to take my tablet, pour myself a drink and pull my cracker!
After dinner I sit and have a chat with my Mum and Grandma before realising that it is time for Enchanted to start. As the rugby is on, all of the men congragate in the living room for an afternoon of manly sport viewing while I settle down in the kitchen to watch Enchanted subjecting them to bad renditions of That's How You Know and True Love's Kiss every so often.
Another huge Boxing Day tradition, I will shortly be heading out for yet another evening of debauchery with the girls because a) it is Christmas and b) it is the 28th anniversary of Miss Sarah Butlin's birth. So far today I have spent no money, I do not intend to spend an awful lot tonight as I don't think I should drink what with my next blood test being on Wednesday.... famous last words. I'm sure that I'll probably be updating this tomorrow to say that I decided that it was a good idea to have a couple of cocktails at The Oat Hill as they are mostly fruit juice and good for me or I decided that a small glass of rose wouldn't hurt.
Speaking of which.... I'm due at a house party in a couple of hours so I should actually think about what I am going to wear.
Saturday, 25 December 2010
Christmas day.... I'm sure I could find a way to spend money!
So today is Christmas day.... I woke up at about 8.30am still drunk from the night before and with an incredibly hazy memory of the night's events. Classy as I ever, I was still wearing last night's makeup, still had tape stuck to me where I had glued my dress in place and a bruise on my bum which I am still none the wiser to how it got there!
Anyway, I quickly composed myself. All make up was removed, I brushed my hair so I looked ever so slightly presentable, brushed my teeth and headed downstairs where everyone else was already waiting to open presents. This year (as with many years) I have been really spoilt.... as far as I knew I was getting tickets to see Take That and Foo Fighters which is absolutely fine by me. I love going to concerts and those two will actually make my life next year! I have been waiting for those gigs for ages and when they were announced within the same week I was so excited that I could've cried! I'm quite happy to sit and watch everyone else open their presents knowing that I have something amazing to look forward to next summer. Little did I know that my mother had a few surprises up her sleeve.
I am now the very proud and lucky owner of the following:
Anyway, I quickly composed myself. All make up was removed, I brushed my hair so I looked ever so slightly presentable, brushed my teeth and headed downstairs where everyone else was already waiting to open presents. This year (as with many years) I have been really spoilt.... as far as I knew I was getting tickets to see Take That and Foo Fighters which is absolutely fine by me. I love going to concerts and those two will actually make my life next year! I have been waiting for those gigs for ages and when they were announced within the same week I was so excited that I could've cried! I'm quite happy to sit and watch everyone else open their presents knowing that I have something amazing to look forward to next summer. Little did I know that my mother had a few surprises up her sleeve.
I am now the very proud and lucky owner of the following:
- Robbie Williams - In and Out of Consciousness: Greatest hits 1990-2010
- Take That - Progress (Thanks Auntie Jane!)
- Supernatural Season 5 boxset (Winchesters.... whoop!)
- Jimmy Eat World - Futures (I already had it on iTunes but I wanted the CD for in the car when I pass my driving test)
- Jimmy Eat World - Bleed American (Same)
- Jimmy Eat World - Chase the Light
- Olly Murs album
- Take That calendar
- Converse trainers (mine died so obviously this is amazing as I live in them)
- Sex and the City 2 dvd
- Thomas Sabo sneaker charm (very me!)
- A colour your own snowman cookie jar (thanks Rach!)
- Body Shop Cocoa Butter smellies (very handy with current dry skin situation from tablets)
- A ticket to see The Saturdays (so excited Jen!)
- A social butterfly which glass (love it Stephen!)
- Marley and Me dvd (thanks Phil!)
- PJ bottoms
- A 2011 diary covered in shoes
- Some slipper booties (thanks Santa!)
- A hand warmer (much needed Rach!)
- A topshop voucher from work (they are very good to me!)
- Some kinder chocolate (which as you can probably guess.... didn't last long Rach!)
- Some mini eggs
So yeah, I've been very spoilt today! So the woozy effect starts to subside and the hangover starts to kick in.... I feel like I've pickled my stomach, not the best feeling on Christmas day. My Grandma and Uncle arrive and we open more presents and settle down to watch Singing in the Rain while Dad cooks dinner. Christmas dinner is my favourite dinner of the year.... it's always a very exciting event in our house.
So while dinner is cooking I put all of my CDs onto my iTunes (obviously a very important job) and decide to check out the Amazon sale. The camera I've had my beady little eye on has gone up by £30 so I decide against it, checking out the prices of the boxsets I've wanted like Grey's Anatomy Season 5 and Ugly Betty Season 3.... I come away empty handed without spending any money, something that is very impressive for me!
Music is a contraversial topic at dinner as I subject my family to Take That.... something that me, Mum and Grandma love but Andrew hates with a passion! We ignore his protest as dinner is served and we are not disappointed this year, my Dad has surpassed himself. We're all still eating when the Queen's speech is on so of course in true family tradition (much to Andrew and Uncle Mike's disgust) we watch together in silence as we eat.
After dinner much to my delight Shrek the Third is on so I make the whole family watch is as I love the Shrek movies. However, following the events of last night I am very tired and like the old lady that I seem to have turned into in my mid-twenties I promptly fall asleep in front of the telly woken only by the promise of chocolate pudding for dessert an hour later!
At tea time my Nanna and Grandad come round, when more presents are given, everyone else tucks into a sandwich but I am still far too full from lunchtime. We all sit down to watch Dr Who and Eastenders together. Then we watch The Royale Family Christmas special when I finally decide that I might be able to manage a sandwich.... and fruit cocktail and a slice of yule log! It is Christmas after all!
We have a tradition in our family that we all save a small present for after tea which is hidden away in a stocking. This is always fab.... my surprise is the Olly Murs albums and I am dead chuffed with it! It's been a lovely day and so far I have spend no money, not even on iTunes or Amazon.... well done me!
Christmas eve.... total and utter carnage!
First of all.... Merry Christmas everybody! I hope that you've all had a fab fun day eating, drinking and generally being merry!
So here I am.... back on the blogging again as this time I really do need to stick with it and sort my life out as I am beyond skint and if I'm being honest in the past couple of months I have been absolutely terrible whilst I haven't been keeping track! I have again lapsed into being quite the social butterfly again going out at every opportunity, bought a hell of a lot of new clothes that I didn't need and my music collection has gone from excessive to ridiculous!
I figure that as my new years resolution is to sort out my money situation then there is no time like the present to start updating my blog on my silly spending being as I got paid yesterday.
So anyway my Christmas eve went like this. After being awoken on Thursday at 9.30am by a phone call from Dad asking if I can go and get something from him to Mum (he does this every year) I trotted off into town armed with the £30 that he had given me for her gift. I had of course prepared for such an event and had previously asked Mum what she wanted.... this is how to get your Christmas shopping done in half an hour!
The first place I visit is Wilkinsons, I am aware that I shouldn't buy my mother presents from her place of work but this is where I had been told to go. She requested Britney Spears Fantasy perfume and some Baileys, little did I know that Dad had already bought some Baileys so she now has two bottles! The perfume came to £15 from Wilkinsons, then I head to Boots to visit Jenny and give her Christmas present and the money that I owe her from JLS on Tuesday.... yes we are cool!
I love Boots.... so many lovely potions and makeup bits under one roof! Jen's really busy so I leave her present and money with her and head to the makeup counter as I am running out of foundation, mascara and cover up - something that is obviously very important and could be traumatic if I actually ran out giving the current state of my skin! I buy said items which come to around £35 - I am a makeup snob and only buy No.7, plus my skins so sensitive I have to stick to what I know. So once I've had a quick chat to Graham I then promptly leave before I attempt to buy the rest of the shop!
I now head to Tesco to buy the bottle of Bailey's that my mother has requested for Christmas and it is hell on earth! You can't move for people! Christmas eve shoppers amaze me.... because the supermarkets are closed for one day they seem to think it appropriate to stock up as if we're all going to be snowed in for weeks! Anyway, while I'm there I pick up a dvd for Saz's Christmas present of Sex and the City 2, Mum's Bailey's and a bottle of wine to take to Jess' that evening to have with dinner, all of which comes to about £35.
I am then left with 10 minutes before I have to go and meet Sarah for lunch so I pop into New Look (as you do) to see if there is anything exciting in the sales. There really isn't.... I don't know why I looked as I cannot bare sale shopping! Sale racks are the worst.... if it's not jumping out at me then I'm not buying it! Stores like TK Maxx make me anxious as they are such a mess and I quickly have to leave, they upset me a lot! Anyway, I leave New Look empty handed.
Sarah is running late so I decide its best to go to Monsoon to see if they have any nice earrings to go with the gorgeous dresses that I have recently purchased for when I'm off out later on.... obviously they do but none of them are right. So by the time I'm out of there Saz has arrived and I drag her up to Dorothy Perkins to see if they have any earrings that will suit. I find a black sparkly pair for £4 and a pair of big diamante studs for £4 which I of course buy both. By this point we are starving, especially as I didn't eat breakfast, so off we trot up to the Golden Orchid thai restaurant in town for some grub.
Christmas eve lunch has become a bit of a tradition for me and Sarah, it is now mandatory to have a bottle of wine over lunch. They have a fab new lunchtime menu which is an absolute bargain.... for £6.50 we got thai green chicken curry, rice and duck spring rolls. The food is gorgeous too! Any sides that you want are only £1.50 too so of course being the foodies that we are we have 4 of those too. We have a fab catch up, talking careers, weddings and general girly stuff and our bill only comes to £16 each.... which is fab.
By the time we leave the wine has gone to our heads and we're a little bit giggly so we wander down to see our friend Sarah in Jacks. As she is busy our visit is cut short and it's time to go home to get ready for my big night on the town with the girls. It's really cold and I'm already carrying 2 big bottles so I decide to get a taxi home costing me £4.50.
Anyway, the next couple of hours are spent beautifying, fighting with my hair and deciding which dress I should actually wear! I love having so many lovely clothes but it's a nightmare when it comes to actually going out. Anyway, I settle on my new Rare dress which is one shouldered with a huge batwing (which my brother says reminds him of Batman's Batplane.... nice!) and a diamante detail on the shoulder. Nush picks me up at 6pm and we head to Jess' to begin our evening of carnage in a more lady like manner of dinner and drinks.
I am currently limited with the amount of alcohol I can have, at 5 glasses of wine per week this has proved very difficult at Christmas and we have come up with a few rules to bend it a little bit. Of course with all of my Christmas dos, meals and lunch with Sarah I have already consumed my 5 for the week so from the offset it was not looking good.
So dinner is really nice, our stomachs are lines, we've had a couple of glasses of wine and we head into town to meet the girlies. I proceed to carry on drinking the wine while I sit and chat to my theatre friends before they all head home to start their Christmas'. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur.... I know I didn't mix my drinks but there was more wine involved and I did have a really good night but lets just say I won't be drinking that much on my meds again! I am £25 poorer from a night that I was supposed to be on the soft drinks! Whoops!
I remember dancing to Mariah Carey and chatting to a few old faces but that's pretty much it.... so it was a very merry Christmas!
So here I am.... back on the blogging again as this time I really do need to stick with it and sort my life out as I am beyond skint and if I'm being honest in the past couple of months I have been absolutely terrible whilst I haven't been keeping track! I have again lapsed into being quite the social butterfly again going out at every opportunity, bought a hell of a lot of new clothes that I didn't need and my music collection has gone from excessive to ridiculous!
I figure that as my new years resolution is to sort out my money situation then there is no time like the present to start updating my blog on my silly spending being as I got paid yesterday.
So anyway my Christmas eve went like this. After being awoken on Thursday at 9.30am by a phone call from Dad asking if I can go and get something from him to Mum (he does this every year) I trotted off into town armed with the £30 that he had given me for her gift. I had of course prepared for such an event and had previously asked Mum what she wanted.... this is how to get your Christmas shopping done in half an hour!
The first place I visit is Wilkinsons, I am aware that I shouldn't buy my mother presents from her place of work but this is where I had been told to go. She requested Britney Spears Fantasy perfume and some Baileys, little did I know that Dad had already bought some Baileys so she now has two bottles! The perfume came to £15 from Wilkinsons, then I head to Boots to visit Jenny and give her Christmas present and the money that I owe her from JLS on Tuesday.... yes we are cool!
I love Boots.... so many lovely potions and makeup bits under one roof! Jen's really busy so I leave her present and money with her and head to the makeup counter as I am running out of foundation, mascara and cover up - something that is obviously very important and could be traumatic if I actually ran out giving the current state of my skin! I buy said items which come to around £35 - I am a makeup snob and only buy No.7, plus my skins so sensitive I have to stick to what I know. So once I've had a quick chat to Graham I then promptly leave before I attempt to buy the rest of the shop!
I now head to Tesco to buy the bottle of Bailey's that my mother has requested for Christmas and it is hell on earth! You can't move for people! Christmas eve shoppers amaze me.... because the supermarkets are closed for one day they seem to think it appropriate to stock up as if we're all going to be snowed in for weeks! Anyway, while I'm there I pick up a dvd for Saz's Christmas present of Sex and the City 2, Mum's Bailey's and a bottle of wine to take to Jess' that evening to have with dinner, all of which comes to about £35.
I am then left with 10 minutes before I have to go and meet Sarah for lunch so I pop into New Look (as you do) to see if there is anything exciting in the sales. There really isn't.... I don't know why I looked as I cannot bare sale shopping! Sale racks are the worst.... if it's not jumping out at me then I'm not buying it! Stores like TK Maxx make me anxious as they are such a mess and I quickly have to leave, they upset me a lot! Anyway, I leave New Look empty handed.
Sarah is running late so I decide its best to go to Monsoon to see if they have any nice earrings to go with the gorgeous dresses that I have recently purchased for when I'm off out later on.... obviously they do but none of them are right. So by the time I'm out of there Saz has arrived and I drag her up to Dorothy Perkins to see if they have any earrings that will suit. I find a black sparkly pair for £4 and a pair of big diamante studs for £4 which I of course buy both. By this point we are starving, especially as I didn't eat breakfast, so off we trot up to the Golden Orchid thai restaurant in town for some grub.
Christmas eve lunch has become a bit of a tradition for me and Sarah, it is now mandatory to have a bottle of wine over lunch. They have a fab new lunchtime menu which is an absolute bargain.... for £6.50 we got thai green chicken curry, rice and duck spring rolls. The food is gorgeous too! Any sides that you want are only £1.50 too so of course being the foodies that we are we have 4 of those too. We have a fab catch up, talking careers, weddings and general girly stuff and our bill only comes to £16 each.... which is fab.
By the time we leave the wine has gone to our heads and we're a little bit giggly so we wander down to see our friend Sarah in Jacks. As she is busy our visit is cut short and it's time to go home to get ready for my big night on the town with the girls. It's really cold and I'm already carrying 2 big bottles so I decide to get a taxi home costing me £4.50.
Anyway, the next couple of hours are spent beautifying, fighting with my hair and deciding which dress I should actually wear! I love having so many lovely clothes but it's a nightmare when it comes to actually going out. Anyway, I settle on my new Rare dress which is one shouldered with a huge batwing (which my brother says reminds him of Batman's Batplane.... nice!) and a diamante detail on the shoulder. Nush picks me up at 6pm and we head to Jess' to begin our evening of carnage in a more lady like manner of dinner and drinks.
I am currently limited with the amount of alcohol I can have, at 5 glasses of wine per week this has proved very difficult at Christmas and we have come up with a few rules to bend it a little bit. Of course with all of my Christmas dos, meals and lunch with Sarah I have already consumed my 5 for the week so from the offset it was not looking good.
So dinner is really nice, our stomachs are lines, we've had a couple of glasses of wine and we head into town to meet the girlies. I proceed to carry on drinking the wine while I sit and chat to my theatre friends before they all head home to start their Christmas'. The rest of the night is a bit of a blur.... I know I didn't mix my drinks but there was more wine involved and I did have a really good night but lets just say I won't be drinking that much on my meds again! I am £25 poorer from a night that I was supposed to be on the soft drinks! Whoops!
I remember dancing to Mariah Carey and chatting to a few old faces but that's pretty much it.... so it was a very merry Christmas!
Monday, 27 September 2010
Day 27: Ladies what lunch....
Today was the first day back to work after my holiday and it's actually been a really lovely day. Got to work early as I knew this week would be busy, plus I need to catch up on what had happened in the week that I was away.
So, I left the house pretty early this morning at about 8.10am so that I would be at work by 8.30am to get a head start on everything. Braving the wind and the rain (that rubbish kind of rain that doesn't feel like anything but soaks you through) I walk to the office stopping off at Tesco on the way to buy breakfast for me and Tamara (chocolate coissants £1), my daily chocolate fix (Galaxy bar 52p.... FYI they do not sell these in Portugal!) and a pack of chewing gum.... so that's about £2.10 gone!
I am very pleased to say that today I got my iPhone back, at last! After having two disaster iPhone's I am hoping and praying that this one will last.... I just need to make sure that I do not drop it this time!
So anyway, the morning goes incredibly quickly, I'm all caught up on the weekly goings on, I start to actually remember what it is that I do and getting back to everything that I was setting up before I went swanning off for a week. Tamara has organised for us to go to lunch with Liz who used to work with us, which is fab! Liz is a lovely klady who will very soon be bidding farewell to the grey skies of Blighty and hello to the Spanish sunshine when she moves out to their house in Spain next month! I am incredibly jealous!
We had planned to pay a visit to Toro Latino, the tapas just around the corner from the office as we are big fans, although we have now discovered that they now only open at lunchtime once a week. This does not fill us with joy. Instead we decide to trot on down to Pizza Express for a bite to eat and a catch up. So I quickly scour the internet for money saving vouchers and print one off which entitles us to one of our mains for just £1.... bargain!
Now, I am a big fan of Pizza Express and since the Market Harborough branch has opened this is only my third visit. Being as it opened at the end of June this is very good for me! The girls are not wanting starters but in my book you can't go to Pizza Express without having dough balls. So I order a portion and devoir all eight to myself as when offered both Liz and Tamara declined.... but I am not ashamed!
All three of us have the same pasta dish as a main, Pollo Pesto and it is just divine! All washed down with a chilled glass of Appletiser (another addiction of mine as I can't drink Coke anymore) my lunch comes to £10 when we split the bill.
I spend the afternoon feeling slightly guilty for my calorie fest and even though I have the urge to make myself some Weetabix as a healthy snack I resist, hell bent on burning everything that I have eaten in my torturous Spinning class this evening.
I leave the office just after 5.40pm and head for the Leisure Centre ready for my 45 minutes of torture ahead. Of course, in my usual characteristic style I am running late and being the disorganised little madam that I am, I have forgotten my water bottle and do not have any change at all for the lockers.
I end up having to change a fiver and using £1 of that to buy a bottle of water from the vending machine at the Leisure Centre before running into the class and barely having tome to set up my bike properly. Obviously I set it up wrong, leading to the most uncomfortable work out session ever and because I have chosen a bike with no water holder my bottle falls on the floor several times throughout the work out causing me to dismount several times.... not the best!
Luckily Body Balance afterwards is very chilled and flies by so before I know it hometime has arrived. It's the time I look forward to the most.... dinnertime! Now I am aware that I ate a rather sizeable lunch but I have worked hard so I make Mum and I a prawn stirfry and sit down to eat it in front of One Tree Hill.... my favourite thing about a Monday!
I am proud to say that I have updated my new iPhone and I have done no internet shopping, real life shopping or bought any albums on iTunes today.... although I have just seen that Jimmy Eat World and Friendly Fires have new albums, so I may well need those in my life! Maybe I will wait and see how much money I have spare before I buy them though as this month I have quite a lot going on what with the show and everything.... but maybe if I don't go out I can get them?! Yeah that'll never happen!
So, I left the house pretty early this morning at about 8.10am so that I would be at work by 8.30am to get a head start on everything. Braving the wind and the rain (that rubbish kind of rain that doesn't feel like anything but soaks you through) I walk to the office stopping off at Tesco on the way to buy breakfast for me and Tamara (chocolate coissants £1), my daily chocolate fix (Galaxy bar 52p.... FYI they do not sell these in Portugal!) and a pack of chewing gum.... so that's about £2.10 gone!
I am very pleased to say that today I got my iPhone back, at last! After having two disaster iPhone's I am hoping and praying that this one will last.... I just need to make sure that I do not drop it this time!
So anyway, the morning goes incredibly quickly, I'm all caught up on the weekly goings on, I start to actually remember what it is that I do and getting back to everything that I was setting up before I went swanning off for a week. Tamara has organised for us to go to lunch with Liz who used to work with us, which is fab! Liz is a lovely klady who will very soon be bidding farewell to the grey skies of Blighty and hello to the Spanish sunshine when she moves out to their house in Spain next month! I am incredibly jealous!
We had planned to pay a visit to Toro Latino, the tapas just around the corner from the office as we are big fans, although we have now discovered that they now only open at lunchtime once a week. This does not fill us with joy. Instead we decide to trot on down to Pizza Express for a bite to eat and a catch up. So I quickly scour the internet for money saving vouchers and print one off which entitles us to one of our mains for just £1.... bargain!
Now, I am a big fan of Pizza Express and since the Market Harborough branch has opened this is only my third visit. Being as it opened at the end of June this is very good for me! The girls are not wanting starters but in my book you can't go to Pizza Express without having dough balls. So I order a portion and devoir all eight to myself as when offered both Liz and Tamara declined.... but I am not ashamed!
All three of us have the same pasta dish as a main, Pollo Pesto and it is just divine! All washed down with a chilled glass of Appletiser (another addiction of mine as I can't drink Coke anymore) my lunch comes to £10 when we split the bill.
I spend the afternoon feeling slightly guilty for my calorie fest and even though I have the urge to make myself some Weetabix as a healthy snack I resist, hell bent on burning everything that I have eaten in my torturous Spinning class this evening.
I leave the office just after 5.40pm and head for the Leisure Centre ready for my 45 minutes of torture ahead. Of course, in my usual characteristic style I am running late and being the disorganised little madam that I am, I have forgotten my water bottle and do not have any change at all for the lockers.
I end up having to change a fiver and using £1 of that to buy a bottle of water from the vending machine at the Leisure Centre before running into the class and barely having tome to set up my bike properly. Obviously I set it up wrong, leading to the most uncomfortable work out session ever and because I have chosen a bike with no water holder my bottle falls on the floor several times throughout the work out causing me to dismount several times.... not the best!
Luckily Body Balance afterwards is very chilled and flies by so before I know it hometime has arrived. It's the time I look forward to the most.... dinnertime! Now I am aware that I ate a rather sizeable lunch but I have worked hard so I make Mum and I a prawn stirfry and sit down to eat it in front of One Tree Hill.... my favourite thing about a Monday!
I am proud to say that I have updated my new iPhone and I have done no internet shopping, real life shopping or bought any albums on iTunes today.... although I have just seen that Jimmy Eat World and Friendly Fires have new albums, so I may well need those in my life! Maybe I will wait and see how much money I have spare before I buy them though as this month I have quite a lot going on what with the show and everything.... but maybe if I don't go out I can get them?! Yeah that'll never happen!
Sunday, 26 September 2010
Day 26: Old habits die hard....
So we are now back in the UK after a holiday that almost made me teetotal.... don't ask!
The sun was shining, the villa was gorgeous, we spent endless days by the pool, played Come Dine With Me at night and I now have a tan to die for.... we have had a brilliant week, Albufeira is beautiful.
I have spent the week sunbathing, swimming, doing yoga in the garden and eating my body weight. Sheer bliss! I even finished a book for the first time in years that wasn't Bridget Jones' Diary which is quite an achievement let me tell you. The book was of course Confessions of a Shopoholic... whatever else?!
On the money front I had been such a good girl. All we'd bought was the food shop for the week and had been out to eat a couple of times. On Thursday I still had 200 euros left, which is very good as I had taken 340 altogether and this was 5 days into our holiday.
As it turns out it rained all day on Thursday so we decided that it would be a good idea to take a trip to Algarve Shopping.
I emerged from said shopping centre with the following items:
The sun was shining, the villa was gorgeous, we spent endless days by the pool, played Come Dine With Me at night and I now have a tan to die for.... we have had a brilliant week, Albufeira is beautiful.
I have spent the week sunbathing, swimming, doing yoga in the garden and eating my body weight. Sheer bliss! I even finished a book for the first time in years that wasn't Bridget Jones' Diary which is quite an achievement let me tell you. The book was of course Confessions of a Shopoholic... whatever else?!
On the money front I had been such a good girl. All we'd bought was the food shop for the week and had been out to eat a couple of times. On Thursday I still had 200 euros left, which is very good as I had taken 340 altogether and this was 5 days into our holiday.
As it turns out it rained all day on Thursday so we decided that it would be a good idea to take a trip to Algarve Shopping.
I emerged from said shopping centre with the following items:
- 1 strapless navi and cream dress from Stradivarius - Obviously a must have as it had a millitary detail front with gold buttons and also you can't buy it in the UK. Plus it's so cute!
- 1 Christmas style cardigan from Zara - who knows if you can buy it in this country and who cares?! It is honestly the most amazing cardigan ever. It did cost 50 euros so I did try to leave it in the shop but I almost had heart failure walking out and had to go back and buy it. I have worn it every day ever since, even on the plane. Bob's reaction on meeting us from the airport was "Bloody hell Em.... did you get that out of a Christmas cracker?!" I don't care because I like my reindeer!
- 2 cute necklaces from Accessorize - fair enough I really could have bought them in the UK but we had to queue for ages for a taxi so I decided that I needed to pay them a visit!
As I only allowed myself to spend 100 euros that day I came in well on budget. I did buy another jumper but I decided that it wasn't a to die for item and could therefore be taken back. So anyway.... what with my thrifty money saving for the rest of the week, I still had 60 euros left at the airport, that was until I got to the duty free.
Duty free is like heaven for me.... I love perfume and I love makeup, especially the expensive stuff. So I try on about 5 different perfumes (by the end of which I can't smell any of them) settling on a 100ml bottle of my trusty old favourite Stella McCartney, Stella as my treat for saving money. This actually costs 72 euros so I have to pay a little on my card but I figure that is fine as I was paid on Friday.
I also have a weakness for lipgloss, I have loads of them. I do realise that I only have one set of lips but obviously a girl a different one to suit her mood. I perruse the shelves picking up several along the way, Lancome, Clinique, Channel, finally settling on a pink little Dior number as my favourite one that the girls got me for my birthday last year has sadly passed and needs replacing. So that's a total of 91 euros, I think I'm done and walk away from the store only to find that we are missing Nush so we head back on in to find her.
So we find Nush and she utters the magic words.... "have you seen the Kinder Buenos?"
For those of you who don't know me very well.... I love Kinder chocolate. When I was in the sixth form Sam and I used to eat several Kinder eggs a week and created a little town called Sandbyville in our form tutor Mr Sandby's room on one of the shelves, he loved it. Anyway, Nush shows me to the most amazing display that I have ever seen. There are Buenos, Kinder sticks, Schokobons.... everything that Kinder have ever made. I quickly decide upon a MASSIVE bag of Schokobons and a slab of Kinder sticks thenmake my way to the check out for a second time.... whoops!
The worst thing about all this is that I have bought all of these wonderful things from Duty Free and have left them in the back of Bob's car! Rubbish!
So now I'm at home, it's great to be back and to see everyone, but the trouble is that I can already feel the post holiday blues setting in. True to character this usually means a shopping trip of some variety is in order.
So I met Lauren for a catch up lunch at Enigma, after which we pay a quick visit to New Look. About 20 minutes and £50 later I am now the proud owner of the beautiful blouse that I had walked away from a couple of weeks ago and a pair of brown cowboy ankle boots.... will I never learn?
Saturday, 18 September 2010
Day 17: If you want to go out....
I'm pleased to report that the last couple of days have actually been a great success spending wise.... in a way!
Put it this way, if I only spent during the day while I was at work then on Thursday I would've spent a grand total of 48p on a Galaxy bar.... what else?
However, this was not the case as I hit the pub in the evening with a couple of the guys from theatre group.... 3 glasses of wine later I have spent £9. Still not all that bad to be fair!
Yesterday we had a training day in the office and lunch (from Marks and Spencers.... yum!) was provided but I'd already spent £3 in tesco on the way, although to be fair I can't actually remember for the life of me what on apart from Galaxy bar and a huge bottle of water!
As Tamara and I spend the afternoon munching our way through the leftover food in the office, my bikini diet seems to have ended and my holiday has started a day early! Thank god I'm going to the gym!
So straight after work (my last day for a whole week.... yay!) I hot foot it to the gym as I'm off out again with the girls that evening.... tired from a busy day I struggle a little bit and settle for burning just 600 calories instead of the usual 800 and head home where I am greeted with yet more food!
So I meet Lauren and Jen in Enigma at 8.30 and we head to Evolution to see Jen's brother's band, The Working Projects do a gig. They are very good actually, well worth a look up! This is when the drinking starts.... a WKD blue and a shot later the drinking has began!
As we are old ladies now, the noise soon gets a little bit too much. The boys join us for a bit but then head off to The Square and Jen and Bob go home, so it's just me and Lauren left. We decide to head to The Loaf so that we can actually talk to each other.... a couple of Koppabergs later and we're putting the world to rights, joined by Sarah! Good times!
My final spend was around £5.10 for my round of drinks and £2 for some chips and cheese on the way home.... all in all not too bad! Could do better!
Like the nut job I am, just off to Body Combat before I head off on my jollies to Albufeira at 2pm this afternoon where I'm going to blow caution to the wind and blow £300 in a week! I can't bloody wait!
See you in a week kids! xx
Put it this way, if I only spent during the day while I was at work then on Thursday I would've spent a grand total of 48p on a Galaxy bar.... what else?
However, this was not the case as I hit the pub in the evening with a couple of the guys from theatre group.... 3 glasses of wine later I have spent £9. Still not all that bad to be fair!
Yesterday we had a training day in the office and lunch (from Marks and Spencers.... yum!) was provided but I'd already spent £3 in tesco on the way, although to be fair I can't actually remember for the life of me what on apart from Galaxy bar and a huge bottle of water!
As Tamara and I spend the afternoon munching our way through the leftover food in the office, my bikini diet seems to have ended and my holiday has started a day early! Thank god I'm going to the gym!
So straight after work (my last day for a whole week.... yay!) I hot foot it to the gym as I'm off out again with the girls that evening.... tired from a busy day I struggle a little bit and settle for burning just 600 calories instead of the usual 800 and head home where I am greeted with yet more food!
So I meet Lauren and Jen in Enigma at 8.30 and we head to Evolution to see Jen's brother's band, The Working Projects do a gig. They are very good actually, well worth a look up! This is when the drinking starts.... a WKD blue and a shot later the drinking has began!
As we are old ladies now, the noise soon gets a little bit too much. The boys join us for a bit but then head off to The Square and Jen and Bob go home, so it's just me and Lauren left. We decide to head to The Loaf so that we can actually talk to each other.... a couple of Koppabergs later and we're putting the world to rights, joined by Sarah! Good times!
My final spend was around £5.10 for my round of drinks and £2 for some chips and cheese on the way home.... all in all not too bad! Could do better!
Like the nut job I am, just off to Body Combat before I head off on my jollies to Albufeira at 2pm this afternoon where I'm going to blow caution to the wind and blow £300 in a week! I can't bloody wait!
See you in a week kids! xx
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