Scenes from my weekend

The Victory – pub in Hereford with the most amazing bar shaped like a ship. There’s rigging on the ceiling and everything. The bar has little port-holes and fun signs like this one all over it.

MrKiss, my best friend and I had a seriously delicious lunch in a pub in Worcester on Saturday. It was an absolute warren and seemed to go back for miles. The ceiling was covered in ale badges. Pretty cool, huh?

For some reason there was a women showing birds of prey in the middle of town. I think it was supposed to be Halloweeny. These are a kestrel, an eagle owl and a snowy owl. Isn’t the kestel beautiful? Much smaller than I realised they were!

Excuse the dodgy lighting, the light quality was weird down by the river where this was taken. There was another Halloween event going on by the river in Worcester. There was lots of people in costumes and some stalls. We found one selling a thing called ‘fuffle’, which is a sort of cross between fudge and truffle. Whatever it is, it is tasty. We tried vanilla, baileys and rum ‘n’ raisin, and had hot chocolate made with the Baileys fuffle. Yum!

MrKiss and I had a gorgeous dinner here in Hereford on Friday night. If you’re ever in Hereford, I highly recommend Gilbies. Good food, good drink and good service. Perfect evening.

I did my last shift at Wetherspoons on Sunday. It feels very strange to know that’s all over, although walking out of there was a good feeling! I start the new job tomorrow. I’m nervous, but excited. Wish me luck!

Pastures New

I love my internship. Here I am out on the panto roadshow, sporting a stunning costume out of The Courtyard’s costume store. I wish I could wear it everyday. The roadshow seems to be a big hit so far with lots of kids coming to see us. Let’s hope that gets reflected in the ticket sales!

I’ve got some very exciting news. I knew a couple of days ago, but I’ve been sitting on it a couple days until everything was official.
As of November 1st, I’m going to be The Courtyard’s new Marketing and Press Officer! The current one leaves this week, and I was very kindly offered the position. I’m beyond excited about it, if very surprised. Being invited to apply was very flattering, considering I have no experience in marketing beyond my three weeks as an intern! I was interviewed yesterday and formally offered the job yesterday evening. I think the first few weeks are going to be very hard work while I try and get to grips with my new role, but if I get my head down and learn as fast I can, I’ll be just fine. It’s a fantastic opportunity for me, and I’m sure when I get settled in it’ll suit me down to the ground and I’ll enjoy it.

I handed in my notice at the pub today, which felt quite odd. I’ve been a Spoonie for just over a year, and now my time there will be over in a week. As you know, I loved my work-mates at the pub in Aber, and Hereford had been wonderful with allowing me the time and support I needed to take on the internship, so I will be sorry to go, but I am also quite relieved too. I was struggling to make the hours fit with my internship (office hours aren’t great when you got in from work at 1.30am the night before).

MrKiss is arriving tomorrow, so I’ll be having a lovely weekend with him, as well as some more time out on the roadshow.

Princess

I got to wear this stunner today. Look at it! This beauty was the walk-down costume for Snow White a few pantomimes ago. I’m borrowing it for the panto road show which started today. We were out dishing out goody bags and balloons and playing games and colouring in. Tiring work, but good fun. And of course, all advertising for the theatre and the panto.

I’ll take some proper pictures tomorrow, just wanted to share the loveliness hanging in my room right now.

In the naughty corner

• Coat from H&M
• Top from Next
• Jeans from Dorothy Perkins
• Boots from H&M
• Bag from Debenhams

This coat is amazing. I’m in love with it. So 40s glam, so snuggly, such a beautiful colour. Plus, the fur collar is detachable so it’s basically two coats in one. Good show H&M.

However, despite this coat of glory, I am not pleased with H&M this week. Not pleased at all. I ordered some boots from their website aaaaaages ago, and they showed no sign of appearing. Eventually, I received an email, telling me a courier was bringing my parcel in the next few days. My heart instantly sank. Courier. This always ends badly for me. Seeing as I work during the day (don’t most people?) I am not in to sign for a parcel. When Royal Mail delivers my treasures, that’s not a problem, as they go off to the Royal Mail depot in town. Not too far away to claim my parcel. When it’s a courier though, I always seem to have a cycle of failed delivery attempts, made at the same time every day for a few days, while I make increasingly frustated phone-calls trying to work out where my parcel is!

And so, of course, the parcel wasn’t delivered. H&M keep sending me emails telling me the courier can’t deliver my parcel, but ignore anything from me about when I will be in, or where they can leave the parcel instead. After a week of this I have given up and asked for the boots to be refunded. It’s a pain in the backside. I can never understand why companies think it is sensible to deliver things that need to be signed for during the working week. Just use Royal Mail! Please! In short, I won’t be ordering from H&M’s website again. Not amused.

Fast Forward

Day two of my internship done and dusted. I feel like I’m in training for Blue Peter! I started the day making a bus out of red paper, and cutting and sticking to make a display board to advertise the pantomime road show.
I’ve been out to one of the schools taking part in the Build-A-Beauty competition to get them started, which was fun. The kids all seemed keen to get started, which is great. One boy suggested Sleeping Beauty could have tentacles instead of legs, so god knows what we’ll get back from them!

It’s funny to be in full panto mode so early. It reminds of when I worked in retail. You start ordering the Christmas stock in August or September, and it all starts arriving about now. You kind of run a couple of months ahead of the actual time of year. Very strange. I think I’m going to feel Christmassy very early this year if I’m working on the panto.

I’m off today, but have ended up doing marketing stuff anyway! I’ve raided the stock room at my aunt and uncle’s gift shop for some little prizes for the road show, in exchange for getting them a plug in the programme. It’s great to be able to take advantage of that contact for my internship, plus it’s a good way of helping out the shop too. I have a feeling that even though I’m only at the theatre two days a week, I’ll be in and out doing different things all the time like this. I’m already planning to go in and raid the Aladdin’s Cave that is the marketing cupboard for leaflets to take to work and into the shop.

Marketing wasn’t the direction I was intending to go, so it’s surprised me how much I’ve enjoyed the last two days. I knew this experience would be very helpful for me, and my CV, but I never expected to love it. We’ll see how it goes, but perhaps I’ll end up coming out of this placement with a whole new direction for where I want to end up. Watch this space.

First Day

• Dress from Dorothy Perkins
• Belt from Matalan
• Necklace from Accessorise
• Boots from H&M

Yes, the boots I rejected. I went back for them. So glad I did. They’re really comfy. I wore them all day to at work with no bother. Result.
I also wore the Kate Moss lipstick and I’m very pleased with it. Gorgeous shade, very wearable for everyday, I think. I’m not a fan of ‘nudes’ as such, but this is a good natural looking lip colour on me. I wear a lipstick lock, so I can’t say how long-lasting it really is, but with the lock, it stayed on pretty well all day. A little fading, but it was still there when I came in, which is with no touch-ups, and eating and drinking. Good stuff.

Today was the first day of my internship at The Courtyard Centre for the Arts, in the marketing department there. First impressions? It’s going to be great. The marketing team all seem really nice, and fun to work with, and I think the job is going to be good fun too. Some of the team are going to be in local schools getting the kiddos to make their own Sleeping Beauties (Sleeping Beauty is our panto this year), so I’ve been out buying sparkly fabric and glitter today. We also played with light-up wands and swords in the office (thanks Panto Shop). There was some serious stuff though. I'’ve been shown how all the behind the scenes stuff works on the website (this may or may not have been done whilst wearing a flashing tiara), and got started on creating a spread sheet of all the upcoming events so we can sort out all the advertising.
I’ve been set up with a staff Twitter account, so if you’re interested in reading about my marketing adventures, you can follow @georgecourtyard.

Girl Crush: Emma Watson

Emma Watson is UK Elle’s cover star this month, and if you haven’t picked a copy up yet, the interview and photo-shoot are great. I love Emma.

Hermione is one of my favourite book characters and I think Emma’s portrayal of her was spot on. I think she understood that while Hermione is a great character, she isn’t always terribly likeable, at least early on, with her bossy boots attitude. Emma did a great job of capturing Hermione’s toughness and determination, but also her soft side with her fierce loyalty to her friends. No mean feat for a young actress.

Like the part that made her name, Emma is very intelligent. She’s a straight A student, although she’s had to put her university education on hold, thanks to the whirlwind of the last Harry Potter film. I also enjoy reading interviews with her as she always seems so normal. Obviously very bright, but totally down-to-earth. I do think it says a lot actually that considering how they grew up in the public eye, none of the Harry Potter cast (apart from one notable exception) have done anything to drag their names through the pass. No falling out of nightclubs, no drunken scandals, no affairs…they’ve done very well.
I’ve always found it interesting hearing her views on playing Hermione. I remember reading a while ago, that at first she found it very difficult, as Hermione was so uncool. She tried very hard to distance herself from the part in her real life, but gradually, as Hermione grew, Emma grew with her, and she began to see her for the fantastic character she is. I can’t remember exactly what she said now, but the gist was that she thought Hermione was such a good role-model, because she’s clever and true to herself and her friends, and obviously very brave. Plus, she’s with the boys, doing whatever they do, with no question of whether she’s capable of that. She just does it.

I couldn’t write about Emma without mentioning the fashion now could I? Ah-ma-zing. Love her look. Love the cropped hair. Keep up the good work, Emma.

The Grumps

I think it’s official. I’m getting old and grumpy about nothing. I had a few hours to kill before work yesterday, so I went into town to continue the hunt for the perfect black ankle boots. Usually, I love shopping but lately I’ve actually just been finding it pretty aggravating.
I was always a New Look girl in my early teens, but I’m starting to out-grow it now I think. I still like the look of a lot of their stuff, but as soon as I touch the fabric or look at a price label I’m instantly put off. I haven’t bought anything in there in quite a while.

My next stop was H&M. I’ve always loved H&M and I think Hereford’s branch is pretty good. I buy a lot in there, because the prices and quality are reasonable (I know the quality isn’t always amazing, but it’s perfectly acceptable for the price you pay, I feel). But I hate the way H&M shops are laid out. Anyone else find that? Everything seems to randomly lumped together with so much stuff rammed on the racks that I’m sure I must miss great stuff because I just can’t see it. Plus I don’t understand why they don’t have anywhere to sit to try on shoes. Although that could just be Hereford. I ended up perched on the bottom of a display of scarves to lace up the boots I was trying on. Speaking of which, I also hate when shops attach the two shoes together with elastic. I know it stops the pairs getting separated, but it makes it kinda challenging to see if you can walk in the shoes! The boots I tried on were nice, and felt comfy, but all the pairs had massive crease marks across the toes. It made me wonder how well they’d last.

Anyway, that was my silly aggravation for today. Does that kind of thing annoy anyone else?

I picked up one of the new Kate Moss for Rimmel lipsticks, in a dark pinky sort of colour. I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, but I’ll let you know I get on with it. It looks like there are some good colours in the range. I might try the red or some of the other pinks if I like this one. I’ve never worn Rimmel lipstick before, but I’ve always liked their nail polishes, so I figured I’d give them a go. Plus I’m a sucker for buying celebrity lines when I like their look. Boots have got a 3 for 2 deal on Rimmel at the moment, so I picked up some lipstick lock and treated myself to a nail varnish too. Nice and autumnal. Now I’m going to be in my internship two days a week, and a day off before working in the pub so I can have painted nails a few days of the week.

Autumn Days

Autumn Days by caramellattekiss featuring a hooded cape

Where did that lovely heat-wave go? Brrr. It's officially too cold to go barefoot inside my flat now, which makes me sad.

Anyway, here's some stuff from around the high street that I'm contemplating to make the colder weather a little more bearable.

I may or may not be adding those H&M boots in the brown to my virtual basket right now...

A Right to Choose

Let’s be serious for a moment. If you can stand it, I’m getting up on my soapbox again, and as usual, it’s feminism I’m talking about. It’s become a bit of buzz-word again, which is great if it raises awareness, but not so great when it’s due to a sneak attack on women’s rights.

I’m guessing most of you are aware of the insane situation in America at the moment when it comes to abortions. If you’re not, here’s a brief summary of what’s been going down. Abortion is legal in America, and has been since 1973, after the case of Roe vs Wade, which placed abortion under the right to privacy. A woman’s body is her own, so with her right to privacy, she can do what she chooses with it, including abortion. But gradually, little pieces of legislation have been brought in that make actually getting an abortion much harder in a lot of states. Women have to jump through hoops first, see an ultrasound, a counsellor, have her baby described to her by a doctor…
Some abortion providers found themselves being told exactly how big a consultation room had to be and how many janitors cupboards they had to have. They were given a weekend to comply. Those that didn’t were shut down.
And then there was the funding row for Family Planning.

So what does this have to do with me, you wonder. Well, there seems to be a sneak attack beginning in Britain. Conserative MP Nadine Dorries is building some hoops of her own. She suggests that women would have to see an independent counsellor before being allowed an abortion, rather than the current counsellor provided by her abortion provider. At first, this sounds harmless, but on closer inspection, it really isn’t.

It leaves room for anti-choice or faith based counselling to be offered, and pushes back abortion rights by wrapping them in red tape. By slipping in these road blocks, abortion becomes a harder thing to have, and eventually you end up with a situation like that of the USA. Luckily, these proposals were rejected, but I think women need to be aware that this attack on their rights was made. Knowledge is the best weapon here. If enough of us are aware of this possibility and are saying no loudly enough, we can protect a woman’s right to choose.
Nadine Dorries, by the way, who claims to be pro-choice, also tried to ban high heels in the work-place and campaigned for school girls to be taught abstinence.

Abortion needs to be available (regulated, of course) or we go back to a world of back-street abortions. In Northern Ireland, where abortions are very hard to obtain, women either spend a huge amount of money to come here for them, or risk buying abortion drugs online. 67, 000 women die every year after an unsafe abortion. Let’s not have any of them in the UK.

The Cat’s Pyjamas

• Dress from H&M
• Leggings from New Look
• Shoes from H&M

Cats wearing bow-ties! Officially the best dress ever. Please excuse the questionable quality of the first photo, I’m still learning how to deal with the light in my bedroom at home.

By the way, as well as the cats, this dress has pockets. I love a dress with pockets. Why don’t more dresses have pockets?

I met up with my best friend again today. We didn’t do very much, just had a walk round the shops. I don’t know if it’s just Hereford, but there is so little around in the shops at the moment. Lots of places are putting their prices up (I’m looking at you, New Look) without any improvement on quality. It used to be that places like Dorothy Perkins and Next charged more because their stock was better quality. Now, lower priced shops prices are creeping up to match them, but their stock is still the exact same lower quality it always was. Boo to that.

Right now, I’m chilling out watching The Social Network, and catching up on some blogs. Lazy afternoons are the best. I love days off.

Sunshine

• T-shirt from New Look
• Jeans from Dorothy Perkins
• Shoes from H&M

Where on earth has this heat come from? I’m not complaining, but it's meant to be October. I’ve packed away most of my summer clothes so I’ve had to improvise a little. These cropped jeans are actually full length ones that I rolled up into cuffs.

I’ve been working a whole lot again, but I’ve got a couple of days off now, which is nice. I took myself for a bit of shopping and picked up a couple of new dresses.

• Red dress from Dorothy Perkins
• Cat-print dress from H&M

I want some black ankle boots to wear with them now. I’m especially pleased with the H&M dress. How could I resist the cat print? And black cats as well. We always had black cats when I was growing up.

Last night I went out with my best friend. We had a quick meal at Wetherspoons then went to see Beyond the Barricade at our local theatre. We managed to get some freebie tickets as my mum works there. Beyond the Barricade is a ‘songs from the shows’ type production. If you’re into musicals or show-tunes at all I highly recommend Beyond the Barricade. They all have wonderful voices and put on a fantastic show. I’d even pay to see them.

I start my internship next week, and MrKiss is off to start his own placement on the same day. Adult world beginning! Scary stuff. It’d be nice if both of us were getting paid though! Having no money for train fares makes long-distance that little bit harder.

So, what are you all doing in the sunshine?