so we get on the train ...

on friday night after work.
it's anna, ruth, vicky and me, heading down to devon for a final hoorah, a girlie weekend to top all girlie weekends, and a chance to relax, gossip, eat, read, meander and otherwise divulge all remaining secrets that haven't been uncovered since i've returned from boston.

so we're on the 6.00 train from paddington. vix and i have just been to sainsbury's (the grocery store) and bought a trainride feast: hummous, guacamole, salsa, chips, triange crisps, chorizo, parma ham, brie, goats cheese, stilton, raspberries, champagne (well, cava really), white wine and a leffe beer.

we sit down at our table (luckily ruth booked ahead so we've got a table between us!) and we look across at the next table and it's a group of four scandinavian (we guess) women, probably twenty years our senior, doing the EXACTLY what we are doing. we look at each other and giggle, a few small words exchanged, laughing at our connectedness on a weekend away in devon.

we start on course one: the chips and dips and bubbly just as the train begins moving, they start on course one: a very refined salad in a box with small bottles of red wine, we start on course two: white wine with meats and cheeses, they start on course two: a bottle of JAGERMEISTER with shot glasses and orange juice to accompany!

we laugh heartily, secretly disappointed that the old ladies have won the competition. we have nothing that beats jagermeister! we will top them next year!

the rest of the weekend was excellent, walks on the moor, a run around a reservoir, red wine tastings both nights (we liked the rioja and the pinor noir best), lazy sunday paper reading around the fire place at ruth's parents house, walks around the local tavistock farmers market (now a tradition), ham roasts, secrets shared lying in our beds with the lights out, etc etc.

this has become an annual tradition that will no doubt continue for the rest of our lives. husbands, lovers, children may interfere slightly but will not stop the tradition!

bring on the jagermeister!

i see i've been linked ...

my lovely german friend jasmin has linked to my blog from her blog (check her out, http://www.islandmail.blogspot.com) - she has just finished her MA in creative writing in brighton and is using her blog to write much more eloquent prose than i. so apologies to any of her friends who stumble onto this blog looking for literary stimulation but instead find my ramblings about love and life. it's actually somewhat unnerving to realise that people besides my immediate family may read this. i become writer and editor at the same time. and who do i tell about this site? do i open myself up to everyone i know, or just those privvy to my inner-life? (for example, do i give AG the link, thereby surrendering the possibility of complete and total honesty to you my dear readers?) (cast your votes now!) although one might argue that these entries have only skimmed the surface of the otherwise deep and mysterious pond crossings). ha. kidding. come on, i'm not complex. my heart is on my sleeve pretty much most of the time!

today i am wearing a gorgeous new work jacket i bought for myself over the weekend. it's the sort of jackie-o scoop neck jacket that buttons on the left side, with a lovely sewn pattern of navy thread in arrow-like formations. i decided to splurge because i'm not much of a shopper - so i figure when i DO see something i like, i should just buy it. (shoes don't count, i will continue to buy shoes throughout my time on this earth). and it feels wonderful to be wearing something so gorgeous. perhaps i should treat myself more often? guilty pleasures are perhaps the best pleasures. my rational (as if i needed one) is that i will wear this to important business meetings this coming spring and stand out in the boring black-suited dullness of the big city. perhaps they will remember me then. 'ah yes, wasn't she the one in the lovely jacket?' ...

anyway, i must work.

happy thursday to all!

in what country does the peace river flow?

can you believe if we'd answered this question right, we'd have won the pub quiz last night?
actually, we would have had to go into another round of tie-breakers - because we tied for first. hot damn! we came in second place in the end and won a case of 24 becks. a nice consolation prize i suppose. i'm still staying with anna and tom and there is a pub around the corner that has a quiz every thursday night. you have to pay a pound to enter, and the winners take the money. i love pub quizzes, even though i'm hardly ever helpful - though every so often, i get the american question right! last night it was something about race riots in which state with little rock as its capital. but anna informed me that EVERYONE knew where little rock was because of clinton. oh well. we also could not name two moody blues songs - and i wished my dad was on the team because he surely would have known. nights in white satin, we got. i'm thinking i might attempt to organise a quiz night in boston, if i can find somewhere to host it.

thank goodness it's friday - it's been a long week and i'm ready for the weekend. i think i'm going to take myself up in to london at some point to wander around and do some shopping and look at the river. you'd never know i lived in london how infrequently i actually visit london proper. i pass beneath it on my way to work, but never pop out to take in the city that i've called home for the last 9 years.

happy weekend!

post V-day ...

hope everyone had their fill of chocolates and kisses yesterday.

i myself had none of that. though i was given a bunch of tulips from ruth and a rose from tom and perhaps the loveliest love letter ever from AG - no, i shall not reveal its contents. sorry folks.

i had chinese take away, a red stripe and a quiet night in.
exactly what i wanted! well, that's not entirely true. i suppose i could've imagined myself somewhere else with someone else doing something slightly more romantic, but nevermind. i had a peaceful night on the telephone across the atlantic, trying to hunt down somewhere for me to lay my head in boston. i won't be returning to the place i was at before, for reasons i've not yet disclosed on this blog, but which i will, sometime soon. in any case, i'm also trying to find somewhere cheaper. and even though it was only a 5 minute walk to practically anything, i wouldn't mind living somewhere new in town. i'm looking into the backbay and south end, possibly fenway areas of boston, if you know the town. (so not actually THAT far away from where i was). i don't have many requirements to a flat. i'd like to live on my own, and ideally it will be furnished - but other than that, i'm not too picky. i've decided this time if it does not come equip with kitchen utensils that i will simply BUY my own rather than go 4-5 more months without cooking anything adventurous. i can hardly blame my spaghetti nights on the fact that i did not have a cleaver. that would be a terrible copout. i'm also hoping that wherever i end up is near to a good supermarket, preferably trader joe's, shaws or whole foods - all of which exist in boston. but i'll make do.

i'll keep everyone posted with contact details as/when i get them. for now, i must work.

and the tickets are booked ...

i'm returning to boston on march 5th!
i really am excited. so is AG. it's all so fun and new and exciting!
trying to keep my cool and not let it distract me too much during the day, but that is becoming increasingly difficult. that said, i am SO looking forward to these next three weeks here with my friends. i'm definitely making the most of the time here. and work is keeping me very busy in the meantime. I am helping my colleague in Geneva place students there (from London) - and fortunately, english is the common language there - otherwise, there is no way i could help.

last night on the bus there was a drunken old man shouting at the bus driver to f*ck off, and people on the bus yelling at the old man to get the f*ck off the bus - and i couldn't help but think that i would not miss that. i know it adds character and flavour to brixton - but i think that is one flavour i can do without. my tastebuds are tired of that one. i wonder if that means i've aquired a taste for the bland and ordinary? i wouldn't like to think so. maybe i'll have to search out a bit more flavour in boston this time. i think i can do that. i've got a native as my guide.

so the weekend is ahead and i have to deal with a broken shower at my house tomorrow. being a landlady can be a real drag sometimes. my poor flatmate hasn't had hot water all week - so i really MUST get it fixed tomorrow. i've not serviced the boiler since i bought the house, so i'm going to see if the plumber can do that too. can't have this kind of stuff happening while i'm away.

hooray for the weekend. happy friday everyone!

sunday afternoon on brixton hill

i've just finished some scrambled eggs on toast here at ruth's house. anna, jeanne, ruth, charlie, vicky and richie young are around reading papers and drinking tea - a usual london sunday afternoon. a routine i certainly missed in boston!

i think i'm having a euphoria moment.

how many people sit around with their friends just to enjoy each others company? how many people have houses that they can gather at just to chill out, no expectations or demands - no real 'entertaining' apart from the sunday papers and the television in the background. i wonder at what age this will stop - i can't imagine it ever will, though surely married couples in their fifties don't do this? what a shame though. it's such fun.

'where is dial-a-chicken when you need it?' anna just asked.

the stores close early in the UK on sundays, so we are out of luck for a sunday roast.

it does look as though i'll be returning to boston in march - it's a logical place for me to be right now for work - and work are happy for me to return, so it almost feels like the opportunity is being handed to me on a plate - that i'd be silly not to take it. i've not set any dates yet - but likely sometime in early to mid march.

in the meantime (and unless i change my plans) i'm going to enjoy the time in the UK as much as i possibly can, coffees, dinners and drinks with friends - taking advantage of the proximity to all of my best friends! and they really are my best friends. i am incredibly lucky to have such an amazing bunch of friends.

enough for today ...
happy sunday!