- One of my oldest chums is a proper writer and blogger – not like me! – and she gave my Happy Thoughts series a little shout out after publishing her own list-based post this week. However, the thing that actually made me happy wasn’t this, but NIGELLA BLOODY LAWSON (who appeared on her list) picking up on her blog post and tweeting about it. I have the cleverest pals! If you want to check out her work (which is WAY more professional than mine) head to A New Essex Girl or read her weekly column on Standard Issue.
- Went to see an immersive production called Northfields tonight. It was a small production in deepest darkest Plaistow, so despite having read a couple of good reviews, I was scared to get my hopes up. But it was actually very well done. Set in a struggling institution in the 70s, it was an intelligent look at mental health, the NHS and social stigmas. I’ll review it in full shortly, but it was really good!
- Absolute highlight of the day however, has to go to the moment I entered the venue for Northfields, and after saying hi to my friend Chas who was waiting for me inside, heard a familiar voice behind me and it was only my new theatre pal Sabrina that I met in NYC in the queue for Sleep No More (then spent several further evenings with her in the queue and Manderley)! It’s a small world, but a wonderful one.
Tag homesick
Happy thoughts – Thursday 2nd February
- Spent the day out of the office, for a meeting in Oxfordshire in the morning then visiting the site of our next event in Warwickshire in the afternoon. It does sometimes feel like we can’t afford to take a minute away from our desks, but while I spent nearly 6 hours travelling today, it was also really good to get out and meet people face to face and get excited about new ideas and the vision for the event rather than be bogged down in spreadsheets and deadlines.
- Had the loveliest meal and catch up with my theatre partner in crime Emma. She actively encouraged me going on about my recent trip to NYC (so she can live vacariously through my ramblings), and we always have a good old Punchdrunky nostalgia-fest when we catch up, so it’s always great to see her and not feel judged for my obsession. Topped off with seeing Mark Rylance in Nice Fish – it’s an odd little play, but utterly charming and he was excellent (obviously).
- Also booked tickets for another show tomorrow (Northfields by Shrink Theatre) with another of my theatre chums. I’m exhausted from being ill earlier in the week but it’s closing soon so it’s my only chance to see it, and it sounded like one I couldn’t pass up!
Happy thoughts – Wednesday 1st February
- JANUARY IS OVER!! I’m really lucky that I’m financially solvent and can afford to treat myself once in a while, so I can’t really complain about January given that I started it in New York and ended it by buying tickets to Hamilton, but it still feels good to have got the “toughest month of the year” out the way.
- I celebrated in style by planning some fun stuff for the coming months
- Nabbing a couple of tickets to see Nice Fish, starring the glorious Mark Rylance, tomorrow with one of my lovely theatre chums
- Emma in turn has sorted us tickets to see My Brilliant Friend (starring a couple of former Punchdrunkards) in March
- Booked the Soho Hotel’s Film Club for March to see T2 Trainspotting. The best bit about their Film Club is that you also get some truly delicious food, and sometimes it comes with a side order of celeb spotting. Last time, we saw Pedro Pascal – aka Oberyn Martell – wandering through the restaurant as we chowed down on sea bream.
- And finally booked to use my Harry Potter Studio Tour voucher from my last birthday – going in April, once the Forbidden Forest has opened so there will be a couple of new attractions for me since I was last there.
- Had a brief chat via Facebook messenger with an old friend from back home. We’ve hardly spoken in years, but it was just really nice to speak. There are lots of things I hate about Facebook, but there is no denying that it can also be a great communication tool, helping people stay in touch or reconnect years after drifting apart.
Happy thoughts – Tuesday 31st January
- Appreciating the fact that I no longer feel ill! Still weak and tired, but a whole load better than yesterday.
- Had a really nice chat/moan with a colleague. Every job – however much you enjoy it – comes with its frustrations, and sometimes there’s nothing quite like sharing your gripes and having a giggle about the ones you can laugh it.
- We got 2 wedding invitations today – yay for love! Frustratingly, they’re both for the same weekend and they’re about 400 miles apart, but I’m just being happy that a) people we know have found love and b) people like us enough to invite us.
Happy thoughts – Monday 30th January
Pretty hard to be happy about yesterday as I was ill and felt like death all day – I got on the tube to work and the heat and motion nearly made me throw up, so I had a very quick meeting, and turned straight back around! But there were some mini-victories…
- I GOT HAMILTON TICKETS! I failed at the pre-sale a couple of weeks back thanks to being in a 3 hour meeting throughout, but being ill meant I was home in front of my laptop and after an hour of persevering with a fairly crap ticketing system, with 30 tabs open trying different dates, I finally got a pair of tickets. OK, they’re for March 2018, but they’re MINE!
- As I was home early, we managed to squeeze in a LOT of film watching. While we’re not really talking to each other, it’s some of the time with Will I appreciate the most – just being comfortable not doing anything much, watching stuff together, enjoying our shared love of films.
- And a more serious one – I was truly heartened to see the huge amount of support for all the anti-Trump protests across the country. I couldn’t go myself thanks to feeling hideous, but I was so happy to see how many of my friends were there, and the huge outpourings of support from those like myself who couldn’t go. I really do have the best pals.
Two shots of happy 