The LBD got another outing yesterday. One of my nieces had organised a get together for the ladies of the family for my daughter's hen night. (She also has another get together planned with friends.)
We met up in a cocktail bar near London Bridge and a good time was had by all. I was relieved to see wine on the menu as I'm not really a cocktail girl.
We played a few silly games and a good time was had by all. So much so that I think there were a few sore heads this morning. Thankfully I didn't have to get up for work but my daughter did. She was definitely the worse for wear last night. I deposited her in a cab while the rest of us got trains home so I was glad that yesterday I opted for flats rather than heels.
No Hodgepodge questions to answer today so I shall just have to waffle a bit on our date night last night.
For my birthday my daughter bought me a voucher for a meal at a restaurant in town. Now when I say "in town" I refer to the central part of London. We live on the East side so our main line terminus is Liverpool Street and anywhere beyond that is in town as far as I'm concerned.
There hadn't been a good time to use the voucher but, fortunately, I noticed that it expired next week so hubby and I planned to use it yesterday. The restaurant was within walking distance of Liverpool Street station so the plan was for him to make his way there after work and I would join him. Our table was booked for 7.30 pm.
I dithered about what to wear. I wanted something comfortable around the waist. Nothing worse than trying to eat a meal when your waistline is expanding but your clothes aren't! Eventually I decided that I ought to make an effort and opted for a dress that I've only worn a few times which is smart but comfortable. Of course this led to a debate about shoes.
I needed something comfortable to be able to walk to the station but also something that would look right with the dress and cope with rain. (Although fortunately it stayed dry last night.) Sorting through my shoes I came across a pair I'd forgotten I'd bought! That makes it sounds as if I have loads of shoes and I really don't. These were a black court shoe with a low stiletto heel. I bought them back in February intending them to be worn for work but then of course I didn't go to work and the poor shoes have been languishing in a box of shoes in the wardrobe ever since!
Anyway they seemed reasonably comfortable so I thought I would take a chance on them. Well it's a good thing they were made for walking as I had extra walking to do! I arrived at the station with plenty of time to meet hubby. Trains are usually quite frequent (roughly every 10 minutes) but not yesterday. There had been problems earlier apparently. The 19.04 was cancelled and the 19.14 was not expected until 19.22. I didn't panic too much, just told hubby I would meet him at the restaurant instead and that he should go straight there and explain I was slightly delayed.
Well slightly became substantially when they announced that the 19.24 train was also cancelled. Hang on, what about the 19.14? That seemed to disappear into a black hole. Never to be mentioned again. Although the helpful Temi from TFL (Transport for London) did keep announcing, EVERY COUPLE OF MINUTES, that they were very sorry for the inconvenience caused. In the end I decided my best option was to walk down to the bus stop and catch a bus into Stratford station where I could get the tube to Liverpool Street.
As I was walking down to the bus stop I watched 3 buses go past. Ever had the feeling that you were just not meant to get where you're headed? I definitely did, especially as when I got to the bus stop the buses due were not the ones which go directly to the station in Stratford. I had to catch one that left me with a walk through the shopping centre to the station. As I said, good thing the shoes were fit for walking in.
I eventually arrived at the restaurant at 8.00 pm but it wasn't a problem. We had a lovely meal, including a glass of champagne each which was included as part of the deal and we managed to get through a bottle of wine.
Hubby had a starter of Goat's Cheese samosa with mixed herbs, beetroot and apple and elderflower fluid gel, followed by pan fried salmon with green beans, carrots, artichoke, potatoes and fish cream
I opted for the main course of pan fried duck with courgette, carrot, beetroot, potatoes and carrot puree followed by a raspberry dessert. I couldn't find the description of that on their website but all of it was delicious.
It was a lovely relaxing evening and the journey home was absolutely fine but I was very glad to kick those shoes off once we arrived home.
Well this could almost be my heading for today's A - Z challenge but it's not - that's already done and published see here .
I am really enjoying doing the challenge. I haven't been regularly blogging for a while but circumstances have given me the opportunity to spend more time on it so I signed up for the challenge. I was nervous at first that I might not be able to keep up but so far so good. (I started at 1262 on the list of those taking part and today I'm at 1212 so unfortunately some people have already fallen by the wayside - if you miss five days in a row or don't get started you get removed from the links list.)
I think it's helped that I decided to go with a theme and I planned out my topics in advance. I can be pretty good at planning when I'm motivated and this challenge has certainly motivated me. I'm trying to be at least one or two topics ahead of myself so that if I have a stressful or busy day I'm not panicking about posting on time.
It's been interesting visiting new blogs as well. As I said, I started off at 1262 on the list but there were around 1900 participants at the start. As advised I try and visit at least 5 blogs a day - starting next on the list but I'm also trying to keep up with some of the hosts and to visit a few more. Some I realise pretty quickly are not my cup or tea and move on, others get me hooked and this can be quite time consuming.
But it beats watching reruns on the TV or ruminating. We had a quiet Easter Sunday yesterday. Just the two of us. We got up and went to an early Mass then just chilled for the rest of the day. Today we've been a bit more energetic and have taken some exercise. But then we undid the good work by stopping off at our local pub to check out the recent renovations. But that factored into enjoyment so can't complain about that.
