It Was Called The Museum Of Dreams... And It Was, It Really Was!

Thar She Blows

 Let me take you on a figurative journey about a literal journey that I embarked upon with the first mate of my friendSHIP - Lesley Helen.  The theme of the trip was Titanic however, this is 2016 not 1912 and so our journey begins with a flight rather than an ocean voyage.  Well more accurately the journey began at a ludicrously early hour of the morning boarding a bus to the airport... shortly afterward followed by a flight.  The flight was with an airline that undoubtedly would have been the equivalent of  travelling third class with the steerage back in good old 1912 but I wont complain, the fight was fine, the best budget flight of my life thus far, with hardly any rats!  The flight was from good old Edinburgh to Belfast - the birth place of the ill fated ocean liner. 

Upon landing we took a brief minute to work out the bus system and then off we went engines cranked up to full speed ahead, what stood in the path between us and a long, warm, happy and healthy life (unlike the titanic) was not an iceberg and rather it was a man that to this day I am certain that his full time occupation was human trafficker.  Lesley thought he was more likely a full time junkie and tbh either guess was probably pretty spot on.  All we wanted was to get to our hotel, dispose of our bags and get straight to that Titanic museum and all he wanted was to ruin our lives through kidnap and or attempted befriending (neither of which we were interested it).  Luckily we managed to avoid our iceberg, after boarding the bus he headed straight to the back seats and we turned hard-a-starboard narrowly missing disaster and achieving a most enjoyable bus journey with 0 lives lost.  There was a short period of having to walk with him after departing from the bus at the Belfast bus station but we were soon riding solo again, Lesley and I.  I wont go into the morning much more because I know you are all dying to hear about the Titanic museum... suffice it say that we dropped off our bags, went out for breakfast, were offered caviar but turned it down because we never did like it much (lol joke it was a poor mans starbucks breakfast for two, in order to afford caviar we would have had to see our fine things sold at auction, our memories scattered to the wind ) and then it was off to the museum. 

I'm Flying Jack!

The excitement struck when we realised that the buses destination was literally Titanic Belfast, this city was definitely aware that Titanic was its biggest achievement (although is that really a good thing?) and they were going to milk it for everything they could.  We arrived in the Titanic quarter before we knew it and just like that Lesley and I were standing in the birthplace of our favorite doomed ship.  The first stop (after the ticket desk, which, yes, were designed to look like ship windows) was a photo op.  They had a green screen and an array of potential back drops to choose from, it was a no brainer for Les and I that we were going to pose on the bow of Titanic  in the most original way we could think of that we were 100% nobody else had ever done - we did the Jack and Rose "I'm Flying" pose!  The camera man was very impress with our quick thinking and originality.  I was Rose and Lesley was the dashing Mr Dawson.

To be honest I didn't even care how the rest of the day went, I was already super content knowing there was an incredible picture of my best girl and I on the ship of dreams.  However, I am pleased to report that the rest of the museum delivered!  Initially we found ourselves stuck between a group of older adults and a school group, it was all very claustrophobic and it make me kind of wish that the museum tour groups had been assigned according to class, assuring that it wasn't too crowded.  We managed to distance ourselves and this allowed us to take our time absorbing all of the facts and filling our brains to the brim with anything and everything of ship yards, ship building and pretty much anything else ship related.  After the first section of the museum I probably could have build myself my own ship, strong and true, to sail back to Edinburgh.  

If Titanic had been set in 2016

There was then a ride which is always enjoyable, there was even enough carriages for everyone in the museum which is more than can be said for life boats and the passengers of the titanic.  The ride took us on a journey through the process of ship building and although I had all the knowledge of how to build a good ship I realised I didn't have the manual labouring skills - especially with the equipment available to the workers way back in the days of Titanic.  Next we got to the part of the museum focus more on Titanic as a ship rather than the process of how she was built.

We saw models of the different types of accommodation available to passengers and I discovered that third class passengers traveled in rooms not overly smaller than my own bedroom in the flat back in Edinburgh.  We went on a virtual tour of the ship which was probably my favourite part of the museum, if one thing is for sure you can be blase about a lot of things but not about Titanic!  The next room moved us swiftly through the timeline of Titanic's journey, ending with the tragic sinking.  This lead to room where there were statements from survivors of the sinking and there was information on many of the passengers on board.

It was a dreadfully heavy thing, I only
wore it this once.

After this the next room was full of pictures/posters and videos from the many films and TV shows that were inspired by Titanic.  Lesley and I could hear Celine's voice belting out the song that has moved us to our very cores so many times before (music to drown to, now we knew we were in first class) and we spent a very long time watching the clips of Kate and Leo bringing to life the most amazing and heartbreaking fictional couple in the history of time.  We decided then and there that it was about time we watched Titanic again...

The final stage of the museum was a cinema style room where they were, unfortunately not playing James Cameron's Titanic, but were playing a very interesting video of divers exploring the ship wreck and debris.  The whole concept of the ship being at the bottom of the ocean is so strange to me.  In Lesley's words "What once held it up brought it down"  and I give her a lot of shit for this saying because she does bring it up an insane amount of times but she actually has a very good point .  It is curious that the ship was once afloat on top of the ocean and everything was fine but once the water gets inside it led to its downfall#WhenTitanicSankFromUnderUs...

 Anywayyyy.

There was actually one final stop in the museum... The gift shop!! Lesley wanted a mug and I wanted a cup.  Lesley got her mug but the cups were sold out so i considered getting socks or a fridge magnet or like a captains hat before settling on what was undoubtedly the best item in the store - the heart of the ocean key chain!  All I wanted was to purchase two so that I could throw one into the ocean, old rose style but, like Mr Dawson, I am not made of money so one unsinkable keychain it was!   We went to collect our photographs and ultimately they were pure gold as was anticipated so we bought 3 copies (1 each and 1 for luck, all life is a game of luck after all!), we carried those pics around with us all day because we like to take our pictures with us when we travel.  By this stage we were very hungry so Lesley and I decided to go out for some lamb, rare, with very little mint sauce (jk im a vegetarian).  

Take her to sea Mr Murdoch, let's stretch her
legs

The trip feels like it happened 84 years ago but its one I will never forget! I can still smell the fresh paint.  The china had never been used.  The sheets had never been slept in.  Titanicwas called the Ship of Dreams, and it was.  IT REALLY WAS!

P,S

WANNA GO TO A REAL PARTY?  Make it count and check back later for part 2 of the Belfast trip which includes Lesley and I getting very drunk at an Ellie Goulding concert, meeting Mr Andrews, VIP treatment, new found friends, up in the club and a hell of a hangover 

xoxo

Ell-E Gee round 2 at London's O2 Arena... More Etherealness, More Party Petrol and More Centre Stage #moreismore

The Real Queen G

For my many many regular readers (and by that I mean all 0 of you) you will know that I went to see Ellie Lifegoals Goulding live in Newcastle on Wednesday the 16th of March and it was a truly celestial experience... The closest I've felt to heaven in my whole 21 years thus far!  Well B and I had such an incredible time that the day after we returned to Edinburgh, work and our drab reality we decided to blow all of our savings and book to go see Ellie for a second time in London.  As you can probably predict, both from the beginning of this post and from it's title, this post is dedicated to our second, and sadly final, attendance of the Delirium World Tour.

Wednesday 23 March 2016

I spent the day working a 12 hour shift and then returned to my flat at 8.30/9pm.  I messaged B to come through to my room so we could discuss the final plans for the next day (Goulding day) and so she came through, poster making supplies in hand, and we came to the sad realization that it would be a 4am wake up call for us the next day.  B and I had a quick catch up and then got down to business making posters for the concert, it was sheer carnage as glitter, super glue and black marker got everywhere but ultimately we ended up with 3 wonderful pieces of artwork and one John Newman appreciation poster.  

What are you some kind of artist or
something?

The posters read:

1. I've got Ellie On My Mind
2. Ellie's got that Fire Fire FiiiiiIIiiire
3. Ellie is Gould-en, she makes us Delirious 
4. John, I need to know now, know now will you Love Me?   

As you can probably tell we are hella original and I'm 100% sure nobody has thought of those phrases to put on their posters before, 100%!  The whole process took a while and before we knew it the clock stuck 12 and we had to accept that it was bed time.  I was so excited i didn't think that I would be able to sleep but in the end the 12 hour shifts caught up with me and I was in a deep slumber the second my head hit the pillow.

Thursday 24 March 2016

Too soon?

4am and my alarm sounds... "Come on Jessica, come on Tori, let's go to the mall you wont be sorry" as Robin Sparkles welcomes me into the day.  Everything hurt and I was dying, I knew that I was getting out of bed for a good cause, a great cause even but it was just so damn early!  As the blinding pain of exhaustion hit I thought of what Ellie would say, "Bite down on your lip, take another sip, dont panic!"  and just like that I was buzzing for the wonderful life making event that was mere hours away from me.  B and I reconvened in the hall and I told her about how I couldn't get Don't Panic out of my head, just like that "bite down on your lip, take another sip, don't panic" became the saying/song of the trip.  We set out for the tram and as we waited we discussed matters such as the UK early 2000 trend of listening to high pitched DJ music #DJCammyInTheMix2k6 and other equally interesting subjects and then we were en route to the airport.  It was 6.30am by the time we cleared security and I insisted on visiting the whiz palace before boarding the plane because airplane bathrooms are ew.  B was getting worried because our boarding time was 6.30 and she thought we were going to miss the plane, we had a slight difference of opinions as to whi

ch gate we were boarding from and then we decided to listen to me because I am always right when it comes to directions.  I was wrong.  After humiliating us by trying to board the wrong plane we set out towards the actual gate, B almost in a run for fear of missing the plane and myself trying to connect the the wifi in order to snapchat B saying "Bite down on your lip, take another sip".  We made it in time for our flight and before we knew it we were off, up in the air, on our way to see Ellie.

The flight was spent listening to music, chatting and then writing a letter each to Ellie, the 02 arena website stated that there was an information desk where you could hand in letters to singers and this was not an opportunity we were willing to miss.  My Letter went a little like this I (give or take the wording of the first section):

Dear Ellie,

I am currently on a flight from Edinburgh to London with my main man Beth to see your Delirium tour for a second time and I am so excited.  Although this is my second time seeing the Delirium tour it will be the 5th time I have seen you live.  I also seen you at T in the Park in the King Tut's tend many moons ago, at the 02ABC in Glasgow for Halcyon, at Hyde Park for the British Summertime Festival and now Delirium twice...(more ramblings)... 

To sum up what I really want to say is that if you were Harry Potter then I would want to be your invisibility cloak so that I could shelter you from all of the worlds evils.  If I was a 2 horned unicorn and you were a horse I would give up one of my horns for you.  If I was Dr Meredith Grey and you were a patient who was coding then I would for sure push one of epi for you!  Here is a joke:  2 fish are in a tank, one fish turns to the other and says "do you know how to drive this thing?" haha love Gemma *inster twitter account name here* xoxo

legs for days

We arrived in London and I practiced my English accent and we made our way into the city centre.  I wont go into how we spent the first part of our day before we could check into our hostel because I will write a separate London post so let skip forward to 2pm, check in time at the hostel.  We walked in circles in the rain for a dogs age before finding the hostel and I must say the 4 hours sleep almost got the better of me when I almost went off on one at B... I had to remidn myself to bite down on my lip and take another sip!  I had to continue to remind myself to do this after arriving at the hostel as the man on reception had no idea what he was doing and took forever and a day to check us in.  B and I raced to our dorm and began to get ready for Ellie as quickly as we could after the delay at reception!  I was ready before B so I grabbed my straighteners and began to use them to curl one side of her hair as she tackled the other.  As I came across a knot in her hair I began trying to juggle my tangle teezer, straighteners and B's hair between my two hands which ultimately resulted in

my straighteners bouncing back onto my arm and leaving a massive burn (burn burn burn gonna let it burn burn burn).  There was no time to nurse the wound and I grabbed the essentials: purse, phone, ipod, wireless charger, happy thoughts and a pocket full of sunshine before skipping to the underground for a one way trip to the one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  

"still pee but run"
"Actually run now!"

We arrive at the 02 by 3ish and claimed our spots in the line.  There were already a fair amount of people waiting to see Ellie and I was a little nervous about our chances of getting the exact spot we had been dreaming of for the past week but once again I bit down on my lip and took another sip.  B and I had 3 and a half hours to kill in the line and so after we had our spot I sent B on a one woman mission to get snacks and boy did she deliver... B got us salt and vinegar crisps, diet soda, cream eggs, cereal bar and a magazine.  Around 5pm I took my turn of leaving the line for a final pre-Ellie bathroom break, I climbed over all of the people behind us in the queue who were obviously at least just a little bit less fans of Ellie than us and as I made my way to the bathroom I passed a bar that was playing the Delirium album on a loop.  I. WAS. SO. FREAKIN. HYPED!  I returned to the line and then B left of her turn emptying her bladder.  While B was away I listened to Ellie on my ipod until the line, which consisted of fans sitting on the cold hard ground, raised to their feet and I instantly sent B 5000 Milliom texts requesting that she return to the queue immediately.  She ran back from the toilets and then we had another hour to wait until the gates actually opened... lolgoodtimes.  

We made it into the London Snapchat
Story

The gates opened at 6.30 and before we knew it we were in, we had exchanged our tickets for orange wrist bands and we had handed over our letters for Ellie to a woman who promised she would try to get them backstage to her (I may never know if Ellie actually received them or not).  The next hurdle was bag check, just our luck for B and I to be stuck behind someone who took ages to get checked.  B swapped lines and then I got through and she was delayed again, a bunch of people who had been behind us got in first but it was fine because B and I got in there to the exact spots we wanted (slightly behind the people at the barrier rather than actually at the barrier but not a bad achievement nonetheless and still the best spots in the house imo).  The only issue was we were stood behind 2 girls that very quickly became me new enemies, so much so that they put me off buy a Delirium beanie because I didn't want to be associated with them.  To sum up they took up so much space with their elbows, they just stood there, didn't dance, didn't sing.  I put my hand on the barrier for support in between acts and she shoved me back out of the way ugh just the worst.

So 6.30 turned to 7pm and Lany graced the stage.  The hair was still a mop and the confidence was still 0/10 but I have to say as Lany sang their hearts out they won over mines.  The slow song was still sleep inducing and I was a little pissed off on behalf of the guitarist when the lead singer told the crowed that "this guy (the drummer) is my very best friend!" and failed to acknowledge the third and equally as important member of their little group.  Lany stepped it up from Newcastle though and I wish them well on their journey from unknown to slightly less unknown band.  I officially added 3 of their songs to my spotify playlist, I'm feeling their music rn. They sang until 7.30 and then they stepped of the stage never to be heard of again jokes I'm a huge fan no hate all the best lads.

Hey John

7.30 turned to 8pm and and John bounced out looking alive and slightly less like he was buzzed on ecstasy than he had in Newcastle.  Somehow this was my third time seeing John live, I guess you could call me a big fan...He sand all of his best songs: Come and get it (ahnanananaohh), Tiring Game Tarrengale, Cheating, Blame It On The Night, Not Giving In and others.  As he did in Newcastle John finished with Love Me Again ft a walk through the crowed and B lost her mind (see this video: https://youtu.be/buxApIT42gA).  I will admit that when the gruesome twosome on front of us leaped forward to touch John I did try to claim a space at the barrier beside them but then when they came back I slipper back behind them for fear of being killed by murder after the show.  John put on such a great performance I really love him now such a great performer!  He left the stage at 8.30pm.

8.30 turned to 9pm and the lights dropped as the beautiful harmonies from Intro (Delirium) begin to play.  I freak the fuck out and B can't stop saying OMG.  The beginning video transitions of Ellie's face were amazing and as the intro ends and blends into Aftertaste I know Ellie is only seconds away from appearing right there on the stage on front of me.  The first few songs were sang, each one amazing.  Aftertaste will forever take me back to the moment Ellie first appears on the stage, the first song she sings.  Something In The Way You Move (which I hope does well in the charts) had an amazing dance routine and Goodness Gracious has always been a fave of mine, she really got into it by the end and hit some amazing notes!  

The concert was completely amazing, Ellie stopped to talk to the crowed and, like in Newcastle, she did explain to the crowed that she had water and party petrol on stage with her.  Unlike in Newcastle the crowd did not request Ellie down the party petrol and in London after Ellie said she had water on stage with her she did the most adorable little giggle I ever did hear (which sadly was drowned out a bit by the crowds adoring cheers and laughs in the video I took).  As she knelt on the catwalk and began explosions I was prepared, I knew she was about to make her way straight down the catwalk to me.  

Angel in every way

Ellie abso killed Explosions, hitting every note out of the park and then she stood up and walked onto stage in her knew 'Ellie-proof' dress which she explained was a but short so she wouldn't trip over it.  The first song she sand on the mini stage was How Long Will I Love You and it was so beautiful (Link to video:https://youtu.be/nn403IKVEQ0 ).  After HLWIL ended with her singing "as long as stars are above you, and longer if I may" she stated "to be fair that is a realy long time" and then she stopped to talk to the crowed.  She talked about how fun but scary it was being on the mini stage because it mean she was "in us" and then she realised that a fan in the crowed has just gotten engaged during HLWIL which she thought was amazing, "aw it is that kind of song isn't it!" and she went on to say "Everybody's getting bloddy married!" she asked the girl how she was feeling and if she saw it coming and then she said she was feeling very emotional so she better just get back to singing.  Finally she asked "Anybody else getting married tonight?" to which B responded, quite loud and desperately "I WISH!" (https://youtu.be/KXRgOkDHuWE see full thing here).  She went on to sing Army (watch video here and note her adorable smile at the start of it:https://youtu.be/q3wFEOt-9dI ) and then they rest of the show went on.  The whole show was breathtaking and just too good for words and just everything else complimentary that I said about the show in Newcastle x100000000.  She asked everyone to put their phones away while she sang burn and it was involuntary, like she had a power over all of us and we couldn't help but put the Iphones away for even just one song.  

Ellie is such an amazing talent and she is so beautiful and the definition of goals, I mean someone get that girl a frame because she belongs in the Louvre #workofart.  Which leads me nicely into a future post of mine that I will be working on shortly about my week as a Vegan (which I am currently on day 2 of in hopes of feeling harder, better, faster, stronger and all in all a little more Ellie).  I would gladly go see Ellie again, not the UK delirium tour because I have seen it twice now and I'm not made of money but I cant wait to see clips from the next stages of her tour (even though I know Ellie prefers people to watch her rather than film her at concerts) and after she has taken her break from music after this tour I'll be front row at her next one waving my hands in the air like I just don't care.  One day I hope to attend a concert that goes on all day and all night (with reasonable breaks for Ellie of course) where she just sings every one of her songs to me, maybe Taylor Swift can come too and they can swap about with one another during breaks.

Hey Ellie

Anyway, after the concert B and I went to the bar that was playing Delirium and had a brief dance about before accepting that we had to leave the o2 arena.  We went back to the hostel to look at our picks and I was very unsociable (perhaps even a little rude) with anyone that tried to talk to me because I just wanted to bask in Ellie.  The next day we returned to the O2 arena because we do what we love and we love what we do.  We did some cool stuff which I'll talk about in the London post and then we ended up in the "Chill/refreshments room" (which I dubbed the Ellie Goulding room) at the Nissan Innovation experience place which was like an out of body experience.  As we stepped in they were playing all of Ellie's music videos on loads of screens, there was a table set up like one in a dressing room and it was like stepping out of the real world into our very own Ellie Goulding-esqu paradise heaven.  We stayed there for a while and then as we left I said a final farewell to the o2 arena and it's weird and wonderful temporary Ellie-centric world.

Finally, on the train home we were more than just delirious from exhaustion.  B and I played Ellie Goudling/Delirium tour/Our trips to see Ellie themed hangman and pictionary, probably too loudly for the other passengers at times.  I was so content.  When we got back to the flat it was like back to reality whoop there goes gravity and it was really hard to believe everything that had happened Ellie related over the past week had actually happened.  As I said the o2 was like another world dedicated entirely to her and it was magical and celestial and as ethereal as the woman herself but it just didn't feel real.

I dont know if I'll ever feel like that again, it truly was a strange yet perfect experience.

The moral of the story is in times of trouble bite down on your lip, take another sip and DONT PANIC!

classic G collage

xoxo 

Queen G.

Newcastle: The Incredible Journey

Heyyyooo peeps of the blogisphere, so as explained in my previous post I recently journeyed below the border to Newcastle to see Ellie Goulding live.  This post is dedicated to all of the non Ellie parts of that journey.  
Tuesday March 15th
B and I head to Waverly train station in the morning, running late as per, and head to boots to grab the essentials:

• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Body Wash
• Chewing Gum



Oot on the toon 

• Diet Soda

After making these purchases we boarded the train, located our seats and settled in for the journey ahead of us.  Excitement was running high as we text our mothers confirming we were on our way and updated our snapchats in order to make everyone jealous of our trip (if you don't plaster everything you do all over social media did you really do it?).  During the first part of our journey a lady came through the cabin with a trolley of snacks and I can confirm that I had to all but rip my voice box from my throat to stop myself from telling her that "we'll take the lot".  During our train journey we passed many wonderful British landmarks such as:

1. Field of cows number 1
2. The ocean
3. North Berwick 
4. Field of cows number 2
5. Field of horses
6. Trees

After we were finally able to turn our eyes from these amazing landmarks B and I turned our attention to Harry Potter Top Trumphs (purchases at the platform 9 3/4 shop in King's Cross Station I'll have you know).  Rather than play the game the conventional way B and I made up our own rules #HipstersInnit and this kept us amused right up until the train pulled up to the platform in the Newcastle station.

As we stepped from the train it was like a thousand knifes stabbing us all over, we couldn't breathe, couldn't think it was so damn cold!!  I gave thanks to the great cat goddess in the sky for guiding me to bring a coat on our trip and B cried a thousand tears because she did not and we made our way through Newcastle in no particular direction, heading to an absolution that would never come.  Our first stop was the hostel to dump our bags and after a slight hiccup when neither myself of B had the £2 that was required for the receptionist to keep our bags behind the desk until our room was available B and I finally sold our souls for this service and we were on our merry way once again.  

This was it B and I taking 'the big city' one step at a time turning tricks and fucking shit up.  As if floating on a breeze B and I happened upon our first destination:

Fenwick and the great mall of Newcastle: once you enter you never leave.

That's what I thought of B's company

The rain had stared and the temperature has plummeted and so we took our exploring indoors to a department store called Fenwick.  We initially explored the gift department and set ourselves the mission of buy one another a fun gift/activity for £5 or less, once this crazy mission had been completed we took to the escalators as the escalators lifted us up into a whole new world B remarked very offhandedly that she liked to buy designer brand bedsheets (this is a lie) and so I naturally confirmed that I also liked to do this and that my bed sheets are home we very "Coup Du Wah".  Instantly we made an unspoken agreement that from that moment on everything in Newcastle would be Coup Du Wah, maybe everything everywhere would be Coup Du Wah but only time would tell.  

Now as far as reviewing the sights of Newcastle I have to say this: if you are in Newcastle you have to visit the Fenwick foodhall because it was amazing!  Their easter egg selection was one of the most breathtaking things I had ever seen and never in my life had I been more tempted to spend £80 on chocolate.  Somehow we managed to get from Fenwick to a massive shopping mall (Eldon Square I believe) which had a pretty impressive selection of shops, if you are after shopping then I would recommend otherwise maybe not because at the end of the day it was just a mall.  B and I chose to eat at the Garden Kitchen on the top floor of the mall and the food was really nice (possibly the best food we had during our stay, however we did visit subway which is a firm fave of ours sooo...).  After we had eaten we decided to turn our attentions to an activity that we couldn't have just done in Edinburgh, as it was already 4pm and a lot of things were shutting at 5pm we chose to visit an art gallery which was free to visit and on our way back to the hostel.

Laing Art Gallery

B and I discovered on our way to the art gallery that B had forgotten to bring her ID to Newcastle which killed our plans of going on a crazy Geordie night out (B has become increasingly obsessed with Geordie Shore and had been hoping to live the life of Charlotte Crosby for one night, I was just hoping to get drunk for the first time in forever).  Although at first this was a disappointment we bounced back pretty quickly because the really reason for the trip was to see Ellie Goulding not to go on a night out.

We arrived at the art gallery and as expected there was a lot of pretty impressive art, most of it is a blur in my memories though because I was so completely mesmerised by this on painting: it had a seat you could sit on to view it; there was a button to press; pressing said button resulted in the lights dimming, the painting lighting up and a range of sound effects.  The painting apparently depicted "The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah" and I dont know anything about that other than it made for a great painting.  B and I sat and watched this painting for a while then examined some other pieces of art before leaving and heading back to the hostel.  We decided that since we weren't going out we would go out for a nice meal and then buy some alcohol and have a mini party in the hostel.  We chose Jamie's Italian for Dinner

Girl date

Jamie's Italian

We were seating upstairs next to a window so there was a nice view of the streets and the youths of Newcastle getting into bother from the police.  B and I ordered Garlic bread to start with, cocktails (restaurants never ID, if you learn anything from my blog let that be the lesson) and for main I got Tortellini and B got some kind of aubergine dish.  I thoroughly enjoyed mines but B said hers was kind of meh.  We returned to the hostel for some Cosmo Fizz and salt and vinegar crisps.  We exchanged gifts, B got me facepaints and I got her a harmonica.  The night was full of tipsyness, gossip, face painting and ended in a sleepover on the top bunk.

Overall reviews from Day 1

Would recommend:

• Fenwick Foodhall
• Laing Art Gallery: The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah 
• Eldon Mall Garden Kitchen

 

Wednesday March 16th

B and I woke up (flawless) bright and early and hangover free.  Our activities for the day included visiting the bridges of Newcastle, doing a practice run to the Metro Radio Arena and lunch.

The Gateshead Millennium Bridge and the Tyne Bridge

Brich

The day was slightly milder and the walk was pleasant, the area leading down to the river Tyne was pretty cute and googlemaps had greatly overestimated how long it would take us to get to the bridges.  The first bridge we happened across was the Tyne bridge (although it was pretty much right beside the Millennium Bridge).  We took some pics and vids I made a terribly wrong assumption that the council building across the river was the arena.  B and I speculated over whether Ellie would take her concert to the top of the Millennium bridge and then as we turned around my eyes caught sight of something... could it be?  We crossed the road... 

Catpawcino

Cat city, cat, cat, cat city bish

I LOVE CATS. CATS. CATS. CATS. LOVE EM. Everyone one a solid 10/10.  For a long time I have been desperate to go to a cat cafe but they have either been overbooked or I simply haven't had time and so it really was fate that we found one completely by chance in Newcastle.  I am planning to write a post about cat cafes and so I wont go into too much deets right now, suffice it to say that the cats at Catpawcino were dazzling and appeared to be exteremly well cared for.  B and I turned up just as the cafe was opening and so we got the entire place to ourselves, the staff were so friendly and encouraged us to play with the cats and my hot chocolate was delish.  

After B's allergies kicked in we left the cats and went for a walk, we crossed the Millennium bridge and went to what we not knew to be the council building.  We explored the gift shops and checked out the view of Newcastle from the building and the recrossed the bridge.  B and I discovered some gym type equipment on the walkway at the side of the tyne which kept us amused and then our wandering took us to Newcastle Castle, however; due to time constrains we prioritised lunch over touring the castle.

Fat Buddha

B and I went for lunch and cocktails (as I said before restaurants never ID) at Fat Buddha, it was so nice to rest our weary feet and to review the pictures we had taken that day.  The cocktails were delicious, we both got a Fat Buddha cocktail, however; in my humble opinion the cocktails were far better than the food which I felt was just okay.  We made our way back to the hostel to prepare for seeing Ellie Goudling (full deets of the concert included in the previous post).  We also made a stop off at the Fenwick foodhall again to purchase some chocolate as our lunch hadn't really filled us and the chocolate had been on my mind since the day before, it definitely lived up to my expectations and was tres coup du wah!

Final Reviews from day 2

Would Recommend:

• Visiting the bridges of Newcastle as they are a city landmark and free to visit
• Catpawcino if you love cats and cafes, its a no-brainer really
• Walking along the Tyne
• Fat Buddah for cocktails

Overall

The best food:  Eldon Square Kitchen for B and Jamie's Italian for me

The best activity: Walking along the Tyne: you see the bridges, thats how we found that cat                               cafe and there was a lot of random fun stuff to see.

Grey skys, classic

thar she blows.

B and I are journeying to London this Thursday to see Ellie again (goodbye to all my savings).  I'll no doubt write a review of this trip and of the concert at some point (hopefully we will do slightly more in London so there is more to review) but I am working/on placement pretty nonstop over the next few weeks so who knows when this will be done.

The moral of the story is love will never be forever feelings are just like the weather, and if we are talking about Newcastle weather in the middle of March that that would mean pretty shit tbh.

Until next time

xoxo

Queen G

Ellie Goulding's Delirium World Tour: A Tale of Party Petrol

Hello darkness my old friend

I have just recently returned from an incredible cross country journey to Newcastle ('Newcastle: The Incredible Journey' post to follow in due course) with my person B.  Although I'm sure Newcastle is a fine place to visit for no particular reason B and I were drawn to Newcastle for a very special occasion; the Delirium World Tour.  When my mother dearest asked me what I wanted for Christmas last year I knew exactly what I wanted... Ellie Goulding had released a new album and I was certain a tour announcement would follow promptly.  Not only did my mother manage to secure me 2 tickets to see Ellie but when she was only able to get seating tickets for Glasgow she recognized that seating tickets are reserved solely for the elderly, the very young, the lame and for those who were not fast enough to get standing tickets, and so she took her money elsewhere and purchased two standing tickets for Newcastle, Goodness Gracious she's amazing!

G, B and E

 Pre-Show

I wont go into much detail about the journey to Newcastle because this post is dedicated entirely to the ethereal angel princess that is Ellie Goulding.  So skip forward to Wednesday the 16th of March 2016 at 5pm.  Tensions were starting to grow a little as myself and B had still not quite perfected our concert looks and it was no longer an option to turn up to the Metro Radio Arena 4 hours early (in hindsight turning up anything more than an hour early would have been a little redundant) although I was doing a great job of Elsa-ing my feelings up #ConcealDontFeel.  I would like to point out that at this point I had British Summertime Festival flashbacks on a loop On My Mind (last summer my little sister prevented me from turning up 4 hours early, which totally wouldn't have been entirely redundant on this occasion, to see Taylor Swift in Hyde Park.  I thought I was going to miss Vance Joy (which I did, but oh well) and Ellie Goulding (Which I didn't thank god!).  

Ellie on the catwalk

B and I left the hostel entirely under dressed, warmed only with our excitement and our heartsong (Our heartsong is I Do What I Love by Ellie btdubs).  I thought I was going to have an aneurysm as B and I faced the classic conflict of getting a taxi despite the traffic vs walking despite not being certain of the directions, all the while I was becoming more and more aware of the time... Were we going to make it early enough to get good standing spots?  Were we going to have to claw our way to the front (#OnlyTheStrongWillPrevail) Was I going to cardiac arrest before we even got there due being emotionally overwhelmed?  Spoiler alert: we made it like 40 mins early and as we waited Outside for the doors of the arena to open (similar to the gates to heaven in my eyes) B and I began to speculate what Ellie was doing at that moment in time, Was she having a pre-show work out?  Was she having a pre-show freak out? was she preparing to invite B and I back stage?  I mean Anything Could Happen right?  I think I can speak for myself, B and  a girl standing on front of us that I will fondly remember as 'old smokey' due to the fact she lit up like 5 million times while we waited in the queue (I know what you're thinking and yes I can confirm that as The Platters would say, smoke did get in my eyes) It was all very exciting.  My blood had turned to ice and my goosebumps had gooebumps but then it was 6pm, the doors opened and we made our merry way into the arena.

Into the woods Metro Radio Arena.

B and I made a brief stop off at the whiz palace before joining the queue for the standing area and then suddenly I felt the weight of the responsibility we had for choosing our standing spots.  B and I concluded that we would place ourselves front row at the side of the mini stage near the end of the cat walk (This allowed us to get much closer to Ellie than front row of the main stage, this decision was also made in roughly 1 second as everyone quickly filed into the arena trying to claim the best spots... it was a lot of pressure but as Ellie would say: Don't Panic!  

No zoom needed

The first support act dawn the stage unannounced taking us all by surprise.  Their name was Lameeeeey Lany, their hair was attractively arranged was similar to a kitchen mop. Lany had their fun and honestly sang much better than I could have, however their music, to me, felt kind of generic and when he took it down a notch and sand a slow song all I could think was ugh We Cant Move To This #moodkiller.  John Newman was the next act, I had seen him before at the British Summertime Festival where he also sang before Ellie Goulding (my high school history teacher really was right when he said the past is always destined to repeat itself!).  Johnny boy came out and did a 10/10 job of pumping up the crowed, he sang all his hits #LoveMeAgain and walked through the crowed (I missed my opportunity to touch him as he passed because I was too busy trying to catch the moment on snapchat... 21st century probs.  However, B did manage to cop a feel and she can confirm that his arm felt like an arm, nothing more nothing less).  John Newman was good, he is hella talented and put on quite a show but I have to admit I was hit with a jot of excitement as his set concluded and he left the stage because this was it, it was Elleeee time!



A truly delirious experience

Hey gurl hey

So as they prepared the stage for her excellency I was becoming more and more delirious, the excitement was so much; I wanted to scream, laugh, cry and punch everyone else in the arena in the face and then hug them all at the same time.   As the lights began to dim and the Intro (Delirium) echoed through the arena I looked around at my fellow concert attendees and felt this great enlightenment; we were all about to embark on a spiritual journey together, its not every day you can say that!  As if by magic Ellie appeared on stage and the journey was underway!  I decided almost instantly that Ellie had the best legs I had ever seen, they were like study tree trunks but in the most beautiful way,you just knew they could support her throughout each dance routine, thighs as solid as a diamond!  Initially I was Holding On For Life to the barrier refusing to lose my amazing spot but it became apparent early on that this crowd was far more civil than the one at Hyde Park in the summer, I had marked my territory at the barrier and everyone seemed to accept and respect that.

Ellie sang some songs, as was expected of her, and then she stopped to chat with the audience.  Now this was my 4th time seeing the spellbinding angel princess live and I can confirm that she has become far more confident over the years #bless #TheyGrowUpSoFast.  One of her first exchanges with the audience went a little something like this:

Ellie: "I have 2 bottles on front of me... one is labelled water and the other is labelled party petrol!  Which one shall I drink?
Adoring fans: "Party Petrol!!!!!"
Ellie: "Okay I was trying to work out the vibes in here tonight but now I know *drinks party petrol*"
Adoring fans: "DOWN IT!"
Ellie: "I am not going to down it!"
Adoring fans: *chanting* "Down it down it down it!"
Ellie: *Not even entertaining the idea of downing it* *starts singing next song*
(Newcastle's irresponsible attitude towards alcohol made me feel like I was back home in Scotland)

And in her eyes I saw the answers to all of life's questions (Aka Codes blue, I'm dead)
The moment I had been waiting for finally arrived!  Ellie walked her way down the catwalk and right into my heart.  Ellie was right on front of me.  We were breathing the same air.  The only thoughts I had while she was standing before me were I Don't Need Nobody but you; You are the most ethereal person my eyes have ever had the pleasure of gazing at; I cant stop staring at you; I love you soooo much I Need Your Love in return; if not your love then I will settle for a simple smile and then she turned around and looked me directly in the eyes and all of my thoughts were Lost And Found.  

Ellie: *looks at me and B*
Me: *Dislocates jaw trying to express all of my feelings through the biggest smile there ever            was* *stares* *shakes* *waves* *Forgets all words*
Beth: *stares* "I love you Ellie!"  "You are so beautiful" "Your songs are so good!"

Actual angel #reversezoom

It was such an amazing experience being front row, within touching distance of the stage, at a concert (especially a concert for a singer you admire so much!)  It all seemed a bit surreal to see someone in the flesh that you are used to seeing on the TV or internet.  I was also vaguely aware that she really was just a person like anyone else, however; I cannot emphasize enough how ethereal Ellie Goulding is, there is honestly just something very heavenly/angelic about her.  Plus, having a singer look you in the eyes, ever briefly, while they perform makes you feel like every song is Your Song and she is performing it just for you and nobody else.   Anyway, after the brief eye exchange we had my heart burst and I died (#codeblue) and then moments later my heart did Heal and I was back to maximum enjoyment.  

Every song performed was gold, there was nothing I could do but scream, sing and Keep On Dancing, I felt like I had party petrol running through my veins! (I wonder if Old Smokey was enjoying herself?).  All of that dancing must have Burned off at least half of the calories that I consumed before the concert, at least!  Ellie's vocals were on point, her dancing was on point (Ellie there is just Something In The Way You Move, it's mesmerizing), her accent was on point, everything was 10/10.  I Figure 8 had she been more confident she might have spent more time out on the catwalk or the mini stage but part of Ellie's charm is her shyness and I honestly couldn't fault any part of the concert!  A particularly special part of the show was getting to experience Ellie perform Army live right on front me with B (a pivotal member of out own little 3 woman army which comprises of myself, B and L).  

The Aftertastemath
The concert concluded with Love Me Like You Do with Ellie performing on the main stage, catwalk and mini stage.  As the song ended there were Explosions of confetti from the confetti cannons which were positioned right on front of myself and B.  It was like showering in unicorn tears as the golden confetti smothered me and as the show came to an end B and I danced through the golden confetti as it rained down from the heavens.  We walked part of the way home singing all of our fave Ellie hits and that could have been the end of it but the story doesn't end here.  B and I do what we love and we love what we do, we weren't ready to let go of the Goulding magic yet and so after spending every day since last Wednesday talking about how much we want to see her again B and I booked tickets to go down to London to do it all again (if that isn't Devotion then I don't know what is).  And so it will be that in less than a week we will be seeing Ellie again in London and I cannot wait!  Some would call us crazy, I would call us young and irresponsible with out money but most importantly fun.

A classic G collage

So Ellie How Long Will I Love You?  I am going to say at least for another 84 years because thats how long Rose loved Jack and then maybe in the Aftertastelife we can reunite on a boat and everyone will clap and we can take that over that boat, one shot of party petrol at a time, Delirium World Tour 2K16 style!  Until then, I'll just see you on Thursday.

The moral of the story is:
1- It is kind of hard to fit a whole concert set list into one blog post
2- Do what you love and love what you do

xoxo 
Queen G. 

Links to some short clips of the concert:
Love me like you do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LemzJfcsJyI
Army: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Qg1tw4vbc
Explosions: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS5DeLmOSyQ

8 Things That Happen When You Go On Holiday With Your Best Friends

It feels like just yesterday that summer was starting, I was venturing down to London to see T Swizzle, the light of my life, perform live and I was working the weeks away desperate for the end of August to come so that I could finally go on holiday with B and L!  Well believe it or not that holiday came and went and I have been back in miserably, glacial Scotland - chilled to the bone even underneath my new pink Miss Selfridge coat!

Anyway  I returned from America tanned, bankrupt and enlightened!  Here are some of the things that I learned about going on holiday with your friends/here is my American summer blog post.  Fasten your seat belts kids, it's going to be a wild ride!

Concrete jungle where dreams
are made of!

My fave view in NYC

L, B and G with Libby

1- There will be a holiday catch phrase.

Then I said "what about Breakfast At
Tiffany's?"

Our alarm sounded early on the morning of our flight and we journeyed to the airport via tram.  After checking in, heading through security and browsing the shops aimlessly trying to pass the time we finally boarded the plane.  I personally do not care much for plane food - although United airlines may have converted me - yet when the trusted copilot announced the dining options for us (they must have been short of important jobs for him to do that night, bless!) I decided that I would in fact order a meal!  I turned to Lesley and uttered the phrase " when in Rome"  in an ever so matter of fact kind of way and just like that a legend was born.  Suddenly we could do absolutely anything we wanted to do on our trip as long as it was justified with "When in Rome!".  Some would argue that this catch phrase lived and died on the outward journey but I will continue to campaign to make it one of our group's many motto's!

Where Queen B
buys her headbands

Furthermore, the first week of our holiday was spent in Tulsa, Sweet Home Oklahoma - the sooner State, the Paris of Oklahoma some would say!  We stayed at B's house with her family, her mother - who's name is R; she is kind; she is smart; she is important and her hair is attractively arranged - does not condone cussing in any form (she's a classy lady!) which lead to many an utterances of "Oh my Goddddd-ness!"   Ultimately we ended up adopting "oh my goodness" as our own little saying and if one person said it then the other two would chime in and repeat it in a very Annie(1982)-esque kind of fashion!  

2 - Safety?

OU - The day we almost
died!

Maybe it was the overpowering liberty and justice that encompassed us 24/7 while we were in the states?  Maybe it was all the freedom in the air? Whatever it was it had taken ahold of B one day when we embarked on a perilous quest to visit her brother at OU.  It all started when she decided to change lanes on the highway without checking her mirrors first (that old chestnut) and this almost led to us becoming a statistic.  However, on the journey back to T-town things escalated!  B got lost and all she knew was that we had to head left because that was the direction of her house, she kept driving left but you see the problem with her logic was that she had somehow forgotten that a huge river runs through the middle of her home state.  Anyway, we turned left over a railway crossing and immediately knew that this had been a wrong turn, B circled around and the next event happened so fast!  She started driving down the railway tracks and I exclaimed "what the hell are you doing!?  Get back on the road!!!" *points at the road*.  Luckily (and B claims she knew this all along) the railway line was out of use and we safely made it back onto the road.  

We weren't safe for long...

We went from small road, to smaller road, to dirt road, to dirt track, heading left all the time!  We ended up in a place that would be more accurately described as a compound than an apartment complex.  There were warning signs on the gates explaining that fire arms were prohibited on the property,  people stared at us, I was certain we were going to die.  We got the hell out of there as fast as we could, L's request to stop to get a photo denied.  We eventually made it back to a real road and a huge bridge which lead us safely across the Arkansas river... back home and tucked up safely in bed by 10.30pm.



3 - Someone will get injured

It was worth the blood,
sweat and tears.

I guess this one links in to the above point in many ways.  We ventured down to Texas for the weekend to spend a fun filled day at Six Flags theme park, this was great because the Texas and Oklahoma welcome centers provided many a great photo ops!  The problem was that simply standing beside the Texas sign or duck facing beside the Oklahoma sign was, in the words of Cyrus Rose: not enough!  We had to climb!  On the great climb of the Oklahoma sign 2k15 L managed to injure her leg when it connected with some amount of force with the brick sign.  Classic L.  

Magic, madness, heaven and sin!

On our last night in Oklahoma we once again threw safety out the door and welcomed many an opportunity for injury.  We went night swimming and let me tell you this: hypothermia wasn't the only danger lurking near by!  The three of us suffer from a sickness where we need to push things just one step too far.  There was attempts to recreate dirty dancing lifts and professional cheer moves.  There were challenges to see if we could jump onto the huge Taylor Swift #swangoals inflatable swan landing on our feet.  We tried to do an immeasurable amount of less than safe things and its a wonder that the most serious injury was only a slightly sore neck or back.



4 - I'll live off of water and sunshine!
Okay so we said a big goodbye to Oklahoma and an extremely enthusiastic hello to New York City.  New York was the most amazing place that I had ever been and there was an unfathomable number of things to see and do...  This made for the most outstanding holiday ever however all the glitz and glamour and shops and tours and pollution was very distracting and often lead us to forget to stop for food or sleep.  Often we remembered the importance of hydration however the early starts often lead to a missed breakfast and then on the way to lunch we would discover something wonderfully fun to do and before we knew it was dinner time and we had only eaten a sandwich, if anything, and this paired with 12+ miles of walking was probably not helping us achieve our daily recommended calorie intake.  Sometimes you are just having too much fun to stop and

consider if you are fulfilling all of your basic survival needs every day - I was living off of fun and excitement.  I was in love with New York City.  The big city life style had energized me and had filled me to the gunnels so that food was often a passing thought... until one day it all became too much!

Urban Outfitter's offers so much
entertainment

Candid shot in Urban

Oh My God
goodness, look at that face

5 - down in flames

A sad attempt at a smile by myself

Unfortunately you can only survive off of fun, excitement, water and sunshine for so long before you become vexed and irritable.  A few days from the end of our holiday a combination of a lack of sustenance and a deep desperation for our New York trip to not end led to a few bouts of bickering between the Taymoms (thats the name of our group due to our deep admiration of Taylor Momsen, when we add S to the group our name becomes The Whale Wankers but lets move on from that).  It was the deep desire for a wonderful sandwich and the fact I had reached the end of my tether on the bus tour after the tour guide decided to treat us to his one man comedy show jokes 6+ times (per joke) during our journey that led to the huge Queen G downfall of 2015.  There was the clear annoyance expressed towards B and L on the long walk to the museum as fuel was added to the deep fire of rage burning away inside of me.  Then there was the ignoring, the snapping and storming off in the food hall, the secluding, the missing out on the entirety of the Natural History Museum due to tantrum and then ultimately the tears in central park afterwards.  I look back on this day fondly! #noregrets.  That was a lie, I have many regrets.

Then there was the time that to L's horror we left on 30 minutes early for Wicked when the walk took 20 minutes!  The tensions were running high from fears of being late and missing it.  L raced on ahead like a boat against the current.  In protest I trailed behind and got stuck at almost every stop light imaginable.  I befriended a lost Northern Irish couple and passive aggressively told them how I had been left behind by my friend.  The pair of lost lambs had sought me out when then mistook me for a New York local (probably due to my cool exterior and my look of ease as i strutted down the streets).  Initially they had looked disappointed when I told them I was not from New York however when my natural talent for directions came into play and I was able to point them in the right direction to the theater they were eternally grateful.  It's so lucky that I have such a great sense of directions, and that we happened to share a final destination!  B came back for me and we arrived at the Gershwin theater to find that L was not there.  I instantly assumed that she had gone in without us with our tickets and that we would therefore miss the show!  Things looked bleak and friendships were about to be cut off even though B was certain that L wouldn't do that to us.  Suddenly L appeared looking like an angry bull who was seeing red and we went inside.  Before long basic civil conversation started and then in no time all was forgiven right in time of the start of the first song.

I cant pick a fave!

B and L like Glinda best

#SiblingGoals

Throughout the last few days of the trip there were a handful of classic sibling bickering events (99% between myself and L) over everything and anything from post uni expeditions, living arrangements, directions, our 4th year club of choice... you name it, we bickered about it just enough to drive B to insanity.  But fear not loyal readers, this did not dent our friendship at all!  She is still the Serena to my Blair, the heart to my ocean...

6 - Make good choices?

So we went on a day of shopping towards the end of our holiday because when in Rome!  We didn't even think twice about spending over $100 on headbands or necklaces or over $200 on handbags and yet even when it came to the dark days mentioned above when the tensions were running high due to hunger we deeply begrudged spending over $10 on a sandwich...  Classic!

 7 - New vibes, good energy

The best Macaroons in town

One thing that certainly happened on our holiday was that we reflected a lot on what we were like back home in Scotland and we realized how many of the fun activities we had done in New York (such as going for Macaroons from Laduree or visiting cute cafes or nice restaurants) could be recreated, to an extent, back home in Edinburgh.  One of the things that really made us unhappy about returning home was the fact that we didnt want to have to stop having fun or dressing nicely.  We realized that we could still wear nice clothes or do something, anything really, other than Netlflix  (#netflixandchill?) every day!  

The Highline park

We thought a lot about how we wanted to spend our time back home and we decided we would be more outgoing and actually try to plan to participate in different activites.  We could still wear nice clothes as long as we added fun tights, coats and boots to prevent us dying from the cold.  The holiday was ending but the fun could continue if we just put in a bit of effort.  In the words of some random stranger on the Highline Park we just needed to share "good positive energy and feel the good vibes"

 8 - It's gonna be forever

Our last day in NYC. Rowboats. recreating Chuck and
Blair's wedding, Central Parking it up

Most importantly the three of us grew closer than ever.  We now have so many new fun memories together, an abundance of pictures and videos to get us through the dark winter days in the university library.  Sitting bored and ready to blow my brains out in class I can think back to the Gossip Girl Tour, Blair Waldorfing it up on the Met steps.  Dancing around the streets compiling videos for our holiday music video.  Mucking around on Liberty Island.  Basking in the breathtaking view from Top Of The Rock - home of Jimmy Fallon.  Recreating the Blair and Serena photoshoot outside The Empire. We passed urine in the bathrooms of every fancy hotel we seen.  We ogled at everything that Dylan's Candy Bar had to offer.  We all bought expensive brightly coloured handbags, we strutted about central park and up and down all of the streets and avenues, the Taymoms owned that city and they left as the most sturdy friendship group that there ever was - strong and true.

The Empire Hotel bar (They sell a Chuck Bass
cocktail!)

#Viewgoals!

Finally 
Here is one last story before you go!
We boarded the plane in Newark airport at the end of our holiday, relieved to be on the plane after, for reasons I cannot fathom, United airlines managed to overbook our flight by 8 people.  They offered to put 8 people onto the next flight to Glasgow or Belfast (and unless Blefast was merely a stop off on the way to Edinburgh I fear that Americans have a slight knowledge gap of UK geography).  Luckily 8 heroes volunteered up their seets in exchanged for $300 worth of air miles.  Everyone was desperate to take off after the slight delay that this overbooking had caused and their was a shared sigh of relief when the safety video began to play and we taxied to the runway.

Suddenly the safety video stopped.

The captain announced that there was a  passenger missing from their seats and it was a federal offence to play the video without everyone seated and so we would have to wait for this person to return to their seat, hopefully this wouldn't delay take off further.  I asked L to confirm what the captain had said and she told me that we might be delayed because some idiot had gotten out of their seat.  Then the next thing we see is B hurrying back to her seat from the toilet.  Turns out B is such a frequent flier she had taken it upon herself to skip the video and go for a quick bathroom break before take off.  She had singlehandedly managed to completely embarrass herself and piss off everyone else on the plane all at once.  This of course proved very entertaining for L and I, almost as entertaining as my film of choice (Enchanted) which i thoroughly enjoyed!  That was probably the last enjoyable moment of the flight for L before the person on front of her decided to abuse her seat reclining powers and basically crushed L for the entirety of the journey. 

I volunteer as tribute

The Gossip Girl Tour! (Bendels, Constance Billard, The Empire, The Met steps and the famous B and S photoshoot!)

  
 The moral of the story is that you don't really know what you need until you don't have it!

xoxo
Queen G