It’s Frrrrrrrriiiiiiday!!! (Lemons, Leaves, Lattes, Ladies Night)

I am so relieved it is Friday.  The week has actually been fine really.  I had a pain that started several hours after Goldfinch left to go home on Monday.  I would love to say the pain is heart-ache.  However, it is much further down than I believe me heart to be…and in the end I had to take a trip to see my Doctor.  The verdict is…well, you don’t really want to know that do you!!

I say “my” Doctor.  I had never met them before.  I have not paid a visit since I registered almost eighteen months ago.  What an effort to make an appointment.  Oh well… please remind me never ever to complain about a free health service!  My friends who live abroad tell me about the thousands and thousands they have had to pay for treatment which we take for granted here.  I must not complain about it being hard to make an appointment.

We will not dwell on our pains and aches though.  Let us dwell on Friday and celebrate that glorious feeling of freedom.  Freedom from 5am alarm bells.  Freedom from wearing a stiff uniform that makes you feely sticky oo-ey goo-ey hot in this muggy weather. Freedom from being squished on a double-decker bus with scores of other commuters, wondering if it would have been quicker to walk because the traffic is so bad.  Yes, its Frrrrrrrriiiiiiday!!!  A fantastic reason to celebrate.

I have a plan for today…it involves Lemons, Leaves, Lattes and a Ladies Night in London.  This morning I have a little bit of shopping to do and then I have promised to make a lemon drizzle cake for my friends.  Their choice…not my first choice.  But the thing about giving a gift or baking a cake for someone is this:  You should pick what they like, not your own favourite.  So lemon drizzle is the cake for today!

Some of the girls are meeting at my little abode before we head into town later.  So I will serve the lemon drizzle cake and I have found a nice little tipple to offer round to those who indulge…besides the huge pot of steaming tea I shall also provide.

Just in case you had not picked up on it…we have a girl’s night out tonight.  It is on account of The World Cup having started.  We decided some time ago that we must make sure that we had a girlie night at some stage during the football fanaticism and this evening just happened to suit most of us.  It is really hard to agree on dates sometimes.  I am looking forward to this evening very much.  We are all going to wear summer dresses and basically there will be lots of talking and laughing and reminiscing.

If you are not amongst those who are going to be watching football teams from all corners of the world run up and down a pitch after a ball…well, you may find that restaurants and busy public shopping areas are considerably quieter during World Cup season.  It is worth making the most of it and visiting these places.  You may notice a lot less of the lager loutish behaviour that sometimes mars a night out with your firneds.  Hey…you could even come and meet me and the girls…so long as you wear a summery dress and come ready for laughter.  I should really ask them before I throw out an open invitation everyone.

Now I think I know what I am going to wear.  A dress I scooped up as an incredible bargain not too long ago but I have not worn outside yet because it makes me feel like a plant.  But I thought tonight, I shall try it out.  It is summery.  I have noone to impress, it’s just my very good friends and me.  It is just the shape I like – my sister tells me this is “fit and flare”. I don’t know…but it does hide my squishy hips well and makes me feel elegant and feminine.

But what do you think?  Is it a bit too leafy?  I do like green. But I am not sure of it at all.  Still, I am 90% sure this is what I am going to wear tonight.  I have a gorgeous little bolero that matches the colour of the leaves.  I am wearing tan coloured shoes – flat – as I don’t need the extra height and I am at an age where I like to choose the comfy option.

You might wonder what we will be getting up to on our girl’s night out.  Well, truth be told, we will be rather sensible.  We just want to be able to chat and laugh without annoying anyone (so during the World Cup the best way to do that is making sure we leave the house).  Men seem to get all uppity when you try to talk through a football match.  I am not complaining…I love an excuse for a night out with just the girls. Goldfinch is not a big football fan and if he lived locally, I have a feeling he might be more than happy to escort a group of ladies around town…but I have not invited him!

Aaaah Goldfinch – I do love him!  Have I mentioned that?  Truly truly!

I mentioned some of the girls are meeting at my place.  However, we are then going to head into London and we are going to a glitzy hotel for nothing more than a coffee (a soya latte for me) while we wait for everyone to arrive.  We are going there for the experience.  It is much too expensive to have a meal there, but just meeting for a drink in a gorgeous location is a great way to start the evening and take lots of photos together.  Most of the girls I am meeting tonight work with charities as volunteers so we all live life on a sensible budget.  But we do allow room for occasional treats.

As there are so many of us…it will take a long time to move everyone along to our next destination.  I start to act like “Tour Guide Barbie” again, marshalling my friends out into the streets, making sure they don’t wander into the road, and reminding them to cling to their handbags with all of their might.

We are going to a favourite location because of the views and the space and the indoor plants.  I have just realized that my dress will be perfect there.  I will camouflage into the background at Sky Gardens, it is full of leafy plants.  Maybe you have been, maybe you have not.  This is not a travel blog, or a restaurateur’s blog, or a nightlife blog…but I would give it the thumb’s up for a place to go with the girls when you are all dressed up in summery dresses.

I will leave at a very modest and respectable time to make sure I am back in bed tucked up for a good night’s sleep before a 9am-5pm workday on Saturday (better than my long 8am-8pm shifts mid-week).  Don’t feel sorry for me, I am used to working on a Saturday now.   It flies by very quickly.

Why on earth am I thinking about work?  It is Frrrrrrrriiiiiiday!!!