Liquicity

Almost 4 weeks into the new year and resolutions are going well; last night upon my return from choir I drank my Sleep Tea and read a chapter of my book and despite having a SEVEN WEEK stint between pay-days, I am somehow still clinging on to some funds! (Known to spend everything I have in the space of a week or two, believe me, 'clinging' is impressive)!

I've kept myself busy with little outings at the weekends, but have been careful not to over-do it so have had plenty of hibernation time as well!

However, perhaps not particularly restful was the weekend just gone which saw the arrival of my 'little' brother's 21st year (you know when your younger sibling reaches another milestone it just means you're moving ever closer to the next one yourself; scary!). On Friday night we headed to the first Liquicity event to reach London, and it was amazing!

I'm always a little nervous about going out on a Friday night having been up for so many hours beforehand! As such, I never expect to last beyond 1 or 2 and an additional hurdle by the name of 'Dry January' left me even less confident of my surviving than usual. Yet somehow I'm still here to tell the tale. (I had also been invited to join the birthday boy again the following night, but I think that might have been considered a little too wild in my 'old' age...)

On the other hand, Friday nights are actually the perfect time to go out as they mean two days of recovery and because the night is so far away from the morning, part of me always feels like it's another day in itself (just me?) and so extends my weekend; who's complaining?

I was good to myself and had a small 'lie-in' (I believe my alarm went off at quarter past 6 instead of quarter to) on the Friday morning, hoping that I'd feel super refreshed and ready to go!

A good day had at school (finally, they're settling back into routine!), my female companion (ok, that sounds dodgy, but I needed someone to keep me company otherwise it would have just been me amongst a group of boys. Ew.) arrived in plenty of time for girly chats, catch ups, cups of coffee and pizza before the birthday boy descended upon us. I felt ready!

The last Liquicity event the boys had been to was in Belgium, and all being HUGE fans of Belgian crowds, we weren't really sure what to expect from the Brits. Stood in the queue to get into Village Underground we overheard one [gentle]man exclaim that he was 'giddy with excitement', which I think was possibly the complete opposite extreme to what we were expecting at such an event in England! Having ripped said guy and his group of friends, he ended up losing them and spent his night desperately trying to mirror my brother's friend's expert dancing skills (too funny to watch). He sure was giddy, but he wasn't such a bad guy!

6 solid hours of dancing to Rameses B, Hugh Hardie, Fliwo, Champion & Maduk, with the occasional trip to the bar for water to re-fuel, my abs were ACHING the morning after (and even the morning after that actually - I should go dancing more often)! Village Underground was an incredible venue (mental note made), the crowd were generally pretty fun (you can tell we're starting to move in the same circles because there were even some familiar faces from the Med School night!) and most importantly my brother had an awesome night and I was in bed before 6am; a result for all I reckon!

Definitely be making an appearance again if Liquicity returns to London... I might even make my brother and his friends take me with them next time they head off to the continent!

(Photos stolen from Liquicity Facebook & Twitter pages. I was far too busy bouncing up, down and all around to take a decent picture!):

Fliwo - https://twitter.com/Liquicity/status/556211977186713601/photo/1 - Twitter

Photograph by Aron Klein for Here & Now - Facebook

Photograph by Aron Klein for Here & Now - Facebook

Welcome, 2015

It's been a long time since my last post; I must have got lost somewhere amongst the madness that is the month of December!

While part of me is convinced that all events that occured would totally fit into one post, the other (more sensible and logical) part says 'move on, Laura'... so, whizzing past a Selfridges cinema experience (Paddington was AMAZING), decorating the Christmas tree (and the rest of the flat), a concert in Boughton not Broughton, carol singing on a floating jetty at St Katharine Docks, Christmas Jumper Day, elbowing our way through throngs of tourists to that infamous ice slide at Winter Wonderland where we also drank yummy hot Rekorderlig, take-away afternoon tea and Christmas trees galore at Columbia Road Flower Market, 'merryment' at St Martin-in-the-Fields, the school nativity, tending the bar at the City Chamber Choir concert, and finally heading home for Christmas where we'll pretend everything calmed down before this list burns a hole in the page!

Home was glorious as always - just look at beautiful Norfolk!

So we reach that time again, a new year has begun! After a party torn between adulthood and our teens to see it in, we have just returned from a bracing walk along the canal and finally, the world has come to rest, just for the remainder of today but it's enough.

People keep asking me what my new year's resolutions are, but unlike last year (and I think even the year before), I have a much less clear idea than usual. I think maybe because as 2014 drew to a close, I felt more content than I have done in a long time; those small fragments of life forever floating around without a true sense of where to go have finally found direction!

'Do more of the same' would be far too boring for me though, so this post may rest a while to give me time to formulate a plan!

I have embarked on Dry January again with a view to keep going until March (having succeeded last year, I dare to actually go public with my intention this year; too much confidence?), but I'm not sure that can constitute any sort of 'resolution', particularly as it won't last the full length of 2015 (the summer of 2014 taught me that)!

With a little time passed, I hope I have decided on three achievable resolutions for this year...

1. Read!

I'm preferably a writer, not a reader. But I love to lose myself in a book when the mood takes me, and with a lack of internet connection on my laptop preventing me from losing myself in iPlayer or Netflix instead, now is the perfect opportunity to set the ball rolling (and a book even awaits me on the pillow beside me for when I've finished writing)!

2. Look after myself. Rest.

This is something I've always prided myself in being good at, but I seem to have let it slip again this academic year, resulting in a 12-week-long cold. Finally rid of it, I'm determined to keep illness and fatigue at bay... wish me luck and expect far too many cat posts thanks to more weekends spent at home.

3. Set goals for money saving.

I'm ashamed to have two resolutions that I'm almost entirely sure I've had before, but I hope I've at least re-phrased them? I am and always will be a lover of spending, but I really need to prioritise where my money goes. Having had a wardrobe clearout at the weekend, clothes shopping is a looming temptation, but instead a new bed is top of my list, which I figure links nicely to resolution number 2? Already got my Sleep Tea for Christmas, now I just need somewhere as comfortable as my bed at home to lay my weary head!

I'm really very excited for 2015 because I came out of 2014 so happy and feeling very accomplished (not entirely sure why, but hey, I'll go with it) and I can only imagine that much more of the same is in store! 2015, let's do this!