More Cocktails, a Pirate and He-Man

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I had my final full week off of the summer, and I absolutely made sure that I didn’t waste any of it!

I met up with some of my girly teacher friends. We used to work together at the same school and over the years we’ve all moved onwards and upwards with our lives, but have still managed to keep in touch. We decided to meet for a burger and cocktail, and even though I was feeling a bit rough I knew that I’d have a brilliant time. It’s nice to sit around a table with them and catch up with what they’ve been up to – one is starting a new job, one lives and works in Spain so had come back to the UK for a visit, another has just bought a house and moved in with her partner, one is pregnant with her second child, one has spent the summer doing really awesome travel stuff and I have got engaged – so we had a LOT to talk about. They’re just nice people to be around – there’s no mean girl issues or competition – we just sit, laugh, drink and talk, and because there are so many of us there are never any awkward silences.

The Bloke and I decided to spend yesterday morning at the Toy Collectors convention at the NEC – I had no idea what to expect as it was a spontaneous decision, but I ended up having an absolute blast (and spending far more money than I intended!). It turned out to be an enormous nostalgic trip back to my youth – I spent a large amount of the time looking at the toys from the 80’s and feeling rather depressed that I didn’t have them anymore, mainly because a lot of them are now worth a fortune! There were so many things – He-Man figurines, My Little Pony dolls, Barbie sets, Cabbage Pail cards – I had them all. I miss He-Man – my mum once told me that when I was little she would walk past my bedroom to find me playing with my He-Man and She Ra dolls, often uttering “and Skeletor had an idea.” And, unlike the BRICK Lego convention where everything cost a fortune, I found a bunch of Lego figurines that I had been looking for to make something for The Bloke as a wedding present (don’t ask…) for next-to-nothing. I also got my brother-in-law a vintage Star Wars thing, which I now need to find a small display case for.

And then, I’ve had a number of reviews, meals and events (it’s a tough life, but someone has to do it!) that have been amazing – an Asian High Tea, tapas, pizza and a rather unusual bar that masquerades as a laundrette while serving cocktails. I had the pleasure of meeting Steve, the mixologist, who eloquently described himself as ‘an enigma, wrapped in a pirate.’ It suited him perfectly – he certainly had an essence of pirate about his style, and he was one of the funniest people I’ve met in a while… I’m going to write them all up individually, so brace yourself!

Oh, and Juliet Landau (Druscilla from Buffy) followed me on Twitter!!

So, after a truly incredible summer, I now have just a few days left before I start to develop a routine for this academic year. I can’t believe it’s gone so quickly, but what a wonderful two months it has been!

What about you guys? What are you plans for the next few weeks?

You can also find me on Twitter and Tumblr @suzie81blog and you can also find me on my Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/suzie81speaks, my Pinterest page http://www.pinterest.com/suzie81speaks and my instagram page http://www.instagram.com/suzie81speaks

23 thoughts on “More Cocktails, a Pirate and He-Man”

  1. It sounds like a fabulous summer Suzie and I look forward to reading some of your reviews.. We’ve had a lovely summer too and after our fab trip to Spain, we had a lovely family holiday camping with our new tent and our family and hubby and I are hoping to get away with it for a few days in a couple of weeks before the weather changes too much.. Great to catch up and I’ll see you soon..

  3. Sounds like a fab week, Suzie, and a great way to cap off an exciting summer 😀 I’m back to it this week, and have had a bit of a schedule revamp – I need to chase some more freelance work, plus have my own writing to do so, after quite a slack summer, I’m ready to get to work!

  5. i love looking back on summer although as a B&B owner its our busiest time …both for work AND play. We’ve had the 2 weeks of the world Alternative Games here in Llanwrtyd’ plus the Summer Cider Cycle and the World Bog Snorkelling…But My summer is not quite over. Just organising the big finale… a themed garden party pre my son and all his friends heading off to start university…new chapters eh? I’ll be writing about it once i recover (maybe next Monday!)

  6. Ha! I had fun reading this one. Not only because of the photos and references to 80s toys, but also reading about your regrets about not keeping your 80s toys after reading your subsequent post on decluttering. The two don’t have to be mutually exclusive but my doubts were raised.
    I am not a great believer in decluttering and every now and then my passion for collecting “old stuff” comes in handy. My daughter’s ballet teacher is putting on a musical and needed an old suitcase. She’d spent 6 weeks looking and then started asking parents and she thought of me. I buy alot of these types of things for photography props and I am also intending to hold a purely vintage morning tea with all the stuff if I can ever get the house presentable (these is where the cracks start appearing in my collector’s creed.) Anyway, I not only lent her the suitcase, but a host of vintage clothes which belonged to me as a child, my mother etc but best of all, I’d found this huge industrial piece of wood beside the road, which was shaped like a photo frame but it weighs a ton and I immediately thought of getting a couple of hundred bucks for it as industralia. She’s keen to borrow that too to use as a window for the 3 little bears cottage. She is wondering how I fit all this stuff into the house and now thinks I have a big house, which we don’t. We’re just good at piling it all in and compressing it somehow. That is, other than the tea cups.
    Hope you have a great week!
    xx Rowena

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