ashthomas.net

Hello Readers,
Well this is bound to be an epic entry as i have the christmas party to cover and then the weekends events, so let me begin.

Last week’s obvious highlight was the Work Chrissy Do in Leeds, which had a cloud of scepticism over it for some time, but i think all in all it was a fun day and night. I know i had fun!!
We were up at the crack of dawn meeting at work and heading off on the coach – we had yummy breakfast goodies to keep us going and then it was card games ( i killed it at “Cheat”) and some DVD watching. Before we knew it ( ok maybe not before we knew it…) but we were in Leeds ready to start the celebrations.
We met everyone else in the company at a bar called The Living Room for mulled wine and a few little speeches. Then off to a curry house for a yummy curry and the prize giving ceremony!
There were eight awards to go out to people across the board for all sorts of things and £100 gift vouchers for the winners… There was an award for “Unsung Hero” which happened to be shared between a woman who had been with the company for several years and….drum rolll…. little ol’ me!!! Very stoked as you can imagine having only been there 2 months. So was slightly embarrassed but a bit chuffed about the whole thing!!

We continued drinking and eating the night away and then back to the bar for more celebratory drinks. £700 behind the bar was put to very good use and an interesting coach ride back.

Everyone was actually in very good spirits, we had Grease singalongs and reenactments, jaffa cake competitions ( where we saw who could eat a single jaffa cake, made of gingerbready stuff with jaffa flavoured jelly stuff on it,) absolutly hilarious stuff!!
Then we were back in London by about 11:30 in time to ge tthe last tube home!

So that was a pretty fun night – everyone was shattered the next day and all looked very exhausted.

Friday night I went out for a few drinks after work for a leaving do, then on to meet up with the newsquest kids. Not a huge night as i was still so tired from wednesdays events!
Saturday i mooched about the flat and then went down to Kirsty’s and had a few bevvies before heading out to Freedom for Luke’s farewell. Freedom is one of the gayest bars in soho and is absoultly fabulous. There was pole dancing, normal dancing and many many many beautiful men.
We boogied the night away and Zu and I spotted a celeb while resting our feet in the lounge area – Martine McCutchins ( chick from Love Actually) was there looking so much thinner in real life and more beautiful!!

It was freezing cold in london this weekend. Sunny blue skies but a biting wind that just went straight thru you!! It’s getting very wintery now!!

So tonight I am off to Edinburgh with Zu to stay with Kirsty’s family and catch up with Nic. I’m so excitied about having some holidays and love Edinburgh so am excitied to be going back there!

Ok well think thats it from me – Pics of the chrissy do are in the gallery!

xoxoxox

I seriously can’t believe the images i’ve been looking at this morning of the riots in Cronulla. It just looks horrible!! Am almost a tad bit glad I’m not there at the moment!! Not sure i want to be claiming that that is where i am from!!

Meanwhile, on this side of the world it was all about reunions!!!
Friday night we went out after work for Luke’s farewell and Russ’s birthday drinks – everyone came along from work and the vibe was of general merryment. I think our head of finances dancing was one of the highlights and a taster of whats to come at the work chrissy do on wednesday and Russ’s drunkeness was entertainment enough for all i think!!

Zu and I kicked on at our favourite gay pub, Charlie’s Bar, after some very much needed hot chippies and onion rings!

Saturday was a lazy day and then Katy came over and we caught up before going on out to meet up with Lynn and the two Julie’s for Lynn’s Hen’s Party ( or as i like to call it, her pre-nup party!) We had planned on going to the Bollywood bar but it was rubbish so went to a little pub and had girlir convo’s and then went in search of a bar with cocktails, but i smoke bombed it about 11:30 to get the last tube home!( see i can be responsible!!)

Sunday i went and met with Chan and Nic to say adieu to Chans. We went to a pub thats also thai restuarnt in Notting Hill and everyone was there – Obie, Jooles, Shaun, Sarah..almost the old gang and a few extras that i hadn’t met before. It was cheap and yummy food and the convo was fab as always!! I’M GOING TO MISS YOU CHANS!!!
I then moved on to Lau, Dana and Lexy’s place and we went to the P&P in Fulham which is basically Northies… and to make it even more so, low and behold there was Blake Allouche!! It was just like old times only with no one else there! heh! But was so good to see him and i am sure there was a drunken phone call to Em and Dave maybe because we needed to share that Blake and I were somewhere at the same time! Very exciting.

And now its work again… Everyone else has moved back upstairs except for me because the company who were meant to do our phones, didn’t. so we have no phones!!! Am all by lonesome!!

This week is pretty quiet – got the work do on wednesday though which should be fun.Will get some photos so you can put names to faces! And then next week i’m off to Edinburgh!! Yay!!! Am very excitied!

Ok well, there are phones to answer!!
xxx
Em – did you girls go to SeaLevel in the end then??
Sherbs – Geronimo email sent to you!
Mum – So the rumours are true, you were dancing on table tops!

Yes it is a sad sad time in Chateau de Caledonia this week as we mourn the loss of our dear Carla Maree..
But it does strike me that change is officially in the air and it may well be time to move on to cleaner floors and safer environments.. But will probably wait til the lease is up i guess!!

So the weekend was pretty big (Surprise, Surprise!)
Friday afternoon was spent packing up the office for the move over the weekend and then out early for a bit of a beer at the local. Then i went to Zula’s place and we headed off to Fabric for a bit of a boogie. Fabric is a massive nightclub that has three huge rooms and have live music. Very cool and so much fun!!
Think i may have wore my cowboy boots out though!! We danced for about 5 hours!! Left the club at about 5 with ringing ears and exhausted bodies.
Had a bit of a lie in on saturday and then it was off home to say goodbye to Carla.
It’s a bit hard to have a proper goodbye when I know she is back for Christmas but think it may well be the denial aswell. Merle has moved into my room and Maxine has moved into Merle’s old room. It’s amazing how the dynamics can change with just one person.
Sat night I had a quiet one and watch Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets on tellie and then hit the sck about 10:30… woke up 12 hours later feeling VERY refreshed!
Off to the pub on Sunday for lunch with Jonathan, Katy, Helen and two of Jon’s uni friends. Was a dodgy little pub but good company and lots of laughs. Then i went to Soho to meet Zu and Luke and we went to Soho House which is 4 stories of gorgeous gay men! Fabulous!
We boogied the night away – who needs gym membership when you have dancing!?!?!

Yesterday was a logistic nightmare. We have moved downstairs and while that wasn’t too traumatic, we had no emails and all calls coming through to me! But it all seems fine today so thats all good.

We have finalised our plans for the work chrissy party – our office is going up to Leeds in a very PLUSH coach… i know it sounds bad, but they really are pulling out all the stops!! Leather seats, full kitchen, DVD players and FOUR hours with all our work mates – if we didn’t know each other before, we will be the end of it!
We then spend the day in Leeds with other Geronimo folk and then back on the coach at about 6pm..it’s going to be a bit messy if you ask me!

So.. Can you believe it’s been almost 12 months since i left the sunny shores? I certainly can’t. It’s gone too fast!!
Am looking forward to the new flush of shire people, so people start your packing and get your bums over here! Everyone else i sleaving – Channie is off on Monday *sob*, Danielle Lamb left last week, Carla’s gone, Merle leaves on the 13th January, Lexy leaves in Feb. It’s all getting to much for me!!!!!!!! So new boat load please!!

Ok hope you are all well.
xoxox

Hello Readers…
I bring bad news to the blog i’m afraid.
Yes, Ladies and Gentleman, this week it became official. I am getting old. OLD!
But let me get to that in a minute.

Last week was pretty quiet i think, can’t remember anything standing out too much so much have just been a normal week. Friday night i went out after work and met up with Newsquest kids for a farewell beverage at Apt in Bank and then onto the old P&P which is now exactly the same just with a different name…
Kicked on there for a bit, catching up with everyone and then it was off to Stepney Green to meet up with Zula and her flat mate at a local bar. We then kicked on a the most fabulous kitch gay pub i have ever been to ( keep in mind, i don’t go to them all the often) and met the ODDEST couple ever in the world.
One guy was about my age, completly dramatic, an actor and just fabulously camp. He re-enacted “Misery” from start to finish and was seriously about to spontaneously combust through out the whole thing. His mate was an older man who said NOTHIN the entire time. Very stange indeed.
But highly entertaining!!

Crashed out at Zula’s and then went and met Carla, Merle and Laila in Covent Garden for a spot of shopping for our fancy outfits for that nights dinner at the POSHEST restaurant in London! We managed to get ourselves some pretty swanky skirts and then trudged home and made ourselves look beauitful before hitting the freezing town!!
We went home and started to put the slap on so we looked half decent and it was while i was brushing my teeth that it became apparent, i was old. I found a grey hair on my head!!!!!!!!! OLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With a squeal it was confirmed by Merle. Disaster.
I yoinked the hair out, only seconds before Carla tells me that if you pull one out, three come to its funeral. Argh!! Managed to hide any remnants of said hair’s friends and put the finishing touches on. With a hop, skip and a jump, we were off.
St martin’s Lane Hotel is in a word- FANCY. It’s high ceilings and white walls and it’s interesting interior decor make it look a bit like the hotel Alice in Wonderland would have stumbled across, we put out coats in and then sat down to triple distilled polish vodka fruit martini’s. It was going to be a good night!!
The food was amazing, the service impecable and company,fabulous.
We ate til we could eat no more, asked for the bill, and only flinched a tiny little bit when we got it.
I think we did well!

We went off to The Langly in Covent Garden and while we were all dressed up for a night on the town we were so full and after maybe one or two drinks we had had it. We called it a night and went home, very exhausted little kids.

Sunday Jayne Carla and I went back to Yum Cha on Gerrard St and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate and ate! mmmmm steamed pork buns!!!!!!!!Then we went to the movies and saw In her Shoes which would have been great if it weren’t for some rather annoying teens in the back row asnwering their phones, laughing out loud at all the wrong bits and just generally being disrespectful ( OLD!!!!!!). But it was a good movie and we had the last laugh when a line in the movie referred to Stalin and was rather funny and the abck row bandits were silent – stupid children. ( a little harsh perhaps, but the kids over here are so badly behaved!)

So sunday night merle cooked us her turkish sausage dish, a personal fave, and then it was nighty nights.

This week has been pretty full on.
Tuesday night we had dinner at Lau and Dana’s to draw out our Secret Santa and say goodbye to Jayne, Lau and Dana who are now in NY. I was knackered and had to call it a night relativly early…
Last night i helped out at another awards night. God i love it!! We had radio walkie talkie’s ( and yes, pretty much the reason why i went!!) and it was just a really goodnight. everything went smoothly and was a complete success. I think i want to get into events. I love the stress of the last minute detail ( mate, you would understand me there) and i just love being in control of stuff. So,hopefully will get more opportunities to do that!

Tonight i’m out for bevvie with Kirsty from work. It’s Carla’s last day at work so she is off in Essex at the footballers wife central!!
And so it is, Carla is off on Saturday although still in denial.
Came home last night to a half empty room, very scary and a little upsetting.

So this weekend marks the third big change in the last 6 months and hopefully it will all go well.

Hope all is good on the flip side.

Uni kids – congrats on finishing! party hard, you deserve it.
C’bah girls – have a lovely time on sat, wish i was there!!
Em – hope the girls are cheering you up, only a call away!!
Sherbs and Mate – have fun at Purple Sneakers!!
Scotti – hope the leg is doing ok. x

Ok love youse!!
xoxoxoxoxox