and i forget how much i miss it. we had our first official snow shower in the pool this morning. it was absolutely breathtaking big fat white flakes of snow and as my office window overlooks st. john's garden and st. george's hall it was stunning. mmm...i love snow.
my weekend was alright. i got my hair cut on friday night (back to the shortish version of lauren's hair again, but i'm getting used ot it) at home by noel who also beautified sam and kelly. i made dinner for us all and we had an early night.
saturday i went to the wirral to visit irene, watched the champions league final (from may) with rich, and met lou, kelly and gemma for a drink at korova. sunday i wasted the day in bed and on the sofa catching up on sleep, the news, and drinking tea.
a quiet one again this week methinks...carrot soup is on the menu for tonight. mmm....my favorite.
11.28.2005
11.24.2005
homecoming
i realised last week that i hadn't actually *announced* that i wasn't coming home this christmas. its for a few reasons - lack of vacation days, funds and the general thinking that it's just too soon and i'll get hopelessly homesick - but don't fret as i'm already planning a trip for the summer!
...and i'm brining friends.
sam, kelly and i are looking to come from june 16th till june 29th with the anticipated itinerary below:
June 16 - June 20 in Toronto (arrive June 16 @ 12:25...I'll be renting a car for both weeks)
June 20 - June 24 in Montreal/Quebec
June 24 - June 25 at Linda and Roberts for St. Jean Baptiste
June 25 - June 29 at the cottage (Fly out June 29 @ 19:55...return the car to the airport)
of course i'm hoping to see as many peeps as possible, but it may be a matter of "this is where i'm going to be, hope to see you there." i'm totally looking forward to showing of the homeland to my two favorite brits (who happen to be identical twins so you'll all think that brits look completely the same). they are both really excited and are anticipating loads of cheap stuff. you only realise how cheap canada is until you live in the u.k.
other than that, things have been pretty quiet this week. lovin you all.
...and i'm brining friends.
sam, kelly and i are looking to come from june 16th till june 29th with the anticipated itinerary below:
June 16 - June 20 in Toronto (arrive June 16 @ 12:25...I'll be renting a car for both weeks)
June 20 - June 24 in Montreal/Quebec
June 24 - June 25 at Linda and Roberts for St. Jean Baptiste
June 25 - June 29 at the cottage (Fly out June 29 @ 19:55...return the car to the airport)
of course i'm hoping to see as many peeps as possible, but it may be a matter of "this is where i'm going to be, hope to see you there." i'm totally looking forward to showing of the homeland to my two favorite brits (who happen to be identical twins so you'll all think that brits look completely the same). they are both really excited and are anticipating loads of cheap stuff. you only realise how cheap canada is until you live in the u.k.
other than that, things have been pretty quiet this week. lovin you all.
11.22.2005
welsh weekend
this past weekend i encountered all things welsh: welsh rugby, welsh pub, welsh language, welsh politics, welsh people, welsh mountains...
it was a mellow weekend. i went to martha wainwright with kelly on friday night and it was fabulous. there is nothing better than going to see a canadian act 'cause it does feel like going home for a few hours. she did this amazing cover of help! and it was actually well received. her last song was a french folk song, which i don't think was as well received by the crowd, but i loved it.
saturday morning rich and i headed to caernorfon in north wales to see his sister and her hubby. rich's sister is the exact opposite of him - so we got along quite well ;) - and we were spoiled all weekend. we went to the local pub on saturday to watch the rugby match and just hung around home that night. on sunday we got tea in bed - told you i was spoiled - and went for a hike in the mountains behind their house.
there was this old slate quarry, which was something out of a movie. it was completely surreal and incredibly interesting. we sat on the edge for ages making up stories about how all of the cars in the lake at the bottom ended up there. very cool.
all in all a nice relaxing weekend and i'm hoping those continue till christmas.
it was a mellow weekend. i went to martha wainwright with kelly on friday night and it was fabulous. there is nothing better than going to see a canadian act 'cause it does feel like going home for a few hours. she did this amazing cover of help! and it was actually well received. her last song was a french folk song, which i don't think was as well received by the crowd, but i loved it.
saturday morning rich and i headed to caernorfon in north wales to see his sister and her hubby. rich's sister is the exact opposite of him - so we got along quite well ;) - and we were spoiled all weekend. we went to the local pub on saturday to watch the rugby match and just hung around home that night. on sunday we got tea in bed - told you i was spoiled - and went for a hike in the mountains behind their house.
there was this old slate quarry, which was something out of a movie. it was completely surreal and incredibly interesting. we sat on the edge for ages making up stories about how all of the cars in the lake at the bottom ended up there. very cool.
all in all a nice relaxing weekend and i'm hoping those continue till christmas.
11.18.2005
it's finally sunk in
there's something about the drinking culture in th u.k. that's finally sunk into my little brain as of last night.
as soon as i arrived here i noticed it wasn't as stingy on the drinking front. as in, someone buys a round for everyone and then the next person, and the next...so it goes. people *love* offering to buy drinks and it's kind of like karma the way it all comes back to you.
i went out with the coworkers for a pint last night to celebrate claire's 30th birthday and it didn't take long for the rounds to start coming (i bought the second), but it didn't really matter whether you said no or requested a half pint. a full pint of beer inevitably appeared before your eyes and you had to try and keep up or else there would be two almost full to work on.
this isn't as extreme with my friends as i think we're all a little more economically and health conscious - not to mention respect each other's wishes - but there is nothing quite like drinking from 5 pm to 9 pm. needless to say, being the youngest i was the first one in today and several people actually took the day/morning off. i love it.
as soon as i arrived here i noticed it wasn't as stingy on the drinking front. as in, someone buys a round for everyone and then the next person, and the next...so it goes. people *love* offering to buy drinks and it's kind of like karma the way it all comes back to you.
i went out with the coworkers for a pint last night to celebrate claire's 30th birthday and it didn't take long for the rounds to start coming (i bought the second), but it didn't really matter whether you said no or requested a half pint. a full pint of beer inevitably appeared before your eyes and you had to try and keep up or else there would be two almost full to work on.
this isn't as extreme with my friends as i think we're all a little more economically and health conscious - not to mention respect each other's wishes - but there is nothing quite like drinking from 5 pm to 9 pm. needless to say, being the youngest i was the first one in today and several people actually took the day/morning off. i love it.
11.17.2005
it's actually *cold*
today is the first day i had to pull out my gloves. it's actually cold, like frost on the trees and cars cold. i've got to take my glasses off on the train cause they're fogging up cold. the little puddle on the roof is frozen over like a pond cold.
i think i'd convinced myself that wasn't going to happen.
i'm going to see martha wainwright on friday night with kelly (yipee! i love going to canadian shows, always makes me feel like i'm going home for a couple of hours) and then i'm off to wales with rich to go visit his sister for the rest of the weekend. i'm aching for a road trip, it's been ages since i've been anywhere.
at least they've turned the heat on at work.
i think i'd convinced myself that wasn't going to happen.
i'm going to see martha wainwright on friday night with kelly (yipee! i love going to canadian shows, always makes me feel like i'm going home for a couple of hours) and then i'm off to wales with rich to go visit his sister for the rest of the weekend. i'm aching for a road trip, it's been ages since i've been anywhere.
at least they've turned the heat on at work.
11.16.2005
quiet days
it's been a quiet couple of days and nights. work has been busy, don't get me wrong, but i've quite enjoyed just puttering around the house at night doing laundry, making dinner and drinking loads of milk ;)
i took my first parcel to the post office yesterday for christmas. i was really good about buying "small" gifts so i could get away with sending it at the small package rate by air mail (so mum, be looking out for that in the next 10 days!). i'm surprised how organised i am for once.
i've been attacked yet again by techie gremlins. i think this is why i hesitate when buying anything new in the electronic world and just wait until the old one dies. i'm so doomed. i thought i had my laptop all sorted, but when i tried to plug my speakers in with the new adaptor (cause the hairdryer shortcircuited my old one) there was a device failure and somehow the entire laptop cord and power adaptor thingy got fried.
back to square one.
feels like i've shared this story already somehow...maybe not.
i took my first parcel to the post office yesterday for christmas. i was really good about buying "small" gifts so i could get away with sending it at the small package rate by air mail (so mum, be looking out for that in the next 10 days!). i'm surprised how organised i am for once.
i've been attacked yet again by techie gremlins. i think this is why i hesitate when buying anything new in the electronic world and just wait until the old one dies. i'm so doomed. i thought i had my laptop all sorted, but when i tried to plug my speakers in with the new adaptor (cause the hairdryer shortcircuited my old one) there was a device failure and somehow the entire laptop cord and power adaptor thingy got fried.
back to square one.
feels like i've shared this story already somehow...maybe not.
11.14.2005
weekend round-up
i've been a bit slack on the updates i know.
thursday i was forced to leave work at 3 pm by my line manager jen as she wanted to be sure i took some time off after the craziness of the week before. so i headed out and did all of my christmas shopping. i bought the most amazing and hysterical t-shirts for my nieces and nephews...too cute. and i'm loving the discount i get at the museum shops. a world museum liverpool yo-yo anyone?
friday i woke up feeling absolutely wretched. i was sweaty, shaking, hot, cold, nausea, headache and just generally crappy. i spent the better part of the day in bed or on the couch, but by saturday morning i was feeling fine.
saturday i went to view some houses with kelly - sam's sister - who's actually put an offer on a house just down the street from us! how amazing would that be? i wandered down to the tate to check out the latin american exhibit and then came back home for some dinner. kelly, dipak, nole, doug (yes, they actually use canada's most popular male name here!) and i went out for a pub night. we didn't want to go anywhere posh. ran into a bunch of peeps at le bateau and had a really good night. we ended up sitting around at kelly's chatting until 4 am so i just stayed the night there.
sunday we were shattered, but dipak, kelly and i met sam for lunch at tabac. it's my all-time favorite cafe/restaurant/coffee bar in town...the melted brie sandwich is to die for. the rest of the day was quiet as john came to pick dipak, kelly and sam up to go to the airport. they are all in spain visiting sam's folks.
...still sleepy this morning, but i'm determined to catch up on my sleep this week. hopefully it will be a quiet one cause sam & kelly are outta town.
thursday i was forced to leave work at 3 pm by my line manager jen as she wanted to be sure i took some time off after the craziness of the week before. so i headed out and did all of my christmas shopping. i bought the most amazing and hysterical t-shirts for my nieces and nephews...too cute. and i'm loving the discount i get at the museum shops. a world museum liverpool yo-yo anyone?
friday i woke up feeling absolutely wretched. i was sweaty, shaking, hot, cold, nausea, headache and just generally crappy. i spent the better part of the day in bed or on the couch, but by saturday morning i was feeling fine.
saturday i went to view some houses with kelly - sam's sister - who's actually put an offer on a house just down the street from us! how amazing would that be? i wandered down to the tate to check out the latin american exhibit and then came back home for some dinner. kelly, dipak, nole, doug (yes, they actually use canada's most popular male name here!) and i went out for a pub night. we didn't want to go anywhere posh. ran into a bunch of peeps at le bateau and had a really good night. we ended up sitting around at kelly's chatting until 4 am so i just stayed the night there.
sunday we were shattered, but dipak, kelly and i met sam for lunch at tabac. it's my all-time favorite cafe/restaurant/coffee bar in town...the melted brie sandwich is to die for. the rest of the day was quiet as john came to pick dipak, kelly and sam up to go to the airport. they are all in spain visiting sam's folks.
...still sleepy this morning, but i'm determined to catch up on my sleep this week. hopefully it will be a quiet one cause sam & kelly are outta town.
11.08.2005
by the way
since i don't have access to my hotmal anymore - well, quite minimally - you can drop me a note at:
Lauren.Gould@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
Lauren.Gould@liverpoolmuseums.org.uk
recovering
its been a busy time this past week. the museum was hosting a conference on friday and saturday so this entailed many hours of work from yours truly and a saturday devoted to it. think i'll be taking a day off later in the week so i can have a bit of a rest.
saturday night was bonfire night aka guy fawkes night. i went to watch the fireworks with sam et al in sefton park and then john had about 12 people round for bangers and mash. sam and i got bored about halfway through the fireworks. i've definitely seen better. and it was cold and muddy which didn't help matters. oh, and the beers that someone had brougth needed a bottle opener and no one had one. don't get me wrong it was still a fun night, but john's friends are more on the having babies, married, engaged or on their way to being so, end of the spectrum.
i probably should have spent most of sunday on the sofa, but i ended up going for lunch (davoud and dipak were in town...kelly and sam joined us) and then going to the pub to watch the footie. so this week is going to be a quiet one. i went to bed last night at 9:30 pm. shocking i know.
got to speak to mathieu yesterday, which was cool. it was his birthday and i had just called to leave a message figuring he would be at work, but he'd taken the day off so we had a bit of a chat.
saturday night was bonfire night aka guy fawkes night. i went to watch the fireworks with sam et al in sefton park and then john had about 12 people round for bangers and mash. sam and i got bored about halfway through the fireworks. i've definitely seen better. and it was cold and muddy which didn't help matters. oh, and the beers that someone had brougth needed a bottle opener and no one had one. don't get me wrong it was still a fun night, but john's friends are more on the having babies, married, engaged or on their way to being so, end of the spectrum.
i probably should have spent most of sunday on the sofa, but i ended up going for lunch (davoud and dipak were in town...kelly and sam joined us) and then going to the pub to watch the footie. so this week is going to be a quiet one. i went to bed last night at 9:30 pm. shocking i know.
got to speak to mathieu yesterday, which was cool. it was his birthday and i had just called to leave a message figuring he would be at work, but he'd taken the day off so we had a bit of a chat.
11.02.2005
liv 3 - and 0
well, it's no *ice* hockey, but football is going to have to remain a substitute for the time being. it was a good last nite though, loads of scoring for once and lots of singing songs in the pub. i like that about footie, all of the songs and the excitement for every single game. its astounding.
what i do find confusing though is all of the different leagues. last nite was a champions league game (which liverpool f.c. won last year), but there are so many others. why can't they all just play for the stanley cup?
i think at one point last night i may have starting chanting "go leafs go" but i don't think anyone heard me. i did start a round of "l-i-v-e-r-p-double oh-l liverpool fc!" just for janine. i'll never forget you making me sing that little tune at linda and robert's st. jean baptiste bash cause i was getting upset about leaving mtl.
the rest of the week will be a quiet one so i can prepare for the crazy work weekend i'm going to have. bollocks.
what i do find confusing though is all of the different leagues. last nite was a champions league game (which liverpool f.c. won last year), but there are so many others. why can't they all just play for the stanley cup?
i think at one point last night i may have starting chanting "go leafs go" but i don't think anyone heard me. i did start a round of "l-i-v-e-r-p-double oh-l liverpool fc!" just for janine. i'll never forget you making me sing that little tune at linda and robert's st. jean baptiste bash cause i was getting upset about leaving mtl.
the rest of the week will be a quiet one so i can prepare for the crazy work weekend i'm going to have. bollocks.
11.01.2005
lantern lighting
it's been absolutely mayhem at work, but i'll drop a wee line.
i went to the lantern lighting festival in sefton park last night for halloween...very cool. lots of paper lanterns and these real massive skeletons. they really all looking like fancy ikea lamps.
there were fireworks and all that jazz, very nifty. halloween isn't a huge thing here, but i was thinking of all my mtl peeps and what they'd be getting dressed up as.
this saturday is bonfire night where they actually celebrate some guy who tried to blow up parliament in ther 1600's. that's right. britain celebrates terrorism. bizarre.
oh, and poppies here are different. they are paper, two petals, one big green leaf and a plastic bit in the middle. must say i've already crushed it a few times AND you have to provide your own pin! horrors.
i went to the lantern lighting festival in sefton park last night for halloween...very cool. lots of paper lanterns and these real massive skeletons. they really all looking like fancy ikea lamps.
there were fireworks and all that jazz, very nifty. halloween isn't a huge thing here, but i was thinking of all my mtl peeps and what they'd be getting dressed up as.
this saturday is bonfire night where they actually celebrate some guy who tried to blow up parliament in ther 1600's. that's right. britain celebrates terrorism. bizarre.
oh, and poppies here are different. they are paper, two petals, one big green leaf and a plastic bit in the middle. must say i've already crushed it a few times AND you have to provide your own pin! horrors.
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