Formula One Midlands style!

These photos show what I got up to this weekend. Never one to let snow stop play, G and I found out about an indoor racing tack and went along, putting wagers on which of us would win.

It turned out to be a lot of fun - but G won both races by a couple of laps and his reward is that he gets to pick what we get up to next time he comes down to London to see me (football match here I come).

As you can see from the photos this was not my most glamorous look. I had to wear a child's outfit due to my challenge in the height area, and as you can see it struggled to accommodate my top half. Added to that a pair of fluffy pink gloves and my mums trainers which I borrowed because I don't own any....and we have the dreadful outfit which was more Rupert bear than formula one promotions girl.

Never mind it was a fantastic day and I would recommend it to anyone thinking of play acting at Michale Schumaker for the day!

Entry to Embassy

Another night another nightclub...

And this time it was the turn of Embassy nightclub in Mayfair to wow me for the evening, with their fabulous Christmas decor accessorised by famous faces at every turn.

How did I, a lesser known mortal gain entry? It's all about who you know, and luckily two of my well connected friends from school were down in London for the night and got the three on the list....

We had a fabulous night, albeit fairly sober due to the drinks prices.

Christmas is the time for festive drinks but I don't want January to be the time for a festive overdraft so I resolved to limit myself to only one or two glasses.

Mingling with the rich and famous it is easy to forget you don't have their kind of resources... anyway, who said a girl can't have a good time sober?

It was lovely being with old friends for the night surrounded by the glamour of a lifestyle not quite in reach.

The best bit of the night though might have been returning to the lovely hotel in Mayfair where they were booked in for the night, collapsing in to the huge super king size bed with them and ordering room service. By 2am we were eating smoked salmon sandwiches in bed and watching sky news as we dozed off...

Such hardcore party animals!

Absence makes the heart...go shopping to fill the void!

A strange mix of emotions this weekend as my boyfriend, who I left behind in Birmingham, came down for the weekend to visit.

It feels comforting being with him, like coming home. It has been a long three weeks and many phone calls and texts since we last saw each other and I was thrilled when he turned up after work on Friday night.

My boyfriend, let's call him G, is an engineer back in Birmingham. He doesn't have much interest in moving to London. He is happy in the small town we both come from, Walsall in the West Midlands.

Still living on the road where we both grew up, and going to the same pubs every weekend with the same friends, he is content to be doing what he has been doing for the last 15 years.

I got bored and moved away, but my heart didn't move away from G, and now I hope his follows me to London.

We met during my final year of university - when I lived in Bournemouth, so we know what it is to commute for our relationship. But it was different when I was at uni living with housemates and wanting to go out every night with them. It was different when we were in the early stages of the relationship and happy to take things slowly.

Now, we are three years down the line and have lived together for two and a half of those, including a year in Thailand. It feels weird to be apart, still strange for him not to be the first person I see when I wake and the last when I fall asleep.

So this weekend I tried to show him the best of life in London in a none too subtle attempt to get him to reconsider a move. We did a spot of Christmas shopping on Oxford street where the Christmas market was in full flow. There was a carnival type atmosphere and as it grew dark around 4 o clock and the Christmas lights began to light up the street, it was the first time I have felt the festive spirit this year.

After a successful shopping trip (successful in so far as he bought me some good prezzies) we walked towards Trafalgar Square and stopped off at Planet Hollywood for dinner. Two hours, some food and a fair few cocktails later we dropped our shopping back at mine and were ready for a club, so we got the tube to Pasha in Victoria - never an easy feat in heels and feeling a little tipsy.

Pasha was a hit with G, exactly his kind of dance music, and the famous DJ re mixers Freemasons were there making a guest appearance. Personally, I could have done with a little more cheesy music and perhaps fewer queues at the bar. But then again this weekend was aimed at making G reconsider London as a possible home, and dancing the night away to the 60's Motown hits I love would certainly not have done the trick! Although not my first choice of music (or in fact many girls' - it seemed 80% men in there on Saturday?!) we stayed until they closed at 5am - and then considered visiting nightclub Ghost - which had been recommended by a man dancing wildly next to us at the bar. It apparently opens at 5am and stays open until midday Sunday.

We decided however that this was a little over ambitious for our drinking and exhaustion capabilities so we headed home to collapse into a deep sleep and relaxing hungover Sunday.

Saying goodbye to G on Sunday night was hard but I am keeping my fingers crossed that he comes back down this weekend. Well to be honest I'm keeping my fingers crossed he comes down to stay eventually but we won't push him on that subject too much just yet... a woman knows how to time these things for the maximum chance of success :-)

Wish me luck people! x x

Moving to the big smoke

I must be mad.

Having left my job as a PA for a medical director in Birmingham I decided to follow my journalistic routes and move to the Capital in order to search out a more creative and interesting path than shorthand in medical meetings and PowerPoint presentations.

Previous jobs at newspapers and radio stations proved far more enjoyable than the somewhat dull - albeit better paid NHS work I have undertaken for the last year.

With the recession in full flow some might describe my decision as risky (or insane) but I have bitten the bullet and will see what London has to throw at me.

Options for living in London included the rather daunting prospect of finding somewhere affordable I could rent alone - which would undoubtedly be so far out of the city centre I may as well stay in Birmingham.

The other more feasible - but equally daunting option was moving in with my brother, who is living in a house in Camden my parents bought when he moved down to begin uni. They are renting out the other rooms to his friends and as much as I love my brother the prospect of living with a bunch of 18 year old students does not appeal so much to my taste these days.

However, beggars can't be choosers and neither can journalists so it's off to Camden to begin student living all over again - or at least keep my door locked and create a little respite from the madness. A respite where I can update this blog on what's happening in my life, and search out my creative dream job in the media....

Wish me luck!