Where did all the Lepracorns go??

Hello All,

Well, I know it has been a while since I last Blogged but SO much has happened since I got back from Ireland….. where to begin where to begin. Okay so as you know my darling sister Charlotte was taken to hospital and although she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes she was more ill than I thought. She was in hospital for nearly a week as her white blood cell count was extremely low so she was kept in an isolation room so she wouldn’t get any sicker. THEN she finds out that her glucose levels were so high that she was at risk of going blind….not a very nice week and now I can honestly say I know how people feel when they say they are helpless in those kinds of situations. Anyhow all is good with her now and she is back at work adjusting to her new lifestyle. She is so incredibly thin though and looked so sick when I first got there.

Okay so now to what I have been up to. So I spent nearly 2 weeks in Dublin and although I adore my sister more than life itself, it dead-set nearly killed me. A tip for anyone wanting to spend some time in the beautiful country that is Ireland – DO NOT spend more than 2 days in Dublin or you will slowly go insane. It is a nice city but not really that pretty and people spit everywhere! I couldn’t believe it. Walking along the street with my suitcase, after a 2 hour ferry trip and too many hours on a train wooshka – some random guy hocks a flem ball and spits it at my feet!!! Are you freakin kidding me?? I seriously had a picture of green hills and dancing lepracorns and all I got was a city with spitting non-potential Mr Darcy’s (yes people I am willing to cross the seas to find sir Darcy but NOT in Dublin) Anyhow, by this stage of the journey I was just about to either commit my first felony or burst into tears – thankfully for the Irish public it was the latter.

Mum arrived a week after I got there and it was so good to see her. The first thing she said when she got off the plane was “I miss China!” which coincidentally was what I said about London when I arrived at the hospital, poor Charlotte nobody likes her city. So we hung around Dublin for nearly another week until Charlotte was okay to go back to work and then it was back home!!! I nearly cried when I got back to London I was that excited - and then it was onto sightseeing phase with Mum.

I loved every second of my time with Mum, we did so much and needless to say it was harder than ever to say goodbye to her. She left last Thursday and caught the Bus near our place to take her to Heathrow. We sat at the Bus stop and when her bus came we cried and kissed each other goodbye, she boarded the bus with her bags and then turned around and got back off again – it was the wrong bus. SO we sat there in the cold for another 20 minutes and went through the whole motion of balling, hugging, crying etc again.

So after Mum left I went into the city with Sheridan to line up for Parkinson!!! That’s right, I GOT PARKINSON TICKETS!! For those of you who do not know, Michael Parkinson is the love of my life and seeing him live has been a goal of mine since I was about 16 years old. The only problem is, the tickets you get are free so you have to line up about 4 hours before the show begins to get a seat. Cut to Sheridan and I joining a very small queue at 3pm in the cold and getting into the studios ahead of a very large queue at 6pm for taping. We had coffee and cake whilst we waited but because we couldn’t get to a bathroom, by the time I got into my seat (which was 2nd row by the way) I was so busting to go to the loo I had to focus on not clapping or laughing too hard it was awful!! I had this beautiful top on (just in case Parki looked up and saw the love of his life in the crowd) but I had to cover it with my jacket as I was so bloated! Anyhow, it was a great show and I had the best time and I am more in love with Parki than ever.

So that is my update for now. Not that entertaining but hey, even I have to have some dull moments. Oh yes, I am in a new job! I left my last one thank god as I am SO happy now! I am working as an EA for a company called Accenture and I am having the time of my life….well not really as it is work but I do enjoy waking up in the morning and coming in which is a huge relief and the people are so lovely! Almost like working at home but still not as much fun working with as Bel :) The only downside is that since leaving the world of publishing I now have writers block and feel much less creative – as can be demonstrated from this suffering blog. That however is out-weighed by the bonus of getting to walk across the London Bridge every morning and night to get to work. I LOVE looking at the Tower Bridge especially at sunset – so beautiful. I will try and take a photo that will do it justice and post it later on in the week. Will have some pics to add tomorrow – our internet is stuffing up at the moment so I am posting this from work.

Now to all who read my Blog – Post something! Email me!! Love me!! I am feeling rather needy today as you can tell.
Will post again soon with more pics. Lots of London Love, flick xoxoxo

Update from Ireland

Hi All,

Just a quick Blog as it has been drama city over the past 48 hours. I am currently in Dublin visiting Charlotte and Ryan. I had a phone call on Saturday night telling me that Charlotte had been taken to hospital and been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. Apparently she went into Diabetic shock and was pretty delirious - as they were testing her they asked the Nurse to get someone from the Diabetes Team and she started singing the theme song from the A Team....Thank God Ryan was there to communicate on her behalf.

Anyhow, I was up and out of the house by 5am on Monday morning and had to catch 2 trains, a ferry and a bus to get to her but I am here now and Mum is flying over from China and will arrive this Saturday.

Charlotte is now fine and will hopefully be discharged from Hospital soon but was a very ill little girl for a while there and is now adjusting to life as an insulin injecting, non-icecram eating diabetic. She is probably coping better than any of us and has been spending her time in hospital playing Hungry Hippos Boardgame with the trainee nurses...classic. Anyway, just a quick update as I probably won't post for another week or so.

Thanks to everyone who has emailed and posted on my Blog. Will speak soon - stay well and happy.

Love Flicka xo

My London Party!

Well, I know I said that my Blog would be updated this weekend but this little pig was in no mood to write anything over the weekend – was a big one to say the least! So I turned 25 on Thursday and unlike most of my birthdays before it, this one I for some reason felt the need to celebrate and celebrate I did.

I woke up on Thursday morning to find that Reg and Sheridan had Happy Birthday banners through the house and a big vase of beautiful flowers waiting for me in the kitchen… the best part though was the cupcakes which had Flick written on them – such a classic! I have included so many pictures on this blog; many of the infamous Flick cupcakes which I am delighted to say are the best I have ever tasted in my life! A mother at Sheridan’s school made them for me and although she was so upset that there were little finger prints and smooshes in them from her curious class of kids, they were awesome and I loved them.

Anyhow, onto Thursday night…. Of course there had to massive Tube delays on the one night Shez and Reg decided to come into meet me. I had to catch a bus from Hammersmith (where I work) to Shepherds Bush which took me a good ½ an hour crammed into a double-decker red London bus. Note to self - although those buses look really cool, NOBODY wants to sit upstairs especially if you’re a London local it’s strictly taboo, something about the whole ‘cool kids thing’..lol– so like the tube you have a billion people sandwiched together on the bottom floor and nobody upstairs!! Insane to say the least. So I sat on the bus thinking that I should have just walked to Shepherd Bush as it only takes about 15 minutes but then I wouldn’t of had the pleasure of once again being asked by a Londoner if I am American then asked again if I am sure ‘because I really sound like an American.’ I got off at Shepherds Bush and ran for my Tube which was thankfully almost empty, hopped on and got off at Notting Hill. Ah my lovely Notting Hill, so beautiful, so classy, so trendy…. I felt so excited walking down Portobello Rd towards the coolest yet tackiest bar you will ever find!

Trailer Happiness

That’s right folks, I said Trailer Happiness!!! The best bar in the world, seriously. I read about it in one of my local London guides and the review did not disappoint. It is pretty hard to find so you know it’s going to be good and just so you know you are in the right place, there is a massive life-size Hula Doll in the window although it was not established if she moves or not….mmm… will have to go back and let you know. So I went downstairs and there was Sheridan and Reg with a MASSIVE drink in a bowl that was shaped like a volcano. And yes, I can feel my ears burning with the questions on everybody’s lips….YES they did light it on fire! Crazy!!
It came with 3 long straws so we all tucked in to what was probably the closest thing that tastes like custard, rum and cinnamon… gross to say the least - but one cannot waste a volcano drink especially when it is on fire – so we sucked it up and drank it bit by bit.

To paint a picture of the inside of this bar – it was decked out completely in tiki style furniture. Trying to explain what tiki is to everyone I work with was rather difficult so I hope you all know what it means….think tacky Hawaiian with drinks coming in mugs shaped like those tiki poles, you know the ones with the ugly faces on them?? Anyhow, it was such a cool spot to go and it was not busy at all so we got comfy on the couches and ended up eating dinner there too. I tried to get some pics of the inside but it was too dark and I am pretty sure the girl behind the bar was about to come over and slap one of us if she saw another camera flash go off….damn paparazzi! But the photos we got of all of us were pretty good so enjoy.

Several Mohitos later we were all feeling rather tipsy and stumbled up the stairs onto our next pub of choice. Then onto another until we finally hit our Thursday night, ‘oh my god I have to get up in the morning and go to work’ threshold and stumbled back up Portobello Rd into a pizza bar that had half a mini minor in it as shelving…I love London. Back on the tube and then back on the train where Sheridan wowed, entertained and scared fellow passengers with her Stevie Wonder impression….still not sure if that is totally PC but honestly it’s so funny and she does it too well!

I managed to wake up the next morning and get on my train which seemed to be way more rocky than usual. I avoided making eye contact with any potential Mr Darcy’s as I was honestly scared I was going to chuck on someone’s shoes…not nice and certainly not the way I want to meet my future husband although it would be a funny story to tell at our wedding…. Got to work and stumbled through the day then back on the train, back home where I probably made the worst decision of my partying career and went out again.

Honestly, come Saturday I was completely trashed and felling as through I had aged 20 years over night. Gone are the good old days (or should I say good young days) when I could go out and pull up respectably the next day… I am old and need my sleep and sometimes ant-acids after a big night out which is quite a depressing reality. I went into London and met my cousin on Oxford Street which is the best place in the world and anyone who comes to visit me will definitely get a personal tour! Lined with shops, both expensive and reasonable it is London at it’s finest. So busy, but so worth it. I bought (no prize for guessing) shoes – and toyed with the idea of a new bag but fought the urge as I have to eat this week. It was great catching up with Jo (my cousin) I just wish I hadn’t felt so gross after my nights out – but I have decided to make Oxford Street a regular on my weekly things to do so ad it to your ‘where the cool kids hang’ list cause I’ll be there regularly.

Anyhow so there you have my awesome Birthday! So much fun and I am so thankful for the wonderful friends I have who made the night so special and sickly at the same time…takes talent – thanks guys!

And I am back at work on this really cold Monday morning, trying to end this Blog entry as I have a billion things I have to do. Was contemplating not coming into work this morning as I really don’t feel 1000% and somehow just knew it was going to be one of those horrid days. I woke up late, got dressed in a mad hurry, and ran for my bus where, when I got on I felt surprisingly breezy. To my utter humiliation my pants had fallen down (not all the way) but just enough for the masses of private high school kids to get a look at the kind of undies 25 year old single girls wear… for all those who couldn’t be on the St Albans to Station 602 bus this morning I am proudly wearing my pink polka-dot undies. Will probably regret sharing that with the world but I figure when something like this happens it is only right that you share your humiliation to benefit others…there’s my good deed for the day.

So I get to work, still holding my pants up as I walk up the stairs. Walk into a meeting where I meet our new CEO, go to the staff room then to the cafeteria where I notice in the reflection of the stainless steel counter that my fly is undone and my gorgeous pink-polka dot undies are out for all the world to see…..classic Felicity. I told you it was going to be a bad day. I laughed, contemplated crying, then laughed some more and here I am now…writing this blog knowing that people are either reading it and mortified as to how much information they now know about me or laughing themselves silly…. I hope it’s the latter!

Well, that’s my last 4 days in a nutshell. I am heading into Westminster again tonight to see the Tower Bridge with all the lights on. Will take some happy snaps and post them on at the end of the week. To all of those who have sent me emails thank you, I LOVE reading emails so send more!!

I really love being here, am still a little homesick and struggling more than I would like with making friends at work. People obviously don’t have taste over here or just like to deprive themselves cause they are missing out big time by not getting to know me….I’m a cool kid for goodness sake! It is getting better it’s just hard and a different way of living which I suppose I will have to get used to eventually. It just feels like High School again where I am always the one talking too much with people occasionally humouring me by talking ‘when the teachers not looking’ so sad. But I have never been this happy in a place before and when I do get a bit down I head straight to Westminster and look at that amazing bridge and remind myself why I’m here.

Lots of warm London Hugs and Kisses.

Flicka Jones xoxo