Ain't no party like an S Club party!

Important Notice: This post contains extreme cheesiness!

I had the most amazing Christmas present - tickets to see S Club 7 live on their reunion tour: Bring it all Back! Finally, after months of waiting (rather impatiently), this weekend was D-Day!

I had such a ball! The music was perfect - loud, cheesy and reminiscent of younger, more carefree days. I shouted and screamed, sang along and danced more than I should have done. It's difficult to sit/stand still in such a great party atmosphere!

One of the best presents ever. A truly great night out :)

Photo from the S Club 7 facebook page

Turing takes over!

If you follow my Twitter feed then you might be a little tired of hearing about The Imitation Game. Take heart - the film has now been released (in the UK at least, I think the US has to wait another week or so), meaning that I may soon stop going on about it!

The whole thing has been really exciting in two ways: personally and in publicising Alan Turing's name and accomplishments.

Personally, I have walked down the red carpet and met a huge range of celebrities and interesting people. Last week I got to go to Google UK headquarters for a screening, where I met Sir John Scarlett (ex head of MI6) and had a tour of their offices. They really do have sleep pods, a gym and a completely free restaurant/cafeteria!

Turing mentioned as part of a display at Google

But what is truly amazing is the effect that the film is having. My Twitter and Facebook feeds are filling up with positive reviews. It seems to be winning awards left, right and centre. My uncle even had a double page spread in The Times on Thursday (and a mention on the front page)!

Every time someone sees the film, they will realise what a special person Alan Turing was. At the rate we're going, it will touch millions of people, many of whom will never have heard his name before. I continue  to be overwhelmed with pride and excitement on a daily basis.

Soundtrack

Red carpet glamour

I've had the most exciting week ever!

Dress up to the nines CHECK

Stroll down the red carpet in Leicester Square, surrounded by celebrities, TV crews and journalists CHECK

Listen to speeches (including a family name check from Mr Benedict Cumberbatch himself - check out his speech here) CHECK

Watch The Imitation Game CHECK

See my mother, aunts and uncle's names in film credits CHECK

Get whisked off to the after party CHECK

Free champagne in VIP area CHECK

Meet Benedict and Kiera Knightley CHECK

Spend a marvellous evening introducing self to actors (Charles Dance, Mark Strong and Matthew Beard to name a few) and other interesting people (the film's director, producers and many film-industry types) CHECK

Be overwhelmed with how excited everyone is at bringing Alan Turing's name and genius to a wider audience CHECK

Finally make it to bed much later than you should on a weeknight, but very very happy CHECK

The Imitation Game is a new movie based on the life of my great uncle, Alan Turing (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). Wednesday night was the  European Premiere and the opening gala of the BFI London Film Festival. Huge thank you to the team at Studio Canal (the film's UK distributors) for inviting the family to attend this historic event.

The film is on general release in the UK in mid-November, and across the world around the same time. It isn't completely historically accurate, but it is a great film and well worth a watch!

Edit: This post is now featured on IMDb, which is ironic as one of the people I met was Col Needham (founder and CEO of IMDb)! http://m.imdb.com/name/nm1212722/board/thread/235536253

Edit 2: Photographs taken by the husband, my sister and my brother-in-law.

Little happy things

Look at this:

It's a glittery pear Christmas tree decoration! Isn't it fab?!

Today went from an empty, plan-free firework recovery day to lazy dim sum lunch with friends and a wander around the Harrods gift shop. Wonderful, relaxed and happy; and also with a new Christmas bauble.

Whistle-stop adventure

(Alternative title: France for 26 hours)

What a weekend! It's been ages since I've had a real adventure (apart from the wedding of course), and this was a good one.

Some friends were getting married in the South of France, very close to the Biarritz/Henday coast which is one of my most favourite places in the world. Our original plan was a slightly more leisurely two night stay, but timings of flights put paid to that. Up at 5:30am on Saturday. Train. Coach. Aeroplane. 

By the way, have I told you about my love of flying? I get so excited when we're waiting at the gate, again when we're taking off and again when we land. I'm like the little kid staring out of the window. There was a very cute little French girl sat in front of me on the flight who did exactly that. When we had landed and everyone was preparing to disembark, she started saying "au revoir avion" which was incredibly cute!

By 11:30am I stepped onto the Tarmac, into lovely sunshine. I was one happy bunny.

We managed a stroll by the beach and a spot of delightfully French lunch before changing into wedding gear and driving up into the hills.

Goats cheese salad and prawns cooked in something amazing - can't remember what it was but it was yummy!

It was a bilingual, bi-denominational ceremony with comedic French minister who went rather off-script - fabulously crazy and totally lovely service.

Champagne, bands, tons of amazing hor d'oeuvres and surrounded by French people (my circulating and new-friend making was rather hampered by my extremely poor French speaking!).

Dinner was multiple courses of beautiful food and we sat with one of the bands which was very entertaining!

Next morning we managed to meet up with our Hendaye-based friends for a breakfast of pastries on the cliff top before jumping back on a plane and making it home in time for dinner. I was thrilled to return to the British wind and rain...   :(

Two sets of friends (including a wedding) - pretty good going I think.

Fireworks on water

Unfortunately, my regular sailing trip clashed with the busiest fireworks weekend of the year so I was unable to meet up with my boating mates (the Pteraductyls). On the bright side, I did end up very close to them and on a boat (well, a barge) in the middle of Portsmouth harbour.

Friday started innocuously enough - I was at the fireworks yard (Rocket Park), ready to start my third day of loading vans, labelling ADR loads (for those vehicles carrying a large amount of explosives), charging radios and other essential prep tasks for the many crews heading out over the weekend.

Then came a change of plan - the team at Portsmouth were down a crew member. Off I trundled with my kit box, PPE (personal protective equipment) and plenty of warm/dry/waterproof layers of clothing.

The rig was very cool - a small show on the pontoon and then two barges full of fireworks. I had to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in, helping to organise the shells - those are the large fireworks that shoot high into the sky and then burst, usually into a sphere of colour. During the rigging, the barges were moored up to the pontoon which made everything much easier. As did the sunny weather!

The cakes (multi-shot fireworks) being laid out, before being secured.

A shot across the barge (including the crane), showing the famous Spinnaker Tower in the background.

These racks of tubes are secured firmly together for the shells, which are placed individually at the bottom of the tubes.

An evening of culture

Monday (yes, that was almost a week ago, but I haven't had a second to write about it yet!) saw me attempting an epic feat - leaving work on time and jumping on a train to get to Trafalgar Square. I'm pleased to say that I made it with a whole 10mins to spare!

And what was all this rushing for? The ballet of course :)

BP were sponsoring a Big Screen event across the country, involving a live link up with the Royal Opera House. On this occasion, the performance in question was the Royal Ballet's Titian 2012 - three pieces created by a team of different choreographers, composers and designers.

On arrival in the iconic square, we were presented with rain ponchos and blow-up cushions (which proved super-useful!) and then settled ourselves down. Each Act lasted about 35mins and the intervals were 30 mins which gave me time to grab some dinner between the dancing! They screened various "behind the scenes" films between each act, including live interviews with some of the people involved.

Dressing up and acting lady-like

Finally, my posh day out with the girls arrived! All that time trying on dresses (and shoes and hats) on several shopping trips culminated in an afternoon and evening at Royal Windsor Races.

It was Ladies Night at the races, which means we really went for it in the dressing up stakes. And despite it not being quite Ascot's Ladies Day (which is legendary for pretty dresses and amazing hats), we all scrubbed up pretty well.

I'm the one in the middle, wearing white.

Mostly, I tottered around on my heels: chatting, watching the pretty horses being paraded and enjoying a couple of glasses of Pimms...

Fireworks, ladders and firemen

As part of the Queen's Jubilee celebrations, St Albans (a town in the South East) was one of over 4000 locations lighting a beacon. We were drafted in for a bit of accompanying firework-y goodness.

The beacon was mounted on the roof of the town hall and our job was to provide a three minute display after the firemen had lit it.

Everything was very straight forward. Apart from the need to climb a ladder to get all of the gear onto the roof. This was quite a chore, especially as I'm not very good at using one hand on a ladder and carrying in the other hand.

Once everything was up, we got rigged and ready:

Pretty window shopping

It didn't take long for me to "break" - after three ballet lessons wearing leggings and a top I was heard to be uttering the words: "Maybe I should buy a leotard..."

Of course, this threw up more questions than it answered - can I really face wearing a leotard and pink tights at my age?! Where can I buy one? Will I feel stupid trying them on?

And then I started an absent-minded internet browse. I didn't realise how many different designs there are - it's a far leap from wearing a regulation (and not exactly stylish) dusty-pink leotard for grade lessons as a teenager! So I got carried away (as usual)...

Dressing up

Some people don't seem to ever attend fancy dress parties. I quite enjoy a spot of fancy dress, and I take it quite seriously. Not with a serious attitude, but I like to make a real effort!

(I've got to say, whilst trawling for pictures of me in fancy dress, I was shocked at the sheer number there were! And those are just taken in the last four or so years...)

A mix of colours...

After a fairly normal week trying to get into my new routine (Tuesday: ballet, Wednesday: running with Dave or swimming with Helen, Thursday: karate), I had an interesting weekend...

Will write a full update when I've had a bit more sleep :)

A panda-spotting mission

Ever since the pandas arrived at Edinburgh Zoo in December, I've been half-heartedly dreaming about a trip to see them. Pandas have been my favourite animals since I was a little girl - one year my mother made me a panda t-shirt for my birthday because she couldn't find one in the shops. Another year, my most prized present was a panda book. You could say I'm a bit obsessed.

Monday morning involved an early start to check-in for our flight. It also accidentally involved three breakfasts! By 11.30am, we were checking into the glorious (and highly-patterned) Hotel Missoni. You have to check out their photo gallery - the place is amazing!

wild crockery :)

pretty bed linen

A musical interlude

On my actual birthday, between the West Midlands (for the wedding) and Scotland (for my main birthday treat), I was treated to a trip to the theatre.

I love theatre - I met A whilst working backstage during panto season and really enjoy getting involved in productions when the chance arises (normally operating the sound desk at church, which isn't quite the same, but never mind). I think I mostly get my techy fill by the odd firework display.

Anyway, enough rambling...

Somewhat spoilt

I have had a fabulous week - starting with my best friend's wedding and ending with a couple of days in Edinburgh (which is an amazing city). Am feeling thoroughly spoilt and not at all ready to return to the real world. Alas, I must as I am not a millionaire (or anything remotely approaching it!). Need to get back into the groove of everyday life. :(

But I've got a couple more hours in Edinburgh before flying home so will make the most of it...

Fantastic present

My sister and brother-in-law have treated me with...

...three personal running sessions with a professional coach!

I am very excited and have already emailed to try to organise the first session :)

A furniture adventure

I promise this is the last moving house post for a while! I've wallowed in the excitement (and boxes) for long enough now. But before I move on to new things (and have enough time to get on with some new hobbies), I have to share my weekend of IKEA...

I started with two trolleys - this picture was post-trolley-consolidation!

Cushions, lamps and other exciting bits

After the whole moving house process (which I think I'm still recovering from!) comes the more exciting task of shopping for new furnishings. So far, there have been two exciting trips:

IKEA

TESCO HOME

Seriously - how cool are these chairs?! I want them both so badly!

I love rainbows!

Fireworks update - video!

Here is the official video from the Hatfield House display from last weekend. It's a short, edited version of what was originally a 26 minute show to a live orchestra performance. Enjoy!

A bit of a change

You may have noticed that I've been a bit quiet of late. It's been a really busy summer and, for the time being, wedding plans are on the "back burner".

In the meantime, I've been playing with blogging about my general day-to-day life. Not the work stuff, but everything else I get up to: cooking, gardening, exciting trips, new sports, that kind of thing. I've decided to import it here to keep everything in one place. I hope you continue to enjoy reading it!

RainStorm. xx

PS - Please bear with me whilst I update this blog with some of the posts I've written over the last month. "Normal" service will resume soon!