Drunkard Debauchery...Again?

This morning I have what they like to call a hangover. Not feeling most fantastic but I did have a really good night out last night with some girlfriends. You always have that moment when you wake up and bit by bit your memory of the night before returns and the cringing starts. I met some good girlfriends for some good wine at a local haunt that we haven't yet outgrown. And call it destiny or just an additional reason to get sloshed, it was karaoke night! 

Lil Ole Me singing Mr Garth Brooks

Maybe it's just me but I prefer it when people aren't fantastic singers, I find it more entertaining. Its the same reason I only watch American Idol during the audition stages, when some people believe themselves to be fantastic singers when in actual fact they blow. There were a couple people who successfully belted out ballads, others who sang feel good songs badly but had everyone singing along and of course, there were the smear test bad singers. 

Lady J letting us know Club Tropicanas drinks are freeeeee

In homage to my Southern husband I sang Garth Brooks "Friends in Low Places" just because how fun is that song! My lady J sang "Club Tropicana" and my lady "M" sang Beyonce "Irreplaceable". Which incidentally was one of her songs that I was dancing around my bedroom to yesterday morning. Note to self and anyone else without common sense, it's not a good idea to try and booty shake whilst you have a hot curling iron in your head. Ouch. 

Lady M directing us to the left...don't ask about the guy behind her, too odd!

Honestly, the singing was just icing on the cake of a very fun night. It's nice to get out and have a good catch up outside of work and ultimately, if my visa does get approved, I want to spend as much time with my friends as possible before I leave. 

Me and Lady J chillin

And of course, we talked about boys. I'm starting to wonder if a group of girlies can get together, enjoy some wine and not talk about boys. The question of where and how to find good guys. I do think that I'm lucky to have found Adam because it really is slim pickins! Sometimes I ponder on the fact that I didn't date more guys and have that experience but at least I didn't have to kiss too many frogs to find my prince. After hearing some of their dating horror stories I realise that I'm blessed to have my punkish husband. I really never did that dating thing, unless you count one terrible Valentines Day where too many cocktails were consumed and drunken kisses and vomiting took place...not necessarily in that order either. I don't count that as a date. 

Me and Lady EKB enjoying our wine

Lady EKB enlightened me to the fact that I was clueless about the hookin-up bases. First Base: Kissing...Fourth Base: Sex. The bases in between are not something I could write about unless I had another couple drinks!

Lady M, Lady L and I. I work with the bestest ladies.

Its clear that all my friends want to get married, Lady L has her wedding and baby names planned out. But doesn't every woman? I know that long before I knew Adam existed, I had my dreams of meeting my prince and falling in love. Getting married, kids. All that jazz. And of course, once I did meet Adam, I fully embraced the girlie art that is signing my name with his last name all over my note books.

It was a fun night of singing, dancing and drinking. It seems that in this pub they have a total of 4 wine glass. This is not in any way an underestimation, they actually only have four wine glasses. Perhaps I'm fussy or perhaps I'm actually taking in some of the things my mother tells me but you can't drink wine out of anything other than a wine glass. Well, you can. But you shouldn't. I was not happy when they gave me this to drink my wine out of;

One of only four wine glasses in the place and my mixer glass.

Lady Ms wine glass and my mixer glass. Perhaps my glass size has something to do with the fact that I got very sloshed! Every time I went to the bar I asked if they had a wine glass, three trips later, they did!

Me, Happy to be drinking out of a real glass!

Yes, I am THAT excited over a wine glass! At the end of the night us girlies left very tipsy and most certainly merry. Lady EKB found a guy who caught her eye and for some reason I ended up writing his email address down with my eyeliner, must remember to pass on his details. He's on FB so I think some Facebook stalking might be required first, beer goggles can be a very dangerous thing when handing out your details!


I'll post some more pictures later. 

My younger brother went to get his hair cut yesterday. Now to most people this isn't a big deal but my brother is sixteen and he's never had his hair cut in his life. My mum is not at all happy that my older brother has decided that it's time to take Lil Bro to get his hair cut off. One would think that since it would mean she no longer had to braid it every week, she'd enjoy that extra time. Alas, no. I've yet to see what it look like due to my night of drunkard debauchery but I'll be sure to post a picture. I imagine it'll be strange to see the "new" him.


Since I have this weekend off I've been roped into cooking Sunday dinner. As I type I have roast beef cooking in the oven. Downside is that I've forgotten exactly how long ago I put it on so it might end up being very well done. We shall see. I've got a real craving for an Eton Mess and whilst I was toying with the idea of making the meringues myself, I might just run up to Tesco and buy some. 

I became Bi-Sexual for the night because....

This fella was making a move on my friend and she didn't wanna know...I think mixed signals maybe?

But then he left and she was branded Sherms' Bi*ch!

End of the night, on the way home silliness.

So much hasn't been said because as silly as my girlies were, I was just as bad. Its the wine code not to spill! xx

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

Today I'm in the mood for Pink. The artist, not the colour. I guess I go through periods of listening to different artists or the same songs over and over again. The past couple days I was into Musiq Soulchild in a big way, just the song "Just Friends". Today I suddenly got the urge to listen to Pink "So What!" and so I've been rocking out to her lyrics and awesome vocals. 

In order to get everything ready for my visa I had to get my passport updated with my married name. Yes, I've been married for two years and I'm only now getting around to it and it is purely because I have to. The reason why, they charge £77.50 for a new passport. All my detail are the same except that I got married but I have to pay the full fee for a new passport, not a happy bunny but Adam wired me the money for it. An anniversary gift, one that'll last for 10 years. I went today to get the photo taken and of course now you can't smile in photos. I honestly don't feel like it's me when I'm not smiling in a picture, it is very rare. I don't like my face when I'm not smiling. I took a couple non-smiling shots at home on my own camera, attempting to figure out Tyra Banks trademark "smize". And of course my lazy eye just pops off the page. Perhaps I don't have an overly noticeable lazy eye but I can see it. Most annoying. And then once I got started taking pics I just kept going, making silly faces. What can I say, it was a slow morning!

When I finally head over to the post office to get the passport checked and sent the lady behind the counter (who was the slowest server I've encountered for a long time, she really pushed my kind button) spent a good five minutes scrutinising my picture. Now, the picture in my passport is old. It was taken when I was 17 and had to get my passport in a hurry for a trip to Atlanta with my politics class. It's a horrible picture. Imagine SideShow Bob from the Simpsons in a red and white prison/rugby top. I shall have to post a picture when I get the old passport back. Anyway, she didn't think it was me or she thought I looked too different, I don't know but when someone else came along she asked for a second opinion. The gentleman looked at the picture and said "of course it'll be fine, you can see by the cheeks". The cheeks? What's wrong with my cheeks? Ok, I am being naive, they are huge! In high school people would grab them because they'd stretch so far. I used to fit whole burgers in my mouth. Basically, I have a big mouth in both contexts. But it was never a facial hang up, it wouldn't make the list of things I loved about my face but it wouldn't have made the hate list either. For me, cheeks are like my Philtrum. Just there, no feelings. I shall have to remember to post some pictures from my goofing around earlier.

I've plans to meet some friends for drinks tomorrow. I'm seriously starting to think that my friends and I should find places to meet that isn't a drinking establishment! And officially I'm getting excited for my birthday. If I keep focusing on celebrating and it possibly being the last one in London with my friends for some time to come, then I can forget about the fact that my life is nowhere near where I'd like it to be. Trying hard to keep the depression at bay. Distraction is my friend. The last few years I have not been excited about turning older, not because I'm getting old but because I'm constantly playing catch up with where I am and where I should be. Or at least where I'd imagined I'd be. I'm a planner and though I constantly end up disappointed, you know what they say "If you don't plan, you plan to fail" or something like that. 

I think you can really see that one eye is droopy! Maybe it's normal and I just need to exercise this muscle more? Maybe I should start winking! 

I've been experimenting with a centre part, it's something a little different. Usually I have a side-parting, which might not be interesting to most but hey I'm shaking things up for the summer!

This is more the style of the passport pictures. Looking straight ahead and no smiles.

OMGoodness! Seriously, if I stare at these pictures long enough I turn into a self-hating person. Not liking my nost and my face is generally FAT!

I think that last one is what I call my KISS look! Oh dear.

My brother has officially left High School, he's only going back to take his exams and then its off to college! I can't believe how quickly the last 16 years have gone by. I remember taking him to school before going off to college in the mornings myself. I remember him being an annoying but fun toddler. When he was younger I nicknamed him my Shadow, because everywhere I went, he went. I'm not sure when he stopped being my shadow and became a teenager who overshadows me. Such is life I guess, the children who once looked up to us for protection and guidance grow up. I'm very proud of him and I'm sure he'll do great in his exams. Don't tell him but he's growing into a wonderful young man.

My now 16 year old brother. My mum took these pictures and needless to say she's not handy with a camera. And also, she's pretty blind without her glasses! Below, my bro and a couple of his classmates.

Sherms In The Middle of becoming a Desperate Housewife

This is a post from yesterday, May 12th. Posted today because Blogger was down!

Lately I've been more adventurous with what I make for dinner. Every once in awhile I get bored with what I have for dinner, it seems like I eat the same things over and over again. However on my recent visit to Stevenage my friend gave me her Philadelphia cookbook and I got creative. After making two meals from there I opened up my other cookbooks and looked for fun meals to make. I do have a little chuckle with my girlfriends about the fact that we've graduated from talking about boys and makeup to swapping recipes and discussing wedding dresses...well, sometimes we do still talk about boys. Scratch that, we talk about the men in our lives over wine but what group of women don't!?!

If Adam comes back to visit later this month I'd like to make a special meal for him. Ever since watching the last season of Hell’s Kitchen USA I've been eager to try my hand at a Beef Wellington. I've never eaten one before let alone made one and I've been scouring my cookbooks looking for a good recipe. I'm a big fan of Ina Garten also known as the Barefoot Contessa, though Adam thinks she's creepy! lol! And I'll be sure to do a trial run to make sure that it turns out right. I've clipped a recipe out of my mums magazine for a No-bake Lemon & Lime cheesecake which looks delicious. I'm a huge cheesecake fan, I've heard of this place called The Cheesecake Factory, it is on my list of places to go when I move to America. My husband loves Peach Cobbler and though I've made it a few times for him, I've never been able to beat his mothers recipe and I've only managed to make something just as good once. Not that I'm in competition with my MIL or anything! lol! I get along really well with her and am looking forward to living with her. I just want to be a good wife, good to him. Which Adam tells me I am.

We didn't get married in a Church, due to time and financial restraints, we had a registry office wedding and planned to renew our vowels in a Church at a later date. Well, whilst discussing this with Adam last night he says that he has no interest in doing this. Or rather he has no interest in arranging it with me. As far as he's concerned we're married and that's that. There is no point in arranging a wedding to renew our vows. And whilst I understand that the marriage is what counts, not the wedding, I have two issues. Firstly, I want to be married in a Church. It's important to me, just have our marriage blessed. And secondly, yes I am a girl who wants that special day. I want to wear a white dress and stress over wedding vows, cake flavours and wedding favours. I'd like to take lessons for a first dance that will set the tone for married life. And I know that stuff isn't important but somewhere inside I still want that day. Maybe I can just have a really lavish 30th birthday or something instead. Needless to say in typical stroppy wife fashion, I said "fine, let's not bother". And though he asked me repeatedly if I was upset and if I was sure, I didn't budge. What a silly moo I am. But I want it to mean something to us both and either way, it doesn't change the fact that he's my husband. The man I want to be married to for the rest of my life.

Oh, did I mention that my culinary experiments included my Spatchcocking a chicken? I feel like a regular Julia Childs!

I think I'm struggling as a twenty-somthing wife, living apart from her husband, soon to be thrust full time into the role of "temporary housewife". When I get there I shall have no life or job or mode of transportation. I shall essentially be a housewife without the perks of coffee with friends or a black American Express card. I dont at all mind staying at home, if we can afford to when we start to have a family, I'd like to stay home with our children. Right now though, I'm in the middle of figuring out what it means to be a wife and how to be a good one. Hopefully, one day I'll wake up and know how to make the bestest Peach Cobbler. I'll know how to get red wine out of a cream carpet (though I shall not have a cream carpet) and I shall throw the best dinner parties in the neighbourhood! Lol! Can you tell from my wedding dreams I've watched too many Disney movies and from my wifey duties that I was too much Desperate Housewives!? Can't help but Love Bree!

I do have plans for when I get up and going in America but for now, gotta go call my lover!

I think that life is made up of lots of little "Should, Woulda, Coulda" moments.

I have a lot of Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda moments.


I shoulda taken a year out before going to University so I could really take the time to think about what I would like to do for a career. I've spent so many years flittering between courses not sure what direction I want to take my life. Of course, If I hadn't gone straight to Uni, I wouldn't have met Adam (or at least met him when I did).

I woulda taken the time to let Adams brother know just how much he meant to me, if I had known that he would be killed. I met Adam through my friendship with him and I would want him to know how thankful I am for that. I also would have encouraged Adam to resolve an argument with his brother before moving out of state. Rather than assuming, like so many times before, they'd reconnect in time. It's easy to forget that you don't always have time.

I coulda made better choices at many stages in my life. I coulda focused more on myself and not put others well being ahead of my own. I coulda made smarter financial choices, I coulda kept going to the gym. I think the coulda list could be endless.

I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks about all the things that they missed out on and didn't get to experience. I could list so many. But I think the trick with life is not looking at all the things you didn't do and be thankful for all the things you did because that's why you're where you are now. Of course, I suppose that only works if you're happy with where you are now. But to get to your destination of happy, you're going to make mistakes and have a few regrets. I guess some are easier to live with than others.

I think hardest question to live with is...

           What If???

RP turns 5!

My best friends son turned 5 last month so a few of us went up to where she lives to visit. It was a beautiful day for a picnic in the park and I really enjoyed getting out of London for a couple days to relax. He's a huge Toy Story fan, hence the Buzz Light Year getup. But what 5 year old boy doesn't love Toy Story! It was a little sad knowing that this might be the last of his birthdays I attend, for awhile. But we managed to hold back the tears.

 Charlotte and I couldn't resist recapturing our childhood and having a go on the swings. That poor kid waiting doesn't seem very happy about it tho!

A picnic isn't a picnic without some wine!

Susana and Chris get ENGAGED!

A couple of weeks back one of my best friends from high school got engaged. Susana and Chris are a delightful couple and I couldn't be happier for them, I know that they'll have a great marriage. They're hoping for a July wedding in 2013 which would give them plenty of time to plan. I've posted some pictures of their engagement party. I'm so glad that I could be there, though I had moments of missing my husband, I did have a blast!
 

Us girlies. Two of my best friends since high school.

We had to start the night out properly and there really is not better way that Tequilla shots and Apple Sours! 

Charlotte said to me, "Will you think less of me if I order a pint!" LOL! She does make me laugh.