Shattering the glass ceiling

Hello All, 

And so the moment has finally come. No not the lockdown ending (although I won't lie, that is certainly peaking my mood), no not the fact I am less than a day from my pork scratching advent calendar and no not the fact that I am less than a few days away from seeing my nail lady for my Christmas inspired tallons. No. Now is the moment we discuss moving on ... 

Arriving at work, it suddenly hit me that this was it. There were no second chances and that once it was done there was no turning back. Up until getting out of my car that crisp Tuesday morning last week it hadn't even really seemed real. But now it was very real. The next time I stepped into my car the dynamics would have shifted and all would have been laid bare. I was nervous. Trying to think of the perfect moment was awful. I mean I had some time to think since it had nearly been a fortnight. Nevertheless, I thought I would let management grab a coffee and settle into emails before telling them my news. 

But then started the normal morning rush and before I knew it lunchtime was upon us. After telling a few close colleagues I knew I had to seize the moment and if not now then when. And so, alone in a quiet meeting room I slid the white envelope across the desks (you know COVID-safe and all). Smiling, my manager asked what it was. I explained as best I could without taking up any more of his valuable time although I felt as though I was rambling and not really making much sense. I blathered on about this and that but when it really came down to it, what was there in his hands was quite simply the final nail in the coffin. My resignation. 

I joined the company over four years ago and in that time life had changed immeasurably. I had got Clifford, my big red car after my beloved Vivienne was written off. I have gotten engaged and planned a wedding. I got my best ever freebie, my little pup Frankenstein. I even managed to get myself on the property ladder after years of wondering and dreaming about if it will ever happen. Yes, there had been many a happy time shared amongst my office space and colleagues. However, in recent months and even going back as far as last year, I have not been happy. 

Standing there in a silent meeting room with my manager I explained that it was a decision I had made not lightly, given the situation the team would be left in and considering the pandemic. But I knew in my heart of hearts that now the wheels were in motion I couldn't turn back now. Who knew that walking through those doors all those many moons ago that I would not only acquire the skills for dealing with difficult customers and colleagues but also that I would learn things about myself, my values and my value to others. 

I never expected that I would get a taste for anything more than just a job to pass time and fill up the years before I settled down to have children. I know now that I want more than that for myself and my future. I want to have a job my children can be proud of, doing something that I am good at with people whom I enjoy being around. But there is more to life and I needed to spread my wings and fly off for a new adventure. 

So where am I going and what is next?! Well, following a successful interview I had a phone call one Friday morning before I started work. Switching on the grinding coffee machine in the office kitchen I listened to the voice at the end of the phone tell me the news I had been hoping for. I had bagged the job. But which one? I remembered interviewing for the job, but couldn't find anything on my emails as I desperately scanned through. The lady explained she would send everything over and looked forward to working with me soon. 

The following week I finally received all the finalised paperwork, information and new starter forms. Working normal office hours I will instead be heading in the opposite direction to the other half in the mornings come the new year and into the hustle and bustle of Milton Keynes. Along with the normal benefits package the offices are super easy to get to and is right by the lake, so the "healthy-me" is thinking it would be a great idea to invest in a bike or for a walk or maybe even a run (haha) around the lake maybe two or three times a week. The "fat-me" thinks about all the amazing places I can order food from in the city and how it will be delivered to me by a man on a bike or even better - A robo-delivery-box-a-mijig! 

To say I am excited is putting it softly, but despite my enthusiasm, my heart still aches for my situation and the reasons which have lead me to where I am now. I hope that one day I can talk openly about them, however as most of you know who have been reading along for a while now (can you believe it has been nearly TEN YEARS!) I don't talk about work or employment and keep them and blog very distance. 

And so I suppose this is probably the most honest or open I have ever been about my work-life, but with the next few weeks until Christmas laying ahead of me, things are changing all the time and who knows what curveball or spanner will be thrown into the cogs of my life next ... 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

Still Got It!

Evening, 

So following last week's incident with the house fire I was adamant to get back to some sort of normality before the final  few days before the Christmas rush hit. By this time of the year I wanted to be settled with everything bought and ideally wrapped, sacks and bags ready to go with a plan for the big day on where we were spending it and who with, not to mention to be spending our first morning waking up in our new home for the festive period and maybe even hosting some people over the holidays. But alas, here I was trying to juggle visits from the Landlord in between going to work, calling insurance companies and that's without even making a start on the wrapping or the ninety-odd Christmas Card I have to write this year. But with it all nearly over and done with, insurance settled and the necessities done away with I can finally start to enjoy what I can of this time of year. 

This week was the Christmas party at work and whilst I don't normally talk much about my colleagues and what my day-to-day life is at work or what we do socially I suppose I best touch on my time during what is supposed to be the one night of the year you can really let your hair down. Some people get amorous, Some people get mildly flirty. Some people cop-off with one another. Some have a bust up. The Christmas Party at work has always evoked many a good tale on the Monday morning and alas there was none to tell, and even if there was I wouldn't spill. Saturday morning I woke however with a pounding headache and a serious need to re-hydrate. On asking what time I came home I replied to Mr. Warehouse that I thought it must have been maybe two or half-two in the morning only for him to explain it can't have been since he was up until quarter-to-three in the early hours of Saturday and I was still not back, meaning I must have been out to the lights came.on. Proud to say I still got it. 

Now I have been to many a Christmas Party and works night out, maybe too many to count and certainly too many to remember. There were some of my first encounters of a night on the tiles with work colleagues was probably back in College when it would start on a Thursday lunch time with a hour-long liquid lunch down the pub and then on through Thursday Night, Friday Night, Saturday Night and Sunday night, only to roll up to college on a Monday still drunk or at the very least hangin' out our tree. 

Work life soon progressed after College where I went into my first proper full time job working for a IT and technology company in Northampton. Nights out were sophisticated and started with maybe a brief glass of Rose at lunch down the local Harvester and then home for a quick change before picking everyone up en route to town. Setting our roots down in a cocktail bar one of my colleagues husband's owned (I know, friends in all the right places) we would sip away until the club's beckoned. The night would usually end with Mr. Workaholic coming to collect me or sharing a cab home. Nights out rarely involved Mr. Warehouse in Northampton, we would normally head out of a weekend with his Sister who seemed to know every bouncer in Dunstable and as a result would queue jump and get the best protection, but this was hardly work.  

After moving back home to the 'Shire, and it was then that the work's night out on the razz dried up. Mainly I put this down to just not being able to find a job or company I wanted to work for. There was always a reasoning for the role not working out. Roles were boring. Roles were too stressful. The commute was too far. The public transport was a pain in the arse every day to and from the office. Life was just very unstable, as it had been for the last few years really. That was until I walked through the doors of my last company I worked for. 

Being introduced to more or less everyone that worked there, less than eight-weeks later there I was on a night out. And getting pissed every four-weeks on pay day seemed like a tradition of sorts. It was on this night out, all those many moons ago that Mr. Warehouse and I met. Crushing on me since I joined I had recently split from Mr. Cheese and I think as a ploy to get me to come out some of the guys in the office arranged a night out, to take my mind off it. Betting with the store-man that I would / wouldn't be late I arrived at the designated time, only to be met by a red-haired Mr. CWG and a smartly dressed gentleman in a lilac pinstriped shirt. "Oooh a sales rep" I thought to myself, assuming he would be at least in some money and therefore a good catch in terms of conversation, ethics and morals - Not just a fuck-boy like the rest on Tinder! As more and more faces turned up we headed to a club to dance the night away, but not before some of the girls from the office collared me to ask if I was interested in Mr. CWG or Mr. Warehouse. I played it coy but had no idea that both of them were vying for my attention like some sort of horny peacocks. 

After that night out a girl from the office messaged me and asked if she could pass my number onto Mr. Warehouse and I suppose the rest is history they say. Although when Mr. Warehouse explained that he was not a sales rep and indeed did work in the Warehouse I refused to believe him, until Monday morning came and I met a rather awkward and shy man in the Canteen. From then onwards there was a night at the dogs, quickly followed by someones birthday party, followed by another works night out for one reason or another and then there was the Annual Christmas Party, only to be followed a few months later with an all expenses paid awards ceremony, again drinks included. It was amazing. Like living my college years all over again. Friends soon turned to what I would class as a close knit family and will be forever looked upon as one of the most enjoyable periods of my life. But then things began to change and our little family went out less and less. I was starting to dislike my desk and whilst the people really did keep me from walking on many an occasion I knew it would not be long until the end. 

This time round with my not-so-new-anymore job I feel it is more of a sophisticated affair. Everyone is over the age of twenty-five so have done the whole falling off the curb and bundling into a kebab shop at 2am. Work life nights out now include going on dinner dates, pre-drinks putting the world to rights and talking shite, heading to cocktail bars and paying over the odds for a glass of wine when you could have bought the whole bottle at the shop round the corner. Life is much more mature, but don't get me wrong oh how I do wish I could have a messy night out again with my old colleagues, or maybe with my new ones. A good old sticky night club floor, someone to bum menthol's off in the beer garden and a mediocre argument about how I can walk home as I live so close to town and not needing a cab. Maybe this is something I should initiate. A proper dirty night out! 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

Being a Baby About It

Hello!

So after what it would seem as weeks worth of Halloween or fancy dress parties, this weekend saw Mr Warehouse and myself meeting up with some familiar faces from our old workplace to celebrate in true 90's style with an old work colleagues 40th birthday party. You would have thought that I had ran out of ideas to dress up as and I will be honest with you that by Saturday afternoon I still did not have a clue what I or Mr. Warehouse were going as. 

For months I had been planning some ideas in my head something simple that would be easy to pull off. Maybe  a Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake double denim combo? Or perhaps a Posh and Becks PVC leather catsuit look? Obviously Mr Warehouse and I had to be "Twinning" with whatever we wore. But what could be more 90's than pops power couples? Well it got me thinking. TV and film are always great starting points when looking for fancy dress ideas. So hitting up Google I decided to look into some of my favourite TV shows growing up. 

One of the classics that I looked into was The Rugrats! With Angelica speaking to me in a way that no other cartoon character had before with her bossy attitude and need for constant attention I thought that she would be perfect! But that would certainly take a lot of effort and not being blonde at the present moment would mean I would have to buy another word for probably the fourth week in a row. Maybe some of the other characters would be a better choice?! Then like out of nowhere it struck me! Why not go as Phil and Lil from The Rugrats. It was so simple! And that was it! With the idea firmly planted inside my head I headed to town in Vivienne to purchase the necessary costume components. Hitting up Primark first I found all the pieces I needed in the men's section with extra large pink t-shirts and even larger green vests. Hopping from the town centre over to another retail park where I visited Hobbycraft in order to pick up some yellow, pink and white felt. 

At home I made headway with only a short time before we had to leave the house again for some fireworks with Mr warehouses brother and his family. Grabbing my hot glue gun I got to work sticking down the yellow duck and tissues in the pockets of the outfits, adding in some pink bows for details on my outfit. Completing the look by fitting into some skin coloured leggings and curly hair I thought that we certainly looked the part even if Mr Warehouse had never seen a single episode of the nearly two-hundred that were made of The Rugrats that's found more than a decade. 

After an eventful evening out watching some local fireworks with Mr Warehouses family we headed over to the party venue. I was excited to see some of my old work colleagues and was even more excited about the potential of having a couple of drinks whilst having a boogie on the dance floor. Unfortunately though it would appear that after arriving Mr Warehouse became very tired and weary. I could empathize as to why as Mr Warehouse had been working most of the day. I was almost certain looking at him there in the light of the disco set that there were many other places he would have preferred to being rather than at a party dressed as a toddler and with dance music banging through his ears. I on the other hand was well up for a party and was thoroughly looking forward to a good drink. But looking around I noticed only one or two of my old work colleagues had made it. I missed them all terribly. 

As I got talking to my old supervisor I soon realized that my career move had been for the better. As much as I loved looking back on my time with my old company through Rose tinted glasses, it was certainly not all lightness and sweet. Whilst I had grown to adore my job as well as the people surrounding me in it, the sales peoples and engineers especially, as well as other office members, I think I knew deep down that it was not going to last much longer. In the months leading up to me leaving I had it been becoming increasingly dissatisfied with my working career and the fact that I felt like I was still being treated as the twenty-two-year-old girl that walked through the doors several years earlier was patronizing to say the least. The constant belittling and making me out to look as though I didn't know what I was doing, when in actual fact I knew exactly how to run the ship tighter and fairer than anyone was taking its toll. Enough was enough. 

I hated the fact that I left, but I have to remember that this was a decision on took not only for me but also for my future self and family. Sounds ridiculous I know but I took the decision to move jobs because of the luxuries we would have as a little family with just me, the Dog and the Bae. Since my decision last year almost to the day, Mr Warehouse and I have indulged in a holiday (or a few) both with and without the dog and have many more fun things planned for the future. I don't think that I would have ever been able to afford to have Vivienne on the wages I was getting back there. But money isn't everything and whilst I have the progression and option to go further with the company I work for now, something I would have never got if I stayed where I was, I have lost contact I feel with some amazing people. 

I wish that my old work life could have continued in the way that it had started with partying into the early hours most weekends, dating random fuck-boys and living life to the fullest, it was time to grow up. Whilst they were some of the most memorable and happiest moments of my life, every chapter must come to an end for a new one to begin. 

 'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx 

Taking One For The Team!

Hallo!

Following the fun and frolics of last weekend at Bovingdon Market, this weekend was a lot more laid back and easy going, despite Mr Warehouse working on Saturday morning that is. Nevertheless I was glad for the relaxed weekend that we had together as come Monday morning I had a big challenge on my hands. 

For one reason or another during the office move from our old establishment, it would have appeared that the holiday board had been mislaid and therefore lead to several key kingpins in the management department being off at the same time, two of which are from my department in service. At first when I learnt that I was going to be heading up the service team for the next week I was nervous, but I soon realized that maybe this is the opportunity to prove my worth and make people realize that I am not just a twenty something looking for a job. I am a serious woman that is looking for a career before settling down to have children. I want to earn my money and gain a higher position within the company and the only way to do so is to prove my value as a team member and also as someone who will be able to lead. 

Today was my first day of the week (obviously being Monday) and whilst I had started on the back foot with another member of the team being off sick I felt that I was able to handle the day well, managing both my engineers and also the customers. I shan't go into great detail about what the issues were throughout the day however there was the normal stuff as well as a few Curve-balls and sticky problems that I eventually resolved, even if it did take me to 6.15pm. 

Did I enjoy being in charge? I think to be honest it is too soon to say, especially since it is only Monday. However, it is safe to say that I am thoroughly enjoying the fact that I am the one that people look to for help. Now I know how big headed that sounds and that I am really blowing my own trumpet, but with the amount of pitfalls that I had today I am almost certain that tomorrow and the following days I can handle anything. A part of me really misses being the only one there and in charge of the whole team. Back when I worked with Mr Warehouse at our last job's, I was the only one in charge and although the division that I was looking after was small, almost overlooked in some instances when compared to the Nationwide company, it was still my baby and I had brought it up from the absolute dirt ground. When I left, the division was blossoming into something seriously worth considering for future development and growth. Over the years that it took me to build up the rapport with customers as well as the engineers and sales people, I earned my respect both internally with work colleagues as well as on a national level with directors and big-wigs alike. 

Whilst I can look back on my time at the company with Rose-tinted-glasses I sometimes need to remind myself that it was far from perfect and take into consideration the fact that things were starting to go downhill and from a management perspective, it was probably for the best that I jumped ship sooner rather than later, only to be forced to find something else. Now don't get me wrong I absolutely adored the people that I worked with and my job I lived for. Some people say that if you love your job you will never work a day in your life and working for my previous company could not have been any closer to the truth. However the money that I got was not great and as an employee I felt undervalued and underpaid for the amount of work I did, with very little thanks along the way. 

Moving to my new company (I say new but it has been almost a year) has certainly been a breath of fresh air and this week can only confirm for me that I am desperate for something more than just a job to pass time until I have a family. I can see myself in years to come running my own team and looking after people beneath me. Maybe customer service or customer relations, maybe a smaller division of the service desk running my own team of engineers. I don't know, but what I do know is that I will ace this week. Women run this country throughout the two world wars and we're probably the only reason why we were able to be so successful, so I am sure that I can hold down the fort for the service team. And despite the initial setbacks and the fact that there was a major hiccup in the holiday-authorisation department, I am kind of grateful for it happening this way as I feel that I have the time to shine and show everyone what I am made of. Being a manager, I don't know yet but I am definitely willing to give it a go, at least for a week anyway ... 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

Family Is Not An Important Thing - It Is Everything!

Evening All, 

So after the trauma of last week's trip to and in Basingstoke my bruises have started to heel but even the site of a cold coffee or green and white mermaid makes me sad. Rest in peace Creamy Coffee Caramel Frappucino - Gone but never forgotten and always in my heart (but more often in my belly). I am more than happy to be back home and safe for territory, and after a busy and rather hectic week at work I was more than ready to relax and put my feet up. Alas though that wouldn't happen until Sunday as I had put myself forward in order to host the annual family fun day at work. 

With the whole day being several months in the planning I was certainly looking forward to seeing everybody happy and letting my work colleagues into the secrets that I had been keeping from them for so long. I seriously think but some of my work colleagues must wonder what I actually do on a daily basis, and over the last few months I am surprised that I have been able to manage my normal day-to-day job as well as heading up the organisation for the family fun day, not to mention my duties before being the head of the office courtesies committee and what would have appeared to be chief thermometer watcher and recorder for the air-con wars that still battle long after my duties ceased. 

For weeks upon months now I, along with the board, had been planning what we were going to do on the day including entertainment, food, fun activities for adults and children alike as well as the all important drink. I like organising and in all fairness I was more than happy to plan the whole thing by myself. After a few suggestions we settled on a magician that would cater for both the adults with some close up magic including ice, cards and rings as well as a magic show for kids as the afternoon wound down to an end. There would also be a children's entertainer ready to face paint and balloon model until their little hearts content. A caterer would be brought in and it was decided that a hog roast would be something different but something everyone can enjoy ... Well if you like pork anyway! For anyone not wishing to tuck into Peppa Pig there was a vegetarian option of a filo pastry pie with vegetables which sounded and looked as yummy as the main. Bouncy castles and inflatables were hired in order to keep the kids occupied and a photographer was also hired for the event as well as setting up a photo-booth for people to capture the day in all manner of fancy dress. 

Planning coming to an end I was looking forward to everyone seeing the results of what I and others around me had helped achieve. As ever the week in the my department never seem to get any easier with it getting busier and busier towards the end of the week I was anxious that I would not have enough time to get everything ready in time. Staying late and rallying around the troops for extra help we got done in the end. So as the clock struck twelve (in the afternoon) and everyone started arriving I was over the moon to know that it was all over and done with ... at least for another year! 

Soon the offices and garden surrounding it were filled and as I looked around I noticed that whilst I would never be able to get back what I had at my old company with the friends and tight-knit family feels that I made there, these people that I call my work colleagues are actually just a new family of mine. You have the weird aunties that always give the best advice and pervy uncles that you laugh along with. Good looking cousins with fashion sense to rival Chanel and hot sisters who make Victoria's Secrets blush. Brothers with banter for days and then there is the older and wiser generations that bring a touch of class to everything whilst still managing to be outrageous on the odd occasion. Yes, looking around at my new work family I was certain that I could make this work! I even got a little bit emotional thinking about the fact that I along with my team had managed to pull off a family Fun day that I would hope with rival others before it. 

Even my very own flesh and blood came - Well my auntie, uncle and cousins anyway! With it's been a free event as well as less than half an hour drive from there home, it was a no-brainer to come and support me on such a special day. My first ever event organising. And whilst I wasn't alone in my efforts, I was just glad that my own family could be there to see how well I have done and all the effort that I had put in. I think for one of the first and only times in my entire life I had heard my uncle and my auntie both say that they were proud of me and all the work I had achieved. Unfortunately my sisters from other misters were not available to attend  and instead we're either busy I bet sunning it up in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria as Miss Tweedle-Dee was doing with Momma Tweedle-Dee or getting ready and preparing for a life on another continent as Miss Tweedle-Dumb was with her boyfriend. At least they knew that they couldn't make it, that's all that matters. 

As fast as anything the day flew by with little more than a few hiccups and before I knew it it was time to go home. I think I will miss it you know organising everything and planning for something spectacular. Maybe next year we will get to do it all over again and maybe we can get even more people turning out to celebrate and spend some QT together ... 

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx

A Reuniting of Sorts!

Heyyy, 

So following the optimism of last week's fresh adventure, again the subject of buying house is at the forefront of my mind and it would appear that there is nothing to help me get there any quicker than just saving alone. Unfortunately for me, no one rich is dying in my family and I don't think I have any wealthy relatives that are willing to lend me the cash-ola for my first home. Suffice to say that I think it's time I suck it up and just open up a help-to-buy-ISA and look forward to the next seven-years of nothingness in my life. Anyway enough with being morbid about home-ownership, I have had a laugh with some old work colleagues and some even older friends. 

Working hard at my small desk in the new offices, I received a text message from one of my old work colleagues, Mr. Eagle. It was a simplistic message, stating that my old work colleagues were planning a night out in town on that Friday and I was the honorary member. Delighted that somebody had finally asked me out for a proper messy night out on the town I jumped at the chance, returning the message as soon as it hit my inbox that I most certainly would be there. Speaking to my beloved Mr. Warehouse that evening, he was already doing some overtime early on the Saturday morning so would probably give it a miss. But if I know my boyfriend I knew that he would make sure he at least came out for one drink in order to show face and tell the lad's I used to work with to watch themselves and more-so to watch out for me. 

As Friday night rolled round, more than excited to get my glad-rags on and see some familiar and well missed faces. Walking into one of the many pubs along the Bedford High Street I was suddenly nervous and excited all at the same time. Only a small group of lads, mostly from the warehouse but it didn't matter for tonight was mine for the taking and as I got the round in Mr. Eagle and I caught up on the office gossip and what had been happening since I left. But as the night wore on I could tell that Mr. Warehouse was ready for bed as he and I both knew he had a very early start. 

Bidding us a farewell, the boyfriend departed and we headed to the next bar along. By this point in the evening, I am almost certain that I am more than a little bit tipsy but I am loving every moment of it. Since learning to drive and getting my blessed Vivian I have always been the designated driver, rarely opting to get a cab to any social event. So this was certainly my time to get down and dirty on the dance floor whilst getting completely off my nut. And the best thing about it was that I was doing it with all of my favourite people in the whole wide world, well nearly?!

Leaving the club I don't quite remember what happened next, all I do remember is that we went to Subway. I ordered a foot-long sub and proceeded to the taxi rank. Sweet as my old work colleagues dropped me off back home and make sure that I was in through the door before heading back to their own homes themselves. I remember the bedroom light being on as it normally is when I go out on the town without my Mr. Warehouse. Slowly and quietly as possible I made it to the bathroom, where I had apparently stripped off and fallen asleep on the loo. Classy 'eh?! The next thing I know the lights are switched on and I felt as though I was in heaven it was that bright, but then came a familiar voice and it didn't seem to be too pleased with me. It was Mr. Warehouse and he had found me in a very compromised state of affairs. 

With a raised voice he asked me what I was doing to which I can only assume I slurred my response. After taking my remaining six-inch subway from me (which I have since been told I was clinging onto whilst asleep), cleaning up my mess, my long-suffering Mr. Warehouse got me up and put me to bed. Several hours later I awoke to the sunshine through the blinds, piercing into my life revealing the devastation that was the night before. With the help of the dog, who had now joined me in bed for a Saturday morning snooze, I got up and dressed myself in all boyfriend attire compromising of boy boxers, tracksuit bottoms and a over-sized tee, all staples for a morning after. Curling up on the sofa with pooch I sipped on my coffee and revelled in the fact that I had found my leftover Subway. 

It wasn't long before I had Miss Tweedle-Dee and Miss Tweedle-Dumb calling me wanting to know all the Gorey details of my messy night out with the lads from (ex) work. Miss Tweedle-Dumb was coming back up home for the weekend from Hampshire so we had planned to meet up and do something. We planned to meet at a local pottery place where you could invoke your creativity into some work of art on the side of a china piggy bank. Good for the soul and good for a hangover - Not that I was suffering at all really. As I sat their painting my Minnie Mouse themed piggy back I pondered across the fact that only twelve-hours previous I had been staggering up that very same High Street singing and laughing all the way and having drank copious amounts of alcohol I should have been in a much worse state than I was. 

Placing our pigs and other ware's into the Kiln trays I promised to collect them in a weeks time when they had been baked and glazed. Heading out to dinner that evening I was excited for my besties to try some of what Bedford had to offer in terms of culinary delights. Mr. Warehouse and I took them to Meat Cure on the High Street (as if I didn't get enough of it the night before). The newly opened burger house had been open since maybe last summer and the menu had grown massively since then, offering more than just the six or seven burgers initially menued. Now you could dine on steak, salad, chicken and burgers all with yummy sides and extras. Tucking in we forgot slightly to leave room for pudding as we headed to a new dessert place called Dessert Island where you could drool over very reasonably priced desserts with anything from cheesecake and tarts, to ice-cream, waffles, crepes, cookie dough and sundaes. 

Stuffed Mr. Warehouse and I said our goodbyes to Miss Tweedle-Dee and Miss Tweedle-Dumb and promised to meet up soon for more foodie escapades. Awhh Yes! And although this weekend was slightly unplanned and a bit thrown together I enjoyed the flow and certainly will cherish some of the moments I have had, although maybe not Subway-Loo?!

'Til next time, Love A.Lou xx