Essentially Steph

As always, most excited to get home and open my parcel 😅 gunna pop by shop before getting in so I can get something to line my stomach and perhaps something for breakfast for when I’m dying tomorrow.

I might also have time to do a bit of sewing before we go, need to finish frog bag mark II before Thursday! Ideally I will finish it before heading out today, but I really can’t remember what bits I have left and how long it should take so I’m not banking on it. I’ve already marked tomorrow as a write off but damn there’s so much I could be doing … actually need to do work work and if I don’t feel up to it I’ll likely do some very long days next week before I’m off - would be great to swap out some AL for TOIL tbh though!

Cooked those in butter but had to turn the heat right down when I realised the middles weren’t getting cooked properly, added balsamic vinegar and honey and covered it to get the middles nicely done. Then I added chopped fresh peaches until slightly soft, freshly torn basil and a ball of fresh mozzarella in little pieces.

3 photos from Saturday!

I got to Alicante on Friday late, we came straight to bed. Saturday was beach and pool then we went out for dinner at an Italian I’ve been craving for a little while (not even pasta in Naples hit the spot like this did) then we had a few cheeky drinks at some different bars and miraculously after 2 wine based drinks (over dinner), 2 tequila based drinks, and 3 rum and cokes, I was fine the next day.

Had paella for lunch and finished my book by the pool, the people renting the flat moved out but we still had to do one more day at andy’s parents, then we moved back to the flat after work yesterday. Hopefully for the last time!!

We still need to go get some stuff we left in the storage place, and we need to sort all the bags and boxes, but yeah. I think the max time we’ll stay here will be til next summer, only moving out of this place one more time!!!

I have eaten lots of treats and I am so bloated I really think if I hadn’t got a seat on the tram, someone would have offered me theirs. I was also rubbing my belly because sore, but it looked like protective mum bump rub hahaha anyways, dunno if im alone in this, but I though it looked cute with this dress?? I don’t know if that’s weird to say as a non-pregnant person but I enjoyed the little belly pop!!

I left early and have 2 hours of work to do at some point but I’m just sorting my room first, doing washing, and need to pack a suitcase because I am travelling back to Alicante, with luggage 👀 for the first time since I moved over! Can’t decide what to take back as I still don’t know how final, or when work stuff is gunna resolve, but I kinda need to make a start. I booked my flights last night… for tomorrow after work. Hectic.

Final note, I am finally feeeeeling my hair!! It is a bit of effort to style but I love it when I get it right!! Still want a perm but am now questioning sticking with/experimenting with this kinda style for longer.

Rolling out of bed, realising my makeup is basically fine, retouching it slightly. Redoing my hair with my mini straightener to add some texture back in, body shower to wash off yesterday, hwfg agaaaaain!

Lmao the lighting in the last one - looking like rabbit from Winnie the Pooh when he’s wired with anxiety (and feeling similar).

Took yesterday off because Andy was off and we went to glossop for a walk but the route was closed because of fire risk and we tried to walk a different way but didn’t get very far and decided to go to the pub which I was thankful for because I am still not feeling 100% with this cold and I was struggling.

When we got back home we decided to go out for dinner at Hungamaa which was yum but we took some home cause we couldn’t finish it so have lunch today!

Met Sahema + Jess + new housemate Alex for a drink after, he seems so sweet I’m really happy we chose him. Caitlin is also moving in this week so hoping we do something altogether on Friday - especially as the rest of the house are due back then too and it’s been a little empty this week!

One line from last night that absolutely cracked me up and I couldn’t even tell if he was joking was from Alex asking “wait, how many ovaries do you guys have??” 😭

But yeah, was walking around and asked the guy are you sure we shouldn't be wearing masks? (Having just walked past a barrier that clearly said everyone should be wearing a respirator beyond this point - but the way it was chucked to the side made it seem like it wasn't relevant right now, but given that the idea of being on site around asbestos while it's being disturbed has me on edge, thought it was a good time to bring it up.)

He was like no, all this ground (exposed, 300mm topsoil removed, chunks of random material sticking out) has been scanned, this is fine. I was like ok, what about that, pointing to the big pile of topsoil that is to be removed from site because of the asbestos containing material that was found on the playing field and in several other samples around the school, and which in that moment has a massive digger on top of it dropping a bucket full of soil which was just billowing into the air and catching on the wind :) The guy was like yeah we should probaby stop here. Ffs I swear to god if I die for this job I'm gunna be so annoyed.

- she called me several pet names including my sunshine and my squirrel (!!) within the first 10 mins

- the consent form was full of little errors that gave away the polish origins of the 2 main artists of the studio than no one has had the heart to point out, and why should they, they are so heart warming

- she kept telling me how excited she was to do my design and that her daughter was ill last night but she begged her husband to stay home from work to look after her as she didn’t want to miss this tattoo!

- She told me “you are never wearing white pants for a tattoo again ok. I am shitting myself.”

- She did the first few strokes of the piece and went “nearly done!”

- as I uncovered pieces of her life story in the wrong order I found out that she moved to Ireland from Poland because she was a troublesome teen who had stolen a car and crashed it into a lamppost and her parents refused to bail her out “this time” (what an earth did she get up to before!?) so she went to work in a hotel to make the money she needed to pay back.

- She told me about travelling “about 20 years ago” and I was like excuse me how are you old enough to have done anything 20 years ago?? Looks soooo good for being 40 something! (Try not to obsess over stuff like this but damn)

- she was talking about me getting plenty of rest while it heals and was like that’s ok because you’re staying with your mum tonight right? And then she remembered I was actually staying with my brother and was like oh wait oh no you are not going to rest at all are you. Ok, it’s ok. 😂