What to say?!

Oh boy. So much to catch up on. While I have been neglecting this blog (what else is new?), I've been shamelessly updating twitter (find me @LeannainLondon) and also continue to update my personal travel blog, which I link to through my twitter. It contains mainly travel photos, and that's about it. Of course with some personal anecdotes thrown in.

However, for your viewing/reading pleasure, I offer you a taste of what's been going on in my life for the past month.

• I finally got around to making a BACON BOWL!

And yes, I ditched the "salad" idea in favor of Fab Broke's idea of mashed potatoes. Although, I regret that I had no cheddar cheese to put on top, but a sprinkle of parmesean cheese did the trick. And damn, was it delicious. Although really, bacon in and of itself is delicious.

• I have also made a step towards returning to work in a couple of weeks, which is greately reassuring. I was unsure of when HMV might be contacting me again for work, so I had applied at some other places, but never heard back, which was slightly disapointing. I think I really need to work on my resume, but oh well. I'm really pleased to be going back to HMV, not only because I've only got enough money to last until mid-December before being out on the street, but because they are a great team and I love it there. Really.

(As a side, now that I know that I'm returning to work I've been on a frantic race to get everything I want to do in London done before then. Nothing like a deadline to get my bottom moving.)

• I finally met STEPHEN FRY!!!!!

Okay, some of you... well, most of you might not know who he is, and that's okay. I'm sure you have the skills to Google/Wikipedia/YouTube your heart out about him. But the bottom line is that he's my celebrity crush. You might have picked that up if you follow me on twitter and see just how many messages I send in his direction. He's damn funny and brilliant and so very very kind. I got to see him at a book signing yesterday and have the utter luck to be seeing him again tomorrow at a fundraiser. Bloody brilliant! Love love love.

(Of all the celebrities I've met, and I haven't met that many, just a few, he's the only one that's made me feel completely comfortable and confident, which is no small feat as I tend to lose all verbal communication skills in the presence of famous people).

• This month has been really hard for me, budget-wise.
  

And that doesn't mean I haven't stayed within my budget, which I'm sure I have, I just haven't had the energy to input any figures. Usually when I get home the first thing I do is fire up the spreadsheet and fill everything out, checking bank balances and updating everything. This month, I just can't be bothered. It's strange.

I think I'm reaching my peak of budget-ness. Back home I really had a lot of disposible income, even though I was saving for this trip, and so I could just spend a lot more money. I was just discusing with my flatmate how I spent about 20 quid on random transport stuff (very cool old rail signs) at the London Transport Museums Open Weekend, and I felt totally guilty - that's the most money I've spent on "fun things" all in one go in a long ass time. Which is surprising, since back home it wasn't uncommon to drop about $200 in one day at the mall. It's a strange flop. But yep, it's been hard this month.

• I've been a cookie-baking-lunatic for the past month.

You name it, I've baked it. Raspberry thumbprint cookies, peanut butter cookies, oatmeal-raisin cookies, even brownies. I've done it all. Oh, and cinnamon buns, too. While it's been a delicious month, not only have I been a bad influence on my favorite flatmate who is currently on WeightWatchers (I'm a bitch I know... :( ), but I've managed to put on a bit of weight, too. At least enough to counteract the weight I had lost the previous month. So, I'm off the cookies for now. I'm getting tired of them anyways. I think I'll tackle making bread next.

(As a side, I did buy new jeans today as my old ones are nanoseconds away from tearing in an embarassing manner and I'm down one size. Hot damn! Cookies be damned... well, sort of.)

• I've been to see more TV shows being recorded than I think should ever be done.
  

As part of this unemployed-ness that I found myself in (longer than I had anticipated, really), I started to fill my time by going to see TV shows being recorded. It's been, well, both super boring and completely hilarious, depending on the show. Sometimes I'd turn up to queue for a show and find that I'm the only one who isn't currently retired attending ... those shows were often a bit boring for me. At the same time, I've had a night full of laughs when seeing comedy shows starring the likes of Alan Carr, Sean Locke, Jo Brand, etc, etc. That's a reall pleasure. On

Tuesday I'm going to see a taping of Piers Morgan's Life Stories, which I've already seen a couple times. I just hope that this, for the third time, that the guest is someone I actually know. While the other two guests (Cilla Black and Boris Johnson) were entertaining, I didn't know who there were. It's more fun when I know. But that's what I get for not being British, I guess.

That's really about all I can think of to update everyone. Really, I know I don't update this blog very often, so do come find my on twitter, at least then you'll hear from me on a semi-daily basis. And through twitter you can track down my personal blog, which I don't mind you poking about. But it's not finance-related, I'm warning you. :)

Thanks for stopping by.