Going girly in Bath

Ola chicas!

It’s Monday, which must mean that another weekend has flown past and fun things have happened :o)

I had a quiet night on Friday, just heading to the pub with some friends, and after a day of on-target eating I managed to save some points.  One thing I most definitely didn’t save was any money, as the garage finished with my car repairs and relieved my purse of £460!!!  Ouch – greedy bastards!!  It never rains but it pours when you’re out of work and money is tight.  Just another hit to my credit cards that I didn’t need at all.  But on the upside getting my car back on Friday meant that at least I was saved from having to rent a car for my trip down South.

I headed down to Bristol on Saturday (my new home-to-be!) for some belated birthday celebrating with Hannah.  It’s been a decadently enjoyable weekend, with the focus being on cheering Hannah up and having some fun, since she’s still reeling from a rather nasty break-up with Jonny-boy next door (which is a whole other story of The Stupidity of Boys – some other time, huh?).

We spent Saturday in beautiful Bath (soon to be only a short train ride away from my new home …. mmmm, the excitement), and had lunch at the amazing Hall and Wood House, which we stumbled on by accident.  After searching out some loos in department store Jolly’s, we were winding our way back down the stairs to the ground floor, when we spotted the amazing roof terrace full of diners from the window.  It was pretty much decided, then and there, that we would hunt it down for a lunch-time drink, and then it turned out their menu was amazing!  A glass of prosecco later and a delicious home-made egg mayo and cress sandwich (doorstep bread courtesy of Hobbs House Bakery – heavenly), and we decided a walk through the city and parks was a good way to digest.

We may then have pit-stopped for ice-cream from the Real Italian Ice Cream Company after that (it’d be rude not to really!), before wending our leisurely way to the Thermae Spa.  We watched the sun set over the city from the roof-top pool (only thing lacking was a glass of bubbly – why is there no bar – Thermae:  sort it out!), before working our way down through the building via the lavender scented steam-room to the indoor heated pool.  By the time we emerged with prune-like fingers several hours later, we were about as relaxed as two happy little girls can be.  On a side-note – going to the spa soon after a month’s travelling is totally the way to go – no pastiness for me!!

Back in Bristol and home at the flat, we did a quick change for more girly glam trappings, and taxi’d up to the Clifton Triangle for a late Wagamamas tea, then rolled down the hill (yep, after a couple of glasses of wine, it was close to rolling for me), to Goldbrick House for expensively amazing cocktails.

Several observations come to mind about the evening:

• Hannah looked happy and there was laughter to be heard – my mission was a success;
• Goldbrick House is a very friendly type of place as we ended up chatting and bantering with three different sets of random guys;
• Their cocktails are lethal – if you can’t taste the alcohol in your third one, and it’s a short so you know it’s mostly alcohol, something has definitely gone wrong.
• I’m now an alcoholically-challenged light-weight, and in view of my third observation I should have guessed I’d be really quite ill afterwards!
• Bacon sandwiches in the morning rock.

After a very slow start to the morning yesterday (and a bacon sandwich to help the morning-after reboot along), we wandered over to Brisfest on the harbour-side, for a couple of hours of live music, dance and general entertainment.  We rounded off with a very late lunch that turned into dinner, and then some trashy tv, til it was home-time for me.

It was a lovely weekend, and although I’ve eaten a lot (well, we did eat out for 3 of the meals), I’m happy that I struck a balance between enjoying myself, and making some health-conscious choices, where possible.  I am over on my points for the weekend, but lots of little choices, like:

• A sandwich instead of something heavier at Hall and Wood House, a single glass of prosecco and then water, and a shared (smallish) portion of fries;
• A single scoop of ice-cream in a pot instead of a waffle cone;
• Chicken, rice and stir-fried veg at Wagamamas rather than a Katsu curry, and edamame instead of gyoza;
• A shared dessert;
• A small bacon sandwich, and 2 rashers of bacon, not more; and
• Lots of walking

have added up to a manageable deficit that I can get back this week, rather than a complete derailment. 

I’ve eaten right today, having made a giant batch of very tasty Autumn veg soup (carrots, cabbage, broad beans, courgette, a tin of tomatoes and stock, left chunky, if anyone’s interested) and pre-planned my food.  I’ve still got a couple of points unplanned for a snack or dessert after dinner to take me to my minimum points for the day, so I’ll save 8.5 pts after my spin class as well.

Oh yes, and my friend Kirsty wants to set me up on a blind date – do I go??