Birthday

The upcoming Eurovision party, seems more than enough opportunity to have a vague celebration of a passing year and so I'd given scant thought to birthday celebrations.

Casual conversations earlier in the week however, produced perfect low key plans.

Accordingly, last night the entire Dog Collar and Rabbit Corpses household took me out to the Punjab.

I was permitted to open my cards and present en-route.

The present has already found a home in my lounge and is looking forward to making it outside for the Eurovision barbecue. He can be seen here hiding amongst the amaryllis.



If it is unclear to you, as to why a giant red rabbit is a very funny present to receive from this lot, then trust me, you don’t want to spare the amount of time it would take to explain.

Let’s instead concentrate on more important matters

In addition to the card from S&K, each of the girls (plus boyfriend in one case) had got me individual birthday cards.

There seems to be a theme. Can you spot what it is?

From S&K:



From the three girls (and U):



A top night out.

Then this morning, K and I met for a wonderful girlie day of shopping, lunch and more shopping.

My outfit (black and white skirt, with black top) and shoes (posh black heels with white trim - get me and the colour co-ordination!) for next week's wedding are sorted, but I need either a white scarf (doesn't sound very me does it?), piece of silver jewellery or 'something' to brighten the planned black top.

K is the perfect shopping buddy, she makes me consider things I wouldn't normally.

It's a long haul, but eventually we find the perfect silver disc on a black cord and a white cotton jacket (why didn't we think of that before?). We also find the perfect shoes for Karen's outfit, but do they have her size in the appropriate colour? Anywhere in Greater Manchester? Of course they don't.

However, I would like it recorded that someone went home with more than one pair of shoes...and it wasn't me...

Anyway, time for lunch.

"Have you been to a Nando's before?"

Well at least they recognise how baffling it all is for the first timer. Doesn't stop me feeling old and out of it, too many vegetarian friends to have ever made a chicken outlet a first choice.

Still it was very nice and we had an excellent chat and watched the world go by under the rather nice, glass roofed, new part of the Arndale (nice? Arndale? now there's two words I never thought I'd put together in a sentence without the word 'not' hanging around somewhere close).



Refreshed we pushed on and eventually found a cheap shoe shop that not only offered up the perfect orange pumps that I'd been looking for all day (always the last shop you try...) and for K, a pair of glitzy silver strappy heels that will be perfect for her upcoming "groovyfest" presentation at college.

So ok I didn't find the Ted Baker tote bag I was after, but other than that I think we can call it a successful day. Not least because days like this are really about spending time with the best of buddies, not what you carry home in a carrier.