A fabulous weekend...

I was back in Blackpool about 10 days later, where I stayed over on the Friday night before the Angels Christmas meal on the Saturday in Manchester’s Village. It was going to be 48 hours of Lisa-time. I’d called in at the Trafford Centre in the afternoon on my way up to Blackpool, to get a few last minute ‘necessities’. The plan was to meet up with a friend and have a night at Roxy’s on a busier night, and then the next day I’d set off for Manchester to meet up with Jen, Imogen and Linzi for a day’s shopping, before having our big night out, and then another day’s shopping in town on the Sunday, before ‘de-Lisa-ing’ on the way home.

At John Lewis I wanted to buy a brown scarf and matching gloves. Downstairs the sales assistant was being very helpful with colours etc, and then we looked at the gloves, and I said I needed a big stretchy pair. So we settled on a pair that I was happy with.

‘Are you sure they’re big enough?‘ I asked. ‘they’re actually for me, as I don’t always look like this’, I said to her, pulling my usual photo out of my wallet to show her the other me. The assistant gave me a really cool smile, and a ‘wow, come back again soon!’ she said.

I’d called in to Selfridges to see GG Lisa on the perfume section, but it was her day off. I’m sure one day we’re going to get her to join us with her friends on a night out in Manchester.

Well first snag; my friend couldn’t now make it due to domestics. Shame really, but I was determined to go out, so went alone. Lynda told me where the scene was in town, and after a stroll around the block and along the Blackpool prom for a block, I got into the car and headed for town. I got there about 60 seconds later. Well, I was in heels! I parked where we were last time, and knew that Roxy’s was only a short tottering distance away. But this time it was busier, AND, I had to pay on the door. That never happens at Naps!

It was already 9-ish, and full with Christmas party groups, so not the best mix of regulars to meet, even if there were any. In fact from my point of view it was a lousy atmosphere, as those in there for the Christmas parties wouldn’t normally be in there, in my opinion. Including a few middle aged women in works’ groups giving me odd stares. Still, I chatted to 2 or 3 friendly girls, and stayed and watched the show for a couple of hours before getting back to Lynda’s.

The next day all started off ok, and I got to the Charles Street car park in Manchester just a little bit later, by which time Jen and Linzi had already gone off to Selfridges on the other side of town. I was getting a bit nervous at this time, late Saturday morning, having to get across town on my own. I didn’t think I’d have the confidence to make it. Anyway, I was in the car park, and still waiting for Imogen to get in touch. Then I get a text ‘I’m in the car park’.
So I text back ‘I’m on level 2’.
Imogen replies, ‘so am I!’
Then I look across and see that she’s parked just 2 spaces away from me in the car park! After we’d stopped laughing, we set off to the hotel for a comfort break, and to check when the rooms at the Days Inn would be ready. We still had a few hours to spare, so we thought we’d try and catch up with the other 2 girlies across town. As we set off, we came across the builders digging the hole in the road, that Jen’s already blogged about on Angels. Well I wasn’t ready for any hassle so crossed the road early, but Imogen wanted to take the test and walked right past them without getting any comment. By this time I’d made a significant observation. Imogen walks quickly. Very quickly. In 3 ½ “ heels, I don’t. by the time we’d got to Piccadilly, I couldn’t keep up with the pace. I had to let Imogen catch up with the other girls, whilst I sat in a coffee shop for a while, to rest my feet. After a while I was well-rested, and set off towards King Street. I’d got my confidence by this time; well what could I do otherwise? I was in the middle of town! I nipped in to Karen Millen and had a browse and tried on a few outfits, but they were very pricey. A gorgeous black floaty skirt, but for £90? The staff were very friendly and helpful though, and the atmosphere in the store was quite cool. Then I got a text from Jen: ‘we’re having a late lunch in a bar in Portland Street if you want to join us’. well I got there in 15 minutes and was glad to sit down. We had a lovely lunch and some nice wine, and then headed back to the hotel to check in and get ready for the evening. I wore my favourite black and grey lacy dress, with black heels.

The Christmas meal
We’d booked a table at Villaggio’s for about 18, and had a great evening in there. The place was full, with a lively and noisy atmosphere. A few new girls joined us, and hopefully we’ll see more of them in 2008. The one downside was that they didn’t provide the after-meal entertainment music that they’d promised, so we had to go to AXM for that, and in the end it was a good move. We were upstairs and the dancing went on until the early hours, and it was a good atmosphere in there too. I chatted to this half-merry nurse from Hull at the bar, who called herself a brunette Pamela Anderson, and you could see the similarity. She promised to buy me the same bodice that she was wearing. I was being a bit careful with what I said to her, as I didn’t want to upset her boyfriend who was at the bar too. It turned out that he was a gay friend who fancied the barman, and that‘s why they were staying at the bar! I vaguely remember Kay Denise taking some photos at this time; my new Yorkshire friend hanging on to me for dear life, as she was ready for a fall!

The place was buzzing, and I remember seeing Nicki dancing until later on she couldn’t stand any longer, with her feet up on the coffee table. We were joined by a group on a works party from North Wales. There was one girl who was an absolute stunner, blonde with the black dress. She told me it came from Axos.com. A few moments later as we were chatting, she leant forward, and asked me what perfume I was wearing, so I told her it was Missoni. ‘Well I’m getting married next year and that’s the perfume I’m going to wear on my wedding day, in that case!’ I was quite chuffed with that!
Somehow, during the chatting I noticed that my friends had disappeared back to the hotel, so I tried to catch them up, but eventually walked back to the hotel on my own.

The next morning I was in the bathroom just about to get made up, when there was this bang, and out of the corner of my eye I saw one of the light bulbs in the bedroom go shooting across the room, and all the lights went out in the room. Fortunately Imogen was still in her room and allowed me to use her bathroom to finish off my face-trowelling! I’d decided on the short beige cord skirt from Polo, cappuccino opaque tights, and my brown boots, with a patterned top, and short black fitted leather jacket. I thought it was a ‘blendable’ outfit, anyway!

Breakfast for the 4 of us was a quiet affair, a few families and couples in the dining room, but it was as if we were the invisible women! We decided that we’d stroll in to town and do some shopping, and have lunch, and then say our goodbyes in the mid-afternoon. Again, this was a big step for me, as I’d not been out in the day until this weekend, and we were going in to the city centre, 2 Sundays before Christmas, when it was going to be absolutely packed.

By 11am we’d reached King Street, which is what I’d suggested, and after we all browsed in Boots the Chemists, we then split in to a few of the local shops, keeping in touch by text. By this time I’d found Hobbs, and they were having a sale! I’d seen this lovely tailored light brown skirt, which I tried on downstairs in the dressing rooms. And then, I’ve absolutely no idea what happened for the next hour, but I was having the best time of my life! The assistants were really helpful, and great company too! I saw a lovely black suit on the hanger, but they didn’t have my size. Better still, they had my size in the brown colour, which was even better! Then there was the blouse that went with it, so I just had to have that! The best thing I saw was this gorgeous flowing silk dress, with a wide tie bow at the back. When I tried it on, it was like it was made for me, and so I just had to have that too! The other thing about trying clothes on in here is that you could go out in to the main bit of the shop, and use the big shop mirrors, whilst other women were in there browsing and trying things on, and nobody seemed to notice me in there at all. It was the most natural experience, and I was in no hurry to leave. But, eventually, I realised I’d committed most of my shopping budget, and more, in this store, so had to get going and meet up with the other girlies for lunch!

Jen had sent me a text to say they were in Deansgate, so I made my way up that way, past Kendals. As it was a sunny day, I had my Dior sunglasses on, so I think this gave me a bit of confidence too. I had a look at the handbags in Ecco whilst I waited for them. When we met up we decided to eat at Café Rouge in Deansgate, as it’s where I’ve eaten before on my own. When we went inside, heads turned, but just for a split second, and then we were ignored by the other diners. ‘That usually happens’, Linzi said to me. The restaurant was quite full with families, but we were served courteously by friendly staff, and had a good natter.

After lunch, it was getting late, so we said our goodbyes, and I headed back towards the car park in Charles Street on my own. It was 3pm by this time, but I was feeling very confident after the experiences of earlier. I don’t know why, but I went by King Street (!) again. And then I saw Planet. And they had a sale on! Well, you can’t ignore that, can you?! I’ve got to add that the 2 sales assistants were really friendly. So 30 minutes later, and with another 2 lovely dresses, one gold, and one beige and brown, I was back out in to the street, laden down with shopping bags, and heading back to the car a very happy t-girl!

With my confidence levels sky high, I decided I was going to take on the workmen in the famous hole in the road, around the corner from the car park. And? When I got there, they completely ignored me as I walked, no, strutted, right past them!

An hour later, I was in my office in town, de-Lisa-ing, but with a grin that seemed to last for weeks afterwards!