Ooh, you are awful!

I’m trying to win a work contract. But sometimes you just have to let work worries drop and do what you really need to do, so on Friday at midday I decided enough was enough and got smartened up to go out.

I went to Oxford Street armed with a load of vouchers from various stores and although tempted by a few items I decided not to buy anything on this occasion. I do make mental notes about stuff that I’d like to check out again in future, though.

In the evening I joined Joanne at the Melanie Italian restaurant we discovered a month ago and we had an enormous, long, slow, tasty dinner (the best kind). They bake their own bread and make their own pasta, and you could tell. Their bruschetta is the best ever. I am definitely taking the girls there in two weeks’ time for one of my Sunday lunches. There’s a particularly sweet young Italian waitress there that we really like (but we like all the staff). And Joanne likes the food so much she burst into the kitchen after and kissed all the chefs. “È terribile!” exclaimed our open-mouthed waitress in Italian, which means, “She’s awful!”. We giggled about this after as it was very much the tone of Mandy, a loved comic creation of Dick Emery’s (“ooh, you are awful!”, which became very much his catchphrase, see here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkLRZzukcJc). Tsk! I’m showing my age!

Then we went round the corner to the Curzon Soho to see A Dangerous Method about Jung, Freud and Spielrein, which I thought much better than reviews had led me to expect. Keira Knightley was a more than competent performer and the two male leads were good despite less than favourable reviews and, indeed, negative comments from other audience members. I found the whole thing fascinating and rather atmospheric.

So, coming up, I will go to Nottingham again next weekend for the increasingly popular Invasion. The following weekend two lovely friends happen both to be visiting London so Saturday night out will be followed by Sunday lunch. Things to look forward to amid the serious stuff.

Sue x