I mentioned last week, that Chris and I were married on Valentine’s Day in 1996.
I also mentioned that I very much dislike doing anything for Valentine’s Day because it feels so artificial and phoney.
There is an expectation to be romantic, an insistence even.
So we very rarely go out on Valentine’s itself. Plus, apart from the romance inflation, there’s also the set menus and price inflation too.
We booked a weekend at The Rosewood hotel for 19th Feb. Just a few days later can make a huge difference on the price.
Like I said, I’m the most expensive cheap date you’ll ever have. :)
Frugal and a spendthrift all rolled into one. What a combo. So we’ll go to nice places, just on cheaper weekends. Then the money saved on the occasion I’ll spend in other ways, ten times over. But at least I give an air of fiscal responsibility, it’s really just a case of smoke and mirrors. ;)
We booked The Rosewood for a few different reasons, but the main one was I love that they have pet birds. They have these beautiful cages with finches and budgies in them. And I love them.
I’ve felt a bit out of sorts since my dog died in the great plague of 2020. As if that year wasn’t bad enough with the many thousands of deaths directly and indirectly from the virus. Ben bought a flat and moved out in the January, lockdowns became a thing in the March and on top of that I had the grief of the loss of a dear, psychotic best friend of 13 years.
My dog was beautiful (to me. To others she was pretty dangerous and unstable, universally disliked because of her aloof nature and aggressive temperament).
Look at her, butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth, right? She looks adorable.
Unfortunately for her, she was obsessed with me. She tolerated others, for the most part. But if anything came between her and me? Well, on your own head be it.
With her gone, with the boys moved out, with all our other animals gone too, it can be a bit soulless here.
At one point, when the boys were young, we had 2 dogs, 14 chickens, 27 ducks (some were hand reared in our en-suite bathroom), 3 rabbits and numerous fish.
It was a hive of activity.
And now there is only Chris and I. I love the freedom of not having pets on the weekends, holidays, and having nights away at the drop of a hat.
It’s the week days that are a bit of a trudge.
So my desire to stay at the Rosewood was in part because I wanted to see the birds.
We booked the hotel a couple of months back. But a few days before we were due to go we realised we hadn’t booked a meal at the restaurant there. The Holborn Dining Room is amazing. If you haven’t been I’d definitely recommend it.
So Chris rang the hotel concierge. He said we were coming to stay on the weekend and could he book a table at the restaurant. The chap asked his name and got it all booked in. The concierge then says “are you staying with us with your wife?”
An innocent enough question. “Yes I am” replies Chris.
“your wife Amanda?” Says the concierge.
Well this phone call was taking place on loud speaker and I was sat next to Chris…at this point I shot my head round to look at him, nearly snapping it off in the process.
“I beg your pardon!?!?” We both exclaimed (intrigued).
Chris and I looked at each other both somewhat confused. At that point the concierge realised that he might have made a boo boo.
“Oh” he says “it’s just that I’ve got a package here for an Amanda Dora, so I thought it might be your wife”.
“No, no” says Chris, “my wife, Suzanne is sitting right here next to me, now wondering who the hell Amanda is!?”
hahahahahahahaha
Oh how we laughed. While I made a note to keep an eye out for random Amandas!! ;)
Anyway. We got to London quite early on Saturday morning, so Chris suggested a walk up Old/New Bond Street. I had mentioned I’d like to get some new trainers (running shoes - though in my case not for running anywhere).
I had decided on some Gucci ones. Chris has a similar pair and I thought it would be cute to match. Like a luxury brand “Howard and Hilda”. :)
We headed to Gucci. They had exactly the pair I was looking for. The sales assistant was lovely. Very warm. Very welcoming.
She popped out the back to wrap them, and left us in one of her colleague’s hands to take payment.
Said colleague didn’t bother making eye contact, stayed chatting on her phone call, brusquely pointed to the card reader when the time came to pay. She stayed chatting on the phone throughout the entire process, handed us the receipt, briefly smiled and walked away, still on her phone.
Wow!! Abso-f***-lutely wow!
I wouldn’t expect customer service like that at Primark, let alone somewhere supposedly high end.
When our original lady came back to hand over my trainers, I thanked her for her help, and gave her my feed back of her colleague, and then we left.
I wish I’d told them not to bother with the shoes, but I didn’t know if I’d find the trainers in stock anywhere else.
I have never had service so poor in any shop. I won’t bother going back to the store on Bond Street again. I was standing there in Gucci boots and a Gucci scarf. Is that really how they treat returning customers or any customers in fact.
I’m kicking myself we didn’t go to Harrods or Selfridges, they don’t cost more in there and the staff are a hell of a lot more polite. Plus I’d get my reward points in Harrods.
Lesson learned.
We headed off to Selfridges for lunch in Aubaine. I had my first salad Nicoise a few weeks ago and now I’m a bit obsessed with them.
Salad for me, and the best Wagu beef burger Chris has ever eaten, for him. Tummies full. We decided to have a look round for a bit.
We went into one of the departments that I already have a bag from. I was looking at a tote bag in there, but having carried a cross body bag for the last two years I felt weird having a bag in my hand again. I couldn’t remember how to hold it. And I felt clunky and awkward.
I mentioned to the (very lovely) sales assistant that I prefer a cross body now - for hands free shopping.
She mentioned the Lady Dior has a shoulder strap as well as handles. I said I have one of those already but the strap isn’t long enough to make it a cross body bag.
She said “oh well in that case you can buy the longer cross body strap!”
Genius!! I didn’t even realise they sell one!
Bless her, she went off to the stock room to find a bag like the one I already own, to show me how the strap would be on it to let me trial it there and then.
And that ladies and gentlemen is good customer service.
Chris treated me to the CD strap for my birthday (I’ll do my best to forget this come my birthday).
The strap will serve two purposes, (see how frugal I am!). One, it will make the bag cross body, and two, it’s a fabric strap, so it will dress down the bag, which is a bit on the fancy side for everyday wear.
My friend has the same issue with the bag as I do, I was able to tell her about the straps so she’s going to get one too.
I’m so happy with it. And I appreciate I am very lucky that Chris treats me so nicely. I don’t take it for granted. He is wonderful.
I kissed a lot of toads before I found my handsome Prince, so I know exactly how lucky I am.
**********
I had worn skinny jeans for a few days running in the build up to the weekend away. I felt a bit bloated and constipated by the Friday.
I was going to go with jeans again. But thought better of it.
Yes, I can wear jeans. I have a colostomy, so my out put is firm. But wearing tight clothes too many times in a row can cause me to back up. It can also at times cause pancaking (where the poo gets in between the bags adhesive layer and your skin).
Hoping for a romantic weekend away I felt it best to try as much as I can to avoid a leak.
I love a swishy dress. Who doesn’t want to be 4 again, spinning round so their skirt twirls out? Oh? Just me then? Hahaha
Shopping complete we headed to the hotel. I was super excited.
It is so grand and so beautiful. The staff are really friendly and helpful.
As we were checking in I asked about the birds.
“The birds?” Says the lady.
“Yes, the budgies and finches on the landing?”
”Oh, I’m sorry but the birds were re-homed in the first lockdown. With no one here it was deemed best for the birds so they didn’t get lonely”.
“What!!?”
No birds?? Great stuff.
We then headed to our room. Where we were greeted by a bottle of champagne. I thought it was a lovely touch, they knew it was our anniversary, so they obviously wanted to make it extra special.
We then realised that we are not Mr Umtitti, so it’s unlikely that the champagne was for us. Chris rang down to say there had been a mistake.
A few minutes later a porter let himself into our room. All three of us stood there somewhat taken aback.
He thought the room was empty and was being sent to collect something.
We handed over the champagne. He apologised for the mistake. We said it wasn’t a problem as neither of us drink alcohol. He jokingly said he’d bring us some cranberry juice…which he didn’t actually do now I come to think about it.
But the lady that checked us in did bring us a cake.
What with, Amanda, no birds and champagne that wasn’t ours this trip was going swimmingly! hahaha
These are the cages of birds from 3 years ago.
I think they are an amazing addition to a hotel. It felt homely with them. They used to have a dog roaming the place as well. Not that I ever saw him, but how lovely it is to stay somewhere with animals.
I don’t know of any other hotel with pets and now this one doesn’t too.
Anyway. Not to be dispirited. We were here to relax and enjoy some time away.
I’ve mentioned bag change times many times before. It’s a smelly process. It’s the only time of day that there is a smell. I think some people think having a stoma means you smell all the time. But that really isn’t the case. Well, I don’t anyway.
I worry about leaks. But I worry about leaks more than I actually leak.
Perception of stomas is usually always so doom and gloomy.
I really hope if you get anything from my blogs it’s that what I thought it would be like to have a stoma and what it’s actually like are extremely different. Polar opposites in fact.
But bag change time is smelly, some of that poo has been sitting there for 24 hours. In a hotel room it can be a bit off putting.
After all, I don’t change my bag at home and sit in the bathroom for hours breathing it in. No, I get in and out asap. Change the bag, open the window, leave the area to air off.
Well you can’t do that in a hotel room.
And this particular room didn’t have openable windows for a bit of air flow.
So that’s where the Ostomy room sprays come into their own.
(Also at this point it’s worth remembering that those with bums don’t always smell so fresh either. Going to the toilet, farting all day, and it’s been known for bum owners to have accidents.
Bum owners smell too - please remember that bit).
I don’t often bother with them at home, because an open window is enough, unless I have guests here. But they are much needed on nights away.
I spray the room spray. And then spritz perfume on top.
Normal room air fresheners are dreadful for stoma bag changing.
******
I got showered and dressed for our meal at The Holborn Dining Room.
Top from Holland Cooper, Trousers from Quiz, Shoes from YSL
I took this prize winning jumper. Chris absolutely loves it on me. I looked in the mirror and saw my protruding belly. What will people think of me?!
I was a bit disheartened to be honest. And then I decided to reframe it.
Yes, my belly does stick out. But then I have to remember that my belly has grown 2 beautiful babies, it has 2 hernias and a stoma attached, and I like to eat food and enjoy life. It’s very unlikely to be flat.
So if anyone did make fun of it (I mean would they?? Really? I doubt it very much) that’s on them, not me.
I am happy in my skin. I am grateful to my body. I am lucky it still works, and I’m still here.
So rather than look at my body negatively I’m going to rejoice and celebrate it. So what if my belly sticks out ~ I have a naturally cracking rack! Who cares about my belly. :)
Pies are their thing at The Holborn Dining Room. They even have a pie room. If you’re going to the restaurant I really recommend the chicken and tarragon pie.
Chris had the Steak pudding with bone marrow gravy. Which he said was exceptional.
We planned an early dinner to leave time for it to go down before bed. That’s how much I love food. I plan how to eat it to optimise my enjoyment. :)
We had such a great night. It was a very happy anniversary. :)
We ordered breakfast in bed the following morning. We had a late check out. We didn’t need to be out of the room till 1pm. So we had a luxurious lazy breakfast.
I wouldn’t dream of doing it at home. I’d get the right hump about crumbs in the bed.
But what better way to celebrate 26 years of marriage than with pancakes in bed.
Before the room service person arrived I sprayed more Ostomy room spray into the bathroom, and closed the door. Then sprayed some more and a bit of perfume.
Yes, I am comfortable and confident with a colostomy. But there are moments where you can have a dip in those feelings, I certainly do.
I say, do whatever gets you over that. Don’t miss out on life because of slight dents in your armour.
I thought I’d never leave my house again once I had the stoma surgery. But actually I’m hardly ever in it. :)
I took all the mini pots of jams and sauces, along with all the bathroom paraphernalia home with me. You can take the girl out of Romford but you can’t take Romford out of the girl! ;)
********
Ben came to the hotel to meet us. Chris and Ben wanted to go to The Beano exhibition at Somerset House. I felt that if we didn’t get it in the diary it just wouldn’t happen.
So we all headed to the gallery. They went to the Beano bit and I headed off to one of my favourite places on earth. The Courtauld gallery at Somerset House.
It houses some of the most famous and most beautiful Impressionist paintings in the world.
I have a deep love of Impressionism.
I had a wonderful time. I find I get a bit overwhelmed and over emotional in there. Well in any gallery where I admire the art really.
I love getting up close and seeing the brush strokes. Knowing that Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Degas, Cezanne all worked on these pieces. It’s incredible.
So I had a lovely time sobbing alone in the gallery while Chris and Ben were enjoying the works of art of Denis the Menace et al. Haha
Somerset House itself is spectacular. If you’re ever passing there are a few cafes inside. Some with incredible views over the Thames.
We finished our gallery trips, regrouped, then headed over to Fortnum and Mason for a late lunch and ice creams with James and Tanya and Freddie.
Ben insists on pulling faces and attempting to ruin my photos. But as I look perfectly fine, I will always use them. ;)
Little money saving tip. If you order a sundae from Fortnums cafe, you get a badge that entitles the bearer to free toppings for the ice creams for the rest of their life.
My mum has pointed out that you have to buy the ice cream for the toppings to go on so it’s not free in any way. But as the old saying goes - you’ve got speculate to accumulate. :)
Monday came around all too quickly and my broken womb decided to bleed again. Which means it looks like I will have to have the womb zapping the doctor I saw a few weeks ago mentioned. So that’s something fun to look forward to. Arrrggghh!
But Tuesday was a really good day. I opened my front door to find a bunch of flowers had been delivered. I was completely confused. I thought Chris might have sent them.
But they were actually from someone I met last week. I am so touched.
I popped to see someone that was having a bit of bother getting used to their new stoma. It wasn’t far from my home and it was the least I could do. I know I’d have appreciated it way back when I first had my surgery.
But honestly it was no bother at all and I really enjoyed myself.
So to be sent a bunch of beautiful flowers was amazing. I feel so happy that I was able to bring some comfort to someone else. It means the world to me to put surviving to good use. :)
Thank you so much for the flowers C and family. xx much appreciated x
Keep well yourself. xx
Have great week. Xx