A special day in the city

Yesterday afternoon me and mum headed into our local city. We usually use Park & Ride but this day we parked in the city centre. Mum was quite nervous about that but I gave her directions from a map and we made it uneventfully. First we found a little cafe where we sat outside with drinks. When I'd finished mine I left mum there while I popped down the street to a jewellers.

Just under a week ago my friend Michelle had mentioned that she'd bought some new beads for her Trollbead bracelet and I was intrigued, so Googled Trollbeads to find out more. And I fell in love with the bracelets and beads. After talking to more people about them I decided to get myself one and looked into all the locks (clasps) and beads on the Internet.

I found that my nearest Trollbead retailer was in the city, so yesterday afternoon I popped in to buy myself a bracelet. I've never been in a posh jewellery shop before so really enjoyed that experience. I was sat down at a little table and served one-to-one by a jeweller who showed me all the Trollbead locks, glass beads and metal beads and didn't rush me at all. I finally made my decision and here are 2 photos of the bracelet I chose:


The bracelet contains the 17cm silver bracelet, the purple flower, the white flower, 2 silver stoppers and the swan lock.

I was happy with my decision and so went to pay with my debit card, but the machine kept rejecting my PIN, eek! So I nipped back to the cafe and borrowed my mum's debit card to make my purchase. Later we went to my bank where we sorted the problem and I repaid mum the money she'd lent me. That meant however that I had to let her know how expensive the bracelet had been! Mum hadn't been very happy with me when I said I was going to buy it because she thinks I spend too much money on things I don't need and she refused to accompany me to the jewellers. But afterwards when she saw how happy it made me, she accepted it a bit better.

When I'd finished in the jewellers and went to meet mum back at the cafe where I'd left her, I found that she in conversation with a man I'd never seen before. Apparently he'd sat down next to mum at the cafe and she'd picked cards so he could tell her all about her personality. My mum isn't usually one for fortune telling and that kind of thing, so that was quite surreal!

We spent a couple more hours wandering round the city, browsing in shops and having drinks in cafes :) Then just before half past six we headed to the venue, a students' union, for our plans for the eve. We ordered drinks in the bar and then headed through to the debating lobby where we got good seats because we were some of the first to arrive. We sat there and ate our sandwiches while the big debating lobby filled up.

Our seats were next to some seats with reserved signs on them but our seats hadn't had signs on, so we weren't very happy when we were told we had to move because the seats we were sitting in should have been marked as reserved! So me and mum refused to just accept this because by this point the lobby was quite full and we would have had to sit right at the back. We asked for chairs to be put at the end of this row of seating for us but luckily someone then said that they didn't need all the reserved seats so we could sit back down. Phew! The lobby then got completely full and so the balcony above started to fill up. There must have been around 500 people in the room.

Then just after 7.30pm Jo Brand walked in! As she entered the room everyone started clapping and she looked round and looked straight at my mum. Then she took a seat in the centre (we had a really good view) and someone from the union sat down next to her and started interviewing her. She was really down to earth and very funny :)

After the interview finished, the man asked for questions from the audience and she answered about 5. Then he said there was time for just one more and I had my hand up as did another man who'd had his hand up longer than me (I was a bit shy about putting mine up). But I was picked and so could ask her a question :D I asked if she'd filmed the second series of Getting On yet and when it would be televised. She told us a bit about the filming of the series, how it'd been filmed in a hospital with no heating and no toilets and how the rest of the crew had been wrapped up warm while her and the rest of the cast had been in nurses' uniforms, and then said it'd air at the end of the month.

Then Jo Brand left the lobby to get ready for the book signing and me and mum dashed out as quickly as we could and made our way to the cafe/lounge where we knew the book signing was taking place. I'd already bought a copy of Can't Stand Up For Sitting Down when we'd got our drinks earlier in the eve. Me and mum were first in the queue for the book signing because we'd moved so quickly! As we waited for Jo Brand the queue grew longer and longer behind us. Then she came in with her team and took a seat at the table. Me and mum chatted a nice woman who was somehow involved with Jo Brand while she got herself together and signed a book for the man who'd interviewed her earlier. Then it was my turn! As I went up and said hello to Jo Brand, mum asked us to pose for a photo. Here is the result:


I asked her to sign the book 'To Molly' and then improvise something, so she did. Here is my autograph! :P


Most people who don't know me assume I'm about 15 or 16 because I look young for my age, but from that comment I guess Jo must have thought I was older, which makes me very happy :) I didn't have long to talk to her but I said that we'd really enjoyed hearing her talk and were looking forward to seeing the second series of Getting On as we'd loved the first.

Me and mum then headed home, both very happy after a lovely day. And while we were driving home we saw a fox run across the road ahead of us :)

Also that eve I ordered myself a silver Sparrow Trollbead over the Internet. I'd already decided I wanted this particular bead before I bought my bracelet but it wasn't in stock in the shop so I bought it online instead. I'll post up a photo of my bracelet with that addition when it arrives :)