Tag: flatmate

Mooooving

thegirlinthecafe 6 Comments

Moving house ...
I told you I was going to move right? And that one of my flatmates was going to be Angus, the 39 y.o. friendly Kiwi.

Well that still is the case. I have packed more than half of my things in boxes, booked a removal company and sent out the first change-of-address notifications.

However I have now found out that my second flatmate is going to be of the male type too. That was not really something I considered could happen when I said yes to Angus, but somehow I will be sharing a very nice three bedroom flat with two men!

Does this worry me? Not really. The new guy (I am calling him Paolo, which isn’t his real name) is Italian, 34, working in an Art Gallery in the West End and very quiet, according to Angus. So I think we will all be fine. And to be honest, generally, I do get along better with men than with women. There just need to be some rules, you know, things like the toilet seat down and things like that. But it is going to be new and exiting, the flat and the area are great, and who knows Paolo might be a brilliant cook of Italian food!

So yes, two weeks from now we’ll have a coffee the three of us and me and Paolo will get the keys. And the next day I move in. I will keep you updated.

Besides moving, I am also going to be social, I will visit the following events:

For all those three things – I have no idea what it is going to be like, but I will give them all a try. I am not looking forward to the Ghost Bus Tour though – as I am not a fan of anything spooky, but I got invited so I will give it a go.

Tonight I will watch two delightfully talented actors in Waiting for Godot. Next week I will go on a two week video editing (Adobe Premiere) course in Leamington Spa where I hope to learn some new tricks regarding video editing. And when all that is done I will soon be closing the door behind me in my current flat, moving on to a new chapter in my life.

Did I tell you already that you really should go and see Last Chance Harvey? Utterly utterly charming film. Actually.

And what are you all up to?

The hunt for the perfect flat(mate) II

thegirlinthecafe 4 Comments

No it wasn’t going to be that easy. I had forgotten how you should not believe too much of what people tell you about the rooms they have available. As they are all “great” “spacious” “modern” etc.
The room in Fulham was all that in the ad, in real it was smaller than a shoebox, and about half the size of my current room. Now I don’t need a lot of space but I need: a single bed, a desk and chair so I can write behind my desk, and a small table/drawer for my small tv. The Fulham room had a single bed and no space for any of the other things. I got an instant claustrophobic attack and realised that my current room is quite funky.

(Why do I want to move you wonder? Well because the landlord is a bit of an ass, he just wants the rent but does not give us a contract nor does he pay for repairs to his house. Not a big issue until now – but the boiler is acting weird lately and I refuse to sponsor him with a new boiler.)

But I also met a potential new flatmate for my current flat, and she was actually a really nice person. She seemed to like the room, and I think we would get along fine. So if she says yes and moves in, maybe I should put my flat hunting on hold for a while and see what happens.

If that does not works out I always have the following offer:

HELLO
I HAVE A ROOM IN NORTH LONDON
I AM NON SMOKER AND MALE
IF YOU WISH WE CAN SHARE THIS ROOM
YOU WILL BE GUARENTEED ABOUT SAFETY
YOUR RENT WILL BE 35 POUND FOR A WEEK

35 pound per week to share a room(! not a flat mind you!!) with a man. So cheap. Tempting.

Say Yes more and No less

thegirlinthecafe 9 Comments

Organic Coke

  • No: I am OK with Organic food, but this “Sparkling Delicious organic Cola” is not Sparkling and as far from Delicious as it can be, it is the worst tasting cola I have ever tasted. So that’s a no. Never again. Yuk.
  • Yes is what I said to a Tweatup (Twitterers eat and meet up) last Saturday. This meant that I had a late but great lunch in a great Indian restaurant in East London last weekend. I had never been in that area before, and I have never tried Indian food like this, it was like the Indian version of tapas. Very recommended!
    Address:
    Vijay’s Chawalla
    268-270 Green Street, Forest Gate,
    E7 8LF London

    (Tube: Upton Park)

  • On Wednesday I have said yes to a pop quiz in a pub in Soho with 3 (that’s 3 the mobile phone company). Pub/Pop quizzes are so typical British, I have never really been to one in a pub before, so in stead of declining I am going. I can always leave if it turns into a big drink fest. I will report back on how it was, I consider it a part of my British education. And apart from that, there is always a chance that I pick up some inspiration for future writings.

    And I am generally going to say yes more. I won’t go as far as becoming a Yes Man, but I think I need to push myself a bit and go and do some things that I have not tried before.

  • And phew – I have a first serious response on my flatmate ad (that’s for the flat where I currently live). I will be away this weekend, but will hopefully meet with her soon after the weekend. She sounds promising!
  • And as you might have noticed, the coffee cup is gone, I was so tired of it. I went back to a more minimal look, and finally feel the logo looks right in this design. I will have a proper spring cleanup in the sidebar soon too. For now it has to do? Like it?

What new things have you tried (or are going to try) recently?

Confessions of a stressoholic

thegirlinthecafe 5 Comments
  • Confessions of a shopaholic wasn’t the best rom-com ever (it’s Sex in the City meet Devil wears Prada), but I laughed quite a lot at Isla Fisher. She has great comic talent, and she is worth watching the film for. She and Hugh Dancy.
  • I saw A View from the Bridge last week, and wow, Ken Stott blew me away. A must see if you happen to be in London before the 16th of May. Great acting work, also from Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (she was Lady Marianne in Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood!). Don’t miss it!
  • And then my flatmate is leaving. And I have two seperate lines of thoughts about this.

    Line 1:

    I need to find a new flatmate. I know our rent is not the highest, definitely not for the area in London where the flat is based, but loads of people are leaving London because it is so expensive. My worries:
    Will I find a new friendly, funny and reliable flatmate?

    Line 2:
    In American movies like the above Shopaholic they always show flatshares where people are the best of friends and where things just seem to work. I want that too. Which is why I probably need to find another place to live. My current flat does not have a shared living room, so it’s natural to retreat in your own room.
    And if my current flatmate and me have spoken more than 100 words to each other the last 2.5 years I will be surprised.

    So my current dream scenario is finding some really nice people I click with and rent and nice house somewhere in London where there is space for privacy (I still want to be able to sit in my room and read or write or watch a Bill film on my own) but also space for socialness. But where to find the people, and where to find the place to live! It is probably pathetically ignorant to think that that is possible. I must think about this.

  • I am going to tick the lighthouse in Plymouth off my list on Saturday. And will stay with the lovely dogs and my good friend in Devon for the weekend. Here is to good weather for everyone, to sea views, beach walks and Devon creamcakes with tea.
  • It’s Pancake day today.

The other Scot

thegirlinthecafe 1 Comment


The proud pirate

“These pictures on your wall, who is he?”
“Oh, him. He is, well he’s someone, I admire. You are related to him did you know? And he has some Scottish blood in him too, half of it to be precise”
“You’ve made a lot of artwork with him on it”
“Yes, it’s just, you know, killing time. And sometimes something nice comes out of it, and then it ends up on the wall. It was so empty when I moved in here.”
“Do you, erhm, do you ever make things like this of other people?”
“Yes I do sometimes. It has to be a person I like though.”
“Ah, I understand”
“And it does require you to sit still for a while you know, think you can do that?”
“Wha, what?”
“Favourite colour?”
“Oh, erhm Blue.”
“Blue, that’s mine too. OK, sit still then, and give me some time”
“I didn’t mean to, I mean I don’t think I will look that good”
“Oh yes, you will, now, let me look at you.”
…
“Here you go, come and have a look. Like it? I think you look great in blue.”
“Oh, it’s, it’s so … The hearts, are they, why, do you really …?”
“like you? I do.”

Oh – we found the nicest flatmate to come and live with us. It’s a girl, Davy picked her. And there are more good things bubbling at the moment.

We want you to live with us – sort of

thegirlinthecafe 6 Comments

A cafe around the corner in Page Street
A cafe just around the corner in Page Street

My flatmate decided that Africa was more interesting than London, and after a few weeks there, she has decided to leave London for good. That means that the other room in our toplocation appartment is going to be available for a new lodger, and we have to find a new person to live with. Well, this is interesting.

“We need to have a talk Davy” I said to him when I came home.

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