we love you leeds, leeds, leeds…

amy — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 17:57:08 +0000

Home again, and back to the usual routine after my whistlestop visit to the North’s unofficial capital! My trip was, unusually for me, a last minute dash following an unmissable invite from an old friend and much fun was had (and shopping shopped), marred only a little by a higher than usual (two out of five in the end) number of last minute cancellations and non-confirmers – I do thank my lucky stars that I have a System, and thus did not spend the whole day sitting patiently in my hotel room waiting for these people to turn up. Apologies, however to those I turned down.

On the contrary, I was delighted upon arriving to find that not only was there a fabulous Chinese restaurant two minutes walk from my much-better-than-expected hotel, but further up on the Headrow the Henry Moore Institute adjacent to the art gallery was even boasting an Art Nouveau sculpture exhibition I had known nothing about. Unfortunately upon walking up the following day it turned out that I had missed it by two days and they just hadn’t taken the poster down, but the gallery itself was well worth a visit if for no reason other than the superb flapjacks in the café, which were far better than those on offer at the Tate (although the hot chocolate was a little insipid, and anyone who (unlike me) lacks a nostalgic fondness for the pale pink liquid which passed for hot chocolate from a Klix machine back in the day would be best advised to stick to the lattés, which I do not order in cafés anymore since they started being served in those oddly pretentious glasses, which are ungainly at best and make you look bloody silly).

I have completed my twice-yearly-ish conquest of the High Street à la Gok Wan and found bargains aplenty, including some that will feature in the next set of photographs. The aim for these is to have some up before my Jersey trip, which I am extremely reassured to see is attracting considerable interest already and I would advise anyone keen to start thinking about getting in touch with provisional dates and times to avoid disappointment. Back in Leeds, I did venture into Harvey Nichols, but due to my having an inappropriate text exchange at the time which was making me laugh a bit more than is seemly, even in the presence of a pair of leopardskin court shoes costing £685, I had to leave and get some fresh air. Plus it is really very dull, although the breathtaking rudeness of an assistant in the small Topshop off the Headrow (obviously inconsolably and irrevocably bitter that she was not in the big Topshop on Briggate – it wasn’t hard to see why) made me long for the fawning sycophancy afforded to anyone who turns up in the former looking as if they can afford to buy something; not me on this particular occasion as I was attired in my normal off-duty uniform of multilayered bag lady in taupe.

Two dresses, two new pairs of ballerina pumps, a bargain cashmere cardigan, a size ten top (I kid you not) from my favourite All Saints as well as a lovely Mongolian woolly-sheep waistcoat and a pair of Stella McCartney french knickers for a tenner (good old TKMaxx) and I was satisfyingly done for the day, and replete with salt beef, mustard, spinach and gherkin sandwich and a gingerbread man from Pret-A-Manger I headed happily home – and put the radiators on! There is a definite chill in the air compared with a week ago and I had no wish to be shivering in front of my third attempt to watch Cloverfield without wandering/nodding off and missing the end. Autumn is surely on its way, and as it is far and away my favourite time of year for a multitude of reasons (blackberry and apple crumble and getting to wear my Missoni scarves again being only a couple) no one is more pleased to see it arrive than me.

The advent of gym membership and more pertinently, the schedule of classes is obviously having an effect on my availability whilst at home, which I intend to revise on the site as soon as I have the opportunity. This is not to say that I won’t mind missing the odd week, but as a general I will not be available on weekdays (bar Fridays) from around 6pm – obviously this will not apply to longer (2hrs+) bookings or trips away but as a general rule it is worth pointing out, since apart from anything else also means that I will not be answering telephone or email enquiries during that period. Full details will be added soon. And not forgetting, I will be away altogether (I will have my BlackBerry but only extremely limited time to check messages) from a week today (11th) until Tuesday the 15th. Champneys! Yay!

Glasgow and Edinburgh organisation is well underway and my next London dates will be announced as soon as I have arranged a hotel and double-checked transport, as well as an upcoming Tube strike which one of my regular gentlemen has been kind enough to tip me off about, the engineering works are beginning here with a vengeance in early October, and not only affecting weekends this time. My train to the airport for Jersey will not apparently be affected, but it looks as if I’m in for some fun and games on the way back. The likely dates at the moment will be some time around the third week – those who have requested it will find out first, and for the rest just keep an eye on the front page…

Have a great Sunday everybody x

in with the (sort of) new!

amy — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:08:06 +0000

I have decided this week that given the necessity of staying close to home to prepare for my impending house move, to give my website an overhaul, albeit a gentle and discreet one! For those of you who have not looked recently, I have altered my gallery of photos slightly and added a Frequently Asked Questions section, to hopefully aid those keen to find out the same commonly-requested information – I am generally blessed with the patience of a saint (and always happy to answer a well intentioned enquiry) but I am beginning to feel slightly sorry for the ninth person of the day who asks the same unanswerable question (current favourite: ‘Can I have some details?’, with ‘When are you available?’ running a close second). I fervently hope that my hard work will help some of you gentlemen without the time to read through the rest of my ramblings – some so eager that they telephone me immediately without even noting my age, height, hair colour or inexplicably, my location!

My foray into the hitherto unknown world of DIY continues; I have learned this week that there are many different kinds of sandpaper, that elderly electric storage heaters have an atomic mass of 207.2 (equalling lead), and that I actually only enjoy stripping in a non-wallpaper context. Although generally accomplished when it comes to using my hands, I am not naturally practical and following a particularly exciting roleplay encounter this week, whereupon I had ample opportunity to practice helplessly grovelling on the floor, whimpering and begging for mercy, I may well decide to use my new-found acting skill to simply convince more able others to do it all for me (or failing that, offer money).

I expect to be moving on or around the end of the month – please do contact me if you would like further details! I am looking forward to entertaining at my new apartment (although regular readers will be aware that I have been looking forward to this since April!) and have not forgotten there are some waiting with baited breath to find out when they can finally see what all the fuss was about – please do not get your hopes up; whilst beautiful, comfortable and opulent surroundings are very much my eventual plan, our new meeting place is very much a work in progress and diplomancy may be needed! If you find quirkiness and slightly faded (OK, downright dishevelled) elegance charming then you will certainly feel welcome - if not, frankly, you probably shouldn’t be coming to see me in the first place!

adore amy » gallery

we love you leeds, leeds, leeds…

in with the (sort of) new!