Another one of my best friends turned 40 this week and we celebrated by whisking her away on a suprise weekend to Liverpool. Rosie is from Ireland, and when her lovely sister (who still lives over there)  contacted me about doing something special I couldn’t have been more up for it. I cant take any of the credit for this weekend. I was pregnant while it was being organised and while my intention was to take on the organisation with Jennifer,  I let the side down. Luckily, Jenny did an amazing job,  dispite my total lack of cobtribution!

I told Rosie that I was taking her away for a couple of nights, just me and her. I picked her up in an Uber (my first Uber experience, and it was amazing).  The cab dropped us to East Croydon where we jumped on the train to London Euston via Victoria.

I loved every minute of that train journey.   Watching her face, totally clueless and out of control. Rosie is the ‘ mum’ of our group,  always looking after us and making sure we are OK.   It was really strange seeing her reaction, having to rely completly on me (I’m not sure she enjoyed that part of the weekend! 😂) At every stop I would grab my bag and tell her ‘this is it ‘, I would watch her get up, get to the door and then tell her I was joking! She wasn’t impressed but I found it hilarious! Once we were at Euston I suggested we grab some breakie at All Bar One…little did she know…. Rosie was greeted by three more of our girlfriends, sitting there, ready with coffees and cocktails… shouting suprise!!!

Rosie was in tears, totally overwhelmed,  but it was amazing seeing her register just how much she is loved by us all. FYI All Bar One do some seriously yummy breakfasts!

Over breakfast we gave her some clues to guess where we were taking her:

The biggest boy band ever were from there…… She had no idea
There are lots of Irish people there…. Nope
It had an ‘e’ in it… Huh?
Brookside was based there…. LIVERPOOL!!

We jumped on the train, opened a bottle of prosecco and had one of the best girls chats I’ve ever had.
During that two hours we talked about everything from relationships, bladder control,  sex and laughed from start to finish.

The poor fella sitting next to us was pre warned when he sat down that he was in for a special journey and if he embarrases easily he should probably think twice about sitting there. I did offer him a drink to calm his nerves! When we got to Liverpool we headed straight to the hotel.

#squadgoals

The Shankley Hotel was a great base for a girls weekend.  It is right in the middle of town.  A 5 minutes walk to the station and even less to the shops,  restaurants and bars. The hotel is lovely,  decor is fabulous with glamour being at its heart and the rooms are great. The main room had six double beds in it and a kitchen area. I’m even thinking about going back with the kids as there are not many hotel rooms that can comfortably fit all of us in. When we entered the room it was beautifully decorated (by the Irish girls who were hiding in the toilet).  They had left out champagne,  chocolates and strawberries. When Rosie walked into the room two of her sisters and her best friend from Ireland ran out of the bathroom! This triggered another flow of tears and a few ‘c u next Tuesdays’ muttered at us.

She was blown away,  she hasn’t made it home to see her family this year and I know she was missing them terribly. For them to fly over and organise this weekend was a perfect present. The package we booked worked out at £230 each for eight of us (that includes splitting Rosies costs between us). That included the hotel, a cocktail making class, dinner on the Saturday night,  a choice of either make up or hair to be done and Afternoon Tea. The train from Euston to Liverpool Line Street was £85 return. 

On the Friday, after we had finished the introductions (this was the first time in 20 years that rosies London friends meet her Irish girls) we headed off for out cocktail making classat The Art House. It was like going back to Playa de las Americas when I was 17,  downing dirty ouzo shots! It was a real giggle though and the girl that took the class was lovely.  Also, nothing breaks the ice like slut dropping and making cocktails. From there we headed to Concert Square and enjoyed a few more drinks and  Shisha. The next morning the sun was at full force and with the temperature soaring we were determined to enjoy brunch and an espresso martini by the water. We took a cab (£2.30!) to Albert Dock and had some coffee and cocktails at Panam. We discovered during the weekend that Londons shopping experience had serious competition. Liverpool has all the shops you could possibly wish for,  all within an easy walk between eachother. I would love to go back again just for a shopping weekend!

While in John Lewis Katie had a Charlotte Tilbury make over which resulted in some yummy purchases. We headed back to the hotel for about 5 to have our hair and make up done, ready for the night ahead. I opted to have my hair done.   I love doing my own make up and am very particular about how I have it.  Also, I am low maintainence with my hair so if someone else can glam it up then it is a no brainer! Given the scorching weather we headed up to have a drink on the roof top bar before dinner (all at The Shankley Hotel).  Watching the half cut girls dancing in the sun kicked the night off perfectly!

Our first night was fun but fairly quiet given we were all mums, and away from the kids for the weekend. It was also quite ‘studenty’ at concert square. I’m not knocking that but we like a bit of sophistication in our older age (early night anyway) so we really wanted to find the area you could go to and have a cocktail made with proper spirits and not sugar and tequila!  😂

I asked around during the day and it turned out our hotel was on the road  where all the best bars are! After our dinner at the hotel we headed to  The Alchemist Cocktail Bar on Brunswick Street. The cocktails were out of this world and  the atmosphere was great but it was a bit of an arse-ache waiting around at the bar to order our next round.   That could be out fault for sinking each cocktail so quickly. We had cocktails there that bubbled, steamed and even ones that come with syringes of shots!

If you like Cocktails I would definatly recommend this bar. The night carried on in a bar down the road where we partied till the early hours. The difference with partying in your 30’s is rather than passing out in bed with a full face of make up and glass of wine next to your bed, we got back,  made a coffee, took our make up off, and at 3am we were putting Philip Kingsley hair masks on! We kicked our last day off with a perfect post party breakfast at Barley and Beans.  I don’t know if it’s because we were so hungry but it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had! I went for their granola bowl and bacon and eggs.  The other girls had full English and eggs beniddict.  As you can see from the picture, we had an amazing pile of Nutella pancakes for dessert 🍰

After a some more shopping we went back to the hotel for Afternoon Tea and a de briefing of the weekend before we said our goodbyes and headed to the station for our train back home. I had a great weekend! After having Arthur I really needed a bit of child free time to myself. I’m home, refreshed and ready to tackle (literally) the kids. I met lovely new friends, caught up with old friends,  partied, relaxed,  shopped and laughed. I laughed so much and realised how lucky I am to have such wonderful girlfriends who I love with all my heart 😘



Another one of my best friends turned 40 this week and we celebrated by whisking her away on a suprise weekend to Liverpool.  Rosie is from Ireland, and when her lovely sister (who still lives over there)  contacted me about doing something special I couldn’t have been more up for it. I cant take any of the credit for this weekend. I was pregnant while it was being organised and while my intention was to take on the organisation with Jennifer,  I let the side down. Luckily, Jenny did an amazing job,  dispite my total lack of cobtribution! I told Rosie that I was taking her away for a couple of nights, just me and her. I picked her up in an Uber (my first Uber experience, and it was amazing).  The cab dropped us to East Croydon where we jumped on the train to London Euston via Victoria. I loved every minute of that train journey.   Watching her face, totally clueless and out of control. Rosie is the ‘ mum’ of our group,  always looking after us and making sure we are OK.   It was really strange seeing her reaction, having to rely completly on me (I’m not sure she enjoyed that part of the weekend! 😂) At every stop I would grab my bag and tell her ‘this is it ‘, I would watch her get up, get to the door and then tell her I was joking! She wasn’t impressed but I found it hilarious! Once we were at Euston I suggested we grab some breakie at All Bar One…little did she know…. Rosie was greeted by three more of our girlfriends, sitting there, ready with coffees and cocktails… shouting suprise!!! Rosie was in tears, totally overwhelmed,  but it was amazing seeing her register just how much she is loved by us all. FYI All Bar One do some seriously yummy breakfasts! Over breakfast we gave her some clues to guess where we were taking her: The biggest boy band ever were from there…… She had no idea There are lots of Irish people there…. Nope It had an ‘e’ in it… Huh? Brookside was based there…. LIVERPOOL!!  We jumped on the train, opened a bottle of prosecco and had one of the best girls chats I’ve ever had. During that two hours we talked about everything from relationships, bladder control,  sex and laughed from start to finish. The poor fella sitting next to us was pre warned when he sat down that he was in for a special journey and if he embarrases easily he should probably think twice about sitting there. I did offer him a drink to calm his nerves! When we got to Liverpool we headed straight to the hotel. #squadgoals The Shankley Hotel was a great base for a girls weekend.  It is right in the middle of town.  A 5 minutes walk to the station and even less to the shops,  restaurants and bars. The hotel is lovely,  decor is fabulous with glamour being at its heart and the rooms are great. The main room had six double beds in it and a kitchen area. I’m even thinking about going back with the kids as there are not many hotel rooms that can comfortably fit all of us in. When we entered the room it was beautifully decorated (by the Irish girls who were hiding in the toilet).  They had left out champagne,  chocolates and strawberries. When Rosie walked into the room two of her sisters and her best friend from Ireland ran out of the bathroom! This triggered another flow of tears and a few ‘c u next Tuesdays’ muttered at us. She was blown away,  she hasn’t made it home to see her family this year and I know she was missing them terribly. For them to fly over and organise this weekend was a perfect present. The package we booked worked out at £230 each for eight of us (that includes splitting Rosies costs between us). That included the hotel, a cocktail making class, dinner on the Saturday night,  a choice of either make up or hair to be done and Afternoon Tea. The train from Euston to Liverpool Line Street was £85 return.  On the Friday, after we had finished the introductions (this was the first time in 20 years that rosies London friends meet her Irish girls) we headed off for out cocktail making classat The Art House. It was like going back to Playa de las Americas when I was 17,  downing dirty ouzo shots! It was a real giggle though and the girl that took the class was lovely.  Also, nothing breaks the ice like slut dropping and making cocktails. From there we headed to Concert Square and enjoyed a few more drinks and  Shisha. The next morning the sun was at full force and with the temperature soaring we were determined to enjoy brunch and an espresso martini by the water. We took a cab (£2.30!) to Albert Dock and had some coffee and cocktails at Panam.  We discovered during the weekend that Londons shopping experience had serious competition. Liverpool has all the shops you could possibly wish for,  all within an easy walk between eachother. I would love to go back again just for a shopping weekend! While in John Lewis Katie had a Charlotte Tilbury make over which resulted in some yummy purchases. We headed back to the hotel for about 5 to have our hair and make up done, ready for the night ahead. I opted to have my hair done.   I love doing my own make up and am very particular about how I have it.  Also, I am low maintainence with my hair so if someone else can glam it up then it is a no brainer! Given the scorching weather we headed up to have a drink on the roof top bar before dinner (all at The Shankley Hotel).  Watching the half cut girls dancing in the sun kicked the night off perfectly! Our first night was fun but fairly quiet given we were all mums, and away from the kids for the weekend. It was also quite ‘studenty’ at concert square. I’m not knocking that but we like a bit of sophistication in our older age (early night anyway) so we really wanted to find the area you could go to and have a cocktail made with proper spirits and not sugar and tequila!  😂 I asked around during the day and it turned out our hotel was on the road  where all the best bars are! After our dinner at the hotel we headed to  The Alchemist Cocktail Bar on Brunswick Street. The cocktails were out of this world and  the atmosphere was great but it was a bit of an arse-ache waiting around at the bar to order our next round.   That could be out fault for sinking each cocktail so quickly. We had cocktails there that bubbled, steamed and even ones that come with syringes of shots! If you like Cocktails I would definatly recommend this bar. The night carried on in a bar down the road where we partied till the early hours. The difference with partying in your 30’s is rather than passing out in bed with a full face of make up and glass of wine next to your bed, we got back,  made a coffee, took our make up off, and at 3am we were putting Philip Kingsley hair masks on! We kicked our last day off with a perfect post party breakfast at Barley and Beans.  I don’t know if it’s because we were so hungry but it was one of the best breakfasts I’ve ever had! I went for their granola bowl and bacon and eggs.  The other girls had full English and eggs beniddict.  As you can see from the picture, we had an amazing pile of Nutella pancakes for dessert 🍰 After a some more shopping we went back to the hotel for Afternoon Tea and a de briefing of the weekend before we said our goodbyes and headed to the station for our train back home. I had a great weekend! After having Arthur I really needed a bit of child free time to myself. I’m home, refreshed and ready to tackle (literally) the kids. I met lovely new friends, caught up with old friends,  partied, relaxed,  shopped and laughed. I laughed so much and realised how lucky I am to have such wonderful girlfriends who I love with all my heart 😘