I'll get by with a little help from my friends

After months of hard work, stress and expense, to see my exchange fall through at the last minute was devastating.  As a result, I've not really been in the mood to write.  But, never one to dwell too much, I've  had a busy week and weekend, spending time with friends and family and reminding myself of all the wonderful things England has to offer.  Which, it turns out, is mostly rain. 

I really want to get a decent camera (and learn how to use it).  I feel a bit of a crap blogger always with the Instagram pics and photos, like this, via weheartit.  But it'lll have to do for now.

Open mic nights, an evening of bingo, macaroon-making, festivals, we've done 'em all this past week and throughout them all my friends have put up with my strange moods (not helped by the fact that I've got a stinking cold).  I'm starting to feel more like myself now.  Some of my favourite things in the last few days...

- driving over the fog-bound Pennines to the small Lancashire town of Uppermill, where we stumbled across some wonderful secondhand bookshops;

- shrieking (yes really) with joy in said bookshops when I found Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 (so this is your fair warning that I'm about to start banging on about US alt-rock circa 1990 again very soon!) and Last Shop Standing: Whatever Happened to Record Shops? which looks ace;

- going on a treasure hunt - the treasure being of the 'long stick' and 'yellow flower' variety - with my five year old niece, who I am SO glad not to be leaving for a year;

- watching my friend Abby's band Abandon Her play at The Musician in Leicester (great venue, great band: they cover One Direction, so I'm their biggest fan);

- visiting Ikea twice to hunt down things to make my house look nice.  Now I'm not moving, I can have the kitchen worktops of my dreams (every cloud...!);

- sitting in my favourite pub - Firebug - during a rainstorm with a pint of cider, a good book, and nowhere urgent to be.  Bliss, and a good reminder of how much I would have missed Leicester;

- planning my 'not-leaving' party.  I'd already booked a venue, all my friends are up for a bash, so it seems rude not to;

- pretending that I am not going back to school tomorrow...