A trip to birms and bottomless brunching

Ah, it's a hard not life. Last week I had a super easy week at work because not only did I have 2 days off in Paris and a half day on my first day back, but I was then also out on Friday for our annual company away day! I'm on the social committee so it was down to us to organise and I'd say we did a pretty good job. I got up at the crack of dawn to get ready and get to the office in time for our 7:15 coach to Birmingham (it felt like I was going on holiday). I wore black skinny jeans (although they're really faded and I desperately need to buy a new pair) with green botanical print crop top, blush pink suede jacket and black espadrilles (because they seem to be all I wear now). When we arrived in birmingham, we kicked off with bacon cobs (always a good start) and then spent the morning running round the city centre on a Sherlock Holmes themed treasure hunt where we had to hunt for various points of attraction that we had to answer questions on, take photos of our team in various scenarios (behind bars or in a hackney carriage, for example) and even do mini videos (like enacting a fake crime). It was so much fun and actually a really good way to see the whole of Birmingham city centre. Some of our team photos really made me laugh; even more so that Joe and Neil were accidentally wearing exactly the same outfit. Unfortunately our team didn't win; we came 7th out of 9 haha but we had a lot of fun anyway and we weren't surprised, given the competitiveness of some of the lawyers!

Then after a break for lunch, we each headed out to a number of different activities that people could choose from. We booked go-karting, the sealife centre, escape rooms and cocktail making; obviously I went for cocktail making. I decided to book it at the Botanist because I did the one at revs this time last year and I think the Botanist is a bit different and quirky. We got 4 drinks each; a welcome kiwi prosecco fizz and then 3 cocktails that we got to make; a grapefruit and green pepper daiquiri (rum based), a peach and apricot plant pot (bourbon based) and a signature Botanist (vodka and gin based). All of them were so nice and I especially liked the one with dry ice and edible flowers! It was also very handy that the Botanist pour their measures by counting rather than by a shot glass - there was lots of (1-mississippi, 2-mississippi...) going on!

Then we headed over to all bar one to meet back up with the others (they had chosen the escape rooms and had all managed to get out!) before we all walked over to the Cube (the most confusing building ever) to the restaurant where our evening meal was. Canalside was such a good venue choice and overlooked the canal - plus the sun came out so we had a lovely view! We had £1,000 behind the bar there so despite being well on my way after 4 too-strong-and-generous drinks, I obviously made the most of it and drank my wine as fast as humanly possible. Also, you can tell I was obviously drunk by that point because I forgot to even take a photo of the food! Very unlike me. Anyway, it was a buffet and we had brisket, slow cooked lamb, arancini balls, deep fried brie, red pepper and halloumi kebabs, mini pizzas, caesar salad and coleslaw - maybe you can conjure a mental picture without a photo? Then as we continued to rinse the bar (with the single spirit and mixers being unknowingly £10 each!), we had a massive team game of table football on the longest football table I've ever seen (Veuve Clicquot themed too - fancy). Obviously our team won at a pretty impressive 10-1. Then when the coach back to Nottingham was due to arrive in 5 minutes, me Joe and Sharon hot-footed it to the Tesco round the corner to buy drinks for the road. This resulted in us nearly missing the coach completely as it started driving off as we were walking to it, but all's well that ends well and so we enjoyed a bottle of prosecco on the hour and a half journey home. Despite the fact we really didn't need any more drinks at this point, we headed straight for the pub and kept going as long as could manage. For me, that was 2am so 12 hours after I first started drinking, which I thought was pretty impressive!

Then on Saturday morning, I headed to the hairdressers (still drunk) to have a little hair refresh. I'd been wanting (and needing) to do it for a while and finally decided to go with rose gold balayage and I'm so happy with it!

Then on to Sunday when my body was finally free from alcohol (probably) so I decided to top it back up again with bottomless brunch; the first of my birthday celebrations! I went with the green botanical print again but this time in skirt form, and paired it with this crochet collared blouse, black lace up sandals and Chloe-dupe brown bag. I've done a few bottomless brunches before (though usually in London rather than Nottingham) and this time I decided to try the one at All Bar One. The offer was £25 for 2 hours of bottomless prosecco, mimosas or bloody mary's (and you could swap between them on each drink) plus a brunch dish of your choice. The menu was a true combination of breakfast and lunch with eggs benedict and a steak sandwich both on there. Staci and Siobhan went for eggs (one benedict and one royale), Katie and Katie went for the steak sandwich and I went for a lobster mayo open sandwich which was amazing! We managed to get through 6 drinks each in the time slot (so basically a bottle each woo) although we could've easily managed more but the service was a little slower than we would've liked - not ideal when the timer is ticking! Anyway, we'd been sat in the window seat so having the sun shine on you through glass for 2 hours (with no resulting tan) is not ideal so we headed off in search of more drinks and a spot in the sun. We ended up at pitcher & piano where there's a lovely outdoor area, and sunk a few bottles of wine before we went on to happy hour cocktails at Revolution. It was a proper all day session (they lasted even longer than I did) and work on Monday was a struggle but so worth it because it was the best way to kick off my birthday celebrations. Long may they continue (well until next weekend anyway - more to come on those soon)!