DIS Girly Weekend ~ Southampton 13th/15th Aug' 10

[mandymouse]

Castmembers

Mandy (mandymouse), Jules (saratogagirl, Nat (natalielongstaff), Joh (wilma-bride), Deb (UKDeb), Tam (Tammy Stringer), Theresa (latte lover), Claire W (Chilly), Karen (CustardTart), Claire M (Pinky166), Claire S (fizz13), Bethan (BethEJo), Corinna (dolphingirl47), Nicky (darthtatty), Andrea (irongirlof12), Tina (Jets fan), Lesley (strawberry blonde), Elaine (Ware Bears) & Claire (Claire L )

Friday 13th August ‘10

Plan of action : Arrive at hotel/Drinkies in Nat & Joh’s room/Dinner at TGI Friday’s/Boogie at Flares

Finally it was here ! We had been planning this weekend for months and I was so excited

The GW for me began at Coventry railway station. I got the 10.25am to Southampton and arrived on time at 12.41. As I exited the station, I ran into Corinna who had been to buy some wine and was looking for a cashpoint machine. We walked over to the Novotel and checked in. I got mine and Jules's room keys (Room 101), and as Andrea had already checked in, we knocked on her door and had our first drinky. A few minutes later Nat, Joh & Nicky arrived, and within no time the party got started. Over the next hour or two everyone arrived, and we had a wonderful few hours chatting, taking photos (btw girls, the photos of Derek are on FB), drinking and eating nibbles

Andrea, Nicky, Joh & Nat

I opened what I thought was my bottle of wine, and after a quick taste I discovered that it wasn't mine. I started to panic and tried to empty out my glass back into the bottle, and when I finished I realised that it was the bottle that Rachel had sent us (thanks again Rach x)

Me

The afternoon was lots of fun, and at one stage we got told off for having our music too loud

Tammy, Joh, Deb, Tina & Andrea

Karen, Jules & Claire L

Me & Tam

Claire (Pinky), Claire (Chilly) & Nat

The Four Claires (Pinky166, Claire L, Chilly & fizz13)

Deb, Karen & Claire

Joh & Nat

At around 5.30pm we all headed back to our rooms to get ready, I don't know much about this time. It wasn't till the next morning that I realised that I had had a shower etc, as all I can remember is leaving Nat & Joh's room, then to me, the next moment we were all gathering in the lobby at 6.30pm

Claire, Tam, Deb, Corinna, Andrea, Theresa, Joh, Claire, Tina, Claire, Nat & Nicky

A few moments later we arrived at TGI Friday's and we asked for a table, and were told we'd need to wait about an hour, so we could go and have a cocktail or two .. what a cheek !

While enjoying a cocktail, we noticed the gi-normous shoes that Claire L was wearing, they were lovely, but they were a hazzard to the wearer (though to be fair it was probably more to do with the alcohol) as poor Claire landed on her bum more times than she or anyone else can remember

After an hour (which flew by), and we sat down for dinner. It looked like everyone enjoyed their meal, and it was nice to just sit and chat with everyone

Our waitress arranged for some taxis to pick us up and take us to Flares the 70s disco (we had the sweet Shaggy 'It wasn't me' as our driver). As we had arranged a party there, we were given a ballooned off area, several bottles of Lambrini and some packs of fun things to wear

It was a great night, we boogied, Claire fell over, we drank, we did Oops Upside Your Head and generally had a fab time

We had such a laugh, there was this weird woman in a purple t-shirt that kept dancing with us, and at one stage I heard a little 'Help Me!' from Joh as she was given some unwanted attention from a strange looking guy, so I promptly dragged her on the dance floor. It was a shame when our fun 70's night then turned into a bit of an Elvis-Fest. I told the DJ off for playing such old music and Karen gave him a piece of her mind too. In disgust Karen decided to leave, but when she tried to leave by the wrong exit (she went out where the smokers were), she had to admit defeat and re-enter before heading back to the hotel

Deb and Tam were thinking of walking back to the hotel (it was only a 5/10 minute walk, and all down hill) when Claire and her shoes decided to leave too. They thought it best to get her in a taxi quick, but sadly she had an unfortunate mishap with a kerb before getting back in one piece

A few of us got a taxi back to the Novotel around midnight, and as me & Jules took the lift to our room, Nat and Joh staked out the bar for a few more hours

What a great day !!!

**I'm sorry but can't remember what everyone was doing, so please post on here what you were up to, if I was err too tired to remember**

 

[mandymouse]

Saturday 14th August ‘10

Plan of action : Breakfast in hotel/Shopping/Dinner at La Regatta/Reflex

We met up for breakfast around 9/9.30am, and then we headed out for some retail therapy. Deb, Tam and Tina had already left as Deb was on a mission to buy a dress for a wedding. Karen was feeling unwell, and Claire M wasn't ready either so they stayed behind, as did Claire S who was waiting for Bethan to arrive so she could give her her room key (plus she hadn't been feeling too well either), so the rest of us headed into Southampton

Our first stop was a Yankee Candle shop, then with military precision we quickly got our cameras ready, got into position and got a photo outside the Disney Store (as we have had problems with security in the past as we weren't always allowed to take photos in some shopping centres)

We had a wander around the Disney Store and then headed down to the West Quay shopping centre. I think a few of us were feeling a little hungover as we desperately wanted a drink (and no, not an alcoholic one !!!). We called into a few shops, like Next, Jane Norman and Monsoon - where Corinna was on a mission, and flew down the aisle like a bat out of hell to find a dress she was after

We sat and had a pit stop in Costa Coffee, when Elaine, Lesley and Bethan turned up. We chatted for a while then walked towards John Lewis. Corinna went off to find some jewellery bits and pieces and we ran into Tam, Deb and Tina.

The group broke up into 2 groups with one lot going off to Primark and to the Slug & Lettuce for a few drinkies and a bit of lunch (I'm sure one of the girls will let us know what else they got up to and post some photos too), so Deb, Tam, Jules, Me, Karen (sadly poor Claire/Pinky had gone home as her dog was poorly, I hope Bailey is OK .. and you too hun) , Corinna and Tina hopped into a couple of taxis to get lunch in a Mexican restaurant where we met up with a couple of friends, Mandy and Astrid

We had a lovely afternoon, and the food was delicious. I think we all chose 3 dishes that were 3 for 2. The restaurant was very nice and so were the cocktails

After a few hours we split up again. Some of the girls hit the shops again, some went off for a coffee and Jules & I headed back to our room before meeting up with eveyone at 4pm in TGI's

Before leaving the room, we had a 'silly moment'

We caught up with most of the girls, and after a cocktail or two we went back to the hotel to get ready for the evening

Most of us met in the lobby at 7pm (where we also had to say goodbye to Claire/Fizzy who hadn't felt too well either - I hope you're feeling better too ) and the taxis were ready to take us to La Regatta Tapas Bar. We had a couple of tables upstairs, and I thought the restaurant had a great atmosphere. Our table had several bottles of sangria, and most of us ordered 3 tapas dishes to share, and once everything came out, there was just so much food. Once again we had a lovely meal, and for me it was great to try something I'd never done before

Tam, Corinna, me, Jules, Tina, Karen, Nicky & Deb

Lesley, Andrea, Theresa, Bethan, Claire, Claire & Elaine

After dinner we went in search of a piano bar that a taxi driver had recommended. It was a bit of a trek, and sadly when we got there I was told that the piano bar wasn't due to start till 10pm, and to add insult to injury the prices of the cocktails were extortionate

At 10pm neither Billy Joel or Elton John arrived in fact no one came, though the nightclub downstairs opened. Around this time some of the girls got taxis to Reflex (once again girls, for those of you who went to Coco Rio and Reflex, please share your pics)

There was me, Jules, Deb, Tammy, Corinna, Karen and Tina left so we went in search of a quiet bar that sold cocktails, and we found the perfect venue, the waiting room of a chinese restaurant The bar man looked thrilled at the opportunity to make some cocktails, and I had the most delish Bellini. The barman messed up on one cocktail, but he replaced his mistake and let Deb keep the other one too, as you can imagine she was over the moon

We chilled for a while then around midnight we jumped in some taxis back to the hotel

Sunday 15th August ‘10

Plan of action : Breakfast in hotel/Say ‘Goodbyes’/Head home

Sadly it was time to go home. I think most people went down to breakfast around 8.30/9am. Jules and I were joined by Bethan who told us that she had knocked on Joh & Nat's door on the way down, and that they hadn't been to bed (lol, they are so hard core ), then one by one as people finished their breakfast, we said our goodbyes to each other

Once again the DIS Girly Weekend had been lots of fun. It was great to see everyone, and I want to thank you all for coming (especially to the newbies for being so brave and coming to meet us, I hope we haven't put you off coming again ) and for making it such a wonderful weekend

Roll on next year !!!

 

[Claire L]

Oh what a wekend

Mandy I have some Reflex pics on FB you can copy across

Claire

 

[ely3857]

Fabulous w/end. xx

 

[Dollyrar]

Wow, it looks like you guys had an absolute blast!

Glad to see lots of lovely smiles in all of your photos!

 

[BethEJo]

A great weekend - thanks to everyone for making it one to remember
Was so fun meeting you all!!

Joh, get your bumbum into gear - we need to see the pics!!!

Xx

ETA: have never been in a TR before exciting times haha!!

 

[A Small World]

Sounds and looks as though you had a great time - Im now trying to match faces to names

 

[jamjar84]

Sounds like you guys had a lovely weekend.

 

[BethEJo]

I'm just starting to write the other trippie for the Saturday night.
Tell you all about a little place we like to call Reflex...
Hope you are sitting comfortably!

 

[mark&sue]

sounds amazing. I would have had to join the Primark group as I have not been since June and have withdrawal symptons.

Love all the cocktail photos

susan

 

[wilma-bride]

Hope you are sitting comfortably!

I'm willing to bet Claire L won't be 'sitting comfortably' for a couple of days

 

[Jordanblackpool]

Sounds like you girls had a great weekend, hope you all behaved yourself!

 

[buzz for boys]

Looks and sounds fantastic girlies.
Im going to make next year if it kills me

 

[mandymouse]

I'm just starting to write the other trippie for the Saturday night.
Tell you all about a little place we like to call Reflex...
Hope you are sitting comfortably!

Nice one Beth Just add it on here. I look forward to hearing all about Where's Wally ?

 

[darthtatty]

fab report Mandy, it was a brilliant weekend.

 

[Tinks1984]

Looks and sounds fantastic girlies.
Im going to make next year if it kills me

Me too Louise, I'm soooo going next year!

Looks like an amazing weekend was had by all! I hope Bailey is better Claire and that Fizzy is feeling better too!

Great pictures everyone, I'm rather jealous I missed all the fun!

 

[Chilly]

Wally is at my house! Well his hat anyway.

 

[jockey]

Sounds as though you girls had a ball saw the pics on fb they are brill

 

[BethEJo]

I'm willing to bet Claire L won't be 'sitting comfortably' for a couple of days

Wally is at my house!

Ummm...something you want to tell us Claire

 

[BethEJo]

I’m just going to add to what Mandy has written, and give you the low down on what mischief the other half of the group got up to on Saturday afternoon and night.

So, where did we get up too...

As mentioned by Mandy, after coffee and a quick squizz around John Lewis, the group broke into two. The pub was definitely calling by now. Joh, Claire, Claire, Andrea, Nicky, Natalie, Lesley, Elaine, Theresa and myself started to try and sniff out a bar. Obviously Natalie needed to hit up Primark and was joined by Theresa for that one, and while they headed off, the rest of us marched on, drawn in by the wonders of the Slug and Lettuce.
(There are no pics for the S&L bit yet - will added when I get them from Joh)

S&L was rather busy, but we were promptly seated as the waiter rounded up some tables. As soon as our behinds hit the chairs, drinks were ordered. A pint was on the cards for me, a cosmo for Joh, and Nicky and Elaine ordered some cocktails too – obviously starting as we meant to go on Conversation flowed nicely, and before we knew it, we were rejoined by Theresa and Nat. They only arrived with one Primark bag each , and it turns out that they had both bought the same cardigan. And very nice it was too

Kidding. Just had to ensure that they were not going to bring it on any DIS meets and wear it together .
Sorry to tell everybody this next bit Joh, but I can’t resist . I think Joh had started to falter, she had actually requested that Nat buy her a pair of sandals FROM PRIMARK while she was there – come on, there’s no way that Joh was going to set foot in there herself was there?! Unfortunately, they didn’t have them and Joh remained sandal-less.

It was now time for food, and we all decided to get some big platters to share. Three big platters and plenty of chips arrived (proper classy food ) met with “Oh no, that’s so much food, we’re never going to eat all that”. But in 20 minutes it had vanished. Not even breaking us out in a sweat! The food was good, and the drinks were even better, as more pints and cocktails rocked up.
Just want to thank Claire L – chief duck stripper .
We chatted all afternoon, and Joh mentioned that she was going to Florida in 10 days. Everybody was – she had never thought to tell us about that before. Anyhoo....

4pm was approaching and we started to head over to TGIs to meet the others, so we settled the bill leaving our great waitress a lovely tip which she promptly told us she would spend on shoes, and stepped out into the pouring rain. Being a Welsh girl, I was well prepared and had a rain coat and umbrella but some of the others weren’t so lucky

(While in S&L, we had a funny feeling that there was a blind date going on at the table next to us – bless. The guy on the date seemed super keen, and how shall we put this....hmmmm....”interesting”. And in Chilly’s words: “he’s a keeper”. I’m sure his date would have happily passed him onto you Claire).

Now fast forward a couple of hours, through meeting up with everyone back at TGIs, more cocktails, a couple of Jam Donuts (even managing to bag a free one ) getting ready (still a bit tiddly – wasn’t sure what the end result was going to be), waving Claire S back home , and a lovely meal at La Regata, and again as Mandy mentioned, a group of us headed off to suss out the wonders that Reflex offers. I had only come for the Saturday night, and needed to dance and drink so Reflex worked a treat!

Nat making a "jam donut" disappear...

continued...