Tonight I have my last official 39th birthday celebration.
It's been 10 days of socialising, eating and enjoyment.
A sincere thank you to all the family and friends involved.
It began last Thursday with a visit to the Taj Mahal Indian restaurant in Leigh-on-Sea with Tom (who I've known since secondary school) and Dave (a friend for 15 years).
The pic below illustrates my meal:
On the right hand side you can see my starter - chicken honey tikka, which is essentially chicken tikka with a honey-based sauce - just beautiful. I highly recommend it.
Saturday night saw a visit to La Tasca in Southend with close friends I've known for almost 35 years in some cases.
I was going to take a picture of the feast, though I forgot and just got stuck in. Glorious.
Sunday daytime, my brother drove my Mum and I to Brighton for the day. I've been to Brighton once before, though that was for a 5 day intensive course (Chek Holistic Lifestyle Coach Level 1), and left little time for sight-seeing.
This time I could take in the somewhat liberated, Bohemian, new-age vibe of certain parts of Brighton, stroll around the shops (buying nothing as I'm part of the 'non-consumer society') and enjoying the view and sights on the beach.
It doesn't surprise me one bit that Brighton Pavilion was the first UK constituency to elect a Green MP, Caroline Lucas, in this year's election. Yay Brighton!
I would point out that other parts of Brighton town centre are just like any other, so don't think the place is populated solely with new-age, flower children because it's not.
Below you can see the brunch I had at a restaurant called 'Giraffe'. Very nice indeed. Lots of vegetarian shops and restaurants around if that's what you're after.
A lovely day out was followed by another evening out at Pizza Express in Southend with my brother and two old long-standing friends whom I've known since we all trained together at a now defunct gym in Southend called 'SMARTS'.
Once again, no pic as I was too busy talking, listening and then eating to take one. The Toffee Fudge Glory for dessert was most welcome. They looked exactly like the ones below:
Fast forward to Thursday just gone and it was back to La Tasca with 2 friends who'd been unable to catch-up with me thus far. I went for the gluten-free tapas selection, which I think is a brilliant idea by La Tasca. My friends bought me dinner and once again it was awesome, quite frankly. Thank you Stu and Eve for a lovely evening.
This brings me to tonight. A drink in Leigh with anyone left who hasn't been able to make it out with me so far. I'll be watching everyone else drink in my honour. I enjoy my nights out far more that way.
Sunday lunch tomorrow will be wheat-free lasagna followed by a simply enormous dessert. My clients know of my sweet-tooth and have gave me chocs and treats as gifts - bless 'em! It'll be my pleasure to consume them.
I'm having my bodyfat re-measured tomorrow. That'll be interesting.....
Stay well, happy and full.
Cris (El Baron)