Drinks with Nicki Minaj after partying with a Goldfish – Antics from last weekend!

Last weekend was stupidly busy, but I had crazy amounts of fun! I hate being bored and I’m also one of those people who can’t say no, so when I was asked out Friday night and all day Saturday I was naturally lured in to both invites, (even though I was planning on an all-dayer at Hackney Weekend on the Sunday too). After seeing YOLO plastered all over my Facebook and Twitter feed, I gave in to the fact that I could kiss my lie-in goodbye this weekend. Friday evening consisted of after work drinks on Brick Lane, Saturday I rocked out at We Love Bruch and then on Sunday I made my way to Hackney Marshes to see Rih Rih - and this is what happened…  

On Friday I made plans to meet up with Lindsay and Katie, 2 friends I went to High School with back in Wales.  As I had to be up early Saturday morning I decided I would only go for one drink, but once we started sharing all the hilarious / cringe worthy memories from school I soon forgot my plan, and somehow I ended up stumbling home around 1am dreading the idea of having to apply my fake tan in my tipsy state. The evening started at Vibe Bar on Brick Lane; it was my first time at this venue and although the interiors weren’t that great, I was oblivious to my surroundings as I was engrossed in conversation about the good old days at Howell’s School.

Despite a tiny hangover, I was up mega early Saturday morning for We Love Brunch, (a daytime party at Kensington Roof Gardens in case you don’t know). Miraculously I made it on time to the event, (if you know me you’ll know I’m terrible at being on time!) and met my friends at the venue. These events are so funny, they start off quite civilized and sophisticated but once people get fuelled with the Belvedere and the DJ’s kick the tempo up a notch everyone goes crazy! I was unaware that Goldfish were going to be playing (and to be honest I was unaware of who they were too), but after their set I fell in love with the group. Their genre would be classed as dance / electronica, I suppose; which isn’t my favourite type of music, but when I heard ‘We Come Together’ and saw someone from the band whip out a saxophone and flute I was mesmerized, (and slightly stunned too). Check out my mini video below for a sneak peek of the crowd jamming to the music!  

Once 6pm struck, Love Brunch came to an abrupt end. My friends and I didn’t want the evening to stop there though so we headed over to Soho House for dinner…. And more drinks. We met up with my friend Emma’s housemate Natalie and some of her friends too. It was the first time I had met them and they were all lovely. As it was a warm evening we all sat on the rooftop and chilled out for a couple of hours to regain our energy. After dinner and polishing off a bottle of wine between us, we decided to go for a few drinks at the W Hotel.

Rooftop at Soho House

I love the W Hotel, it’s one of my favourite bars in Soho. It has trendy interiors, it always plays good music and it also hosts an impressive cocktail list – what’s not to love? After setting the barman a challenge of making me the best caipirinha I had ever tasted (which he was successful at), my friends and I relaxed on the massive sofas. The W Hotel is a great place to people watch; before leaving we even bumped into Nicki Minaj – if it’s good enough for her, it’s good enough for me! 

On Sunday I woke up early again as I was lucky enough to get a ticket for Hackney Weekend. As soon as I got up I really wasn’t in the mood to go to the concert though. I was so unbelievably tired but hoped my morning porridge and an episode of Jeremy Kyle in the USA would perk me up.

It was my second time attending a festival and so I wasn’t prepared for the mammoth amount of mud and decided to wear flip-flops! (Massive fail!!) Luckily I could buy wellies there though, so I quickly changed footwear. I wasn’t prepared for the rain either, so I bought this army hat too, which I thought was pretty cool.    

I had an idea of what acts I wanted to see on the day, although it didn’t really go to plan and I ended up raving in the dance arena, surprisingly. Although I’m not a diehard fan of dubstep, I realised it just goes so well with the festival vibe, and so I spent most of my hours at this tent. 

My favorite acts had to be Zane Lowe, Flux Pavilion and Doctor P, David Guetta, Madeon and of course Rihanna. Up and coming DJ Madeon is only 18 – his set wasn’t really hardcore but it was fun and upbeat. I really liked his mashup of DeadMau5’s ‘Raise Your Weapon’ and Blur’s ‘Song 2’.

Rihanna’s last song ‘We Found Love’ had to be the best of her performance. Fireworks went off towards the end of the track and there wasn’t one single person standing still at that moment.
 

Overall though, I had the best time when Flux Pavilion and Doctor P were on stage. When the hits ‘I Can’t Stop’ and ‘Bass Cannon’ kicked off the atmosphere was electric and it felt like everyone’s adrenaline was pumping. It was unreal! I think I’ll have to listen to them at my next session in the gym so if you can recommend a good playlist let me know! Check out the snippet video I took of them below. And before you ask, yes I am standing about 2 inches from the mosh pit - although it was very tame at that point!

So all in all a very hectic (but fun) two and a half days. This weekend I’ll need to recharge my batteries. I’ll just be drinking cups of tea, taking 10-hour sleeps and watching trash TV….  Well that’s the plan for now anyway ;o)