I had originally been supposed to have a Skype session with a friend in Australia last night, but at 10 PM he e-mailed me apologizing, saying that he'd have to cancel as he'd forgotten that he and his partner were meeting someone for breakfast. Who on earth meets people for breakfast at 8:30 AM on a Friday morning? That sounded totally bizarre to me, but it was good as it allowed me to get to bed earlier to try and get some sleep before my big day the next day.
I guess I was too nervous about all that was going on, as I didn't get much sleep at all, and woke before my alarm at 6 AM. I got myself up, through the shower, and did my hair (I went for an updo that could work for the workday and for the dinner that evening), and got myself out of the house to Victoria.
Today I was supposed to be attending a "Milestone Training" for work, that was really geared towards the young consultants, rather than people like me, who have already been in their roles for some time. I did almost feel a bit lame when I got there, as all of these promotes had to be around 25-26 years old, and there I was, along with them. The Senior Managers up on the stage had to be about my age or only slightly older. It's a bit discouraging at times to realise how much my career has stalled...
Still, the presentations were good. There was one done by an actor who talked to us about non-verbal body language (helpful when you're dealing with people in person, less so when you're always on conference calls and web cams), a guy who talked to us about thinking differently, and a couple of instances where they brought some employees, unprepped, up on the stage to act out certain scenarios, and I was really impressed with the job they did. I guess it's really true what they say about the people at our company, that you're not dealing with the normal population, it's all a bunch of really high-achievers. Much like being at Dartmouth, where even if you had been the top kid in your high school, you had to understand that you were absolutely average in this crowd.
The day was rather long, so to amuse myself, I kept snapping pictures and sending them to my boss to entertain her. Halfway through the day I got an e-mail from her saying that I'd really been entertaining her all day long. Glad to know it, because "tweeting" the event was a good source of entertainment for me too!
Finally, the event was over at 5:30, where we got a chance to finally have some drinks and talk and socialise with people. I had planned to have only one drink before escaping to the O&C for the Magdalene dinner that evening. However, I suppose it's just the nature of how I am, that before I knew it, I'd had three (thanks to a very attentive chap I'd been talking to who brought me another drink before I even asked), and it was 10 minutes to 7 before I finally walked out of there (for a dinner that officially started at 7).
It was only a 20 minute walk/dash across Green Park to get to the club, and while I was walking, I was surprised when my phone rang and it was Joel! He was calling to tell me that he was leaving work right then with another guy who was coming to the dinner (he works with other Magdalene people? I didn't know this), and so he would be coming for pre-dinner drinks. Marvellous! I'm always happy to see Joel, and I was glad that this meant he could catch up with other old Magdalene friends too.
I changed in the loo as quickly as I could, and I think overall, I didn't look bad for having come from work. It was 7:30 before I managed to dash upstairs (for drinks that had started at 7), and so things were in full swing. I didn't see Joel, but had texted him about where to find us, so I figured there was nothing more I could do there.
I tried circulating a bit, but I was really too stretched by my organising responsibilities to do anything more than exchange 3-4 words with any one person. The Master arrived shortly after I did, so I was making polite conversation along with Tristan (who really shines at events like this one), and agreeing with Tristan and Doro how the whole thing should work in terms of timings, thank-yous, and so forth. I was quite happy to have Tristan speak on behalf of all of us, as he's such a wonderful speaker I thought it would work well.
I then spoke a bit to Sibe who still owed me money for the dinner, so he gave me a wad of cash, and then I talked briefly to Ali and Nic. As we chatted, we realised that I hadn't seen them since their wedding. It was rather hard to believe I hadn't seen them in a year, but Ali had changed so much, looking like such a middle-aged man, that perhaps this was indeed true.
As we went into dinner, there was some panic about there being people present who had not been on the original guest list, but it all seemed to work out in the end, so I suppose it was fine. The dinner itself was lovely (replacing the starter had been a good move), and although I felt a bit bad about abandoning all of my other friends at one end of the room, I did enjoy sitting with Hastie and Oly and a few different familiar faces. And it was nice as Ali swapped seats with the chap sitting on my left at one point, so he could come over and talk to me more properly for a bit. I have to say, he's changed since he got married, but I still do enjoy his company.
The Master gave a great after-dinner speech that most people seemed to enjoy, and we all seemed a bit emotional at the thought that this would be his last year as Master. How has it been ten years already? We didn't seem to have as much wine going around as last year, but perhaps that's a good thing. After all, I can't remember too much of last year's dinner, whereas this year at least my memories are all pretty crisp and clear.
Finally, at around 10:30, we retired to the bar, where I found Joel, on crutches! He didn't really explain what had happened, but in truth I was still pretty distracted by all of the people around me. I greeted him enthusiastically, not even noting the presence of H, the girl he's been involved with, for half a second. Eventually I did realise that she was there however, and greeted her, and chatted to her about what they'd been up to. Apparently they had just stayed and had drinks and sandwiches all evening, and now of course here was the crowd in the bar.
Also a bit embarrassingly, when I walked into the bar, there was a girl there who struck me as familiar for some reason, but I couldn't quite place her. It was only when I noted the guy standing next to her, that it suddenly all clicked. It was a couple I know through Inter-Club who are both in the Navy, and live in Portsmouth. So perhaps I can be forgiven for not recognising them out of context (what were they doing at the O&C? I was never quite clear on that, but it was still a delight to see them). The guy bought me a glass of red wine (I'd finished my port), and I had fun introducing them around and chatting with them for a bit.
Then came the most surreal part of the evening, when this guy came up to me, greeting me by name and telling me it was so good to see me again. I had no idea who he was, but luckily he laughed and explained that I'd proposed him for membership. Still wasn't quite sure what on earth he was talking about, until he mentioned that he was a friend of Mr Attractive, the guy who I met last spring and introduced to the club. And so of course I felt incredibly lame to remember Mr Attractive but not him, as it makes me seem like such a typical girl who only notices the good-looking guys.
Yet this guy, I had to admit, wasn't exactly bad-looking, just pales in comparison to his friend. And I joked that Mr Attractive still owed me an e-mail (haven't heard from him in months, in fact, but haven't really thought about it, as I never thought a guy that good-looking would be interested in me anyway). Then he and his friend joked about how Mr Attractive had such an ego, being such a good-looking guy, but you have to figure that sort of thing... Hence, resolved to put Mr Attractive out of my head and focus instead on this guy who obviously was somebody I should be paying attention to. But even as I consciously thought, "I must remember this guy's name", it just slipped out of my head right there. Admittedly the name was somewhat unusual, but I was still frustrated with myself for forgetting. I did remember his friend Simon's name though, but that one was much easier to call to mind.
Update: I gave the guy my card, and on Sunday he added me as a friend on Facebook. Ended up having a very nice FB online chat with him, actually. Thank goodness for how Facebook lets you connect with people!
I also spent some time chatting to some guy who I remembered putting on the guest list, and he was thanking me for organising and putting his girlfriend inadvertently close to another Finnish person. (Ummm yeah, I totally designed it that way). Still, it was really nice to get to talk to so many new people and know that my hard work had been appreciated.
Before I knew it, the time had reached 1 AM, and the bar was shut, and we were all still in the bar. Where on earth did the time go? So when another group seemed to be moving on to go to a nightclub, although I am normally so not a nightclub person, I went along. Changed into my flats as we walked, and still figured that once we got there, I would pull my usual disappearing act. Yet, when we got to the club, paid the £10 cover charge, the £1 charge to check my bag (in a genius move, this club gave you rubber bracelets for your bags instead of tickets) and joined the others on the dance floor. I decided not to drink (not interested in paying for over-priced drinks), but instead just went dancing. And I'd really thought I would stay for just a drink or two, but every time a new song came on, I kept thinking, "Hey, I like that song too!" I had one shot when a girl brought out a round of shots, but otherwise just kept dancing.
As I was dancing, just getting lost in the music and having fun, a part of me thought, "I really hope that one day I'll meet a guy who has no interest in loud over-priced nightclubs as a regular thing, but I have to admit that on occasion it's loads of fun." Perhaps so often when the Young Dutchman leads the crowds out to Maddox or another nightclub, and I beg off, perhaps I should go more.
Suddenly, I was totally surprised when the DJ stopped playing, and the dance floor just emptied out. It was over already? But we'd just gotten here! I mean, it was only......4 AM. Oh boy. Yeah, perhaps it was time to go then.
The group then all made our way to a McDonald's, and I love how in London, that can seem totally normal, to first have a whole bunch of people in black-tie head to a nightclub, and then end up in a McDonald's at 4 AM, with bow-ties undone and everybody looking dashingly dishevelled. And the way London is, we ran into a bunch of people who other people knew, who then knew more people, until the whole of McDonald's seemed like some weird reunion party. (And the place was packed, which I guess is how it goes at that hour of the morning). We managed to find a table that we all could gather around, perching two people to a chair, and woolfing down burgers and cokes. (I only realised a bit too late that I'd ordered a Diet Coke, and wondered if it would keep me awake when I got home. I need not have worried, as I was far too sleepy by the time I got home to stay awake much longer, Diet Coke or not!)The rest of the group at this point was starting to fracture, although some folks did seem like they were going to head on to yet another club. I did think about going with them, but then passed a night bus stop where a bus that would take me back to my house would be passing by, and so I begged off at that point. This guy Matt B (who I had been sitting next to at dinner, who is actually a super-nice guy), really paused to give me a kiss and a nice send-off, not sure if it was due to any latent interest, or him just being sweet. Because as I've said, he's a super-nice guy. But a nice final way to end the evening.
I got on the bus, and realised that at 4 AM, it was too late to call even anyone in the US, so I tried to contact my friend Jess who is in Seattle, but then realised I didn't have her number in my phone. Bummer! Finally got to my stop, and walked the short distance home, where I ran into not just one but two foxes. Goodness, those critters are everywhere!
It was close to 5 AM by the time I fell into bed, and I almost thought about staying up, but then realised I was too exhausted to even contemplate that. Yet it had been one of those awesome, classic, great, "only in London" kind of nights. Those are the best.
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