The Hanson clan take on Bristol

Hi all,

I just spent the weekend at my sister's place in Bristol for the celebrations of her 21st birthday. I tell you, there's nothing like your younger siblings reaching significant birthdays to make you feel old! The party itself was really good. It was a joint party with one of Martha's housemates, Chloe, who had also just turned 21. They had hired a room in a pub and had a funky jazz-type band playing. The theme was corsets and cufflinks, which was a bit different and also gave me an excuse (as if I need one) to wear my corset. All the girls were in corset/ basque type tops (a fact that my brother appreciated, I think) and the boys were dressed pretty smart too. The only damper on the evening was the fact that my mum and dad's car broke down. They were staying in a cottage over the Welsh border because my mum is going to a conference in Cardiff this week and they were driving over to Bristol for the party when the car ceased to function. The AA was called but it was unfixable at the roadside, so my Dad had to go all the way back to Northumberland (6 hours drive away) with the car on the back of an AA truck and then drive down in their other car the next day. They managed to get a taxi for mum though (not an easy feat at 11 on a Saturday night, when you're in a lay-by somewhere in the middle of nowhere) so she managed to make it to the party. Anyway, apart from that minor disaster, the evening was wonderful. In addition to the band there was a good selection of music picked out by Martha and her flatmates so we were boogying until the early hours.

Surprisingly Lottie didn't get pissed (I don't know what came over me!) but my mother did overdo the wine a bit. Well, it had been a stressful evening, I guess, so she's excused. She kept apologising for being embarrassing and then insisted on drinking three cups of coffee to sober up when we got back to Martha's place, even though she knows perfectly well that it won't actually help. She obviously had a good time though! (And I think we can see where I get my drinking habits from...).

Anyway, there will be pictures to follow when I can be bothered to upload them.

Ciao!
Lottie x