A Literary Legend and one big twit!

I now have proof that London isn’t the centre of the universe and that many exciting things happen elsewhere.

For this example I will pick the city of Durham at 9am on Tuesday 3rd March 2009. That would be when I met Bill Bryson.

For the promotion of the Bill Bryson Bag, Bill himself popped in to the uni library to do a few publicity shots. It was his first glimpse of the bag and he likes it. He is a wonderful lovely man (to quote one friend “the man has the soul of santa claus”) and was happy to sign a few bags and books.



As he was leaving I was made up to hear him say something along the lines of “Great to meet you Helen. Of course with you working in the library I’ll see you around again soon” (Bill comes to the library on occasion to do research). Lo and behold today when I was off on my lunchtime jaunt who should I bump into but Mr Bryson. I said hello and had a brief chat with him. I wonder how many times you have to talk to someone before you can officially classify them as a friend?

I’m getting a bit of a kick out of the whole bag thing – it’s lovely to be able to do creative stuff and get paid for it. And also is fantastic to see people reading things I’ve written. Or looking at the Waterstone’s window display Lisa put together. I could on occasion be described as ever so slightly over excited about the whole thing!



My week has not only been about the thrill of meeting a literary legend. It has also involved a new addiction. Twitter. As a result of my injury and spending Friday sat on the sofa watching endless episodes of Gilmore Girls (another addiction) I decided to give the Twitter thing another go. My first attempt had been as a result of Chris Moyles (ChrisDJMoyles) and to be honest I just didn’t get it. But with time on my hands and a very well timed ‘followfriday’ by Phillip Schofield (Schofe) I made a few friends with tweeple and now I’m one big twit!

Now I have lots of new Twitter friends. I’ve met fellow Thornber’s. There are a few Liverpool supporters to chat to during matches (and a few Man U supporters to give us abuse). Four of us have even started a Twitter Book Club!

Anyway it’s time for me to go and make cakes for the infamous ‘Cake Friday’ at in Library Land. I will be Twitpic-ing my progress. My very own Twookery show! Follow me if you dare twitter.com/helenthornber.

No excuses!

There is no excuse! I have taken a three-month break from a blog I started four and half months ago. Even worse the thing that has finally got me blogging again is that I have an unplanned free weekend after I had a rather spectacular engagement with a pavement (there was blood, now there is pain).

I am now living in Durham. I have a lovely job working with lovely people and every Friday is ‘Cake Day’… next Friday it’s my turn to make cakes!

My favourite thing about Durham is the scenery and getting to walk to work through the countryside and along the river. It looks so pretty in the snow!







As for the three months you missed…

The first month was hectic. Travelling round the UK and Christmas.

The second month was hectic. Moving to Durham and starting a new job.

The third month was hectic. My sister and her family moving to Durham and lots of babysitting.

The fourth month is looking a bit calmer. So blogging and getting on with other writing projects is on the cards! As well as the fact that hopefully something very very exciting is happening on Tuesday and if it does (fingers and toes crossed!) I want to tell everyone about it!!!

p.s. I've also discovered twitter twitter.com/helenthornber

She Parties, Moves and Travels!

It’s been a couple of weeks since my last update, a very hectic couple of weeks!

I just about survived my leaving parties, though my liver is thanking me for minimal alcohol drinking ever since. The hangovers weren’t pretty, but they were worth it. It was so lovely that people made the effort, and so I better make the effort to keep in touch with them now I’ve gone!


Then it was ‘The Move: Part One’ from London to Southport. Packing my stuff up took so much longer than expected and packing the van was an experience in itself, we packed every last inch of space and used every last minute of the rental!!!


Less than 24 hours later I was off to NYC and surprised myself by being able to keep my eyes open until 10pm on the first day (3am GMT) despite being up at 5.30am – over 21 hours!!!

Friday Liz and I shopped until we dropped, literally. After 10 hours and more dollars than I care to add up, we sat down in the nearest restaurant we could find. We weren’t just there to shop (though you might find that hard to believe!) we also did some sightseeing, and found sometime to catch up with the gorgeous and wonderful Hannah! By far the most giddy moment of the week was when I sat there as The Little Mermaid musical started!


Since I returned to the UK on Friday I have been recovering by sleeping lots. I’ve also started to put together a to-do list. I’m sure that time will fly by, and before I know it I will be in Durham to start my new job! I’m off to the North East next week to house hunt – wish me luck!!!

The Yanks, The Swedes & The Scousers

Despite the temptation to spend my night glued to the BBC website and watch the votes come in I managed to get to sleep at a fairly respectable hour last night. Only because I have to stay awake over the next few days for my leaving parties. However my body clock seemed to be intent that I wouldn’t miss all the fun and woke me up at around 5am to see Obama’s speech.


It’s astounding how excited and interested we are in the UK. Understandable of course, this is not only a president of the USA, but the most powerful man in the world. It’s also history in the making, proving yet again that anything is possible. However I agree with Obama, he is not a black President, he is a President who is black. I am just pleased that he is a man that seems to have vision, yet is realistic in his goals. He believes in equality, yet appreciates people’s individuality. I hope that his leadership is as strong as I believe it can be, and I am excited about the possibilities over the next four years.

Even without the current crises it is of interest to us because of the effect American politics has on our little island. However the other reason is the capacity the Americans have to motivate and celebrate. It is infectious. I have followed this election more closely than any UK election. Yes some people stay up all night to watch our general election results rolling in, but you don’t see the scenes of people sat cheering in bars in central London, as was last night. Isn’t it time that we had a general election that inspired people to vote and to celebrate. That engage people in the process, rather than alienating those who feel they don’t ‘get it’. I hope our next general election can be as exciting for those of us in the UK as the American election has been!

As the Americans queued for hours to vote, I braved the land of the Swedes, Ikea. I needed to buy some of those cheap paper lampshades to replace the ones I removed the moment I moved in. Though I am a sucker for the Ikea concept, and prices, I find the experience very stressful. I decided to kill two birds with one stone and check out potential furniture options for my future home so that when I have to visit again it can be as quick and painless as possible. Despite having researched mattresses and narrowed it down to three, I still had what can only be described as a goldilocks moment when I tried them out! Thankfully the one that was ‘just right’ is the cheapest!!!


And what of the Scousers? Well they avoided a loss against Atletico taking them a step closer to the next stages of the Champions League. While the Americans dream of the next four years, I’m hoping that Liverpool have got their act together enough this season to get the Premiership title, and enjoy the European one too!

What a week!

Tuesday night was my leaving do with my team and it was so much fun. We did a quiz at a wine bar and came 4th. Not bad eh?! Well it is when there are only four teams. But we enjoyed the wine, and the competition. The snow started whilst we were in a pub down the road, which turned Joann and I into a pair of kids for a couple of minutes whilst we ran outside, made snowballs and threw them at people (we knew) inside the pub.


On Friday I was in Durham for an interview at the University Library. I obviously impressed them as I got offered the job! I’ll start in January so I have a couple of months to get myself sorted with a place to live and to move up there. I am very excited indeed about this adventure. I just need to find some new friends up there!

Back to London on Saturday, the train journey flew by thanks to the wonders of technology, talking to a friend in China on Skype from a train somewhere between Durham and London. It’s amazing that it’s so easy to keep in touch these days. Another perk to the journey was that my general buzz from having a new job was added to by a compliment from one of the train staff who said that my smile had made his day!

Saturday night was Danielle’s Halloween party. Despite minimal effort and cost (£1.50 for a witch’s hat) I was quite impressed with my outfit. It was a fantastic party with many friends. However on Sunday I wasn’t feeling quite so great (two hangovers in one week is not something that has happened for a LONG time). Sunday was spent catching up on Gilmore Girls followed by The Omen. We were planning to watch all four, but after the second we weren’t convinced it was going to get that much better so we gave up on movie watching and ordered Chinese!


It’s only 9 days until New York, which means only 8 days until I need to move out of my house. As Thursday and Friday will be spent on yet more leaving parties I better get myself into gear and start packing tonight!

Far too excited!!!

Where is all the time going?

It’s non-stop at the moment, and I’m far too excitable.

Things are going well with the job hunt (don’t want to say anymore and jinx it, I will inform you all in due course!)

I used strengthsfinder 2.0 this week, quite helpful in the job search. Knowing my strengths helps in narrowing down what I might actually enjoy doing, so I can find a career I am really passionate about! Apparently my top 5 are: Strategic, Positivity, Woo, Activator & Communication. Sounds about right to me!!!

I’m gradually packing things up at work and home, which is a bit of a marathon effort, but I will get there in the end. Today’s effort was emptying out the shed.

Whilst doing this I had to sort out Christmas decorations. I suddenly got very excited that Christmas is only a couple of months away and then made Suzi endure a story about how I used to decorate my room as a teenager (It became “Santa’s Helen’s Grotto” complete with sign on my door!)

This excitement was just after I had been on the phone to Lady B talking about New York, which is only 17 days away… and hugely exciting too! It's just over four years since I was there last and I can't wait to go back!



So I am just a little bit hyped up at the moment. I think I need to take a couple of deep breaths, focus and calm down, if only for the sanity of those around me.

Anyway I better get back to job-hunting related activities… as well as eBay selling. I am not a big fan of the part where you actually have to pack things up and send them in the post, far too much effort!

Until the next time!!!

One week down... three to go!

Well here we are at blog number three and one week closer to the big change. It’s been a week of job hunting, sorting my stuff, eBay selling, catching up with friends and trying to fit the day job in. I have now decided that moving and job hunting are two activities that should not be attempted simultaneously. I’m constantly stifling a yawn, and am looking forward to the day I can go to bed for a whole weekend to catch up on much needed sleep.

However before I do that, my first week of unemployment (technically my only week, as I will be working with my sister as a ‘freelance design consultant’ after that) will be spent in New York. A very happy coincidence that a holiday booked almost a year ago is now coming at exactly the right time. Plus a very clever Lady B suggested we start changing money early, so we beat the fall in exchange rates! I just hope the buzz of the big apple will see me through one more week of sleep depravation!!!

Whilst in New York I think I will have to invest in a nice thick winter coat. As a friend pointed out, I have made the decision to head back to Northern England just in time for the freezing cold winter. No time to acclimatise to the drop in temperature. Three years in London has got me used to fairly mild winters, especially as the air pollution keeps it a couple of degrees warmer than everywhere else.

Aside from the dreaded cold, I do get more excited as time goes on about returning to the north. Whilst my parents were down the other weekend they showed me a DVD of the giant spider in Liverpool a few weeks ago (I’ve gone all technical and included a picture!) Seeing the honesty and humour of crazy northern people made me realise how much I miss that part of the country, and how proud I am to come from it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved my time in London, and know so many crazy and lovely southerners. But there is something special about the north that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy (and apparently turns me into a big pile of slush!)



I have also been minding my ego. Having finally spread the news at work officially, I have been getting many lovely messages from all the people I’ve worked with (seven jobs in three years means there’s been a fair few). It is great to feel so loved, and also sad that there are some people I will probably never see or speak to again.

The other people I’ll be leaving behind, but definitely will see again, are all my London friends. I have been doing the rounds, and trying to see everyone before I go. Some of my closest friends have never been more than a few minutes away since starting university. Even if we don’t see each other as often now, it’s strange to think that they won’t be a short tube ride away. I will have to be less spontaneous and more organised!

A mixture of emotions in a busy time! I am still very positive and know it’s the right decision for me at this time in my life. And once I am settled I will start on persuading a few southerners to go past the Watford Gap and up to the fabled north to come and say hello to me!