Hello Farrah - Page 23 of 46 - Getting lost & fed

I guess I’d better go into this snazzy job then, hadn’t I?

Last week, I announced/found out that little old me had been offered a job in the big city, and I’d be starting as soon as my exams in York were over. Once I’d been reassured that gravy does indeed exist south of Yorkshire, I accepted the position with relief and enthusiasm.

Relief because I now don’t have to worry about life immediately after university; I can focus on my exams and not mix in job applications with essay deadlines. Enthusiasm because the job is way cool.

I’ll be interning with the impressive and inspiring GoodPeople- specifically on their newly set up Pop Up Talent Project. Pop Up Talent’s aim is to reduce youth unemployment (starting with me…) by giving them the opportunity to develop, show off and apply digital skills. I’ll be doing the backstage stuff. And grinning constantly.

It’s cool because I get to try out different aspects of the project, it’s a pretty small team, and it’s a cause I care about. I can’t wait to get my teeth into it, which is a good job because I start in little over five weeks.

Still househunting (if anyone knows a room going in South West London, holla at me), and now armed with an employment contract, a load of TED talks/inspiring books/links about creativity and employment and the general yoof, it’s all starting to feel real. And exciting.

My life is about to take off in a whole new direction. A particularly southern looking direction.

So first things first, congratulations to me for getting myself a snazzy job. I’m allowed to brag about it because it’s well documented how unlikely getting a snazzy job would be for me. And it is unbelievably snazzy. Snazzy.

But before I go on to talk about all the snazz (I’ll stop saying that now), I kinda need to move. About 150 miles. To The South. And soon- my start date is less than seven weeks away- so now is the perfect time to initiate a life crisis.

I’M GOING TO LONDON. I’M GOING TO BE A SOUTHERNER. NO MORE BUS DRIVERS WAVING AT EACH OTHER. NO MORE CALLING STRANGERS “PET”. NO. MORE. GRAVY.

It’s a lot to come to terms with. Especially when you’re the sort of person who deems any place below Sheffield as The South. In fact, looking for a flatshare in the Big City has made me realise how little I actually know about London.

My entire knowledge of the city is based completely on Hugh Grant in Notting Hill, the queen jumping out of a plane into the Olympics, the music video where the girl from Black Eyed Peas sexually assaults the Queen’s Guard, and that time I went on an open top tour-bus for my 18th birthday. So narrowing down a place to live in the giant city is proving pretty difficult, but I think I’ve just about settled on Clapham, Balham, or somewhere else in the Wandsworth area- based entirely on a quiz I did online and what my only Londoner friend, Jaime, told me.

So that’s the big news. But never fear, if anything my accent will be stronger and I’ll be more determined than ever to call people “love”. You can take the girl out of the North, but I’ll be damned if you ever try to take the North out of me.

I LOVE going for meals. It upsets me that society limits us to two “going out for a meal” opportunities a day. I’d quite happily walk from one three course meal to the next day, all day, every day. Here’s where I’d do it in York- a city of beauty and glorious, glorious food.

5. Melton’s Too
Looking for some proper Yorkshire food? Good, because there’s stacks of it in the deceptively massive Melton’s Too, on Walmgate. The best thing about this tasty, tasty stuff is it’s also got a Yorkshire price tag, with Early Bird Menus at £13 each. Did I mention the real ale? Yup, if you’re looking for somewhere to soak in a Yorkshire pub atmostphere with just a touch more chic, then book a table here immediately.

4. Ambiente
On the edges of the city centre, past the Minster and up Goodramgate, Ambiente is the most authentic Spanish experience you could possibly find in York. They have a huge range of delicious- and I mean delicious- tapas. If you don’t order their paella, then you’re doing it wrong. Reasonably priced, with a wonderful atmostphere and insanely knowledgeable staff. Get yourself a jug of sangria and settle in for the night- with tapas you can just keep on going and going and…

3.The Lime House
CONFESSION: I work here. That doesn’t mean I don’t love coming to eat here, even if I twitch every time the phone rings in the middle of my meal (!). Come at lunchtime, ask for table three/four, order a large glass of white, the mushroom risotto to start, the duck for main and the sticky toffee pudding for desert, and thank me later. (Plus the service is golden, naturally).

2. Ning
I’ve already written a pretty extensive review of Ning York here, but it warrants another mentioning in my top five York eateries. Seriously good Malaysian food, I can practically still taste the Beef Rendang and Gado Gado salad. Yum

1. Nineteen
Nineteen, tucked away on Grape Lane, is my number one restaurant in York for pretty simple reasons. The food is delicious, the wine servings are generous, the rooms are so quintessentially York- creaky and quirky-, and the service was a charm. Order the trio of lamb and let it melt in your mouth. DO NOT forget to order the triple fried chips, because you will secretly harness a hatred for your boyfriend for denying you them for the rest of your life.

So, that’s it. I’d also like to shout out to Siam House, the best Thai food I’ve ever eaten, who only narrowly missed out on being on this list by inconveniently closing a few months ago. We miss you, Siam House.

Where did I miss off? Where should I go next? There’s so many places in York I can’t wait to get my jaws around…

This is the last of three Q&A blogs. This was really fun to do, I was expecting questions like “What’s your favourite colour” or “”why are you such a cow”, but got really interesting stuff to work with! The only questions I chose to ignore were the creepy ones (“Are you good at sex”…) and the ones from my boyfriend asking me why I insisted on cyberbullying him. I’ll be back to normal blogging as of now, but please keep commenting and engaging with me, that way all the time I spend behind my laptop won’t look as lame!

If you could undo one mistake in your past what would it be?
I used to stay up every night reading past bedtime using a light from a glowpen. It’s totally ruined my eyes and now I can’t look into the middle distance without squinting/glasses. Harry Potter would have been there in the morning, I should’ve just waited.

If you won the lottery what would you do with your winnings?
Buy my mum a house so she can stop bloody moving every year. Buy myself a round the world plane ticket, and spend my time volunteering and writing across the globe. Help out important causes to me, and make sure my family’s future was secure happy and fun

When you were a little girl what did you want to be when you grew up?
True story, I wanted to be a student.

My mum likes the notion of “show me the girl at seven and I’ll show you the woman”, so if we’re going off that, I was the kid who made and wrote up magazines, forced my sister and friends to buy them. I’ve always been into forcing people into reading my stuff, apparently.

Who is your best friend and why?
The darling Emma Bennett, ofc. Because she can make me cry laughing, read my mind, we have the same values, she picks me up when I need it, she is honest and funny and inspiring and I couldn’t be more grateful for (or cheesy about) her. Also because she pretends not to notice when I steal her clothes. And food.

If you could have any career (not taking wages/talent needed/level of difficulty into consideration), what would you pick?
I really want a career in communications. I want to write for people, I want to talk to people, I want to make people talk to each other. So I’ll work at that, regardless of wages, talent and difficulty!

If you could bring one old friend from the past back, who would it be and why?

There’s so many friendships that kinda fazed out, simply due to being too busy, not making efforts, and moving far away. I couldn’t begin to name them, and I couldn’t pick one. Needless to say, I’d love for them all to be part of my life still

What would be your ideal job?
Coronation Street’s Official Previewer. Bill Bryson’s Suitcase. Queen of Blogs.

What’s the best and worst thing about York uni?
Best: The quality of some of the work, the opportunities to get involved with so many societies, the cheesy nightlife, how beautiful it looks on a sunny day, padding around the library at ten at night in slipper socks.
Worst: My syntax lecturer.

What would your last meal be?
Giant plate of salt and pepper prawns to start, duck leg with sweet potato main, giant sticky toffee pudding for dessert with a massive fruity cocktail to wash it all down.

So that’s it! I’ve deleted my ask.fm now (I have EXAMS to be thinking about) and hopefully you all feel like you’ve been suitably nosy and I’ve been suitably compliant in answering you. If you’re desperado to find out something else (like, seriously, WHY do you insist on cyberbullying your boyfriend?) then tweet me, email me, or comment on a post! It makes my day.

London countdown: 5 weeks to go

Northern girl seeks London town

The best restaurants in York

Q&A Session: Past and Future