Surprise Surprise!

If you're anything like me, you love surprises!  I get all excited and feel all gooey inside like a slightly undercooked cake!  But alas, not all surprises are good ones and these past couple weeks I've had my fair share of excitement and disappointment when it came to the unexpected!

1) I received a letter from the HMRC saying they owed me a tax rebate! Well, that wasn't so much of a surprise because I knew those thieving MPs were up to something, but surprised I actually received it back!  And tadah, I'm now wealthy.  Well, not really.  But no longer scrounging.  Not quite so much anyway.

2) I was invited by a colleague to the H&M Autumn/Winter collection fashion show, and met Cara Delevingne and got to drink free cocktails, champagne and eat foie gras, smoked salmon, quails eggs, baby sandwiches and Chocolat liégeois which I'm still having nightmares about - it was that insane.

3) I had to go for a French medical exam and take off my clothes.  Definitely a surprise.

4) I received some beautiful IHT stash (which hasn't been available for many years!) from a dear colleague of mine as a leaving gift.  Best surprise present ever.

5) I learnt how much of a fan I am of gangster movies, which was definitely a surprise.  Although not such a surprise that the film that got me hooked was "Gangster Squad" starring the one and only Ryan Gosling.

6) I went to the hairdresser for the first time in Paris to get a fringe cut!  Tony&Guy were trying to charge me 20€ so I went slightly further afield and got a surprise when it turned out to be only 5€.  Despite making my fringe a little on the spiky side, it was a pretty decent effort. 

7) I went to pick up my half marathon bib and found out they were all YELLOW.  This was certainly a surprise as I'd picked the "green team" so that I could wear a colour which at least vaguely suited me.  

8) I proceeded to run the half marathon in under 2 hours (1hr58mins to be precise) which was certainly a surprise since in training I did it in 2h08mins!

9) I haven't been able to take any money out at the cash machine since the weekend because apparently I've exceeded my withdrawal limit (despite still having funds in my account!) - that was certainly a surprise!  And not a nice one!

10) I got a free cider from the cute guy in the bar when I spilt half of mine over my friend's lap!  That was certainly a surprise because it was 7,50€ a bottle!