Katy Perry!!

I got home yesterday afternoon from a great weekend away which really lifted my spirits. I went down to Birmingham on Saturday with my dad to spend a bit of time with my friend and carer from uni, and her mum and dad. We'd (me, my friend and her mum) booked to see Katy Perry about six months ago for the Monday night, but since I'm at home for Easter we decided to make a bit of a weekend of it. And it was lovely! Pretty chilled, but it was really nice to spend time away from the pressure of uni workload and carer issues and have a laugh with people I really care about.

 So on Saturday we drove in the van from home to Birmingham, packed up to the brim with my mattress, Bipap machine and big suitcase full of clothes (I always overpack!). We stopped for a quick sandwich at Sandbach (wasn't great, very dry!!) and got to our hotel around 4pm. We unloaded the van and met up with Stacey and her mum and dad for a drink in the pub part of the hotel before going for dinner at Nando's. We then went back to the hotel as I was pretty tired from travelling, so had an early night.

Sunday we got up and went for a delicious breakfast at John Lewis. I had a bit of a wander around the shops for a bit, before we went to Stacey's mum and dad's house, as we'd been invited over for lunch. We kind of gatecrashed their mother's day Sunday lunch, but it was nice to meet her grandma and granddad, and her brother and her girlfriend. Deb (Stacey's mum) had made a really yummy meal, with my favourite pudding - chocolate gateaux! My dad then dropped me and Stacey off at her local, where we met some of her friends for a few drinks. I was a bit nervous (I always am with new people) but they were really nice and we seemed to get on well.

On Monday, we went to John Lewis again for breakfast and had another wander around the shops. It was pretty cold, and my dad, being a man and all that, had forgotten to pack a coat or jumper, so we had to go and find him something warmer to wear.

(On a side note: I noticed in the shopping centre that I was being stared at a lot more than I was used to (I don't really notice it at home any more, I do get stared at a bit but not by many people). Later, I asked Stacey whether there were many people "like me" in Birmingham, and she said no. I was quite surprised, considering Birmingham is, what, the second largest city in the UK after London...but anyway...back to the story...)

We then went to pick Stacey and Deb up from their house, and went to Deb's work for some lunch. It was a really nice pub with a real fire which we sat by. We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for Katy Perry! From a wheelchair perspective, the LG Arena is a really good venue and has great wheelchair seats. The only downside was that I had to pay for my carer's ticket, unfortunately it looks as if most places are going this way, which I think is really unfair. We were fairly close to the stage (as you'll see from the photos) and had a great unobstructed view, though I did hurt my neck turning to see the stage. She put on an awesome show, having people up on the stage to dance with her, a quick-change dress trick in Hot 'N' Cold and an indoor firework display as a finale in Firework. She had so many costume changes! And they were all so beautiful!

Peacock

Thinking of You

Hot 'N' Cold

Dancing with people from the standing area to "I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me)"

The finale - Firework

Encore - California Gurls

So, yeah, she was amazing and I'd really recommend you go and see her - to be honest, I wasn't expecting much from her vocally after her not so fantastic live performance on X Factor, but the girl can actually sing!