Harry Potter Weekend 1

So this weekend saw the release of the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix film. When we booked the tickets the release date was Friday, so Lynne and I booked our usual day off to see the film, do a bit of shopping and have a meal, but they changed the date to Thursday and of course I couldn't wait a whole day (yes I know I'm sad, you don't have to tell me), so I had to go and see it on Thursday morning as well.

We started our retail therapy day in Debenham's at Lakeside (as my friend Am suggested that it might be a good place to find a dress for the wedding) and after trying on half a dozen lovely dresses - I was delighted to find that a size 22 fit perfectly, my fears of still being a 24 completely unfounded - found a gorgeous dress by John Rocha which was a halter neck in cream with black flower pattern on it. I went to the till where I was informed that my card had been declined. I couldn’t understand why this was (I had bought some knives from the same place only about 40 minutes before), so ran over to the Abbey (which was luckily across the way) where I was told that the link system had gone down and my chip had been locked. All I needed do was unlock the pin and all would be well. The woman made it sound like it was obvious that was what had happened – although I’d never heard of it before, so I unlocked my pin and off I went back to queue for the till. Nope my card was declined again. The woman at the till phoned Visa, who gave her a telephone number for me to call and she kindly let me use their telephone to do this.

I then spent 7 minutes in a queue before finally getting through to (yep you guessed it) an Indian call centre. They informed me that my card had been suspended after some suspicious transactions (this brought back memories of my last day in New Orleans when they did exactly the same thing, yet again without any warning). They reeled off a few and some I recognized, some I didn’t, but I was having trouble understanding what he was saying – and as I pointed out, because I wasn’t at home, but in the middle of a department store, I couldn’t remember without looking them up. At this the man told me that he felt the activity was suspicious and he’d cancelled my card and I would now have to wait for a new one to come through after the account was checked. I asked how I was supposed to pay for my dress. He said I couldn’t using my card, but that if I went to my local Abbey branch with my passport I would be able to draw out some money. I tried to point out that I was nowhere near my local branch, and neither do I take my passport shopping with me, but to no avail. My card was cancelled and there was nothing he or I could do. I was furious!

As it had taken so long to sort this I had to leave the dress in Debenham’s, because we needed to get over to Bluewater for the film. After the film had finished I went to Abbey to see if there was anything I could do to get some money. Luckily they were very helpful and so I withdrew enough money to get an outfit, plus food shopping for the week etc. So we then wandered around Bluewater, trying on dresses in every possible shop. Disappointingly, Monsoon only had 1 dress in a size 22 in the whole shop, and although Lynne told me it looked nice I really hated the colour so that was a no go. In Ann Harvey I actually fitted into a size 20 dress (although a bit too tight across the tummy, and there’s no way I’m wearing pants of steel in the Italian heat) and I bought a new swimsuit which was in the sale, and is really flattering. One thing I had noticed with all the outfits I’d tried on (and with most of the clothes I've got from ebay recently) was that the bust didn’t fit quite right so I went to Leia and had a fitting for a new bra. I had changed much more than I had realised and a new bra made a world of difference. I bought 2 bras and 2 pairs of matching knickers (in pale pink/pale blue and cerise – I know I should have got sensible black, but it was so nice to have a choice of colours for a change) and headed off back on my dress crusade.

I ended up in Marks & Spencer where I found a beautiful dress, but of course sod’s law was that they had every size (from 8 – 28) except for a 22. I tried on the 24 and it fit pretty well, although a bit loose around the bust. I found a lovely organza hat which went perfectly (and packs flat – perfect for traveling!) and as soon as I saw it all on I knew it was the right dress for me. I bought the 24 as it was the only one in stock, but have ordered a 22 which will be in store for next Thursday so I can try that on and choose the one which is the best fit – I’m thinking the 22 should fit perfectly round the bust. Now I just have to find some sandals or something to wear with it – not sure I have anything suitable atm as I don’t really wear strappy sandals and Jo has (understandably) forbidden me from wearing Birkenstocks or fit flops

We finally got finished shopping about 9.20pm and then headed off to De:Alto for a lovely meal (see diet blog for details) and a chance to sit and relax after our hectic day. All in all a fantastic day.

And the film? Well it was OK. Firstly, it's a bit weird that the longest book in the series has been made into the shortest film. Yes, the book was a bit of a filler, but the film has hacked the story that was in it to bits. Loads of stuff is missing, and what is in there has been considerably changed (and not necessarily for the better). However, it is still an enjoyable film in the way all HP films are, just as long as you forget about the book (best to make sure you haven't just reread it before you see the film), and of course yet again darker than the film before it. I didn't think that it wrung the emotion the way that the book did though, although really none of the films ever have. It was good to see favourite characters making a reappearance and has now really got me desperately waiting for the the final book next weekend.

Of course, not content to wait for the postman (the wait for the previous 2 books being far too traumatic) Mrs H3 and I have preordered the book from Waterstones at Bluewater and are going to be spending Friday night there waiting for the doors to open at 12.01. Of course once I have my book I will be completely incommunicado until I have finished the last page (and finished the sobbing - which could take some time).