The Settling in Series Part 2: Decking out my Apartment

Welcome to part 2 of the Settling in Series! This will cover the first 4 or so days of my new life in Glasgow. Just warning, I felt like a shell of a human after this period of time, I had so much to get done all at the same time, it was definitely a lot to handle! But we’re on the other side of that now, and I feel like life here has finally started. There’s also a serious lack of photos for the same reason (actually, mostly because I was always carrying too much to have free hands).

09/09

My first full day in Glasgow! Honestly it wasn’t all that wonderful. It was probably the most full-on day I’ve had this entire year. And I’ve had some pretty crazy days.

It was one of those days where I had so much to do it was like I was never going to get any of it done so I didn’t want to start. I was paralysed in procrastination for a good part of the morning, is the best way of putting it. But I hated the white sheets my bed came with, and at the very least I needed a towel or 2. So I sucked it up and started writing a shopping list. I think the list itself was more overwhelming than the things I actually needed to buy. It was well over 50 items long, and I really didn’t think any of these items were excessive.

I don’t think I fully processed how much stuff someone needs to live normally in a new place. I needed everything from tissues, to sheets, towels, washing basket, clothesline, cleaning supplies, hairdryer etc etc.

My first stop of the day was Primark, for the homewares related items. The downside about being in the city centre is that the stores aren’t the most stocked like they would be in the suburbs, so finding sheets in a double bed size and a donna cover was probably the most tedious task of the day. And all the sheet sets were sold out, so I had to find each type of sheet individually. There was basically a massive tub full of sheets just chucked in there, so it took a while, too. I figured it out eventually, but not before I wanted to throw a couple out the store.

I also found a bath towel, hand towel, bath mat and hangers from Primark, but to be honest other than that there wasn’t a lot more of what I needed on my list. Which I didn’t really mind, as it turned out the biggest factor (only buying as much as I could carry) was going to prove a big challenge. There was a Poundland just around the corner where I could have bought all my cleaning stuff, but towels and sheets take up a lot of space and I genuinely didn’t have room for more.

So instead, I walked back up the hill looking like a twit with my 5 bags of stuff, put on 2 loads of washing at my apartment to get the sheets clean for that evening, dumped the rest of the stuff in my room then walked the 20 minutes back into the city to go to the Poundland.

I can’t for the life of me remember which Poundland I went to this day, but honestly it was really good, I’ve got to figure it out. I got all my cleaning and bits and pieces from here; dishwashing detergent, washing powder, hand soap, tissues, gloves, sponges, that sort of thing. I also found some good glasses I could use for my iced lattes, a cutlery set for the kitchen and a box of pins for my pinup board.

Walking all of this back to my accommodation was harder than round 1, especially considering all the detergents and cleaning stuff were 1-2L and added up to a lot of weight. I was just glad I had brought my backpack as well and could stack as much as I could in there.

I was initially planning on heading back out for round 3 for kitchen utensils, but by the time I got back inside and unpacked everything, I was completely exhausted. The sheets and towels were finished in the dryer so I made myself head down and get them upstairs to make my bed and have a decent shower. Once I was all comfy, there was no way I was going to head out again. I knew the next couple of days would be a bit of a rinse and repeat of today anyway, so I could just buy that stuff tomorrow!

10/09

Starting today with a haircut was the best idea I’ve had this whole trip so far. I booked it late the night before and decided it would be a good way to get me into the city early in the morning. I was also looking forward to doing more local-people activities, and getting a haircut seemed like it was on the right track. My hair also felt really gross; I hadn’t had it cut for a good 8-9 weeks, which for me is a while. A good self-care morning before another day of craziness seemed more than fair.

I walked around 15 mins from my apartment to the salon, which was in a part of the city I hadn’t visited yet. It was a beautiful area, in a gorgeous old building I had to pretty much crawl down an alley to reach. My stylist Sophie was lovely and took lots of time making sure she knew exactly what I wanted. It felt really weird getting my haircut by anyone other than my hairdresser back home Caroline, I wasn’t used to having to explain what I wanted done. But Sophie pulled through! I loved the result, even though she cut it a bit shorter than I had initially wanted, having room to grow out is probably a better idea than needing another trim in a month. And it looked really good! My layers are back people. Very exciting stuff.

More importantly, I fully fell asleep whilst they were washing my hair initially, I guess I hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night after the crazy day! Taking an hour or 2 to be an actual human rather than a vessel for stuff for my apartment was exactly what I needed, and I left in a much better mood than how I arrived.

I also got some good recommendations on where I should go for kitchen supplies, so off I went to take my first bus of the trip! It ended up being a bit of a situation, mostly because I would not recommend Google Maps for this city. I don’t know why, but it’s honestly awful for Glasgow. The times aren’t right, bus numbers aren’t right either. It was a bit of a mess to get over to a decent shopping centre. Once I asked someone for directions (which they were lovely about, of course) it wasn’t too complicated at all, and I was at my first Home Bargains of the trip in under 20 minutes.

I got a lot of the kitchen-related items I needed, including a pot, large fry pan, baking dish, plates and bowls, containers for my meal prep, bin bag etc. It didn’t have everything I needed in the kitchen department, but it was a pretty decent chunk of it. My only fun activity now for the rest of the day was getting my shopping back home. Seems to be the biggest challenge of all my days! However, it’s in times like these it’s important to remember I was a Fresh Food Person for almost 3 years, and making ridiculous amounts of stuff fit in less bags than needed is my most specialised skill, so I made short work of that dilemma. Unfortunately the skills required to carry said bags is not as refined.

Luckily the bus stop was close by, and I could plonk myself down for half an hour or so. I took the bus further into the city than where I got on, as I live around the corner from the main bus station. So I only had a short walk to finish off the journey. That doesn’t mean it was easy. Oh no, the bus station is still at the bottom of that hill, but at least I hadn’t been walking to get to the hill as well.

I dragged myself inside and upstairs and managed to get everything unpacked and organised in the kitchen. Another trip out and about wasn’t looking very likely after my limited sleep and early morning, so I decided to make myself useful instead. I finally finished completely unpacking my suitcases and found spots for them out of the way, then got started pinning up my postcards. I put a movie on to watch in the background (you’ve got 1 guess to get it right). Of course, it was Pretty Woman. It was such a weirdly nostalgic feeling to finally get to create my postcard collage. I remember when I booked my accommodation and found out there would be a pinup board, the first thing I thought was that I just have to collect postcards to decorate it. And the setup looks better than I could’ve ever imagined. I also figured a great way of organising my jewellery by attaching it to pins over a map of the Lake District, which I reckon looks pretty cool. I also brought the speeches from my going away party, as well as the note Franzi left me in Bonn. It was an awesome collation of the last 8 weeks of adventures, I don’t know how I’m already feeling so nostalgic!

11/09

Today’s big goal was to finish getting everything I needed to be able to cook in the kitchen. It was killing me that I had a fully working stove top and yet I hadn’t cooked anything. Get me in that kitchen!

And for that to be a reality, an IKEA trip was necessary. Following the recent Southport stabbings, it’s become virtually impossible to buy kitchen knives anywhere. Which is understandable, but doesn’t solve the fact that I can’t cook without being able to chop! Apparently the only place that you can reliably find knives was IKEA, and seeing as though I still needed some chopping boards, measuring cups, tablespoon/teaspoons, scissors, tea towels, all those little bits and pieces, a decent IKEA trip would hopefully mean I could buy the rest of what I needed and finally be able to start living a normal life in Glasgow!

I set off from my accommodation to the bus station where I caught the 77 out to Braehead Shopping Centre, where I would find Glasgow’s IKEA. The trip took around 40 minutes, but I didn’t mind being able to just sit somewhere for a bit. I finalised my shopping list, complete with subheadings and item codes and locations (I’m not an IKEA rooky ok). Luckily for me everything I needed was in the Market Hall so when I arrived I bypassed the showrooms and headed straight down to where I needed to be. Pretty much everything I needed was there, including a set of 3 kitchen knives (woo!) and the things that were not in stock I could find good alternatives for. I even got myself a little succulent from the clearance section (it’s not Lauren’s room if there’s no succulent!) Though I was efficient moving through everywhere, and didn’t get anything unnecessary (big shock there) I was still there for a good 2 hours. IKEA was packed that day! A lot of uni students, so I guess we all had the same idea, but still! Complete craziness in there.

I was nervous checking out that I wouldn’t be able to buy the knives, as there was a sign at the register that you had to be 21 to be able to buy them, which would’ve been just my luck. But I guess I was finally due some good karma, and the cute little old Scottish lady serving me just scanned them through and overrode the age limit immediately. What a queen. We were also talking about embroidery so I reckon she thought I was at least 25, but hey, whatever works.

Once I paid for all my stuff I took myself over to a free space and rearranged everything to make sure I could carry it back. The lady had told me I might need another bag, which I almost scoffed at. Girl, I’m a professional at this, I’ll be fine. Sure enough, after some rearranging, I got everything into my backpack and 2 tote bags. Not bad! And definitely more manageable. I walked my way back over to the bus station and jumped on the next one to the bus station. Somehow I ended up on the express service so I made it back in less than 20 minutes, and was back in my apartment in half an hour.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning all the bits and pieces I had bought for the kitchen and organized it into its own cupboards and drawers. I didn’t have enough time that day to do any cooking, mostly because I had a super fun night activity booked. I was going to see Burlesque! I had seen amazing reviews for it on the West End, and once I found out it would be coming to Glasgow at the same time I was, it was one of the first things I booked. Of course, it’s based off the stupidly amazingly bad movie of the same name, so I rewatched it in the afternoon as I was organising to really set the mood for the show.

The theatre was only a 10-minute walk away, and my cheap seats were absolutely perfect! The show was so much fun, definitely my style. A more modern Moulin Rouge I would say. They kept all the songs from the movie and added some original ones, all I really enjoyed. And the cast was incredible, especially the girl who played Ally. Filling the shoes vocally of Christina Aguilera isn’t a small task, but she definitely exceeded all my expectations. I enjoyed her more in the role than I did Christina in the movie, which I never thought I’d say.

The show finished just after 10:30pm, and I was home before 11pm, after waiting for all the old Scottish ladies to get down the stairs to leave the theatre.

Tomorrow my only tasks were to go grocery shopping and get some cooking done. Finally, a ‘tomorrow’ in Glasgow I’m looking forward to!

12/09

I had a bit of a slower start this morning, which was definitely needed. My sleep debt had been creeping up on me, and after the 3 hour show of last night, I couldn’t possibly get up at 8am like I had been. I don’t think I got out of bed until after 11am, and finally left the apartment to go grocery shopping around 1pm.

I had a decent walk to get to a normal-sized supermarket, as all the ones in the centre are express-sized. About 20 minutes later I finally made it to Aldi. Although I soon realised I would be here longer than expected, as I don’t currently have any cash on me, and you need a £1 coin to be able to use the trolleys. So I was stuck with a little basket to do my biggest shop of the semester. Yeah, that was going to be a problem.

I ended up going to one section, getting everything I needed from there, checking out, packing it up, then going back into the shop and going again. It was so tedious, and I’m sure the staff thought I was a crackhead coming in and out at least 5 times, but I needed groceries!

We got there eventually, but jesus it was heavy! After all of the shopping I had done up until this point, this was most definitely the most challenging walk home so far. I ended up tying one of my tote bags to my backpack to make it work. I trudged my way back through the city up the hill, someone even asked me why I was backpacking with so many smaller bags, wouldn’t it be a better idea to just have one big one for my travels? I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry in response! At this point I was sweaty and gross and tired and just wanted to get back. Didn’t really need that comment right now.

At to top it off, as soon as I had arrived back, made it up the 4 flights of stairs to my room, dumped the bags onto the kitchen table and started organising the food, I soon realised I bought none of the meat I needed to. I was planning on cooking 2 meals that late afternoon, one which would’ve been simply incorrect without mince. I huffed about it for a while, but eventually sucked it up, went back downstairs and across the road to the Tesco express. Unluckily for me they didn’t have any beef mince left by then, as it was past 4pm, but I did find some pork mince, which would have to do for now.

Finally back at my apartment I got started cooking, and had a wonderful afternoon! I roasted some sweet potato, chickpeas and capsicum for breakfast bowls I would have with some Greek yoghurt (I’ve officially given up trying to enjoy ‘breakfast foods’) and then made the main meal prep being beef (pork) and black bean chilli with corn. I was craving food with a slightly Mexican influence, and this sounded perfect to me. It wasn’t too hard, but required a decent amount of veggie-chopping, i.e my favourite therapeutic activity. When I finished cooking I portioned it into my containers and fit them perfectly into the fridge, saving some chilli for me to have that night with a big dollop of sour cream.

I’d say this night was the first night where I felt like I could live a half normal life the next day. I didn’t have anything left to buy! Yay! And we even have some homecooked food. Even better!

Now let’s go have a fun time in Glasgow.

Currently MIA,

Lauren x