Weekly Diary: podcasts, spring weather and healthy routines
A very creatively fulfilling week
Hello! Welcome to the Weekly Diary, where I chat about my week as a freelance social media manager. We’re starting on Thursday 4th April through to Friday 12th April, so make yourself a drink and settle in.
THURSDAY 4 APRIL
Today is pretty much spent watching the clock until I can catch my train into London for a very special event: Best Friend Therapy Live with Elizabeth Day and Emma Reed Turrell. It marks the end of a podcast that is very dear to me, as well as the end of my working relationship with Elizabeth…at least for now. I live in permanent hope.
Emma is announcing her new podcast, Friendship Therapy, at the show this evening, so my main task over the last few days has been to work with the lovely people at Fane to prepare a QR code, which will flash up on the screen with a link to a questionnaire. We’re looking for people to appear on the podcast and share their friendship dilemmas, so the questionnaire should hopefully give us a good idea of some topics and themes for the first season and the details of those who might consider coming on the podcast.
When I arrive at the theatre, I bump into my lovely friend Camilla, who is here for the show too. We’ve never met in person (Instagram friends FTW) but she has brought me two books that couldn’t be more ‘me’: a signed copy of One Day, one of my favourite ever novels, and an even more special copy of Green Dot with a personal dedication from the lovely author, Madeleine Gray. I rush off to stage door but not before giving her a huuuuge hug.
James has very kindly been invited too, so I meet him in the foyer of the Bloomsbury Theatre after I’ve got some photo and video content of Emma and Elizabeth backstage. He’s bought me a glass of wine from the bar and we settle in to our seats as the lights go down.
Emma and Elizabeth are dazzling as always, and when the artwork that I designed for Friendship Therapy appears on the screen, I feel really emotional. It’s a very special experience to work on something that will make so many people feel seen and understood.
We end the night with a Cornish pasty on the train (cheese and onion for me, traditional for James: it’s become something of a tradition) and finally get into bed at midnight.
FRIDAY 5 APRIL
I spend a little longer in bed this morning after a late night on Thursday, finally dragging myself to my desk at 9am. I make avocado on granary toast for breakfast at about 11:30am and crack on with editing a reel with clips and photos from last night’s event to post on the Best Friend Therapy Instagram page.
In the afternoon, I put the finishing touches to a reel on the imperial legacies of British business for Sathnam, and then James and I walk up to one of our favourite pubs to work for the last hour of the day. I order a glass of sparkling wine and a cheese toastie as I ended up not having any lunch after my late breakfast; James has a beer and a couple of bites of said toastie.
We stay for a second drink, grab a Thai box from M&S for dinner and walk home to catch up on Masterchef.
SATURDAY 6 APRIL
James is off on a stag do in Bristol today, so I say goodbye to him at 8am and immediately book a manicure at my favourite local nail salon for later that day. I decide to walk into town and treat myself to a solo brunch, ending up at Bill’s; I love the local independents but the food is reliably good at Bill’s and the staff are always lovely. I order avocado on toast with poached eggs and a sausage on the side (their sausages are outrageously good), sit, people-watch and read my book. It is utter bliss.
I have a wander around Waterstones and then head to the nail salon for my mani appointment, stopping at Tesco on the way to buy my nail technician, Tracy, some flowers (plus a Twix for me). I go for a neutral base this time, with simple black flowers. Tracy always hand-paints the designs and I am in total awe of her skill.
M&S is next on the list as I need to grab some bits for tonight’s *girl dinner*. I get some dried pasta, a jar of aubergine and caper tomato sauce, some tapenade, parmesan and a fresh sourdough baguette and head to the self checkouts.
On my way home, I stop in at The George pub for a glass of rosé and another few pages of my book (I’m currently reading The Wake-Up Call by Beth O’Leary). I eat the Twix chocolate bar that I bought in Tesco and enjoy a peaceful 45 minutes engrossed in the story.
By the time I get home, it’s time to make dinner. The pasta is absolutely delicious; I catch up on YouTube videos and then head to bed early with a hot water bottle and a very full belly. I always struggle to fall asleep when James isn’t here, and tonight is no exception; I think it’s midnight before I actually go to sleep.
SUNDAY 7 APRIL
James is driving back from the stag do in Bristol today. As is generally the routine on a Sunday, I drink my coffee in bed, read, watch TikTok videos and then crack on with cleaning the entire house top to bottom while listening to podcasts. My plan is to head to Sainsbury’s to grab some bits for a Sunday roast, but James offers to go on his way back so I send him a detailed list of what I need instead.
By the time he’s driven back from Bristol and done the food shop on not very much sleep, James is understandably in desperate need of a nap, so I walk into town to meet his mum and Scarlett the dog for a cup of tea and a slice of cake in the sunshine. We find a sunny spot outside a local cafe to catch up and it’s such a nice way to round off the week.
When I get home, James has risen from the (almost) dead. I pour myself a glass of cold, crisp Picpoul de Pinet and pop on a YouTube video in the background while I make our roast dinner: garlicky, herby chicken (one of those roast in a bag ones, so easy and so delicious), roast potatoes (I use this recipe and it never fails me), broccoli cheese, stuffing (Paxo, obvs), carrots, peas and gravy with the juices from the chicken added in.
It’s exactly what I need and we both collapse on the sofa afterwards in a food coma. Bliss.
MONDAY 8 APRIL
A brand new week, a brand new podcast: today is the day that Emma and I officially launch Friendship Therapy. I start the day with a sunny walk into town for coffee and a pastry at a beloved Tunbridge Wells institution called Fine Grind; it’s one of my favourite fair weather rituals, especially when it’s warm enough to sit on the benches outside and watch the world go by. The walk there takes me through beautiful woodland and it’s incredibly peaceful. Once I’m back at my desk, I change the icon on the Instagram page, update the bio, and press ‘publish’ on the reel that Emma has filmed…and just like that, the podcast is officially out in the world.
The comments and likes come in thick and fast, as well as responses to the questionnaire we created to find out what people want to hear on the podcast, and the day rushes by in a blur of replying to messages and exchanging thrilled WhatsApp messages with Emma.
TUESDAY 9 APRIL
Today is all about the content. I edit together a BTS post of Lorraine and Trish’s interview with Joely Richardson for Postcards from Midlife, publish the next British Imperial Legacy video for Sathnam’s socials in collaboration with Penguin, and then I attempt to take some updated self portraits for my Instagram profile picture before giving up because I just can’t seem to find the right pose. I realise that I need to leave it to the pro photographers and resolve to book in a portrait session with someone soon.
Halfway through the day, the window cleaner arrives and I am so desperate to avoid a 20 minute conversation with him that I end up hiding upstairs in James’ office. He is a very lovely but very talkative man, and last time he was here I ended up shivering at the back door in sub zero temperatures while he regaled me of tales of his holiday in China and sipped his tea, which I had of course diligently made with the last teabag we had in the house. If that’s not a classic people-pleaser Hustler/Bridge move, I don’t know what is.
WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL
It’s a sunny start to the day, so I force myself out of bed, shove a cap on my greasy AF hair and head out for a walk. I take the more picturesque route down the back roads and out onto the Common, round the cricket pitch (where I encounter several very cute doggos and also the owner of our beloved local cafe, who is also out walking her dog) and then through woodland until I reach the main road again.
By the time I arrive home, it’s half past nine and I need to get going on my to-do list for the day. I finalise a reel for a sponsored episode of Postcards from Midlife going live this Sunday 14th April, write a bunch of copy for various clients, and before I know it it’s time to make dinner.
James is out seeing an old work colleague tonight, so I make myself sausages, homemade rosemary and garlic chips and beans for dinner and curl up on the sofa to watch Michael Portillo in Cornwall.
THURSDAY 11 APRIL
There’s only one thing on the to-do list today, and it’s to go through all of the wonderful responses to the Friendship Therapy questionnaire. There were more than 160 responses in the end, many of which were incredibly detailed with brilliant ideas for specific topics and themes that we can cover. It’s a lot of information to sift through, so I don’t resurface from the depths of the spreadsheet until pretty late in the day.
By the time I’ve finished, I’ve got some strong ideas nailed down and a real sense of what the first season could look like. I’m meeting Emma tomorrow in London so we can discuss the ideas and get to grips with all the admin stuff that needs to happen before we can record any episodes.
James makes Tuscan sausage pasta for dinner and we sit down to watch the first day of The Masters golf tournament, which is always a strangely peaceful and enjoyable experience. There’s just something about the sounds of a golf tournament that makes me feel incredibly relaxed, and since watching Full Swing on Netflix, I’ve been far more engaged in the players and the game itself.
FRIDAY 12 APRIL
A day in London! It’s a very balmy 18 degrees celcius today and I’m risking it for a chocolate biscuit in a short sleeved t-shirt and hoping that there isn’t ferocious air con in the hotel I’ll be working from. I catch a late morning train after grabbing a coffee and pastry and pop on a podcast for the 50-minute journey.
I arrive at Charing Cross, make my way over to the Strand Palace Hotel and immediately order some lunch and an elderflower tonic. Very excitingly, I have an email from an author I’ve been keen to work with for quite some time, so we schedule in some dates to capture content to promote the paperback of his book, coming out in early May.
I work for a few hours and then Emma arrives for our meeting. It’s lovely to see her and we have an incredibly productive meeting, as always - decisions are made, plans are set, and we both leave feeling organised and ready to get the show on the road.
After a fairly fast walk down the Strand, I manage to make an earlier train than planned - always a satisfying moment. I also want to give past me a hug for remembering to put some chocolate buttons in my bag.
I head to the pub to meet James and our friends Phil and Em for a drink, and then we stop by the supermarket on the way home to grab a pizza for dinner and watch today’s coverage of The Masters.
And that’s my week! Thanks so much for reading, I so appreciate it.
Lauren x
Hi friend 🥰 👋🏻. Also, that cheese toastie 🥹.