Immunity : Unfiltered

Two Weeks on Lockdown (Again) Subtitle: When You Won’t Rest, Your Body Makes the Decision for You Aaaah sh*t here we go again. Same sinus infection, but different antibiotics....this time, they’ve sent me two weeks’ worth— fourteen days of enforced stillness. It feels less like a treatment and more like a sentence. House arrest, if you will, for the crime of living with enthusiasm. Thing is, it's normally a week of antibiotics... pop a few meds, and carry on.. but this one.. well... we tried that approach... and penicillin at 250mg did sweet sod all... I wasn't even going to wait a week I gave it 4 days, I know my body.. If after 2 days I don't feel better I need something stronger...It's just as well I did as now I have something I can't pronounce... for twice as long... and I can't even travel?  Also.... I have been graciously invited to send swabs in for testing..  because of the fevers I have been running. hot then cold, hot then cold, sweaty, twitchy, ...

✨ Uplifting Quote for Today: "Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." —John Lubbock Slowmornings are real #Luxe and I don't take that stuff for granted...   Also my Mama's Bistro set now that it's been painted after she found it on Facebook Marketplace last year?... A DREAM! Wildflower Honey on toast, to fight hayfever... Frozen Berries from #Aldi Loose Earl Grey tea #Twinings Today I’m grateful. Grateful for a director on Vision: The Musical who actually acknowledged that I’m unwell with a sinus infection, instead of giving me the usual unblinking stare of theatrical denial or binning me off (Which tbf I wouldn't blame them for, I'm average looking, a mediocore dancer and a Mezzo-soprano, so two-a-penny as performers go...)—as if illness is a choice and mucus is a moral failing. I don't know...

aka: Why My Body Might Be Yelling at Me Again I just wrapped up a play. Then I jumped straight into a couple of days on an indie film shoot. And then—because apparently the universe likes dramatic irony—I came home with a raging sinus infection, fever, chills, the kind of cough that makes people recoil like you’re Patient Zero, and vocal cords that have decided to take early retirement. It’s giving: “You’re doing too much.” It’s also giving: “I literally can’t afford to stop.” Classic. Now, I won’t say too much about the shoot. It was decent. I've been very lucky!  The director has a solid eye and a refreshingly unpretentious style. I liked that. But I was thrown in at the last minute, which meant the dynamics with fellow cast members weren’t exactly smooth. Blending was tricky. Let’s leave it there. (What good would it do to dwell, anyway?) So now I’m back in the forest for a little while—home again—antibiotics in tow, hacking like a Victorian poet with consumption and ...

 It's been a while... I have been busy, burnt out, joyful, stressed... chasing my tail and playing an absolute dream role... Playing Nadia Kovlova in Give Us a Sign has been an unexpected balm. She’s half Vlada Bulkakova, half Anna Chapman, with a sprinkling of that one inscrutable blonde Russian model on Instagram who always looks like she’s judging your fashion choices from a marble balcony. There’s something delicious about leaning into that stereotype—mocking my own Eastern European roots with a wink and a smirk in a sympathetic way. It’s been cathartic, even empowering. And lately, I’ve needed that. Because offstage, things haven’t exactly been velvet and roses. Just before I was told by the consultant that my lungs were miraculously clear, I’d had not one but two appointments with a nurse who could only be described as a battle axe in orthopedic clogs. She looked me dead in the eye and said I’d never get better. That pseudomonas would take me out faster than the CVID. Th...

So… it’s been a week . There was a root canal (ew, 😵‍💫), a shawarma-fuelled sunset in Holland Park 🌯🌇, a TooGoodToGo bag so generous it fed my mum and brother  until Wednesday (£3!! 😳), and a whirlwind of theatre magic in between. Somehow, I’m still upright. Barely. But upright. VISION: The Musical rehearsals have been on fire lately 🔥—and honestly, Saturday was one of the best days I’ve had in ages. Disco Miller is now officially my favourite number. The whole vibe was so much Saturday Night Fever energy—glam, glitter, and just the right amount of emotional unravelling under stage lights . I adored hanging out with the cast too—gorgeous humans, the lot of them. Also… I was sent a pic from our MD of our VISION poster on the Tube . On the Tube , darling!! 🚇🎭 I don’t think I’ve ever squealed quite like that in public. It’s real . The promo videos have been released too and they’re phenomenal—so much heart, beauty, and craft behind every shot. I feel genuinely priv...

🎭 Theatre, Tears, and Salmon: A Week in My Life So! I’ve been cast in Give Us a Sign by the ridiculously talented Tony Domaille. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to love this character as much as I do—but she’s fierce, layered, and unapologetically herself. Which, let’s face it, feels very on-brand for me lately. Rehearsals have been intense in the best way. There's something about throwing yourself into a role that makes everything else fade for a bit—like I get to breathe differently on stage. It’s not easy balancing it all with my health stuff, but somehow, when I’m acting, it feels less like surviving and more like living . 🎭 Billy Elliot Broke Us (In a Good Way) I also went to see Billy Elliot with my bestie this week, and… yeah. We bawled . Me during Grandma’s Song , obviously (I mean, ouch ), and him during Expressing Yourself , which absolutely wrecked him in the gentlest way. That moment where a kid just is himself and refuses to shrink for anyone? We both felt th...