Christmas time

I hope everyone has had a lovely Christmas! Mine was filled with plenty of food and even more telly. Sadly Natz, who spent Christmas with us was ill so spent most of the day sleeping, whilst I spent the day on the sofa with the family which included Edita and Donatas this year. I was a bit bored midday so me and Edita went for a walk around the park. It was a nice Christmas; I wish I had done more but I think after the pre-Christmas crazy, everyone felt lazy and decided to just veg out which I guess is what Christmas is all about!

Boxing day started with a Christmas leftover breakfast (yum!) and after watching a couple more Christmas films, me and Natz decided to head back home since the overground trains weren’t running from my parents’, almost doubling our journey time home. Having returned home, we dumped our bags and headed out to Wimbledon for a drink at The Old Frizzle. It was lovely to just chat away and be out of the flat. Having returned home, we had dinner consisting of cheese, baguettes and the tiniest amount of salad (one of your five a day sorted, I guess) whilst watching even more films. We also had a visit from our friend Antonio, who we haven’t seen in a very long time and it was great to catch up with.

I had to work on Friday which felt horrible, walking on the almost completely empty Fleet Street. Luckily we only had to work till 2 so after a quick gym session and an Itsu lunch, I headed up to Westfield to abuse my Christmas gift card which I got from work. After a couple of hours of walking, I got shopper’s rage and returned home. In spite of planning to have an early night in, me and Natz decided to head out to Wimbledon for a trip to the Alexandria, followed by the Old Frizzle and the Slug. It was really quite quiet and we didn’t stay out too late but it was good to be out.

And now, with the entire flat to myself, I am having a lazy Saturday morning in front of the telly (shameful, I know).

Happy weekend, everyone!

Muah,

Roo xx

Christmas at the loony bin

In spite of a crazy day at work, on Monday the Christmas celebrations began in earnest. A little fact about our flat: our wifi username is the Loony Bin and following Monday's Christmas celebrations, that name has never been more fitting. 

The initial plan was to have Christmas dinner as a flat on Monday. I assumed that that would include food, a little wine, some presents and possibly some Christmas telly. That wasn't quite what happened... 

Steph, having had the day off was lovely enough to prepare the meal. I was the last one to get back from work and didn't help at all, getting home just in time for what turned out to be a delicious meal (roast chicken and all the trimmings). It was all very civilised with too much food and a very reasonable bottle of wine. After our meal, we opened all our lovely presents which I think everyone was very happy with! 

After all the lovely food, we played some hilarious games which included yes and no - we weren't quite drunk enough for that, yet - heads up on the i-phone- absolutely brilliant especially for a Christmas gathering - charades and twister. A lot of games, 3 bottles of wine and some gin later, we all stumbled into our beds, absolutely shattered, more than a little tipsy and having had the best pre-Christmas Christmas ever!

We were all a little worse for wear on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, I only had to work half a day and my post-work gym session made me feel more human. I then rushed home, packed my (many) bags and headed off to my parents' with Natz. The journey to the parents' house was a bit hectic- the storm messed up most of the trains but we got there eventually, had plenty of food for dinner, watched some telly and had an early night. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Muah,

Roo xx

The big 100

So this is my one hundredth post. This proves one thing: I am as much of a chatterbox in writing as I am in person! Without being too cheesy, I want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog and hope that at least a couple of the 100 posts has been interesting or useful in some way. And now, for the week’s update…

Being the week before Christmas, the days have been dragging at work but have been super busy outside of it. The week has been filled with last minute appointments, dinners (thanks to Rosie for the delicious stir-fry and as always, fab catch up), skype dates (with my awesome uni friend, Bex) and of course the all-important Christmas party. Ours was held at Smiths of Smithfields for which I didn’t have high expectations but actually turned out to be great! We got the taxi to the restaurant and chatted away with everyone over a couple of drinks. We eventually sat down for some starter platters (this included, pulled pork lettuce parcels and smoked salmon), John Dory with braised leeks for mains (absolutely amazing: the best fish I have ever eaten) and cheesecake for dessert. The food was absolutely incredible: it was cooked beautifully and the portions were huge too which was probably just as well considering the amount of alcohol that was consumed! After my long week, I didn’t stay out too late and after some more chatter and drinks, I made my way home.

Following a long lie-in on Saturday, I spent my day relaxing my at home. I’ve made the very scary decision to postpone by LPC indefinitely which has meant starting from scratch in alternative career research. Therefore most of my day was spent on my computer, career-researching. Towards the evening, our old housemate Mark came for a visit so he, Natz and I headed out to Putney for some dinner at Thai Square. We had the most amazing table on the second floor which looked onto the river which was so lovely and the food was very decent too. I had the Jungle curry which was incredibly spicy (admittedly I was warned by both the menu and the waitress) but quite nice. Dessert was less impressive: me and Natz ordered different types of moose, both of which resembled ice cream and therefore was quite disappointing. After dinner, we made our way to Fulham to Kona Kai for some Hawaiian inspired cocktails. The cocktails were really nice (you couldn't taste the alcohol at all) and the atmosphere was lovely too once more people started arriving. Later into the evening, we sadly found out that our honorary-housemate, Natz’s goldfish Max, died. It was a sad end to the evening and we will all miss the craziest little fish, that I’ve ever seen.

I had another lazy morning on Sunday, with a very leisurely breakfast and some Christmas telly. I then went up to Southbank to meet Rosie. We grabbed a coffee at Benugo and chatted away about the week’s dramas. Having finally finished Hemingway’s “For Whom the Bells Toll” (unimpressive, to say the least) we went to Foyles so I could find a book that I would actually enjoy. I settled on Miranda Hart’s “Is It Just Me?” which I am only 12 pages in but it’s already hilarious! After my book purchase, we went to Wahaca for some light dinner (we both had chicken quesadilla and some delicious sweet potatoes) before walking up to Vauxhall, along the river. I am now home, with the Big Bang Theory in the background, relaxing before facing another couple of days of work.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Muah

Roo xx

Christmas crazy

It's official: London has gone Christmas crazy! I mentioned that I hoped to buy all the presents early and avoid the crazy but there is always last minute things to buy and so it can't ever be fully avoided, as I found out this weekend.

I've had a mellow week at work, keeping busy but nothing too mental. On Friday, I went to the gym with my friend Charlotte - I have never laughed so much at the gym! - grabbed a Pret sandwich and rushed off to Putney for a "couple" of drinks at B At One with Natz and her friend Frank. We arrived quite early and managed to get a drink and some seats before it got too busy. I tried and tested far too many cocktails, all recommended by the really nice barman there (the Espresso Martini is amazing as is the Christmassy Eggnog Riot) all of which were delicious! It picked up really quickly and it was almost impossible to move around the place so it was lucky that we had our lovely seats! It turned out to be a great night!

Having forgotten to turn my alarm off, I had a painfully early start on Saturday. Unable to go back to sleep and feeling a little worse for wear, I spent the morning in bed with my laptop and a lot of coffee.

I've been doing a lot of thinking about careers recently and have been questioning whether I should sponsor my own LPC or not. It has been something that's been on my mind over the last couple of weeks and being unable to ignore it, I called my mum and suggested meeting in the city for a catch up. I'm not one to go to my parents for any sort of advise and make all my decisions independently but sometimes, nothing helps more than your mum listening to your messed up thought process! This was all done as we walked from shop to shop at Westfield first, followed by Bond Street (she had last minute shopping to do) which left me coming home in a full-blown Scrooge mood. After a quick dinner at home and a bit of telly, me and Steph headed out to Wimbledon Village for some hot cider at the Dog & Fox. It was really busy but very nice. We managed to get some seats eventually and the atmosphere was really nice with some good live music. It was a nice, chilled evening and as soon as I got home, I went off to bed.

Today, I had a much needed lie-in. I had another lazy morning, with a bit of tidying up before heading out to Wimbledon for my weekly food shop and some final final bits and pieces for Christmas. Surprisingly (and thankfully) it wasn't too busy in town, probably due to the miserable weather which meant the trip was stress-free. I will be spending the rest of my evening on the sofa, with a lovely cup of tea, relaxing in front of the telly.

Happy Sunday, everyone!

Muah

Roo xx

Round and round SW London

I have had a rather underwhelming weekend this week. I would say it's been lazy, but not sure that would be considered true by most, normal people. 

Thursday and Friday evenings were both quite busy. On Thursday, I went out for dinner in Wimbledon with Natz. We were supposed to go to the Old Frizzle but the kitchen closed early because of a Christmas party so we went to Hot Pink which frankly wasn't what I expected. It was a limited menu where you picked a main, a side and sauce and whilst the food was decent, it felt far too much like a fast-food place which wasn't quite what we were looking for. We ended the evening with a drink at the Old Frizzle, leaving me more determined than ever to try their food menu! On Friday, I met up with my friend Milla for some dinner by Waterloo and mulled wine on Southbank. It was a lovely, long-overdue catch up and the perfect start to the weekend. 

I had a lovely lie-in on Saturday morning, after which I forced myself to go for a run around Wimbledon Park which I am very glad I did. The weather wasn't too cold and at the entrance of the park, real Christmas trees were being sold. Running past the trees, with their delicious smell felt great! Eventually, I left for a trip to Wandsworth, followed by Wimbledon to buy some last bits and bobs for Christmas. The experience was more stressful than I cared for, with lots of people and very loud carol singers everywhere and I returned home shattered and grumpy. 

Early morning texts from some friends ruined my Sunday lie-in so I got over my bitterness with some delicious French toast for breakfast and morning telly. In the afternoon, me and Natz headed out to Parsons Green. I've been meaning to go there (since I pass it every day on my way to work) and was unimpressed. It's largely a residential area, with absolutely nothing to do. There were a couple of cafes that looked quite nice and would be perfect for a lazy Sunday morning but we left pretty soon and made our way to Kingston. 

I don't care much for Kingston but there was a teeny-tiny Christmas market, along with some large tents, selling unique Christmas present ideas and it was nice to just mooch around. After all the walking and journeying, we headed up to Wandsworth for all-you-can-eat ribs and chicken wings at Spur. The food was so good but there were a couple of kids parties taking place and it was far too loud for anyone's liking. With our over-filled bellies, we got home and spent the evening watching a couple of films which was the ideal end to the weekend. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Muah

Roo xx

It’s the most wonderful time of the year

After a busy couple of days off, I decided to do the absolute opposite to what a rational person should do and decided to have a very busy weekend. Or rather, a very busy Saturday.

Having almost passed out as soon as I got home on Friday from sheer exhaustion, I had a little lie in on Saturday morning. Having bought croissants and fruit for  myself and Rudy's breakfast, Saturday had a started off well. Eventually, we both got dressed and headed out to do some more shopping. I had to venture out to Clapham Junction first for one particular present (which is all I will say) and then trekked up to Westfield. The walking around was kind of half-hearted since both me and my brother were still shattered from our busy weeks (I may have walked and exercised too much, but the little one had quadruple PE on Friday! – that’s “gym class” to the non-English readers). There wasn’t much shopping done, my brother’s Christmas list simply expanded and since mine is already full, I added some stuff to my post-Christmas sales/birthday lists (now that’s early planning).

We ended up by Embankment and having the pickest eater ever for a brother made finding lunch was excruciatingly difficult so we settled on Bella Italia for some quite delicious pizza. With very full bellies, I got Rudy on a train home and headed up to meet Richard who was down for the weekend. Being his last weekend in England until New Year’s (he’s spending Christmas in South Africa), I promised to show him Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park. That wasn’t the best idea ever. The place was absolutely packed and we weren’t let in for 15-20 mins because of overcrowding. We eventually got in and just walked around, taking in the Christmas cheer. 

We rushed back to the flat, where I cheated and made pasta (I used shop-bought sauce which I am usually against) just in time for Rosie's visit. Me and Rosie had a lovely catch up over food and wine, whilst Richard ate, drank and listened to/droned out our chatter. We then got ready and headed out to Wimbledon for a night out at the Slug, followed by Watershed. Me and Rosie have been planning a cheap and cheesy night out for ages and ended up having an absolute blast!

Sunday proved how much fun Saturday was, as I woke up a little worse for wear. Without any exaggeration, the day was spent on the sofa, watching tv and surfing the internet (the most active part of my day was a trip to Sainsburys for Doritos and Chinese food). I started going a little stir crazy by evening time but actually think that a lazy Sunday was exactly what I needed after the busy couple of days I’ve had.

And now, manic Monday is finally over (it’s never fun to roll three days of work into one!) and it’s time to start getting ready for bed.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Muah,

Roo xx

A little me time

I don’t know about everyone else but I find this time of year a bit stressful. As much as I love Christmas (most of the time), the crazy festivities, endless amounts of people and this awkward time when it’s close enough to start Christmas preparations but too far away to take it a little easy and fuly enjoy the festivities can all be a bit headache inducing. So with a couple of days of annual leave left, I decided to postpone the craziness and have a little me time.

I had the perfect start to my Thursday with a little lie-in, followed by a run around Wimbledon Park. I eventually got myself dressed and ready for a journey up to Oxford Circus. I spent the morning walking around some shops, buying a couple more Christmas presents and eventually  ended up at the Sumarria Lunn Gallery for the Lieux de Memoire exhibition which turned out to be really interesting. Paintings and pictures I generally either like the look of or don’t and don’t have too much of an opinion but I find political/historical exhibitions quite interesting and this one didn’t disappoint.

After the exhibition, I had lunch at the Everbean café. It was a cute little café with decent food (I had a sandwich which I think is hard to get wrong) but slightly too busy and small. I sat on a large table with other people, trying to read the paper but failing miserably since the men on my table were talking really loudly and expressively hitting the table. After lunch I walked around some more, up Old Bond Street and ended up at the Spruth Magers Gallery for Stephen Shore’s Something + Nothing exhibition. This exhibition was a photography one and slightly less impressive but pretty good anyway. You can’t go wrong with some pictures!

This is one of the poems on which the exhibition was based on

I spent the rest of the day walking some more up the Mall and ended up at my mum’s work in Victoria where I took her out for some coffee and a little catch up which was really lovely! I came home absolutely shattered (my legs were killing) but agreed to go for a couple of drinks with Natz in Wimbledon. We started with a couple of happy hour cocktails at Suburbiton which although a nice place, the cocktails weren’t all that great (it might have been our cocktail choices though). We later ended up at The Old Frizzle for some live music and a couple more drinks which was really nice and chilled. It was fab to spend some time with Natz – we’ve both been really busy and haven’t had the opportunity to hang out even though we live in the same flat! – and I had an awesome night!

On Friday, feeling a little worse for wear, I eventually got myself up and ready to meet my cousin Aurelija at London Bridge for a walk by the river. After some walking and talking, I went up to the gym and eventually met my brother Rudy who was spending the weekend with me. We spent the day walking around some shops (he was picking his Christmas presents out) and returned home shattered and all shopped out.

To sum up, I had a great couple of days off work!

Muah,

Roo xx

V&A visit

It has been a while since I have looked forward to a weekend this much. Of course, I look forward to every weekend but this has been one of those weeks. After a busy Monday and Tuesday (already addressed in the last post) Wednesday wasn’t all that great either when I discovered a disgusting amount of mould on my wall and even some of my books. We’ve had mould issues for a while which our landlords promised to fix but it’s taking a while.

Anyway, on Thursday night I had a catch up with my friend Katherine. I hadn’t seen Katherine in forever so we spent the evening chatting over some lovely food at Wahaca (we had a selection platter of tapas) and then walked by Southbank. It was a lovely evening!

I had a lazy, early night in on Friday and after way too much sleep, woke up fresh-faced on Saturday and went into crazy-cleaning-lady mode. I decided to completely rearrange my room, move my bed and shelves to different sides of the room (away from the mouldy wall), deep clean the entire room, including the disgusting wall. This ‘lovely’ task took my entire morning and quite a bit of the afternoon. I spent the rest of the day watching plenty of telly and trying to keep warm (the latter part was unsuccessful).

In the evening, my friend Rosie came over for dinner. We were supposed to go out for some dancing but since she was on antibiotics and Steph was unwell, we stayed and chatted over some homemade veggie chilli (pretty yummy, even if I do say so myself), lemon tart (shop bought) and wine (not for Rosie, of course). It was the nicest evening!

Today, after an awful night’s sleep, I spent the morning in bed with too much coffee, some leftover lemon tart and Hart of Dixie (it’s my addiction!) Being sick of all the lazy, I eventually got myself up and ready and headed to the V&A. I had never been there before and figured it was high time I gave the place a visit.

I’m not a fan of sculptures and didn’t look enough into the exhibitions enough to buy a ticket for one so I was a little doubtful on how well the trip would go but actually it was really interesting! I did end up ignoring all the sculptures but the some of the architectural pieces were incredible, as were the East Asian rugs and furniture- the work was so intricate, I was amazed someone did that 100s of years ago in a pre-computer age!

After a bit more mooching, I got the train up to High Street Kensington to pop into some shops, including WholeFoods. I haven’t been there for a while and bought the odd “healthy” snack, including my new food obsession; pitta chips (I ate so much, I now feel a little sick). The evening was spent watching more Hart of Dixie and sorting some admin stuff out on my computer which has made me so sleepy and my eyes slightly square!

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Muah

Roo xx

Failed Sunday brunch

After an early night on Saturday, I hoped to wake up fresh-faced on Sunday morning, ready for Sunday brunch with Chloe. That didn't quite work out. Although I managed to get an early night, numerous texts and calls from drunken friends meant that I miserably failed at having a good night's sleep. I woke up shattered and clearly was not the only one, as Chloe slept through her alarm and we changed our brunch date to lunch.

We spent the afternoon in Hyde Park, walking around, taking in the fresh, crisp air and having a much over-due catch up. We eventually ventured towards Bond Street, skipping most shops, aside from the one or two that weren't overcrowded and grabbed lunch at the Slug & Lettuce, just off Regent Street. I had limited the Slug & Lettuce to post-work drinks with colleagues but actually, their food is really good! Me and Chloe both had lasagna (which came with garlic bread) which was delicious. It would have been the perfect place if it weren't for the overly loud guy, two tables away who was talking loud, people were unable to zone out his conversation. 

Autumn chill was in the air and the
leaves were on the ground

For dessert, we grabbed a Starbucks on the go. It was my first Christmas drink (I went with the gingerbread latte) in a red cup which is the first sign that Christmas is on its way! After yet more walking, we ended up by Southbank and sat by the Eye until we were so cold, we had no choice but to head home. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon!

As for the last two days, they have been mental, with me running errands like a loony (I think I may have planned to do too much). Luckily, aside from a trip to the gym, I have nothing planned for tomorrow and am determined to have a relaxing evening. 

Hope everyone has a great week! 

Muah,

Roo xx

Lazy/productive: same difference?

We're halfway through the weekend and I chose to spend the first half of it being lazy. Kind of. Being lazy, meant I wasn't rushing around like a loony, trying to do 101 things like I seem to have been doing, nevertheless it turned out quite productive.

Missing a day and a half of work this week meant that Friday flew by. Before I knew it (and before I managed to cross everything off my to-do list) it was 5:30 pm and the start of the weekend. After work, I took Edita to the gym, as promised. After a very long gym session (probably because of all the chatting), we went out for a bite to each. Most of the places around Fleet Street were already closed so we picked the only place that was open: Poncho 8 - a burrito place on New Street. The burritos were delicious and the staff were incredibly friendly so all in all, it was a great dinner! After way too much food, me and Edita walked up to Southbank where the little Christmas market was officially in full swing! It was hard to ignore the festive atmosphere. That, coupled with a Baileys Latte (I know!) and a girly catch up, I had the perfect Friday evening!

No thanks to my body clock, I failed to have a lie in this morning and felt a bit groggy and under the weather. Using that as an excuse, I had a lazy morning on the sofa, searching for Christmas presents. Eventually I got myself ready and out of the house to head up to Westfields. It was nice to spend the day on my own (whilst also being surrounded by endless amounts of people, of course) and just mooch around from shop to shop. I managed to get quite a few Christmas presents which feels great! I know we are still quite a while away from the big day, but I want to get all the shopping out of the way, leaving me with all the fun of wrapping and card-writing closer to the time. In the midst of all of walking, I found some beautiful home decorations at Next which reminded me that I haven't bought anything for my room in forever! It took every fibre of self-control not to buy everything!

Addicted to this picture frame (or 9)

I returned home absolutely shattered. Although I feel like I haven't done that much, the day really took it out of me and in spite of my best intentions to go out for a friend's birthday, I decided that a night in is probably the best thing for my immune system at the moment. I spent the evening watching rubbish telly with Steph over some Dominos pizza and although it feels really weird and unnatural to be lazy on a Saturday, doing so little, I think it's exactly what I needed.

Night

Roo xx

Spa day

Not many girls would say no to a spa day. So when it came to buying my mum’s birthday present (back in August!) I bought her a voucher for the spa and afternoon tea at Montcalm Hotel for her and myself. Well yesterday was the day that we (finally) made use of that voucher!

Having booked the Wednesday off, I had been looking forward to it all week but had the worst start to the day, waking up sneezing, with a sore throat and a headache. The morning was really rushed and quite stressful too: I headed up to Wimbledon to pick up my mum’s Christmas present which I had ordered online and tried to fix my phone at the store but before anything could be fixed, I had to rush off. major fail!

From there on, however the day got much better. I met my mum at Charring Cross, so we mooched around Leicester Square before walking by Southbank where we grabbed a Baileys Latte at Benugo at BFI (this might be a new addiction), up to St James Park and eventually ended up at Marble Arch.

Having never been to Montcalm before, I didn’t have the highest expectations but both me and mum had the nicest afternoon! We first had afternoon tea, which included way too much food and just enough tea (I am only a tea person when it’s too late in the day to drink coffee) , all of which was delicious! We then headed down to the spa which wasn’t particularly big – it had a Jacuzzi, a steam room, a sauna and a smallish-pool – but since we had the whole place to ourselves it was perfect!

After the spa, we were thoroughly relaxed (and a little sleepy) and had a walk down Bond Street, doing some window shopping, along with some actual shopping – I managed to cross another Christmas present off the list (only a million left). It was a bit chilly outside but I had my first glimpse of the Selfridges Christmas windows which were awesome and saw some fake snow outside Boots!

I returned home absolutely shattered! Today, I woke up, unable to open my eye which had become infected. I have been using eye drops all day but it has continued to sting and is incredibly swollen and red, so I was sent home and now I am feeling a little sorry for myself – not the most attractive thing to do, but sometimes it’s much needed.

This makes even me feel better

Hope everyone has a better Thursday than I’ve been having!

Muah

Roo xx

P.S. I hope everyone likes the new-look of the blog!

Time for tennis

So I survived the week! Phew! After an incredibly challenging week, I came home on Friday, plomped myself on the sofa and spent the evening chattering away with Steph. We both felt very old, having a lazy Friday night in but it was much needed!

My attempt to have a lie in on Saturday failed (thanks to my messed up body clock!) Without much stress, I had a productive morning, running errands and sorting myself out a bit. Later on in the afternoon, me and Steph headed out to Wandsworth for some shopping. It was a very successful trip for both of us. I bought a pair of boots which I was in desperate search for and some tops and Steph bought boots and a coat (both very important purchases for the upcoming season).

Steph's gorgeous new coat!

My snazzy new shoes

On returning to the flat, Steph made a Spanish omelette (I made the all-important salad) which was the nicest, relaxed lunch I’ve had in a while, so thanks Steph! Soon after lunch, Richard arrived, only to leave again to go to the o2 for the ATP World Tour Finals. It was incredible! The atmosphere was awesome (very American, upbeat, cheesy and over-the-top) and we saw some great tennis. We saw the Bryan brothers (who I adore and who won - yay!) and the Djokovic v Gasquet match which was really exciting with lots of great tennis (even if the winner was not the one I hoped for). It was an awesome evening and amazing to see the last tennis of the year. It was also my first time at the o2 Arena which was incredible! It’s huge!!!!!!!!!!!

After the match, not wanting to go home, we headed up to Wimbledon, where Steph joined us for some drinks. We didn’t reach Wimbledon till quite, and so were limited to where we could go before everything closed (and not wanting to walk too far since it was raining) so settled on O’Neills. The entertainment was hilarious! There were a bunch of middle aged people, dancing about, having the time of their life and it was just great to relax, watch them and chat too, every once in a while.

Having returned home quite late, we all had a bit of a lie in this morning and the day started off quite late (by my standards, anyway). I spent my morning back in Wimbledon, buying a couple of Christmas presents - I am trying to get all the shopping out of the way as soon as possible - before rushing home, dumping my bags and heading up to Embankment to meet my friend Rosie.

We went up to the café in BFI and had some coffee and cake (I had a latte with Baileys: amazing!) and spent the evening chatting and walking by the river. I’ve mentioned a couple of times how much I love the walk by Southbank but rather than walking towards Tower Bridge (my usual route) , this time we walked towards Vauxhall which was equally as lovely, with London all lit up. We also noticed that the Christmas market is being set up by Southbank which made us both very excited!

For the first time in a couple of weeks, I returned home at a reasonable hour which was lovely. I managed to have a relaxing evening, I am not exhausted (for a change) and although am not looking forward to the working week, I am feeling more capable of surviving it than last Sunday.

Hope everyone has a fab week!

Muah

Roo xx

Bang!

A very busy week is coming to an end (almost) and as stressful as its been, it has been incredibly productive. Both at work and outside of it. 

Ever day this week I have been running around like a loony at work, with a 1000 tasks to do and only a working day and me to sort it all out. My week started off with a bang (figuratively speaking) on Monday; I was working flat out all day. So when my friend Rosie suggested meeting for after-work drinks, I was more than happy to say yes! We met at the National Theatre and had a couple of glasses of wine at the bar. It's not a place that I ever considered going to for a drink (I limit it to theatre-going) but having met up just before the 7:30pm showing started, the place was so quiet and chilled within minutes; it was the perfect place to chat away. 

Turns out, wine was probably not the best of ideas, since I ended up having the worst night's sleep and was a bit of a zombie the following long. After yet another hectic day and a gym session, I came home to a lovely dinner which Natz cooked for everyone. It was great to just sit at a table (whilst eating some delicious food) and catch up with everyone since I've felt that I haven't seen everyone in one place in a while. After dinner, we all headed out to Wimbledon Park to finish the night off with a bang (literally) for Bonfire Night. 

I've known that Wimbledon Park was having fireworks for a while and figured that we would show up, pay for entry, watch some fireworks and make the (short) walk home. Not so. Apparently the Wimbledon Park fireworks are a huge deal! The queues were so long that we decided to wait across the road and watch from there. Long story short: the fireworks started a lot later than promised (Dan gave up 20mins in an went back to the flat) and after a lot of standing around we managed to get into the park once the firework display started. And it was quite a display. In fact the whole place was unrecognisable - there were huge bonfires, fun fair rides and candy floss everywhere and lots of loud music as the fireworks went off (not quite the mellow park that people go for runs in or walk their dogs). I was too tired (and cold) to go on any of the rides, so after the impressive display, headed back home and got myself into bed. 

I don't know about everyone else but I haven't been handling the clock-change very well and have not been impressed with finishing work when it's dark outside. It makes for a very tired Roo! The only saving grace is the way the city looks at night. Leaving work when it's dark just reminds me how beautiful London is at night time! It's the main reason why unlike most (normal) people, I try to do something after work during the dark, winter nights: to see the city in all its glory. 

And on another good note, I am only one sleep (and a full day of work) away from the weekend! 

Night!

Muah,

Roo xx

Lets play a game

Another incredible weekend has come and gone and as shattered as I am, it has been absolutely worth it!

Following Friday’s shenanigans, I had a pretty lazy Saturday afternoon at home with the girls which consisted of food and telly. Eventually we got ourselves up and ready, intending to go to the Sherlock Holmes museum, but seeing the endless queue to get in (and it being nearly closing time) we decided to postpone that trip and headed up to Southbank, spending the day at the arcade by the Sealife centre. It turned out to be a hilarious evening! We mooched around from game to game, spending our pennies and pounds, laughing endlessly and even playing a game of bowling. It was the best evening!

After some more lounging about once we got back home, me, Natz and her friend Tom (who came down for the evening, returning from his worldwide travels) headed out to the Slug at Wimbledon.  We were all absolutely shattered (Tom having the only legitimate reason; jetlag) so we danced around for a bit and had a good time but called it a night quite early, managing to get one of the last trains home.

As for today, with (yet again) too little sleep, I headed up to East London to pick up my Godson, Erik for a day of babysitting. I took him up to London and spent another day at the arcade with my cousin Donatas and his fiancé, Edita. It was a chilled day but both myself and Erik got back absolutely shattered nonetheless.  

And now with my eyes burning and my head throbbing a little (presumably from the lack of sleep), I am going to have a shamefully early night and prepare myself for what looks to be a busy week.

Hope everyone has an amazing week!

Muah

Roo xx

A very happy Friday

Fridays generally become pretty awesome as of 5:30 pm. This week, Friday started off awesome as soon as I woke up: I booked the day off just because.

Anyway, the first day of my long weekend was very successfully! It started off with a much needed lie-in, followed by a deep clean of the flat (yes, I am a grown up; cleaning on my day off!) After some lounging around, me and Natz (who also had the day off) headed up to Shoreditch for the day. Unfortunately, the weather was awful: it was drizzly and quite cold; not the best combination for mooching around.

We didn't stay out long; we walked around a bit and found some much needed shelter at the Brick Lane Market (which, as cool as it was, wasn’t quite my type of place). We ended up at Old Spitalfields Market which I have never been to, but absolutely loved (and not just because it protected us from the wind and rain)! There were so many stalls with so many gorgeous dresses! I even bought myself a cosy jumper. Having toured the market a couple of times, we had lunch at Strada (unable to find a non-chain place which we both liked) which was a little disappointing. Although the service was great, the food really wasn't anything to boast about. To quell that disappointment, I had a Lola's cupcake for dessert. Yum!

Vintage glasses, anyone?

Upon returning home, I decided to dye my hair "deep violet" (i.e. purple). I've been meaning to dye my hair a purple-esque colour for a while now and finally bit the bullet and did it with not unsuccessful results. I think I quite like it but the colour seems to be too purple at the roots and too dark at the bottom so it’ll be interesting to see what it will look like after a couple of washes!

After the hair-dying operation, me, Natz, Steph and our (other) friend Richard got ourselves Halloween-ready and headed out to The Fulham Slug (that counts as something different, right?!) The night started off quite slow: we were the only ones dressed up and it was quite quiet but by the time we managed to have a drink or two and dance about, the place was packed (but managed to stay far more civilised than in Wimbledon) and we had an absolute blast with lots and lots of dancing.

Having had very little sleep, I started my Saturday with a very short run (but I figured that’s better than nothing) and now I am lounging about, with Chinese food and some telly. I will eventually do something productive. I hope.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Muah,

Roo xx

Lots of food and even more laughter

It's that time of the week again. It's Sunday evening and time to start getting ready for a brand new week. In my world, that mainly consists of watching some telly and having an early night (yes, I am hard core) which after yet another crazy weekend will probably involve and earlier night than usual.

As I mentioned in my last post, yesterday me and Chloe went out for a night of dancing in Wimbledon (you can guess where exactly we went). We both had the best night! As the night out was really impromptu, there was absolutely no pressure so we drank and danced the night away, laughing more than I thought was possible.

This morning, we woke up a little worse for wear (the limited amount of sleep probably didn't help). After a morning of feeling sorry for ourselves and drinking a lot of water, me, Chloe and Richard (who crashed at the flat) went out to The Rocket in Putney for a huge fry-up and plenty of caffeine. Without any exaggeration, we spent the entire morning and afternoon, laughing endlessly (me and Chloe may have lost a couple of IQ points the night before) at anything and everything. With our bellies filled with food, Chloe headed back home, Richard headed off to visit other friends and I ventured up to visit my mum and brother. I spent the afternoon catching up with the family, watching some tennis, some football and eating even more food that my mum lovingly cooked.

And now I am safely back at my lovely flat, watching some classic The Big Bang Theory. It's been impossible to ignore the storm that has been predicted and I am a little weary of what Monday will bring so I hope everyone living in the south of England stays safe and warm.

Have a great week, everyone!

Muah

Roo xx