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