Travel time

As mentioned in my previous post, I started my weekend with the flu. Not quite the start I was hoping for! I therefore tried to get my immune system back to its best with a long sleep, a healthy breakfast and a superfood juice. I did spend most of my morning in bed but had to venture out into Wimbledon to pick up some urgent post that wasn’t delivered earlier in the week. The trip to the Post Office turned out to be quite a mission but as the sun was shining and I walked at a crawling pace, it probably did me quite a lot of good. The trip did take it out of me though so I spent the afternoon on the sofa, having a lovely lunch and enjoying some rubbish telly.

In the late afternoon, I got myself ready and out of the flat to venture down to south east London to visit my parents and brother. I hadn’t been home in a while and it was the first time I stayed the night since Christmas so my mum went all out, making my favourite salad, one my favourite desserts and even had some sparkling wine ready which I couldn’t enjoy since I was taking some rather strong meds. I spent the evening vegged out on the sofa, catching up with my mum and brother which was absolutely lovely.  

Prepped and ready for a
2hr journey

I didn’t quite manage to have the lie I hoped for on Sunday, feeling absolutely cheated at having lost a whole hour, with the clocks being brought forward! I still failed to make the most of the time I did have as the day was spent in front of the sofa, watching Disney films with my mum (she has a bit of obsession with them). We had a lovely roast for lunch and eventually I decided to make the long trek back home. On the way, I stopped at Wholefoods to buy some superfoods, in the hope that that will help me get better sooner! I even managed a short and slow run in the evening which has made certain parts of me feel better!

Perfect time to go for a run...

It turned out to be a lovely weekend. It was great to spend Mother’s Day with my special, wonderful mum and although it wasn’t great to feel so rotten, it was probably exactly what I needed to slow me down and relax for a change!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful mums out there!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Muah

Roo xx

Busy in the city

The last week has flown by and without realising, my blogging has taken a back seat.

Last weekend turned out to be a bit intense; on Friday I had a lovely catch up with Rosie with a few cocktails at Covent Garden Cocktail Club, after which we dealt with the munchies at Wagamama. A lie and a run later, on Saturday, I met a new friend, C. The plan was to grab a drink in London and perhaps have a little walk around the city – he’s new to both city and country. It turned out that very little touring of the city was done; instead the afternoon became somewhat of a bar/pub crawl around Covent Garden. It was a lovely afternoon, although I don’t usually start drinking before the sun at least starts going down so I wasn’t completely sober by late afternoon. Afterwards, I met up with Chloe, heading back to the flat where I made a fairly lovely stir-fry , had a couple of drinks  and headed out into Fulham for a night out. The day and night turned out to be a lot of fun but I did suffer (a lot) on the Sunday which turned out to be a bit of a wasted day spent on the sofa with Chloe, watching Sex and the City and eating Domino’s pizza.

The week itself also turned out to be quite hectic. It involved meeting up with C for some burgers and a couple of drinks in Clapham Junction, a work party at the Crypt in Ely Place (an amazing building next to the oldest church in London. We basically stepped back in time into a Medieval Crypt with coble floors and old pillars - not the best combination when wearing heels and drinking champagne) and a trip to “the circus” (or so I was told) which in fact turned out to be a cabaret show at Guanabara. The show was actually really cool and although not something that I have ever been to, it was really entertaining. I would strongly recommend eating before hand though as the main menu was set and very limited. I chose to have a couple of starters which were okay but incredibly greasy and I went home feeling a bit ill.

Apologies for the rushed and very limited round up; I’m suffering from the flu, feeling a little sorry for myself and my brain is a bit of a jumbled mess. A mellow weekend in front of the telly is exactly what I need!

Hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

Muah,

Roo xx

First sign of spring in the city

I firmly believe that good weather makes everything better; when the sun is shining, all’s bright outside and the birds are singing; how can you help but feel happy?! This weekend, London had some gorgeous weather and I had an amazing weekend to go with it!

Saturday had a slow start; having a rubbish night’s sleep meant that I spent most of the morning in bed, willing myself but unable to get out of bed! When I eventually did get up, me and Richard took a trip to the shop and had a lovely breakfast of muesli, fruit and yogurt (very summery; to go with the summery weather!). We then went out to Wimbledon Park for some tennis – the first attempt of the year! It was great fun, especially with some of my “special” shots which included hiding my face with the racket! Once home, we had lunch, showered and headed out to Central. After a quick trip to some shops to buy my dad’s birthday present, we walked down to Cannon Street to meet my brother before heading up to Tower Bridge. Me and Rudy had to rush off for dad’s birthday dinner at Tayyabs. I mentioned before what a huge fan I am of the restaurant and having not been in a while, I was immensely looking forward to it. And it did not disappoint. Having pre-booked, we were given a table upstairs which had a much calmer and quieter atmosphere. As always, we left dad to make the order; we had a variety of kebabs – chicken and lamb – and two curries. One of them had chicken and lots of spinach which was so good. As per usual, we ate way too much and left with our bellies over-filled but very happy. After dinner, I joined up with Richard again, to head back home and end the evening with a movie night.

After a bit of a lie-in on Sunday, myself and Richard decided to make the most of the beautiful weather and walk up to Richmond Park. The walk up involved walking through Wimbledon Village – where we grabbed some baguettes, olives and dessert at Bailey & Sage (possibly my new favourite food store) – across Wimbledon Common, through a forest of sorts and out into Richmond. By the time we got to the park, we were quite hungry so had lunch in the sun, all of which was delicious  - especially the lemon tart which we had for dessert (I am sure Richard won’t mind me telling the world that I think he was a little in love with it, ha!). We walked some of the food off by going through a forest, out to the deer and around some lakes, basking in the sunshine. Being too tired to walk back, we got the bus home and I passed out a little as soon I lay down on my bed. Later in the evening, Richard had to trek back to Brighton and I spent my evening sorting myself out and preparing for the week ahead.

Photo courtesy of Richard

It was genuinely one of the nicest weekends and I was sad for it to end, with Monday looming. Thankfully, we’re more than half way through the week, with another weekend ahead!

‘Night!

Muah.

Roo xx

Rushing around the city

Yet again I must apologise for the lack of blogging. I’ve been a busy Londoner, so I’ll start with an update on last weekend.

On Saturday, I forced myself to go for a run (yay!) and spent most of the day relaxing and generally sorting myself out. In the afternoon, I headed up to Richmond for a walk by the river which was absolutely lovely whilst the sun stayed out and when it did go in, I managed to stay warm with a cup of coffee from one of the little cafes. I slightly lost track of time and ended up rushing home, ready to meet Chloe for a girls’ night. It was the perfect evening; we chatted, had dinner at the flat, pre-lashed and got ready for a night out at The Slug in Fulham. We ended up having a great night out; although a little further away from home to Wimbledon, I love The Slug in Fulham. It is still relaxed (with cheap drinks and decent -but set-list- music) but slightly more civilised and generally nicer. 

With limited sleep and too much drink, I woke up on Sunday a little worse for wear. Rather than cooking breakfast, me and Chloe headed up to Rubino across Southfields station for brunch (although it was so late, it could have easily just been plain lunch). We ordered panini’s and some starters – chips, calamari and garlic bread. We probably should have asked about portion sizes because in spite of our hunger, that proved to be far too much, albeit oh-so-good (aside from the calamari which was slightly under-cooked). After lunch, we grabbed a Starbucks to-go and walked around Wimbledon Park, enjoying the lovely sunshine! Having indulged in some people watching, we headed back to the flat and the spent the day watching telly, ordering take-out and generally having the perfect, relaxing Sunday with a wonderful friend!

The week proved to be slow. It was broken up a little with a trip to the theatre for Natz’s delayed birthday present; a viewing of Matilda. Natz has been trying to convince me to see the musical for the past 9 months but I continually said no since I really had no interest in it. But it being Natz’s birthday and one of the things she has wanted to do all year, me and Steph decided to buy tickets for her birthday. And I am so glad we did! The musical was absolutely amazing; the songs were great and the kid actors were incredible! Somewhat surprisingly, the play also managed to appeal to a large audience, since all the adults were laughing as much as the kids! It turned out to be a great evening out and most importantly, Natz seemed to have an amazing time too!

On Thursday, I had some impromptu after-work drinks with Rosie at B@1 in Covent Garden (I love happy hour!) It was a lovely, relaxing evening and great to have a catch up with her, as always.

Richard came down for the weekend, so on Friday after a quick trip to the gym, an even quicker visit of my mum at her work and a trip home, me and Richard went out for dessert at the Haagen-Dazs café in Leicester Sq. I had waffles with caramel and ice-cream which although very nice, was slightly overpowering (there was a lot of caramel) and definitely felt like diabetes on a plate. Richard had crepes with ice cream which I’ve had before and know to be absolutely delicious! Having had our sugar-fill, we decided to walk some of it off by walking around Southbank. I know I’ve said this before but there is genuinely no better view than London at night. It was the nicest end to the evening and the best start to the weekend…

Muah

Roo xx 

Dangerous combination of shoes on wheels and alcohol

Another weekend has come and gone. This one has proved to be pretty great and a very painful!

Following a not-so-great day on Friday –due to work and major transport issues- I ended up in Vauxhall to celebrate Natz turning another year younger! This was done at a roller disco. Me being unable to skate, or complete any activity that involves balancing, it wasn’t something I was looking forward and was very worried for the safety of my bones. Having fallen down before managing to stand up (yes, that’s possible!) I had to have a couple of drinks before letting Richard and Frosty pull me around the place. Although not the most dignified night out I’ve had, I did end up having a lovely time as, most importantly, did Natz.

I woke up on Saturday with some huge, incredibly painful bruises and my Saturday morning run didn’t help the pain at all. Saturday being Natz’s actual birthday, me and Richard headed out to buy food and prepare a birthday-breakfast fry up for the slightly-worse-for-wear birthday gal. The breakfast was delicious – even if I do say myself, having cooked most of it myself. After breakfast, me and Richard went out for a Starbucks coffee before I rushed off to meet Aurelija and her boys at Green Park. The sun was still out and although slightly chilly, the walk around the park was really nice and the boys seemed to enjoy feeding the ducks, so it was generally a lovely afternoon.

Birthday breakfast preparations

In the evening, Richard came up to Central and we went out for dinner at Busaba Eathai by Leicester Square. We’ve been meaning to go for a while (since we’re both fans of Wagamama and this is supposed to be a slightly more upscale, Thai version of that). Like Wagamama, the tables were shared and so the atmosphere remained quite loud and buzzing. The interior was completely different though; the lighting was low, there was dark wood and candles everywhere and the tables were square which created a more intimate and warm atmosphere which I really liked. I ordered the jungle chicken curry with jasmine rice (the rice had to be ordered separately) and Richard had beef stir fry with rice. The food was delicious! Although not as spicy as the menu suggested, the curry was really good; perhaps it is the nature of Thai cuisine but the food tasted as if it was far more slow cooked and fully prepared compared to the food at Wagamama. Sadly, Busaba Eathai doesn’t offer dessert, only dessert teas. Rather than taking this as a sign that dessert should be given a miss, instead me and Richard headed up to Wagamama for its delicious apple and cinnamon dumplings. Returning home shattered and cold, the evening was spent in front of my laptop, watching a film.

On Sunday, I headed up to Bethnal Green to visit a vintage furniture market with Rosie. The market was a lot smaller than we thought it’d be. It did have some lovely items (I really liked two matching green marble effect table lamps) but neither myself nor Rosie saw anything that we liked enough to buy and after a walk about, decided to head up to Spitalfields for lunch at Poppies Fish & Chips. The place was packed but luckily we managed to grab the last table – Poppies do offer a take away service but given that it was cold outside and there was no outside seating, that wasn’t much of an option. Besides, the interior was pretty cool, with vintage post cards all over the walls and the waitresses dressed up as sailors. The food was great too. We shared deep fried calamari for starters and had scampi and chips for mains, all of which was delicious. The portions were pretty big and although far from healthy, the food wasn’t too greasy and we left feeling very full indeed, prepared for some window shopping in Oxford Street.

Having returned home absolutely shattered, I had a mellow evening, watching rubbish telly. I genuinely had the nicest weekend and hopefully the next one will be just as great!

Muah

Roo xx