Birthday filled week(end)

Last week was filled with endless amounts of calls, texts and Facebook messages to my family and close friends, wishing them all a happy birthday. For me, July tends to be a bit like Christmas in the summer: lots of presents to buy and cards to write.

On Friday, we celebrated Rosie's birthday (eve) with some cocktails. The plan was to go to The Bermondsey Arts Club but being unable to locate it (in spite of being on the relevant road and building number) we went to the Aqua Bar in the Shard. It being my first time to the Shard, I thought it was a great substitute and I (and hope Rosie too) had a great evening. After queuing for not-that-long, we somehow managed to grab the last free table. As expected, the views were incredible; we managed to see most of the city from the ideal height of the 32nd floor. The cocktails were quite impressive too; I had the strawberries and cream cocktail which was luscious and best of all had a white chocolate covered strawberry with it (I'm going to be completely honest: it was the sole reason for me ordering the same cocktail again for seconds). I had the nicest evening: the atmosphere (and some of the conversation) had a bit of Sex and the City feel: the ideal Friday night.

 

 

Saturday started off with candles and cupcakes. As it was Richard's birthday (and I am too lazy/not a good enough baker to bake a cake), I decided to replace the traditional birthday cake with birthday cupcakes from Sweet Couture. It being too early for ample sugar and buttercream, Richard only blew out the candles and opened his presents. After a bit of a lie and breakfast (courtesy of me) we got up and ready. The plan had been to take a trip to Oxford for the day but given our not-quite-early enough start and the only-partially-functioning district line, by the time we reached Paddington, we thought it better to stay in the city, rather than rush a trip to Oxford.

Having trekked up to Paddington, me and Richard decided to enjoy the sunshine with a walk up to Notting Hill and lunch at Itsu. The Notting Hill  branch of Itsu is unlike any other I've been to; it having more of a restaurant feel and the menu being quite different. We sat down by the sushi bar where I picked off my plates of sushi from the conveyer bar which I enjoyed with some salmon miso soup, all of which tasted great - especially the miso soup with flaked pieces of salmon. Richard ordered chicken teriyaki which he also enjoyed. It was really a very nice lunch in a lovely, relaxed, restaurant-esque setting. Before leaving, we went upstairs to look at the bar which I fully intend to give try out! After lunch, we took a quick (sort of) trip to Tottenham Court Road before finally heading up Hampstead Heath which I have been trying (and failing) to visit for ages.

The Heath was relatively busy but still maintained a relaxed atmosphere. Having managed to find a fairly quiet space with some shade, we sat there and may have accidentally fallen asleep for a bit. Although perfectly lovely, I wasn't quite as impressed by the Heath, as I'd hoped. Especially when I saw rats running around in the greenery. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a great afternoon and good to feel like we escaped the city without even leaving London but I think that I built Hampstead up in my head too much and it proved to be ever-so-slightly disappointing.

Having spent the day out and with the weather being absolutely beautiful (and hot), we were left a bit tired and decided to spend the evening in. Having bought some Indian takeaway from M&S (which proved to be very tasty!) we spent the evening relaxing, watching some World Cup football and having some of Richard's birthday cupcakes for dessert (which, incidentally were delicious, if a little over-iced/buttercream-ed).

Happy birthday to all my lovelies who celebrated their birthdays last week!

Muah,

Roo xx