Rushing around

First and foremost, sincere apologies for the lack of blogging. My weeks have been incredibly busy and immensely stressful and although the weekends have been mellow, I have been hibernating from the world a little.

In the past couple of weeks, I haven't done much aside from survived the working week! However in the in midst of it all, I did manage to find a lovely little cafe in Brick Lane, called The Vintage Emporium. It was a cosy little cafe with old fashioned (and therefore very comfy) furniture and because I went late Monday evening it was very quiet. I didn't stay there long and stuck to one cappuccino and left quite soon but definitely intend to give the place another visit.

The weekend before last, myself and Rosie decided to make a return to Birdhouse in Clapham Junction for the best banana bread that either of us had had but found it to be closed for the holidays (sigh). So instead we mooched around and came across Babel. We got there for lunch but rather than having a proper meal, decided to share a couple of starters. Most of it was delicious but as most of it was deep fried (prawns and calamari) it was ever so slightly too greasy for my liking. Nevertheless, I loved the interior and being there on a Saturday afternoon, it was really nice and chilled.

After a horrid week at work, I spent this Saturday morning in bed, relaxing, searching the net and generally being lazy. Eventually I got myself up and out of the flat to meet Rosie for a walk in Hyde Park and enjoy the beautiful sunshine. We even decided to grab a glass of wine each and sit by the river during our catch up.

After another walk, we each went back home for a couple of hours, before came over to the flat for some dinner and a night out in Wimbledon. Having both had horrid weeks, we both drank too much, danced just enough and returned home shattered but having had a great night! Safe to say, Sunday was spent recovering!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Muah

Roo xx

Happy New Year!

I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of days off work which were spent doing nothing impressive. I did some more shopping (far more successful and relaxing second time round), deep cleaned the flat, went out for some drinks with Natz and even ventured to Clapham Common which was disappointing. Everyone seems to have made a big deal of Clapham, so having never visited the place; I decided to trek up and see what all the fuss is about. And honestly, I just didn’t see it. It may have been the crappy whether, but I walked about, not finding a single café I wanted to sit and read in and so went home, underwhelmed to watch my new TV obsession (thanks to Steph), Sherlock.

Yesterday was of course the big end to 2013 and having celebrated several New Year’s Eves in central London, this year I decided to go for a far more mellow night in with some friends.  I had the best night! There was pizza, too much alcohol and great friends, equating to a wonderful night; reminding me that in spite of a couple of bumps in the year that was 2013, it has also been an amazing one, with plenty of changes, huge decisions and some amazing new friends, who I am very happy to have in my life.

I don’t really believe in New Year’s resolutions, so I am simply going to hope for a 2014 that is filled with friends, where my scary decisions finally pay off. Hopefully, the year will also prove to be more productive than the day I have had today, which was spent on the sofa, feeling rather fragile!

I wish I looked like this, this morning

Happy New Year, everybody!

Muah

Roo xx

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