Summer fun

Yes, you read that correctly - it now feels like summer. The last few days here have been pretty good, and our 28’ day today was amazing once we got away from our desks – sunshine, with a bit of a breeze - so we decided to get out our BBQ for the first time this year and fire it up.

As a totally unexpected bonus, my box of New Zealand beer arrived which I immediately opened & popped a few in the freezer to chill down whilst prepping our dinner. I can’t tell you how excited I was – a taste of Summer, on a hot Summers day!

Everything fell into place - our groceries came bang on time – 7.03 for their delivery slot of 7pm-9pm (well played grocery company - they must heard about our plans!) so hubby picked up charcoal whilst I put it away (aaah, domestic bliss). We pulled out a couple of sirloin steaks out & marinated them with Garlic and Worcestershire Sauce, accompanied by all the vege we fancied – Portobello Mushrooms, Sweet & Red Peppers, Courgettes and Cherry Tomatoes drizzled with a touch of Olive Oil.

Oh, me, oh my.

We sat outside in the sunshine, eating, drinking, catching up. It was lovely – my favourite day this summer so far. We were even joined by the wee beast, though I’m not sure if if was our company that she was there for, so much as the juicy steak she could smell.

We even planned to cook way too much so we would vege in our salads tomorrow – yum!

We always laugh about BBQ – it’s almost perfect food; slightly charred, healthy, great accompaniment to a beer or two, hubby gets to place with fire, and there is so little cleaning up. We always send a little laughing thanks to the caveman who first discovered that burning your meat improves the flavour.

Todays workout: Rest day.

Are you getting that summer feeling yet?

Read More

I think the sky is falling. It's certainly raining poetry...

Tonight I learned, as part of my ex-pat experience, that it's really hard to catch twirling poems falling from the sky. As part of the cultural events around the Olympics, a friend of a friend who is part of the Chilean collective Casagrande has organised to drop 10,000 bookmarks over Waterloo, containing an piece poetry from poets selected from each of the countries participating in the Olympic Games.

We nipped out for a wee bite of Dinner then wandered down to the Southbank.

It's a bit blurry, sorry.

It was so much fun seeing everyone dancing, running and diving for the bookmarks as they floated down. It transformed some very serious people into little kids again as they scooped bookmarks from the air. The look on everyone’s faces – including my friends was priceless as we caught them.

The helicopter had problems to start with, but managed to adjust to the wind & direction. We managed to catch a few and my favourite is below. I have a confession to make, I lost the actual poem & who it was by, but it is beautiful.

Todays workout; 30 minute walk from work to our meeting place for dinner, 20 minutes twisting, jumping, laughing = toning?

Have you ever written poetry? I have, and it was terrible - I was an angsty teenager, with no real trouble.

Read More

Sunday Mornings

There isn’t quite anything so lovely as a rare Sunday lie-in, with your best boy & fur baby. We treated ourselves to a lovely cup of tea, and gastronomers delight – Fish Finger Sandwiches. Between the crisp Fish Fingers, luscious white bread, the Tartare Sauce which was handmade, and well … why mess with perfection? Not super healthy, but we behaved for the rest of the day to make up for it.

Queue the Maroon 5 (Edit: I’ve just noticed this should be cue – do you think this is a Freudian slip showing how I’m becoming Anglicized? The English love queueing. It's quite refreshing though that people show such manners, and amusing  when waiting for something and someone butts in line out of place geting 'the tutt'.)

"Sunday morning, rain is falling
Steal some covers, share some skin
Clouds are shrouding us in moments unforgettable
You twist to fit the mold that I am in
But things just get so crazy, living life gets hard to do
And I would gladly hit the road, get up and go if I knew
That someday it would lead me back to you"

It is surprising though, how many up-scale restaurants are beginning to go-back-to-basics pulling home comfort recipes out of their childhoods and are trying to re-invent or put a gourmet twist on them. Every cooking show you see lately seems to be harkening back to past favourites.

Todays workout: Rest day + usual Sunday chores.

What is your favourite way to begin a Sunday morning? What is your soundtrack?

Read More

London Living: £400,000 of Gold in my hands

I held £400,000 of gold in my hands this morning, in the Bank of England, and no I wasn’t chased out by security. They let me.

We couldn’t take any photos of it, but we walked through along the fabulous mosaic hallways, were taken through a brief history of the bank site (originally in rented accomodation, they moved to a purpose built site in Threadneedle street, where they are now, then compulsory purchased the next-door church! which they bulldozed), wandered through the incredibly plush bank governers quarters, perused the Polish crystal-ware kept for the Queen luncheons, before we came to the highlight of the tour - the banknote museum. No really, the gold bar holding. Awesome. It's 13kg and heavier than you think it would be.

Cool geek fact - Queen Elisabeth II is the first UK monarch to be featured on UK paper notes. 



The only schneaky pic I took, and by far the best.



I’m just disappointed we couldn’t keep the gold bar.

This is soo how Rich & I were;



Credit


It was pretty cool, an unusual ways to spend a morning. Check out their website if you're interested (and get there early!). There are only a few weekends they open in the year, but it's worth it.

Todays workout: gold weights (arms) and 40 minutes walking.

Read More

Coffee Date

Such a lovely way to start the day with an unexpected coffee date with hubbs. Sadly for my workmates, they had to scrape me off the ceiling once the caffeine kicked in…

Todays workout: Rest day.

What is your favourite Friday treat?

Read More

Bumper Cars, Pimms & Rain

It was our summer work-do last night, a strangely fun evening of Carnival, BBQ and compliments despite the weather. After a snack break 20 minutes into our 50 minute drive (honestly the girls I work with are teeny but eat like horses!) we had some very competitive competitions – a Coconut Shy, Bumper Cars, Test your Strength, Bungee Bounce & a Rodeo bull, before catching up with old colleagues and a wee bit of (probably very awkward looking) dancing.

Er, Did I mention I hit the bell with the Test your Strength?? The worrying thing is I did better than one of the office fellows! Must be all of the running I’ve been attempting lately, that or the Kiwi in me was running strong that day!

I also had my first outside compliment on the battle of the bulge – an old colleague said I looked amazing!? – she made my week, and has given me the confidence to push further. Hubby swears our scales are wrong, my clothes are beginning to hang and I’ve changed shape over the last two months, but it’s nice to have some external reassurance as the scales haven’t budged for two weeks.

Todays workout: Laughing and holding Pimms.

What is the best office party you've been to?

Read More

Exciting packages

One of my lastest hobbies is Foodie Penpals. I LOVE doing this. I love shopping for my penpal, browsing local shops and trying out new products, recommending old favourites; and then, then this arrives…

It lasted just long enough for me to take a photo, before being ripped open and explored.

Reveal to come on the 30^th of June!

Foodie Penpals is so much fun, created by Lindsay at theleangreenbean in September 2011, and administered in the UK by Carol Anne from thisisrocksalt every month, you are assigned a person to send a thoughtful foodie parcel to and a different person will send one to you. It's a lovely way to try things you've never tried before, match up with some awesome bloggers (and readers too!) and it's so nice to recieve something in the post that's not a bill. Join us today!

Todays workout - Treadmill 35 minutes, 9 minutes running, 10 minutes on the stair machine.

Read More

Hello World!

Hello world!

For me this is the hardest part, a blog-osphere wanna-be, trying to figure out what I want to tell the world, and to some extent who I want to be. Well, I can start at the beginning, and who knows where we will end up!

I came to the UK travelling, intending to take a break year from my architecture degree, to explore real buildings rather than try and understand them on paper before returning home to finish my degree. Fast-forward 5 years, I’m still living in London with my hubby and our wee cat, enjoying life!

I love photography, reading, wandering, trying new things, finding a balance between eating deliciously and healthily, hanging with friends, driving my hubby mad, listening to great music & I hope to add blogging! I vaguely attempt creating beautiful objects, writing, drawing, DIY, home design, understanding rugby and Football, comprehending the wild and wonderful English way of life, geocaching. Oh, and talking. I do love talking.

Currently hubby & I are going through a Renaissance, battling the bulge. I also wanted to pen a love letter to London, the place I call home. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Credit

Read More