summer in the city.

Sometime's it's so nice to have a day off in the week (trust me, I'm still living for that time when I never work weekends, but like I said, sometimes). Wednesday saw the sun shining, my sunglasses breaking and my bad idea of wearing black skinny jeans. Alex and I decided Central London was the place to be and it didn't disappoint (does it ever though?).Shopping, gorgeous food (here), and chilling by St Paul's. It was a pretty fantastic day off.

Oh and to top it all off I almost walked straight into Eddie Izzard- our first major celeb spot. We were pretty pleased with ourselves.

borough market.

When I was younger, I was taken through London Borough Market on a whistle stop tour of London by my gran. It was there that she showed me Bridget Jones' house and the spot where she saw Hugh Grant filming scenes from said movie. Fast forward ten years and I'm passing on those facts to Alex (he appreciated them, I could tell) while we were walking through the market, clutching our delicious lunch. It took us 2 walks round just to make sure we had made the right choice. We settled on a hog roast roll filled with apple sauce, pork and fennel and my goodness was it the right choice.

It was so yummy and it certainly kept us full for the rest of the day- and we needed it, we did a lot of walking.

I'm pretty sure we've decided this is the place to eat; just making our way from stall to stall.

london living.

I could get use to all these theatre trips- last weekend we saw Billy Elliot and it was very very good. And yes, like last time (here) I thought it was time to run away and join the theatre; or at least start doing ballet again.

So after having a very leisurely morning at home (after a night of bubbles and dancing the night before), we ventured into town and headed for afternoon tea. It's becoming somewhat of a tradition and boy are those sandwiches great reasons to keep heading back! The reason for this great adventure was my mum coming to town. It was pretty much every occassion rolled into one; seeing Billy Elliot was her Christmas present, it was of course Mother's Day and also a week before her birthday. Phew, so many celebrations for that fabulous mumma of mine.

gin.soho.presents.

Sometimes all you need is a really long catch up about anything and everything, with a really good friend. And I was in luck and had exactly these two things happen last weekend. The fact that it happened over a couple gin and lemonades and I got belated homemade birthday presents made it better again. We took a longer walked than planned to find a bar and raced for the nearest available table and didn't stop talking until it was time to head home. I need to stop taking London, and how close I live to central, for granted and head it for drinks and the sights more often, because a night like the one I had was very much needed and so much fun.

wicked.

Whenever I go to a musical I always reckon I'd be fantastic in them- my jazz hands and dancing abilities are, of course, top notch. And my singing? Well it matches my dancing! Obviously, I am joking, but my mind really does take over and my long-time wish of being in the West End appears.

For a birthday treat we went to see Wicked, it was so good; amazing costumes, people flying and the most outstanding voice I've heard on the stage, it even made the people next to us cry! It was pretty fantastic but (yes a but, and coming from a musical lover this is a biggie)- there was an awful lot of singing. I mean a lot! Once you got use to this though it was a lovely night.

mini dishes and sparkly cupcakes.

Whenever Alex and I go out for dinner in London, Alex always seems to chose tapas. I love all the mini dishes and if we had our way (and the bill didn't have to come at the end) we'd probably would end up working our way through the menu in one sitting. Tuesday night, before our theatre trip (here), we went and ordered our loveliest tapas, and it was yummy. We also added a strawberry daiquiri to our meal; this was not so nice. I am a fan of cocktails and I've had many strawberry daiquiris before, not none quite like this. If rum and little else in terms of flavour is your thing, this is the drink for you. I'll tell you something it was a struggle to drink, and thank goodness we had food to go with it! This year we're trying to go to a whole load of new food places so tapas might not be on our menu for a while.

We also, finally, went to Candy Cakes-all I can same is many more delicious and sparkly cakes will be consumed from there. I'm a pretty big fan of putting glitter on my cakes (here and here, to name a few) and so they're on to a winner in my eyes.

 

 

 

 

Alex thought it'd be rude not to buy some more cake and bring it home with us. The lady was even kind enough to give us two slices for the price of one.

singin in the rain.

On Tuesday, Alex and I headed into town to shop for an evening at the theatre. Although I didn't come away with any shopping bags, I easily could have and so I think I've done well at saving a little (so far). Our evening at the theatre was so good. It was lovely to something different. Having said that, we do have tickets to go again for my birthday and we are planning to make it a regular thing, but still, it's the first of many. We saw Singin' in the Rain and it was pretty fabulous. We were way at the back of the theatre (and both of us were glad when the lights went off so we couldn't see how high we were really were), but we could still see everything, including rain showers and glitzy umbrellas.

this town.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We love exploring all the different routes and streets in London. We always, unintentionally, end up in Charlotte Street and I love it. It is full of yummy food, cocktail bars and just round the corner is a massive Paperchase!

monday afternoon in london.

Last Monday me and Alex headed off into London to do a bit of shopping, and, for me, to meet up with a very good friend. 

Before meeting up with my friend, Alex and I did some exploring; it's always nice to go somewhere different (and in London you always can!) even if it's just to have a little walk around before headed somewhere else. While Alex carried on shopping, I meet up with my friend, who I haven't seen in 2 years, for cocktails. Alex joined us when it started to rain. It was a lovely day of exploring and catching up- a not so blue Monday for me.

tapas in covent garden.

Last week Alex and I had to venture out in the pouring rain to central London. It poured and we both got very wet and so Alex decided to take me out for dinner while we were there. It was lovely and so very filling.

tower of london.

On Wednesday, me and Alex went to one of my favourite places in all of London; the Tower of London. I adore the place, whether it is actually being in the place itself or just walking alongside it; it just makes me feel happy, and albeit slightly nerdy.

I am a huge history nerd, especially the Tudors; and so seeing Henry VIII's suit of armour and the place Anne Boyeln was beheaded is fascinating to me. It was Alex's first time there and I hadn't been instead there since I was 12 so it was a long time coming. If any one is a history buff or just want an interesting afternoon in London then it is well worth a trip.

(music from foals)

city life.

I've lived here in our little flat in Twickenham for a year and half and before that I was in halls so I've been living city life for a good 2-3 years. I love it; sometimes I wish I was right in the heart with all of the people and bright lights, but the suburbs are good until my numbers come up and I could afford a place right in central. Nevertheless there are so many things I love about city life...

# Everything is just a short train ride away.

# The Tower of London.

# Cocktail bars.

# Buses come more often than twice a day.

# Leciester Square's noodles.

# If I'm hungry past 8 o'clock I can go and buy food.

# There is something to see and do, whichever area you're in.

# The hustle and bustle.

(image via londonatnight)

# Seeing friends doesn't take days of prepartion.

# Going out after work.

# The ability to be what you want.

(image via coventgardenstreetperformers)