This week's happiness

Happy Halloween Friday!!

Things that have made me happy this week...

Jessica Mary
On Sunday I was reunited with one of my best friends, Jess. I went to school with this gorgeous girl, we've been friends for yonks. But somehow we hadn't seen each other in nearly a year!! There wasn't an excuse for it really, just that work and other plans kept getting in the way and before we knew it, months and months had passed. Anyway, she came down to Greenwich on Sunday to spend the day at ours. It was so good to see her again! We wandered around bustling Greenwich looking for somewhere to go for coffee (hot chocolate) but Greenwich is always packed with tourists at the weekends so everywhere was choc a bloc! But we managed to find a little table in the corner of Costa and enjoyed a good old natter over hot chocolates. Then we headed home and snuggled on the sofa for the afternoon, watching films and chatting whilst Rob cooked us all a roast dinner. Distance definitely does make the heart grow fonder but I don't think we should leave it so long next time! 
Love you, Jessica xxx

Pumpkin Carving!

Yep, it's that time of year again... No Halloween would be complete without a pumpkin carving session! I'll be the first to admit I'm a big kid at heart when it comes to this kind of stuff, I love going all out and getting creative. I missed out last year as I was working, so this year I was extra excited to pop on some music and carve our pumpkins ready for Halloween tomorrow. We live in a big block of flats, so we never get trick-or-treaters knocking at the door but the pumpkins look great in the windows none the less.

We've been pretty inventive with our pumpkin designs in previous years... here's what we created in 2012!

(That ghost literally took me hours...)

Halloween Baking: Jack Skellington cupcakes

I love October and the festivities it brings: Halloween, pumpkin carving, pumpkin flavoured everything infact! To well and truly get in the Halloween spirit, I decided to bake some Halloween themed cupcakes! I got the inspiration for these Jack Skellington (Nightmare Before Christmas) cupcakes from good old Pinterest.

I used one of Nigella's simple fairy cake recipes from her How To Be A Domestic Goddess book - you can find it here. I baked them for about 17 minutes and they turned out perfectly! Once cooled I slice the 'peaks' off the top of my cakes to make them flat, I find this makes spreading the icing much easier and means the cakes are neat and even. To make the buttercream icing I literally just whisked together 100g unsalted butter and 150g sieved icing sugar - it's quite rich in taste and undoubtedly very naughty but yummy all the same. I then used a dark chocolate 'writing icing' tube (bought from tesco, found here) to draw on Jack Skellington's notoriously cheeky face. Some of them are a little messier than others but I'm rather pleased with them, I think they look suitably spooky!

Positivity: Loving where we live ♥

After my last post moaning about the struggles of house-hunting, I've been thinking a fair bit. It is so easy to become wrapped up in this negative state of mind where you feel totally stuck and unsure of how things are going to pan out. Stuck in total limbo. Impatience has got to be one of my worst traits -  I am very impatient so the whole waiting thing in the house-buying process is my idea of hell. I just want to know whether we've been successful or not, so we can either get excited or move on! In this situation it can sometimes feel like your whole world has been put on hold. I really want to start booking some holidays for next year but then I start thinking "what if we get the house? We need to stop spending and have some money put aside". But how long could we be waiting?! I want a holiday! Arrghhh!!

In an attempt to be a little more positive Rob and I have both made a pact to make the most of where we live now. We may only be here another 6 months, we may be here another 3 years. Who knows. But we are so lucky to live in such a charming part of London. It's important that we don't let the frustrations of house-hunting take over. I don't want to depreciate where we live now! I've said it once and I could say it over and over: I love Greenwich! We live in the most beautiful, modern, light and airy flat with a lovely little balcony, we have the River Thames on our doorstep and an UNESCO world heritage site down the road. What could be better?! (Well, a cute little house with a pretty garden and a driveway, that would be better... but ssssh!). This may be our final Christmas in London and very few places do the run up to Christmas better than London. So we're going to make the most of every moment from now, enjoying all that this city has to offer.

A housing update: Why finding a home is making me want to cry

Half the reason I originally set up this blog was to document our house hunting journey... So I feel obliged to give you an update on the house front. But the truth is, there's not much to update you on I'm afraid.

After viewing some houses a few weeks back (which you can read about here) we ended up going for a second viewing to a house just outside Sevenoaks in Kent, but this time taking my Dad along with us. The house is a 1920s two bedroom semi-detached, with lots of character, beams on the ceiling and a cute cottage garden, with space for Rob to park his motorbike down the side-passage. Just perfect for us! They say that when you find the right house you'll know as soon as you step inside and for me that was the case - I felt so sure it was the one. My dad is an architect and can look at a property with great vision for the future so I really wanted him to be there. I'm so glad he came along because he gave us quite a few options for future extensions and it was nice to have a second opinion too.

Since moving to London in 2008 I've moved about 7 or 8 times (how on earth did that happen?!) but always just in rented properties that I have had no emotional connection to. Buying a house is a whole different ball game all together and at times can leave me feeling overwhelmed and pretty terrified. Although I'm 25 and rely totally on myself and my own income, it still doesn't feel like something I can do or want to do without my dad's seal of approval or practical help. It's just... such a grown-up step! I guess I just don't feel like a proper grown-up yet. Maybe I never will!! Has anyone else found that?!

Drinks in the sky... The Duck and Waffle

One of the most magical bars in London and one of my firm favourites has got to be The Duck and Waffle, situated on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower at 110 Bishopsgate. A speedy glass elevator on the outside of the building takes you straight up to the 40th floor - an exhilarating experience in itself! Then you step out into a light, beautifully designed space with breathtaking views across the city from large floor-to-ceiling glass windows. This classy, vibrant spot is the perfect place to enjoy a couple of drinks in the sky... quite literally!

Catering for a bustling city that is always on the go, The Duck and Waffle is one of very few restaurants in London open 24 hours a day(!) serving breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and drinks. I can't imagine when the staff ever get the chance to vacuum the place?! But anyhow, the food is great and the service is very friendly. Prices are a little on the expensive side, breakfasts are priced between £10-15 and main courses for lunch and dinner between £15-35, but it's the view of London that wins, every single time and trust me, it's a view worth paying for.

Make sure to book a reservation if you're wanting to eat to avoid disappointment, as the tables in the restaurant get booked up fast. We got turned away on one occasion when we turned up spontaneously! Likewise if it's just a drink you're after, it's safer to book ahead to be sure you'll get in okay. 

Just check out these views... 

This week's happiness

This week I've been on nightshifts, so not a great deal has happened other than spending about 50 hours at work! Infact the past week has been pretty dull if I'm honest... but I shall aim to find some positives none the less!

Things that have made me happy this week...

Sunny morning walks home

People who don't work nightshifts probably wont understand this feeling, but when you've been up working all night long there is literally nothing better than heading home. I love that smug feeling whilst walking past all the office workers on their way to work, knowing that my day has finished and I will soon be reunited with my bed! But my journeys home are even better when it's sunny, and this past week has seen some beautiful mornings...

Recipe: Raw Chocolate Brownies

Like I explained in my Choc-Shot Review, this past year has seen a dramatic change in my eating habits, for the better. I've made a huge effort to eat less refined sugars and processed foods and to eat more raw, healthy foods. I am also trying to cut out dairy from my diet as much as possible as I don't think that milk is in agreement with my tummy and I'm wondering whether dairy foods have been the culprit of my acne for all these years. This is a difficult process because I'm in a long-term loving relationship with cheese... But I'm making baby steps and have quit milk in tea & am now eating porridge with water or soy milk!

Raw foodism is the practice of eating uncooked, unprocessed foods, such as fruit, vegetables, nuts and seeds (and in some cases meat, fish and dairy products). I won't go into too much detail here but many theories suggest that cooking foods above 48 degrees celsius "kills" the nutrients and enzymes that aid in digestion and health. Cooked foods apparently take longer to digest than uncooked foods, and in turn clog up our digestion system with partially digested fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Uncooked "live" foods however, in their raw and purest form, have more enzymes and nutrients than "dead" cooked foods and as a result are healthier. Some of the benefits of raw food as highlighted by raw foodists are:

- more energy

- healthier looking skin

- improved digestion

- weight loss

Documentaries such as Food Matters, Hungry For A Change and Food Inc (all can be found on Netflix) have opened my eyes to the reality of the food industry and the harmful effects that manufactured, processed foods can have on our bodies and health.  I've also taken to following some truly inspirational people on Instagram and Twitter (@ellenfisher, @healing_belle and @halfwaytohealthy to name but a few) who have shared the most wonderful recipes and have given me inspiration for meals, snacks, smoothies and more.

Lunch at The Savoy

We're true believers of celebrating birthdays properly in my family. I can never understand people who don't get excited by a birthday?! My wonderful mummy turned 60 this year and as part of her celebrations, my dad treated us all to lunch at The Savoy in London. It was such a special occasion and one of the most incredible lunches ever.

Located in the heart of London on The Strand, The Savoy is one of London's most renowned five star hotels. Built in 1889, The Savoy was infact the very first luxury hotel in London to have electric lights and lifts throughout the building and en-suite marble bathrooms in most of the glamourously decorated rooms, many of which overlook the River Thames. This year marks The Savoy's 125th birthday and the history and the glamour of the hotel still sparkles and delights. As soon as you arrive you are transported into a world of total luxury. It's no wonder that some of the true greats - Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, The Beatles and so many more - were regular guests here. 

It's all about burgundy... New Look shopping spree

So I had a one of those accidental shopping sprees in New Look this week... you know the ones where you just wander in the shop for a browse and end up coming out £26383627 poorer?! Big whoops! But thankfully (annoyingly) everything I tried on fitted perfectly and I fell in love with it all!

Burgundy and oxblood are really 'in' this season. This pleases me a lot as I'm a big fan of rich, dark, Autumn/Winter colours. I live in black tights throughout the colder months and love finding winter skirts and cosy tops I can layer up with.

Anyway, enough rambling. Here are some of my recent buys...

Steak cooking lesson at Jamie Oliver's Recipease

Last year I was really struggling to think of what to buy for Rob's birthday. Before moving in together, he lived with his mum, so with his disposable income he had pretty much everything he wanted. I desperately tried to think of all the things he really likes... going to the gym, cycling, steak... STEAK! Every guy loves a good steak don't they?! I suddenly had the idea of booking a cooking lesson where he could be taught professionally how to cook the perfect steak. 

I looked online and browsed various cooking schools, nearby and afar - some were extortionately expensive! - and then I found Recipease, Jamie Oliver's cookware shops, delicatessens and cookery classes. Recipease is situated in three locations: Brighton, Clapham Junction & Notting Hill and at each branch they offer a deli/cafe, cookware shop and kitchens where cookery classes are held on various evenings during the week. There's a great selection of classes to choose from ranging from Mexican Street-food, Chocolate Dipping, Japanese and Sushi-making to Pasta master-classes. They even have a 'Christmas with all the trimmings' class to prepare you for making the ultimate roast dinner!! And if you have children in tow there are several kids friendly classes to choose from too.

This week's happiness

We got back from our Scottish adventure last weekend and have both been back to work this week so it's been a busy one. I always find it so hard going back to work after time off... I could definitely be a full-time lady of leisure! But aside that it's been a good week, I can't complain!

Things that have made me happy this week...


Family
We drove straight to my parents' house on our way back from Scotland and had a lovely 24 hours with my parents and brother. I hadn't been 'home' in Hertfordshire for a little while so I was blissfully happy to be back and see everyone again (apart from my sister...waaaa!). We went on a long countryside walk together in Ashridge, one of our favourite spots (maybe a blog post will follow on this!). It was such a nice morning! If you follow me on instagram (@lydiasjmcm) you will have seen a few pictures already... 

A city-break: Edinburgh

For the final leg of our Scottish road-trip we spent two nights in Edinburgh! I stupidly left booking a hotel to the last minute and struggled to find somewhere central but not ridiculously priced. In the end I booked us a room at the Thistle King James, in the heart of the city centre. 

I'll be totally honest... From the outside, the hotel is a monstrosity. Built in 1924, it really is the ugliest concrete building and needs a bit of a re-vamp. But I didn't fancy paying a ridiculous price for a room! In cities such as Edinburgh you can get ripped off so easily. As with most city-breaks, we knew that the majority of our time would be spent out of the hotel and so we chose to spend on what matters more to us instead - good food and nearby attractions. But, aside from the slightly dated exterior, the hotel was pretty satisfactory. The inside is also in need of a little updating but was perfectly clean and comfortable. Our room was huge! The reception staff were very accommodating, they let us check in three hours earlier than planned and we thought we would have to pay an extortionate fee to park the car for 48 hours, but they allowed us to park right outside the front of the hotel for just £12 for the whole stay, which was better than any car-park deals we had found! 

The location of the hotel was the big winner for us - it's literally a 2 minute walk from the middle of the city and right in the midst of the main shopping area on Princes Street. If you're looking to pay a reasonable price for a room in the middle of Edinburgh but aren't looking for anything particularly extravagant, then I'd thoroughly recommend The King James.

Rob and I had both been to Edinburgh before but we were so excited to be back as it is such a beautiful, charming city. After our wonderful stay in Loch Lomond (which you can read about here!), we were ready to be in a bustling city for some culture! After checking in to the hotel, we headed straight back out, walking up towards the castle. We were welcomed with warm sunshine which was a nice surprise as we had been expecting rain! The long street leading up to the castle is called The Royal Mile and walking up it, you feel immediately immersed in all things stereotypically Scottish! There are bagpipe players on each street corner, countless shops selling tartan scarves and kilts, whiskey and shortbread and street entertainers dressed as various characters.

Our flight on a Loch Lomond Seaplane!

When booking our trip to Loch Lomond I stumbled across Loch Lomond Seaplanes and after watching a few of their promo videos I had my heart set on booking a flight. It seemed an amazing way of seeing a big chunk of Scotland in such a short space of time, as well as being an incredible experience. I decided to keep it a total surprise from Rob until we arrived and I'm so glad I did - his reaction was priceless, he was so excited! 

I wanted to share with you a few (ok, quite a few!!) of the photos from our flight...

Loch Lomond ♥

I couldn't wait to share with you our incredible trip to Loch Lomond last week! Apologies in advance that this will be a pretty long post, so I hope you have the time to sit down and read...!

When planning our trip up to visit Rob's family in Scotland, I began searching online for somewhere not too far that we could spend a few days in, just the two of us. Living in London means that we spend a lot of our time on busy polluted streets, on the crammed underground and in traffic jams. I wanted to book somewhere that would be a total escape from the city - somewhere scenic and tranquil for a few days of relaxation. I had seen some photos of Loch Lomond online and after I discovered that it was only an hours drive or so from Rob's family, I felt that it was ideal. I got searching for hotels and lodges and in the end booked us a little room at The Inn On Loch Lomond via booking.com.

Loch Lomond

This week's happiness

We're currently driving back down south after the most wonderful week away up in Scotland! The past week has been full of happiness, we've had such a great time. After what feels like a really long few months of chaotic shift patterns for us both, it was so nice to have a week of total relaxation. I've got a few blog posts coming up featuring our stay in Loch Lomond, our flight on a seaplane(!) and our mini break in Edinburgh but for now I'll let you in on a few of the things which have bought me happiness this week...

That Autumn feeling

I've spent most of this week in my wellies and I've loved it! The countryside is absolutely beautiful at this time of year and I love all the colours that Autumn brings - it makes for such pretty walks, I couldn't help stopping for photos every 5 minutes!

Recipe: Homemade Granola

When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast?" said Pooh...

- A. A. Milne

  

I always try to make an effort with breakfast. After all, it's the most important meal of the day, right?! So each morning I do my best to make breakfasts that are both tasty and healthy. I'm not one of those people who can eat the same thing day after day because I get bored and I tend to go through phases of enjoying certain foods more than others. During the summer months I crave a lot of fruit and yogurt whereas during the winter I prefer stodgier breakfasts, such as porridge and weetabix to fill me up and get me through the morning.

In an attempt to widen my breakfast choices (whilst staying relatively healthy) I decided back at the beginning of the year to make my own granola. Yes, I know... I realise what this makes me sound like... a housewife before my time with not much better to do! But granola is one of those devilishly good foods that I will happily add to my breakfast day after day. And it is always good to have a big jar of granola in the kitchen for those emergency hunger moments when a handful of granola does the trick! The trouble is, shop-bought granola tends to be packed with unnecessary refined sugars. And the calorie content? Don't even look, you'll never want to eat the stuff again. 

I figured that by making my own, I could choose the ingredients, tweak the sugar content to make it healthier and feel slightly less guilty about enjoying it. I used a Nigella recipe which can be found here, but I halved the amount of sugar, didn't add any golden syrup and increased the amount of honey, so that it primarily contains natural sugars. Sorry Nigella! The honey helps it to clump together nicely whilst adding some healthy sweetness, whilst the apple compote gives a fruity taste to it and the cinnamon adds a slight kick.

Poppies at the Tower of London

In remembrance of one hundred years since the first day of Britain's involvement in the First World War, the Tower of London have created the most incredible display. In the grand moat of the castle itself, 888,246 ceramic poppies are slowly being placed onto the ground, creating a sea of red - each poppy representing a British military fatality. A few weeks ago we went along to have a look and take some photos...

Black and Blue: The perfect steak

Last November, on bonfire night, Rob and I ventured into the city to watch the fireworks from Blackfriars bridge. I love winter evenings in London - everyone wrapped up in their coats, hats, scarves and gloves - the city lights all lit up - and that cosy winter feeling in the air. Christmas is just around the corner and it all feels so magical!

After an impressive array of fireworks the atmosphere was buzzing. We decided we wanted some dinner so strolled along to London Bridge and just so happened to stumble across Black and Blue, hidden away down a side street off Borough Market. Ever since, it's been one of our favourite steak restaurants, hands down. 

"True love is rare, like a good steak" ❤️ 

This week's happiness

Things that have made me happy this week...

Sunsets

Beautiful evening light streaming through the windows! Keep those sunsets coming October, I'll miss them when Winter arrives properly...

Homeware haul!

It's been a long and busy week but I'm finally on my annual leave... hooraaaaaaaay! I'm so looking forward to a much deserved break! We travel up to Scotland tomorrow evening, I'm so excited for a little getaway. So I'm spending this evening packing, painting my nails and getting myself sorted.

I thought I'd share with you a few of my recent homeware buys. I really need to go on a candle buying ban... whoops!