Brunch at The Bishopsgate Kitchen

Finding the perfect spot for brunch at the weekend is an important task. Whether I'm hungover from the night before (which isn't often these days because let's face it I am getting old and boring!) or if I'm just damn right hungry, a good hearty brunch is always the best way to kick-start the weekend. Going out for breakfast is always a treat, but accompanied with the excuse to sip on wine as soon as it hits 12 o'clock, brunch has got to be my favourite meal of them all.

One slightly worse-for-wear Saturday morning last year, my friends Georgie & Lorna met Rob and I at Liverpool Street Station. We headed straight to The Breakfast Club at Spitalfields; one of London's popular breakfast diners; but stupidly we hadn't anticipated how busy it would be. It turns out that half of London also had their hearts set on pancakes, maple syrup and bacon. Feeling pretty gutted we wandered around the corner onto Brushfield Street, just off Spitalfields Market. To our absolute delight we stumbled across The Bishopsgate Kitchen! We instantly fell in love and the rest is history as they say...!!

Running my way to a happier me

Before January of this year, I had never ran before. Sure, I'd gone on short jogs around the block... but nothing more than that. I'd never ran properly. When I was in school I hated sport, I was always the girl stood on the netball courts, totally unfocused, biting my nails and fiddling with my hair. I came last in athletic races, hated cross country and bunked off PE lessons because I couldn't be bothered and wanted to save myself the embarrassment of failing. If my teenage self had been told that at 24 I would run a 10km, I would have laughed in my own face!!

But something inside of me this year made me want to start running. I'm not sure what it was, I just had this urge. Running is such a universal sport, so many people get into it. After all, it's free! Watching so many people I know achieve 5kms, 10kms, half marathons and even marathons, inspired me to give running a go. If all these people could do it, surely I could too?

First things first, I joined the gym. Living in a large, modern block of flats has it's perks as our gym happens to be just downstairs, so "I can't be bothered to get myself to the gym" is never a valid excuse. I started off by running for 5-10 minutes at a time on the treadmill. It hurt. I would leave the gym red in the face and panting, embarrassed that such short bursts of exercise would leave me so broken. But somehow, amidst the pain and embarrassment of it all, I felt somewhat liberated. It felt good! I was actually using my body for once and began to feel weirdly stronger for it. I continued to run a couple of days a week, plodding along on the treadmill, slowly building up my pace and time, going from 2kms to 3kms and then to a mighty 4km! My first 5km on the treadmill took me a whole 45 minutes and I nearly collapsed afterwards but I remember feeling so proud of myself. I still couldn't believe that I had achieved a whole 5km... I mean, that's a 'race for life'!!

Recipe: Cheese pastry twists

It's officially November which means Winter is fast approaching and dare I mention that Christmas is just around the corner. This time of year is always really busy, in a good way obviously! And if you're anything like me then your diary will already be full of dates to catch up with friends, have family over and enjoy dinner parties.

I'd like to share with you one of my favourite recipes for one of the yummiest pre-dinner nibbles you could possibly enjoy. Cheese pastry twists. Oh yes! These are just too good. I usually make lots of these to serve on a big plate to hand round with some drinks so that people can enjoy one or two whilst waiting for dinner to cook. I would be lying however if I told you I hadn't ever made them for Rob and I to enjoy by ourselves...

Anyway, they're dead easy to make and take no time at all but they look delicious so they're perfect for impressing your guests!

College Lake, Buckinghamshire

Come rain or shine, there's nothing more refreshing than being outside and enjoying what Mother Nature has to offer. A little while ago my lovely mum who is a school teacher, took my dad, brother and I for a walk around College Lake in Buckinghamshire. Mum had taken her class on a school trip there a week before and had come home full of enthusiasm about the place so off we went one Sunday morning on a family outing...

A former chalk quarry, College Lake is now one of Berks, Bucks & Oxon Wildlife Trust's flagship nature reserves, providing a home to over 1000 different species. It's vast space (65.00 hectares to be precise!) has been thoughtfully and beautifully  designed, along with it's grass roofed eco visitor centre. In the middle of the nature reserve is College Lake, home to many different birds, including the rare lapwings and redshanks. Specialist islands have been built on the lake itself, where birds roost and breed - birds have come all the way from Scandanavia to feed and roost here, how amazing is that?!