Marching orders: Left, right, left, right

Left, right, left, right. My feet hit the pavement in regular, base driven intervals. Left, right, left, right. Walk, walk, walk. Anxiety, sadness and restlessness are what drive me. Streetlights, a half moon, and some stars are my only companions tonight. Them and the song drowning out any noise and any thoughts. On repeat for hours, giving me a regular boom, boom, boom for my feet to move to.

It was the day before New Year's Eve: Reflections on 2014

There are so many words I could use to describe 2014: challenging, emotional, grounding, full of sorrow but also happiness. Long story short, 2014 has been pretty life changing. There are probably many more I could pull out of the bag but both my limited vocabulary and time prevent me from spending too much further thought on this. I have lost someone but have been fortunate enough to be able to learn the true extent of friendship and gain a certain someone along the way.

Ice Ice Baby: Why I will donate but not videotape

As I was coming back to London from a weekend spend at home with the family on Sunday, I was lucky (or should I say unlucky) enough to be nominated for the #ALSIceBucketChallenge by my lovely friend Jeremy. 

Dreams II

“As the water begins to slide up my skin, and I am fighting, giving into you. Like those moments before when you fled out of the door (...) I can breathe, I can see, death he does not bother me, I’ve been thinking it’s a peaceful way to go. I am moving out from the shore, I can’t hear you anymore. There is something calling me from down below.” - Waters, Eliza Shaddad 

She runs in front of me with her long, flowing, wavy brown her. I can’t see her face but I am sure I know who she is. Either way I trust her implicitly and follow her, my feet hitting the ground as fast as they can. Running up the hill, heart pounding, I try and avoid falling over.

All I care about is like 3 People: Friendship Choices

I haven’t blogged in a while because life has been getting in the way. But today has been one of those days where one thing has led to another and the thoughts that have been bubbling away in my brain are burning on my finger tips to be put onto (digital) paper.

An afternoon at the Museum of Water

It’s been a while since she came to visit but my lovely little cousin Maddie came to London yesterday for a few days. Excited about having a good excuse to go and do something cultural before she indulges in a day of shopping while I am at work on Monday, I decided to take her to Somerset House, one of my favourite locations in London.

Not only is Somerset House beautiful in its own right but it also always has an exhibition that is both interesting and unconventional. We went for some quick nosh at Tom’s Deli before heading in to see the exhibition I had been dying to see for weeks: “The Museum of Water” by Amy Sharrocks.

Dreams

The fading light makes it difficult to see. As my eyes adjust to the darkness I can make out trees in the distance; can hear birds singing, the wind rushing through the grass. It smells of fresh air, countryside, flowers and water. A few tender, careful steps forward and I can hear the stream rushing by. Trying to take it all in, figuring out where I am. And what I am doing here.

Untitled

How do you write a letter when there is no way to accurately describe your thoughts and feelings? When every word, every sentence does not feel right, feels inappropriate or just not good enough?

Casual sex in times of the internet round 2: Is the threesome the new twosome?

Casually catching up on all the weird and wonderful things the internet has to offer on one of my favourite topics, human relationships (of any kind), I stumbled upon a new app called 3nder – the tinder of threesomes.

"I had no idea": Its National Eating Disorders Awareness week 2014

It is no secret that I have been in a pretty committed relationship with food for most of my life; you can see it, how my eye light up when I am faced with a particularly delicious piece of cake (or scallops for that matter) and you can tell by the fact that I could talk about food (and all the restaurants I am dying to try but technically have no occasion to treat myself to) for quite a while.

My social media life: Happy Birthday Facebook

“Are you on Facebook?”

Human connections in the times of the digital age: Anybody out there?

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” – Simone Weil

Sunday is one of my favourite days of the week; it is totally acceptable to spend a good proportion of your day in bed, new PostSecret secrets are up and I can guilt-free indulge in geeky reading of all my favourite websites. The New York Times Sunday Review Opinion page is one of those. To my delight this week one of my favourite authors had contributed his thoughts about human connections in the digital age. 

The Baking Experiment presents: Joe’s Cookie Monster Cupcakes

It has been a while since I posted anything baking related and that leaves me with contemplating two possible answers as to why that is the case: a) I have been too busy socialising or b) too lazy to bake. And while, in conclusion I will probably have to admit that it is most likely a combination of the two, I knew it was about time I slapped on an apron, turned on the oven and got out the glitter.

New Year’s resolutions or learning to like myself a bit more

“No one could ever hate me as much as I hate myself, okay? So any mean thing someone's going to think of saying about me, I've already said to me, about me, probably in the last half hour.”

- Hannah, Girls

Its 10 days into 2014 and I am now back in London and back to reality after a relaxing 2 weeks at home. 2 weeks of no writing, hardly any emails and nothing more than time with my dog (not that she appreciated it), my family (they were glad to ship me back to London by the end) and my friends (sadly missed). 

Parole Emil: The National Theatre’s Production of ‘Emil and the Detectives’

It was my birthday last weekend, so I had the perfect excuse to do something fun and treat myself to a theatre ticket. My old housemate N volunteered to be my date and as the birthday girl I got to pick the play.

Now, I love the theatre and try to go on a regular basis but in the 3 years I have lived in London now I have never managed to make it to the National Theatre. The plays that I wanted to see had always either been sold out or I was away or I just ran out of time. However, when I saw that they were putting on a production of one of my favourite books from my childhood I knew this would be the play to go see at the National.

Colleges, Coffee and Coxes: A weekend in Oxford

A weekend away can do wonders. I have had a few not so great weeks and desperately needed some time away from London. Don’t get me wrong I love London and could not ask for a greater place to live but sometimes, very occasionally, I need to leave London and breathe some fresh English country side air.

Cocktails, Chatter and Chin-Chins: A night at Happiness Forgets

I am normally not much of an East London girl. Shoreditch and surroundings are just that little bit too cool for me; I never quite feel like I can keep up with everyone. Does not mean that every now and again I venture East for a night out. Or a hair cut in fact – I love Amy at Taylor Taylor enough to hop on train to Shoreditch every couple of weeks. 

Do you know how to reel? The University Lodges' Ball

Its been nearly two weeks now that a group of my friends and I went to the University Lodges' Ball and I thought it was about time I blogged about it. Not just because it was a fantastic night but also because it is an event that, if it ever happens again, I would strongly recommend you go to.

Isabella Blow: Fashion Galore – A review

Today turned out to be a rather nice winter Sunday in London. I love doing something a bit cultural on a Sunday and Somerset House just by Covent Garden is one of my favourite destinations for exact such an occasion on a Sunday. This weekend I went to see the Isabella Blow exhibition with my friend Suz. 

If you grew up and live in England and love fashion then you have most likely heard of the legendary Isabella Blow.

Would you like an Espresso Martini with your Haircut? The magic of Taylor Taylor

Finding the perfect hairdresser is a nightmare. Getting someone to cut and/or colour your hair requires a certain level of trust and chemistry. If you hairdresser fails to understand what you are asking them then there is only one end to the story: a Hairtrostophe.