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Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
we really got it down to a fine art on Sunday in a sleepy Sunday town
Hi! How was your weekend?
Mine started with getting my organic veggie box, as usual! I don't know how I did without this now! We really look forward to getting the box and seeing what treasures we have for the week. It's really encouraging me to cook with different vegetables too. I don't know about you, but I certainly was in the trap of buying the same vegetables every week, whether I intended to use them or not! Courgettes, for example, always ended up in the trolley and sometimes they would be bendy like bananas by the time I got round to using them! There is far less waste with this box, which is fantastic. It's good to just get enough of what you need, and not have the same things all the time. This week we got:
as well as tomatoes, lettuce, and potatoes. I'm so curious to try the Romanesco cauliflower! Anyone have any ideas for what to do with that?
The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxing as weekends go! I had a lovely chat to my sister:
I can't remember if I said anything on here or not, but Tom and I are spending roughly half the UK winter in Australia!! We're going to be there for Christmas and most of January. I Can't. Wait. I haven't been home since 2009, and never for this long either. It's going to be fantastic to spend some quality time with my family and friends, and meet the new additions that have arrived in the last two years! We booked the tickets back in April, before I did the marathon, so it feels like ages ago, but the time really has gone so quickly. I'm determined to savour every minute of it. Only seven weeks to go!!
Did some reading with a chai latte handy:
I have somehow made this tiny cannister of Peppermint chai last!
I also, as forecast, made a cake from the Rachel Allen book Tom got me for my birthday, to use up some of our Tintagel honey:
And the result:
Given my recent icing disasters (!), I wanted to make a simple cake that didn't require icing! This gorgeous loaf didn't need anything at all. We had a slice warm out of the oven and were quite beside ourselves with pleasure. I altered the recipe a little, only used 1 egg, and added a generous pinch of mixed spice. It's just divine, I'll put the recipe up later in the week.
The cake was accompanied by some Marco Polo tea from Hobart, gift of my friend Kristy:
We were out on Friday, to some old friends of Tom's (who are now my friends too!) who put on a splendid Moroccan feast for us. The night got off to an interesting start though. I am still on "London time", and by that I mean, my head hasn't really computed that I can't just leave the house when I'm ready to leave, and there will just be a train there waiting for me within five minutes. Out here there is a timetable! If we missed the 6:20 we were going to have to wait for an hour for the next one! Whoops! So Tom and I ended up running to the station. It normally takes me 25 minutes to power walk it, but we ran it, in normal clothes and shoes, carrying bottles of wine, in about 17! We were a mess when we got there, but we made it......and then the train was delayed!! :P
The Moroccan theme carried on into my beauty regime:
One of my sisters is really into this Moroccan oil - and I have bought her some for birthdays and Christmas for the last year, and been curious about it myself. I was going to buy myself some next pay day, but lo and behold there was some in my Cosmo Blog Awards goody bag! It is possibly the most divine hair product I've ever used. You only need one pump each time you use it, add to damp hair and then blowdry.....your hair will be soft and silky like it has never been before! Sas has raved about it too, and now I know why!
Unfortunately poor Tom was a bit ill over the weekend so we laid low for the rest of it! I worked on the novel, and enjoyed some of it, and found other parts of it frustrating. I started out the redraft thinking "oh, this is great! Did I really write this?" to "this is shit! No one's ever going to read this!" So I stuck to very basic edits rather than rewriting total sections like I planned. There's no point doing anything major or drastic when I'm in that frame of mind. I went to bed very late but found myself unable to sleep, so got up and wrote again, by hand, until everything that was in my brain was out there in words, on paper. It worked and I fell into a deep sleep when I went back to bed!
And also, as predicted, I made some twice baked potatoes once Tom was feeling better:
To keep the metabolism firing on all cylinders, and in order to be able to enjoy all the lovely food pictured above (!), I headed out for a lovely run this morning, delighted that it was an hour earlier, and enjoyed the usual smells and sights - the pubs gearing up for Sunday roast, other people out running or riding their bikes, even horses here and there. I didn't have much in the tank, as we'd only had soup and toast for dinner the night before, and I'd only had a glass of juice before setting out. But never mind, I still thought I ran well. I have been working on lifting my legs a bit more in my runs rather than shuffling along, so I thought I was a lot faster than I usually am. But I stupidly forgot my watch! Oh well, next time! Hopefully it wasn't a fluke! Ended the run with tricep dips and sit ups, and then a ginormous warm shower. I think the showers you have after you've been for a run and given it everything you have are the best showers of all!
And congratulations to SLSB reader Bron who ran the Auckland Marathon today, and to my mate Samone who ran her first half marathon in Portland, Victoria, also today! Both ladies did smashing times! Well done!! I am very proud of both of you :)
Otherwise, lovely readers, I'm winding down - Sundays now have that jellyfish quality they used to have when I was at school, when the school shoes would be all lined up for polishing by Dad; bags and uniforms would have to be laid out and packed the night before; and bedtime was strictly observed! I live for Wednesday nights now!!
There's lots more to come on SLSB this week - including a give-away! - so stay tuned!!!
Hope you all have a happy and healthy week xx
PS: Skinny Latte Strikes Back now has a Facebook page! Hope you "like" it! :)
Mine started with getting my organic veggie box, as usual! I don't know how I did without this now! We really look forward to getting the box and seeing what treasures we have for the week. It's really encouraging me to cook with different vegetables too. I don't know about you, but I certainly was in the trap of buying the same vegetables every week, whether I intended to use them or not! Courgettes, for example, always ended up in the trolley and sometimes they would be bendy like bananas by the time I got round to using them! There is far less waste with this box, which is fantastic. It's good to just get enough of what you need, and not have the same things all the time. This week we got:
Purple carrots!
Squash, spinach and onions
Romanesco cauliflower
as well as tomatoes, lettuce, and potatoes. I'm so curious to try the Romanesco cauliflower! Anyone have any ideas for what to do with that?
The rest of the weekend was fairly relaxing as weekends go! I had a lovely chat to my sister:
I can't remember if I said anything on here or not, but Tom and I are spending roughly half the UK winter in Australia!! We're going to be there for Christmas and most of January. I Can't. Wait. I haven't been home since 2009, and never for this long either. It's going to be fantastic to spend some quality time with my family and friends, and meet the new additions that have arrived in the last two years! We booked the tickets back in April, before I did the marathon, so it feels like ages ago, but the time really has gone so quickly. I'm determined to savour every minute of it. Only seven weeks to go!!
Did some reading with a chai latte handy:
I have somehow made this tiny cannister of Peppermint chai last!
I also, as forecast, made a cake from the Rachel Allen book Tom got me for my birthday, to use up some of our Tintagel honey:
And the result:
Given my recent icing disasters (!), I wanted to make a simple cake that didn't require icing! This gorgeous loaf didn't need anything at all. We had a slice warm out of the oven and were quite beside ourselves with pleasure. I altered the recipe a little, only used 1 egg, and added a generous pinch of mixed spice. It's just divine, I'll put the recipe up later in the week.
The cake was accompanied by some Marco Polo tea from Hobart, gift of my friend Kristy:
We were out on Friday, to some old friends of Tom's (who are now my friends too!) who put on a splendid Moroccan feast for us. The night got off to an interesting start though. I am still on "London time", and by that I mean, my head hasn't really computed that I can't just leave the house when I'm ready to leave, and there will just be a train there waiting for me within five minutes. Out here there is a timetable! If we missed the 6:20 we were going to have to wait for an hour for the next one! Whoops! So Tom and I ended up running to the station. It normally takes me 25 minutes to power walk it, but we ran it, in normal clothes and shoes, carrying bottles of wine, in about 17! We were a mess when we got there, but we made it......and then the train was delayed!! :P
The Moroccan theme carried on into my beauty regime:
One of my sisters is really into this Moroccan oil - and I have bought her some for birthdays and Christmas for the last year, and been curious about it myself. I was going to buy myself some next pay day, but lo and behold there was some in my Cosmo Blog Awards goody bag! It is possibly the most divine hair product I've ever used. You only need one pump each time you use it, add to damp hair and then blowdry.....your hair will be soft and silky like it has never been before! Sas has raved about it too, and now I know why!
Unfortunately poor Tom was a bit ill over the weekend so we laid low for the rest of it! I worked on the novel, and enjoyed some of it, and found other parts of it frustrating. I started out the redraft thinking "oh, this is great! Did I really write this?" to "this is shit! No one's ever going to read this!" So I stuck to very basic edits rather than rewriting total sections like I planned. There's no point doing anything major or drastic when I'm in that frame of mind. I went to bed very late but found myself unable to sleep, so got up and wrote again, by hand, until everything that was in my brain was out there in words, on paper. It worked and I fell into a deep sleep when I went back to bed!
And also, as predicted, I made some twice baked potatoes once Tom was feeling better:
To keep the metabolism firing on all cylinders, and in order to be able to enjoy all the lovely food pictured above (!), I headed out for a lovely run this morning, delighted that it was an hour earlier, and enjoyed the usual smells and sights - the pubs gearing up for Sunday roast, other people out running or riding their bikes, even horses here and there. I didn't have much in the tank, as we'd only had soup and toast for dinner the night before, and I'd only had a glass of juice before setting out. But never mind, I still thought I ran well. I have been working on lifting my legs a bit more in my runs rather than shuffling along, so I thought I was a lot faster than I usually am. But I stupidly forgot my watch! Oh well, next time! Hopefully it wasn't a fluke! Ended the run with tricep dips and sit ups, and then a ginormous warm shower. I think the showers you have after you've been for a run and given it everything you have are the best showers of all!
And congratulations to SLSB reader Bron who ran the Auckland Marathon today, and to my mate Samone who ran her first half marathon in Portland, Victoria, also today! Both ladies did smashing times! Well done!! I am very proud of both of you :)
Otherwise, lovely readers, I'm winding down - Sundays now have that jellyfish quality they used to have when I was at school, when the school shoes would be all lined up for polishing by Dad; bags and uniforms would have to be laid out and packed the night before; and bedtime was strictly observed! I live for Wednesday nights now!!
There's lots more to come on SLSB this week - including a give-away! - so stay tuned!!!
Hope you all have a happy and healthy week xx
PS: Skinny Latte Strikes Back now has a Facebook page! Hope you "like" it! :)
Friday, October 28, 2011
something for the weekend
Click in the space above for the video!
If it doesn't play for you, click here to view it on the Cosmo site
The glamour of Wednesday night captured on video! Hope you enjoy :)
What are you up to this weekend my friends?
I, among other things, am going to enjoy a Moroccan feast with friends; make some serious headway on my second draft; bake a few things from Rachel Allen's Bake cookbook; have twice baked jacket potatoes at some point (Catherine has me craving them now!); clean out my make up bag (Wednesday has instilled a desire to be more polished in me!); finish reading my library book and start the next one in my pile; and Tom is insisting on there being a scary movie at some point! Might go for a run as well :)
Hope you have a good one! xx
Thursday, October 27, 2011
the skinny on the cosmo blog awards
To quote Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, "oh, what a night!" :)
Rather than keep you all in suspense (and this is why my novel is not a thriller, I'm no good at that kind of thing!), I'm delighted, thrilled and honoured to tell you that Skinny Latte Strikes Back was the winner of the Health, Diet and Fitness category at the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards in London last night! A massive, massive thank you to Cosmo and to everyone who voted for me!
It really was a huge surprise, as I didn't expect to win - making the shortlist had made my year as it was! There were some fabulous blogs in the shortlist and I was honoured just to have made it there alongside them. I was quite stunned and, nearly 24 hours later, I still am!
So last night, after a day at work, I dusted off my wedding dress for another outing (this must be the fifth time I've worn it, I think!), including the fluffy 1950s petticoat to go underneath, squeezed my feet into my LK Bennett heels (big mistake!!) and emerged from the hairdressers just before 6pm where I rushed to the tube, only to find severe delays on the Victoria line (aargh!) - but eventually I made it to Liberty, where I had arranged to meet my date outside the flowers.
My date was fellow nominee Jemma, from Celery and Cupcakes! We had such fun together! We hobbled up Carnaby Street (both of us wearing painful high heels!) and eventually found the venue, tucked away nicely in one of the side streets. After dumping my deluge of bags, we helped ourselves to a pretty pink cocktail:
They were very easy to drink and I was convinced it was Vitamin Water dressed up as a cocktail, because I knocked one back and didn't feel a thing! Turns out no, there was vodka in them! :P whoops!
We had a lovely time mingling with people, checking out what was on offer with stylistpick, Benefit and the nail bar, and poor Jemma having to fend off the advances of an amorous waiter who wouldn't take no for an answer! ;)
Then the winners were announced and when I heard "Skinny Latte Strikes Back" called out, I felt like I was frozen to the floor! It was so surreal! We were up the back, so I managed to squeeze my way to the front to get my limited edition Ros Shiers framed print and pose for a pic, and then we promptly grabbed another round of cosmos!
Here's the complete list of winners and highly commendeds - I was so happy to see some of my regular reads and some of the ones I'd voted for on there! Check them out, they're all fantastic:
I don't think it sunk in for a while, really! I was so excited and overwhelmed! I mingled and chatted to people, and somehow managed to get wifi in the club so I put something on Twitter and sent a text to Tom, but after that it was a bit of a whirlwind!
Jemma and I had a fake cat fight on camera - that was very funny! Trying to stir up some controversy :) As with most bloggers I meet, it felt like we were old friends. It was wonderful!
We also posed with the giant Cosmo front covers:
We amused ourselves by watching the live Twitter feed for #cosmoblogawards too!:
The place was packed to the rafters with people, some looking very glamorous indeed, including Cosmo's editor, Pat McNulty, who I had a lovely chat with. She said some very kind things about SLSB and had me blushing! I know this might sound a bit immodest but being recognised by an international magazine of this reach and standing, by influential people who know what they're talking about, well....I can't tell you what it means to me. Some of the other winners are blogs I already knew of and admired very much, so to think I'm in the same league as them is very flattering indeed. It makes me believe that some of the things I dream of really might happen!
Congrats to everyone who won, was highly commended and shortlisted - I think everyone deserves to be very proud!
The food was delicious! I had roman artichoke crostini with lemon aioli to start, and Jemma had the gyoza; for main I had the burger with sweet potato fries and vegan basil mayo (divine!), and Jemma had the burrito. We were too stuffed for a dessert, but had a look any way, as you do. Last time I was there, with two thirds of the Antipodean Lady Mafia, we all had the white chocolate and pistachio cheesecake. They also have a vegan cheesecake, made with bananas, caramel and tofu, which I'm very curious to try.
And the goody bags! What treats were within! We had lots of fun having a beak through them while we waited for our food:
Alas, the night was over all too soon, and we both had to go our separate ways for the trains home! I ended up making mine by the skin of my teeth :)
Jemma, thank you for your gorgeous company, for celebrating so joyfully with me, and for making my night a very special one indeed.
And thank you to all of you, my dear readers, who I think of more as friends - thank you for helping to make last night possible. Thank you for making space in your lives for this blog. Thank you for supporting me over the years, through everything I've done and experienced, the highs and the lows. Thank you for believing in me, and helping me to believe in myself. My hope is that you can feel inspired and hopeful, or at least entertained (!), when you read my story, and know that the life you want is possible. You have the power to create everything you desire. If you can be flexible with your goals and expectations, work hard and not give up at the first hurdle, the sky really is the limit. Health and fitness is just one part of the journey, so be happy, have a laugh along the way, and savour life and all its glorious highs, lesson-learning lows, and everything in between. Go for your dreams, and never doubt your worthiness, because at least one person out there believes in you. That person is me :)
Thank you for reading. You are the reason I do this. xxx
Rather than keep you all in suspense (and this is why my novel is not a thriller, I'm no good at that kind of thing!), I'm delighted, thrilled and honoured to tell you that Skinny Latte Strikes Back was the winner of the Health, Diet and Fitness category at the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards in London last night! A massive, massive thank you to Cosmo and to everyone who voted for me!
It really was a huge surprise, as I didn't expect to win - making the shortlist had made my year as it was! There were some fabulous blogs in the shortlist and I was honoured just to have made it there alongside them. I was quite stunned and, nearly 24 hours later, I still am!
So last night, after a day at work, I dusted off my wedding dress for another outing (this must be the fifth time I've worn it, I think!), including the fluffy 1950s petticoat to go underneath, squeezed my feet into my LK Bennett heels (big mistake!!) and emerged from the hairdressers just before 6pm where I rushed to the tube, only to find severe delays on the Victoria line (aargh!) - but eventually I made it to Liberty, where I had arranged to meet my date outside the flowers.
My date was fellow nominee Jemma, from Celery and Cupcakes! We had such fun together! We hobbled up Carnaby Street (both of us wearing painful high heels!) and eventually found the venue, tucked away nicely in one of the side streets. After dumping my deluge of bags, we helped ourselves to a pretty pink cocktail:
They were very easy to drink and I was convinced it was Vitamin Water dressed up as a cocktail, because I knocked one back and didn't feel a thing! Turns out no, there was vodka in them! :P whoops!
We had a lovely time mingling with people, checking out what was on offer with stylistpick, Benefit and the nail bar, and poor Jemma having to fend off the advances of an amorous waiter who wouldn't take no for an answer! ;)
Then the winners were announced and when I heard "Skinny Latte Strikes Back" called out, I felt like I was frozen to the floor! It was so surreal! We were up the back, so I managed to squeeze my way to the front to get my limited edition Ros Shiers framed print and pose for a pic, and then we promptly grabbed another round of cosmos!
Here's the complete list of winners and highly commendeds - I was so happy to see some of my regular reads and some of the ones I'd voted for on there! Check them out, they're all fantastic:
Best beauty vlog
Winner: Beauty Crush
Highly commended: Fleur de Force
Best brand blog
Winner: Topshop
Highly commneded: Mulberry
Best celebrity blog
Winner: Heckler Spray
Highly Commended: Red Carpet Fashion Awards
Best established beauty blog
Winner: Zoella
Highly Commended: Style Suzi
Best established fashion blog
Winner: Cupcakes and Clothes
Highly commended: Wish Wish Wish
Best gadget blog
Winner: Fashionology
Highly commended: Girl Geek Chic
Best health, diet and fitness blog
Winner: Skinny Latte Strikes Back
Highly commended: Where Are My Knees?
Best lifestyle blog
Winner: Miss Thrifty
Highly commended: Sofia's Journal
Best male blog
Winner: The Very Simon G
Highly commended: What Katie Wore
Best new beauty blog
Winner: Vivianna Does Makeup
Highly commended: The Sunday Girl
Best new fashion blog
Winner: What Olivia Did
Highly commended: A Girl A Style
Best sex and relationships blog
Winner: Nightmares and boners
Highly commended: 52 First Dates
Best student blog
Winner: Her Uni
Highly commended: Arched Eybrow
Best wedding blog
Winner: Rock 'n' Roll Bride
Highly commended: Belle Amour
I don't think it sunk in for a while, really! I was so excited and overwhelmed! I mingled and chatted to people, and somehow managed to get wifi in the club so I put something on Twitter and sent a text to Tom, but after that it was a bit of a whirlwind!
 |
| Jemma being quizzed for the camera! |
Jemma and I had a fake cat fight on camera - that was very funny! Trying to stir up some controversy :) As with most bloggers I meet, it felt like we were old friends. It was wonderful!
We also posed with the giant Cosmo front covers:
We amused ourselves by watching the live Twitter feed for #cosmoblogawards too!:
The place was packed to the rafters with people, some looking very glamorous indeed, including Cosmo's editor, Pat McNulty, who I had a lovely chat with. She said some very kind things about SLSB and had me blushing! I know this might sound a bit immodest but being recognised by an international magazine of this reach and standing, by influential people who know what they're talking about, well....I can't tell you what it means to me. Some of the other winners are blogs I already knew of and admired very much, so to think I'm in the same league as them is very flattering indeed. It makes me believe that some of the things I dream of really might happen!
Congrats to everyone who won, was highly commended and shortlisted - I think everyone deserves to be very proud!
We didn't really fancy cupcakes for dinner (despite Jemma's blog name!) so once we'd mingled till we could mingle no more we headed a few streets down to a new favourite place, Mildred's, one of London's best veggie restaurants, to celebrate! Normally this place is packed, but getting there later in the evening meant only a 10 minute wait for a table and we had a drink and a nice chat with the bartender while we waited. We were both laden down with goody bags so attracted a bit of curiosity!
The food was delicious! I had roman artichoke crostini with lemon aioli to start, and Jemma had the gyoza; for main I had the burger with sweet potato fries and vegan basil mayo (divine!), and Jemma had the burrito. We were too stuffed for a dessert, but had a look any way, as you do. Last time I was there, with two thirds of the Antipodean Lady Mafia, we all had the white chocolate and pistachio cheesecake. They also have a vegan cheesecake, made with bananas, caramel and tofu, which I'm very curious to try.
And the goody bags! What treats were within! We had lots of fun having a beak through them while we waited for our food:
Alas, the night was over all too soon, and we both had to go our separate ways for the trains home! I ended up making mine by the skin of my teeth :)
Jemma, thank you for your gorgeous company, for celebrating so joyfully with me, and for making my night a very special one indeed.
And thank you to all of you, my dear readers, who I think of more as friends - thank you for helping to make last night possible. Thank you for making space in your lives for this blog. Thank you for supporting me over the years, through everything I've done and experienced, the highs and the lows. Thank you for believing in me, and helping me to believe in myself. My hope is that you can feel inspired and hopeful, or at least entertained (!), when you read my story, and know that the life you want is possible. You have the power to create everything you desire. If you can be flexible with your goals and expectations, work hard and not give up at the first hurdle, the sky really is the limit. Health and fitness is just one part of the journey, so be happy, have a laugh along the way, and savour life and all its glorious highs, lesson-learning lows, and everything in between. Go for your dreams, and never doubt your worthiness, because at least one person out there believes in you. That person is me :)
Thank you for reading. You are the reason I do this. xxx
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
squash and stuff
Yesterday, my day started like this:
"Phil, it's five to seven."
Five words no sleepy commuter wants to hear, particularly when you should have been up at 6:20 and have to be out the door at 7:15!! Aaargh!!
How we slept through the alarm I do not know! I suppose it was bound to happen at some point, given that I am not a morning person, as you are aware ;)
But despite that little hiccup, and the passport chucking incident the weekend we moved in (!), the move has gone well. I don't miss Pimlico as much as I thought I would. The train journey in to London and back out again in the evening is actually quite nice - serene, even. I write, I read, and I listen to podcasts. I observe my fellow commuters, they are an interesting lot. The walk to the station as the sun rises (shudder!) is quite invigorating! At the other end I walk from Marylebone station to my office, which takes about 25 minutes if I power walk. I would take the tube but because I have to change lines it ends up only saving me about ten minutes, so I'd rather be getting there under my own steam rather than squeezing on to a crowded tube. I do the same in the evening - 25 minute power walk to the station, then the train, then about the same walk home. So it's about 2 hours door to door each way. I can't say I don't miss being home early sometimes (!) but it's ok. I think if it were still light in the evenings when I got home I'd not feel like I've only just got home when I go to bed ;)
We've so enjoyed putting our new home together and buying new furniture that's ours and not some crappy cardboard furniture that just came with a rented place. I remember back home when I rented that it was very rare for places to come furnished - it was only really short term lets that offered furnished. So I was surprised when I moved to London that so many places came furnished. At first it was a blessing because I didn't have to fork out for furniture in the beginning, but it got to the point where I was tired of having to put up with crappy uncomfortable sofas and saggy mattresses. Tom and I really wanted our own stuff again. So that's been something we've really loved about moving to our own place. We've just about got everything now - on the weekend we finally found a vintage cupboard for the bedroom, which is housing most of my clothes! Poor Tom is stuck with the built-ins :) [I will put some more pics up soon, once we get rid of the old curtains that clash with our new decor!]
Veggie box delivery as usual last Friday, and we got some wonderful goodies:
I've made apple crumble and an ABC (apple, banana and clementine) cake with the apples, and kale pesto, which was really scrumptious (and so green!)
I also roasted and stuffed a squash:
It's what would be called pumpkin back home, but squash is not the same thing as pumpkin over here. If I asked for pumpkin in the local Morrison's I'd be given a jack-o-lantern! ;) I got two squash for 50p each - I couldn't believe it, what a bargain!
Our rent-a-hen has also delivered our eggs for the week - if I get up nice and early tomorrow I might be able to have eggs for breakfast, instead of sculling a protein smoothie on the train!
"Phil, it's five to seven."
Five words no sleepy commuter wants to hear, particularly when you should have been up at 6:20 and have to be out the door at 7:15!! Aaargh!!
How we slept through the alarm I do not know! I suppose it was bound to happen at some point, given that I am not a morning person, as you are aware ;)
But despite that little hiccup, and the passport chucking incident the weekend we moved in (!), the move has gone well. I don't miss Pimlico as much as I thought I would. The train journey in to London and back out again in the evening is actually quite nice - serene, even. I write, I read, and I listen to podcasts. I observe my fellow commuters, they are an interesting lot. The walk to the station as the sun rises (shudder!) is quite invigorating! At the other end I walk from Marylebone station to my office, which takes about 25 minutes if I power walk. I would take the tube but because I have to change lines it ends up only saving me about ten minutes, so I'd rather be getting there under my own steam rather than squeezing on to a crowded tube. I do the same in the evening - 25 minute power walk to the station, then the train, then about the same walk home. So it's about 2 hours door to door each way. I can't say I don't miss being home early sometimes (!) but it's ok. I think if it were still light in the evenings when I got home I'd not feel like I've only just got home when I go to bed ;)
 |
| the top of our (well, my!) new vintage cupboard |
We've so enjoyed putting our new home together and buying new furniture that's ours and not some crappy cardboard furniture that just came with a rented place. I remember back home when I rented that it was very rare for places to come furnished - it was only really short term lets that offered furnished. So I was surprised when I moved to London that so many places came furnished. At first it was a blessing because I didn't have to fork out for furniture in the beginning, but it got to the point where I was tired of having to put up with crappy uncomfortable sofas and saggy mattresses. Tom and I really wanted our own stuff again. So that's been something we've really loved about moving to our own place. We've just about got everything now - on the weekend we finally found a vintage cupboard for the bedroom, which is housing most of my clothes! Poor Tom is stuck with the built-ins :) [I will put some more pics up soon, once we get rid of the old curtains that clash with our new decor!]
Veggie box delivery as usual last Friday, and we got some wonderful goodies:
I've made apple crumble and an ABC (apple, banana and clementine) cake with the apples, and kale pesto, which was really scrumptious (and so green!)
I also roasted and stuffed a squash:
It's what would be called pumpkin back home, but squash is not the same thing as pumpkin over here. If I asked for pumpkin in the local Morrison's I'd be given a jack-o-lantern! ;) I got two squash for 50p each - I couldn't believe it, what a bargain!
Our rent-a-hen has also delivered our eggs for the week - if I get up nice and early tomorrow I might be able to have eggs for breakfast, instead of sculling a protein smoothie on the train!
Tomorrow it's also the Cosmo Blog Awards party and announcement of the winners! Thank you for all your support with it :) I'm starting to get rather excited, it should be a good night, especially as fellow nominee Jemma of Celery and Cupcakes is going to be my date! I am so looking forward to meeting her. We're going to have a champers and toast ourselves, whatever the outcome! I'm also going to give my wedding dress another outing for the red carpet :)
What have you got planned this week? xx
Monday, October 24, 2011
why feel good when you could feel fabulous?
I'm not espousing pushing yourself to unnecessary limits, or striving for things which leads to not being satisfied with what you have but, as I've discussed in previous posts, sometimes it doesn't take much to lift your day from the ordinary to the extraordinary, or to take your mood from happy to blissfully joyful. So why just feel good.....when you could feel fantastic?
Here's some things I did on Sunday:
I made breakfast (well, brunch it was, in the end!) of home-made grain bread with fresh organic tomatoes from the veggie box, organic basil pesto and a bit of cheddar - and then I saw an avocado sitting in the fruit bowl. The avocado elevated the toast from yummy to scrumptious! And I got my vitamin E in for the day as well ;)
I finally went and had a wax job done - I was tired of feeling my leg hair fluttering like flags in the breeze whenever I went out for a run! On the walk back from town, the sun was shining and I felt lighter and smoother and stronger than I had for ages, and I thought I should go for a run when I get back, and so I did. I was already in a good mood, but a solid dose of endorphins sent me sky high!
I was making our dinner - pasta with kale pesto - and realised I could multi task and use up some of the blackening bananas, and roast up my almonds and sunflower seeds for the week - so I did the whole lot! Dropped a few things on the floor, but that's a normal kitchen session for me! The house smelled of roasting nuts, cakes baking, apples stewing, it was heavenly! And I had the rare feeling of being organised :)
I had a shower after my run and washed my hair - these days I don't do much with it and let it dry naturally, a la:
But last night I thought I'd just finally unearth the blowdryer from the moving debris and make my hair look a bit smoother - it only took five minutes and it looked better than it usually does! I put a bit of rosehip oil on the ends (haven't bought any Moroccan oil yet) and it felt glossier and healthier than it has for weeks.
I could go on but you get my drift. It doesn't take much to treat ourselves well. Do for yourself what you would do for a cherished friend - have your favourite teas in the cupboard; bake a cake or sweet treat you don't have very often (remember: you can have a slice and then freeze it); spend some quality time with yourself doing whatever makes you feel good - be it going for a run, walk or to a yoga class, getting a massage, reading a favourite book. Have some fun, treat yourself, and do something that you might normally save for a special occasion for no reason....just because.
Why feel good when you could feel fabulous? :)
What are your favourite ways to treat yourself and feel great?
Here's some things I did on Sunday:
I made breakfast (well, brunch it was, in the end!) of home-made grain bread with fresh organic tomatoes from the veggie box, organic basil pesto and a bit of cheddar - and then I saw an avocado sitting in the fruit bowl. The avocado elevated the toast from yummy to scrumptious! And I got my vitamin E in for the day as well ;)
I finally went and had a wax job done - I was tired of feeling my leg hair fluttering like flags in the breeze whenever I went out for a run! On the walk back from town, the sun was shining and I felt lighter and smoother and stronger than I had for ages, and I thought I should go for a run when I get back, and so I did. I was already in a good mood, but a solid dose of endorphins sent me sky high!
I was making our dinner - pasta with kale pesto - and realised I could multi task and use up some of the blackening bananas, and roast up my almonds and sunflower seeds for the week - so I did the whole lot! Dropped a few things on the floor, but that's a normal kitchen session for me! The house smelled of roasting nuts, cakes baking, apples stewing, it was heavenly! And I had the rare feeling of being organised :)
I had a shower after my run and washed my hair - these days I don't do much with it and let it dry naturally, a la:
But last night I thought I'd just finally unearth the blowdryer from the moving debris and make my hair look a bit smoother - it only took five minutes and it looked better than it usually does! I put a bit of rosehip oil on the ends (haven't bought any Moroccan oil yet) and it felt glossier and healthier than it has for weeks.
I could go on but you get my drift. It doesn't take much to treat ourselves well. Do for yourself what you would do for a cherished friend - have your favourite teas in the cupboard; bake a cake or sweet treat you don't have very often (remember: you can have a slice and then freeze it); spend some quality time with yourself doing whatever makes you feel good - be it going for a run, walk or to a yoga class, getting a massage, reading a favourite book. Have some fun, treat yourself, and do something that you might normally save for a special occasion for no reason....just because.
What are your favourite ways to treat yourself and feel great?
monday mantra
A prize for the person who can tell me which film I am paying homage to!
"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." -Tenzin Gyatso
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
best ever vegetable soup
As you all know, I love soup! I particularly love it because it's easy to make. But with this soup I tried something different. Rather than bung it all in a pot and walk away, as is my usual style, I read somewhere about cooking the vegetables separately and then just adding stock at the end. It was amazing, and it didn't really add any extra cooking time either. I'm converted!! It was just divine and made the flavour all the more delicate. It felt like a luxury meal, not something I'd made up to clear out the fridge!
Best ever vegetable soup
You can use whatever vegetables you have handy, it's great for cleaning out the fridge. This was the combination I used.
2 leeks, sliced thinly
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
4 carrots, peeled and diced
1 courgette, diced
2 potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large handful of chard, washed and chopped
1 large handful of fresh basil, torn
Olive oil (or cooking spray if you don't want to use oil - but have some stock to cook the veggies in)
Sea salt and pepper to taste
1 litre vegetable stock (plus a cup or so extra)
200g pasta suitable for soup (fusili, macaroni, risoni)
In a large stockpot, heat some olive oil over medium heat. Add leeks and garlic, then carrots and potato. Add some stock or water to prevent them from sticking, and cover and cook for 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add courgette and cook for another 5 minutes.
While the potatoes and carrots are cooking, place vegetable stock in a large pan, bring to the boil and then add the pasta. Cook until pasta is al dente.
Check the vegetables for done-ness and seasoning.
When the pasta is just about ready, add the chard and basil to the sauteed vegetables. Stir until the green vegetables are wilted and tender. Add the entire pan of stock and pasta.
Stir well. Once everything is hot and combined, serve in deep bowls with salt, pepper and a drizzle of good olive oil on the top. A dollop of green pesto would be very very nice as well.
You can always add more stock if you want more broth. I'm a huge fan of thick, chunky stew-like soups which are meals in themselves, so kept the liquid at the bare minimum - you might prefer it differently so do please yourself!
This was absolutely delicious. Cooking the pasta in the stock made it very savoury and unctuous, and sauteeing the vegetables rather than boiling them was such a great idea, as there was just so much more depth to the flavour.
Perfect for a chilly evening!
What's your favourite soup?
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
rent a hen, veggie box and birthday boy
Hello my friends, how have you been?
We had a lovely weekend just gone. On Saturday, we went on a long walk in the sunshine to our local farm where we got eggs, honey and homemade granola (made by a local nutritionist), and we also (much to my friend Ali's amusement!) signed up for the farm's Rent-A-Hen scheme. For a set price, you sign up to have 6 or 12 eggs delivered to your door per week or fortnight, and you get to pick your hen and name it! The hens are all happy little creatures, roaming freely in the fields. And the eggs are delicious. So yellow! The only other time I have seen eggs that yellow are the ones laid by my parents' chickens, where the time between collecting from the nest and eating it is usually about 20 minutes. Being unable to keep chickens ourselves, I think this is a fantastic option for people who want free range, great quality fresh eggs and want some knowledge of where what they're eating comes from. And it feels good to be supporting a business in our local area too.
So we've picked a lovely Brown Nick hen, and we've named her Lady Sybil (Downton Abbey freaks that we are!).
I went for a 7 mile run on Sunday morning - the longest I've done for a few months. The first 2.5 miles were a bit rough, and I needed some sports beans! Once they hit the bloodstream I was fine, and really enjoyed the last 4 miles. I did my usual run but turned off before I reached the railway station and went down past the farm and along some country roads (no footpath on some of them, so had to run about 1 mile through long grass, which slowed me down a bit). Some of the houses were just exquisite - from quaint red bricked cottages, to grand and sprawling estates. There were people out riding horses, other people riding bikes, and lots of other runners. We smiled at each other! That never happened when I ran along the Thames to Battersea Park ;) I ran past pubs that were preparing for Sunday lunch, the smell of roasting meats and potatoes thick and heavy in the air. I could also smell clean laundry, fresh earth, and slowly decomposing autumn leaves. I was happy when the run was over (!) and wasn't sure whether I could have done the same again, but it's amazing how when the brain knows it only has to run 7 miles that it only wants to do that. I remember when I convinced myself that the Reading Half was the full marathon how relatively "easy" (it's never easy!) the first 9 miles were!
All through the run I had been thinking about Sunday brunch, so we tucked in to this after I was showered and deodorised:
Frittata, made with Lady Sybil's eggs of course!
We got our second veggie box on Friday morning, and I exclaimed with delight over each vegetable as I lifted it out of the box! It's like Christmas! This week we got: tomatoes (2 punnets - they put one in for free), potatoes, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, beetroot, cabbage, and watercress.
I've so enjoyed cooking with these vegetables and coming up with different dishes to use them in. We've had:
And last Thursday, the night before delivery, I used up all our old vegetables in the most delicious vegetable soup. In fact, I'd perhaps go out on a limb and declare it was one of the best vegetable soups ever!
I'll put up the recipe for you, it was so good.
Over the weekend, I also dragged out my novel, after nearly two months of letting the dust settle on it. Completing a full first draft was such a boost for me, but I've barely had a moment to think about it since, with all the stress and busy-ness of September. It was good to get a bit of distance on it, however, and come back to the draft with fresh eyes. On Saturday I dragged the whole thing out and dove in.
It's written in three parts, and each part is concerned with a different stage in my character's story. What I've noticed, and what Tom noticed too while he was reading it (he's read the whole thing!), is that my style changes over these three major sections. Part 3 is a lot more vibrant and colourful than Part 1, for example, which is partly deliberate, because my character is very unhappy in Part 1 and is trying to sort her life out (sound familiar?!), and Part 3 is where she truly comes into her own and has left most of the old life behind. I wanted Part 1 to have a quiet desperation about it, but I don't want it to be dull - there's no point in Part 3 being colourful and vibrant if the reader's interest isn't going to be held long enough get there!
There are also aspects of Parts 1 and 2 that are too "me", if you know what I mean. The first draft of Part 1 reads (to me at least) more like a memoir than fiction as I borrowed quite heavily from my own life and character. While I'm pleased to have written it for my own amusement if nothing else (ha ha!) I want to tone that down a bit, and fictionalise it all a bit more. That will take a bit of work, but I had so much fun with what I worked on on Saturday. I took out a huge chunk and reworked it, and introduced a new character, and now it feels like a different story. It has some of the energy of Part 3, which I think was missing. So now I'm very excited about working on it all a bit more and getting a full second draft ripe and ready!
It was Tom's birthday yesterday, and I made my friend Fi's utterly awesome chocolate cake for him. I had grand visions of doing something amazing with Tom's favourite biscuits - ie: covering it in chocolate digestives - but as we only had a few left (!), I ended up doing a bit of a higgledy-piggledy job with the icing and spelling out his name in digestives and M&S Dutch Shortcakes:
It was not quite the masterpiece I was hoping for! I don't know how my Nan did it, icing all the grandkids birthday cakes to perfection every time. I clearly didn't inherit her skills! And when he saw the cake, Tom said "I might not have mentioned it, but I want to be referred to as Thomas from now on." Cheeky :)
What have you got planned this week? Hope it's a happy and healthy one for you! xx
 |
| a Brown Nick hen! |
So we've picked a lovely Brown Nick hen, and we've named her Lady Sybil (Downton Abbey freaks that we are!).
 |
| Sheep I saw on my run! Not an unusual sight, I understand, but after 4 years in a metropolis, it's a novelty! |
I went for a 7 mile run on Sunday morning - the longest I've done for a few months. The first 2.5 miles were a bit rough, and I needed some sports beans! Once they hit the bloodstream I was fine, and really enjoyed the last 4 miles. I did my usual run but turned off before I reached the railway station and went down past the farm and along some country roads (no footpath on some of them, so had to run about 1 mile through long grass, which slowed me down a bit). Some of the houses were just exquisite - from quaint red bricked cottages, to grand and sprawling estates. There were people out riding horses, other people riding bikes, and lots of other runners. We smiled at each other! That never happened when I ran along the Thames to Battersea Park ;) I ran past pubs that were preparing for Sunday lunch, the smell of roasting meats and potatoes thick and heavy in the air. I could also smell clean laundry, fresh earth, and slowly decomposing autumn leaves. I was happy when the run was over (!) and wasn't sure whether I could have done the same again, but it's amazing how when the brain knows it only has to run 7 miles that it only wants to do that. I remember when I convinced myself that the Reading Half was the full marathon how relatively "easy" (it's never easy!) the first 9 miles were!
All through the run I had been thinking about Sunday brunch, so we tucked in to this after I was showered and deodorised:
Frittata, made with Lady Sybil's eggs of course!
We got our second veggie box on Friday morning, and I exclaimed with delight over each vegetable as I lifted it out of the box! It's like Christmas! This week we got: tomatoes (2 punnets - they put one in for free), potatoes, broccoli, carrots, courgettes, beetroot, cabbage, and watercress.
I've so enjoyed cooking with these vegetables and coming up with different dishes to use them in. We've had:
Beetroot risotto
Quinoa pilaf with tomatoes and watercress
Cabbage rolls stuffed with leftover quinoa and risotto
And last Thursday, the night before delivery, I used up all our old vegetables in the most delicious vegetable soup. In fact, I'd perhaps go out on a limb and declare it was one of the best vegetable soups ever!
I'll put up the recipe for you, it was so good.
Over the weekend, I also dragged out my novel, after nearly two months of letting the dust settle on it. Completing a full first draft was such a boost for me, but I've barely had a moment to think about it since, with all the stress and busy-ness of September. It was good to get a bit of distance on it, however, and come back to the draft with fresh eyes. On Saturday I dragged the whole thing out and dove in.
It's written in three parts, and each part is concerned with a different stage in my character's story. What I've noticed, and what Tom noticed too while he was reading it (he's read the whole thing!), is that my style changes over these three major sections. Part 3 is a lot more vibrant and colourful than Part 1, for example, which is partly deliberate, because my character is very unhappy in Part 1 and is trying to sort her life out (sound familiar?!), and Part 3 is where she truly comes into her own and has left most of the old life behind. I wanted Part 1 to have a quiet desperation about it, but I don't want it to be dull - there's no point in Part 3 being colourful and vibrant if the reader's interest isn't going to be held long enough get there!
There are also aspects of Parts 1 and 2 that are too "me", if you know what I mean. The first draft of Part 1 reads (to me at least) more like a memoir than fiction as I borrowed quite heavily from my own life and character. While I'm pleased to have written it for my own amusement if nothing else (ha ha!) I want to tone that down a bit, and fictionalise it all a bit more. That will take a bit of work, but I had so much fun with what I worked on on Saturday. I took out a huge chunk and reworked it, and introduced a new character, and now it feels like a different story. It has some of the energy of Part 3, which I think was missing. So now I'm very excited about working on it all a bit more and getting a full second draft ripe and ready!
It was Tom's birthday yesterday, and I made my friend Fi's utterly awesome chocolate cake for him. I had grand visions of doing something amazing with Tom's favourite biscuits - ie: covering it in chocolate digestives - but as we only had a few left (!), I ended up doing a bit of a higgledy-piggledy job with the icing and spelling out his name in digestives and M&S Dutch Shortcakes:
It was not quite the masterpiece I was hoping for! I don't know how my Nan did it, icing all the grandkids birthday cakes to perfection every time. I clearly didn't inherit her skills! And when he saw the cake, Tom said "I might not have mentioned it, but I want to be referred to as Thomas from now on." Cheeky :)
What have you got planned this week? Hope it's a happy and healthy one for you! xx
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