The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden

This has to go down as one of my cheesiest blog post titles of late, but I am a big believer that a bit of cheese (food and sentiment) is needed at times.

Anyway, you've seen this garden before (ruining the titles promises), it's one of my favourite places in South London. It's always gloriously overgrown and peaceful - it really does feel like the garden has opens itself up just for me. I like the quieter, less showy and more genuine parts of London, it's places like this, that make me feel calm and at home here.

A couple of weeks ago I invited a couple of pals around for a late breakfast and since the ever so shy sun made an appearance, we took our brunch catch up to the the garden - since it was me and Amy (Vintage Reflection) wandering, taking a few sneaky shots of the days artfully prepared outfit was always going to be the natural progression. I call this my 'grown up toddler' look, any childlike behaviour is a bonus and only accentuates the look (just in case you were going the restyle...)

Any secret places in London you know about? Leave them below and I will explore.

Trainers - Adidas, Jacket, Top & Brooch - Second Hand, Dress - Topshop

2015 Can Get Lost

2015 can well and truly get lost, that sentiment stands but... despite 2015 being one of the most difficult ones yet, there have still been some excellent moments and I think reflecting on those will be far more fun. So, let's forget about the shitty / dark parts of this year and crack on with feeling good at the shinier moments:

1. Visiting Berlin for the first time with a couple of truly excellent, wondrous pals. Realising that eating sausage, drinking beer by a river and jumping head first into vintage heaven really does bring a smile to my face.
2. A trip to The Ritz and peeing in complete luxury.
3. Cracking on with YouTube, 2016 is going to see my face far too much. Soz.
4. Having the best ever birthday brunch, making 28 slightly easier to face.
5. Watching 'Whiplash' and being well and truly blown away.
6. Accepting a break up and doing my damned hardest to make sure I felt better. Realising that I'm pretty strong.
7. Knocking three more cemeteries off 'The Magnificent Seven' cemeteries of London list. If you are slightly morbid but love Victorian cemeteries, architecture and overgrown wondrousness. Add this to your 2016 bucket list, start with Highgate and then go wild...
8. Discovering the infamous 'pickle back' with the work gang. If you have no idea what this is, then I urge you to go and find out. Now.
9. Seeing 'This is the Kit' live, this band makes my heart swell with how pretty their music is.
10. Making new friends in unexpected places. 
11. Completing a 10K run despite being a prior exercise-phobe... half marathon in 2016...
12. Creating, organising and celebrating my first event at work - 'The Great Architectural Bake Off'. Mary Berry's sponge has nothing on an edible Serpentine Pavilion.
13. Seeing Blur sing 'Tender' live and weeping (just a little bit)
14. The 'Lambeth Country Show' - a firm favourite every year. A day of beautiful people, dancing and litres upon litres of Chucklehead cider.
15. A summer full of rowdy rambles and BBQ's.
16. Witnessing small greatnesses, who can forget the badass old lady who shouted down a guy trying to humiliate a girl? 
17. Playing with glitter, realising that I have the most fun when spontaneous ideas, creativity and mess are involved. 
18. Having the courage to put myself out there - I am part of two book clubs and a 'Lean In' Circle... Line dancing, you're next. I'm coming for you.
19. Playing tour guide for the family around London.
20. End of the Road Festival with a group of old and now new best ones. Discovering new bands, wearing ten layers and still feeling cool, getting rowdy, drinking cider, beating everyone at a random game and feeling... free.
21. Cooking my first big Indian feast for a gang of hungry visitors from scratch AND making people make those irritating yum voices rather than vom ones. Winner.
22. Visiting Rome for the first time with one of the best ones. Feasting on more delicious food then my brain knew what to do with, drinking red wine and generally just taking my eyes to look at all the beautiful things... blog post is on it's way.
23. Receiving a print I had wanted for years.
24. Getting my best ginger bun back from Australia.
25. Realising that I have the best pals / mates / buddy's... even when this year has been at its shite pinacle, they have been there to perk me up, slap me on the back, listen to me whine, get me drunk and generally just be complete bloody wonders. 
26. Being around a strong, brilliant family that prove you can get through the hardest of things together with a lot of mocking, random conversations and laughing.

2016 guys, it's going to be a good'un, I can feel it. Happy new year! x

The Wondrous World of Tinder

The Wondrous World of Tinder

After being in a relationship for almost ten years, dating was a completely foreign concept...

...Enter, Tinder.

To me, Tinder seemed to be the easiest way to dip my toe into the dating pool, see how it felt, see if anything 'bit' or if I would drown...  I am still around to tell the ever so entertaining tale. I thought I could tell this tale best via the medium of video. I have thrown in a few stories, a lot of realisations and the tips to live by on Tinder. 

I have actually found Tinder fun. After being in a relationship since birth, I am quite rightly not heading out into the wondrous world of dating looking for (to quote someone who seems to know the business) 'mr right, but instead, mr right now'. After a big break up, I've discovered that you need to get to know yourself again on your own before sharing yourself again.

Anyway, enough waffling and sentiment, there is a fun video to feast on.... Ashley's YouTube Place

Forever Legs - A Leaving Cocktail

Forever Legs - A Leaving Cocktail

One of my loveliest and best pals upped and left us for Australia, not to worry though, we will be stealing her back soon. However this post is going to be less about kidnapping someone and more about how we 'celebrated' her leaving us for a new adventure.

We decided to provide a recipe and cocktail ingredients for people to help themselves to... this was not an aim to avoid any hostess duties, although it turned out to be a pretty swell by-product. I wanted to illustrate / design the recipe card as a fun addition to the party and something that Sophie could keep as a memento (it was also an excuse to play). I like designing things and I like booze - these two things seem to fit together rather well. So well in fact, that I may start a regular post illustrating and sharing some of my favourite combinations... winner?

The party was hilarious, cocktails were created, cocktails were drunk and sore heads were created.

My First Event

My First Event

So, this was my first event (not in life terms, that's always eventful) at work and it went bloody WELL.

Our company were participating in the London Festival of Architecture and I wanted to do something slightly different, something creative and fun, which led to the first ever 'Great Architectural Bake Off'. We had eight design firms and three prominent judges descend upon our office to create / judge iconic London buildings out of cake, as you can see by the images - the teams went all out!

Bricks and mortar were switched artfully with Battenburg and icing. The teams arrived with van (actual vans, no exaggeration!) loads of supplies, team aprons, pre-baked cake bases, blow torches and Dremel drills!!

I enjoyed the whole thing, from the spark that started the idea, to pitching the idea, getting people interested, designing collateral, creating hype, emailing, organising, planning, blogging, photographing, managing, wheeling and dealing, eating and to top it all off drinking and celebrating.

Masterpieces were created, fun was had and we have created an annual event!! You can see more about the event and the champions here.http://www.watg.com/index.cfm/view/blog

Top & Trousers - Topshop, Smug look - models own...

So, I have awesome friends who gave up a day to help me! Laura & Milla!

Oval Farmers Market

Oval Farmers Market

After living in South East London for a year, I discovered the 'Oval Farmers Market' which appears in St Marks Church every Saturday from 10 until 3.

I have always walked past in a hurry and not really paid much attention, that is until the delicious scent of dripping, Somerset cheese drew me in. There are around 20 stalls, with a mix of stalls selling cheese, organic veg, home-made marmalades, cakes and epic cheese toasties, which were bulging with leeks and red onion...

After lapping the market a few times to make the best decision on lunch, we sat within the church grounds, in the sun eating and chatting in equal measures.

I love going to farmers markets, you feel like you are buying into somebody's life, rather than just stuffing food into a basket with no connection to anything. The man on the marmalade stand was pretty awesome 'would you like to try my Sicilian orange marmalade? I have made everything except the jars and table' - 'yes, yes I would'

^^^ The said nicest marmalade wielding man