A joyous evening

As you know, I’ve started a new job in London. As part of that I have three interns underneath me under my remit (poor them!)  They are all lovely, hardworking and efficient and are there to help me deliver my project on time-the Lively app (launching soon on the app store http://www.livelyapp.com/)

Half of the time I feel totally under qualified, too young and far to inexperienced to be bossing people around. So, call it a guilt trip if you will, I decided to take my lovely interns for dinner after work last week.

I left it up to them to choose and they eventually decided upon Pasha, Islington.  Serving a delicious abundance of Turkish dishes whilst we sat outside and sipped on wine, and put the world to rights. Boys, Politics, autumn winter fashion and our life history were the hot topics of conversation.

I have never been to Islington, but have heard many things about the quirky,cool independent restaurants that decorate the pavements with incising aromas and pretty interiors. Pasha was certainly one of these eateries that did exactly that!

We all decided to go for the Mixed Meze so we could dip in and out of all the dishes and try the lot. The best way to get the full flavour and ambience of the restaurant is to try everything, right? Lemon Hummus,  Spinach and feta Borek, Lamb kofte, Tabbouleh a selection of flat breads and everything else in between.

Obviously polished off with a bottle of vino…

Here are the lovely interns themselves-Jade and Mitzi. (Lucy, the third couldn’t join us)

I can’t wait to go back to Islington again and check out everything else this cool part of London has to offer!

A change

A small, but mighty post today, one with a big bit of news…

I’ve moved flat.

Yes, boxes and tape have been my best friends over the last  couple of weeks, along side the trusted team of movers I’ve recruited by smiling sweetly-my family!

Although moving residence is often considered one of the most stressful experiences one goes through in their lifetime, there are benefits to be reaped.It allows for some creativity on the home-decor front. My eyes will  feast over interior magazines during my lunch breaks, whilst my mind flutters over Laura Ashley wallpaper samples. One day, I hope to be able to say ‘quirky independent London boutiques furnish my home’ with a tone of order and a sense of importance,  until then I shall make do. 

The photographs below are from the estate agents advertisement, however,  I already plan to make many a change.

I shall keep you updated about how my little space changes as I get all creative!

I just know I’m going to be very happy in my new flat.

Watch this space…

Barbados continued

So when I abandoned my blog some few months ago I was in Barbados. Although my time sunning myself in the Caribbean seems an age ago, the pictures are so beautiful I feel it would be criminal not to share them with you.

Sometimes I feel words or explanations to photographs can spoil them. For me, a photo is about capturing the moment-the expression, colour, people in it, place and memory it evokes. For me this blog post is very much a trip down memory lane as my life  been tipped upside down, shaken around and has consequently has changed so much since this holiday.

I have catagorised what I consider to be the best parts of the holiday, so here goes:

The fish market:

The view: 

The restaurants:

The people: 

It’s good to take a trip down memory lane once in a while, without the reliance of words…just pictures soaked with whimsical reminiscence, right?

V festival 2013

This weekend just gone, I had the most wonderful time with five very good friends from school.  With all the essentials: flowers for your hair, face paints, dry shampoo (lifesaver) and a bottle or two of the good stuff; we slipped our wellies on with our  raincoats slung over our shoulders and we went off to V festival!

I’ve been to many festivals before, including the infamous Glastonbury and the niche Secret Garden Party, but I have to say V festival just seems to have so much energy and a buzzing atmosphere! Rudimental, Beyonce, Calvin Harris and Jessie Ware were amongst my favorite performers 90,000 people jumping up and down, singing there hearts out…perfect! 

To have a whole weekend with five of my best friends these days is almost priceless. Often, people have too much to do, too many deadlines to meet and chores to complete. It was so refreshing to catch up with all the gossip from everyone’s lives without the feeling that you are  simply snatching an hour or two!

Yes, of course it did rain. Hence  the hoods-up look we got goin’ on!

Before you ask whether I and my friend (Emma,standing next to me) had planned to wear the same raincoat, no we didn’t. All I can say is that Tesco’s cute poker-dot waterproofs for £12 are a perfect festival accessory, and kept us surprisingly dry!

One of my absolute favorite things about festivals, is that they give you unwritten free reign to look however you want, this includes giving you liberty  to paint pretty patterns on your face.  For the Saturday evening we decided to go all Zebra on ya’ and for Sunday-flower power was the order of the day!

However, I do suggest that to pay in between £5-10 to have someone else paint your face at the festival is a con. Why not grab your eyeliner out of your makeup bag and have a go yourself like we did?

Super cute, don’t you think?

 

Probably the worst photo-bomb ever below!

Festivals are always a great opportunity to see many of the  great performers ,  but also is a fab way to discover new artists. Many people argue that festivals are simply too main stream these days, I disagree. Every time I go to a festival, the week after I spend a fortune on itunes downloading music from new artists I’ve discovered and loved. This time  the culprit…Laura Myula-such a soulful voice.

You can image after almost no sleep all weekend and far too much fun for any young lady, work was a struggle Monday morning… totally worth it though!

Long time no see! A life update

Well hello…I’m back!

Firstly, major apologies for my magical disappearing act. Amongst finishing my undergraduate dissertation, as well as writing what felt like a million essays that finished my degree off and  job hunting, planning my future and generally sorting my life out, I simply hadn’t the time to scrawl my life out on-line; without the guilty nagging of ‘you could be using your time more wisely!‘ How boring-I know!

So, I guess the first thing I should do is update you. After all my life has changed dramatically since my last post! After finishing university, (graduation pictures to follow in a post very soon!) I was straight into my job, without even a week off! In a very odd, exhausted manner I don’t really mind about this. Maybe it’s the empty bank balance weighing heavily on my mind.

The good news is however, I absolutely love my new job. I feel so grown up walking down to the tube station with my coffee in hand and heels on-a proper little Londoner. (However, I will never be one of those Londoners who wear their running trainers and a pencil dress on public transport…Nooo way!) My student life seems such a distant memory now-library, nightclubs, essays and endless fun are words/phrases that have escaped my vocabulary.

So, I bet your wondering what my job consists of? Well, in a nut-shell I work for a company called ‘Smile Machine,’ as a Junior Producer. Smile Machine is a quirky little place based new Shoreditch, London who specialise in designing, producing and marketing apps, amongst other things. Very cool, hu?  I love all this digital stuff, and have a genuine desire to learn more about technology and how brands take advantage of forever changing platforms to communicate with their audience. Yes, I am a bit of a geek, and love all things consumer!

Fitting very well into my interests therefore, my job is basically ensuring that the projects for clients like Ford and Nike (I know…amazing right?!) come in one time and budget. However, it’s not all telling people what to do and how to do it, my boss has also put me in charge of weekly company workshops-I love this part of my job! (maybe I’ll do a post about these later on…) This is the part where I get creative and get-in-touch with my arty side. Scribbling in felt tips, sprinkling glitter and getting others to do the same for an hour a week, whilst playing game of Smile Machine Charades is totally ma thaaang! Truly, the best thing about the workshops is that I’ve been given free reign to take grown-up seriousness, turn it on its head, whilst generating great creative ideas and business solutions…I told you my life had changed dramatically since we last spoke!

I shall stop blabbing on about my work-life now. Even though I love it, I totally appreciate you may not.

So anyway back to blogging.

I realised the other day, I really miss blogging. It’s kinda’ therapeutic creating a interactive diary, recording your memories and happenings, thoughts and photos in a fun way. Maybe I needed time away from my blog to realise how beneficial it is for me, and how much I enjoy writing and engaging with the kind people who take interest in my ramblings. Therefore, this is my oath to you, and to myself…I shall blog at least once a week from now on. (If it’s in black and white on a public domain, I have to stick to it right?) Consider my absence a blip…I guess I was stuck in a rut with so much else going on. However, this phase is over, a stable job and a routine lends itself perfectly to finding time to do what I love, blogging! I feel I have so much stuff to share and document, and that my life is so exciting at the moment I should embrace and share this with the world!

So I shall leave this post as a ‘refreshed blogger’ whose back!

Barbados-Day 2

We woke up before the sun had risen and took a walk along the beach. It was so peaceful, not a single footprint had imprinted on the vast expanse of beach,  and the waves crashed down with an angry morning tone.

The sky got lighter and lighter until it was a beautiful bright blue with beaming sunshine; so we decided to take a walk.

It really was a beautiful day…paradise!

After hours of playing in the waves, and inevitably swallowing gallons of sea-water, it was time to put our flowers in our hair, admire our fast developing tans and take a trip to the Sandy Lane for some cocktails early evening.

The waitress kindly brought us over some canapes: watermelon with a dollop of cream cheese, mini battered fish and sushi parcels. These were perfect, although the only problem…I wanted more!

C’s family

 

Although the luxury of the Sandy Lane  resort comes with a hefty price-tag it, it’s exquisite in appearance,  service and everything in between. As soon as you walked into the perfectly manicured grounds through the decorative foyer I knew this is a place I wouldn’t want to leave, old school glamour but understated.

 

All in all a brilliant second day… tomorrow we are snorkeling with turtles and dinning at the Cliff restaurant!

 

Barbados-Day 1

After an trip to Gatwick, and eight hour flight we have finally arrived at Sandy Cove, Barbados!

The humidity hit us like wall as soon as we stepped off the plane as the Caribbean air,  the sweet slightly floral scent washed over us.

We arrived at the apartment we’re staying in, just in time to see the sun set on the horizon and gaze at the wonderful view from the balcony we can call home for the next week.

Isn’t it beautiful? Paradise.

The house-keepers had kindly cooked us dinner upon our arrival…chicken in a spicing seasoning with an array of mixed salads. Just what the doctor had ordered!

So we all sat down to a feast and chatted the evening away…

After a long day, off we went to bed.

Night, night!

Cielo Restaurant, Birmimgham

Yesterday, I went out for lunch with C and his family to Cielo restaurant in Birmingham, to celebrate his Mum’s birthday!

I wore a French Connection  lace dress with a nude undertone (the dress is actually called ‘cheeky pink’ how lovey is that?) Guess shoes in a nude and Jones’ clutchbag, also in nude.

Off we we went for a  Strawberry Mojitos (or two) at Bank. I’ve blogged about Bank before, it’s a cocktail hot-spot in Birmingham, and a busy restaurant.

  

Cutest family or what!?

Then, for some much needed lunch! We went to Cielo; a modern Italian themed restaurant in Brindley Place.

You can find all the menus on their website, as well as book a reservation and find out about up coming events.

For starters, I ordered the ‘ Tortino di pesce’ which consisted of Salmon & cod fishcakes, peas, spring onion, mixed leaf salad, with  lemon and garlic mayonnaise.

Unfortunately  there was hardly any fish, and the portion was simply too big for a starter! Quality over quantity I think the saying is.

C’s Mum went for the ‘ Tagliatelle fiorentina’  consisting of Tagliatelle pasta, chicken, wild mushrooms, spinach, pine nuts all in a  white wine cream sauce.

This was delicious! However, once again the portion could have been halved in size.

Both C and his Dad, opted for the ‘ Calamari Fritti’-Squid rings lightly dusted with seasoned flour, deep-fried and  served with garlic & lime mayo.

C always has calamari in any restaurant we go to, so one could presume he was something of an expert! He said they were ‘very tasty.’

For mains:

How inviting does this lemon yellow sauce look, with the dashing of swimming wilted spinach? This is the ‘Sogliola al vino Blanco’ -fillets of lemon sole, tossed baby spinach leaves with vine tomatoes in a white wine & lemon grass sauce.

This was simply scrumptious, I couldn’t help but reach across the table to dip my finger in the sauce continuously.

I went for the ‘Brasato Di Maile’-braised pork belly, crispy pancetta, apple pureé,creamed Savoy cabbage,  with a Madeira wine jus.

It was  pleasant, I would have personally enjoyed the crackling to be slightly crispier. The problem is I love belly Pork, and am a fussy madam regarding how it’s cooked!

C had the ‘Filetto di manzo al Pepe’-fillet of farm assured beef, chunky chips, served in a pepper corn sauce.

Also, very tender and tasty, served a little cool (although us English are renowned to like our food piping hot which apparently, doesn’t do the flavours any justice, so I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt on this one.)

(sorry about the photo..I know it’s a little dark. Here’s hoping someone will buy me a ‘real’ camera one day, so I don’t have to keep using my iphone!)

All in all, a pleasant luncheon, with a few teething problems!

Fleet Street Kitchen, Birmigham

So, the reviews are in, after attending the opening night.

Like I said, there was high expectations for this place, however I am glad to say the reality matched  up!

I had the ‘Potted Duck with brown toast.’ This came with a beetroot relish..really yummy! I found myself sticking my finger in the little glass jar and licking the remaining sauce off my finger…until I realised I wasn’t sitting at home where non-one could see!

C had the  ‘Seared Scallops with pan fried chroizo’ with a garnished salad. A tasty combination, cooked perfectly.

  

For mains we both has the 10oz Sirloin with  coffee chipotle BBQ sauce and a side of fries. The sauce was insanely moreish! A very unusual combination but it defiantly works…no longer will peppercorn be my ‘go-to’ steak sauce; there’s a new sauce in town!

The fires were chunky and salty with a fluffy  piping hot inside…the way they should be!

The atmosphere was relaxed and natural whilst a buzz hung in the air filled with inquisitiveness ooo’s and ahhh’s as food arrived at the table, and the service friendly and warm. 

The standard menu can be found here and all other information on their website.

I just know this place is going to be a  being a real hit, so please book to avoid disappointment.

More importantly  let me know what you think!

Fleet Street Kitchen, Birmingham (we wait in anticipation)

There’s a buzz of excitement in the air…the countdown has begun for the restaurant opening of the year-Fleet Street Kitchen. (FSK)

Launching on Friday 1st March in Birmingham city center,  there are high hopes for this new brand, originating from the  the owners of the Midlands most exclusive nightclub-Mechu, and chain of funky bars and eateries-Après.

FSK  however, is  a complete turn of ventures and one that is greatly anticipated; combining the expertise of over 30 years in the restaurant and entertainment sphere.The foundation of the brand, and the central crux to its ideology is delivering a  ‘farm to table experience that will offer unpretentious modern British flavors  cooked using traditional Barbacoan methods!’

Unpretentious,  rustic, heart-warming  food at it’s best, sourced from British farmers, with an abundance  fusion and intertwining of various flavours, creating modern twists from best loved dishes.

Steak is deemed to be the show-stopper, with a bountiful array  of rare-breed cuts  sourced  from respected British producers,  rotisserie chicken and poussin, whole fish and burger sliders are sure to be a hit, while abundant deli boards and a generous helping of naughty desserts round-off a deliciously comforting, satisfying yet simplistic menu.

Regenerating luxury country dinning in Birmingham’s urban pod, adding a fresh quirky dimension, with a structured interior and multi-dimension experience. Mixing light and airy with re-cycled and renewed,  offering something we haven’t seen before…a new concept!

I have kindly been invited to the launch tomorrow evening, and  have already booked a table for Saturday! ( Yes, of course, I shall be sharing my foody finds.)

However, I was kindly invited this week to take a look at the venue which has been kept under wraps… Birmingham’s best kept secret!

Take a look yourselves…

The Barbacoa grill is one of the core characteristics at FSK,  the first of its kind to be installed in the UK.  It’s a  traditional method of cooking in the Mediterranean, however this grill has been placed in the center of the Kitchen, inviting dinners to experience it’s flames in full view.

 

However, when one transcends the stairs, this is where I believe the genius streak of the brand comes to life.

Transforming the basement into a jazz-esque space, with overwhelming monocrone graphics, masculine blocked leather booths, patterned marbled surfaces and an array of colour collaborated to transform this space into the perfect hub  for the regular Friday Night Live sessions and DJ’s, who will grace the air with their musicals delights.

This space has groovy heart, with a sprinkle of elegance and old school glamour, aimed at the over 25’s market.

  

What will make this place a huge success?

It’s the clever mixture of fine, hearty country-dining  and  the late-night downstairs area, giving one visit to FSK  a plethora of dimensions, something that is so rare to find in a venue. It’s a  fusion that involves a clever malleable creative flare, and experienced hands to execute it;  something which FSK has in heaps!

Check out the website for more info, book reservations, or for all you ‘tweepers’ follow FSK on Twitter.

http://www.fleetstreetkitchen.co.uk/