A weekend with Ma and Pa

Back in November, Mum and Dad came to visit. It had been a while and the rentals were keen to kick start the Christmas period with a visit to the bright lights of the big smoke.

They arrived on the Thursday evening and spent both Thursday and Friday sightseeing with some friends before meeting me and The Boy after work for a catch up dinner. And aside from some drunken behaviour from Dad (and you Stewart) everything went off without a hitch.

We started the day with a surprise for M & D: a mid morning drink at Aqua at the Shard.

Too bright for me

Recommended to me by my friend Mikaila Aqua at the Shard is a bar and restaurant that sits atop the tallest building in London where you can book an area (or not) and take in the scenery. The views are spectacular, and all the more enjoyable because you don't have to pay for the privilege.

The Boy went for a cocktail, whilst the rest of us stuck to tea - after a few too many the night before, Dad most definitely needed to be on his best behaviour!

Next came a wander around Borough market, which was heaving with people keen to pick up a pre-Christmas bargain or two, so we didn't stay for long. Just long enough to try a few samplers and take a few pics before the pub was calling to the The Boy and we headed off to try a few ales.

We stayed a while at the Royal Oak, discussed Dads bad behaviour the night before, Christmas present ideas and both Mum and Dads trepidation about Dim Sum for lunch, a food choice neither of them are sure of.

We headed back central to Chinatown for a spread of deliciousness we thought they might like and, crazily enough both Mum and Dad loved lunch. We ordered Dim Sum galore and everyone gobbled it down - so quickly that we didn't even take any pictures. The day continued with a trip to Selfridges, the Christmas lights of Oxford Street and the wonderfully festive windows at Harrods, before heading home and curling up in front of a film for the evening. It was a lovely way to start the season.

Childhood friends

Back in September when I was taking part in the Blogtember challenge I wrote about my beloved, well worn teddy bear, whom I've loved for all the thirty years of my life. So, it was great to read in a recent copy of Stylist magazine, that I am not alone in holding on to this constant companion and link to my childhood.

Much Loved, a book filled with images of long-loved toys compiled by Mark Nixon really pulled at my heart strings, with many of the bears looking not dissimilar to my very own Teddy, and reminded me of my many others, who now reside in the loft of my parents house.

Nixon's images in particular reminded me of one lonesome bear who didn't even originally belong to me. I found Lonely Ted whilst helping Mum at the jumble sale and vowed that if he hadn't found a home by the end of the sale I would take him home with me. He wasn't particularly special, he wasn't even new, he just needed a home, and I'm a sucker for a lost toy.

So, you can see why this book really tugs at my heart strings. Here's some of my favourite images from the book.

 Much Loved by Mark Nixon is available to purchase on here.

My week in photos 26 (November, a round up)

So, I gave myself November off.

To be totally honest, I'm not sure what happened. I got caught up in Christmas shopping, a visit to Somerset, a London weekend with my family....time simply ran away with me and before I new it it was December 1st and a whole month had passed by with very little blogging. That's not to say I hadn't wanted to write. As usual many an idea had buzzed around my head, longing to make it onto the pages of Lost & Found but, to put it simply, I didn't manage my time very well and now I find myself well and truly in the festive season with a blog that still lacks refreshment.

So, as I find myself spending a dark and cold Friday afternoon on a train travelling back from a whirlwind visit to Newcastle, with my manager sleeping soundly beside me, what better time to reacquaint myself with my lovely little blog.

As it's been a while, I thought I'd do a round up of the month of November rather than a weekly post, so here's a glimpse of all that I've been up to.

 Clockwise from top left: An Autumnal stroll through the streets of West London - On my reading list - An early morning pitstop at a Harry Potter London landmark - Finally tried out Shake Shack with Jade and AP, and now all I can think about is going back

  Clockwise from top left: A gorgeous Enid Blyton Christmas tree at Kilver Court - My new Primark boots - The delicious chicken noodle soup at Suzu in Hammersmith - Healthy desktop breakfast - Making calorific treats for the family - A healthy lunch from Pret - An evening stroll past Buckingham Palace - A little retail therapy from Cos

  Clockwise from top left: My Halloween ensemble - A cutie from New Look that is most definitely on my Christmas list - Black forest hot chocolate from Costa, my new addiction - The Fortnum and Mason Christmas tree, what a beaut

My week in photos 25

So, this weekend The Boy and I went and viewed our dream home.

I'm not exaggerating in any way, it ticked all of the boxes...apart from location. Sadly The Boy and I have mulled things over and don't think we can compromise on the area we're going to be spending the foreseeable future living in, so sadly it's on to the next. But one good thing that's come out of the viewing is that we now know exactly what style of house we're after: an older property with character features and room to extend, which luckily for me, there's plenty of in our preferred area. 

Now I just need to forget about the house I viewed on Saturday and continue with the search.

Alongside spending most evenings on Rightmove, here's some of the other things I've been getting up to over the past week.

 Clockwise from top left: My coat addiction - Taking the Warehouse five-way coat out for a Wintery walk - Homemade salmon dinner - Sunday lunch at Bobby and Carolines

 Clockwise from top left: Life-affirming lunch with Zsa - Driven to drink following the house viewing - Another sign from Diet Coke - Wool week at Hobbs - Christmas present ideas at Recipease - Afternoon treats in the office - My new lunchtime obsession from itsu - Charity shopping with The Boy

 Clockwise from top left: Art on a Friday night at the Opera Gallery - Obama by the super talented Joe Black - House hunting - Joe Black at the Opera Gallery New Bond St - Comfort food on a cold Saturday night - Loving the Christmas windows at Selfridges - Sheep in the windows at Hobbs - A sneaky selfie 

Paris Day 3: One day more

We awoke on our final morning in Paris ready to explore more of the city and, after checking out and storing our bags we went for a stroll towards the Pompidou Centre.

We stopped at a local bakery and picked a pastry up for breakfast before wandering down the winding streets towards the river.

We stumbled across this gorgeous market that sold anything and everything Parisian/food related and it took everything in me to stop myself from loading both myself and Michael's arms down with bits and pieces to take home.

Having managed to resist making any purchases we walked on through the city until we found the Pompidou.

As we were a bit short on time and wanted to see lots of other things we didn't actually venture inside, instead just checked out the sculptures outside and took a few photographs.

The Boy was in his element.That is, until he stepped in a large pile of dog poo. Ahhh, how romantic.

Next we got to do something that I'd been dying to do all weekend: we put a lock on one of the love lock bridges.

I've been aware of the love lock phenomenon for a while and really wanted to do it when we were in New York but Paris seemed like the perfect spot.

Strangely enough, it was really romantic, which seems weird to say considering how many other people were doing the same thing.

We put our lock on the Pont des Arts which is the bridge for your committed love, and then threw the key in the river, as is tradition. It was amazing and was one of my favourite moments of the whole weekend.

I'd bought us tickets to the Musee D'Orsay on the recommendation of a friend so we skipped the Louvre and checked out some other impressionism instead. 

The space was fantastic and The Boy absolutely loved it, even venturing off on his own for a while when the craziness of the weekend caught up with me and I needed to rest my feet for ten minutes.

Having worked up an appetite we went to a gorgeous little cafe for lunch. I went for salmon tartare and The Boy had duck, all washed down with a delicious bottle of white.

On the way back to the hotel we realised that we were actually staying really close to the Pere-Lachaise Cemetery so we decided to take a stroll in the afternoon sunshine before going to pick up our bags and making tracks to the train station.

It was a magical place and although it was pretty touristy near the entrance, when you got into the cemetery itself it was often almost as if it was just the two of us.

The weekend was amazing and really rounded off my birthday celebrations in style.

I was a wonderful introduction to a city that I know I will visit many times in the future - I'm already planning my next trip as there's so many other areas I would like to explore.