Monday 28 October 2013

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 

Tuesday 15 October 2013

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.

Monday 14 October 2013

When art attacks

On our last day in Paris (on our Sunday morning stroll to the Pompidou Centre) we walked past this gorgeous little gallery called the Gallery Jamault. 

It was closed but The Boy and I stopped to check out the pieces on display in the window and I immediately fell in love with the one below.
I swear, if I was rich I would have waited for the gallery to open and bought it there and then. It is absolutely beautiful, right up my street and strangely enough, The Boy loved it too, even though we usually have completely opposite taste in art.

Since returning to London I've researched the artist and discovered that her name is Pauline Gagnon, that she lives in France and that she specializes in larger than life portraits.

I am determined to own one of her pieces one day, even if it takes me years to save for up.

You can see more of Pauline Gagnon's work here.

Saturday 12 October 2013

My week in photos 24

I'm currently trying to not spend much money (saving for Christmas/Florida/many another plan) but I've still been managing to find ways to keep myself entertained.

I normally try and escape the office at lunch, even if it's just for twenty minutes and recently I've been venturing into Selfridges quite often. I don't go to spend money, actually I normally end up getting quite annoyed about the massive amounts of cash I see people spending, but it does give me a huge number of ideas for Christmas presents and decorations. 

Although maybe not the £29.95 bauble that would be perfect for Zsa (maybe something equally as gorgeous but slightly less expensive).

Here's some pictures of things I've been doing/loving/lusting after over the past week.
Clockwise from top left: It would seem even my new notebook is trying to tell me something - Debating whether or not to spend my Selfridges voucher on a Barbie - A suitable card to describe my approach to food - Gearing up for Christmas with a lunchtime wander.
Clockwise from top left: Marathon build up - An Autumn run in Hyde Park - Enjoying a delicious burger at Cask Pub & Kitchen in Pimlico with Dad - The exterior of Cask Pub & Kitchen

Wednesday 9 October 2013

Not your average Sunday morning run

On Sunday morning I decided to go for a run. 

Along with 15,999 other fitness fanatics and charity fundraisers.
Having run the Royal Parks Half Marathon last year I couldn't wait to run it again and have been training hard for the past few months. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm still no runner but my fitness levels have vastly improved and I'm planning on continuing with a few runs every week. I'm even thinking of signing up to run again next year - it's that addictive! - even though I swore on Sunday that this years half would be my last.
I was let down slightly by the weather (it was just too hot for me) and ended up finishing ten minutes slower than last year but to be honest, I'm just pleased I finished and didn't succumb to heat stroke, unlike so many of my fellow runners.

That's me (below), hobbling towards the finish line.

 Congratulations to all my fellow runners - see you again next year!

To find out more about the Royal Parks Half Marathon visit their website here.
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