What are you doing for Valentine's day?

Do you have any plans for Valentine's day? Last year the mister and I went to the Royal Observatory, which was so much fun and actually quite romantic! This year we're going to celebrate a bit early with dinner and and a roof top movie (The Goonies!!) at Kensington Roof Gardens. I hope the weather holds out for us!

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Podcasts I love

Do you listen to a lot of podcasts? I have a few standbys that I listen to a lot and others that I just dip in and out of. I find them really relaxing, entertaining and in some cases a very easy way to keep up with current events.

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - American current events in the form of a game show!
Pop Culture Happy Hour - These are exactly the types of conversations I have with my friends and the mister
A History  of the World in 100 Objects - A little heavy but fascinating nonetheless
Savage Lovecast - Throw back guilty pleasure from my days as a Seattleite
Science Friday - Sometimes a little dry but a good one to dip in and out every now and again
How Stuff Works - This is a gem of a podcast and always so interesting
And of course the ultimate podcast, This American Life. Always brilliant, inspiring and able to capture my attention for the full hour.

This weekend in food

It was another delicious weekend and in an effort to shave off some of the guilt from over-eating, I absolutely killed it at the gym on Saturday and can still barely make it up and down the stairs.

I kicked off the weekend a little early on Thursday with a trip to BRGR. It's not the greatest picture but see how the brioche bun is glistening - man it was good. And A&W Rootbeer, oh how I miss you!!

On Saturday, after checking out Inside Llewyn Davis at the Olympic, we tried out a new (to us) pub restaurant, The Victoria, in Sheen. The pub is really adorable and set in a quiet residential neighborhood but the service and food just weren't quite right. My starter, Lamb Kafta, was really good, but my main, Ox cheek, was so tough I couldn't really eat it. Coupled with the fact that everything came out at lightening speed, there wasn't even an illusion that any of it was prepared after we ordered. 

And on Sunday I hobbled my way to Columbia Road in East London for afternoon tea at Cake Hole with Vale. I always love our afternoon teas together. Always the right amount of girly chat/therapy I need!

And to top it all off, the mister made some incredible granola!

chilled out weekend

Since Thanksgiving (and maybe even before) things have been go go go around here! I'm definitely not complaining but this last weekend we didn't have much going on and I relished being at home, having time to bake, read and chill out.

Dinner with some girlfriends at Yalla Yalla

fresh brussel sprouts

scrambled eggs, apple and pork sausage, brussel sprouts on rye toast. I was full for hours - a great breakfast!

Saturday was fairy sunny and mostly dry, so I took the opportunity to take a jog in Richmond Park. It felt great to workout outside and breathe some fresh air.

A less healthy, Sunday breakfast. This was a remake of a brunch I made several months ago when I had some girlfriends over. That brown mush is french toast that didn't come out as good this time. I did make another batch of blackberry butter which was delish.

And some homemade madelines for good measure. 

Marrakech

The mister and I spent Wednesday-Sunday in Marrakech 2 weeks ago. It was such a treat to have a holiday to break up January, an otherwise exhausting and depressing month. We had 1 day of rain that effected our site-seeing but otherwise the weather was cold but warmer than London so no complaints!

We stayed in the most adorable riad, Riad Asrari, in the heart of the medina. The mister said that if we ever went again, he would prefer not to stay in the medina, which is the old town, hectic and crazy with all the souks, but I really loved being in the middle of all the action. 

We visited Ben Youssef Madrasa which is an old Islamic school and was definitely a highlight. The intricacy of the building, the beautifully colored tiles and the fact that it was so serene made it my faviorte part of the trip.  

We of course shopped in the souks. I ended up leaving with a gorgeous Moroccan wedding blanket, which is currently sitting at the foot of our bed, an antique tea pot, which has joined another antique teapot we bought in Barnes back in December in our kitchen, and a host of pottery. 

We ate very well on the trip, mostly at French restaurants but fear not, I had 4 lamb tagines, so plenty of Moroccan food was had!

One of the things I was most looking forward to was an afternoon of pampering at Les Bains de Marrakech. I had a traditional hammam, which left my skin so soft, and the mister got a mud wrap. We both then got massages and spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out, drinking mint tea and relaxing.

On the Saturday, the day before we left, it was pouring rain in the morning. Not wanting to miss out on Jardin Majorelle, I dragged the mister out. We both got soaked on the walk over but luckily were able to pull up a seat right next to the fire in the cafe to dry off and wait for the rain to subside. 

I LOVED our trip to Marrakech and really can't wait to go back and explore Morocco some more, especially the Atlas mountains. Perhaps something to add to 2015! 

Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee

Have you been watching Jerry Seinfeld's latest show - Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee? I was just turned on to it and since the episodes are so short, they're perfect if you don't have a lot of time or like me get a little antsy spending a lot of time in front of the TV. 

The premise is exactly as the name suggests - Jerry Seinfeld and one other comedian driving somewhere to get coffee all the while slinging hilarious banter back and forth. Some aren't that funny but I couldn't stop laughing at the Alec Baldwin episode - he is so funny. 

All the episodes are online and free - perfect for a train journey into work!

Social Eating House

On a cold rainy and miserable Tuesday night the mister and I made our way to Social Eating House to celebrate a friend's engagement. The mister and I had been to Pollen Street Social back when it opened but haven't been to any other Jason Atherton restaurants. 

I loved everything about Social Eating House. The food was just incredible, the service prompt but non-intrusive and a great atmosphere to catch up with old friends. 

Social Eating House is literally just down the road from my new office so I can't wait to go back, especially to the ultra cool cocktail bar.