Thursday 31 May 2012

A Small Excursion

The past days have been a blur of sunshine, markets, chatting, cold beer and goodness. It's been amazing. I think I fall more in love with this city every day. The pavements are hot, the summer dresses are out and in East London the smell of cooking food fills the air. It really is like being on holiday. In fact, I've even got tan lines! 

Yesterday a few of us headed to north London though for a little excursion. A few friends live in a gorgeous house up near Harrow, and though it takes nearly an hour to get there, it's definitely worth the effort. With a huge garden, and a giant house, it's the perfect place to spend time chatting and chilling, enjoying the summer sun. We cooked up a huge salad and whiled away the afternoon with conversation and laughter, and though the sun went in and the rain poured, it was the very best sort of rain; the thick droplets of a thunderstorm. It smelt like summer, with the warm air and the damp grass and I had yet another of those moments of being blissfully aware of how blessed my life is. 

The evening consisted of huge amounts of pizza, making use of  Orange Wednesdays and then we watched Final Destination which I think is quite frankly the most ridiculous film. 


Still, we had fun and finally got to bed in the early hours of the morning. Waking up this morning it was time for a porridge and pyjama party as we blearily said hello and enjoyed breakfast. 

I'm now back East, have found a gorgeous house I think we want to live in next year, and am enjoying a hot cup of tea. It's now nine days until I leave London and am super sad about it. But, until then, my sister is coming to visit! WOOP! and it's the Jubilee weekend. 


Plenty to keep me occupied I'm sure...! 

Lots of love xxx

Monday 28 May 2012

My Life in Photos

At one point I had hoped to actually write up a few of the adventures I've been on over the past month, but as work, exams and other things piled up, it became impossible. Now, all I want to do is enjoy the sunshine, so you shall have to be satisfied with a few photos to fill you in on my life. Looking back over the past month, and even the past year I am overwhelmed by the goodness of God and the blessings He has given me. I get to live this crazy, exciting, tough, challenging, emotional, joyful life...and well, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

A fancy dressed C party

Watching 8 out of 10 Cats

Birthday's in Covent Garden

And relaxing in Trafalgar Square

Sisterly affection and a bit of cake

Family Time at the Beach

Cocktails for the 21st!

Cocktails that come in teapots!!!

Chillin' in Camden

Enjoying the Lock

The British Museum

Brighton Beach Fun

Bit more Brighton Beach

Floating about the city and enjoying the gardens

Marvelling at the beauties of the sunset over St Paul's

Loving the City

Who says urban life isn't stunning?

Saturday 26 May 2012

Recently

So to say that the past month has been a little crazy would be a new stretch to the term, understatement. It's been insane. Not only because I've written thousands and thousands of words for my degree, or read a billion things, or even that first year has finally come to an end. All of those things have definitely made life hectic. But do you ever have that sense that there are bigger things at work? Or that there's just more going on? I've felt like that for a while.

Imagine you're in the sea (easy for me, the girl from the seaside town) and that the tide's just changed. Suddenly everything beneath you switches direction, becomes a little more unsure, a little less what you were comfortable with. I've suddenly made it to twenty one, half of my closest friends are venturing into the real world as they graduate from university this summer, and well I've been asked to get involved in leading some exciting things with church too. 

Perhaps being in the city it's easier to see how quickly life passes. From the madness of the commuters streaming towards the station (something I tend to avoid at all costs and yet had to submerge myself in on Wednesday for over an hour. Ergh.) to the topsy-turvey weather that we're having that suggests I now live in Miami rather than London, everything just feels as if it's zooming past. 

In this culture of change, I find myself flailing somewhat, just like the swimmer stuck out in the sea as the tide changes. I'm not a fan of change, and much less do I enjoy being the instigator, or the encourager of such, and yet that's where I think I find myself. How bizarre. In all of this, it makes me glad, and ever so happy to know that my life is built on a foundation that will never change, never fail, never falter. 

The promise I get and that has become the rock that everything else is built upon is this: 

'Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever' Hebrews 13:8

Tomorrow I'm popping to Brighton for the day with some friends, I'm looking forward to enjoying the sunshine, the sea, and hopefully a little shopping in the lanes. Brighton is beautiful, and I have tons of good memories from my time there so with the bbc telling me tis going to be 25 degrees, it's time to get some beauty sleep then slather myself in the factor 50 suncream I've just purchased.

Saturday 19 May 2012

A Week Since

I've last blogged.

Huge apologies. Twenty first birthday celebrations and exams and revision have rather interrupted any chance I have to do normal things.

Don't worry though, as of Tuesday I am free as a bird and a billion photos and comments from the most exciting week shall arrive.

xxxxxx

Saturday 12 May 2012

Woops.


So this evening I was having those moments where I sit and ponder how great my life is and how excited I am about everything I get to do and see. We were sat in Trafalgar Square at the time, recuperating from a game of bulldog that'd ended up with a few people on the floor. It was about midnight, the bells from a nearby church went off, and I was feeling mildly ecstatic and really quite content.

And then I let the crazy out. And announced that I write the story of my life in my head whilst it's happening. It's like logging it, or inscribing it so I can remember how wonderful it was, just a few hours on. 

As soon as the words had left my mouth, there were a few slow motion head turns and the raised eyebrows who've just realised that your insanity has plumeted to new depths.

However, as I am still 20 for another three days, I'm going to go. BAH. and laugh some more about my life.

I go back to Bournemouth in the morning. I need to go to sleep.

PS - I'VE FINALLY HANDED IN THE LAST BITS OF WORK FOR FIRST YEAR. I think it works out at about 30,000 words. Now just to revise. Oh bummer. Have a feeling my birthday might get in the way of that one! xo

Thursday 10 May 2012

I Promised a Post About Alpacas.

And I realise that was a few days ago, so as I'm having a break from revising Shakespeare, I'll fill you in on my adventures.


Last Sunday I awoke at the crack of dawn, or at least that was what it felt like. I had a meeting to be at for 10am the other side of London, and so I rolled out of bed and did the notorious vicki-type-thing, and ended up being late. Meeting finished, some friends and I decided to head to Vauxhall for some munch before heading back to Central London for church in the afternoon.
Wandering around the back streets of south London and what to our wondering eyes should appear, but an alpaca, a goat, and a grossly clucking turkey. We'd stumbled across Vauxhall City Farm, which is exactly what it says. A farm in the middle of the city. There were horses, and ducks, and chickens and pigs and shetland ponies. And even better...it was FREE! So of course, we went in and had a look around.

We got to watch ducklings swimming for the first time, play with the crazy chickens and learnt to milk a cow. In the ecology garden there was a carved tree that held four musicians playing folk music. They encouraged us to dance, so we did. Oh and we got to help make some wool too.

It was very, very exciting. Possibly more so because London is not the place I expect to see sheep and alpacas. The alpaca was my favourite. So, amongst some other snaps, here's a photo of me being an alpaca.

Love amios xoxo











Sunday 6 May 2012

So Yummy

This is my favourite edible of choice right now. It's delicious even if not entirely healthy. Better than biscuits I suppose. 
I'm doing more uni work today, accompanied by Alexi Murdoch whose melodious voice and lovely lyrics make dark Sunday evenings a heap better.
'My salvation lies in your love'

Later I shall write about my accidental adventures to a farm.
Love xo

Saturday 5 May 2012

Foodie Friday

Over the past few months of living in London I've been searching for good coffee shops and cute cafes...the kind of thing you can only really hope to find in the city. If you've not gathered already, I love London, I mean really love it. The buildings, and the busyness, the people with their stern expressions, the tourists with their bandanas (a story for another time) and the amazing events and things that I just get to stumble upon. It's quite exciting, and all in all makes a nice change from my beautiful sleepy seaside home.

A couple of months ago I got taken to a great cafe, not too far from where I live. It's built upon three levels and serves coffee in glasses. It's an absolute winner. I've been back a couple of times since, and as a friend was passing through London on the way to the south, we stopped in this afternoon for a spot of lunch. I always think it's a good sign when the queue spirals out of the shop and half way down the street. No joke, by 1pm today we joined a trail of workers, about 20 people long. 

Fortunately for us most of them were using the Fleet River Bakery as a pit stop, and not as somewhere to sit and munch and chat, which left me and Sam (said friend) a handy table at the back of the cafe for a good catch up. Simple pesto pasta, and a chocolate brownie to die for, as well as some yummy coffee, and it was a fantastic afternoon. I'm a big fan of this place and only wish it wasn't so well-known! I need a similar hideaway for reading and studying that the crowds of commuters are yet to discover!

Anyhow, in my excitement over cafes and lunches, I forgot to mention that I went to be part of the audience for 8 out of 10 cats yesterday! A friend was allocated a bunch of tickets so four of us went and had an epic evening of comedy and general hilarity. Fortunate enough to see Stephen Mangan, who plays Guy Secretan in Green Wing, as well as the usuals - Jimmy Carr, Sean Lock and Jon Richardson and a few others. We were sat second row from the front, a few seats in, and literally had the best view you could've imagined. I've not yet watched the episode that was aired so I'm unsure if you can see the back of my head (right hand side, blue dress if so!) We had a great night and I realised how much I need to make use of free BBC things - it's genuinely the best night of free entertainment!

AND then this evening, as it was a friends' birthday, we went out for cocktails. Now, this seems to be becoming a bit of a regular habit of mine, this cocktail malarky, but what can you do when they're 2for1 because it's happy hour and the bartender is called Toby. In fact, tonight we met a number of bartenders; Sammy, Eric and Joe (although Toby was my favourite) and all of them shook our hands, asked us who we were and proceeded to allow us to help them make our delicious alcoholic beverages. Quite, quite delightful. There was also a lot of dancing and photos involved. Ohhh the joys of Shoreditch! Although, this place was a chain that I've definitely heard good things about so perhaps it's time to check out the other bars dotted over London. Now that doesn't sound like too much of a chore to me...

So, with so much excitement it's time for bed. Sadly for me Saturday isn't set to be too thrilling, I need to plow on with the uni deadlines and get some things sorted. Perhaps if I'm super productive I'll take the evening off.

Until my life gets a bit more exciting, I encourage you to find some quirky coffee spots, comedy and cocktail bars to keep you entertained. I can assure you that's it's the best way to spend a Friday!!!!

Love and hugs xoxoxo


PS - May the Fourth be with you. xxx

Wednesday 2 May 2012

Word Tackling is an Elusive Task


I am currently in the process of tackling two 3,000 word essays. It's not a fun process. Essentially, we decided this morning that uni work destroys any motivation you have for waking up, or for attempting to look nice. Plucking eyebrows, changing your clothes, the usual habits of a sociable creature, are forgotten in the desperation to just. keep. writing. 

As a result of said writing, I have been increasingly interested in all of the blogs, news articles, emails and and novels that I can read or submerge myself in, instead of occupying myself with a debate between Freud and Roland Barthes. 

One of my favourite ways to procrastinate is to create the best, and longest, playlist to accompany the 'hard work'. Yesterday I went through iTunes and enjoyed a lot of Bob Dylan, and a lot of Blue Roses. As you can guess, I got a bit stuck on the letter 'B'. Still, it was a good day.

This morning I set up a list of Phil Wickham songs, the kind I know very well so just form generic background noise whilst I write. One of the additional benefits is that Mr Wickham writes Christian stuff so his lyrics genuinely are quite an encouragement. So, whilst proof reading my essay, and attempting to delete at least 100 absolutely essential words, I caught a few lyrics of the song I was listening to. It was a bit of a surprise as I began to use my ears again. An amazing reminder that even when I'm babbling about the position of authors and readers, and creativity, there is a little more going on in life than just my degree. It somehow makes it all worthwhile, and a lot less stressful.

So, here we are...


Oh the glorious day when we arrive
And Heaven's gates are opened wide
All our fear and pain will fade away
When we see You
Face to face

Our Great and Awesome King
You will reign in brilliant light
Forever glorified
In Your city
And we Your daughters and Your sons
Will see the kingdom come
In Your city

Love will rain and joy will have no end
When the saints go marching in
God we pray that You come soon
'Cause we were made
To be with You

When we've been there for ten thousand years
Our song will be the same
Praise to the One who has brought us here
Jesus is His name
Jesus is His name

You will reign in brilliant light
Forever glorified
In Your city
We Your daughters and Your sons
Will see the kingdom come
In Your city, My city
This is Your city
My city