Friend: Why Edwin Smith's "Ordinary Beauty" exhibition at RIBA sort of reminded me of Zoella

Last week I had a 3 day staycation. I'd originally planned to nab some of those cheap New York flights Norwegian Air are doing and enjoy the fall in New York and New England (go leaf spotting like the middle aged twenty something I am) before I realised I was disastrously poor, and there was no way on earth I could afford an amazing holiday to the Big Apple. I couldn't bring myself to give my annual leave back, and after spending a few days looking up the temperatures in Majorca and toying with all inclusive resorts, I decided maybe to spend a few days in the city 16.8 million tourists chose to visit last year - my home town, London city.

Having said that I did spend 1/3 of my days without leaving the house, watching Location Location Location and old romcom DVDs, the 16.8 million tourist probs didn't do that, but hey you get my point. Living in London there are lots of fabulous things to do on my doorstep, and I decided to take advantage of some of them.

One of the things I went to see was the exhibition of Edwin Smith's photography, which is showing at RIBA (the Royal Institute of British Architects), one of the lesser known of the dozens of free galleries and museums in London. I always think we are so freaking lucky in the UK to have museums and galleries that are completely free to enter, and it is only when you go abroad and they charge you thirty quid to go to the ABBA museum (though that one was totally worth it)* that you realise how amazing it is that if you want to go and see Van Gogh's Sunflowers, you can do for free. (One of VG's 4 versions of Sunflowers is in the National Gallery). That is one of the reasons I don't do much gallery hopping on holiday, that and the fact that I see holidays as a time to drink beer and eat carbs all day, and museums get in the way of that.

RIBA is just around the corner from the Riding House Cafe, which frequently tops best place to brunch or lunch lists. Looking at OpenTable now they don't have any weekend lunch reservations available for the next 2 weeks, but on a Tuesday at 12 my friend Beth and I just strolled in.

I am not sure if Riding House Cafe is quite worth the hype, but I am still pleased I went, and in a part of town where the restaurants can be a bit of a russian roulette situation - there are zillions of them of varying quality - the Riding House is certainly a safe bet. I had macaroni cheese fritters of course (I have realised that since starting this blog, I have referred to macaroni cheese in pretty much every other post, and Beyonce in all of the other ones, I clearly like them both more than even I knew). Beth had chorizo hash browns with a poached egg. I also had an apple, beetroot, carrot and ginger juice as I am trying to get 7 a day at the moment by "eating my fruits and juicing my veg" as Mr. Juice Diet recommended, and it seemed to help balance out the fact that I was eating not fruit (soz Mr Juice Diet), but deep fried carbs and cheese. I then also had pecan and pumpkin pie with cinnamon ice cream, and rosebud tea. Beth also had a coffee, she is not as greedy as I.

This photograph was taken by Bessie Jewels

They probably looked a little yummier than they tasted - Beth's hash brown wasn't crispy and her poached egg didn't run, and I just think no meal could have lived up to the expectations I conjured in my head on reading "macaroni cheese fritter", so that probably isn't Riding House Cafe's fault. Sorry Riding House Cafe, I feel like I have been a bit of a bitch here. You, Riding House Cafe, looked really nice inside though, and I loved the soap in the loos...and my pecan pumpkin pie was pretty excellent, sorry for being so picky.

Next, Beth, myself and our food babies wandered 5 minutes down the road to Edwin Smith's Ordinary Beauty exhibition. The uncultured sod that I am I hadn't heard of Edwin Smith before, but Beth (far more arty than me) found the exhibition, and I like photography as much as the next girl. (If the next girl quite likes photography). Edwin Smith was born in 1912 and died in 1971, and his photography career was at it's peak in the 50s and 60s when he was sort of a household name (at least in the artier households). Weirdly, he said he was a photographer for necessity, and an architect for love when I always think it tends to be the other way round, but there you go.

(FYI that first part of my blog was written sober. I have now had a massive glass or red wine and a pint of beer and it is Wednesday and I am a lightweight so sorry if I get even more rambly.)

I always feel quite at peace, and pretty mindful and lucky whenever I am in a gallery or museum. One of my favourite things to do when I am hungover is traipse alone around a museum and the quiet and cleanliness and space makes me feel so much better. Edwin's (do we know each other well enough for me to call him by his first name...oh well) exhibition made me feel particularly mindful and lucky because he was taking pictures of things I knew. I went to a meditation class the other week (more about that in a later post) and one of the things the Buddhist master leading the group said was that mindfulness and meditation was about "putting more life into your life, noticing the life all around you". It felt to me like that is what Edwin did. Sometimes he took extraordinary photos of extraordinary things, amazing abandoned Romanian farmhouses, nuns on cliffs, Italian cathedrals, but my favourite photos were of inner city rooftops and streets, cornershops, market places and station platforms here in the UK. Things he saw and I see every day, but he captured how beautiful they are, when I hadn't even noticed. As my clever and insightful friend Beth said "I prefer the ordinary photos because he puts atmosphere into things where there isn't normally atmosphere. A Venetian canal of course has atmosphere anyway, but I love that this photo of suits in a shop window, it is something people would pass every day, but look how atmospheric he's made it". Most of Edwin's (I am just gonna keep going with the first name terms thing) photos are taken in the 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s, which make the ordinariness of the photos even more wonderful as you get to glimpse an unfiltered and unstaged look of what life was like then.

Just a couple of Edwin's photographs to wet your whistle...

So, how did this remind me of Zoella, vlogger extraordinaire of 2014? If anyone is like me 6 weeks ago and hasn't heard of Zoella, she is the most successful of the "Brit crew" youtube video bloggers (vloggers), with over 6.3 million youtube subscribers on her main channel today. (For reference, the official Beyonce channel has just 800k subscribers). She isn't a singer songwriter, she isn't the star of some sort of fabulous youtube sitcom, she doesn't (except recently on very rare occasions) interview celebrities. Her 3 most recent videos are one of her pumpkin carving (and not in a how-to artsy way), a how to of some quick and easy hair styles and her chatting away on a late night food shop. But for some reason, Zoella is watched by zillions, and occasionally me. I am definitely not her stereotypical audience (I was watching her pumpkin video last night and I was slightly ashamed when a child - hopefully a child but worryingly perhaps a pervert pretending to be a child - announced in the comments "how old is everyone? I'll start I'm 10", and then everyone else wrote down they were 13, 11, 14 etc..I kept it schtum I am 26) but I find her optimistic tone and her chatter really soothing. Whenever I am having an anxiety attack, I've found Zoella's "vlogs" are one of the things that calms me down, partly because she openly suffers from panic and anxiety too so I feel less like I am the one weirdo in the world, and partly because her natter is so human and comforting and chirpy. And I think that is why so many people (ok tweens) like Zoella because her life is accessible, and because she isn't doing any extraordinary things, but she is showing the fun and the fortune in our everyday things. So I guess that is how Zoella and Edwin remind me of each other, that ability to see the "life in life" as the Buddhist master would say, or as Ikea says "the wonderful everyday" or the "extraordinariness in the ordinariness" as Richard Curtis would say, and did in his movie  starring Rachel McAdams,"About Time". 

The exhibition ended with interviews from some modern day photographers, great brains and fans of Edwin.

The passage in the photo is one of Edwin's and reads: "The man who lives in is eyes is continually confronted with scenes and spectacles that compel his attention, or admiration, and demand an adequate reaction. To pass on without pose is impossible, and to continue after purely mental applause is unsatisifying, some real tribute must be paid. Photography to many of his addicts, is a convenient and simple means of discharging this ever recurring debt to the visual world".

My pal Edwin's exhibition is showing at RIBA until the 6th December. Read more about it here.

To book dinner or lunch or brunch at the Riding House Cafe and have a gander at their menu go here.

And to check out my girl Zoella (again, I am using "my girl" in the loosest sense, she has no idea who I am) go here. 

So how much will a meal at Riding House cafe and a trip to Edwin Smith's exhibition cost you?

* The ABBA museum in fact is excellent.

Yes, that is a photo of me on a stage, dancing and singing along with holograms of ABBA to Mamma Mia. They also also let you do karaoke in a "recording studio" and you can see all of their fabulous clothes. If you are ever in Stockholm, the ABBA museum is certainly worth taking a break from the beer and the carbs for...



Do you like a long thoughtful post like this one? If yes, maybe check out "Loner: Go for a run" or "Loner: Go to a Literary Festival"

Or if you found this tiresome, boring and generally too much I do posts with GIFs and Beyonce and wotnot too. Maybe "Lover: The pros and cons of moving in with your boyfriend as told by Beyonce's visual album" will tickle your pickle a little more.

Lover: Pros and Cons of moving in with your boyfriend, as told by Beyonce's visual album

Wooohooo. It is the end of October, and thus less than 2 months until Christmas. Next week, it is also 3 years since I - pumped up on cherryade and vodka - did my best hair swirling dance which enticed my boyfriend Will to first kiss me. And in 3 days it will mark 7 months since we moved in together, which means we have successfully made it past the 6 month mark. Excellent. And in December, it will be the anniversary of when my girl Bey (I mean "my girl" in the loosest sense, as she has no idea who I am) surprised us by releasing the self titled visual album, making all of our Christmas dreams come true. 

So to celebrate this special time in the year, I have put together an array of GIFs (as I love those) demonstrating what I've learned through these last 7 months living with Will through the medium of Beyonce herself. What happens when you live with your boy:

1. You share all the grocery shopping, and you'll start having kitchen roll in your house again! Plus, unlike when you share with housemates, you are allowed to eat anything in the fridge, which has more cheese, red meat and beer in it than it did before.

2. But you still never have spare loo roll, milk, kitchen foil or any of the essential stuff when you need it. Pff.

2. You accidentally turn into your mother. Whereas when you used to live apart you'd send witty and interesting texts about your day, now you just send ones asking when they will be home for dinner. 

3. You will never sleep properly again. Spending a bed with them every night means being woken up by someone going to the loo, coming to bed or getting up, nicking the covers, sleep talking or spooning you. And on the few nights they are away from your home, and you actually have the bed by yourself your body longs for them to wake you up in the night muttering in their sleep and trying to spoon you by holding that worst bit of your tummy which all falls to one side at night, and you spend the night watching that weird video you took of him sleeping that time. 

4. However, there is no deeper joy than on the days when they get up early to go the gym, and you don't have to get up to go to work for like a whole other hour and you starfish in the bed and it is just wonderful. 

5. You will re-discover how excellent it is to have a TV schedule again, like you did when you were 15. Downton Sundays, Made in Chelsea Mondays, New Girl and Mindy Project Tuesdays...why did you ever stop watching live TV to do things like go out? And what boys will watch with you on TV is very unpredictable. Ex on the Beach, Mindy Project, Teen Mom 2 are no nos, but Strictly Come Dancing and New Girl are ok. Snuggling on the sofa with a Papa Johns, red wine and a boyfriend in a flat that is all yours is may be the best thing in the world. And sometimes you get to go to bed at 11 on a Friday night. Saturday is such a different day when it is not tainted by a hangover...

6. Speaking of Papa Johns. You will eat so many more carbs, and drink so much more beer. 

7. But because you don't spend all your free week nights seeing your boyfriend instead of going for a run, and because you don't sleep several nights a week in a home without your gym clothes in it, you'll exercise more meaning you'll be in a better mood and you'll actually lose weight! 

8. However much you think you won't have arguments about household chores..."oh I think we'll be fine because I enjoy cooking so I'll do all that, and he actually doesn't mind cleaning" you will do. They'll be those things you do differently - to put dirty plates in the sink if you can't be bothered to wash them or leave them on the side? - and he will say all of your scented candles, throws, flowers and sequinned cushions are clutter!! Say whaat? And it will be the end of an era of trying on a dozen outfits before a night out and just shedding them on the floor, when you decide they are not for you... 

None of that in my house, Bey.

9. Also boys actually have a lot of clothes and dare I say "beauty products" themselves. Not as in mascara and lip gloss, but moisturisers and hair creams and sometimes they get annoyed when you borrow them. 

10. They also shower loads, and change their pants several times a day and actually are probably cleaner than you are! Who knew. But they certainly cannot handle water as hot, which means every time you take a shower you will be greeted by this horrible lukewarm mess rather than the piping hot water your body needs.

11. That advert where that bloke walks into the bathroom and goes to the loo when the woman is having a candlelit bath? That will actually happen to you. But then they will be super apologetic about it and it will only be a wee, so at least there's that. 

12. You'll start to have bedtimes and bedtime routines again, and indeed the routines will be very similar to those you had pre-13 - bath, book, hot drink, sleep. And you will again become a mother and try to enforce it on him...lights out, playstation off now or you'll be tired and grumpy tomorrow...

Swap the sexy trench coat for my mum's old dressing gown, and the neglige for my university skiing club t-shirt, and we basically look exactly the same

13. After all of those romantic getaways and couples holidays where you totally convinced him you were the only human in the world who only ever went to the toilet to pee, the jig will be up. Living with someone makes it basically impossible to go on pretending that you don't poo. 

14. It is horrible when they go out at night, and you either can't sleep wondering where they are, or you nod off and they stumble in and eat their McDonalds super loudly in bed. And you are like, I was sleeping biatch. 

15. And somehow you will quickly adjust to seeing them all the time, a weekend apart will feel like two weeks, and however grumpy you are in the morning, or how much time you spent together the night before, by the time 5pm rolls around and you've finished work you can't wait to go home and do it all again. 

16. And most of the time everything is just lovely.

I sort of want to finish this blog post in the way I normally do, with a "so how much will it cost you to move in with your boyfriend?" but I feel like a breakdown of estate agent fees and the like would be tiresome for both you and I. So instead I am going to say "how much will it cost you to own all of the Beyonce fabulousness you have glimpsed in here and not just these rather amateurish GIFS?"

You can buy the Visual Album with CD and DVD by clicking here.

Do you like lists? Then maybe you will like Friend: A Silent Disco with a view and 43 thoughts you will have up there.
Copyrights: Beyonce Visual Album, Columbia

Loner: Go for a run...

The first time I went for a run which wasn't round the school field and forced by my PE teacher was when I was about 15. I say 15 because I was at the age where I was old enough that my Mum would let me read Cosmopolitan magazine, but young enough that I could afford none of the clothes featured, it would have been illegal and impossible to attend any of the cocktail bars recommended, and all I could do with the sex position of the month was note it down in case when I lost my virginity I was up for "the octopus".

Anyhoo, I read an article in Cosmopolitan where the columnist had gone for a run every day for half an hour for like two weeks and "rediscovered the gap between her thighs". Having never had a gap between my thighs (honestly, even when I was a baby the nurse thought I must have one leg longer than the other because I had uneven rolls of fat on my thighs, which were preventing me from walking properly...turns out my thighs were just so damn fat) I decided this offer of a gap after running for a couple of weeks was too good to miss.

So I put on my ellessee trainers, and my adidas trousers, a reebok top and a la senza bra completely inappropriate for running (but la senza was all the rage in 2003) and attempted a run around my village. I didn't break out in a full sprint, but I did definitely run, lifting my legs and swinging my arms furiously for about 600m before I gave up having gone a tiny bit further than the bottom of my road. And hot, sweaty and panting so much I felt like my lungs might just fall out my mouth, I called it a day, and decided I was not a runner, and I would just have to accept my gapless legs.

And indeed I did not run for another 4 years, until after I arrived back home after my first year of university and overwhelmed by the beauty of the chiltern hills after being used to the dreary grey of Manchester, I decided the best way to appreciate the view would be to run in it. It was not. And what was worse this time I couldn't give up like I did before, because whilst I was running through a field I saw friends of my parents, not close enough for me to joke, "woopsy daisy I can't run can I" but close enough that they might say "gosh I saw your daughter Vicky very red in the face and looking a bit unwell whilst running across that field by Stony Lane" to my parents at the next dinner party, and embarrass my Mum and Dad horribly that they had such an endorphinless and unathletic daughter. So I kept on running. But here is not the point in my short(ish) running story where I had a running breakthrough, here is the point my story where after losing my parent's friend I had the realisation that even if someone tried to murder me, rape me, or mug me of my ipod I would just have to let them as I had less energy than I had ever had in my life. Less energy than when I had pulled all nighters to finish an essay, or stayed out til 5 to maximise my time in a club in a hope that the boy I fancied would kiss me. And I vowed once more not to try and run again.

But my breakthrough was when I started training for the London marathon. And no, your mind hasn't trailed off and you've missed a section (I mean that might have happened, but this would seem like a jump in the narrative either way) - 4 years after the harrowing parents friend field situation, I decided my third attempt at running in a span of 12 years should be one in training for a 26.2 mile one. Logical. I'd put "run a marathon" on my "20-25 list" alongside get a job (tick), get a tattoo (tick), move out of parents home into cool London flat (tick), write a book (cross), travel around India by myself (tick) and live abroad for a year (cross), do a masters degree (cross). And I figured out of living abroad, finding £10k for a masters and writing a book, running a marathon seemed like the simplest thing to do, no?

But actually, after huffing and puffing for a few weeks getting not much further than I had in my previous attempts, my Dad, who isn't a runner, gave me some pretty amazing advice. He told me to run as slowly as I possibly could. To see a walker on my run and try my best not to overtake them. And although I can now blame my Dad for the 11minute and 23 second mile I averaged on the half marathon I ran last weekend, I can credit him for getting me round a course in the first place. I am not - quite - slower than a walker, but after my Dad gave me this advice I stopped wasting my energy lifting my legs so high and flailing my arms so much, I stopped panting and started breathing, I started pacing myself and I actually started enjoying myself. I mean I look like I am doing something half way between a power walk and a waddling run, but at least I can do it for miles and miles and miles, so that is something.

And after actually completing the London marathon in 2011, I've kept on running. I am not saying running is all peaches and creams. Here is an extensive list of why I hate running and why it would be very easy to not run ever again:

1. Running in the heat. Heat is the time to be exercising only when submerged in water, not hobbling along a hot pavement across some park in London, sweaty in places you didn't even know you could sweat. The London marathon was horrible for me, after training in the coldest winter in 20 years, on the day that I actually ran the race it was 24 degrees at it's hottest and I lost so much salt and sugars in that my face became it's own salt scrub and my normally weirdly small hands swelled to the size of my face with dehydration, and my feet swelled so much I got blister big enough to actually see through. Eurg.
2. Other runners overtaking me when I am training, and wanting to yell "but I've been running for an hour so of course I can't go that fast..." and then even worse when I'm actually in a race, and I know everyone is running as far as me so yelling that would be embarrassing but also a big fat lie.
3. Runners going slower than me (/people walking, as I don't know if I've ever come across a slower runner) and I have to weave in and out, and no one has the energy for that. So basically I am not pleased by people going either quicker or slower than me, if everyone could just keep to an 11 minute 23 second mile that would be great, thanks.
4. That the second most expensive pair of shoes that I own (after my ludicrously expensive over the knee russell and bromley boots) are my disgusting red and grey running trainers which are a brand no one has heard of
5. The mental turmoil aka "the wall" when I want to give up but I know I am only 3/4 of the way (or 1/2 the way or bloominec 1/12 of the way) but you know if you stop and walk you will be overtaken by the bloke who is doing the race with a fridge on his back.
6. How bloody impossible it is to go even 1 minute per mile faster without feeling like your lungs have collapsed and you are never going to make it.
7. When the organisation who've sponsored your race send you photos they've taken of you whilst you've been running their race completely unsuspectingly, wondering whether you might want to buy a photo of yourself red faced scowling and jiggling in lycra for £29.99? Does anyone look good when they have been running a race for 72 minutes and are not even aware they are having their photo taken?

But for me, none of these reasons are dealbreakers and for all the cons of running, the pros are so so much more and I am so glad that like an idiot with no training and no experience I signed up to a marathon and discovered a love of running. A very stupid thing to do which has led me to something that will forever make my life a little bit better.

For some very shallow, but still important reasons like:

1. As a rule people pretty much can or can't run. Either they are like me as a teenager, perfectly fit at other things but for some reason unable to run a mile (probably because they have yet to develop pacing and staminar) or they can run and get it and can probably run further or faster than me. But a lot of people fall into the former category, and it really impresses them when you say you went for a casual 2 hour run after work last night. 
2. When that drop dead gorgeous skinny and toned person running alongside you in the park, stops after a couple of laps out of breathe and you feel like you've only just started.
3. It basically stops you from becoming morbidly obese, and totally gives you an excuse to put that fourth heaped spoon of parmesan on your pasta.

But as great as running is for boasting and for keeping you in shape, for me the biggest benefit of the running is the one to your mental health. It is amazing how strong your own mind becomes when you spend some time just with it, running alone for an hour or so a few times a week.

4. When you notice the sunsetting and the leaves turning brown and how beautiful the world looks because your mind has the time and energy to wake up and notice it, and it doesn't have much else to do but take in the world around it.
5. That weirdly you feel like you have more energy after running for an hour or so than before it, and you can actually be bothered to de-clutter your wardrobe/set up that direct debit/write that blog post.
6. That you feel so blooming proud of yourself all the time. Sure you can compete in races sometimes, but the biggest competition you will be in is with yourself and you will always win. Even now, I can't run as far as I could when I was training for the marathon, but when I was training for my half I still came back feeling proud of myself if I could keep running for another 10 minutes, or I managed to do a run a little faster than normal. It really makes me feel connected to my body, and I feel so proud of it and how far it can take me.
7. That however you are feeling, whether pretty chirpy already or beside yourself with sadness and anxiety or f-ing angry you will come back from running feeling so much better. Even when I am happy and go for a run, I come back feeling like I am top of the world, and my boyfriend is like "sheez can you run every day please?" When I am angry I come back having worked out the tension, and able to address the situation in a much more rational way. And when I am anxious, and I suffer from anxiety quite a bit it is my number one amazing thing. I just can't feel anxious when I run, firstly it is hard to have panic attack or cry when you are running along, I think your body just can't physically do it. But also it distracts you because you'll always hit points where you'll have to concentrate on keeping on running, and you can't be thinking about whatever you are worried about. But it just sorts everything out in a way that walking just can't. I feel like running is like a facial for my brain, cleaning out all the pores and it feel so much brighter and refreshed and the black cloud has been lifted once I've stopped.

So there you go, 7 reasons to not go for a run, 7 reasons to strap on your trainers and some gear and head out right now. I hope you agree with me that the 7 reasons to go for a run, definitely outweigh the ones not to. Autumn as well is an absolutely perfect time to start running, because it is not too hot and it is not too cold either, and you have enough light in the days to go for a run first thing in the morning or early evening. So if you have a spare 60 minutes, give it a whirl.

Cannot believe I have shared this photo with the internet. This is one my Dad took last weekend at the 12 mile mark of the Royal Parks half, the one the Royal Parks Foundation took are not being published anywhere ever, please God.

If you fancy signing up for a race, these are some 10ks and half marathons coming up, which I think look really good and am definitely signing up to. For me I don't love racing, but I sort of need it to motivate me for training otherwise I focuse way too much on those 7 reasons not to run rather than the 7 reasons to do it. So ironically, I have to sign up to do something I don't really like to make me do something I love. Silly brain.

1. Cancer Research 10k "Winter London Run" on 1st February 2015. You get to play in a snowstorm and a hug from polar bear afterwards. Excellent. Book on here.
2. The Hampton Court half marathon on March 29th 2015. It is going to be the first half marathon ever run in the palace's grounds, the website is all Henry VIII themed and afterwards you get to chill out in the maze. Plus it is only £33, which for a half where you don't need to fundraise if you don't want to, in such an amazing setting is a bit of a bargain. Book here.
3. Nike's We own the night London, date yet tbc but probably sometime in May like last year. I blooming loved this 10k when I took part last year. It has a feminist edge (women running together in protest of how terrible it is that it is not safe for women to walk at night because of male violence against women) and you pay 20 something pounds and they just give you fabulous things. A lovely canvas tote and nike dry fit top designed by a London designer (last year was Holly Fulton, and was brightly coloured with "Kiss my race" across the front, the year before was House of Holland), a glass of prosecco when you pass the finish line and instead of a medal a cute little necklace last year designed by Alex Munroe for liberty and looking like this:

Cannot believe how many unflattering photos I am putting up today. Gees louise. 

Keep an eye on where you can sign up here...


So how much will running cost you? If you like it, it is probably worth investing in a good pair of running trainers (most specialist running shops will do all these clever stuff like filming you running on treadmills so that you get ones that fit you perfectly even if they are not the pink and purple nikes you spotted on the way in), and some good running leggings. But starting out, just pop on your trainers and whatever you normally wear to work out and just try and run for a mile or 2. So that means it is...

Do you like exercising by yourself in the fresh outdoors? Then maybe check out this post "Loner: Go Swimming in a pond" if it is not too nippy...

Friend: Homemade London...We up all night to get crafty

Sometimes I like to compare London to a very expensive gym. London is like the Virgin Active Classic Collection or David Lloyd of places to live. And, in my opinion, if you just go to your super duper expensive and exclusive gym and just go on the treadmill once in a while, it probs isn't worth you paying £100+ monthly membership when you could just be going to the council gym down the road. You want to be going regularly and having fun in the steam rooms, and going to the gravity free yoga classes and using that weird vibrating plate thingy. (You might be able to tell I don't personally have an expensive gym membership). Similarly with London if you are not using the facilities - you aren't trying out the new pop up restaurant, or drinking cocktails in bars accessed by walking through a fridge, or aren't setting foot in the museums and galleries which are some of the most amazing in the world and yet free - heck if you don't walk over Millennium Bridge and become overwhelmed with the feeling you live in the most fabulous place in the world - you probably shouldn't bother paying hundreds of pounds a month above the average cost of living to live here specifically. 

Having said that, one of the best things about London is when it get's too much and you just want to pretend for a moment that you live in maybe a tiny village in Yorkshire and you spend your evening relaxing on gingham print cushions, drinking raspberry lemonade and doing crafts you flippin can. 

Which is in part how I ended up at Homemade London making my own stamped notebook. As I've mentioned before, I bloomin love an "experience" birthday present (because then the giver and receiver both get a treat), and my friend Lynsey bloomin loves crafts (well quite likes them) so for her birthday present I booked us on to one of Homemade London's "Mystery Craft Workshops". Lynsey and I first became friends when she joined my school in year 3 as the new girl. And cos she was the cool new girl I obviously wanted her to be my new best friend. Which she became, and now 19 years later, we spent yet another weeknight evening together drinking lemonade and making stuff, which hasn't been a very regular occurence since we turned 11 really. We then went and had Arancini and £8 glasses of red wine afterwards at Vinoteca next door, which we definitely wouldn't have done aged 7, but that is all part of the fun of being 26.

I was a bit annoying on the day Lynsey and I went to Homemade London, as I had woken up in a bit of an anxious mood which only got worse as the day went on, so poor Lynsey had to swap her birthday present for a 2 hour counselling session. Having said that, as anxious as I was feeling, sitting in Homemade London's gorgeous and quaint white interior making my own notebook, it was hard to feel stressed. 

I chose the Mystery Craft Workshop, mainly because I am cheap and it was a lot less than the other craft workshops. Also, having not tried Homemade before, I didn't want to sink £100+ into an evening for Lynsey and I not knowing how good it would be. Having done the Mystery Craft Workshop, I think I was right to go for it first and it is excellent value for money - £12 per person for an hour of craft class, where you are making something you can use or keep and all equipment provided. With unlimited raspberry lemonade too to further sweeten the deal. (Get it? Sweeten the deal! Sorry).

However, I was really convinced by Homemade London and I would like to try another class - very tempted to drink prosecco and make my own Bauble (£30+ per person, 2 hours long) or go for afternoon tea and make my own perfume (£60 per person, 2 hours). They've also got more classic craft options - a complete guide to sewing machines (£125, 7 hours) or paper cutting (£30+, 2.5 hours).

Our notebook making class involved folding paper, sewing it to make it into a notebook and then making our own stamp out of a craft knife, sticky back foam and cardboard. Lynsey made a lovely vintage plane looking stamp and placed it on her neatly sewn notebook, to give to her boyfriend Harvey to take with him on his travels, and took the full hour making it perfect. I, not the natural crafty person, as you might have been able to tell by my Victorian butterfly collection post, took 20 minutes to complete my slightly shabby notebook, which I offered up to Will but he declined, sort of politely. I didn't really think about where to place the stamp, and as such I've had to make my notebook a bit of a funny shape, but in my opinion there are just not enough squarish notebooks in the world so hey.

Book mystery craft workshops, Baubles and Bubbles, Perfume making and lots of other classes here.

Do you like crafts and things? Then you might enjoy "Loner: Craftiness - Make a little twist on Victorian Butterfly Collections you can hang in your home"


I was too weird and anxious to take many good photos that day, woopsy daisy, so I nicked the one that wasn't of my hands and that notebook from homemade.com

Lover: Mishkin's Covent Garden - they have 3 different macaroni cheeses on the menu

I've realised that this is my third "lover" post, and so far all I have talked about is food Will and I have eaten together. In my defence, eating food is one of mine and Will's favourite pastimes, especially cheese and carbs (did I mention they have loads of both at Mishkin's) but nonetheless I promise my fourth lover post is not food focussed...

Mishkin's in Covent Garden for me is a great date restaurant, it's relaxed, whilst still feeling special and it ticks of loads of boxes for both me (or you) and Will (or your boyfriend). Assuming you and I are alike.

These are the 19 things I want in any restaurant where I am a "patron", which I presume you probably do too:

1. Somewhere understated enough to feel like I've discovered a hidden gem, yet somewhere also chic enough that I could imagine it being featured in Stylist
2. Aesop or cowshed soap in the bathroom. And hand moisturiser.
3. Exposed brickwork or some nice wallpaper maybe.
4. An extensive cocktail menu - we're talking gin cherry sours and lavendar rose martinis, not woo woos and sex on the beach
5. Enviable crockery and cutlery - maybe mismatched cutesy designs, or maybe just some massive white plates that would never fit in our cupboards so it is a treat to eat off.
6. Candles
7. Quirky lampshades, ideally some fairy lights, somewhere or those cool copper lights hanging from the ceiling. But on only very dimmly so our faces look their prettiest.
8.. At least 40 gins on their drinks menu. Sourced locally.
9. Prosecco for under £30. Extra points for under £20.
10. Carbs
11. Cheese
12. Salads that are both carbs and cheese heavy, so we can convince ourselves we are being healthy and put that our dinner was a 400 calories salad into "My Fitness Pal" when really, we just ate a lot of carbs and cheese with a bit of rocket on the side.
13. A menu suggesting you should have an after dinner cocktail - acknowledgement that is a thing. "A digestif"
14. A menu suggesting you should have a pre-dinner cocktail - acknowledgement that is a thing. "An aperitif"
15. A dessert menu of stuff we couldn't just buy in tesco
16. Booths. Or if not booths some pretty chairs.
17. "Small plates"
18. "Big plates"
19. Tap water infused with lemon or cucumber or some sort of herb or something.


Will (and I assume all boys) want

1. Beer on tap
2. Some sort of red meat ideally in burger or steak format

Possibly no restaurant can tick every box for me, though Mishkin's did come pretty close. An excellent cocktail list (I had the gin cherry sour, yummy yet wonderfully strong), loads of different gins, excellent lampshades, lemon infused tap water, fabulous crockery. They didn't have Aesop soap, but extra points go to making a soap on a rope classy:

I am so happy in the bathroom for some reason

And maybe best of all: the cheese. The carbs. Did I mention they have 3 different types of macaroni cheese? (A classic plain cheese, one with Colman's mustard and salt beef, and one with spring vegetables in for those healthnuts out there).

They also have absolutely terrific deli sandwiches, that actually really reminded me of that time I went to New York with my parents and we went to the deli where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in Harry met Sally, but with more exposed brickwork and candlelight. Uncomfortable to have the word "orgasm" and "parents" in the same sentence. 

For Will, they had both burgers and beer on tap (Camden Hell's Lager and Pale ale), though in the end he went with a sandwich as they were so damn good.

Hello lamps. Hello exposed brickwork.

I ate:
A small classic macaroni cheese and half a reuben on rye - pastrami, sauerkraut, swiss cheese, gherkins. I drank gin cherry sours and camden pale ale.

Will ate:
A small colman's salt beef macaroni cheese and a whole smoked salmon cream cheese bagel, with hard boiled egg on the side. And the cheesecake of the day, which had fresh strawberries in it. He drank old fashioneds.

So how much will it cost for 2?

Oh and prosecco is £30 a bottle. Plus they have carafes! (Of prosecco and wines. So you can do that thing where you order a carafe and are all like "oh yes cos my boyfriend will have one after his beer." And then drink it all.")

To book Mishkin's call 020 7240 2078. Their website is here. I think it would make a great pre or post-theatre meal, if you are in that part of town to see a show.

Do you like carbs and candlelight? If so you might enjoy Lover: Pizza at Story Deli

Copyrights: I obviously didn't take that photo at the top, it is too good. It is from Mishkin's website.

Loner: Craftiness - Make a little twist on Victorian butterfly collections you can hang in your home

So I've just realised a little too late that some of the things I do in this post accidentally breaks the laws of several countries. Woopsy daisy. The day I get thrown in a Vietnamese prison for my first arts and crafts blog post is a bad one. A good day, however was the one on which I moved in with my boyfriend Will, a little over six months ago now. Partly, because I was moving in with my favourite boy under 57 (haven't forgotten you Dad) who isn't a cat (or you either Leo, my cat who totally can read hence why I put this in) and partly because I came armed with freshly made Beyonce artwork to hang on our wall. I am sure Will would agree that artwork really added to his move-in experience too, and even today as that lovely homemade Beyonce crafts hangs above the TV in his lounge it makes his day a better one...

A few weekends ago I finally completed the trio of my butterfly collection artwork, so I thought I'd take a few photos and show you how I, without many a craft bone in my body, produced something my boyfriend actually allows me to hang in the house (cos it is good enough) and people sometimes even compliment on.

For my butterfly projects I ended up using:

1. Printed off half photo/half maps of all the places in the world Will and I had been together (I'm adorable)










2. Travel money, and then when I realised that was illegal, google images of travel money, from all the countries I visited when I went off for a post uni travelling trip in 2010 and I found in my old money belt. Yeah that's right I went travelling with a nude money belt my Grandma bought me. Safety first.

3. Google images of Beyonce's album covers. I am sorry but that Bey has released 9 studio albums to date (including her Destiny's Child ones, not including 8 days of Christmas, though, that is a great modern RnB Christmas record) and that this DIY project fits 9 butterflies in one frame is just a sign that she should have been a subject of one.

So what will you need for this easy peasy lemon squeezy DIY project?

1. Sewing pins
2. Blue tac
3. Pritt stick
4. Scissors
5. A pencil
6. A "choc box" frame - you can get any one, and to be honest any size just means you can have more or less or bigger or smaller butterflies.  Just make sure it is a box frame so there is space between where the picture lies and the glass of the frame. My ones cost six quid and are from Cargo and measure 20 x 25 cm. They come in a variety of colours and you can buy them here
7. Depending on how arty you are - a piece of paper to draw a lovely butterfly on, or if you are less arty like me - a computer, printer and google to find a stencil of a butterfly
8. And again, depending on how arty you are, how willing you are to maybe go to prison in one of your previous holidaying spots, depending on what you want to make - you will again either need to rely on google, a computer and a printer or you could use some travel money, magazines, sweets wrappers, whatever you have lying around really...the possibilities are endless. Read the rest of this post and then have a think about what you would like to immortalise as a butterfly. Probably it will be Beyonce for you too, but I guess you might have other thoughts.
9. A cup of tea or maybe even a glass of wine. Or a gin and tonic. This is thirsty work.
10. 60 minutes of spare time. Tops. (Ok maybe a little bit more depending on how many gin and tonics you are drinking as you work).

Step 1 - Get your butterfly template ready

If you are a better artist than me, then you could draw a butterfly yourself. But if you are more like me, or just lazy then google "butterfly template" I went with this design as I figured it was detailed enough that it would make my butterfly collections look fancier, but not so difficult that I would have trouble cutting out the butterflies later. My butterflies measured about 6 x 6cm (at the longest and widest points) so I printed off my template at this size but do not get your knickers in a twist about this. Depends how many butterflies you want in your frame (big ones will be easier to cut and less time consuming, but might not look as good, little ones will be very fiddly and it could be hard to show the detail in the cuttings), but even if you want them similar sizes to mine don't worry about getting the measurement exact, just use your eye to decipher how many could comfortably fit on the choco block frame.

Once you've printed out or drawn your butterfly, you want to cut it out so you've got a template for later.

Step 2 - Get your subject matter ready

As I said earlier, you could choose whatever you want as your subject matter - maybe don't be me and illegally cut up foreign currency, but there are plenty of things it is legal to cut up. I'm thinking about making my Mum one from red wine bottle labels. You could cut up an old map, a comic book, photographs, chocolate bars...the list is endless. You can also google image anything that you want, which is how I made 2 and a half of my butterfly collections. Depending on how many butterflies you are putting in your frame, depends on how many designs you need. Mine were all groups of 9 butterflies, so 9 designs for each.

If you are google imaging, or if you are using a magazine or something you've already got you need to think about the size of that compared to the butterfly. For Bey's album cover butterflies for instance, I made the album covers the only a little bigger in height and width as the max points of the butterfly, so you would be able to clearly see her face on each one.

Step 3 - Start stencilling and cutting

I guess this could really be step 3 and 4 but I would stencil and cut one butterfly, then move on to stencil and cut the next etc. Just make it easier for you to follow the pencil lines you've just drawn.

To stencil, just place the butterfly on top of your subject matter and draw around it, thinking about the fact that what you can't see (cos the butterfly is covering it) is the bit that will show. I am not a perfectionist, and I was using a very light pencil, so I just placed the butterfly on the same side I was cutting. But if you are a perfectionist, or if you've chosen something very white where any pencil marks might show you might want to flip your subject matter over and stencil on the other side.

Then hand cut each butterfly following the pencil marks you've just made. I wouldn't worry too much about if your butterflies each look a little bit different. Firstly they would be a little like that in nature, and secondly because the designs are so busy and because they will bend and bits of the butterfly will curl up at the next stage it is not going to be too obvious. Unless you really are reckless with the scissors, it would be hard to stop the butterflies looking like they are all pretty much matching.

Then repeat for each butterfly. For my design, you'll need to do this 9 times.


Step 4 - Make the labels

Again, depends what you have access to here, and how arty you are feeling. I just played around with Word, using old looking fonts and text boxes until I had something that looked a little like a mounted butterfly label. I think it makes sense to use a black outer on your white label, so it sticks out against the white background, but you could do whatever you like here.

Your labels imitate how the Victorian butterfly collectors would label each species, but yours can be what your design relates to. For Bey's albums therefore my labels were Destiny's Child, The Writing on the Wall, Survivor, Dangerously in Love and so on. For my money it was each of the countries I'd visited (and then underneath the dollar "Everywhere" as my little joke to myself about how widely US dollars are accepted wherever you are). 

You can play around with these aswell to get the font size that you want. Most of mine are font size 14, with a box closely around them but it depends which font you are using really and the size of your butterflies and frame.

Step 5 - Stick down your labels and think about where to place your butterflies.

Once more, you could probably do this more carefully than I did. I used the white flipside of the piece of paper already in the frame (as it was white and the right size - if you don't have this you could just cut a piece of paper to size) and I just approximated spacing my labels out evenly, remembering to leave no gap at the bottom (as the butterflies will go above not underneath them) and a butterfly sized gap above the top label. You could get a measuring ruler and think about this more carefully, but when you have decided on placement you can just stick them down with pritt stick.

Step 6 - Add blue tac and stick down your butterflies

By using blue tac instead of glue to stick your butterflies down it means they get that nice 3D effect, and start to look more like butterflies as different pieces of paper curl up at the edges and sit in different ways. It also gives you something easy to stick the pins in at step 7. 

Place the blue tac above your labels, in the centre, so that you can stick the centre of your butterfly to the blue tac. For mine, the blue tac is placed about 2cm higher, but again depends on the size of your butterflies, how many there are, your frame etc. 


You don't want to make your pieces of blue tac massive, but you want to make them round and big enough that your butterflies are actually going to look 3D when placed on top. I used a blob of about this size.

Then place your butterflies on top, pressing down on the centre point to make them secure.

Step 7 - Add the sewing pins

So I am not quite sure how Victorian butterfly collectors hung up their butterflies. Probs without blue tac. To be honest it was mostly likely with pins alone and they had a thicker board. You can copy this effect, by just sticking pins in the blue tac. Don't stick the pins straight in from the top so the pin is at a right angle to the frame, as you won't be able to get the glass on top. Go at a slight angle from underneath, so they are visible, but not right up against the glass.

To add insult to injury, not only did I cut up some of these country's currency, I then accidentally stuck pins in the faces of the some of the worlds most amazing and inspirational people, like Gandhi. But in a nice way, making them into butterflies to be on my wall forever! Not in a weird voodoo dolls way.

Step 8 - and you are done!

Pop your work of art in the frame, and hang somewhere lots of people will see it and compliment you on your artistic abilities. 

How much will this cost you? Well I guess it depends on what you've got in the house. If you have to buy a laptop and a printer, then maybe a thousand pounds. That is an expensive hour of crafting. (Or I guess you could always use an internet cafe. Or just cut up a magazine or something). But assuming your house is already stocked with the essentials like pencils, pritt stick, blue tac and a computer, it cost me only the size of my choco box frames:

Like learning something new? Maybe check out one of the Literary Festivals mentioned in Loner: Go to a Literary Festival.