SUMMARY: MY WEEK IN PICTURES

...And quite a lot of words!

So it's another week that's flown by. Unfortunately still hacking away at work...must be all the germs and viruses I've been exposed to. 

I've been good this week and managed to get myself into gym 3 times this week - having to endure the manic rush on the underground during peak hour just to get to gym! 

Dedication, no?

Attempted another Balates class at gym this week, with the hope that it would be better than the last one I attended. Ended up having to put up with relentless jumping about and doing ridiculous moves which had no relation whatsoever to ballet...

The teacher must have seen me and my cousin sniggering in the back and called us to the front to dance! Despite the strange choreography, I'm pretty sure I still managed to make it look good. Ignoring the disaster that was unfolding behind me.

I can be shy at many things...but dance is definitely my forte and something that I'm not afraid to show-off! Ha x

I had another Friday evening off and grabbed the chance to meet up with my boy Wai Kit before he flies off again!

 Trying to find a place for dinner on a Saturday evening without a reservation is never a good idea. We ended up in Ducksoup on Dean Street where we managed to get a tiny cramped-up table by the door.

Having another coughing attack and desperate for a glass of water, I didn't really pay much attention to the hand-scrawled menus and just went with whatever was near the top of the menu. 
This is basically what their typical menu looks like...

We ordered a couple of small plates to share - a duck egg, which was served still in its shell with some mayonnaise and salt on the side, and a dish of buffalo ricotta with anchovy.

For our mains we both ordered the Pan-fried duck breast - basically slices of duck meat served on a plate seasoned with blood orange and anise, still pretty rare judging from the pinkness. It didn't come with any sides so we ordered a small plate of veg (monksbeard?).

Not quite satisfied with the meal and still quite hungry, we headed out in search for some sushi. 
After going round in circles we ended up in the not-so-authentic-but-most-convenient sushi place...Yo Sushi. Just because we were too cold and tired.
 
Stuffed silly, we headed on to our last and final stop - Carluccio's for a drink and some dessert. 

 



This is like our third time at this place due to the convenient location, it's kind of become our regular hang-out spot for a quick snack.  

On Saturday, I met up with Stacey and the gang at The Breakfast Club in Hoxton for brunch. 
One of the places that I've always wanted to try out but couldn't be bothered to stand in the queue for!
Stacey turned up nice and early and managed to grabbed us a table before the ridiculous queue formed outside.

Flat white

Pancakes with berries! mmm...

 Delicious comfort food always makes me smile :)

We then headed back to Stacey's to chill out and play some games - played some pool, card games and the awesome Wits and Wagers board game. 

Having a quiet Saturday night in, Ive decided to start packing my luggage! One more week eeek...! I am one excited bunny.

Time to get cracking on some CPD! 

Hope everyone else is having a great weekend despite the freezing cold outside.

 

GIRLY DAY OUT: JAMIE OLIVER'S + CARLUCCIO'S

As the temperature continues to drop, it's always best to layer up! 
Single digit temperatures already, oh dear...

Here's today's outfit:

Met up with Stacey for some morning coffee at Costa and started to read Reflected In You by Sylvia Day, the second book in the Crossfire series that just came out a couple of days ago - back to some sexy reading!

We then both met up with the lovely Theodora and made our way to Jamie Oliver's - a place that I've avoided for quite a while due to some mixed reviews, but thought I'd try it out anyway to find out for myself!
We did have to wait for (over) half an hour, during which we were given a beeper that buzzed to tell us when out table was ready. 

I ordered the Black Angel Spaghetti, Stacey had the Start Bay Crab Risotto, and Dora had the Baked Shetland Salmon. We also ordered a couple of starters to share - Sweet Mini Chilli Peppers and Crispy Squid.
And not forgetting to order most importantly...a bottle of wine x
They had run out of house wine (!!!) so we settled for a cheaper alternative.

Cheers x

Crispy squid

Sweet mini chilli peppers

We were sat near the entrance so it was quite chilly, but warmed up after we started eating. I did like the starters - the squid was nice and crisp which went well with the garlicky mayo, lemon and chilli, and the mini chilli peppers were quite cute, though it would have been better if they were spicier! 

The squid ink pasta was good but I felt the portion of scallops was pretty pathetic - it looked like only one or two scallops were used which were thinly sliced. Tasty sauce, but so stingy with the ingredients - shame.

The waitress that served us seemed quite abrupt and not-as-friendly when taking our orders. And when asking her to split the bill she made some sarcastic remark like 'Oh, you did not divide it yourselves and would like me to do it?' - excuse me lady is that not part of your job (?!)

Nonetheless, we left some tips anyway - because we're such nice people haha.

We didn't stay on for dessert but instead went shopping round town - amazingly I did not buy anything today!

Ended up at Carluccio's at St Christopher's Place for some sweeties... 

Moscato d'Asti mmm...

Torta di frutta

Formaggio

Meringa con panna al frutta della passione

I had the fruit tart which was ok, but nothing special. I LOVED the Moscato d'Asti - I think I'm becoming quite an alcoholic these days ha x
And not forgetting to mention that the staff here were SO much friendlier.

It's been an awesome day with the girls, and now spending some quality time at home with...x 

My tummy has been having a good time today, though I'm not too sure about my hips...and bum!

SO glad it's not snowing with hailstones in London.

Oh how I miss the north...NOT!

Have a good night everyone x