Chapter
Jun 11 2015
I can’t believe it, but I hadn’t been to London since September. This weekend, Monkey and I were in town for the wedding of the lady who is now called Sarah Starrs – it was so special to be a part of their Teeny Wedding Chronicles! When the festivities were over, the improvised adventures began.
12:00 Monkey and I meandered south to London Bridge, stopping in Rabot for a leisurely chocolatey breakfast. They do the raw chocolate for Hotel Chocolat, and their London café is as sweet as their chocolate scones. We sat for a while, reading and sipping hot chocolate.
14:30 After a quick, sunny walk around the Borough Market area, we hopped on the Tube to Leicester Square. As we headed for Foyles, a most fantastic and massive bookstore, we both got a bit hungry, so we veered off towards Seven Dials, where I introduced Monkey to Homeslice, my favourite pizza place in London. It happens to be in Neal’s Yard, which was a lovely memory of where I first met the very Sarah in question!
16:00 All pizza’d up, before we knew it, it was time for Monkey to catch his train home, so to Kings Cross we went, making an obligatory stop at the Harry Potter shop. After I’d given up on my search, I found that they now produce official house coasters, so Gryffindor and Hufflepuff ones were purchased for our bedside tables of course.
17:00 I was tempted to go back to the hotel and crash, but Monkey encouraged me to make the most of my time in London, so I hopped back on the train to get my Foyles fix. Their newer location is beautifully spacious, and much neater than their former maze of a layout (although that was part of its iconic charm, of course!). I hiked up to the top and circled my way down, taking the longest time in the stationery section, and picking up a cute birthday card for no one in particular to add to my stash.
17:30 When in London, I always stop at Muji. In fact, I look forward to London trips to go to Muji. Ditto Paris. I stocked up on my favourite pen refills, realized they now do refills for erasable pens too, and decided to try out their correction tape. Oh Muji. So wonderful.
18:00 Back to Hackney for the night, where I planned out my Monday and watched Made in Chelsea to wind down my whirring mind [and see if any gorgeous London locations popped up. They always do.]
9:00 I had planned on jogging around Victoria Park, but woke up feeling groggy, so I abandoned that plan in favor of hunting for green juice in Shoreditch. My wish was granted at O Food in Spitalfields Market. Sipping my kale [and other green stuff. But I saw ‘kale’ and was like, yeah this is probably the healthy one], I could feel my vision getting sharper. Always the best.
10:00 A quick stop in Inspitalfields, another birthday card to add to the collection [Most of my friends are Tauruses, so my stock is running low!], and then I popped in my earbuds and finally finished listening to the marathon of RHAP episodes that piled up at the end of the season.
11:30 During my Sunday night planning session, I booked a pedicure treatment at The Painted Lady. I’ve only had two pedicures ever, but after all that walking around the city and standing on the Tube, my feet were begging me, so I gave in. Hayley was really lovely, my feet were restored, and I caught up on my British Vogue. Win win win.
13:00 Making my way down Redchurch, which is becoming one of my favourite London streets, I grabbed a yummy lunch at Albion, and got some work done on my computer before relocating to Cream, a new find on New Inn Yard. In between bites of toasted banana bread (YUM) and sips of flat white (my new drink of choice), I drafted this post!
15:00 En route to Old Street Station, I discovered a lovely little shop called Material. I saw their wall of Wallpaper* City Guides and knew I was at home.
16:00 It was a nice day, so I took a stroll around Covent Garden, stopping at the Disney Store just to browse. Oh my Tsumtsums.
16:40 Back to Foyles to do some typing in their café. Sampled the seasonal soda – Rhubarb – handmade in Hackney. Unexpectedly delicious.
19:00 Off to the Phoenix Theatre across the street for Bend it Like Beckham the Musical with Caz! A mini FabulosiTEA reunion, and seeing Jamie Campbell Bower in person! So much fun. We ended the evening in a tapas restaurant, nibbling, giggling, and scheming(yes, season 2 is in the works…shhh…) the night away!
Finally, what do you think of this old school time-stamped Mini Adventures post? It’s been a while since I’ve done one!
