Lately ...

I've been pretty unwell recently hence I've been MIA from the blogging sphere unfortunately (probably something to do with the horrendous hospital rota that I'm on!!!). 

But in-between the fevers and difficulty breathing, I've managed to fit in a few exciting things...

Somehow we managed to bag ourselves some discounted corporate seats and found ourselves right in the middle of the third row of Cats! Massive win!

It didn't stop there either- it was Nicole's last week starring as Grizabella the glamorous cat. 

Schamazing doesn't even begin to describe it!

Delicious local find - The Chocolate Room. A gem of a café/chocolatier in a totally unexpected place. Love it when you stumble across these!

They have TWENTY-THREE ... yup you heard it ... 23 different flavours of hot chocolate! What's not to love about that?!

A reunion at Yalla Yalla. The London home of food from Beirut. 

We ordered here by telling the waitress the few dishes that we didn't want, instead of what we did. And (purposely of course) ended up with our table absolutely brimming with food! 

My idea of heaven (I'm such a glutton!). And I was reminded here that my ENTIRE instagram feed is of food so I was prohibited from taking more photos of it!

Home made chocolate mousse!

Looks impressive, but actually this was the easiest thing I've ever made and only took about 5-10mins of prep time!

Love it when you can pretend you're a domestic goddess but in fact it was just so easy it really can't count!

Beautiful dried apricots and kiwi from Athens, sent over to cheer me up when I was really poorly.

Who doesn't love healthy treats that taste so good?!

Another reunion with my university housemates and best friends at my favourite restaurant in town ... Yauatcha! 

These are some of my favourite people in the world but unfortunately we all live so far apart now we really don't get to spend that much time together. It's a bit different from uni where we were in each other's pockets! But we have that kind of friendship where even when you meet up again it's like you saw each other the day before! Kindred spirits I think.

And then last night's dinner at the delicious Chotto Matte in Soho. Scrummy combo of Peruvian and Japanese flavours! Plus we chose to sit at the bar, and the chefs were so sweet putting up with all our questions and interest in the beautiful dishes they were preparing right before our eyes! 

I'm sure you've been having lots of fun recently too, and I hope you've done it without any illness! Please share any tips for any new/exciting things to check out in the comments section below - am always on the look out for new experiences. 

Thank you xx

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'Tis The Season To Be Jolly

With the new year well and truly kicking in - Happy New Year everyone!! - I had a look through some of my iPhone pics over the Festive Period. 

There are some great ones so I thought I'd share them with you.

So lets start with Christmas Eve...

We were planning on visiting the Christmas Markets there and saw a crowd collecting in the Southbank Centre around lunchtime - and what a treat we found ...

A live band and lots of dancing!

The atmosphere was buzzing and full of Christmas cheer, and the Clore Ballroom was filled with people jiving away.

There was twirling...

... and more twirling...

... and everyone was boogie-ing away - dance partner or no dance partner!

After the dancing came to a close, we ventured out into the cold - and I got to wear my new jacket! The only thing in my wardrobe with sleeves big enough to fit my cosy cape jumper underneath.

We headed into the markets and delved into the tasty snacks on offer.

Unfortunately, as you can expect with British weather, the skies turned gloomy and started to grumble so we made our hasty escape back onto the tube and back into the warmth and safety of our homes.

Which were totally spruced up and glowing in the run up to Christmas Day itself!

My sister and I had been busy decorating our tree the day before. We covered it in all sorts of baubles, crystal ice drops and throwbacks to our childhood with rocking chairs and christmas stockings. 

Swarovski's 1992 christmas snowflake ornament of course made the cut.

As did these cute little Russian dolls which made the journey from Moscow itself.

And not forgetting Mr and Mrs Claus - they had pride of place at the front of our tree.

Then came the big day itself!

We donned our Christmas jumpers and tucked into a huge feast ... followed by an obligatory post-meal snooze!

Hope you all had a lovely break over the festive period and a happy New Year.

Here's to an even better 2015 and thanks for reading!

Outfit:

Coat: H&M (here)

Jumper: Massimo Dutti (old but similar here and on sale!)

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DIY Christmas Table Toppers

It's been my first day off in a while, let alone a whole week off! 

But clearly I don't know how to sit still and relax, because this morning I was getting all arts and crafty!

Out came the trusty PVA glue and some sparkly stars, and there I was channelling my inner Martha Stewart whilst singing along to some cheesy Christmas tunes!

So to make these glorious (yet very simple) and I think expensive looking (but very cheap) Christmas table toppers, then this is all you'll need: string, a polystyrene cone, scissors, cling-film, glue and something to decorate it with e.g. sequins.

One: wrap your cone mould in cling-film.

Two: dipping your string in the glue as you go, start wrapping the string around your cone.

Keep going round and round and round until you're happy with how much you've covered the cone.

Three: let it dry (it may take a few hours). 

Four: when its finally not sticking to your fingers, slide the cling-film layer off the cone (this bit is a little tricky - I mean its in the name right - cling film is meant to cling) and then pull it away from the inside of your string tree.

You could stop here if you wanted - its pretty striking as it is.

Five: but, if you're like me and can't resist a bit of sparkle, then start decorating with your sequins/beads/stickers etc.

Finally find it a place on your table, and light a little tea-light underneath (NB beware of the fire hazard!) and see the glow peaking out from between the gaps in the string.

Beautiful isn't it?!

So easy to make, but I think it looks far more impressive!

You can go wild and be as creative as you want with this simple idea - try using brown or white string, or spray painting it silver, or using tinsel or glitter to decorate it instead. I'd love to see your versions if you try this out! 

Happy Crafting and Merry Christmas!

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Sticks 'n' Sushi

Is it tempting fate if you book a celebratory surprise for someone before they've even set their exam?

Probably...

But is it still tempting fate if you are 100% sure they'll pass because they're just that smart?

It probably still is!...

But it didn't matter though, as clearly fate was being kind to us ... not only did Mr ZeroDays pass his exam with flying colours, but we also had a lovely celebration too.

We started off singing, clapping and dancing along to some of MJ's greatest hits at the Thriller Live matinee!

I mean, this was some seriously good stuff! And who doesn't love MJ? 

I know I'm a HUGE fan, and an afternoon of singing and dancing along to all the big hits (my fave's are Smooth Criminal, and The Way You Make Me Feel) set me up for an even more awesome evening...

This time it was my turn to do a day of surprises!

And after our thrilling afternoon at the Lyric Theatre, I'd arranged a surprise dinner over at Sticks 'n' Sushi in Covent Garden.

We started off with a toast to Mr ZeroDays' recent exam success, with champagne on the house thanks to the lovely guys at Sticks 'n' Sushi!

And then we got stuck into the menus!

There is just simply an insane amount of choice.

And it didn't help that those bubbles went straight to my head!

With the help of our excellent and very attentive waiter, I eventually settled on a chef's choice called the "Green Keeper".

And Mr ZeroDays had some Maki rolls and Salmon Miso Soup so he didn't feel left out while my sushi portion came to the table!

So that BIG colourful plate was all mine! 

Let me just repeat that for you ... ALL MINE!

*Cue clapping and happy dancing (on the inside of course!).*

The first portion of the Green Keeper includes a selection of nigiri, including grilled tomato, tamari tofu and avocado; alongside yasai sticks with seeds and a miso dip; and then the showstopper green daikon.

I'd never eaten, let alone heard of a green daikon before. And it was delicious!

Crunchy, fresh, bite-size rolls of "wake you up" goodness!

They're a combination of avocado, mustard cress and cucumber rolled up in finely sliced radish, topped with a wafu shaishoku dressing.

Loved it. End of.

But my meal didn't stop there! I promise you the Green Keeper is not for the faint hearted or those with eensie weensie appetites, no siree. (Basically you cannot be afraid to eat your dinner partner in an eating competition. I'm definitely not afraid.)

So out came an equally large plate. 

This time with 2 yakitori skewers - 1 mixed yasai veggies and a second glorious king oyster mushroom stick. 

And not forgetting the finger licking-ly scrummy grilled corn in soy and miso herb butter - like a ridiculously pimped up garlic butter, and lastly (but by no means least) edamame beans in soy, ginger and garlic.

When something comes out named KING oyster mushroom, you expect it to be good - I mean the word King just demands respect, right? Definitely right! I just didn't expect it to be so sweet, sticky, salty, tangy, tender, delicious ... too many adjectives to describe just how tasty this was!

Whilst I was indulging on one side of the table, Mr ZeroDays was trying to battle his way through an array of different sticks, aptly entitled "Man Food". (He also had the extra add on - ? making Super Man Food?!!)

So from top to bottom: sasami chilli, goat'cheese wrapped in dried ham, lamb chop (instead of the beef), pork and basil and chicken tsukune.

The super add ons, were an emmentaler bacon stick (which was hoovered up before I could snap away) and his favourite one of all - panko breaded duck with wasabi caesar dressing.

In between the mmmms and the satisfied grunts that seemed to escape periodically from Mr ZeroDays, the coherent comments that I got were - the duck was amazing, the lamb chop was great, the pork so-so, chicken = good, and goats cheese is too strong for delicate Mr ZeroDays.

Clearly I wasn't thinking very clearly, as I decided that Mr ZeroDays was not coherent enough, and to assist him down the path of confusion, we ordered some cocktails.

Rum and passionfruit for me, and gin and something for him. 

Then came desert. 

Now I always love this part of a meal. 

But this was even better. 

As its like playing a game of ip dip do - you can just point at a whole load of different little deserts on the menu and out come a personalised selection.

(We had 4!)

Coconut cake, followed by Dark chocolate fondant, followed by crumble with yuzu curd and meringue (like a super lemon meringue pie).

And after that, (somehow we still had space!) marcel chocolate cake with crystallized white chocolate and lace thin caramel on top. Essentially a luxury chocolate brownie/fudge/ganache mouthful.

All in all, we had a great night with great food, great drinks and really great service. Cannot recommend this place enough to you guys reading this.

Happy eating!

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