SPRING SPRUNG

Well what a lovely weekend! The sun actually came out and shone a little happiness on this dreary little corner of England that I have been occupying recently. It was such a treat.

On Saturday I ventured up to London to meet my friend Kate for a catch up. Kate and I used to go up to London every couple of months when we were about 14, and our day always followed the same schedule. We would get an Emmental Cheese Feuilette and a hot chocolate at Charing Cross station, before hopping on the tube to Knightsbridge for a mooch around Harrods, then we would walk up to Harvey Nic's, down Sloane Street, maybe jump back on the tube to Oxford Street or High Street Kensington, and then we would head home. I did this all on my monthly allowance of £15. Pretty darned impressive when you consider that my train ticket alone cost me £21 this weekend!

Anyway, we kind of started off with the idea that we would try and recreate times gone by, but it didn't work out that way, and it was way more fun, some 13 years later! First we had to make a little detour to East Dulwich where Kate and her boyfriend Ryan wanted to register at some Estate Agents. None of us had ever been to East Dulwich before but we all unanimously agreed that we liked it. It has a nice villagey feel to it, and is only a 15 minute train ride from London Bridge. After we had gone around a few estate agents we stopped off for a coffee and a bite to eat at a little eatery called Toasted and I think that sealed the deal for them. It was kind of New Yorky with exposed brick walls and served really delicious food (Kate and I split the salt beef sandwich and it was a winner) , and they let Kate & Ryan's little dog Pip come in. Kate and Ryan were sold. 

So we headed off and got the train to Knightsbridge, where Ryan and Pip bade us adieu. We had a brief wander through Harrods, very nearly stopped for a £17.50 glass of champagne in the middle of the women's clothing department before coming to our senses and then headed up the road to Harvey Nichols where we went up to their roof terrace for a cocktail instead. It's cute up there. If you're ever in that part of London and looking for a little roof terrace bar, it's worth a visit. It's a slightly nicer view than sitting in the middle of Harrods, it has some atmosphere, and I'd much rather pay £11 for a cocktail than £17.50 for a glass of champers.

Next we headed to Charing Cross to meet our friend Toni and we all wandered up to Covent Garden for a Shake Shack. I wrote a post back when I first discovered that Shake Shack had come to London, and I've been looking forward to it ever since! 

I got a single Smoke Shack (though I should have asked for lettuce & tomato too), Fries, a shandy (it would seem I was the first person ever to ask for half beer, half lemonade judging by how baffled they were by the request) and a tub of Concrete Jungle for pudding. It didn't disappoint. I literally had to force down the last few spoons of ice cream as I was so full but it was too good to waste. My friend Jen then told me that Five Guys are opening a store at Bluewater soon. Five Guys is a close rival of Shake Shack, and in the interest of fairness, I'll have to try that out as soon as it opens :o) 

After that we had a slow walk back to the station and made our way over to London Bridge, where we hopped in the lift up to floor 32 of The Shard and went for a glass of wine at aquashard. Our friend Lucy met us there and we had a really nice evening. The view from up there is  i n c r e d i b l e. The service, not so much. It was actually some of the worst service I've ever experienced, but hey ho, we still had fun. Photo's really don't do it justice as you just get too much reflection from the glass, so you're going to have to go up there yourself I'm afraid. We were super lucky in that it was one of the clearest days we've had this year so you could literally see for miles. It was a really lovely way to finish our girly day, and definitely something we couldn't have done when we were 14 :o)

Sunday was even more beautiful, weather wise, so me, Beau and my friend Ele spent the day in the sunshine. We had a little picnic and a play at Dunorlan Park in town...

We tried to feed the ducks but they weren't interested, so we fed the fish instead :o)

Then Beau fell asleep when we got home so Eleanor and I decided to make the most of the sun and enjoy a cider on my front step, as my garden was full of shade...

Benefit Street anyone??

The breeze blew the door shut and woke Beau up, but he fell back to sleep in my arms, my favourite thing in the whole wide world

Did I mention that I love that boy??