See You The Other Side

Let Loose at the Zoo

Who’d have thought a trip to the zoo (at this age!) could be so much fun? Top it off with a hearty home-made meal at their cafe (yes, we sniffed out the chocolate fudge cake), some fun on an empty merry-go-round and a race up to the top of Primrose Hill... and you know you’ve had a good day (the picture of Primrose Hill isn’t taken by me - my battery had long run out). We wound up with dinner at a small Italian Cafe in Camden called Goodfare; quaint and cute, a far cry from the normal Italian chains we frequent. I’m loving the boyfriend being on holiday - it’s his birthday tomorrow and I have some nice surprises lined up for the next two days...so let’s see how they go down. Happy Thursday to you all.

xxx

Review: A Taste of Taco Bell

If you've ever been to the States, you'll know what I'm talking about. Fast food à la Mexicain?! Why the HELL has England not caught on? Yeah we have Chiquito's; tasty tequilas, cheesy chimichangas…but how long does it take them to bang out a burrito? Not two minutes, I can tell you that. Taco Bell has to be waaaaay up there on my list of American loves (close contenders would be Hershey's kisses, New York style Pizza and Chips Ahoy chewy choc-chip cookies) so you can imagine my excitement when a friend told me they'd opened a restaurant here in the UK…. albeit some 50 miles away.

Taking FULL advantage of a boyfriend on leave, off we sped round the M25 to Lakeside shopping centre in Thurrock purely for the thrill of a 99p taco and 7-layer burrito (yes, I've got the good life). And boy was it worth every single one of those 50 miles; fast food, yet so spicy, so fresh and not all that unhealthy (hey, count out the chips and the burrito is actually not half bad!). The best thing of all? Its location slap bang in the middle of an American-style food court housing everything from Spanish to Sushi, from Burger King to Bella Italia and from KFC to Krispy Kreme's. So when he decided he'd rather have cookie dough than churros for dessert… guess what he found? Exactly that.

xxxx

For more information, visit the Lakeside Shopping Centre Website; if you're a foodie like me, this place is well worth a visit.

To Eat, To Try, To See

Have you ever had one of those near-perfect days, a day that you wish never had to end? When everything goes right, the weather's good and your worries sort of melt away? It's been a string of those, very much needed following a hellish week. The boyfriend's on holiday and we've been all but gallivanting up and down the country. And so the plan remains for the rest of the week, what with his birthday on Friday and this unreasonably good spell of weather (though I think I might have spoken to soon - it looks kind of grey outside). So here is this week's 'To Eat, To Try (slightly different, I know!), To See':

To Eat: If you read here regularly, you might have realised that both the boyfriend and I are total Italian food fiends. Whilst I'm quite adventurous with my food I confess, hands down, that a good cannelloni is the best money I can spend. Cheesy, creamy, bubbling… oooooh what's not to like? Coupled with the fact that we resolved to reduce our 'eating out' expenditure, when we do go out, you'll be hard pushed to find us eating anything other than Italian. And so we figured it's time to venture out… and try some different Italian joints (what else?!). With Zaza, Strada and Jamie's Italian at the top of our list, we've gotten as far as Zaza so far; dessert aside (yummy warm pecan pie served with vanilla ice-cream), I can't say I was mighty impressed. That pie however….

To Try: If you've ever wandered around any Indian 'hotspots' in London (Wembley, Kingsbury, Southall) you won't be a stranger to the concept of eggless cakes. Speaking as a completely non-discriminatory cake addict (I love cake in every shape and form), I have a VERY weak spot for the eggless cream cakes you find around these ares; the sponge is so light and airy (as compared to the dense richness of say, a chocolate fudge cake) the cream fluffy and the fruit fresh. This one was like heaven in a box.

To See: Camden lock. Sheesha lounge. Hot donuts. Huge market. Enough said. Unfortunately for us, we'd already stuffed our faces full at Pizza Hut so didn't savour anything from the wonderful food stalls. Ah well, any reason to go back.

I'm off for another day's hard gallivanting (and some study too, I hope), so until tomorrow, it's a wrap from me. Have a terrific Tuesday.

xxx

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

As I gorged on this lovely, tangy little lemon meringue cupcake (from Tesco's, sold in a pair, in case you wondered; you'll probably end up eating both in one go), I found my mind wandering back to some long summer afternoons spent lazing by the lake in Garda with my best friend - reading (a book by the same title as this post), swimming, laughing, talking, sharing, eating, healing. A bittersweet longing for time and feelings that have already passed, it struck me as funny how certain tastes, smells, even sounds can take us right back in time - and the taste of lemon cake has forever etched itself in my mind as synonymous with forgiveness.

I've had a peculiar week - lacking, really, in anything blog-worthy. But I'm hoping this week will be filled with a lot more laughter. It's my last week at university and my last few days working for Boots too - time for change. Wishing you all a lovely weekend, make the most of the beaming sunshine.

xxx

To Eat, To Drink, To See

Yes, it's been a while but I'm back. A long-overdue trek to Westfield's in White City has me craving patatas bravas, wanting a tiffany's jewel and of course coveting a Chanel #dreamon. Either way, the inspiration I've been lacking is slowly but surely seeping back into my life. So here's a bit of a picture (/food) diary of my past few days. Starring in the lead roles are Sticky Toffee, Cheese Cake & The Fry Up. Hoping you're all making the most of this drizzly weekend.

To Eat - At the forefront of my mind, at all times, is good dessert. A mediocre main, I can settle for, but get my taste buds tingling with the afters and you've definitely won yourself a loyal customer. Topping my list at the moment is Cafe Rouge, with their rare and rich crème brûlée. As much as I love my chocolate fudge cakes, sometimes a little change doesn't go amiss. And a good crème brûlée is a precious sighting these days; its all about the profiteroles, fudge cakes and cheesecakes. Way to go, Cafe Rouge.

To Drink - A (not so) recent stint at Wagamama's - it's been four weeks now that I think about it! - introduced me to the wonders of plum wine; topped up with sparkling and served on ice, it's sweet, refreshing and of course ever so slightly alcoholic.

To See - With summer fast approaching, days of city-wandering, long balmy nights spent eating and of course holidays spring to mind. Do you ever think 'Oh my gosh, it's been a whole year already since…." and start reminiscing? Sometimes it feels like there's so much to do, so much to see and such little time; so I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of the world this year, starting with Amsterdam in two weeks time. Have you started planning a summer getaway yet?

xxxx

Hiatus

Some days, when all inspiration eludes me, I seriously wonder if I should quit blogging. For want of better terminology, I think I'm suffering a severe bout of blogger's block. I don't know if it's the dread of fast-approaching exams, the preoccupation of fighting to make life what I want it to be or just lack of time that's brought it on; but I feel like I've lost my way.

When I'm really down-and-out though, I quickly realise that I use this blog as my little excuse to seek inspiration. So giving it up would only make a bad situation worse. So bear with me, if you can, and trust that I will be back; I have a city-break (or two) planned for this month, plenty of restaurants I intend to tell you about and the usual rants about life, love and what made me laugh. For now though, pinch punch and all that to you; Happy 1st of March.

xxx

Slightly Distracted

I'm not going to lie - my mind has been on other things. To save you from the generic 'update' post filling you in on the mundane goings on of day-to-day life, I'm going instead to leave you with a sneak peek into what's been on this diary writer's mind. Featuring prominently are; imminent birthday surprises for the other half, longing for another trip to India (chai served in a steel cup brings back a million memories) and, as ever, trailing the best desserts in town. Details to follow. Until then, wishing you the best week possible.

xxx

P.S. In case you were wondering what the good news is…. well I sort of got a new job, pretty quick too. And… I've started hearing back for summer placements too. Fingers crossed.

The Life

Good news- and updates - on the way. Happy Thursday.

xxx

Why Think Twice?

It's funny, sometimes, how we only realise the value of something when we're about to lose it or give it up. I handed in my resignation at work last week, fed up of the repetitive, robotic nature of the task. The six month itch is coming to be a recurrent event in my life. How ironic, then, that the day immediately after I've resigned is my most pleasant shift at work yet; the most challenging, and engaging, requiring more than mindless shelf-filling and customer-serving of me? Oh the irony. But I suppose it's onwards and upwards really - following hundreds of job searches, tens of applications and a fair few responses, I have another offer on the table before I've even left the last; as mum would say, we've one life, so why think twice?

Speaking of giving things up - it's pancake Tuesday tomorrow. What is everyone giving up for Lent?

xxx