Sunny Saturday

Oh, today really couldn't come soon enough! I've had a headache for the last 3 days in a row and it was only the thought of Saturday that got me through the end of the week.

Thank goodness for lazy Saturday mornings to make everything feel better! The sun was streaming in through the blinds and, with a new jar of blackberry and apple jam sitting in the fridge, we decided to make some small pancakes accompanied by jam and crème fraiche. I say 'we'...I sat at the kitchen table and painted my nails in a beautiful shade of lilac ('lilacism' by Essie if you're wondering) that I've been saving for the first properly sunny weekend of the year, and my lovely mister made a delicious brunch for us both. Bliss!

We then jumped on the train and headed over to the Science Museum to see the 'Only in England' photography exhibition, which is a show devoted to the work of Tony Ray-Jones and Martin Parr. Tony Ray-Jones (who sadly died at the far too young age of 30) spent the 1950s and 1960s travelling around England documenting English culture and what he saw as a disappearing way of life. His work was a great inspiration to Martin Parr, who selected a variety of the images on display from a selection of negatives stored in the National Media Museum's archives. The exhibition also includes Martin Parr's 1960s and 1970s' series, 'The Non-Conformists'.

Glyndebourne, 1967 - Tony Ray-Jones

Beautifully composed and observed, often humorous, with intricate little details woven throughout the photographs, the work of both Ray-Jones and Parr shows an England quite different to today but, at the same time, it also appears familiar. £8 is a small price to pay for a truly wonderful exhibition and it closes on 16th March, so do head over to the Science Museum before then if you get the chance.

While in South Kensington, it's very important to make a trip to the Hummingbird Bakery for tea and cake, and for the first time in too long (and surprisingly on a sunny day) there was a free table outside where we could sit and enjoy our cakes in un-rushed peace. We then walked through Kensington Gardens, discussing future plans and potential holiday options, and whiled away a lovely hour or so walking as far as St James' Park. Such a beautiful day!

And Sunny Saturday is due to be followed by an even Sunnier Sunday - long may this weather last! I am a huge fan of cosy scarves and hot drinks, but I'm truly looking forward to being able to wait for my train without having to huddle up in my coat and gloves in the morning.

Pancake Day!

It's Shrove Tuesday, which means...pancakes this evening! I know I can have pancakes all year round but there's something special about this one day of the year, rushing home from work knowing that dinner will be followed by a tasty sweet treat! 

There are heaps of fancy recipes around but my favourite type of pancake is the traditional delicate thin kind. They're so easy to make and we usually follow this recipe, taken from the BBC Good Food website.

To make about 12 pancakes, you will need the following ingredients:

• 100g plain flour
• 2 large eggs
• 300ml milk
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil

Combine the flour, eggs and milk in a large bowl and whisk to a smooth batter. Leave in the fridge to cool for at least 30 minutes.

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Heat some oil in a large frying pan and, when the pan is hot, coat the pan with some of the mixture and cook until golden. The first one always tends to go appallingly but still somehow taste delicious...

Keep them warm in the oven as you go along, otherwise someone's bound to come along and work their way through the pile sitting on the plate!

I like my pancakes with a squeeze of lemon and some sugar, but feel free to go crazy and add some jam or even *gasp* nutella!

Happy Pancake Day all :)

Japan

I lived in Japan for four years after I graduated from university and it already seems like a lifetime ago.

So much has happened since I moved back to London - heaps of different adventures, I've established a new career, met a wonderful chap, moved out and got engaged - and I have no doubt that my time living in Japan contributed to all of those happy events. I was a very shy, passive 21 year old when I left university and was thrown completely out of my comfort zone to live and work in a country where I knew no one, could not read a word of the language and could only say a very tentative (and badly pronounced) 'hello'. I changed so much throughout those four years - I became more confident, interested in different cultures and, oddly, prouder of London while being away from it. You could argue that living anywhere different to where I grew up would have had the same effect on me but that's neither here nor there - Japan was mine, it was my home for four years.

This beautiful video, shared by a friend on Facebook, made me think more about my time in Japan than I have for a few years now. Sure, a lot of the scenes are very 'stereotypically Japan' but, at the same time, these elements are so much a part of Japan that you couldn't not include them. However, it was the little details that touched me so much and brought back so many memories. Taking the local trains to concerts with my friends, watching my students practice tea ceremony, the always awe-inspiring shinkansen, the delicious food and watching out for Mount Fuji because it would signal that I was almost home. 

I find it very difficult, still, to put into words how important my time in Japan and Japan itself is to me. I haven't been back since I moved back to London but I know that when I do return, I'll stop and simply take things in a little more. I want to relish the details, the moments that resonated so strongly with me when watching this video.

But until I do go back, I'll enjoy living vicariously through my friends who are lucky enough to be planning trips to this fabulous country and give them a list of about 800 must-dos, must-sees and must-eats! 

And when I do go back, I'm definitely going to see the bathing monkeys in Nagano. I'm still sad that I didn't get round to that during my stay!

Things I love Thursday

This week has been flying by and the mornings are looking decidedly brighter as I leave for work in the morning (at a horrid 6.50am, which is not fun in winter). I think spring is definitely on its way and, if that doesn't cheer you up, here are a few things to put an actual spring in your step on this last Thursday of February.

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Isn't this dress gorgeous? Combine it with a big pair of sunglasses, a straw hat and some cute wedge sandals - summer here I come!

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This is true far too often.

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The fantastic news that the amazing Ripper Street has been saved! The news that the BBC had decided to axe this wonderfully-written and often thought-provoking  depiction of life in the grim East End of Victorian London was met with a lot of outrage, and the online outcry seems to have worked! Apparently, a new series will be funded by Amazon Prime and the new episodes will air through them before being shown on the BBC. (Thank you to Madame Guillotine for the news!)

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Oh I do love Wes Anderson's films! Gorgeously shot, wonderfully (often) bizarre characters, fantastic soundtracks - they're perfect to while away a few hours with a cup of tea and something sweet. I adored his most recent film, Moonrise Kingdom, and I've wanted to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel since the trailer was first released. Will you be making a trip to the cinema for this?

Also...

♥ Rosie's 20 ways to find calm when life is busy. Sometimes we all need a little help to not let things get on top of us...I do like the suggestion of making a good list. (Sometimes I write things on my list that I've already done, just so that I can cross it off straightaway!)

♥ This recipe for Lemon and Poppyseed Cupcakes.

♥ Holiday planning... I'd love to get away for a bit of break in the sun this year and I'm enjoying daydreaming about the various options. Lots of culture, sun (but not too hot!) and somewhere where eating gluten free won't be a nightmare...hmm. Any suggestions would be gratefully received!

Enjoy the countdown to the weekend folks!

Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense - review

Ohhh Saturday night was heaps of fun! It seems like ages ago already (sob!) but it's always wonderful to have lovely memories to look back on. 

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After dinner and coffee and a hair-raising rickshaw ride through London with my Matron of Honour and one of my bridesmaids (another story for another time!) we arrived at the Duke of York's Theatre, and settled into our fabulous seats in the third row of the stalls. 

The premise of the show is that Bertie Wooster is presenting a show in the West End about the recent events surrounding his dispatch to Totleigh Towers by his Aunt Dahlia in order to steal an antique silver cow creamer. Knowing it's Bertie Wooster who's involved, things are not straightforward and he gets into all manner of hilarious scrapes as he tries to please his Aunt, as well as remedy all the other troubles he gets into en route. Who's going to help him get through this unscathed? It has to be Jeeves.

Stephen Mangan is a hilariously goofy Bertie Wooster, stumbling from scrape to scrape with an enormous grin and a fabulously infectious laugh. I particularly loved the beginning of the second act, when the curtain rises to Bertie lying in the path playing happily with a rubber duck.

The wonderful Matthew Macfadyen is the fabulously stiff upper-lipped Jeeves, who saves the day and doesn't break a sweat while tying Bertie's bow tie and ensuring he's always immaculately dressed at the same time. He also plays a number of other characters as, being a three-man show, Matthew Macfadyen and Mark Hadfield (who plays Sepping the butler) have to fill out the remaining characters. 

The other characters, with names like Stiffy Byng and Gussie Fink-Nottle, are characterised by ludicrous wigs, glasses and, in one case, an ever-increasing fascist mac. Fantastic props, a clever set design, absolutely delicious language (the mac-wearer is described at one point as having "the sort of eye that can open an oyster at 60 paces") and filled with lashings of slapstick comedy. At one point, Macfadyen has to play two characters at the same time with uproarious results. 

The cast bounced their way through the entire play, with so much energy, and the time flew by. I would love to go again and if you get the chance to watch it, you really must go!