Working on Monday...a mug's game

As I was recently in Berlin at the film festival over my weekend I took today off in lieu to catch up on some zeds, mooch about and generally make the most of a free Sunday evening not getting the dreaded and oh so familiar 'Sunday night feeling', which for me usually kicks in around 6pm.

This week however Sunday was my Saturday and Monday was to be a lazy Sunday. For this monumental (OK I'm over egging it now) occasion I decided to get out of London. And country air was just bloody brilliant.

We spent most of the day hunting for phantom keys that went missing after everyone came home a little sozzled on Saturday (real Saturday, not my Sunday Saturday...are you keeping up?) however for the more enjoyable part we tootled around my favourite kitchen shop, ate pizza and sunned ourselves in the conservatory (and more digging under sofa cushions, in beds, under stairs, in freezer for keys.)

Lots of Jubilee memorabilia about

Quick hit in Joules...

Why anyone would chose to work Monday's is a mystery. I wonder what will happen first, working Monday's will be abolished or the phantom key thief will reveal itself...

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Bowling Deficiency Part II

So from previously you will know my bowling leaves a lot to be desired. Still not to be deterred I figured practise makes perfect.

It was my first trip to Colchester and admittedly I was disappointed on early surveillance. I was expecting to walk into a scene from Booze Britain, young scantily glad girls possibly in white stilettos teetering about with lager lout blokes chasing them. It was a remarkably normal town with none of the stereotype nonsense...darn it!

Before the dreaded activity of bowling we were going to Noodle Bar, and I had heard good things. I was instantly excited to hear we were just going to order all the starters/sharers. Oh yes. Even though I had a delicious lunch...I was ready for this.

I think of myself as a pretty decent orderer..people often get entree envy when dining with me, but I do stick to certain types of things. Tonight was to be no exception; king prawns, garlic, chili, noodles, line...it was allll sounding so good.

It was delicious. By this stage I was also getting through a fair bit of Sauvignon blanc...I figured it would only help.

The bowl plex was a bit out of town, so off we trooped in cars (cars! Driving in London is so alien...)

On arrival is when we realise it was clearly neon night, or was it always neon? I suspect I will never know! Luckily I'd worn just the socks for the occasion.

Although everyone else did the whole 'oh I'm rubbish can't bowl for toffee nonsense..' someone actually used the phrase 'bowling is my sporting Achilles heel' (the same guy also said 'my body isn't a temple it's a funfair, but that's a whole other story). However all these people were clearly bluffing/being modest/hustling/lying delete as appropriate. I was the only one to actually suck. And honestly I was a little gutted. Not even one half strike to my name. Mostly I was having to be considered lucky if I hit a pin. Even a stint using the special rolling track reserved for children did little to enhance my performance.

The choice of beverage in the establishment was limited...

I may now hang up my bowling shoes. Does anyone else share this absolute inability to roll a ball down a heavily greased alley?

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My New (Old) Blazer

Adding a blazer to any outfit instantly adds a touch of chic. Jeans and a t-shirt can be zhushed up before you can say slim line single breast.

This weekend after travelling exceptionally light I was on a rummage in my Mum's wardrobe (the part that doesn't see daylight) for a coat/jacket/wrap something to keep warm. I found this absolute gem. How I have not discovered it in the previous 26 years is a mystery.

As predicted it turned my jeans and top combo into a winning outfit, and allowed me to say to anyone who would listen 'it has shoulder pads...REAL ONES from the 80s.'

It shall now be entering my wardrobe and become best friend with jeans, casual t-shirts, dresses, trousers, skirts, shirts, sparkly vests...pretty much anything. Such a good colour and well made. It does make you think, I doubt my children will rummage in my closet and pull out a h&m number, even if it is having its day now.

Fantastically fitted and tailored you can practically smell the quality. It's missing a gold button on the right arm, but aside from that you wouldn't know it wasn't brand new. How things come back into fashion.

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BBQ Pulled Pork

So, for some reason unknown to me this post about something as mundane as a sandwich has had a ridiculous number of views in comparison to what I feel are much more interesting posts. However, I should really give the people what they want, and it so happens I had another particularly delicious sandwich this week...

Reading Sticky BBQ pulled pork on a specials blackboard really is something I wish we could see more often. Match it with loads of cheese and some wholemeal bread and you have yourself a party in your mouth at lunchtime.

Unfortunately due to reasons of a) being starving and wolfing it down quicker than you can say oink and b) the pictures coming out so blurry due to the two handed nature of holding the thing I've only managed one picture which I'm sure doesn't do it justice.

Still, here you are...you lucky people. My lunch on Friday from a bakery in a small town in Essex called Halstead. I give you BBQ Pork food porn.

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Champagne Saturdays

Westfield - The Village. A place I like, a lot. Dior, Tiffany, Jimmy Choo the perfect place for a champagne bar. One I have never frequented...until now.

For lunch (before Quaglino's in the evening) we opted for champagne and nibbles. Here is the selection of what we had...delicious.

Macaroons, Champagne Truffles, Mackerel pate, Crayfish tails and lemon mayonnaise and my personal favourite the crab meat. We drank Billecart Salmon Brut and Verve Clicquot.

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Quaglino's

The night after Ciro's was a much more civilised affair - Quagnino's in Mayfair. Their opinion: "From its inception by Giovanni Quaglino in 1929 to its reinvention by Conran in the 1990s, has always been out to impress." High expectations then...

We arrived early and the bar amazingly had seats. Although the table service was a bit slow for us to realise their was table service we grabbed a seat and a glass of champagne.

The view from our seat at the bar

It was hardly 5 minutes later the hostess took us to our table. Unfortunately it wasn't in the best position, if you are going to dine here make sure and ask for a seat in the middle when you phone up (the area you can see above).

The menu however was very exciting. It was really hard to choose between the options in each course.

As I wanted something a little different (for me) I opted for the Steak Tartare. It was delicious. Only problem was I couldn't get any jalapeno Tabasco out...

Veal is something I am not hugely well versed in. I know venison isn't something I'm a fan of however the waitress insisted it was fantastic. Quite frankly I wanted to try it. Boy am I glad I did.

It was delicious. Tender, flavoursome, seared perfectly on the inside and served perfectly with mash that literally had the smallest little crisp when you touched it into soft mushy butteriness. The tender stem broccoli was al dente and divine. Totally made up for our position out of the action...which you can see below.



Often having time for desert, and still on a mission to find the worlds best crème brûlée I opted for this. Unfortunately it didn't live up to the first two courses. The berry pavlova however looked delicious...

A good evening, tucked away location just off Green Park - seriously no pun intended. Try the veal...

Atmosphere: 3/5 (we were in the corner)
Food: 4.5/5 (0.5 point deducted for the crème brûlée)
Drink: 4/5
Overall: 4/5

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Not that Pinterested

Pintrest has been gaining a lot of attention over the last couple of months - being tipped as the next big social media platform. Personally while I can see the appeal of browsing others boards, I just have no idea when people have time to fill the boards.

Lets face it, you don't come across pictures of gorgeous dinner party ideas, cute animals or idyllic beach scenes in your everyday working life. You go browsing for those pictures. Just when do people have time?

Pinterest can be a great thing - but there are debates around who owns the images, who gets credit and sites who sell images may be a little bit shaking in their boots to think someone can just click Pin It.

It is however driving more traffic to sites than all consumer magazines combined, businesses are paying attention and content marketers are sniffing around. Personally in a B2B arena I'm not sold for this yet either. Pinning music maybe? (Although is Spotify the Pinterest for the music industry?)

What...I just 'happened' upon this image while I was working...

So the jury is out for me, while I may be interested to browse some blogger boards - I can't quite see the appeal of building my own. If you would like to look at a whole host of weird and wonderful things check it out here. http://pinterest.com/

Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Instagram...just when oh when will I have time to dedicate to this?

Sooo Pinning this on my 'pets looking sideways board!'

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