Just sayin' - a perfect weekend

My friend Paul wrote me this message in one our inter-firm email marathons:

'Btw your blog needs to be updated so badly ;) Just saying... :)'

And I know, believe me, I know. I am literally about two months behind.

This past weekend was such a wonderful one. The sun shone throughout the two days, it was hot, and London is so so beautiful in the summer. The trees are a myriad of colours, from green to red, blossoms are in bloom and the city just comes alive. You know how much I love Paris, but for me Paris doesn't come alive in summer the way that London does. Few cities can rival London's open spaces, which are to be found everywhere. This weekend I felt so lucky to live in this great city (this spur of appreciation is a rarity, as normally I moan and moan about the expense and inefficiency of everything).

I spent the weekend with all of my favourite people and it was wonderful.

Kenwood House

On Saturday Marc, Ryan and I went to Kenwood House. For the Jane Austen enthusiasts out there (and I know you are out there), Mansfield Park was filmed here. Kenwood House is a beautiful 18th Century residence, owned by the National Trust. It looks onto Hampstead Heath, a preserved park area, and also has a wonderful collection of art by artists such as Greuze and Rembrandt. It is such a treat to have Kenwood so close by. It is literally a 10 minute drive from my house. On a sunny day, I would venture to say that there are few more beautiful places to be.

It was so fun to see Ryan and hear of his plans (Ryan always has exciting plans). This summer I hope to visit him in Utah. I'm excited at the prospect of meeting his family, seeing the great Mormon temple and understanding more about Ryan's background. Ryan's family lives in Glenwood but also owns a cabin and Ry and I want to go there and write. One of the reasons I have been finding it so hard to write recently is just that there appears to be no time and no space. And, let's face it, this is hardly literature. So it would be an amazing privilege to have that time and space with one of my favourite people in a place that I have long wanted to visit. Ry is thinking of moving to Seattle for a while, so I hope that I can help him with the move whilst I am there.


Kenwood House
Kenwood Grounds - does it get better than this? Don't you want to swan around in gowns pretending to be in Pride and Prejudice?


Posing with the Penny Farthing
A Penny Farthing! How cool!
Ry and Marc hogging the jar of homemade peanut cookies...


Me at Kenwood

Dinner at Cinnamon Club

Then, for dinner, Marc and I went to a wonderful London restaurant, an institution really, called the Cinnamon Club. This is in Westminster, right next to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, and is where a lot of politicians lunch. This restaurant is a converted library, and you can see beautiful shelves of books on the balcony that surrounds the room. This is undoubtedly one of the best meals that I have ever eaten. I love Indian food, but often find it greasy and heavy. Here everything was light but full of flavour. I had marinated chicken to start with and a beautiful fish dish for my main meal. The best part? London restaurants (on the expensive side) are participating in a scheme called 'London Restaurant Week' (don't ask me why - it lasts longer than a week). In order to fill places out, these restaurants reserve a small number of tables for the promotion: A three course meal and half a bottle of wine for £25! This is incredible as in this restaurant a main meal alone costs £30. If you are ever in London I really couldn't recommend this place more highly. What a treat it was!


Sunday at the V&A with the girls

On Sunday the girls and I went to the Hats! exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was so fun to see so many interesting hats spanning many ages by famous designers and worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker. We even got to try some hats on - always a good girlie time. I am a huge hat lover and have quite a collection, so I was in heaven. The V&A also has a lovely garden and courtyard, so after the exhibition we were able to sit outside in the glorious sunshine and it was just a wonderful - blissful - time. I hadn't seen one of the girls, Lucy, since university and I was so happy to have everyone together again. These days we are all so busy and live in such different places, what with people living abroad or going on secondment - and it's so nice when we can manage to get together. I love my girls!

A perfect weekend!

A beautiful mobile in the V&A.


The girls sitting out on the V&A lawn. From left to right: Miriam, me, Kate and Lauren.




Lauren and me being silly and trying on hats at the Hats! exhibition