Time for a food post

Dim Sum at Yi-Ban;
crepes in Rosenheim; apple pie at Fig & Olive;
salmon at Little Bay Farringdon; loads of meat loaf at Munich airport

Glasgow - day 2

Meeting at the SECC in the morning where I demonstrated once again that I can be too chatty at times... The 2.5 hours went by very quickly indeed. Then a short stop at the Riverside Museum, designed by Zaha Hadid which now houses the exhibits from the Transport Museum. Great location on the river and I would definitely recommend the exhibition not least as it's free.

And last stop was the House of an Art Lover. The design of the house is based on a competition entry by Charles Rennie Mackintosh from 1901. He actually got disqualified as he submitted some of the drawings late. Then in 1989, the House of an Art Lover was built and is now an art gallery and exhibition space with a restaurant and set within the Bellahouston Park. I foolishly didn't take photos but check out the website for the absolutely stunning interior!

And yes, the weather was actually good in Glasgow!

My kind of salad: with scallops, chorizo and black pudding - delicious!

Spent the afternoon in the city centre, including the Gallery of Modern Art (bottom right)

People make Glasgow

I couldn't agree more! For the ninth year in a row, Glasgow City Marketing Bureau was voted Best UK Convention Bureau at the M&IT Industry Awards. I've primarily been working with Beverley who is one of the loveliest people I had the pleasure to work with. My trip up north was partly motivated by wanting to make some decisions about the congress in the distant future and partly by saying a personal goodbye to the team who had worked with us on the bid.

We went to the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum - which is a great museum and I can only imagine a stunning backdrop for a gala dinner. Once again, my ignorance showed: I had never heard of Dali's Christ of St John of the Cross - which apparently is an iconic painting. It is an impressive painting!

Next up was the Oran Mor (meaning great melody of life or big song): formerly a church, it is now an arts and entertainment venue. There is a traditional pub on the ground floor, and a pretty cool event space upstairs:

Then a short visit at the Glasgow Science Centre - a pity we didn't have more time to try out the exhibits! On to Cafe Gandolfi for dinner. I was actually still full from the delicious lunch! And then an overnight stay at the Radisson Blu - very comfy bed!

clueless

Utter chaos in my head. How is it possible that I change my mind from literally one minute to the next? I'm confused. Is this a heart vs head decision? Is what I think might be my gut feeling just fear of the unknown? Why can something feel so right and wrong at the same time? And how do I manage turning something essentially great into something bad?
And can I not simply stop my thoughts going in bloody circles?

life

I flew up to Edinburgh on Tuesday morning and only in the evening at my hotel did I see the news about the Germanwings plane crash. Completely unaware, I had posted a photo of the cloud views with a note about my smooth flight.

Such a tragedy for all involved. Another reminder how life can be cut shockingly short.

Literary Death Match

... came back to London. After I thoroughly enjoyed episode 43 last year, I was really looking forward to this one, especially as Lionel Shriver was one of the judges! Who had cycled to the venue! I LOVE London...

In round 1, Rosie Garland did a fabulous reading from her book Vixen. While it's not a book I'd be inclined to read, her performance was pretty spectacular. And it brought her the victory over Matthew Plampin who was reading from Will & Tom. Another book I wouldn't consider reading... And I am not sure he picked the best passage to read out.

In round 2, Andrea Bennett did her very first ever public reading (her nerves did not show though!) from her first novel Galina Petrovna's Three-Legged Dog Story. Which won over Will Hodgkinson's memoir The house is full of yogis. Two pretty funny books and personally, I would have voted for Will's book, I think.

The judges:
Lionel Shriver was very kind when it came to literary merit, Andrew Hunter Murray was hilarious judging performance and Alex Edelman on intangibles was random and funny.

In the final round, Rosie and Andrea had to spell authors' name and now I cannot even remembered who won....

Literary Death Match runs events all over the world - go and check them out, if you can!

Sunday in town

A perfect Sunday: in the company of friends, good food and drinks and taking in the beautiful views over sunny London. I'm a very lucky girl.

Bermondsey architecture

Views from the Shard

18 hour cooked salt beef hash at Browns

Weekend!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank f*ck it's the weekend! I didn't leave the office until nearly 8pm today. Trying to catch up. But there's always more. Plus my sore throat has now turned into a runny nose.
Next week will be a short week, with my sister getting married and Easter. Even less time to get stuff done.

In less than a month, things should quieten down significantly. Silver linings!

Come dine with me

Since I handed in my resignation, I've received many lovely emails from our members, thanking me , wishing me well and saying that I will be missed. I had worked closely with D for two years and at the end of his term, he'd already thanked me with the most beautiful flowers. Nevertheless, he was keen to take me out to one of his favourite restaurants in Edinburgh before I leave in the summer. As it happens, we had a business trip to Glasgow planned anyway, so I flew into Edinburgh first for some extraordinary dining.

For once, I felt that the place was just too nice and I felt embarrassed about taking photos. So, unfortunately, I cannot show you the outstanding creations of the amazing tasting menu at Michelin starred Martin Wishart in Leith. Even more than enjoying the fantastic food, I really appreciated the gesture. Life is good.

Affordable art

A week ago on Saturday, I went to the Affordable Art Fair in Battersea. As I am renting a tiny flat, I don't actually have any art on the wall. Partly, because there isn't much wall available and I thus prefer them bare, and partly because I cannot be asked to fix up holes in the walls when I leave.

Having said that, I always enjoy looking at art. And in a way, I was glad that I hadn't come to buy - there was too much choice! I wouldn't have known what to pick. My usual problem: not being able to make decisions (outside of work - where on the other hand, that tends to come easily). I would definitely recommend it! Much nicer stuff than buying a print from the high street, I think.

Acoustic East

Two free tickets thanks to my Time out card: Acoustic East at The Proud Archivist - a really cool venue near Haggerston Overground station in North London and right on the canal.
Last Thursday, the following artists were on:

• Dan Owen
• Jack Harris
• Augustus
• Kirsty Merryn
• Harry Harris

I really liked Kirsty's voice. Admittedly, I spent most time chatting away to A... which is always lovely :-)

Simplicity's Star Sewist

Simplicity is searching for star sewists. In order to take part, you need to complete (at least) one garment in one of the following categories:

• Best dressmaking project
• Best vintage make
• Best newcomer

Best newcomer would be my obvious category, but sewers must have been sewing for less than a year - so I am just a bit above that. As it happens, I actually already made a dress with the pattern for the first category, so I decided to go for the Best vintage make. I really like the look of the top and I thought I'd challenge myself with a vintage pattern.

Deadline is 31 May which should be plenty of time, especially as I have some leave booked off in May. The prize - besides being part of a social media campaign - is a year's worth of sewing patterns and being invited as a guest blogger on the Simplicity UK site.

I'm thinking of doing version A without the tie and button at the back instead of the suggested zip. A great way to needlessly complicate things by having to do buttonholes and of adjusting the measurements. Why wouldn't you want a challenge?!

Stuff, lots of stuff

When it's quiet on the blog, it's generally all but quiet in my life.
Updates to follow shortly.
Until then: happy weekend to all!

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Do you know that feeling, when somebody has been really annoying, and then it suddenly hits you and you can totally see yourself in the annoying behaviour of that person? And you wonder how you've managed to ignore it in yourself, when it jumps out at you in somebody else.

Shaking it up

It's all about change

Dermot's Day of Dance

I love Dermot O'Leary!

On the way to the tube station from the event at RIBA, we passed by BBC Broadcasting House. Curious what the small crowd was all about, we went to check it out: and witnessed Dermot doing his dance-athon. He set out to dance for 24 hours to raise money for Comic Relief.

I thought he already looked really tired. As it turns out, he had only just started his dancing that evening at 19:20 (and it was about 21:00 when we walked past).

And here's blurry Dermot :-)

Mackintosh in pink

The Royal Institute for British Architects (RIBA) is showing an exhibition dedicated to Charles Rennie Mackintosh's architecture. The exhibition is free and still on until May 23. And the city of Glasgow was hosting an event there last week.

I have to say that I prefer his furniture. Nevertheless, I do like architecture models - aren't they just cute? The little buildings, complete with little trees and little people :-)

I couldn't agree more: the Glasgow team is just so nice!

Tough choices

Sweet or savoury? It's a tricky one.

Sweet won today: delicious French toast at Mr Buckley's on Hackney Road

My local

Three times in two weeks: that must be a record for me! Miz en Bouche is a great little French bistro, just a short walk from work. Earlier in the week, I had the delicious duck (no photo, I am afraid), and on Friday I had the onion soup and the scallops and prawns with creamy leeks. So yummy!

Beautiful food, beautifully presented - and in lovely company :-)

Beautiful

I've been to the Old Royal Naval College before, but no matter how often I've seen it, it is stunning every time. The Painted Hall is open to the public, so do go and check it out.

Last week, they were hosting a showcase event. I would love to hold a dinner there but unfortunately it's not particularly central so I'd expect it would be difficult to convince people to organize an event there.

A bottle of rum and a single ticket for the Thames Clipper

Treats

To make up for the nerve-wracking experience that was my first public experience, I got wined and dined and was offered a beautiful hotel room at the Pestana Chelsea Bridge hotel and spa.

Yummy seafood pie for starter, events chicken and lemon tart

Lovely, spacious room and funky wallpaper

On the other side

Months ago, I was asked to speak at an event. Against my instinct of declining the invite outright, I had accepted it. It seemed like a good idea in terms of personal and professional development.

For weeks I procrastinated over preparing the presentation. Now I totally know what it's like for our speakers who tend to finish theirs the night before their talk. I eventually wrote down word for word what I wanted to say. When I got to preparing the slides, I had run out of motivation, so they ended up rather sparse. The night before, I was so nervous and just couldn't go to sleep. And I got so annoyed with myself. Fair enough, it's normal to be nervous, but that was just pathetic!

I considered re-reading my script but despite freaking out a little, my laziness still won that battle. I just couldn't be asked to go over stuff again. I do sometimes question  my intelligence... Cause surely, it would have calmed me down to read what I had written in order to feel better prepared.

Anyhow, after a terrible night (the later it got, I also go hungry, which didn't help with falling asleep ...), it was time to get to the venue in a taxi. Reassuringly, the lady who was speaking in my session didn't show up. Instead, I got to meet the guy who was chairing and who had already seen my (terrible) slides. I kind of rehearsed my slides in the taxi and just confused the poor guy (great initial feedback...).

Because of traffic, the start of the session was delayed... Fortunately, as soon as I got to the venue, I calmed down. Had a nice chat with the AV guy, who also mic-ed me up. I made a mental note to wear something with pockets next time. Once I stood at the lectern, I seemed to be on auto-pilot. I made an effort to look around the audience, and it was good to see people nodding - and weird to see that people took pictures of my slides (and trust me: I am not exaggerating: they were really basic - without my presentation I doubt that they make any sense at all!). Once talking, I couldn't stop and went quite a bit over the allocated 15 minutes.

I felt so relieved when it was done - and got applause, too. And I got good feedback. One lady asked how often I do this, as I seemed to confident. I'm really pleased that my nerves didn't show. In my usual manner, I also immediately discarded all the nice comments - cause surely people are just being nice, aren't they? But I am working on that. And I am proud of myself.

You can't always pick a winner

Dinner last week at the Turkish restaurant Kilikya's in St Katherine's Dock. Another tastecard deal with 50% of all food. And for some reason they only take cash. But only when you use your tastecard. Is that some kind of 'punishment' for offering a discount?

Anyway, the place was really empty and the food was ok, but overall very oily and nothing to write home about.

It was my first time eating out at the dock, too. It's a really pretty place, and so close to Tower Bridge - one of my favourite London landmarks. I think it's a pity that you can primarily find chain restaurants (like La Tasca, Ping Pong, Cote) there.

Hot and cold mezze to share

Clogging up my arteries

Sunday brunch at the Breakfast Club:

Delicious chorizo with fried potatoes buried underneath the eggs

Thought provoking art

Sunday at the Tate Modern, and thanks to A's membership card, free access to the special exhibitions. We saw the Marlene Dumas exhibition: The Image As Burden. Not the kind of art I'd put up on my walls. And I couldn't quite connect with the first few rooms, but there were some  paintings I really enjoyed even if they were all rather dark. Or maybe because they were.

We also went to see the Conflict - Time - Photography exhibition. Photos taken in a number of countries/cities just after and years after wars were fought. I have to admit I found this very depressing. Needless to say that all wars have had long lasting effects. For me, it was primarily a reminder of all the wars that are currently going on. And how lucky I am not to have lived through a war. I cannot imagine what that experience does to a human being.

And the current (free) exhibit in the turbine hall: Richard Tuttle: I don't know - The weave of textile language:



An impressive installation. But I also don't know.
But I imagine it to be a lot of fun to work on something like this.

Happier

I can't remember whether I mentioned this before: I came across the Happier app. It's a free app for people to share their happy daily moments with each other. Similar to facebook, you can 'like' other people's happy moments, by 'smiling' at them and leaving comments.

Nataly Koga, founder of Happier, also offers some courses. And I am following the Attitude: Gratitude one. It's really about becoming a happier person and finding the little things in our daily lives to be grateful for, even on or maybe especially on the days that aren't great.

I've got to say that I am already doing most if not all of the things she talks about. I'm finding it easy to find several things every single day that I appreciate and am grateful for. Yes, I still moan and get frustrated and anxious but I like to think that I am much better at putting things into perspective and not wallowing in self-pity. But then people around me might think differently...

error message

I supposedly had 400 page views today. But they are not listed in the country split.
So, I reckon it's an error message.

If it's not: welcome to all my new readers!

For real???

More than a year ago, I received a message on whatsapp from an unknown number. Telling me how beautiful I was. I ignored it. I got a couple more messages: did I not want to know who was sending the messages. As it happens: no, I didn't. I then got a message saying he'd call me if that was ok. By then, he had also added a photo of himself to his profile. For some reason, I had suspected one of the receptionist in my apartment block to be the mystery man. And I was right....

I sent him a reply, saying that no, it wasn't ok to call me and how he had gotten my number in the first place. To which he replied that he'd delete it. The only way he could have gotten my number was  of course by checking my file. Whenever I saw him afterwards, he acted as if it hadn't happened. And I was beginning to wond whether one of his colleagues had used a photo of him.

Yesterday then, I get another message from him. Commenting on my profile photo on whatsapp. A few weeks ago, when we had yet another problem with a leak, I had to give him my number, so he could call me with an update. For some reason, he seems to have now (weeks later!) taken that as an invite to contact me again.

Needless to say that I am still not interested. And I find it rather creepy, as he of course knows where I live. What's wrong with people?

Clicked into place

It's been on my to do list for ages: getting checked out by an Osteopath. I honestly don't understand how I manage to procrastinate so much when it comes to my personal life. Why on earth can I not apply some of my pro-activity I have at work for my own good???

Anyway, my recent episode of back pain motivated me and I was able to get an appointment at short notice. Tracie asked me about my symptoms and then had a look at my spine. She confirmed what I already knew: I have a slight Scoliosis on my upper back. The pain I am currently experiencing comes from one of my postural muscles. And boy did it hurt when she massaged it.

She then clicked my spine into place in a number of places. Whether or not this was helpful remains to be seen. Not surprisingly, she strongly recommended another appointment. At £50 for half an hour, it's not cheap. But I thought I might as well give it a proper chance. So, I'm back next Friday. But I hope that the muscle pain will be gone by then.

And of course, I was told again to exercise to strengthen my core muscles. I know it all, but find it so hard to make time for it.

No going back

Quite weird to see the job advert for my job out there.
It still feels like the right decision though.
100%.

French cheesiness

I was reading something about mindful eating the other day. I love food and eating. And I don't like eating by myself. But I noticed that I can't focus on both: food and company. Maybe a sign that I talk too much?

Cheesy Tartiflette and Sex on the Beach at Miz en Bouche in Angel. Time flew by and I felt sorry for the waiter who had to hang around for us to leave on a rather quiet Monday night.

Finally

I can't even remember when I started with this book but it's taken me months to get through... And because I had such long breaks in between reading, I wasn't really able to appreciate the book as much as I would have otherwise, I think.

In the end, I just wanted to finish it. And now that I'm done, I feel like reading it again (I won't though...). Rosemary grows up with her sister Fern and brother Lowell. When Rosemary is just 5, Fern disappears. Only on page 77 it is revealed that Fern is a chimpanzee. And as part of scientific experiments, Fern was meant to be raised within a human family. The story goes back and forth and deals with the effects this experiment and it's abrupt end had on the whole family. It also deals with how we deal with our own memories, how what we remember might not be was actually happened and how life forms us into what we are and how we behave and think. 

So, all in all really interesting topics. The revelation that Fern is a chimpanzee certainly came as a big surprise to me. But somehow, I found myself struggling to get through it.

Nighttime activities

I recently downloaded these apps: Calm and iSleep easy. And they work amazingly well in getting me to sleep. Unfortunately, I also tend to wake up at about 3am. I do go back under quite quickly which is good, but a disrupted sleep is just not that great overall. The last few days, I've also had some very active dreams, bordering on nightmares. My brain is clearly trying to deal with the stress that I currently perceive in my daily life.

One of those dreams reminded me that this used to be quite a recurring theme in my dreams in the past: I dream that I am moving house that day but I haven't even started packing. So, I rush around to get my stuff into suitcases and boxes.

Just did a bit of googling and came across this website. And what can I say: it's certainly time to re-evaluate my life. And always time to relax and let go. And I am working on it.

Sexology

... the interdisciplinary study of human sexuality, including human sexual interests, behaviors and function. And subject of an exhibition at the Wellcome Collection. Free as per usual but be prepared to queue especially on a weekend. The place was packed on Saturday! For both the sexology exhibition as well as the Forensics: The anatomy of crime exhibition. For some (irrational) reason I had assumed that only a minority of people even know about the Wellcome Collection. I suppose there billboard advertising and regular mentions in Time Out work quite well to get the word out.

Now, I'm not keen on reading in museums. My brain simply doesn't remember anything. While there were exhibits to look at, there was a lot of reading to be done, too. So, that didn't work too well for me. Overall, interesting but I am glad I didn't have to pay for it. It's not that big an exhibition but not least due to the crowds of people (and all the reading) it takes a little while to go through. 

2:0

Chelsea win against Tottenham in the League Cup final :-)
Not a game during which you want to score an own goal...

Never again!

Argh, as much as I love sewing, it can equally drive me crazy at times! I don't think I'll ever sew this one again...

Here are just a few of the reasons that I was swearing A LOT this afternoon:
As always I struggled with the darts, and the bust darts are sitting too low.
I couldn't really use my dummy to check on progress, as I could hardy slip the dress over the dummy's 'shoulders' - when it fits absolutely fine on me.
I couldn't work out what to do with the neck band. And thanks to my very imprecise sewing technique, the band turned out all wonky.
The loops were impossible to turn inside out - so I decided to use some satin ribbon instead.
When I tried to press the hem, I had the iron on too high a heat and ruined the fabric. Plus it looked sh*t anyway. As I had decided to line the dress, the hem was rather bulky.
So, I cut off the bottom - and accidentally cut further into the fabric than planned. Which means the dress is shorter than planned.
I also decided to cut the lining shorter than the dress' hem (as it doesn't fray, I figured that would be ok), to remove some of the bulkiness. The hem looks improved but quite frankly still a bit sh*t.
But I cannot be bothered to do anything about it.

New Look 6263, view D, size 10

Whatever I sew next better be simple...

The Golden Box

Showcase event at The Gable last week. I'm always excited to discover new venues and this is a really cool bar just round the corner from Bank station. Quirky decorations, a bar with DJ (operating from a red phone box) and booths in the basement, private dining rooms on the corners of the place, each with its own character.

Champagne, sharing platter and the golden box: