November Favourites

December is here! *insert bemused gripe about time flying here.* And this is my hundredth post - can you believe it? November was packed and December is shaping up to be even more hectic, meaning I've only managed to post once or twice a week lately. Even so, I'm still enjoying this little space of mine and am thinking about how to improve it next year.

November absolutely galloped past me. Despite feeling that it was so brief, I still have lots of moments to share with you. This month I've enjoyed...

Picking up a free pumpkin from behind King's Cross the day after Halloween and spending all day transforming it into a pie! 

Missing my tube stop once or twice thanks to a certain podcast. I was a few weeks late to the Serial party, but as soon as I tuned in I was hooked. Miho, Lulu, Lisa (fantastic bloggers all three!) and I were chatting about this on Twitter and we're all unhealthily hooked. Truly compelling listening. Go and check it out for yourself! Tamsin Lim takes no responsibility for the addiction that may or may not ensue following episode one.

Discovering a quiet little rooftop lunch spot just a stone's throw from the hustle and bustle of Oxford Street, overlooked by a monumental Ukrainian Church. How did I not know about this place? It's a bit too cold to eat outside now, but I'm keeping this in mind for next summer!

Melting over the most adorable hedgehog video from Wildlife Aid. So cute, and the graphics are beautiful! Makes me want to help urban hedgehogs (and possibly adopt a domesticated one?)

Jumping up and down with excitement at the first frost. Yes, I'll technically have been an adult for a full five years as of tomorrow, but I'll be a winter child forever! The novelty will wear off as soon as my dad needs me to de-ice the car.  

De-frazzling my brain at the end of the day with various cinematic and televised delights. In particular I enjoyed Christopher Nolan's Interstellar, which ticked all my boxes where it came to drama, sci-fi genre and a dying Earth. Noisy, with jawdropping visuals and hints of 2001, I felt as if I was in a rocket or flight simulator. I also binged on Les Revenants - not your typical TV show about the walking dead... And lately I've been watching Remember Me, another creepfest about a vengeful ghost that seems intent on wreaking havoc across Yorkshire! 

Allowing myself to be bewitched by the Christmas windows. Every year my family drive down to Oxford Street to check out the Liberty and Selfridges Christmas displays, and this year is a good 'un - with a sparklingly enchanted forest at Selfridges, and nautical-themed windows at Liberty that tie in with their history, the shop having been constructed from the timbers of two ships!

Skywatching more than usual. The morning light has been amazing this month, and the cold weather always brings interesting cloud formations with it. I thought this particular sky looked almost like marble.

Guzzling all the chai lattes I can get my mitts on. Not like proper chai tea at all but made using a chai-flavoured syrup, they're milky, frothy and sweet, and the perfect way to ease into the afternoon, I think. I find the ones from EAT, Timberyard and Gail's particularly comforting.

Noodling my way across London and the North. Yup, this was truly Noodvember. (Can you tell I'm all about the neologisms today?) I ate tonkotsu ramen at Bone Daddies, Tonkotsu Selfridges and United Ramen, and a very pleasant char kway teow at Tampopo in Manchester. Tampopo is a film about creating the ultimate bowl of noodles, so maybe finding perfect noodles will be my goal for 2015!

November, you were lovely, but December, I'm ready for you and the foodie carnage you're about wreak on my hapless, unwitting body. Because...I'm having four birthday dinners this month. That's right, folks - a waistband-expanding three celebratory meals this weekend and then another when my sister comes back from uni in a few weeks! And then, Christmas lunch, the mother of all festive foodie blowouts. Better factor some workouts into my goals post for this month...

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October Favourites

Oh October, you were a bit of a weirdo. Stubborn clouds and driving, icy rain meant I finally liberated my giant knits and coats from the back of the wardrobe, only to be nonplussed when the thermometer soared back up to 21ºC at the end of the month, leaving me sitting outside during my lunch break in a thin t-shirt, craving ice cream. I didn't have much time to sit and ponder the meteorological mayhem though, since October has been my busiest month since graduation! Here's my highlights from this month, as seen through the bleary lens of my increasingly senile iPhone:

Strolling through Westbourne Grove to peruse the Aladdin's caves of Ottolenghi (incredible caramel mascarpone cheesecake!) and Melt Chocolates. Every year my parents buy me a little bag of Melt goodies for my birthday, and I'm convinced their salted caramel truffles are the best out there. Their raspberry puree-filled white chocolate and mint truffles are pretty special too.

Realising that losing stuff on the Internet can sometimes be cathartic. I was extremely annoyed when I lost all my Chrome bookmarks as well as the contents of a few notes on Evernote due to computers not syncing properly or generally malfunctioning, but accepted the losses as a chance to start afresh. My bookmarks, for one, are much neater now...Yup, there's always a silver lining.

Scoffing a deliciously doughy blueberry cinnamon roll with Alex at the Soho branch of Nordic Bakery during their Cinnamon Bun week! Nordic Bakery is a perennial favourite for our foodie/coffee dates (I enthused about it way back in June) - I'm addicted to their pastries and wi-fi free, minimalist interiors. I made pinwheel pastries using their cookbook last Christmas, so perhaps I'll attempt making some cinnamon rolls if I'm feeling brave this year.

Learning about different industries while on work experience in two separate companies this month! I interned in the publicity department at Penguin Press, where I sent out hundreds of books, ran around the Science Museum on a research trip and helped out at a talk given by the inimitable Harvard professor, Michael Sandel. Then last week I was given a short crash course in public relations at communications company Blue Rubicon, working on eight different accounts that allowed me to write tweets, come up with a list of Roald Dahl's most memorable quotes and work out which politicians might have an affinity for red squirrels. Yep. I certainly wasn't bored this month. I had a great time at both, and hope I've learned enough to be a few steps closer to a job! 

Catching up with WIRED during my lunch break over a cup of chai and some biscuits. Tea and biscuits really do make the world a better place. And WIRED always makes me feel that I'm improving my brain a smidgen (in a way that my Cosmo habit doesn't...)

Getting my exhibition on with Alex! We went to see three different exhibitions together - Late Turner at the Tate Britain, The Art of the Brick at Truman Brewery and Sherlock Holmes at the Museum of London. I didn't have the opportunity to take any photos at Late Turner due to having to stow my trusty Canon away in the cloakroom, but seriously enjoyed it, having watched the much-acclaimed Mr. Turner in the morning before the exhibition. I'd recommend going to see both - in the same day if you possibly can! I'll be blogging about the other two exhibitions in due course.

Chuckling at a wonderful sign in the car park of the Hand and Flowers gastropub in Marlow. Probably one of the best meals I've eaten this year, I can't wait to review it! Sadly, though, the pictures suffer from dark restaurant syndrome. Clearly should've brought one of these along with me.

Developing square eyes in front of the TV! With cold weather comes couch potato season, and I've been glued to programmes like Grantchester, Doctor Who, and most of all, the new season of the Apprentice, my guilty pleasure! The contestants are all so dislikeable, though the best ever boardroom happened this week, with a triple firing of all my least favourite candidates. Also, don't tell anyone, but like the rest of the population, I went to see Gone Girl at the cinema. And I actually slightly preferred it to the Gillian Flynn novel. Bookworm sacrilege, I know... I'd love to know if there's other bookish types out there who liked the film better too, at least to assuage my guilt!

I'm behind with my Bloglovin' feed as usual, and can't wait to read all the October posts. I'm looking for more blogs to read ('tis the season to be a social recluse and choose laptopping over bar-hopping), so link me to your monthly favourites or let me know what you've been up to lately! 

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September Favourites

Well hey there, October! When did you creep up on me?

I reckon we're officially into autumn now, having enjoyed walks through parks carpeted with red and gold leaves, ordering chai lattes instead of coolers, and starting to break out the scarves instead of the denim shorts. To be honest, September was really an Indian summer, with some very hot and sunny days here in London, but I've been relishing the slightly cooler days where I get to wear my much-loved knits and thick socks. Yes, yes, I'm an old lady at heart.

Here's what else I've loved this month!

Reading until I get square eyes. I've genuinely been reading about four or five books a week this month. I had the huge pile from publishing work experience to tackle, and then I also decided to re-register at my local library. It's been refurnished and is now generally amazing! So, so happy I've rediscovered it. Favourites this month were Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, Laline Paull's The Bees and Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book. I'm sure I'll write some reviews on these soon.

Catching up with old school friends, over coffees and tea at Le Pain Quotidien in Covent Garden. It was wonderful to be regaled with tales of falling in love in Jordan, starting a research PhD at UCL, working at London Zoo and a hectic induction week on a journalism course! I love meeting up with friends who I might not have seen in the past few months, and having that instant connect cemented over years of friendship. Oh - and LPQ had these amazing giant hot chocolates that came with little jugs of molten chocolate. So yummy.

Picking the last of the summer vegetables! There's still lots of tomatoes, and we've also had almonds and some very interestingly shaped courgettes. And these seriously teeny carrots - which we didn't even know we'd planted. Pictured below with Alex's hand for comparison...

Watching Pina, an incredibly beautiful film about the work of late ballet choreographer Pina Bausch. Performance art at its most gripping. If you're a fan of dance or theatre, you must see this. I also went to the cinema to watch Lucy, a very violent sci-fi action movie starring Scarlett Johansson, which I weirdly enjoyed - especially the time-defying sequence at the end. And I'm so, so looking forward to Gone Girl, which comes out at the end of this week. 

Celebrating my mum's birthday yesterday! I'm going to blog about it soon because we discovered a great little restaurant in our neighbourhood. But for now I want to talk about Lanka, a very elegant Japanese patisserie just off Finchley Rd, where I bought the birthday cake! I fell in love with some of their other cakes while I was waiting for my order - slices of pumpkin pie with just the right amount of wobble, green tea tart with white chocolate shavings, gorgeous hazelnut tarts. Let's just say I'll be back soon - that place smells amazing.

Enjoying the little things that herald a new season. At the top of this post is a gorgeous leaf I found on the path in local park a few days ago - I love the incredible deep red colours, and the way the edges of the leaf look almost burnt. And above is my first conker of the autumn! I found it yesterday on my way back from the doctor's, accidentally kicking it open as I was walked up the street. I thought it was so beautiful and shiny, especially in the autumn light. On that note, I've been revelling in the long shadows and breathtakingly beautiful cloudscapes we've been having in the evenings this month - see below for one that made me look twice yesterday. I heard a little kid behind me marvelling at it with his friends, too. How I wish that the clocks didn't have to go back... *shakes fist and curses Scottish farmers* 

What have you been enjoying this September? Are you as sad to see it come to an end as I am? I accidentally wandered into the Liberty Christmas shop last weekend and was confronted by mountains of tinsel and fairy lights...I think I'll enjoy the autumn a little bit more before the Christmas songs inevitably start up at the end of this month!

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August Favourites

It's the last day of August, which means that as far as I'm concerned, we've officially reached the end of summer. August has been good to me, soothing the stress of searching for jobs and internships with a trip abroad, some good weather in Britain, delicious food and drink, and a spell in an exciting publishing house. Here's what made me happy this month. 

Harvesting the crop of damsons from the garden this year. The birds 'planted' the plum trees a few years back, and this is the first year we've harvested them. We filled a clutch of kilner jars with damson jam, and have used it to accompany vanilla ice cream as well as to fill a Victoria sponge a week or so again. It's so unexpectedly rich and delicious, and I'm excited to use it in more baking this autumn, perhaps in a galette or an apple crumble.

Watching the video for Taylor Swift's new song. I haven't really been paying attention to Miss Swift since she provided the soundtrack to the heady days of my late adolescence with tunes like 'Our Song', 'Teardrops On My Guitar' and 'Love Story'. This is such a different sound - Tay's left country firmly behind (yes, I know, I've been hiding under a rock with regards to popular music in the past year or so) and I love how the video hinges around the wonderfully gauche admission that she just can't dance. A girl after my own heart.

Playing around with the calligraphy set I bought from Cass over the Easter holidays. I definitely need to get myself to a class and learn the basic letter forms. Unskilled as I am, it's really fun and a therapeutic way to pass the time.

Listening to Alex playing from songbooks and improvising jazz on the piano. It's part of the reason I fell in love with him two years ago, and every time I hear him play it reminds me all over again why I like him. If you just gagged a little, I wholeheartedly apologise.

Grazing on my mother's homemade gluten-free orange cake, made with almond flour. One of her best bakes ever, I'd say - and perfect with a little drizzle of cream. If this were a permanent fixture in the kitchen I would be very pleased indeed (hint hint).

Unwinding in front of the TV. The BBC always cushion the end-of-summer blow with a fantastic programme of new shows, bribing us back inside from flip-flops and barbecue weather with shows like The Great British Bake Off and Doctor Who. Bake Off has seen a huge Baked Alaska-related scandal inside the bunting-festooned tent this week (such good television. I love Britain.) and Peter Capaldi has already stolen my heart by bringing fiercely knitted eyebrows and Scottish quirks to the part of the Doctor. Catching up on episode two today, and I can't wait for the return of the Daleks...

Reading the giant pile of goodies I was allowed to bring back from a fortnight of work experience at Random House. I sent myself twenty books on Friday, took two out of the charity box with me the week before, and was given six from a week at Hodder in July, meaning I've racked up 28 free books over the course of this summer. So happy. From the Random House pile I've started with Martin Amis' Booker shortlisted Time's Arrow, which is thrillingly executed, with a fantastic concept. I'm particularly excited to read the new Haruki Murakami, having witnessed the man himself signing piles of copies while at work - definitely the highlight of this week! This pile probably has me sorted for…oh, at least the next few weeks. Until the new Shopaholic comes out, which my inner chicklit-lover dictates I must buy. 

Starting a scrapbook with A. We finally went to Cass and bought a scrapbook and some washi tape, and we've been pasting in our little souvenirs from our trip to Norway in January, May Week, and our July trip to Paris. It's so fun to do, and a really nice way of keeping all the little bits and pieces in a neat place.

Goodbye, August! Some say you're a wicked month, but you've been fun. See you again next year.

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