LIFE LATELY | Cider with Rosie

A few weekend scenes!

15.12

A V I S I T T O T H E M A R K E T , & F A I R Y L I G H T S A L L A R O U N D . . .

I thought perhaps we’d begin this week with week with a walk-through of the weekend just gone, since it was an especially lovely and joyfully festive one. That sound okay? Okay, let’s get started…

~ ~

That right there, in the cover photo, is the greatest grilled cheese I’ve ever eaten. It came courtesy of Morty & Bob’s in Netil Market this weekend, where Tania, Freya and I met for lunch on Saturday afternoon.

So good in fact, that Molly looked on longingly whilst we ate…

The girls had been raving to me about those grilled cheese sandwiches for months, and so there was never even a question of ordering from any of the other food trucks at the market. In fact, I have no idea what else there was on offer, because we made a beeline for those sandwiches the moment we arrived at the market!

We placed our order and waited patiently (kind of…) for our lunch to arrive, waking up with coffees from the little coffee truck just next to our seats.

The sandwiches arrived having crisped to perfection, and inside, along with the molten cheese, were garlic and truffle mushrooms that took the proceedings up to a whole new level.

I ate mine dipped in a little sriracha, and it was a dream. You *must* go, if you’re ever over in the direction of London Fields!

The rest of that afternoon was spent cosied up on Freya’s sofa, drinking hot chocolate and tea and eating doughnuts and talking talking talking until I felt like we’d held our very own sisterly therapy session.

All this, by the light of Freya’s sweet Christmas tree and to a soundtrack of Michael Buble’s festive album. Pretty perfect, if you ask me.

~ ~

Sunday Jason and I spent rushing around like a pair of headless chickens- buying and decorating our own lovely tree, visiting family, sorting out the house for the arrival of the puppy in a couple of weeks time, and nipping over to visit her and her littermates too!

The pups are six weeks old now and were *full* of beans. In fact, I spent most of the visit with at least three puppies mountaineering up my jumper at any one time!

Which is my ultimate favourite way of spending a Sunday afternoon, let it be known…

We did manage to spruce up the house ready for Christmas too, in between all that puppy snuggling.

Baby poinsettias are now dotted here and there, candles are lit in every corner, and I scavenged the loft for every set of fairy lights we own to use around the house.

And *now* it feels like we’re finally ready for Christmas! Just no-one ask me how many gifts I’ve yet to get sorted, alright?

p.s. If you’d like to see more of how this December’s been panning out, you might like my YouTube channel! Subscribe to stay up to date with my videos, if you’d like :)

14 Comments

Posted in CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS TREE, HOME, LIFE LATELY

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

THE END OF SUMMER.

02.09

I thought the internet could really use another ‘oh goodness me is it really autumn already’ post, so I’ll just crack on, shall I?

Are you ready for another British winter? I’m kind of torn about it. On one hand, this summer’s been without doubt the very best of my life. The weather was so very good to us in July (on one day in particular…) I feel as though I’ve had all my good weather luck at once and now can’t complain about rain or unseasonable cold ever again in my whole life.

And even since we’ve been home, though August hasn’t been too great and we have been caught in a couple of rainstorms so colossal it felt as though we might get struck by lightening any second, we’ve still managed to cook and eat outside plenty of times, and spend a day boating down the river, and to finish up dog walks wearing just T shirts when we’d started them out bundled up in jumpers against a biting wind.

I mean, if I’m being truly honest, I’ll be a little sad to say goodbye to this beautiful season. To the constant birdsong, and lilypads all over the pond, and to a few solid weeks of endless celebrations and congratulations and too many glasses of champagne to count.

On the other hand though, autumn will be here good and proper soon enough, and I just know that on the very first morning I take Teddy out for his walk and there’s a real crispness to the air, I’ll be into it.

I can remember exactly there I was standing in the forest when I felt that first bite of autumn last year, and how the air smelled so indescribably wonderful that the memories of summer all but washed away in that very instant.

And that’s how it goes, in this beautiful country of ours, isn’t it?

We’re carried onwards by the relentless cycle of the seasons, observing the changes in our environment and letting them affect the shape of our years. We get to reinvent and reimagine and alter anything and everything we fancy every three months or so, and let the temperature and weather and greenery (or lack thereof…) outside influence how we feel and behave inside. There’s nothing quite like it, if you ask me.

And on that note, in just shy of 400 words, I think I’ve talked myself round to the idea of autumn…

What I wore ::
Blouse
Trousers

17 Comments

Posted in A SNAPSHOT, LIFE LATELY, SUMMER

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Counting days, not weeks.

05.07

Up until I’d say probably mid-way through June, I was totally blasé about this whole wedding planning gig. ‘Stressful?’ I’d say, ‘Do me a favour’. But then the final weeks began to tick down, and the realisation that there’s a very good reason couples hire someone to handle everything for them hit me like a ton of bricks. There’s just so much to do! Liaising with contacts from venues and churches and suppliers, forms to be filled in, invoices to be paid, bottles to be bought by the crateful, and stationery to be designed- all small individual jobs, but they stack up like you’d not believe! I take my hat off to anyone who DIYs lots of elements of their wedding, really I do!

To be frank with you, the past few weeks have stretched Jason and I more than I’d ever imagined they would. Between the wedding admin and each of us working for ourselves (and all the tasks that go along with that), we’ve found it hard to keep being calm and kind and considerate to one another as well as juggling late nights and to-do lists and work. We found we kept talking about ‘powering through’ and ‘just getting through these next couple of weeks’, and almost forgetting why it is we’re doing this all anyway! Isn’t that the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever heard? I mean, we wound up bickered about handwriting (handwriting!) whilst filling in a supplier form at midnight the other evening. I think that tells you everything you need to know about how ridiculous things have been round here lately! ;)

When the silly stresses have built up, it’s returning to the little things that’ve made us most happy. Playing our first dance song, and talking about the vows, and hearing our banns of marriage read in church over the past three weeks. Our vicar speaks often about ‘a life enriched by marriage’, and it’s a phrase I keep coming back to and feeling warmed by when it seems as though the tasks are piling up and time’s running away from us.

We’re now at the stage of planning out the wedding morning schedule, and booking in a ceremony rehearsal two days before the Big Day. We’ve decided that the rehearsal will be the last time we’ll see each other before the 17th, and that makes me feel fluttery with nerves and excitement and ALL the emotions! So many of our married friends and family have said that they found the rehearsal to be almost more emotional than the day itself, so I’ll be readying myself with the waterproof mascara and about 85 packs of tissues ;)

But now, we’re counting days, not weeks. Twelve days only, to be precise! Doesn’t it feel just yesterday to you that I shared the news that Jason had asked me to marry him, and that I (so he says, and likes to remind me often!) thrust my hand in his face for him to put the ring on before I’d even said ‘yes!’? ;) (What can I say? He did such a good job convincing me a proposal wasn’t on the cards, in the moment I was just too overwhelmed with shock to behave graciously!)

I think we’ll end this little wedding-related stream of consciousness with a happy list, because I can’t think of more perfect moment to count some blessings! So, my friends, here’s a round up of the little moments that’ve brought me joy this week…

1. Watching my peonies open up and bloom! I’d almost given up hope they were going to open, but they’re just as extravagant and blousy as I hoped they’d be!

2. A Thursday night BBQ at Jason’s Mum’s house! Jason’s sister and her family flew in from Canada on Thursday morning for the wedding, so we spent the evening celebrating. Made me even more excited than ever to be gaining so many brothers and sisters in law!

3. Almond butter and Marmite on rice cakes. I honestly could eat an entire pack of rice cakes in one sitting, I’m *that* obsessed with this flavour combination. You must try it!

4. Soaking up the sunshine outside in the garden, whilst firing out emails at a rate of knots. The very best!

5. Ice. Ice in coffee, ice in water, ice in elderflower cordial- basically just all the ice.

6. The glittery butterfly wrist tattoo my niece did for me on Thursday. If only glitter tattoos were real, I’d have one for sure!

7. Freckles on my nose, forehead, shoulders, hands…

8. Taking time out to do a little yoga each day. It’s so amazing at helping you switch of your brain and allowing a little time simply to b r e a t h e.

9. Putting together our playlist for the wedding! The most fun we’ve had whilst wedding planning in weeks, for sure! We’ve chosen some corkers too…ALL of the 80s classics!

10. Having my best friend home from her travels! Next up is her graduation (as a fully fledged Doctor, oh my!) and then we’ll be heading down that aisle!

Oh, and one more for luck, frog-dog Teddy in the photo below makes me happiest of all. I didn’t realise we’d manage to catch him mid-pounce until I was reviewing these photos on my laptop. Isn’t he the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever seen?

Right, twelve days to go. Let’s do this thing…

p.s. I’m wearing a crop top from H&M, and a similar skirt can be found here.

26 Comments

Posted in LIFE LATELY, WEDDING

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

THE LATEST //

09.06

First things first, let’s talk V I D E O!

I’m trying to push myself to get weekly videos up on my YouTube channel these days, and it’s exciting! And addictive! And time consuming, and challenging, and hard.

I hadn’t quite appreciated before now how long it takes to put together a video. I mean, granted, I’m hardly the speediest editor- Premiere Pro and I still have a long way to go before I could be considered anything other than a fumbling beginner- but still, even a 10 minute video can take several hours of work to pull together. Saturday evenings are now spent plugged into my laptop, mumbling swear words under my breath when I just can’t figure out how to make a title move at the same pace as the clip I’ve laid it over, or have to export the same video three times because I keep messing up the encoding settings. I mean, what on earth is ‘bitrate’, anyway!?

But, it’s fun! After having worked my way into a little groove of photography and writing here, it’s so exciting to branch out and try something new. Even though I’m really not very good at it yet. I think there’s something to be said though for getting out of your comfort zone though, and being okay with doing a less than perfect job. Sometimes I’m guilty of avoiding trying new things for fear of it not going quite right, but I’m trying to get better at being okay with making mistakes. I watched this video Casey Neistat made the other day where he talked about never actually ‘getting there’. About how we all think we’re striving towards an end point- a moment of satisfaction where we feel we’ll have made it. But actually, we never do actually make it. The good stuff is in the journey.

And goodness me, that got mighty deep mighty quickly, didn’t it? My latest little video is below, if you’d like to see, and S U B S C R I B E too! :)

Black vest top || Black skinnies || Sunglasses || Leopard slippers

Now, I’m trying hard now to have too much crossover between video and blog content (which is tricky! I mean, there are only so many interesting, share-able things I do in a week ;), but there are a couple of bits in the above video I can’t not share here! Consider it a teaser, if you will…

Firstly, Wahaca!

I caught up with Lucy for dinner whilst I was in London last Thursday, and since neither of us had ever been to Wahaca, we decided to give it a go. And it was a total revelation! Who knew the food at Wahaca was so delicious?! It was so flavoursome and everything tasted so very fresh.

We started with a portion of guacamole and some light, puffed pork scratchings (my only bug bear was that the portion of guacamole was pretty meagre, I like to go to town with my scoopings of guacamole!), and a glass of green juice each. Then came plantain tacos (kind of like a semi-savoury banana topped with creamy cheese and coriandar, totally delicious!), and a salad for me that turned out to be…more than a salad. I mean, *look* at it…

The chicken was charred and gently spicey, the avocado creamy and ripe, and…it all came served in a deep fried bowl. I did *try* to restrain myself from snacking on it too much, but the temptation was strong and before I even knew what I was doing the bowl had no sides left and the table covered in crumbs. Worth it though, so whatever.

Lucy and I rounded off our meal sharing a portion of churros, which have been a favourite dessert of mine since forever. These were pretty spectactular. Not as overly sweet as others I’ve had, and the chocolate was a tiny pot of heaven.

Wahaca- I’ll be back!

Lastly, let’s talk about this dreamy collaboration between BirchBox and French Sole!

I’ve become quite smitten with Birchbox’s service over the past few months. I’m not the most clued-up when it comes to beauty products, and never fail to find new, totally life-changing (well, skin-changing) products in the beauty boxes I’ve sampled that I’d have been far too daunted to ever try otherwise. It’s a revelation! And a little hard on my bank balance, if I’m honest, because I’ve now got a beauty product shopping list as long as my arm…

The collaboration between Birchbox and French Sole is totally perfect (hashtag not sponsored, just in case anyone wondered!;). French Sole have released three pairs of limited edition shoes that tie in with Birchbox’s three June boxes, and they’re all so very pretty. The Breton pair came home with me after Thursday’s event (so very lucky!), and I seriously cannot wait to wear them. I mean, Breton striped shoes?! What could be better!

22 Comments

Posted in FASHION, LIFE LATELY, LONDON