Weekly Love: Week 195

Remind me if I ever suggest I may want to move house that I never, ever want to do it again? I never want to pack, unpack or shift another box ever again! I’ve been lucky that I’ve managed to go 24 years without every doing it, but on the other side of the coin, that is 24 years worth of stuff to get through! While it has been overwhelming at times, it has been fun to find old photographs, newspaper cuttings and toys that were forgotten until I opened up their cupboards. I think I had honestly even forgotten that I used to draw and paint before I took up photography, until I started sorting out different grades of pencil, soft and oil pastels from charcoal, gouache from oil paints. We have such beautiful gardens full of flowers at the new house, I think once we’re sorted, I should try picking up a paintbrush again to try to capture the world around me in a way that requires a bit more investment than choosing and framing a shot, then simply pressing a button. 

1. Tulips are blooming in our new garden in Kent and in St. James’ Park. | 2. Delicious lunchtime Poke bowls from Island Poke. | 3. Meeting the new neighbours at the new house. | 4. Beautiful, ornamental magnolia in full bloom. | 5. Post-work prosecco, lemonade, mint and peach liquor spritzers at Borough Market. | 6. Emptying out the freezer for the big move with a Full English.

• Mani spend a fantastic weekend in Hakone, Japan. Also, Refinery 29 ran a taste test to see if they could identify any of these unusual (to Westerners), popular Japanese snacks.
• More from Japan, Emily’s post has some great tips if you’re visiting for the first time.
• Yaya and Lloyd have some fantastic pictures from Bilbao in La Rioja – I spent a wonderful morning there last time I was in Spain, but did not get too many snaps.
• Claire spend an evening drinking cocktails at The Savoy and it looks magical. Also, I have serious English country hotel envy from her recent stay at Hotel Endsleigh on Dartmoor.
• This trick for refreshing leftover pasta sounds bloody delicious. 
• This Middle-Eastern hot sauce looks fantastic, but am I brave enough to try it?
• I’m not usually one to look at pictures from other people’s weddings or baby showers, but this Peter Rabbit themed baby shower is basically the perfect spring party.
• This Easter kids brunch is also super cute – look at those bunny pancakes! 
• I’m now going to start putting white miso paste in my chicken soup.. 
• New York? Rose has found your new Soho-go-to delicious looking, healthy brunch spot. Also, she’s visited Washington D.C. and I really want to go (and not just for the politics!)
• Next Rose is in Charlston, South Carolina, and now I really want to go, too! (More here!)
• Lucy has written a great follow up post, 13 weeks on since she gave up drinking to help tackle her anxiety issues. (You can read her original post here.)

7. Sticky Toffee Pudding and locally made presse at The Hop and Huffkin in Sandwich. | 8. Lunching on some delicious Higgidy pies. | 9. Bright pink blooms getting me excited that everything is becoming more colourful as we get into spring. | 10. Celebrating National Stripe Day with Jude’s Strawberry tease – my new favourite ice cream flavour. | 11. Flowers in memorial at the Carriage Gates outside the Houses of Parliament. | 12. Sunny Sunday mornings in my parents new garden.

• Laurie has some great blogging tips that have not already been said half to death. Also, she had a delicious looking lunch at Casse Croute which has now jumped a few places on my to try list.
• Camille Styles talks having people over for brunch with Joy the Baker.
• Emma has put together a fantastic guide to L.A. full of so many places to eat I’m adding to the list for my next trip. (You can find my L.A. posts here, and my restaurant reviews here.)
• I’m fascinated by personalised shampoos and conditioners. Could they be the future?
• This is how to naturally dye pickled eggs rainbow bright colours.
• Julia and Carly spent the most stunning weekend away in Palm Beach.
• America? These are some of the best online sales right now.
• Carrie’s photos of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi are frankly majestic. 
• Timmy Green has jumped to the top of my London to-brunch list.
• This is how you make homemade (pink) sea salt hair spray.
• Stephanie ate all of the seafood, and most of the Fruits de Mer towers in Boston.
• Here are some retro Mary Berry cooking videos from the 1970’s. 
• Mixing St. Germain and sparkling rose wine seems like a genius start to the summer.
• Time to go retro with these fantastic Ritz Cracker canape ideas. 
• The Glitter Guide has posted a sunny weekend guide to Santa Barbara – on my list for next trip!

Finally, I wanted to share a few snaps from what I got up to on Wednesday night. As some of you may have seen on my Instagram Stories, a few weeks ago my friend Edward brought two tubs of Magnum’s new ice cream to enjoy after dinner. The concept is simple: the same great classic Magnum flavours (classic, almond and white chocolate), served in a tub. Leave it out of the fridge for 10 minutes, then crack the tub, breaking the thick chocolate surface to reveal chocolate rippled through the ice cream, and around the outside of the tub. It’s fun, and kind of sexy, just like the launch party we were both invited to this week. A string quartet, plenty of bubbles in coupes, a long glass table, gold ice cream spoons, all set up in a massive old, empty townhouse overlooking Buckingham Palace in Belgravia really set the scene for your new favourite tub full. Pick one up for the weekend (it is set to be the warmest weekend yet this year), and grab two spoons.

What have you been enjoying this week, and what do you have planned for the rest of the weekend? I’m helping friends host a spring brunch in North London tomorrow, and on Sunday I’m hoping the weather is good for a trip to Columbia Road Flower Market before Sunday lunch at one of my all time London favourites (more on that later!) For more like this, don’t forget to sign up to my monthly newsletter, which hits your inboxes on the first Sunday of each month, packed full of seasonal eats, mini cookbook reviews, and other updates.

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