If it gets rough, it's time to get rough.

I have recently fallen in love with the band HAIM.  I am, as always, very late to their discovery, but now that I have discovered their wonderment, I am completely hooked!  So, to combine this new love affair, with my continual love affair with travel, Miss Wall & I have arranged a little adventure.

As of May, we shall be hopping on a flight to Berlin, to go see HAIM perform at the Lido.  Tickets for which we snapped up for mere pennies!

 We have also arranged to stay in the coolest place in Berlin: Huettenpalast!  An amazing hotel which offers you the opportunity to escape reality & immerse yourself in some fantasy.  Forgoing the usual contemporary hotel room, we are instead staying in an indoor cabin!  I did desperately want to stay in one of their vintage 1950s caravans, but alas, they are so popular, they were fully booked!

The last time I was in Berlin was January 2012, when I went with my friend Lucy & although I loved it, I felt that I didn't quite manage to do & see everything I wanted to.  Therefor, Miss Wall & I are going to be meticulously planning out this trip, so as to include all & everything, whilst still obviously allowing for any spontaneous happenings to occur!  I especially want to see the graffiti covered part of the Berlin Wall in the west, as I disappointingly didn't get a chance to last time.

I also want to revisit the Holocaust Memorial & spend a bit more time there.

I think we'll both be indulging in some bratwurst, sipping a fair few cocktails, lurking in cool cafés, generally exploring & taking a lot of photographs!  Can't wait!

x

When I awoke, you spoke through the mist of the mystic bliss.

I've been home for a little while now & I've really appreciated getting back to a sea view.

I've gone back to working part-time & am mostly spending my free time eating cake with friends.

My friend Suz came for a visit last Monday & we went to the Cupcake Café for breakfast, which consisted of giant chunks of cake & milkshakes.  It's never too early for cake!

I may have indulged in a fry-up for lunch...

But we did at least take a long walk along the beach, so that cancels it all out...kinda.

In continuation of my cake eating; it was my friend Maria's birthday last week, so I thought I would whip my Primrose Bakery Book out & try out another recipe.  I made raspberry cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream icing, sprinkled with edible gold glitter, naturally.  They seemed to go down quite well.

Despite all this cake eating, I am attempting to lose the weight I gained in London & have abandoned my car on the drive & am walking the 3.5mile round trip to work each day.  I'm knackered & my legs & bum really hurt, but I'm hoping that's a good sign & I'll have matchstick legs by the time the weather heats up!

I think Mr Pig is happy I'm home.  I've missed his snuggles.

He had surgery a little while before I left for London & now he's been left with a floppy ear.

He's such a patchwork dog, but I love him.

2013 is very much about finding what makes me happy.  So far this has included spending time with friends, indulging my sweet tooth & snuggles with Pig.  I'm really looking forward to the weather heating up, being able to get my little tanned legs out, planting lavender in the garden & reading my new Eva Rice book.  Yes, I am a (soon to be) twenty six year old granny & you know what, I'm totes cool with that.  Plus, I've got a little adventure I'm planning with Miss Wall, (details to come) which I'm really looking forward to.

x

Now you're on your own, won't you come back home

I think the thing about London, is that it's one of those places which is great to visit & spend quality time in on a sporadic basis.  But when you're there all day, every day, working long draining hours on very little pay, it's not quite as much fun.

Plus when it comes to finding somewhere to live, well, you become acutely aware how little bang you get for your buck.  I may over the years have learnt to lower my standards, but crack dens I cannot do.

London is also an incredibly isolating place.  You power walk everywhere, whether you're in a rush to get anywhere, or not.  Nobody looks each other in the eye.  Nobody smiles.  I haven't smiled for weeks.  Anyone that walks remotely slower than you, you want to push over.  The staff in all the shops are so incredibly rude too!

Of course there have been some good times; the chocolate festival at the Southbank Centre, Winter Wonderland, Margaritas at The Connaught Hotel & more.  Although, this was all short lived once I got ill.  Firstly flu, which I was just getting over when I then got food poisoning from a trip to Byron.  Three weeks later & I'm not yet recovered.

It's been a somewhat miserable December, to say the least.  The new year however, has made me realise that life is far too short to spend being unhappy.  So I've handed in my notice & as of February will be heading back to the coast & once there I will be saving all my pennies for the next adventure; traveling round Italy!

So here's to the good parts of a winter spent in London.