London Weekend with Mum.

For my birthday my boss gave me two tickets to see A Chorus Line in the theatre and said that someone could sleep at ours for the night. I asked my mum to come up and we had such a lovely weekend! It was made even better by this weather, it was glorious. She got into Victoria at about 9.30am and after going for a coffee we headed straight to Hyde Park to relax in the sunshine. When we got there we decided to get a picnic from a supermarket before we settled down so headed off on our mission. The main thing that drives me a bit crazy about London (and it's probably true of most big cities) is that unless you know where things are, you'll never find them. There have been so many instances when I needed to get to a supermarket for example, and have waked three miles to get to one only to find out that there was one five steps from my starting point. I think this was the case on Saturday. We walked around two miles in the sweltering heat to find a Marks and Spencers or a Waitrose, ANYTHING.

Finally we saw an M & S and chose our picnic. We were hot and hungry by then so all of the crisp salads and glistening fruit looked so inviting. Our eyes were a little too big for our bellies and we chose salads, sandwiches, fruit, olives, cous cous, crisps and Eton mess. It was so delicious. We also got some still lemonade with ginger which was so refreshing and thirst quenching, great in this heat.

Hyde park was so busy. My mum couldn't get over the amount of people but I suppose that less people have gardens up here and the park is kind of the Londoner's answer to the beach. We set up our blanket under a shady tree and relaxed for ages. We even had a little nap after lunch. It was nice to just spend time together talking and people watching. I always feel guilty about being in London and not 'doing' something but I had never been to Hyde Park before so that satisfied me enough!

We then went to the theatre to see A Chorus Line. I'll do a full review about it in a few days but I'll tell you now that it was superb. It's the best musical I've seen to date (War Horse counts as a play hehe).

After the theatre we made our way back to Waterloo to get on the train and got a burger for the way home. We got to the house, mum managed to maneuver the stair-gates okay and not wake the children which was a bonus, and it was soooooo hot in my room. We were both knackered so we pretty much brushed our teeth and went to bed, after opening all the windows.

We got up about 9am the next morning, I got a cup of tea in bed which is such a luxury. We went into Richmond and had breakfast in Carluccio's. We both had a latte and an almond croissant which were gorgeous, plenty of marzipan inside. Before, when we came up for my job interview we missed the coach home by about three minutes. Mum was knocking on the door as he was leaving the coach station but he wouldn't let us on. Because of this we are both a little nervous about arriving on time so we went to Victoria straight away just so we were already there and didn't have to stress about travelling across London. We sat outside Starbucks and chatted for hours. It always amazes me how we can still have things to talk about even though we had been talking for hours the day before. I am so proud to say that my mum is one of my best friends and we have such  good time together.

Once I had seen mum on the coach I headed home. The tube was ridiculously busy because everyone had gone out to enjoy the sunshine and it was boiling. I went straight to bed that night and didn't need any rocking.

Tesco Food Collection

I went to Tesco yesterday and I saw that they had set up a food collection. It was run nationally over the weekend (5th-6th July) in all Tesco stores. Basically people put an extra item of shopping into their basket then donate it to the collection on their way out. It is then distributed between around 900 charities and used to stock food banks which help people who just can't make ends meet. For the first time, Tesco will be setting up permanent food collection points in some of their stores and I think that's a great idea. How easy would it be to get into the habit of adding an extra item to your shopping trolley every week! I hope that this scheme is a hit and they place a collection point in each of their stores nationwide.

The need for these services is becoming more and more common in these financial times and its not just the food which helps these families, many people say that the emotional support they receive from the charity workers is just as important. Single parents who are struggling to get enough food on the table to feed their children, elderly people who are unable to afford enough food or cook hot meals. The people that this project helps are among the most vulnerable in our society and I am so happy to see that big corporations like Tesco are using their popularity and wealth to help people like this. They are not just taking donations from their customers, at the end of the weekend Tesco will donate a further 30% worth of food to the cause.

The two charities which Tesco is in partnership with are The Trussell Trust and Fare Share. The Trussell Trust gives families and individuals in crisis three days worth of food, they are referred to the service by doctors and social workers and once they are at the trust they are listened to and supported in finding other services which may be able to help them long term. Fare Share gives food to charities and organisations such as children's breakfast clubs and lunch clubs for elderly people. These events not only enable these people to have a proper meal each day but it also helps them to get out of the house, socialise and make friends.

This event really struck a chord with me because my mum didn't have much money when my brother and I were young and, although we never needed to use a food bank, I know how hard my mum had to work and budget just to give us three meals a day. Also, it is very easy for families to slip into the category of needing this help. All it takes is for one parent to become ill or have an accident and their savings can be depleted very quickly. No-one ever knows when they may need services like these and that's why I feel very strongly about supporting them.

The items which they asked people to donate were non-perishable goods such as UHT cartons of juice or milk, cereal, pasta, tins and jars.I bought two cartons of orange juice and a box of coco pops (I know I probably should have bought sugar-free cereal, bad nanny!) and they cost me around £2. I had spent about £50 on pizzas and alcohol for a party we were throwing so an extra £2 didn't really make any difference to me but it could make a massive difference to a child who normally goes to school with an empty stomach and cannot learn because they are so hungry. How many people would spend much more than £2 on a drink on a night out and think nothing of it? It didn't even need to be that much. A tin of value beans costs no more than 30p, I've seen people throw change from their pockets into the bin just because they couldn't be bothered to carry it around with them. I just thought that it was a brilliant idea and it has inspired me to look into charities local to me to see if they have any food bank schemes which I could volunteer at.

You can see the full details of the Tesco Food Collection here.

Did you see this scheme in any of your local Tesco over the weekend? Do you already support a similar charity? I'd love to hear any volunteering stories you may have.

Bastille

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I've been obsessed with Imagine Dragons for the last few weeks, I have listened to their album constantly so when Bastille was suggested as a similar artist on Spotify I definitely wanted to check them out. I made the right choice. I am absolutely loving them and their latest album 'Bad Blood' is so, so good!

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The band's from London, I love British artists. And them being from the UK very much increases my chances of going to a gig of theirs. 

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Also the lead singer, Dan Smith, is so gorgeous! There's something very irresistable about a man who can sing. He originally set up Bastille as a solo project but decided to form a band.

I'll leave you with my favorite song of theirs, Things We Lost in the Fire:

Enjoy!!

My Week

I know, I've been a terrible blogger! I haven't blogged in a fortnight and I actually quite missed it! The week before last was so hectic because both I and the children were going away for a week so I had to ensure that not only all of their ironing and packing was done but I had to pack mine too! I just packed for myself though. I do not iron more than is necessary!

Then, last week I was at home for a whole ten days. It was blissful. I caught up with loads of friends and family, did a few mundane things which I don't get to do up here and I sadly enjoy like spending hours cooking a meal and shopping in Tesco. The best thing of all though was that I got to spend lots of time with my mum and brother. My little bro (not that little, he's nineteen!) had the whole week off college so we had movie days and I just generally spoiled him. My mum also managed to have a few days off work, she runs her own garden centre so time off is pretty hard to come by.

I went home because it was my birthday on the third of July. On the actual day I took my mum out for lunch at a gorgeous local Spanish restaurant, check it out here, I'll post a full review of our meal later in the week. Then we just went home and drank tea and chatted. That's what I like most about being home, just relaxing and catching up properly with the family. I also had a bit of family get together on Friday. On Saturday we had a bit of a surprise birthday party with about seven of my brothers mates and my stepsister and her boyfriend. It was so much fun! The alcohol was flowing and we had a really good time.

So you can see why I haven't posted, these last couple of weeks have been crazy but I'm back now and my fingertips are itching to type.

I am loving tribal, Aztec and Indian prints at the moment. This is a picture of a selection of skirts and tops from New Look's Inspire range.

I haven't had a chance to read any blogs this week so I can't link you to any that I found interesting. I'll buck my ideas up for next week!

My Week

This week seemed so hectic! The children usually get up at about 3pm and have dinner at 5pm which leaves us two hours in the afternoon to do something. We usually play in the house or go for a little walk to tire them out but we went out every afternoon which makes the time go quickly but we were all knackered by Friday.

I went out on Friday night and it was good, the weather was warm and the sun came out late afternoon so we could sit outside, bliss. I met two friends who are also nannies so our evenings are always filled with hilarious stories and plenty of laughter. The pub served vanilla vodka though, my Kryptonite.

On Saturday I went to West End Live, you can see my post about it here.

Sunday was a day of relaxation, I needed it after such a busy week! The children and I had found the Boho cafe whih is about ten minutes away from our house. Its a lovely little cafe with great coffee, yummy cakes and plenty of toys for the children to play with. Its a great place which I think I will be frequenting.

With the summer holidays coming up I really like this post from Make and Takes about activities to bring when travelling with children, it has some great ideas.

This infused sugar from A Beautiful Mess looks so yummy! It would make such sweet gifts too, something to think about for my Christmas hampers. I really want to try the lavender one.

I cried my eyes out when I read this post from How Does She. tells her son how to be prepared for the world of dating so that he is ready for his princess when she comes along. It is a beautiful post straight from the heart and infused with so much feeling and some wit.

And last but not least I need this yarn storage solution from Knits for Life. Its so gorgeous and a really easy, effective way to display all your wool hoard.

West End Live.

Well, what can I say? I think this was one of the best experiences I've had in London in over a year of living here. Basically, West End Live is an event in Trafalgar Square where musicals which are playing in the West End do a fifteen to twenty minute excerpt from their show. The first event was held nine years ago and just had four shows taking part, this year the event was held over Saturday and Sunday and had over thirty! Also, it was completely free! I always begrudge paying to do anything in London because there are so many brilliant things on offer which are free, I always give a donation of course.

I was up at 6am (after being out the night before and enjoying a few too many Friday vanilla vodkas!) and left the house at 7am. The gates didn't open until 10.30am but we wanted to be there early to avoid being at the back of the queues. We got to Trafalgar Square at about 9am and there were about 100 people in front of us. By 10.30am the queue had gone all the way down to the bottom of the square and right back up! There was another entrance on the other side of the square too with a similar queue. I knew the event was popular but I hadn't realised quite how popular.

We thought that we had found some really good seats at the back of the square on some steps. We could sit down and see the stage clearly. But, as soon as the first act came on everyone in front of us stood up and we couldn't see anything so we ended up having to stand too. The stage was raised so we could get a good view of it from the back and there were two big screens so we could see more detail. The filming was a bit sporadic, there would be a close up of an actor who wasn't actually singing at the time or it would show the actors faces when they were doing some awesome foot work but you could get the gist of what they were doing.

There were presenters from Heart FM who spoke in between the shows and they were a bit annoying at first but they did quite a good job of getting the audience involved and keeping their spirits up when the inevitable British rain made an appearance. For some reason there was a lot of dust in the air which kept flying into our faces. I tried not to think about it too much because I didn't really like the idea of inhaling thousands of different people's skin cells.

Let It Be - I was really looking forward to getting a preview of this musical using the songs of the Beatles because I love their music but I was so disappointed with this show. They just stood there with their instruments and sang. Badly. They absolutely butchered 'Help', and every time they spoke they had these terrible British/Liverpudlian accents which sounded so fake. I will give them a tiny bit of credit because they were the first act on and the audience was enormous but surely they're used to that from doing the theatre show everyday. A different band member sang 'Let It Be' and that was much better, the only redeeming factor of this show sample.

Once: A New Musical - This has been on my 'Find Out More' list for quite a while because I've seen some rave reviews about this musical and from what I saw yesterday I think its one that I would really enjoy. The music was lively and quite Indie style. There were violins which made me want to do a little jig (always a positive quality in violins I find). I was sad that their set was so short but this is going on the 'To Watch' list.

So Many People!

Wicked - I have wanted to see Wicked for ages. I've got the soundtrack on my 'Best of Musicals' playlist and I'm halfway through reading the book. One thing I will say is that some of the musicals that came to the show made such a massive effort, Les Mis had a big cast, Phantom of the Opera brought props, so I was pretty disappointed that the cast of Wicked hadn't even worn costumes. The Galinda/Glinda and Elphaba actresses came on stage in their everyday clothes with no green make-up. Saying that, their voices were incredible. They sang Defying Gravity and it sounded as if it was a recording.

Billy Elliott - I've seen Billy Elliott before and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Sad scenes mixed in with hilarious scenes, the perfect concoction. Sadly, there were some microphone problems during their piece so we couldn't hear most of the singing. The parts we did hear however were great and Billy's dancing always makes me watch in awe.

Les Miserables - I was a bit wary about seeing this. I always worry about seeing something I've enjoyed so much as a film on the stage. Will I be disappointed? Will the film be ruined for me? Will the stage show live up to the film? I have to say that this totally surpassed the film for me. First, Eponine sang 'On My Own' and I had major goosebumps, actually I had goosebumps throughout their whole set. I also cried. 'Bring Him Home' was sang beautifully, very strong and masculine but also soft and kind. The whole cast sang 'One Day More' and it totally blew me away. The effect of the cast on stage was incredible and their voices were fabulous.

The Phantom of the Opera - Everyone always raves about this musical and to be honest its never been one which has attracted me. They, of course, sang 'Phantom of the Opera' and it was good. They had made a massive effort with props and costumes, they'd even decorated the stage with candelabras. But it wasn't one of my personal highlights.

Top Hat - The actors danced beautifully and I was amazed at their synchronisation. They danced tap, which I absolutely love and I would have really liked to see more than one song. This wouldn't have been a musical which I'd book for myself to see but after seeing that I think I would. I suppose that's the best part of these sorts of events, getting a taste of new and different things.

Matilda - Now, this is a musical that I've wanted to see ever since it came out. I love the film and the music for this show was written by Tim Minchin. What could possibly be wrong with that? The little girl who played Matilda was called Christina Frey and she was absolutely amazing. Her voice was incredible and she acted so well, so comical and exaggerated. She also pronounced 'change' as 'tsange' which was very cute.

We Will Rock You - I've seen this show before too and I loved it. The storyline was a bit loose at times, it felt as if a lot of it had been written just to fit in with the music but, to be honest, you can't go wrong with Queen's music. I enjoyed the whole singing and dancing atmosphere in the theatre and this was recreated in the square. Everyone was on their feet dancing and singing along. They sang 'We Will Rock You', 'Another One Bites The Dust', 'We Are The Champions' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The main characters voices were fantastic and they really got the crowd to join in. Hearing so many people singing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' is pretty overwhelming.

Everyone Waving Their Arms For 'We Are The Champions'

The Bodyguard - I've never seen the film version of this but I've quite fancied going to see the musical. After yesterday I probably wouldn't bother. I thought that one of the main singers was slightly off which was a pity. But they did sing 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' which won me over a little bit.

Jersey Boys - I thought that this would be right up my street with their choices of songs and I was right. This is definitely one which I want to see now. They sang 'Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You', a medley of 'Sherry Baby', 'Walk Like A Man', Big Girls Don't Cry' and 'Baby Goodbye', 'Beggin'' and 'Oh What A Night'. Their voices were so good and the harmonies were perfect, they sang such high notes at times! There were female singers too which mixed up the sound a bit and stopped you becoming too bored with the same voices.

Mamma Mia - This was another musical which I was a bit wary about seeing because I love the film so much but it thoroughly impressed me. They sang 'I Have A Dream', 'Mamma Mia', 'Dancing Queen' and 'Waterloo'. Their costumes were great, so colourful and fun. Also there was no Amanda Seyfried which is always positive for me.

Thriller Live - This is a show using the music from Michael Jackson. It was brilliant. First there was the Jackson 5 singing 'ABC' and 'I Want You Back'. Little Michael was so good, a great voice and dance moves plus cheekiness and attitude. I think that little dude is going to go far. They had a different person playing Michael for the different stages of his life and some of them looked like him so much. It wasn't just their costumes but their actual bone structure and features.

Burn the Floor - This is the musical with dancers from Strictly Come Dancing. They danced to modern, current songs and the dancing was electric and exciting. I didn't think I'd enjoy this one but I really did!

Sound of Music - This is one of the classic musicals so its pretty high on my 'To Watch' list. They are still rehearsing for the show to begin later this year. The nuns sang 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria' and their voices were fantastic. Maria then sang 'My Favourite Things' and 'The Sound of Music' which were both beautiful.

Even The Rain Didn't Dampen Our Spirits. Ehee.

Peter Pan: Never Ending Story - We were going to leave after the Sound of Music because we were so tired and hungry but one of the girls wanted to stay to watch this set and I am so, so glad we did. I think it was one of my favourite shows of the whole set. I excitedly announced that Stacey Solomon was playing Tinker Bell, forgetting that I was with girls from Canada and Holland and they didn't know who the hell I was on about! They sang modern songs like 'Forever Young', 'Angels' and 'Wild Boys' which sounds strange but fitted so well. The dance routines were quite advanced but looked really good and the props they used were so beautiful. I'm off to get this soundtrack straight away.

We left at about 3.30pm because there was some lesser known shows playing and we were starving. We went to Spaghetti House and I had a chicken and spinach risotto which was delicious. We were all flagging by then but someone suggested we go for drinks so we were quickly persuaded to stay in Central London a bit longer.

We went to the Piccadilly Institute for cocktails (which have 50% off before 9pm woohoo!) and it was possibly the coolest place I've ever been. We sat in the Noir room and drank pretty potent cocktails which tasted like sweeties. We're going to book a proper table and get dressed up to go for one of the girl's birthdays in August and I'm excited already.

All in all it was a brilliant day. I met some great new people and had a wonderful time. We got home at about 9pm and I went straight to bed after putting some aloe vera on my sunburn (I know, we had about 15 minutes of sun the whole day!!). Great, great, GREAT day.

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost - Morocco

Morocco, in North Africa, is somewhere I've wanted to travel to for a long time. It seems like such a mysterious and beautiful country. Morocco spans from the Atlantic ocean, across mountainous terrain to the Sahara desert so it has a wide range of landscapes to explore.

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One of the main attractions for me personally are the souks. I love the Moroccan style and the colourful, sparkly, unusual trinkets available. If I ever see a Middle Eastern style shop in this country I am always drawn to it and I have bought some gorgeous items but I always feel guilty, like I am personally funding a sweat shop. In the souks I hope that the items are more ethical and produced by the seller.

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The food also looks delicious. Morocco uses a wide variety of fruits, vegetables and meats in their recipes, some of the most unusual is goat and camel! Flavourings often used are lemon, pickle and dried fruits giving savoury dishes bursts of sweet and sour. Moroccan cuisine is also known to be heavily spiced and the most common spices used are cinnamon, cumin, turmeric, ginger, paprika, coriander and saffron, fragrant and spicy. Couscous and tagines are a very common main meal and green tea with mint is the main drink, making it properly is considered and art form.

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Moroccan Yoghurt Ice-Cream with Pomegranate Source

There's a cafe there where you can have a relaxing cup of mint green tea and have some beautiful henna done at the same time! Check it out here.

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There are some really intricate mosaic murals.

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And there are loads of beautiful doors. I don't think I've ever seen such attention to detail on a door here in the U.K.

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Okay, so the last one isn't a door, but it IS pretty, so there!! I wish I hadn't done this now, its made me want to go there even more. Where in the world is your ultimate destination?