A week in pictures

What a week! The Christmas season is definitely in motion. Christmas light switch ons, partys, birthday celebrations and meetings galore it just seems to have flown by this week and I thought I would share with you a few pictures of my week. There were actually so many more I could have taken but here is a few I took in the moment.

End of last week we celebrated my friends birthday at the fireworks. I love getting all wrapped up in the cold and seeing a blazing fire with beautiful displays in the sky. There is something about firework night that marks the start of the festive season for me, I love it!

It's been busy busy at work this week with lots of projects underway and one of my meetings took me through Chalk Farm where I saw some awesome grafitti. I love finding little surprises like this on my average every day and really makes me feel I'm seeing more of London.

Despite the busy schedules we managed to stop and have lunch one day with one of our agencies at Pachamama in W1, a peruvian restaurant tucked away on Thayer Street. As we were a larger table we ordered one of everything from the fix menu where everything was £6 a plate. You can find the menu here but my favourites was definitely the Chicken anticuchos, charred corn (kebab style),  the Quinoq with avocado, Granny Smith, tomato, coriander vinaigrette, Short Grain rice, spring onions, roasted nuts and the Chilled prawn, onion squash, english mustard and tiger milk.  And of course, wherever I go, I have to have a cocktail and this Mama Pisco, though strong, hit the spot! How cool is the little silver pot it came in?

image from pacha mamalondon.com

I also got the exciting news I am off to Berlin in January for work. I am so excited! I love getting on a plane and jetting away and this will be my second destination I am visiting for work so I feel quite the jet setter. It is going to be during fashion week and I hope to take a few extra days to visit the city as I have never been. Does anyone have any tourist tips? It also finally means I have a reason for my Topshop Berlin tee that I have always been mocked for.

To top off a busy week every evening has been lit up with the Christmas spirits. Oxford Street has turned on its light and in all its glory brought Christmas to London with Selfridges, the mother ship, a beacon of joy to shopaholics a like. Always a great vision for the end of a long working day.

Back home, the weekend is here which means a night out with some friends. The only thing that annoys me at this time of year is the bars and clubs put up their prices. Understandable but a bit cheeky when there isn't much new yet once inside. However, they kept me sweet by giving out to the lades these venetian masks in one of my local bars. I'm always partial to a bit of glitter and it has certainly got me in the party spirit (not that I needed MUCH convincing)

Now, time to snuggle down to some X Factor and strictly before the next busy week begins!

Hope you all had a great weekend, what did you get up to? Has anyone else been to London yet for Christmas shopping?

Dinner for one: Take one.

As a singleton living in a rented room in a family home in London there is one thing that frustrates me the most. Dinner. Walking past the aisles in supermarkets is a constant anguishment. Not only am I trying to save money but I am constantly being battled with being resourceful with my one shelf in the fridge.

If you are a singleton of some kind you may share my anger for the many 'dinner for two' meals on the shelves. Or the packs of four chicken.

See my predicament. I have one shelf in the fridge, literally. Approximately one microwaved shaped space in the freezer. I need to shop for a week but use all the contents before they go off and I've practically flushed my money down the drain. I want to be healthy and I want variety and all of this with a limited budget. I am also restricted to kitchen facilities due to my impossible (and yes ridiculous) concerns of intruding someones kitchen space (who wants to be cooking when a dinner party is going on in the same room?).

A four pack of chicken could take you far at not such a hefty fee. Lunch, 3 dinners in the week perhaps. But do I really want to be having that for 70% of my meals? Fish and steaks are expensive. Fresh fruit and veg have a decent life span but also not that cheap. The cost of eating healthy though not pocking breaking isn't as cheap as other alternatives which add pounds in other areas. Really, I am quite lazy and this needs to stop if I want to get my bikini body. I don't think it actually takes much to make this work so, I have decided from today, going forward I will make a vow. To eat a balanced diet at a reasonable budget with creative flair. I will document my efforts with you the beautiful blog reading public.

I thought I would share with you a meal I whipped up a few weeks back in acknowledgement of this new eating me.

Marks and Spencer Chicken Breast filled with Ricotta and Spinach, cous cous and salad. YUM!

With all good intentions

Eating healthy in the midst of winter is never going to be easy. So of course, I set myself the challenge.

I don't want to loose weight as such, if anything tone up but mainly, I just want to eat healthier and live a better food lifestyle. I am a huge takeaway fan and carbs are my forte. Give me a dominoes any day and I'll be your new best friend.

As of late however I have noticed my body rebelling against my long love affair with junk food. Don't get me wrong, my tastebuds still thrive at the thought of a delicious pizza or chinese takeaway and I by no means am going to avoid them out like the plague but it seems too much fatty food is leaving me feel stodgy and greasy as when it is first served to me.

I shouldn't be complaining, this is a good thing. Its a sign my body is appreciating the times I am eating good. Its telling me to stop and to enjoy the natural food God provided this glorious land with. But, there is a problem. *Whispers ever so quietly* I am not a fan of veg.