HTMW Recaps: February 2018

I normally add a quote to the beginning of each post that sums up or enhances my writing. However, I’m going to use my monthly recaps as an opportunity to sum up the month – be it the mood, the weather, my feelings… Anything really. Whilst February has been full of ill physical health (see Lowlights), I’ve also done some pretty great things and managed to see some parts of London I’ve not seen before! Here’s to exploring – don’t ever stop being a tourist, even in your home city!

‘I’m like a tourist when I’m in London.’ – Erin O’Connor.

In January 2017, I announced I was going to start monthly recaps on my blog. If you missed last month’s recap, you can find it here. And wow. February literally flew by in the blink of an eye! It felt like it had barely started before it was over again, and now we’re already a day down in March. For a short month, February was pretty busy, with lots of great times spent with friends, a celeb meeting and I visited a few places I’d never been to before…

The Highlights

• WE GOT A FLAT!! After January, we were pretty disheartened and spent the beginning of February licking our wounds and re-grouping. A dropped out and it reverted back to P and I looking for a two-bed together. We took a more relaxed approach. No more manical rushing around the city viewing flat after flat, and we got a bit more fussy. I’ll admit, it still wasn’t all plain sailing and I did reach a point when I honestly thought we’d never get a flat. And then, all of a sudden, it just fell into place. Now, we are signing the contract on our two-bed in Kentish Town tomorrow and we can move in next week! I literally cannot wait! Finally, things have worked out. Thank goodness!
• I GOT A NEW JOB!! Okay, so I’ll still be working for the same company. But that’s fine, because I love working there. And this new role will be full of new challenges – I’ll actually be building web pages for clients, which is super exciting and means that the training I did last year around HTML, CSS and JavaScript won’t be completely wasted. I’m super excited to get started, and thrilled to have been given the opportunity to take this on. Here’s to the next chapter at work!
• I met Gemma Collins (and had a fabulous night out in Essex with G). G spent hours telling me that I would definitely not see any of the cast members from The Only Way Is Essex. Especially because we were going to a small club in Hornchurch – apparently not somewhere they tend to frequent. So it came as a bit of a surprise when, within half an hour of arriving, G grabbed my shoulders and told me that Gemma Collins (the GC herself, the self-proclaimed Queen of Essex) had walked in. I have to say, I fan-girled quite hard and definitely had a photo taken with her. It was, all in all, a really great night out in Essex. G was the most amazing host (with a beautiful house!), and even drove me home the next day so I wouldn’t have to take off my pyjamas. That is one good friend, if ever I’ve seen one!
• The Gursky exhibition was excellent. A and I met up for a picnic prior to getting tickets for the exhibition and heading to the Hayward Gallery to check it out. It was great to catch up with A – she is always one of my very favourite people to hang out with – and to do something slightly more cultured! The exhibition was really great as well, with some truly amazing photos in the collection. If you happen to be in London any time before the 22nd April 2018 and enjoy photography exhibitions, I would highly recommend this one.
• I explored Hampstead Heath for the first time. How have I never made it here before?! A slice of countryside in the city, and it was such a beautiful, Spring-like day when I visited as well. To be honest, I didn’t even realise how much I’d been craving the outdoors and a break from the never-ending drone of traffic until I reached the heath. And then I was just so glad I’d made the effort to get out and explore it finally, because it was exactly what I needed! After several hours wandering all over by myself (I walked about five miles!), I headed back into Hampstead Village and ended the day with drinks in a pub with J, C, P and A. Just a great Saturday really!
• P cooked us the best roast dinner. It was the first time he’d ever cooked a roast by himself as well, and it was delicious! We rounded it off with apple crumble while we watched Dunkirk, and it was just a really great Sunday!
• T treated E and I to a really lovely dinner out. Every six months or so, T takes E and I out for dinner and it is a real treat. He buys delicious wine, we eat three courses and we catch up, and it’s just lovely. This time around was no exception, and we had a great evening catching up and dining well in the City. Next time, T is going to try and get me into red wine… Watch this space!

The Lowlights

• I fell and bruised my coccyx. Which left me in agony for about a week, and it is still aching horribly several weeks on. At least I can sit down on it now – I spent two days at a standing desk in work because I could barely sit! That’ll teach me for drinking too much in heels… I did learn how to spell coccyx though!
• Then I got a bad cold. Just bleargh. I hate colds. This one sucked, as they usually do.
• And then I gave myself food poisoning by eating mayonnaise that was six months out of date. Yeah. I know right. February sucked when it came to my physical health! I had a day off work for this one and felt dreadful for 24 hours. That’ll teach me for not checking the use-by date on dodgy jars at the bottom of the fridge…
• We also had a really average meal out at the beginning of the month. A group of us went to Red Rooster in Shoreditch to check it out, as D is opening his own restaurant in Birmingham with a similar theme – soul food, Deep South etc, and he wanted to do some market research. We were excited to see what the place was like, and the decor and initial impressions did not disappoint. But oh my God, the food was dreadful. There was literally no seasoning anywhere. I think we must have used nearly an entire salt cellar between our table, and that’s barely an exaggeration. It was such a disappointment! And on top of that, it was expensive too. Paying that much money for such average food leaves a bad taste in the mouth and I definitely will not be recommending this restaurant to anyone in the future.

Posts This Month

• My Viewpoint on the Working Animals at Petra. Whilst I enjoyed my visit to the Rose City last March, I couldn’t help but get furious at the way the working animals were being treated all around me, all day. It was disheartening to see apparently ignorant tourists adding to the animals’ distress and lack of wellbeing as well. I wrote this post to showcase my experiences and offer some practical tips to visitors who want to minimise the animals’ suffering if and when they visit Petra.

My 2018 Reading Challenge Book of the Month – February.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson.

This was recommended to me by Mum and came with a 4/5 rating from GoodReads. I was excited to pick this up – Mum has mentioned it a few times over the years and the book sounded right up my street, with references to World War II. The story is based around a murder trial, where a Japanese man has been accused of killing a man over a land dispute. I felt that the plot was quite predictable, but I liked the way it filled out. The way that the people were intertwined was well done and cleverly written, and there were interesting insights in how life was for Japanese people living in America during World War II, when they were considered the enemy after Pearl Habour.

The book also focused quite a lot on the environment and setting for the story, with beautiful prose about the island on which the characters lived and wonderful ways of describing the storm that enveloped the town while the trial was ongoing. I would highly recommend this book, and would give it a slightly higher rating than GoodReads, going in at 4.2/5.

In January, I also read:

• This Is London by Ben Judah. I finished the second half of this book in February, and was less enamoured with it after its initial fantastic start in January. I found that I got a little weary about halfway through, and that the stories were slightly less interesting. However, I’d still recommend this as an excellent insight into the hidden side of London, and how immigrants live their lives out in one of the toughest cities in the world.
• Just Haven’t Met You Yet by Cate Woods. Technically speaking, I didn’t actually read this, but downloaded it as an audio book and an antidote to the two slightly more serious books I was reading in February. This is the perfect light novel – hilarious, really entertaining and more thought-provoking than you might imagine from reading the title… I’d definitely recommend it if you like the chick-lit genre and want something that challenges your perceptions around relationships a little more than your average chick-lit book normally does.

TV Series of the Month

Survival of the Fittest, ITV2.

I’m not ashamed to admit that this series has got me hooked, and I’ve not yet missed an episode! With the final looming, it’s been a lightweight, funny and downright ‘guilty pleasure’ throughout February. Who am I kidding? I don’t even feel guilty about it!

Instagram Pictures of the Month

My photos this month were taken mainly in London, with throwbacks to Norway, Jordan and Hever Castle all in there for good measure. I got shadowbanned this month on Instagram, and my engagement dropped so much!! Quite frustrating, but hopefully I’m out of the woods now and it’ll pick up again soon.

I choose these three images based on which got the most likes on Instagram and then tell the story behind the picture. Disclaimer: They are not necessarily my favourite photos!

A Visit to Primrose Hill, London. E and I met one Sunday afternoon to walk from Chalk Farm to Bakerloo, taking in Primrose Hill and Regent’s Park along the way. It was a chilly day, and we talked about everything and nothing, as we usually do when we take walks together. I never get tired in E’s company, and she forever picks me up and makes me feel better when I’m down. She’s one of my biggest cheerleaders and I love the fact that we both live in London now and can see so much more of each other. I only wish P lived here too!

Happy Valentine’s Day!, Hever Castle, Kent. I took this photo in July last year, when J and I took a day trip out to Hever Castle.  I’ve been sitting on it ever since in the hope I might find the perfect use for it! Whilst I think this is the photo that got me shadowbanned (I used a bad hashtag), I do love it. And it’s perfect for Valentine’s Day! You would think the photo had been taken in Rome or some warm Mediterranean country, and not Kent, by the colour of the sky and the glorious climbing roses.

Little Donkey, Petra, Jordan. I used this picture alongside putting up my post about the animal mistreatment in Petra. I took this as we were slowly wending our way home after a long, tiring day in the city. I had started taking photos with my phone rather than my camera and it was only in February, when scrolling back through, that I re-discovered this image and knew I had to use it. I love when that happens – you take a chance shot and only realise months later that it is pretty good and can definitely be used. And it was perfect for promoting my latest blog post too!