Happy 2014!

Happy New Year! The mister and I are headed to Royal Albert Hall tonight for The Artist accompanied live by the London Symphony Orchestra. We'll be back in Barnes for midnight though to celebrate the new year with our friends. 

Christmas at Kew

The Sunday before Christmas the mister and I went out to Kew Gardens for their Christmas market and illuminated trail. As I said in my previous post, the weather had been terrible but we had a gloriously clear and dry night. We spent an hour or so walking around the gardens and sipping hot chocolate. I think the mister was hoping for something more high-tech but I loved the experience.

It's on until the 4th of January.

Mediterranean gardens, one of my favourite spots

a clue on the 'treasure' hunt

The reflection

And the best part - the dancing lights in the greenhouse

Dreaming of warm weather

As I type, the wind is blowing a gale and the rain is coming down in buckets. All in all it's been a fairly mild winter so far but this type of weather is the worst. It makes going outside miserable. I thought I'd share a few snaps from our trip to Italy back in October as I daydream of warmer climates. 

Stair inspiration

We've finally booked the floor man to have our floors refinished. Goodbye black floors! We've decided however to not sand down and refinish the stairs so I'm busy trying to find stair inspiration. Currently I'm leaning towards painting the stairs grey - a nice neutral color.

I really like how classy the white riser looks - I think this is the front runner.

Getting motivated

I have been horrible lately with working out. Even though I'm still consistently going to the gym, I'm not really pushing myself very hard. Sometimes it's just hard to stay motivated, especially at this time of the year when there's so many other fun things going on. 

I thought perhaps some new workout kit might help me get back in the groove. Any tips or tricks for staying motivated?

scarf print

The mister and I had our big trip to Hawaii this May so we weren't able to take another big trip over the summer, which is why I snapped up the opportunity to book a trip to Sorrento when I saw a deal going. In preparation for our trip which is only a few days away, I bought this beauty. Can't wait for some (hopefully!) warm temps and the Mediterranean Sea!!

via

Another year at the food fair

While we didn't have the beautiful weather we had last year at the Barnes Food Fair, it didn't rain, which I'll take. The food fair is one of my favorite instalments in Barnes and this year it was bigger and better. All the big events in Barnes seem to attract the same vendors but this year we started to see a bit of branching out, such as the mini roasts - which are essentially shredded veg rolled into a ball and lightly fried, served with hummus and pita, which is what I had for lunch. And in other exciting news, we found out we're getting a Gail's on the high street!