Adventures in London: Issue 86

Whilst at BU the motto was "Work Hard, Play Hard", in grad school it was "Work Hard, Run Hard", living in NYC it was "Work Harder, Play Harder", these days it is "Work Insanely Hard, Sleep Hard(ly)" - rsrsrs.

This week has been an insane week of numerous stupid o'clock nights, but the reward for all that was potty and giving a home to 100 chili plants. As a way to raise money for charity, build a sense of community on the floor, and to annoy the "anti-greenery" sentiment by the head of Finance we started this initiative and shockingly it caught on. Within the day we had found the 100 chili plants a home :-)

That Friday we celebrated Varian's birthday. One of her friends decided to throw her a surprise birthday party on the day of her birthday. It was a nice sentiment, but looking back perhaps we should have planned for another day. Since we were all meant to have plans on her birthday it made it look like we all had "better things to do than celebrate her birthday". As they said in Grey's - surprise birthday parties are NEVER a good idea. She was rather miffed that none of the crew were going out with her - little did she know....mmmwahhahahah (that was my best attempt at an evil laugh).

JAD book a table at SOUK, a north African restaurant off the seven points. The restaurant is a maze of various rooms and corners. It is actually quite a cool place to go to and the food is absolutely delicious. I highly recommend the Pre-Fix in which you can re-requests dishes until you cannot bear eating anymore grape leaves, hummus and pita, spicy potatoes...oh I am hungry just thinking about it. When can I go back?! This time I want food for 12, but I don't want to share with anyone. Okay well maybe I will share, but only with a small group. You know how I am with restaurants and too many people at the table. If you don't.... well you don't :-)

That weekend was all about relaxing and catching up on the lack of sleep from the prior week. On Sunday, Biju & I went to a little cafe on the high street for tea and pastries. We sat there reading (Biju the Sunday paper and me Born to Run). It was really just what I needed - some peace and quite to catch up on life a bit. It would have been nice if the cafe was not on the high street and therefore outdoor seating meant that you are seated on the sidewalk near the passing buses, people, and rubbish. C'est la vie - I am not going to complain. I had a nice pot of tea, a buttery croissant, and a lovely book. What more could you ask from a Sunday morning (well there is a lot of things I can think of.....rsrs)?

After finishing my tea and croissant, it was off the the grocery store. Anyone who has lived with me or been out food shopping knows that I HEART IT! I have no idea why, but I enjoy spending hours in the grocery store walking up and down every isle. Whilst on my exploration of the store, I decided that I was in the mood for Shepherd's Pie. I had never cooked it, but I had a sudden craving for it. I google the recipe, bought the required ingredients and then it was off to see if I could indeed execute this challenge. For my first attempt it was quite good. I do want to revise the recipe a bit to give it that little something something, if you know what I mean. You don't? Well neither do I.

I guess on that note I should call it a post. Hope you all are well

xoxo

T