Borough Food Market

If you know me, you know I'm a fan of delicious food. I'd been hearing about the Borough Food Market since before I moved to London. Friends told me it's the perfect spot to spend a Saturday afternoon and to go hungry!

After the little fire I mentioned last time, I moved over to a new flat for a few weeks until my lease starts. It's right over by Tower Bridge and a 20 minute walk to Borough Market. Since I was so close, I texted a friend who's in London for the summer and we headed off to explore.

It was a bit gray outside (surprise, surprise), but the view on my walk couldn't be beat. First, Tower Bridge. It's celebrating it's 120th birthday this week. Still looking good.

Next up was the Shard. The Shard is an 87 story building, making it the tallest in London and the EU, with supposedly breathtaking views of the city. It kind of reminds me a bit of Lord of the Rings, don't you think?

Once you are over London Bridge you hang a right at the impressive Southwark Cathedral and you've arrived at Borough Market!

Thankfully it's a covered market because as soon as we got in the skys opened up and it poured!

It's a fairly large market and filled with every food you can imagine. Stacks of fresh veggies.

Juicy mountains of cherries from Spain (I bought a pound and they were the sweetest cherries I've ever had).

There had to be at least 20 different cheese shops all giving out samples. I brought home one cheese, but wanted to bring home all of them!

They had barrels of salty olives.

And HUGE oysters.

The dessert tables were even better. Who doesn't want cookie the size of a dinner plate. And they say Americans have big portions!

The fresh fruit was being chopped up for smoothies and juices. Watermelon has to be my favorite of them all.

Then we came to a MASSIVE duck confit sandwich vendor. I couldn't say no, so I forked over the £5 and enjoyed every bite.

Lastly we passed by a wine shop selling Prosecco Spritzers. Ummm, AMAZING. I'm definitely making these again.

What a great Saturday afternoon. I will definitely be back!

Fire Scare!

Well this was an eventful weekend. It started out beautiful. The weather in London couldn't be beat. Sunny, 80 degrees and not a cloud in the sky.

A friend and I ventured over to a free festival with 10 minute acts from all the West End Musicals. The line was looong, but we stuck with it and got to see snippets of Jersey Boys, MamaMia and The Bodyguard.

It was getting hot so we headed over to the most adorable little wine bar, Terroirs, for some afternoon prosecco and nibbles. I highly recommend it. I was adventurous and went with the sardines on toast. Not bad.

Now friends, things started to go a little south. I arrived at my building to find the fire alarm going off and two fire trucks arriving to investigate. We could see a bit of smoke coming from the second floor but it didn't look that bad. It was around 4:30 in the afternoon and I had a date at 7, so I asked the police officers how long it was going to be. The response; a while! So I headed over to a nearby tea and cupcake shop to wait it out.

At 6:30 the street was still blocked off. I realized, I was not going to get to change for my date. Oh well, good thing I had a decent outfit on. He took me out for an awesome night of dinner, a comedy show and dancing. I don't know what I would have done without that. SO much fun.

Around midnight I headed back to my corporate housing to find that it was a pretty bad fire. Thankfully, no one was hurt! They still don't know much about what started it, but no one can return there for at least a week. The power was shut off, so a firefighter escorted me up to my room so I could pack a bag. I'm so grateful that my room was undamaged. Two doors down from me the room was completely burn to a crisp. The floors and walls were black, the walls disintegrated and the insulation charred. Really scary. They put me up in hotel for a few days and are sorting out what will happen next for my next three weeks of corporate housing.  Wild!

I can honestly say I've yet to have a dull movement in London!

Columbia Road Flower Market

I woke up on Sunday to the typical grey skies London is known for. It stayed that way all day long. What does one do on a gloomy Sunday? Head to the flower market in Shoreditch, the edgier, 'hipster' side of East London.

First, we filled up on lattes and green tea at the adorable Workshop Coffee Co. It's lit with fuzzy white lights and you a greeted with piles of croissants and other sweets.

Once we were properly fueled, we headed off with visions of peonies in our heads.
The flower market is only open on Sunday's and is packed to the brim with gorgeous color that definitely brightened up my day.

Peonies were EVERYWHERE in bloom. So pretty! I wanted to take everything home.

The sellers were all lively 'chaps' shouting out their deals with witty little  lines. "2 bunches for a tenner! Beware of imitations!" This one was particularly colorful :)

Here are Jen and Kara with their peony and dahlia spoils!

I got on the peony bandwagon as well. They are now in full bloom on my kitchen table. I need to go back to the flower market every Sunday.

Studio Living

I don't move into my flat for a few more weeks, but I'm already dreaming about how I'm going to decorate my new little space in London. Today, I'm sharing a few sneak peaks of my flat from the property owner's website. That's then followed by some massive pinterest idea binging I did this morning. Big progress here, big progress.

 
Yes, there is a tiny little balcony outside the bay windows! I love how much light this flat gets. Oh and those trees across the street; part of the private neighborhood park I'll soon be sunning in (I get my own little key!).

Now below are my quick iPhone photos the first day I viewed the flat. It's got an adorable little loft where I plan on putting an air mattress for visitors (come visit!). Through the door is a MASSIVE closet (you know I need that) and a cute little bathroom that I forgot to take a pic of.

How gorgeous is that crown molding! I love it. My itty bitty kitchen is over on the right.

So with this new flat I'm am THRILLED to start injecting it with my style. Here are a few pinterest ideas I'm considering.

I'm obsessed with the idea of a "wall mounted bar." If this doesn't scream, 'Alicia' I don't know what does.

image from Decor8

I love the idea of breaking up space with this IKEA shelving system. It's also a good place to store shoes. I totally got this idea from my lovely friend, Maureen, back in Chicago. She makes this look good!

image from pinterest

I'm likely going to need some extra storage space, and I adore this color coded wire rack system.

image from pinterest

Very smart bath towel storing probably needs to be in my life here.

image from pinterest

How perfect is this little wall mounted drop down desk? I envision it doing double duty for a dinner party. In white of course.

image from pinterest

I love to cook so I'm going to need some more kitchen space. This kitchen cabinet from IKEA could be perfect. It opens up to double the counter space.

image from IKEA

And just in case I need it, more closet space via hanging rack.

image from pinterest

A Sunday in Exmouth Market

Sunday morning I work up to the sun shining down like it was Southern California. I might be a new Londoner but I knew enough to get out and make the most of the day!

My new friend, Jenn, and I "popped over" (a phrase the Brits use here nonstop) to brunch in Exmouth Market. It's a beautifully quaint street about 3 minutes from my current flat. The 'market' is a back alley filled with restaurants and pubs, loads of outdoor seating and cobblestone roads meant for pedestrians only (key word, MEANT).

We decided on Caravan and lucked out with a cozy two top table at outside just as the sun was peeking over the buildings (and minutes before the crowds rolled in). Jenn ordered a pretty little latte and I sipped on some fresh mint tea, my fave.

For brunch I devoured a soft boiled egg on basically french onion soup sourdough bread. How could I not order that!?

Jenn ordered tasty avocado on toast and stripy bacon (that's what they call it here, hmm).

We were so wrapped up in talking about our weekends that I forgot to get a picture of us! That will be remedied shortly.  After brunch I headed over to Hyde Park, parked myself in a deck chair and soaked up the London sunshine. I may have taken a little nap out there. :)

After some quality sun time I got a message from my coworker, Karolina, to join her in Islington for a pint. Brilliant idea! I jumped on the tube and met her for a few ciders.

Here's the beautiful Karolina showing me around her neighborhood.

After a very full day, I walked back home and through Exmouth Market just as the little fairy lights were coming on. Gorgeous! I keep pinching myself that I live here.