This week saw Mum and Little Chick flying the nests of on their Jollies. Now, as Baby Bear had to work that left just the three of us at home.
So, the first Sunday alone, what did we do? Run off to London for the day, leaving Baby Bear home alone!
Now, before you all start feeling sorry for her, she refused to tag along with us and didn’t want to spend a day in the City doing parental type things. Well, that told us!
We decided to go down on our own, with the view to buying some stock for his business and then doing something in the City.
Dressing for the day, I decided to wear my blue and green tropical Pin Up Girl Clothing dress and matching Bolero. I teamed this up with some old Primark navy ballet flats, a lime green hair flower and an original vintage navy handbag. Well, you have to make an effort, don’t you?
Coincidentally it was also our wedding anniversary. 23 years. Although, if you were privy to the conversation going on in the car on the way down, the husband was convinced it was 24 years and repeatedly argued so!
In any case, I was right (no surprise there) and we trundled our way down to Hangar Lane to purchase the stock first before heading into town. I did what I do best, and chatting with the owners of the company whilst he did all the hard work!
Eventually he was done and we headed into Liverpool Street Station, this being the nearest stop to Spitalfields and Brick Lane. Now readers of my blog will know that this is a frequent haunt of ours, mainly for the street food and the Beigel shops. And that was exactly where we were heading!
Beigel Bakes is the best Beigel shop on Brick Lane. We joined the huge snake like queue to get our supplies.
1 dozen beigels, a plain white loaf, 5 doughnuts, 2 pieces of cheesecake and the piece de resistance, 2 salt beef beigels with mustard and pickles!
Now you might wonder why we would go all that way for things that we can pretty much get in any large supermarket (Apart from the salt beef beigels with all the trimmings)
There is one simple reason for this; The beigels you buy there are nothing like the dry sawdust like ones you get in a packet from the shop. They are soft yet chewy, full of flavour and suit any kind of filling you can imagine. And they are 35p each! A bargain at half the price.
The doughnuts are also like nothing I have ever had. They are heavy, almost stodgy but in the best way p0ssible! Nothing like the airy fairy ones you normally get. And the jam inside is thick and so so tasty. Just perfect.
A friend had recommended I try the cheesecake next time I visited, and I have to say, this was just so good too. Another favourite to add to the list.
Of course that just leaves the Salt Beef beigel. The meat is so tender and moist, salty yet flavoursome. When added to the spicy yellow mustard and the thick pickled gherkins, it is just the best combination of tastes, Ever!
We stood outside the shop devourting the salt beef, Juices dripping off our fingers. It really was an amazing experience and I was glad we had decided to opt for that for lunch than some of the other street foods on offer.
Leaving Brick Lane we headed over to Oxford Street as I had a couple of things I needed to buy and cocktails to drink.
Baby Bear has very kindly offered to buy a round of drinks for our anniversary so we headed to John Lewis. A strange location you might think?
Well during the summer months they transform the roof of the shop into a paradise garden! 5 floors above Oxford Street. And it isn’t just any kind of garden. There are little wooden huts that sell plants, coffee and juice. There is also a bar AND a restaurant!
We headed to the bar and had a perusal of the menu. I decided on an Oxford St.Bash cocktail – a blend of Bourbon, a tea infusion and fruit juices. Topped with blueberries and strawberries it was a perfect drink for a summer day!
Sitting 5 floors up, in the bright sunshine surrounded by fragrant plants and herbs was truly delightful. Bizarrely it was also very quiet! You would not know that down in the street people, cars and buses were bustling by. It really was a peaceful haven of tranquility.
Two cocktails later and we were on the move again. Down to Selfridges to get the tea that I prefer to drink; Williamsons Earl Grey. However, I was to be disappointed. They didn’t have what I wanted in stock. In fact, the range seemed to have been reduced greatly. I was one very unhappy bunny!
To cheer myself up I dragged the hubby to Lush where we were assisted by the amazing Sawda. Two very soft and moisturised hands later and we were piling products into the basket like it was going out of fashion!
The Experimenter Bath bomb just looks amazing and I have never tried it, so that went in. The Golden Slumbers bath bomb is my absolute favourite so I had to have another.
Plum rain shower gel just smelt so divine that I had to have some. I have never used it before but I am expecting great things from it.
Sawda had been wonderful and had assisted me with my need for a really good face cream and had tried several different products on my hands. I found the one that I liked the best was called Ultrabland, A really thick cleansing cream that leaves your skin feeling so good.
The last couple of items I bought were fresh face packs – one for baby bear and one for me. Mine was called Oatifix. This contains oats, illipe butter, bananas, ground almonds and kaolin. We tested it on the back of my hand and it just felt so wonderful.
Baby Bear’s mask was called Cosmetic Warrior which cleanses the skin and helps with troublesome areas. This facepack looked so good; It has Honey, Tea Tree, Garlic, and Green Grapes. All of these products are either antibacterial, antiseptic or and moisturising. This is why it is particularly good for spots or troubled skin. It certainly looks like it will do the trick!
Finally it was the other halfs turn. He is currently in training for the London Marathon and has been running miles and miles. He wanted something to soothe his achy feet and muscles. A very lovely man suggested a “Little Dragon” bath “stick” It probably is called something more technical, but basically it was a chinese dragon looking bath product, stuck on two sticks with concertinered paper between it. It was made just like the chinese dragons you see over Chinese New Year.
This one had a heavy Ginger smell and we were advised to waft it in running bath water for around 30 seconds before removing it. He went on to say it should last 3 or 4 baths but the combined ingredients would really help the muscles.
The last product was another Sawda recommended, the Pink Peppercorn Foot cream. Again to help soothe and smooth his aching feet.
We eventually made our way to the tills, with a full basket and a very smiley face, ready to make our way home.
Shopped out, Spent out and very Worn out!