Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday 28 June - One year on
11.11pm, Deciding.
One year ago today, on the day I moved to Berlin, I started this blog.
I've recently been thinking about it, and debating whether to continue or not... The thing is, I wanted to start the blog to document all the varied, exciting and new things I would be doing after I moved to Berlin. At the time, I had no idea what I would be doing, where my life would take me and the decisions I would make.
After living in Berlin and Austria, I have moved to London. Over time, I have taken on a full-time job, and moved in with Andy. Now, often, what I am doing at 11.11am is sitting at my desk doing work, and what I am doing at 11.11pm is sleeping. It doesn't make the most interesting reading.
I love my life, wholeheartedly, and wouldn't change it at all at the moment. I couldn't be less bored, but I am aware that reading about someone else's everyday life can definitely be boring. So... should I carry on?
I have become mega attached to this blog. It means I pay more attention to what I am doing each day, I take more photos and I have kept up with writing. I have learnt more about blogging, read more of other people's blogs and been proud to show my blog to people. Most importantly, I now have the most amazing online diary that documents, in detail, the best year of my life.
It's been a year that has seen me achieve more than I've ever achieved in a year, including:
Live, and fall in love with, a different country
Learn to snowboard (badly)
Have my very first garden of my own
Live in the same city as ALL my best friends from uni
Get a pay rise
Get robbed
Visit Oslo
Own three different bikes
Launch my website
Move in with the love of my life, twice
Meet Hanson, my idols
This is only a (very) small selection of the things that have happened to me this year, and I could write much more. But I do wonder if I would have remembered all these wonderful, challenging and exciting things if I hadn't blogged about it all. Though I'm pretty sure I would have remembered meeting Hanson...
The blog has had almost 18,000 hits in total, and I don't want to give up on it completely. But, from now, I might not update it daily. We'll see...
(Picture taken from Todayandtomorrow.net)
Monday 27 June - Four fun things in one day
Current location: Lewisham
11.11pm, Sitting in our kitchen, talking to our friend Jmery. He's from Australia, but I met him in Austria over the winter. He's a hilarious guy with a pretty good moustache, and he's in London getting ready to go home to Australia after a year's travelling.
Today I had the most social engagements of all time ever. Other than Jmery coming to visit, I also had a picnic lunch with Andy and his cousins in Soho (top picture), met my mum for an hour and a drink, and then went for dinner with the City girls (and remembered to take photos for once, bottom two pictures). Four fun things in one day, plus a full day at work. I am tired, but my soul is oh-so-happy!
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday 26 June - Green fingers and dirty feet
Current location: Lewisham
Saturday 25 June - Tapas and Rioja
Current location: London Bridge
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Friday 24 June - Banarama take two
Current location: Soho
11.11am, At work, playing with fruit. Kind of. My work friend (workmate? colleague? person I sit next to at work who I consider a friend?) and I had both bought bananas in and it all seemed to go downhill from there. In case you can't read it, the bananas say:
"This place is so square. I'm gonna split."
"Hi Lucy, I'm one of your five a day."
It's all glitz and glamour in the world of magazine journalism!
Thursday 23 June - The good life
11.11pm, Going to bed after a lovely fun London with lovely fun Londoners. Andy and I met Ruth, Nicky and Jack (and later Gav), and went for excellent and ridiculously colourful cocktails on the South Bank. Ruth's even came in a coconut! Next up was Gordon's, which is fast becoming a local (can it be a local if it's miles away from your home?!) and ate cheese for dinner, washed down with fancy red wine. I love my friends. x
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday 22 June - The halcyon days of Berlin
Current location: Lewisham
11.11pm, Talking to Andy in bed about when we lived in Berlin.
Berlin was amazing. I loved living in Berlin. The other day I found an awesome blog post by Kat George on the website 'Thought Catalog' that kind of summed up my summer (and autumn. And winter) in the city.
The post starts off a bit cringey, but I was entirely won around by the time it ended; I think the writer captured Berlin perfectly. Click here for the blog post in full... Or read below for my favourite (edited) parts...
Arrive in spring but expect nothing of the weather.
Learn how to pronounce the names of all the boroughs and metro stations. Embrace your newfound love for the German language but also revel in the fact that you can have a lively conversation with a German person—you speaking English while they speak German—and walk away not knowing exactly what happened but that it was lovely anyway.
Go to the Turkish markets and buy 8 chicken breasts for 5 Euros. Buy Turkish tea and fresh vegetables. Start feeling incredibly sane and relaxed.
Start partying as it gets warmer. Get to the club at 3am and don’t leave until midday the following day. Wonder how you’ll ever keep up with this sort of party lifestyle.
Now that it’s summer spend your weekends in the park. Go to the flea markets at Mauerpark; when you get to the market get a freshly squeezed orange juice for 1 Euro. Meet your friends on the grass when the sun is high in the sky and start drinking beers. Have a picnic.
Be upset when summer ends abruptly. Start having dinner parties and drinking lots of red wine. Read lots of books and watch lots of movies. When you go outside, wear absolutely everything you own. Realise that despite the paralyzing cold, Berlin is absolutely beautiful in the snow, in its way. Go to the Christmas markets and drink gluhwein.
Be overwhelmed by the history. Walk everywhere or get a bike and ride. Drink in the street. When you finish your drink put the empty can/bottle under the trashcan so the homeless can cash it in. Live cheaply. Live calmly. Live like you always dreamed you would.(Picture taken from 1and1is2 on Weheartit) - Ooh and I think Kat George might be a new fave writer. Read more of her stuff here.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Tuesday 21 June - A denerification situation
Current location: On a train
Monday 20 June - Bananarama
Current location: Lewisham
Monday, June 20, 2011
Sunday 19 June - A river, a family, a Sunday
Current location: Walton-on-Thames
Saturday 18 June - Families reunited!
Current location: East Molesey
11.11am, In Andy's cousins' house, drinking tea and reuniting with Andy's parents, David and Val. They're on a massive and fabulous worldwide trip from their hometown in NSW, Australia, and have so far taken in Alaska, Canada and SW London! Neither Andy nor I have seen them for almost two years and they are simply wonderful. So much love, fast fast talking and too much cheese today. Incredible.
(Picture of David and Val outside their home in Australia, taken by Nick Lawrence)
Friday 17 June - No finer thing
Current location: South Bank
11.11pm, Drinking wine in the British Film Institute bar.
I honestly don't think there are many better things in life, than a Friday night, drinking wine with some of my favourite girls in the whole world. Tonight was (in the words of Sarah Potts) "fun, drunk and emo". Awesome.
Thursday 16 June - Barbecue with youuuu
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Wednesday 15 June – Hooked on books
Current location: Lewisham
Tuesday 14 June - Coffee nation
Current location: Soho
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Monday 13 June - Domestic goddess
Current location: Lewisham
11.11pm, Eating dinner. Yep, pretty late. When I watched Julie & Julia yesterday, it made me want to make beef bourguignon (how good is that spelling?!). So today, with Andy arriving home late, I decided to give it a go.
Three and a half hours later – it was ready. Oh my. It was, without doubt, the best dish I've ever attempted (not to blow my own trumpet...But really, it was amazing). The in-progress picture doesn't do it justice, but if this blog had a smell, then you would understand how awesome it was. Might have been the whole bottle of red wine that went in it...
As well as making my new signature dish, I also managed to water the garden, put the washing on, do the washing up, clean our room, wash my hair and even fit in an episode of Grey's Anatomy. I think Andy was pretty surprised when he walked in the door to a clean house, clean girlfriend and dinner on the table. Go me.
Sunday 12 June - Tea and bed
Current location: Lewisham
11.11pm, Curled up in bed with a peppermint tea. I came back from the loveliest wedding weekend tonight, and the journey was loooong. But it was much better than on the way down, because I was in the carriage that had TV screens on the back of the seats, so I watched Glee all the way back, and then a very girlie film called Julie & Julia, which was basically about cooking.
I was super tired getting back to London and it was quite strange to call home and speak to Mum, Dad and Andy, who is staying down until tomorrow!
(Picture of mint tea taken from The Diary of a Procrastinator)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Saturday 11 June - The perfect wedding
Current location, Kenegie Home Farm, Cornwall