TGIPD (Thank God it's Pay Day)

A combination of dreary weather (shopping instead of chilling in the park and long working hours (cue buying treats at 8pm from the office) seems to have decimated my bank account this month, and sadly I'm currently running on empty! Thankfully, pay day is nigh and that means it's time to scour the shops for a few new pieces.

Last week at Westfield, I went into Cos for the first time in ages. It always seems to be featured in magazines and touted as the "smart choice" for fashion, but something about the way the shop is laid out, all grey and boxy, leaves me cold. Last time, however, I made the effort to actually look through the rails and came across a few pieces that will hopefully be sitting in my wardrobe in the next week or so.

Contrast back dress, c. £55

Go see: London Road

The National Theatre is currently showing one of the best shows I've seen in a while, 'London Road'.

The play is only running until the 6th September, so you need to be quick to make sure you don't miss out. You can buy tickets here.

Go see: Heatherwick exhibition

I went to the Heatherwick exhibition as the Victoria and Albert museum last week, and it was amazing! I often go to the V&A anyway, and the quality of their regular exhibitions is great, often as good as their paid-for exhibitions.

The Heatherwick Exhibition has been running since May, and it's on until the 30th September. The exhibition is the first ever major on the work of Thomas Heatherwick, a 'creative practitioner'. He established his studio in 1994, and since then has worked on a whole range of projects, from bridges, parks, hotels to the Olympic cauldron this year. The projects can seem quite disparate, but to me, the one common theme was that they all focused on designing something beautiful, functional and innovative.

The Olympic cauldron, photo from the Heatherwick Studio

Magenta chicken

Another great recipe from Lindsey Bareham for the Times. I've adapted it slightly, to take into account my slap dash measuring, but it still tastes the delicious.
The dish, 'magenta chicken' looks like curry but is more of a creamy beetroot sauce. The beetroot makes the whole dish look gloriously pink, even in my ropey picture, and the taste is quite unlike anything I've eaten before.

Picture courtesy of Claire Mallison for Times2

Work wardrobe updates

A few key pieces I've bought to update my work wardrobe:

H&M, £24.99

Gorgeous plum coloured dress from H&M, for the bargainous price of £24.99! Plus, if you buy online and sign up to their newsletter, you get 25% off one item.

Tuesday treats

I am obsessed with tan ankle boots at the moment, and have been looking for the perfect ones for a few seasons now. Like most basics, I think it pays to look around to make sure you don't compromise on the colour / cut /style that you want. 

The high street has plenty of great options, a few of my favorites are below.

The skint Londoner on... eating out

I'm a huge fan of eating out, and London has so many different restaurants and cuisines on offer. Obviously, this all comes at a price (not to mention the effect on your waistline...) but there are ways of eating great food more often, without resorting to the chains (which don't even serve great food). 1. Think local! Obviously, restaurants outside of the tourist trap / rich man's playground of Knightsbridge, Chelsea, Mayfair and Oxford Street are much cheaper. Neighbourhoods outside of zone one are full of cheap, local restaurants, and many areas are known for certain types of cuisine, for example: Shoreditch has lots of vietnamese restaurants, Whitechapel is good for indian food, Lewisham for caribbean food and Dalston/Stoke Newington for turkish food. Lots of competition usually keeps the prices low, and the chefs were usually brought up on the cuisine they're cooking you, so it should be pretty good. (some suggestions further down)

Chicken Fattee for two fatties

After what seems like weeks of living off pitta bread, hummus and jacket potatoes, being told I was going to be shuttled off to Glasgow for work finally gave me the push I needed to cook something proper.
I love cooking and trying new recipes. But, like most enthusiastic amateur chefs, I have a long list of recipes I plan on trying, which never seems to diminish. The fact they all call for at least fifteen different ingredients doesn't help either. This recipe is called "Chicken Fatee", and is a recipe from a North African / Spanish restaurant called Moro in North London. It was featured in The Times last weekend and is available on the website (http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/magazine/article3491880.ece - sorry, there's a paywall). I've adapted it slightly to keep down the amount of washing up and because I didn't actually read the recipe right to begin with!

Chicken fattee

Nothing's premium but the price?

The image of gin has changed dramatically in the last few years. It's no longer seen as the stuffy "old lady" drink (although I hope to be drinking it when I'm old). Instead, it's seen as just the ticket for a summer's day, a pre dinner aperitif, a casual post-work drink... I graduated onto gin straight from martini and lemonade, completely bypassing the traditional student drink of choice, vodka, after an unpleasant run-in. Ever since my late teens, it's been my drink of choice.

Tuesday treats

A quiet afternoon at home resulted in two holidays being booked, one for September and one for December, so the shopping budget is somewhat diminished this month. However, nothing wrong with a little bit of window shopping / forward planning for pay day! 
I've chosen items that I think would fit in nicely with my current wardrobe (mostly quite plain) and will still look good in a few seasons time.

First up: Contessa Jade Necklace from Stella and Dot (stelladot.co.uk). At £95 it's not overly cheap, but for a piece of jewellery you'll wear again and again (and you'll never be able to ruin it by ignoring the 'Dry Clean only' instructions) it's pretty good price. I already have a pair of earrings from  Stella and Dot, and they were definitely worth the £40. The necklace has already been featured in the Times, Vogue and Easy Living, so I'm clearly not the only person who likes it!

The Skint Londoner on... Entertainment

If, like me, your money never seems to stretch far enough and you're always counting down the days till payday (25...) then living in London can be pretty miserable. I love living here, but it is so bloody expensive. With this in mind, I've gathered up a few tips on how to get first class entertainment at second class prices.

Street Feast London

Soooo... last Friday, some friends and I finally went to Street Feast London in Dalston. Despite living across the road (literally, across the road) various trips and activities have so far conspired to keep me away from this 'foodie' (hate that word!) mecca!

I have to say, I was a little disappointed that there were no takoyaki on my visit, however I'm going to take that as a reason to visit again, possibly this Friday...

Hello...

Hello... I'm Heather and this is my very first blog post.
I'm a bit late coming to the party, I know, but sadly working for one of the "Big 4" (professional services firms, nothing exciting) has left little time for hobbies!
My boyfriend, Harry, also works for one of the big 4, although a different company to me. We met at university, where we both studied Maths. That was a year ago. We're now a year into our careers, enjoying spending our salaries and loving living in London!

This blog is an opportunity for us to explore our other interests, thoughts and hobbies, hopefully something will come of it!