Perfect coat 2.0 and other awesome things

So last week I had my new coat stolen which I was genuinely heartbroken/bitter over for a good 48 hours. Then the other day when I was off work being sneezy and feverish in bed (probably as a result of having to walk home without my coat, ha!) I thought I'd browse the internet for a new coat. To my delight I discovered that Asos had my coat in stock again so I immediately ordered it and almost managed to forget the sting of having to fork out the money for a new coat three weeks after buying it originally. When it arrived I realised my new coat isn't 100% identical to the old one but it'll do. And it does have an awesome big hood! Allow me to present my perfect coat version 2.0 (apologies for the brightness of the photo):

My coat isn't the only awesome purchase made by yours truly in the past week. I decided to treat the kitties to some new apparel fit for the season, too!

Unfortunately, Isobel was less than impressed with her present. I love how her white chest looks like Santa's beard. Grumpy little Santa Miz!

And then for no particular reason other than me already being in my bedroom with my camera out, I thought I'd take a picture of my favourite area of the flat. When we moved in we painted one wall with blackboard paint and I have since claimed this part of the bedroom as my little boudoir. I immediately fell in love with the old chest of drawers when I saw it at Portobello Market last year and knew I had to have it. I love the pale pink colour and the little porcelain knobs, so pretty and kitsch! In the end Daniel got it for me and it means a lot to me.

Have a lovely day!

I love you like a fat kid loves cake

I do apologise for the lack of updates in the last week but I have been incredibly busy with work deadlines and being ill. Not a fun combination, I tell you!

Anyway, this post is basically just an excuse to post photographic evidence of the culinary delights I've somehow managed to squeeze in.

Last Sunday I had my friend Pia over for an afternoon in the name of craftiness and æbleskiver, which is a very Danish Christmas tradition. I know I said I wasn't going to give in yet but y'know, it's just cake and they were DAMN tasty if I do say so myself! And Pia certainly seems to think so...

Then yesterday we had some of Daniel's family over for lunch. Daniel made a delicious pasta dish with aubergine and tomato and I got up early and made ciabatta bread (no pics, sorry!) and a chocolate and raspberry cake. It's one of those cakes with no flour in it, just ground almonds and walnuts, mmm! I customised it by adding fresh raspberries before popping it in the oven and it turned out really well.

I am pretty confident in a kitchen but sometimes when I have a lot going on at work or in my life in general I am more likely to fuck up a recipe (which is one of the worst things I know) so I'm always pleased when something turns out particularly well. Unfortunately I completely forgot to take a picture of the cake while it was still whole and the picture of my slice below doesn't really do the cake justice, but here goes...

  

And finally today I made an awesome soup with chicken, noodles, spring onions and fresh herbs and it was delicious!

 

And the best thing is that I am still losing weight. That's the beauty of stress!

The death of the perfect coat

On Thursday I went out for drinks around Camden with work. A few of us continued the party at the Lock Tavern and I foolishly left my new coat on the sofa while I went to the bathroom. When I came back, the bar was closing up and my coat was gone. I have since called the place and no one has found it/handed it in.

The point isn't that I had to walk home wearing only a cardigan in late November, or that I will have to spend money on a new coat again. What KILLS me is that my coat is sold out. It took me ages to find the perfect coat (black duffle coat with a big hood) and I had it for about 3 weeks before someone took it.

I hope whoever took it gets swine flu. Or chlamydia.

Goodbye, perfect coat! We had some good times.

I'll dig a tunnel from my window to yours

I will never tire of this song, ever. It fills me with nostalgia and makes even the bad things seem bittersweet.



The chorus never fails to make me feel euphoric.

Kitty love

Daniel taught Isobel to play fetch. That's right, turns out my little kitty is actually pretty clever.

She brings back her little mouse toy every time you throw it and looks very proud as she nudges it towards you.

I love my Muzz.

Poor Rupert. He's like the Jason Stackhouse to Isobel's Sookie.

The hardest of hearts

I absolutely love Christmas. Completely and unconditionally. Every year I find myself getting extremely excited about big coats, long scarves & mittens, ice skates, Starbucks' red cups, pretty gift wrap, Phil Spector's Christmas hits, mulled wine and lame TV Christmas movies. This in itself isn't the problem. The problem is that I start getting excited about all of this around mid-October. And every year I find that around mid-December, the novelty has worn off and Christmas becomes this big, stressful anticlimax.

This year I am really trying not to give in to my cravings. It's pretty hard to avoid the whole hoo-ha when living in central London, as Oxford Street has been blinged up with tacky lights for several weeks now. And at work, Christmas has been on my daily agenda for ages.

I do love you Christmas, I really do, but I just can't bear to spoil it for myself this year. So I won't allow myself to give in to the cheer until 1st December, where I'll be decorating my Christmas tree with these, amongst others:

Yeah, I couldn't help myself.