In the hood....

N1. That's the neighbourhood by the way, specifically my neighbourhood. THE neighbourhood, the ONLY neighbourhood worth knowing. Islington of course - duh, is there any other?! Well, I'm pretty sure my friends who live south of the river (shock horror) would disagree, but for me nowhere in London comes close.

Let me spell out for you the reasons why it floats my boat so much - there are many, but I am going to focus on the thing I enjoy most - eating. I'm a pro.

First of all it is an absolutely massive borough, which doesn't come without it's challenges. It has it's fair share of crime & other social issues that many other London boroughs deal with it & I'm not ignoring that. However, in the past 5 years it has transformed enormously. 

Upper Street or Supper Street as the Evening Standard renamed it and the surrounding areas around Angel and Highbury & Islington are a foodie's paradise. I'll start first with my favourite place - The Drapers Arms not only is the landlord one of the nicest people you could meet, but all the staff are incredibly friendly too. Their Sunday roasts are legendary & all over Instagram. To prove my points here is an example of their finery. 

Drapers Roast

I also have crockery envy. The big blue plates they are served on are just gorgeous. Brilliant wine list. Lovely location. Nice staff. What are you waiting for? 

There are other fine pubs too: The Albion, The Canonbury & The Pig & Butcher all worth spending a weekend in. And then you've got the restaurants. From the brilliant chains of Byron Burger (a Friday night institution for us) Wahaca & Bodean's (coming soon!) to some of the best restaurants (in my very biased opinion) in London. 

The outstanding Trullo, Le Coq (which now does home delivery via Deliveroo), The Fish & Chip Shop, Oldroyd (of Polpo fame), Sunday, Roots, Smokehouse & soon Bellanger from the Corby & King powerhouse. I could go on....

SO YOU SEE. On food alone it's winning & I haven't even scratched the surface of Kings Cross, which has regenerated beyond belief. Funny I spent my entire 20s clubbing in Bagley's and The Cross and now I take the kids to run around Granary Square in the same area. Man, the 90s were fun! 

Granary Square. Outside The Grain Store (Bruno Loubet)

But if you do ever venture towards that direction, you will be spoilt for choice. Sadly no nightclubs anymore - that will be a future post of mine, as yes, I am still a cheesy quaver and LOVE nothing more than going out with my friends for a damn good boogie. 

See you in the hood.

In the pursuit of ongoing happiness & social good vibes

So. I've just made the decision to take a 6 month career break. After 20 years on the corporate treadmill (yay to not hearing buzzwords like that for a while), I have decided to take some time out from my busy HR career and enjoy some time with my 8 & 6 year old boys.

At some point in the next few years, the 8 year old will become a grunting, grumpy teenager and will not want to talk to me and the youngest will follow quickly in his footsteps. It suddenly dawned on me that these years were probably the most precious and won't ever come back. So, here I am, two weeks away from leaving my job and getting stupidly excited about the rest of the year. FREEEEEEEDOM.

A little bit about me. I'm 38 & some might say, still very much pretending to be in my 20s. I'm recently just back from Glastonbury with my closest friends - a yearly event.

In two weeks I'm off to Ibiza - again, another yearly event & in August, going on a boat party down with Thames with my 2 best friends and our favourite DJ - Norman Jay pumping out some Good Times vibes. 

In a nutshell, I'm highly sociable & love London to the max. I still love going out with friends (VERY IMPORTANT), eating in new restaurants, finding new bars & fun things to do with the kids. I'm entering the 40's in the same way I approached my 30's - by having a shed load of fun. 

This blog is exactly what it says in the title. Friends have often told me to write about the places I go to, and so to keep me occupied over the next few months I shall attempt to do just this. 

Hope you enjoy.