The whole picture: August 2017

August's been a quiet one on the blog, as much as my energy has been focused on other things. Namely, trying to get my deposit back from a rogue landlord from when I still lived in London. It's looking like that one might end up in court so I'll say nothing else about it for now. And so, onto happier things...

What I've done in August

A post shared by Londonist (@londonist_com) on Aug 15, 2017 at 1:16pm PDT

Elsewhere though, things have busy. I had a lovely day on a canal boat in Guildford, catching up with friends and looking after an adorable cockapoo. We hired the boat from Farncombe Boat House and headed a few miles up the river. We had every sort of weather imaginable from bright sunshine, to hail, thunder and lightning - and we were only on the boat for eight hours. We rounded off the day with a meal at Coal in Basingstoke and a few drinks at Las Iguanas.

Workwise, I've zipwired, tucked into afternoon tea, stumbled across an aeroplane graveyard, been ice karting at Queen's Ice and Bowl, visited London Zoo... and spent one or two hours in the office too.



Books. There have been so many books. I always intend to put a snap of every book I've read on Instagram with a mini-review, but I always forget. Now I'm back commuting to work from Tonbridge everyday, that's at least two hours of reading time a day - I'm averaging three or four books a week #geek. Recommendations for what I should read next in the comments please!

What I've eaten in August

Well, there was that aforementioned afternoon tea, which was pink-themed in aid of the Pink Ribbon Foundation. It was at Bluebird in Chelsea, somewhere I've always wanted to try, but it's just so damn far from a tube station (and that's coming from someone who used to live in south London) that I've never made it before. I'll be honest, I was underwhelmed. The food was good, nothing groundbreaking, but the staff weren't great. One particular waitress had an uncanny ability to go from rudely nonchalant to borderline aggressive within a few seconds, which is quite a skill.

Then there was Coal, the Basingstoke restaurant we headed to after a day on the boat (there are a few other branches dotted around too). It's a Tex-Mex grill style restaurant - burgers, chimichangas, plenty of sides and decent cocktails to boot. We've been a few times and it's always at capacity - book ahead for this one guys.

My two favourite cupcake bakeries in London are Hummingbird Bakery and Primrose Bakery. They're very different in style - Hummingbird is a big, bold, American chain with towering layer cakes, and Primrose Bakery is a far more British equivalent, tucked away in Primrose Hill. Both do excellent cakes, and both featured in my August (rude not to, if you're passing by). What pre-holiday diet?

A post shared by Laura Reynolds (@scribbling_lau) on Aug 4, 2017 at 12:11pm PDT

I finally got round to trying the Unicorn Freakshake at Maxwell's in Covent Garden. I have strong opinions on this trend for unicorn and mermaid food, and that's something I'll come back to in a later blog post. The freakshake was an impressive beast, topped up with various marshmallows and sweets, whipped cream, candy floss (sorry, 'unicorn hair floss' #eyeroll) and goodness knows what else. The actual milkshake liquid though, was vile. Being pink, we expected it to be strawberry flavour, but it was some sort of chemical tasting bubblegum flavour that we both struggled to finish. That said, the salted caramel freakshake sounds delicious, and I'll no doubt be back to try it soon.

Things I've loved in August

I've been trying to steer clear of the shops for financial reasons, but sometimes, these things just happened. I fell for this top in the window of Gap (Disney AND sequins, what's not to like?) but natch, it's for kids.

My Oasis X ZSL collection tiger trainers arrived, and have been firmly glued to my feet ever since (top tip: Oasis shoes tend to come up small - go for a size bigger than you normally would).

The wonder that is Domestic Sluttery (seriously, if you haven't already, sign up for a daily dose of sunshine in your inbox) introduced me to the concept of cross stitch maps. Happily for my bank account they're all sold out at the moment, but I'll be adding it to my Christmas list

Cath Kidston's latest foray into the world of Disney is a brush with Peter Pan. It's a cute collection (launching 21 September), but I've found all of their Disney collabs so far extremely overpriced.

What I've been listening to

Ok, don't expect this as a regular section on these round-ups because I'm *whisper it* just not that into music. That said, two of my favourite artists announced new albums this month, which makes it a Good Month For Music.

First up is the girl the whole music world's been talking about this month; Taylor Swift. Her new single, Look What You Made Me Do, has been a bit of a Marmite issue. This guy actually summed things up quite nicely. I'll hold off saying any more until I hear the rest of the album in November.

Secondly, and equally exciting, Scouting For Girls have also announced a new album, marking their 10th anniversary. It's out a month before T-Swizzle's, so the autumn is looking pretty exciting, music-wise.

What's coming up?

I've got a holiday to look forward to (anyone ever been to Bulgaria, specifically Elenite? Holler in the comments below or let me know on Twitter if you have. I has many questions). Then once I'm back from there, the hunt is on to find myself a flat here in Tonbridge.

I thought my August had been quite a quiet one, but actually, I've packed a lot in. Follow me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to keep up to date with next month's antics as they happen.