Archive
Light up the Night
My love of Christmas lights can be traced back to my childhood in Canada. Every year since I’ve been in London I’ve been disappointed by the lack of Christmas lights – both garish and elegant. So every year My Chef and I have gone on a Christmas light date in central London. It’s the only place to see a lights display!
Below are a few of my favourite pics this year. I have no idea why Marmite was chosen as the sponsor for Oxford Street, but Christmas lights don’t have to make sense.
Merry Christmas!
Shannon
Australia makes me sad
It’s happened again. I really must stop becoming friends with Australians because they just keep going back to the land down under. And that makes me very sad!
Since coming to London I’ve made more Aussie friends than any other. And as I’ve said many times, as an expat chef’s wife (read: married single girl) my friends are so important to me. As of this week, with the imminent departure of Alex and Josh, I will have more close friends in Melbourne than Calgary (my hometown).
And that sucks!
Alex and I have grown really close over the last 4 years. We met through work and became fast friends. That was helped by our horrible working conditions and the fact that misery loves company. But despite our initial friendship being one out of need, Alex is one of the best girlfriends I’ve ever had and it is going to be immensely difficult for me when she’s gone.
It’s also going to be hard for My Chef. As Alex and I grew close so too did the boys. I will never understand male friendships and probably even less so chef friendships, but despite My Chef never being around or having the time to nurture a new relationship, him and Josh have become good friends. And for a guy who doesn’t have a lot of friends this move will hurt.
There is no question about it that Australia makes me sad, but I know all of my friends who have moved back there have done so for the right reasons.
We were at Alex and Josh’s leaving party last night and I know they are both a bit reticent to be going back. But the truth is that they will be fine and so will we. We will miss them but as I keep finding out, true friendship isn’t vulnerable to geography.
Here’s hoping that’s true for us!
Shannon x
Review: The Wolseley
The Wolseley is one of London’s most iconic restaurants. The one time car showroom that is more reminiscent of New York’s Grand Central Station than any showroom I’ve ever visited is one of the most elegant restaurants I’ve ever broken fast in. If you’re a wannabe celebrity it’s also one of the places you go to be seen, hence my hesitation to visit – I am not one of THOSE people.
The restaurant is loud, it’s crowded and it’s full of what I’d like to think are botched plastic surgery’s. I friggin’ LOVED it.
I went with one of my colleagues. She too is an expat and when we compared our list of things left to do in London we both had The Wolseley. Neither of us are really the type that I’ve so often seen passing through the door manned by a dapper gent in pin stripes and a hat and then disappearing through the heavy brocade curtain, but that wasn’t going to stop us.
We planned on an early breakfast. It’s difficult to get a reservation but we’d done our research. They keep 50% of tables for walk-ins and since no one in London gets up before 10 on a Sunday, we arrived at 9. It worked like a charm; we were immediately escorted to a table.
I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting much from the food. Afterall, most of the people I’d seen entering The Wolseley in the past didn’t look like they ate a lot.
How wrong I was!
The food was delicious. From the moment I walked in the smell of bacon made my stomach gurgle. I had to have some a lot of it!
Karen opted for a healthy breakfast of toast and poached eggs, but since I live by the philosophy of go big or go home (funny that I was not the Texan at the table!) I had a scrumptious french toast topped by loads and loads of crispy bacon. It’s no wonder I am in such a great mood today (and needed a nap when I got home).
Mom, Dad, next time you come for a visit I’m taking you to The Wolseley. You’ve never had a brunch like it!
The Wolseley
160 Piccadilly
020 7499 6996
Remembrance
I attended the Remembrance Day celebration on Whitehall this morning. What are you doing to mark the day?
Shannon x
Autumn Colours
I must apologize for my absence. I love blogging and I love my followers, but after blogging for 100 days I sort of ran out of steam and just wanted to enjoy life for a while. So that’s exactly what I’ve been doing – I’ve been busy falling in love (again!) with this perfect season. Autumn is my absolute favourite time of year - the beautiful weather, the flavours, the colours and the fashions; seriously what’s not to love?!?!?! Below are a few of my favourite shots from the past few weeks, I hope you like them and I hope it makes you too grateful for this most wonderful time of year.
Don’t you just love these colours? And, can you believe that each of these photos was taken in South West London? Man, I love living here!
Wishing you all a wonderful weekend,
Shannon x
