All of a Hither

Over a year ago I wrote about the delightful little corner of London that I call home - Hither Green in the borough of Lewisham. It's become one of my most-read posts, with people apparently stumbling across it when researching the area as a possible place to live (not that any of my posts are massively well-read - and none are as popular as the one I wrote about the chap who wears a pyramid on his head, but I'll save that ongoing story for another time). So I thought I'd write a bit of an update to that post to share some other cool things that are popping up in the area.

Manor House Gardens. OK, not strictly speaking Hither Green, but very very close

The main news: Hither Green now has its very own supper club! I went along to the inaugural Wattleseed supper club last weekend, and can't recommend it highly enough. The food was delicious, the hosts - Freya and Trace - were so welcoming and friendly, and it was fantastic to get to know other people in the area; plenty of local tips were shared and lots of gossip about the area was exchanged. There are two more nights lined up for May and June, and I'd urge anyone to go along if they're up for a laugh (lots of laughter, in fact) and would like to meet some fellow Hither Greeners.

Sticking to the food theme, myself and friends have taken to hitting the Hither Green streets once in a while to check out some nearby eateries. So far we've been to Spice of Life on Lee High Road, and the fantastic Villa Moura on Lee Road (yes, imaginatively-named roads in these parts).

These local jaunts have helped me to discover some great new places in the area, so earlier this month I volunteered to write a blog post for the (excellent) Londonist site, who had called out for Londoners to share ten of the best places to go and things to do in their local boroughs. I quickly volunteered for Lewisham, and very much enjoyed writing about my ten favourite places which I have discovered in the two and a half years that I've lived here. 

What many people rightly pointed out to me once the article went live is that there's a lot more to Lewisham than, errr, Lewisham, Lee and Hither Green. Indeed, had someone from, say, Brockley, written the piece instead and had focused on ten places in their locality I, too, would have jumped in and passionately defended my local hotspots. But what's great about the article is that there are now loads of other suggestions for places in the borough to eat, drink and be merry in the article itself and in the comments, so I think - despite my obvious bias to my immediate vicinity, it all worked out OK in the end. 

I like it here.

Gastronoweek

Food rocks, doesn't it? I love eating and trying new things but, that said, I'd never describe myself as a 'foodie', mainly because I'm not big on cooking. It's not that I can't cook, it's just that there are other things I would rather be doing than spending my time slaving away in the kitchen, especially when you're cooking for one (get the violins out!). Basically, I'm lazy.

However, my attitude towards grub may be about to change after the week I've just had, during which fantastic food was the common thread which tied it all together in one big, tasty, blogworthy package.

First up on Tuesday night was one of the best events I've ever been to. The wonderful people over at Qype* organised a secret supper club, where a bunch of forty or so lucky Qypers got to meet the legendary Jim Haynes from that After Eight advert (yes, he's real, and every word he says is true!). 

Jim has been hosting epic dinner parties at his Paris apartment for decades and reckons that, all in all, he's had around 130,000 round to his place for dinner. Now that's a lot of washing up! Meeting Jim was brilliant; he was a total charmer and he kissed my hand like a proper gent, but what was possibly even more special about the evening was the stuff we got to put in our bellies. 

You see, this was no ordinary evening. To celebrate the presence of the undisputed King of supper clubs, it appropriately took place at the wonderful underground restaurant Fernandez & Leluu. And when I say restaurant, what I actually mean is this lovely couple's living room! Unlike Jim's decades of experience, Simon (Fernandez) and Uyen (Leluu) have only been hosting their supper club in their Hackney abode since last autumn, yet their culinary skills and hospitality has so far generated high praise indeed and now I can't wait to go along to one of their regular sit-down dinners.

I won't even try and describe the brilliance of the food because I'm not a food blogger and I could never do it justice. But I will say that it was all exquisite, including a platter of starters (with the yummiest prawn cocktail dip I've ever tasted), the most tender slices of beef carpaccio, and a sinful pot of posh bread and butter pudding made with criossants. The food is described in delicious detail at Feast on Scraps with some wonderful images on the LondonEater blog. The cocktails were shaken and stirred to boozy perfection, and are summarised with applaudable precision over at Billy's Booze Blog. There are some more great write-ups at One Million Gold Stars, Domestic Sluttery and, of-course, Qype. Yes the bloggers really were out in force at this one! High praise indeed must be given to the clever After Eight PR people, Sian and all the others at Qype, Simon and Uyen and, of-course, Sir Jim, for putting on such a wonderful evening of food, hospitality and good company. And, to top off my Qype love, they even made me Qyper of the Week - chuffed!

My week of gastrono-joy was completed yesterday, when I slipped into a summery dress and headed to the swanky Sanderson hotel for a girly afternoon with a crazy twist; a Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea! Although the hotel resembles a concrete lump from the outside, inside it's sleek and stylish and we were seated in the hotel's pretty courtyard garden. I'd never 'done' afternoon tea in my life, so had no idea what to expect, but when the waiter brought out our individual vintage cake stands stacked with multicoloured sandwiches, scones, cakes and lollipops, I couldn't help but squeal with childish joy.

There was no requirement for an 'eat me' label, as I tucked in straight away. The sandwiches were delicate, yet packed with flavour. The scones were light and seductively crumbly (although sadly we missed out on the clotted cream as they'd temporarily run out, and the butter substitute was too firm for the delicate scones). The cakes were really exciting to eat, with pink foam oozing from the 'Queen of Hearts' teacake, and crackle crystals making us giggle on the chocolate and raspberry cupcake. We finished our sugar fest with, errr, more sugar, this time in the form of a pineapple candy (it claimed to turn your mouth from hot to cold but I didn't experience this) and, finally, a chocolate a peppermint lolly which burst in your mouth (some great photos here). All this, with an unlimited supply of tea, for twenty quid! 

The hotel had only intended to run the Mad Hatter's Afternoon Tea for a month or so to capitalise on the hype surrounding Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland film, but the popularity of it (it was full when we left) means that it is remaining a permanent fixture at the Sanderson. In which case, I can definitely see myself going back.

*If you've never heard of Qype I'd urge you to check it out. Not only does the site give you access to squillions of user-generated (and very well written) reviews so you can see what other people think of local restaurants, bars and shops, but they also organise loads of cool events for regular reviewers to go along to. So it's like a review website and a social network all rolled into one.

Drumming fingers

Wow, a whole new decade hath landeth, and it's that weird time of year during which I seem to sit around and wait for the cycle to begin once more. 2009 ended in an uncharacteristically disorganised fashion as me and Dunlop Junior desperately tried to battle the crowds and cross the Thames for our planned parental rendezvous, but I now realise how naive we were to try and even attempt such a feat a mere hour before the fireworks began. Despite having alighted at Embankment armed with the reasonable plan of hopping on a quick train from Charing Cross to meet the folks at Waterloo, we had no physical choice but to be herded like Lemmings east along the Strand all the way to Blackfriars Bridge. To be fair we did have a partial view of the fireworks from there, but nothing like this:

The silver lining was that we somehow managed to bump into our parents at London Bridge on the way home for a little family reunion. I'm sure they're glad they made the trip from Bristol for that... (sorry mum and dad!).

But before the decade was out, I returned to London to discover a package from my London Blogger Secret Santa, which was all very exciting. It was a nifty little finger drum kit. I have no idea who sent it to me, but it's nice to know that they took the time to send me something so appropriate. The festive geekery was a concept developed by Melinda, who I know through the London Bloggers Meet-up Group, and I thought it was a great idea. I just hope my giftee liked my present as much as I like mine. Oh, I just googled 'drumming fingers' and look what I found! Blimey.

I don't do new year's resolutions, but I've been involved with some exciting work stuff over the last few days so hopefully that's an indication of how 2010 may pan out. I'm curious to see what the next 12 months will throw up, but I guess my main aim is that I keep smiling both in and out of work, and that I continue to meet new people, but also spend as much time as possible with the awesome people I already know. Oh, and I must *try* and write in my diary more frequently (I'm still out of the habit). Speaking of which, I have a new one sitting on my bedside table right now, patiently waiting to be written in, so I will save my Dr Who sorrow for there (for now).

London, Paris and First Book

December is upon us, and how it's already whizzing by. I've got a particularly busy couple of weeks coming up so thought I'd drop in now while I have the chance and make a note of some of my recent London exploits...

• The Guardian Public Services Awards at Old Billingsgate. Wow, what a venue. The place looked stunning and it was a great event with loads of worthy winners. I shared a table with a group of student volunteers from York and Hull, who went on to win the Citizenship and Volunteering Award (I knew in advance that they had won so had to keep my mouth zipped). 
• Here I should be writing about an amazing bloggers' trip to Brussels I went on courtesy of Eurostar's Little break, Big difference campaign. I was unbelievably excited about it, but then I got an evil bug and couldn't go. I hear through the blogosphere that it was lots of fun, and Sian from Domestic Sluttery brought me back some posh chocolates, which was very sweet. Literally.
• The December London Bloggers Meetup, sponsored by Symantec, was on Tuesday. Sian (see above) spoke at the event and provided us with some really useful blogging tips, and supplied us with yummy cakes.
• The Guardian First Book Award ceremony was the following night. I felt privileged to meet the winner, Petina Gappah; a Zimbabwean writer who won the Award with her amazing short story collection, 'An Elegy for Easterley'. I'm in the middle of reading this now, and each story that I've read so far is incredibly moving, but laced with an underlying layer of humour and modest self-awareness. The judging panel described her writing style as 'deceptively simple' and I would definitely agree with this.

Speaking of short stories, my very own attempt at writing one will be 'critiqued' on Monday, and I'm cacking myself! As I've mentioned before, I attend a Writing Salon at the Hospital Club in Covent Garden, and this month it's my turn to have my writing scrutinised. Writing this blog is one thing, as it's for me more than anyone else and I'm not really bothered about what people think of my storytelling 'skills'. But with fiction it's different. Although my short story is based on me and a real experience, the way I tell the story is so crucial to the impact that I want it to have on the reader, that if I've written it badly it simply won't work. I may report back next week on the reaction it got. Or I may not, depending on how emotionally scarred I am from the experience...

Ooh, and today I received a rather exciting e-mail from the people at we are social. They're the ones who invited me to the aforementioned day trip to Brussels, and now they are offering me the chance to win un séjour à Paris (surely extra points for the French, eh?! Unless the French is wrong, in which case - ignore that). All I have to do is to write about what my dream weekend in Paris would be like if I had €1,000 to spend. Well, to be honest, my *dream* weekend in Paris would involve me being whisked away to the French capital by a decent chap who'd make me laugh a lot and forget my stresses as we wandered around random streets stumbling across little bars and getting nicely merry. But since that isn't likely to happen any time soon, I would have to say that I would absolutely love to take my Mum to the city and spoil her rotten. She's been an absolute legend this year and I would take her to a posh tea room, perhaps somewhere like here, then buy her something sparkly and try and squeeze in a show.

Remember remember, the November LBM-ber (or...something)

I arrived back in London yesterday fully refreshed after a few days in Bristol. I would have stayed perhaps a day longer, were in not for the November edition of the London Bloggers Meetup last night. 'What the heck,' I thought, 'It would be nice to actually go along to one of these events without the little sensible voice in my head telling me that I should really stop drinking these lovely free beverages because I have work the next day.'

So I timed my journey east in order to arrive in the capital for LBM at Doggett's Coat and Badge. It was nice getting there early for a change, as I was able to chat with brand new attendees who I wouldn't normally get to say hello to, as I usually turn up when the room is brimming with people I already know. So I got chatting to Pascale, a make-up artist, which excited me greatly as I definitely need some advice to help me look all 'rock chick' for my upcoming gig.

I also met Zubyre, and had a good discussion with Peter about the future of photojournalism (speaking of which, there's a fascinating nine-day press photography series starting in the Guardian this Saturday *removes PR hat*). I then got chatting to Dafydd from Cite, who'd travelled down from Leicester with a colleague (didn't catch her name but she was very nice) especially for the event.

Because I'd had maybe one or two more drinks than I normally would, I then proceeded to have a strange conversation with Tom (of Tired of London, Tired of Life fame) about my wardrobe. Sorry about that. But it is the nicest wardrobe in the world. Fact.

The ever-glamorous Sian and Alex arrived - laden with freebies from a fashion event - just as an interesting presentation by Marco Saric began. Then the legendary Gary turned up, fresh from recording the latest Two Footed Tackle podcast. It was good to catch up with him, as he hasn't been able to make the last few events. He's a busy chap.

As ever, it was lovely to see and chat with Shell (who has been doing a marvellous 'for how many days can I wear the same dress?' experiment on her fashion blog), Matt (Churchill), Chris (Witness To The Beard's number one fan), Melinda (aka Miss Geeky), Tom (Flashboy), Kate, Lolly, Darika and Alex L. I also briefly met Chris (of the Tiki variety - who won a telly on the night courtesy of the event's sponsor, Paramount), as well as a number of others who I failed to exchange cards with (including a cycling blogger who - it turns out - I'd already been in touch with about Guardian stuff).

Huge thanks to Andy who organised the event, and I'm looking forward to December's already.

Dear blog: you're cool, but I love my dear diaries

Ever since I was 13 I've kept a diary. It's not the kind of diary where I pour out my heart and soul on to the pages, I simply write about what I did each day and keep a note of the funny things that might have happened.

As a teenager I used to write this on a daily basis, religiously. At uni I updated it every two or three days. But now I'm lucky if I update it once a week. It's getting to the stage where I can't actually remember what I did on certain days, and I will geekily admit that I sometimes have to trawl through my Twitter archive to remind me about what I was doing on a particular day so I can record these details in my week-to-view diary.

My diaries - and there are 14 of them so far - are my most treasured possessions in the world; certainly the first thing I would save if my flat was on fire. And here's why:

On this day...

14/9/2008: I decided that Hither Green was where I wanted to buy a flat
14/9/2007: Living in London, I went out for birthday drinks with a colleague and watched some rugby
14/9/2006: I was living and working in Portsmouth and loads of roads were flooded

14/9/2005: I went to a legs, bums and tums class...then had pizza for tea
14/9/2004: I was working as a receptionist at a newspaper in Southampton, and was happy to discover that my (now-ex) boyfriend had actually done some cleaning
14/9/2003: Watched the Grand Prix and went to a pub in Hamble, Hampshire
14/9/2002: I was hungover and applying for graduate job schemes
14/9/2001: On summer holiday between my first and second years at uni. Went for an Italian meal with my family in Bristol
14/9/2000: Went clubbing with mates in Bristol before we all went our separate ways to various unis
14/9/1999: Me and my school friends watched the video I made of our Newquay holiday and I got invited to a party with my college friends (!!!)
14/9/1998: I played hangman with Tim during my free period and had an argument with my dad and brother later on
14/9/1997: I went to Lauren's rabbit's funeral, then had a big stress about what to wear to the cinema. We watched 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion'
14/9/1996: I went to Chessington World of Adventures, and went on the pirate ship twice and the Vampire ride four times!!! Rovers lost 1-0 (first defeat of the season)

Wow, that was really freaky reading through some of my older ones. My life has changed so much in the last five years or so. All for the better.

I think the reason I wanted to write this particular post was to spur me on to update my diary more often, as it's getting a bit ridiculous. I truly believe that keeping a permanent, hard-copy record of events is so valuable, and helps you to remember who you used to be, and how you got to where you are today.

Writing this blog and updating Twitter is all very well, but being able to flick through the pages of the last 15 or so years of my life is so precious to me, and it would be so sad to lose that. So, from now on, I WILL write my diary on a more regular basis. I promise.

Each year, when I get a new diary in my Christmas stocking (thanks mum!) I write a note or two to myself on random future dates. I saw one of those notes today and it made me smile, and inspired me to write this. Well done, me, you're alright I guess :)

The Knock On Effect

One of the reasons why I love my job is because I get to work on such a variety of projects and meet such a diverse range of people. Yesterday was once such example, when I had the privilege to meet 17-year-old Rosie Kilburn, who is from my neck of the woods in the good old Westcountry.

Rosie has a rare form of liver cancer, but instead of letting it get her down it has spurred her on to launch a sustainable fundraising project called 'The Knock On Effect'. Initially, Rosie aims to run an art auction, and she's already received loads of donated pieces to sell at the auction in July. She then intends to design a range of funky T-shirts, with cool yet inspiring messages on them to raise awareness of various issues. I saw one of her designs yesterday and it was very impressive. All of the money she will make from these ventures will be donated to various cancer charities.

To help get the project off the ground - and also to share her everyday experiences - Rosie's launched a blog, and she was invited to the Guardian to get some ideas for how to spread the word about her project and get more people to visit her site. This is where I came in, and I shared as much of my knowledge as I could in 30minutes, but above anything else it was such a pleasure to meet someone so genuine, focused and enthusiastic, yet so incredibly modest at the same time.

Please do take a look at Rosie's blog and find out more about The Knock On Effect. If you know of any budding artists who'd like to donate a piece or two for her forthcoming auction then you can also get in touch with her via the site.

Shrove boozeday

Pancakes pancakes pancakes. I love them. Can't make them to save my life, but nom nom nom. So, imagine my delight when I found out that Ed's Diner in Soho was giving away free pancakes yesterday, courtesy of The Kindness Offensive!

Luckily for me I got there shortly after the giveaway started at 8am (there were massive queues later), so I got a seat at the counter and was even filmed whilst filling my gob with syrupy yumminess. Sadly the person interviewing me didn't quite understand any of my Masterchef references when I described the quality of the food, but never mind.

I also got a free coffee, which was possibly a mistake since I only normally drink coffee about once every six months when I have a life-or-death requirement for it, and because I was feeling quite perky yesterday anyway, the caffeine in my bloodstream meant that I was talking at about a million miles an hour - AND VERY LOUDLY - all morning.

After a couple of post-work drinkies and a very pleasant, girly dinner with Shell, I went to the February London Bloggers Meetup event at Verve Bar in Covent Garden. This time it was sponsored by Bacardi, promoting their new range of 100 Calorie Bacardi Breezers. And very tasty they were too. So even though the day started off with lots of pancake-related calories, at least I sort of made up for it later on.....yeah right.

Blogtailing

Crikey, I haven't written this blog for ages. Tooooo busy! But simply have to sing the praises of the latest London Bloggers Meetup, which took place last night at Diageo plc, home of Smirnoff. It was free cocktails (and food, because it's ALL about 'responsible drinking' these days....), plus a personalised 'blogtail' - as I like to call them - for each blogger according to what they write about. Being a fan of puns (check out www.punlimited.co.uk) I was served a lemon and lime twist, because I like playing with (or 'twisting') my words. Clever. Plus we then got a free bottle of vodka at the end of the night. Not bad, eh?

Great to meet some more cool bloggers too, here's a brief roundup (sorry if I've forgotten anyone or don't have your urls):

Niamh (blogs about food)
Tom Phillips (blogs for Metro, likes robots)
Jaz
MissGeeky (loads of ace tips)
Cristiano (more tips)
Andy (organiser extraordinaire)
Rax (co-organiser extraordinaire)
Peter Marshall (photography exhibition coming up soon)
Lolly (great to catch up again)
Melanie (I think she got the best personalised cocktail)
Zoe
Gary (my friend from 'real life'!)
Chris (who still thinks my band should be called 'Hunter Wing')
Lewis

Best website ever?! Punderstatement...

Introducing you to www.punlimited.co.uk. Possibly the best concept for a website, like, ever.

Each day the website highlights the best pun headline from that day's newspapers, and encourages us punlovers to try and beat it.

Ok, I admit it. It's my latest (and hopefully my last) web venture, in which I celebrate the punderful art of punning. I have always loved a good pun, and over the years have built up a strong reputation / annoying habit of dropping them into everyday conversations. Some are funny, others most definitely are not. Indeed, you could even say that some of my worst ones are 'punishable offences'. Haha. But the effort and passion (and loose screw) are there at least.

So, if you are a fan of puns, or have ever been on the receiving end of one of my own spontaneous wordplay gems, no matter how feeble, click away and make me happy by spreading the word!

Amazing new online game

It's lunchtime on a Friday. Only a few hours to go until the weekend. What better way to pass the time (in your lunch hour, of-course) than by participating in the world wide web's most fantastic interactive Friday-based competition, the Friday Factoid! Originally an internal game in my office, we have decided to open the weekly contest to one and all (to stop the same people from winning - you know who you are!!).

The rules:

• Check www.fridayfactoid.blogspot.com every Friday morning
• I will have uploaded this week's theme which you must find a fact about
• Submit your fact (max 100 words) as an ANONYMOUS comment to the relevant blog posting by 2pm on the Friday
• I then choose a winner
• Check back after 3pm to see if you're the victor
• If you have won, identify yourself via the blog for glorification purposes
• Err, no prizes, except the pride of having your factoid celebrated, and mass adulation

Ridiculously geeky I know but it is rather fun and you do get to learn lots of amazing stuff by reading everyone's submissions...
Happy factoiding fellow nerds!

Blogs and booze

Tuesday afternoon. Not much planned, so decide to head over to the Southbank for a couple of sunny drinks with work buddies, mentioning it to my mate Gary who works near there to see if he fancies it. But he has plans - he is attending the London Bloggers Summer Meet Up party.

"You blog - you should come!". So indeed I did. After hastily creating some rather crude business cards I was ready to 'network'.

It was pretty darn cool, and not only because of the free drinks generously supplied by the kind people at Stella Artois. There were a varied array of people there who blog about all sorts of things - events, travel, music...and even one guy who does rather creative things with post-it notes...

Here are some blogs of the people there:

The Londoneer * Peter * Arseniy * Julius * Lolly * Mario * Christiano * Barbara * Anthony Fresh Plastic * Andy Bargery * Willem * Chris * Sandrine * Annie Mole

A bientot!

I've got my bloggles on

Thought it was about time I got in on this blogging business.

Me: Hayley (Dunners)
Age: 26
Lives: London
Status: singler than ever
Plans for day: DIY and Dr Who
Pun of the day: BLOGGLES