The month that was: April 2018

What happened:
A busy month, with some awesome days weather-wise but, equally, towards the end of the month, I was digging out my winter coat. Brrrr! I'm jumping ahead though, let's go back to the beginning of the month. We started April in Kent with Olly's family for Easter, and then the following weekend my family visited us in London: tourist time!

That involved a walk along the river from Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge, a quick look in the Tate Modern, briefly leaving London and heading to Far Far Away via Shrek's Adventure (if you've got young children who love Shrek and don't mind interacting with characters, it's great for them), a spin on the London Eye (always a delight to see London from up high), and a mooch on Oxford Street (never a delight).


I finished up my freelance work with Sky, and started my new permanent job in the City. It's been about four years since I had a permanent position, and whilst I've loved freelancing and having more time to write books, I need a bit more stability so we can buy our very own home in London. Roll on save, save, saving - and I'll still be writing books, don't worry! I'm hoping to submit book six to publishers this summer.

Finally, towards the end of the month, it was my birthday, which meant ALL THE FOOD (brunch at Cafe Fleur, dinner at Rick Stein's, and dim sum from Hakkasan Hanway Place), plus returning to the Tate Modern for a proper look round and the Picasso 1932 - Love, Fame, Tragedy exhibition. If you're a Picasso fan, you'll love it. If you're not, you'll be awed by his output in one mere year! All-in-all, it was an excellent birthday.

What I ate:
Vietnamese food at Cay Tre (nice enough pho, but I'm still a big fan of Pho), outlandish doughnuts from Doughnut Time (expensive but worth it as a treat), the yummiest breakfast at Dishoom (pictured below - I highly recommend getting the sausage and egg naan, with a side of bacon), thali at Temper, and a Brick Lane curry at Aladin with my new workmates.

Then there was a free burrito from Barburrito for my birthday (thank you), a birthday brunch at Cafe Fleur (below), a birthday dinner at Rick Stein (tasty, but for the price you could go to a Michelin star restaurant), and dim sum from Hakkasan Hanway Place (dim sum Sunday is amazing value - a much cheaper bill than when I went last time!).

Plus, because I'm now working in the City, plenty of Wasabi's katsu chicken curry for lunch (of course), plus trying out some new places - like hot carvery sandwiches from Euphorium Bakery (tasty, but pricey, which is a common theme for lunch places in the Square Mile), and pork meatball pho from HOP (nice enough, but I'd love a spicy option for the broth!).

What I watched:
I watched the third season of Strike, and we started watching season four of How to Get Away With Murder - that was about it TV-wise. Films watched: Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2, The House, Despicable Me 3, Cars 3, Snatched, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Rough Night.

At the cinema we watched: Love, Simon (super cute with some super important messages), Thoroughbreds (dreadful), Rampage (got to love a OTT Dwayne Johnson film), The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (good, but lacked the depth of the book), and Avengers: Infinity War (awesome).

What I read:
In April I read nine books and abandoned reading three books. My favourite books of the month were: Wonder by R.J. Palacio and House of Cards by Michael Dobbs.

How was your month? x