Last week on Instagram… summers in the city

The past week in London has been truly lovely – the sun’s shone (almost) every day, the mercury was consistently high, and anyone might think it’s actually summer! With my sandals on while putting my favourite vest tops to good use, here’s what I got up to last week according to the pictures I posted on Instagram…

Ever since Jeff and I received flowers as a gift after our wedding and we had to buy a vase to put them in, I’ve had this thing about making sure there are fresh flowers in the house. I find fresh flowers breathe life into a room, make it feel more homey, and of course they smell lovely, too. Last week I opted for roses.

Whenever the weather gets hot I crave light, cool foods – and salad is something I’ve been enjoying a lot of! Along with the fresh roses, I also bought a little basil plant. It won’t live forever, but in the meantime it will provide plenty of excuses to make tomato, mozzarella and basil salads. (Which I currently can’t get enough of!)

Besides craving light foods, heat waves also make me thirsty! This week I was feeling crafty, and ended up making this DIY cocktail of fresh watermelon crushed with a rolling-pin in a glass to make it drinkable, lime juice and vodka – stir. It was surprisingly refreshing, and I definitely recommend it if you’re after a crafty cocktail, too.

One of the other delicious drinks from last week was this delight – a gin and juice cocktail whipped up at The Hideaway near Archway tube station. We’d gone in for pizza in their beautiful beer garden, and ended up leaving quite merry. If you’re in the area, I recommend all of the pizzas on the menu, because they are all good! (Though maybe not all at once – you might want to pace yourself.)

Though with all the sunshine and heat, there was bound to be a storm at some point. On Friday night the heat finally broke, but before it did I was able to capture this storm rolling in over Holloway Road at sunset.

Then on Saturday morning I swung by my mate Adam’s rooftop hatha yoga class for a spot of fitness in the sun. And with those blue skies, the heat and the noises of the city muffled from being up on the roof… I totally forgot that we were smack in the centre of a city. Bliss.

Following yoga, Jeff and I went to brunch at The Haberdashery with our friend Alex, and I successfully finished the totally scrumptious vegetarian breakfast and discovered this gorgeous plate hidden underneath the food. Turns out one of my friend’s parents also have this plate – and they live out in the USA. Small world!