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Stacey

Live

We’re in!

Wow, I can’t believe exactly a month has gone by since we moved in to our new home.

From the day we chose it, without even seeing the spot it would be built on, to the day we moved in, took exactly 6 months. We hadn’t set out to buy a new build. Or to buy something we hadn’t seen or to buy it without actually seeing anything else AT ALL. But it just felt right. And thankfully, now we are in, it still does!

I went to The Design Museum on 8 June, and as I came out the solicitor rang to tell me the house was nearly finished and that we had to complete on 22 June. Exactly 10 days later. Not a lot of notice! But luckily, I’d been pretty organised and had a removal company lined up and we’d done at least twenty trips to the tip to de-clutter and get rid of things we didn’t want to take with us. And other than being a bit of a rush, the timing was perfect as we were due out of our rented house on 2 July.

It’s a real new start moment. A fresh new house for us to make fresh new memories in. And the fact that there’s no storage yet, or broadband, or toilet roll holders or pictures up are only minor inconveniences in the bigger picture of the fact we’ve managed to buy a house. There’s a big long list of things I want to do, but I have to keep reminding myself that they don’t all have to be done at once.

Mind you, patience is not one of my strongest points!

22nd July 2018
Design

Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics

You’ve only got a few weeks left to see one of the best exhibitions in London this year.

Hope to Nope at the Design Museum is stunning. It explores the intersections between design, technology, politics and protest over the last 10 years, and traces how graphic design and technology have become such powerful forms of protest.

The range of materials, formats and subject matter is vast – with work from established designers such as Shepherd Fairey to grass roots messages and campaigns about Grenfell, the events in Catalonia and feminism in China.

There’s a quote in a recent review in The Guardian that I thought particularly apt: “As you drift through the space, one of the overriding themes is quite how powerless the traditional tools of professionalised design and marketing now appear to be in contrast to the DIY alternatives, whether they be pasted on the wall or shared on Facebook.”

Go see it. Seriously. Hope to Nope: Graphics and Politics is on until 12 August.

And if you fancy making an afternoon of it, pick up the Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier show on the ground floor. The Museum has a joint ticket price and it’s well worth seeing while you are there.

15th July 2018
Live

Do what you want to do

It’s a strange old time at the moment. An impending house move after being settled for 6 years, but no real idea of when it might happen, is definitely causing fairly constant low-level anxiety. We are buying brand new, and apparently being able to indicate or confirm a finish date any time before 10 days before completion is an impossibility! Or even a finish ‘window’. At this stage I’d be happy with ‘between this date and this date’. But no, apparently not. So the best we’ve got is fingers crossed and hope that it will all be done and we’ll be in before our deadline of end of June. I know it’s like that with most house moves, but I had hoped that the project might be running to some kind of schedule. Perhaps I’ll try that approach with my next client project – yep, I know exactly how that would go down!

Needless to say, this means there’s a fair bit to do. The new house is smaller than the current one, so we’re being forced to declutter, which is no bad thing. But it feels like the mixture of the usual household chores, weekend routines and the additional chucking, sorting and getting ready for packing has meant that my weekends have been taken up with nothing but that, and trying to grab some rest before another week at (brilliantly) busy work. And a girl still has to fit in MotoGp and WSB watching around all of that!

I realised a couple of weekends ago that it was starting to get me down a bit. So, we made a conscious change and already on weekend 2 it feels great. Sunday morning is now ‘do what you want to do’ time. Not ‘do what you have to do/feel you should do’ time. For himself, that means going out cycling and not having to worry about being back by a certain time or feeling guilty about not doing house stuff. For me, it means coffee, a magazine, seeing my Mum and Dad, writing, reading or anything I want. Definitely no life admin, no work, no doing the washing, tidying up or going to the supermarket. Between 7 and 1 on a Sunday that can all wait, whatever state it’s in.

It’s weirdly liberating to be so organised. But it doesn’t feel like a rule, it feels like claiming back some balance. Being able to breathe a bit deeper and losing the guilty feeling that I should be doing something ‘productive’. It feels a lot more ‘in the moment’ and it means that I’m guarding against all those things I love doing becoming a chore that have to be fitted in around life’s commitments and routines.

Work in progress…but it feels good so far.

21st May 2018
Design

Sunday Morning Farringdon Road

I’ve worked in and around Farringdon on and off since 1999, and I’ve long loved a painting by East London Artist Cecil Osborne. I’ve spent an unfeasibly long time trying to work out where the view it depicts through this open window, on a road I now know so well, is.

I find that it’s very easy to get lost in this picture. I’m drawn in by the warm, restricted palette of browns and reds, the absence of people and the stories behind the doors of the shops and dwellings. An early morning in 1929.

Cecil Osborne was a self-taught artist who was part of a fascinating 1920’s art collective called The East London Group, which featured working class male and female artists of the east end. Born out of an art club in Bethnal Green, the artists mostly came from all walks of local life and captured street scenes of the local areas. They exhibited and enjoyed popularity in the 1930’s, but post-war that popularity waned until an exhibition in 2014 brought them some overdue recognition:

“The Group painted the East End’s streets, alleys, mills, factories, pubs and churches with the same fascination that other artists have for the English countryside. The streets, in their paintings, look interesting, like places you want to see…and this without prettifying the essential industrial, poor reality. This is the real accomplishment. Somehow the character of the area, the vibrancy of its community, is communicated through these representations of its buildings.

Partly this is achieved by the flat colour and the way they all seem to have of capturing light. It suggests, to me at least, a parallel with that other great painter of the built environment, the American artist Edward Hopper.”

– John Rees

Osborne’s painting pre-dates Edward Hopper’s by a year, and it is the only one of his available in a public collection, owned by the Brighton and Hove Museum.

It’s said that the East London Group’s artists were able to see beauty in the most unlikely subjects, bringing ‘a warm feeling to their art which is transmitted to the viewer’. There are many parralels to me with the modern street photographers, who still find the east end such fertile creative ground.

As well as painting, members of the East London Group also made a documentary film, advertising posters for Shell and Phyllis Bray painted large murals which are now at Queen Mary, University of London.

I’m very excited to learn, through researching for this blog, that ‘Sunday Morning Farringdon Road’ lives not too far from me in Brighton and I’m definitely going to take a trip to visit it in person, if it is on display.

There’s lots of fascinating material about the East London Group:

The East London Group and their Contemporaries

The famed painters who vanished into obscurity

Cecil Osborne’s Lost Murals Rediscovered

I’m definitely keen to find out more about these artists. But this morning, I’ll just keep losing myself in Osborne’s best-known work.

 

20th May 2018
Play, Travel

Top 10 Cosmo’s of 2018…so far

Anyone who knows me knows that the Cosmopolitan is unashamedly my favourite cocktail. As we’re coming to the halfway point of the year, I’ve rounded up the best Cosmo’s from 2018 – so far. Conveniently, it makes a nice neat list of 10 – though these are in no particular order, they’re all great 🙂

Forever linked with the 90’s and Sex and the City, the Cosmo dates back much further, with its roots in a 1930’s confection featuring gin, instead of vodka. There are mentions of it in the 1970’s in America, before it was popularised by SJP and the gang. The International Bartenders Association quotes the recipe as:

  • 4 cl Citron Vodka
  • 1.5 cl Cointreau
  • 3 cl Cranberry juice
  • 1.5 cl Fresh lime juice

Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass, garnish with lime slice…and voila. They also very sensibly catagorise it as an ‘All Day Cocktail‘. I’m not arguing with that!

Hakkasan, London W1

The Cosmopolitan at Hakkasan was stop-you-in-your-tracks-knock-your-socks-off-good. More than good, it was the best Cosmo I’ve had in years. A stand-out cocktail and a lovely bar to drink it at. Followed by some Michelin Starred Chinese nibbles.

Trocadero Playa, Marbella

Cocktail on the beach at sunset, perfect. Nicely balanced and a good size. Usual routine is to drop the bags off and head out for one of these on arrival.

Artesian Bar, the Langham Hotel, London W1

Well earned cocktail after a busy days shopping in London. Lovely unusual glasses. Quite red in colour but perfectly balanced.

Purobeach, Marbella

Beach club perfection – and huge too! Perfect to sip while listening to some Balearic beats and chilling out. Look at that for a holiday cocktail 🙂

Chilli Pickle, Brighton

Ordered off-menu and this wonderful restaurant made me my favourite cocktail. Lovely as a pre-curser to an Indian feast.

Charlotte St Hotel, London W1

One of London’s classic hotel bars, as expected they do an excellent Cosmo (and a great Old Fashioned too).

Mayfair Hotel, London W1

Again, excellent hotel cocktail bar – great place for meeting friends. In fact, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take a picture, so here’s one I obviously took from their website!

Nobu, London W1

These slip down incredibly well with a selection of Japanese food. Had a few more in the bar downstairs after too.

Malmaison, LondonEC1

Much better in the upstairs bar than the downstairs one, but still a good shout for a cocktail in EC1.

Iberica, London EC1

Cocktails and tapas…yum.

Any must-drink Cosmo recommendations for me?

 

 

14th May 2018
Travel

48 hours in Marbella

We go to Marbella quite often – at least a couple of times a year, and we’ve found some pretty lovely places to eat and drink and hang out there. Only 2.5 hours from Gatwick, it’s the perfect weekend destination if you want to get some good food and some sunshine. We keep mostly away from the very touristy times of year and any really touristy hang-outs, and we’ve got to know some great places to go.

Malaga to Marbella

We used to hire a car, but realised that it spent most of its time parked up in the hotel car park, so since last year we now always get the bus from the airport straight to the bus terminal at Marbella. A bargain at around €6 each way (a taxi is about €100), the bus departs from right outside the arrivals hall and runs regularly. The ‘directo’ bus uses the toll road, rather than the slower coastal road and takes about 40 minutes. You can either walk into town from the bus station or grab a cab from the rank to where you are staying. Buy your ticket online or at the ticket office in the arrival hall. There’s often a queue, so we found buying it in advance online the best option.

Accommodation

There are tons of hotels, villas and Airbnb places to stay, as you would expect. If you’re looking for reasonable priced without too many frills then the NH Marbella is a good shout. They have a small pool with a bar that’s open in high-season and an excellent buffet breakfast for the price. It’s also a good location, within strolling distance of Central Marbella and a nice longer walk along the beach to Puerto Banús (about 5km). It’s also handy for the beach and local buses along the coast.

Bars

My favourite stretch of beach is Copacabana – and the Trocadero Playa is a great bar for a cocktail at sunset or to while away an afternoon. It’s a bit pricier than other bars, but it has a perfect location so sometimes you have to pay a little extra for that!

My hidden gem is a sports bar called Boca Seca. It’s on the side of the road between the NH Hotel and the Puente Romano hotel and it’s a real locals place. The food is good, cheap and plentiful, they play the MotoGP race on a Sunday and are open late. It gets busy, but it’s worth waiting for a spot outside. The ensalada rusa, jamon croquettas and the pig cheek are all highly recommended!

Food

Wow – where to start? Well, my all time favourite is a Dani Garcia restaurant called Lobito Del Mar. A beautiful Hamptons Coastal inspired decor with a fantastic bar and a fantastic bar menu to go with it. I recommend sitting at the bar, chatting with the excellent bar staff and sampling a range of fishy delights over a long and lingering lunch. The martini’s are huge, and the clams are delicious.

There’s a newly-ish open organic restaurant opposite the Marbella Club Hotel called the Organic Market and Food and it serves amazing fresh ingredients, lots of veggie and vegan dishes, with a fresh modern decor and some outside seating. The food is excellent, but I have always (3 trips) found the service lacking. It’s worth going for the food, but don’t expect the service to be particularly friendly.

If you’re looking for tasty snacks in a busy buzzy environment then LeKune Bar de Pinxos in Marbella is the perfect place. Pinxo‘s are small snacks, usually served on bread with a drink. It gets packed, which all adds to the atmosphere and it’s a great place to pop into to fill up on tasty morsels. It’s quieter at breakfast time and it’s lovely to sit outside with a cafe con leche and a glass of fresh orange and watch the world go by on a Saturday or Sunday morning.

Plus ++

A trip out of Marbella about 30 mins along the coast by bus to Laguna Village has two benefits – firstly the gorgeous Purobeach Beach Club. My idea of a perfect heavenly day is to arrive there at 11 and stay all day, hanging out, listening to great music and drinking cocktails. I’ve never had a bad time there. But a few doors down from PuroBeach is Camuri, where we always go for lunch if we are there. A Mediterranean-Asian fusion restaurant serving fresh quality ingredients. Ask for a table down the side of the restaurant. The service is better there and the view is ace.

There are tons more places to go, this list only scratches the surface, but if you’re looking for more ideas:

  • Italian food and people watching in Puerto Banús. Go at lunchtime when it’s not full of partying youngsters. They do a mean escalope milanese (ask for it with spaghetti pomadoro).
  • Drinks at the bar by the pool at the Marbella Club Hotel.
  • Sunday morning coffee in Plaza de los Naranjos in Marbella. Go to the cathedral and watch the well-dressed locals arrive for mass then get coffee in the square.
  • Hire a bike at the Marbella Bike Club and have an early morning cycle.
  • Dress up for lunch on the terrace at the Villa Padierna hotel.
  • Take a trip out of town, up into the hills of Ronda.
  • If you have all-day Sunday then a trip out to The Beach House is worth the journey for good food and daytime entertainment

Basically, 48 hours isn’t long enough, but that’s why we keep going back 🙂

 

13th May 2018
Live

Wasting time

Each day you’re given 86,400 seconds from the Time Bank. Everyone is given the same. There are no exceptions. Once you make your withdrawal, you’re free to spend it as you want.

The Time Bank won’t tell you how to spend it. Time poorly spent will not be replaced with more time. Time doesn’t do refunds.

Time is your biggest gift. Indeed, it is more valuable than money as you can make more money, but you can’t make more time. But there is one simple truth: Your time is limited. And one day you will go to the bank and it won’t have any more for you. And it will be at that exact moment that you will know the answer to this simple question: Did I use my time well?

I came across that excerpt, from a book by David Hieatt, last week while I was off work. I’d decided to book the 4-days off after Easter, giving me a whopping 10 days straight out of the office.

The passage particularly resonated as I’d decided to have time off, but not to go away and by the end of the week I started wondering if staying at home was really a good use of all that lovely free time. Was just mooching around the house and doing chores really the best way to unwind and relax? Is watching ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ fun or futile (don’t answer that one)?

Turns out it’s quite hard to get that holiday feeling when you’re sitting in the queue at the tip 🙂

But thinking about it, it dawned on me that actually I’d done loads of things, and very slowly and without realising it, I was gradually unwinding and resetting my body clock and my mental health. It was only going back to work today that made me realise how rested I was, and how much I needed that first time off since Christmas.

Some of the stand out moments of the week were:

Rediscovering the joy of a long hot bath – I bought some pink Himalayan salt and spent several hours luxuriating in it with a face mask, a magazine and a glass of bubbles/cup of tea at regular intervals, followed by lots of lathering on of moisturiser – something I rarely get to do after the early morning quick shower. My skin is thanking me for it and my year-old magazine pile has gone down dramatically. Definitely planning on keeping this up with at least one salty bath a week!

Decluttering – an iminent (well, Summer) house move is forcing me to think carefully about the things I own. We are moving into a brand new house, so I have decided that I am not taking any yellow furniture (pine/wood) or anything that I don’t love. I spent a very productive morning clearing out cupboards and donated 5 large black bags to the local Scope charity shop – with an equal number going to the local recycling centre.

Seeing my parents – a relaxed visit for lunch, which meant I could travel out of Saturday rush/shopping hour and spend time with Mum and Dad. I went home with more things than I’d arrived with (see ‘decluttering’ above), but one of them included a gorgeous pair of black glass Chopard sunglasses. I tried to resist, but she forced me to take them…honestly 🙂

Ditchling Museum – on Friday I took myself off for lunch and a visit to the Ditchling Museum of Art and Craft, which is about 20 minutes away. Ditchling is well known for its art and design heritage and possibly its less well-known pubs. The Bull does a great lunch, and I sat at the bar on my own reading and enjoying a glass of wine and thinking just how lovely it was.

With dinner at Nobu, lunch at The Chilli Pickle and some ace cooking (roast spring lamb and beef cheek cottage pie were highlights) I also ate well, cycled 17km on a stationary bike (not all at the same time), got my nails done, drove around a lot singing to Absolute 90’s, ate ramen, took photographs and got lots of lovely sleep in.

So, did I use my time well? D’you know what, I think I did – without planning any of it. Though I can’t wait to go to Spain next weekend – there’s only so much staycating a girl can do…

9th April 2018
Live, Play

Oh Hai

I can’t believe it’s been so long since I wrote anything – 3 months! I’m feeling very rusty. It’s not that my ramblings cover anything particularly earth-shattering, it’s more that it is a stark reminder to myself of how long it is since I sat down with some time to spare and created something. It’s about the same amount of time since I picked up my camera, so I definitely need to get back into the habit.

There’s way too much to catch up on all in one go, so I might save the big things for posts of their own. But a whistle-stop tour of the past 3 months includes Christmas parties, Christmas lunches and a Christmas break to Marbella.

There have been some fun days and fun nights out, some cosy days and cosy nights in, my first bottomless brunch, my 4-year anniversary at work, and of course, some cocktails. There also seems to have been quite a lot of rain.

It’s been extraordinarily busy at work, but I’m hoping to get a little bit more organised and carve out some time again for doing the things I love. This quick post is dipping my toe back in, and reminding myself. It’s always easier when the weather is better, and at least coming into March we know that Spring is on the way. Just this really cold snap to get through first!

 

25th February 2018
Play

Boom for Real

I recently saw the ‘Boom for Real’ show at the Barbican, showcasing the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the pioneering prodigy of the 1980s downtown New York art scene. It. Is. Stunning. The first major retrospective of Basquiat’s work; featuring film, art, photography and rare pieces, this show captures the spirit of this self-taught artist, poet, DJ and musician who died, aged 27, in 1988. The show runs until end of January – you should go.

 

26th November 2017