Tag Archives: London

Blog Every Day in May: Walk to Work

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“Describe or photograph your walk to work. Or journey to work if you use transport. Is it pretty or incredibly dull? Can you find something of interest on your way?”

When I first read today’s prompt I was tempted to walk you through my walk to work in photos or a video or something…until I forgot that it was actually today and when I just came to write it, and hadn’t done any preparations at all! Still, the walk from my bedroom, downstairs and into my home studio wouldn’t make for *that* interesting a post, so I’ve decided to share an old walk to work with you instead!

I lived in London for 12 years in total, from a student living in South East London to my last place right in the City. My last year there was easily the most memorable, probably in part due to living so centrally, and making the most of the Capital (especially during Summer 2012 when there was SO much going on!).

A lot of my fond memories do come from my old walk to work though, as I’d leave our flat at Tower Hill, walk over Tower Bridge and along to Borough. I would sometimes cross over at London Bridge on the way home for a change, and walk through St Dunstans or the Tower of London. Which ever way I walked though, whatever the weather and time of day (I would often finish quite late) there were always sights to see and things to photograph…and so I thought I’d share with you some of my memories of that great walk to work….

Ems x

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Blog Every Day in May: 5 Lines

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“Introduce yourself or sum yourself up in just 5 lines. Include a photograph that you are proud of.”

My name is Emily, and I’m a blogging, crafting, thrifting treasure hunter and events producer living in Hitchin, Hertfordshire.

I’m a little bit into everything, and to say my taste is eclectic would be a serious understatement…..I like to think I can see beauty in everything.

I can’t think of any music that I don’t like, there is certainly no food that I won’t eat (with the exception of Marmite which isn’t really a food), and I just don’t believe that any colours clash.

My greatest loves are my wonderful fiance Adam, my darling lurcher Special Agent Doggie Cooper, weddings, blowing bubbles, the TV Tower in Berlin, blue skies and stationery.

I hate having photos taken of me, but I love to take photos of pretty much anything else…. especially road works, buildings that other people think are ugly, and enchanted places where fairies probably live.

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Our secret garden, St Dunstans in the East, near to where we used to live in London. Taken with my Diana analogue camera with 120mm colour negative slide film.

Something from the weekend…..brownies, shopping and a very Austrian Hen Do!

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Once again I’m utterly shattered after the weekend! It’s been another busy one, and the horrid weather has taken it out of me too. It was however lots of fun…..

The weekend started early, as my lovely friend Brigitte came up for a little visit. After a cup of coffee and a slice of the amazing Peanut Butter and Chocolate Brownie she’d made for us, we took a good look around the brilliant Antiques and Collectables Market that takes place each Friday in Hitchin. We also had a good snoop around all the charity shops in town, as well as the cook shops, and came away with a good few treasures! I made us a sweet potato and coconut soup for lunch, then after we’d taken Cooper outside into the garden to play with his ball for a while, Brigitte made her way back to London and I set about getting ready for the weekend.

Gifts from the lovely Brigitte!

Hitchin Market Treasure

I had a little lie in on Saturday morning, although as I’ve been getting up earlier since we got Cooper, it was a far more reasonable hour than usual! As it was raining, Cooper and I walked up to meet Adam’s Mum, so that she could show me her rainy day walking route. Despite the wet, I rather enjoyed myself, especially as we decided it was time to let Cooper off his lead for the first time! He was very good, and came back when called (eventually at least!), and had a nice play with some other dogs we met along the way.

Adam made us a yummy omelette for breakfast when I got back, which set me up well for the rest of the day….at midday I made my way to the station to meet up with the girls, and we all headed into Covent Garden for the start of our friend Katie’s Hen Do! We had a great lunch in Belgo’s (pils, moules et frittes, yummy!) then popped just round the corner to Pineapple Dance Studios, where we were to take a dance class together!

The Bride To Be with her goodies!

Yummy lunch

Starting as she means to go on with a chocolate Schnapps

It was amusing to us getting ready in the changing rooms, alongside lots of professional dancers putting on pointe shoes and whatnot….it was awesome to be there though! Once all ready in the studio, our lovely teacher announced that we’d be learning the Gangnam Style routine and the hilarity commenced as we all started learning the moves! It was all pretty bonkers, but great fun watching each other as we all rather inexpertly made our way through the routine, and we were shattered after our hour of exercise!

Pineapple!

Concentrating….

Once we’d all changed into our evening outfits and scoffed a load of jelly beans, we made our way out West to drink cocktails and play Hen Do games. Katie was made to pick out her hubby-to-be Peter’s body parts from a stack of photos of eyes, belly buttons and elbows…..she managed to guess most correctly but got landed with a couple of forfeits for the ones she didn’t (and I don’t think she ever completed them, tut tut!). Then there was a quiz of questions which Peter had been made to answer already, and Katie had to guess what he had answered….there was lots of giggling and ah-ing as we heard some rather silly and soppy answers!

Next it was off for dinner at the Tiroler Hut, a fabulous Austrian restaurant and music venue at Bayswater. Katie’s sisters had dressed her up in a wonderfully silly Austrian style outfit, including ridiculous blonde plaited wig, and we all joined in the silliness by plaiting our hair into pigtails. After a delicious dinner (Ungarische Krautroulade, cheese Fondue and Kaiserschmarrn for me!) the entertainment began, and we were soon rolling around with laughter watching Katie join in with the cow bell playing! There was lots of singing along to tunes from Sound of Music, as well as dancing to the birdie song and the okey cokey! It was a brilliant night of fun (I’d VERY much recommend a night out at the Tiroler Hut!), and I was absolutely shattered as we journeyed home…..I wasn’t back at the house until 2:30 and was delighted to hear our hound guarding the place as he barked and bounded downstairs before realising it was me and coming for a cuddle before he settled back down on his bed!

Despite the late night, I still managed to get up at a far more reasonable hour than most Sundays, and we headed off to Oughton Head Common for a nice long walk. The cold morning woke me up in no time, although I was glad I’d taken along another bit of Brigitte’s brownie to eat along the way, as I was in need of calories! It was gorgeous to see all of the trees starting to sprout little bits of green, and to find some blossom finally blooming!

Spring springing

After heading home for a quick breakfast, we dropped the hound off with Adam’s Mum, and went over to Biggleswade with Adam’s Dad to a little antiques fair. It takes place there at the Weatherly Centre every month and is clearly very popular as it was packed with stalls and fellow shoppers. I saw far too many treasures I wanted to bring home with me, and despite being fairly good, I couldn’t resist buying a very delicate string of Art Deco pearls, as well as a 1930s necklace which will be kept as ‘special’ for my wedding outfit!

Antiques fair

We picked up the hound and then stopped into our local, The Half Moon, for a half pint (Belly Dancer for me, Dog Dancer for Adam!). It was so lovely to take him there for the first time and he soon made himself at home!

Pub pooch

The rest of the evening was spent slobbing about and cooking up a big fry-up for supper….I felt the treat was well deserved (and needed!), as was the early night I got (asleep by 9:30!).

Ems x

Something from the weekend…. Time Banking, Singin’ in the Rain and welcoming a new arrival

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Well that was an eventful weekend! Whilst we knew we had a bit going on, it turned out much busier than we’d planned, but all the more fun for it!

On Friday evening we went for a somewhat impromptu meal out…. some old friends of Adam’s family  had come over from Seattle and so a big bunch of us met up for a curry and catch up. It was great to meet such lovely people and to natter the evening away over a yummy meal! It was home fairly early though as I had to be up quite early for work on Saturday….

I’ve been working with North Herts Centre for Voluntary Service for a couple of months now, helping out with their events programme. On Saturday we launched the new Stevenage Time Bank at an event to introduce the concept to the local community. Time Banking is a great way to volunteer….it’s free to join and you can give as much time as you like, and totally flexibly, then you get an hour back to spend how you like for every hour you give! It’s a fantastic way to build communities, and has been working really well in North Herts for a while now….people might give an hour a week walking someone’s dog, then spend their saved up hours on getting help fixing up their garden for example. The event had a great turn out, including the Mayor of Stevenage who was very positive about the project. We signed up a good few new members and got lots of people thinking about how they can get involved.

At the Stevenage Time Bank Launch

Shortly after my return home from the event I had a call from the local Greyhound Rescue who we’d recently fostered for…. as you may remember we took on a gorgeous pup called Cooper as a foster hound, but then I got so upset after we found him a ‘forever home’ that we decided we’d just have to adopt rather than foster! We’ve been looking for the perfect pooch since, and were due to meet a couple of girl greyhounds on Sunday morning, but when our homing officer (Cheryl) called on Saturday she dropped a bit of a bombshell! It turns out that Cooper’s new home hadn’t worked out, so he was coming back to the Rescue and Cheryl wanted to give us first refusal to either foster him again or adopt him!

Apparently he’d been a bit too playful with his new home’s existing greyhound, and wasn’t reading her signals to back off, so she would snap at him, which was worrying his new owners. So, we had a tricky decision to make quite fast, whether to take Cooper back and give him all the training he needs to be able to socialise better, or go ahead and meet the girls on Sunday morning. I was convinced it was fate….that timing-wise he had just become available again as we were looking to adopt our forever hound….so we decided to have Cooper back (on a foster basis to begin with and see how he gets on, then hopefuly adopt him) and I began to get excited about his arrival!

We made our way into London on Saturday evening, as we’d booked tickets to the screening of Singin’ in the Rain at the Royal Albert Hall as a birthday gift for Adam’s Mum. Adam had found and booked a meal at a little Moroccan restaurant near the Hall at South Kensington, so we made our way there first and were delighted to find the wonderfully quaint Cous Cous Darna. We were served the most delicious meal, with excellent service and in wonderful surroundings…. Adam and I often feel short-changed when ordering vegetarian meals, but our Vegetarian Tagine and Vegetable Cous Cous were amazing, as was the Moroccan wine we had along side, and the Moroccan mint and orange blossom tea we had in lieu of pudding (too stuffed!).

Zinc table top at Cous Cous Darna

Amazing Vegetable Tagine at Cous Cous Darna

After the meal, we took the walk along to the Royal Albert Hall…I never fail to be impressed by the stunning building as we approach! The performance was actually a 60th Anniversary screening of the newly re-mastered film ‘Singin’ in the Rain‘, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Neil Thomson. The score has been painstakingly pieced back together by John Wilson, who was commissioned by MGM to reconstruct the lost orchestrations of all their major musicals including High Society, Singin’ in the Rain, The Band Wagon and An American in Paris.

The ever-impressive Royal Albert Hall

The result was just phenomenal, as Wilson had completely brought back to life the film’s iconic soundtrack, which was played live against the re-mastered film on the big screen with the original vocals and dialog intact.The evening was introduced by Patricia Ward Kelly, wife of the film’s star Gene Kelly….we were all laughing and also brought to tears by her lovely introduction, as she regaled us with amusing stories from the film-making, quashed rumors, and told us how much she wished Gene was there to see what we were about to experience. I sobbed in fact through most of the film….it was just magical to hear the score performed live alongside the film. The event was a special two-night only anniversary celebration, but I’d very much recommend your seeing it if it’s ever done again.

The big screen!

On Sunday morning we had what was perhaps our last lie in! We heard in the morning that Cheryl was collecting Cooper at lunch time, so he would be with us by the early afternoon! I began beavering away to get the house ready for him…hiding cleaning products and plumping up the dog beds! Then at about 2pm he arrived!

Arthur waiting for Cooper’s return!

Cheryl says that he clearly remembered the house, as she pretended to walk past but he pushed his way through the gate, and his tail wagged madly as he came up to the front door! He quickly settled back in, and nestled into his bed (his favourite place, second only to the sofa!). I took him into the garden for a bit, but he was most happy when we all snuggled up on the sofa, where I read one of Cesar Milan’s books about puppy training.

It was a bit of a mission to get him outside into the snowy cold for his afternoon walk, but he was very well behaved whilst out and did us proud as we met other dogs out walking. Once home, he got a visit from his Grandma Liz (!), Adam’s Mum, and she cooked dinner for us before having a nice long cuddle with him back on the sofa. Cooper was sorry to see her go back home to her own dogs Newton and Piper, but he’ll get to meet them again soon anyway.

Contented hound

Adam and I spent the rest of the evening slobbing on the sofa, with a very content hound curled up next to us! We started to watch The 10th Kingdom, which I’m yet to really buy into….Adam says I have to give it time, but at the minute I’m struggling!

Bed time was pretty successful, and Cooper soon remembered our routine and settled down nicely on his bed without trespassing on our own bed! And so I went to sleep very content indeed after a fun-packed weekend, and with our new family member at home too!

Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Ems x

Wednesday Wants…. Alex Monroe

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Tomorrow sees the launch of Alex Monroe‘s new collection, ‘Chase’, and being a bit put out that I can’t make it to the launch event (I’m working locally all day) I have been consoling myself by browsing his website of stunning treasures….

I’ve long since adored the wonderfully whimsical and enchanting jewellery made by the British designer, who grew up in Suffolk “surrounded by fields, rivers and the plants and creatures which inhabit them”…..it’s more than likely this idyllic inspiration that attracts me to the dainty, finely detailed pieces. I love that in his work you can buy ‘fine’ jewellery which is still fun and quirky, as well as so amazingly wearable.

And as if that’s not appeal enough, every piece that Monroe designs is hand made in his London studios, by his team of highly skilled craftspeople….just down the road from my old office as it happens! I’m just crazy about everything this man does, and I think this quote rather sums up his work and those who adore it as much as me…. ‘I like people who like my jewellery. They are not slaves to fashion; they tend to be more concerned about personality and craftsmanship. They care about quality and they like things that are quirky and individual.’ Well said!

But without further ado, here are my favourites, this week’s Wednesday Wants….

Tiny Bird Loop Necklace, from the Birdlife collection, £135.00

Pea Pod Necklace, from The Gardener collection, £120.00

Fine Ring with Tiny Heart, from the Dream of Me collection, £126.00

Hamper Locket, from the Daisy Bell collection, £180.00

Apple Locket With Baby Snake, from the Original Sin collection, £225.00

The Goring Shrimp, in collaboration with The Goring Hotel, £165.00

Rose Gold Plate Bumblebee Necklace, from the Classic collection, £165.00

If you’re off to the Chase launch, do have fun! I can’t wait to see the new collection!

Ems x

Something from the weekend…. partying 20s and 80s style

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Boy was I glad for a lie in this morning! I think I’d have slept until lunch time if Adam hadn’t come and woken me up when he did! I’m clearly no longer energetic enough to party two nights in a row, but I had a jolly good weekend all the same….

On Friday Adam and I finally went to see Wilton’s Music Hall’s fabulous immersive production of The Great Gatsby! It was first adapted for our favourite venue last year, whilst we were actually living just around the corner, but we weren’t fast enough to snap up tickets! So, when we heard it was coming back, we jumped on the second chance, despite being rather further away now! I spent a good couple of hours fashioning my hair into a 20s style up-do, and slapping on layers upon layers of eye make-up as per the period fashion, then threw on the stunning flapper dress I was lucky enough to pick up in an Oasis sale a few years ago…..I’d also made a very Art Deco head dress to wear, so I think I rather looked the part! Adam dressed up in one of his vintage suits, and our friends Hannah G and Hannah P joined us in vintage attire too!

Hannah G, Adam, Hannah P and me!

We started the evening with an early supper and gins at our old favourite haunt, the Oliver Conquest. It was great to see their new gin list (they had about 50 when we were last there, but now have closer to 90 just a few months on!), and to catch up with the staff. Then it was off to Wilton’s, where we had a cabaret-style table right in front of the stage! It was wonderful to see the newly refurbished venue again, and the show was great fun….I love the era’s fashions and the performers got us all involved by dragging us up onto the stage to learn how to Charleston, and Adam even had to deliver a message to Mr Gatsby! The show runs until 23rd March and there are currently still tickets available!

Scrummy ish Gin at the Oliver Conquest

Afterwards we headed back to the Oliver Conquest, where we’d been promised a cuddle with their new puppy Rex….. he is an absolute little angel and super snuggly! We sat and fussed over him whilst drinking yet more gin (well, we had lots of new ones to try, including Cold River, Malaca, Ish, Jensens and Monkey 47 Sloe!), which made it a pretty perfect end to the evening!

We both felt a little gin-rough on Saturday morning, so we were very naughty and skipped off to our nearest greasy spoon for cheese omelettes! After that we had a snoop around town, doing a bit of thrifty treasure hunting around the charity shops and a jumble sale at the church, then slobbed out back at home with lots of tea and cake until it was time to get ready to go back into London for the evening.

We managed to sneak in a cheeky Bubble Tea visit on the way to the party

Last week was our very special friend Siobhan’s 30th birthday, so on Saturday we donned 80s attire (a spangly parrot dress with big dangly parrot earrings and an overdose of blue eye make up in my case) and celebrated at a bar in Piccadilly Circus. It was such a lovely evening of catching up with friends we’ve not seen as much since moving, and we got lots of fresh congratulations on our engagement too! Several cocktails later, we made our very cold way home.

A blur of the Birthday Girl as she jumps up and down in excitement with her cake!

Sunday morning was another lazy one, with a long lie in, then a snoop around the car boot for more treasure hunting before coming back home to snarf up a brunch of waffles, strawberries and maple syrup. We resisted the urge to slob out for the rest of the day on the sofa and went off to Waitrose fore supplies, but we didn’t get much more done after that, save making cottage pie for dinner and a little knitting on my part! We’re still making our way through the X Files, so we snuggled up on the sofa to watch a few episodes before taking advantage of a much needed early night!

I was so impressed with the neatness of the shopping list we found on our trolley!

How was your weekend?!

Ems x

Some pretty big news….

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So…… I got engaged!

 

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Me, my ring, a milkshake manicure and a big smile!

 

Adam asked me just over a week ago, and we’ve spent the time since telling family and close friends, in person where possible.

We hopped into town on Saturday to shop for the ring in Hatton Garden, and found the perfect one, in the only shop we went into….. it was rather different than all the others, with a window jammed full of mis-matching, jumbled up antique pieces of all kinds.

 

Ring2

My very sparkly ring!

 

I tried on LOTS, all very different (including ones with opals, peridot, and in Art Deco, Victorian and Georgian designs) but there was no real competition…. My 1950s diamond cluster ring is just the most sparkly and wonderful ring in the world, and I picked it up today after they altered it from a size S down to my tiny size H!

 

Ring3

I so prefer antique rings….they are always so pretty even from the side!

 

So now I can wear my ring proudly, there’s no stopping us from telling all and sundry! We’re not sure when we’ll actually tie the knot, but it’s likely to be next year some time…..we don’t want to leave it too long (too excited!) but we also want to be able to plan the most wonderful celebration!

I’m obviously in my element now….. I’m exceptionally excitable about weddings, even for a professional wedding planner, and we’re already well on our way to deciding what we want from our big day!

I don’t expect this to become a totally wedding-saturated blog, but I will warn you now that there will be plenty of planning and craft project posts coming up over the next year as a result of my news!….so apologies in advance as I’m likely to get even more over-excited!

Ems x

The best bits from 2012

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There’s no way I could put as much time and love into this site without thoroughly enjoying it….but there are some elements I enjoy even more than others! 2012 has been a year of finding my blogging feet, developing the look and feel of my site, and deciding what I like to write about most….not to mention what you like to read about!

Now I can see which are the most popular posts with you guys by simply reading my stats page, but I thought I’d share with you *my* favourite posts from this year….

Grayson Perry, Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman

Not only was this probably the best exhibition I saw in 2012, but it has to be the most inspirational one I’ve *ever* seen. I came away vowing to spend more time being creative, and with a head swimming with ideas!

Tosca at the ENO

Despite being the second time I’ve seen this production, I couldn’t help but get swept up in the ENO’s stunning Tosca.

Soup Week

My obsession for home-made soups naturally led to a week of soup recipe posts!

Made in Britain Fashion Installation at BIS with UKFT

I thoroughly enjoyed this freelance commission, and was so proud to work with UKFT on such a prestigious project!

There’s no place like London

Whilst I’ve not looked back since moving out of London, it is with great fondness that I remember my 12 years living there, and that incredible last summer.

So, as the year comes to a close, I want to thank you all so much for reading my blog, commenting, egging me on, and helping out in the many and varied ways you do…I hope you continue to enjoy visiting my little site and as always, I’m eagerly awaiting your ideas, feedback and requests, so do stay in touch!

A very happy new year to you all!

Ems x

The end of the year as we know it….. 2012 in review

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With Christmas over, I’m feeling rather blue and sulky. I can’t believe it’s been and gone again already….why must it go so fast?!

And it’s not just the festive season that flashed by….it’s been a super busy year, and has flown by as a result! I’ve experienced, accomplished and learned lots this year, and all-in-all it’s been a bally good one! So here’s a little round up of what happened in my 2012……

  • Well I gave up my job for one! Having been working in weddings and events for six years, I decided to take a break for a while in order to spend more time being creative and to work freelance. It was a bit scary but has been such great fun!
  • With more time on my hands I have settled down to work on lots of the crafting projects I’d wanted to do for ages, and have set up my own online shops, hosted stalls at craft markets, and begun stocking my things in local shops. The feedback has been so wonderful and I’m looking forward to developing my little brand more in the new year!
  • Now that I can work from home mostly, and Adam can too, we decided to move out of London this Autumn to wonderful Hitchin in Hertfordshire. I’ve loved everything about our move….our amazing new house, my own studio, and being away from the craziness of central London! I still miss lots about London, but it’s so close that I feel I have the best of both worlds!
  • I’ve become rather obsessed with thrifting, nail polish, the colour yellow, bubble tea, making soup, gin, and properly brewed coffee. I’ve also taken on new hobbies in the shape of lino printing and cross stitch!
  • I’ve taken part in a disposable camera swap, an analogue photography workshop, been to press events, curated a fashion display, met fellow bloggers, and been ‘spotted’ by a reader….my life is nothing if not varied these days, which is exactly how I like it!
  • We enjoyed an incredible summer in London, with the Jubilee, the Olympics and the London 2012 Festivals. It was the perfect summer to really embrace living in London, and I have so many wonderful memories of fun times had!
  • I’ve explored secret supper clubs, pop up bars and restaurants, lots of theatre, a summer camp, amazing exhibitions, a floating market and a chilli festival…..it certainly was a year to get out and enjoy things!
  • I attended the weddings of several dear friends, and contributed in small ways to some of them too. As a self confessed wedding-obsessive I have, of course, delighted in seeing my loved ones tie the knot….and can’t wait for the next round of nuptials next year!
  • We started Christmas early with a holiday to the super-festive Vienna. I totally fell in love with the city and its stunning Christmas Markets…..I can’t wait to go back!
  • We hosted our very first Christmas together here in our new home, with great success. The house looks super with all its Christmas decorations, and I have loved all the cooking and hosting!
  • I enrolled in Weight Watchers, and have lost over a stone since July. In fact, just before Christmas I was less than a pound away from my target weight…..although I am a few pounds away again after all the festive gluttony! It’s been great to live somewhere we can take lovely lunch time and early evening strolls, so that I can stay fit without having to head to the gym or go on a crash diet!
  • There’s also the small matter of my turning 30! I celebrated very well (and for weeks on end!) with a brilliant picnic, breakfast at the Wolseley, and a Fashionista afternoon tea at the Berkley….amongst other adventures! Being 30 has been pretty cool actually!
  • The most obvious thing is my blog right here though! I’ve started posting much more regularly this year, held my first give-away and written my first guest posts, as well as having people guest post here for the first time too. It’s been such a great adventure and I’m looking forward to developing my site in the new year!

I hope you all had a splendid 2012, and have an even better 2013!

Ems x

Living for the weekend….. Tempting me back to London

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Although I’ve made it back into London several times since moving (it’s just SO quick and easy!), I have mainly enjoyed my weekends locally. There’s still lots I want to do around here, and I’ve been really enjoying discovering more about my new ‘hood. But with a stack of fun things to do in London coming up all of a sudden, I know I’ll be tempted back soon!

As usual, there’s a whole host of special events and limited exhibitions taking place in London….and as of this weekend there are a good half a dozen that I feel were specially designed to tempt me back!…..

Tim Walker: Story Teller

Somerset House, East Wing Galleries

Runs until 27th January 2012, Daily Entry 10am to 6pm

Free Admission

I am so incredibly excited to see this exhibition which showcases the work of the amazing contemporary fashion photographer, Tim Walker. Known for his extravagant style, fairytale theatrics and playful scale, Walker is a total hero of mine. Supported by Mulberry (who hosted a star studded opening party this week), the show will focus largely on the photos themselves, but also features some of his best known props and set pieces.

Twin Peaks UK Festival 2012

Riverside Studios, Hammersmith

20th October, 9:30 am til late

Tickets from £60

‘It is happening again……‘ The Twin Peaks UK Festival is back this weekend at the Riverside Studios. Debuting in Twin Peaks’ 20th anniversary year in 2010, with a follow up event last year, the festival includes screenings, performances, actor Q&A, cabaret, and of course ridiculous amounts of donuts and cherry pie! Twin Peaks is my all time favourite TV show in fact…..so if you’ve not seen it I suggest you do!

Wildlife Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2012

Natural History Museum

19th October 2012 to 3rd March 2013, Daily 10am to 5:50pm

Adult tickets £10

This world-renowned exhibition has been an annual event for me for a good few years now. Hosting the 100 winning images from the competition on stunningly produced backlit screens, the exhibition is a must for all photography enthusiasts and wildlife lovers.

Hollywood Costume Exhibition

Victoria and Albert Museum

20th October 2012 to 27th January 2013

Adults £15.50 (advanced booking is advised with timed tickets)

This exciting exhibition includes over 100 of the most iconic and unforgettable costumes from a century of Hollywood filmmaking. Split into three galleries (‘Act 1: Deconstruction,’ ‘Act 2: Dialogue,’ and ‘Act 3:Finale’) the show promises to take us on a journey through the Golden Age of Hollywood, and is filled with treasures never before seen by the public, including the famous Ruby Slippers from The Wizard of Oz!

Astronomy Photographer of the Year Exhibition 2012

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich

Until 17th February 2013

Free Entry

The Royal Observatory Greenwich is again hosting the winning images of the Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. I’ve been going to this marvelous free exhibition for years, and wouldn’t miss it! The photography showcased here every year is just mind blowing, and this year features incredible new images of the sky, ranging from within our solar system to far into deep space, and including comets, nebulae, aurorae and the transit of Venus.

Crazee Golf

Tintype Gallery, Farringdon

Until 27th October 2012

Open Wednesday to Friday from 11am to 6pm, and Saturday from 11am to 4pm

Curators Oona Grimes & Teresa Grimes invite you to take part in a game of Crazee Golf…..and I can’t resist a game of crazy golf! Featuring 18 holes created by 18 artisits, the exhibition is an artistic representation of the ‘faux world’ of this wonderful British tradition.

Look out London! You’re not rid of me yet!

Ems x