Every month I like to look back on the month just past and choose ten things I’m thankful for and brought me joy. Here are my ten happy things for October.
Trip to Brighton
My friend Heather recently moved to Brighton and she’s a fellow freelancer like me. My other friend Fran (also a freelancer) lives close to Brighton so I thought it would be great to introduce them to each other and have a little trip to Brighton at the same time to see them both. We met for lunch at Food for Friends, which was lovely, and had a great time chatting about work and life in general. It was a fun day out!
An amazing evening at the Sustainability Sessions
I was so lucky that I managed to get tickets to the ‘Healthy, happy career advice’ sustainability sessions with Emma Gannon, June Sarpong and Fearne Cotton, which took place on a Monday night at the stunning Ennismore Sessions House in Clerkenwell. It’s organised by Melissa Hemsley and aims to ‘ make Mondays more meaningful and every day that bit better. ‘
I absolutely adore Emma, June and Fearne so I was delighted that they were all going to be joining Melissa in a live discussion to talk about their careers and their approach to work. I invited my friend Madeleine and we had a great time. My friend Leila was also there and she’s written a brilliant write-up of the event, which you can read here.
Birthday lunch at Norma
It’s my husband’s birthday in October and I wanted to take him out to lunch on the Saturday to celebrate. I really wanted a good Italian restaurant but didn’t want to go somewhere we’d been before. My friend Mitzie recommended Norma and I’m so glad she did because it was great! It focuses on food from Sicily and although the menu is fairly small, it’s perfectly formed. We really enjoyed the meal (the starters in particular were fabulous) and will definitely be returning.
Creative Vision Award for Charities
My friend Fiona and I were invited along to Moore Kingston Smith’s Creative Vision Award for Charities, held at Ham Yard Hotel. The event was to celebrate the four winning animated films that were created for charities (free of charge) by film students at Bournemouth University.
Fiona and I met beforehand for a drink and a catch-up before moving on to the event. I had no idea that Ham Yard Hotel had a cinema! Oh and they have a bowling alley too, if you’re interested.
Lunch at Seabird
A couple of months ago I met up with Mitzie for lunch at Bob’s Lobster and this time she suggested Seabird at the new Hoxton Hotel in Southwark. Honestly, if you’re looking for great restaurant suggestions, then Mitzie’s your girl!
With a focus on seafood, views to die for and decor to make every Instagrammer swoon, Seabird’s the place to be. The highlight for me was the Devonshire Crub Bunuelos with saffron aioli – absolutely delicious! We had the octopus roll too, which is THE thing to Instagram but I found it a bit underwhelming. Overall, the food was good and service was great. Plus, look at this rooftop…
An inspiring evening at the JustGiving Awards
The JustGiving Awards is now in it’s tenth year and I think I’ve been to six of them. This year was by far the biggest and most glamorous – each award was presented by a celebrity and the evening was hosted by the wonderful Ade Adepitan. These awards celebrate the amazing things that people do to raise money for charity, or crowdfund for those in need, and there’s also a Charity of the Year category. It was a wonderful evening! Plus I also got to catch up with my lovely ex-JustGiving colleague, Sally (who kindly invited me).
Moving to Mars exhibition – invite
I was invited to attend the Moving to Mars exhibition at the Design Museum and asked my friend Leila if she wanted to come along as my ‘plus one’. How often do you get to see what life would really be like on Mars? The exhibition is very interesting and it’s amazing to see how designers are conceptualising life on another planet. Right now I’d rather stick to earth though! If you fancy seeing what it might be like to live on Mars, then check out the exhibition, which is on until 23 February 2020. If you have kids, there are fun things for them to do – like build a space rover out of Lego!
Exploring Hong Kong
We’re currently on our annual two week holiday, which started in Hong Kong! Neither of us have been before but we both fell in love with it pretty instantly. What a great city! I loved the mix between old and new – reminded me of Tokyo. And despite the protests still going on, we didn’t encounter any of them. Hong Kong’s tourism has been badly hit by the protests, but please don’t let it stop you from visiting! One of our highlights was the nightly Symphony of Lights show – it’s where the buildings in Central Hong Kong do a ‘dance’ with the buildings across the water in Kowloon through amazing lights and lasers. It was ace!
Dinner with old friends
Our friends, Nancy and Martin, live in Hong Kong so we got to meet up with them for dinner. They took us to Ho Lee Fook (yes, intentional!) and it was fabulous. The food was great but it was so dark inside that there was no way I could photograph anything… It was lovely to catch up with them and on our last day we got to have lunch with Nancy at Wang Fu – famed for their dumplings!
Travelled on a 5,700 m cable car
We wanted to visit the Giant Buddha in Lantau and the best way to get there is by the Ngong Ping 360 cable car . It takes 25 minutes and is breathtaking! We opted for the glass floor cable car, which was pretty scary at times looking down, I have to say!
October has been a month full of surprises and things to be grateful for. What made you happy in October?
2 COMMENTS
Rosie
5 years agoMy October’s been pretty poor with a spate of illness and a fainting episode at a bus stop (so glamorous) but we did get to Birmingham to see the wonderful James Acaster and went out for a family Sunday roast for my mum’s birthday so there were some good bits. Looking forward to hearing more about your holiday x
Kirsty Marrins
5 years ago AUTHOROh no Rosie, how horrible! Hope you’re feeling better now?