a Bowie birthday

At the weekend I headed down south for Eve's 30th - a birthday picnic and sports day style games in the park dressed as her idol Bowie (thank god she didn't choose her other idol Alice Cooper).

I wasn't sure how much effort I'd make, but getting ready at Eve's meant I got carried away and went full on with red hair and pale, bold make up. Eve looked ace and her boyfriend almost (but not quite) stole the show from her with his efforts in drag!

It was fun walking the streets of London in fancy dress, but the feeling of being coated in all sorts of crap got to me after a while so I removed it for the evening in a pub. (That and the fact that all bar one of my fellow Brooke folk dressed up and I'd sweated the majority off anyway).

I rarely catch buses in London but it was the easiest way to Eve's. I'm not too familiar with east London so I loved driving through Stoke Newington. I discovered so much more than I had before, with loads of cute cafés and vintage stores. Clissold Park, which we made home for the day, was lovely too with ponds, deer, a pretty house (complete with pretty bride) and lots more that I'm yet to explore. I just love London parks and feel like sometimes greenery is even more accessible in London than when actually living in the country. They're just the best at parks - and by they I mean the Victorian's!

So, in summary:

• I really, really miss having London on my doorstep
• The Brooke was perhaps the best decision I ever made, they employ the greatest people 
• I wish I could have been teleported into my bed with my baby in the morning
• I realise I'm leaving the London part of me behind - I forgot my oyster (again)
• I'm turning into one of those mums, you know, the ones that show pictures and videos of their babies and talk about poo. A lot. To people that came to an East London girls birthday. Enough said.
• I will consider spending more to buy an open return next time, or just come to terms with my body clock running three hours earlier than it used to
• I miss sitting next to Eve everyday and singing the Friday song
• I'm pondering opening my own re-fillable wine store up north

Hugo's first trip to the capital!

London is my spiritual home. I've been pining for it for months as I haven't been able to get down since December, the longest time I've been away since I moved there five years ago. I therefore jumped at the chance to go down for the day to celebrate my amazing sisters masters graduation. 

It was a very last minute trip so the only option was driving, not something I'd normally choose to do. I searched for parking online and found a fantastic website 'parkatmyhouse', which allows you to book a private parking spot. You can choose from thousands of locations dotted around the city. I chose one on Caledonian Road, right next to a direct bus to the Institute of Education, outside of the congestion zone and in an area of London that I was familiar with. I highly recommend the website, the particular spot (Carnegie St) and will certainly do it again. 

The first visit to London was bound to be a bit stressful but given Hugo was five and a half weeks old and we were both fairly new to bottle feeding, we did pretty well I think!

The first challenge was the bus rides. Hugo falls asleep when driving along, but the stop, start, jerky nature of the bus made it a bit stressful for him. Add extra delays, terminations and crowds due to a tube strike with a hungry baby and of course there was a lot of crying, but I think that was fair enough! By the third and final bus ride of the day he had got used to it and was very alert, taking in all of his surroundings. He even made a big, bald, tattooed man oo and ahh over him for the whole journey (lesson learned not to judge big, bald, tattooed men in future)! 

The weather was also that confusing spring transitional stage so I was feeling hot and bothered and Hugo seems to mimic however I'm feeling - if I'm stressed he'll he stressed, if I'm hot and bothered he will be the same and so on. I was able to change him into something light and cool and chuck a blanket off and on him which worked in the end.

As well as going to see my sister I popped into my old workplace - the Brooke, to meet friends and show my face/ introduce Hugo while I was there. It was great to have a comfy sofa where he could let off some steam and kick about, having been in either a car seat or a pram all day. I spent a good couple of hours there catching up with friends before heading to dinner with one.

I had so, so missed her. Going from sitting next to each other every day and sharing everything to living four hours apart sucks, but it was great to see her so, so happy :)

I don't think I could've done such a trip in a day (Leeds - London - Nottingham) with a small baby had he not been Hugo! He really is so good and having me as a mother means he'll have to get used to fitting in with my busy lifestyle! It also helps that I'm so familiar with London now, the drive wasn't at all stressful and we got home in record time. Chucking everything in the car 'just in case' also really helped ease the stress, knowing it was only a bus ride, so perhaps driving wasn't such a bad idea.

I'm already planning my next trip, but definitely not all of that in one day again!