Christine & Clerkenwell: Weekend

Had a good day at work - kept busy with some fun tasks. Had lunch at The Peasant - a glass of white wine and sausage & mash! It was amazing. And good to get out with some of my coworkers.

There was a really awkward moment at lunch: a guy my age ordered a beef pie, someone made a SMALL mistake and brought him a chicken pie. He looked at the waiter and deadpan, said they brought him the wrong pie and that if he didn’t get his meal for free, he needed to talk to a manager - is this for real?? He actually got up, talked to the manager and got his lunch for free! Pardon my language, but this guy is an ass. Jen can verify that. I felt so embarrassed! No one really said anything, but I sat there aghast.

So Friday evening Beth and I helped Jen move into her new flat! I think we were all relieved when Jen realized she could call a car company that has vans and with some convincing and smooth talking, used the minivan as a bit of a moving truck with us in it. Looking back, I don’t know how us gals could have hauled all her stuff on sidewalks even if it is 10 minutes away. Two of Jen’s bags are 70lbs!! We hit a few pubs to celebrate and called it a night.

Saturday I woke up at 7:30am - !! Argh! I should have used my sleeping mask - it’s just too bright in my room. And I’m most productive in the morning; I did laundry, swept and cleaned, then went out on my bike to pull out cash and hit some stores for browsing - all before 11am.

Jen and I met up and took a bus to Stoke Newington - they have a Whole Foods there and the only place in this city to buy canned pumpkin is either at Harrod’s or Whole Foods! It was nice to check out a new neighborhood - cute cafes and shops. Whole Foods was very small, but had all American brands including Franks Red Hot! Jen and I both bought a card with the classic WW1 English propaganda: Keep Calm and Carry On. Great motto - I plan on framing it at home and printing one out at work!

We ate at a cute Mediterranean cafe and headed back, home by 2pm! I tried to nap, but could not. Did some more laundry and had nice quiet afternoon at home. I attempted to buy some Buckeye candy ingredients at the new Waitrose that opened across the street, but it’s just a little too small and didn’t have what I needed so I went to Starbucks and treated myself to a Gingerbread Latte - mmmmm! However, the price doesn’t convert here - what I mean was the number on the menu still said £3.20 for a medium - oh, excuse me, Grande - so I basically paid over $5 for a latte! Terrible.

Jen and I went out for dinner and tried a new pub, The Green, while it POURED outside. Lou and Beth ended up not meeting up with us - we didn’t blame them - they had been waiting in the downpour for a bus and wanted to be dry and warm! Jen and I also tried a really good Belgium pub called Dovetail close to my flat.

We met up with my old college friend, Jason and his two friends and hit Cafe Kick [the foosball bar] for a drink. Jen went home and the 4 of us stayed out and went to the Lexington to catch up. The Lexington is an interesting pub - they honestly are named after Lexington, KY and offer a lot of American microbrews and bourbons. Hello Sierra Nevada! They even try to decorate the pub in “wealthy” ranch décor which is humorous. They have a cattle skull on the wall - ? But we all know a cattle skull is more Texas, not Kentucky! : )