Office style - Winter/Early Spring

My "renewal" post in my "late twenties" is dedicated to style. As a professional women on a finite budget I do not have much time and cannot spend much effort in dressing well. Also I do not spend much on clothes for a variety of reasons I am not ready to reveal now :)

Although I absolutely hate "wardrobe must have lists" I still have one. For winter/early spring in London I need a few turtleneck jumpers in different colours, couple of skirts, couple of scarfs and a couple of jackets. That's about it. I nearly never wear trousers to work during winter because I feel more comfortable in dark Wolford tights the last forever.

Here is an example of my outfit I wore yesterday in Nobu and then at an old reputable English establishment.


Oasis skirt
John Lewis turtleneck
Favourite tights
H&M accessories
Dior bag
Elema coat

Lunch box

My colleagues often ask me how do I get time to cook lunchbox for me and my husband because they do not have time for that in the evening. My colleagues do not have kids and those who are the "busiest" for lunchbox in the evening are single (living on their own). I guess the secret to that is that during the week I only work and do not have social engagements plus I've got a husband who likes homemade cooking (who doesn't?).

I work pretty long hours in comparison with the standard office job. My commute is 1 hour, I start at 8 and I finish later than 6 following the commute mentioned above. Making your own food, I believe, helps me be slim, healthy and give me more energy that a sandwich that people around me normally consume.

I do plan the menu during my weekend and buy groceries online which I already described in another posts of mine. When I come home I wash myself, change into home clothes and immediately put food in the Oven or in the steamer. I am aware of slow cookers and am seriously thinking of getting one quite soon. By putting salmon and rice into the steamer I can do my own things while the steamer does the job for me. All I've got to do is to cut some vegetables for a salad right before serving dinner or I often dry leeks which I like to add to my dishes. I am using the cheapest steamer you can buy in London (Argod basic) as my previous expensive steamers got broken at certain point but this cheap one is durabel.

Fresh pasta is a fantastic dish as well as stir fry which needs 10-15 minutes of your full attention but its still not much. I can't think of a serious reason besides lack of planning that people don't have time to cook. I'd rather cook simple fresh pasta with prawns which takes 5 minutes that eat a ready meal.

Once again planning is the key. You need to plan you grocery shopping in advance, have a list written on your fridge on a postit. I use postit and write a plan for every day supper and lunchbox. All the ingredients are ready and when I come home I know exactly what I will do in the next 5-15 minutes.

 

Sightseeing Weekend in London

My friends and friends of friends frequently ask me what to see in London if you visit it just for a weekend or you have to fly through London and you have a day. My advice would be: do the same thing what you would do in any other European capital. Take a sightseeing bus. The ticket will give you both a bus tour and a river cruise. The river tour is fantastic in London. The Thames is wide, fast and you have plenty of sightseeing opportunities unlike in other European capitals.

The bus tour will give you a fantastic overview of London's iconic sites.

As for museums, V&A is an absolute favourite among most tourist however Tate Modern is the most visited museum in the whole world. Tate Modern has a fantastic marketing team which "made" the museum famous however the modern art is not for all so behave and check what is going on at the museum while you are in town. Currently its Matisse and Malevich along with Tate's collection. As to V&A its conveniently located next to Science and Natural History Museums, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park and South Kensington which gives you an opportunity to walk around and explore the affluent neighbourhood, one of the most famous parks in the world and potentially a Kensington palace. 

British Museum is probably number two in my personal list of historical museums after the V&A. Its website has a fantastic guidance "if you've got 1 hour for British museum", 3 hours etc 

Shard or Tower 42 will give you a possibility to see London from the sky while sipping champaign.

Do not pay for the Shard's viewing platform because a couple of floors below you can have a drink and a snack for the price of the "view from the Shard" ticket.

If you like art then Somerset House, National Gallery and probably the Tate Modern mentioned above. 

Also one must visit an old English pub for a real British experience. Here is a map and a guide to the oldest pubs in London. 

In case you have great stamina go to one of the iconic musicals like Phantom of the Opera.

That's about it what you can do in London in 2 days - take a bus tour, a river cruise, a view from the Shard or Tower 42, a little bit of museum experience and a pint. 

For an extra luxury the afternoon tea at Ritz would be a great extra. This month I had an afternoon tea at Shard and it did not live up to my expectations. So for the truly great however expensive treat go for Ritz.

Sainsbury's meal planner

I have to admit that I have been cheating to my dearest Sainsbury's later. Now I feel very guilty and obliged to tell the world about the Meal Planning ideas.

I have been using Sainsbury's meal planner on and off for at least 2 years. For some reason I stopped a year ago but it is a fantastic thing for a woman/family who decided to take organised approach to food consumption. Organised approach means you can achieve your goals: from eating healthier to non-starving weight loss. Sainsbury's website can definitely help you plan your meals and buy the ingredients so you save time and get into the habit of planning all your meals in advance so you are less likely to choose unhealthy options or indulge.

The main TIP I can give about Sainsbury's meal planner: swap basic and budget ingredients for higher value ones if you can afford it. Also top up your vegetables intake as Sainsbury's plan are relatively short on them. On top of that do not be lazy and prepare your own ratatouille for example rather than get cheap and not-so-healthy tinned one!

Another TIP: when you check out a particular meal planner it means that you automatically get cupboard essentials in your basket. Make sure to delete stuff you've already got before checking the basket out. 

Once you try all the meals you will come across the easy recipes you like the most and will stick to them. Once again, Sainsbury's is fantastic for the inexperienced online grocery shopper and someone who is not used to cook all the meals at home!

Our favourite easy and delicious recipes are:

Garlic mushroom and turkey bake

Hebry tomato and mozzarella chicken 

Stuffed aubergines 

Mediterranean chicken bake

Sweet potato and chicken hotpot

Prepared vegetables

Working women who actually cook at home both dinner and lunch boxes cannot live without a proper prepared vegetables. Some might argue that prepared vegetables lack vitamins because they have already been chopped but I say: "have you tried to prepare a dinner and a lunch for the next day after a proper commute and 8 to 6 in the office plus business drink?". If you have not please rest assured - prepared vegetables is a life saver for a busy woman who wants to eat more or less healthy fresh food.

Here is my favourite prepared vegetables that I buy on a weekly basis:

1) sliced mushrooms - we love mushrooms but it takes a little while to wash them properly and then chop hence for a quick mid-week meal I buy this cheap packs. The value is almost the same as the "un-chopped" ones but time is more precious. For the weekend I buy variety of exotic mushrooms which I mix together because there is enough time to prepare food.

2) chopped garlic - outstanding quality and I do not know why on earth I wasted time previously on chopping garlic mid-week. I put garlic in almost every main course I cook so this little pack is a time saver.

3) stir fry vegetables - some packs are high end some are lower end but still descent quality, super-fast, healthy and good value.

4) vegetable mix - just put them in the steamer after you come back home along with some chicken and new potatoes and leave it for a while to prepare a healthy delicious meal without much effort from you.

5) soup packs like the butternut squash for example. Soup is a quick and healthy mid-week meal or starter but we all know how difficult it is to cut the butternut squash or sweet potato! Ready-pack is fantastic value and quality!  

Jamie Oliver Antipasti Board

I have long been a fan of antipasti boards and recently I have finally bought one!

Any antipasti board looks great and stylish but I got Jamie Oliver Antipasti board. The size is great, it fits quite a few types of antipasti and serves as a cheeseboard too. It's fantastic for inviting friends for a drink or for serving starter of an Italian dinner party. The board is very informal though and wouldn't suit a more formal occasion which doesn't happen that often. I'm using my antipasti board a couple of times a week now. N

Good old English interior design.

Traditional English design is my absolute favorite. We had a pleasure of staying at a Norfolk cottage of our friend for the weekend and it was a bliss.

Obviously the English weather affected the traditional English style by making it cosy, warm, full of details. Every room of our friend's houses had a bunch of fresh roses from the garden which explained lots of floral prints used in interior design throughout.

Also English cottages have lots of personality, antique furniture, lots of ancestors paintings, modern family pictures, fantastic cutlery and traditional dining tables.

I wasn't growing up in the British countryside but had exactly the same traditional ambiance around me. 

Eye for detail and lots of accessories, eclecticism which somehow works very well are all features of the traditional English interior design for me. 

English gardens are famous in the world and some neighboring nations even make jokes that gardening is sublimation of other activities that are overlooked by the British in favor of their roses.

Norfolk surprised us with its beautiful Norwich, lakes that are called the broads and absolutely serenely which probably is the reason of its geographic location.

We took a boat and discovered the broads. We've eaten at the gourmet pub which is one of the top 10 pubs in the UK. They produce their own beer and food was fresh and outstanding. 

Overall we felt like a part of an Agatha Christie book but thankfully without any criminal activity around us!  

Norfolk is highly recommended to anyone visiting the UK as the real Britain rather than more touristic Cotswolds, Kent or towns like Oxford or Cambridge. If you like the good old England of course!