Advent day 23: Mince pies at the ready

2 sleeps...

Funniest moment of the day

We were sitting in the Globe theatre, halfway through the tour guide's spiel about outside noise disturbing performances, when we were interrupted by the sound of many feet stamping past and cries of "What do we want?...When do we want it? Now!"

We all assumed students, but no, it was the annual Santathon. Genius.

Cake of the day #8: Afternoon tea at Shakespeare's Globe

Mum bought Mark and I a Red Letter Day last Christmas, for a tour of Shakespeare's Globe theatre on the Southbank followed by afternoon tea. We finally got round to it today - I wanted to be able to appreciate the cakes without a baby in my tummy! - but it was worth the wait.

The tour was interesting, although it was disappointing that we couldn't go backstage or explore behind the scenes. The tea and cake were delicious though, and it was lovely to take our time over it. They lost a point for no choice of jam, and the scones could have been bigger (and warmer), but otherwise very tasty.



Ella was a star too, I think she's a fan of cake!

The Unthanks at the Union Chapel

I could listen to The Unthanks at any time of year, but there's something about the tone of their voices, the haunting melodies and harmonies and the beautiful strings, that really suits a cold winter's night. The Union Chapel, too, with its church pews and vaulted ceilings, is perfect at Christmas.



The gig was a bit of an experiment - a first half of Anthony and the Johnsons songs and a second of Robert Wyatt covers - but the arrangements really suited the Unthanks sound. For Today I Am A Boy was particularly beautiful, and the tricky string accompaniments were stunning, especially the cello, which always gets me right there. They even managed to squeeze in a bit of clog dancing!

It was a real pleasure to spend a couple of hours in the company of Rachel, Becky and the band (and the baby bump, which Rachel announced to cover up her mistake - nice recovery!). A total joy of an evening, the perfect start to Christmas.

Cake of the day #2: scone at Maison Blanc

I was going to take a brisk woodland walk today, instead of heading into Muswell for cake, but events (and toddlers) conspired against me so I found myself in Maison Blanc on the Broadway.

I was tempted by their amazing patisserie but eventually settled on a scone with clotted cream and strawberry jam, which seemed more satisfying. The scone was lovely and light, although not warmed the way I like them, but the clotted cream was too cold, so it wouldn't spread or stick to the scone - I do like my clotted cream sticky! It still tasted great though.

I was more excited about the tea - Jasmine Silver Needle white tea, which is beautifully fragrant. I love white tea and it's nice to see it on the menu. Not a bad cream tea for £4.50.

Advent day 15

Carnaby Street

Christmas is coming...

Took Mark's parents into town on Saturday for afternoon tea at Liberty's, and to check out their Christmas shop (that's their giant robin above). Regent Street was already chocka with Christmas shoppers, it's too early!

Logan thankfully slept through the tea, and woke up in time for his first visit to Hamleys - he was fascinated by the Christmas windows but even more impressed by the huge selection of Thomas goodies to play with. Seeing the Christmas lights will be a new family tradition - I remember our annual visit to Fenwick's in Newcastle.

It was a fab day but we all agreed the best bit was lunch at Souk, you can't beat meze and a bit of europop!

Happy hen night

Lou's hen night started off very civilised - afternoon tea at The Tea Box in Richmond, highly recommended. As you can see, she wasn't impressed when the feather boa and headgear emerged!

Luckily I failed to take any decent photos in The Roxy (I'm sure they'll appear on Facebook soon enough) but I haven't danced that much or had that much fun in ages. Might regret it when Logan wakes up in 4 hours time but for now I'm even weirdly enjoying the novelty of being on the night bus at 3 in the morning. I need to get out more!

Nothing falls like London Rain

Got absolutely drenched on Tuesday, but the wall was quite pretty. Didn't make up for getting drenched though.

High Tea

Mark and I escaped for an hour to sample the tea and cakes at High Tea in Highgate village. Lemon drizzle cake and Russian caravan tea in the garden is the perfect way to spend a Friday afternoon!

On the heath

Hit the heath with Richard An and the gang on Saturday, surely a must for any visiting American?

The Children's Traffic Club

Not as nuts as it looks, honestly. It's free for all 3- and 4-year-olds in London and teaches them how to cross the road safely. A bit like Tufty but with balloons instead of squirrels.

Saturday family outing - free comic book day!!

Something of an annual pilgrimage for the Stoddard clan (can't believe it's a year since Ben and Kait were over here!). Logan wasn't too sure about the new-look Orbital Comics, now in the old Photographers' Gallery building near Leicester Square tube, but I was mighty impressed with the gallery area (review of my new discovery to follow later).



We went to Souk for lunch (that's Logan bouncing on the sofas to Europop), part of the same annual pilgrimage. If you haven't been check it out - atmospheric decor (candles, tapestries and shady corners) and really tasty Moroccan couscous and tagines. Logan is a big fan, and made us dance to the music the whole time we were there.



From there we made a quick trip to Topshop (not part of the annual pilgrimage, and as hellish as always - Logan wasn't impressed as you can see!), then popped in to the Photographers' Gallery at its new location on Romillies St, just behind Oxford Circus. They had some really cool photos by Maurizio Anzeri, who takes old, anonymous black and white family portraits and stitches sinister patterns over the top.



Then home again!

It's all happening at the zoo...

Run Lola run!

Mark, like the madman he is, is going to run the London Marathon in little under two weeks. He's been a superstar, fitting training around Logan stuff - I don't feel like a marathon widow at all!



Mark's raising money for two charities, Asthma UK and Southend United Community and Educational Trust. He's set up a Justgiving page for the first (he can explain the significance of it much better than I can, so check out the page), and he's waiting on the second one to join Justgiving but of course you can sponsor him the old fashioned way if you want to give to the Southend scheme.



Both causes are close to his heart, and to mine by default (Logan is toying with taking up asthma too so it's even more important now!). Please give something, it'll really help spur Mark round the course and get even more sweaty and horrible than he is planning on!

Logan can find a muddy puddle even in this sunshine

Enjoying the sunshine

Had lunch at Kenwood House, miraculously the sun came out so Logan spent the afternoon running down hills on the heath (and in the Flask pub...).

Eat cake!

Hmm, there's a definite theme developing today...

We went on a family outing to Stoke Newington Church Street on Saturday - I used to live there but I hadn't been back in about six years (I feel old...). It's still as shabby chic as ever, though there are a few more vintage shops and baby stores, the salsa bar and jazz place have gone, and the house prices have definitely gone up (no way we could afford it now!).

Anyway, the most exciting discovery of the day was a genuine old-fashioned tea room! Ok, it can only have been there a few years but it's the closest I've found in London to a proper tea and cake joint. Called The Tea Rooms, it does what it says on the tin - quaint little tablecloths, retro crockery (which it also sells), proper brown Betty teapots and cakes to die for.

I fell off the cake wagon last week (I was surrounded by birthday cakes, what's a girl to do?) and I was going to jump back on again but there's no way I could resist the offer of their afternoon tea. We had finger sandwiches (half of them veggie), scones with clotted cream and jam (not enough cream for Mark) and three miniature cakes (ginger, chocolate and a delicious heart-shaped carrot cake), plus a large pot of the house tea which was the perfect antidote to a rainy day.

At £10 for that little lot it was an absolute bargain (and much nicer than the giant Liberty's tea that's almost twice the price and nowhere near as authentic). It's not that easy to haul a buggy down to Stokey from our end of town but we'll definitely be making a return visit soon.

Who turned the lights out?

Earth Hour gets bigger and better every year. Hope everyone turned out the lights tonight! Mark wasn't too impressed that he had to have a bath in the dark but we had a candlelit dinner after so I won him round.

Logan hits the park

Went to the park at the heath on Saturday with the North London posse. I think Logan liked the roundabout but maybe he just couldn't figure how to get off! He seemed a bit happier once Gracie took control.