Fare Thee Well Wimbledon - Hello Clapham!

After 11 months in our gorgeous home in Wimbledon (re-named Wimbles or Wimbledoniam) it is time to say goodbye. Where the time has gone I do not know!
I have never lived anywhere else this long that hasn't been a family home (due to me being in the generation of returning home to save some dosh every now and again!) so it has been bitter sweet leaving. I have decided to venture out on my own so I can meet new people and even though it was daunting at first I'm really glad I settled on this decision as I have found a nice new place in Clapham South. Its really hard finding a new place in London, so many factors play into it with cost, location, competition with every other flat hunter and of course finding people you actually like and feel you could live with and vice versa. You have about 10-15 minutes in each house and that includes getting to know the flat mates! After a few months of searching I finally found a house that is 25 minutes to work (I was an hour away in Wimbles) and of course one of my new flatties is a Kiwi and ones an Aussie - but there is one token English! They had around 20 people come to view the place so I was stoked when they called and offered me the room - I saw it on the Monday and by the next night it was settled really - like I said, rooms go quick. So to fare thee well our first home in London we had a tennis themed BBQ at the house with friends! I made tennis ball cake pops which were so cute! Definitely my new craze...

I'm excited about this new chapter in my London life - at first I had minimal things in my room as I was all about saving to travel but seeing that London is now where I live I am going to make this new place more of a home (as in I want to buy photo frames, cushions, candles etc all the little things I initially wanted to do without) so I was a little naughty and splashed out on a beautiful cushion from John Lewis to get things started! Seems I will be here for a while so might as well decorate! I couldn't believe the pile of things I had to move - considering that I only arrived last year with just one suitcase - I have accumulated a fair bit!  

Hope everyone back home is keeping warm, its been really hot here the last week (going to rub it in while I can, tomorrow may be freezing again for all I know!) Will be doing an 'Out and About in London' update soon! Happy weekend to you all!

Royal Windsor Horse Show

A few Sundays ago I went along to The Royal Horse Show with my work colleagues as Daks is one of the key sponsors of this event. It's held annually in Windsor, about an hour from central Waterloo station and is only £4.40 return which is amazing for London! Windsor is such a beautiful, quaint town full of character and history - I had no idea it was there until this trip! I really need to study up more on London... You arrive in a cute little village of commercial shops and as you walk out Windsor castle is right in front of you! Beautiful rivers and parks surround the area making it perfect for picnics on a sunny day (so not that often over here haha!) and the grounds from the station are about a 10 minute walk away.

It was such a fun day out and I'm really glad I went, it was like a huge fair with stalls, rides and of course the show area - we had V.I.P tickets from Daks so got some of the best seats! There was a perfomance from the NZ Army band which was so cool to see! They even did a version of the haka!!! Its buzzy to be in the same place as the Queen and other royals though, its a world you just see in the tabloids or on the news so to be that close was an awesome experience. Highly recommend a visit to Windsor should you ever visit London....