Today was all about chilling, hanging out, relaxing and shopping.  It was great.

After a relaxed morning at home, which involved a hearty breakfast of egg and bacon on tomatoes, Harvey and I headed up to London.
I had seen adverts for the Seven Dials Festival which promised 20% off everything in all the shops.  We both needed new clothes (well Harvey did, I didn’t but let’s not be too pedantic) so off we went.  We had a picnic lunch on the train of a wholemeal wrap filled with chicken, lettuce and tomatoes. Unsurprisingly Seven Dials was busy but not unpleasantly so.  Oh look, there’s Gudrun Sjoden!  Literally everything did have 20% off except the items in the sale which had 40 % off !! Happy days 🙂 With no cars to worry many of the restaurants in Seven Dials had set up stalls outside which added to the festive atmosphere and fun of the day. That may have to be tried and tested! Harvey was delighted to find an ice-cream shop which sold chocolate sorbet.  It was very rich actually and he loved every single molecule of it. Look how brilliant this is – Seven Dials roundabout was astro turfed and it had deckchairs on it.  There was such a wonderful atmosphere here today which I really enjoyed.  This is my favourite part of London and I know I am lucky to work here but if I manage to get outside at all during the day I am constantly rushing and clock watching.  It was wonderful to be able to breathe deeply, take my time and not worry about the time or what happened next.  When we wanted to sit down we did.  When we wanted to walk, shop, eat, we did.  It was  really good.

Feeling so relaxed I decided to lift my ban on Timber Yard which is lovely but frustratingly disorganised and slow when you are in a rush.  Several of my work colleagues and I like it very much but it is so slow you get too angry waiting for a very simple order so we rarely go any more.  However, I was not in a rush today so we went.

Timber Yard had made the most of the pedestrian zone by filling the pavement with all manner of chairs and tables.  We wanted to sit outside but all chairs were taken so we sat inside.

Some of these chairs were brilliant such as the purple velvet armchair but my favourite was the old bus seat which had been converted in to a rocking chair!

Timber Yard provides iPads on the tables next to the windows which are very popular.  Unsurprisingly, when you are relaxed and not in a rush, the slow pace of life in Timber Yard is not at all annoying.  We gladly joined the throngs who were content to sit in here for ages, reading, surfing, chatting and even one person having a snooze on a sofa.We sat in here for quite some time, Snapchatting with Lara, playing games, chatting and eating cake.
Oh dear me, the cake in here is very good.  We shared a moist and chewy chocolate and hazlenut cookie and this fantastic peanut butter blondie.  I had mine with tea.  Check out that cute little milk bottle! When we had shopped until we dropped and eaten until we were stuffed we wandered homewards.  I took Harvey via Trafalgar Square.  News to me but apparently that’s Nelson Mandela on the column!

Outside the National Gallery was a very wide range of street artists who were all quite funny but because they were rather useless, not because they were actually comedic.  It all added to the pleasure of the day. Having seen Nelson’s column (Horatio’s, not Mandela’s) so many times from a distance, it is always surprising to see how very tall it is up close and how huge the plinth is it stands on. I didn’t attempt to publicly humiliate myself by clambering up on to it but Harvey leapt up and had a good look around. It was great that he had a chance to do this because usually we rush through here on our way to an event or on our way to catch a train.  I was feeling so relaxed I didn’t even think about checking when the trains run on a Saturday.  What will be will be. Harvey also managed to get on to one of the lions which was not easy without any assistance.  Look how enormous they are!  With quite a long drop down from the lion’s back I was relieved when he was safely up there.  Well, maybe stable rather than safe as I am not sure this is at all safe. Well done little fella.

I do wish I had read the booklet about the festival at the start of the day, rather than on the train on the way home and I would have seen that many of the stalls, including Pimms and flower garlands, were complimentary!

Never mind, we had a lovely day.  Not a good diet or even remotely healthy eating day but a day that was good for the spirit and the soul and a day that was good for this busy person to relax in and enjoy the moment.  I hope you all had a good day too.