Ello again folks! Something I've been meaning to do for ageeeees. Like literally since I moved down to London 10months ago(!!!), was to start sharing monthly updates of things I got up to, places I ate at and just a general chit chat about things I did. 

I'll be perfectly honest, the photography in these posts will not be top notch, especially if it's a day I forget my camera, the battery dies or it's just a total random trip that came out of nowhere after work. But instead, hopefully they'll give you a bit more insight into what I get up to during the month and how much traditional tourism I actually do. But regardless of all that, what did July bring?

With June being Pride month, the celebrations of such were still rolling on into July with London pride being the 7th of July. I've never actually been to a pride parade before but it was definitely an expierence to get along to London's as my first. Ignoring the nastiness that this years London Pride started with, I seen so much beauty, love and excitement from it. Including one couple getting engaged before they left the parade line up.

The following week of July I had a pretty busy and sociable one. With a few works do's for people leaving and then catching up with a few mates that were down for D&AD's New Blood Festival and to do internships. Throughout this week I got to try a panzo vegan pizza, as well as pizza pilgrims vegan option too.

On the Friday evening, Darren and I decided to make a last minute trip to Westfield in Shepherd's Bush in order to play a bit of crazy golf. We had one round of crazy gold at the first ever Puttshack, a digitised version of the very much loved traditional game. I'll be honest, the game was very quick, about 20minutes. But it was definitely one of the funnest crazy golf experiences I've had with how they have integrated tech into this old game.


The next day I met up with Jamie, a friend I met at GDFS a few years back, along with a few folk from his uni friendship group. We met at The Design Museum in order to check out the 'Hope to Nope' exhibition. Unfortunately, it's already closed but it was definitely a great one to check out. They had a variety of memorabilia, design and so much more that were created for social, political or economical protest, with a large portion being for the Brexit referendum and Trump's presidency.


On the 21st of July, we took to the canals of Camden. With our first stop being the incredible Temple of Seitan. I had previously visited with Robyn (of RobynMakesThings) a few months back but wanted to take Darren so he could try some different (and wonderful) vegan food.

After finishing up at ToS, we headed back along the canals to Camden Market for the afternoon. Neither of us had been round this way so we just spent time walking through the shops, stalls and markets. But it was a super warm day so we headed off about 4ish with me starting to get a bit of heat stroke.


On the Sunday, I headed down to Hyde Park on, at the time, one of the hottest days of the heatwave so far in order to hang out at the picnic Lucy Jane Wood had organised. It ended up being such a lovely afternoon getting to know a mixture of other people that had similar interests and life experiences. Moving to London when you 'know' a lot of people but don't know them in person very much can result in a lonely affair. But it's days out like this one that really makes you feel part of something.

And the last kind of notable thing I got up to in July was heading to my first ever Nicer Tuesday's with my friend Aaron who was down for an internship. For the July night, they had Flat-e, Nadine Redlich, Vicki King and Sophie Koko Gate as the featured speaks for the event. My favourite out of the lot was definitely Nadine as I really connected with her illustrations and I think her way of working is super interesting.

But yeah I guess that's all the cool stuff that I got up to throughout July. I hope you like this little insight of what I'm getting up too and I'll hopefully keep up with it! It's a bit like keeping a visual and written diary but spouting it all out at the end, so I know I'll probably end up coming back and reading it in a few months to be like "omg this was such a good time". But in the meantime that's all! Although if you do want to check out something creative I've been up to this month, check out this IG post.

Another post coming from me today but tbh I've had a bit of a backlog of posts that have been needing to go out and I just haven't with the overwhelm, stress and organisation that moving into a new flat brings. Although one thing that certainly helps calm you down is a fantastic meal, right?

Back at the end of January I was invited along to the Dead Dolls House in Islington to check out their menu including a few new treats they have added lately. With it being the same week as Darren's birthday, amongst the excitement of seeing the Jan/Feb issue of IOD being printed, adding in a meal for 2 was definitely the way to top it off.

The Dead Dolls House menu comprises off a mix of cocktails (including some healthy ones!) as well as a mix of veggie and vegan options. There was so many incredible options to choose from but it's fair to say that I left absolutely stuffed and happy with a lil food baby.


So what did I end up ordering? Well, to start with I went for charcoal grilled bread with hummus which omg was soooo amazing! The bread was really thick lovely slices and the hummus topped them perfectly.


For the mains I went for the vegan hot dog and a side of chips. Don't get me wrong I loved the sound of the bowls or even the badboy sweet fried tofu but if I go somewhere and they have a vegan hot dog, ya sure as hell know I'm going for the hot dog. And trust me it didn't disappoint! It went down like a treat.


To finish off our meal I had the citrus tart. It was honestly the best option to finish my meal as it left me feeling refreshed and it tasted lavish!

And finally, last but not least was the cocktails! Throughout our meal we decided to have a couple different ones because well, when in Islington! No but seriously, I cannot resit a good cocktail and trust me these were fantastic.


For my first one of the night I tried one of the healthy cocktails called smoked on the water. Initially I couldn't really think of what the cocktail tasted like but later in the evening I realised it tasted like the fruit and barley diluted juice you get. (It was so good)


My second drink I decided to go for the adios motherf#%!er, which for me tasted like a more alcoholic induced twist on the classic blue lagoon. Even though it was a classic twist of flavours it definitely tasted great and went down well with my main and dessert.

Also since Darren was with me, I obviously tried some of his cocktails he ordered. For his first one he went for the deep blue, a fruity cocktail packed with pomegranate, lemon, strawberry, blackberry and blueberries. Although it was packed with sooo much fruitiness the rum, pinot noir and angostura set it off and gave it a good kick. And with his second drink he went for the singapore sling, another classic!


Overall we had a really lovely meal at Dead Dolls House and we were great with such wonderful service too. It's definitely a place I'd love to head back too with some plant foodie friends so that I could try some of the other options on the menu. The vibe is also really nice with the decor and extra elements the bring in, it feels special. And with a energising Friday and Saturday night scene, as well as brunch there's definitely so much to check out down at the restaurant!


*Disclaimer: I was invited by Jams PR on behalf of the restaurant to come and sample their menu. In doing so I was a complimentary meal for two including x1 cocktail each (so yep I couldn't help myself and bought the second one). This does not in any way affect my opinions. All views and thoughts are my own.