I had big plans for the weekend that were swiftly wiped away after I lost a battle with the beating sun and day drinking so, as fickle as it sounds, my weekend really did consist of shopping and eating and that’s about it.
What I wore
In classic me form, the only images I have of myself this week are selfies taken on the tube, trying to assess how bad my skin is and if the concealer around my eyes has caked up yet, or selfies from a changing room. So please see below a picture of me in Relik on Goldborne road wearing my new vintage Miu Miu suede jacket and my absolute favourite basket bag containing my new Olympus film camera (the 5th film camera I’ve bought in 3 years, if this one breaks I’m going to scream).
What I heard
Listened to my first ever audiobook this week: Fame Sick by Lena Dunham on Spotify. I normally avoid audiobooks because a narrator’s voice can completely hijack the version of the story you’ve already started building in your head. But Lena narrates this herself, and hearing the story carried along by a voice I already know and trust made the whole thing feel strangely intimate. She reads it beautifully too. Understated, unfussy, never pushing you towards an emotion or insisting on the significance of a line. The novel itself is heart-wrenching but still littered with that infamous Dunham humour. Romantic, cynical, self-aware, witty, occasionally uncomfortable, but never smug. She somehow lands the balance between earnestness and irony perfectly, which is much harder to pull off than people admit.
I also overheard someone on the tube saying, “She’s got you in the palm of her unclenched hand” which i thought was far too brilliant not to include in this section.
What I saw
Normally I like to do something ‘cultural’ on the weekend to raise me from my hungover grave but as I mentioned I was struck down early by the boozy bbq, I succumbed to the deadly scroll. This week’s obsession is Louise Giovanelli, a British painter who I just adore. Her dreamlike glossy fragments of bodies, fabrics, stage lights, has a kind of cinematic intensity I have fallen in love with.
What I did
A weekend isn’t a weekend without a shopping trip of some kind. Before I wandered into Relik, by complete and utter accident (i promise…) I found myself stumbling across the Second Life Market also in Notting Hill. The lineup of vendors was so good it felt rude not to have a peak. I ended up meeting the woman who runs West Archive - an incredible archival shop based in London with a truly unforgettable selection. She was selling personal items which included a bright yellow silk Gucci skirt c2005. Obviously I had to take her home with me.
I had dinner at OMA, the Greek restaurant in Bermondsey, a double date with my boyfriend and his two best friends who also happen to be dating. In general, the food was fucking outstanding, the bread and dips being a highlight, could not recommend it more. We ordered a TON of food, cocktails, a bottle of wine and the bill was very modest. 10/10 from me.
I also got a bagel from It’s Bagels which was admittedly good, but ever since I left New York a bagel always makes me sad as nothing will ever beat a Russ and Daughter’s lox and a schmear. I’ve tasted heaven and I can’t go back.