Sunday 11 May 2008

AND BREATHE...

Well, I didn't intend to disappear for so long but since January life has been turned upside down and this feels like the first chance I have had to breathe and just be in almost four months.

For quite a long time we had been contemplating a move and after going backwards and forwards for an equally long time we both started to job hunt in London. So, shortly after my last post I had a few interviews and by the middle of February I had a job and then all of a sudden Chris did too. We spent a month packing boxes of kitchen paraphernalia, and any (large) number of books and records and headed south. From there on we had to contend with the flat rental nightmare of central London so stayed with our very patient friends (thank you all) and spent our free time eating in restaurants out of necessity, which gets very tiresome very quickly, and looking at flats. Just in case you're unsure moving 500 miles, starting new jobs and having nowhere to live really isn't that much fun and to top it all of it seemed to be the coldest April ever. Then, finally, the sun came out, we settled on the area we definitely wanted to live in (the decision helped along by an abundance of bakeries, small food shops, and Turkish restaurants), we found a flat, and as of last Tuesday we are in. Okay, so we haven't completely unpacked yet and all those boxes of books and records still need to be moved from Edinburgh but we can settle, briefly.

Last night we celebrated by taking ourselves off to Ottolenghi for plates of crisp salads, lemon sole, and king prawns. I would tell you what we ate in more detail but to be honest all I can remember apart from the taste is the bare bones of the ingredients and that wouldn't be doing it justice. It was delicious and relaxed and I would go again in a heartbeat although maybe for their renowned brunch next time if we can get through the door and only if you can have pudding after brunch because I don't think I would ever be able to ignore the counter overflowing with tarts, cakes, and meringues.

We are off on holiday to Santorini on Thursday but in the meantime I will be breaking out the pots and pans, opening up the few cookbooks that have been moved so far, and cooking.

8 comments:

Sarah said...

Hey Gemma,

Lovely to see you back blogging! Well done on the move, and getting jobs! It must have been a huge effort. Glad to hear you've started settling in.

xox Sarah

Gemma said...

Thanks Sarah, it is such a relief to feel normality setting in! x

carine said...

Hi Gemma

Thanks so much for your kind comment - lovely to hear from you! I'm so glad you have posted again and I look forward to reading about your food adventures in The Big Smoke.

I went shopping for an outfit for the Wedding Of The Year today without success... what on earth are you wearing? I hear you're making the cake - how exciting is that?

xx

Gemma said...

Thanks Carine. I am indeed making the cake which is either exciting or terrifying depending on my mood but a mini trial run should help ease fears or just add to them if it's disastrous! As to the dress(es) I have a possible for Edinburgh but need something for France but it can wait until after my holiday when I may have a bit of a tan!

x

Kelly-Jane said...

Gemma, I have been wondering off and on how you are, and life sounds good atm! Best of luck with both your new jobs the new city and home :)

KJxx

Amanda at Little Foodies said...

Nice to see you back. Sounds like you've been in a whirlwind for a few months. At least now you'll be in Santorini, hopefully having a fun but relaxing, wonderful holiday.

carine said...

Hey Gemma

Quick question - when you post, do you do so in Compose or HTML? I'm having serious issues with the formatting on my blog and it's driving me nuts - all my text is squashed up and no matter how many times I try and alter this it makes no difference.

Your text looks nicely laid out - what's your secret?!

x

Gemma said...

Thanks Amanda and KJ. Back from holiday now and settling back into normality while trying to grapple with a very different oven to the one I had got used to - not sure if it is any use yet or not so we'll see!

Carine - I had never even noticed that there are 2 sections on the new post page! I use edit html though and the layout is just fluke - I changed the text size, font and colour but that's it. Are you a member of food blog s'cool? Someone on there may have an answer.

x