southampton – Page 6 – Lessons I learned after I turned 30

Lakaz Maman Thursday

Happy Friday!

I can’t remember the last time I was off work on a Friday. I’m currently sitting on my sofa, with a hot cup of delicious coffee next to me, listening to music and writing. I wish I could do this every Friday…

Last night I went for dinner with some of the lovely ladies I met about a month ago at the Women Who Do Breakfast and Networking event. I was tired and drained and I thought of taking a rain check but I’m glad I didn’t!

We went to Lakaz Maman, the Mauritian restaurant on Bedford Place. I’ve been there a couple of times before last night, with friends and colleagues and it never disappoints.

I love Lakaz Maman. The homely vibes you get as soon as you go in, even the name gives out a homely, nostalgic feeling, ‘Mum’s House’, the delicious Mauritian street food, the friendly staff, the owner, Shelina, who is often there with her newborn, so sweet and smiling, happy to chat to everyone.

The food was amazing as always as well as the company. I love meeting new people, finding out about them and is even more incredible when you get along from the first minute and end up laughing throughout the whole evening!

We opted for starters to share and we tried the Maman Sheila’s Samosas and Aubergine Baijas. Needless to say they were delicious!

I didn’t know what to have for main so I did one of may favourite things to do on a restaurant, go for the waiter’s favourite dish, the Octopus House Cari.

I love Octopus but I was surprised when I discovered years ago when I first moved in the UK, that is not that common here. Back home, my favourite chef, my dad, Chef Costis, used to make us Octopus casseroles and grilled Octopus featured regularly on our family weekend feasts.

If not cooked properly, Octopus can be chewy and overpoweringly salty but the House Cari at Lakaz Maman reminded me of my dad’s casserole. Soft, sweet, spicy. I could have this for dinner every night!

By this point I didn’t think I could eat anything else but I could not not check the dessert menu. And the girls, like me have a sweet tooth and love puddings, so it would have been rude not to.

I went for Puddine Coco, as Deindre and I had a giggle about the cute name. It was made of a coconutty sweet, fluffly cream sprinkled with coconut flakes, accompanied by tropical culis and fresh fruits. I definitely recommend it!!!

Whilst we were enjoying this amazing food and uplifting music playing in the background, we chatted about yoga (I don’t think there is anyone I haven’t told about Adriene Mishler), roller skating, food of course, always a favourite topic, Christmas, life in our home countries and other random things that just came up. There were no awkward silences or uncomfortable conversations.

Of course I can’t recommend Lakaz Maman enough. Delicious food, great service, friendly staff, local, independent in the heart of Southampton.

What an great evening. Thank you Maria for organising this and Damaris and Charlie for a great night, with great food, great conversations and lots of laughter.I can’t wait for next time!

Namaste

Eleni

My first In Balance Hot Yoga experience

About a month ago at the Networking and Breakfast event organised by Women Who Do I met Benedita, who recently moved to Southampton and gave up her career in hotel management to start In Balance Hot Yoga.

Since I discovered and fell in love with Yoga, I can’t stop talking about it so I was instantly drawn to Bene and we started chatting.

A couple of weeks ago I met Bene and her partner Ian for a coffee to learn more about them and what they do and I absolutely loved them.

Bene is originally from Portugal and she worked in London for years. She fell in love with yoga after going to a hot yoga class and she loved it so much she trained, as well as her partner Ian, under Dylan Ayaloo, the Founder of Hot Power Yoga in London, who I really want to meet after everything Bene and Ian told me about him. Yoga and her teacher training guided Bene through self-discovery and reaching a higher level of self-awareness, exactly what she needed at that point in her life. It seems that’s how most people fall in love with yoga, it comes in their life when they need it the most.

She started teaching yoga part-time alongside her full-time job and she realised that’s what she wanted to do for a living. After she moved to Southampton to work as a general manager at a local hotel, she decided it was time to chase her dream. She quit her job and herself and Ian started In Balance Hot Yoga. They run classes every day and regular workshops at the top floor of one of my favourite places in Southampton, Harbour Lights, overlooking the marina.

My bestie, Sheba went to a session a while ago and she messaged me afterwards saying ‘Just finished the hot yoga class, it was incredible!’, so after meeting Bene and Ian, who asked me to try it and blog about it in exchange for free classes, of course I said yes. I really wanted to try it anyway and I would have blogged about it even if they hadn’t offer me free classes.

I only blog about things I’m passionate about and I really want to and yoga is now part of my life and one of the very few things I do daily.

So last Saturday Sheba and I booked ourselves at the 11am beginners class. We decided to walk there as the route to Harbour Lights is beautiful, through the city centre parks, Oxford street and Ocean Village. I forgot how beautiful, charming and peaceful this part of the town is.

As soon I walked in the room, I felt the heat in every part of my body and memories flooded in. It reminded me of home on a hot summer day, during a power cut, sitting in the living room sweating, waiting for the power to come back on so we can turn the air-con on but in the meantime using whatever we can as a fan.

I just loved the heat. I’ve been living in the UK for 9 years now and I still miss the sun and the heat.

It also smelled amazing thanks to the burning incense sticks, which makes a huge difference, if like me, scents make you fall in love with a place and enhance your experiences.

The actual class was amazing. Bene is a hands-on instructor, helping you correct the poses if you don’t get them right and her voice is calming and smooth. For me the yoga instructor is the most important, essential element of a yoga practice, they are the ones guiding the session and to enjoy and fully embrace yoga, you need to find a teacher who inspires you and Bene is a truly inspirational human.

We started and ended the session with three oms which I found deeply spiritual and beautiful and we went through most of the main yoga poses through a vinyasa flow, fast-paced and empowering.

I smiled when Bene mentioned how our balance on the mat reflects what’s going in our lives. It is 100% absolutely true. When my balance is off is because my mind is troubled and I worry or I’m sad about things. Give it a go. Stand on one foot and check your balance and take a minute to look inwards and acknowledge your feelings in that moment.

The last pose before Shavasana was the fish pose which is becoming one of my favourite. It reminded me of when I was a child lying on the sofa upside down, feet up, my head touching the floor, feeling the blood flow through my head. I still sometimes do it…

Throughout the class random memories kept coming up, the heat reminded me of home so much my mind immediately went there, hot summer days, at home, at the beach, with family, with my friends. I felt relaxed, calm, happy, during and after the session.

I’m definitely going back again. Who knows what will happen next time?

One the reasons I love yoga, other than the physical benefits is how it helps me discover myself in ways I’d never imagine, and I learn something new every time. I’m still on the early days of my self-exploration journey and so far it’s been amazing.

After our yoga class, we passed by No4 cafe and wine bar on Canute Road. Shebz always wanted to try it so we decided to be spontaneous and treat ourselves to brunch. Delicious!

We then wandered into town, popping into one of my favourite shops, Rice-up, a local wholefood independent grocery shop in the city centre. I love their choice of tea, herbs, spices and nuts, my favourite isles to browse!

What a beautiful day it was. Thank you Bene for making it incredible. I can’t wait for my next session! If you decide to give it a go, come and say hi, I’d love to meet you 🙂

I’m always fascinated by how others get into yoga, you can read my story here, share yours in the comments below if you want to!

Namaste

Eleni

Italian Tapas Friday

Happy Friday!

Thank God is Friday. This week has been emotional, busy, full of ups and downs, exhausting.

I’m glad we decided to try Enoteca, the Italian on Bedford place.

The perfect way to celebrate the end of the week.

My lovely friend Jaba recommended this little gem a while ago and today Jamie, Sheba and I gave it a go. I pass by it every day on my way to work and back but is usually quiet so I didn’t think much of it but I’ve heard the best and it has excellent reviews with my all time favourite one: “Just had the Tiramisu. Like angels tap dancing on your tongue. The lamb and the prawns were legendary too. Good work chaps!(Rob Pratt via Facebook)”

Enoteca (the word Enoteca comes from the Greek word Οινοθήκη, which means “wine repository” but is used to describe a special type of local or regional wine shop that originated in Italy) is a small, family run restaurant in the city centre and the menu includes antipasti, sharing platters and tapas.

We love sharing and we wanted to try as much as we could, one of my favourite things to do when eating out, so we had the cheese platter, the griddled lamb cutlets, Arancini (fried breaded risotto balls filled with mozzarella and Nduja salami) and the torta rustica (A filo pastry tart of ricotta, spinach, artichoke).

Everything was delicious! Jamie doesn’t usually like lamb but he loved it at Enoteca! And I personally loved the decoration and the homely feeling, especially their pretty patterned plates.

Italian Tapas

Cheese platter

We could not leave without trying the tiramisu after the glorious review above. And it didn’t disappoint. Light, fluffy cream, sweet, coffee infused lady fingers. I could have 10 of these little pots.

Thank you Jamie and Shebz for our lovely lunch today. One to remember!

I’m definitely going back again to try the rest of the menu and their wine. Needless to say, is now one of my favourite lunch places in Southampton. Great, delicious food, decent prices, fast service, friendly staff and local, independent, cute little restaurant.

I hope more people get to know and try it and support it, it will be a shame if it closes down because of the big, chain competitors.

I don’t get paid to write about any of these places, this is my honest opinion and hopefully this comes across through my posts.

Have a lovely weekend, however you are spending it!

Eleni

Women who do

I love social media for various reasons but mainly because I discover new things locally and I meet awesome, interesting people from all walks of life.

About a week ago I came across a post on Twitter from Docks Cafe on Oxford street in Southampton, a cute, little cafe which I haven’t been before but I really wanted to for a while as I follow them on social media because of the amazing cake photos they post every day.

They were promoting a breakfast and networking event at the cafe organised by Women Who Do (check them out) a network of professional women run by the lovely Emma Downey.

I signed up for it almost immediately. I thought it will be the perfect opportunity to meet and learn from inspiring ladies and a great chance to visit Docks Cafe. Networking over coffee and breakfast, it can’t get better than that.

Yesterday I found out the lady running the hot Yoga classes I’ve been meaning to try for a while and who I follow on social media because of all her amazing yoga related posts was going too.

So today, I woke up bright and early, excited for the event.

And it did not disappoint.

Docks cafe was incredible. Great coffee, fresh pastries-loved my pan au chocolat- lovely decoration and friendly staff. I definitely recommend it especially if you have a sweet tooth like I do (just look at their Insta!).

Every single person I met was lovely and had interesting stories to share. A couple of examples:

Charlotte is an environmental writer who recently moved to Southampton and taught me how gardening can benefit people with depression and anxiety not only because they get to spend time outdoors and do something physical but also because soil can increase serotonin, nature’s anti-depressant. Southampton Council is actually funding a project promoting gardening for vulnerable individuals who might benefit from this. Isn’t that amazing? She regularly posts on her personal blog if you want to find out more about this lovely gal.

Maria works full-time at a tobacco company but also loves anything local and posts often about events and things happening across the city. Check her Insta for everything Southampton related.

Benedita, who is originally from Portugal and moved to Southampton from London, quit her day job and started her own business, teaching hot Yoga. She is the brain behind In Balance Hot Yoga. Needless to say how much I look forward to go to one of her classes.

Emma recently moved to Southampton and is a freelance marketing consultant working with companies across the country. One of my dream jobs!

Naturally we ended up talking about food. I don’t think a day passes by without me talking about food. We are planning to start a supper club, trying different restaurants and food across Southampton!

Women Who Do

I can’t wait to get to know them all better. I left the cafe happy, excited and grateful I got to meet amazing, inspiring women.

What a great initiative, thank you Emma for organising this. If you fancy meeting these ladies, join us at the next meeting!

What a lovely way to start the day.

Eleni

The perfect end to a not so great week.

Happy Sunday! Today the first thing I saw when I woke up was tens of pictures of friends and family sent by my sisters and my cousin. They all got together for my aunt’s annual memorial service. These are the little moments I miss and really wished I was there for. The family gatherings.

Anyway, I’m getting off track already.

I realised I haven’t posted since Tuesday, World Mental Health Day. On Tuesday morning I popped to the Spark (our posh teaching building) to check out the stalls set up to celebrate this special day and that was one of my week’s highlights. I spent hours after that blowing bubbles in the office with the little bubble blower I was given, which is awesome for stress relief, and I made Matt blow some for me whilst trying to take a photo. No matter how tough work can get, we still have fun!

It’s been a rough week for many of us. Almost everyone I talked to struggled this past week.

And I struggled too. My godmother who’s also my aunt, is still at hospital, I still have this weird toothache which was supposed to go away by now because the dentist couldn’t see anything wrong but is still driving me crazy, I haven’t had a good night’s sleep since last Saturday, work has been challenging to say the least and the whole week has been emotional, for reasons I cannot talk about just yet, but I’ll post when I can.

When Friday finally arrived, I was happy, relieved, almost ecstatic the week was almost over. The lovely Helen had planned a night out with a group of my favourite colleagues and friends and it could not come at a better time.

I felt extremely tired towards the end of the day and I thought it might have been better to just go home and lie down but I really wanted to have a couple of drinks and a laugh with friends.

So right after work I met Chris, Louise and Geraldine with the gorgeous 3 month old Emilia and we headed to the pub for drinks until the rest of the gang arrived. After a couple of hours of chatting, letting it all out and laughing, it was time for dinner.

I was not hungry to begin with after my enormous lunch with my bestie at my all time favourite place in the town centre, Halladay’s tearooms, to celebrate the World Egg Day (not that we needed an excuse), but alcohol makes you hungry.

Eggs Florentine and Teapigs chocolate flake tea

We went to Wahaca for dinner and we absolutely loved it!

I’ve been there once before with my lovely friend Sofy, (with whom I’ll try the Scandinavian cuisine at the Kupp this coming week, I can’t wait!) and I looked forward to visiting again so I could try more of their dishes.

This time I had the Roast Chilli quesadilla and I know that the clue is in the name, but it had SO MUCH chilli in it, I had to take some out but I still enjoyed it. I also tried their Devon Crab tostadas which was delicious and tasted some of Jaba’s chorizo and potato quesadilla, the chicken enchilladas and rice and beans. Everything tasted fresh and yummy.

After the feast I couldn’t possibly have any room for dessert, although I love a pudding but Chris suggested sharing some and we had the Mexican flan. It was light and fluffy, a lighter version of Creme Brulee. And I also tried Louise’s churros and chocolate, match made in heaven!

I’d definitely recommend Wahaca. One of the few chain restaurants I genuinely like. Delicious food, reasonable prices, lovely atmosphere, urban but homely vibes, great cocktails (my Hibiscus margarita was very strong but equally tasty), fast service and super friendly staff. Thank you to Patricia, our lovely waitress for teaching me how to pronounce margarita in Spanish, which coincidentally is the same in Greek, I had no idea!

Mexican Flan

Day of the Dead coming soon

Hibiscus margarita

Devon Crab Tostadas

Leftover chilli

Roast Chilli quesadillas

My favourite Georgian, dear Jaba

Day of the Dead coming soon

I came home tired but happy and grateful I for a lovely evening with awesome people and great food. Big thank you to the awesome Helen for organising this.

I can still hear Jaba in my head shouting Wahaca!

So here’s to Monday. May everyone’s week is better than the last.

Namaste

Eleni

Cherish Skincare-not just about your skin.

Whilst I was on my holiday in Italy I got a message on Twitter by a lovely lady called Mel, inviting me to the launch of a new, ethical, organic skincare company just starting in Southampton called Cherish skincare.

I’m not sure why I was invited. I’m not a professional or a fashion/beauty blogger and make no money off my blog, but I was really excited as I’m a big advocate of wellbeing, self care and loving oneself as well as local, independent companies, and I love meeting new people and trying new things so the combination of the four grabbed my attention and I actually looked forward to it.

Unfortunately I could not make it on the day, it was on the week I was back from my holiday, it was crazy busy at work and I was extremely tired for the whole week. I went to bed at 9:30pm on a Friday! So I asked Mel and Beth, the awesome gals who invited me initially and the co-founders of Cherish if they’d like to meet for lunch and tell me all about it.

So yesterday we spent more than an hour at Mettricks telling me all about their business, how Cherish is not just about skincare but a holistic approach on caring and treating yourself, and ended up chatting about digital marketing, the 5Ps of copywriting and other useful tips and advice I discovered through my personal interest and reading on marketing and social media on how to promote their business.

Mel is a full-time mum of two and Beth is actually a recent hair and make-up graduate. I felt immensely proud when I found out she just graduated from Southampton Solent University, my work home for the last six years. I told her all about the support and advice she can get from our Employability (Solent Futures) department and offered any help I could. I posted about it on LinkedIn today and I have already been contacted by our PR and Comms team asking me how they can get in touch with Beth!

All their products are organic produced by Mel and Beth and the idea of Cherish is to offer a suite of products from night oils to spray on your pillow to help you sleep better to day creams, anything to improve your skin but also your health and quality of life.

I left from our meeting genuinely excited and grateful I got to meet these two inspiring ladies. I can’t wait to see their business flourish!

They have just set up their website so if you want to find out more go have a look here and if you like what you see, spread the word! You’ll be supporting an inspiring local business as well as promoting wellbeing and self-care, something so basic but essential more than ever in the busy, crazy world we live in.

I wish you all the best Mel and Beth!

Eleni

Welcome October

Happy Sunday! And hello October.

Time for reflection and winter preparation (Christmas is coming!).

Last winter was horrible, just horrible for me. I sank into depression, I didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything. I gave up trying and allowed myself to be miserable and sad for months on end.

Fortunately I still managed to get out of bed in the morning and go to work but that was literally the only thing I did, just surviving. I rarely blogged, I abandoned my guitar, I lost friends because I didn’t want to leave the house and the more I sank into this black hole, the less confident I felt to do anything.

‘Why would anyone want to be friends with me?’

‘I’m ugly, I’m worthless, I’m 30 and still stuck here’

‘I haven’t achieved anything, others at my age have done so much more’

‘What the f*** is wrong with me?’

‘Nobody really loves me’

If you ever suffered from depression or went through a rough patch you might recognise these thoughts.

Not having much money left by the end of the month made everything much worse and gave me more excuses not to do anything.

I won’t say more today, I’m saving that for my end of the year reflection. If you want to read more on how deep I sank I’ve written about it a while ago, the most honest post I’ve ever written.

But I miraculously recovered with the help of my family, going home every couple of months keeps me sane, my friends, my colleagues and above all myself. I’m incredibly proud of how I drag myself out of this vicious circle.

And now I feel better than ever.

A year later, I have a feeling this winter will be different. I spend as much time home as I want to because I mastered how to enjoy me time so well I sometimes prefer it to other options and I only go to things I really want to. And I’m now used to going to places and events alone. A year ago just the idea terrified me.

Up until about 2 years ago I was always with someone, my friends and family when I lived back home and my ex boyfriend since I moved to Southampton, so when we broke up I was scared to do anything on my own. I felt I needed to have someone with me all the time and it took me a year to realise that is actually dead easy and pretty awesome to do things on your own.

Depression still creeps in every now and then, it actually did about a week ago, but I now know how to deal with it. I know how to crawl back out that hole.

Yoga is now part of my daily life (this month’s Yoga with Adriene FWFG theme is Begin again, which couldn’t be more fitting), my guitar is my best friend, my inspiration is back and I blog often, I’m meeting lovely new people again, my confidence is at its highest and I’m trying hard to move on to a more rewarding career. Which is tough. Really tough. But patience is a virtue and I’m prepared to wait, no matter how frustrated I feel and how much I crave for change right now.

Yesterday I had an awesome day. I went to Lou Lou’s vintage fair to browse pretty vintage clothes, jewellery and more and got myself lovely earrings and an autumn checked scarf and then had a girlie night in with friends, chit-chatting, snacks and rom-com. My favourite!

I’m still dreading work tomorrow but is going to be a good week with friends’ birthday celebrations, catch up with friends I haven’t seen for a while and I’m also meeting two lovely ladies who just started their own company for the first time, I can’t wait to share more on that!

It helps reminding myself that it doesn’t matter how old I am and where I am right now. You don’t have to wait for the new year to start again. Is not always easy so don’t forget to enjoy the little moments.

So here’s to October, here’s to new beginnings, here’s to you and me.

Namaste

Eleni

Treat myself Thursday

It’s been a challenging couple of weeks.

A horrific blend of holiday blues, crazy thoughts, frustration, confidence crisis, very busy at work with uninspiring tasks needed to be done, hormones and extreme tiredness that caused me to miss a great event on Friday evening (and spend most of the weekend at home so exhausted I could not do much other than move from the sofa to the bed and vice versa) brought me to my knees. I struggled to remain positive.

But fortunately my work survival techniques (blog coming very soon), little treats such as getting coffee in the morning before work and life skills, doing things I enjoy on my free time especially yoga, music, my guitar and blogging kept me sane and kept me going.

Yesterday I really wanted to try Cafe Thrive. I’ve seen an Instagram post about it and yesterday Shebs and I went over to give it a go but it was closed.

So today, since the sun was out I went out for lunch, on my own, just to treat myself.

I loved the decoration (see cover image for their impressive feature wall) and the homely vibe from the moment I walked in.

I got a healthy and yummy Quinoa and Tofu salad bowl (the toasted pumpkin seeds made the dish), which was so large I could not finish it,

and some water. Cafe Thrive has installed a self-service lemon infused water tap so you can have as much water as you want for free. What a brilliant, clever idea. So simple but I’ve never seen it in any other cafes or restaurants.

and sat upstairs to enjoy peace, quietness, quality me time. I had the whole floor for myself. I spent most of the time staring at the park views from the large bright windows and thinking about my weekend plans, things I want to do and million other thoughts.

When I went back to work after lunch, I felt uplifted, revitalised and ready to get the work day over with and come back to my sanctuary.

Don’t forget to treat yourself every now and then. It really makes a difference.

Cheers to Friday finally arriving tomorrow. And is a special one! Friday, payday and last Friday of September! That means Christmas is coming, one of my favourite times of the year. And no, is never too early to mention Christmas!

Eleni

A night of Real Greek meze and the Little Mermaid ballet

Happy Monday! It’s not really but this post might put a smile on your face and quite possibly make you hungry.

Today is all about last Thursday, when I got to try the meze at the Real Greek in Southampton followed by attending the premiere of The Little Mermaid by the Northern ballet at the Mayflower.

So, last Thursday my manager Suzanne, Donna, our boss Dave and I, after flipping a coin to decide where to go for dinner before the theatre, we ended up at the Real Greek. I’ve heard about it but I haven’t been before.

My review might differ to others but as a Greek-Cypriot who has had Greek and Cypriot food for years and whose father and sister are cooks, I had higher expectations than normal.

From the outside it looks lovely, I personally enjoyed the Greek greetings and signs as it reminded me of home but I heavily disliked the music. Greek pop music, and not the best Greek pop played in the background. Initially I thought it might be just me who didn’t like it because I was familiar with the songs and that’s not the type of Greek music I’d expect at a Greek restaurant but the others agreed with me.

We decided to go for a Greek salad and the ‘Athenian’ meze. It included classic Greek starters such as flatbread, tzatziki and hummus, which were tasty but for me they lacked character. I expected the tzatziki especially to have a stronger garlic flavour.

We also had meat ‘pies’ and cheese ‘pies’, nothing like British pies, but fried or oven baked filo/puff pastry parcels/dumplings filled with meat or cheese (we usually have them as a snack or breakfast in Cyprus). I loved the cheese ones but the meat ones needed a bit more filling as most of it was pastry.

Their chicken and halloumi & vegetable skewers were delicious, probably my favourite out of the rest of the food included in the meze, although halloumi is not really ‘Athenian’.

We also had lamb meatballs, dolmades, lamb kefte and ‘loukaniko'(beef and pork sausage). The lamb kefte and the sausages were delicious, but I was a bit disappointed with the meatballs and the dolmades, not because they tasted bad but I expected traditional casserole dishes like these to be oozing with flavour and aroma from all the spices, but they didn’t, not as much as I thought they would.

The Real Greek Athenian meze

After all the food, we were pretty stuffed and sleepy, so I couldn’t squeeze in a pudding, although I’d have loved to but opted for Greek coffee metrio (medium- not in size but with a teaspoon of sugar). It was OK but it needed an extra minute on the hob, I shouldn’t have been able to feel some of the grain coffee in my mouth from the first sip, that’s usually just at the bottom.

All in all the food was good. Everything was perfectly cooked, presented beautifully and tasted nice. But for me it just lacked the homeliness and personal touch and there was not enough variety or quantity. The dishes that tasted the best were the not pre-prepared ones, the salad, the skewers and the sausages. I guess that is to be expected in large chain restaurants, although is not always the case the best food I had back home and in the UK it has been from small local, independent restaurants.

If you want to try it, it will not disappoint, but if you want real Greek meze, go to Blue Island instead. The owner and chef Sotiris/Simon is Cypriot and he has been cooking his whole life. I have tried their meze and is delicious!

After our meal we made our way to the Mayflower. The sky was gorgeous, red and cloudy including people dining whilst hang from a crane. Have you seen it? It’s been heavily publicised on social media all week and I wanted to try it because I’m terrified of heights and I’d like to challenge myself but I wouldn’t pay that much. I think I’d be too scared to eat anyway but the views might have been worth it.

When we finally made it to the Mayflower I was pleasantly surprised to find out that some of my favourite colleagues and friends, Mark, Jaba and Jamie also got tickets for the ballet and our seats were actually close to each other!

The Little Mermaid

It was the first time I’ve ever been to a ballet show so I didn’t know what to expect but oh my. We had a little chuckle when the fish and jellyfish on a stick props came out but the whole production was just amazing. The orchestra was incredible, I absolutely loved the music, the dancing was elegant, playful, almost ethereal at times and their costumes were beautiful, showing off their amazing dancing skills.

Well done to Northern Ballet and everyone involved in the production and thank you to Solent Staff scene for the discount tickets.

It was a great night with lovely friends and good food.

Eleni

A different kind of Monday

Happy Monday!

I started this blog last night but I was really tired I couldn’t finish it. So posting it first thing in the morning for a change.

Today is a different kind of Monday. I’m not dreading it. Much. It’s still Monday….

But tomorrow night I’m heading to the airport. And on Wednesday, early morning I’ll reunite with my best friends, my soulmates, my sisters!

We will spend two days in Florence and four days in Rome. First time in Italy, for all of us. I can’t even describe how excited I am!

To explore a new country, a country I wanted to visit for so long, but the circumstances didn’t allow it, and to do that with my sisters, first time we’ll all be on holiday at a country other than home (Cyprus) or… home (UK) is overwhelmingly amazing.

I spent Saturday doing chores, with a break for coffee and catch the last rays of sunshine with my bestie and to get new books to read from Oxfam as I finished Perfume (review coming soon!).

Yesterday I completely lost concentration, I started worrying whether my sisters will make it to Rome, what if I miss my flight and a wave of other irrational thoughts made their way in and I felt lost. I didn’t know what thing to do first on my long to-do list. But after my Yoga practice (which co-incidentally was about mental focus and concentration, what are the chances!) I focused on the session’s mantra- I got this!- and got on with almost everything I needed to do. Only a couple last minute things to do today after work and I’m all set!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYid6JshBd1/?taken-by=eleni_zenonos

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYk0-FHhsoc/?taken-by=eleni_zenonos

I recently started meditating and practising mindfulness when I can’t sleep, which happens often and it definitely made a difference! I’ll write about it when I get the chance.

I’ve once read that more than often people crave a holiday and plan everything to the dot and then are disappointed when the time comes as their expectations don’t match reality. Which makes sense.

But I love doing the opposite. Exploring and see where it leads rather than meticulous planning is my favourite thing to do and it never failed. That’s what Shebz and I did in Berlin last year and we had the best of times.

And I’m sure Italy won’t let me down!

I know it’s only a short break, (which includes FriendsFest in London after Italy!) and it won’t change my life, or maybe it will, you never know, but it’s exactly what I need right now.

It will be incredible if I meet an Italian hunk and we go sailing in the Mediterranean afterwards rather than come back, as I’ve been joking for the last week, but it’s highly unlikely that will happen. A girl can only dream though!

I still have high hopes for September!

I’ll miss blogging but my next one will be a special one! A travel post (which will of course include local cuisine) on bella Italia.

I will be posting snaps on my Insta if you want to follow my Italian ventures.

Until then…

Namaste

Eleni