A weekend with the Hobo Clan

So, my weekend in London!  Wow!  Such an amazing time!  Thank you so much to Gemma and her lovely husband for looking after me so well and letting me take over their living room with my excessive luggage!  ;)  And I don't think I have ever slept so well away from home - yay for the comfort of the Hemnes!!

On Friday morning, I had a wander around the V&A while Gemma was at work.  Such an amazing place!  Especially the Jewellery Room!  I loved looking at all the old designs and the amazing gems.  Sadly the fashion section was closed while they build a new exhibit so I will have to go back in May to see the ballgown exhibition!!

My favourite!  Stunning Peridot and Diamonds.

More photos to come in a separate post about the V&A
(too much to show here!)

After the V&A I met Gemma for a coffee on her break for a natter before doing a little shopping in Victoria. I purchased some lovely Monsoon nail varnishes which matched my planned party outfit for Saturday perfectly and a gorgeous big bling ring from House of Fraser.

After Gemma finished work we went along to Yo! Sushi for dinner and some vino before heading to the theatre to see Legally Blonde (Gemma's treat for my birthday - seriously how amazing is she!?)

Gemma and I en route to the theatre (you can just make out the sign behind us)

I had a fantastic time, it was SO much fun and so different to the film with all the songs and dancing, I was also especially loving Gemma's favourite song in the courtroom!  The dogs were a highlight too, as they were with everyone in the theatre cheering and awwwing every time they appeared.

Me freezing outside the theatre before heading home with a bottle of bellini from M&S and some Krispy Kreme donuts, yum!

The view walking to the underground after the theatre

We headed home with some tasty treats and had a great time sat on the sofa looking at each others' wedding photos and chatting about all sorts.  I think we actually covered pretty much every topic over the weekend, discussing everything from books to relationships, food and even death!  (In fairness both Gemma and I could probably talk for the UK (although she's Australian so, Australia!) so this was easy for us chatterboxes!  Poor Mr Hobo!)

On Saturday we had a lazy start but then headed off for West Ham following a tip from one of Gemma's work mates on where to find some sarees.  Nik's brother is getting married in May and I plan to wear a saree to the Hindu ceremony on the Saturday.  Gemma and I had SO much fun trying on the beautiful Indian dresses with amazing embellishments!  I will definitely be picking one or two of these dresses just for normal party wear now I have seen how flattering and gorgeous they are!  Gemma even has her eye on a yellow one.  I also tried a saree to see how it would look and again it was so flattering, I can't wait to wear one!

I'm holding this one at the back as it does need some tailoring to fit
- it's a much deeper emerald green that it appears here.

After a fun morning exploring the Indian shops, we went to Greenwich market to meet Mr Hobo for a wander around.  I loved looking at the stalls and bought a couple of Portuguese custard tarts (and Gemma - Nik's did actually make it all the way back to Glasgow!)  After this we went back to the flat where we chilled out a bit and Gemma made the most amazing roast pork dinner!

Unfortunately I wasn't allowed a nap as we had to get ready for Anna's 30th/blog launch party!

Gemma & I all glammed up in her flat
(the matching dress/tights combo wasn't planned!)

My shoes

We had fun getting ready with a bottle of pink fizz before getting lost en route (maybe the fizz was too much before tackling the underground!) and finally making it to The London Cocktail Club!

Brambles

Gemma & Anna

We said Hello to the birthday girl and got straight on the cocktails!  We started with a Bramble, then tried a Cup Tail - an Amaretto based cocktail with actual butter-cream icing on top!!!  OMG, it was amazing - especially when already pretty tipsy (which you may have been able to tell if you saw my tweet)!

Me and the birthday girl!

Gemma showing us the cup tail recipe!

Well how else do you eat the icing?

Ahh, stab it with a straw!

Next we tried the Brixton Riot which involved a very fancy pouring of lit proof rum into the cocktails...

They were delish and you could taste the lychee in them, yum!

Brixton Riot cocktail

Random pic in toilets - the mirror said I <3 bartenders

After the 3rd cocktail we had to leave to get the last train home.  We switched to the comfy shoes which was just as well as we had to run to catch the underground and made it in the nick of time!

Before

After

Sunday was another lazy start followed by a lovely stroll around Black Heath looking in a few little shops before we had to go back to get my bags and head into the city to catch my train home.  (With some cheeky chips in the station with Gemma before I left!)

I had an amazing time and had SO much fun getting to know Gemma better.  It feels like I've already known her for years despite having only met twice before this!!  Sometimes you just meet someone and know you will get along great instantly - not very often, but when it happens, it's special.  I don't think I'm the only one who thinks we will be life-long friends and I'm not afraid to say it, even if it might sound bit creepy, cos Gemma does just that too!  ;)  Thank you so much for a fabulous weekend - you made such amazing plans and looked after me so well!  I can't wait to return the favour when you come up here to visit!  See you at PenDo!!

(Also huge thanks to Mr Hobo for putting up with this random girl invading his peaceful flat all weekend and for screeching excitably when drunk!)

Ahhhhhh, much needed foot soak after getting home!

P.S. Sorry for all the feet pics at the end of this post!!  Three is perhaps excessive.