Well hello!
OH-MY-WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD! WHAT a weekend!
Saturday morning dawned, beautifully sunny and warm and I woke up with that full-on-knotted-stomach-omg-it’s-Christmas-feeling! Got ready, ate a Weetabix and had some tea and off we went!
On the train to London (bang on 2 hours, very fast!) I had the latest Elle magazine and a medio single shot skinny latte from Costa, plus a bag of apple slices. All very restrained and weight watchery. Richard, on the other hand, had a caramel macchiato FULL FAT, plus a croissant and butter and jam. He was poorly sick though so he deserved a treat!
On arrival at Euston we headed to Embankment on the tube and strolled along the river Thames, across the bridge toward London Festival Hall on the South Bank. It was really sunny and gorgeous and as we walked there was a fly past! No, London wasn’t welcoming us, it was for the Queen’s Birthday!
Then we met up with Trev, a friend of mine from University, who is an utter legend! He took us to a cute little bar where we caught up a bit - and had 3 Peronis – oops.
After that we were beginning to feel a tad squiffy so we headed to Ev which is a Turkish restaurant near to Waterloo. It’s set back from the road and has a massive open air eating space and the building it’s in is beautiful and OMG the FOOD!!!!!
We had tzatziki and houmous with pitta and greek salad to start and then the boys had a lamb dish and a chicken dish respectively but I stuck to this spinachy, tomatoey, bulgar wheaty type affair which ROCKED.
Oh, and a glass of wine and a LOT of water! J
After this Trev took us to the rather swanky Oxo Tower where I, of course, HAD to have something off their spectacular cocktail menu! I had a shady lady which involved strawberries, rum and coconut. YUMMY!!!
Then we took the Thames Clipper to our friend Laura’s flat in the Isle of Dogs – at least that was the plan. But we decided we were too pushed for time so ended up going straight to the O2 Arena. We sat and had a drink (diet coke for me thanks!) and got changed in the toilets of a Bar & Grill – haha! We stashed our stuff and then sat and relaxed with some food watched the world go by. The whole exterior of the arena was themed as a Circus – sooooooo amazing! Crazy rides, merchandise stalls, popcorn, candy floss, you name it. I got a t shirt (because I couldn’t eat that!) which my wonderful husband bought for me. How sweet is he going to the concert with me – not exactly very manly! HAHA! (He loved it though!)
And then we took our seats, Ciara was alright, the support act and then there was an hour of Circus performers who were amazing and breathtaking – including one crazy woman being thrown into the air by a couple of chaps and landing on a wobbly balance beam thing – nutjob. It made for a great atmosphere and THEN……….
BRITNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Introduced by Perez, and lowered from the ceiling to the stage, clad in red and black Ringmaster’s outfit for ‘Circus’ the first number.
I WAS MESMERISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did a LOT of yelling, a LOT of singing and a LOT of clapping! She was truly awesome. SUCH a show girl – her dancing is amazing, her body is FABULOUS – oh my word she is teeny tiny and super toned. Honestly, I think I fancied her a little bit! Haha!
OH-MY-WORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRD! WHAT a weekend!
Saturday morning dawned, beautifully sunny and warm and I woke up with that full-on-knotted-stomach-omg-it’s-Christmas-feeling! Got ready, ate a Weetabix and had some tea and off we went!
On the train to London (bang on 2 hours, very fast!) I had the latest Elle magazine and a medio single shot skinny latte from Costa, plus a bag of apple slices. All very restrained and weight watchery. Richard, on the other hand, had a caramel macchiato FULL FAT, plus a croissant and butter and jam. He was poorly sick though so he deserved a treat!
On arrival at Euston we headed to Embankment on the tube and strolled along the river Thames, across the bridge toward London Festival Hall on the South Bank. It was really sunny and gorgeous and as we walked there was a fly past! No, London wasn’t welcoming us, it was for the Queen’s Birthday!
Then we met up with Trev, a friend of mine from University, who is an utter legend! He took us to a cute little bar where we caught up a bit - and had 3 Peronis – oops.
After that we were beginning to feel a tad squiffy so we headed to Ev which is a Turkish restaurant near to Waterloo. It’s set back from the road and has a massive open air eating space and the building it’s in is beautiful and OMG the FOOD!!!!!
We had tzatziki and houmous with pitta and greek salad to start and then the boys had a lamb dish and a chicken dish respectively but I stuck to this spinachy, tomatoey, bulgar wheaty type affair which ROCKED.
Oh, and a glass of wine and a LOT of water! J
After this Trev took us to the rather swanky Oxo Tower where I, of course, HAD to have something off their spectacular cocktail menu! I had a shady lady which involved strawberries, rum and coconut. YUMMY!!!
Then we took the Thames Clipper to our friend Laura’s flat in the Isle of Dogs – at least that was the plan. But we decided we were too pushed for time so ended up going straight to the O2 Arena. We sat and had a drink (diet coke for me thanks!) and got changed in the toilets of a Bar & Grill – haha! We stashed our stuff and then sat and relaxed with some food watched the world go by. The whole exterior of the arena was themed as a Circus – sooooooo amazing! Crazy rides, merchandise stalls, popcorn, candy floss, you name it. I got a t shirt (because I couldn’t eat that!) which my wonderful husband bought for me. How sweet is he going to the concert with me – not exactly very manly! HAHA! (He loved it though!)
And then we took our seats, Ciara was alright, the support act and then there was an hour of Circus performers who were amazing and breathtaking – including one crazy woman being thrown into the air by a couple of chaps and landing on a wobbly balance beam thing – nutjob. It made for a great atmosphere and THEN……….
BRITNEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Introduced by Perez, and lowered from the ceiling to the stage, clad in red and black Ringmaster’s outfit for ‘Circus’ the first number.
I WAS MESMERISED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I did a LOT of yelling, a LOT of singing and a LOT of clapping! She was truly awesome. SUCH a show girl – her dancing is amazing, her body is FABULOUS – oh my word she is teeny tiny and super toned. Honestly, I think I fancied her a little bit! Haha!
Check out that bod!
She did 19 songs and Womanizer was the encore. I almost bawled my eyes out in Everytime (the one she actually sang!). The choreography was fabulous and the backing dancers were FAB!
Thinking about now, after the event, it’s all a bit bonkers really. I am amazed that fans (me included) seem only to love her more now that she’s been through so much and so publicly. Who goes through a nervous breakdown and then embarks upon a world tour!? Who else commands such huge audiences to jam packed arenas night after night to a show she doesn’t sing in?! (allegedly) Regardless of whether you’re a fan or not, this girl is an enigma!!!!!!
Anyhoop, enough gushing about Britney!
After the concert we headed to the boat and met Laura at her pier along with Claire another school pal who now lives in London. We headed back to laura’s flat and chatted until 3am and ate ‘picky food’ olives, pitta, houmous, parma ham, crisps, cava…….by this time I had stopped counting points OOPS. But I think I made wise choices, apart from all the freaking beer!
So Sunday we went for a stroll along the Thames to Greenwich which is just gorgeous. Everyone aleways saya ‘west is best’ about living in London but I must admit I really like Docklands – I think there’s something embedded in my psyche about feeling ‘free’ living near water – I’ve gronwn up on a peninsula so being near water makes me calm!
We had bacon butties for breakfast. I had one small white roll, one slice of lean back bacon and tommy k, no butter. Plus a small OJ and coffee.
And all too soon it was 2pm and we were back at Euston to catch our train back to Liverpool. I love London weekends! More pics to follow btw - Rich used his fancy camera all weekend so I need to wait for him to upload all the pics!
I was starving by this time so had a tuna/sweetcorn sarnie from WHSmith (random!) and dutifully recorded the calories and saturated fat on my phone to calculate when I got home) 5 POINTS! For a piddly sandwich that wasn’t even that good! It’s been a while since I’ve had pre-packed butties – yeesh, now I remember why! FAR too high in points! I like a sandwich with, what phrase have you all been using lately? ‘More bang for your buck?’ Is that right?!
I also caved and had a small bag of salt and vinegar Hula Hoops to go with it, only 3 points though – they must have changed their recipe as my records show they used to be 4.5 points a bag! (nerd alert!)
By the time we got home it was 5pm and our thoughts naturally turned to dinner…..the dreaded chippy was mentioned but I knew I had haul back my weekend or I would end up hating myself tomorrow!
Sooooo we ended up getting kebabs! Now before you all gasp in horror let me tell you, this is the BEST kebab place on the Wirral. It’s all cooked fresh in front of you, they don't add anything to the meat and you can choose your own stuff to go in it.
Allow me to illustrate:
Rich had a large chicken kebab off the skewer in a naan with garlic sauce, salad, chilli sauce and mayo. Plus a large chips slathered in mayo. And a beer. The pig.
I had a small chicken kebab off the skewer, grilled, equivalent to one chicken breast, not coated in anything just grilled. I had them put it in a pitta (normal sized one) and just added salad – lettuce tomato cucumber. When I got it home I added one tbsp low fat coleslaw, one tbsp low fat mayo and a little bit of tommy K plus some chilli flakes. See?! Actually a really nice meal for 7 points. I did NOT have chips or beer!
So I was proud of myself! And in bed for 9:30pm and slept till 6am the following morning like a baby!
All in all a TOP weekend!
Now back to the plan!
Yesterday’s eats:
B: 1 Weetabix, skimmed milk, tea.
L: spinach salad, cottage cheese, grapes and yogurt
D: 3.5 points of couscous with lemon juice, chilli flakes, courgette, mushrooms, red pepper and onion which I stir fried in a little soy sauce and no oil first and then added to the couscous. It was so yummy I ate it straight out of the mixing bowl!
Thinking about now, after the event, it’s all a bit bonkers really. I am amazed that fans (me included) seem only to love her more now that she’s been through so much and so publicly. Who goes through a nervous breakdown and then embarks upon a world tour!? Who else commands such huge audiences to jam packed arenas night after night to a show she doesn’t sing in?! (allegedly) Regardless of whether you’re a fan or not, this girl is an enigma!!!!!!
Anyhoop, enough gushing about Britney!
After the concert we headed to the boat and met Laura at her pier along with Claire another school pal who now lives in London. We headed back to laura’s flat and chatted until 3am and ate ‘picky food’ olives, pitta, houmous, parma ham, crisps, cava…….by this time I had stopped counting points OOPS. But I think I made wise choices, apart from all the freaking beer!
So Sunday we went for a stroll along the Thames to Greenwich which is just gorgeous. Everyone aleways saya ‘west is best’ about living in London but I must admit I really like Docklands – I think there’s something embedded in my psyche about feeling ‘free’ living near water – I’ve gronwn up on a peninsula so being near water makes me calm!
We had bacon butties for breakfast. I had one small white roll, one slice of lean back bacon and tommy k, no butter. Plus a small OJ and coffee.
And all too soon it was 2pm and we were back at Euston to catch our train back to Liverpool. I love London weekends! More pics to follow btw - Rich used his fancy camera all weekend so I need to wait for him to upload all the pics!
I was starving by this time so had a tuna/sweetcorn sarnie from WHSmith (random!) and dutifully recorded the calories and saturated fat on my phone to calculate when I got home) 5 POINTS! For a piddly sandwich that wasn’t even that good! It’s been a while since I’ve had pre-packed butties – yeesh, now I remember why! FAR too high in points! I like a sandwich with, what phrase have you all been using lately? ‘More bang for your buck?’ Is that right?!
I also caved and had a small bag of salt and vinegar Hula Hoops to go with it, only 3 points though – they must have changed their recipe as my records show they used to be 4.5 points a bag! (nerd alert!)
By the time we got home it was 5pm and our thoughts naturally turned to dinner…..the dreaded chippy was mentioned but I knew I had haul back my weekend or I would end up hating myself tomorrow!
Sooooo we ended up getting kebabs! Now before you all gasp in horror let me tell you, this is the BEST kebab place on the Wirral. It’s all cooked fresh in front of you, they don't add anything to the meat and you can choose your own stuff to go in it.
Allow me to illustrate:
Rich had a large chicken kebab off the skewer in a naan with garlic sauce, salad, chilli sauce and mayo. Plus a large chips slathered in mayo. And a beer. The pig.
I had a small chicken kebab off the skewer, grilled, equivalent to one chicken breast, not coated in anything just grilled. I had them put it in a pitta (normal sized one) and just added salad – lettuce tomato cucumber. When I got it home I added one tbsp low fat coleslaw, one tbsp low fat mayo and a little bit of tommy K plus some chilli flakes. See?! Actually a really nice meal for 7 points. I did NOT have chips or beer!
So I was proud of myself! And in bed for 9:30pm and slept till 6am the following morning like a baby!
All in all a TOP weekend!
Now back to the plan!
Yesterday’s eats:
B: 1 Weetabix, skimmed milk, tea.
L: spinach salad, cottage cheese, grapes and yogurt
D: 3.5 points of couscous with lemon juice, chilli flakes, courgette, mushrooms, red pepper and onion which I stir fried in a little soy sauce and no oil first and then added to the couscous. It was so yummy I ate it straight out of the mixing bowl!
See?
Snack: one banana, one ww bar
I went straight to the new beautiful swanky posh gym after work and had the whole cardio zone to myself for a good 30 minute run and then did a 2000m row and then was very brave and did all my weights and abs and whatnot AT THE GYM instead of in front of the telly like usual! How brave am I!!!?? It was funny, little old me standing next to the guys trying to lift the equivalent of a small car, having to raise up onto their toes to lift a weight and all neck veins popping out all over the show MINGING!
Then I popped up to the Chronicle (pub) and met lovely Alison for a drink, came home, had a cuppa with my hubby and went to bed! A very successful Monday indeed! HURRAH!
I’m feeing really upbeat this morning (can you tell!?) and excited about my diet and weight loss and changes I can see in my body – no matter how slowly it seems to be taking me. I WILL get there!
Hope you’re all having a wonderful Tuesday morning!
Besitos
BFP xoxo
I went straight to the new beautiful swanky posh gym after work and had the whole cardio zone to myself for a good 30 minute run and then did a 2000m row and then was very brave and did all my weights and abs and whatnot AT THE GYM instead of in front of the telly like usual! How brave am I!!!?? It was funny, little old me standing next to the guys trying to lift the equivalent of a small car, having to raise up onto their toes to lift a weight and all neck veins popping out all over the show MINGING!
Then I popped up to the Chronicle (pub) and met lovely Alison for a drink, came home, had a cuppa with my hubby and went to bed! A very successful Monday indeed! HURRAH!
I’m feeing really upbeat this morning (can you tell!?) and excited about my diet and weight loss and changes I can see in my body – no matter how slowly it seems to be taking me. I WILL get there!
Hope you’re all having a wonderful Tuesday morning!
Besitos
BFP xoxo
6 comments:
Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! Delicious food descriptions, even if this American gal has no clue what some of them are, lol!
Oh ...I. Am. So. Jealous. Your weekend sounds freakin' awesome!! It's like reliving when I lived in London, via you post, as I worked at Euston station (in one of the big glass tower blocks on the square) and lived in the Docklands on a marina. *Sob* - I miss those days!! Britney sounds like she was awesome. I shall just have to look forward to seeing the Killers, Kooks and Take That over the space of the next month as consolation!
So glad your weekend was totally brilliant. :o)
Sounds like a GREAT weekend!!! And, you didnt go too overboard this weekend - you had fun & allowed yourself to eat a little outside of the norm, but nothing too crazy. Way to stay healthy!!
Can't wait to see pictures!
OMG...so so uber jealous!!!! Sounds like SO much fun. I am so jealous that you can just get a 2 hour train and be in London. Sob...I want to live in England. Canada is nice but just not the same.
As for Britney...sounds fab...I'm off to see the New Kids this weekend. Ok, ok, sounds nerdy but they stir up all my teen memories and the concert is going to be super fun!
Well done for staying on plan in exciting London! It is my fave city in the world.
Wow, sounds like you had a ton of fun!!!
Ahhhh you visited London. That's where I live and work. I went to see Britney at Heaven the night she mimed on X Factor, BUT she refused to come on stage. It got a little hazardous as they packed us into the main room with a stage for nearly an hour before they came on stage to say she wasn't coming on. We danced and danced to make up for it and it was the first time since my 20s that I got home in the morning (8 a.m.). LOL.
I am glad you got to see Britney - sounds like a superb night.
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