I spent this day in London wandering around and window shopping.
I began my night sitting at a smelly bar at seven dials listening to terrible music looking like a divorcee drinking a corona in the corner. Luckily I was quickly rescued by the lovely Yeliz. It was a Sunday night and we felt like wetting our whistles. We decided to check out an underground bar called Cellardoor. It was on my to do list since my days in Oxshott, listed as "Try Snuff at Cellardoor.
Finding this secretive little bar is actually quite hard. We wandered in circles around Aldwych until we finally realised this place that looked more like an underground public toilet was actually the place we wanted to go, and it was right in front of us all along.
You descend down the stairs and let yourself into this dimly lit underground cocktail paradise. As the website says:
"Cellar Door is an intimate bar beneath the Aldwich in a space just big enough for cats (both feline and human to swing.)"
It is a small bar with plush lip stools at the bar and comfortable lounges all around. Yeliz left me for a moment and I was confronted by a magician who to this day I do not know if he was working there or just a member of the public. This magician basically melted my brain with some card tricks so I was a mess for the rest of the night. This magician who was wearing one of those creepy floor length tench coats continued to walk around the tiny room performing for anyone who came in.
Yes that is the whole bar. And over the week nights it has various themed nights and Friday and Saturday get extremely packed with their burlesque shows. Tonight it was Jazz night which I was over the moon about. I had ticked off two things off my "to do list" in one night. "Do snuff at Cellardoor" and "Go to a jazz bar". You can see the man at the keyboard at the back of the room in the photo. He sung all night and he was incredible. He did a cover of Lana Del Rey's " Video Games" and I can't even. I don't think I have even mentioned the best part yet, you get free popcorn. And not just one bowl. I mean you get an endless supply of constantly replaced hot popcorn.
This is snuff. It is basically consumed as cocaine although it is actually fine ground tobacco. It is quite cute how they serve it though. I am telling you now, both Yeliz and I could not finish these two lines. It is incredibly strong and gives you a bit of a headspinny feeling as if you haven't smoked for a couple of days. This is most likely the only time I will do snuff. It was fun and I recommend you try it if you go to Cellardoor, to tick off your own to do lists. But I am not to big of a fan of snorting substances. It is just a bit of a painful experience and I spent my walk home sneezing black soot.
But if snuff isn't your thing then don't even worry. You have the most eccentric and amazing line of cocktails to try. They were graded with the three mistresses of showbiz, Marilyn Monroe, Dita Von Teese and there was one more but I apologize I cannot for the life of me remember. This is Y's cocktail, it was a breakfast cocktail I think. I just remember it was delicious and the little orange bit on top is marmalade. I can't remember for the life of me what it was that I actually got. All I know is that this place is amazing and I really wish I could have gone again before I left London. I wish I could find a place like this in Sydney but it just won't happen. To anyone thinking of going here is a list of what is on each night, take your pick:
One thing I regret and completly forgot about on the night was to go to the toilets there. They actually are known for their crazy sexy toilets. Y told me about them but I didn't understand. You will just have to go check them out for yourself.
Oh and the menu is full of charming quotes featuring the word Cellardoor.
Just writing this post makes me want to go back to this charming, underground, velvet lounge. I wish I could have gone to a burlesque night here, it was on my to do list.
Wearing: Dress from a small store in Poland
Jacket from Dotti
Boots from Payless
Bag from Longchamp
Necklace from Lovisa
This was the night the Olympics ended. How beautiful does the city look.
It finally came. After weeks of planning and stressing I finally decided to just go to Leicester Square and get some cheap seats. And the day had finally come! I was seeing Matilda on Broadway!
I woke up early and organised myself for the day, camera in hand and smile on face. I was pretty happy because I was seeing G for lunch. She only had 15min with me but it was ok. After she went back to work I went to this cafe called Byron. And oh my was it amazing!
This salad had chicken, avocado, bacon and blue cheese with this amazing sauce. Holey Moley, me oh my. If you are in London go to Byron. It's a chain like every food place there but still amazing. This was a treat meal though and was not in my usual budget. So if you find yourself in London living as one broke girl, maybe don't go here unless it's pay day.
The inside of the top level of Byron. It has the American Diner-esque feel without the constant fear you will catch some sort of disease of the furniture. I am so obsessed with places that take on the rustic look. Byron is like a Boho, rustic, American Diner.
The week before this I had come to meet G for lunch and saw the most humorous fighting duo I have ever seen. A basset hound .vs. a pug. And on this day I met that pug. Turns out the pug gets walked everyday by a close to homeless man and thats when I saw it. That is possibly the best advertisement a shop could have, tie a pug to the front door, everyone will come in.
This was a lovely vintage store in Angel, across the road from Byron. I really do wish I could pull off the pin up girl style on a daily basis. And wear lovely dresses with flowers in the day and lace at night. And big skirts, and big hair and red lips and stockings with a seam down the back of the leg, and lingerie suspenders and cute heels. One day I will be a pin up girl. Maybe only for a month, but it seems to be one of those things that once you start you can't stop.
French scarves
How cute is the Noah's ark pin! All the animals are dangling, how sweet.
Explored a book store
Explored an op-shop and found a Jeremy Scott piece
Flower stall next to the tube.
This is a place I was taken to by one of the creep head designers for Kurt Geiger. Basically here is the story, all fact. I had just finished work and was having a smoke before getting on the tube. A very tall man stopped me and asked about my shoes, the Zara studded boots. We spoke for a bit and he told me he was head designer for Kurt Geiger (by the way I think the shoes are atrocious but that's probably just me). He got on the tube with me and we spoke for the whole ride. I kept the conversation mainly on him, 1. Because I was interested in being a designer and his story was fascinating and 2. I didn't want to tell a stranger my life story. Which now the irony is a big slap in the face as I am here telling all of you my life online.The night ended when he got off a stop before mine. I gave him my number with his promise to have coffee and a talk about designing.
Facts about this man who was forever labelled in my phone as "CREEP":
1. He was in the army very young and killed many people.
2. When he came back he wanted to make amends for what he did so he served as a fireman
3. Became a model
4. Was modelling for a show when someone asked if he liked the clothing. He said no, I could design better myself. The other person said, Do you know who is the designer? And he said yes Karl Lagerfield. And the other man stretched out his hand and said, nice to meet you.
5. Karl told CREEP to come into the office on monday and show him what he could do. No one expected him to come, but he did and he shone like a star and Karl kept him on for 6 years as a designer.
6. After that he went onto Kurt Geiger
7. He was good friends with Vivienne Westwood and Alexander McQueen and actually spoke to McQueen the night he took his life.
I can't be bothered to list anymore. Well instead of taking me to get a coffee, he took me to this exclusive, members only bar called Aqua. We walked through the place heading to the rooftop, pretty much every person we passed said hi to him, I felt obsolete.
On the rooftop we sat and spoke and he was inappropriate and I was creeped out.
Here is how the general repetitive conversation played out.
Creep: Lets make out
Me: No, you're older then my dad that's fucked
Creep: I have never gotten with anyone older then 19, girls usually love me, what do you mean no? No one has ever said no to me.
It sounds like the start of a rape scene in a movie, but in reality he just sooked like a puppy, kept trying to get handsy and insisting it was ok. But thank god I had told him I was leaving on the dot at midnight.
I felt a little bit like cinderella, getting all dressed up and going out to some ridiculously fancy rooftop bar. I was rich for the night. I was one of those trophy girlfriends who doesn't pay for anything (I couldn't even if I wanted to), I usually do pay but tonight I just went with the flow and out of it I scored 2 cocktails which were amazing, and that they should be, considering they were over $60 EACH!!!
Now THAT is ridiculous! So basically this CREEP was like, "Well I was going to see how the night played out and if it went good I was going to take you to Paris this weekend to meet Vivienne Westwood and see her stage and go backstage." I could have gone. If I went home that night and slept with him to make up for the night of saying no. But there was no way in hell I could have ever done that. The choice was simple, lose all sense of self, morals, dignity and soul and enter the fashion world from the first floor, or keep all of the above and enter through the workers entrance. I chose to keep my soul untarnished that day. And as I rode the pumpkin home that night I shed all of my rich girl vibe and became the 1 broke girl in London again.
This place is near Oxford Circus Station and it is by far the best seafood I have ever eaten.
Enjoy!
Oh Carnaby how I miss you.
Macaroons that do not look appealing at all. Worst macaroon display I have ever seen.
Oh doesn't he just look so excited
I need the "I want my hat back" book. It looks ridiculous.
Another place EVERYONE who goes to London should go to. Honestly the best gelato I have eaten in my life. It is in Soho on Old Compton Street. My favourite ever flavour is Fig and marscarpone.
Speaking of treating myself today my before show dessert was my first ever red velvet cupcake (still don't know what it is) and a Reece's peanutbuttercup milkshake. Both of which were amazing. London was where I discovered my love for Reece's, the most amazing chocolate sweet in the world.
Wearing: Hat: dotti
Necklace: Lovisa
Shirt: Cotton on
Skirt: Zara (it's a bit too big for me now)
I was at the back of the back but my view was still pretty spectacular. The show was amazing beyond words. I can't believe how good all the actors were and they were all aged 10-17. They were all younger then me and the whole time all I could think was "I could never do that".
In the intermission I went out for a smoke and heard a couple of adults talking about the show. I overheard one of the girls in the show was her daughter. I was amazed and started talking to them. It is truly admirable the work and effort that gets put into these shows. We go and sit down for a couple of hours not even considering the hours it has spent to put the show together and keep it running. I learnt that this 12yr old who was starting highschool the next day, had to withstand 4 castings to get the part. Then come practice. 12 weeks!! And now she has 7 shows a week plus highschool in between. Not going to lie, I would love for my future child (preferably daughter) to be performing on stage in a broadway musical. And anytime that she isn't performing or studying or going to school she is practising. That is some true dedication. But hey it shows results. If you are in London GO AND SEE MATILDA IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!
This was my favourite song. Not going to lie I got pretty teary. Mainly because of my situation. Being in a whole new country, timezone, by myself, doing all the things you do to be a grown up. E.g. "Be brave enough to fight the creatures that you have to fight beneath your bed" I killed sooo many spiders and mice in London. But I don't know I just I got really sad because after all of that, I didn't feel grown up, I just felt alone and scared. It felt like losing your parents in a shopping centre when you are 5. You get distracted by everything pretty and wander out of sight. And you are happy, everything is so new and amazing and you just can't believe it. Until you turn around and your parents aren't there anymore. The two pillars that held you up for so long are gone, and you come crashing down lost and confused and in a heap on the floor. And after everything, I still don't feel grown up. But I guess in saying that, it's not the destination but how you get there.
