Phew. Sorry about the radio silence. What a week it’s been.
We zipped up to London on a/ hottest day of the year b/ the first day of the Olympics. Cue a 4 hour journey of blood, sweat and a lot of tears from Country Bebe. But boy was it worth it.
The anticipation of the opening ceremony crackled in the air all afternoon and as we lay on the sofa at the in-laws recovering with a pint of G&T, it made the spectacle all the more interactive and poignant as we heard the fireworks in real-time.
It turned out to be the start of the perfect weekend, which continued on Friday with a much needed MOT trip to the beauty salon (Oxygene in Crouch End, it’s fab).
Then, in glorious solitude I wandered with a coffee and leisurely browsed the various boutiques and delis of N8 sans baby, husband or any pressure on my time or attention. It was bliss.
I adore Alberta’s appliqued playsuits for Country Bebe. I picked up another for his collection at Oliver Bonas:
Then time to pick up my boys and head to Chalk Farm for a good old Mansi family lunch. Italian style. It was with a HUGELY proud grin that Country Bebe’s Nonno (grandpa in Italian) paraded him around the family business (and North London foodie institution), Marine Ices. Introducing him to both his culinary heritage and cooing customers. Soon our table was heavy with delicious Southern Italian cooking and I had a pang of ‘Why did we leave London again?’ – with pizza this good you can see why:
Country Bebe’s face when he encountered his first pizza crust was a sight to behold. His Italian genes were shining brightly as he inhaled half my lunch (yes, that is a pizza crust stuffed down his shirt for later).
Next up was The Big Day. My best friend’s wedding in the Richard Curtis-esque English countryside of West Sussex. Including cricket matches, babbling brooks filled with baby ducklings and wheat wafting in the breeze. I won’t share too many photos of the day as they’re not mine to do so, but suffice to say I spent most of the day bursting with love, pride and awe at how two such perfect people found each other. It is often the best friend’s stance to think no-one worthy of their brilliant chum but in this case all I could do was stand back and admire cupid’s work.
It was our first 24 hours sans Country Bebe and although I relished being hands-free to fully appreciate the day (namely prosecco and gorgeous Italian feast), I literally RAN into his bedroom the next morning to smother him with kisses. The perfect balance, non?
After a lazy Sunday brunch at home we prised CB out of his grandparents arms and headed home in, thankfully, much cooler conditions.
Then, after a few days back at home we were off to Somerset again for more grandparent doting and dog bothering (CB is OBSESSED with the family labrador).
Back at the ranch now so business as usual from next week.
Love, CF x
