exploring – Lily Pebbles

WALKING THROUGH BRICK LANE

lily — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 06:00:07 +0000

We found ourselves back in East London last weekend, it’s something about the sunshine that makes me want to head to the nearest market and take photos! This time round we wanted to avoid eating lunch in a restaurant and we found ourselves in the Old Truman Brewery in the Boiler House Food Hall. The huge room was filled with food stalls from every different type of cuisine you can imagine. The atmosphere was amazing with music and amazing smells all around – it took us about 30 mins to decide what to eat! I was a little disappointed with the actual quality of the food though, it seemed that most of it was “take-away” style and wasn’t very healthy. I would still recommend it for a visit though and the smoothie/juice stalls were incredible.

Behind the food stalls in the same hall were also some art, style and accessory stalls and I found myself picking up these really cute rings. It was 1 for £8 or 2 for £15, so I got both and I love them! They were from a little brand called ‘Nabi’ which unfortunately I can’t find online but they were exactly what I was looking for and I’m obsessed.

The street art around Brick Lane is amazing and I could literally spend all day taking photos of the huge pieces of art on the brick walls. Some pieces have been there for years, some are fresh! If you’re really lucky and go off-peak you might see one being created in front of you.

My outfit for the day was pretty simple, an Urban Outfitters loose top paired with my Urban Outfitters floral shorts. The un-girlify it I wore my Steve Madden boots and my fringed Brandy Melville bag. My sunglasses are Ray Ban and my nail polish is Models Own Beach Bag.

Just another weekend getting snappy in London…

MARKET DAYS

lily — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 06:00:04 +0000

Last weekend we took advantage of the bright weather and headed out to explore some London markets, which is one of my favourite and most recommended things to do in London. No matter how many times you’ve visited a market I feel like each time you see it differently and there are always new things to discover. This was only my second time to Broadway Market, which is based in East London and is predominantly food. It’s not too big so it’s easy to navigate and the general vibe is quite chilled. We stopped here for lunch, each picking something different from the market, I had a Japanese katsu wrap, Rich chose a vegetarian Indian curry and my parents got pulled pork buns. We also got a delicious fresh detox juice that was completely worth the wait. In the small part of the market based in a school playground I got myself some £10 sunglasses that were exactly what I was looking for and maybe they won’t last me that long, but they’re really nice and such a bargain.

We then drove to Spitalfields market which is a completely different vibe, based over a much larger area in the centre of East London backing onto Brick Lane. I don’t love the market itself as much as you seem to see the same pieces over and over but the independent shops that surround the market are really great. We discovered Vagabond which is the most amazing wine shop. They have all the wines and expertise, you can also sit, eat and there’s a small private room downstairs for tasting sessions. This was probably the highlight of the day – it was great!

Rich and I both wore our Novem & Knight tops, the Emile for Rich and the Hayden for me (which comes up big, I wear the small). I knew they’d be lovely but I was blown away by the quality of the items, such beautiful fabric and the perfect fit that only a stylish couple like Sammi and Jason could design! I’m so happy the brand is such a success. I wore the Hayden top with my Topshop shorts, ASOS leather jacket, Brandy Melville bag and Hudson boots. oh and Topshop ‘Green Room’ on my nails, in case you wondered!

I hope you like when I share my random photos with you, it’s something I really enjoy ding on the weekend and I feel like it’s a great way to share London with all of you all over the world.

BROADWAY MARKET, LONDON

lily — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 07:00:00 +0000

Having grown up in London it amazes me that I can still discover new parts I haven’t explored before. A couple of weekends ago, Anna and Mark took myself and Rich to Broadway Market which is East London just by the canal. It’s not huge but it has two parts to it and the whole market is very foodie, which is just my kind of thing!

There are a few flower stalls as well as accessories and baby clothes but the amount of food on offer was overwhelming, in a good way. After spotting an amazing hot dog, some intense brownies and fudge we walked around the corner to the smaller school yard part of the market where we settled on pulled pork served in a bun with homemade pickles. We also tried out some fresh juices, although Mark’s choice was so much better than ours – see this vlog.

I loved the whole atmosphere of the market and I would definitely go back… I need to try that hot dog! So if you’re ever stuck for ideas and you’re in East London on a weekend, head over to Broadway Market for something a bit different and delicious!

WHITE LEATHER & COFFEE

lily — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 05:00:00 +0000

I love spending sunny weekends by the river, strolling along the Southbank, visiting new exhibitions and taking in the amazing view. We ended up in a café called Albion, just behind the Tate and it was really lovely. We popped in for a cup of coffee (and chips!) and ended up coming back later for dinner. As well as the café/restaurant they also have a small shop with their own cereals and porridge as well as fresh juices, fruit and veg. We spent a good twenty minutes looking at all the amazing food and cakes before sitting down. For dinner we shared a huge crudités platter and some soup and it was delicious!

Whilst Rich took his penny board for a spin, I was busy trying out my new River Island jacket. White leather is ridiculously scary and I was convinced all day that I looked like some kind of Michael Jackson tribute. I do like it though and it’s the perfect way to transition into Spring whilst it’s still little cold but too warm to wear black leather. I didn’t get any funny looks so I guess that means it passed the test?

So what do you think? Can I get away with a white leather jacket?

WARNER BROS. STUDIO TOUR: HOGWARTS IN THE SNOW

lily — Sun, 15 Dec 2013 13:00:00 +0000

For my birthday last weekend, the lovely people at the Warner Bros Studio Tour gave me and my family some tickets to Hogwarts In The Snow. I didn’t want to ruin the experience for any of you who are thinking of going but at the same time I really wanted to do a post for the non-Harry potter fans who hadn’t even considered going.

Out of the 6 of us, only 1 or 2 had read or seen all the Harry Potter stories, but we all absolutely loved it as it’s just so incredibly interesting. It’s based at the studios where all the films were created and so many of the huge sets have been kept there. There are exclusive behind the scenes documentaries and interviews which was one of my favourite bits. Learning about the special effects and visual effects completely baffled me and made me want to go home and have a Harry Potter film marathon.

The actual construction of Hogwarts and how they filmed the the building itself completely blew me away and as it’s currently Hogwarts in the snow, it had been covered in snow for the occasion.

I can’t recommend it enough. I left feeling inspired and seriously impressed with the work that went into making such an epic series of films. There isn’t really anything else like it and if you have any kind of interest in film making then you’ll love it.

If tickets for Hogwarts in the snow are sold out, I’d recommend booking for later in the year as it would still be great without the Christmas decorations and snow. We had the best day and left with a belly full of Butter Beer and Every Flavour Beans.

Have you been to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour in London yet?

BURGERS & TEA

lily — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Despite the rain, I spent last Saturday in Camden which is one of my favourite areas in London. Although it’s one of the largest tourist spots, it still feels incredibly chilled and there are always new things to discover.

On this trip we had two spots in mind to visit, Honest Burger and Yumchaa. I’ve had an Honest before, but I wanted to introduce it to Anna and her other half (we all share a mutual love for burgers). The one in Camden is really tiny and it’s normally quite hard to get a table so we sat at the bar. The burgers are amazing, they’re not as greasy as Five Guys, not as clean cut as somewhere like GBK, so they sit somewhere amongst Patty & Bun and Shake Shack. And the chips? Well Anna called them “the best I’ve ever had”, so they get a huge thumbs up!

After burgers, looking at old cameras and reminiscing over Babar books, we headed to Yumchaa. I knew quite little about this place apart from that it’s a tea house it looked really nice. We grabbed a good spot in the corner and spent the next 15 minutes trying to pick a tea each from the extensive menu. I chose Jasmine, Anna had Adventure, Mark chose Chelsea Chai and Rich had Soho Spice (I also had a slice of lemon drizzle cake because I couldn’t resist!). All of the teas come as loose leaves and you can either have it in a tea pot or in a “magic tea filter”. The magic tea filter is amazing, you simply add in your leaves, pour in hot water and then when you’re ready to drink you just place it onto your mug and it filters the tea through from the bottom to ensure you get all the flavour. It automatically stops when you lift it off the mug, like magic! You can actually buy these online and I’m definitely going to get one.

The day may have continued into the night and may have involved bowling and many pound coins spent in the arcade, but we won’t go into any more detail there.

So two new places in London that I’d definitely recommend visiting. Have you been to either of these?