EAT&DRINK: PIZZA EAST (SHOREDITCH)

For me, every restaurant in London is a new restaurant. 

It is so exciting to learn of "new" restaurants in London that I need to try, or even better, places that I have tried and want to take my husband back to!

Pizza East definitely falls under the latter.

I am starting a new series of blog posts where I will highlight notable restaurants and pubs in surrounding areas of London. If you have any suggestions of restaurants that I need to try, please leave a comment or reach out to me via email or twitter! xx

I had a ladies lunch at Pizza East in Shoreditch a couple weeks ago, and I was pleasantly surprised that this wasn't just your run of the mill pizza joint. This place had character.

When you walk into the Pizza East, you're immediately taken aback by the openness of the restaurant. It is a huge, airy, obviously-converted old warehouse, and you feel a lightness come over you, like you can just now finally breathe. Deep, I know!  Some restaurants can be so stuffy, sometimes you just need a little bit of space!

Pizza East is definitely pulling off that industrial, rustic, farmhouse-chic feel. Between the exposed brick and metal air ducts, the inviting farmhouse tables, the down-home country napkins and the playful, sparkly lighting, you're definitely getting an eclectic experience.

We had a 1:00PM lunch date, so we had the entire back-half of the restaurant to ourselves.  It was lovely to be able to chat and goof-off without anyone sneering in our direction. 

At first, I was a little put off by how the wine was served, (in little tumbler glasses), but after round two, who cares! I will say, it totally grew on me! I love how unpretentious it is. I mean, you gotta drink it out of something, (the bottle?) and I think it goes perfectly with the rustic feel.

Tapas style food is my favorite type of food because I like to try a little bit of everything. Even though this isn't necessarily a tapas restaurant, we treated it as such and shared everything. THOSE ARE MY KINDA GIRLS!

We ordered the Soppressata, Burrata, Tomato & Olives pizza, the Buffalo Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil pizza and just as a shout out to the Good Ole' US-of-A, the Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

Everything was delicious, and no, we did not need a takeaway box.

As we were leaving I got these shots of these two cozy nooks. I love the contrast between the whimsical chandelier lighting and the wood stacks.

I would like to sit back there next time I go with Mr. J! 

For more information about Pizza East check out their website at:

http://www.pizzaeast.com/

SEE: V&A MUSEUM

The Victoria & Albert Museum is one of the largest museums in the world. It holds 4.5 million permanent objects of decorative art and design. Thanks, Wikipedia! 

The museum is located in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in a heavy museum-populated area, so it is really easy to find. Other museums that are in the area are the Natural History Museum, Royal Albert Hall, and Science Museum.

It's a really nice area in general so I would suggest going on a nice day, start early (the museum is going to take a while to walk through) and then go out and explore the area.

I like to give myself plenty of time at these museums. I have yet to go with a friend because I like to walk at my own pace and I enjoy the peacefulness of being in my head for a while!

I am very methodical when walking these museums. I refuse to leave before I walk into/through every, single room. I want to make sure that I don't miss anything. I use a map and put an 'X' on every room I enter and then I KNOW that I am finished with that level and can move on to the next.

The V&A has seven different levels; six of which I completely walked (the fifth level is board rooms and such). The museum is split up into five sections: Exhibitions, Asia, Materials & Techniques (Ceramics, Fashion, Ironwork, Jewellery, Silver, Paintings, etc...), Europe and Modern (20th Century). 

I was not as interested in the Ceramics, Glass, Ironwork. I think I sped through the sixth floor, which was all ceramics and furniture. I really enjoyed the seeing fashion and clothes through the ages, sculptures, paintings and jewelry the most.

One thing I found unique, yet did not partake in, were the interactive/hands-on exhibits. There were tons of these stations where you could try on clothes, draw, research online, etc. There were a lot of students and organized groups going through the museum; it makes learning much more enjoyable!

I watched THIS VIDEO! to get an idea of what I needed to keep a look out for. I didn't want to skim over a famous piece of art in the museum since they don't advertise that such pieces are more special than others.

Even though I tried my best, I probably only saw/took pictures of half of the pieces listed on that video. There is just so much to look at, it's nearly impossible to see it all in one trip. 

This is random, but I was surprised at the extent of the large collection of religious artifacts this museum had. Maybe it's my fault for not doing research before hand, religious artifacts aren't really my thing, but my mom would love it. 

Anywayzzzz... 

Something that is "special" or famous to someone else might not catch your eye or inspire you in the same way. That's why I just take pictures of things that move me in some way, shape or form. 

To each their own!

I read somewhere that travelers or sightseers should insert themselves in their pictures, otherwise you can just find the same picture online. So that's what I'm doing! #selfiecentral

For more pictures of the V&A Museum, CLICK HERE!

WEEK SIXTEEN

Week 16 was big. That's why it's coming to you a couple of days late...

I like my Mondays pretty low-key. It's my time to catch up on (American) Sunday shows from Hulu Plus, run errands, grocery shop, get coffee, read, clean up the flat, catch up on blog-related duties... I just don't like to schedule any major outings until later in the week; it's my thing.

If you've followed along with the blog, you know that I pushed back going to the V&A Museum for over a week due to laziness, sleepiness, etc... Well, I am happy to tell you that I finally got it together and visited it last Tuesday! It was great! It is a beautiful building in a great part of South West London and is very easy to find.

I will have a separate post for the V&A Museum, but here are a few teaser pics!

After all that walking, I was pretty spent, so I stopped into the 'World's First Museum Cafe' (just found that fact out from one of my new London books!) to refuel and get ready for round two.

I signed up for Meetup.com when I initially moved to London as a way to meet people. Duh! I haven't really done anything with it, but Tuesday morning I saw an email for a Ladies in Blogging meetup. I probably would have ignored this because I, myself, am not really a "Lady in Blogging," but the meetup was located just a couple of miles from the V&A and the timing seemed to work out perfectly, so I signed up! It's amazing the things you will do to meet new people when you live outside of your comfort zone. I am doing things that I would have NEVER done in Charlotte, but it's so cool and liberating at the same time!

I got to the restaurant a bit early and just posted up at the bar and waited. 

Once everything was situated, the Head of Social Media for O2 (my cellphone carrier) started a presentation about O2's social strategy. It was very interesting, but it was wayyy over my head. Many of the bloggers that attended have their own businesses. Since I don't have a business, I just sat there, shaking my head and "uh huh-ing" at the appropriate times. I literally went to this meetup to MEET people, AKA make friends. I am a baby-blogger, with no business and very little social media experience.

The good thing is I met some very nice people, and I might have even made a new friend! Sophie owns her own business and we hit it off right away. I think we even have a date to experiment with some blue cheese stuffed olives!

First meetup? Check! 

First British friend? Hopefully we can check that one off too!

this is how Ladies in Blogging learns about social strategy... rose' and prosecco for days :)

You might be wondering, "Where's James?", "Where's that sweet baby face?" Well, James has been a very busy boy with work and he was on a work retreat Wednesday-Friday. We will pick back up with him later in the week!

Wednesday, I met my friends Ali and Alejandra for lunch at Pizza East in Shoreditch. Just call us the A-Team. Since moving to London, I am now 'Blonde Alex' because almost everyone I have met is either named Allison, Ali, Allie, Alexandra or Alejandra. Bizarre, I know.

These ladies love pizza and mac-n-cheese as much as I do. I think that is a great foundation for any friendship. 

Pizza East was delicious and the Shoreditch area is very cool and hip. I will definitely be doing a walkabout in that area very soon!

Later that night we all met back up for our weekly Bachelor bracket. Pizza twice in one day? I think so!

Thursday I had plans to meet up with a new friend whom I reached out via blogging. See, Rebecca is an American expat, living in our area, who has a dog named Sir Oliver and they have gone through the process of bringing their dog over to London. A match made in heaven! I reached out to Rebecca before the holidays and she was very sweet and open to meeting with me.

We met right around the corner at a Restaurant/Bar/Cafe combo called Vivo. There we got to know each other, drink wine and then walk home in the rain. Standard Thursday night!

Since I was living like a single college student for the past three days (cue: pizza and alcohol), I had to get rid of the evidence of me living in squalor. That my friends was about 5.5 hours of cleaning. My hands are still raw.

James and I decided to stay local and try out an Austrian restaurant nearby. The food was great and we were finally able to catch up and share a beer together after a whirlwind week for James.

We all know that James works weekends. Just assume that he is working every weekend until I tell you otherwise. Grr.

The girls and I had big plans for Saturday night. My friend Ali recently reached out to a club promoter who was able to hook us up at the club Mahiki. Clubs are not really my scene, but free is, so we put it on the calendar!

Oh, dear god, this is happening.

Saturday, I worked on blog stuff and then later started the exhausting process of trying to find something to wear. This would be the second time that I attempt to wear heels in London (the first, left me swollen and blistered for weeks). Luckily, a lot of the stores in the area were having sales and I was able to grab something for cheap. I packed up some back-ups and head over to Ali's to get ready.

Yes. Ladies and Gentlemen, I wore sequin pants instead of my leather leggings. WHAT IS HAPPENING??!

Mahiki was a blast! I will be posting more pictures from Mahiki at a later date.

Needless to say, I was under the weather Sunday.  My sweet husband went out and got me breakfast before heading into the office. He knew I needed something in my belly! I rested until James got done with work and then we went out to watch the Manchester United vs. Chelsea match. Ouch! That one hurt. But, on the bright side, that Bloody Mary did help with my headache!