#18 A Weekend Well Spent.
A weekly recommendations newsletter featuring my London faves and some things I'm loving that week.
In my mid-twenties, I started taking beginner ballet classes. It’ll come as no shock to hear that I found everything about this new hobby extremely challenging. Ballet is, in fact, no joke. Every move felt awkward, and every position felt completely unnatural in my body, but I loved the class so much. There was something oddly alluring about being humbled so intensely. I think it’s because in that situation, there really is no choice but to just allow yourself to be, well, bad at something. It was so freeing, and I went into every class with zero pressure on myself to be good at it. Much to my surprise, the gaping hole that would have once been home to a crushing level of expectation was instead filled with something much kinder: curiosity and a newfound ability to celebrate progress at the smallest scale. An unexpected treat!
I committed to going to class every week, and every week, I got just a little bit better. I was certainly not making it to any advanced classes, but that wasn’t the point. It was the experience of learning something completely new that felt so fulfilling and enriching. I stopped going to classes around 2020 for obvious reasons, and I just never quite got around to going again. I’ve recently made a return to my old, beloved hobby, and it’s a new weekend ritual I’m so excited to have back.
Doing
On Saturday (well, last Saturday, actually), I went to the first session of a six-week course of beginner ballet classes taught by the insanely talented Patricia Zhou. My legs are sore, but my heart is full!
Eating
I went for dinner with my lovely mum as a belated Mother’s Day celebration, and she picked an absolute gem of a restaurant! We went to Okan on the South Bank, and it was so good. If you go, make sure to order the okonomiyaki.
Coffee
My beautiful friend Rosie was down from Edinburgh, so I caught up with her over coffee at Pophams in Islington. Pophams has great outside seating, and we spent a few hours basking in the sun, catching up, and gossiping- heaven!
Reading
I tore through Alice Winn’s In Memorium. It’s a tender and heartbreaking rendering of the devastation wrought by WWI. It manages to be both tragic and hopeful all at once.
Wearing
I’m having a bit of a love affair with blue this spring. This thrifted blue striped men’s shirt has been heavy on rotation recently. I picked it up last summer in Edinburgh at Armstrongs Vintage, and it’s the perfect amount of oversized.
I’ve been waiting for the moment to pull out this cobalt blue skirt I got from Uniqlo last summer, and the recent 19°c (!!!) days were the perfect excuse.
That’s it for this weekend! x
Love you!!
I’ve been really enjoying reading your newsletter and getting to know London through your eyes. I might be going to the city some time this year, so will definitely be visiting some of the spots.
I’ve also taken ballet classes years ago, and still think about those lessons as the best physical exercise for both body and mind. I’ve been thinking of going back, but there aren’t good schools near me unfortunately.