Who Wants A Brew?

Today marks the 1 month countdown until I fly home to the UK for a visit and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been 6ix (lol) months since I moved to Toronto and although it's been f'ing ace, it's also naturally come with its challenges. We'll be touching down in London to celebrate my bff's engagement, then heading home to Manchester to SQUEEZE MY FAMILY & finally Greece for my dear friend's baby's christening. I'm super duper giddy w excitement! I'm also looking forward to familiar faces down the supermarket aisle such as jaffa cakes, Yorkshire tea, mini cheddars and ofc marmite!! My current speciality actually is Nigella's marmite spaghetti recipe which is both foolproof and scrumptious!

Here are some British faves crocheted with love by Kate Jenkins:

& Who could possibly forget the classic full English?! I remember when I turned 13 my Auntie Jane, who I'm proudly named after, bought me a mushroom Pandora charm as whenever we'd go to hers every Sunday for a fry up, I'd always leave my mushrooms. Perhaps the most British anecdote I've shared to date!

Ramadan Kareem

I just wanted to hop on to wish everyone celebrating Ramadan Kareem!

Although I'm a Christian, my partner and his magnificent family are Muslims so I have tremendous love and respect for the religion. Our kitchen is brimming w dates, mangos and Rooh Afza (rose) syrup in anticipation! Blessings to you and yours during this holy month which encourages generosity, gratitude and humility. Ramadan also provides an opportunity to get closer to God, your family and your community.

Actually, My Name's Marina

Kalo mina! White rabbit, white rabbit, white rabbit!

I'm so overjoyed to hear about the release of Marina Diamandis' 4th album, Love + Fear. It's been a hot minute since we've heard Marina and once I read the news, I blasted a Marina and the Diamonds playlist and was transported to my youth - I Am Not A Robot was my anthem. I vividly remember going to see her when I was 16 with my bff and her f'ing ace dad (underage had to be escorted lol) at Manchester Academy and being such a fan girl.

Marina wore a dress w Bambi on and was mesmerising!

At the time, I was struggling with my English / Greek mixed identity, plus the overrated bs known as fitting in and it gave me such a boost that Marina was vocal about her Greek heritage. It's fascinating reflecting now I'm older and wiser (debatable) : the vital and tremendous impact of representation cannot be underestimated. 

Funny enough, when I was living in Bayswater, London a couple winters ago, Marina used to go to the same Prett (UK coffee shop) as me and have long phone calls in Greek. I never thought it appropriate to approach her, as I figured the reason she was chatting in Greek may partly be to cling on to some level of anonymity and I wanted to respect that. She was, after all, my adolescent idol! 

pix by Paper Magazine

So far I'm living for her new music esp (no surprises) her summer anthem Orange Trees which whisks me away to long summer afternoons in Corfu. She's some kind of magic!