April has been such a nice month! I started the month with Easter at my parents', and made home made Hot Cross Buns for the first time, then completed another overseas trip with work, felt important at the foreign office (although not really!) and managed not to collapse on my first ever park run.
This is a little bit late, but worth it to relive the sunny April memories!
Friends
I had a wonderful visit this month from Chelsea and Andrew who came down to London to celebrate our friend Naz's 30th birthday. It was a brilliant day of sunshine so we took advantage of this to enjoy some cocktails over the river from me in Canary Wharf (so much so we were late for the party!)
I was also roped into doing my first ever park run, in honour of my friend Cat's birthday. I made the trip down to Dulwich Park and managed to get around the 5k course and although I didn't run all of it I gave it a good go! This was on the same weekend as the marathon, which I popped out of my house to watch again. I was early enough this year to spot Mo Farrah run past. Watching the marathon runners really put my measly 5k into perspective!
We also enjoyed a lunchtime picnic in Tavistock Square on another warm day (April really did give us a glimpse of summer!) Nothing more wonderful than sunshine in London - and also all my warm cycles to and from work, a reward for all of those cold or wet days throughout the winter!
Being Totally Uncool
I attended a few meetings at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office this month, and with some slight encouragement from my colleague (she didn't have to do much really) I snapped a selfie outside the front sign. Just gives me a thrill to have been inside!
Ukraine
I've been to Kiev before, on my trip back to London from Asia, but I was happy to be visiting again, with work this month. My trip coincided with Orthodox Easter, which meant lots of easter eggs and decorated rabbit statues all over the city. I also stumbled upon a blessing ceremony outside one of the churches, which was interesting to witness.
This time I also scheduled an extra day so that I could go on a day trip to Chernobyl. I wasn't sure what to expect or whether it would feel intrusive. But it was very interesting to learn more about the disaster, which I know only through archive footage since I was only one when it happened. The abandoned town of Pripyat is like a time capsule from the Soviet Era, the area still too contaminated for anyone to live there.
The tour is a long day, on and off the bus to look at different sites along the way, but it is super informative and mostly sensitive to the situation (there was only one point when the guide encouraged everyone to get off the bus and take selfies which I thought was not really appropriate).
Zero Waste Life
Still doing my best to live the low waste life (I can't go zero). I've finally planted some more fruit/veg in our garden. I am not sure I can keep any of this alive but I will give it a go! (the garlic is already growing)
I also ordered a new phone case - since pela case now do them for Samsung phones. This is an eco-friendly and compostable phone case. I have donated my old one, which doesn't remove the problem all together but is better than just throwing away.
Lastly, I am currently half way through my 'make your own dress' challenge. Being mentored by my wonderful mother to try and make a dress suitable for a couple of the weddings I am going to this year. So far so good, although the pattern is difficult to follow and we were duped into buying more fabric than we needed. It's a lot of work, and it's not cheaper than buying from a shop but I think the sense of achievement will be enough to justify all the work!
