The return of the quad

Things have been crazy busy again this week, both work stuff and life stuff, but it's all turned out well so we finally have a more chilled and relaxed RainStorm back! (I plan to enjoy it because never lasts for long!)

For the first time in ages, we were able to head out to join the London Friday Night Skate crew for their Sunday Stroll. Out of all the weekly events that that run (Wed evening, Fri evening and Sun afternoon), the Sunday is the slowest and most relaxed. Once a month, they do a "snail stroll" which is even slower. Perfect for new skaters or those who haven't been out much.

It was a jam-packed with tourist sights route too: Buckingham Palace...

Horse guards parade (towards Westminster)...

Big Ben,Westminster, a traditional red double-decker and a boombox carrying photobomber!

Trafalgar Square...

The Strand...

Dury Lane (near Covent Garden)...

Then Regents Street and back to Hyde Park... :)

A very cheery marshall (standing in the road to keep it clear whilst we pass).

The marshals were amazing (as always) and I completely enjoyed how relaxed it was. Normally I struggle to keep up because I skate in quads rather than inlines: my wheels have a much higher surface area which means I'm fighting friction much more than my all-in-line companions. The slower speed suited me perfectly!

And, shockingly, there were quite a few other sets of quads out. Usually I'm one if about three quad skaters (in a field of 100-200), but last week I was one if at least ten! It's time for the quad to make a comeback!

My lovely skates :)

Cheese heaven

After a long (and slightly poorly) week, I was in desperate need of some relaxation. So we had a lazy morning and eventually headed out the door about midday!

Our destination was Borough Market, near London Bridge. It was full to bursting with people (and amazing stalls). The mission was simple: bread and cheese for an indulgent evening :) Given my recent lack of cheese in my diet, this seemed like a fantastic idea! I tasted loads of cheeses (and a few saucisson secs too). I picked a good range of cheeses and a huge loaf of crusty bread. We also decided to buy some exciting looking mushrooms for a risotto.

I was too busy enjoying the market and sampling the cheeses to take any photos! But this is what the cheese looked like when we got it home (before unwrapping, obviously).

And here's the mushrooms

Along the way there were a couple of diversions - lunch ended up being: a super-huge Red Leicester cheese straw, a cream filled donut, fresh lemonade and two empanadas. In that order. Yum yum!

Then there was a lazy afternoon, mostly involving a sofa and the TV...

Dinner was a-ma-zing...

Mushroom and asparagus risotto. Not cooked by me :)

Our dinner! How exciting...

This cheese was so yummy (and liquid) that it started to leak once cut open!

Monitoring sleep

Whilst flicking through Zest magazine last week, I spotted a page of health-related apps. Interesting. I decided to download a couple, including this sleep app:

It's rather clever - you place your phone on your bed (there's a testing setting to check it's positioned correctly) and it monitors your sleep by your movement.

Every morning, it graphs your sleep and rates the quality. If you set the alarm, then you need to identify a 30min window; the app then decides exactly when to wake you, aiming to do it when you are in light sleep so that you wake feeling fresh rather than groggy.

It does all sorts of other clever things too. My favourite is the "sleep notes". Every evening you answer a short list of questions (either preset or your own). Then in the morning the app works out how the categories have affected your sleep. The more time you do it for, the more accurate the results.

e.g. Apparently, having a light dinner and working out in the day tend to improve the quality of my sleep, whereas eating dinner late has a negative effect:

I've used this app every day for the last two weeks and am still finding it fascinating. I'm not particularly feeling the benefits of being woken at the "best part" of my sleep cycle, but I expect that will come in time.

Oops...

... I can't believe that it's been a week since the latest UK Ballet Tweep Meet and I haven't got round to blogging about it. Madness.

It was pretty much a bigger and better version of the first one. Seven dancers from far and wide all met in London for a fantastic class by Karis at Everybody Ballet. There was lots of stretching and beautiful exercises choreographed to real ballet music.

No spectators taking pictures this time - this is the only proof that we were there!

Afterwards, drinks and food. A chance to catch up with old friends and meet new ones. A blissful way to spend a Sunday.

Exciting snack box

I am completely behind the times with this, but last week I signed up for graze - healthy snacks delivered by post. I did it on a whim and was overwhelmed when I visited the website and was confronted by over 100 snack options!

The first box arrived yesterday...

It's an exciting-looking box.

Inside was a cute introduction leaflet, and a personalised flier explaining what was in this box...

What I love is that you rate what you're sent and then they use your ratings to send you things you like the best. And there is such a variety of different snacks. The first one was yummy; I hope the rest are too.

If you're interested in trying it out, you can enter my special code and get your first box free! In return, I get a £1 donation to charity for each person who uses my code...

Interestingly, the code that they sent me today had a "D" added to the end. I don't know if that matters at all...

(There's no obligation to continue receiving boxes - you can cancel your order after the first box or at any time after that.)

Fitness shake up

I'm sure I've read multiple times that changing your workout every now and again is a good idea. Something to do with challenging your muscles to work in different ways... ?

Currently, my main focus is ballet classes (which I'm sure everyone reading this blog is sick of hearing about!). It inspires, motivates and pushes me to work harder.

However, to develop in my ballet I need to do other work: cardio, strength and stretching. Luckily I've recently gained access to a gym. It doesn't have a swimming pool (I do enjoy swimming) but the range of equipment has inspired me. I *might* even start running on the treadmill once my IT band has been stretched out (slightly overdid it with nearly seven hours of ballet classes last week!).

On top of generally working out and having a go on the machines (my current favourites being the cross-trainer and rowing machine), I have one specific goal in mind: to work on my core strength and upper back muscles.

If I'm feeling brave then I might start having a go at pull ups, encouraged by a recent post by Janetha at Meals and Moves blog. She demonstrates a progression of moves to build up to a full pull up:

I've got a long way to go!

Film-tastic

Last week we watched The Adjustment Bureau. The DVD arrived from LoveFilm ages ago, but it never quite felt like the right time to sit down and watch a "serious" film. I had added it to my film list on the recommendation of a friend - he said it was a bit like Inception but that he'd enjoyed it more. He certainly didn't mention ballet...

I was blown away! It was a great film, but the dancing was particularly fantastic - I obviously recognised Emily Blunt as an actress (from The Devil Wears Prada!) and was amazed at her dancing. The filming was done in a way that the viewer knew she was dancing. There apparently was a body double for a couple of the trickiest moves, but she did almost everything.

The moment the film finished, I was online searching for more information about the Emily Blunt and her dancing. The first impressive fact is that she hadn't danced at all before taking this role. The director had planned to cast a dancer to play the part of Elise, a contemporary ballet dancer, but when Emily auditioned the production team realised that she was right for the part.

She trained for months with the Cedar Lake dance company before filming began. This article on Female First includes a fantastic short video about her training.

I am a teeny bit jealous of her natural ability and the training opportunities that she was given. :)

If you just rent one movie this year, my recommendation is The Adjustment Bureau!