Dinner With.... 'Hello April'

'Dinner With...' is a series I've been looking forward to starting since I first shared the idea with you all a couple of weeks ago. I love going out for dinner and talking all things food, life and internet related. One of my goals for 2015, was to get out more, meet new people and have more fun. I'm hoping to post one 'Dinner With...' every month, where I'm planning on meeting up and hanging out with the writers behind the blogs I love. 

I decided to invite April to my first ever 'Dinner With...' as April was one of the first friends I made in the blogging world. We live seconds away from each other in Central London and often meet up and attend events together.  As I'm currently on a plant based diet- having swapped processed foods for fresh, organic foods. Chocolate for Cacao and caramel for Medjool dates... there was only one place I had in mind to go out to Dinner - Vantra Vitao. In case you didn't know, Vantra is a healthy plant based Vegan restaurant that caters to not only those with mainstream dietary requirements but also those lesser known allergies and intolerance's.

However, on arrival... it seemed Vantra didn't get the memo, and were sadly closed upon our arrival - without any mention of this happening on their website or social media channels. After a lot of expletives, we popped across the road to Primark to indulge in a little retail therapy. I picked up the 'Central Perk' friends Tee which you can see me wearing in my most recent video as well as a e candles from the home section. I was hoping to grab a few pairs of casual flat shoes, but wasn't feeling anything in the range available.

We decided to head to Mildreds (Vegetarian Restaurant) in Soho, and after a ten minute walk, we discovered that it was so busy - you couldn't even get through the door. Perhaps they all found out Vantra was closed too? 

At this point we were starving, so had a 'Screw it' moment and walked a few doors down to Wagamamas - where we discovered their fabulous 'catwalk' entrance walk way.

It may have taken 3 restaurants, and a lot longer than I expected to actually eat something that wasn't going to hurt me (Food Intolerance's), but I eventually settled on the (Yasai Cha Han) brown rice bowl minus a couple of foods I can't eat.

If golden beige food is what you're after... then this is the meal for you. I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I did struggle to find something on the menu that was suitable for my dietary requirements and had I read the menu before heading in there - I likely wouldn't have chosen it as a restaurant. The Edamame beans on the other hand... were amazing. 

I'll admit, at this point in the evening, and being at our third restaurant - any thought of blogging questions went out the window... Instead, we focused just on enjoying ourselves, and having fun. We had a chance to talk about thing we want to improve on our blogs, things we hope to achieve and generally finding happiness with our blogs.  For instance, April found happiness when her Chili Chicken Ramen arrived. (Don't kill me April)

Not forgetting that an evening out with another blogger isn't complete without a bathroom selfie, we made sure we headed to the mirror to grab one. Although the evening didn't quite go as planned, which means that I didn't get a chance to ask April any of the 'Dinner With...' questions, we still had a great evening. Sometimes you need to go 'off piste' every so often to remind you what it is that you want to focus on and although the evening didn't technically go as planned, I feel like we both took a lot away from it. 

Em xxx

Why I want 2015 to be less serious and more fun filled.

Hi, I'm Em, and I've become a bore.

Phew.

There, I've said it.

In my old age.. (twenties) I seem to have forgotten how to have fun, and that, quite frankly makes me sad. There are a few factors that have caused me to forget how to have fun and some of those have occurred over the past few years. Alongside those however,  are a few more serious things that have happened in my life to change me completely as a person - but now isn't the time for stories.

I have a process driven creative job, which means that although I get to think up and make fun films for a living - it also means that I always have a team of people relying on me, and I am always wary of deadlines, schedules, budgets, and responsibilities. I've even turned into one of those horrendous people that, gulp, worries about health and safety. I'm not even joking when I say that I actually told my partner he had to gaffer tape a temporary piece of carpet down in a half finished conservatory over Christmas because of health and safety.

I feel like I spend so much of my time being serious that sometimes I have to stop and really think about when the last time I laughed, like *really* laughed was - and often I can't remember. Which truly makes me sad.

With that in mind, I want to make 2015 the year in which I really focus on not only moving forward with my goals, ambitions and personal growth. But the year in which I truly find my confidence.

I grew so much in 2014. This time last year, I hadn't even started  this blog and that feels just so surreal to me. I can't remember what I used to fill my time with before it!

2015 is  the year in which I - a self confessed 'I'd rather stay at home and look at cat pictures on the internet' person, want to get out more, meet new people and and learn to have fun. With that in mind, I've worked out a way to do just that and take you along with me. I'm starting a brand new lifestyle series all about getting out, and having fun - meeting new people and of featuring one of my true loves in life - food.

Every month from here on in, I'll be writing a 'Dinner With.....' Post. Where i'll be heading out to dinner with a friend, new or old - and getting to know them a little better. I'll have a set of questions I'm hoping to put to each dinner guest and of course I'll be taking pictures to share with you. If I'm lucky, who knows - I may even be able to persuade a few blogging super stars to have dinner with me! If you don't ask, you don't get... right?

Em xxx