As a child, my Mum would make me read 'the want want want' story, a story about children who wanted everything, they'd stamp their feet if they didn't get it. My Mum would worry, worry that I always wanted to be buying things, my Grandma recalled the time I actually stomped on her feet because she wouldn't get me an ice cream. I'm not painting myself in a good light here am I? I'm not saying I was a bad kid (we're talking toddler here), I certainly wasn't, never had a detention, isolation or even negative comment at school. I had 100% attendance so clearly, the little 'want want want' brat within me was soon shaken out of me after my terrible toddler period. I guess what I'm getting at here is people change. I've changed so much over the last year and it's something I wanted to touch on today. We change every day, we are all at different places in life, with different life experiences and we've been through things that shape us, change us and make us who we are. I like to give people a chance, they're probably not bad people, they may have just been through a lot of rubbish in their life and it's made them have certain traits we don't agree with. A relevant example is Olivia from Love Island (yes I'm addicted), whilst her personality seems nasty towards Chris, actually, we can see she's clearly broken and insecure after a volatile relationship and that's where her personality stems from (not saying it's an excuse but I can understand). Unbeknown to me back then, I was going through an awful childhood (something I'll discuss one day but definitely something that affected me and still does). I'm glad that today, I'm no longer the selfish, terrible two year old (talk about blowing my own trumpet) and I genuinely get satisfaction out of caring for others and giving them exciting opportunities. I've managed to turn horrible experiences and horrible things into my fight, my fight for life and my fight to ensure those around me are happy, healthy and supported. This week I treated my loved ones to a tour of my favourite places in London, ending with The Hyatt Churchill so I guess I wanted to talk about that today.
We took a seat in the Chartwell Summer terrace (inspired by Churchill's family garden) and my brother told me it's one of the best experiences he's had. We've had a pretty challenging few months, okay who am I kidding, an awful few months and now, we really take joy in the little things, I'm obviously not just talking fancy dinners and drinks, but spending quality time together and the fact that my brother can actually be here with me and make it to London. Every day I am noticing such bravery and strength and it truly blows me away. I don't feel sad about what this year has brought us anymore, instead, I feel grateful and fortunate that it's brought my family closer together.
Nothing beats seeing people you love genuinely smiling. I've smiled a lot this week. Another LoveIsland quote, seems weird but I'm gonna roll with it anyway. Camilla last week talked about how she often felt guilty for enjoying herself after seeing the things she'd seen, in war torn countries etc and I can totally sympathise with that. Whilst I haven't been to war torn countries, I've seen things and felt guilty for enjoying myself. Why am I doing this when there are so many people out there who can't do this? But we can't live life that way which is why I'm trying to do a lot more this year to make other peoples days. There are small things you can do that make you feel better about yourself and will brighten someones day. For example, my neighbour was feeling really unhappy so I took her round a pamper hamper just to brighten her day a little. My brother has been stuck in the house so I got him out of the house and introduced him to new people. I've been raising money for different charities this last month too and honestly, giving back feels so good. I recognise this is the most random blog post ever, do forgive me but I woke up this morning and reflected on the last few evenings with my loved ones and realised, it's more than just food and drinks, it's about quality time with the people we love the most and making them genuinely smile.
Back to the food. I've never had such delicious cheese sticks in my whole life so we laughed over how divine they are (oh and they refill them). Matt and I visited the Hyatt Churchill last Winter, they do different themed terraces and we honestly had the best night, ever. We've been saying for months it's our absolute favourite hidden gem in London and that's why we made a vow to bring my family back to appreciate and enjoy it.
In typical British style, even though it's July, it was a truly rainy evening. Fear not though, we got cosy with blankets, our delicious cocktails and caught up with Mr Churchill... As someone who adores food and drink, I have to say, the Hyatt Churchill is hands down one of the best bars I've ever been to for food, drink and service. I've never had service like it, we felt so looked after and that's why we will return again and again.
Our eyes seriously lit up when the fondue came. For the first time in a long time, I felt genuinely happy and content. Surrounded by my loved ones, treating them to a special experience. I recognise that life isn't about doing fancy things and in fact, it's the little things that truly count, but to be able to surprise my brother with a week of places he's heard us rave about, and see that genuine smile back on his face, made me so content. The staff explained that whilst the fondue isn't really a Summer item, this is so in demand they just had to keep it on the menu, that's fine by me.
We ended with some more Summer cocktails, I went for the lady rose and enjoyed every drop.
I'd like to say a huge thank you to the Hyatt Churchill, it's been one of my favourite venues for a long time and now it's even more special than it was before. If you take anything from this blog post, go and give your loved ones a hug. Through difficult times, it's important to do little things (or big things), share some love, spread some sparkle and I'm glad I'm the girl that puts others before me now. I believe in using bad times to make us better, stronger people and I hope you'll agree. I've gone from the little girl who'd have the longest Christmas list, to the girl who'd way prefer to give than receive anything and you know what? I'm proud of who I am now. People judge on social media, I get it, they only see the good times in your life but remember, there are real people with real emotions.
P.S you can watch my latest weekly vlog featuring the incredible new Summer terrace below.
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