Open House - Battersea Power Station

This was the hot ticket for open house this year. It was a rare chance to see this much loved, iconic landmark before the multi-million pound redevelopment begins. It's one of my favourite London buildings, so it was a no-brainer for me. It turned out around 40,000 people felt the same! The queues stretched all the way back to Albert Bridge (aka the most beautiful bridge in London) and many were turned away after a few hours. Luckily, i f*cked up with the opening time thinking it was 9am, so rocked up at 8:20 and near to the front of the queue. When we realised it was an 11am opening, the man went foraging for coffee and croissants to fuel the wait. It was worth it.

Lassco - Brunswick House, Vauxhall

Now this place is a real gem. They describe themselves as 'England's Prime Resource for Architectural Antiques, Salvage and Curiosities'. Which basically makes Lassco a treasure trove of the most desirable random beauties. From neon signage to anatomical drawings. 

How they manage to pull so much random, decade spanning stuff together and make it look so damn cool I don’t know, but I WANT IT ALL. And pretty much everything here is for sale. The cafe is pretty cool as well, full of character, what with it being decked out with their gorgeous merchandise. Plus they do a mean pot of Jasmine tea. Definitely worth a visit. There's also a branch on Maltby Street...

Dirty Burger - Vauxhall

I never do that mad dash for the tube as the doors are closing (why people??) and i don’t run for the bus – there will literally be two along in a minute. Rushing around for things is a bad London habit that causes unnecessary stress. However...I have found an unexpected exception to my rule. I recently ran for a Burger! Not just any burger mind...a Dirty Burger. An 11pm closure was too premature for my mid-week, drink fuelled craving for slaggy food. I literally had 6 minutes tube to door. Did I make it? You'd be surprised at the kind of speed i find when there’s the promise of food! And yes, the exertion was worth it. The walk back to the tube took much longer...

iTunes festival 2013

I was lucky enough to bag tickets for the iTunes festival at the Roundhouse back in September. Sitting in the balcony, I was slightly gutted to find my view obscured by a long vertical banner. I berated myself internally when the banner magically retracted as the band appeared…of course apple would not do something as stupid as to obstruct the view of the stage - duh! This was not amateurville.

The most gorgeous thing about the gig though, was that you could feel Stevie Jobs everywhere. This was his way of doing things. Every show was illuminated by the constant twinkling light of iphones (and even ipads) capturing the moment on his creations, and most probably sharing it instantly.

Not so long ago our parents were lighting gigs with the ambient flame of their lighters (note to self - ask mum whether thumb burns were a hazard of this trend). The light of the generation y’ers is artificial, but no less spectacular. We belong to the ipod generation. And I love it.

This festival was about celebrating music, bringing amazing live acts to an awesome venue and most importantly making it accessible to all. And yeah the ballot was tough, because of course everyone wanted a ticket to this FREE event - over 20 million people applied for crying out loud!! But the coolest thing was, if you didn't get in, you could stream it live! The likes of GAGA, ELTON JOHN, JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE, KINGS OF LEON, KATY PERRY, ARTIC MONKEYS…to name but a few, delivered straight to your sofa.

And yeah, I saw The Lumineers - they were awesome! Two songs in, I was on iTunes buying their album. Easy peasy. Thanks Steve!