Friday Four No.14

On a Friday, (admittedly not every Friday, but on as many as possible) I share “Four Things For Friday”. They are a collection of things I’ve seen, heard, or experienced during the week. Thoughtfully chosen, and intended to spark your curiosity, imagination, or inspiration. HAPPY EXPLORING!

What treasure of a location did I visit this week?

Coffee by day, Cocktails by night. I love spending time with my dearest and most special friends and honestly I don’t manage to do it as much as I would like, but whenever I do, I appreciate the time SO much. This week a really good friend and I visited Patent Pending in NYC for a good old catch up.

Having just completed a meditation session at Inscape, we were looking for a spot that had a lovely lounge, comfy, not too packed, and somewhere we could have tea and chat happily for a couple of hours. (Side note, NYC needs a set of lounges that are not cocktail bars, not quick tea or coffee shops, but comfy serene lounges with sofas, cushions, and beautiful spaces that you can visit with friends for conversations without the pressure to buy alcohol or food. We’d pay for a monthly subscription for that! In any case we couldn’t quite find what we wanted but we did find the next best thing and it was Patent Pending, a gem of a location.

In the first photo above, do you see the coffee menu on the back wall? Well, for a truly Alice in Wonderland experience, step through that menu and on the other side you will find this beautiful cocktail bar. It was cosy, perfect for a conversation, and hidden away from the bustling city. What’s more, the bathrooms have Byredo hand soap, which is one of the designers we partner with, so “PP” just went up on our fabulous scale. We weren’t in the mood for alcohol and so they whipped up two delicious mocktails, and since the menu sucked us in we also ordered vegan cashew cheese and cauliflower toasts. Unexpected delight!

The upshot, highly recommend this spot. Of course, I had to stop back on another occasion to try the coffee out during the day, which equally receives a seal of approval.

What did I appreciate this week?

Mindless TV. At lunchtime no less.

Earlier this year I was at the offices of a large international brand and was delighted to receive a tour of their beautiful space. Part of their office included a huge kitchen area with a fabulous layout of giant wooden tables and benches, and 3 to 4 ENORMOUS TV screens - the size that no-one has at home, seriously no-one. As I marveled at them my host shared that they show sporting events like Wimbledon, the World Cup, the Olympics, the World Series etc, but otherwise they’re on everyday and just have soap operas or daytime TV playing. That comment caught me off guard. My initial thought, was why not educational programs, or the news or business appropriate shows. I spent years working in finance and we had TV screens too (smaller ones) but it was always the news or industry specific shows, so I’d been conditioned to think that’s what all professional businesses do if they have TV screens. Then I caught myself again and a lightbulb went off in my mind. What a brilliant idea to show soap operas! Here’s why.

Life is incredibly busy these days, we are constantly on the go, and constantly tapped in to information and data that we’re all trying to process, make sense of and respond to. No wonder we’re overloaded and many of us are stressed out individuals trying to make the best of things personally and professionally as we navigate a data and information rich world.

When you watch a bit of mindless TV it’s a distraction, sure it’s a bit of avoidance theory in play too, but it also gives your brain rest time, and down time. According to the Statistic Brain Research Institute the average adult will spend 9 years of their life watching TV - that’s a lot of TV! Why? It’s relaxing and disengages your brain from what you were doing previously and gives you pause time. Pause time. Ah! That’s why at work, having giant TV screens in a place for staff to congregate together is not only a communal space for connection but it’s also a space to relax and watch a bit of mindless TV during the day, disconnect, and switch off an overstimulated and overworked brain.

One day this week I found myself on a particularly intense activity working from home, lots of brain cells in use, and high intensity focus time in play. I almost ploughed straight through lunch, but then decided that actually that’s not healthy, and food would be a good thing. So I went to the kitchen to prepare lunch with the intention of heading straight back to the office to continue working while eating. Then I was reminded of my experience and what I’d seen.

I switched on the TV, found a Hulu show to catch up on and watched a 25 minute episode, and you know what? It was perfect. I enjoyed my lunch, I watched the show with ease and not much thought.

When I returned to my desk 30 minutes later I was more inspired and motivated again to crack on with my task ahead.

Next time you’re tempted to push through work, resisting a lunch break, or even a break, give yourself permission to go and do something different - go for walk, go and get your nails done, go and sit on the loo with your headphones in and watch you favorite show for half an hour! (I mean, not the most hygienic idea really, but if it’s all you have available to you get creative. Read a chapter of a book. Do something totally different and do something nothing related to your business or job. Also, resist the urge to involve other people in your break. At work you’re constantly engaging with others. If you are particularly stressed it will be very easy to get into conversation about what’s not working, what challenges you have, and how stressed you are - that type of conversation is not helpful in this situation. Choose something to do on your own. You might just be surprised how much inspiration, energy, and motivation you’ll get as a result.

What dish did I cook?

Hugh Jackman’s mum’s recipe. Thank you to Dr Mark Hyman for producing this “Food. What the heck should I cook?” recipe book, (and for all your work in the Functional Medicine world too), and to Hugh Jackman for sharing his Mum’s recipe with Mark and with anyone who buys the book.

This dish is absolutely delicious! Having been under the weather for a little bit too long I put myself on a plant based diet, removing dairy, eggs, meat, processed foods, sugars, caffeine and alcohol wherever I can. I’m eating fruit and veggies to support my body detox and regenerate and just giving it a bit of space to heal without having to work harder to process all the other bits and bobs I feed it.

Since the weather has turned here and it’s colder now, it paves the way for a wonderful roster of hearty soups and Autumn and Winter stews to come into the kitchen. As I flipped through my new recipe book I was drawn to all sorts of things, but this African Sweet Potato Stew caught my eye. I took a little bit of creative license and used curry powder spices instead of curry paste, and added peas to the concoction, but overall pretty much followed the recipe.

It was a complete hit! In fact it became lunches and dinners for a few days. I’ll definitely be repeating this one.

It’s also a good one if you have die-hard meat fans at home who say veggie food is boring and doesn’t have any flavor, taste, doesn’t fill you up, and takes too long to make. This one definitely has a kick, is filling, and it’s a one pot wonder, ideal for lunch or dinner on colder days.

It’s probably also freezable too, although I didn’t try that as it didn’t last long enough. I need to make a larger batch! It paired well with different accompaniments. I served it just on its own, with rice, or sometimes with noodles. It would be a great jacket potato topping too (Jacket potato = baked potato in the U.S. The term “jacket” can throw people here and conjures up the idea that British people put jackets on their potatoes!). Future plans to try served over cauliflower rice or spiralized zucchini.

What is trending?

Christmas. New York is a wonderful place to stroll around, and today it was very noticeable that the holiday lead up has officially arrived. The holiday market at Bryant Park with the skating rink is now open. Many stores have their holiday sections open, and this was my first sighting of a Christmas Tree - in The White Company.

The White Company, of which I’m a big fan, has a store on 5th Avenue, and for me, being able to step into that store is like popping home - without the hassle of packing a case, taking a flight, and having jet lag. It’s very easy to part with the price of a plane ticket in the White Company though so I can’t really say it saves me money, but it’s a wonderful experience.

Of course, I couldn’t help but have a quick peek at the Christmas section and who would be surprised to learn that I walked out with a set of fluffy snowballs which will not only will become part of this year’s tree at home, but may find themselves attached to various pressies.

The White Company is a super place to find goodies for yourself, but you’ll find lovely options for gifts too. As part of the experience you’ll receive gift boxes, tissue, and paper totes which makes a difference to the entire experience - the details do matter.

Beautifully British, luxuriously finished, and a dash of etiquette, tradition, and wonder.

Wishing you a weekend of rest, rejuvenation and inspiration!