🔖Little Black Book #4

Indulgences of a Woman About Town.

Welcome back to

The Navigation

’s Little Black Book column! Part diary, part directory, here I share a monthly dose of insights and recommendations - not with the intention of sending you out to spend hordes of cash, but to encourage you to spend mindfully, whether that be money, time or energy. And give you a little more insight into what this Valleys girl is up to in the big smoke.

This month you’ll be getting a little mix of that big smoke magic, but also a touch of Morocco too, as I share a few more highlights from the trip I wrote about last week.

Enjoy!

👗 Wearing

I came back from Morocco, having enjoyed glorious highs of 30 degrees Celsius, expecting to need a layer of blankets as soon as I touched down in the UK. But actually, it was pretty mild, continuing that way for a week or so, meaning I could get a bit of use out of some new purchases from the souks of Essaouira.

The last few summers I’ve been on the hunt for a new basket bag, mine being at least 15 years old - and still going strong, but I was after something bigger (more room for books, basically). I didn’t set out to buy one while away for a yoga retreat, but when life gives you… market stalls full of something that’s been on your shopping list for several years, one must answer the universe with a purchase.

And so it was that I came away with a sizeable and beautifully hand-crafted bag that I know will be a summer staple for years to come.

In the meantime, it has enjoyed an outing or two to my local supermarket, expertly carrying back the goods.

Slightly less intentional, but I couldn’t resist getting a pair of sandals too, especially as the guy selling at this one particular stall painstakingly searched through his stock for a pair that would fit my long feet. I picked a colour that will work with more or less anything, and incidentally, looks rather nice with the bag I’d bought just half an hour before.

Neither of these items was particularly expensive when first quoted, but I played the haggling game, as is customary, and walked away with the two for less than £30 combined.

The selling was softer than I’d experienced when visiting Marrakech almost ten years ago, and though difficult to compare, probably cheaper too.

Jessica Nabongo

, an extremely seasoned traveller as the first Black woman on record to visit all 195 countries in the world, wrote more about this recently. From the sound of her schedule, we may very well have crossed paths in the souks!

Looking forward to getting these back out next year!

In these past few days though, the basket bag has been wrapped up and stored under the bed, while my Mango trench coat is back out for the season(s) ahead and already working in full force. This is the closest I can find to the one I have, bought about 18 months ago, though this looks very creamy and mine is more of a stone edging into camel. The quality, length and lining ticks all my boxes, but the fact it only has two buttons means that, on a particularly wet and windy day, my legs can get a bit too damp for my liking, as the bottom front of the trench blows open. So if you’re in the market for one this season, perhaps look out for one that buttons down to the knees.

💄Applying

Whenever I get gifted new toiletries, for say Christmas or my birthday, I keep them stored together in a nice box, and work through each body wash, scrub, moisturizer, oil, soap one-by-one. Each time I come to the end of a bottle or bar, I get to go shopping in my own personal bathing department, and pick out something new to savour - for free!

One of my favourites from this month’s shower routine, selected from the box, is this eucalyptus body wash. It smells divinely refreshing, lathers up well, and a little goes a long way. It’s also packaged in 85% post-consumer recycled paperboard (whatever that actually means), and is suitable for sensitive skin.

A worthwhile wash indeed.

🎁 Gifting

A few birthdays this month, most of which I’d shopped for ahead of time. I like keeping an eye out for gifts through the year, rather than waiting until you NEED to come up with something by dinner on Friday. It usually means the gifts are more thoughtful (and that I already have some December babies covered).

This month included a sports top from a brand I know the birthday man likes, which I happened to be passing by earlier in the summer, as well as some nostalgic sweet treats. Though inexpensive, they tend to bring a smile to faces and aren’t something the giftees would usually buy themselves.

I picked up a few small gifts in Morocco too, and as holiday souvenirs can often be, well, tatt, as certain male members of my family are wont to call them, I try to be more intentional and only buy things for people if I think they will both like and actually want to use them. Something consumable (like local biscuits or liquor) often goes down well, or handmade soaps for example. Argan oil was an obvious choice from Morocco, especially as we enter the colder season in the UK where skin and hair can use a little more moisture.

No one really needs another fridge magnet, do they?

🥗 Eating

After the taste sensations experienced on my yoga retreat, I’ve had to adjust back to slightly more ‘normal’ eating since being back.

Luckily, my first meal out back in London held this standard, with a veggie affair to entice even the most ardent meat eaters. It was my second visit to Mallow, tucked behind Borough Market, this time to sample the tasting menu; a belated celebration for Tayla’s birthday, courtesy of Charlotte and I.

(We’re all really dragging out this year of turning 30, and loving every minute.)

A sharing concept with a per-person cost of £42, it’s a treat, but really worth the indulgence. After 12 dishes, served as four courses, we all left feeling more than full - and I even bagged some leftovers for lunch the next day.

The flavour combinations were something special. Padron peppers with a peanut sauce. Pickled carrots. Courgette ribbons sprinkled with dill. Gyozas. Croquettes. A delicious tofu green curry. Name a vegetable, herb or spice, and we probably ate it.

A beautiful meal with beautiful company, helping me through post-retreat blues.

Veggie delights.

Less extravagant, but equally veg-packed, I made an everything/anything curry last week, which served my partner and I for several meals. There’s no recipe as such; you literally just use everything/anything you have.

Start with heating up some oil (mine was coconut) and add spices (cumin, ginger, etc.) and herbs if you like, before gradually adding some veg. For digestive health reasons I avoid cooking with garlic or onions, but fried some leeks in the spicy oil, before adding an array of peppers, mushrooms, and aubergine. Throw in what you have, and let it soften. Then goes in a tin of coconut milk, to simmer for a few minutes, followed by a tin of chopped tomatoes, and a bit of water as you rinse out both tins. At this point I added kale and spinach too, and seasoned with salt, pepper and chilli flakes. Let it simmer until it looks and feels done (stir to test the consistency). You’ll know.

Served up with brown rice and topped with sunflower seeds and ground flax for an extra bit of crunch, pizzaz and nutrition, it’s one of the easiest batch cooks you can do.

Throw it all in!

In other news, ‘tis also now of course the season of pumpkin spice and all things nice…

Note: this next section contains a mention of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and elsewhere around the world.

🎭 Visiting

Quiet on the culture front this month, owing to the yoga retreat, and around that a busy schedule. But just this week I did have the pleasure of watching Sally Rooney talk about her new novel at the Southbank Centre… all from the comfort of my sofa!

They live streamed (for free) the much-acclaimed author discussing her much-anticipated new release, with writer and literary critic Merve Emre. After a short jog to shake off the work day, a hair-wash shower, and PJs on, I heated up some of the leftover everything/anything curry and settled down for a cosy close-up with one of my favourite writers and thinkers.

I love an in-person event, and the experience of watching at home did feel a little pandemic-esque, but I was nevertheless very grateful for it. Can’t be out on the town all the time, y’know?

As she was welcomed onto the stage with cheers, in celebration of Intermezzo, and undoubtedly by fans of Normal People, Conversations with Friends, and Beautiful World, Rooney began at the mic with a scripted but heartfelt rallying call for Palestine.

She urged us, listeners, watchers, readers, not to succumb to apathy; not to stop feeling the plight of those suffering as we hear of numbers rack up to something incomprehensible. As she called out the situation for what is is, genocide, and called out politicians and people for not doing more, Rooney also asked that we consider the suffering and heartache of those not only in Palestine, but of those in Israel and Lebanon too.

Of course, we might ask why the suffering of those elsewhere was not called out. Of Ukrainians. Of Sudanese. Of Burmese.

But it was only last week that I wrote of picking our patch to look over, and doing our best within it, and so I don’t think we can critique Rooney here for her choice to call out one crisis over another; especially one happening at such a large scale.

Though this was a literary event, I appreciated the use of a platform in such a way, especially having been in conversation with a friend just the evening before, sharing worries of my own sense of apathy on certain issues, now as a 30-year-old, compared to my impassioned 20-year-old politics-student self. Something I’m still pondering over how to navigate…

Anyway, back to the literature, and after that opening, met again with raucous applause, Rooney moved on to read the opening pages of her new novel, Intermezzo. As with her other titles I have previously devoured, within a few sentences I was in the scene, able to feel what those characters were feeling. Her attention to human detail is impeccable.

As she fell into easy conversation with Emre, Rooney talked of how she writes about dynamics, rather than characters, which, if you’re a fan of her work, of course makes sense. No character is one on their own; they exist in relation to each other, thoughts and feelings often messily intertwined, and difficultly unspoken.

She also talked of her love of the novel as a particular form of writing, including how and what she has learned from novels she has loved and returned to, as well as through her own work. On Intermezzo in particular, Rooney and Emre had an interesting exchange on the concept of grief, what is means and how it plays out in different areas of life. Rooney explored how the writing of a novel can be a way to ward off the grief related to the passing of time; her intense feelings towards this I can definitely relate to.

At one point she really highlights how one character just cannot believe the time keeps passing. It was ringing bells and resonating in all sorts of ways.

My TBR pile is already pretty tall so I’m not dashing out to buy the book, but I’ll look forward to reading it probably in a few months time.

To keep up with what the Southbank Centre has going on, online and offline, you can sign up to their newsletter(s) here.

For a creative way to support fundraising for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, check out the ‘Keys for Palestine’ campaign that Tayla shared more about in her recent interview.

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