Sar’s Blog

Sar lives within hearing distance of Sadler’s Wells Theatre with her fiancé. She is an art dealer by day and a writer by night.

She loves food adventures, Scrabble, Sunday papers, weekends with friends, and writing her blog, Backseat Gourmand. Her favourite places to shop online are John Lewis, Graham & Green and Amazon (she has a book-buying addiction).

Carbon-free Footprint

Published on Wednesday 7th October 2009

Another weekday morning, and I have wrenched myself out of bed, dozed off again in the shower, and checked the weather. I do try to be a morning person, believing that the mind, in this matter, is a very powerful tool.

Mostly I am rather optimistic about leaving the house; I am lucky that I enjoy my job, and as every day is different, there is some joy in the surprise element.

Don’t get me wrong, bluebirds do not accompany me as I sing my way along and, were I to become Prime Minister, my first request would be the three-day weekend, but there is a rather motivating element to a morning. I would say that for the most part, I leave the flat for the office in good spirits, ready to take on the world.

And then for the part that makes me want to beat a hasty retreat: the Herculean task of battling my way to work.

I have come up with a new word – AAGOY: a noun meaning the total reverse effect to that had on a human being by a session of yoga or meditation, induced by the daily commute. Also being the sound emitted by said commuter upon release from the doors of an overcrowded bus, train or tube, bubbling with pent-up frustration and rage. There then follows a period of quivering bewilderment, bitterness and utter disbelief at the injustice that such an ordeal can have merited actual payment, and a firm resolution is made to seek an alternative.

The obvious answer would be a bike, but I simply don’t have the fighting spirit necessary to keep up with the chic Clerkenwell cycling crowd, nor (after a very close shave with a passing juggernaut at school) with the traffic. I am a huge fan of a weekend two-wheel promenade, but in my mind it is frenzy-free, and usually requires a rural backdrop, plus companions and a picnic basket. Some friends swear by their scooters, but I am too much of a daydreamer for that to be a good idea.

So, having reached the end of my tether with the status quo, the solution for me has been found in the form of two ever-reliable and lifelong friends, my feet. I am very lucky that I can walk to work, having found that at a brisk pace (with opportunity for sufficient absorption of surroundings), it takes me 50 minutes. This is only ten immensely pleasurable minutes longer than that outrageously cumbersome bendy beast that my so-called friend Boris was going to ban, and I am much less dishevelled by the end of the journey, and not at all shouty.

My super-comfortable trainers are perfect for the job. Furthermore, with the money I no longer put on my Oyster card, I will get an Anya Hindmarch tote for carrying my work gear and protecting my dream handbag (and my back).

And so it will be the commute of choice from now on, except perhaps in weather of biblical proportions, when I will just have to try deep-breathing exercises. On some days I will take music with me, on others fingerless gloves or my Hunter boots (stylish and sensible), and all of these factors will contribute to my sunny disposition in the workplace.

I will solve my problems en route, mapping out my tasks before I even unlock the office door, and feel a little less guilty when I don’t make it to the gym in the evenings. There will be coffee, sometimes a breakfast banana, a phone catch-up with my Mum – it will turn from the part of the day I most dread to the bit I love the best.

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Fruity Booty

Wednesday 16th September 2009

There are lots of reasons that I love autumn; woodsmoke, late Sunday lunches of stews and red wine, fruits ripe for making chutneys, the chance to stare longingly at lovely cashmere bits and pieces, not to mention the annual hunt for the perfect winter boot. Always a frenzied mission impossible for me, I...

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