London – Irina Writes

Celebrating the old & the new.

I met a writer this summer. She said the pandemic had hindered her ability to write. Work had crept into her home, a space she’d traditionally dedicated to writing, and she could no longer exercise her craft there. As I have not written in over a year either, I wonder if it’s because of the…
Read more: Celebrating the old & the new.
New kids on the block.

I have found my fix for when I’m not at The Hoxton. You might know by now that I am a big fan of The Hoxton, the open-lobby hotel with three establishments in London and several outposts in other parts of the world. The views of their outpost in Williamsburg, NY, are breathtaking. However amazing…
Read more: New kids on the block.
“You’re the girl who’s studying Brand Management, right? Good luck!”

“Thanks!” One of the perks of the lockdown, and there haven’t been that many, has been the opportunity to know my local area and my neighbours better. There are five parks nearby, and I could easily knock myself out looping through all of them for my daily dose of physical activity if I wanted to.…
Read more: “You’re the girl who’s studying Brand Management, right? Good luck!”
Let’s support local restaurants as they reopen.

I have been fortunate enough to make amazing memories and experience great moments in restaurants over time. From the restaurants in Bucharest, where I celebrated birthdays, friendships, and local musicians, to the restaurants in New York and on the Eastern coast of the United States, where I discovered cuisines from all around the world and…
Read more: Let’s support local restaurants as they reopen.
Hot Stone London, yeah – it’s pretty cool.

I paid a visit to Hot Stone, a Japanese steak and sushi bar at 9 Chapel Market last Friday, prompted by their deliriously sizzling Instagrams and the memories I have of other Japanese restaurants* in London and New York that have delighted and heightened my senses over time. In I went for lunch, with a…
Read more: Hot Stone London, yeah – it’s pretty cool.
What fresh hell is this?

I spent two hours at the weekend getting killed on the Procrustean bed that is the reformer Pilates machine. And I actually enjoyed it.
Read more: What fresh hell is this?
“There’s freedom in creativity.”

I have summed up my experience attending a class in Abstract Painting at Pratt Institute in New York in the following article on LinkedIn.
Read more: “There’s freedom in creativity.”
A Black & White Welcome.

We don’t usually like to say or think that things are black and white. It feels like we are leaving a lot of options behind and we are being pristine about our choices. So we move in between the black and the white and we choose some shades of grey and then some shades of…
Read more: A Black & White Welcome.
I Have Developed A Pavlovian Relationship With Italian Food.

Courtesy of my recent trip to Florence and of the splendid food I experienced on the occasion, my salivary glands go into overdrive whenever I hear or see words such as “Italian Food”, “Italian Restaurant”, or “Tagliatelle al salmone” in my proximity. I was planning on a relatively innocent weekend, at least in as much…
Read more: I Have Developed A Pavlovian Relationship With Italian Food.
D-Pod, Personable Design & Retail.

One of the most beautiful things about a beautifully designed object is that it can make you feel unique. You look at it, at its colour and its shape, and immediately its functional and emotional attributes transfer onto you. You feel current, in the know, and modern. You feel you have good taste in the…
Read more: D-Pod, Personable Design & Retail.
If You Like Cars, visit “Bond in Motion.”

On a recent Friday afternoon, with a little time to spare, I visited the London Film Museum. I was incentivised by “Bond in Motion”, their exhibition of cars that had featured in James Bond films. Am I glad I went, because the exhibition proved itself to be a great display of four-wheel vehicles that had…
Read more: If You Like Cars, visit “Bond in Motion.”
Coffee-La-La-Land.

There is a lot of coffee manifesting itself in my life at the moment, be that in my personal life, where I seem to have come to a point where I drink coffee instead of water, be that in my professional life, where I look after a nice little coffee brand. I am a coffee…
Read more: Coffee-La-La-Land.

Tag: London