A Day in the Life of a Hipster

I am constantly, unfairly, being labelled a hipster; I argue against it adamantly! Yes I adore coffee more than life, and yes my jean of choice is 'skinny', but no I am NOT a hipster who listens to bands you've 'probably never heard of.'
...but whoops. I just did THE most East London Hipster day of all time. Every once in a while, there's something really brilliant about immersing yourself in Shoreditch like a true tourist. Here is my day in the life of a hipster:

So I met my partner in crime - Miss Lucy - near Old Street roundabout, with every intention of visiting the Good and Proper Tea Company, but turned out they were shut, so we ended up in Shoreditch Grind. No complaints from me, I'm much more of a coffee gal than a tea one. As we walked in, we saw other customers being served breakfast and my mind imploded; why did no one tell me they did food?!

I, embracing Shoreditch culture, treated myself to Smashed Avocado on Toast, with Chilli and Poached Egg, complemented by a soya cappuccino. OH MY GOD. It was so incredibly good. I was expecting nothing less than brilliant for the coffee, and it was more that up to standard, but the food well exceeded my expectations. Totally dreamy, and not ridiculously expensive at £7.  A great start! Plus the interior (top photo) is a sight to behold, and the waiters are friendly and, naturally, well dressed.

After a good, long catch up, we needed to walk off our caffeine energy, so we took to brick lane. There's so much to explore there, even after living in London for nearly 5 years, I'm still finding new bits I love!

We perused the different stores in Box Park and magically found that Swedish Hasbeens had a NEXT LEVEL sale on...70% off! That means £159 shoes were now like £47. That's mental. Lucy couldn't resist and got a gorgeous pair of silver mid-height heels. I always reckon if you find a bargain like that, always go for it; you'll be gutted if you stroll into the store next week and the item has gone!

We checked out the notorious vintage stores as well, but we did something else too...something that a lot of newbies to the area might not think of; the FREE art. Shoreditch is home to so many free, independent galleries, and they're all within walking distance of each other!

We checked out the new, very colourful, Thierry Noir exhibit at the Howard Griffin Gallery. I totally loved it, it's like walking into a very happy childhood. But never feel like one is all you can manage, there's Kate MacGarry and Hales Gallery too; they're all putting on a constant stream of innovative, daring exhibitions that are totally free to roam.

What with all this culture, and wandering, we started getting peckish again. There was only one thing for it...

I, personally, refuse to visit Shoreditch unless it involves a stop at this landmark; the Beigel Bake shop. I swear to you this shop will live through the apocalypse. So cheap, because believe me you're not paying for customer service, and it's exactly the sort of food you want to eat on the go, whilst you're walking around, and soaking up that East London air. 

And with that, and another coffee at Albion (which I foolishly forgot to photograph), my Shoreditch day was done. I can totally see the appeal of this life, the hipster way, but for me it's the 'keeping up appearances' that would drain me. I could never be a hipster...I like Beyonce too much.

Did I miss out any Shoreditch essentials? Let me know. M x