Jo Herrings Adventures

In April 2009 I stood at the foot of my office building at Tower Hill and watched my colleagues (Willie, Col, Will, René, Thomas and Joss) run in the crowds for the London Marathon. Its a very inspiring experience to watch the people you share each day with accomplish a life long goal to complete and compete in a 42km running event. That day I decided my mild 5km runs should be something I build on and perhaps I could complete a half marathon of 21km/13.1m (which seems daunting when you struggle around 5km in the park). Me being me I needed new shoes. I headed to RunnnersNeed for these and was really happy with the service and attention. Without hesitation I would suggest everyone gets their feet sorted before running - these are the first trainers I have had where I have NEVER had blisters....it rocks! Other top tip double layer socks. I buy mine at Primark which I love - but they weren't in stock last week so don't count on finding them now. My first step was to complete m

It started off as a standard Sunday 12k run around the docks in Limehouse and up to Victoria Park with an invitation to a celebratory afternoon tea with my dear colleague Federica. With London's Open Houses event on I popped into my local St Dunstans Church to have a look around and discovered a few interesting facts. Enroute from Holborn to the Primrose Bakery I came across a bit of a cufuffel outside The Connaught Rooms and Fede decided because I had my SLR I should have a crack at seeing what all the fuss was about. As we approached the entrance we realised it was Vivienne Westwoods show as part of London Fashion week. Which made it more enjoyable for us both as we are each others fashion buddies! Where there is a fashion fix to be had  - Fede will be close at my side. Mention Gok Won Fashion fix, Jimmy Choo H&M launch and sharing copies of Vogue and you will see a smiling image of us side by side.  We stood on the road with a group of layered jacketed men with camera

London Open houses annual weekend of hospitality is something I have for five years now seen come and go like Hunnaka. This year I had to make an exception as I saw the doors of my local church open to this heathen! And the great deconstruction project of Lloyds of London was next on my list...damn that unpenaterable Bank of England that will have to wait for another year with its 2 hour queues. As the result of a big night out celebrating my anniversary of birth, my two school friends Graham and Andrew had crashed at my place. The idea of being a tourist in some of London's seemingly untouchable buildings could not be missed by us all. With pancake breakfasts consumed and yesterdays clothes slipped back on we headed for Leadenhall. We stepped off the No. 25 bus at the foot of the  Lloyds Building with little more fanfare than when I routinely run past at the end of a given working day. Despite the fact the boys were not wearing ties and I was showing my knees (I think this i

I have become very concious of the use of Palm oil in our everyday food with an Italian eco-warrior sitting with me at work who described a recent trip to Borneo. Fede had saved hard for this trip of a lifetime, as a surprise for her husband an avid diver. Part of the excitement of visiting Borneo was not only the amazing underwater world but the lush rain forest environment. With anguish she describes how they drove 6 hours through new Palm groves of no great beauty where mass deforestation had corroded the land and taken all the native forests. It certainly hits a nerve when you are from a beautiful country like New Zealand which much lush forest. Anyway there is a great  article  about the public influence we as consumers are having on the big brand users of the oils from plantations like those in Boreno. And more importantly a list of all the things you should try to put in your shopping trolley for the sake that they are conciously avoiding this cheap oil. Take a moment to

work outing when I worked for Barclays Global Investors some of the most kind hearted folk I have had the pleasure to work with had me Beach Cleaning at the Thames Estaury - delightfully the first thing I picked up was a tampon followed by Cotton buds galour and more glass than I have drunk out of. We ended up with 16kg in 2 hours  rubbish   off a beach we all thought was clean. My company gives us 3 days a year to do charity work like this so its a great incentive to get out and help great causes. Learnt a few things about the marine environment and how we can improve it with a few simple changes to life. We raised £1000 for the Marine Society on the day and have a dress down next Friday so no doubt there will be more. Avoid using plastic bags and ensure you dispose of them wisely - we saw an example of 8kg of plastic found in a whale  Don't drop cigarette butts anywhere but a bin - they will end up in water ways.  Don't flush cotton buds down the loo  Don't support