We’re a pretty lucky bunch us Londoners, aren’t we?

You get to the weekend and everything’s just there. On your doorstep. Waiting to be visited, seen and monkeyed about with minutes from home.

But sometimes even the most stalwart North Londoner has to venture out of her stomping ground and onto the Victoria line… southbound.

It was about time for my biannual trip to south London, so last Sunday I broke my sofa + hangover tradition and went down to Brixton Splash to see some friends who call that bit of town their home.

(Mental.)

Beers were produced from a rucksack, and we found a patch of grass by Windrush Square where we settled down for a good old game of catch up.

It also turned out to be the perfect spot to watch the (ever diverse) world go by.

So there we were. The sun was out, the drinks were flowing and the sound of heavy basslines reverberated through the streets.

After a while the beer supplies were running low, so we took our cue and wondered off in the direction of the music.

And would you believe it – a few other people had had exactly the same idea.

There’s a lot of talk about the regeneration of areas like Brixton – the streets, shops, markets and housing that have been redeveloped to make way for the moneyed masses.

When it comes to all that, I’m sitting firmly on the fence. To be perfectly honest, it’s the only place you can sit when you have a blog and live in Dalston.

But wherever you stand on the matter, it’s on days like this – sun beaming, soundsystems booming, streets bursting – that the little flat you rent above a burger shop on Atlantic Road probably pays for itself.

…rooftop rave, anyone?

For the rest of us down below, there was only one thing to do.

Put on your 1999 garage face, join the crowds and ‘ave a little dance.

After all that drinking, dancing and bumping into old friends – a girl’s gotta eat.

This part of town’s got artisan food wrapped up, Instagrammed and served with a brioche bun these days – who’d have thought a place called “Champagne + Fromage” would one day make Brixton its home? – but this wasn’t a day for the comforting posh-nosh and BYOs of the Village.

When a community’s out in force, you’ve only got to follow your nose to find your next meal.

But the only problem with hankering after Caribbean food is that it tends to run on Caribbean time.

“When’s it going to be ready?” we asked, again and again.

The chef was adamant.

And that was the end of that.

(Trust me, if we’d had three hours to spare – it smelt like it would have been worth the wait.)

With the clock heading towards 6pm, we wondered back to Windrush Square before the soundsystems closed and the crowds started to make their way home.

And there by the Portaloos lay proof that sometimes, the excitement of the day can just be all too much for some.

And with that, we went back to our separate sides of London to get ready for work the next day; another weekend done.

London in the summer – why would you want to be anywhere else?

Sod the gym. Sack off Dry Jan (or congrats if you already have). Renounce your self imposed veganism, and don’t bother buying a bike; it’ll only get nicked.

In fact, if like me you’re not at all interested in setting yourself on the road to self improvement this year, why not do something that helps London be a bit better instead?

• Eat, shop and get drunk locally

This year, it’s all about supporting the local shops, cinemas, cafes, restaurants, bars and markets so London’s good bits aren’t infected by the Tesco Drone Machines. Not only are London’s markets brilliant, but independent businesses are 70% more likely to have dogs in them (see Huh in Dalston) and honestly, you haven’t lived unless you’ve bought some meat from my dad’s butchers shop on Mill Hill Broadway. Vested interest in this one? You betcha.

• Explore a new bit of the city

Thanks to the Overground’s lovely link-up job completed last November, you can now go in a big, brilliant circle all around London. This also means that those from the south side officially have no need to wistfully look upon north London from afar while sighing “Oh, if only it was within reach” while waiting for their delayed South Eastern train. Come towards the light! It’s wonderful up here, we’ve got tube lines and everything.

• Look up (and put your phone down)

We live in one of the most historic, diverse cities in the world, but most of us don’t spend nearly enough time looking at it. And I don’t mean through a camera lens, or even a blog (ironic, yeah) – I mean with your eye things. Same goes for food – stop taking photos and just eat it, will you? I don’t care how meaty your liquor is, at the end of the day, no one needs to see the inside of your kebab. Stop sharing for a minute. Put your phone away, log off Facebook, and stop bashing into people as you write texts on the Strand (guilty). Your mate’s baby might have been born yesterday, but St Paul’s cathedral has been there since 1675. Per-spec-tive.

• Don’t be an idiot

Last year I tried setting myself a challenge to smile at at least one person a day – I failed, spectacularly. Not because I’m a miserable, grumpy, sad faced person, but because it’s really, really hard to grin manically at a stranger without freaking them out. Nevertheless, I think we could all put steps in place to turn our music down on those crap Apple earphones and pick stuff up if it’s fallen down (people included). Let’s generally be a bit nicer, and tut, elbow, sigh loudly and slam our rucksacks in peoples faces on the tube a bit less.

If you would like to add to this list of easy things London locals can do, please feel free.

Also, this isn’t a hugely commercially minded blog – but if you run an independent business and want to give me a heads up about it, I will probably take a look. Especially if you have dogs in your shop. I’m all over that.