Dizzy Heights

Aug9

When I turned 30 two years ago I felt like I had reached a peak with nothing but a large descent into old age ahead of me. I thought that birthdays would simply become more and more depressing. How wrong you can be! Since turning 30 my life has only got more interesting and fulfilling. Yes 30 brings with it fine lines and grey hairs as well as a difficulty in shifting those extra pounds from over indulgence but at the same time a new sense of acceptance of who you are and how you look means there is a lot less anxiety. Suddenly what other people will think becomes less of a restraint and we begin to please ourselves more. What clothes size we fit into or that spot on our face becomes less of an obsession and we make way for simply enjoying ourselves and grabbing every opportunity that comes our way. Having tick boxes is a great motivator but as an article I was reading the other day said, these should all be things we want to do and not things we think we should do at our age. A survey by the Huffington Post concluded we are most happy at the age of 33. With all this in mind I am looking forward to flying through the next 8 years by the seat of my pants and having many new experiences to write about before as the saying goes ‘life begins at 40!’

By way of celebration of my birthday this year I decided that to arrange a big event would be too much like hard work, so instead I had a number of mini parties; the first of which was the preceding weekend.

A friend and I attended Cocktails in the City which took place in Bedford Square Gardens in central London. This event comprises of 25 London cocktail bars coming together with pop up stalls, along with street food sellers and entertainers to create a festival with a difference.

Those of you of a similar age to me will fondly recall Sex and the City – my love of this series deepened my already growing love of cocktails. The exact definition of a cocktail as well as the origin of the word is unclear however the first recorded use of cocktail to describe an alcoholic beverage was in 1806. Over the year’s popularity of cocktails had waned until the mid 2000’s when mixology suddenly came to the fore of fashion again and more and more complex cocktails were made. You can’t help but feel glamourous with a martini glass in your hand.

Our £15 entrance ticket included a guide to the event and one free drink. I headed straight for The Craft Cocktail Company from Bethnal Green for a cointreaupolitan, being that like my nemesis Carrie Bradshaw, my cocktail of choice is generally a cosmopolitan. I was not disappointed with this twist on the classic drink – however it tasted less like alcohol and more like fruit juice which ensured it didn’t last long!

There were presentations throughout the day and we chose to sit in on one entitled The Motorcycle Diaries. The Motorcycle Diaries was a 2004 film where two friends travel around South America on their bikes so this session focused on alcohol that is local to South America. I dragged my friend to a front row seat – determined to be front of the queue for any possible tastings. I was invited up to the stage to make a Pisco sour. Pisco is a brandy made in Chilie and Peru and on its own it is horrible, what I imagine paint stripper to taste like. I was instructed to put a small measure of Pisco into the cup – naturally my small measure is probably most people’s definition of large and the guy found this quite funny. I then added lemon and lime juice. The final ingredient which I was rather sceptical of was egg white which apparently makes it a smooth drink. It was then time to shake the cocktail and the people leading the session claimed that your face when shaking a cocktail is your sex face! I then poured the mixture into a previously chilled glass and topped with bitters. It was such a laugh doing this and I got to keep the cocktail afterwards which was actually quite delicious. Various other drinks were made by people and then we all left with a complimentary margarita shot.

By now we were well away and decided that food might be a sensible option. This would be my only criticism of the event as for hot food only pulled pork was left by 3pm which my friend sampled and I had cold chicken with tomato salad.

I found my favourite bar – Trailer Happiness, Portobello Road, otherwise known as the Bacardi bar! When not drinking cocktails, wine or bubbly; Bacardi has always been my spirit of choice. We were given a small balloon to hand to our favourite bar so mine went to them before I even tried my drink. My Bacardi cocktail had a fabulous garnish on it with a banana leaf and a flower.

One of the bars, Barrio had set up a table and paints for you to paint a wall tile that will be used in one of their branches. It was really relaxing to put some head phones on and just let the creativity flow.

Next we visited The Rivoli Bar at the Ritz and indulged in champagne.

Next stop, we visited Loves Company, a Tia Maria stand which had a pop up beach and we relaxed in a deck chair whilst enjoying a salted caramel cocktail.

To finish up we both had a repeat of the drink we chose on arrival. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great way to relax on a Sunday afternoon after a busy week at work. For the event I wore a green dress from Torza boutique with leggings and my trusty oasis flip flops.

The Saturday before my birthday, my husband and I went to our favourite restaurant in Rainham, Eight which I have mentioned on here before. For this I wore a grey polka dot dress which I got from Pink Flamingo in Rochester; it is a little daring for me so I wore a white basic vest top underneath. Grey can be a depressing colour so to lift the outfit I wore my red LK Bennett wedges.

On the Sunday we had a nice family tea at Mums. Mum made me a coffee and walnut cake which is my favourite and she decorated it with an Audrey Hepburn icing plaque as we enjoyed the exhibition the other week so much; see I Believe in Pink blog.

On my actual birthday – I took the day off work as usual (I never went to school on it so why should I have to work it?) and Mum and I went to Rochester. Rochester is my new go to place. I adore looking around the unusual and vintage shops. We ate lunch at an Italian restaurant and then rather than ordering pudding went to Fleur de The – a beautiful shabby chic café/shop and enjoyed coffee and scones. I couldn’t resist purchasing 2 miniature cups and saucers with a butterfly motif on them from there.

The Saturday after my birthday I went with my friend to Greenwich. Our birthdays are only a fortnight apart so as a joint celebration we decided to climb The O2. The O2 is a large tent like construction which was built as The Millennium Dome to celebrate the start of the third millennium and reopened as The O2 in 2005. It was constructed with Greenwich’s role in time and date in mind. It has a diameter of 365m (equal to number of days in the year). It has 12 yellow support towers (representing either 12 calendar months or 12 hours on standard clock face). The dome is 52m high at its central point (representative of the 52 weeks in a year). The climb is a 190 metres tensile fabric walkway over the top of the Dome with a central platform at the top with 360 degree views of London. It was quite a challenge as going up the walkway is 28 degrees steep and coming down 30 degrees. The fabric is also quite springy like a trampoline. The views at the top make it well worth undertaking though – you can see Canary Wharf, The Gherkin and the Olympic Park amongst other sites.

Afterwards we ventured into central Greenwich on a Thames Clipper which I had never been on before. These are high speed catamarans and I don’t think I have ever travelled on water so fast; they have a maximum speed of 28 Knots. Once there we got lunch at a pub in the market area and soaked up the cosmopolitan atmosphere. We then discovered a wealth of unusual, quirky shops and visited her friend’s new vintage store, Joli Vintage Living. Look out for a future blog all about this fab store.

There will be one more chance to celebrate at the end of August as for my gift; my husband bought me day tickets to the V Festival so look out for an upcoming blog on that too.

Enjoy the summer!

A Transient Period

Mar30

So 12^th Jan arrived and passed and the diet had yet to begin with biscuits, nuts and chocolates still hanging around from Christmas. Even now come March, my willpower is currently at an all-time low; in the words of Homer Simpson ‘oooh doughnuts!’ Stepping on to the scales, I nearly gave myself a coronary. I’m not going to share how much I was but suffice to say, it’s the heaviest I have ever been and losing a stone would only really be scratching at the surface!

Most women will tell you that January sparks the need for a diet and I overheard plenty of conversations about it on the train home from work. There is a tendency to look for a quick fix celebrity diet and I have become victim to this before with the 5:2 diet. This year’s fads appear to include the Paleo diet – where the only foods consumed are those that are believed to have been available to the caveman in the prehistoric era and the Vegan before 6 diet which is what its name suggests. We all would love to find that magic bullet but the reality is losing weight is hard and if you want to keep it off, it’s going to mean a lifestyle change – a diet is forever. All whilst we continue to stuff our faces with fatty, sugary foods and sit on our backsides – we are snookered! (Talking of Snooker, the things you do for love. I sat through over 8 hours of live snooker with my husband at The Masters, held at Alexandra Palace which I treated him to for Christmas).

I guess if I want to get bikini body ready by my holiday in May and then maintain it, I’m going to have to start swapping the chocolate for fruit, the alcohol for water and upping my exercise routine. Now with exercise the key is to find something that you enjoy and for me that is walking. I should have extra motivation to do it, as my husband and I need to get in training for the 26.2 mile Moon Walk in May to raise money for breast cancer research. Time seems to constantly be an issue but of course that is just a lame excuse really. I feel even guiltier when I log on to Facebook and see my sister in law’s latest plotted walk. Hopefully raising money will push me into it, so if your new year’s resolution was to think of others then here is your opportunity to fulfil that – follow the link to our fundraising page.

https://moonwalklondon2015.everydayhero.com/uk/paper-chase

I feel the start of the year has conspired against my efforts to adopt healthy eating (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it!) as I have been fortunate enough to have a busy social life involving food and alcohol (the dreaded empty calories).

For my sister-in-law’s birthday, we visited Eight in Rainham. This is a lovely boutique restaurant which can accommodate less than 25 diners on the ground floor but does also have an upstairs which is used on special ocassions or can be hired out. There is black sparkly wallpaper adorning one wall, a deep pink wall with a mirror shaped as a number eight and beautiful chandeliers cascade soft lighting over the tables. The food is delicious and I couldn’t resist the camembert wedges to start and pan fried salmon for main. The puddings are a bit of a let-down so I guess it marginally helps the diet.

http://www.eightrestaurant.net/

My friend organised a cheese and wine evening round at hers and whilst enjoying the fine wine and range of cheeses, we amused ourselves with poker. I feel so grown up now we all have mortgages and opt for nights in rather than big nights out! I felt like dressing up a little for this so wore my red full midi tulle skirt purchased in the Asos sale with a black polo neck top from Oasis and some red suede heels I purchased in New Look. I accessorized with a long pearl necklace and clipped a red flower from Glitz4you, onto them.

I then got invited to dinner at another friends to see her new home she has just purchased which is a stunning Victorian semi in Tunbridge Wells. For that I wore a denim dress from New Look which was quite Alexa Chung in style with my black suede Kookai Boots and Swarovski crystal tights. Denim is very fashionable again this season with it even being appropriate to exhibit the long standing fashion no no of double denim. Alexa Chung has designed a capsule collection this year with sophisticated denim brand, AG Jeans and the famous Levi 501’s have also had a bit of a makeover, making them more fitted than previous designs.

Valentine’s Day came round – our first as a married couple. Now going out on the day is notoriously a let-down with restaurants cramming you in and ripping you off with a ‘special’ menu. We opted for something completely different this year and went for afternoon tea at our local garden centre, Dobbies. It was very civilised and great value at only £15 with a glass of Prosecco each.

I’m finding it hard to believe that we are already nearing the end of March and this is my first blog of the year, hence it is somewhat longer than usual – time is flying by.

March 25^th saw Sarah Jessica Parker turn 50 – so by way of celebration for my fashion icon, I give you my top 10 favourite outfits she wore as Carrie in Sex and the City, along with the one Sarah Jessica Parker wore to London Premier of Sex and the City 2 where I got to meet her. Carrie taught us to be confident in our fashion choices so that you can pull off anything – the candy girl outfit and pyjama/fur coat combo, illustrate this perfectly.

At Sex and the City 2 premier in Leicester Square

One Friday night in March, I went for a friends belated birthday drinks in Camden at a bar called Fifty Five. For this I opted to wear my new jeans – in the cut of the season – flared; a nod to the 70’s fashion. I teamed it with a grey boxy t-shirt and butterfly snood all from New Look, completing the look, drawing on the purple in the snood, with some purple suede wedges that a bought a few seasons back in the Oasis sale. The one rule to remember with flares is to wear wedges, platforms or block heels as stilettos just don’t compliment them. The more observant amongst you will also notice I chose one of my 70’s vintage magazine clutches (mentioned in my previous blog and seen in one of my favourite Carrie outfit pictures) to really set off the vintage look.

Last weekend a friend and I travelled to Ladbroke Grove/Notting Hill area for a long overdue girly catch up. For this outing I chose to wear my denim A- line mini skirt (another 70’s inspired look) with my pussy bow blouse with birds on and Ugg Boots as I knew we would be walking around a lot so opted for comfort for a change! My bag was my fast becoming favourite, magazine clutch again. My friend kindly loaned me her Prada sunglasses which I fell in love with and now have to have a pair! I have been meaning to visit this area of London for a while, immortalised in the Hugh Grant/Julia Roberts romantic comedy of the same name. It was largely run down until the 1980s but has now become quite a fashionable and affluent area with its beautiful coloured Victorian town houses and terraces. Portobello Road is what the area is best known for, which once housed the author George Orwell and is now home to the famous Portobello Road Market. It is filled with antique, shabby chic and vintage style shops, albeit with some well-known chain stores now interwoven. We spent a good while browsing and immersing ourselves in the bohemian atmosphere; as my friend commented very like Camden without the smell of weed! We then enjoyed afternoon tea at the Biscuiteers Boutique on Kensington Park Road. This beautiful shop sells iced biscuits for every occasion and also has an icing café where you can test out your own skills. The tea was beautiful; including an array of London themed iced biscuits and was a real bargain at £24 each which included two glasses of Prosecco.

The shop is stunningly decorated with what I would describe as blue willow wallpaper and a wall of vintage mirrors which gives a fantastic effect and is a stylish idea I might well steal for decorating any future house; which brings me nicely on to my exciting news of the month.

We finally took the plunge and put our house on the market and amazingly it sold in a matter of days to the first and only person that viewed it. This brings with it mixed emotions for me. After nearly four years of living there, it has become my home as much as my husband’s even though he purchased it long before we met. I love the history of it – it is a Victorian terrace built in 1897 and I really like all we have done to it; especially the reinstalling of a Victorian tiled fireplace in the dining room which was a great find on EBay, The North African inspired décor in the dining room, our Greek inspired patio, our sunny bathroom, our purple boudoir and my wonderful wardrobe.

The thought of a new house to decorate however is very exciting and now we have had our offer accepted on a lovely 1930’s semi, I am far more enthusiastic about the move in general. Suddenly bathrooms and wallpaper are becoming as appealing to window shop for as shoes – well almost! One thing is for sure I finally feel content to remain living in Rainham, especially now it has become somewhat of destination vintage; with a new café called Nutmeg which is very Cath Kidston inspired and does a beautiful cream tea as well as a shop called The Vintage Dove which sells various shabby chic gifts and runs craft classes upstairs. I am hoping to try their class in Autentico Beginners Furniture Painting as I am planning to upcycle the pine table and chairs given to us by my husband’s parents.

I wanted to end with an array of pictures of what was a much loved first home. Fingers crossed sale goes through and we don’t have to start the search again as it is extremely stressful. Until next time ….

Birth’days’

Sep21

Birthdays come and go and whereas you can never wait until your next birthday as a child even counting halves of a year; as you get past 21 they decline in significance until a small peak at 30 and then enthusiasm rapidly declines there after. This year I hit 31 – if 30 made me feel like a proper adult, 31 cemented the fact. Consequently I decided against a big celebration opting instead for a small family affair; a BBQ at home. My Mum made me a Sex and the City cake which was fantastic and I sipped Cosmo’s – what could be more perfect?

I have kept up false nails since the wedding as I couldn’t bare to go back to my rubbish stumps and I wanted to share with you my birthday nails – I thought these looked amazing but unfortunately the bows were less than practical, catching on everything; at least I had an excuse to put my feet up!

Whilst on the subject of nail varnish, I have got very into OPI nail varnish lately I love these Disney inspired ones – ‘Kermit Me to Speak’ (from The Muppets) and ‘Minnie Style’ and ‘Innie Minnie Mightie Bow’ from the Minnie couture collection.

Muppets OPI nailvarnish

I finally am the proud owner of a pair of GHD (Good Hair Day) hair straigteners thanks to my wonderful husband. These might have been around for over a decade but their position as top manufacturer of straightening irons reins supreme. I got the violet edition ones to blend in with my purple boudoir; all that remains for me now is to learn how to curl with them as well as using them for their traditional purpose.

People obviously know me well and know I love elephants as I also got an elephant adoption and a couple of gifts from ‘The Elephant Parade’ which I originally saw in London in 2010 but apparently visited Bromley this summer. The parade is the world’s largest open air art exhibition and seeks to raise public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation. One of the gifts was an elephant for me to paint myself – not sure my art will be anywhere near the standard of the actual artists versions but will give it a go! Pictured here is the one designed by Diane Von Furstenberg for the Hong Kong leg of the tour.

One of the advantages of not having a big party is the opportunity to have lots of mini celebrations. On a Friday night, 3 friends took me for cocktails followed by a meal in Covent Garden’s Café des Amis which was most enjoyable. As an early celebration of my birthday and a late one of my best friend’s birthday (we were both in Australia for our respective birthdays) we treated ourselves to a meal at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant – Maze in Grosvenor Square London. The website describes it as a fusion of taste and style and it certainly made us feel special. Admittedly we probably wouldn’t have ventured there had we not thought there was an offer on, which it turns out, was not valid on Saturdays! However the staff were fantastic and still gave us the free Bellini’s we were expecting and also did a deal on the cost of the food. Each dish was quite small but expertly presented and by the end of the meal we both found ourselves to be suitably full. I highly recommend this restaurant.

One of the many delicious courses at Maze

Sushi at Maze

The Sunday after my birthday a friend and I had a belated birthday celebration at BB Bakery in Covent Garden. Set in the bustling hub of Covent Garden is this quaint, vintage, Parisian style tea room. The windows are adorned with birdcages, hat boxes and display domes containing beautiful tea cups and saucers. We were seated and then served champagne afternoon tea. The tablewear is vintage style and the walls are white with cute cartoon drawings of women with bakery shopping bags. The savoury plate contained a mini quiche, a blini with smoked salmon, a cream cheese and cucumber sandwich and a role containing cheese and ham. The cake selection was divine and so colourful. There was a lemon meringue, a raspberry tart, a chocolate brownie which was just the right consistency being slightly moist in the centre, a cupcake with strawberry frosting and a macaroon. We were full already but we still had the delight of a warmed scone with cream and jam. Everything was delicious and served with a smile. It cost £33 each which I think is quite reasonable especially as aside from the champagne we also had a glass of freshly squeezed orange and numerous teas and coffees. I will definitely be popping in there again soon and for those Sex and the City fans out there; it reminded me very much of the Magnolia Bakery in New York with the added bonus of being able to eat in.

Talking of Sex and the City – one of my friends got me this brilliant Sex and the City bauble for my birthday present which, along with the return of the X Factor, has me counting down to Christmas!

The summer is almost over; although it’s still warm, we will soon need to be considering an autumn wardrobe. A great transition piece from spring/summer is the kimono. I got this one from New Look and this Paul’s boutique bag compliments it brilliantly.

Our annual visit to Broadstairs was made more exciting this year as we took my Mum’s friend’s from Long Island, New York along during folk week. There were various parades, stalls and bands. Ironically there was a US stall and on recommendation I tried a drink called Mtn Dew and it was fantastic – might have to get some shipped! Their visit made me feel quite old as my mum’s friend’s granddaughter who came is 16 and I was roughly her age on my first trip to New York when she was just a baby – time really does fly. My Mum’s friend has obviously discovered eternal youth as she never changes.

I’m looking forward to 2 weddings in September so look out for my blogs on those! Meanwhile put your feet up with a glass of wine, preferably a glass like this one!

Heel Today, Gone Tomorrow!

May6

The countdown to the wedding has truly begun – only just under 2 weeks to go! I won’t bore you with the hours, minutes and seconds from my countdown timer!

The 12th April was my hen party. A hen party is a party given in honour of the bride-to-be and therefore is not hosted by the bride herself although she may assist in the organisation. The hen party stems from the stag party and its modern form began in 1960s and is related to gender equality. Before it meant a pre wedding party; hen party was used to describe any all female gathering and is mentioned as far back as 1897.

I cannot thank my best friend and maid of honour, Catriona, enough for the effort she put into the event which really was one of the best days of my life. I enjoyed getting ready and chose to wear my thyme Allure dress from Coast which I wore as maid of honour at Catriona’s wedding. I matched it with some silver sandals and some big silver hoops.

The party began at Hyatt Regency – The Churchill – a hotel near Hyde Park corner, awarded the Tea Guild of Excellence in 2012. I was furnished with the usual regalia – a baby pink sash with bride to be on it and my Mum bought me a flashing tiara complete with veil.

We took afternoon tea in the Montagu restaurant, named after Elizabeth Montagu – a writer who lived in Portman Square 1781-1800. We were ushered to our table by some lovely, impeccably dressed waiters and when I sat down and saw the menu – my eyes were drawn to the Sex and the City Par-tea without realising that that was exactly what was planned for me! The savoury treats were themed to New York with a mini hot dog and bagel. There was also a mini burger in honour of one of Carrie’s boyfriends in the series – ‘Jack Burger’.

Carrie and ‘Burger’

The sweet offerings included a cosmopolitan jelly, a sickly sweet iced cupcake, a mini New York cheesecake and a biscuit shaped as a shoe! We began with a Flirtini (a champagne and pineapple cocktail) which was most refreshing and then could choose a tea, each named after one of the 4 girls. I’m not a lover of tea but went for the one named Carrie of course.

After a most enjoyable catch up with friends and family alike – a few left and the remainder of us made our way to the tube to Liverpool Street. We were so packed in, you couldn’t have fallen over if you had tried. We then had quite a trek to the mixology event but it was well worth it when we arrived plus we burnt off some of the afternoon tea calories!

We were welcomed with a ginger cocktail. 3 more friends joined and the hunky teacher showed us how to make 3 different cocktails. He looked like Enrique Iglesias and the more we drunk, the more he looked like him. As he explained the method of making the cocktails he frequently dropped in a double entendre or two and before long we were all in fits of hysterics. He also punished anyone who talked whilst he did, with a shot of his choice. The class finished with each team making a cocktail and I had to choose the one which I liked the most. It was a tough call but in the end I went for the one that was the easiest to drink. He also showed us a party trick with lighting a cocktail and alcohol on the bar and then sprinkling cinnamon to make sparks. All I can say is he must have good insurance to trust drunken women with matches!

Hunky Teacher

Selecting the winning cocktail

Playing with fire

By the time we left we were all a bit worse for wear but although drunk I knew I wasn’t that drunk that I couldn’t walk properly – however I was struggling. Finally I realised that my shoe had in fact snapped and the heel was hanging off but it took me a little while to convince the others of that! The shoes were Ravel sandals which may explain why Ravel went into administration! Luckily Catriona had some flats with her so I changed into them.

We finally made it to Loop – a club near Oxford Street with a multi coloured rubix cube style dance floor. The girls treated us all to a mega large cocktail in a huge martini glass.

They then did a Mr and Mrs Quiz with me where for every wrong answer I had to drink a shot – I got more wrong than I should have done as it was too loud to hear all the questions properly. 2 more friends arrived and we all partied the night away. My fiancé picked me and his two sisters up which I am very grateful to him for as he found himself lost in London!

A truly fabulous day/eve and I am so fortunate to have such wonderful friends and family – thanks guys – you all mean the world to me.

Easter came and went, later than usual this year. It was a real challenge to not over indulge but the final weigh in showed I won the competition, losing an impressive 1 stone and 8lbs so that helps with the motivation; although the mini eggs are calling. I arranged an easter egg hunt for the kids which they greatly enjoyed complete with cute signs from Laura Ashley. Needless to say it wasn’t as big as the largest egg hunt in Guiness Book of World Records which was 501000 eggs searched by 9753 kids in Florida in 2007 which makes for over 50 eggs each – they must have been seriously hyper on all that chocolate! For more information on egg hunts and Easter bunnies please refer to my post ‘Loaded Spring’.

My Easter egg hunt

Over Easter weekend, I indulged in another afternoon tea with a friend who couldn’t make the hen. This time it was the Prêt –à-Portea tea at the Berkeley Hotel – perfect for all you fashionista’s out there! This tea started in 2005 at the infamous Berkeley Hotel. The Berkeley began as a coffee house in the 1700s on the corner of Berkely and Piccadilly, became known as a hotel 1897 and moved to its current location in Knightsbridge in 1972. In 1920s it became the first London hotel to offer air conditioning.

The treats are inspired by current catwalk trends so we enjoyed munching our way through the spring/summer collection 2014 which included Christian Louboutin pigalle spike turquoise shoe biscuit – complete with the signature red sole, a Mui Mui chocolate handbag and a wonderful representation of Dsquared mini strapless dress with hot pink lampshade hat which was essentially mango bavarois with blueberry compote. Also represented were Karla Colletto’s red swimsuit, Oscar De La Renta pistachio dress and many others. The tea was topped off with pink Laurent Perrier courture champagne. We were given a handbag shaped goodie bag when we left which included 2 of the sweet treats. A wonderful afternoon which made you feel just like an a list star at a catwalk show.

With our goodie bags in the Berkeley

Karla Colletto swimsuit

christianlouboutin-pigalle-3120159_U015_1_1200x1200

Louboutin pigalle spike shoes

Model 2nd from right wears Dsquared dress with pink lampshade hat

Designer sweet treats – Dsquared, Colletto and Louboutin

The other week, I waved goodbye to my beloved Beetle. It was sad but for the best as it was just rusting away and I didn’t use it much anymore but it’s gone to a good home and I cheered myself up with these pair of LK Bennett shoes in similar colours to the car with some of the money.

My beloved beetle

Right I am now going to continue adding to my honeymoon wardrobe – happy shopping!

Sparkling Sunset by the Whitby Coast

Jul26

This blog is my final entry before I turn the big 30 and begin a new chapter, leaving behind my twenties. I am happy to announce that my boyfriend and I are now engaged – something I never thought I would get to experience and write about in a blog.

The other weekend my partner and I decided to go for a long weekend in Yorkshire and we happened to have some of the best weather so far this year – must be our weather magic.

We arrived on Friday in York and began by going on a haunted tour of the city. The guide really made this tour as he took us round to the Minster, Guy Fawkes birth place and the shrine to Margaret Clitherow – the martyr of the Roman Catholic Church. He involved different people including my other half in acting out being hung drawn and quartered. I think even the tour guide jumped though as we stood in the historic street ‘The Shambles’ where he explained butchers would hang up their meat and people emptied chamber pots so blood etc would make a river down the street, when someone pulled loudly shut a window above us.

We then met up with my friend and her other half for dinner in the Mumbai Lounge. Pregnancy is really suiting her. I predict it will be a baby girl – watch this space! That night we stayed at The Golden Fleece pub. This is the oldest Inn in York – mentioned in archives as far back as 1503 and is believed to be haunted. We stayed in Lady Peckett’s room. Lady Peckett’s husband owned the Golden Fleece around 1702 and some guests have reported seeing her ghost. The pub has great charm with its uneven floors – our bed had a block of wood under one leg to make it level. Whilst we didn’t see the ghost of Lady Peckett the waiter at breakfast, we joked, seemed almost ghost like!

We met up with my Mum and Dad the following day and visited York Railway museum for the 75^th anniversary of Mallard doing the fastest speed of a steam train in the world at 125.88 on July 3^rd 1938. Little did I know that when my other half and my Dad went somewhere for a quiet chat it was for my now fiancé to ask my Dads permission for his daughters hand in marriage.

That evening the two of us travelled on to Whitby and had a most enjoyable fish and chip tea in the famous Magpie Cafe. The building itself was built in around 1750 when it began a long association with fishing and shipping. It opened as a cafe in approximately 1939 and is widely considered the best place to get fish and chips in Yorkshire.

Full from our meal, my other half suggested a walk along the beach and then as the sun was setting, colouring the sky red, and the sea was rhythmically grazing the shore; he dropped down onto one knee and produced a stunning sapphire and diamond ring.

Engagement rings go back to the 13^th century in the Western World and are worn on the second finger on the left hand as this is believed to be the shortest distance to the heart. I was so stunned – the first thing I said was are you joking before giving an enthusiastic yes. It couldn’t have been a more romantic proposal given that our first date had been fish and chips on the beach in Broadstairs. We celebrated in Wetherspoons of all places with a bottle of champagne which the staff had to dust off!

Champagne was actually discovered by mistake when the cold winters halted the fermentation process only for it to start again in the spring creating a bi product of carbon dioxide which remained trapped in the wine. It is now generally seen as the drink of choice for celebrations and in a book I am reading that I was kindly bought as an engagement present ‘How to Wear White’ it is said that the UK spends over £5million a week on champagne! There is some suggestion however that the consumer trend this year is towards people buying Prosecco over champagne to celebrate with.

The following day was spent walking round the town, playing crazy golf (where I got a hole in one) and in arcades as well as going on a boat trip. I’m sure those cuddly toy machines are rigged! I couldn’t resist this gem of a satchel – so like the ones of the Cambridge Satchel Company but far cheaper, which I discovered on a market stall.

We had a fish and chip tea down on the beach again whilst the sun set and I dipped my toe into the cool sea.

We then finished our stay with a trip on the North Yorkshire Moors railway and a visit to Goathland where Heartbeat was filmed. On arrival back at Whitby, we grabbed some freshly baked doughnuts only to be dive bombed by seagulls!

We returned home to break the good news to both sets of parents. I still can not quite believe it has happened to me – the little girl who said no one would ever marry her. I cannot stop admiring my ring and feel like I am on cloud nine. This wonderful event also ticks another box on my bucket list, so I have achieved 4 out of 10 of the items – got engaged, been to India, done the Moonwalk and started riding lessons again. The others will be carried over to my new bucket list to do before 40.

We now have around a year to plan our special day and I can’t wait to get started. Look out for lots of wedding planning themed blogs over the next few months!

‘The Greatest Show on Earth’

Aug29

You would be forgiven for thinking that I was referring to the Olympics but actually I am talking about a far more important celebration – my birthday that just happened to fall on the same day as the opening ceremony. So nice of the whole country to join in my celebrations! Lol! I haven’t seen the opening ceremony but by all accounts it did our country proud and Team GB did very well with 29 gold medals, 17 silver and 19 bronze, putting us 3rd in the medal table. Go Team GB! I did watch the closing ceremony which was fantastic and I especially enjoyed the Spice Girls which took me back to my early teens when I was mad on them and the girl power they stood for. I must admit this is the first year I have taken an interest in the Olympics. I even got my rabbit Rufus into the spirit with a Team GB football! Tomorrow marks the start of the Paralympics.

The origins of the Olympics go back to ancient Greece in 8^th Century BC. The first games held in the UK were in 1908 when such sports as Tug of War were included. We came top of the medal table that year with 56 gold medals!

So another year passes and sadly this will be the last year of my twenties. I don’t feel a day over 21 though! Where have those years gone? Guess I feel a little behind my peers at times given my lack of career path; however numerology does say that those with a birth date of 27 tend to be late bloomers, taking their time to choose a profession. It also says we are creative so perhaps there is some hope for a writing career still.

Being that my birthday fell on a Friday this year I decided to stretch the festivities over the whole weekend. On the day we had a family trip to West Wittering beach. I chose here as despite being some distance away, the place holds good childhood memories. You can park up virtually on the beach and picnic. The sand stretches for miles whilst the tide is out and there is a lot of shallow water making it ideal for children. The car park has been run commercially since the 1920s and in 1952 the local residents bought it to prevent a Butlin’s (or similar) holiday camp being built on it. Check out their website for further details.

http://www.westwitteringbeach.co.uk/

We had a lovely cooked breakfast on arrival cooked on a camping gaz and a picnic lunch, followed by a mouth watering coffee and walnut birthday cake that my Mum made. The history of the birthday cake is quite an interesting one. Since the middle of the 19^th century it has been an important part of celebrating birthdays in the West, however there is evidence of the custom going back to Roman times. Putting candles on the cake is believed to go back to 18^th century Germany. Singing happy birthday became popular in the early 1900s and it was then that the words happy birthday started to appear on cakes.

We had great fun playing tennis and rounders on the sand. When I was batting in rounders, I was so excited to have hit the ball I forgot all about running! I had a bit of a swim and we built sandcastles with my beautiful baby niece who at 13 months is already very cultured; eating olives and feta cheese. Not sure who enjoyed the sandcastles more – her or me and my partner, lol! There is nothing more relaxing than the warm sun beating down on you with the soft sand beneath you, water gently lapping and a slight salty taste in your mouth.

I wore my denim skirt dungarees with a white t-shirt and my bikini underneath. To finish the look off I wore my healed glitter jelly shoes. Now these PVC plastic shoes were hugely popular in 1980s but have had a revival a number of times. People have guessed at their origins with some suggesting that it goes back to just after WW2 when there was a leather shortage in Europe so a French shoe maker developed them. Many people think they are a big no no or only suitable for children but how else can you wear heels to the beach?!

We finished the day with a fish and chip supper and a very pleasant bottle of wine and all returned home rather sunburnt with numerous mosquito bites!

Saturday morning my partner gave me his presents to open and brought me breakfast in bed. That evening I went for a curry where I used to live with many of my friends. I stuck with my resolve to try different dishes and had Malayan Chicken. It was a lovely evening and time flew past meaning that we missed the last train and had to sheepishly knock at Mum and Dad’s door. I wore a butterfly maxi dress from Jane Norman for the occasion.

Sunday was another meal out, this time with my partner’s family and I was lucky enough to be showered with more gorgeous gifts.

I want to use this platform to thank family, friends and my partner for making it another wonderful birthday and at time of posting I am still dragging out my birthday. One of my partners presents has yet to arrive and two weeks after my birthday another one of my boyfriends arrived – a gorgeous mosaic bistro set which will set the garden off lovely when it’s all finished.

I also couldn’t resist these thank you cards from Zazzle, so me don’t you think?

The other weekend my friend and I met up in London as she was away for my birthday. We spent a very pleasant few hours wandering round Harvey Nichols and other shops in Knightsbridge looking at all the lovely things we can’t afford. I especially enjoyed the Louboutin boutique in Harvey Nichols where the assistant informed us that on his crystal encrusted shoes, each crystal is applied separately by hand and so they can take at least a day to make one pair – now I understand the price tag! Being adventurous and keen to try anything a bit quirky, I couldn’t resist trying out Bubbleology – a concession that sells bubble tea within Harvey Nichols. The stall looked more like a science lab, with the staff wearing white coats saying bubbleologist on the back. Bubble tea was invented in Taiwan in the eighties. Bubble tea is fundamentally green, black, white or red tea and it can then be infused with milk or fruit and drunk hot or cold. Small bubbles are formed on the top in the process of making the tea as it is shock vigorously, hence the name. In the bottom are small balls of tapioca. I quite enjoyed it; it’s certainly worth experiencing!

We finished off the day in Harrods for afternoon tea in their Georgian restaurant with a glass of champagne included. Now as much as I enjoyed catching up with my friend and sampling some delicious sandwiches and scones and a nice glass of champagne, whilst the piano played itself; Harrods itself was some what of a let down for me. The gold leaf on the plates was faded, the silver tea pots were tarnished and the décor looked tired. My other complaint at the risk of sounding like Samantha in Sex and the City, was the amount of children there. Now don’t get me wrong I love children but I’m not sure they should be attending a luxury afternoon tea plus isn’t it a waste of money for their parents?

To end on, I must share with you one of my presents, a book that must have been written for me, lol! Mum kindly bought me Manolo Blahnik – The Elves and the Shoe Maker. This book combines the old fairy tale with the story of the designer and is illustrated with drawings from the designer. The author also wrote another of my bibles ‘How to Walk in High Heels.’ This has interesting tips on such things as how to change a light bulb.

I also received from a few friends, gorgeous scarves, two with butterflies and one with dragonflies which I will be brightening up my work attire with.

That’s all for this time. Do let me know any beaches you recommend or indeed what your feelings on jelly shoes are. I’m now off to enjoy another of my presents – Champagne with black Raspberry Chambord; kindly bought by a friend to remind me of our trip to London Fashion Week.

London Calling – 3G

Apr5

The last few weeks have been quite eventful and exciting with London calling (as the Clash put it). There has been a trip to see Ghost, meal at Gilgamesh and stay at The Grosvenor Hotel – hence the title of this blog being 3G (as in 3 places beginning with ‘G’) with a play on words with the phone technology. I, my Mum, cousin and Aunt went to see Ghost the musical at The Piccadilly theatre. After the greatly acclaimed 1990 film starring the late Patrick Swayze, could the musical compare I asked myself. Well the answer was a very loud yes. This is an outstanding show and if you get the chance to go, I highly recommend it; it’s probably the only musical in which I have seen people in the audience crying. The special effects were out of this world. In a film you take them for granted but on a stage where they can’t cut and paste bits together, they really were something else. Afterwards I hailed a taxi – I was not walking in my high heels, and we went to Brown’s for a meal which as always never disappoints and I’m not just talking about the food and magnificent cocktails – our waiter was a lovely piece of eye candy!

Last weekend my other half and I spent a night in London at the Grosvenor Hotel to celebrate 3 years together. The hotel opened in 1862 and has recently been refurbished, maintaining many original Victorian features and was a great choice for me given my fascination with the Victorian era. The hotel was a very luxurious 4*. We went for a meal at Gilgamesh in Camden, which I chose after it appeared on Masterchef. The restaurant is named after the Epic of Gilgamesh which is believed to be one of the earliest surviving works of literature dating from around 18^th century BC. Gilgamesh was King of Uruk and was part human, part God. He suppressed his people so they asked for the Gods help. The Gods sent Enkidu who was part man and part animal to distract Gilgamesh. They fight but then become friends and then seek to gain recognition by killing a demi God. The pair also kill the bull of heaven. As punishment the Gods decide that one of the pair must die and it ends up being Enkidu because Gilgamesh is part God. Gilgamesh then seeks Urshanabi who has been granted immortality to try and find out the secret of eternal life. The walls of the restaurant depict this story. Head Chef Ian Pengelley creates dishes inspired by South East Asia, China and Japan. The duck spring rolls were to die for (I abstained from my no red meat rule for these). I also had a stunning Thai green curry which was a little hot for me but I want my palette to become accustomed to more spicy food. All of this was washed down with a Cosmopolitan and a bottle of rose Prosecco which my other half and I toasted our anniversary over. What really excites you about this restaurant however is the wonderful, lavish decoration that strikes you as soon as you get to the top of the escalator that leads you into this eastern inspired haven. Attention has been paid to every detail, with the intricate carvings of the chairs, not to mention the bar and the soft mood lighting.

The service is fantastic with your glass constantly being topped up. We then went into the Babylon bar (part of Gilgamesh) which was equally as beautifully decorated and then were directed to the so called club. This is where the special feeling of occasion left us as we were sharply reminded of our class. Every table was reserved and apparently to reserve a table you had to have a minimum spend of £500. Very elitist I felt and rather put a dampener on the evening. On looking on their website after though I see that this may have simply have been the VIP bar and there may have been a studio club above the restaurant. We left after this however, with my feet aching in new heels (the price I pay for gorgeous shoes) and found ourselves in a much less extravagant Camden bar, drinking Sol beers and listening to music from films. We then made our way back to the hotel where we ended up in the Reunion bar drinking wine and then purchased a white Prosecco to take up to the room. That final bottle was a mistake though and we hardly touched it before both dropping off to sleep. We both certainly knew our extravagance in the morning when we woke with thumping headaches! It was enjoyable but for the money it cost, I think we would have been better off going abroad as we have done the last two years. When I compare Buddakan in New York where we went last year, with Gilgamesh, Buddakan wins for me, despite some of the excellent features of Gilgamesh. Buddakan serves modern Asian cuisine with a distinctly Chinese feel whereas Gilgamesh encompasses much more of Asia’s speciality foods. Buddakan felt welcoming from the start with the dim lighting and the wonderful painting behind the bar where Carrie had her last single girl kiss in the first Sex and the City movie. There are beautiful chandeliers, offering a regal palace feel to the place. Buddakan felt more exclusive than Gilgamesh as we were not so crammed in and it was quieter, rather than everyone shouting over each other, not to mention the woman with the hyena laugh we had to put up with whilst we ate at Gilgamesh. The bar also had plenty of unreserved seating. We were allowed to spend as much time as we wanted at the table rather than at Gilgamesh where we were reminded of a 2 hour limit.

Now while I am on the subject of Sex and the City, I am so excited to hear about the filming of the new Sex and the City Prequel, based on Candace Bushnell’s books ‘The Carrie Diaries.’ These books follow Carrie in her teenage years. AnnaSophia Robb has been cast as Carrie – you may remember her as Violet Beauregarde in the version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which had Johnny Depp cast as a somewhat scary Mr Wonka. Some people think the Sex and the City brand has had its day, however as a die hard fan I can’t wait for this series and sincerely hope that the rumours of a third Sex and the City film soon become a reality.

In true Carrie style, let’s now turn to fashion. I couldn’t resist these David and Goliath pyjamas.

David and Goliath was founded in 2000 by Todd Goldman whose doodles have now made their way onto T-shirts, Pyjamas, key rings etc. His aim is to make us laugh. I already own a pair of their pyjamas with the slogan ‘Happiness is Expensive.’ Now I love my pyjamas and happily stay in them all day if I am not going out. They are so comfortable and this company makes you look stylish too. Why not give an edge to your pyjamas when lounging round the house and sling on a pair of pearls, like Carrie in the Sex and the City movie or style up a cute nightshirt with knee high white socks with a cute little bow on the side (I bought these last season and can’t wait to wear with my Daisy Duck nightie when the weather is warmer).

The word Pyjamas comes from a Persian word meaning leg garment. It originally referred to loose trousers tied around the waist. During the British Raj, this word was introduced to the English language. In India, pyjamas were worn as lounge wear by the rich who didn’t need to work. Now despite being a fan of pyjamas, I’m unsure on the latest trend of pyjama style outerwear shown on the spring catwalks by Stella McCartney to name one designer.

Admittedly I enjoy the comfort of wearing out my harem pants, palazzo pants and may even consider these geisha pants from Fashion Union but is a matching pyjama style suit a step too far?

Now whilst we are on controversial trends – are dungarees a do or a don’t? It takes me back to my floral dungaree shorts that I loved as a 9 year old. Jean-Paul Gaultier has a dungaree dress in his new collection as seen below.

Alexia Chung has been spotted wearing them in a New York club.

I have decided to embrace the trend for this item of clothing, which was originally created as a protective form of clothing for workers; with women first wearing them in factories during the First World War and an item that has had brief revivals in the fashion trends in 60s, 70s and more recently 2010. I have purchased this dungaree dress from River Island and intend to wear it with floaty blouses and perhaps as an easy item to put on over my bikini on holiday.

Now I will leave you with an amusing story that a lady at work told me. She was with a girl whose shoe fell onto the track at an underground station. This girl hopped up steps to find a member of staff in order to get them to rescue her very expensive shoe and in doing so had a train held outside the station. Numerous commuters were giving her death stares for causing a delay for the sake of a shoe but my heart goes out to this woman. Any self respecting shoe lover including myself would have done the same! Am I addicted to shoes? Probably, my boyfriend was certainly nodding his head in amusement at a girl addicted to shoes who was featured on ‘My Strange Obsession last week’ and giving me a knowing look. Perhaps I better still keep a few pairs at my parent’s house try and resist anymore purchases for a while! Who am I kidding; I already have my eye on numerous pairs!

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