Afternoon delight

I think one very quintessential thing on everyone's London's list is to have fancy afternoon tea at a key location.

I really wanted to go to The Ritz however the price was not so appealing so I started considering other options. I had been to the Wolseley for a work breakfast so I discounted that (although the breakfast is incredible and I’ve heard its one of the best in London- believe the hype!) and it seemed like every other hotel we considered (Dorchester, Park Lane) had similar prices, around £30, which seems like a lot for a few scones or sandwiches.

One of my dear friends suggested we go to Sketch bar. I have wanted to go to Sketch for a while as I had heard a lot of amazing reviews about the quirky decor and the great cocktails, it is one of the 'it' places to go in London so I was up for it.

The inside is just lush, velvet red walls and carpet, the place is separated into many different rooms which makes it cosy and intriguing. Despite the fact it was 3pm in the afternoon the whole place had a very funky ‘cool’ vibe.

The room we were sat in was part bar, part library and it had crazy chandeliers, birdcages and amazing wallpaper.

The food was phenomenal and the afternoon tea menu seemed to offer a different selection of treats than some of the other places we had considered.

To start with there was the assorted finger sandwiches and fruit scones which just oozed taste and decadence. The smoked salmon sandwiches were a stand out for me however the remaining selection was just as good- egg, ham etc.

The highlight of the meal for me were the four pastries- probably because I have a very sweet tooth! Firstly there was a raspberry macaroon that was filled with a creamy paste and had a pop of a jam like substance in the middle which was heaven in my mouth.

The berry tart was my next favourite, I’m not normally a fan of pastry/tart like desserts but this was damn tasty and the fruit was to die for. The friand was delightful and there was an interesting biscuit with a creamy savory top which the other girls didn't love but I liked the contrast in taste it bought compared to the other treats on the table.

We washed all this tasty food down with a tea of our choice- mine was an Asian Green tea and it was earthy and tasted delightful.

The whole experience wouldn't have been complete if we didn't visit the infamous toilets. I have no hesitation in saying it was like being transported into a Star Trek episode. The rooms were completely white and they were unisex. The toilets themselves were pods hanging from the ceiling and if that wasn't trippy enough once you get inside the pod there is a loudspeaker which plays sounds like you are in a spaceship about to takeoff- completely out there!!!

As there were 3 of us we all had to take turns using the restrooms and we were to discover an alternate set of toilets to the pods which were normal booths set up to be plush and posh. They matched the red décor of the rest of the hotel and they even had a mannequin covered in swarovski crystals sat outside the entrance. I have never seen anything like it.

I had such an fantastic time, probably also due to my lovely company, but if you want to have afternoon tea with a twist I would definitely recommend checking out Sketch- less stuffy and just damn fun.

X

A touch of Hollywood glamour

I had wanted to go to the Grace Kelly exhibition ever since it opened, I had tried a few times unsuccessfully and when one of my nearest and dearest friends moved over from Australia I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to attempt to go again.

I made sure we got there super early, around 10am, even then we were forced to wait half an hour until the next available session.

To say the exhibition was worth the wait is an understatement and it was even more special for me to share it with my friend who has a wealth of knowledge of fashion and about the technicalities of well made outfits- I learnt a lot!

Every piece of clothing was stunning and the way the exhibition was put together perfectly took you through Grace's life story from an actress to a Hollywood glamour superstar.

The exhibition started with the girly dresses of her youth and her courtship with Prince Rainer to the absolutely stunning dresses she wore to parties in her 50's right through to costumes from her films- mind blowing.

We started with outfits from the time when she first met Prince Rainier III of Monaco and were able to see the "easy to sew" dress she had made from the McCall Patterns. The fact that she could meet and woo a Prince in a self made outfit is a massive compliment to the way she could wear a dress.

We then moved onto the belted shirtwaist dress which she wore for the official announcement of her engagement to Prince Rainier, this is totally something that I think Louis Vuitton has replicated in his A/W 10 collection and I could definitely see myself wearing it.

I loved the emerald green Givenchy wool dress with matching bolero jacket that she wore when she visited the White House for lunch with President and Mrs Kennedy, so chic and again something that has stood the test of time and could be worn today.

The outfits from High Society- the grey and pink silk chiffon dress embroidered with roses and a Grecian-style bathing robe absolutely took my breath away.

The Haute couture creations stood in the middle of the exhibition so they could be viewed on a 360 degree angle. Some of the highlights were outfits by Chanel and Balenciaga but the gorgeous Pucci like kaftan was my favourite of the whole collection, she had worn it with piles of jewels and her hair stacked high on her head- totally glamour.

As she aged her style became more eccentric. This was definitely reflected in this amazing head piece she wore to a ball that was made of hair and crystals that branched off her head almost like elegant eels- sounds strange but was stunning.

Of course it would be remiss of me to not mention the accessories, the copious amounts of very VB style prescription sunglasses and the one and only iconic Hermès "Kelly" bag- it crazy to see this bag in real life, probably the closest ill ever get to one!

I loved the whole exhibition, I felt really inspired about fashion and history when I left so much so that I had to go out the next day to buy, watch and totally enjoy High Society- makes me think my mother is onto something with the beauty of old movies and old school Hollywood glamour

x

Just another competition I won...

So this is not a post to brag but I even I will admit I have been through quite a lucky patch lately. I truly thought after the SATC2 premiere I was done but fortunately not so!

I happened to enter a competition at work to win tickets to the 2010 Wireless festival in London Hyde Park to see Jay Z and Lily Allen live. I was actually tossing around the idea of buying tickets when the email popped up in my inbox that I had won VIP tickets to the Sunday show!

I decided to take my new flatmate as a nice bonding session and I thought she deserved to get out and enjoy London!

We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight to the VIP area to check it out. Let me set the record straight right now, VIP does not include a special spot in front of the stage, nor does it guarantee not having to line up for drinks and the food/drinks are just as expensive as outside the area- there is just more fancy varieties.

The main benefit of the VIP area was that there were nice toilets with toilet paper and mirrors (at a festival yes believe it or not!!!) and there were plenty of hot hot people.

Once we picked our jaws off the ground we went out to check out Slash on the main stage. Slash is an amazing guitar player, one of the best in the world, however he isn't really a people person and he left the talking and crowd motivation to his main singer- who can I say sounds a lot like Axl Rose. To be honest it was hard to get into his solo stuff but it was super cool to hear some classic Guns N Roses- Sweet Child O'Mine and Paradise City!

We were really pumped to see Friendly Fires so we got drinks and found our positions in the crowd. For some reason our bladders decided this was a perfect time to play up and we spent the first 3 songs in the queue for the toilet. In the end their set got cut short as Slash had played over his allotted time so we only got to see 2 songs however they are a fantastic band and one of the highlights of the day in my mind.

We decided to get more drinks and some food (standard festival Cider and hot chips!) and head back to watch Lily Allen. As some of you may know I have a bit of a problem with Lily Allen. I think she is way too opinionated for someone who has been in the industry about 10 minutes. However that said she has a good catalogue of hit songs so the set was enjoyable and I did find myself singing along!

We got more drinks and settled to rock out to Jay Z- 5 ciders in I was in a very jolly mood and we were to discover the ladies behind us were also. This particular lady only knew about every 3 words to a song and decided to sing lalala in between to make sure she was singing every song. To say this became annoying is a massive understatement!

Jay Z is a brilliant artist and is an icon for our generation, he has so many amazing songs- 99 problems, Empire State of Mind, Show Me What You Got, Run This Town etc.

About an hour into the set we decided to leave, partly due to the company behind us but mostly as everyone knows festivals are a night mare to get home from.

I was glad I got the chance to go to a UK festival this year however I'm glad I didn’t pay to go to that one, I think maybe I am getting old when I start to whinge that I spend a lot of the time lining for the toilet and getting drinks. I do love a great concert though so this won’t be my last festival!

A big thanks to my lovely friend for coming, it was loads of fun with you and I'm glad we got to share that together

X

Did someone say Tennis?

Most of those who know me know that I don’t really like sport, in fact the majority of sports I hate. I don't understand games like Rugby where it seems to me the main goal of the game is to beat each other up. Alternatively I cannot stand cricket- it is literally like watching paint dry!

However I was intrigued to check out Wimbledon Tennis Championships, it is a bit of an institution here in London and with it being so close to my house it seemed a shame to not go and have that English experience.

We were a little late in booking tickets to a main game so we decided we would do the early morning line up- early morning is a little bit of an understatement.

I was informed by my friends in order to secure a spot for the day that I would have to be at Southfields tube station at 5.45am which required me getting out of bed at 4.45am- yes my friends I got out of bed at a ridiculous hour to watch sport- who would have thought that day would ever come!

We made it to the grounds by 6am and were given the 1500th line up ticket, I was told that they only ever allow a maximum of 6,000 people on the grounds every day so I was quite chuffed that we were one of the first (apart from the crazy people that and had camped overnight!)

We stayed in the slow moving queue until we were allowed into the grounds at 10.45am. I was quite surprised how fast that 4 hours went, in between reading newspapers, drinking coffee and listening to the Northerners behind us drawl about their boring lives it was all good fun.

Our plan once we got in the grounds was to pick one court and stay there all day (we were soon to find out that that wasn't possible, if you got up to go to the toilet you automatically lost your seat, this was a bit of a problem for me as everyone knows I have a very weak bladder!)

We lined up to enter through the gates that would lead us to the courts towards the back of the grounds were we had picked Court 18 to watch our first game.

There were about 100 people waiting to enter this area of the grounds and when they finally opened the gates at 11am it turned into a slight stampede/run to get to the best courts. In the mad rush I managed to tread on a poor ladies Haviana and it fell off her foot. I went to stop and pick it up but the crowd pushed me forward- it was ruthless!

We finally made it in and settled ourselves down with our food, mags and water- excited and basking in the morning heat. In the wait we happened to eaves drop on the conversation behind us, two people in their early 20’s (possibly Australian) were discussing the fact that they had been out for a big night the night before and how funny it was that they had decided at 4am to camp out at Wimbledon. They had stayed overnight with no blankets, tents etc and here they were actually sitting in a match on about 3 hours sleep- hilarious!

The first match of the day was ladies single's 4th round, a Chinese lady Na Li against a Polish lady Agnieszka Radwanska. From the get go you could tell Na Li really wanted to win and towards the end she became quite aggressive about it. It seemed to me about half way through the game Agnieszka started to give up and so you couldn't help but will Na Li on. The game was exciting and it wet my appetite for what was to come.

By this stage the heat was starting to get to us, it was one of those freak days in London where it had reached 28 degrees by midday and we were absolutely roasting. Determined not to lose our seats too quickly we stayed to watch the first 20 mins of the Gentlemen's singles 4th round between Tomas Berdych (Czech) and Daniel Brands (Germany). Men's singles games are ridiculously fast and don’t seem to have the same thought process that the previous ladies game had. I mean you barely have time to move your head let alone follow the ball, I didn’t find this game as entertaining as the last purely because there didn’t seem to be a specific tactic other than slamming the ball into the other person’s court so fast the other person didn’t have time to hit it back.

The heat got us in the end and we left (lucky we did as the game went on for about 4 or so hours- Tomas Berdych ended up being in the finals against Rafael Nadal but lost- still exciting I got to see him play).

We decided there was no better time than now to devour a gigantic Haagen Dazs ice cream and wander around the courts. The next game we settled on was a fellow Aussie, Samantha Stosur, in a ladies doubles, she was paired with Russian Nadia Petrova against Vania King (USA) and Yaroslava Shvedova (KAZ).

The game was a tough one and the American lady was feisty, there was a hand slap or a word of encouragement with her partner after every round. That said there were many Aussie's in the seats screaming words of encouragement for Sam, it was almost like being back at home!

By this stage it was about 3pm and we were exhausted, so we decided to sit on the infamous hill at the back of the grounds and watch some of the centre court game between Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova- amazing players.

After half an hour of rest we decided to end the day by watching the mixed double's game which featured a familiar face; Kim Clijsters. She was playing with Xavier Malisse (BEL) against Andy Ram (ISR)and Elena Vesnina (RUS). The game was a tough one and it was extremely interesting to see the mixture of style’s of women playing with and against men. We even started incorporating the hand slap ourselves after every round as a bit of fun! The day was concluded with consuming large amounts of Strawberries (although we didn't have cream and I had been carrying the fruit around all day so they weren’t in the greatest of conditions!) the Wimbledon experience was complete!

All I can say is what an enjoyable day, I am now a converted Tennis fan. I have since taken an active interest in the sport so much so that in the following days I found myself tuning into games on the TV and participating in conversations around the office.

A big thanks to the lovely couple with whom I shared the day with, I couldn't have picked better company

X

An apology for my absence

Hi All,

This is a HUGE apology for my absence. I recently started a new role at my work and it has been hugely challenging but very rewarding, however it has taken a lot of my time!

I am still working my way through the list and have so much to share so please stay tuned!

I thought this would be an apt time to reflect on what is left on the list, amend it to be a little more realistic and open it up to any more suggestions.

So here is the remaining experiences:

1) Disco roller skating
2) See Florence
3) See Rome
4) See Milan
5) See Ireland
6) Go to a proper jazz club
7) Visit Whisky Mist Night Club
8) Bowling at old school bowling lanes
9) Visit Buckingham palace
10) Go to a UK football game
11) Visit all good coffee shops in London – as voted by Timeout magazine
12) Visit Brown’s department store
13) Visit Versailles
14) Go to the Spanish near Kylie’s house
15) Visit more vintages stores in London
16) Have a picnic in Hampstead Heath
17) Visit the Dali universe museum
18) Have Traditional Fish and Chips
19) See something at Royal Albert Hall
20) Visit the Manolo Blahnik store in Chelsea

I would love to hear any more ideas to add to the list!

X

My new obsession- Photography exhibitions

I love a good photography exhibition- I admit sometimes I don’t get certain pieces of art photography, it goes beyond what I can conceptualise however I do make an effort to try and see as much photography as I can as I think it captures quite beautiful, real aspects of life.

There have been 2 exhibitions shown in London of late which have managed to intrigue and stun me with the beauty of the work.

The first was a show at a small gallery near Goodge street called Diemar Noble. The exhibition was titled 'Threads' and it focused on fashion photography from the beginning in the 20's through to the more controversial shots of the 70's and 80's. The exhibition featured shots by renowned photographers- Edward Steichen, Erwin Blumenfeld, Norman Parkinson, William Klein, Guy Bourdin and Helmut Newton.

Norman Parkinson is fast becoming one of my favourite fashion photographers, his pictures are glamorous and elegant. He had such a wonderful way of showing fashion on ‘real’ women in the most beautiful settings. Much the same can be said for the work of Edward Steichen although I found his pictures were a little more focused on a woman's sexuality.

I loved William Klein's work purely as it was an excellent combination of fashion and art, he managed to capture real life in a fashionable way and I loved the fun vibe of the work, it made me smile.

It goes without saying that Helmet Newton was a genius and his work is an example of a futurist in vision and inspiration.

After leaving this stunning display I then stumbled across the London College of Fashion student exhibition in Carnaby street. The work which ended up impressing me the most was not the fashion itself but the visuals of make- up artistry.

The images these students can create with a splash of paint (or many 20 splashes!) are beyond one's imagination. To think that these are students and that they have yet to reach their full potential makes me really excited about the future of fashion and the way we will be able to view fantasy situations- makes me think a lot about the vision of the late Alexander McQueen. I can only begin to imagine what amazing visuals and ideas he had yet to share with the world.

In a few weeks time I too will be starting a course at the London College of Fashion in Fashion Marketing, to say that I am looking forward to this is a gross understatement. London has some of the most fantastic and quirky ideas about fashion and I can’t wait to soak it all up!

X