The London Color Run: Hints, Tips and Advice for the Happiest 5k on the Planet!

June 19, 2014June 25, 20143 Comments

You know that advert where there’s some kind of amazing festival with everyone throwing coloured dye on each other, and it’s supposed to make you want to buy a car or a camera or something, but actually it just makes you want to run outside in a spray of yellow, purple and red, dancing around like a toddler hopped up on too much Haribo? Of course you do – how could you forget? Well, if you’re anything like me, once you have a dream in mind, you set about to find a way to make it happen. And, funnily enough, where there’s a dream, there’s usually someone ready to make that dream come true if you give them some money. To cut a long story short, earlier this month I went on the Color Run in Wembley, London. That’s basically what I’m trying to tell you.

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Easter 2014 at Fortnum & Mason

April 18, 2014April 20, 2014Leave a comment

Fortnum and Mason is one of my favourite stores in London – and when it comes to holidays and celebrations, they always push the boat out with a great range of beautiful presented food and amazing displays!

Obviously, the main attraction for Easter celebrations in the UK is chocolate, moulded into the shape of eggs or Easter animals. I really liked the chocolate duck eggs, encased in a cardboard egg container!

There were a variety of edible animals, including this sweet little pig – although I don’t remember pigs being an Easter animal!

There were also various chocolate offerings, varying from the restrained to the extravagant.

You could also get an Easter egg hand decorated in the store, which was a nice touch!

You could also pick up a pretty batch of macarons if you preferred something less traditional, but still colourful!

There were loads of simnel cakes – can’t say I’ve ever had one at Easter but I’d love to try it!

One of the best addition to the range in my opinion, were the Easter biscuits. Again, they ranged from the subtle:

To the adorably over the top!

You could even buy a little meringue chick!

And there were some spectacular yellow flower arrangements in the basement too!

If it’s Easter, it has to be lamb – and the butcher had some very tempting morsels on display!

All in all, Fortnums is definitely worth a visit at any time of year, but particularly during holidays and festivals! (If you’re not into food, there’s also an amazing millinery selection, accessories and toiletries on another level, including a beautiful perfume department!)

(Obligatory Fortnums selfie!)

You can find Fortnum & Mason online at www.fortnumandmason.com, or visit in person at 181 Piccadilly, London, W1A 1ER. It’s a short walk from the nearest Tube station – Piccadilly Circus.

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Lunch at The Ivy

February 18, 2014July 26, 20167 Comments

It’s been my ambition for a long time to be able to eat at some of London’s most famous and established restaurants. I had my hen party at The Ritz and am plotting breakfast at The Wolseley, but before all that, I decided to cash in my Valentine’s day treat for lunch at The Ivy.

Not as exclusive or trendy as it was in its heyday, it’s still an amazing place to eat, and if you choose wisely, not as expensive as you would think!

The menu is full of old English and French classics – it’s not a particularly innovative menu, but then, that’s not why you go to The Ivy. You go to soak up the atmosphere and to sup in the same restaurant as countless celebrities like Noel Coward, Vivian Leigh, Marlene Dietrich, and more recently Nicole Kidman, Tom Cruise, the Beckhams, etc. These days, though, these celebs have migrated to The Club at The Ivy, which is a private area that requires membership to enter, leaving the main dining area relatively celeb-free.

So, you’ll have to content yourself with the food itself – solid, unsurprising fare that is incredibly delicious and reasonably priced.

I started with the seared foie gras – beautifully tender on top of a sheet of delicate pastry with a sugary crunch to it. The rich jus and sharp cherries were the perfect accompaniments. My husband had the leek soup, which was poured from a mini saucepan into a bowl already full of the toppings. It was delicious, smooth and creamy.

My main course was the confit of duck – it was certainly skilfully cooked, although a bit gamier than I’m used to. The potatoes were the highlight for me – cooked with onions, butter and parsley. I also shared some green beans and bacon with my husband, who ordered sausages and mash. This, again, was an exceptional example of a much-loved classic.

Dessert was the thing I was most looking forward to – Scandinavian iced berries. They were as delicious as I expected them to be – an assortment of wild, frozen berries topped with a gorgeously decadent hot white chocolate sauce at the last moment.

My husband opted for the creme brûlée – studded with vanilla seeds, it was rich and light at the same time!

Despite its fearsome reputation, I didn’t dress up for my visit – I just wore a cute striped jumper from Joules that I’d bought in Cornwall and a pair of black jeans. As this was lunch time, most people were dressed casually, although a few large groups were dressed to the nines and I lost count of the number of red Louboutins I saw flashing their way across the wooden floor!

If you’re after a meal to remember, I wouldn’t pick The Ivy as my first choice. But as far as boast factor goes, it’s pretty high up on the list, and I think the menu is very well executed. And so it should be, considering it’s full of much-loved, traditional dishes!

You can book a visit to The Ivy online at www.the-ivy.co.uk

Halloween at Fortnum and Mason

October 30, 20132 Comments

F&M have really knocked it out of the park with their seasonal selections this year. At the beginning of the month, I headed to London with my husband for my birthday and had a blast taking a look at both the Halloween and Christmas displays at the department store. I’ll save the Christmas pics for now, but I thought I’d share these spooky visual treats with you in celebration of Halloween tomorrow!

There will definitely be some lucky trick or treaters in London tomorrow if these goodies are anything to go by! You can order online at http://www.fortnumandmason.com/, or pop into the store at 181 Piccadilly. If you’ve never been, you really should visit this most beautiful and historic department store – and if you’re already a regular, I hope I’ve induced you to pop in again to see their amazing seasonal displays!

Personally, I am lusting over that lollipop, those skulls, and those darling little hampers. I’ve always wanted a F&M hamper, and those ones with the orange ribbons are just too adorable!

Shopping the French Sole Sale: A Mini Tour of London

September 30, 2013September 30, 2013Leave a comment

As I may have mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of French Sole, and when a pair of sandals I’d been lusting after for weeks came up in their sale – but not in my size! – there was nothing to be done except to get myself posthaste to my nearest FS store in order to bag a pair in person. The only issue with that is that my nearest FS store is in King’s Road, about an hour and half by car or between two to three hours on public transport. So, of course, this meant a day trip to London, and negates any savings I may have actually made on buying the shoes full price. But that is just a minor detail, so there’s no need to bring that up.

In order to get to the French Sole shop on King’s Road via the Tube, you face a pretty long walk from Sloane Street or a shorter one from Kensington, which then takes you along Fulham Road. This then takes you past an Amanda Wakeley store (Kate Middleton fans take note!) and a Butler & Wilson shop, which is a treasure trove of gorgeously over the top accessories. You then can then pass through any of the residential streets that connect Fulham Road to King’s Road, and soak in the beauty of Chelsea living – I am so jealous of some of these beautiful front doors!

King’s Road itself is a stomping ground for the Middleton sisters (and their glam mother, Carole, of course), and Bluebird has hosted many a cosy family lunch and is definitely worth visiting. Quite a few of the shops on King’s Road will be recognisable to a Kate Middleton fan (like an awesome L.K. Bennett clearance store!), but it was one shop in particular that I was honing in on!

Inside French Sole’s Chelsea branch, the sales were in full swing and the sales assistants were run off their feet getting different sizes and styles for their customers – always with a smile, I have to add. Luckily, they had a pair of the beautiful sandals I was lusting after in my size, so after purchasing I immediately put them on in order to get some wear out of them before autumn well and truly took over!

After that it was time for me to run loose in London – I didn’t have a lot of time, but I was able to visit the Burberry store on Regent’s Street (more on that in another post!) as well as to pop into Fortnum & Mason!

I adore honey (on toast, mixed with yogurt and fruit, eaten straight from the honeycomb… Love it!) so I was really excited to see the display celebrating London honey (this festival continues until 13 October). Plus, there were loads of gorgeous Halloween goodies – and the Christmas store was open on floor three as well.

Yup, it was a pretty good day…

What’s your style: classic, or cool?

September 13, 2013September 13, 2013Leave a comment

One of the things I love about British fashion is the way it fuses heritage brands with cutting edge cool. Old names like Burberry and Mulberry mixing with new ones like Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen. One side representing tradition, the other side bringing innovation and a playful sense of danger.

Even as I’ve evolved in my own sense of personal style, I can never seem to quite settle on a fashion persona that entirely embraces one or the other. I am certain I would be kicked out with equal amounts of disgust from the front row of any reputable British fashion brand – and it’s almost with a sense of pride I can declare myself to be a free agent in international waters. Of course, it means my wardrobe is a chaotic mess of rock-chick style accessories, prim, retro dresses, and far too many hats – but doesn’t everyone strive for a wardrobe like that? (They don’t? Off with you!)

Anyway, since I love a good scarf, and I seem to have one permanently wrapped around my neck from the months of October to March, I thought I’d investigate some good designer staples – and yet again, came into the age old question: cool or classic?

Brit-Style Scarves by foodfashfit featuring Burberry

The correct answer is undoubtedly BOTH! In which case, I shall rephrase – which one first? And can you sum up your own personal style? Does your wardrobe follow a general theme, or are you like me – a fashion butterfly, flitting mindlessly from pretty thing to pretty thing, never to settle? What is to become of us poor homeless butterflies? Ask not, for as my cat would tell you, they usually get eaten.

Bicester Village: Chic Shopping at Bargain Prices

September 6, 2013September 6, 20134 Comments

One of fashion’s best kept secrets is Bicester Village – a shopper’s paradise located in Oxfordshire. Part of the Chic Outlet Shopping group, the Village is home to luxury brands like La Perla, Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen, Temperley London, Anya Hindmarch and more – along with high-end high street stores like L.K. Bennett, Hobbs, Ted Baker, Reiss, Links of London, and French Connection. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather spend the day shopping!

I recently went for a visit as Bicester Village is very conveniently located halfway between my house and my in-laws’ (near Birmingham), so a spot of retail therapy breaks up the trip nicely…

The Village itself is beautifully laid out – a long walkway lined with shops and restaurants, and it’ll take you a couple of hours at least – at a brisk, no-dawdling pace – to see everything. If you’re planning some serious shopping, you’ll probably want to take all day! There are some lovely places to eat – Busaba Eathai, Carluccio’s, Starbucks and Pret A Manger I can all vouch for, while I’m dying to try out Jamie Oliver’s Fabulous Feasts, and the Creperie Angelie and Amorino Ice Cream kiosks.

Strategy is the key for a successful shop at Bicester – make sure you set yourself a budget, although if you’re like me, you may well blow it on some serious bargains. There’s always something new here as the stock changes fairly regularly, and each company has a different policy about what makes its way to the outlet stores, and when.

Needless to say, everyone will be after something different from their visit. I always like to pop into Jimmy Choo (last seen with some wellies on offer for £50!), and to lust after the gorgeous wedding dresses in Temperley. Scarves and clutch bags are the order of the day in Alexander McQueen, and I just love to check out the huge range of beauty products at the Cosmetics Company Store (including Bobbi Brown!). No visit would be complete without checking out the bags at Mulberry or the scarves (and trench coats!) at Burberry, although with some of the high street stores you’ll certainly find items priced at most budgets.

If you’re a massive fan of the Duchess of Cambridge’s style – as I am (could you guess?) – you’ll be pretty pleased to find many of the brands she’s been pictured wearing all in one spot. If you’re ever visiting the UK, you really need to put this on your ‘must-do’ list – there are even luxury coach services from London, as well as regular trains from London and Birmingham. In fact, if you fancy, you could charter a chauffeur service too – check out the options on the site here. (Of course, it goes without saying that driving there is very simple – it’s just off the M40 and A34, and again, if you want to make your trip even more luxurious, Bicester has just the option for you – valet parking!).

One of my favourite shops to stop in at is L.K. Bennett, and during my trip I noticed the Natalie clutch and the Maddox wedge (heir to the Greta) on sale, and previously other acquaintances of mine have scooped up some coats the Duchess has worn in both Hobbs and Ted Baker. Sadly for me, I already owned the Natalie and the Maddox (yes, in both colours!), but there was plenty to tug at my purse strings on my visit.

I came away from my trip with a beautiful Fox Charm necklace from Mulberry (£90 reduced from £150), a red purse from Anya Hindmarch (£61 down from £175, I believe – can’t believe I forgot to check!) and a free – FREE – dotty umbrella from Jaeger, courtesy of my loyalty card voucher. I can definitely attest that that’s one scheme worth signing up for! I would have come away with a beautiful deer brown Lily bag from Mulberry (which was just over £400), but let’s just say I’ve been buying too many designer bags recently and people are starting to notice…! (By that, I mean my bank manager specifically.)

Sunglasses, eBay / Bondi Font Bracket Necklace, Maqaroon / Tangerine Michelle Top, hush / Grey Trousers, Next / Vectra5 Studded Slippers, TopShop / Lanesley Bag, Hobbs / Bloomingdale’s Charm, Bloomingdale’s / Dog Zodiac Bracelet, Mulberry / Lucky Charm Camera Bracelet, Maqaroon

Bicester Village has recently launched a new campaign for autumn called Touch of Chic, which I’ll post about later in the month – in the meantime, make sure you check out the site for Bicester Village at www.bicestervillage.com to find out more about the brands, offers and services available, including travel information and a list of shops!

If you’re visiting, get there early to get into the big name shops without queuing (these are easy to spot by the velvet ropes outside!). On my visit I arrived promptly at 9am on a Saturday in the school holidays and managed to get into all the shops I was aiming to without having to wait – but by the time I was leaving, just a couple of hours later, the queue were starting to form. Well, good things do come to those who wait, right?

Find Bicester Village at 50 Pringle Drive, Bicester, Oxfordshire, OX26 6WD. You can also give them a ring at +44 (0)1869 366 266. And, check out the visitor information at the site by clicking here.

Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace

July 16, 2013July 16, 2013Leave a comment

On Saturday, the girls and I got up at stupid o’clock so we could head to London to celebrate the Coronation in her Madge’s fine gardens at Buckingham Palace.

The gardens are beautiful – although I obviously didn’t see them in their full glory, as they were covered in marquees full of stalls set up by Royal Warrant holders – everyone from the providers of locks and boilers, to high-end fashion designers, fabric shops and the now-famous Hunter wellies!

This gorgeous display is from Stewart Parvin, who was the designer of my lovely lace wedding gown, so I had to snap a picture. Check out that beautiful dove grey coat!

It was blisteringly hot all day, so it was time to break out the big floppy hat!

Bianca Hat, Hobbs Invitation / Slinky Facet Bead Drop Earrings, Accessorize / Green Gathered Dress, Zara / Gold Necklace, Peacocks / Gold Leaf Bracelet, Etsy / Barely There Non-Slip Tights, John Lewis / Patent Kate Bag, Jaeger / Maddox Wedges in Patent, L.K. Bennett

I love the neat gathered detailing on the Zara dress!

As you can see, my shoes got very dusty from the lawn, I do hope her Madge gets the sprinklers out this week before the grass pops its clogs!

Here’s the stand from Lock & Co Hatters, with some beautiful creations!

Absolutely gorgeous (and incredibly expensive) fabrics from Joel & Sons.

Beautiful blooms outside one of the eating places.

Of course, the food tent was my favourite!

The King’s Ginger had an amazing stand with some miniature bottles from the doll’s house at Windsor Castle. Their liqueur was absolutely top drawer too!

This was a neat display from Gordon’s Gin.

Ever wondered how Stinking Bishop is made? Wonder no more – this is one of the first stages, apparently.

Check out this beautiful display of French bread from Shipton Mill – I love bread, it’s one of my major weaknesses. I’ve ordered a selection box of organic flour from this company, and I’ll be baking up a storm when it arrives!

For lunch, we treated ourselves to fish and chips – it was delicious, if a little greasy… But hey, eaten in the shade on the Queen’s lawn – I don’t think you can beat that!

After our tour of the Warrant holders, we took a look around the gardens a bit more, and there were some lovely plants – as you would expect, of course!

If you’d like to visit Buckingham Palace and see the gardens for yourself, check out this site for details including prices and access information!

Restaurant review: Chez Lindsay, Richmond

July 10, 2013July 26, 2016Leave a comment

For my husband’s birthday, we went to Chez Lindsay in Richmond for some delicious crepes at the weekend! Unfortunately, we were running very late because of motorway traffic, so by the time we arrived I was feeling pretty tense – as you can see from my strained expression!

I was wearing my Cezanne Paintbox pleated dress in Destiny from Great Plains – I bagged it in the sale for £15, so I was pretty pleased with the purchase! We didn’t really take any better photos of this outfit, but I did pose with a dragonfly I rescued from a Starbucks!

When we got to Chez Lindsay, we realised my great plan of finding a car park, which was ‘I saw a big car park on the map nearby, it’s fine’ was actually very flawed in reality. What we did instead of finding one, was drive around Richmond in a circular fashion until we hated each other and wanted to murder everyone. Eventually we rang the restaurant and found the car park they advised (thank you, helpful restaurant folk!), which could only be reached by driving in more circles down very unpromising residential roads. So, by the time we arrived we had driven for around two and a half hours to get there, and were on the verge of minor nervous breakdowns.

Luckily, the food was amazing, and a real trip down memory lane for both of us! My husband lived in Cherbourg for nine months at university, so I visited him often and we had a favourite creperie we went to all the time. These crepes were not only delicious, but a real blast from the past and very comforting to boot.

First of all, though, check out this awesome butter knife:

I ordered the super complete, which is a buckwheat pancake (or, galette) with egg, cheese, ham, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms. If you’ve never had a buckwheat pancake before, you really should try them – you can get buckwheat flour from lots of supermarkets these days, and the texture and nutty taste is so much better than plain flour pancakes – and makes a great match for savoury flavours. These galettes are very traditional in Normandy and Brittany and you can find creperies all over the place in these regions selling these delicious dishes.

The galettes are always served like this, with the corners turned up, containing all the delicious toppings underneath.

My husband had the same as me, except no mushrooms, because he has a challenging palette (ha – he drives me nuts!). Would you like to know how it was?

Superb, of course! The restaurant was very pretty too – light and airy with a great atmosphere, even though it was fairly quiet when we went in.

And the waitress and hostess (who I presume was the owner, possibly Lindsay herself!) were charming and helpful, despite our probably incredibly frazzled expressions!

If you love Bretonne cuisine and buckwheat style pancakes or French food in general, I’d definitely recommend a trip there – and visit Richmond and Kew Gardens whilst you’re there, too! On a sunny day I can’t think of many things more pleasant.

The website with menus can be found here. The restaurant is located on 11 Hill Rise, Richmond upon Thames.

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Hawksmoor Air Street

July 5, 2013July 26, 2016Leave a comment

For my husband’s 30th birthday, we visited Hawksmoor on Air Street, just off Regents Street. I’d heard this was one of the best places in London for steak, and I was certainly not disappointed.

The real stand out for the whole meal was actually totally unexpected and a real treat – cornflake milkshake!

We totally ordered this by chance but I’m so glad we did – it was delicious and incredibly unique. It was super sweet with a hint of malt to it, and the cornflakes on the top added a great texture.

Plus, gotta love those classic milkshake glasses!

At first, we just ordered one to taste, but when it came I insisted on getting my own!

If there’s a meal worth getting fat for, it would surely include at least one cornflake milkshake…

This was my husband’s starter – Doddington Caesar salad. It’s a bit of a running joke between us as the cheese also sounds a bit like his surname… It was pretty unusual to have cheddar on a Caesar salad, and it wasn’t until I tasted it myself that I appreciated the difference in texture – the waxy feel of cheddar is very different to the drier, textured feel of Parmesan.

I had the Tamworth belly ribs – I did want the potted beef and bacon with Yorkshires, but the waiter told us the chef wasn’t happy with the quality and asked us to select something else. To be honest, they were slightly dry in places, but very rich and great with the red cabbage. As usual, when serving salad and a meat dish to a table seated with a man and a woman, the waiter tried to give me the salad – this always happens when we go out together and perhaps I should take the hint and start ordering lighter options!

We opted for the express menu, which I think is excellent value, but does limit your choice of main course steak cut to just the rib eye. No matter, that’s my favourite! Here’s the piece de resistance:

Two gorgeous rib eyes, two sides of triple cooked chips, and a dish of Stilton hollandaise.

Without doubt, this was the best steak I have ever had. Meaty, beefy, robust – it was everything a steak should be. Tender in all the right places, cooked perfectly as a medium rare. If you ever wondered what aged beef tasted like, or why it was so much better than regular steak, I invite you to go to Hawksmoor and discover it for yourself. Absolutely phenomenal. It totally blew the steak I had at the Hind’s Head last month out of the water.

One aspect in which Hawksmoor couldn’t compete with Heston was on the triple cooked chips front. They certainly looked the part, but there was a suspicious taste about them which made me wonder whether they were yesterday’s batch… Anyone brought up with thrifty parents can recognise the taste of reheated potato, and that’s the taste I was getting from these. Unfortunate if they weren’t just reheated, unfortunate if they were – no win either way! But they were beautifully crunchy and did the job of soaking up the juices well.

The Stilton hollandaise was delicious – but just as with bernaise sauce, I found myself feeling stuffed after a few swipes at it – there’s something about an egg based sauce with steak that sits just on the wrong side of richness for me. Next time I’ll try the bone marrow gravy, but to be honest, I’d literally only eaten this exact same dish at the Hind’s Head two weeks’ before, so I thought I should at least chance the sauce!

I definitely recommend a visit to Hawksmoor Air Street – the express menu is just £23 for two courses, available between 12-18.30 and after 22.00. As a steak-hound, I thought it couldn’t get any better… but I was wrong. The best steak in London (so far!). http://thehawksmoor.com/

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Food, Fashion and Fitness

Style, beauty, health and recipes

Tag: London

The London Color Run: Hints, Tips and Advice for the Happiest 5k on the Planet!

Easter 2014 at Fortnum & Mason

Lunch at The Ivy

Halloween at Fortnum and Mason

Shopping the French Sole Sale: A Mini Tour of London

What’s your style: classic, or cool?

Bicester Village: Chic Shopping at Bargain Prices

Coronation Festival at Buckingham Palace

Restaurant review: Chez Lindsay, Richmond

Hawksmoor Air Street

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