Tuesday 27 November 2012

Harrod's Christmas Stocking!


 On Saturday I braved the christmas shopping crowds of Oxford Street and Knightsbridge in order to show my inlaws, who had not visited London for 30 years, what they were (or were not) missing out on!  My Mother-in-law is obsessed with Christmas decorations, her tree contains over 600 baubles that pretty much tell her life story and so she was desperate to check out Christmas World at Harrods.  Me being the total opposite to my Mother-in-law and a bit bah humbug about Christmas
was a little reluctant to drag myself through the hoardes of people desperate to buy a bauble just so they can have a green Harrods bag but on arrival I did get into the spirit of things and was soon picking out lots of stuff that I wanted to make my new flat festive (although I think the fifty foot wreath I fell in love with was properly better suited to the mansion down the road than my tiny little abode!)

I did, however, fall in love with this Christmas stocking.  I honestly don't think there could be a stocking out there in the world more apt to my tastes, unless Monsieur Louboutin himself did a range.  Unfortunately at £99.95 I reluctantly had to put it back and walk away before I did something silly!

 
I am wearing: Snood, gap / Cape, Ella Luna / Jumper, topshop / Jeans, Abercrombie and Fitch

Alexander Du'Bel Launch

On Sunday evening I was invited to attend the launch of a new lifestyle company from the Alexander Du'Bel group at The West End's top cabaret venue, Circus. 

Circus is one of my favourite venues in London; the cocktails are punchy, the food delicious and the entertainment never fails to amaze me.  In fact, the last time I was there, as part of the audience in a cooking programme to be aired on BBC3 in the new year, I left convinced that when the episode is shown it will contain far too many shots of me gazing up, open mouthed at the gymnasts performing on our table.

One of the acts from the launch night party
The free champagne was already flowing when we arrived and, never one to turn down a glass of bubbly, it wasn't long before I had raised a glass and was mingling amongst the trendy West End crowd of footballers, dancers and models that had turned out for the launch of this interesting, members only lifestyle club.

Alexander Du'Bel lifestyle allows members access to exclusive offers on high end luxury brands such as Bang and Olufson as well as its Travel Service offering exclusive deals on luxury, worldwide resorts and bespoke VIP packages to Vegas.  Perhaps what makes this exclusive membership different to other lifestyle companies out there at the moment is the links it has with various charities and a percentage of each membership is donated directly to the charities it supports.

Managing Director Damian Batt took to the stage to welcome his guests and explain a little about the vision he had when setting up the company.  He also welcomed on stage a representative from one of the charities, a hospice based in Oxfordshire, that he is supporting.
 
Managing Director Damian Batt
delivering his speech.
It is nice to see a young footballer with the foresight of thinking about life after football and his vision and drive are likely to be the driving forces behind the company's impending success. 

Damian spoke with passion about the charitable links of his company as well as his desire to provide his members with a high quality, bespoke service befitting of their lifestyles.  He certainly succeeded in creating a professional and high quality launch night whilst the first edition of the ADL magazine offered a promising taste of what is to come as the company grows and develops.  The magazine contains a variety of lifestyle articles from health and fitness tips by a personal trainer to reviews on the latest gadgets hitting the world of technology, not to mention an interview with one of Britain's most current and in demand artists, Paloma Faith.



After the last act of the night but before the over indulance of the free champagne started to make me feel woozy, my husband and I made a discreet exit to avoid being persuaded to join the after party at Whisky Mist, knowing that despite the temptation to carry on the festivities, it was back to the day job on Monday and teaching teenagers with a champagne hangover is not the most enjoyable way to spend a day!

Thank you Alexander Du'Bel and Circus for a fabulous night and I wish you every success with your new venture.

Sunday 18 November 2012

Pollen Street Social Club


I've been a little quiet on my blog of late for a number of reasons. Firstly, I have been working pretty long hours and so have not had time to write about much and secondly, because I have been working such long hours I have not really been doing anything interesting to write about. My husband and I have also decided it is about time we should start thinking about getting on the property ladder and so have been trying to save rather than splurge, easier said than done when you live somewhere with so much choice in terms of places to shop, eat, drink and entertain oneself!

We did however have the chance a couple of weeks ago to meet some friends for dinner at the Pollen Street Social Club just off Regent's Street in Mayfair. For any foodies out there, Pollen Street Social Club is the flagship restaurant of leading chef Jason Atherton, the ex-Gordon Ramsey employee who oversaw the opening of Maze and his restuarant offers an exclusive à la carte dining experience at equally exclusive prices.

Of course, a new dress had to be on the menu in order to enjoy our evening out and, having spent the last few weeks eyeing up the dresses in the window of Cop Copine on Richmond Hill every evening on the way home from work, I thought a new LBD would be perfect for a night out dining in Mayfair.  As I have previously mentioned (I cannot remember whether on here or Twitter), I have been really impressed by the quality of material and cut of the clothes I have seen and their French/Japanese influences are pretty evident when you see the quality and structure of their clothes.  I tried on a few dresses but decided on one with a halter neck detail that went over the body of the dress and would do a good job of carefully disguising any bloating that may occur after enjoying a large meal and a few glasses of champagne! 



Dress: Cop Copine / Necklace and Earrings: Maje / Opaque Cashmere Tights: Marks and Spencers / Rings: From Qatar’s Souk / Bracelet: H&M / Watch: Gucci / Shoes: Christian Louboutin Bianca’s



I teamed the dress with some Maje jewellery, which I am still so glad I purchased in Lille earlier this year and my wedding shoes as I don’t have many an opportunity to wear them at the moment. I absolutely loved the outfit and I think I will wear the same for a press launch I am attending next week, although I may swap the Loubs for my Jeffrey Campbell sparkle boots.





The dinner at The Pollen Street Social Club was delicious.  Unfortunately for my figure I can never resist homemade bread and butter which were served before the starter, for which I had Cornish crab salad, avocado, wood sorrel ice, crab toastie.  It was a taste sensation, the ‘wood sorrel ice’ gave the avocado an unusual texture as it was so cold but it totally worked.  If you’ve ever had a meal where weeks later you are still thinking about the taste of something then you know it is good! For main I went for the roasted red mullet with Spanish prawn rice, cockles and samphire.  I had never tried red mullet before and it is quite a strong flavour but the Spanish prawn rice complimented it nicely.  My husband and his friend shared the 1kg of beef with duck fat chips and his wife decided on the roasted sea bass with celeriac truffle.

1kg of beef with duck fat chips
After the main courses were finished we were invited over to the bar for dessert where we were given a number of tasters to try, from lime cheesecake sorbet to little petit fours straight out of the oven.  I shared the cheese board for dessert whilst the other couple shared the 70% chocolate ganache.  We were then invited for a tour of the kitchen which, whilst spotlessly clean was ridiculously hot and I didn’t want to risk my makeup melting on my face so made a pretty hasty exit.  Not before being shown a truffle the size of a small rock but worth over £600!  It never ceases to amaze me how something which is grated over your food can cost the same as a precious metal, but people are obviously willing to pay for it!!


Red Mullet with Prawn and Cockles






I think, possibly the best thing about moving to London so far has been the fantastic choice of restaurants here that come in all shapes and sizes and for all budgets.  Although The Pollen Street Social Club definitely would be classed as a rare treat for us, next week we are trying out somewhere with a fantastic reputation at a price that won’t break the bank.  I’ll blog about it once we’ve been so watch this space.