HALLOWEEN!

I love Halloween - it's probably my favourite "festival" of the year.  



Mine and Mr G's pumpkin carving efforts

For starters, for me it truly signals that it's time to get in to the festive spirit, it's then closely followed by my dad's birthday/Bonfire night and then leads nicely in to the countdown to Christmas. I like to think of it as the "Gateway to the Festive Season". 

Some pumpkin carving and testing out the spiced cider punch - dangerous!

But most importantly it's an opportunity for THEMEING!

This year, as a housewarming I wanted to host a Dia de Los Muertos party (mainly because moving house later than planned meant we couldn't go to Mexico for the festival itself but also to be a bit different to the usual party and because I'm having a love affair with margaritas at the moment!) but sadly decor in that theme is hard to come by in the UK so I switched it back to a classic Halloween party at the last minute - much to everyone's relief. It meant that fancy dress was a much easier project for all my guests! 

 



Halloween-themed food I've consumed over the past few weeks: Hallowbeanz, one of my five-a-day, a Ghost cookie (they are invisible don't you know) Dracula sweets and a Screme Egg.



I started my Halloween themeing a bit earlier than planned by accidentally going to work dressed as a pumpkin (see below) in late September. So I embraced it and went with it for a whole month. 



I accidentally dressed like a pumpkin a few weeks before Halloween. My work-inappropriate nail art!

Food, sweets, clothing, nail art, decor... The works. It all culminated in the Pumpkin Patch Party last weekend...

 

Party planning: hand-drawn pumpkin cups, my Martha Stewart shrunken apple heads for the spiced cider, my conservatory became The Pumpkin Patch and pumpkin puree for all the themed-goodies





A little bit of Strictly Come Dancing Halloween special (my fave episode of the season, and this year it widdled all over the X Factor Halloween special) the morning after helped get me through the 5.55am wake up call from my God Daughter and Mission: House Repair.

So, what now? COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS. How many sleeps? Where are my sequins? Who's got my glitter eyeliner? Can I open my advent calendar now?

Hurrah!

Seville

At the beginning of October the Mr and I went on a mini break to Seville.

After a crazy summer of house buying and flat selling, homelessness, living in my in my parents’ study, moving house, about 25 weddings (actually only seven), decorating and renovating our new home, London2012 hysteria and seeing my husband once every three weeks (due to London2012 shifts) we decided to treat ourselves to a relaxing, end-of-summer week somewhere nice and hot, not too pricey but luxurious enough to feel a bit self-indulgent. I didn’t want a city break – too much sightseeing required and sitting by a pool all day in the middle of a city, ready to be explored, just seemed wrong.

So, a cheap, nice, early-October beach break? Pretty simple, you’d think?

Wrong.

Everywhere close (a.k.a. cheap) enough couldn’t guarantee the sunshine that we were craving. Everywhere that could guarantee the sunshine, required a 14 hour flight and three times our budget just to get there. The only option that ticked all boxes, or so we thought, was Cyprus. Short flight, we could use budget airlines, good weather predicted, lovely hotels! Inexplicably, this option was more expensive than the Caribbean, Dubai and South East Asia all put together. And the flight times were bonkers.

Hmmm.

As the deadline drew nearer our list of options got shorter. And then we got burgled.

Aside from the feelings of anger, shock, violation, fear and sadness, I was LIVID that after all this time of waiting for our romantic beach break, we were now forking out hundreds of pounds for new doors, our excess insurance fee and a new alarm system, and so we were now unlikely to be going anywhere.

But, after all that extra stress on top of the list above, we refused to let it break us. We hadn’t spent more than a few hours in each other’s company for months and we needed to Chill. Out. So we started looking at cheap city breaks and discovered Seville: Scorching sunshine; a beautiful setting; great reviews from recent visitors; cheap flights from an airport less than 30 minutes away and at realistic times; and a Mr and Mrs Smith Hotel with short-notice availability at a reasonable price – PERFECT!

My full review of the city and the hotel can be found here on Florence Finds, but in short, my Seville suggestions…

• Don’t bother packing heels. You won’t even take them out of your case.
• Don’t expect haute cuisine, but equally, no meal cost us more than €30 (at most) for about eight tapas dishes, local wine and/or sangria and bread and olives. Local, tasty and affordable. What’s not to like?
• Don’t expect great service – as a former waitress I ALWAYS tip generously, but in one place we left without leaving a tip at all to make a point about the so-bad-I-was-looking-for-hidden-cameras service!
• Don’t make any hard and fast plans – you’ll get lost, find yourself stuck down dead ends, will wait ages for a drink/meal and so will likely miss any deadlines you set yourself. It’s best to embrace the Spanish way and take it easy.
• Do make sure to explore and soak up the city’s vibe at all times of the day. Europe does it so much better than us – less focus on work and more focus on life in the work-life balance. Even the daily “commute” is a sociable experience with bars, cafes, street vendors and holes in the wall coming alive at a time when most Brits are in “heads-down-ignore-everyone” mode. Maybe it’s the sunshine that makes everyone happier?
• Do follow the locals to their buzzy drinking spots – impromptu street drinking, music and dancing made for a great carnival atmosphere every night of the week!
• Do partake in a spot of shopping in amongst the sight-seeing. Sorry boys!
• Do salivate over the Flamenco-style wedding dresses on display in every second window. I’ve literally never seen so many wedding dress shops in one city. It’s a man’s nightmare. If he’s already engaged he’ll be asked endless questions about “do you like this, do you like that?”. If he’s not, he had better hurry up and put a ring on it! If he’s married, he’ll have to deflect questions about vow-renewal! (maybe this point is just me!)

We finished it!

Finally.

We moved in on the 1^st July and finally, today, we put up the last shelf and at last I’m content to sit and sip a cuppa in my completed lounge-diner!

Hoo-flipping-ray.

This is how it looked when we put the offer in:

The lounge as we purchased it...

and the dining room.

My VERY talented architect and interior designer friend, Laura, and I worked on some mood boards and she pulled together a rather amazing 3D model (screen capped below) which we used to convince Mr G that he should let us get on with it and not interfere in any of the decision making.

Testament to Laura's skills, he agreed to every. last. suggestion. Literally unheard of. Even the pink!

 

 

So we set to work. We ripped up the flooring and then decorated, DIY'd and accessorised our little (broke and shattered) hearts out in between months of 22-hour Olympic shifts, encountering a few minor set backs here and there (specifically a burglary and its after effects) until this weekend when we sat back and admired our handiwork!

Our old furniture from our flat, picking wallpaper, taking deliveries and living in a shell for a few weeks

 

So here it is, after all that hard work, it's finally FINISHED!!! Sorry if I sound like a pushy stage-parent, but I'm just SO pleased I can finally sit down in my lounge without making mental lists of chores and DIY amendments.

 

The dining room table looks even better with all these goodies on it.

You should pop round for a cuppa, I'll put the kettle on....

Vx

P.S. Now for the rest of the house...

P.P.S. I suspect by this time next week it will no longer look like this, as we're having a Halloween House Warming. Any tips for getting green facepaint and fake blood handprints off wallpaper and white sofas?

Out and About: Bubbledogs

A few weeks ago, Mr G, my sister-in-law and I checked out Bubbledogs

 

Can I have hot dogs? YES! Can I order bubbly? Of course! Do you make cocktails? Naturally! Will there be cute cartoon drawings everywhere? Indeed! Are the toilets cool? Yip.

Can you have a table?

Uh. No!

After much wrangling, we managed to bag a table for about 9.30/10pm, eugh. Not great.  A little bit of hustle and an embarrassing fall in front of a long line of people (plus a throbbing toe) later and we managed to get a seat at the bar for a drink (three glasses of bubbly, but they also have a cocktail list, which I intend to go back and try) at about quarter to nine and shortly afterwards, at a bench for some hot dogs.

 

We decided to get four dogs between the three of us:

• Trishna Dog (mint, mango chutney, and coriander)
• Buffalo Dog (deep fried hot dog with spicy buffalo sauce, blue cheese, pickled celery and celery seeds)
• Sloppy Joe (bubbledogs chilli, onions, and cheese)
• José (with salsa, avocado, sour cream and pickled jalepenos)

and also ordered some tots (cheesey croquette-type bites) and some sweet potato fries. Yum!

The bill came to something very reasonable (the dogs are between £6 and £8 each and the sides are about £2.50 or £3.50 each) and, when the novelty wears off and you don’t have to wait three hours for a table it’ll be the perfect place for a cheap and cheerful dinner with your mates.

It’s not fine dining – it’s FUN dining, and I highly recommend it!

P.S. You know I can’t resist a toilet snoop – well the loos are unisex and covered in “annotated” menus from famous restaurants around London. Very cute! Look out for them if you go...

Out and About: Third anniversary at Duck and Waffle

As reported for Florence Finds, Mr G and I went to Duck and Waffle for our third anniversary. How time flies, eh?

Duck and Waffle is situated on level 40 of the Heron Tower on Bishopsgate, above the London Branch of Sushi Samba. I visited the latter for work reasons and insisted that Mr G take me back for a special dinner at some point. The problem? He doesn't eat fish. Hmm. Sushi becomes slightly less fun if you can't eat it. I researched the venue a little bit more and then discovered Duck and Waffle's menu was much more appealing for a non-fish eater, and so we set the date for our 3rd wedding anniversary, last week.

On arrival we had to ring a door bell at the big glass entrance at floor level at which point a burly, surly doorman came out and asked questions as if we were under CIA interrogation before even allowing us past the rope, let alone through the door. We gritted our teeth and stuck with it as I knew that the meet-and-greet and serving staff in the actual venue are much more polite, welcoming and humble, and the views and setting were worth it. After little bit of queuing (despite having made reservations and confirmed them, twice), being asked to "stand over there" (apparently a VIP queue or something) and being jostled slightly by other perturbed street-queuers, we were in and waiting for the lift. From this point onwards our experience got much better. In hindsight I understand that in the building with such controlled and limited access there needs to be a strict entry system, but I do feel that there are nicer ways to go about implementing and enforcing it.

The high-speed, glass, exterior lift is not for the faint hearted but you get some great views of the City on the way up so do try to open your eyes, even for just a few seconds. On arrival at level forty we were met by the welcome staff and seated in the "open" bar and talked through the "concept". Rather than a traditional bar area (i.e. a counter, mixologists standing behind it, servers taking orders or you standing at the bar to order a drink) the bar is more of a central work station around which the bar tenders stand to mix up your concoctions to order. There is a short, but sweet, cocktail menu available, but the idea is that you are able to interact with the bar tenders so they can make your drink to your specifications. Essentially you are involved in, and close to, the process. Well, this is how I see it anyway. I asked for a "Cosmopolitan (obviously) with an update". It came back with a, and I quote "smooth peach undertone and a dry, apple aftertaste". Basically, it was gooooood.

Sunset over London

On being seated at a table (less than 20 cm from one of the floor to ceiling windows – again not for the faint hearted) we were talked through the concept of the menu. Everything is intended to be shared and eaten all together, a bit like tapas. So we got stuck in and ordered our little hearts out! We started with mini battered sausages with mustard and pea and mint arancini, followed by duck rillette with sourdough bread, beer chutney and pistachios and the foie gras "all day breakfast". Next up were the lamb cutlets accompanied by smoked aubergine and the dish from which the restaurant obviously takes its name, the Duck and Waffle (crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup on a big fluffy waffle).

With all that on the table our attention was diverted away the views out over the east London and back towards the sun setting over the west end and toward the task at hand – consuming all that rich food. Thankfully, although there was a lot on the table, the actual portions aren't massive which means that you can order more than you would normally, so you can try as many dishes as possible, but you don't feel like you've over indulged – well not too much! We finished off with a shared dessert – gooey, appley, mapley, ice creamy, yummness in a pan – a possible rival to the tipsy pudding at Dinner and a glass of home-grown Sussex bubbly.
Considering how much we ordered and the unusual setting I was surprised at the bill. I thought it would have been much more. To clarify, it's not a cheap and cheerful dining option, but all factors considered I felt that it was more than reasonable. So, seeing as they now have 24 hour dining in place, and it's not too outlandishly priced – this perhaps isn't just a restaurant for special occasions as I once thought, but also somewhere to hole up in the cold winter months when you miss your last train and you need some food and alcohol to see you through until morning. Or maybe that's just me...

Overall, if you can get past the rude door staff and the uncivilised queuing system, it's worth it for some great views, some unusual food and some great cocktails on the highest roof terrace in Europe.
Click here for the website  and to book, and here for their Facebook page which contains some cool photos.

My only warning: beware of the Sushi Samba bar area clientele on traditional city drinking nights (Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) – city suits and wannabe TOWIE cast made it rather unpleasant on my first visit. Thankfully these types tended to steer clear of the dining areas and stuck to the bars and are non-existent on weekends!

Looking at Sushi Samba from Duck and Waffle's private room

Obsessed with H&M

I've been in love with both H&M and Lana del Rey for some time.

H&M has been very close to the top of my list of fave high street shops for years now, with the designer collaborations only enhancing my love collection by collection. Where other stores choose celebs to design their ranges (yes DP I'm looking at you – Kartrashians? Really?), I love that H&M has designers and fashion industry professionals on their collaborations resume. I realise that LDR isn't a designer though, but for this season I'll make an exception!

Lana Del Rey's album has been on constant replay on my earphones, in my car and at home since the day it was released. I love her music, her voice and (although contrived) her persona. I've devoured all the press coverage around the various controversies related to her record label and performances from day one, all of which does not dampen my love for the music, I hasten to add.

Anyway, this little video just tuned my love of both in to an obsession. I love the collection, the styling, the staging, the music (it reminds me of my Granddad) and the humour.

See the Lana Del Rey Blue Velvet H&M advert here.

To add fuel to the obsession, how cool is this little micro-site for the Anna Dello Russo accessories line? So clever! I am super sad, though, that none of her wacky headpieces were replicated in the line. Hmph.

In my humble opinion H&M is on FIRE this season.

Missing: One Husband

Missing: One Husband

Last seen: At the altar, exactly three years ago.

Appearance: Once looked like a combination of all of Westlife, Gary Barlow and a BBC newsreader. Now expected to have a weary look, considerable eye bags and (non-designer) stubble.

Answers to: Griff, Gruff, Officer Nick, PC Griff, PC Gruff, Mr G, Number One Son, Golden Child.

Suspected location: Clues as to his whereabouts could include a trail of dirty socks, loose change and Mars bar wrappers.

Key suspects: We believe he is being held captive by the MPS until a ransom of One Soul is received.

If found: Will likely be asleep, shake vigorously and please return to me asap. He owes me an eternity ring!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Mr G!

Out and about: Quirky Cocktail masterclass at Harvey Nichols

Last Sunday, at 9.25am, after a night bopping at Lady Gaga you would be forgiven for thinking that you’d find me snuggled up in bed. In actual fact you would have found me loitering outside the staff entrance of the Harvey Nichols Fifth Floor Bar with my lovely Disney Princesses waiting for our cocktail masterclass, a birthday present/experience for Claire from Katy and me.



Our homemade voucher for Claire

  Because the restaurant opens a bit later on a Sunday we couldn’t walk through the store (probably a good thing!) so we were ushered through the staff entrance by the guy that turned out to be our masterclass tutor, Stani, up to the Fifth Floor and in to the rather lovely bar area. Hot pink and lime green is now my favourite colour combination. We had it entirely to ourselves for a few minutes and it felt like we were behind the scenes on a TV show or backstage at the theatre so I’m not going to lie, we got a bit over excited we took advantage and posed like idiots all over the chaise lounges and bar stools. Not cool. Was fun.

Eventually we all settled down, helped ourselves to the pastries, ordered some teas and coffees from the waiter that, embarrassingly, appeared from nowhere and waited for the other participants to arrive.

Once we were all assembled we discovered that the rest of the group consisted of four couples on dates – what is it with my mates and I choosing activities that others choose to do with their significant others?  Awkward!

Anyway, Stani commenced his briefing, including caveats such as “if I get too much for you, you must tell me to stop” and it became clear that we were in for a fun-filled morning. Even before the alcohol he had us sniggering like naughty school girls and crying with laughter in our breakfast booth. Just what you want on a special Sunday morning date – three giggly drunk girls heckling the tutor!

We then made our way to the bar (diamante studs, white leather and pink neon lights – sounds hideous, looks amazing) to our lecture stations, complete with name plates, note paper, recipe lists and pens, and Stani talked us through some cocktail making essentials, namely picking high-quality spirits, working with the best tools, selecting superior fruit juices and mixers and understanding the right methods for preparing the drink.

Cocktail Kings!

A few demonstrations of equipment usage, a sniff of this that and the other, a quick taste test or four and then we were in to our first of the Quirky Cocktails on the list: the Pink Chelsea. I won’t spill the story as to how and why this got its name, but I will tell you that with all the lovely ingredients I knew it was going to be a good one, but it’s very probably my new favourite cocktail. Definitely one I’ll be making at home.

Pink Chelsea. Super yum!

Before we had a chance to finish it the second cocktail demonstration was well underway.  The Rocker Margarita was an intriguing take on the classic margarita flavours with the addition of rocket leaves. Sounds weird, tastes YUM!

The third item on our cocktail menu was another interesting one, entitled the Limousine. If the Pink Chelsea was a refreshing appetizer, and the rocker margarita was a sweet and savoury salad-y drink (weird but wonderful), this was definitely pudding! A creamy cocktail with a palate-cleansing shot of bubbly on the side was a great way to end.

After the three demonstrations we then had the opportunity to get behind the bar one or two at a time and make like Tom Cruise. After a quick safety briefing (i.e. don’t shake like a nutter and knock over our VERY expensive bottles!) and a few hilarious stories about some minor behind-the-bar disasters, Stani and his lovely assistant Chris asked us individually about our favourite drinks, what kind of things we had in our cupboards and what kinds of flavours we liked and then we went on to make a variety of different cocktails. Some of us went for classics, some made bespoke drinks and some of us were inspired by the bar’s own cocktail menu.

Mixing it up!

We all know how I love a Cosmopolitan but I also wanted to try something different, so in the end we went for a Cosmo with a twist: a little dash of egg white to give it a creamy finish, which was a nice change. Everyone made something different so we had great fun wandering the bar (because now, after five or so cocktails we were all besties!) sampling each other’s concoctions.

A short de-brief and a quick re-group where we swapped recipes and we were showed through to the restaurant for a quick, light lunch.

It was a two course set menu which started with a seriously tasty tomato soup, and was followed by a creamy chicken and sweetcorn risotto. Which, was perfect for sobering us up slightly!

Stani presented us with our personalised certificates once we were finished at which point the course came to a close.

Obviously we took ourselves back to the bar to sample a few more delights from the cocktail list and then by about 3.00pm we were ready to leave for some serious sofa surfing.

At about 10pm that night my hangover kicked in.

Ouchie!

Click here for more details and to book. I recommend that you do!

The Born this Way Ball

Whether you are a fan or not, you have to give credit where it's due. She's a damn good performer. Christina, Jessie and Mariah get out there and rock the vocals. Britney (back in the day) and innumerable girl groups  get out there and bust the moves, but there's no denying that Gaga gets out there and smashes them both... at the same time. LIVE! The only other female pop performer (leaving musical theatre artists aside) I've seen with those kind of skills is Beyonce, and, oh, look, they paired up. Twice!

I think you either love Gaga or hate her. I don't think you can be ambivalent about her, but correct me if I'm wrong? I for that matter love her. I love her music, her outfit creations and her fragility. I love her "brand", oddity and crazy. But most of all I love her message. This whole tour was called the Born This Way Ball, following on from The Monster Ball tour a few years back (Wikipedia has a short synopsis here). Where The Monster Ball was a story about the long journey of striving for fame and fortune and, unfortunately, all the crazy that goes with it when you arrive at your destination, this was a spectacle in tribute to individuality, diversity and acceptance.

Listen to the words of Born This Way, Hair and Bad Kids and they're all about being proud of who you are, what you do and why you do it. I felt like this was the message. I feel like Gaga always has a message! I feel like everything she says/does/tweets/wears/inks on her arm is deliberate and controlled. I feel like that is a good thing. I like it.

The show was set in with a futuristic tone, narrated by a Holly-esque hologram (a reference lost on you if you weren't a Red Dwarf fan) called Mother G.O.A.T and was full to the brim of political and societal references (a song in tribute to Princess Diana? Hmmm) . I chose to ignore those and listen to the points she made about self affirmation and pride, so let's not get in to it! I'm no music, politics or arts critic, I'm just a Gaga fan, so I can't give you any critical review on the content , I can just tell you that I loved it for just being Lady Gaga's own personal brand of Bonkers (yes that's a capital B). Outrageously, comically, heart-warmingly Bonkers. Her outfits. Her choreography. Her random commentary. The staging. The dancers. The star-struck fans that she pulled up on stage. The fact that she was born from an inflatable zipped-up vagina (that looked suspiciously like a giant Christmas turkey) and morphed in to a motorbike. The fact that she rifled through the debris that her super-die-hard fans threw on to the stage, found a t-shirt and wore it, but found a Barbie and drop-kicked it to the side (I too hate Barbie!)! The tributes she made to other great artists. The fact that she ran around like a crazy person waving a Union Flag. The fact that she thanked us profusely and repeatedly for coming to see her show. The fact that she continues to show her nay-sayers that they were wrong to put her down and tell her she would never succeed. So ner... basically!

After a summer of feeling happy, full of pride and beans and being surrounded by positivity and optimism with sporting role models from the Olympics and Paralympics all over the media, seeing Lady Gaga back on a stage re-affirming that positivity, self-worth, equality, diversity and love is worth fighting for and screaming out loud for, I felt even more energised. I wish they'd helicoptered her across London (she was performing at Twickenham) after her Sunday night show to the Olympic stadium to round off the closing ceremony instead of Rihanna. But that's a whole other issue.  

Very excited for Art Pop to arrive and her promotional activities (a.k.a. controversy and outrage in the Daily Mail most days!) to kick off.... is it too soon for countdown sleeps?

Long Live Lady Gaga! Long live crazy.