Christmas Afternoon Tea at the Ritz

This post is really belated but The past month has just flown by. 

Last Christmas I was reading about festive afternoon teas in London but by November all the highly recommended venues were fully booked, so this year I was on the ball and come July(!) I reserved a table for christmas afternoon tea at the Ritz. 

I was a bit apprehensive after reading mixed reviews online - most said it was the wonderful experience you would expect but a few said service felt rushed and tables were cramped and at £70 per head you expect nothing short of perfection. 

We arrived at the Ritz about half an hour before our seating time and waited for the rest of our party in the foyer which housed the biggest and most festive Christmas tree I think I have ever seen. About ten minutes before we went to check in our coats and it took about that long to get to the front of the queue so it is worth getting there early to make sure you enjoy your full slot. 

We were then seated in the palm court which was decked out with garlands and ribbons with another tree in the centre. Within minutes of being seated our tea order was taken (the tea was delicious) and glasses of champagne were served. Shortly after the afternoon tea stands were brought out and they had been adapted to our dietary requirements. A different waiter served our tea but knew exactly who had ordered what without having to ask, which was  a nice touch. 

There was a wide selection of sandwiches and delicious pastries and of course scones - both plain and fruit - served with jam and clotted cream. As soon as one plate was finished the waiter brought out another plate to replace it and tea was refreshed before it could go cold - the service was seemless.

After we declared we couldn't possibly eat any more sandwiches or pastries, mince pies were brought to the table and then a waiter came round with a dessert trolley and you could choose from traditional christmas cake or a pear pie. 

All the while carollers were singing christmas songs accompanied by a piano which really made for a festive atmosphere. The service was excellent and the waiters were all friendly and helpful and when we asked one waiter if he would mind taking a group photo for us he did so happily. 

It really was a fantastic experience which I would highly recommend and really put me in a festive mood, but bear in mind that booking opens from July so if you want to go next year pop a reminder to book in your diary now!

Christmas 2015 and Boxing Day sales

We had a lovely Christmas Day, which started off with opening presents around the tree followed by Buck's Fizz and salmon and cream cheese blinis for breakfast (breaking from tradition of our usual chocolate feast!) 

For Christmas I had some lovely goodies which I will probably post about later and among them were some lush products so I had an indulgent bath after breakfast and used my shooting star bath bomb and christmas edition fun.

We had our big feast early afternoon and, as usual, it was delicious! This was following by Yule log and cheesecake in front of christmas classic Home Alone, I'm not sure how we had room for this but somehow at Christmas I find I can eat on my competitive level, maybe it's because the food is all so yummy! 

We finished off the day with a ruthless game of Monopoly and a film, and in the blink of an eye the day was over.

The next morning I got up bright and early to hit the Boxing Day sales. I spent a little more than I meant to but I did pick up some presents for birthdays coming up next month and I had a couple of gift cards to use up too.

Here's what I picked up:

NEXT

I had a £20 gift card for next and I went fairly early to the sale but this year I wasn't all that inspired by what was on offer. Perhaps it's because we didn't go super early this year as we weren't up for joining the queue before it opened, but the clothes were just a bit boring really and even though we went after the opening time and before the 8am shoppers hit town it was still overcrowded and there were a lot of pushy people which didn't make for a fun experience. 

That said I did find a dress to spend my gift card on, reduced from £26 to £12. It will be great for spring/summer with tan shoes and a satchel.

MARKS & SPENCER

M&S was also a bit uninspiring which was a slight disappointment as I had a gift card to use from switching banks earlier this year. However I did pick up a nice festive bedcover which was reduced from £49 to £25. The print is really sweet (it kind of reminds me of the John Lewis bear & hare christmas advert!) I've been looking for a festive duvet cover for months but couldn't find one that I really liked so I was pretty pleased to find this.

I also bought some pretty notecards as I have almost used up my last box from Accessorize.

BOOTS

I stocked up on my favourite toiletries in the boots sale, picking up an umberto gianini mini hair are set which I thought would be great for on holiday and a couple of sanctuary tins. The small tin contains three mini body washes in different fragrances and a rose shaped body polisher (this was reduced to £4 from £8) and the large one contains a trio of body wash, scrub and moisturiser (this was £7 down from £14). I also bought a new make-up brush set as I like to get a nice new brush set every year and for my mum I bought the floral mugs and the Toni and guy gift set.

I also picked up some cute pieces for the house including a vintage style make-up tidy and a cute set of drawers as well as a Laura Ashley muffin tray.

MONSOON

I had my eye on the Taryn dress since it went on sale and when I saw it in Westfields before Christmas it looked even prettier in real life. It has gorgeous sparkly beading which catches the light and a flattering scallop hem. I bought this online in Monsoon's Christmas preview sale for £84.50 down from £169.

I also bought a delicate beaded chain necklace from accessorize that I had been looking at before Christmas but it doesn't photograph that well and I can't find a photo of it online, but I would recommend a look in there as they have some really pretty jewellery at the moment in their half price sale.

Lastly I had a bit of an unexpected splurge on Mulberry with cash I received for Christmas, but I made my purchases over the phone and they don't appear to have been despatched yet so I will wait to see if they arrive before I post about them!

I am pretty pleased with my Boxing Day haul but other than a couple of birthday presents I need to get now I think it's time for a shopping ban :)

Villa Ephrussi de Rothschild, Nice

I miss the summer already. This is one of my favourite places in Nice. It has four themed gardens, half of them overlook the med and the other half back on to rambling lavender fields. The house itself is very pretty and when we were done exploring we had drinks on the terrace which overlooked the sea, blissful! 

NEXT AW15

There are so many pretty pieces in NEXT at the moment I haven't been able to resist a couple of new additions to my wardrobe. My favourite is this:

This dress is so versatile, it is great with little black heels or tights and boots and it is super comfy. It is £28 and I was so pleased with it that I ordered the other colour too as they are easy dresses to just throw on but you still feel presentable.

DIY French style chair reupholstery

About two years ago(!) I posted about my DIY project to reupholster an old dining room chair and transform it into a chic French style bedroom chair. I can finally say I've finished it and I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out:

Before:

After:

The total cost of the transformation was under £15 as I had a bargain with the fabric - it was one half of a curtain set from Dunelm that had been used on a display, but the other had had got lost, so the remaining curtain was reduced down to £1 - much cheaper than buy fabric of the same size off the roll. I bought a sample pot of paint from Laura Ashley for just under £3 and the fabric I used to cover the underneath of the chair was only about £2 as it was the end of the roll and the trim was less than £2. The most expensive part was the seat pad which came in at around £5.

Bonfire Night 2015

Last night my boyfriend and I went to watch a firework display on the green. We got there about 45 minutes before the fireworks were due to start so we kept warm with jacket potatoes and then treated ourselves to toffee apples before the display began! 

The sky lit up with an array of beautiful colours:

Happy Halloween!

Cinnamon and Apple Pie

We have a bumper crop of deliciously sweet apples this year that are dropping off the tree quicker than we can eat them, so I've been trying out new recipes to make the most of them. 

This recipe has a very autumnal feel with the cinnamon being a nice contrast to the sweet apple and it is so simple to make especially if you cheat a little with the pastry and buy pre-made like I did. I used jus-rol shortcrust pastry which was just the right amount for the pie. 

Here are the ingredients and steps I followed:

Ingredients:

350g shortcrust pastry

50g caster sugar

8-10 apples

1 tsp cinnamon

1. Peel and chop the apples and place in a bowl. 

2. Add the caster sugar and cinnamon powder and mix to ensure an even coverage.

3. Transfer to a pan and cook on a low-medium heat for about ten minutes until the sugar caramelises. Then turn off the heat and allow to cool. 

4. Roll out half of the pastry so it is 5mm thick and line the dish. Roll out the remaining pastry and either cut into strips for a lattice cover or one whole piece with slits for the steam to escape. Spoon the apples in and cover the pie with the lattice or lid. Brush the pastry with milk.

5. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes on gas mark 6 until golden. 

6. Serve with custard or cream and enjoy!

Kerylos Villa Beaulieu

In July I went to Nice for a few days of sunshine, warmth and relaxation. I've been to Nice quite a few times now and seen most of the popular tourist spots of the French Riviera such as the beautiful Villa Ephrussi de Rotschild in Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, the perfume factories of Grasse and the palace in Monaco, so it is getting harder to find new things to see and explore. 

This time round though I popped into the tourist information centre for a map and spotted a leaflet for the Villa Kerylos in Beaulieu so we took the next bus and spent the morning exploring the Greek villa.

The audio guides gave a lot of information about the history of the villa, which was built in the early 1900s by French archaeologist Theodore Reinach and is filled with copies of Ancient Greek furniture and statues. 

After our tour of the villa we sat on the veranda and ate lunch whilst enjoying the idyllic views over the sea.

Horsley Park

Last week I had a few days off from work so we spent a few days in Horsley Park, enjoying the crisp autumn air, countryside walks and rare lie-ins. We were very lucky with the weather, it was sunshine and blue skies although there was a definite chill in the air signalling that winter is well on it's way.