Making Time to Relax

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My week generally consists of 5 main activities: working, socialising, blogging, eating and sleeping. I honestly don’t have much time for socialising or blogging, but somehow I manage to squeeze them in-between all of the others. In short, I don’t get much time to myself. However my busy schedule has led to me devising several ways to wind-down and relax. It involves sweet scents and even sweeter treats.

Scent has always been a big relaxation factor for me, so you’ll find a variety of candles and diffusers dotted around my apartment and office – I even keep a candle in my wardrobe (unlit, of course)! For me candles are more than decoration/making a room smell nice. All I have to do is light one and I am automatically taken to a carefree land that smells as good as it feels. As for diffusers, I love how they can fill a whole room with a comforting scent in a matter of minutes. I like to switch mine between rooms during the day, so the scent follows me…and my activities. The most important factor is finding a scent that you love. I was gifted several new scents at Christmas, but my favourite will always be mulled spices – it reminds me of wrapping up on a cold Winter night, family, open fires and rich food. Can you see why I love it so much?

It’s amazing how scent can have such a strong impact on your emotions. I hope it will always be something I can fit into my busy relaxation schedule.

 

Where to Eat in London: No.11 Pimlico Road

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No.11 Pimlico Road* | All-day Menu | Belgravia, Chelsea | Website
– reservations available –

Londoners are often considered to be adventurous types, but actually you’ll find that most of us are creatures of habit. We tend stick to the areas that we live in, letting out sighs of annoyance when our friends ask us to meet on the opposite side of the river. I myself have fallen victim to this apathetic attitude in the past. However recently I have been making the effort to visit parts of London I usually wouldn’t. This of course means discovering new places to eat, which happens to be one of my favourite ways to get to know a borough. So when No.11 Pimlico Road invited me to try their Sunday Brunch/Lunch menu, I was happy to accept.

Situated in Chelsea, No.11 Pimlico Road is a modern European restaurant come bar, offering an all-day menu. The interior is casual and stylish, with marble tables and plush seating. It’s easy to see how they won the Casual Dining Design Award for ‘Best Designed Casual Dining Pub 2014’. Everyone knows a blogger needs good lighting, and a clean canvas – No.11 delivered. We were seated at the back of the dining area by a window, with plenty of space.

After swooning over the decor for about 10mins, I finally took a look at the menu. Ben and I had already decided on the Sunday Roast, something we don’t often indulge in. I ordered the 28 Day Aged Rib of Beef, and Ben went for the Pork Shoulder. I sipped on an elderflower and cucumber homemade sherbet lemonade, whilst we waited for our meals. Our dishes took a pleasingly adequate amount of time to arrive – I dislike restaurants that serve food too quickly as it makes me doubt the freshness of the ingredients – and when it did we were taken aback by the portion size. Today was a good day to wear a comfy jumper. My beef was slightly pink, and tender, whilst Ben couldn’t stop raving about his pork shoulder – “It just melts in your mouth!” Some might think that all roast dinners are created equal, but this is where you would be wrong. There are so many things you can mess up with a roast dinner, the main culprits being the roast potatoes and Yorkshire pudding. How did No.11’s fare? Let’s just say the duck fat roast potatoes were the best I have had in London. The outer was crispy and ever so slightly greasy (the best kind), whilst the inner was fluffy and light. I could have eaten a plateful! The Yorkshire pudding was also good, although I fear that the roasties may have taken most of the glory. The vegetables all had strong flavours, although the roast red onion was a little too overpowering and I couldn’t finish it entirely. Still, I have no complaints, which was made evident by my empty plate (ok, ok, I left a couple of carrots). As much as I wanted to try the Lemon Posset for pudding I couldn’t bare look at any more food, so I finished my meal with a deliciously refreshing pot of white pear and ginger tea instead. Will I be back again? Indubitably! How else would I work my way through their dessert menu?

You can read more of my restaurant reviews on Zomato.

A Peek Inside… My Little Energy Box

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You may have noticed that I skipped reviewing the December My Little Box. That’s because I was left feeling pretty underwhelmed at the their lacklustre effort. Still, it’s a new year, which for some reason always makes people think that things will have drastically changed for the better. I too was holding out hope that My Little Energy Box (January 2015’s offering) would bring me something sparkly and fabulous. Boy was I wrong…

What was inside My Little Energy Box?
– Illustration by Kanako
– My Little World Magazine
– 2015 Illustrated Calendar (£10)
– My Little Sports Bag (£20)
– My Little Beauty Energising Mist (£7.50)
– Talika Photo Hydra Day (£43.50 for 50ml)
– Nails Inc Polish – Tate (£11)

What did I think?
If this box is any indicator of how I’ll be spending 2015, then kill me now. Seriously though, this is a pretty poor cliche attempt at a box. Sure we all eat a bit too much at Christmas and then promise ourselves that we’re suddenly going to turn into gym goddesses, but deep down we all know it’s not going to happen (for most of us anyway). This month’s box was not inspired nor inspiring. The barely there gym bag, and the flimsy calendar are enough to turn anyone away from the brand. These cheap items do not represent the My Little Box I have come to know and love. That said, I’ve always appreciated the prices listed by the items as it makes it much easier to see whether you’re getting your moneys worth. But £20 for the bag, and £10 for the calendar? You have got to be kidding me! Again, it was the beauty products that saved me from unsubscribing. The Nails Inc polish is clearly from a past collection as it features the old bottle design, however the colour is perfectly fitting for any season. Talika’s Photo Hydra Day is a promising little number for anyone who suffers from dehydrated skin, and the My Little Beauty Energising Mist smells even better than it feels on the skin…and it feels pretty good. Even so, the mist is the only beauty item that fits the ‘energy’ vibe and the whole box is a bit of a let down. The French version also received a Special K Energy bar, but was otherwise no different. Whilst the Japanese version received a couple of alternative beauty products alongside the mist, bag and calendar.

I’m currently at a lose with My Little Box – do I stick with them or do I say goodbye? I remember having such high hopes for the brand when they announced that they would be coming over to the UK, but that love is beginning to wane after a couple of dull months. I guess only time will tell…

Goodbye DSLR, Hello iPhone 6?

Sometimes I think us bloggers hide behind our DSLRs and photoshop. We forget that having the latest fancy camera doesn’t always equal good photos…or a good time. As much as I love documenting my life through photos, I do find that at some blogger events it can all get a bit much. Elbows flailing around as we each try to get the best macro shot of that single piece of sushi. Trying to stay as still as possible because the lighting is terrible and your aperture is so low it’s about to give Flo Rida a run for his money. It’s tiring to say the least. So when Three Mobile invited me to celebrate their Feel At Home Tariff at a foodie event with a difference, I was equal parts nervous and excited.

On Wednesday evening I was asked to turn up at Tramontana Brindisa Shoreditch with no DSLR. No compact camera. Nothing. So I did as I was told and made my way to the venue. When I arrived I was greeted by our lovely hostesses and a special package at my place setting. It turned out that each of us had identical boxes, and inside was the iPhone 6. By a fluke I actually ended up as the only person at the table with the iPhone 6 plus, but I wasn’t about to complain. Three explained to us that they wanted us to experience the evening through the new iPhone. They had already kindly downloaded us the bloggers survival kit: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and Dropbox. The reason we had been asked to leave our cameras behind was because the new iPhone 6 comes with an 8MP iSight camera with Focus Pixels (the 6 plus also has optical image stabilisation), and is perfect for carrying with you on the go. I was a little worried without my trusty Nikon by my side as the lighting was pretty poor, and I’d only ever used my iPhone 5s for Instagram shots. Still, with a little bit of composition, and some heavy editing on VSCOcam, I managed to come out with photos such as this. In fact all of the photos in this post were taken on the iPhone 6 Plus.

Was I won over? Honestly I’d be lying if I said I was going to up and leave my Nikon for a sexier hand-held alternative, but I’m not lying when I say that I was impressed. Not having to mess around with my DSLR made for a nice change, and I can definitely see that the iPhone 6 would be great for those times where you are caught out without your camera. The quality of the photos was noticeably different to my 5s and the screen was much clearer. I had a lot of fun playing with the slow-mo and timelapse functions too. In fact I had so much fun that I have begun plotting to off my current phone so I have an excuse to buy a new one. Now where’s the nearest Three store?

Photo Diary: Time to Celebrate

They always say that whatever you’re doing at midnight New Years Eve/Day is a reflection of what you’ll be doing for the rest of the year. My New Years Eve was spent in Wales, with friends and family, eating good food and drinking plenty of champagne. If that’s how my 2015 pans out then I certainly wouldn’t be unhappy.

Minimalist Chic: A Resolution

Matt and Nat Wallet* – The KeepStreet Hub
Mascara* – Maybelline | Eyeliner* – Collection | Highlighter* – BC | Lipstick* – W7
Early Grey & Cucumber Cologne – Jo Malone

Manicure Kit – Essie

Anthumbra necklace* – Clarice Price Thomas @ Parla
Ending 2014 with a big party was great, but it got me thinking about the reality of going back to work and having to eat regular food again – the horror! Seriously though, it’s no wonder people end up feeling down once the holidays end. Therefore I decided that I would fill January with exciting experiences, with friends and family. Of course that means getting dressed up, which is one of my favourite things to do. I ended 2014 with a strong, minimalist approach to style, which was reflected perfectly in my choice of accessories for my NYE party (see above photos). I plan to continue on the same path in 2015, with a few key accessories and a small, yet thorough beauty routine.

Let’s Get Personal…

After posting my fashion and beauty highlights of 2014, I thought it was only right that I do a more personal roundup of the year. These highlights are things you may not necessarily have seen on the blog, but they’re just as important.

I gave up my ‘day job’ to blog full-time…


It wasn’t easy, but I finally decided that I would give ‘full-time blogging’ a go. I blogged pretty much everyday for 6 months, which made for a very interesting learning curve. It was tough. I started this blog as a hobby, and doing it as a job made it all a bit too serious. Eventually I decided that it wasn’t for me, which in hindsight makes a lot of sense, but I learnt a lot and I don’t regret it at all.


I conquered a blogging fear…

2014 saw me finally take the plunge and show my face on YouTube. I followed my intro video with some Q & A style videos about life in Japan, and some brand exclusives. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to upload a new video for a few months, but I’m still glad I moved to YouTube because making videos is so much fun and the positive response has been lovely.
I met some amazing people, and made some even more amazing friends…
 
 
I’ve always been a big believer that blogging brings people together, and it just so happened that blogging brought me together with some wonderful people this year. The Nuffnang foodie crew was created, and it saw a small group of us bond over our love of food, blogging and general silliness. I also met V.A. (another foodie) who has now become one of my closest friends, if you hadn’t guess by the ridiculous amount of posts with mentions of her in them. Hmmm maybe I should be saying that food blogging brings people together?
I upped my photography game…
 
I invested in a new DSLR, and my first Nikon (the D3200) – along with a couple of lenses. It really gave me the push to finally make 2014 the year that I took my photography seriously again. With the lacklustre effort I was putting into my photos earlier on the blog, you’d never believe I have a degree in photography. I decided that I would take more time in my composition, and I’d actually make use of all the buttons on my camera (you hear that V.A?). Still, I believe you can always continue learning and improving any skill. My new photo series ‘A London Life…’ encapsulates my efforts and desires perfectly.
But mostly, I grew as a person…
 
Yes, I am going to be super cliche and get all soppy on you. This blog has really opened up a world of wonders for me. I am continuously surprised by people and the opportunities given to me, but mostly I’m surprised by myself. I’m not one to brag, but I’m pretty damn proud of what I’ve accomplished with this blog. I hope I can continue to work hard and improve in 2015.