bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Birthday Celebrations

Left: Victoria & Albert Museum, 
Right: Homa Restaurant, Church Street
 
Birthday/Anniversary meal, at Homa
 
Birthday present from the fiancé 
 
I had an amazing birthday this year, thanks to my wonderful family & friends.
I wanted to do a separate present post so this is just a short photo diary of my birthday.
I spent my birthday at the Victoria & Albert museum, and then continued to a restaurant in the evening.
It wasn’t that important to me that it was my birthday, but I did like being able to make the time to do the things I love, and using that excuse always seems to work. The restaurant we choose in the evening was Homa – a place we had passed a few times and wanted to visit. The food was lovely. I choose Duck & Foie Gras Terrine, Crab Linguine and Yoghurt Panacotta with Rhubarb Sorbet. My birthday also happens to fall on mine and the fiancé’s anniversary, and this year we celebrated 4 years!
I only received one present from the fiancé this year, but oh boy was it a big one!
He bought me a Macbook Air, because he wanted to help support me in my career choices, and so I could blog more.
Now if that isn’t true love, I don’t know what is! Seriously though, I’m a very lucky lady.
I’ll be continuing my birthday celebrations tonight (Saturday) with my lovely ladies too!
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: New Years Eve Celebrations 2012

Food and fun on New Years Eve
I saw 2012 out in a Michelin Star restaurant in Wales, with my fiancé, friends and family.
It was lovely to have a small getaway to the countryside, somewhere I always feel I can relax.
I wore my Pussycat London dress and accessorised with a Tatty Devine necklace, rings from Whistles, Swarovski and Beaverbrooks, as well as a 1930s vintage bag from India – a Christmas present from the fiancé’s family.
I also matched my nails to my accessories with some red polish and glitter.
Of course being a foodie meant that I was also rather excited to spend my NYE in an amazing restaurant.
We have been several times to the French restaurant, and the food never disappoints. 

Our menu on New Years Eve consisted of 7 courses:
Kir Royale & Canapés
Soufflé Suisse with apple & almond salad
Seared scallop with crab cannelloni, sauce vierge & Jerusalem artichoke puree
Fillet of Celtic Pride beef wellington, pomme fondant, celeriac puree & red win jus
Selection of desserts
Selection of French & Welsh cheeses
Coffee & Petit fours
– – –
We finished around 11:50pm, when we then left to head outside to the town square.
I said hello to 2013 with over a hundred people, holding hands in a circle.
Of course I also had a quick kiss with the fiancé too.
How did you spend your New Years Eve?
bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Life in London

Recent snaps from my Instagram – @bloomzy

I have now been living in London for just over a month.
It’s been wonderful and I’m sorry I haven’t been able to share more with you.
I’ve missed doing lifestyle posts and a few of you mentioned you missed them too, so here’s two in a row!
The reason why I have been so busy is because I found a job a few weeks ago so I’ve been working.
Apart from work, I’ve also been indulging in some tasty food, as yesterday’s post proves.
My BFF Jemi visited and we had a bit of retail therapy as well as a good catch-up – miss you already!
I’ve also been indulging in tasty clothes too, such as a new pair of wedge sneakers and the Tatty Devine Frida Kahlo necklace that I had been lusting after for several months. Luckily my job allows me to wear all the fancy clothes I like! 
I don’t have as much free time as I would like now, but I still enjoy my job and the free time I get.
How do you relax and make the most of your free time?
bloomzy /

Where to Eat in London 4

The Book Club | Brunch/Dinner | Shoreditch | Website
– reservations not available –
Byron | Lunch/Dinner | Hoxton | Website
– reservations not available –

Chicken Shop | Dinner | Kentish Town | Website

– reservations not available –

I’m a pretty big foodie, if you hadn’t already guessed, so I wanted to post a bit about food in London.
There are some amazing places to eat and pick up food, and these are just a few of the places I have visited lately.
This is my version of a Where to Eat in London – I have included the name, type of restaurant/cafe/store, the location of the place I visited, and a link to their website, as the bigger places have more than one location.

This is an ongoing series (you can find the series here) as my love for food and discovering new bars, restaurants etc. continues to blossom. This time all of the restaurants, apart from Byron (I’ve now been to two of their locations – both wonderful) are all one offs – meaning they can’t be found in multiple locations in London. If you’re curious about what I ate feel free to ask but I didn’t write it as I think it’s self explanatory from most of the photos.

I wouldn’t have included these places if I didn’t love and recommend them.
So if you have the chance you should definitely check them out!

bloomzy /

Event: Birchbox Champagne Afternoon Tea

Birchbox – Joliebox Champagne Afternoon Tea event

As soon as my plus-one and I walked through the doors we were giddy. I’d invited her to the Birchbox event as we both share a love for champagne and afternoon tea. It was held at The Soho Hotel, which is fashionably fancy, as is the drawing room which we were directed to. The tables were lined with cakes, sandwiches, biscuits and scones – with jam and cream, of course!

We arrived early and were greeted by the lovely team behind Birchbox and Joliebox. We were shown samples of October’s Joliebox, whilst waiters offered us salmon sandwiches and champagne. I loved the effort that the team went towards to greet and have a proper talk with everyone, not just a 5min chat. I knew quite a bit about Joliebox but I was really interested in finding out more about Birchbox, an American monthly beauty sample box company which are now moving into the European market, hence the event.

We even got to meet Katia Beauchamp, one of Birchbox’s co-founders – an incredibly funny, intelligent and gorgeous lady – definitely a power woman if I did ever meet one. I thought having some of the American team there was a really great edition to the event and showed just how passionate they are about making it here in Europe. Although I won’t lie, the highlight of the event were the ornately decorated (and incredibly yummy) biscuits! I think we can all expect big things from Birchbox once it’s launched in the UK – I can’t wait!

Birchbox UK will be launching in January 2013.
Joliebox will now be merging with Birchbox and becoming Birchbox UK.

bloomzy /

Event: Avène & Klorane Bloggers Breakfast

Avène and Klorane Bloggers Breakfast

When I was invited to the Avène and Klorane Bloggers Breakfast I was so excited. I fell in love with Klorane’s dry shampoo earlier this year, and I am a big fan of pretty much all of Avène’s products. The breakfast was held at the gorgeous Delaunay Grand European Cafe Restaurant, in Aldwych – by Covent Garden. The breakfast itself was delicious and there were plenty of yummy treats to choose between, although the mini-pastries were my favourite – I think Sascha of Beauty Geek UK agreed with me on that too. However, the stars of the show were of course, the array of products by Klorane and Avène.

I was introduced to Klorane’s shampoo and conditioners, as well as being given some advice on which product would be best suited for my hair/needs. For me it was Pomegranate (for coloured hair). Also on show were 3 shampoos that will be released early next year into John Lewis stores – more on that at a later date. If you haven’t come across Klorane’s shampoo & conditioners before, they have them for every kind of hair type, and they all smell gorgeous!

I like to think I know my Avène products, just because I’m such a fan…and because I’ve bought so many. I was wrong though, which was actually a nice surprise as I was introduced to some new products I didn’t know about. In particular the Antirougeurs range caught my eye as it offers a variety of products to help combat skin redness. I hadn’t heard of the range, or seen it in any French pharmacies so I was very interested in finding out more. I’m hoping I can get my hands on some soon to review for you all!

You can find my previous posts on Klorane here, and Avène here.

bloomzy /

Photo Diary: Tatty Devine Sugar Skull Workshop


Tatty Devine Sugar Skull Workshop, Brick Lane
Last weekend a very good friend came down to visit me in my new pad.
We’d already made plans to visit the Rekorderlig event on the Friday, but we also needed to fill up our Saturday.
It so happens that I follow Tatty Devine on Twitter (big fan, as you know) and they mentioned a workshop they were holding to make and design your own Sugar Skull necklace, much like the ones they had on sale this Summer. You probably remember how much I wanted one of their Sugar Skull necklaces, but actually I didn’t end up buying one as I was too busy saving for the big move to London. So this was the perfect opportunity for me to make my very own unique Tatty Devine necklace! After some persuasion from my friend – he wanted to make one too – we decided to go.
The workshop itself is quite small so the event only had around 11 people (2 being TD staff members).
My friend was the only guy there, but the ladies loved him, and we all had a lovely time. Everyone was super chatty and very friendly – I think the atmosphere in Tatty Devine helped, it was very welcoming and laid back. We got to play with spray paints, stencils, crystals and a whole manner of shiny & sparkly objects. Everyone’s design was completely unique and it was fun comparing them along the way. Some went for shockingly pink, Barbie inspired skulls, others went for ALL the bling, while I finally decided on a dark gothic inspired sugar skull – it was that or purple.
My final design is the one on the left and the one on the right is my friend’s.
I had a brilliant time and met some lovely people. The TD staff were wonderful – funny, helpful and kind.
If you get the chance to attend one of their workshops please do! The experience alone is worth the money.
Spaces sell out very quickly though so keep an eye out (here) and book as soon as you can!