Belated birthday... Part 2

♫ The Postal Service - Be Still My Heart

Back in December my other half asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday coming up in February. Hmmm, how about Afternoon Tea? In high school I unknowingly earned the nickname "Posh" and to this day I couldn't really tell you why. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I valued the English language during a period when text speak was trickling through to the every day vernacular, but I digress. The thing is, I'm not really Posh but I am one of those people who likes on occasion to know how it feels "on the other side." So what better than an hour of noshing on tiny sandwiches, freshly baked scones and drinking tea from dainty cups in incredibly ostentatious surroundings? It seems this is where the not so rich go to pretend to be rich for an hour or two which defeats the purpose entirely but whatever, count me in!

 

I've had afternoon tea at The Dorchester, Grosvenor House and my favourite of the three, Claridges. During my periods of researching high tea, The Ritz kept popping up. It seemed like the be all and end all of afternoon tea and hey if it's a good enough place for Thatcher to spend her last days... Anyway it was decided that for my birthday, afternoon tea at The Ritz it was, however getting a reservation wasn't so simple. They advise booking three months in advance and since my birthday was a mere two months away this was going to cause a problem, I just wasn't counting on how much of a problem. The earliest reservation I could get for a reasonable time in the afternoon was the 22nd of April. So yay, I got to have another birthday celebration a mere 78 days after the actual event.

We've arrived!

Fancy piano man that played some Billy Joel!

The lavish lobby.

The Afternoon Tea section.

Seriously one of the prettiest hotels.

Such beautiful detailing.

Check out the fancy menu!

Yum. I starved myself all morning and afternoon in preparation for THIS.

I think I must have had at least five cups of tea.

My adorable birthday cake which made for an excellent breakfast the day after.

Leftovers. Notice the extra desserts around the table... oy.

Nicest powder room ever?

The best outfit pic out of an extremely bad bunch and yes, a coat was necessary. I don't care what anyone says, one tiny little ray of sunshine (and I use the word "sunshine" loosely) does not equal summer!!!

As expected it was a lovely experience, and I can say afternoon tea is probably out of my system once and for all. It's a really nice day out if you want to do something special and I really recommend The Ritz. If you ever decide to do afternoon tea, just make sure you are STARVING. The portion sizes are misleading as the charming wait staff happily top you up with any extra sandwiches and scones if needed. It doesn't end there either, as well as the cakes initially provided, they walk around at the end offering extra cake. We happily accepted but when it came down to it we couldn't possibly handle another bite which was a shame as the black forest gateaux looked amazing. Anyway what a lovely belated birthday treat that was. Makes me feel like my birthday was just yesterday and not... oh three months ago.

Belated birthday... Part 1

♫ Fleetwood Mac - Think About Me

One of my best friends (Katie) lives in California and recently she sent me a parcel of goodies for my birthday which was back in February. It was such a nice surprise as my birthday really was done and dusted. Even though she's so many miles away, she knows me too well and this parcel sent me into a frenzy, the good kind of course. I couldn't believe the things she picked up for me. Katie girl, if I don't say it enough, I love you almost as much as I love Ryan Gosling.

1. Ryan Gosling Tote bag. - Being the crazed Gosling fanatico that I am, as soon as I saw this I squealed, I mean proper squealed out loud... I'm pretty sure it was a sound only dogs could hear. Anyway I am lacking in tote bags and frankly this one is too nice (and sexy) for me to carry to the supermarket / gym or other such places. I shall take it out when I know I'll only be carrying lip gloss or something.

2. Our summer in pictures. - Katie came to visit me last summer and we had an absolute blast, I showed her around my sucky hometown and we also did the standard London touristy thing, this album was adorable as it had some of the many, many pictures we took during our two weeks together. <3 Best gift ever.
 

3. "Hey Girl" notebook. - I saw this on a few American websites and planned to make the inevitable order once I got around those pesky shipping and customs fees and yet my beautiful friend saved me the hassle by getting it for me. BEST NOTEBOOK EVER! Yes even better than the one you starred in a movie about, Mr. Gosling.
 

4. Peter pan collar blouse. - I am obsessed with Peter Pan collars, I've never actually mentioned this to Katie and yet she gets this gorgeous blouse from ModCloth for me. Love. I have always browsed the ModCloth selection on the regular and admired the clothes but never actually made an order so this present was appreciated in more ways than one.
 

5. BeneFit Moonbeam. - Fans of this product will know it's been discontinued. Upon learning this I fell to ground and sobbed my little heart out. Once I got over my drama queen tendencies I scoured the internet to secure the last remaining bottles of a product I've been using for over ten years to no avail. I finally came across a website but it was an American one, so came to the rescue my wonderful Americano pal! I will definitely make these two bottles last for the rest of my life. I don't plan to live that long so this should be sufficient.
 

6. Lucas birthday card. - This is one of the best birthday cards I've ever received, I couldn't help but smile as soon as I opened it. We both adore the movie 'Empire Records' and we both love Lucas. "Superb."
 

7. 'The Breakfast Club' badges. - My favourite movie ever is 'The Breakfast Club' so to get a badge named after each character... perfect. I'd like to think I'm the girl version of John Bender although I'm not sure going round asking strangers if they've raided Barry Manilow's wardrobe is enough for that but whatevs, the "Criminal" badge is so going on my blazer. :)
 

8. Frilly socks. - I love frilly socks! I have a blog post attesting to this so these are a lovely pair to add to my collection.
 

9. Orange ring. - I'm very fond of jewellery (especially rings) and I can't say I own any orange jewellery even though I love the colour so this is very much appreciated. A girl can never have too many rings.

 

And I'm saving the best gift for last, something we have exchanged for YEARS. It's how Katie has introduced me to some truly awesome music and hopefully vice versa. Why it's only my favourite thing in the world to make and receive... mix CD's! Nothing excites me more than a new mix CD made by a person with good taste in music. I hope this is a tradition that will carry on until we're old and still rocking out to Radiohead, Blur and Grizzly Bear (the first band we ever saw together! <3) Thanks again for making my (belated) birthday so special. Love you, my Americano cupcake!

I'm with the band.

♫ Badly Drawn Boy - Once Around the Block

1. Pink Floyd vest / 2. Bob Dylan top 
3. The Strokes tank / 4. The Beatles top / 5. Blur tee
6. Ziggy Stardust tee / 7. Arcade Fire tee  / 8. Jim Morrison top
9. Jimi Hendrix Top / 10. The Rolling Stones sweatshirt

 I'm one of those girls who loves to put her feelings on a tee shirt. I love music. Therefore I love band tee shirts. I've been gigging since I was a teenager and have collected many a band tee shirt over the years from various gigs, but have you noticed how gig tee shirts are always so ill fitting? The best prints always seem to come in men's sizes only. ARGH. Anyway I buy one from every gig for my collection but really, most of mine only get worn to bed (or the gym!) so I love it when brands like Amplified, Junk Food and Topshop do music related tee shirts. Sure there's no story behind them, you're likely to be labelled a "poser" and you'll probably find tons of people wearing the exact same thing but I don't care, I just appreciate the fact that I'm not getting squashed in the chest area. And hey it's not like I'm gonna be able to pick up a Talking Heads tee from one of their gigs is it? Anyway give me more band tee shirts that are actually flattering and aren't made of cheap material, please. Thanks!

March wish list.

♫ Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

1. Knot Print Dress with Straps from Pull & Bear.

2. Multi Zip Side Panel Tote Bag from Topshop.

3. Ditzy Mix Tunic Dress from Topshop.

4. Contrast Heart Pocket Shorts from Topshop.

5. Fabric Bow Barette from Topshop.

6. Black Felt Floppy Hat from Miss Selfridge.
7. Rouge Allure Velvet Luminous Matte Lip Colour in La Somptueuse from Selfridges.
8. Cream Cutout Lace Skater Skirt from Topshop.
9. Adonis2 Heavy Cut Out Boots from Topshop.

I may be on a shopping ban but that doesn't mean I can't lust after things. Hopefully this stuff will still be in stock when I am allowed to spend again! Most of this stuff is from Topshop as it's the one site I still allow myself to visit regularly. Why must I torture myself?!

February, afterglow.

♫ Arcade Fire - Rococo

1. Nando's dinner. / 2. The inside of a Nando's (who knew it could be so pretty?!) / 3. Lunch at Tinseltown.

4. Cupcake from Bea's of Bloomsbury. / 5. Valentine's Millie's Cookie. / 6. Cake after my friend treated me to a birthday facial.

7. My new favourite mug. / 8. Chanel 'Black Satin.' / 9. A bag in Topshop quoting my favourite movie 'The Breakfast Club.'

10. Topshop pearl collar sweat. / 11. A tee shirt made for me. / 12. Cursing the fact that I've spotted something I want in the Topshop window and it's closed!
 13. The snowy view of my back garden. / 14. Favourite perfume and hair mist. / 15. This months reading list.

Breaking the ban (but not really)

♫ Talking Heads - This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody)

 Those of you who follow my blog may recall a post about a shopping ban that had to be put in place to stop me from spending my hard earned money on useless things I will most likely never use (but that floral tin opener and matching tea cosy are just so damn pretty!) Anyway I needed to get a fix in some way, it's depressing going into a shop on your lunch break and not being able to buy anything. On my daily trip to Boots to pick up lunch the lady at the till uttered the words "you've got £20 worth of points on your advantage card." Hmmmm... interesting. I got home and logged onto Boots.com and realised she was right, I had just enough to buy a new Chanel nail polish with my points! YES! I am addicted to them and nothing would make me happier (or just about take the edge off the shopping withdrawal) than to add a new one to my collection. I decided to get 'Blue Boy' a lovely shade I've had my eye on for quite sometime but just wasn't sure I'd wear it enough to justify the £18 price tag, but hey it's not like I was paying for it so why not?!

As for getting my shopping fix in another way... ordering something way back when and completely forgetting about it is totally a thing. Remember the lovely minty satchel I posted on my birthday wish list from Golden Ponies? Well since no one in my life is kind enough to get me something I actually want I decided to treat myself to it, however since the bag is handmade it takes a little while to make and since it's produced in Mexico it takes another four weeks to arrive. So to cut a long story short I completely forgot about said minty satchel until it arrived in the post today and I am in love, isn't it gorgeous? I cannot wait to actually use it, the colour is beautiful and it's just so damn adorable. And now thoughts are already filling my head about purchasing one in another colour (yellow!) once the ban has been lifted...

Satchel purchased from Golden Ponies. / Nail Polish purchased from Boots.

Happy Valentine's day (or something like that)

♫ Florence + The Machine - Seven Devils

I'm not crazy about Valentine's Day, the bitter cynic in me believes it's just another day created to make us spend way too much money on chocolate, flowers and Agent Provocateur. Not to mention put the spotlight on those not in a relationship, god forbid single people! I'm not single and I still think it's a waste of time and money. But I, for one am warming to Valentine's Day this year simply because of these... by far the best thing to come out of Valentine's this year! These graphics made by the amazingly talented Marisa Seguin are pure genius. One of my most favourite things in life is the television show "Arrested Development" and my fellow AD loving friend Katie sent me a link to these earlier today and I can't get over how perfect they are. They are amazing and so hilarious. If you're an AD fan there's no way in hell you won't appreciate these! If you've never seen the show I cannot recommend it enough. It may have been cancelled in 2006, yet it remains one of America's funniest sitcoms. Watch it, trust me you will not regret it.

 

 

 

Images taken from marisaseguin.blogspot.com