Goodbye April ......Hello May

So April has passed and I hope it has taken the cold weather with it. It feels like we had a glimmer of Spring and Summer during the month, but winter is still clinging on with some cold snaps. Weather aside, April was lovely and I did get out and about and enjoy some sights in London and spend some time away from my desk. I have shared a few moments recently including Date Night at the Opera,   Wisteria walk in Notting Hill. and a Sunday Stroll in the East End of London.

April also saw me take M to his first Rugby Derby game at Wembley, which was on one of those days when we were blessed with glorious sunshine. We had a fantastic time and I am thrilled to see that saracens are on course to appear at both UK and European cup final's for the 2nd consecutive season. Alas won't make either as I will be away (more of that to share in May!)

April also housed Easter this year and it allowed me some down time at home, a little time for some crafting and also to cook and bake for a big family dinner.
As you can see April was pretty busy, my instagram feed moved away from the blossom's and daffodils of March and full Spring hues of Tulips, Wisteria and bunches of blousey spring blooms.
Farewell April, you have been gorgeous, here's to an amazing adventure in May.

Easter...

As we head into another bank holiday weekend, I thought I would share a few eats, and treats from my Easter. As most of you know I have been following Slimming World for the last 18 months and having achieved my 5 and half stone award the week before Easter, I decided to relax a little over the Easter weekend and enjoy the time with family and friends.

I was lucky enough to have Good Friday off which as I was house sitting for a friend gave me time to catch up on some crafting , series link on TV and baking. I worked the Easter Saturday which allowed me to grab an early coffee in Claridges enjoying the Easter blooms. This is without a doubt my favourite hotel in London and I pop in the Lobby every week to look at the flowers, they are just beautiful.

I then spent Easter Sunday with friends and family, the Easter Bunny did a short hop to my brothers, where chocolate & cupcakes were distributed to my niece and nephew.
I love Easter, its my next favourite to Christmas and usually spend it a friends cooking a huge roast lamb dinner with full on decorations and a big egg hunt.

This year however my friend was away so I volunteered to cook for M and his family. I think he was a little surprised on how big I go with Easter. The boys (21 & 25) seemed to enjoy it and are already talking about what we are doing next year! 😲
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Easter and that you got time to relax with family & loved ones.

Goodbye March...

Farewell March.... wow a quarter of the way through 2016, where did that go? March was a mixed bag for me.
My month was busy with work, having a little fun and catching up with loved ones.
With Mothers day falling early in the month and Easter falling late it gave me plenty of opportunity to spend time with family and friends.

• March saw the nights begin to get lighter which lent for some spectacular sunsets captured as I left work and on the train. 
• March also say me say Hello to Adele and Goodbye to James Martin when I sent 2 evenings in both their company at their stage tours in the Uk.
• Easter and Mothers day were filled with flowers and treats.
• In between the spring storms and cold mornings, London did shine with some beautiful sunshine which showcased it off gorgeously. From my trip to the Sky Garden, walks through Manchester square to work and of course the home of Mr Selfridge himself.

March also saw me starting to move more, stepping up my walking and changing my route to work to for a longer walk and enjoy the outdoors when the weather was good.

March saw another 8 books ticked off my 75 reads from my 2016 list. I also binge watched The Night Manager on Tv which was just fabulous and I got a little excited also when I saw the new Bridget Jones trailer.... overall a good month and I hoping for even more fun in April.

Easter fun

So Easter has passed, clocks have gone forward and we should now be looking forward to glorious spring sunshine and lighter evenings. I am hoping that as we say goodbye to March that we leave the stormy weather behind as Good Friday was the only lovely day from the long Easter weekend.
Easter was a time for some down time, spending time with family, reading, catching up on TV and enjoying just being. It also saw the 7th anniversary of the passing of my beloved Gramps.




Easter started on Thursday with a themed breakfast at work for the team...
Bacon Rolls, Cocolate Eggs and Hot Cross buns and Cream Egg cupcakes.
Easter saw me fall off SW plan from a great height!
Team seemed to enjoy it and set up for a great mood in the office.

Good Friday was spent in the glorious sunshine with a visit to the stunning Sky Garden at Fenchurch Street (previously blogged) and across London Bridge to Borough Market.
Borough was a feast on the senses, both visually and on the taste buds of Easter treats. Breadahead's hot cross buns were fabulous and Chez Michelle's spring florals were beautiful.

Easter weekend was spent catching up with family, spending Saturday with my brother & family. Niece and nephew taking a break from exam revision (oh I remember the pain well!)

Sunday was spent dodging the storm and taking mum to the cemetery, where it managed to stay dry for us to change the flowers.
A chilled sunday afternoon was spent catching up on some TV and binge watching The Night Manager (much better on the hips for me than Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns!!)...
I hope that you all had a lovely Easter and that the Easter bunny bought lots of chocolate and that you spent time with those you love... x

Insta Love - Easter

Having shared my March instagram favourites last weekend I wanted to share my instagram favourites from Easter this week. Green hues are favoured on my blog styling for the month, and this features heavily within my insta likes for March, however Easter is filled with pastels, yellows, pinks, florals and sweet treats.
Favourites from Easter are:

*  Easter Egg cookies beautifully decorated and styled by Peggy Porschen are just delicious.

* Dip Dyed blown eggs in gorgeous pastel hues simply styled by one of Nigella's favourites Mud Australia.

* A regular feature in my insta loves posts is the super talented Valerie Mckeehan - usually I am showcasing her chalkboard features but today its mini eggs and florals!

* Dan Doherty executive chef at one of my London favourites Duck & Waffle signature Easter dish this year was a delicious salted caramel hot cross ice-cream bun!! of my!!

* Yellow Spring florals in glorious display in The Berkeley - perfect for Easter.

* Claridges beautiful art deco Easter egg styled with daffodils from Mcqueen flowers - the most decadent of Easter treats.

* The most perfect Easter table setting from The Pottery Barn - #dreamhouse

* followed by the perfect Easter cake from Delicious magazine.... do love mini eggs on a cake 

* My final Easter image is from across the pond of the Empire State building in stunning springs hues and blossoms from Noel at nyclovesnyc.

I hope that you have all had a lovely Easter, thank-you for posting such lovely images.
I hope that I can maintain this post as it is one of my favourites with the changes that Instagram are making to its social media platform from next week. Instagram will no longer be "Insta" and will be a little more fixed with only popular posts showing in your feed. I have switched  'notifications on' and hope not to miss my favourites.... 

Spring garden in the Sky

Good Friday dawned bright and dry and I was determined to spend outside enjoying the start of Easter.Looking at the weather forecast it was going to be the best day of the holiday.
With this in mind I headed into London to grab some last minute Easter bits from Borough market and enjoy a walk along the river.
Taking a chance I stopped off at the Sky Garden to see if any 'walk-in' spaces were available and fortunately there were. I last visited the Sky Garden in January for breakfast when it was styled for Christmas and the winter months in greys and pinks.
The Gardens have had a makeover for Spring and were styled in glorious hues of yellow, blue and spring stripes.
The day was perfect for visiting this garden in the sky and the views across the city were stunning.
Views stretched from the east to west and north to south against a beautiful blue sky. Loved how beautiful the Tower of London looked nestled in is green moat.
With the weather being so good the Terrace space was open allowing the view to be even more spectacular onto the rive and across the city.

I am so pleased that I got to spend some of this beautiful day in this space, it really is becoming one of my favourite spaces in London and I look forward to returning in the summer to enjoy the space further. I thoroughly recommend Sky Garden as a place to visit and if planning any trips to the city then add this to your "London To Do" list

Hello March...

Well February passed in a flash and March is here... as you can see the blog has had a make-over... saying goodbye to the February blues and Marching into spring with a green hue.

* Spring is slowly emerging and along with my new eating lifestyle I am using the lighter mornings and evenings to move a little more and walk a few extra miles a a day by getting off a couple of stops before I need to to walk the remaining commute to work. I snapped this gorgeous shot of the magnolias budding in Manchester Square.
* Although the mornings are lighter it has still been very cold. I have also started to make soup, which has been a great lunchtime hit.

* March is filled with lots of occasions, looking forward to an early Mothers Day and time spent with my mum.
* I also have a friends birthday which falls on Mothers day.
* My goddaughter is expecting a baby in May, so a baby shower is planned in March to celebrate.
* March will see me spend an evening at the O2 in the company of Adele!... I am a little excited about this.
and then finally at the end of March the Easter bunny arrives.....
Here's to a fun filled March, filled with love, fun, friends, family and chocolate!

Goodbye April.... Hello May!

wow another month gone!... April has whizzed past with a flurry of rain showers and cherry blossom and I can't believe we are heading into the 5th month of 2015.
April started with Easter, which I spent mostly at my desk, but I did get to enjoy some Easter treats and spend some time with loved ones & friends.
Food plays a big part of Easter for me and I really loved my bunny crumpets & eggs and hot cross buns with lots of butter!.
Cadburys also helped me enjoy my easter..
Blue & yellow was my blog theme for the month and I have loved it,  lots of opportunities to use some of the desk candy that I have in abundance!
Calendar corner was very pleasing on the eye this month with 2 lovely wet rugby men and an April shower of naked rowers!
Spring bloomed with hyacinth, daffodils & tulips.
Easter also gave me an opportunity to sofa surf with the kids watching some fun movies; Hop & Paddington!... so much fun.

April saw the first signs of Spring with some gorgeous sunny warm days; lovely walking through the park and seeing the cherry blossom and deckchairs!.
Another month and another birthday cake; this month for my god-daughters fiancé's 21st birthday, all in West Ham style - was really pleased with hoe it turned out.
As previously blogged; Bruv ran the London marathon again for the 5th time... here is how he got on and some of the sites from the day.

As you can see Navy played a big part of my April, and this has been my signature style for the month.
 I have for many months been searching for a Navy bag suitable for work and have blogged previously of my search. I am overjoyed that this month my search is complete, I picked up this fab tote in Top Shop at work in a mid-season sale for £16!... I don't care if it only lasts this season I have had more than my £16 worth this month. This is a big bargain for me; as I have previously looked at Mulberry, Prada, Michael Kors and Dkny as possible options to purchase.
Perfect for carry my desk candy, lunch & tech on the tube.
April was a relatively quiet month for me, it gave me opportunities to catch up on some blogging, (not as much as I had hoped), reading and sleep! I have some nice things planned for May which I will share over the coming days.... Goodbye April its been a chilled month filled with chocolate, treats and sleep!

Social Media Sunday ~ April

Its Social Media Sunday time gain on the blog, and this is becoming one of my favourite posts of the month. The link will take you to previous months posts.
I  have a lot to share of what I've been loving during April.... Its predominately been an Instagram month.
Instagram

• Stephanie Howell - I have followed Stephanie's blog for many years, she lives in the states and shares her home with her soldier husband and 4 beautiful girls. She is super talented and I love her scrapbooking Currently they are living in Italy and making the most of their European adventure. My favourite snap this month was of Monet's beautiful garden in France, complete with spring tulips.
• Mrs Button - Mrs B's snaps are just delightful, these iced cookies for Easter look gorgeous and this colour palette features lots in her snaps. She has the most perfect kitchen. yum x
• Emily Quinton - completely fallen in love with Emily's photographic style and this country cottage quilt and flowers is gorgeous.
• DanTVusa - I have been following Dan's Instagram for a while now since my friend Ali McNamara spent some time in New York with him taking photos for one of her books. Dan's photos of the city are amazing. This storm clouds over the  skyline is stunning, and evocative.
• Butchers Daughter NYC - having recently discovered this fab little deli, its now on my "places to visit" list for my trip to NY later this year. It looks like this years trip will be filled with food treats, cant wait to visit.
• A Guy Named Patrick - is another NYC photographer that I've been following lots. His photo's feature everyday NY in an effortlessly stylish style.

Two Instagram sites that got lots of likes this month feature my favourite city New York. One is the coffee shop Birch, their coffee cups have been snapped alongside some of the most iconic and popular sites in NY. Definitely will be seeking this gorgeous little coffee shop out when I visit, it has its own little Library in its store... perfect, great Coffee, Books & New York.. ticks a lot of my loves.

My 2nd Instagram site features Eggs. Over 200 eggs were placed around the streets and sites of New York on the run up to Easter... creating a huge Egg Hunt for all to seek and enjoy. Easter weekend culminated in all the Eggs being sited at the Rockefeller Plaza before a giant auction of the artists works for charity. Several million pounds was raised for a number of worthy causes. Here are some of my favourites across the city.



Blogland

Sharing the love on bloglovin this month, these are the blogs I've been reading  is what I've been liking.

• NY through the lens ~ a blog recently discovered filled with glorious NY photo's, filled with lots of hint & tips for photographing NY at its finest.
• Heart Handmade Uk  ~ this gorgeous blog is filled with the most delicious things to buy, make & eat for your home. This food baking & styling for Easter is yum, adding to things to make for next years Easter. I love the piñata cake, so much fun!
•  Nouvelle Daily - another blog I keep coming back to. This post on photographing food and styling is filled with great hints & tips. Bookmarked for printing & filling in my Love my Camera more folder.
• Essex Eating - I discovered Dan's blog a couple of years ago and still follow avidly. From great recipes, to cool restaurant reviews, Dan's posts are always filled with honesty. With a trip to Bath planned this month I dug out Dan's Bath foodie post for recommendations. 
• Mrs M's Meanderings ~ I've followed Caroline's blog for many years and now regard her as one of my friends, catching up for drinks when she is in London. I love her Frock it posts and Friday 5's. Recently she has been sharing her beauty loves/loathes on Vlog which is very entertaining!. This post from her this month was a lovely surprise.

Thankyou to all that have posted me comments, messages or 'likes' on twitter, Instagram or my blog. They mean a lot and always put a smile on my face...

so this month what have you been tweeting, 'liking' following lately? would love to know ... happy Sunday x



Easter feast & treats

This Easter I made a conscious decision not to do lots, normally I spend the weekend making & baking lots and then working for the Easter Bunny delivering to friends and family. I am glad that I made this decision as Easter passed me by under a duvet feeling very under the weather.
Maundy Thursday was spent in the office, where all my team were treated to Easter goodies and mini egg cupcakes. With the sun shining and the thought of a 4 day weekend there was much frivolity and fun had.

Good Friday was spent baking, this gave me an opportunity to try out some of my tips picked up at me recent photography day.

Good Friday is a favourite of mine and holds many special family memories. From toasting Hot Cross Buns on the fire ( yes we had gas, but we still did it!) to a family fish supper, I still try to keep some of these traditions. I grew up with a family that had a faith, we didn't go to church every week, but it was part of our life. Although now I don't share that faith ( I think majoring in the sciences and a career steeped in investigations and logic throw some doubt onto my belief in a faith) I do still believe that Easter is a time for reflection, and looking forward, also any holiday that gives you free reign to eat unlimited amounts of chocolate is fine with me!
Easter is all about food in my house and my menus must include Haddock, Eggs, Hot Cross Buns and Roast Lamb.

One of my Easter favourites this year were the very cute Easter Bunny crumpets from Asda which were perfect for an Easter Sunday breakfast version of ham and eggs.

 With a leg of lamb roasting in the oven, I soon snuck back under my duvet. I'm not sure what hit me over the weekend, but spent the best part of it freezing cold, raging headache and a lethargy that came from nowhere. Dinner was dished up and left and I haven't managed a full meal since. I feel like I am in a perpetual state of jet lag and everything seems to be taking me twice as long to do. The Dr seems to think it may be a virus but if persists past the weekend I am to go to the surgery.  I hope that you all had a lovely Easter and the Easter bunny was good for you. I have yet to start on my chocolate treats , but look forward to them soon... especially the meringue carrot kisses from peggy porschen... here are what the cupcake bunny made for delivery.