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.... 

Plates, Mates & Automobiles ....

Monday saw me (and 2,300 others) spend the evening in the company of James Martin at the iconic Hammersmith Apollo.
James has been on the road for the last few weeks touring the UK with his Plates, Mates & Auto-mobiles tour.
He seemed to be completely in awe of being on stage at a venue that he cycled past daily when he was starting out as an 18 year old chef.

It seems that the Apollo has had a bit of a lighting make-over both inside and outside within its Art Deco listed building.
The tour stage was very stylish with some great props, 2 kitchen workspaces, ovens and a huge video screen.
James's show was filled with what he loves,cooking, chat, laughter and cars.Sharing top billing in the mate stakes was his right hand man and sous chef Chris Start. Between them it was a great double act. James spoke warmly of their friendship and as mates go it was clear that it was a good mate. As cooking demos it was well orchestrated between the two chefs and the pair maintained an upbeat routine with plenty of rousing cheers from the audience, which had some of James colleagues from Saturday kitchen, Laverstocke dairy and chef friends. Nine recipes cooked up in 2 hours with humour, tales oh his childhood on a pig farm and life as a young chef. Favourite recipes from many of his back catalogue including; rhubarb soufflé, fish & chips, the best bacon sandwich ever (3,000+ calories!) finished off with a glorious cream filled swiss roll. Banter and rants were directed at the food and hygiene police, bane of his life from the frequent complaints on Saturday Kitchen for hand washing etc, and the healthy eating brigade who lament his over use of butter and cream! 

A witty, unhygenic on stage rebellion got the thumbs up from the audience along with a butter mountain that was dug into frequently for cooking! As the show drew to an end, James who had been learning to play the guitar during the tour was joined on stage by Brian Turner (triangle) and F1's Mark Webber (percussion) along with others to sing and play us out of what was a fabulously funny and entertaining evening.
It was during this tour that James announced that he was leaving Saturday Kitchen, a show that he has been at the helm of for the last 10 years. One of the things that has made James so popular is his genuine love of food and the ability to cook, chat and present all together, something even more remarkable considering he is severely dyslexic. James talked about this during his show and is extremely proud of it and hats off to him for holding down an autocue, ear mic and present a live show. James's last show aired Saturday morning and it was emotional! the outpouring on twitter was huge and both he and the programme trended for much of the day. James did a fab job of holding it all together until the last few moments...

Saturday mornings will no longer be the same for me and James Martin will be a much missed fixture in my weekend....

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

Tv Treats ....

Its been some time since I shared some TV  treats that have kept me entertained during the last few weeks and one that I am really looking forward to for spring.

The Good Wife .... this programme has had me hooked since episode 1 of season 1 and now 7 seasons in I am halfway through the last season.
A fantastic legal, political series full of glamour, intrigue, seriously strong women and gorgeously suited men. Alicia; wife to politician Peter, returns to her legal profession shortly after her husband is outed for sleeping with call-girls. There marriage along with political aspirations is soon thrown into the public limelight.
Alicia hasn't played the victim wife and has had her own share of gorgeous men as well as her husband Mr Big!

John Le Carre's  The Night Manager on BBC has brightened many dull Sunday nights over the past 4 weeks; the gorgeous Tom Higgleston is proving to be a glorious hit on twitter!. A fabulous thriller with a fantastic cast.. catch it now on iplayer.

Something a little more tranquil for mid week is the delightful Grantchester.. never has a man in a dog collar got so many women swooning since Richard Chamberlain stalked across the plains of Australia in The Thorn Birds. This season opening with the vicar in his swimming trunks!... 

and finally one that I am really looking forward to returning is the Police internal investigations drama 'In the Line of Duty' a series that has had me hooked previously.

What have you been loving lately?..... Here's some of my previous TV treats.

Insta Love - March

So I know that March hasn't quite finished, but with Easter falling next weekend I wanted to share my instagram favourites from March this week and some Easter favourites next. My Insta love posts are proving quite popular and look forward to hearing from you with this months favourites.
Green hues are favoured on my blog styling for the month, and this features heavily within my insta likes as well.

1. Beautiful spring chalkboard from Valerie Mckeehan - this has been my mantra for March "begin each day with a grateful heart".. love Valeries feed and find myself desperate to blackboard paint a wall within my house to play with!
2. Gorgeous green house & door shot by Pretty City London in the Connaught village of London. A lovely insta feed that highlights everything pretty in the city.
3. The Berkeley's stunning floral arrangements are featured often within their feed, simply styled these green and white hues are beautiful.
4. The Marylebone pub is not far from where I work and this image of the bike and window façade are perfect... I currently have a little insta love affair with bicycles.... snapped perfectly by katya jackson.
5. My friend Mark's shot of the crocuses poking their heads through the grasses of Regents Park sums up the start of spring perfectly. 
6. Another fab shot of a little green hideaway in the corner of a London street from Magdelana ~ delightful.
7. Beautiful blooms and tea styled gorgeously by jannelford. A glorious lifestyle blogger.
8. My insta loves wouldnt be complete without my favourite David Gandy image from the month... this reflective shot in the Scottish highlands is from ohmygandy's feed but originated from man of the world magazine shoot.
9. and finally Forest London have kicked off a countdown to the launch of a spring menu and forest with this beautiful image of daffodils.

Thankyou all for sharing such lovely images in March. With Instagram proposing changes to the way that we see our feeds I really do hope that I can still see all my favourite images without it becoming too sponsored focus like other social media sites.
I hope you have had fun with my social media Sunday loves... here's some from previous months... thank-you all that have featured for brightening my month with your gorgeous images ... I've loved them.