Goodbye January...

wow where did January go?... one month of 2016 finished already. January was a month of storms, sunshine and a dusting of snow, fortunately in my little corner of the country I was relatively free of the extremes of these that some of the country faced.
Those familiar with my blog and my life will know that January gets written off in my house; due to a really heavy work schedule, culminating in financial year end. I have one more heavy week to go and look forward to my first full weekend off next weekend since before Christmas.
Although busy at work, I still managed to spend some special moments with friends and some time to myself.
1. Spent a Saturday afternoon at Harvey Nicks having tea.
2. Had lots of fun with my new kate spade planner.
3. Raised a glass of bubbly and said goodbye to a great colleague at work who is off to new adventures.

4. Fitz & Darcy spent many hours cuddled together in front of the fire and loving their cushion that they got for christmas.
5. Brunch at Forest on the roof of Selfridges (blog post to come)
6. Savoured a glimmer of blue sky and sunshine on Mr Selfridge as I arrived at work.
7. My desk!.... something that I've seen a lot of !!!
8. Friday lunchtime catch-up with 'bestie' in a good old Essexpub... with mini pails of fish & chips.

1 & 2. January planning and cuddles with the Kits were regular features.
3. Healthy breakfast in a jar at my desk.
4. A welcome reading break with a coffee and a great rugby book with the delicious Dan Carter.
5. Cosy nights in with a fire, blankets & throws. perfect for a cold night.
7. Hat & cashmere gloves staple feature for January's adventures with Taylor.
8. Chilly mornings in Taylor with temperatures dropping below freezing.
9. A little splash of pink to brighten the gloom of January.

January also saw us say goodbye to 3 of Britain's most loved; David Bowie, Alan Rickman & the great Sir Terry Wogan. Each have touched my life in their own way and I'm sad that cancer has taken all 3 of them too early in their lives. - David Bowie influenced so many and although I was a little too young to appreciate his heady years of the 70's, without him I wouldn't have had my 2 favourite 80's bands Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. From art, to fashion to music his influenced so many over the past 50 years and was a genius of his craft.
Alan Rickman - a guilty pleasure and an actor that never failed to disappoint, Guilty crush developed as the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood,  swept me away as Colonel Brandon in Sense & Sensibility, Despaired in Love Actually and put me under a spell as Severus Snape in Harry Potter. Another genius of his craft.
Still love this scene from Love Actually filmed in Selfridges with the very funny Rowan Atkinson.

and finally Sir Terry Wogan - I woke up with Wogan as a child as my mum loved his breakfast show and radio 2, something I despaired as, as a teenager. Very sad to wake up on Sunday and hear that he had passed away. I've spent many Sunday at my desk over the last few years avidly listening to is sunday brunch show, with fond memories. Along with his radio show, he was a consummate professional TV presenter, bringing fun, laughter and joy to many lives, none more so than introducing Pudsey to us 35 years ago for Children in Need and assisting in raising over 600 million £. What an amazing legacy to leave behind.

So as I say a fond farewell to January, I hope that February is kinder, less stressful and brighter.

Insta Love ~ January

So before we say goodbye to January I thought I would share some of the images on instagram that I have been loving during January.

• allaboutkate - I met Kate a couple of years ago at a photo styling workshop and have avidly followed her instagram feed since, this elegant stylish january image sums up Kate perfectly. loving the Kikki K calendar.
• This gorgeous archway framing Big Ben and a beautiful winter sky is stunning from sidd_bisht
• leafycouture - this gorgeous wreath is full of winter florals, roses, succulents and gorgeous anemones. A new insta find this month, but one I am sure to share more of during the year.
• For 4 days in January the Lumiere light festival came to London, with huge crowds it was difficult to see everything, The connaught's image of the lights in Regent Street capture the essence of the festival perfectly.
• Brooklyncoffee not only serves fabulous coffee it also shares some great images of its coffee and the surrounding area.
• My Instagram favourites wouldn't be complete without an image Mr Gandy!... my social media feeds were full of Mr G during January as he was everywhere for London mens collection and the launch of his new loungewear range with M&S. Loving the grey ensemble and hat in this image. 
• Another instagram feed that is becoming a regular feature is valeriemckeehan illustrator. I love this styled shot of coffee favourites. delicious.
• Not only is Dan Doherty a fabulous chef at Duck & Waffle he is also turning into a budding photographer, during January not only has he shared some delicious dishes but some very enviable and gorgeous sunrises. There is always some perks to being up very early and working 30 floors above the London streets.
• Another new find for me in January is Melissa from milkthistles, this styled desk image for january ticks all of my likes and I have complete desk envy.

Blizzard Jonas struck many states of the United States in January and I adored all the snow images that sprinkled my insta feed and I had complete snow envy. Here are my favourites;

• Snow ploughs captured in glorious tandem by russ_nyc. This is exactly how they are and appear by magic as soon as the snow arrives.
• Soho street captured in glorious colour creating a picture postcard image from travelinglens
• Central park captured in all its wintery gloriousness by friends of paulafitzherbert.
• New Yorker hotel and streets from chief770
• Wintery blue sky from craigsbeds in the heart of a night stroll in central park
• A firefighter never gets a snow day!... times square & fire truck from rickycaciopponyc
• Grand Central station from its instagram feed in stunning snow day splendour.
• and finally another central park shot, this one at dusk from gigi.nyc
• One of my absolute favourite things posted on the big Snow Day was the video clip of the giant Panda Tian Tian at the Smithsonian Zoo in Washington... this is just adorable.

Thankyou all for sharing such lovely images in January and kicking off 2016 so gorgeously.

This month I also caught up with sharing my festive favourites both here and stateside and also some of my #2015bestnine .
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.

Tea & treats at Harvey Nicks

Last Saturday I spent a fun afternoon with friends having fun, shopping and a spot of afternoon tea.

The venue was Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge and was a belated birthday treat from my friend C.
 Due to my friends ill health in the 2nd half of last year it hadn't been possible for us to get there, so decided on January when we could coordinate diaries.

On previous visits the restaurant at Harvey Nicks has been located away from the 5th floor food court in a lovely area. I was a little disappointed to see when we arrived that it has been relocated to an area adjacent to Yo Sushi and the Bar. The space is quite small and the tables are very near each other; not somewhere that lends itself to a leisurely ladies that lunch or afternoon tea. HN's have a small balcony seating area and we asked to be-seated there as we thought it would be a little quieter and relaxing. The only downside to this was that it is a smoking area, but we were quite fortunate that we were only bothered by this at the beginning of our tea as the large young male party that were drinking left before our tea arrived.

We opted for the classic afternoon tea, sandwiches, scones & pastries, also include were some mini quiches, which were delicious, and a sweet pineapple baba type dessert.
The tea was nice, my favourites being the quiche and the scones. The sandwiches and pastries were nice, but think Nicks is trying to be too adventurous with what should be a classic tea.
The service was excellent and the team couldn't have been more attentive. Seated under a heater, it was still a little chilly and the only thing that was lacking was the option of a blanket/throw to place on your lap / shoulders.
We still enjoyed is and we laughed lots and it was lovely to catchup.

2015 Insta Love - best 9

At the end of 2015 Instagram feeds were full of #2015bestnine and having shared my instagram festive favourites earlier in the month I thought I would share my insta9's before January passes.

Instagram has firmly become my favourite social media platform and I have chosen my 9 for many different reasons and no surprises there are as many from New York as there is in the UK.

Claridges Hotel - this gorgeous hotel's instagram feed allows you to step inside the revolving doors without a trip to London. No surprises that their Christmas décor was some of their most liked images for 2015, along with Dame Maggie Smith having afternoon tea and their image of Selfridges on Oxford Street.

DanTVusa is a british  TV and cameraman working in the US, predominately within the New York area. Dan was one of my first favourites on Instagram and his images of the city are quite stunning. His Best 9 are just fabulous and capture some of the best and most iconic scenes of New York City. From Manhattenhenge to Fireworks over Lady Liberty, day or night Dan's images are fabulous.

David Gandy Official
Those that know me well, would know that a favourite instagram compilation would always include the gorgeous David Gandy. As he features monthly in my social media favourites I couldn't ignore him at the end of the year! ... obviously no explanation need!!

London View Points is run y Michael and he shares some of the ordinary and extraordinary views of London from above and at street level. Love the London eye and Tower Bridge bathed in natural and spotlights.









Most of my likes have been views and places, however a home favourite of mine is from Tink72x
Tracey shares life inside and outside her home on the beautiful Isle of Wight. I have fond memories of the IOW as a child and love her images, along with having complete kitchen envy within her house

Empirestate bldg shares both images that people have taken of their iconic statue in New York, but also shares a few of their fabulous visitors each year.

Whether bathed in sunlight, at dawn, dusk ans under the stars one of the most recognisable buildings of the city looks stunning.

Forest _ldn is the rooftop restaurant at Selfridges which is of course where I work. With the entrance a magical festive woodland and gorgeous food and hot choctails being served it was always going to get a lot of likes. my favourite aside from the hot chocolate are the rooftop winter chalets, complete with fur throws, blankets and cushions. Perfect for drinks and fun.

Pretty City London is an instagram feed where Siobhaise shares the most gorgeous images of London when shared on the ~ pretty city london. Inside or out the feed really does share the best of London. doorways, wreaths, mew's fabulous cars, & pink are all regular features. Love them all.

and finally Grand Central nyc - my favourite building in NYC had to feature in my favourite 9 from 2015. This grand old dame is just stunning both inside and out and whether in snowy conditions or bathed in sunlight always looks stunning.
The only railway station that makes commuting look like a huge choreographed ballet.

Thankyou to all for sharing such gorgeous images during 2015... I look forward to seeing what fabulous photo's 2016 brings.

Christmas treat at Claridges

I know that it’s the middle of January but I am still working my way through my Christmas activities, I'm therefore giving myself until the 25^th of January to share my Christmas fun and then I'm blocking out February to share my New York adventures. As blogged last week Breakfast treats were my new thing for 2015 and my Christmas breakfast was indulged at the beautiful Claridges.

Having spent my birthday breakfast there, and had such I lovely time, I booked a return for the festive season.

Every year Claridges invites a  designer to create their Christmas tree for the season which takes pride of place within their lobby ; this year it was Christopher Bailey from Burberry that got the honours. With his unique creativity a Christmas tree of gold and silver umbrellas was unveiled early December.

Visiting Claridges on the Monday of Christmas week was special and due to the early time of my booking I felt like I was watching a unique little corner of Mayfair wake up. The team were as accommodating and friendly as on previous visits and it was the perfect way to start the week.

Claridges breakfast menu is huge and offers so many options it's hard to choose, however I opted for the English; accompanied by juice, toast and coffee. All beautifully presented and cooked to perfection. (any breakfast menu that has burford browns on them is a winner in my world)

Aside from the Umbrella Christmas tree, Claridges decorations were distinctly traditional and starred The Nutcracker. The outside canopy and wreaths along the wrought iron fence line all had varying sized Nutcracker dolls along with huge christmas trees, gold branches and red and gold baubles. Little woodland nutcracker christmas scenes nestled in glass pears on furniture, alcoves and the fireplace, creating magic and theatre in the most unexpected way, it really was a delight to see.

Claridges has become a Christmas must for me and one year I have promised myself a stay on Christmas Eve, until that time I will look forward to visiting in December for breakfast, dinner or tea. 
Thank-you Claridges for making my visit so lovely and kicking off my Christmas week in such fabulous style.

Here are my previous trips to this lovely establishment in Mayfair. Look forward to visiting again in 2016.