There's something magical about London's top hotels, their restaurants and the whole experience of just being there. Walking into The Langham Hotel is walking straight into one of London's most luxurious and most magical hotels, especially when you're going to Roux at the Landau for a luxurious Friday lunch. It's always wonderful meeting blogging friends, especially in such wonderful surroundings! It was lovely to catch up with Aftab, Mehreen, Sheepa and to meet May over an exquisite lunch, and after recently visiting The Palm Court at the Langham, I was excited to try their fine dining restaurant. As everyone arrived we started with some smoked salmon and ricotta ... read more
Search Results for: label/Year Abroad
The First Flat
After graduating this summer and taking a few months out to enjoy London, travel to Croatia, Marrakech, Jersey and New Zealand (okay so I've been busy!) as well as enjoy time with friends and family, as of January I'm moving up to London into my first big-girl flat. Image courtesy of Angloyankophile Much as I've lived away from home, both at Exeter and in Rennes, this feels like the first real move for me. And you know what new flats mean.... New decoration! I've spent quite a while already trying to figure out where-ish I want to live, and also trying to figure out what kind of decoration I want it to have. Luckily, mum has the best taste in ... read more
Catch Ups and Dinner Dates at Jean Jacques, Soho
After spending a year in France eating all the French food, it's something that I've really come to appreciate back home in London. Which meant that when Honey, from The Girl Next Shore, suggested that Andrea and I should join her at the newly opened Jean Jacques in Soho, I jumped at the chance a little too quickly! I hadn't seen Honey and Andrea since we were all at Pizza Pilgrims a couple of months ago so I was really looking forward to hear how both of these lovely ladies were getting on and what they've been up to. We started our evening as all good evenings start: with a delicious cocktail from the great cocktail bar, lots of catching up and some blog ... read more
10 Stages of Becoming Addicted to Blogging
Hi my name's Lauren and I'm a blogaholic. There. I admitted it. In fact, my blogging addiction has reached such a level that Andy has a name for my blogging persona: Bridget. Every time he sees the camera appear all I hear is "Oh, Briiidget!" - and then I wondered: just how did this happen? How did my little diary, my way of remembering my year abroad and maybe documenting some fun things in London turn into a full blown addiction? Well, here's how it happened... Stage 1: The .blogspot Era You think that blogging is just a bit of fun, an on the side if you will, so you get yourself a little piece of the internet with either a .blogspot or a .wordpress address and ... read more
Blog Hop and The Lifestyle Diaries Plans
It's so strange - when I started my little space of the internet almost a year ago (wow!) I never thought anyone would read it. It was partly a way to remember my year abroad and partly cause my best friend gave me a kick up the backside and told me that if I missed writing that I should start writing again. So it was all a little haphazard at the start - I didn't have a clue what I was doing, just used a basic Blogger template (oh so painful) and waffled my way around with not-that-great photos. And then people started reading it! I've met some amazing bloggers along the way and had a serious amount of fun. The events I've been to, hotels I've stayed at, friends I've made have ... read more
Spa Magik Organiks: Get Summer Ready the Organik Way
(function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){ (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o), m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m) })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga'); ga('create', 'UA-56958023-1', 'auto'); ga('send', 'pageview'); A few weeks ago I popped along to the Love Natural Love Organic event in Kensington to get a sneak peek of the very exciting Spa Magik Organiks range - a new range of beauty products that are totally natural, paraben free and frankly, ... read more
Ron Gastrobar: Luxury Eating in Amsterdam
I love quirky restaurants - something that's a little out of the ordinary and special, especially when it involves a slightly different culinary concept. Enter Ron Gastrobar, Amsterdam, with its culinary philosophy of small plates, high quality ingredients and fantastic cuisine. I've also never seen such prettily plated food! After a lot of exploring the day before, we were ready on the Sunday to sit down for a nice long lunch, and Ron Gastrobar was the perfect spot. From the moment you walk into the restaurant you know you're in for a real treat as the service was exceptional right from the word go. There's a lovely cloakroom where you can leave all your ... read more
The Trading House: A British Pub with a Twist
When you walk into The Trading House you immediately feel as though you've gone back to colonial era Britain. In fact, if you had arrived in a horse drawn carriage I don't think I would have batted an eyelid! Think Raj era India, or something from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, with woman in long floating dresses and expats arriving in the country on boats. Expect a culinary tale with a historical twist at this colonial style British pub. So come and join me on a little historical foodie tour... Carrie and I were a little early (classic me) and decided to start our evening in the way that all good evenings do - with a cocktail! And I tell you, the cocktails here ... read more
Moving Back
If you've been reading this blog for a while now, you'll know that I've been on a year abroad in Rennes for the last 9 months, and finally, last weekend I was able to close that chapter of my life. At. Long. Last. Frankly, I don't think any year abroad is ever going to be easy - you're moving away from your family, most of your friends and in many cases you're forced to speak a language on a daily basis that isn't your mother tongue. Add the culture clash to this, and the occasional, or not so occasional French man who doesn't like the English and you're already set for a pretty difficult experience. So there are two ways this post could go: 1. I rant and rave about how I ... read more
Café Babylone, Rennes
This has to be one of the best restaurants in Rennes, and I've made my way round a hell of a lot of them! Café Babylone has some of the best food, wine and definitely the best service we experienced in Rennes. The problem was, every time we went, I either forgot my camera, or didn't feel as though my photos did the restaurant or the food, justice. But, last weekend, when we were moving out of Rennes, I finally managed to take the right photos, and I'm delighted to share one of my favourite restaurants with you! We started our evening as all good French summer evenings do, with an apéro (or two) outside - and a lot of laughs! The three of us, (my flatmate, ... read more
