Weekend Brunches: Lowry & Baker +

Wow aren’t the days are just flying by at the moment! The other weekend I discovered this fantastic wee brunch cafe in Notting Hill that I thought I’d share. Lowry & Baker is a seriously cute cafe on Portobello Road, up where it’s a bit quieter so you do not get swamped by the thousands of tourists. The set up is very casual with lots of mismatched tables and chairs and it has a basic counter right smack-bang in the middle of the cafe for preparing food. This place is so tiny that the food is actually all prepared right there behind this counter on a little portable kitchen stove; it feels a bit like walking into your friends kitchen!    
They have a regularly updated chalked-up menu on the wall with delicious breakfast or lunch choices plus an impressive display of muffins, cakes, pies and banana breads to lead you even further into temptation. I personally don’t drink a lot of coffee but have been told the coffee here is excellent too (Monmouth brand).
I chose the poached eggs on toasted sourdough with mashed avocado and smoked salmon! I love how the food and drinks are served on vintage tea plates! Plus the fresh flowers on each table are such a lovely touch.The poached eggs were perfection; there is a real art to cooking the eggs JUST right!!This yummy breakfast certainly disappeared from that pretty plate rather quickly ;) If you are ever in London or Notting Hill I definitely recommend checking this place out. The perfect weekend chilled out breakfast spot..
Lowry and Baker
339 Portobello Road
London W10 5SA
020 8960 8534   
www.lowryandbaker.com

And yes it’s that time of the week again....
Happy Hump Day everyone :) xoxo

December Glossy Box =

Only one week until Christmas! I however felt like it was Christmas already when my December GlossyBox arrived at my desk a few days ago! Seems the Glossy Box team are feeling the Christmas cheer because their last box of 2011 is a beautiful red instead of the usual soft pink and is packed full with lovely Christmas goodies. Think this is my favourite box so far!

This month everyone received a Rituals foaming shower gel, a Deborah Lippmann nail polish (plus nail polish remover mits) and a lipgloss by Cargo. The remaining two items were different in everyone’s box. I got the Blink+Go Hi Definition mascara and the MeMeMe Seventh Heaven FaceBase.

Here is an outline of the products I got:
♥ Rituals – Yogi Flow Foaming Shower Gel, 200ml £6.50
♥ Deborah Lippman "Razzle Dazzle" Mini (8ml) Nail Varnish
♥ Stripped To Go nail polish remover mitt (retails at £14 for pack of six)
♥ Blink + Go Hi-Definition Mascara
♥ Cargo Cosmetics Classic Lip Gloss (mini)
♥ MeMeMe Seventh Heaven Moisturising Facebase

I was very excited to find the Rituals foaming shower gel in this box because my brother and his fiancé seem to be addicted to the stuff. They’ve raved to me about it many times and every year when one of the big department stores in Holland has their annual sale, they stock up on buying the Rituals foaming gels in bulk! So I was very keen to give this product a go and see what the fuss was all about. Now having tried it, I completely understand their love for this product. The foaming gel is just delicious!

It has a gel-to-soft foam formula which makes it feel like you are having a bubble bath in the shower. Very soft and creamy plus the Yogi Flow smells amazing. It has ingredients like Sweet Almond Oil and Indian rose which not only make your skin smell divine but also make it feel moisturised and luxurious.

Once this bottle runs out I am definitely buying more because am keen to try the other varieties. My brother seems to swear by the Hammam Delight!

I also love the Cargo Cosmetics Lipgloss. I hadn't really heard of this brand before so that does show the advantage of the GlossyBox concept, exposing you to great products you might otherwise not find.

The classic lipgloss (travel size) I got was in the shade 'Serengiti' which is a iridescent peach colour. It has a lovely shiny, sheer non-sticky formula and the colour is so pretttty!

The Razzle Dazzle raspberry glittery nail polish by Deborah Lippman also looks perfect for the festive season, cant wait to have a play with it :)

Did you get your December GlossyBox or do you spot some products in here you'd like to have??
A GlossyBox subscription is £10 per month (plus V.A.T and p&p) from Glossybox.co.uk.
You find my previous review of the Glossy Box Experience here.

Loving my picnic blanket poncho >

Wow in less than two weeks time it will be Christmas time! Last weekend me and my flat-mate decided to get into the festive spirit by buying a Christmas tree for our home ♥ I just love the smell of real Christmas trees and for me a fake tree just won't do! We wondered down to Portobello Road Markets and after browsing the stalls we picked up this little beauty :)

I'm wearing my new 'Klara Poncho' from Gina Tricot that I bought in Olso! 

I spotted this poncho in the shop and just fell in love with it. My friend saw it too and liked it but felt it reminder her a bit too much like a picnic blanket haha. For 99 NOK which comes to about £10-12 pound I felt it was a bargain and something that would definitely fit well into my wardrobe this winter!

I also love that you can wear this poncho in many different ways as you can see above and below.

Wear it loosely, wrapped around your shoulders or held together with a belt...

..or wrap it round your neck like a thick warm scarf! Definitely am super glad I picked up this 'picnic blanket' poncho. I love the red and black combo and it's so warm and cosy. Perfect for indoor but also for outdoor over a leather jacket to keep warm in the crisp winter weather. 

We proudly carried our Christmas tree home and it now stands beautifully decorated with lights and red, gold and purple baubles in the lounge....

And smelling DIVINE too I might add; Christmas....bring it on :) xoxo

Where the magic happens!

As far as music goes I have to say I have an appreciation for a very wide range of music. I love listening to different things depending my mood and location. I love Pop, Rock, R&B, Dance etc. However if I had to give my preference to just one genre of music then I'd have to say (what I’d describe as) 'soft rock'. This is more the kind of albums I'd actually buy as opposed to just stuff I listen to on the radio. Under 'soft rock' I personally mean musicians like coldplay, the Script, James Morrison, the Fray etc. As far as bands go I’d probably say Coldplay is one of my ultimate favourites. I have bought every album as soon as it’s come out and saw them live in Auckland (NZ) about 3 years ago.

Last week Coldplay had two sold out shows in London at the O2 Arena and I had tickets to the Friday show!!! As soon as the dates were released I diarised it and ensured I was available and online the moment they went on sale. After frantically trying to manoeuvre my way around an overloaded ticket site I luckily was able to secure two tickets. Me = OVER THE MOON! And as expected the show was…….AMAZING!
Thought I’d share some pictures :)

♥ The O2 filling up with people. Feeling rather excited!

♥ We all got given these wristbands....

♥  and this is what happened with them during the concert :)

♥ The talented Chris Martin and his band!

♥ Amazing sets & lighting!

♥ Thanks Coldplay for a FANTASTIC night!

And yes; it's that time of the week again....

Love this!
Happy Hump Day everyone :) xoxo