a little box of surprises

Macarons!!

Ah, my love for macarons! They are so morish and so pretty to look at!

Macarons are colourful meringue-based almond treats made from a mixture of egg whites, almond flour, and both granulated and confectionery sugar.

The British craze for macarons began at the Ladurée tearoom in Harrods that opened a few years ago.

Laduree @ Harrods

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the lace maker

Work in progress

Tord Boontje has been one of my favourite designers for a while now. I spotted one of his earlier pieces in an interiors magazine about 5 or 6 years ago and I have loved all his work ever since. 

 

The Garland Light

Charming, romantic, unforgettable, The Garland Light is mesmerising with its delicately etched floral patterns. The lamp is made from a continuous metal strand that is wrapped around a light bulb. 

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snappy snaps

A couple of weeks ago I got a new camera, the Sony NEX-5 digital SLR and it has been my favourite toy ever since. It’s so compact and light that when it first arrived in its box, I thought that they’d forgotten to pack the camera inside! LOL

My baby

One of the features I love on this camera is the 'sweep panorama' mode, in which you just hold down the shutter button as you pan the camera.

The background defocus is also a great touch that I didn’t have before on my old camera.

Testing the defocus

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colour me beautiful

Haymarket Hotel

This boutique Hotel owned by the Firmdale group can be found in a converted Regency-era building designed by John Nash on a small street off Haymarket. From the outside it just looks like a classical building but once inside, it is a fusion of the old and new.

I was here @ the Brumus bar and restaurant for a quick after dinner birthday drinks. The bar was quite dimly lit but you could see that in daylight it was a sea of pinks and purples. The dogs on the back of the chairs and bar stools added a touch of fun and quirkiness.

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the artisan experience

Artisan @ The Westbury Hotel

Located just off Bond Street, Artisan restaurant is tucked away inside The Westbury Hotel. Artisan offers an innovative modern British menu created by Executive chef Andrew Jones. 

The concept of the Artisan restaurant is based on ‘experience’. The meaning of artisan is ‘made from the hand’ with this in mind, the menu, service and ambience has been designed around these words; Artisan and Experience.

Art Deco style dining room

The dining room reflects the elegant simplicity of the menu with its parquet flooring, oak tables and champagne coloured walls. The beautiful Art Deco dining room had a lovely ambience to it, both formal and relaxed.

3 Course Sunday Lunch

Today we were here to try the 3 course Sunday Lunch. Price was very reasonable especially for Mayfair.

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food glorious food

I started blogging 5 days ago and already it's starting to look like a food blog.
More exciting and wonderful posts to come... I hope!

a chinese on oxford street

Noodle Oodle is a no-frills Chinese restaurant located near Tottenham Court Road Station on Oxford Street. You may recognise the restaurant from one of Gordon Ramsay’s shows when he went head to head with the head chef who currently holds the world record for the most hand-pulled noodles in three minutes.

Gordon Ramsay attempting to make handmade noodles

Noodle Oodle was apparently the first restaurant in London to bring the hand-pulled noodle technique to town. They are known for their soft textured hand pulled noodles but they also offer rice dishes and also a selection of Dim Sum.

Mix meat platter

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the daily bread

I have known about this place for a while but I decided to try it out with a friend today.

Le Pain Quotidien originated in Belgium, is simply translated as “daily bread”. The story of Le Pain Quotidien begins with simple ingredients - flour, water and salt – transforming it with patience, passion and artisanal skill into a signature organic sourdough. Their philosophy is to use organic ingredients where possible and it clearly shows in their food. 

Large communal table made from reclaimed wood

The decor is sort of French country style with long communal wooden tables and wicker basket. The idea of the communal table came about when Alain Coumont opened the firstLe Pain Quotidien in Brussels back in 1990 and had  a long seamstresses table to accommodate his café guests. Traditional jams and a variety of spreads can be found on the tables and the whole place has a good atmosphere.

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dream wardrobes

I must admit that I am not the most organised when it comes to my wardrobe. Living in a 1 bed flat with limited storage space, most of my clothes and bags etc are crammed in one wardrobe.  I do try and keep all my expensive bags lined up on the top shelf but the hanging rail is close to falling off! (hanging rail is curving in the middle from the sheer weight! lol)

How I would love to have a walk- in wardrobe!! 

The other day, I was flicking through an old magazine and came across the famous Carrie Bradshaw closet and it got me surfing the net for more inspiration.

Here are some of my favourites...

Carrie's wardrobe in Sex and The City

Mariah Carey’s ENORMOUS walk in wardrobe!! and this is only just 

for her clothes, she has a separate room just for her shoes!!

A minimalistic closet, neat and very simple.

Simple monochrome look. Loving the glossy black floor!!

People who know me will probably say that the last one is more ‘me’ but I just can’t help drool over some of the more girly ones.

I will just have to dream ‘til the day...one day. *sigh*

2011! lets get blogging

It's nearly half way into January '11, everyone seems to be blogging or twittering these days so I've hopped on the bandwagon to test out why so many people are addicted. A couple of years late but no harm in starting now!!