I Only Went and Got ENGAGED!!

Hello there people! I have good news.... I got engaged this weekend yippee! Evolving Neurotic bridezilla here so watch out!

Charlie proposed at the weekend when we went away to The Hand & Flowers (chef Tom Kerridge's pub) in Marlow for a belated birthday trip I booked for him last January, would you believe?! I made the booking for his birthday which was July, but the waiting list was so long we had to wait until February 2016 before it was our turn! I will post about the pub and accommodation in a separate post, so keep your eyes peeled.

I'm feeling very lucky and very excited to tick another thing off my 101 thing in 1001 days list, which was titled "Help plan a wedding (hopefully mine)" - hooray, it is mine!!

Homemade Simple Gift Idea - Remember When Photo Frame

Last year for Valentine's Day I made a fab gift using an idea I got off of 'Not On The High Street', which hangs proudly in our hallway - you can find it here

Well as it was such a success I set out to find something similar for Valentine's Day 2016 to bring some memories into our home. Typically I started out on Not On The High Street to see if anything was appropriate and found this: http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/rosierobins/product/personalised-remember-when-print The idea was perfect but the medium one was £45 and it was unframed! Disappointed, I decided to make my own.

What do you need? A frame (I got mine on eBay and it was £9.10 with free delivery and the border), some imagination and memories, and a colour printer. Good luck all, this will be hanging in our home, so I hope you can create one to hang in yours :-)

London Treats - Food and Drink

I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite food and drink destinations when in London - obviously the choice is vast, but hopefully there might be something new here to tempt you!

Breakfast: Le Pain Quotidien. A wonderful French chain is perfect for breakfast and a relaxed venue to chill out. I like the one in Soho and highly recommend the fresh OJ with the ham and cheese croissant which comes with three mustards to accompany it. Mwah!

Lunch: I love to head to the food hall in Harrods, Knightsbridge, so much choice and different cuisines!! They do a fab asian section which is reasonably-priced and as a sweet treat they do some 'WOW' luxury cakes and desserts.

Dinner: My go-to when in London is Ping Pong Dim Sum, a chain of Chinese dim sum restaurants across London, it steals my heart every time! Probably in my top 5 restaurants....

Cocktails and Treats: As I mentioned in my post about The Langham Hotel, London, Bar Artesian is an award-winning cocktail bar that's been voted the World's Best Bar for 4 years in a row. With quirky names and eclectic ways to present the cocktails, it's an amazing experience, so head here for a drink or two at the start of your night.

And finally the perfect way to end a trip to London, Godiva chocolate-dipped strawberries, so divine and worth every penny!

Holidays 2016: Vacation Time Part 2

Just a quick follow up to my last vacation post for 2016 (click here to view) to show you all what we're doing for our last trip of 2016!

Holiday 4 (European City Break) - Copenhagen, Denmark, 2 adults, 26th July - 29th July 2016
This vacation takes place right at the start of the summer school holidays and therefore it is a bit more expensive than if we went a couple of weeks earlier, but nonetheless it looks amazing and actually the flights were very reasonable! We booked flights with Easyjet (hand luggage only, cabin case with no weight limit) from London Gatwick to Copenhagen, Denmark at £39.14 each return (**further notes below on this)
The accommodation I headed to AirBnB for because a 4*+ hotel was working out far too much, and we found this little gem on there! It's the entire apartment for our own use and includes Wifi and is right by the metro - £88.50 each
Total per adult for flights and accommodation - £127.64
**Get a bargain with flights and use Nectar points towards the cost - definitely recommend if you are a regular online shopper, a great money saving method to online shopping. We saved £30 by doing this!

 

Very excited for this mini adventure and I've already started learning some Danish to impress the locals (or shock them with my pronunciation!) :-) It will likely be around 20 degrees in Copenhagen which will be perfect for brisk walks and heading to the biggest aquarium in Europe! Who knows, we might even pop over to Sweden for a quick look around.

The Langham Hotel, London, England

The Langham, London - currently ranked 54 out of 1,059 hotels in London, and all I can say is that I'm surprised it's not higher. Styling pink proudly and located only a couple of minutes' walk away from Oxford Street and Regent Street, this luxury hotel has everything you need for an indulgent and special getaway.

 

As Europe's first "Grand Hotel", The Langham is renowned for its legendary service with poise, featuring a restaurant with star chefs Albert and Michel Roux Jr (Roux At The Landau) as well as award winning coktail bar: Bar Artesian, which has been voted "The World's Best Bar" for four years in a row. Wow!

Yes, that really is a cocktail!

We have stayed at this glorious hotel twice, and no doubt we will be back. We tend to visit during the summer, hopeful of good weather so we can explore London on foot and also celebrate our birthdays, and for such occasions there's nothing better than the treat of staying somewhere so exquisite.

The doormen and front of house staff are charming and polite, and within seconds of being in the entrance hall the smell of fresh roses (pink of course) hits and relaxes you. Of course there is a spa and pool to relax you further if you wish, or why not let the very reasonably priced 24-hour room service be of use if you're on a busy schedule!?

 

  

On our most recent visit we stayed in one of the Grand Club Junior Suites which was definitely big enough for two. In fact the bed was so large and comfortable that you could easily get lost in it. A nice touch to the stay for both nights was the turndown service which allowed you to feel right at home from the moment you stepped in of an evening.

I couldn't recommend this hotel enough, so if you're in need of a bit of luxury in The Big Smoke, head to The Langham.