Games horot

I walk past 108 Brasserie at the Marylebone Hotel quite often, as it’s just around the corner from my office. Last week I finally went there for dinner with one of my closest friends from school, Katie. We used to live round the corner from each other, so walked home together every day after school, caused chaos when we skipped school with Mimi and ate our weight in doritos and minstrels.
When I returned from living in Australia I went to my old school to see all my friends, and Katie saw me across the playground, and screamed loudly, before rushing across, pushing everyone out of the way and leaping onto me with the most ginormous hug. She’s the type of friend who I only see a few times a year due to busy schedules (she’s training to be a nurse), but every time we see one another it’s like no time has passed. As we hadn’t seen one another since our little jaunt to Cheltenham last year, we thought a catch up was well overdue.

We started with cocktails, I had the English Spritz, which was a beautifully refreshing blend of gin, cointreau and elderflower. Katie had the Nightingale, which was very sweet, but looked far prettier than mine. Please excuse the poor photographs, the lighting was awful and I stupidly only had my small GF5 instead of the big beast (DSLR). I tried to light the dishes with the light from my phone, but it didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, so the photos aren’t as good as usual :/

To start with I opted for the Seared Tuna with the soy and ginger dressing, while Katie went for the Crab and Avocado cocktail. While we waited for them to arrive we nibbled on the delicious fresh bread. An interesting mix of sourdough, Guinness bread, and soda bread, it was a welcome change from the normal ‘white or brown’ that’s on offer in the majority of other restaurants.

The seared tuna was incredibly spicy, I think it was the pickled radish, but it was a shame because it overpowered the taste of the tuna. Katie’s crab and avocado cocktail was delicious though! We actually switched as we each preferred what the other had. I then tried a kiwi flavoured cocktail, which I wasn’t too keen on, it left a funny aftertaste in my mouth.

For mains I continued the healthy eating with Whole lemon sole, with spinach, and tomato and rocket salads on the side. Katie had the Slow cooked breast of lamb. Both mains were really good and we polished them off very quickly, however the spinach was cold.

Naturally we couldn’t leave without trying dessert! Katie chose the Warm chocolate fondant, and I went for a favourite of mine; Apple and blackberry pie with vanilla ice-cream. The desserts were the perfect option for a cold winter’s day – they warmed us up inside and it felt like such a treat after my healthy starter and main.

108 Brasserie is a really lovely and intimate restaurant, perfect for either a date or catching up with the girls. The staff were brilliant and couldn’t do enough for us, and the food consists of decent classic dishes that weren’t particularly impressive, but did the job and satisfied both the tastebuds and rumbly bellies! I’d avoid the more alternative cocktails, out of the four we had we only liked two of them, so I’d probably stick with the classics if I went again. What also impressed me is for London, the prices aren’t over the top. They’re very reasonable which makes it an excellent choice if you’d like a fabulous and sophisticated meal out without the huge bill at the end.

Guiltless, you say? As in…healthy? Yes. Yes it is. There is a healthy afternoon tea in London, and you know what, it’s pretty darn good. Back in December I reviewed the Intercontinental’s delicious Christmas Afternoon Tea, so when they invited me back to try their Guiltless Afternoon Tea at the start of the new year, naturally I couldn’t turn it down. Mainly because I was so intrigued about whether it would actually taste any good.

I invited Lotte along as we hadn’t had a catch up since a rather mediocre dinner at Rivington Grill a few weeks ago. We started with a tasty, and quite bitter, Guiltless Cocktail. It contained agave syrup and aromatic bitters as well as lime juice, cane rum, and fennel.

We then ordered our teas and started to try the alternative sandwiches. The butternut squash and balsamic caviar was Lotte’s favourite, while mine was the basil marinated manouri cheese with cucumber, and apple relish. All of the bread was gluten free, which was a little strange for us as we both love our gluten-packed bread.

Our tea arrived, and while Lotte had the Wellington Blend, I stuck to my usual; Wild Berries, a herbal infusion. We then tucked into the wholemeal scones, and piled them high with creme fraiche and homemade red berries compote. I’m usually not a huge fan of scones, and I tend to have one or half and leave the rest as I find them so heavy, but these ones I loved. They were so light, and the creme fraiche and berry compote was a fabulous change to the usual heavy clotted cream and jam.

After our feast of healthy (ish) scones, we decided to go all out and have a glass of the Moet and Chandon Rose, before finally trying the desserts.

How tall are these glasses! So cool, but also quite tricky to drink out of!
I actually wasn’t a huge fan of the desserts, I loved the red quinoa ball with cream cheese, and the polenta and almond cake was quite tasty, but the flourless chocolate and mint cake and blueberry and yoghurt chiffon cake really weren’t my thing.

Considering the entire afternoon tea is so healthy, you can’t really fault it! Often after whiling away an entire afternoon eating afternoon tea I feel so full and heavy and ‘bleh’, but I felt ‘comfortably full’ after this one, which was a really lovely change. We had such a great afternoon catching up and having a gossip over tea and cake!

Last week I attended a very glamorous rock n roll party at the Gibson Guitar Lounge in Fitzrovia. The party was to celebrate the launch of Richard Weight’s book, Mod: From Bebop to Britpop, Britain’s Biggest Youth Movement. And was hosted in collaboration with Pretty Green, Liam Gallagher’s fashion brand. The night included sixties vibes, vinyl records playing, Becketts gin cocktails, and hot dogs from famous fancy hot dog restaurant, Bubbledogs.

I met the girls there as I used to work with the PR company organizing the event. It was so lovely to see them all again, and we all got a complete shock when Cat turned up and came running up to us! We all thought she was still in LA! Cue much shrieking and selfie taking….

You can follow Cat on Twitter, and find out more about her and Guirado Design here.
We then tucked in to the delicious Bubbledogs, which for some reason all had ‘Ronald’ written on them (weird?).

The place was absolutely packed with old rockers and modern day celebs. We had a brilliant time, but sadly I had to leave early to get my train home. Just as I was leaving Diego arrived, so after a very large hug from him (it involved being lifted off the ground and spun around, much to everyone’s amusement), we had a catch up and eventually half an hour later I finally left, and just made my train in time!

When Superdry got in touch and asked me to review a piece from their new AW14 collection, at first I honestly hesitated. However, I’m now very happy I accepted. You see, I’m not one for accepting anything and everything that’s offered to me through this wee blog, I only ever accept things I think will truly fit my blog and audience, and are things that I would buy myself anyway. But every so often I like to try out new things that maybe I wouldn’t always buy, and open my mind to new brands and products.
My views on Superdry before they got in touch, were that they were a very active fashion brand aimed at individuals who enjoy ‘cool’ clothing. I do not think of my style as ‘cool’. They always reminded me of Jack Wills when they first came out, a brand aimed at teens spending mum and dads money, or adults who liked to think they were still in with the young crowd. As a teen I was in the Jack Wills band, however my brother was in the Superdry band, and thus I never thought they were a brand I would ever appreciate.
Superdry AW14 collection Everest parka coat
My views have now changed.
Just like when I went out of my comfort zone when I chose a bright red (I rarely wear bright colours) Barbour jumper, I went totally out of my comfort zone this time too, and chose the Superdry Everest slim coat (a Parka style coat) to review. Yes. A Parka. The last time I wore one of these or even owned one, I was 13 years old and thought I was honestly the coolest person on the planet. I’ve noticed lately that they seem to be back in fashion, so I thought ‘why not’.
Superdry AW14 collection Everest coat
Well, this Parka is definitely more flashy, cool, and warm than my one from ten years ago (ten years :O). The fur part on the hood is detachable, which I quite like as I don’t always want faux fur hanging off my head (seriously, I found this out the hard way 10 years ago, it does not mix well with rain and snow).
While it’s still a little warm outside to wear a thick winter coat, I’m so excited for the weather to get colder this year just so I can test out whether or not this coat is as warm as it feels. It just feels so snug. Also I love how deep and large the pockets are – perfect for putting glove-covered hands into. I’m so happy I’ve finally gone out of my comfort zone and tried a piece from Superdry, I have a feeling this might be my new go-to winter coat. Watch this space!

pewley downs surrey
golden cocker spaniel dylan
Now, although the downs really does look lovely in summer, can the snow please hurry up?! I need to test out my coat, and Dylan misses eating it. He told me so.

Wednesday evening I joined my lovely old work colleagues and some friends at the launch of the Guirado Design x Sanctum Soho hotel collaboration. I used to work closely with Guirado Design, and so I know first-hand the passion and love that Catalina and the team put in to their beautiful wearable art products. For this new collaboration they have joined forces with the uber rock and roll Sanctum Soho, to create the artwork for the walls of their bar and the 401 suite.
Sanctum Soho fashion event
Image by Gemma Reynolds.
I wore: Topshop Dress, Anya Hindmarch handbag (past season), Yull shoes.

The wallpaper is purely bespoke, created just for Sanctum, and the collab is perfect – Sanctum are famous for their love of skulls throughout the hotel, and with one of Guirado Design’s most popular pieces of wearable art being their Four Skulls scarf (based on Juan Antonio Guirado’s original painting, Apocalypse (2001-2010)), it’s the ideal partnership.
Edd and I went for catch up drinks before the event, and then strolled down the road to the hotel. Outside were dozens of paparazzi (sadly not for us, ha), and we stepped inside to be faced with various celebrities and fashionistas. We bumped into Joe, Mason, Toni, and Jai’me, and spent some time catching up with them all while admiring the glamorous and oh so rock ‘n’ roll wallpaper and scarves on display.
Fashion bloggers Mason, Edd Lumley and Catherine Lux with Photographer Joe Alvarez
Image by Gemma Reynolds.
Guirado Design Scarf wearable art
Fashion bloggers Toni Tran and Edward Lumley
Sanctum Soho fashion event
Image by Gemma Reynolds.
Espresso martini at Sanctum Soho Guirado Design event
The party was hosted in collaboration with Patron Tequila, who created delicious Espresso Martini cocktails and Moscow Mules for all of the guests! After a couple of Moscow Mules (ginger is good for colds ya know!) and catching up with people I hadn’t seen for months, Dani then took us upstairs to see the gorgeous Guirado Suite, which was decked in cushions and bedding all flaunting the skull design in various colours and textures.
Guirado Suite in Sanctum Soho Hotel
Then it was back downstairs to soak up the atmosphere, make the most of the delicious canapes, and sip on champagne, while the DJ worked her magic and an actual tattooist gave people real tattoos!
Canapes at Sanctum Soho fashion art event
Champagne at Sanctum Soho fashion event
Live tattooist at Sanctum Soho Guirado Design event
I made my exit at a decent hour as I’m quite ill at the moment (I’ve had an absolutely horrid cold for the past few days and was feeling rather peaky), and left the others to continue the party without me. There’s nothing quite like getting into your warm bed when you’re feeling poorly!
It was an awesome event, and it’s an absolutely epic collaboration, so if you’re ever in the area and fancy a peek, have a wander in and take a look – it really is quite something up close and in person (and it’s very instagrammable, that’s for sure!).

Sanctum Soho hotel London

Last week I was lucky enough to meet the baking king himself, Eric Lanlard, and have a baking masterclass with him in partnership with Currys and Kitchenaid at his shop, Cake Boy, in Battersea! To say I was excited about our evening is an understatement, I’ve been an Eric fan for quite a while now, and his love for everything pink and chocolate just makes me love him even more.
Eric Lanlard and food blogger Catherine from Lux Life blog
Apologies for the poor quality phone photo!
Sadly my bus decided to terminate a few stops too soon, so I had to wait aaages for the next one, which meant I arrived about 20 minutes late :/ woops! Luckily I didn’t miss too much, and got there just in time to see him teach us all how to make a red velvet cheesecake (I will definitely be trying this soon), which included the tip of ‘always get a food colouring paste rather than liquid, as the liquid affects the consistency of the mixture and dilutes it’! Fascinating stuff.
Eric Lanlard Cake Boy Masterclass
Eric Lanlard Cake Boy
Eric Lanlard Baking Masterclass
Eric was such a good teacher and so charismatic, I found myself hanging onto every word he was saying, nodding along enthusiastically, but knowing deep down that when it came to it, I’d probably do what I always do and just throw everything together and hope for the best!
Eric Lanlard Red Velvet Cheesecake
Anyway, after showing us how to make a red velvet cheesecake Eric then let us taste one he’d made earlier…it was delicious.
Eric Lanlard Red Velvet Cheesecake
He then taught us how to ice our own mini red velvet cakes, and I think I did a pretty good job!
Eric Lanlard's Cake Boy baking masterclass
Eric lanlard baking masterclass at cake boy
It was a really fun event and it was so great to go to something you could take part in and really get stuck into! The other blogger ladies were absolutely lovely, and we had great fun eating huge spoonfuls of icing and big chunks of cake. A huge thank you to the Currys team for organizing and inviting me along! You can see their post about the event here.

With its otherworldly landscapes and isolated luxury lodges—not to mention populations of rhinos, giraffes, and elephants—Namibia is like nowhere else on Earth. In fact, its red sand dunes and skeletal trees might make you think you’ve been transported to Mars instead of Southwest Africa.

Na Pali Coast, Hawaii
Kauai has one of the world’s most gorgeous coastlines, with towering waterfalls and isolated crescent beaches. Just be prepared to put in a little effort to soak up its wonders: Na Pali can only be seen from a helicopter, catamaran, or a rather grueling hike.

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