Browsing Tag:

Shoreditch

Explore/ Stress Free Style

After work Blow Dry with Brooks+Brooks

11925745_100990176966995_1724732718_n


Its Friday!
Finally…something to make you smile. Its the weekend. Its the night of the week when you can let your hair down (or blow-dryed into the perfect up do) and dance the night away.


You can touch up your make up in the work bathrooms but giving your hair a refresh is sometimes difficult. This is where the perfect salon to quickly give you the once over is the answer.

Based in Holborn Brooks+Brooks is the golden ticket.

They transformed my locks from drab to fab!

b11   hair

I was met by Kayleigh at the door who sat me down to go through my options. I was tired from a long day at work and welcomed a sit down and relax. Offered a coffee and a lil brownie to start my day was starting to get a little better.

We chatted about options, hair colour, hair condition and face shapes. Kayleigh suggested a couple of styles…

Heading out for cocktails and a banquet dinner we opted for a half up do.


Kayleigh was ab8 little camera shy so she stayed hidden

Hair Washed
Best Massage
Hair Treated
Hair Heated

and we were ready to get started!


b3  b4

First she tied knots to make an edgy braid. Playful yet tamed.

b5

Then mermaid curls.

Kayleigh used a wand to create such magical waves. They set perfectly with the in salon products and lasted hours.

b1 b2 b6

Th finished style was in incredible. I had been transformed from the dreary end of work look to freshly made for a night with the girls.

Glamorous, Stylish and Chic: Brooks+Brooks Hairdressing is a must check out.

To book your appointment head to: enquiries@brooksandbrooks.co.uk

or call +442074058111


Balance/ Recipes

Q&A with Pollen + Grace

1452010062697_email.png
Making lunches can be so difficult when you are trying to eat healthy. Sometimes you open your lunch box and you have a bit of kale and quinoa looking up at you and you start to feel slightly depressed…
Well let me introduce you to Pollen + Grace this beautiful little company that serves gluten free, dairy free and free from refined sugar beautiful lunches to keep our stomachs happy and full of flavour.
I wanted to find out more about this wonderful company so I met with Steph the founder to have a Q&A
1) How was Pollen + Grace born – where did the idea come from?
Pollen + Grace came foremost from a love and passion for cooking healthy, delicious food but secondly from the frustration of never being able to find a healthy, free from lunch option when working in London and having to prepare lunch each night. 
2) What makes you passionate about Pollen + Grace, did you start by eating that way and became a passion…?
Pollen + Grace was such a huge risk to take, but it was something I(Steph) had to do as I felt it was what I was meant to do. I started eating this way due to gluten and dairy intolerances, then learnt how exciting it was to make delicious options that actually made you feel good. 
3) Who was your first customer?
Our first customer was the brand events office, but our first customer who found us without being a friend was Amanda Cauldwell – she would order 3 lunches a day from us, one for her lunch then two for dinner (one for her and one for her daughter)!
4) Where was your first pop up?
The Old Street pop up has actually been our first, but we definitely plan on doing more now!
5) Where are you based – how big is your team?
Our kitchen/office is based in clapham junction and we have a full time team of 6 now – 3 office and 3 kitchen!
6) What is your favourite product?
This one’s easy, definitely our paleo banana bread, it’s delicious!
7) If you could give people one piece of health advice – what would it be?
Focus on eating delicious wholesome food that makes you feel great, but learn that it’s also about balance – if you want the ice cream, eat the ice cream! 
  3
If you have a bit of time at lunchtime and you are near Old Street Station you must pop on down and meet the lovely Steph and try out her delicious food.
If not check out their beautiful website over at Pollen + Grace
4
Balance

Today’s Outfit – Running about town

220414 - black dress

Dress: American Apparel

Shoes: H&M

Bag: Longchamp

Ahhh so woken up this week and my head is firmly still on Easter holiday mode! Today is a busy day – back to work, off to an exhibition and have the gym this evening… oh yeah and I need to eat, breathe and sleep as well.

Work is full on at the moment so I needed an outfit which is smart comfortable and can transcend into evening wear – especially Shoreditch evening wear. The dress is knee length and cotton therefore the material is soft and suits all weather and is appropriate for all offices. I have paired this with some H&M wedges – the perfect shoe for having the elegance of a heel while keeping the ability to rush around the city.

In my Longchamp handbag I have put all my gym clothes in – a stylish way of being able to move from work to play to the gym without having to carry a Sports bag

I am off to the London Newcastle Oasis Exhibition – Chasing the Sun http://londonewcastle.com/arts-programme/events/2014-04-11/chasing-the-sun-oasis-1993-1997/ – I was a huge Oasis fan so looking forward to sneaking this in after work.

Tonight’s Workout: Chest and Arms for 40 minutes followed by 20 minutes of HIIT – training my brother and cousin tonight who are new to weights so should be quite a fun evening.

Have a wonderful week – and if you can head down to the exhibition – GO!

Balance

Today’s London – Oasis

Today is gonna be the day
That they’re gonna throw it back to you…

This week my friend Claire and I went to see an exhibition of rare photographs, artifacts and memorabilia of Oasis’ early years to mark the 20th anniversary of the band’s debut single ‘Supersonic’.

 10155352_10152127435393285_2943464082075294512_n

Titled Chasing the Sun: Oasis 1993–1997, the exhibition will opened at the the Londonewcastle Project Space in Shoreditch, London – the first exhibition of its kind dedicated directly to the band!

10176163_10152127438158285_7435309640023317817_n
Curated by photographer Lawrence Watson, the exhibition documents many of the band’s now-legendary gigs, from Knebworth to Glastonbury to London’s 100 Club, as well as the creation of their albums ‘Definitely Maybe’, ‘(What’s The Story) Morning Glory?’ and ‘Be Here Now’. It featured previously unseen images from photographers Jill Furminovsky, Paul Slattery, Tom Sheehan, Kevin Cummins and Jamie Fry.

10268697_10152127436753285_3205952113742604833_n

10177368_10152127437573285_1578032590166047430_n

I’m sure you’ve heard it all before
But you never really had a doubt…

10294403_10152127437168285_4871744249998558325_n

10264737_10152127437003285_578500285462304143_n

Hung from the walls were the bands guitars and music videos dancing around the white walls and we sneaked from room to room rolling around like hippies knee deep in mud in the Green Fields of Glasto!

1982102_10152127437913285_8518677765352617572_n

Talking to the songbird yesterday
She flew me to a place not far away
She’s a little pilot in my mind
Singing songs of love to pass the time…

10177413_10152127436508285_5169955655579369416_n
The exhibition is taking place to mark the reissue of the band’s 1994 debut album ‘Definitely Maybe’. They had a set which the exhibition had created in order for us all to re-live the albumn cover – I went straight back to my rock’n’roll days whereas Claire was poised at the ready (I think she may have done this before…)

10277414_10152127434933285_9101277734959677218_n

Claire and I – delighted from reminiscent memories of Wonderwall and the golden years of Oasis – giggled from room to room as we photo-bombed the videos dreaming of witnessing the band re-unite or at least get on long enough to hold a series of gigs – we will hold off thinking they will be the Glastonbury headliner!

1908273_10152127437738285_165522663916901247_n

10151197_10152127436638285_4484112615823036164_n

   10253805_10152127437288285_4516226376586166774_n

Ducking and weaving, dancing and singing – this small yet wonderful exhibition really captured the band in their best years – re-kindling our love and well…making sure we went home that evening and listened to the whole discography!

10154015_10152127436203285_3733117335734467912_n

1959298_10152127436343285_6522684374330717301_n

1238743_10152127436063285_2999739873796817626_n

We took a 5 minute break from the British Rock sensation to slip into Shoreditch house to use the services and stock up on sweets — oh and of course a Photo Booth opportunity.

1014479_10152127435588285_5349442961311951476_n

These little treats that London provide really do make me appreciate living in such a great city and proud to come from a country that created the reprobates that made up the one and only Oasis

Maybe youre the same as me, we’ll see things they’ll never see, you and I are gonna live forever…

Balance

Today’s London – Coal Vaults Soho

Last night was date night and Nicolas and I headed out to explore Coal Vaults on Wardour Street. Set in an old coal vault – it was romantically lit, underground and had that industrial vibe often found in the streets of Shoreditch.

As we entered we were taken to our table. The atmosphere is relaxed – lit by old school light bulbs and candles. Your senses were immediately heightened due to sight not being the first used sense and the feeling of ease descends.

16

We started off with a few cocktails and some deviled popcorn.

14 1312 

Nicolas started with a domestic bliss (middle) and I had Marano. Nicolas is the cocktail lover out of the two of us – so he was a happy bunny…however when mine arrived and I had two! Well the cat definitely got her cream

11

We then went on to select our supper. Coal Vaults’ menu is made up of small plates taking you through from starter to cheese. They are ideal sharers and really encourage people to share and dine together – making it the ideal place for a date 🙂

We choose:

potted crab with home baked brown soda bread

10wild mushroom ragu w/homemade pasta, pecorino and chestnuts


9

‘pulled’ rabbit with smoked black beans, sweetcorn & pineapple relish, avocado, sour cream & flatbread

7

venison burgers: w/quince & beenleigh blue cheese, rosehip & port jam served with shallot rings. 
8

The venison burgers were to die for – perfectly cooked and juicy. The pulled rabbit was an innovative dish that I had never come across before and it really was delicious. All the flavours complimented each other beautifully. The wild mushroom was good – but you must eat it as soon as it comes out – as cold mushrooms are no mans delicacy! The potted crab was ok – the soda bread was dry and there wasn’t quite enough moisture in the crab to infuse them both together – having said that the crab itself was delicious.

We continued with our exploration of the cocktail menu and moved on to:

Rodeo Drive – bourbon, toasted macadamia liqueur, lemon and egg white, with a fresh cherry

6

The Marwar Pony – pretty much straight up infused whiskey with a side of smoked almonds – Nicolas wasn’t too impressed with this as he felt the description had mis-lead him into a shot of whiskey…

4

3Now there was a whisper of words about a cocktail called the Dot Cotton – lavender and honey infused gin, blackberries, lemon, egg white. When we were told we would have to wait 35 minutes for this cocktail as the alcohol needed to infuse – well that just made me want it more!

While we waited we finished off our meal with a selection of Neal’s yard cheeses with bread and chutney. Again the bread was dry but the cheeses were fantastic and went really well with the chutney provided…

2

Finally the Dot Cotton arrived. It looked beautiful and you could really taste/ smell the lavendar…was it worth the wait – probably not – Is Coal Vaults worth a visit – Definitely!

1