October: Lately I've been Loving

I can quite honestly say I love this Weleda Arnica Muscle Soak*. I'd go as far to say it's my favourite new product this year - and I've tried loads! See my review HERE. I know I'll keep buying it again and again!

My friend Louise has set up her new business called The Spoilt Sparrow selling these beautiful vintage teacups and saucers for #poshbirds. See her Facebook page HERE. Website coming soon! See my review HERE.

I signed up to The Stationery Lovers Club after reading Amber's post. They were offering new subscribers a free gift and mine arrived earlier this week. I'm a huge stationery fan and these are super cute (as well as being very useable!) 

Roll on November when my subscription will begin. I've bought jam labels from the company so knew the products are of a very high quality (and have lusted after the gorgeous correspondence cards previously too!)

My friend Nardine gave me this beautiful cosmetic bag which made me smile as well as some lovely Fresh products (early Christmas pressie). More on them later!

Having my comment feature on the inside cover of Cesca Major's brilliant debut novel The Silent hours just about made my month...if not year! See my review HERE.

I had a great lunch with my friend Claire at Restaurant Mark Greenaway where we ate some delicious food - really can't wait to go back!

October also saw us back in London - which you can read about HERE. As ever we had a brilliant time!

We dined at The Gardener's Cottage (my second visit) where the menu is set and you share communal tables! Our fellow diners weren't up for chatting much but we ate amazing seasonal food with excellent matching drinks (and nicely not all wine! We had sherry with our soup and apple brandy with our cheese course)

I've also been loving trying out the very gorgeous beauty range Humble Natural Beauty* by Kate Humble. See my review HERE. Pick yours up with your shopping at Waitrose.

What have you been loving this month?

*PR samples

London Trip 2015

Last weekend we had a fabulous trip to London. The American Football Team that hubby supports - Miami Dolphins were playing again at Wembley so our trip was centered around that (unfortunately, they lost!) See what we got up to in London last year HERE. Look out for my shopping trip (mainly of the window variety later this week - lots have been added to the wishlist though!)

We stayed at Taj 51 Buckingham Gate and were thrilled to get an upgrade to a two bedroom suite (with two bathrooms!) It also had a kitchen/diner (with nespresso machine) and living room area. It really was a home from home (maybe a bit posher!) and lovely to relax there at the end of the day.

I was absolute made up by this lovely gesture from the hotel. It made me smile LOTS!

On the Thursday we arrived in London we dined again at Adam Handling at Caxton Grill opting this time for the Tasting Menu (with matching wines) which was fabulous.  Below are a few of my favourites:

Nibbles -

Doughnuts, dressed crab

Beetroot, beetroot and more beetroot

Cracker, cured mackerel, yuzu

Crab

Apple, dill, sea herbs

Yuzu

Meringue, crumble, milk ice cream

The food was really delicious (although some dishes were the same as last year).

Friday saw us trawling the shops (mainly perfume ones!) and I bought a Jo Loves perfume which I adore. See my review HERE.

On Friday night we caught up with Nardine (@Miss_Nardine) and Sam (@HoneyGo_Lightly) and had a really good catch up and lots of wine!

Saturday saw us head to Maltby Street Market (a bus ride from the centre) and well worth a visit (Sat/Sun). We ate some delicious food and had a cocktail or two.

a super spicy bloody mary and negroni from Little Bird Gin

soap from Stella Says

delicious salt beef on rye at Monty's Deli

yummy cakes at Comptoir Gourmand

Before heading off the the American Football we had a massive room service breakfast at the hotel it set us up for the day!

There was a great atmosphere at the game even although the team didn't win! 

On the way home stopping by Plane Food at Terminal 5 was a must for a delicious Caesar Salad - one of the best I've ever tasted!

Ahh...a great trip can't wait to go back!  What's your favourite things to do when visiting London?

September/October: Lately I've been Loving

I just ran out of time in September to do a Lately I've been Loving. So this month I'm doing a joint post for both September and October.

My friends Magi and Derek recently got a lovely wee kitten called Alfie. He's an absolute sweetheart.

At the end of September we had a trip to London and I got to meet Nardine, Sam and Grace. It was really fab to meet them and we had a great time catching up.

me, Sam (@HoneyGo_Lightly), Grace (@allthatslap) & Nardine (@Miss_Nardine)

While in London we had some super yummy macarons. My favourite sweet treat.

Also in London I got some chocolate from Fortnum & Mason No.38 Rose & Violet Dark Chocolate bar which was delicious.

I'm really thrilled for my veggie growing posts to feature on Bodhi Luxe - it's such an honour!  You can see these here.

I love discovering new brands and Love Lula have a huge selection. One of my favourite discoveries in September was JOIK's White Chocolate Bath Truffles. Seriously gorgeous!

I've been really enjoying a lot of kindle books. A favourite in October has been Bo Brennan. Her books Stealing Power and Baby Snatchers were super creepy. Check them out on Amazon here.

source

I've been loving Lucy's Lotions Lip Balm which I received in my October Souk Souk box. I loved it so much I bought the rest of the range - which is great too. I love getting new to me brands in beauty boxes.

I've also been loving Odylique's very gorgeous latest launch Lemon Butter Hand Smoothie* which is the best hand cream I've ever used! It smells simply delicious of lemon with a touch of vanilla, absorbs instantly and leaves the hands super moisturised, nurtured and comfortable. Love!

What have you been loving this month?

*PR sample