Down Memory Lane with Instagram

As of next week I will no longer be an iPhone user as I'm switching back over to the world of Blackberry, this unfortunately means I need to say goodbye to my Instagram. Until they make an app for the Blackberry I will have to be reduced to normal looking photos.

So I thought I'd show you some of my favourite photos, its always good to look back at all the fun times you've had and Instagram just makes it all so much prettier!

{Lucy passes her driving test}

{Gorgeous view from the patio in Brittany}

{My vanilla and raspberry cheesecake}

{Birthday Balloons with Rodgers at Stafford Road}

{Our snowy sheep in the field}

{My gorgeous girls, Christmas '10}

{Brainstorming session in Leon, Bankside}

{Cute sleepy Milly}

{Peace tree, Christmas '11}

{Maple and Pecan 3 tier cake for our 2 year anniversary}

{Bowling with James, the loser bought dinner. I lost by 2 points!}

{Amelia's 21st Birthday at Hotel du Vin}

Instagram has given me some lovely memories, lets hope they continue with a less vintage filter on it!

Have a great weekend everyone, I'm off to Norwich tomorrow to visit the family and look at UEA for Lucy and then a nice chilled weekend watching films with James! Will post pics on Monday.

Rifle Paper Co.

I have recently discovered the most gorgeous stationery designer from the US and it will most definitely be a strong favourite for a long time form the looks of her 2013 previews (she often posts on her Instagram new pics of her designs, follow on @Annariflebond)

Anna Bond is the head designer with her husband Nathan, Rifle Paper sells cards for all occasions, cute invites, calendars, recipe cards and much more. The website is http://riflepaperco.com/ for you to have a little look.

I decided to splash out on a gorgeous Valentine's Day card for James...

I couldn't resist these cute thank you cards too, £12.95 for 8 cards but gorgeous for those special thank you cards. I think I will definitely be using it for my 21st thank yous!

I found Rifle Paper Co. difficult to find in the UK but if you're in London you can buy it in Anthropologie, Selfridges or Liberty's. The beautiful Blue Bird shop in Chelsea also stocks them but if you're not around London you can buy online from the lovely http://www.papermash.co.uk/ she sells other designs than Rifle Paper but all of them are very similar so I bought this cute London notebook from L'apres Midi to be a nice travel diary for the summer. The delivery is £2.95 from her and it comes wrapped in cute tissue paper!

I would recommend all of her stationery, its very French and the designs are just beautiful, perfect for a special occasion.

P.S I bought my sister this cute little Valentine's card from Waterstones with a googley eyed matchbox. I always find it better to go for a cute, humorous card rather than those with the slushy notes already on the card for you!

I absolutely love sending letters and cards in the post and hopefully these lovely designs will encourage everyone else to start too.

P.S Check out this fab stop motion animation by Papermash, if this doesn't want to make you start buying from her I don't know what will!

Valentine's Day

Last night James took me to a lovely restaurant called Quaglino's on St James' Street, Mayfair. 

What a beautiful location! You enter to a pianist at the bar and are escorted down a grand staircase to an old ballroom with tables and booths everywhere, red roses scattered everywhere to boot!

They had a lovely Valentine's set meal with 3 courses, the menu was had a good mix of French food and classic game English food.

The champagne was delicious and came in gorgeous long glasses. We had a bottle of white Muscadet for the evening which is fast becoming one of my favourite whites, it very sweet which I'm sure not the biggest wine lovers would like to start out with!

I managed to get first choice for starter so I rushed for the delicious scallops and langoustines with a lovely cauliflower puree, melted in the mouth yum!

James got second choice so picked the chicken liver parfait with red onion chutney which looked lovely but I must say, Round 1 definitely went to me!!

As I got first choice starter James jumped at the steak, as all boys do, it was lovely with some green beans and little celeriac pods, medium rare and delicious.

I picked the Guinea Fowl with a mashed potato and cabbage and some caramelised chestnut mushrooms, the mash wasn't quite what I expected but it was lovely. I'm afraid to say Round 2 went to James!

Dessert was lovely, James had a French apple tart with the caramel and vanilla ice cream on top. Really sweet pastry and I liked the presentation.

I had a cute panna cotta with desiccated coconut, a heart biscuit and little pieces of mango and raspberry puree, was a really fresh and citrus dessert so the two desserts went very well together, Round 3 was pretty equal! 

We finished with some His and Hers martinis and hailed a cab home! Would recommend Quaglinos, it had a lovely atmosphere, delicious food and drink but it's quite pricey so would suggest for a special occasion!

I wore a dress I found by AX Paris which was only a brilliant £20, they stock AX in New Look so give it a look if you're ever in there. I had a Joules leather waist belt, Office black heels, gold leaf ring from Accesorize and silver bracelets from Greece (the country!)

Oh, and I was very lucky with my beautiful pink roses! A perfect night to remember <3

Hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!