Afternoon tea, 140 Park Lane

As you all know, I’m a massive fan of Groupon! I recently saw a deal for an afternoon tea Groupon that involved gin. Sounds like my kind of deal!

I went a couple of weeks ago with Ryan and we had a great time. It was my first afternoon tea so I wasn’t 100% what to expect, but I’ll definitely go to another one.

The afternoon tea was at 140 Park Lane, as part of the Marriott hotel.

Gin cocktails to start, served in a tea pot.

Regular tea, served in a regular tea pot.

Excited at the arrival of the food! Cakes on the top shelf, scones and crumpets in the middle and sandwiches on the bottom.

A hot, buttery scone, with clotted cream and jam. Served the Devon way, of course!

I was actually surprised at how filling all the food was. I couldn’t finish my amount, I was so full!

Ryan and I spent the rest of the afternoon going round London, enjoying the M&M world, cocktails at Dirty Martini and to top off the day – tickets to Wicked!

Have you ever been to an afternoon tea?

Viva Forever

Last weekend I went to London with my friend to watch Viva Forever as part of my birthday celebrations. We booked the tickets way back in June when they announced the show, so needless to say I had been looking forward to it for ages!!!

We got up into London around lunchtime and headed to Picadilly Circus for lunch and a mooch round the shops. We ended up having lunch in the health foodies mecca – Wholefoods. Yum! I had a chicken burrito and it was yummy. It really filled me up.

Then we got ready to go and watch the show!

 

I know that the show hasn’t had the best reviews but I really enjoyed it. I thought the singing and choreography was brilliant as were the costumes.

The storyline was a little weak in places, I’ll be honest and at times it felt a bit panto-y with lots of cheap jokes, but it was so much fun! At the end everyone got up and danced. They covered pretty much all the hits and a few album tracks and solo numbers too, so I was impressed. Plus I scarily remembered pretty much all the words!!! 

 

 

After the show we headed to Covent Garden to have a mooch round the market and get some dinner. Covent Garden was looking so beautiful, it really got me feeling Christmassy. Although it was so busy, but that’s not surprising.

 

 

We went for drinks in Dirty Martini. I went there a month ago for a friends birthday and really loved it. They serve Plymouth Gin – a winner in my eyes! Plus from 5-8pm on a Saturday it’s happy hour and very cheap. Well, cheap for London! I had a Sloe Berry Martini and it was delish!

What’s going on with my arm???? It looks like I’m a bit jolly hockey sticks – hooray!

For dinner we decided to go to Byron in Covent Garden. I’ve seen a lot of people having burgers in blogs and on instagram lately and it was totally what I was craving. The burger was absolutely delicious, and the onion rings were incredible. God I love Byron. Yum!

 

The photo does not do this burger justice. I need to get back there and take better photos, obviously .

Once we got home we both crashed out and ended up sleeping for 13 hours. Two very tired girlies indeed, but a great end to my birthday celebrations!

 

Do you like the Spice Girls? What’s your favourite Spice Girl song?

My Magic Song

Sometimes no matter how bad a mood you’re in, there’s always one song that will lift your spirits. Whether you’re walking to work in the rain with a busy day ahead, or you’re in the car stuck in traffic there’s something magical about that one song that will always put a smile on your face. And in the middle of a busy week, this song is no exception!

My ‘magic’ song right now is ‘Who Loves You’ by Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons.

Who Loves you–Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons

I’m not sure what it is about this song, if it’s the lyrics or the the melody. I think it’s just those first few opening bars of music that build into Frankie singing.

“Who loves you pretty baby? Who’s gonna help you through the night?”

This song makes me feel like I’m on top of the world and that nothing can stop me. I feel invincible when I listen to this song. I think it makes me think “Who loves you?” and the answer to that should be ‘ME’.

It also reminds of me of a fantastic night when Rylar and I went to see Jersey Boys and I just love it. In fact, I’ve had this song on repeat on my iTunes for an hour now, and it’s the most played song on my iTunes.

I’m not sure how long this will be my ‘magic’ song for, but for now I don’t see how I will get sick of it!

Do you have a magic song?

The Wizard of Oz

Last weekend I spent some time with my wonderful friend Kelly in London. We’d been planning a weekend in London and a show for such a long time and finally got round to booking something before Christmas.

 

 

I’d heard great things about The Wizard of Oz and was very impressed after seeing a snippet on Children in Need.

 

The Wizard of Oz on Children in Need

(Source)

 

We travelled up to London in time for lunch, and despite some tube closures (surprise, surprise!), we headed over to Oxford Circus and enjoyed lunch at Pret a Manger. I love how I can always rely on Pret a Manger for good quality food and at reasonable prices, even in central London. The staff were amazing and friendly too, which definitely helps!

The Wizard of Oz is playing at the London Palladium, a theatre I’ve never been to before. Compared to other theatres I’ve been to the inside was pretty small, but we had absolutely fantastic seats in the stalls, row E!

 

 

We decided to go to the matinee show so that we could go for dinner afterwards and it wouldn’t be too late. I thoroughly enjoyed the show from start to finish and couldn’t fault anything. The cast were fantastic, I particularly liked the tin man! And the set was phenomenal, so clever, and I loved the way that the Wicked Witch of the West moved around the whole theatre.

 

 

After the show we wondered around the shops for a while and then decided to head home for a delicious Chinese meal! A lovely weekend with a lovely friend!

Have you ever seen the Wizard of Oz?

What shows have you seen/want to see?