In celebration of my friend moving to Brighton and her turning 30 earlier this month, me and my girlfriends went down to visit her new home and spend the weekend together.
On Saturday afternoon we soaked up the sun for hours on the beach with a picnic and drinks, before taking a very chilly dip in the sea!
That evening we went into town for Mexican and Margaritas at a popular spot called Bar Holisco, then ended the night dancing away to live music at Molly Malones.
For the occasion I wore my new striped brown maxi skirt with a white cropped tie front top, gold detail low heeled mules and my trusty butter yellow handbag. Perhaps a little dressed up for Brighton, but I love any excuse to get on my glam and wear a cute outfit.
We enjoyed a slow Sunday strolling around The Lanes of Brighton and shopping the many awesome vintage and independent shops. I bought an fabulous pair of vintage Tommy Hilfigure shorts from To Be Worn Again in a slightly longer cut and looser fit, tapping into the more oversized jorts trend which everyone’s loving right now.
Needless to say, we had heaps of fun and a lot of laughs; I’m so grateful to still have such strong friendships with my besties from childhood ❤
Checkout my Youtube channel here to see my vlog from the weekend too, it’s a good one!
And so we find ourselves on the final day of the year and ready to ring in 2025 at midnight. This year has been beyond brilliant and I hope you guys have enjoyed coming along with me for the best bits of 2024 through my vlogs here on YouTube.
In this second instalment of Vlogmas, festivities are in full swing as I host friends for a wine & cheese night, enjoy more cosy date nights with my boyfriend, and help my parents prepare to host the family for Christmas Day.
Expect all the indulgent food and drinks, lots of cute winter outfits and not forgetting when we see my dad playing Santa in the local town for charity!
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too and I can’t wait to share another adventure filled year ahead on YouTube, starting with an epic trip to Bali and my big 30th birthday in January.
The December Diaries are here and I thought I’d split this month’s vlog into a two part ‘Vlogmas’. As soon as the festive season begins its all about celebrating the year that’s been and embracing the merry times with colleagues, friends and family.
It might only be the first two weeks of December, but in this instalment of Vlogmas I fully embrace the festive season with cute interiors decor, cosy winter date nights with old school Christmas movies and plenty of fun work parties.
So grab a warming cuppa or maybe a cheeky baileys, and come along with me for the silly season diaries!
With just over a week to go until Christmas Day, silly season is well and truly in full swing! Last week I had two Christmas parties in London with work, so I thought I’d share with you what we got up to and how we got into the jolly festive spirit.
Last Tuesday was our member’s Christmas Social event at Hijingo Bingo in Shoreditch. We chose this activity as something different and immersive to mix up the usual networking format.
Starting at 11:30am, guests enjoyed drinks in the bar until they were ushered through the illuminated tunnel and seated in the main room for bingo.
Unlike typical bingo, there are dancers and a ‘bot’ who introduces each game and explains the rules as well as the prizes up for grabs. From a holiday for two or up to £500 cash, the prizes were very desirable and got everyone enthusiastic to play the games.
After the first few games there was a break for food served in the main room. This was a selection of festive inspired bites including pigs in blankets with a miso maple glaze, and turkey roulade with a cranberry puree.
The second round of games commenced before the event concluded at 2:30pm. Short but sweet, the bingo games were great fun and we had fantastic feedback from our guests who really enjoyed the afternoon.
I’d highly recommend Hijingo Bingo as a venue not just for the fun and immersive bingo experience, but also for the brilliant management team who were very well organised, super friendly and worked hard to deliver our event seamlessly – https://www.hijingo.com
Moving onto our second festive party of the week, on Thursday we went back to Shoreditch for our staff party at an escape room followed by a dinner. We met at BOXPARK beforehand and enjoyed some street food for lunch, as well as a few drinks to kick off celebrations.
At 2:30pm we were booked for our session at the escape rooms at which point we split into our teams and were assigned our rooms. My team’s room had the theme of time travel and our mission was to travel back in time to Paris to locate the weapon used for a murder. We all got very into the story and enjoyed the challenge of solving the mystery as a team.
Our dinner reservation at 5pm was for a pasta restaurant called Noci in Shoreditch. To start I had the endive salad with grapes, walnuts and a pistachio dressing which although was a generous portion for an entree, was still the perfect light bite to begin the meal.
My pasta of choice for the main course was strozzapreti with tomato, taggiasca olives, fried aubergine and a vegan cream cheese on top. The pasta was deliciously fresh, the sauce was very tasty and everything was served nice and hot.
For dessert I had the plant-based chocolate mousse with olive oil, sea salt and toasted almonds, a gorgeously rich and chocolatey note to finish on – https://nocirestaurant.co.uk
The night continued on at another bar in Shoreditch where the drinks continued to flow and we had a very merry time indeed. Needless to say, we know how to live up to the fun and games of silly season!
Winter season is here so its time to get cosy and embrace cute winter fashion, indulge in foodie delights and soak up the wonderful family time.
I might be a summer girl at heart, but I can certainly get on board when it comes to snuggling in front of a film on a cold winters night, or perhaps treating myself to a cheeky cheeseboard…or two!
So grab a hot choccie, a warming cuppa or even a glass of red, and enjoy coming along with me for a jam packed social month of November.
Friday 26th January 2024, my 29th Birthday and entering the final year of my twenties!
Waking up on Friday morning, it was a gloriously sunny day with clear blue skies and a crisp winters chill in the air as I took my morning walk.
I was working from home for the day, so I decided to move to the sofa for the afternoon and put ‘The Summer I Turned Pretty’ on as I enjoyed my coffee and answered emails.
Once 5pm rolled around and work was wrapped up for the week, I got myself glammed up and ready for an evening of celebrations.
My Birthday fit was a pair of flared tailored black trousers from Zara, a dusty pink bandeau also from Zara, my silk Le Scarf neckerchief, a cropped nude cardigan with gold buttons, my ASOS lace up maroon heels, plenty of gold jewellery to accessorise, a vintage Jaegar green oversized blazer to keep me warm and my Sandro velvet green handbag to complete the look.
At 6pm I went to our local pub for a drink with my Dad, where they gave me a glass of bubbles on the house and even brought out a Happy Birthday brownie.
We then had 8:30pm reservations at The Ivy Asia in Guildford, so my boyfriend kindly drove me and my parents there after we finished catching up with friends at the pub.
I always love visiting The Ivy Asia with its opulent interiors and buzzing atmosphere, especially on a Friday night.
We started with duck pancakes for the table before ordering a number of their smaller sharer plates.
We had all sorts of dishes from spicy tuna sushi rolls and king prawn skewers, to Korean fried chicken bites and claypot chickpea pepper curry. Every mouthful was so delicously flavoursome and my parents even said it was the best Asian meal they’d ever had!
Saturday morning we got out early to go to Bicester Village designer outlet in Oxford.
The shopping day cute and cosy look was a pair of Stradivarius blue flared jeans, an off shoulder brown jumper, my platform Ugg boots, an earthy tone wool scarf which I got for my Birthday, my Coach signature print cross body bag, a faux fur black Ugg coat and my favourite khaki baker boy hat from Mango.
Being a weekend, the shops were quite busy and unlike my previous visit to Bicester, there wasn’t much that was particularly jumping out at me.
We couldn’t leave empty handed though and I needed a Birthday gift from my boyfriend, so I was thrilled to find a the perfect gold ring from Monica Vinader to add to my jewellery collection.
Later that evening we were invited over to my parents house with my brother, his wife and my adorable niece Layla who I had lots of cuddles with, I just love being an Auntie!
My mum cooked her famous Spaghetti Bolognese and I did what I do best making a big salad of rocket, cherry tomatoes, avocado, parmesan shavings and balsamic vinegar. Good company, home cooked food and divine red wine, this made me a very happy girly.
Before I knew it, Sunday was here and I spent the afternoon with more family including my other darling niece and my wonderful Grandma. This card from my sister was brilliant, it’ll be a right laugh trying those poses next time I’m having a cocktail.
So that concludes my 29th Birthday celebrations and I couldn’t be more grateful of where I am at this time in my life. I want to embrace this final year of my twenties and look forward to another 12 months of growth, learning and achievements; cheers to chapter 29 ❤
As soon as we hit December, I find myself at another Christmas celebration week on week; this is the official season of partying and being merry!
The month began with a festive lunch and private show around on the 5th December at the newly opened Fairmont Windsor Park.
I was invited with work to view the stunning event spaces and rooms there and the hotel was beautifully decorated ready for Christmas, it got me feeling so festive!
We were treated to lunch in the gorgeous bar area where I had a few small plates of dill cured salmon served with buttermilk sauce and pickled cucumber, and the pumpkin kale salad topped with blackberries and pumpkin seeds. The food was exquisite and it was a lovely afternoon being hosted by the team at the Fairmont.
Later that week, it was our member’s Christmas Social Lunch with work which we held at Platform in Shoreditch.
Starting at 12 noon, we welcomed our guests to play retro games together whilst enjoying drinks and freshly made festive pizzas. This is a relaxed, fun event we host every December to thank our members for their engagement and support throughout the year.
Onto the second week of December, last Thursday we had our internal team celebration lunch at Zero Degrees in Reading. This was a great opportunity to spend time with colleagues outside of work and celebrate another successful year together as a team.
That brings us to yesterday when we drove to the Cotswolds for a family lunch with my boyfriend’s relatives. I wore my Stradivarius mid-wash flared jeans, Pull & Bear khaki long sleeve backless top, platform Ugg boots, Zara cropped aviator jacket, a check print scarf also from Zara, my brown knitted beret and my new Coach signature print handbag, worn across body to complete the look.
We met at a pub called The Bell Inn at Welford on Avon and to start, me and my boyfriend shared the fresh bread and olives served with oil and balsamic.
For main I opted for the smoked salmon and prawn salad paired with a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio wine, the perfect light lunch.
There’s plenty of roast dinners and heavy food to come over the Christmas period, so I always like to have something fresh and healthier when I can.
Another wonderful afternoon spent with family and friends enjoying good food and drinks whilst catching up and having lots of laughs together.
So now we approach the final week before Christmas bringing with it yet more parties and celebrations with loved ones; let the happy merry times roll ❤
As an orginally German founded company, Huf Haus UK hosted their own Oktoberfest last weekend complete with all the fun traditions including strong German beer, freshly baked pretzels, Currywurst, a German Oompah band and lots more!
I was invited along by my boyfriend’s parents as they work for Huf Haus here in the UK. They also extended the invite to my parents as they love Huf Haus architecture and were keen to see around the show home too.
Lots of people dressed up for the occasion in traditional German attire, however my Dad went rogue with a quirky outfit featuring his antique cane.
My parents were given their first experience of Currywurst, an authentic German fast-food consisting of fried pork sausage, typically cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup, which my dad very much enjoyed for his lunch.
Me and my mum were on the gin and tonic cocktails served from the G&T van by a London based gin company called Jim & Tonic.
The Huf Haus feeling by definition, is essentially the unique living atmosphere created by panoramic views of the outdoors, emphasised by natural light to create calm.
We were given a tour of the Huf Haus featuring my dream walk in wardrobe setup and this stunning bathroom with a free standing bath tub.
It was a fabulous afternoon celebrating Oktoberfest and showing my parents the beautiful Huf Haus show home located in Weybridge. Perhaps one day we will be able to own our very own Huf Haus…never say never, big dreams can come true ❤
With my sister’s due date just over a month away, I organised and threw her a baby shower yesterday which was a huge success and beautiful occasion catching up with wider family too.
Before our table booking at 4pm, I invited my aunties, uncles and cousins over to our house for pre-drinks in the garden. House prepped, nibbles out and prosseco chilling, I was ready for my guests.
My mum gifted me this gorgeous bunch of roses which made a stunning centre piece in the dining room showered in the sunlight of the afternoon.
I’m in my element hosting and love getting all my best bowls and crockery out for a spread of nibbles which included nuts, crisps, pastry twists, sour cream dip, pesto hummus, sweet chilli graze, giant corn, sun-dried tomatoes and nocellera olives. Simple but crowd pleading snacks.
Such picture perfect scenes as we sat outside soaking up the sunshine whilst sipping our prosecco and catching up with each other. Moments like these are very special and I’m so grateful for my family who I’m very close with.
My outfit was giving summer chic vibes with a pair of flared cropped white Zara jeans, brown C’est Normal cami, this cute cropped Channel inspired blazer, square toe velvet mules, my gold Cinco anklet, a gold pearl By Alona necklace and classic cat eye sunnies to complete the look.
At 4pm we arrived at the pub where we met the other half of the party who had been at my parents for pre-drinks. Both my sister and sister-in-law are pregnant now, so I organised for a non-alcoholic cocktail upon arrival for them, along with a few bottles of bubbles ready on ice to serve for everyone else.
I chose our local pub The Leather Bottle as they have this lovely courtyard area which we basically had all to ourselves. With a pre-order placed before the day, as soon as we sat down the food was served and everyone enjoyed their meals. Lots of people opted for the roast dinner with it being a Sunday, whilst I had the smoked salmon salad but couldn’t resists a taste of the cauliflower cheese side which comes with the roasts.
It was a hugely successful afternoon celebrating the arrival of the baby next month and also my sister’s birthday which is today. With 17 guests to keep happy and the pre-drinks at our house beforehand, there was a lot to organise but working in events, I have plenty of experience and it is my passion.
Happy Birthday and many congratulations to my superstar sis! ❤
We’re well into March and British Summer Time begins next week! I’m a summer girl at heart so I couldn’t be more excited for spring and the summer season ahead. Bring on those long days and warm summer evenings chilling in the garden having al fresco dinners on repeat.
Spring is also a fun opportunity to change up your wardrobe and experiment with layering separates including tees, shirts and blazers. As the weather warms up I can finally wear more interesting pieces like this cold shoulder backless sweater which I simply paired with black jeans, Chelsea boots and a fedora hat for Friday night drinks at the pub.
I recently purchased this cute khaki tank top from Zara as a perfect little transitional piece great for layering too. I styled it with a silk neckerchief, flared jeans, platform maroon boots, plenty of gold jewellery and my long trench coat thrown on top for a Saturday night dinner date with the family.
We went for a lovely meal at El Castello where we enjoyed a delicious spread of Italian food and wine in celebration of Mother’s Day and my brother’s Birthday. I had my favourite seafood linguine dish and I shared a yummy cheesecake for dessert with my boyfriend.
Now I’m winding down after the weekend and having a chilled Sunday evening at home before another busy week of work ahead. We’ve made it through a long English winter so springtime couldn’t come sooner ❤
Dani Aneka 