Happy Sunday! We’re well into June now and it finally feels like summer is here in the UK. I’ve had a super wholesome weekend soaking up the sunshine starting with a countryside bike ride to the pub on Friday evening, and then a fun day out at our local village festival yesterday drinking Belgian beer and enjoying some live music. Now I’m winding down before the week ahead and I thought it was time to do a little home interiors update. Having lived here for over a year now, I finally feel like the house is flourishing to reflect our style and I’m loving it; this is our home ❤
This weekend I decided to go all out for our date night and booked The Ivy Castle View in Guildford. I had tried to book The Ivy Asia a few weeks back, but with a three month waiting list to get a reservation there, I was happy with the regular Ivy restaurant we know and always enjoy.
I’m obsessed with the art deco inspired interiors featuring eclectic artwork and a vibrant colour palette, I was definitely getting Alice in Wonderland vibes as soon as we arrived at The Ivy Castle View.
Even the ladies bathrooms were decorated with opulent wallpaper and this stunning ceiling of roses, they are just too beautiful not to take a picture of.
The place was buzzing on a Saturday night, yet we were still treated to the same friendly and attentive service from the hosts and our waiters who looked after us for the evening.
We had this lovely, romantic round table for two right by the window overlooking the castle. I was lusting over these gorgeous green palm leaf print sofa chairs too, it really is an interior lovers heaven, every corner of the place there is something different to admire.
To start, we had a cocktail each and of course I couldn’t resist my favourite Espresso Martini in their special salted caramel flavour. My boyfriend had the Surrey Passion made with passionfruit, vodka and rum, a super fruity sweet concoction and showstopper served with a flaming top!
Whilst we don’t usually get starters, we did order the salt-crusted sourdough bread to nibble alongside our cocktails. To our delight they served an entire loaf freshly warmed straight from the oven – sometimes the simple things done well are the most satisfying, it was exquisite.
For mains I actually went for two starters: Roasted Scallops served with crispy potato rösti, pea purée, parmesan sauce and grated truffle, accompanied by a big basket of the Zucchini Fritti. This was a tasty combination of flavours which I paired with a glass of their house white wine from Carinena, Spain.
My boyfriend ordered the Korean Glazed Chicken served with pickled mooli, sesame, avocado and jalapeño sauce, citrus mayonnaise as well as some thick cut chunky chips. Safe to say we devoured the lot and savoured every delectable bite.
Our evening at The Ivy Castle View was wonderful with everything from the drinks and food to the service and experience, it was a 10/10 for me.
The Ivy Collection has a number of restaurants in handpicked locations across the UK, serving modern British cuisine, reflecting the same inimitable service and vibrant surroundings for which The Ivy is loved and revered. A top destination for a boujee date night full of photo opportunities ❤
On Wednesday 26th January 2022 I officially entered my late twenties and welcomed in chapter 27 of my life. It’s been quite the week of celebrations and so amazing to be with my family and friends again following a lockdown birthday last year.
I had a wonderful family birthday dinner on the big day at Giggling Squid in Farnham. I was even surprised by my brother who I didn’t know was coming all the way from London to join us for the occasion.
I’m very lucky to be so close to my family and it was the best birthday present I could wish for to have us all there celebrating together.
After our cocktails to kick off the evening, we shared a selection of starters including delicious squid and duck spring rolls. For mains I opted for a traditional vegetable red Thai curry which was exquisite.
At the end of our meal I was presented with this gorgeous birthday desert and everyone sang Happy Birthday. It was a joy to be with my family just chatting, laughing and enjoying the moment over fantastic food and drinks, we didn’t leave the restaurant until they were closing!
With my birthday being midweek, I decided to invite my girlfriends over for an evening at my house on Saturday.
My birthday fit for the night was this stunning backless silver blouse along with my stretchy flared pants and cute fluffy slider slippers – dressy but comfy.
I absolutely love hosting so I was super excited to setup the dining room and prepare a spread of nibbles as well as my famous cheeseboard platter of course. Candles lit, music playing and prosecco popped, I was ready to welcome the girls for a fun cosy evening at home.
A number of bottles of bubbly and wine later, we’d had such a beautiful night full of catchups and plenty of laughs, those girls really are my soulmates.
Now its Sunday evening and I’m feeling so content and happy following such a fabulous birthday week. It’s certainly been an epic start to the year already and I can’t wait to see what chapter twenty seven of my lift has in store.
It’s been a long time coming following two other properties falling through last year, but it was third time lucky as my boyfriend finally exchanged on a stunning new build which we move into this week! It’s all very exciting and an absolute dream to be moving to our own four bed house complete with a huge driveway, garage, front lawn and lovely south facing garden – bring on those summer BBQs!
No doubt it will take some time for us to settle and get everything just the way we want it as we are starting from scratch. But what a beautiful blank canvas to be working with, I can finally live out my ultimate interior goals from hours scrolling Pinterest and creating vision boards.
Outdoor entertaining will be a big focus this summer following lockdown measures easing, so I’m keen to have a sociable area on the patio for lounging and soaking up the sun whilst firing up the BBQ. I’m obsessed in the corner sofas with a fire-pit table to keep us warm late into the evenings. Fairy lights and outdoor string bulb lighting are also a must for that atmospheric nighttime ambience.
I will of course miss my cosy little bedroom back home with its eclectic style and many wonderful memories in particularly captured in my photos. I’ve always taken pride in organising and displaying my favourite pictures from special times throughout my life, it never fails to make a house a home. I’m a sucker for inspirational quotes as well, so my favourite ‘Stay Wild’ gold text print from Maggs London years ago will definitely need a feature in the new place.
That classic Audrey poster from Breakfast At Tiffany’s is another timeless piece which I think might be a classy photo to go in the new dining room. My collection of treasured books will take pride of place on a bookshelf perhaps in the lounge, as I have some great coffee table style hard backs too.
Then there is the wardrobe which is going to be the biggest task of all! Being a self-confessed shopaholic and shoe addict, I’ve curated quite the collection of garments during my 26 years. Whilst moving is an opportunity to get rid of those less worn items, I do love it when trends come back around and I can give older pieces some love once again. However I want to aim towards a more minimalistic approach to my style, so keeping only what I wear most of the time will help to establish a refined capsule wardrobe…it’s going to be a process that’s for sure!
Focusing on the initial move however, I want to get the furniture and each room arranged perfectly before putting too much stuff in there. I have the luxury that I can leave what I want at my parent’s at least for now, then once I know how much storage we actually have in the new place, I can get organised and donate or bin anything which will be clutter. I’m looking at this as a fresh start and opportunity to live a more minimalistic lifestyle, free of the burden and stress of too many material things.
I guess it’s time to be a proper adult and say goodbye to my teenage room for now. My parent’s home isn’t going anywhere though, so my perfect little den will remain the spare bedroom and home to so many special memories.
Dani Aneka 