NYC Diaries; Bikes & Bagels In Central Park

With Central Park being right on our doorstep at the Park Lane Hotel, we decided to spend our Sunday afternoon exploring the park on bikes before enjoying some classic American bagels overlooking the lake.

We hired push bikes from a kiosk just outside of the park and cycled up the east side on the dedicated bike lanes they have all around the park.

It was a beautiful sunny afternoon in late September and the weather was still warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt, so I wore my Tommy Hilfigure boyfriend style shorts, a stripy low back top, my Stradivarius cage toe mules, my Coach handbag worn across body and MiuMiu sunnies to complete the look.

We took a short detour out of the park to the Upper East Side where I wanted to go for the famous Tompkins Square Bagels.

The choice of bagel flavours and different fillings was incredible, so the server kindly let us try some different cream cheeses to help make our decision.

With the bagels secured, we packed them in the bike basket and cycled back to Central Park.

We made our way around to the west side of the park where we found the big lake looking glorious in the afternoon sun.

After finding a bench with a nice view, we unwrapped our bagels and savoured every last bite as we soaked up the wonderful views of Central Park.

For our bagels we ordered one savoury and one sweet.

Our savoury choice was the everything seasoning bagel lightly toasted with a scallion and red onion cream cheese filling.

The sweet bagel was blueberry flavoured with a nutella and peanut butter cream cheese filling which was divine!

I couldn’t wait to try my first Poppi drink which I’ve seen lots of American influencers rave about and we were not disappointed, the orange flavour was delish.

Bagels devoured and tummies full, we hopped back on the bikes and made our way to the South end of the park to return the bikes.

This was the perfect way to spend a glorious Sunday afternoon in New York and I’d highly recommend renting bikes to explore Central Park as it is so big! I would say it was one of my favourite parts of New York ❤

Salty, Sweet & Always Spicy

When it comes to a cocktail, you can never go wrong with a classic Margarita. It’s definitely an acquired taste which I’ve grown to love as my palette has matured with age. Needless to say, but Margs are not for the faint hearted!

As I finished up work on Friday I had a Margarita on my mind, so me and my boyfriend decided to hit the local cocktail bar and welcome in the weekend with a few cheeky cocktails.

I prefer my Marg on the sweeter side with a strong kick of spice and this one didn’t disappoint, it was so delicious and satisfied my craving.

For our spontaneous date night I wore my Stradivarius dark wash flared jeans, a Cotton On tie front brown top, my cropped grey blazer and a pair of ASOS lace up maroon heels to complete the glam look.

Friday nights are my favourite so I was one happy girly with a Marg in hand and the whole weekend ahead of us.

Salty, sweet and always spicy; cheers to the weekend ❤

Friday Feels; A Summer’s Arvo in East London

Nothing beats that Friday feeling when you get to wrap up work tasks, close work emails and welcome in another weekend. This Friday my boyfriend and I went into East London to spend the afternoon at Spitalfields Market, before a dinner hosted by Epidemic Sounds at Ottolenghi Restaurant in Liverpool Street.

I love that summertime buzz in the city and it was fun to be back in the area of town which I used to live many years ago, back when I was doing my dance training.

Spitalfields Market has changed quite a lot since I last visited, so it was interesting to walk around and explore all the different markets and shops.

Cocktail hour was upon us, so we found this lovely looking restaurant and bar with outdoor seating just on the edge of the market, perfect for soaking up the atmosphere whilst people watching.

I couldn’t resist a Tommy’s Margarita which was perfectly sweet and salty with that spicy kick too, it was heavenly.

And what aperitif is complete without olives, right?

That right there is my ideal Friday arvo setup complete with live music playing in the market and that warm summer air, exquisite vibes.

My boyfriend got the fillet steak sandwich with caramelised onions and caesar dressed leaves.I had a taste and we both agreed this was absolutely outstanding, the best steak sandwich we’ve ever had!

Another round of drinks and before we knew it a few hours had passed, we were having such a wonderful time we didn’t want to leave.

For the occasion I wore this vibrant pink corset top from Zara, my straight cut Stradivarius jeans, a pair of khaki green mules from Next, a cropped grey blazer and my MiuMiu sunnies to complete the look.

We went for another stroll around the market as well as a few shops including All Saints, Nobody’s Child and Mulberry. Then before dinner we went for one more sunset drink at The Players Social.

We were kindly invited along to this influencer dinner by Epidemic Sounds who have collaborated with my boyfriend’s YouTube channel a lot over the years. It was a great opportunity to meet fellow creators and make some more connections in the YouTube community.

As I expected, the dinner was a mezze of small sharing plates including hummus, roasted vegetables, sea bream fillet and lamb koftas. The courgettes served with labneh, harissa tomato salsa and pine nuts was my favourite dish, accompanied with plenty of the hummus of course.

We finished with an assortment of cakes which were divine. Some great conversations were had and it was a fantastic networking opportunity meeting likeminded creators and influencers. Thanks again to Epidemic Sounds for inviting us along and hosting a wonderful dinner at Ottolenghi

Girls Day East London; Bottomless Brunch & Drag Bingo

I love an excuse to get dolled up and spending a Saturday arvo with my best girlfriends enjoying a boozy brunch. Having been a few birthdays in the group recently, we decided to book a bottomless brunch this weekend followed by a night out in East London. Let the antics commence!

With the weather still on the cooler side at the moment, I decided to wear my long over the knee boots with my black NEUW denim jeans, a white one sleeve asymmetric crop top, check print Stradivarius blazer, my usual gold jewellery, cute sunnies and my green fur coat to keep warm.

Brunch was booked for late afternoon at Raspa@100 Hoxton, a Filipino fusion restaurant offering a great bottomless brunch deal lasting 100 minutes for £38 each. We made the most of the drinks swapping between cocktails, slushies, prosecco of course and they even treated us to shots on the house.

The food spread was delicious and nice to have something different to the usual brunch menu options. Livy had the pork belly silog breakfast served with garlic fried rice, fried eggs & pickle, whilst Lucy had the halloumi finger sandwich and Cara opted for the sweet option of banana & buttermilk French toast.

My dish was the karoke which are Korean potato croquettes served with poached eggs, chilli dressing and a cheese sauce. The flavours in this were sensational and that pool of chilli dressing sauce was just to die for.

Bellies full of brunch and booze, we walked over to nearby Shoreditch to have more drinks at The Bike Shed which was buzzing on a Saturday evening in town.

Another bottle of wine later, and it was time to head over to the Drag Bingo we had tickets for. I was unsure of what to expect but needless to say we had a fabulous time!

Sure enough we ended our night tearing up the dance floor in another bar. Being friends since infant school, anytime we get together we have such a laugh and never take ourselves too seriously.

I think this picture beuatifully sums up my true happiness and joy following a day of love and laughter with my very best girlfriends; let’s stay forever young at heart. ❤