Archive for January, 2010
There are so many buggies out there that choosing one gives you a headache. I have gone through a few, the firm favourites being Quinny’s buzz 3 and Zapp (and my best friend adores Phil & Teds).
However, as kids get bigger our everyday journeys with them, often loaded with shopping bags, turn our bodies into wrecks by the end of the day. All you want is a compact, durable, not too expensive (Maclaren for well over £200 anyone?) buggy with a shopping basket that will fit in more than a raincover or a book.
Well, you are in luck, there is one such stroller from Petite Star called Zia. I wasn’t a 100% sure when I bought it but the more I walk with it, the more I like it. It’s very easy to fold (mine came with a free transit/carry bag at Mothercare); it’s got big handles; the rain cover covers the child AND your handbag , it fits snugly around the buggy and is easy to put on/take off; the shopping basket is positioned at the back and allows you to put in quite a few items; its wheels are quite manoeverable; and it’s suitable from birth as you can pull the back of the buggy into the almost flat position and your sleeping toddler will enjoy such comfort too. Also, this one seems slightly bigger than Quinny zapp and might last longer if you have a tall toddler. Oh, and I am sure than you will like the price, especially as you can shop around for deals.
Fopr more details & technical information, go to the following link:
Finally, just one more observation-don’t leave your toddler unattended in it, unless he/she is properly strapped in-if you only strap the child in around the waist and he/she leans out to the side, the kid just might make the buggy fall over and get a bump in the process. One can never be too careful with the little mischief-makers .)
Looking after one’s face seems to be getting more elaborate by the day. Until not so long ago one could get away with cleansing and moisturising in the morning but nowadays more and more cosmetic companies want us to use serums in addition to our usual moisturiser. I have used an occasional sample but wasn’t particularly inspired to buy one. But things change and after recently exploring various beauty counters for new products I kept on ending up at the Kiehl’s counter-so far, I haven’t been inspired to use any of their products for my face.
The new addition to my beauty shelf is called Acai Damage-Repairing Serum and the inscription on the 50ml bottle (£36) states that the ‘concentrated formula penetrates skin’s surface to repair the effects of visible damage due to external stressors’. I have only been using it for three or four days but my skin seems to be more even and a little softer to the touch and my nose loves the serum’s delicate smell. I put it on my skin after cleansing and then whoosh to have my breakfast. After that I get on with the rest of my skincare routine (moisturiser, concealer, touch of foundation, blusher) and my face seems to be liking it.
Another word on Kiehl’s: people working at their King’s road store are knowledgeable about the products and I got some samples and a 125ml bottle of kid’s face & body sunscreen spray (the best I have come across in the last few years) for free. Staff working at the Peter Jones Kiehl’s counter also seem lovely & beyond helpful. Bear that in mind when you go shopping.
Chanel Four started broadcasting a new American soap called ‘The Good Wife’ which was recently in the news because it’s leading lady, Julianna Margulies (of ER fame) won a Golden Globe for her role. I just finished watching the first episode and now it’s in my ‘must watch weekly’ diary.
The main character, Alicia Florrick is the wife of the disgraced and imprisoned for corruption state attorney Peter (played by Chris Noth, aka Big in SATC), who, in addition, was also caught with his pants down with a hooker. In order to support her two kids Alicia goes back to work as a lawyer, having been away from the workplace for 13 years. As far as I am concerned it’s the drama of both the heart and the mind and I am darn riveted. Often we, women, are portrait either as weak or as bitches, forgetting that middle ground exists too, as a woman can be tough & kind, strong & thoughtful.
My applause to Ridley & Tony Scott, who are executive producers of this drama and …enjoy the show!
If you wanted to have a cup of coffee in London 15 years ago you wouldn’t have had much choice, as no one has heard of Starbucks or Costa coffee back then. Today there is a cafe or coffee house on every street corner but most of them make horrible coffee. For example, I only dive into Starbucks around Christmas time, when they serve Eggnog latte that I am addicted too, but before my waist line starts expanding, it disappears from the menu and so do I from Starbucks premises for another year. Mostly I can only drink Carluccio’s dark brews without regretting the money spent. But as always there is hope, especially if you like exploring the town.
Today, while walking from Liberty department store I ended up on Newburgh Street and that’s where one such ‘coffee jewel’ is situated. It’s called Canela café and it’s quite small, so you could easily walk by, as it’s not a great beauty. Pause though, pop in and before your eyes you will have Portuguese and Brazilian cake specialities, a silver coffee machine, that looks like a robot straight out of Star Wars and friendly staff (if you are lucky you might even be winked at by the chef). I bought some pao de queijo (cheese bread) and chorizo bread (really good!), a carrot & orange cake that is awaiting its turn in my fridge and one of the best pudim de leite (that’s brazilian creme caramel) that I have ever tasted-trust me on this one, I tried quite a few! And my macchiato, served with a cinnamon stick and plenty of milk froth was so strong I ‘ran’ on it for three hours, I kid you not. And it tasted like great coffee should, bitter with a strong aftertaste in your mouth. They also serve sandwiches, salads, soups, and tasty sounding lunch dishes and at the time I was there it was full of people, ranging with a couple who was having lunch with their two daughters (and with whom my son decided to shamelessly flirt while I was waiting for my order) to a couple of girlfriends catching up, to two gentlemen and a young boy who all looked relaxed and in no rush to leave.
I will definitely go back there and I urge you to try it when you are in the area (there is another Canela cafe in Covent Garden)-you wouldn’t be disappointed .)
I have fallen in love with Lady Annabel’s writing when I read her first book, a bigraphy called ‘Annabel: an unconventional life’ a few years ago. She is the daughter of the 8thMarquess Londonderry, who was married to Mark Birley & James Goldsmith and is the mother of a beautiful Jemima and eco conscious Zac.
Her new book ‘No invitation required-the Pelham cottage years’ talks of the place where she & her family lived for 20 years and her friends could turn up unannounced but be very welcome. The style of writing draws you in and you feel like it’s your grandmother or aunt telling you her life story, with self-depreciation and lots of detail. My particular favourites were the chapters on Lady Annabel’s housekeeper Mrs. White, her first cousin Patrick Plunket and broadcaster David Frost. But it is the last chapter, that is dedicated to her first-born son Rupert, who disappeared while swimming in the treacherous waters of Lome in West Africa and whose body was never recovered, that is the most heart-breaking in its honesty.
The book is only 177 pages long, so it wouldn’t linger on your bed-side table .)
We live in unsteady times. Every time you turn on the news you see sadness, brutality, hunger, devastation or human suffering. Those events became so regular we are almost used to them, almost immune, in a way doctors and nurses have to be in order to do their jobs and save lives.
The earthquake and aftershocks in Haiti have taken many lives, of the Haitians and of people who worked there, like UN staff, many of whom are still missing. Every day there are bulletins on news channels showing deserted, devasted streets, suffering, looting, death, tears, kids who are now orphanted-it tears at your heart, makes you want to cry and makes you very greatful that you still have a roof over your head, your child is well fed and hydrated and that your family and friends are safe & well.
Yesterday George Clooney and Wyclef Jean hosted a telethon with many actors and singers participating, singing, talking to callers in order to raise funds to help Haiti recover and for Haitians to re-build their lives, devastated by the nature’s force. At the moment the amount raised stands at £35million but if you consider that the whole country will need to be re-build, people still don’t have access to clean water, proper medical help and regular food and drink they will need more, much more than that. And I am not even talking about the emotional pain, the fear all people of Haiti must be feeling, having lost their homes, posessions and their family members or friends.
I made a donation today on behalf of my little son to Unicef’s Haiti Earthquake Children’s Appeal fund and I urge you, please donate, no matter how small an amount, it will make a difference to Haitians and give them hope for the future and the understanding that the people around the world care. And hope at times like that is priceless.
http://www.unicef.org.uk/give/index.asp?page=33&google=haiti_jan10&gclid=CPrx9dDIu58CFQYslAodAH9vzg
Recently I received a lovely e-mail from Astley Clarke, an online boutique that sells all kinds of beautiful gems, which had ‘10 golden things everyone should know about designer jewellery’ by the Guardian’s fashion editor Jess Cartner-Morley. Have a read on the link below.
http://www.astleyclarke.com/Content/Curators-Notes/
We live in a cynical society where spin is a norm and truth is a shade of lies. But sometimes it almost gets too much for your to bear and you scream from frustration.
I was reading a February issue of British Tatler recently, which has Sharon Stone on its cover. To be honest, she looks absolutely stunning-beautiful hairstyle, flowing dress, tanned skin, toned figure and pretty make-up-what’s not to like, especially when she says that she is 51 and she looks damn hot? Then I read the interview and yet again asked myself a question as to why almost every interview with a well-known cover girl-be it a model, actress, singer or an ‘It girl’ talks about food or rather how she loves it, eats everything she likes and her good looks & trim body are down to her great genes?
Every woman is different-in her looks, in her shape and in her attitude to life. Some of us are naturally pretty and some become pretty when they skilfully apply their make-up or are in love. Some are naturally slim and can get away with eating a lot without gaining an ounce and some put on weight by just looking at the tray of freshly baked croissants. But we all become older, our metabolism slows down and we either have to start paying attention to how and what we eat or our waistline suffers. On top of that our hormones rage, our bodies go through labour and childbirth, we are often under a lot of stress balancing a hundred balls on a daily basis-sounds familiar, right? In the midst of it all we have our celebrities, who live in their own bubble world but on the pages of glossies pretend to be just as normal as we are. My problem with celebrity women like these comes down to the fact that they put unrealistic expectations on normal women’s shoulders.
Famous women depend on their looks. They put a lot of time and I would imagine, effort, in how they look. They have teams of beauticians, therapists, dieticians, nannies, personal trainers etc. to help them. Nothing wrong with that. What is fundamentally wrong, in my opinion, is to say that you have never had anything done when your face and body clearly look quite different to how they used to (you can’t ‘workout’ your face, can you or magically erase wrinkles or body fat).
Our grandmothers and mothers didn’t have plastic surgeons or facialists, their beauty routines were simpler, they didn’t gulp down a wide variety of vitamins, gyms didn’t exist (and if they did, they were quite basic compared to what we have now) and Botox injections weren’t the norm. In our times, I do think that every woman has a right to do whatever she wants with her face or her body in order to look good. If you want to age gracefully, without complicated beauty routines and regular trips to the cosmetic surgeon-great. If you need all that in order to look good in your eyes, again, it’s your choice. But to have things done, hardly eat, workout like crazy and then say that you hardly do anything and it is all down to your gene pool? Come on, we deserve better than that. What’s wrong with coming out and saying ‘yes, I had cosmetic procedures and see, I look fantastic but I also tried this and thas, and I wouldn’t recomend it’? Or ‘yes, I have to watch what I eat, because the camera puts on 20 pounds and I wouldn’t be hired for the role otherwise’.
I know a well-known facialist who has many celebrity clients, a well-known model among them. I always thought she looked great (in the interviews she says it’s down to her active lifestyle and holistic approach). But you know what? She had things done but would never admit to it and that, in my eyes, is unforgivable. Don’t pretend, don’t lie, it’s better not to say anything on the subject rather than say one thing and do quite the other. Women who admire you or aspire to look like you deserve better.
Truth be told, many of us actually look better when we are older. When you are over 30 you are more likely to know who you are, what you want, what suits you and what makes you happy. Armed with all of that we are stronger and more beautiful, be it the way God made us or with a little help from the plastic surgeon. That is the personal choice that deserves respect. Just be honest about it, if asked.
When you have a small (or not so small) child or an animal at home, accidents that require cleaning are bound to happen more often than not. A girlfriend of mine, herself a mother of two boys and an owner of a dog (small but old) and a cat came out with a solution to her ‘accidental’ cleaning disasters-a portable dustbuster. Yes, there is the mop, the vacuum cleaner or a roll of Bounty towels but a dustbuster is small, handheld-kids, want to help mummy?-and solves the problem of spilled water, dirty boots, broken flower pot etc. pretty quickly. Just today my son decided to ‘topple’ a glass umbrella stand-how many times did I tell him not to touch it?-and with shattered glass everywhere I needed to deal with it fast, before he or our dog got a cut or the glass pieces went everywhere. So the child was ‘deposited’ on a ‘naughty step’ and I got on with ‘hoovering’ small glass fragments. It was all over very quickly and not for the first time I knew that this little device allowed me not to get overly cross at the times when tempers can be frayed. My dustbuster is by black&decker, it’s easily charged, wall mountable and as I said above, can pick up dirt and fluid. It’s easy to clean and can also be used outside, for example cleaning the car if your child ate the croissant in the back seat and the floor is covered with bread flakes and crumbs. There are many models and types that would suit your needs and they certainly won’t cost you a lot, while providing long term service. Try it and see if your life gets a little bit easier (and your vacuum cleaner and your back get a little bit of a rest).
No one can dispute that travelling with small kids can be tiring to say the least. But there is one thing that I started doing last summer that makes me a little bit more secure. If you are travelling with your partner, divide the contents of your two suitcases between yourselves. If you are travelling with children, apply the same practise. And if the airline losses your luggage, you are more likely to have some clothes for each one of you-it’s unlikely that they will lose all of your luggage-and a better peace of mind.
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