Bachelorette weekend in LONDON- Part 1,
I am in massive detox and recovery mode after four fabulous and fun filled days in good old London town. My oldest friend Elizabeth Vlcek (who has been featured several times on the blog for being the ultimate tour guide in both London and Newport Beach) is getting married!! Yes she is! Paul is the perfect match for her - smart, successful, driven and very, very fun. Paul actually owns several of the hottest bars, restaurants and nightclubs in London and we'll be posting an interview with him on his favorite spots (other than his own) to get down around the world, so stay tuned. I was lucky enough to visit all of his venues over my four day trip so you'll get the full report!
Arriving Friday morning after taking the red eye, good pal Astri and I were not that tired as we had miraculously (Ambien helps!) slept on the short flight. We dropped our bags, showered and hit the town. Our home base for the weekend was Elizabeth and Paul's "flat," what the Brits call an apartment, in South Kensington, a lovely neighborhood near Hyde Park and several museums.
We kept our energy up with sandwiches and coffees from a little French cafe on Bute St. in the neighborhood. It was a gloriously warm and sunny day and the little sidewalk cafes that line Bute St. were bustling- we almost felt like we were in France as there is some sort of French Institute/School down the block so the street is full of Frenchies enjoying their French food.
The bride to be met us and ushered us along to Kings Road, one of the most famous shopping streets in London. As Elizabeth relayed, "Anytime you see Pippa Middleton out shopping, this is where she is."
Astri and I were overly delighted with the little boutiques and both found too many treasures. Some not to miss:
Ironically, Sandro is a French brand and the little boutique was filled with well tailored, bright colored pieces that are extremely wearable and won't break the bank. Happily, they have plans to open a boutique in NYC sometime this fall! And you can purchase online at netaporter.com.
Our feet were killing us and the ballerina flats in the window of Blue Velvet along with a Sale sign lured us in and right to the register. We walked out wearing our chic new ballet flats that all the coolest looking girls in London were wearing. We later saw saw Tods flats at Harrods that looked exactly like the ones we were sporting for ten times the price!
Another ultra chic French brand that literally Elizabeth and every one of her fabulously dressed international friends recommended, Maje did not disappoint. In fact, I was ready to walk out with an entirely new wardrobe until my new pal, a cool French salesgirl, and I did the pounds to dollar conversions. I was stopped in my tracks and left with a bright orange backless sweater that could not be left behind! And with the consolation that Maje is allegedly opening a store in NYC in the next few months. I also found them online at netaporter.com and stylebop.com.
As the small boutiques were closing, we headed to this quintessential British department store. A stately building, Harrods was surrounded by flashy and very expensive cars and was overrun with Middle Eastern patrons, who make up the majority of the clientele. I haven't been to Harrods since I was a little girl and was as fascinated and impressed as I was then with the grand rooms and range of products being sold-- food to perfume to designer clothing and fancy shoes.
Finally, with our feet about to fall off despite our ballet flats, we headed black to the flat to get gussied up for dinner. That is one thing I really noticed and loved about London-- women and men make an effort with their appearance. Maybe I'm used to people wearing their yoga pants around LA all day long and men wearing T shirts to nice restaurants, but I really appreciated how put together everyone was. Men, take note, you are much hotter to us girls when you dress like a man and not a boy....
Elizabeth took us to the hotspot 8 Over 8, a dimly lit, modern pan-Asian restaurant in hip Chelsea. Soaring ceilings and minimalist black and white decor make 8 Over 8 feel elegant and sophisticated. We loved all of the small plates we ordered-- sweet potato tempura, spicy fried squid, tuna tartare, prawn and black cod gyoza, and were less wowed by the entrees.
By the end of dinner, two other American friends had arrived and we raced back to the flat to meet them. After a glass of pink champagne (the groom had stocked the fridge with pink champagne for us gals-- dangerous!), it was quite late so we headed downstairs to Janet's Bar.
Elizabeth claims Janet's Bar is a "dive," and while it was not fancy and swishy like much of the other spots we visited while in London, it was crowded and buzzing with energy- might be the recent news item claiming that Prince William and Kate were in for a drink.... we didn't see them.
We fell into bed after a long and fun filled day. We needed our rest for the next day which was chock full of bachelorette activities for the bride!! Will continue the chronicle which gets rather wild... stay tuned!xoxox