Stand under my umbrella

This weather is killing me. Rain, fog, snow and more rain.

I always thought that rain is depressing because you have to stop wearing your suede shoes (they will get ruined) or bags and you typically get soaked in the space of 10 minutes from when you leave your home. Not cool.

That was my reality before I discovered Squid London.

Squid London created the perfect umbrella to brighten up your mood: colour changing with water.

You should have see my face when a friend gifted me with one of these beauties... I was elated like a child!

I also discovered that they are currently doing a promotion on their other cool product: shower curtains.

If you'd like to get one,  follow the link for the exclusive private sale: http://www.squidlondonshop.com/?page_id=1778

Enjoy!

Attract him

Lynx is known for its iconic ads with the girl and the guy getting together. The 'Lynx effect' is always down to him smelling so good and becoming irresistible. I always thought Lynx should do a female fragrance and it's arrived: Lynx for Her. After all it's not just men that are irresistible...

With a light floral scent, the new female 'deodorant body spray' leaves a lovely fresh odour, reminiscent of nice shampoo. It dries quickly on the skin and doesn't leave any residue.

It might not instantly attract Mr Right but it might perhaps save you a few pennies mid recession on perfume. At £3.25 its definitely worth a try if you're to believe the marketing.

www.trisori.com

Spijkers en Spjikers + Bernard Chandran Shows #LFW

London Fashion Week is with us again, and while it always feels a touch depressing to be looking forward to the coming winter when we still haven’t managed to shake off the current one (I miss you sun!), the shows always deliver some gems to look forward to. This year at LFW’s Vauxhall Fashion Scout I got a diverse taste of fashions to come at the collections of Spijkers en Spijkers and Bernard Chandran.

The Dutch duo at Spijkers en Spjikers delivered ‘birds of paradise’; a collection dominated by bright colour blocking, beautiful bird embroidery and feather trimmed shoes. In a cute nod to 50’s femininity, models were styled with Hairspray-esque hair, patent alice bands and ankle socks. The midi length pencil skirts, tea dresses and soft tailoring were all highly wearable and will no doubt translate well to the high street (I can already hear my wallet breathing a sigh of relief).

For me, the standout pieces from the collection were on the dark, kookier side, I can’t wait to try my own take on their dramatic feather collar and neon alice band combo come autumn.

The Malaysian born designer Bernard Chandran brought us another side to the feminine trend with his collection of futurist leanings in a near monochrome palette. Bold structured collars were the name of the game, along with incredible bead work and super luxe fabrics.

Dove grey silks, black satins and plastic coated lace made up the tailored trousers, cocktail dresses and structured frock coats. The subdued colours were broken up with notes of bright royal blue, a shade I’m betting we’ll see more of this year.  


Once again statement collars stole the show, with a special mention due to this high-shine ruby red number. 

All in all, I’m now feeling a lot more positive about how quickly the cold season will come back around. It takes some of the sting out of a long, freezing winter to look forward to rocking jewel coloured neck pieces and neon accessories with my winter coats next year. Keep it coming LFW!

#LFW Ashley Isham LOVE

On Saturday I attended Ashley Isham's fashion show, one of Trisori’s favourite designers,  at Goldsmith’s Hall. I was really excited to finally meet the infamous inflatable post Pop artist Pandemonia sitting front row as well!! It had to be a drag sitting behind her though since she is 7ft tall.

The London-based Singaporean designer's SS12 collection was mainly silk draped gowns, so I was a bit perplexed when I saw the eccentric style of the crowd itself, among them being Jodie Harsh and Jamelia Jamil. His work is known throughout Europe and Singapore, and has even graced the red carpet by the likes of Gaga.

When the lights dimmed, and the acoustic rhythms of Drive filled the decadent hall, the first model graced the runway wearing an exquisite sheer black lace hooded cape lined with a broad leather trim to weigh it down. 

It was stunning and one of my favourite pieces. Its white counterpart of only lace flowing down the runway shortly thereafter.

The opening was promising with French lace and leather combos, tailored city girl suits, antique gold silhouettes reminding me of  Mary Kantratzou’s peplum skirt , bold patterned prints used on Kimono styled capes, and embellished boleros and tube dresses.  All designs ranging from everyday living to evening wear.

Most of the dresses used exposed back zippers, similar to Victoria Beckham’s line last year, and the Grecian draped dresses reminded me ancient times.

Isham closed the catwalk by tying the collection back to the beginning and ending with, I believe, his forte of naughty meets nice- leather and lace dresses. In particular, two shorter dresses – one being a beautiful patriot blue lace and leather dress, the other a gold embellished lace fit.

Either way, it was an overall good show. I can see how his collections attract globally as they are mostly easy to wear, simple yet elegant. I also got my picture and a small chat with Pandemonia who, as my friend pointed out, seemed to be hitting on me. Not bad for a Saturday night.  

Bánhmì

I was so excited this last weeek to discover that there was a new stall outside my work which is vietnamese; my current new favourite cuisine. I have slowly become more and more addicted over the past few months but I recall what I said about Pho which still stands - at least this is a good addiction as addictions go.


They have their own version of Pho, the nourishing traditional beef noodle soup filling you full of warmth and goodness - you can even get two different sizes - a little and a large. Perfect for me, who usually tries to stuff myself full of whatever size portion I'm given. Also on offer are noodle boxes with salad and a choice of the day's toppings - cat fish, lemongrass chicken and two type of pork - including a nice crispy pork belly variety. Or if you prefer you can also have these in a mini baguette, known as bánhmì - hence the name of the stall. Plus there are vietnamese rolls - pork and crab when I went there that day, which I have to go back and try.


Prices are as you expect for street food - around 5 for a box or a very large noodle soup a about half of that for a mini soup or a couple of rolls. Even my colleague who never would buy food from the street conceded that she had to try this.


The stall is at Berwick St market Monday to Fridays frm 11am til 3pm. You can even pre-order your food in advance. http://www.facebook.com/#!/Banhmi11

www.trisori.com

10 Greek St

One of the latest trends in restuarants is to name a place after the street, the area and heritage of where it is located. 10 Greek St is one of the followers of this fad. But at least with a name like that it makes it easy to find as you don't have a chance of forgetting the address. In my case though, you also have to remember the name too!


From the Wapping Project ex head chef, and Luke White, restuarant manager fresh from Exmouth Market come this wonderfully relaxed, easy going, good value restaurant - a dream of theirs. You choose from small plates and bar snacks or larger mains from a menu that apparently changes daily.


For me it's generally always going to be the smaller dishes that win, espcially at lunchtime. And there were some real delights - smoked eel, mushroom risotto, butternut rotolo and new delicacies that I felt I should try such as crumbed rabbit. And was I impressed! It was all delicious, full of flavour, using only local and seasonal ingredients. I've never had such thick pieces of eel which were freshly smoked but it still worked well as did the rabbit,which was very tasty. My favourite thing though was actually the fresh onion focaccia which you could dip in oil - i'm there was balsmaic around too as they normally come in pairs. So fresh. So flavousome.


Being lunchtime on a busy workday, we didn't try any of the wine from the list which also serves many by the carafe. Although we did indulge in a little pudding - apple pie - which was very wholesome and warming, just the ticket for a day so cold it snowed. There is always another day or evening.

Spotted the Guardian restaurant reviewer, Jay Rayner again, so keep eyes peeled for he says about the place.
http://www.10greekstreet.com/#
020 7734 4677

www.trisori.com

Veuve Cliquot and Romance

Valentine's day is a day full of expectations.


Roses - check (or at least I hope so!)
Present - check
Champagne - check ( Veuve Clicquot Vintage Rose` please)
and what happens if your man decides to have a chef cooking for you that night?

The idea is divine: no cheesy restaurants, no other loved up couples so close to your table that you can hear all the conversations, no love-on-demand music.
Just the two of you.
I got a little bit panicky when I got the news. I want to do my share for the evening so today I went on a shopping spree and bought some candles.

Here is my selection of favourite candles to set the mood for romance:

Passion8 Candle by Eight

Passion8 is a sensual indulgent fragrance with night flowering tuberose and soft rose. I think the name says it all. 

Flirt8ious Candle by Eight 

It comes in a lovely handmade Moroccan ceramic bow and the smell of stargazer lily and ylang ylang makes this oriental scented candle perfect for Valentine's date (or night).
(both from http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/) 

Persia Ancienne Ambiance Candle

Red roses and Jasmin are two of my favourite smells. Persia Candle is sexy and subtle. If these 2 scents were good enough for Darius III King of Persia, I am sure you will like this candle as much as I do!
(available at http://www.ancienneambiance.com/collection.Persia_Candles)

Geodesis Jasmine Room Diffuser

If you are not a big fun of candles but you still want to gently scent your room, then choose a room diffuser. Due to my obsession with anything jasmine related, I picked Geodesis Jasmin Room Diffuser. (available at: http://www.geodesis.fr/home.php) 

It smell like a Sicilian Garden and I love it as it reminds me of summer nights spent with my family in our garden in the South of Italy.

You should really try it and when you do, close your eyes and the room will be filled by this magic smell. Let love do the rest.

www.trisori.com

Evening Standard Menu at The Orrery

I love the new Evening Standard. Better features, fantastic campaigns, a newer funkier ES Magazine - especially under Andy Barker. And most of all I love the special deals that they offer at certain restaurants. The current offering is in association with D&D restaurant group as well as Piper Heidsieck Champagne. So we went en famille avec boyfriend to The Orrery, which was at the higher end of the scale - £30 for three courses and Champagne. I've been once before for my father's 60th and brother's 30th so knew that it would be a good bet, although probably not as good as the tasting menu with wine I had last time!


In reality if you drink (alcohol) then you'll probably end up spending double that price - especially when you factor in the 12.5% service charge, which is well worth it here. Even with the Evening Standard menu, you are showered with amuse bouche and pre courses - cheese gougere balls - think cheesy mini profiteroles, the sweetest french onion soup, apple jelly crumble and fresh assorted chocolate truffles. All divine although I wasn't keen on those particular truffle flavours.


It was a decent paired down menu with about five options for each course. This included amongst the starters a type of venison terrine with betreet chuntey consisting of betroot and jelly chunks, seafood raviolo in a bisque broth with a rich but not overpowering flavour as some bisques can be and a caramelised onion and goats cheese tart with perfectly ripe goats cheese. And the breads that accompanied these were to die for. I'm not normally a bread girl unless they are beautifully fresh like these and made without preservatives, so you can really taste the ingredients.


The main courses were not quite as enticing once they arrived as they were on the menu. As the crown of partridge was sat atop puff pastry whilst the mushroom feuillete with poached egg with hollandaise appeared on the same base - bit too much pastry for me - perhaps I should have ordered the sea bass with citrus fruits which looked amazing that a couple of the others enjoyed.


The service is incredible - they didn't seem to bat an eyelid when I asked to check my snow boots into the cloakroom. And you're defintely not left wanting for anything. They kindly let us order a cheese and the sorbet & ice cream selection and waved the supplement for these cheese as we only wantd those two puddings out of our allocated four. The cheese cart is a must for fanatics - you can see why it s worthy of a supplement - with pretty much something for all. Mild goats cheese, mature manchego and stinky gooey cheese the could run off your plate. As offers go - this far outsrips any of the others on the discount sites where you end up paying the normal price for a rather rushed and often not enjoyable meal (Marco Pierre White's Kings Rd Steakhouse springs to mind)


You have until 19th February to check out the resaurant at these special prices.
http://www.orrery-restaurant.co.uk/offer/evening-standard-at-orrery/350
020 7616 8000

www.trisori.com

Cold hands warm heart

Driving the scooter in London during this cold winter can be daunting. Nevertheless, Italians do not get defeated by the rigid temperatures.
Unfortunately, our hands are less resilient than our bodies so the usual side effects of a cold winter start to appear.

Thankfully, Elemis spa@home range came to my salvation. They have this exceptionally good pro-radiance hand and nail cream which helps your hands to fight the aging process.
The cream get absorbed in about 30 seconds leaving your hands smooth and deliciously smelling.
Of course, I still had cold hands for at least 40 minutes after I parked my scooter. Although, they smelled divine and they were so irresistibly smooth.

My only hope is that the anti-aging enzymes keep my hands young and beautiful and I will not be forced to wear gloves like Madonna.