Royal wedding tour

Yesterday Samuel and I went in to central London to meet up with a friend and it dawned on me that I needed to make the most of being around just 2 days before the Royal wedding. So I decided to walk to Buckingham palace.

On my way I came upon the Goring Hotel in Belgravia where Kate is staying the night before the wedding. There were already a crowd of camera people waiting outside the hotel hoping for any photo opportunity that could be linked to the wedding.

The Goring Hotel

When I got to Buckingham Palace it was not noticeabley busier than normal in front of the Palace but what was crazy was all the media stations that have been set up at the edges of Green Park and St. James Park. The green buildings in the photos below were built for the media to be able to report from with the palace in the background. I was hoping to see the familiar faces of well known American TV reporters, but alas that didn't happen. As you can see below, I did spot one well known face... Dame Edna:)

We are planning to go to Hyde Park with friends to watch the Royal wedding. They are going to have a big screen set up and bands playing so it should be a really fun and festive place to watch the wedding. I would have loved to be along the parade route, but it's just too much with Samuel with us. It's going to be an early start as the park opens at 7 am but it should be worth it! We have our picnic brunch planned including mimosas! I can't wait!

Wedding Fever!!

Wedding fever has swept Sloane St and Sloane Square shop windows. I am getting so excited for the wedding tomorrow!

Decorate Launch Party

I had such a lovely time at the Decorate book launch. It was at the beautiful Liberty store which is one of the most inspiring places to go. I love walking in to the store past the gorgeous flower stall in the entrance way and in to the atrium where you can look up and see all the floors.

I was able to attend a small talk and discussion with the author Holly Becker (from decor8) before a table demonstration and book signing of her new book Decorate. Holly was so lovely and greeted each of us at the door at the start of the talk. She gave some background to the development of her design blog and how this book came out of that. I was struck by how warm, friendly and open she was. She was so down to earth and you could really tell that she was loving all that was going on around her.

After the talk there was a demonstration of a table setting in Liberty's Dining Room which Holly, Leslie Shewring and Sania Pell had put together. I wish I had better photos because they put together a really beautiful and fun table. I really like the DIY touches that they did which included using the frame of an old lampshade and wrapping it with fabric (you can see it above in the left bottom picture) and the flower napkin holders they made (bottom right photo).

I especially enjoyed being in a room with so many women designers, stylists, and photographers that I really admire such as Debi Treloar and Emily Chalmers.

Oh and I made it in the video Liberty made from the launch party:).

Happy Easter!

Decorate

Tonight I am attending a talk at Liberty by Holly Becker the author of the recently published book "Decorate" and one of my favorite blogs Decor8. I am so excited to meet her and hear her speak after reading her writing for the past several years as well as taking a class with her. It should be such a lovely evening as after her talk she is doing an interior design demonstration with Leslie Shewring of A Creative Mint, and Sania Pell the author of The Homemade Home. I can't wait!!!

Time warp

One afternoon while in the states, my parents and I went to Lake Michigan and on the way we passed "The Port" a drive in restaurant. I got so excited and begged to stop! I didn't know there were any drive in restaurants still in the area. There had been one in our town when I was growing up and they sold home-made root beer and for some reason also sold Christmas trees in December.

At the drive-in you literally drive up and park and all the rest is done for you! The waitress comes out to your car (often on roller skates) and takes your order and then when it's ready brings it out on a tray that I attaches to your car window. Oh how I love America!

What to order, what to order became the dilemma... root beer float?, cream soda?, chili dog?, corn dog?, milkshake? Such decisions! I settled on cream soda and corn dog. Lets just say that healthy eating was not on the top of my list during this trip!