Monday, June 3, 2013

Friends, food and fun!

Can you believe that it is June already?!  The month of May has been and gone, and the second bank holiday weekend of the month was another cracker, with great weather and lots of fun!

I started the weekend off right with a little vintage shopping on the Saturday, followed by an evening of hot vintage sounds at Hellzapoppin', which was a special celebratory extravaganza for the host, Tim Hellzapoppin's birthday.


It just so happened that a friend of ours was visiting from San Francisco, whilst another friend had just returned to London from Portland, so it was super fun to have a little reunion, as the last time we all saw each other was at Viva Las Vegas!


Live music came from the excellent Natty Congeroo & The Flames of Rhythm, who put on a vibrant, entertaining performance.  There were also a selection of DJs including Tim, Mark Lamarr, Natty Bo and Paul Swingmaniac.


On arrival, I was a little worried that the music would be a little too 1920s jingly-jangly for my taste, but I needn't have worried, as there was so much awesome jump blues, R'n'B and swing that it was impossible to stop dancing!


Held at Annie's bar in Kentish Town, Hellzapoppin' was, in fact, hotter than hell, and I very quickly ended up looking like a drowned rat!  A sign of a great night methinks...

Sandwiched between Lola Devlin and Miss Turnstiles!

On Sunday loverboy and I dragged our tired sleep-deprived selves out of bed and headed to brunch with friends at Caravan in Kings Cross.


You may remember I mentioned going to dinner at this restaurant in one of my posts before Christmas.  Well, it is definitely one of my favourites.

The place is bustling with the perfect Sunday brunch atmosphere, and the perfect soundtrack to match (who doesn't like a little MJ to wake you up on a sunny Sunday?).  Despite the fact that the restaurant is pretty big, there was a constant line out the door from the moment we arrived, until after we left - this is testament to how popular this place is.


A refreshing bucks fizz (mimosa) followed by a spicy Bloody Mary got Sunday off to a good start, as did my coffee - did I mention that they make the best lattes at Caravan?  Well, they do.


Everything on the menu sounded yummy, and when the food arrived, everything looked delicious.  I went with the raclette spinach french toast, with bacon and watercress, plus a side of jalapeno cornbread.  Sigh.  So good.


On Monday I met up with a bunch of UK-based vintage bloggers!  It was so fun to finally meet up with these girls, after following them on their blogs and Twitter for so long.

We scoured the vintage shops of London... all the way from Brick Lane to Crouch End...

I also got to meet the queen of vintage hair styling, the barnet magician that is Ruby Armoire!

Unfortunately I had to dash off in the evening, so I missed out on cocktails with the ladies...next time!

20 comments:

  1. It was such a lovely day meeting everyone! Can't wait to do it again!

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  2. Ooo…a new restaurant I may have to add to the list for next time. Looks like you made the most of the bank holiday weekend! So cool you got to meet up with fellow bloggers and get a bit of shopping in. I am getting more and more excited for our trip in November

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    1. Oh yes, you should definitely check out Caravan - their food is so yummy. Aaron and I will totally go with you guys when you are here, if you want! :P Yay! It will be November before you know it!

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  3. Wow what a great time! I am a sucker for breakfast/brunch outings. However my husband doesn't like waking up and then having to wait to be served. He can be a crabby bear sometimes.

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    1. Me too! I love brunch - it's so nice taking the time to start of the day with a relaxing meal with friends!

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  4. Was so lovely to meet you!
    Next time - and there will be a next time! - you must teach us to dance :) x

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    1. You too Adele! It was such a fun day! Hehehe! We will all have to go dancing sometime! :) x

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  5. "Jingly-Jangly" - hilarious!!!! You guys have so much fun. I don't know why British food gets a bad wrap...every time you post a photo of your food, it looks delicious!

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    1. :D We try, Mr Tiny. I am forced to go out and have fun so that I can share it with my readers... ;) Hehe! That whole thing about British food being bad is such a lie! We have some of the best food here - and it's miles better than a lot of the food in other parts of Europe!!!

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  6. Oh gosh, tell me about it, for some reason, my brain stubbornly doesn't not want to wrap itself around the fact that June was here. May, no problem, but June seems crazy hard to believe! It is here though, and I'm happy about that big time. Warm weather dressing doesn't last all that long in Canada, and I love trying to make the most out of each sunny, fabulous day while it's here.

    Such a seriously cool vintage meetup! You ladies all look stellar!

    ♥ Jessica

    *PS* You look incredibly cute in the snap from your Brunch at Kings Cross.

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    1. Times flies, hey?! Warm weather dressing doesn't last long here either, to be honest! I wish we could have a prolonged season of hot sunshine, but unfortunately, in recent years, the weather has been a bit erratic here in London. Shame, as my summer clothes are my favourite!!!

      Thank you Jessica! Alas I only had my phone with me at brunch, so those shots were not as clear - but I think they help to get my message across! :)

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  7. Waow that seems to be really busy in London!!!
    I hope you had fun in Bruxelles....

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    1. There is always so much to do in London, that's for sure! We had a lovely romantic weekend in Bruxelles - that you for the suggestions! I will be writing a blog about it soon....I just need to edit my photos first!!!

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  8. What a great weekend that sounds like! Your french toast is making me hungry!

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    1. Thanks! It was a super action packed weekend, which is always good! Tell me about it - that photo of the French toast is making me hungry...I could quite happily eat it all over again! :P

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