The Ivy Cafe, Marylebone

Moving flat is never actually fun right?! It’s all well and good getting a great Pinterest board going of all your new interior design inspiration for the new pad, but the actual reality of having to go through and cull many of your belongings and sacrifice them to the nearest charity shop, having to pack up all you own and then UNPACK it all at the other end, is far from fun!

So after an entire weekend of boxing everything up until our little home was a white shell once again, Dan and I decided we needed a break. We braved the cold, grey, wet and windy weather (I wrapped myself in my new Teddy Bear coat – an absolute steal at £15 in the sale from Primark) and hopped on the bus to Marylebone Village for a little walk, stopping into the new Ivy Cafe on Marylebone Lane for some grub.

Toasting our imminent new move – to the huge distance of 12 doors down the road…! – with a couple of Ivy Cafe Kir Royales, we chatted away making our IKEA list over some steak and an HLT (Halloumi Lettuce and Tomato sandwich). I would highly recommend the Truffle Arancini – gorgeous little balls of deliciousness!

We walked off lunch, heading back through a festive St Christopher’s Place and ending up walking through the streets of Mayfair, ducking out of the wind into the gorgeous and sumptuous Claridge’s hotel to visit the now infamous Claridge’s Christmas Tree…

For the past six years Claridge’s has enlisted a special guest designer to create a very British Christmas Tree to mark the start of the festive season in London. This year’s spectacular Golden creation comes from Burberry and it’s creative Director and CEO Christopher Bailey. It features over 100 umbrellas covered in silver and gold metallic fabric (even some are programmed to move) and is a witty comment on the playfulness of the season, the British weather and no doubt a nod to the raincoat that made Burberry’s name – a true British institution in itself…

It’s easy to take living in London for granted sometimes when you just go between work and home, forgetting how fun it is to indulge in some of the touristy activities. Christmas in London doesn’t get better, so I urge you all to grab your loved ones and visit somewhere in London you’ve never been (Dan had never actually been to Claridges before), go ice skating at the Natural History Museum or head to Winter Wonderland with mates. It’s starting to feel a whole lot like Christmas now that’s for sure!

LMNH x