On Saturday we headed over to Camden for breakfast…

where we had nitrogen-oxide ice cream from Chin Chin Laboratorists.

You pick the flavour of cream you want, they mix it with nitrogen oxide (his thermometer showed -22 degrees) and it turns in to ice cream.

We got to have two toppings because he’d seen us in Camden the night before, when they’d closed.

We had chocolate ice cream, with salted caramel sauce, peanut brittle and candy floss sugar candy (which looked like shards of glass) and it was the best ice cream we’ve had in ages!

They even had swings to swing on while nomming your ice cream.

We wandered around Camden for a little while, where Mountain Dew were giving out bottles of their new energy drink, so everyone was florescent.

Then we headed to Cake Britain…

an exhibition of cakes!

The burger cakes were the coolest.

They were going to let all the visitors eat the cakes the next day – great if you have a sweet tooth!

Afterwards we went for a snoop around Orbital Comics, which is an awesome shop.

I wish the Harajuku vending machine wasn’t empty though – I’ll have to go back.

Afterwards I petted a horse…

and we had sushi in the park. Then we went for a look around John Soane’s museum, which is a hoarder’s paradise. No photo allowed in there though

Tom took me for a drink in an awesome pub he’d found a few years ago and thought he might never find again.

Then we headed to the South Bank for more noms.

I couldn’t resist making Big Ben look mini for a photo. I love my new camera sooooo much! Tom wanted to have a look around Namco but it wasn’t as good as the Trocadero.

Then we met up with Metaxa and Lynsey in town.

Metaxa took us to a theatre pub, which had lots of crazy things on the wall and singing coming from the room next door.

On a side note, I found proper purikura machines in China Town… so Tom and I are going to get some snapped on an exciting date that’s coming up in the near future!

It was our birthday party last night, so I went for a makeover at MAC beforehand.

Last time I let the artist take full control and she went a bit crazy but this time I knew what I wanted, so I loved the end result so much more. Ellie, the makeup artist asked if I was a beauty journalist, because I came in prepared with a notebook of looks I wanted to try out. She also gave me a huge list of websites to check for CO+K and places to go in Bristol next weekend.

She even let me take photos as we went along, so I could put it on CO+K and thought that was a really good idea everyone should do.

I left with a big bag of makeup and then went shopping for a new outfit too.

We headed home and it was party time! I think we’d picked the worst day of the summer to have our party, as everyone was away but we can’t do any other weekends. It was lots of fun anyway!

We made Hurricane Cocktails like we had in New Orleans and brought out the Mardis Gras beads.

I baked a chocolate absinthe cake…

which we set on fire and was much cooler than birthday candles. We served it with Lego-shaped vodka jelly and even King Charles enjoyed his slice! Other party food included enough candy to kill someone, delicious homemade pizza from Raz & Anna and questionable chocolates from Dave.

Mel sent a video message from Toronto!

Lynz gave me an awesome pair of scissors earrings (very CO+K) and Tony gave me a download of the Dr Horrible Sing-A-Long-Blog (I don’t know what it is yet – we’ll watch it at bedtime).

Dave played us a little gig when everyone left and warned us about the impending mid-twenties crisis which may, or may not be waiting around the corner for us… 4 more days until I’m 25, eep!

Martyn was in town today so he joined us for a Plan 9 brunch. It was like a Scottish reunion + Irish Claire!

We got takeout brunch and headed to the park, where we were serenaded by a jazz band while we ate. I love Paddington Rec, it’s a really active part and you’ll find people do every kind of sport, working out with their personal trainers and walking their dogs on any given day. We always feel guilty eating while laying on the grass as people exercise around us.

After lunch, Tom and I headed off on Boris’s rent-a-bikes through St. John’s Wood to Regent’s Park, where I was distracted by baby giraffes at London zoo and almost fell off, and then down to in to town. They were lots of fun to ride and everyone starts conversations with you about them.

We treated ourselves to drinks at Ping Pong. I had a strawberry & vanilla bubble tea and Tom had lemonade with a pour in strawberry puree.

We couldn’t resist ordering some dim sum too and tucked in to some delicious steamed buns and dumplings.

We picked up some more bikes and cycled through the streets of central London and Marylebone. One day I’ll be on a pink Vespa, like this one I spotted.

If you ride the bike for 30 minutes, you can plug it in, wait 5 minutes and then pick up another one without paying extra. We discovered the lovely Padding Street park while waiting to pick up our next bike.

In Paddington, Tom took me to see this building, which is fake on the right hand side. They needed to knock it down for the tube but it’s such a posh street they had to make a replica fake building front, which is empty behind. We picked up our final bikes (the 4th of the day) and cycled home. I’m very very sleepy and worn out now but that was an awesome weekend!

I love my new cake stand. Tom brought home some macaroons and they look so pretty on it. I tried baking my own again and I almost have it perfected, I just need to buy more eggs. There was a heatwave last week which meant it was way too hot to work in the mews, so I went to work with Tom at Leap in Soho. He’s hired Tony as his second-in-command tech guy, so it was nice to see another friendly face (and play on his new iPhone).

I got Tom this awesome Vivienne Westwood sailor top. I spotted it a while back when it was £160, so I waited for it to go cheap in the sale. It looks so good and he wore it…

… on Saturday with his Sailor hat. King Charles said he should dress like a sailor everyday!

Saturday was Louise’s Mad Hatter’s tea party in Queen’s Park. The first of many events stretching over a week for her birthday.

Can you spot the person who forgot to wear a hat / animal ears?

I wore a fascinator that I made in hat making class.

There was no actual tea but lots and lots of food. I baked whoopie pies, which everyone liked, yay!

They were super easy to make and I’ve posted my recipe for peanut butter whoopie pies on CO+K:

On Sunday we all watched the World Cup and supported Spain because Paul the Octopus said they’d win. Yesterday, Tom and I went to see Rhod Gilbert’s new radio show. We had to hand in comments about things we don’t like about shopping and Rhod read mine out and tried to find me in the crowd but I hid.

This morning we went for brunch at Jack’s up in Queen’s Park. It’s such a lovely area, with lots of fancy shops, restaurants and bakeries. It’s only a 10 minute walk from the Mews, so we’ve really been missing out.

Breakfast was very healthy – pancakes, hash browns, eggs and baked beans. Tom had chips with his hash browns for two of his none a day!

Everyone was so full of energy before breakfast…

and then we were defeated by food… it’s not suppose to work this way around. Pete Burns was heading in for lunch when we left.

We then headed to the park and the petting zoo (which is free!). There were goats, chicken, ducks (which walk funny), rabbits and guinea pigs.

We got to pet a little goat.

Afterwards we relaxed in the park, tried not to get hit by balls and low flying kites, saw Pete Burns again and went to Louise’s house.

Dress update: I found some linen for the sailor dress I’m making in Soho. I had to haggle with some wise-cracking Cockney’s to get it but it was only £5 a meter. I almost finished it but then I ran out of white thread. I’m going to have enough fabric leftover to make a matching sailor hat too!

Also, happy Independence Day Americans!

After spending Thursday with Mel and Dave, we decided to meet for a picnic in Hyde Park after work on Friday. Louise, Lynz and her new flatmate, Nicola came too.

Dave & Mel’s friends were far more professional at picnicing that us. We settled for sushi, cherry Lambrini and a game of frisbee. We stayed until it went dark and a van with a scary Scottish announcement told us to leave. I had to be careful not to say “see you tomorrow” to anyone and act like it was the last time I’d see Mel before she flew back to Canada because the next day…

Dave proposed to Mel in a coffee shop in Buckinghamshire. He had invited all of us a few days before and kept it secret.

Dave sang The Proclaimer’s song “Let’s Get Married” before getting down on one knee and proposing with a massive chocolate ring).

We had a glass of champagne and some sandwiches before heading back to London for drinks down near the river.

When we got back to the Mews, our upstairs neighbours were having a midnight picnic on the street, so we joined them for some yummy cakes. One of their friends had the best sweater ever and, even better, it’s a real one!

On Sunday we went for a drink with Tony in Notting Hill and on Monday, Tom’s aunty and uncle were down, so we went for dinner and a pub quiz at the Warrington. The fish and chips were really good and mine were wrapped in a lonely heart’s column.

It was such a hot weekend, hopefully that’s the summer here to stay. On Friday, Ben, Claire & Lynz came over for 30p beers (which the Wine Rack were selling off fast) and stir fry, while we sat outside the mews. I showed off the embroidery skills of my new sewing machine and made Ben a royal hanky with his name and a crown stitched on it. Tom taught me how to play Lover I Don’t Have To Love on his roll-up piano – maybe there’s still hope for me musically yet!

On Saturday we went to see the London Roller Girl’s bout Smack To The Future. We felt typically British watching “the game” with our beers.

Lynz & I decided to cheer on the team with the cutest outfits (they move too fast to get a clear photo) and make up derby names for everyone – Lynz & Let Die, Benecol, aTom Bomb and Catastrophe.

When we got back to the mews, there was a massive film crew shooting a scene. It looked like an episode of Skins or something similar, so I’m sure we’ll end up watching it someday.

Sunday was soooo hot, it felt like a different country. In the evening, we caught up with Louise and Lynz for a bite to eat at Plan 9.

Louise was showing off with her camera, so I attempted to compete with my compact’s weird colour mode. We spent the rest of the night outside, it stayed so warm that we could have slept outside.

I’ve been trying to do something crafty every day to get me back in to my old ways and the other night I dreamt about a necklace with birds all over it, so I decided to give it a try. The how-to is on CO+K now.

On Sunday, Emma had tried to plan a surprise brunch / engagement party, but our reservation at Fifteen fell through so we all ended up at The Diner in Kensal Rise, which was equally as awesome.

The hard shakes went down really well. The stress of planning had driven Em to margaritas at breakfast.

My breakfast was a cheesy sweet waffle (odd but nice combination) with hash browns, baked beans and scrambled eggs. Yum!

After we headed back to the Mews for absinthe champagne cocktails and Tiffany box cakes.

I had managed to make them the night before and they tasted really good. Check out the how-to on CO+K.

Our neighbour, Barney popped by with a bottle of champagne.

We spent the rest of the evening playing Buzz, singing karaoke, drinking and planning a trip to Amsterdam (which I really hope happens). Emma brought a huge box of red velvet cupcakes from Hummingbird, which tasted soooooooo good and made up for a lack of dinner.

Last night, Barney came over to drink the champagne with us, while we nibbled on cheese and crackers and listened to records.

If we’d  known being engaged was going to be this much fun, we’d have done it ages ago. Thanks so much to all of our amazing friends, we love you xxx

I injured my neck last Wednesday, so I spent most of the week in bed. Luckily, I had recovered enough to make it to Sunday brunch, which was at The Diner (we had to wait an hour for a table and the service was soooo slow). Lynz wore her 3D glasses necklace which I had made her!

While injured, Tom and I discovered the awesome Neds Noodle bar – check out the cute intro on their site!

The noodles were really tasty and they come in super cute take-out boxes. I used one of the boxes as a template to make a handbag years and years ago!

CO+K has a little mention in in the latest issue of Craft’s Beautiful magazine. We also did our second press release yesterday.

That reminds me, I found a new favorite magazine – Marie Claire Idées. Unfortunately it’s all in French but it’s filled with loads of amazing crafts and tutorials. Also, I went to see Alice In Wonderland in 3D last night. Lots of people were complaining of being disappointed but I really enjoyed it. It was pretty to look at!

I’m back in London now. Tom met us at the airport which was such a nice surprise. I’m going to miss the sunshine.

I forgot to post photos of the hotel before. It was really nice and right next to the pool, which was the best bit. We would sit out on the balcony at night and watch movies on my laptop.

Someone on CO+K has already made a version of my Kitty Hood Scarf. It took me over a year to finish and they did it in just 1 week! It looks fantastic too.

Today we brunched with Lynz, Claire & Emma at Plan 9, had the cheapest round ever at the Warrington and then went for cupcakes at Hummingbird.

On the way home I spotted this shop covered in bows. I want to do the same to the Mews!