This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

One week in, the jet lag is fading as quickly as the tan, and the insane routine of work is finding its way back into our lives far too quickly for our liking! Beaches and passion fruit mojitos are a distant memory; Excel spreadsheets and billions of emails are taking pride of place every day! 

Anyway enough of the bad stuff, as I keep telling myself focus on the positive...the next holiday, Friday night cocktails (we may be in a slightly colder climate but hey, cocktails are cocktails) and the forthcoming long Easter weekend. And if all else fails I've always got my Sri Lankan Safari job offer to fall back on!  

When we haven't been mourning beautiful beaches and sunsets, this week the Mice have mostly been.... 

Talking up...the St Tropez sun range, I tried a few products on my recent holiday and although they retail a little higher than some of the standard brands, I would definitely recommend them. My favourite was the SPF 30 Face Cream, it smelt lovely was super moisturising without being too greasy, is easy to apply and sinks in really quickly. I sometimes find the higher the factor, the thicker the cream and the more likely you are to end up looking ghostly and sun blocked, however this was not the case at all with the St Tropez face cream. 

£15, Image via www.st-tropez.com

The body suncream was just as easy to apply, smelt lovely and, as with the face cream, has a gradual tan element to it too which definitely helps at the beginning of the holiday when you feel like a pasty whale! 

£20, Image via www.st-tropez.com

I also tried the aftersun from the range, I've been brought up using Boots Soltan and always found the aftersun from the range too thin and nowhere near moisturising enough after a hard day in the sun, so my ongoing quest is to find a good replacement! the St Tropez Aftersun is great in that respect, hours after applying I still felt moisturised and it dries super quickly so you avoid the annoying drying time lag before being able to get dressed. However I wasn't too keen on the smell or the gradual tan element. Halfway through my holiday I felt as if my skin was looking patchy which you don't need when you're getting a real tan. I stopped using it at this point but who knows this could have just been my poor application or my unpredictable English skin! 

St Tropez also do some fab holiday-prep products to use before going in the sun, a Body Polisher and an extra indulgent moisturiser to apply to dry areas before applying your cream, I will definitely be trying out the total range and investing in more SPF face and sun creams for holiday number two! (still to be booked but I'm mentally already on the beach...!)  

Speed gossipping...with the girls and catching up on everything I've missed whilst I've been away. We headed to Giant Robot in Clerkenwell for some dinner and drinks to start the evening off. A prime after work drinks venue with an upbeat, buzzy atmosphere combined with delish cocktails and hearty food. 

Image via www.gntrbt.com

The menu is split into sections...Balls & Sliders, Meat & Seafood, Salads, Salumi & Formaggi and Crostinis & Cicchetti. Simple, homey food but a perfect quick and easy bite after work, especially in this bitter cold! I opted for veal meatballs with a porcini cream, tarragon and parmesan sauce piled on top of olive oil mash - very tasty and just the right amount. But if you've got a bigger appetite, fret not, you can pick your portion size so there's no reason to go hungry, everyone is catered for (Something to please the boys)! The other girls went for the Cobb salad and the Crab linguine, both of which got the thumbs up! Once all three of us were full and happy, we decided to move onto cocktails!  

The cocktail menu at first glance seemed pretty lengthy which often puts me off, however the Gin Smash I picked was divine....gin, mint, grapes, elderflower and cucumber all muddled together creating a refreshing moreish concoction which was gone in a second! We decided there was only one thing for it a final night cap at Zetter Townhouse across the road...Perfect!!

Fund raising so that I can go and sample Coq d'Argent's brand new creation, a mighty portion of Coq au Vin made with vintage wine. And at £1000 a Pop a mighty portion it would need to be! A pair of Chloe Studded Python ankle boots or a chicken stew that lasts about an hour...Mmm how good can it really be?!  

www.coqdargent.co.uk

Diarising my next boozy girly get together having discovered the Prosecco brunch at The Drift Bar in Bishopsgate. Sister bar to a firm favourite of ours The Folly, it's located opposite Liverpool Street station to the left of Herron Tower (home to the fabulous Sushi Samba and Duck and Waffle).  

Grab yourself a comfy seat on either a Saturday or Sunday between 10am and 2pm, order a tasty brunch from the likes of grilled minute steak and eggs, piled high Cinnamon pancake stack or the Drift fully loaded, and  munch your way through sipping on a glass of Prosecco. Whilst you break down the events of last night there are free top ups of Prosecco, up to 5 glasses per person, all for the bargain price of £15.95...amazing! We'll no doubt see you there!

That's all from us for the week! 

x The Mice

Image via http://pinterest.com