This Week The Mice Have Mostly Been...

Let's start with a celebratory statement...

Hooray - how good does that feel? Friday is finally here! What a week it's been - all work and no play WHATSOEVER - sad Mice. But, good things come to those who work hard (our 3BM take on the saying) ... today Mini Mouse and I are off to Paris with our favourite school pals for lots of gorgeous food, booze, shopping and dancing! Stay tuned for all our Parisian tales...

Over in Hong Kong, HK Mouse is off for a little staycation at the Hotel Indigo and can't wait for a weekend of complete relaxation and a good explore around the Wanchai neighbourhood. Again, she'll be spilling all the details on the blog very soon...!

That aside it's been event central of late so our extra curricular activities have been all about trying to attend as many as possible as you'll see from the below. Without further ado... This week the Mice have mostly been...

Feeling fabulously festive with Diptyque. Every year the Parisian scent and candle maker brings out a limited edition Holiday Collection to die for and every year they smash all expectations by making the collection bigger and better than the one before. This year is no exception - fellow Mice let me introduce you to the dazzling and oh so colourful Holiday Collection 2014...

I was invited to check out the new collection in-store so off I trotted one chilly evening after work to do just that. I was ushered in from the cold and greeted with a chilled glass of Prosecco - so far so good! The Diptique PRs got to work like santa's little helpers and took me through the new range - I learnt all about the 2014 fragrances and the heavenly packaging. So we have Indian Incense, Orange Chai and my particular fav, Pine Bark. All available in large candle size for £45 and then super cute mini versions at £25. Next up the pine scented Christmas tree ovals - gorgeous idea - you get x3 little wax scented ovals per pack for £35, the idea being that you hang them on your tree as decorations. Indulgent yes but just think of how heavenly the room will smell as a result! 

I was then left to wander the store to explore the rest of the festive range whilst snacking on little bites of sugary heaven...

The treats didn't stop there, when it was time to enter what felt like The Frozen Planet outside, I was packed off with a little bag of Diptique goodies to send me on my way...!

Flexing our Mice muscles at a Sweaty Betty blogger event. We were invited down to take a first look at the SS14 Collection - we accepted the invitation in a flash when we realised we had ironically penciled a gym session in for the very same evening ... working out Vs shopping for outfits to work-out in - no contest! After all, it's very important to look good while you get sweaty! 

So what did Sweaty Betty have in store for us? First off, LOTS of colour! Neon pink, electric blue, fluro orange and piercing purple filled the press room and immediately lifted my mood after a manic day at work. 

I was greeted by the lovely Sally who gave me a brief intro to the event and the collection - for starters I learnt that the new range was inspired by the 'architecture of boats, admiralty charts and sails as well as the vintage era of the 1950s, when sailing become a glamourous pastime.' Stunning photography of the collection, moodboards and seaside black and white shots covered the walls...

I moved around the room taking rail after rail of beautiful fitness wear in - colour popping swimsuits, fashion-forward crop tops, cute and oh so soft off-the-shoulder jumpers and teeny tiny sporty shorts with edge - can I have it all please?! 

 

 

In conclusion, all that's left to say is have a super duper delightful weekend! See you the other side!

 

Lots of love

 

The Mice

 

xxx

Party Season Must Have - Body Frock Dresses...

So the party season is upon us, we have just 27 sleeps until Christmas Day and that means only one thing... a surge of social engagements where we have to look our best! 

It’s a tricky balance to strike - endless nights of eating and drinking, leaving very little time for the gym sessions required to keep in shape so that we can squeeze into all those dresses we've been saving up for such occasions! I can safely say that when the cold front shivers in, working-out is everyone’s least favourite part of their weekly routine... stripping off and donning skin tight Lycra followed by a fight for the cross-trainer and an hour spent huffing, puffing and sweating profusely - hardly an experience that's going to fill you with Christmas cheer...! So we're currently looking for any excuse to avoid the gym ordeal on too regular a basis.

We're by no means advocating no exercise at all, but we do have a very good solution to help with your social butterfly December and your *limited* work-outs...

Step up the Body Frock Dress!

Body Frock specialise in beautiful dresses perfect for all those fabulous festive parties, drinks and social events with a secret pull-you-in inner layer! Each dress comes with a slimming slip to be worn underneath your dress which is essentially a black bodycon dress that sucks you in like a corset. The result - a perfectly smooth silhouette with not evidence of any lumps and bumps - genius!

We were kindly offered a dress of our choice for our busy December calendar ahead and we have fallen head over heels with the amazing concept. Not only will we be rocking our beautiful new dresses in the next few weeks, but I think we'll both be sneaking our secret slips under EVERY outfit possible!

The Lisa, £170

The Esme, £190

Head on over to the site here and snap up one of these beauties for yourself. Think intricate lace, amazing jewel hues and clever contouring! Prices range from £165 - £250. I guarantee you'll be hooked and find it pretty hard to peel off the new perfect version of you at the end of each evening...

Cosy Cocktails : Rosewood Hotel London

I'm sure for those of you following us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or all three, by now you know that over the last couple of weeks we've been busy little Mice scurrying around town (and the country for that matter)! We are sadly one sister lighter in London now but a hell of a lot heavier after the copious amount of calories consumed through endless brunches, lunches, dinners and cocktails!

Luckily enough we weren't left disappointed with any of our choices on new spots to eat and drink in, but it's going to take some time to tell you about all of them! However I have one tip that I must let you in on immediately...

Now the evenings are getting darker and the temperature's dropping, I'm sure, like us, you are all on the look out for this Winter's cosy hideaway. The perfect location away from the bitter weather where you can take a boyfriend to snuggle up to, girlfriends for cocktails and a gossip or maybe sisters to catch up with about the last few months apart!! Well we've only just gone and found it for you…somewhere chic but cosy, snug not snobby and both delicious and decadent…we introduce to you The Bar at Rosewood Hotel.

 

 

Don't be put off by the stereotype of a typical London Hotel bar, it isn't shiny marble floors, doormen in gloves or snooty ladies with fifteen Louis Vuitton cases, instead it's cosy low lighting, lots of candles, a big open fireplace, chesterfields, comfy booths you literally sink into and the friendliest barmen in the whole of London! The cocktails are around £10 each and are simply delicious, we were sipping on tall glasses of smashed basil concoctions, shallow Gatsby saucers of lychee and elderflower amazingness and the longest list of gins you've ever seen!!

The attention to detail in the furnishing, ambiance and cocktails is second to none. We went along as a group of six girls, were seated immediately and treated as if we were guests. An added bonus was the live music burbling in the background, adding the final cherry atop an already perfect cake!

Go see or yourself, and if you're disappointed I'll eat my hat…

 

The Bar at The Rosewood Hotel
252 High Holborn, 

London, 

WC1V 7EN

+44 20 7781 8888 

london@rosewoodhotels.com

 

There's No Smokehouse Without Fire...

Last year us Mice were left raving to anyone and everyone about the amazing Neil Rankin delights we had sampled at the then newly opened John Salt restaurant in Islington. After a gushing blog post had been published, we immediately got on the phone to get another reservation to introduce HK Mouse to our new favourite chef on her Christmas trip home. Much to our disappointment, we received a call the night before informing us that Mr Rankin had resigned and they were forced to close the kitchen whilst they devised their new menu. Rumour had it that he was being asked to create more mainstream dishes, like burgers, which just aren't his style, so the brains behind the menu walked! 

As compensation for our cancelled booking, we were invited back when the kitchen had reopened for a discounted meal, we of course took them up on the offer eager to sample the replacement offering. Sadly we were really disappointed and left not even half as wowed with the bogstandard dishes filling the menu showing a distinct lack of imagination. Not a chicken skin sandwich or BBQ truffle baguette in sight I'm afraid.

Now the scene has been set, you can imagine our excitement to hear that star of the John Salt show, Neil, was setting up shop all on his lonesome and just a stone's throw from his previous stomping group!

The Smokehouse is a gastropub set in Canonbury, the Highbury end of Upper Street. It's just a 5 minute walk from Highbury and Islington tube station, however when we visited, as it was such a beautiful morning, we decided to walk from London Towers along Regents Canal all wrapped up in scarfs and cashmere! Ninety minutes later we had arrived, starving hungry for what we hoped was to be a jolly good feast!

From the outside and even as you walk in, it appears to be a normal local pub - a smart one but nothing too scary as the name Smokehouse may suggest! The interior is spot on and beautifully done - lots of natural light streaming in, crisp white walls adorned with antlers and blackboards, chunky wooden tables and mismatched chairs - a great mix of chic, comfy and open. It welcomes everyone and by the looks of it they all know it...surrounding us we had a big family lunching, young couples with their babies, a group of boys meeting for some pub grub and the download of the night before, a couple on a date and then us three mice huddled in the corner!

On our visit the service was laid back, if I was to be critical I can imagine some may find it slightly slow, however for a chilled Sunday afternoon, we felt relaxed and as if the experience was completely at our pace. The staff were lovely, very friendly and happy to help when asked but not overbearing or pushy.

If I had learnt anything from our John Salt tasting menu, it was that no dish should be missed so we decided to pick four different starters and all share so we could get a taste of everything we fancied!

We opted for...

Foie gras, apple pie & duck egg - safely the star of the show - the flavours were incredible! Definitely one we all wished we didn't have to share!

Burnt leeks with duck egg, girolles & parmesan... 

Lobster Frittata…

Pig's cheek, pecorino & pear…

Each dish left us scraping the plate to get every last morsel - there was no polite 'oh you finish it' or 'you've left a bit' - we were in to win anything we could get…there were definite moments of food war! After polishing off and thoroughly enjoying every last morsel and sipping our way through a carafe of delicious red, we all felt suitably refuelled for more Mice adventures!

Husbands and boyfriends will love this place, they not only serve up a mean plate of meat but they also boast thirty different craft beers on tap and many more by the bottle. Whilst you gossip away and get high from the dessert menu, they can work their way through the LONG beer menu...

At around £6 to £12 a starter and £12 to £25 for mains, you really can't go wrong. I have to add that as we walked out, the family next to us had the most scrumptious looking roast dinner, definitely on my list of Sunday Must Dos'! Having said that the main courses all sounded like a party on a plate, as did the desserts…I sense several wine soaked evenings at the Smokehouse are about to make their way into my diary pretty sharpish and I CAN'T wait!

The Smokehouse
63-69 Canonbury Road,
Islington,
London,
N1 2DG
+44(0) 207 354 1144

House of Peroni : Take Two...

When I heard the House of Peroni was back for a second season running my reaction was pretty much this...

You may remember my review of The House of Peroni back in July so when my invitation to attend the launch party of part two popped into my 3BM inbox, I RSVPed in a heartbeat. 

The House of Peroni is all about showcasing a new wave of Italian style and creativity. Part two was centred around fashion, film and of course food and drink. Film was a particular focus this time round with the space boasting a luxurious cinema showing a series of contemporary Italian films each evening as well as a weekly, hotly anticipated ticketed film and dining experience but more on that later...!

See what mini mouse and I got up to at the launch party...

But one Peroni outing wasn't enough for me - greedy little mouse - so of course I went back for more... For my second outing, I was treated to an experience fuelled cinema session with my good friend Sarah. So what did that entail?

Well... an exclusive screening of Paolo Sorrentino’s 'The Great Beauty' which is hotly tipped for an Oscar nomination for starters. And as if that wasn't special enough, guests were also promised a lavishly designed 8-course menu created by Italian restaurant, Bottega Wapping. Put the two together and what do you get? ...out of this world food that brings to life the tastes, smells and textures of the film. It really was a completely new way to experience and appreciate film - I'm not so sure that i'll ever be able to go back to bog standard cinema munchings ever again, bye bye popcorn and pick 'n' mix!

We started our Roman inspired film feast by being ushered into a plush and intimate little theatre set up with a scattering of oh so comfy squishy sofas. We settled down into our designated seats and waited, anticipation building by the second, to find out what Peroni had planned for the rest of our evening! First up a bottle of chilled Peroni Nastro Azzurro was presented, well it would be rude not to! Next up the following was placed before our very eyes...

Intriguing...What could be inside a stack of plain white boxes each labelled with a single word?! Well, we were quickly brought up to speed - at key moments in the film one of the House of Peroni girls would walk into the cosy cinema and hold up a sign featuring a word. This word would map back to one of the boxes sitting in front of us, match the word to the box, open it up and consume the contents. How very exciting! Food coupled with this much anticipation was almost too much for me...!

Without further ado the film started to roll...

 

Ten minutes in, and I was starting to get itchy feet - I wanted to uncover the masterpiece sitting inside my first film feast box. Sure enough a couple of minutes later the Peroni girl strode in and held up her first sign. Everyone jumped forward and greedily whipped open their box number one... The 'Cocktail' which contained a dish of scallop, almond crisp bread and a Negroni jelly cube all topped off with raw vegatables marinated in orange juice. Delish. 

And the barrage of gastronomic delights continued apace from there with the likes of... 

Rome's most popular and authentic dish - croquettes with slow cooked tomato sauce, pine nuts, raisins and chocolate breadcrumbs

Tuna tartare, seaweed, oyster water and black squid mayonnaise

Deconstructed carbonara with oozy egg yolk and tortelloni

Lamb cooked in Peroni Nastro Azzurro with Roman-style artichoke

Sadly because I was eating the above in a dark cinema I couldn't take any snaps so I don't have photography to do the dishes justice. BUT what I do have is one single of picture of the piece de resistance - the puds, which consisting off three desserts. My favourite being Gin & Tonic jelly - stiff but inspired...

All in all, an unforgettable experience! It's just a shame The House is closing shop on 30th November so I can't go every week...

House of Peroni

41 Portland Place

Marylebone

London

+44 (0)203 176 2177

www.thehouseofperoni.com

This Week This Mice Have Mostly Been...

HK mouse is once again 5995 miles away and the two babies are left teeth chattering and all alone in London Towers - boo hoo...

We're all starting to get back to the normality of not eating out every night, working late and feeling the gym guilt but we're now not so sure that normality's for us! We much preferred eating and drinking non stop and generally being a trio of sister social butterflies!

When we haven't been weeping over being minus a Mouse, this week the Mice have mostly been...

Wishing with all our might that we were back in the country wearing gingham quilted jackets and Wellingtons once again! At the end of two manic weeks of sister fun in London, we sought a little R&R at our childhood escape in Devon - Topsham Cottage. We took Friday off work to cut the week short and drag the weekend out, jumped aboard the Devon Express (well a three hour train) and off to the countryside we chugged!

After the initial fish out of water arrival... think arriving at the local pub in leather shorts and Isabel Marant boots... we donned every warm piece of clothing we'd packed and had an amazing country Mouse adventure!

As always, our time away pretty much involved eating as much as humanly possible, drinking gallons of red wine, huddled around a roaring fire and of course we snapped all our goings on to share in a mighty blog post!

Here's what we got up to...

Morning cuppa to get the day going...

 

 

 

Our country hideaway, Topsham Cottage...

 

 

Long walks wrapped up in cosy scarfs and boots in Rabbit Wood...

 

 

And across the cow field...

 

 

And along the river...

 

 

 

Percy the peacock shaking his tail feather...

 

 

Country choo choo track...

 

A trip to beautiful Dartmouth...

 

 

Autumnal magic...

 

Topsham Cottage puss on the look out for bad mice...

 

 

Mice in Boots...

 

Mini and HK mouse cosying it up to stay warm... 

Postcard perfect views...

 

Sister love...

Naughty Ms Chicken greedily pecking up our PG Tips...

A bit of otter spotting in our PJs and Wellies from the back of a baby tractor...

 

 

Snuggling by the fire with a big glasses of Pinot Noir...

 

 

...which fuelled some high kicking and general sillyness in Great Grandpa Mouse's hats... 

 

 

We only wish we could click our heels together and be back down there all together again!

 

Whatever you're up to this weekend we hope it involves lots of food and drink and a little high kicking!

 

Lots of love,

The Mice xxx