Life Lately: November was birthday month, and I partied in style with multiple celebrations with different friends. My blogger bash was a joint lunch gathering with Emma at Marcus at The Berkeley the weekend before. On the actual day, Mr S took me to lunch at one of my favourite restaurants, Nobu, and later a dinner date at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. I also had a night out with two of my besties at Aqua but I left my camera at home for that one!
Last weekend I attend the Vuelio Blog Awards at The Brewery with a nomination in the London Lifestyle category. Nominated in the same category my blogger friend Laura, we sat together in eager anticipation for the results, though neither of us won we were honoured to be placed in the top four!
Champagne Fuelling: Being birthday month and approaching Christmas, November was pretty champagne fuelled. I was lucky enough to attend the Festival of Bubbles at The Corinthia which saw Lauren and I trying Prosecco, chilean sparkling wine and Laurent-Perrier at two of the hotel’s bars. 
I also attended a tasting of PIPER-HEIDSIECK champagne paired with foods at the Sanctum Soho Hotel with guidance by cellar Master Régis Camus. I remember reading of Marilyn Monroe’s love for champagne and she reputedly once said: “I wake up with a glass of PIPER-HEIDSIECK champagne”, giving the bubbly a place in Hollywood history. The tasting culminated in a sample of PIPER-HEIDSIECK Rare Rosé Millésime 2007, the brand’s first prestige cuvée rosé. It truly was a rare experience as the launch is limited to only 150 bottles. 
I was also sent a bottle of Champagne Nicolas Feuillatte Palme d’Or Brut Vintage 2006 to sample which we cracked open for my birthday night out. It’s a very fine cuvee and blends the finest crus in Champagne before aging for about six years. 
We loved the stylish bottle that resembled black pearls and the honied, fruity taste.
Hotel Hopping: Earlier in the month I attended The World Boutique Hotel Awards 2016 at The Merchant Taylor’s Hall. It is the only awards scheme totally dedicated to acknowledging the achievements of boutique hotels world wide.
It was a glamorous black tie affair which bought together hotel owners, industry professionals and travel and lifestyle press. We enjoyed a champagne reception before sitting down to dinner to watch the winners be announced. There were twelve categories and winners included El Nido in the Phillipines for Best Coastal Resort, Vigilius Mountain resort in the Tyrol for Most Sustainable Hotel and Hotel Gotham in Manchester for Best New Hote.
My love of hotel’s has meant plenty of hotel hopping this month including two visits to The Corinthia to celebrate the Festival of Bubbles, wreath-making at The Dalloway Terrace and a visit to the Hennessy Winter Garden at The Four Seasons.
I’ve also had two London staycations one at The Athenaeum and one at The Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, which are actually next door to each other. A full write up of my stays at these gorgeous hotels is coming soon on the blog.
Travel: This month my travel content has been dominated by my big African adventure to Kenya and Zanzibar. I kicked off by telling you about one of the world’s most unique hotels, Giraffe Manor, where you can actually have breakfast and interact with Giraffes. 
Hemingways was the stylish colonial hotel where we stayed in Nairobi, one of the Small Luxury Hotels of the world and super stylish place to lay your head in the Kenyan capital. It was than off to the wilderness with an amazing stay at Angama Mara in the Masaai Mara, including some fantastic safari experiences and our ‘Out of Africa’ picnic.
We took glamping to another level with our stay at Sasaab in Samburu and experienced the vastly different safari as well as an amazing camel trek to the top of a hill. 
And after all those thrilling safaris it was time to head to Zanzibar for some relaxation time on Mnemba Island, where we had some of the best food of our whole trip!
As I publish this post I have just return from Berlin, my first time in Germany and I’ve got lots of exciting stories to tell about my time there. And what’s coming up next? Well at the moment there’s nothing definite until May but I will see where the wind takes me!
A Discount Code for Christmas: I had some lovely comments on my hair, with several people asking how I styled it in this photo: 
Well the answer is I’m not that talented at styling my hair and this was actually a blow dry. I’ve used a few blow dry apps over the past few years but I’ve definitely found my favourite. With blowLTD Fast Beauty on Demand app, you can book a stylist straight to your home and choose from the selection of ‘dos or have a bespoke blow dry. I rarely have a problem with stylist’s availability or service and I’m always happy with the resulting look. You can also use the app to book a make up artist, manicure, massage and more to your home. Because I love the service so much blow LTD Beauty At Home are offering my readers £10 off their first treatment with the code SILVER10. Perfect for getting ready for party season!
Blog Love: With Thanksgiving this month some of my favourite bloggers paid homage to the holiday and the spirit of positivity. I loved Emma’s 10 Things I’m Grateful For list and Katy’s 150 Good Things That Happened This Week was simply epic.
Have you tried the world’s best brownies? Well I actually went to university with the creator of Bad Brownie and I love the delicious cakes that they produce! My friend has actually launched a kickstarter campaign to open the first chocolate brownie dessert bar in London. They’ll be serving all sorts of brownies, freakshakes, chocolate desserts and more!
They have my backing for this awesome project and I’d love you to take a look too.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/845675291/bad-brownie-gourmet-chocolate-brownie-and-dessert
Let me know what you think!
