RIP...Faithful Maui Jims.

One of the many gifts I bought my BF through the years has been a pair of thin, wire framed "oh so light" Maui Jim's....his only pair of decent sunglasses.

Recently, he has been driving me insane by constantly misplacing them. I would quietly fume and wash my hands of the whole affair before he would produce them out of thin air like a rabbit from a hat a few days later:they were at the gym, squeezed beneath his car seat... When he was last convinced that they had been stolen ...I narrowly missed obliterating them underfoot as I stepped into my car.
The final straw was in NYC last May: after my BF's frenzied shopping spree at American Eagle on Times Square, we left the shopping bags in our hotel room before setting back out again into the mid morning sunshine. I slipped on my sunglasses and my BF's hand went instinctively to his t-shirt collar, I saw his face pale in the glaring sunlight:
"Shit!....my sunglasses... I must have left them at the store!" he quickly exclaimed,trying desperately to diffuse the ticking timebomb that was about to explode in his face:

"Not again! You can bloody forgeddabout finding them ...those glasses are long gone by now...I am NEVER going to buy you another pair of expensive sunglasses again!!!.."
On and on I ranted and raved at him as we trotted back to American Eagle. 
"I left some sunglasses behind in your changing room...has anybody found them?"
"No Sir..."
" Can I have a look anyway?" asked my BF .
And ...there they were, hanging on the clothes bar taunting me...their escape thwarted.
"OMG! Do you know how lucky you are?" I said amazed by our finding.

Fast forward 2 months later: we are on the scooter buzzing around and from the corner of my eye I see something fall to the road as my BF exclaims out loud:
"HUH!!..."
"What was that???"I exclaim..hoping against hope...
"My sunglasses....."he said as he quickly turned round to get them.
Just as we  turned around and located them by the roadside....did I watch in horror as a car drove up  and instead of narrowly missing them...as their destiny would have dictated by now...it unceremoniously ran over them with an ever so quiet:Cruunnnch!
I punched BF in the arm out of shock and horror, as though I had just witnessed a murder:
"Owww! Why'd you hit me for? Those sunglasses were clearly no longer ment to stay with me...!"
"So you're telling me what? That they leaped to their death ?!!!..."


So this is an ode to his Maui Jim's:Hopefully their suicide was painless.
Needless to say that my BF is firmly sticking to his cheap Decathlon sunglasses....for now.

My Summer Reading List:My Week with Marilyn & The Chaperone...

I didn't expect much when I saw the movie : "My week with Marilyn"...thinking Michelle Williams would not be up to task...she blew my mind!
And so did this true story...so I bought the book by Colin Clark himself.


This book is actually 2 books in one,comprising of: " The Prince, the Showgirl and Me"..which is perfectly captured in the film and the second half : " My week with Marilyn" which is a more in depth account of  what happened in  Colin's life when during a week,he briefly shone in Marilyn's eyes.
 I recommend both : the book and the film if you are as curious as I about Marilyn,her highs,her lows and her incredible power over men.


"The Chaperone"is a disappointing title that could have had a little more oomph in it. If I had not read what it was about on Amazon...my eyes would have skimmed right over it and that would have been a great,great shame as this novel is truly beautiful.


This is about...well in a peripheral way...another Hollywood legend,the dark and brooding:Louise Brooks and her chaperone the main character in this engaging novel. From Wichita, Kansas and a small life to New York and its thrills. The characters are as full bodied as a fine wine and I loved each and every one of them...and that is nearly never the case!


"I am ready for my close up...Mr DeMille" as well as Louise Brooks' autobiography:"Lulu in Hollywood."


More later.... 

Gucci Premiere featuring Blake Lively

Look at the gorgeous Blake de-Lovely...I mean Lively! ...All woman now and a far cry from the Serena Van der Woodsen we know and love.
You can't help but stare at her and the hypnotic way she moves...you kind of forget that this is an ad for perfume!!
So yeah! Gucci Premiere...a new fragrance by Gucci.

Let The Games Begin!!....

...And I ain't talking the Olympics...although there has already been some cringe worthy faux pas...

Christian Bale has been a decent human being and gone to visit the victims of the horrific shooting in Colorado...at least he will now not only be remembered for wigging out BIG TIME on set of the Terminator.

Russell Brand has some community service to do for throwing a paparazzo's camera to the ground...that for me is no crime worthy of community service...What Russel Brand should be guilty and held accountable for is his appalling dress sense: leg warmers and flip flops...Really? And for making 2 of the worst movies known to mankind: his version of Arthur...and the animation film: "Hop"...at least there was only his voice to contend with but even that grated on my nerves.

Kristen Stewart is a love rat!! CRASH BOOM WALLOP!...the girl has only started to crack a smile, you would think that dating the handsome Pattinson was like swallowing grated glass... the cheating has obviously made her smile about something other than being Bella to Pattinson's Edward....Sad? Maybe...Surprised? Not..she said it herself in an interview..she wanted something "bad" to happen to her...Deal with the fallout...I recommend going back to looking sullen to the crestfallen "Cullen".

Anyone else confused by what is going on with the late, great Micheal Jackson's disappearing mom?And the panicked tweets from his 3 kids!!!?? What is that all about?? The Jackson rumour mill is in overdrive and I can never tell who is whom in the Jackson clan anymore...Janet is the only one who stands out. The others are a blurr of bad nose and chin jobs....to be continued somewhere on Twitter.

London's Calling.... Food,Boutiques and the Sights.

London June 2012: what's new,what's good and what is yet to come...Enjoy!





*JUBILEE BUNTING AND SCHOOL CHILDREN CROSSING:SLOANE SQUARE*



*ON THE CORNER OF MOTCOMB... *



*CELEBRATIONS IN DUKE OF YORK SQUARE*



*SHHHH!...SECRET GARDEN*

*.....TO SLOANE SQUARE*

*FASHION ROYALTY SOON ON SLOANE STR.*

*GUESS WHO?*

*MIRAGE? NO...AMOUAGE*

*PATRIOTIC SHOES*

Where to eat in the area:

*ABSOLUTE SLEEK*

*DUCK-ILICIOUS*

....and now for dessert:

*WHO ME?*

*LONG LIVE LONDON*

 *EYE CAN SEE YOU...*

*PEEKABOO*

*RALPH DOES RUGBY...*

*UNION JACK-ED*

 My beloved London....a Jubilee year of Olympic proportions.

Square or Trendy? :The Sloane Square Hotel in London.

It is like putting a square peg in a round hole: the Sloane Square Hotel comes across as all cool and trendy on one hand and then all square and anal in another...try as it might it kind of comes out lacking finesse.
Let me explain:

As far as location is concerned it couldn't be in a better place: right in the heart of Chelsea on Sloane Square and a stone's throw from everything! And when the sun is shining you couldn't be happier as you saunter out into the ebb and flow of human traffic that makes this area ,up and around King's Rd and Sloane Street, such a desirable place to be walking around.

But 3 mns into our check- in things started to get decidedly iffy:
"Can I have the credit card you reserved with please..."
My sister hands over her Amex.
"Oh! we don't take American Express" she replied with an air of  determination ." Don't you have another card?"
" I made the reservation with this card!!" replied my sister frostily.
"You can reserve with Amex but just not pay with it"explained the uncomfortable young lady . "Don't you have another card?".... it was getting positively freezing in reception.
"NO!" replied my sister determined to hold her ground and the receptionist had no other  choice but to accept it. So we bandaged the wrong foot we started on and moved on....with forced smiles on our weary faces: the receptionist proceeded to explain to us that wifi connection was £6.00 a day...(ridiculous in this day and age and an unnecessary expense)  but !...  that the second laptop was free....small victory but half arsed at best.

Onto breakfast:it is £16 but if you book in advance it is £12....so what do you do? You bloody book in advance...and hope that you have made a good deal with the God's of breakfast buffets....

So on to the room: it was on the top floor and overlooked the square:fabulous! A nice sized room,comfy bed and enough snacks and tempting tidbits to keep us munching into the wee hours of the morning. The closet space was small and not much in the shelf area but it was good enough for our brief stay.The only real disappointment was the shower and lack thereof of any water pressure...the trickle that came out of the shower head would barely make a dent in my thick hair let alone rinse a well lathered head.Thankfully my hair wasn't the issue but our bodies sure were  ... We may as well have been strapped to the windscreen of a car and had better luck with the spurts of water from the windscreen wipers !

*we bought the Evian...mini bars are treacherous!*

Onto breakfast:the  deal was off with the God's of the Breakfast Buffets....the buffet was a real disappointment: no big whoop....just your basics that lacked lustre and appeal. What intrigued us the most was the large basket filled with "fresh" loaves that were never cut into,nor on offer for that matter and may very well have been a cunning prop....Hmmmm.

*reception as seen from restaurant*

At the end of the day: location,location,location... prevails and they have good rates when other hotels in the area are too expensive for this time of the year.The Sloane Square Hotel has a nice vibe to it regardless of it wanting desperately to come across as a trendy hotel... The fact that they have outside seating at the Chelsea Brasserie (their in-house restaurant)  for the smokers and the trendy Happy hour punters is a point in their favour as well as being neighbours with the extremely popular "The Botanist"restaurant next door.

NB: I love the modern and fun artwork in reception and in the Chelsea Brasserie.

MADONNA IN CONCERT: THE BREAST IS YET TO COME....

To be done to tune of the "Hokey Pokey":



"..You put the right boob back in..."
"You take the left boob out..."
"In ,out...in, out...you shake them all about,"
"You do the hanky panky and you turn around..."
"That's what Madge is all about!"

Repeat ad nauseum throughout the world tour.
If anyone hasn't already been acquainted with Madge's boobs from her "SEX" book days...they will be making continued guest appearances.

The breast is yet to come?