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by yablon | May 22, 2013

UK’s first breast cancer bracelet to raise for genetics

the lovely Bec in her Astley Clarke showroom

Last summer Bec ( founder of Astley Clarke.com) was sat next to me at a posh yet intimate dinner at the House of Lords. I was delighted to see her again – as we had met a few years earlier within the world of 2007 internet start-ups. More recently, she very sadly lost her mother to breast cancer. I spoke at the dinner, telling my BRCA story to the wood-paneled room of (mostly) business men. And as I sat down, Bec looked me in the eye and said: Let’s do something together.

Breast Cancer Campaign bracelet – £110, with 20% of proceeds going directly to charity

Less than a year later, the UK’s first breast cancer bracelet to raise awareness and funds for much needed research into the genetics of this hideous disease is now up on the Astley Clarke site available for pre-order. It officially goes on sale in the Astley Clarke concessions within Harrods, Selfridges and Liberty as well as online on Thursday 6th June.

The Astley Clarke/Breast Cancer Campaign bracelet is gorgeous. Hand-crafted from woven pink silk cord, sterling silver and finished with a rose quartz gemstone, it will raise vital funds to research genetic breast cancer.

I don’t need to remind you that every year around 50,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer, and that as many as one in five women diagnosed have a family history of the disease. Breast Cancer Campaign’s mission is to beat breast cancer by funding innovative world-class research to understand how breast cancer develops, leading to improved diagnosis, treatment, prevention and cure.

Bec and the Astley Clarke team are even running the Royal Parks half marathon in October 2013 in support of Breast Cancer Campaign. The least you can all do is click through and admire our little gem.

Chimney Cake Bakers

Chimney Cake Bakers, Finchley Road

Last weekend, He and I were watching the current series of Mad Men. The estate agent was trying to sell Peggy her first apartment. On the Upper East Side. Great views, she chirped, an up-and-coming area she added – oh and the smell of all those Hungarian bakeries, the pushy sales lady threw in as a last resort. And, bearing in mind my latest find, that would have clinched the sale for me. There and then.

The latest sweet-smelling addition to our neighbourhood is Chimney Cake Bakers (which also doubles up as a café), on Finchley Road. In fact, it is even worth finding a parking space for – if you don’t live as close as I do. Neighbour ushered me in there last week; both of us equally keen to discover what on earth a chimney cake is.

2 chimney cakes straight from the oven

Hungarian’s oldest pastry, was the answer. In fact, Kürtos Kalács is its real name when it’s at home. Some say that chimney cakes originally come from Transylvania but there’s no doubt that those Eastern European countries are all rather fond of them nowadays.

So, they can be sweet or savory, but MUST have a crispy crust with a soft, doughy inside. The really curious part about my new-found-favourite pastry is the way it’s cooked. Chimney Cake Bakers make each one from scratch, wrapping the uncooked pastry like a ribbon around a steel pin before baking it in a special chimney cake oven. You can even stand there and watch it turn as it cooks.

the crispy outer and doughy centre of a Hungarian chimney cake

hungry ballet legs need chimney cake

On Saturday morning, my little ballerina needed a treat before her plies. We devoured a traditional one with sugar, only leaving a little remaining chimney for our boys. I wonder if the local estate agents in this area will start adding to their particulars: 3-bed split-level apartment, stunning rooftop views of London’s skyline, walking distance to HUNGARIAN BAKERY?

Chimney Cake Bakers, Finchley Rd, NW3.

sandwich-making brothers on Britain’s Got Talent

The second onslaught of tears was (more embarrassingly) watching Britain’s Got Talent with the other small. Two sandwich-making brother sung their blessed hearts out with their ‘Nan’ watching in the wings, along with Ant and Dec. Their talent mixed with a hefty dose of grandmother pride wrapped up in the cheesy talent show clearly cracked me.

And then my hat trick was last week. Perched on a ski piste, our group of mixed age and ability skiers watched as my friend’s son, aged 6, lost complete control before, at ridiculous speed, hitting (thankfully without injury) a bank of perfectly placed snow. Fear, and then relief, manifested itself as a blubbering wreck – both friend and me.

So, we’ve established that I’m a crier. And while I think that’s ok, it’s clearly not really. Because I am a woman. Cameron Diaz’s new hair cut, Demi Moore’s break-up and a plenitude of female Big Brother evictees have all ended in tears before bedtime. And, Gwyneth Patrow doesn’t really help my cause either. Dressed as a Barbie, we witnessed a weep worthy of numerous Oscars as she picked up best actress for ‘Shakespeare in Love’ (2010).

Gwyneth’s tears at the Oscars (2010)

But, curiously, when the hankie’s in the other hand, it seems that men are applauded when they cry. Their tears are seen as sincere, moving and legitimate. The usually tough-guy actor, Robert De Niro, broke down in tears on US TV last month as he discussed the bipolar and mood disorders that challenged him in his latest role in Silver Linings Playbook.

George weeps for Lady Thatcher

And then George Osbourne’s more than crocodile weep at Lady Thatcher’s funeral. In politics, men certainly gain votes by crying; Barack Obama’s momentary loss of composure surrounding the Newtown shootings had almost the entire universe in tears.

While scientists at the German Society of Ophthalmology estimate that the average woman cries up to 64 times a year, I think it’s about time we acknowledge crying as an alternative weapon of survival rather than a complex behaviour needing proper rational. After all, in Japan people visit crying bars simply to feel emotionally cleansed. So next time you feel your eyes welling up, take a leaf out of my book: go for it and shed a few.

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