Martha Stewart’s home office collection available from Staples

Martha Stewart isn’t completely perfect.  We know that.   But we still don’t mind if she wants to have a really good go at organising our hectic lives.  Priding herself in creative ideas and a damn good cake recipe or two, Martha is rolling out into the Home Office market.

So now there’s no excuse not to find that corresponding receipt:

receipt concertina

nor to set the table incorrectly.

how to lay the table – thanks, Martha

Martha’s tote bags. One for you to win!

On the accessories front, Martha has designed a highly practical tote bag with a boggling number of compartments for your clutter. Because organisation of our clutter does, infact, make us organised.  (available in black, walnut and raspberry £40).

I was given a bag but would rather share my loot.  One lucky reader will be sent my bag (in raspberry) – all you have to do is follow me on Twitter where I will aim to give you some tips as I try to organise my life….  The lucky winner will be chosen/tweeted on Friday 5th July 2013.

Martha’s home office collection is exclusively available from July in Staples.

Liberty -’ the only department store never to feel like one’

Today, though, I jumped back into their court as I was introduced to a product which I couldn’t help but get over excited about. So, a little jumping up and down, a quick trip to Oxford Circus and, before I know it, I’m sneaking in a quick beauty blog post.

the 6 shades of Hourglass lighting powder

Retailed (almost exclusively) in Liberty, aka the only department store never to feel like one, I bring you Hourglass’ new finishing powder as my latest Life of Yablon hero beauty product.

magic powder to make us blemish-free!

As a dramatic HATER of foundation, I’m the perfect person to review this magic light-flattering powder.  Brown sludge on skin is never a good look – even when applied well (albeit rarely), it looks awful.  The skin can’t breathe and nor can I when I’m talking to someone smothered in foundation.  I start obsessing about the way it’s highlighting their pores and, of course, immediately stop listening to whatever it is they’re chatting about.

the sales assistant also gave me testers of the Hourglass veil mineral primer and serum.

In a bid to escape the foundation monsters, I became a Bare Minerals convert a couple of years ago.  I was immediately sold on the benefits of mineral make-up.  However, Hourglass’ new range of six brightening powders is a whole new game.

So how does it actually work? I asked the lovely Hourglass girl in Liberty.

She explained that the powder uses (wait for it) groundbreaking photoluminescent technology.  That means that it diffuses and softens the way light is reflected on your skin and leaves you with a brighter, radiant and evenly-toned complexion.

At £38, it’s not a cheap purchase (especially if you buy their amazing brush £48) but I promise you it works.  And you can bin your horrid foundation before we next meet.

Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder (Dim Light)

*by the way, if you’re looking for a blog dedicated to beauty, my top 3 favourite beauty bloggers are: British Beauty Blogger, Liberty London Girl and Pixi Woo.

The Westbury and its secret sushi

My lunch venue (on this particular day) is a hidden treasure.  My plus one’s husband works within chopstick distance to the privately owned Westbury hotel and so the booking at the hotel’s 20 seater Japanese was a plain and simple tip off.

Tsukiji – a stone’s throw from Russell & Bromley on Bond St.

Tsukiji has been open since August 2010 and I bet none of you know about it.  It’s a proper sushi-fanatic secret.  Those who know it say that the sushi is better than Nobu.  Those who don’t pay a ridiculous amount for less-good raw fish elsewhere.

sushi never photographs well. the salad did.

We ate the sushi and sashimi set lunch (£24.90) which includes a delicious green salad, miso soup, pickles and desert –  a stunning white chocolate and lemon grass crème brûlée.

and so did Tsukiji’s lemon grass crème brûlée

Everyone else in there was having a buzzy power lunch.  Plus one and I kept up appearances whilst admiring the pinstripes.

Dinner was a different affair.  Different because it wasn’t in town, wasn’t buzzy and wasn’t a secret.  Most Primrose Hill locals seem to know about Michael Nadra and his ambitious eatery at the end of the village.  (For those who don’t, it’s where Sardo Canale used to be, down by Regent’s Canal).

a Martini bar in Primrose Hill? Perfect!

a lot of exposed brick in Michael Nadra

Northern friend was down to stay at Life of Yablon HQ for the night so I took her along to meet the ex-Canteen/La Trompette/Chez Bruce chef and taste his food.  As it turns out, Michael is a perfectly charming Essex boy and showed us around his pad with pride.  It has three separate dining areas and a lot of exposed brick.  His devotion and wish to please comes across loud and clear.  And while his food is good and service excellent, the restaurant is too big to feel intimate and too disparate to conjure up any sort of atmosphere.

Nadra’s cornfed chicken with green olives, cherry tomato, bulgur wheat with lemon and garlic dressing

I promised Northern friend I wouldn’t mention the episode with the waiter.  He was so good at waiting but did seem to be missing that part of your brain which filters content.  I asked him how long he had been at Nadra and he ended up spilling the beans on his ex-boss.  Who I knew.  And then he couldn’t stop.  And then there were beans all over the table and floor.   But he was a great waiter and shouldn’t be reprimanded for telling a yarn.  After all, it made our dinner – which had been delicious but unexceptional in every other way.

Tsukiji at The Westbury, 38 Conduit St, W1

Michel Nadra 42 Gloucester Avenue, London NW1  (we ate 2 courses for £29)

The Smalls and their mates set off on a yo fro mission

If for some odd reason you’ve been living underground or even swallowed up by Ben or Jerry, you’ll be the only person not to have noticed the frozen yoghurt trend, which has taken the UK high streets by (ice) storm.  Initially aimed at the calorie-conscious female looking for a sugar hit, it’s now family-fun-food for anyone deserving a treat.   Celebrities are regularly snapped indulging in this (apparently) guilt-free snack and new brands (with ridiculously creative marketing campaigns) are popping up here, there and everywhere claiming that their version is, of course, the healthiest.

Yoo Moo self-service is a winner

Mini’s helmet colour coded to Snog

Perfectly located between Yoo Moo in the O2 centre on Finchley Road and the new-ish Snog on St John’s Wood High Street, I set the Smalls their challenge.  Find me the winner based purely on the all-important underage criteria: taste and fun.

Yoo Moo toppings

Yoo Moo

Who: 4 hungry tennis players aged 7 and 8

my only instruction was: don’t eat until I have taken a photo!

Taste:  chocolate flavour was voted the best with Orio topping.

Fun:  They liked the self-service, the friendly PR girl and pointing to their toppings in equal measure.

Total rating:  9 out of 10

Snog toppings

Snog

Who: a perpetually hungry family of 4

Taste:  I liked the green tea flavour but was completely outvoted by the Smalls.

Fun:  the shop/café was hot.  Uncomfortably hot.  Resulting in fast melting goo and a little irritability.

Total rating:  6 out of 10

‘a less yummy Snog’ according to the Smalls and Him

However, this year (for simple arithmetic reasons), I needed to scratch my head a little harder.  Anyway, the Smalls love to give so I couldn’t deny them the privilege of spoiling her on her big day.

And then Mini and I had an idea.  We would make something:  a stool that Mini could perch on in her busy kitchen.

a simple stool from Tesco.com £27.99

The excitement was immense as we searched for the perfect wooden stool and then worked out how we could personalise it.

before taking a trip to our favourite ribbon shop, VV Rouleaux

Mini choosing the ribbons

back home, once the stool was built, we covered the seat with wadding

let the ribbon weaving begin

our finished stool. made with a lot of LOVE!

I don’t know who is more delighted:  the birthday girl, Mini or me.

Happy Birthday to you.  You know who you are! xxxx

VV Rouleaux 102 Marylebone Lane, W1

Clucking hens in the hot tub at Penny Hill Park

with a little help from our friends at Blue Nun

A BIG thank you to Blue Nun: available to buy online priced at under £10 for a 75cl bottle 

The Exchange, spitting distance from the Shard

There’s only one VERY annoying point about the somewhat unknown, definitely under-the-radar, eatery I’m about to tell you about.  It isn’t its location (although it is tricky to find), it isn’t its prices (a reason I often hesitate to blog about the latest/newest restaurant in London) and it isn’t the chi-chi crowd – because my fellow eaters were totally non-plussed about with whom they were dining.  No, the point is that He went there first.  And I know He’s going to read the review and want to talk about it.  BUT he won’t want to talk about what I ate and why I loved it.  No!  He’ll want to tell me that He was there first!

The Rooftop Café, hidden on the 2^nd floor of The Exchange at London Bridge, is probably more of a lunch place (which is when He went).  But then, a few weeks ago, the cafe flung open its roof on Thursday and Friday nights and I suggested Mini’s Godmum and I should eat dinner there immediately.  It’s a perfectly brilliant location for her to return to SE London and for me to head NW.

London city Rooftop Cafe tomatoes

Back to the café’s location.  The Exchange is spitting distance from the Shard, but actually couldn’t be more different in its rather dated appearance.  Founded as a joint venture, by James Sellar and Sam Aldenton, the building is a co-working space or ‘incubator’ providing offices and business expertise to start-ups. That really quite excited me and so did ringing a bell as I tried to gain entry.   Followed by vague directions from the 2^nd floor lift, it all felt as if I was really earning my dinner.

The café itself is stunningly designed with simple, clean lines.  Instantly greeted by an open-plan kitchen run by Australian Magnus Reid, formerly of St John and The Hackney Pearl, I then stepped out onto the terrace to find real veg and herbs growing as well as a perfectly gritty view of South London.  Yvonne, the manager, told me of the plans they have to create a semi-covered area so that we will be able to enjoy the rare summer days (and evenings) up there.

Magnus Reid’s open kitchen at Rooftop Cafe/The Exchange

We ate ridiculously well at pub-grub prices. The menu changes every day, the team are more than keen to please and the whole atmosphere feels very pop-up-esque.  Except that they’re here to stay – for at least a couple of years.

clean design at Rooftop Cafe

From 15^th June Rooftop Café will be open on Saturday nights.  I’d book now if I were you –with only a handful of table – this brilliant roof will soon be fully booked, despite its hidden location.

Ok.  Message delivered.  I’m off to hide before He comes looking for me…

Herbs galore on the roof

Rooftop Café at The Exchange, SE1 (020 3102 3770).

Open Mon-Fri 8am-3pm, dinner served 6pm-10.30pm Thurs and Fri. About £45 for two not including wine.