lifeofyablon.com

by yablon | September 5, 2012

Mercy Delta makes a break for blouses

DJ Hayley Rogue Romer

Last night a chilled vibe of DJ house music could be heard from a penthouse roof on Great Marlborough Street, W1. Katie Lightfoot – along with those of us who couldn’t wait to see what the hype was all about – was celebrating the launch of her Mercy Delta silk printed blouses.

Not content with her luxury British printed scarves selling like hot cakes in Harvey Nichols, Matches, Liberty, Trilogy and Harrods, Katie has announced that she will be rolling out (exclusively in Trilogy stores initially) 13 versions of her stunning blouses for s/s 2013.

Henry Conway with a Mercy Delta

Along with LifeofYablon(!), celebrities at the launch last night included Camilla Rutherford, Amber Atherton, Tina Hobley, Alex Jones, Noelle Reno, Henry Conway and Sweeney movie star Caroline Chikezie.

So, for those of you who love your Tucker, Equipment and Joie shirts, the Mercy Delta blouses will be right up your street and – dare I say it – more feminine and flattering.

www.mercydelta.com

Tina Hobley, Alex Jones and Katie Lightfoot, creator of Mercy Delta

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Filed under fabulous finds, shopping

by yablon | September 4, 2012

hottest HotPants – made by Zaggora

Who can honestly say that they haven’t acquired a few pounds over the summer months? The occasional ice cream on the beach. One more cocktail for the road. Oh and the deceivingly floaty sundresses which only give you a false sense of security. So, now that the jeans are back on and I can feel those unwelcome additional sneaky pounds, something needs to give (and it isn’t the non-stretch jeans)….

Denise Richards sporting a pair of calorie-burning Zaggora HotPants.

Enter Zaggora and their heat-inducing HotPants. Yes, for real. These Zaggora HotPants, with their Celu-Lite fabric technology, have the ability to turbo-charge your exercise routine – therefore making it more effective…. But don’t laugh too hard. Half a million pairs of these hotpants have been sold in 110 countries worldwide (according to the PR) and that’s why the company has gone on to develop the new, recently launched Zaggora 2.0 range.

With hot legs and calories burning at a much faster rate, there’s nothing not to want about these slightly unusual yet much-needed new item of sports wear.

And that’s why I am sitting here – right now – slightly warm in my pair of Zaggora shorts. Did I mention that they are also pretty flattering and come in a variety of sizes and lengths? Or that American actress and former fashion model Denise Richards (pictured) is a fan?

COMPETITION: If you would like to win your very own pair of these calorie burning Zaggora HotPants, all you have to do is follow me on Twitter and retweet this blog post when I tweet it on 14^th September 2012. I have two pairs (priced between £45-£65) to give away to 2 lucky readers. The winners, chosen at random, will be announced on Twitter.

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Filed under health and fitness, prizes, shopping

by yablon | September 3, 2012

The non-secret Victoria’s Secret

Victoria’s Secret, Bond St.

The recent launch of Victoria’s Secret’s London flagship boutique (can a retail environment as enormous as 40,386 square feet be described as a boutique?) has hardly been a secret. In fact, the desperately-seeking-customers current retail crisis has long awaited a launch such as this on Bond Street, W1.

I was pathetically excited. I couldn’t wait a single day longer to see the promised vision of vibrant lace, rainbow coloured vest tops and utter underwear decadence. Politely instructing Him to bath and bed the Smalls, I made a dash for it before the frilly emporium shut last night.

the labyrinth of lingerie

I won’t lie. It is a perfect retail experience. The décor (sparkling, mirrored, stripey and yet cool), the music (Example mixed with 80s house), the shop assistants (super friendly but appropriately so) and I haven’t even started on the underwear….

You see, the Victoria’s Secret brand ticks all the boxes. Their collection is edgy without being rude therefore allowing you to take your Him, mum, friend, work colleague along for the ride without blushing as you pick out your Autumn/Winter lingerie collection.

Victoria’s Secret – where colour is cool

And so, while the Smalls choose pencil cases for the new term, I’ve opted to revamp my knicker drawer – and, I can assure you, the mind boggling choice of dazzling colours would make any Caran D’Ache set look dull.

Victoria’s Secret is located at 111 New Bond Street, W1S 1DP

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by yablon | September 1, 2012

the real scoop on King’s Cross Ice Cream Festival

The two-day ice cream festival, showcasing the best of British ice creams, has been in my diary for a while. Firstly, it sounded like a great event for the Smalls as well as the Not-so-Smalls and secondly, I thought it must be the first of its kind… few Brits would be so brave as to assume that the sun would shine (or at least that it wouldn’t rain) for long enough not to ruin an ice cream festival.

the wrong Granary Square

However excited we were (accompanied by Neighbour and her Smalls), we didn’t get off to a brilliant start. With iPhones as extensions of our arms, we plugged Granary Square into StreetMap only to find ourselves in a lonely cul-de-sac in Islington… with no ice cream. The only consolation was that we weren’t the only ones. It turns out that the other Granary Square (behind King’s Cross) is so new that it doesn’t appear on any map. Anyway, our Hailo app saved the day and, within minutes, we were licking the cold stuff in the correct Granary Square.

the right Granary Square where the Ice Cream Festival is taking place

I tracked down the organiser to find out why and how his idea of an ice cream festival had come about. He explained that he had wanted to find a way to celebrate the history and production of British ice cream.

Carlo Gatti brought ice cream to England in 1851

Carlo Gatti, who brought ice cream to England in 1851, had worked from his home in King’s Cross where he sold gelato for one penny, coining the phrase the ‘penny lick’. It also transpires that, in those days, London’s ice was brought up the canal to King’s Cross, where it was offloaded.

As you can see from the pictures, we had a great time and – of course – ate too much ice cream.

It’s free, family friendly and the weather forecast isn’t rain; 3 valid reasons to eat ice cream this weekend.

Sat 1^st and Sun 2^nd September – 11am to 6pm.

King’s Cross Ice Cream Festival