Category: Lifestyle

Tried and Tested: Zaggora ACTIVE WEAR Slimming range

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zaggoraA couple of weeks ago, I told you about some Zaggora breakfast smoothie which I loved. Today, I would like to tell you about Zaggora’s ACTIVE WEAR Slimming range.

At the begining of January (after putting on a bit over my honeymoon) I went back to the gym as I desperately want to lose my excess fat. On Zaggora’s website I read that:

‘Clinical studies at the University of Southern California and University of Brighton have proven that Zaggora Foldover Hotpants™ helps you burn more calories and gives you a better cardio workout, with less effort.’ Who can argue with the results of clinical studies? Definitely not me. I was convinced and as an extra treat I got myself a hot top and a pair of hot pants from Zaggora’s Active Wear range.

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Result:

The range is specially designed with Thermofit fabrics for an instant slimming effect which you can get due to the ThermoFit fabric. This revolutionary fabric uses your body’s heat during exercise to help you burn more calories. After attending my first gym session wearing my new top and pants my body was completely wet. As of today, I’ve been using it for over 3 weeks and both my pants and top are really comfortable and easy to care for. I have lost 3kg so far and sweating a lot wearing Zaggora’s range definitely helped.

Price:

£29-£79. Zaggora gives $5 from every order to women’s charities.

You can order this and many other products from Zaggora’s website:

http://zaggora.com?afmc=3l

I hope you enjoy reading this review!

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Pauline

Our dinner at The Fish Market, London

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As some of you might know, I love all kinds of seafood. As a result, I was really happy to have my weekly dinner date at The Fish Market restaurant in London and I was looking forward to trying their specialties.

Location:

The Fish Market restaurant is situated just a couple of minutes away from the Liverpool Street Station so it is perfect for anyone who works in the City.

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Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 6:30 p.m. When we entered the restaurant, we were welcomed by a friendly hostess who took us to our table and introduced us to our waiter. I decided to have some champagne to start with.

Starters:

For our starter, we had a Seafood sharing platter from the A La Carte Menu.

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It was presented beautifully and I loved a selection of seafood presented to us. It included: grilled scallops, salt and pepper squid, goujons of day boat fish, garlic king prawns.

Mains:

For our mains we wanted to try some fish from the Fish Market menu. All fish at The Fish Market restaurant comes either on the bone or is filleted so you can have it cooked to your liking. In addition, you can choose to have your fish steamed or cooked a la plancha. What’s more, all fishes from the Market selection menu come with a choice of one complimentary side and sauce. I had a whole sea bream and my husband had a whole sea bass. For our sides, we ordered some creamed spinach and spiced, sweet potato fries.

Both mains were absolutely gorgeous and cooked to perfection. Sides were a nice-add on and I really liked my sweet potato fries.

Dessert:

As soon as I looked at the menu, I knew what I wanted to have for my dessert and as I love sticky toffee pudding, my choice was easy. It was nice but personally, I would want to have some more vanilla ice-cream with it. It is probably me just being greedy though 😉

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My husband, as always, ordered some vanilla ice-creams.

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Overall experience:

I really liked the food at the Fish Market restaurant. The service was good and food was delectable so I will definitely visit again soon!

Address:

16 New St, London EC2M 4TR

For more information and to book visit:

http://www.fishmarket-restaurant.co.uk/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

Our dinner at The City Barge, London, UK

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Last week, I went with my husband for a dinner date to The City Barge located in a historic 14th century public house in Chiswick. I have heard a lot of good feedback on this place so decided to try it on my own.

Location:

The City Barge is situated on the Thames riverside, in the picturesque area of Strand on the Green, Chiswick.

Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 6:30 p.m. When we arrived, we were welcomed by a friendly waiter who took us to our table. When we sat down, only one other table was taken however within 30 minutes restaurant was full with locals. The City Barge restaurant offers a la carte menu during lunch and dinner every day and is open for breakfast on the weekends. It re-opened in May 2014 after an extensive refurbishment.  When we entered this Public House, we discovered that it serves a wide range of drinks,  ales and it has an extensive wine list.

Starters:

To start with I decided to have some Aged Parma Ham that was served with celeric remoulade, padron peppers and toasted sour dough.

My husband had some Chicken Liver and Foie gras parfait, served with some spiced oranges and brioche. Both of our starters were delectable.

Mains:

For my main, I decided to have a whole grilled lemon sole with prawns, herb mash and some greens. It was flawless.

My husband, had some rosemary glazed lamb shank with kale, neeps and tatties. His main was absolutely gorgeous and cooked to perfection.

Dessert:

To end our evening, I ordered some sticky toffee pudding which was heavenly and my husband had a couple of scoops of his favorite, vanilla ice-cream.

Overall experience:

We both really enjoyed our evening at The City Barge. The service was attentive, food was delicious, prices were reasonable so I will definitely visit again soon! I would love to visit again during the summer as The City Barge has lots of space to sit outside, by the river.

Address:

27 Strand-on-the-Green
Chiswick
W4 3PH London

For more information and to book visit:

http://www.citybargechiswick.com/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

2016 Year Highlights

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2016 has been an interesting year full of exciting experiences, travelling to many beautiful countries, discovering new cuisines and creating many incredible memories.

As some of you know I got married in August which was definitely the most incredible and wonderful day of my life. After 4 years of relationship, we finally said ‘I do’. Close to the event there was lots of stress and planning but everything worked out perfectly.

I’ve put together a little recap of 2016 highlighting many of my interesting travels and breathtaking moments I experienced. Thank you all for being a part of it.

January: 

I took James to the magical Rome for his birthday. We had a great time discovering the sites of this beautiful city.

February: 

At the end of February, we went for 10-days break to beautiful Bansko in Bulgaria. WE were active and skied during the day and had some delicious traditional food and drinks afterwards.

May:

Our friends Ramesh and Louise got married and we celebrated their big day with them in the Bradbourne House.

 July: 

Just a couple of weeks before getting married my bridesmaids organised a great hen night for me.

 August:

I got married to the love of my life surrounded by our families and friends.

September: 

A lot has happened in September. Firstly, we went to Paris for our first mini-moon.

Then, I attended the yearly paratroopers ball organised by my father who is a President of paratroopers association. It was great to spend some quality time with my family.

October: 

My younger brother visited me in London for a few days. We decided to visit a London zoo during the weekend but as it was quite cold unfortunately we didn’t see any meerkats that I absolutely adore.

November:

It was time for our second mini-moon and we decided to go to Palma de Mallorca. The hotel we stayed in and the food we had were much better than we expected.

December: 

After waiting for a few months, we finally departed for our honeymoon. It was amazing to discover all the new cultures and visit the countries we never been to. I will post some more information on the places we visited in my ‘Holiday destinations’ section of the blog soon.

What will 2017 bring? I am slowly filling my diary with some more trips and will aim to go to one new place at least once a month.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post! Have a happy new year!

X

Pauline

 

Tried and tested: esthechoc Cambridge Beauty Chocolates

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I have recently attended a talk about the benefits on esthechoc Beauty Chocolates. It’s well known fact that dark chocolate has antioxidant properties. I love sweets however I am normally anxious about their effect on my diet so I was extremely fascinated in how this product could be beneficial to my health.

Esthechoc is a first anti-ageing nutricosmetic with a strong, scientifically proven impact on the metabolism of ageing skin. It contains 72.6% dark chocolate and has only 38 kcal per piece .

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The Cambridge University clinical research has proven that esthechoc:

– significantly reduce inflammation,

– increase antioxidant activity

– improve microcirculation in the skin.

How is it different to any other dark chocolates?

On the esthechoc website I read that: ‘ It contains a combination of highly potent active substances: Astaxanthin (the most powerful antioxidant known to science) and Cocoa polyphenolic epicatechins (found naturally in chocolate). Unique micellar technology used during production of esthechoc makes these actives bioavailable.’

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What’s the prescribed amount of esthechoc?

It is recommended to have one small esthechoc a day. Each box contains three weeks supply and it’s been clinically shown that after 21 days your skin will look more nourished and benefit from greater protection against free radicals.

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Result:

I decided to add esthechoc to my diet during the last 3 weeks and I was having this 38-calories chocolate as a reward after my breakfast each morning.

After, I finished my box my skin looked radiant, healthy and luminous. I will definitely continue buying this chocolate to ensure seeing these results.

I hope that you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Appleton Estate ‘The Taste Of Jamaica’ Event

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appletonI have recently attended a rum tasting event organised by Appleton Estate a glorious and fertile land located in the heart of Jamaica. To be honest, I didn’t know much about rum before the event so I was looking forward to learning more about it. I found it interesting to hear the story of rum and really enjoyed trying different blends of rum during the event.

Event:

The vent commenced at 7p.m. and a lovely Rum Master Blender Joy Spence and Ian Burell uncovered a hidden word of crafted, aged rum to all attendees.

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To start with we tried the Appleton Estate Signature Blend-the original Appleton Estate rum.

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It was my favourite blend as it wasn’t really strong comparing to the other rums I tried. Secondly, we tried Appleton Estate Rare Blend 12 Year Old. It is an extraordinary indulgence rum that cannot be rushed.

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At the end, we had some Appleton Estate 21 Year Old Jamaican Rum. This blend is suitable for anyone who wants to experience unique Jamaican luxury. It is priced at £150 per bottle so it is the most extravagant rum from the whole Appleton Estate rum range.

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I had a lot of fun and really enjoyed my rum tasting experience!

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I hope that you enjoyed reading this review!

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Pauline

Top Land-Based Casinos In The United Kingdom

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Have you ever wanted to learn about the casinos? As some of you might know, I got married recently. I am not much of a gambler however my husband could be a pro as he knows so much about the casinos and the games that you can play in them.

I decided to investigate this topic further as the wife of a pro gamer and gambler. He’s told me on many occasions that if you know the rules of the games you want to play you might have a fun and entertaining time when you visit a casino. In addition, I was informed that many casinos regularly host live entertainment events, such as stand-up comedy, concerts, and sporting events. Many of them are also offering dining experiences combined with a bit of gambling which could appeal to anyone who feels a bit adventurous. To start with, if you are willing to learn more on that topic, I would recommend you check out this informative catalogue about all the casinos located in the UK, it is very comprehensive and covers a wide variety of places. I came across this website and I liked its layout as it provided a summary of all casinos located in specific cities in UK. History: Casinos have been called by many names: gaming houses, saloons (in USA), betting house etc. According to Wikipedia: ‘In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities.’ The history of gambling is mysterious. Many believe that in some form or another many of societies had entertainment based on games of chance. The first known European gambling house, was the Ridotto, established in Venice, Italy in 1638 by the Great Council of Venice to provide controlled gambling during the carnival season. Where to go? There are hundreds of casinos in UK, many of them located in central tourist areas of hotels. As I live in London, I would recommend you to visit one of these 5 best casinos based here:

1. The Empire Casino in Leicester Square

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2. The Hippodrome Casino

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3. The Grosvenor Casino

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4. Maxims

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5. The Sportsman

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I hope you enjoyed reading this post!

X

Pauline

Our dinner at Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencial-the best steak in Palma De Mallorca

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On the last evening of our mini-moon in Palma, we decided to have a dinner at the traditional Mallorcan steak restaurant –Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencial.

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Location:

Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencial is located opposit of Parc De Les Estations, just around the corner from the Placa d’Espanya.

Atmosphere:

We booked our table for 8:30 p.m. When we arrived only one other table was taken but within 15 minutes restaurant was full with locals and tourists. A restaurant opened in 2004 in an old mansion and was renovated but the designers kept some key features of the space such as its beautiful arches and thick walls. Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencials has a simple, modern decor making it a welcoming and pleasant place to enjoy your meals.

The menu:

To start with we ordered a selection of starters:

We accompanied them with some local red wine called Bisbals. It was rich and fragrant.

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Mains:

For our mains we decided to have a steak each.  I always debate which stake to choose as if you want the meatiest meat, choose rib-eye, though the fillet is heavenly for those frightened of fat.

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I decided to have some rib-eye and it was flawless. It had the flavor like undiluted beef cordial. With flavors as good as these, you want as many different mouthfuls as you can get. The steak was absolutely gorgeous and cooked to perfection. I would compare the quality of our steak to what you get in Hawksmore in London.

After we finished our steaks it was time for some digestive made out of Herbs of Mallorca.

Overall experience:

We both really enjoyed the food we ordered at Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencials, portions were enormous and the meal was really reasonably priced. If you like a good steak than you should definitely visit Asador Bolixe Cocina Esencials. After our starter and main we were really full and I watched in admiration as one couple sitting at the table next to us tucked into a beautifully presented desset consisting of pancakes. I will definitely need to order some of them next time I visit Palma as they looked delicious!

Address:

Carrer Eusebi Estada, 33, 07004 Palma, Illes Balears, Spain

For more information and to book visit:

http://www.bolixe.com/en/

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

X

Pauline

Image Consultant Suggestions: Winter racing events attire and Hennessey Gold Cup Competition

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Quite a few of you have emailed me recently about the appropriate racing attire. Dressing for any races can be quite a frightening process for a non-regular racegoer. I enjoy races and as an image consultant I can clearly tell you that there are indeed some ‘rules’ to follow should you be heading to any races during this Autumn or Winter.

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So what should you wear?

The conventions of winter race-wear for ladies dictate elegant daywear, including hosiery, closed toe shoes and winter-appropriate hats. Gloves are optional however if you choose to wear them then opt for leather or a blended wool because delicate materials such as lace and fine cottons are more suited to the summer months.

Few more tips:

  • Remember that you will be outside for a long period of time so dress accordingly. Autumn-winter racing fashion usually dictates the wearing of clothes representative of the season.
  • Start with choosing what dress / suit you will wear and then match the appropriate accessories. It is so much easier to match a hat to an existing frock than the other way round.
  • When it comes to autumn racing, the number one rule is that your headwear should be felt material as straw is reserved for spring/summer months only.
  • Wear a pair of closed-in shoes and leave your Stilettos for summer races.

Competition:

I actually have a pair of tickets available to an amazing ‘The bet365 Festival – Hennessy Gold Cup Day’ to giveaway to my blog readers and Twitter followers so if you are interested then please enter my Twitter competition:

The bet365 Festival – Hennessy Gold Cup Day is a winter fashion and social calendar highlight offering the chance to fuse fashion with the enjoyment and long-standing traditions of horse racing. Traditionally it attracts a large numbers of celebrities including in recent years Stanley Tucci, James Norton, Carey Mulligan, Mel Chisolm, Jennifer Saunders, Martin Clunes, Tinie Tempah, Amanda Holden, Joan Collins, James Nesbitt, Rob Brydon, Hugh Bonneville, Cilla Black, Denise Lewis and Jackie Stewart to name a few.

As I will not be able to attend it-I am away during that time visiting my parents, one of you will have a chance to win the tickets. The Hennessy Gold Cup Day takes place on the second day of the bet365 Festival on the Saturday, 26 November 2016. It features the 60th running of the Hennessy Gold Cup as well as the bet365 Long Distance Hurdle at Run over 3 miles and 2½ furlongs. In addition you get a £5 off premier and grandstand tickets with code FUN16.

In addition, don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter giveaway to maximise your chances and win another amazing prize: a pair of tickets, a night in the hotel at the racecourse called The Lodge, a bottle of Hennessy and a Hennessy picnic for two:

A Rafflecopter giveaway

I hope you enjoyed reading this review!

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Horrible night out at Montezuma Club, London

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Today I would like to tell you about my night out at Montezuma Club in South Kensington in partnership with VIP Lounge.

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I recently won a Twitter competition run by VIP Lounge @VipLounge and I was extremely looking forward to my night out with friends.

img_3704My prize was:

  • A bottle of vodka with mixers
  • Access to VIP Lounge area in the club
  • Champagne sparklers

I shared the details of my Twitter prize with some of my friends and was asked to forward all their names and surnames so they can be added to the guest list. We all registered on the website and got ready for our night out. I decided to wear one of my little black dresses from River Island.

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After a couple of drinks just around the corner from the club we made our way to Montezuma London Club which is located a minute away from South Kensington station.

When we first arrived at the club at around 10:30p.m., my husband and a male friend of mine were asked to pay £20 for entry… We were all surprised but we paid and went downstairs.

Montezuma is extremely small… The dance-floor is basically of similar size to my living room and believe me my living room is not massive. But well, we sat down and I called Paul from @VipLounge to confirm when we will receive our drinks. First warning sign there was no answer… I texted @VipLounge and 40 minutes later I have finally heard from Paul. Basically I think that he is a club promoter who asks you to put your and your friends name on the list so he gets a commission out of attracting you to the club. Our drinks arrived over an hour later at 11:40.

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We took a couple of photos and in the meantime the waitress asked 5 girls that we didn’t know to sit at our table. The waitress gave them drinks from the same bottle of vodka that I won and 5 minutes later she asked us to leave the table. I went to speak to the club manager he told me that if we want to stay sitting where we were than we need to pay for it! How rude?!? We left the area, my husband bought us all some drinks and we started dancing. The DJ was horrible but as we didn’t have any sitting area at that time, we started dancing. Within the minutes the dance-floor was soo full that we were unable to move. It was also quite smelly and one of my friends felt quite sick as she was unable to breathe.

The drinks were also overpriced and a bottle of White Goose Vodka was £450. I was shocked to discover that considering how tacky and small this club was.

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Overall: 

I would never visit Montezuma again-it is overpriced, small, overcrowded and service was extremely rude and unfriendly. Be aware of any Twitter competitors from @VipLounge as they work with this club (I believe on a promoter basis) and if you win their Twitter prize then you will end up paying for everything anyway.

Hope you stay away from Montezuma-there are hundreds of other nice clubs in London that are better for a night out.

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Pauline