Uniqlo

Why is Uniqlo fabulous?

1. Free alternations on trousers done the same day or nominal fee if your trousers are less than GBP20.

2. Good service in England!

3. Fantastic, cheap v-neck cashmere sweaters that don't pill. Handwash, ladies.

4. Great jeans in bootcut, skinny and super skinny.

5. Terrific trench coats that look a million dollars and cost less than a hundred.

Uniqlo is my new obsession and part of the plan to buy good basics and splurge on accessories from now on. Hello, Hermes!

My Paris List

Spent the past weekend eating macarons, shopping and walking in Paris. Feeling absolutely happy.

1. Cafe de Flore : An old standby but so worth it. The profiteroles and the onion soup smothered in gruyere are perfect, the crisp waiters are efficent and the people watching unsurpassed.

2. Anne Corvall : Not fashion forward but lovely things such as fox fur trimmed cashmere shawls that look like Julie Christie in Dr. Shivago. And a genuinely kind and fun saleswoman who truly welcomed three slightly ab-fab looking foreigners into her shop.

3.Philippe Ferrandis: Terrific costume jewellery from classic pearl drops to wow, Elizabeth Taylor here I come necklaces. Affordable pieces sold by a Dutchman with perfect French, English, Spanish, German and a smattering of Portuguese.

4. Collette: Too cool for school. Everything is stunning. Look and don't touch - the price will scorch you.

5. Cafe Angelina: For the Mont Blanc pastry or the raspberry or the hot chocolate. Then take a few laps around the Jardins des Tuileries to recover.

And so much more, including Crazy Horse for the, um, more adventurous... someone please explain the two toilets side by side in the ladies' washroom...

Elizabeth Taylor's Jewels

Richard Burton would give Liz a 'It's Tuesday I love you' gift and what gifts these were! Before the doors opened at 9.30, the queue snaked around the building at Christie's on King Street. We ascended the staircase on a lavender carpet, naturally, to see the 80 or so highlights of the auction to be held in NYC in December.

Gay men with crisp cotton shirts, suburban houswifes in trainers, pretty blondes in silk shirts and jeans attended and jaded Londoners had to gape at these jewels.

The 33 carat diamond was on fire. A crowd quickly formed around it. You suddenly saw the point of big diamonds. Fevered speculation said it would go for over 10 million GBP but could one actually wear it? Only with a small army of bodyguards...

Below is the pearl - La Peregina -that went missing only to be found in the mouth of her dog:

With about eighty pieces in all, there was also a somewhat bridal Chanel evening dress and this sugary pink and mint evening ensemble. The clothing was not the point nor the paintings although there are a few notable ones. It was jewels, jewels, jewels! Is it Tuesday yet?

The Key to Beauty

On Ines de la Fressange from the New York Times:

“She’s very clever because she knows the key to being beautiful is self-confidence,” said Sophie-Caroline de Margerie, a writer who captures the essence of Parisian style in “American Lady,” a new biography of Susan Mary Alsop, the American doyenne of French style. “In the end there’s no rule. It doesn’t matter what you wear, as long as it suits you, and as long as you feel pretty.”

The Art of the Bath

Bath bombs. Bath oil. Bath foam. Bubble bath. Bath salts. Does any one else love their baths as much as the British? At the Balmoral Hotel in Edinburgh I almost drowned in seven foot long bath tub, surely, a relaxing way to go.

Diane Vreeland tells of the Duke of Windsor having a specially constructed bath tray for his papers - pure bliss.

In her memoir Must you go Lady Antonia Fraser describes how she brings 'bath oils, perfume and body lotion' to her Czech women friends and how 'Rita Klimova told Diana she still had the bath oil I bought for her in June - which was not supposed to be the point, she was supposed to wallow'.

P.G. Wodehouse's Wooster has his best thoughts splashing about in the porcelain tub playing with a rubber ducky.

Nora Ephron (not a Brit, I know) describes life as being too short to not use bottles and bottles of Jo Malone's bath oil.

Only in England do you find flats with a bath but no shower. Surely someone has written a history of the bath?

Best features

Getting older means knowing more about yourself, your flaws and your attributes: Not just your character but also your physical appearance.

Every woman has at least one good feature. If it is your hair then spend everything you can on a good hairdresser. If it is your eyes then learn how to make them up properly. If it is your legs then wear a mini skirt and over the knee boots.

If you can remedy your worst feature then invest in fixing it. If not fixable then ignore or conceal it. What is the point of being miserable about it if you can't change it?

Things I've learnt (the hard way):

1. Flat shoes might be better. She's 5'11 but see Ines: Join the flat pack

2. Buy unique, dazzling things on holiday and invest in the basics at home

3. Keep a list of what is missing from your wardrobe and buy accordingly.

4. Having matching wallet, phone case, key ring, passport cover, cosmetic case in your bag looks terribly together. Love Smythson's for this even if they discontinued my lilac.

5. Learn about make-up. See Salli Hughes.

Death by Minibar

What hotel gets the minibar right? Let me know because I want to stay there! It as though by trying to appeal to everyone it ends up being a mish-mash of what no one in their right mind would ever eat. Don't hotels do focus groups on minibars?

Here is my dream minibar list:

Champagne that doesn't cost $75 (for a split!)
Pringles
Excellent chocolates (Better than Godiva)
Milk for tea!
Shortbread biscuits
Cheese
White wine
Vogue (not necessarily chilled but available in the room)


I could go on but not a minibar stuffed with sodas, peanuts and cheap chocolates. The sad thing is, after a day of meetings, the only real option is death by minibar. Who wants to deal with the prying eyes of room service or a dingy hotel restaurant?

Sali Hughes - Beauty writer for the Guardian

Not exactly ready to embrace the pale although at my age I should be! (I am sunburnt despite wearing 50 protection to walk along the sea).

Sali Hughes is the brilliant beauty writer for the Guardian. She doesn't back down and really says what she thinks. Thanks to her I bought the best mascara ever from Givenchy and actually know how to apply it. This is life changing.

Sali Hughes on wash off tans.

She also wrote an article on marriage I really recommend: More than just a Wife

Jaffa

Although the market itself was disappointing the streets of Jaffa, the restaurants and the divine Marilyn Monroe you can just see behind the car were terrific. It feels completely

different to Tel Aviv. Life is slower, fewer cars with the sound of footsteps from invisible walkers in the twisting, turning streets.

Aisha in Jaffa

Finally I understand the fuss over djellaba. In the window of a tiny story in Jaffa floated a diaphanous linen djellaba embroidered by the hands of fairies in orange. It looked as though it might take flight it was so delicate. I stumbled across a divine Moroccan store in Jaffa south of Tel Aviv on the edge of flea market. From the lingerie sachets to the lamps to the clothing everything in Aisha brims of exquisite taste.

The owner told me how she had gone to Morocco to learn about her father’s roots and fallen in love with the embroidery and craftsmanship. She has exquisite pieces – everything is chosen with incredible care and presented with love. Go!

Pomegranate Restaurant in Brighton

Loved the ice cream soft shades of Brighton, the totally camp Pier and over the top Royal Pavillion. Everything heavenly. Want to move there tomorrow.

Lunch was a crisp bottle of cold white wine, a pool of hummus, followed by feta stuffed chicken and ending on figs with lashings of honey at Pomegranate.

Absolutely divine.

Papa's got a brand new bag

Buying a new lipstick is treaty but a new bag gives one such a lift. Ines de la Fressange says that being in love with a man or a project has an "effet lifting". Secret: A new handbag does as well. Especially if it whispers Chloe Spring in peach with gold.

This one is brown. The one to have is a divine peach. Naturally it is impossible to find but somebody snagged it in Abu Dhabi, and it wasn't me...

The color dazzles alongside an olive green. It came to the disastrous tea at the Savoy; it went to NYC this week; and will hide out in Liverpool during royal wedding madness.


My favorite bag sites of all time:

If you want to avoid buying a fake on Ebay, Purse Forum is the place. Or if you need to know the size and price of a Chanel bag just because these things might be useful one day. Or the different types of Hermes bags. Or if you just want to dream a bit.
Purse Forum

These lovely ladies turned a serious love of bags into a website that actually lets them feed their habit. Great reviews and descriptions as well as pictures.
The Bag Snob

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The pictures of SchlossHotel im Grunewald did not do this fabulous Berlin hotel justice.

Karl decorated it. This picture sits on a side table, discreet in one of the far parlours.

Hotel Moschino in Milan is fashion-fashion. Nobody who stays there actually eats. Breakfast comes in an enormous plastic hatbox that takes up the whole room. The waiter lifts off the cover and it contains a cappuccino and a brownie. I was hungry in Milan. Very hungry. My bed looked like a wedding dress dyed black by a jilted bride. No sweet dreams in Milan.

I so wanted to like it but it was uncomfortable and terribly expensive.


Last but not least there was the Africa room in a Frankfurt hotel complete with leopard print carpet, bedspreads, bedsheets, bin, lamps and art. No deadbolt on the door. I asked the receptionist if all the rooms were like this, and he smiled, "Only yours".

Lunch for Two

The queue starts forming at approximately ten minutes to one outside of Cal Pep. One of the waiters emerges at one o'clock sharp, greets several of the regulars at the front of the line, then opens the garage door to a narrow seafood bar that ends in a few tables.

The tourists enter hesitantly. There's no menu at the bar. The waiters behind the bar will concoct some tapas for the tourists (fried artichokes), then steer them toward the fresh fish or "mariscos" (shellfish).

Upon walking into Cal Pep, I was shooed to a seat at the bar next to a gentlemen of a certain age. The waiter offered me the tapas, and I asked for "gambas" (shrimp). The waiter pointed to five inch long, bright red gambas and told me they were expensive, 7 Euros a piece, but there were cheaper ones. I asked for the cheaper ones. At which point, the gentleman next to me said, "No, she will have the best. To share with me. And, a bottle of Cava, please".

To the great amusement of the waiters he bought me lunch. One of the waiters said to me, "He's rich and has great taste. What more could you want?" The shrimp were coated in rough sea salt with a sharp and sweet taste. The gentlemen left promptly at two o'clock for his domino game. I lingered to sip my cafe cortado (espresso with a dash of milk) and wonder at the kindness.

Caelum in Barcelona

The heavenly pastries, jams, liquors and cakes mean Caelum lives up to its name. Tucked away on Calle de la Palla not far from Passeig Colon, Caelum's cakes, cookies and teas are divine. There are a handful of tables upstairs and a crypt downstairs as well as the shop.

The address is
Caelum
C/ Palla, 8, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
+34 933 02 69 93 ‎

Working under the philosophy that everything goes better with sugar and honey, most everything is made by nuns and monks. The mandarin liquor prepared by Benedictine monks had a bold citrus taste. Not quite as strong as an eau de vie but certainly as fruity. The quince jam prepared by Sevillian nuns goes perfectly with cheese. The marzipan was not sweet and truly tasted of almonds.

At four o’clock in the afternoon on a weekday there were groups of two or three women drinking tea, eating cakes and whiling away the afternoon hours.

As their website says, bye now with little kisses of sugar, cinnamon and ... licorice!

Royal Wedding Madness

Nobody cares about the Royal Wedding here in London. Only the Americans - and mostly in the Midwest - are going bananas over Kate(now Catherine) Middleton's impending nuptials. Certain segments of the British press would have you believe this but don't buy it. Article upon article with nothing newsworthy has been written about the wedding: Will Kate wear her hair up or down? Even in Spain a news story on the wedding was on the evening news every day.

Most everyone here is secretly excited, delighted to have the extra day off and wondering how Kate keeps her hair so glossy. This is the real question: What does she do to her hair? Yes, she has a Brazilian blow dry and probably gloss treatments every two weeks but how can her hair be as shiny as a spaniel all the time?

A good hotel is hard to find

The right hotel makes all the difference for a good business trip. These days my beat is Europe. I consult Mr and Mrs Smith, Trip Advisor and Frommer's. By now the large chains bore me although I should stay there to get points (I know!) so these days I take the risk of staying in boutique hotels.

At a minimum a hotel must have:

1) Quiet
2) Deadbolts
3) Good Room Service Menu, including a grilled cheese sandwich.
4) Pleasant service (they answer the phone)
5) Internet that works

Ideally it has:

1) A lobby with deep sofas for hiding out between appointments.
2) Slippers because I always forget mine
3) Free bottled water. I know hotel tap water is safe but just in case.
4) Taxis readily available outside the door.
5) As good a breakfast in the rooms as if I go downstairs -- never the case!

The Accidental Business Traveller

Picture the business traveler eating breakfast alone not in one of the chain hotels but in a quirkier hotel filled with retired couples on vacation. She is the youngest person there by 20 years. She wants to retire as well. Hotels, flights and packing all become easier with time but the displacement and loneliness of business travel only becomes harder.

Five tips for surviving business travel

1)The more you travel, the more you bring. If you've ever been sick on business travel you will forevermore carry a small arsenal of medicine.

2)A scented candle to ward off the smell of secondhand smoke, cheap cleaning products and stale air.

3)In a strange city where you might not feel comfortable going out to eat alone at night, eat a big lunch at a good restaurant and then a light room service dinner.

4)If your door does not have a deadbolt leave the hotel or push a desk/table against the door. Hotel staff or other guests’ keys may open your door. Nothing like waking up in the middle of the night as someone opens your room door.

5) Try to see one museum, movie or sight whilst on a trip to break the monotony of meetings and hotel rooms.

Taxis

From time to time taxi cab and car service drivers feel perfectly comfortable unloading their most personal problems to their passengers. Yesterday I arrived at Barcelona airport, jumped into a taxi with a driver who is a part-time journalist for one of the leading newspapers but due to the economic crisis in Spain drives a taxi. For the next 30 minutes he talks non-stop about his situation, upcoming divorce, friendship with Sting and jobless friend forced to work in porn movies.

Same thing happened to MJ - the best friend--not so long ago. Her driver even craned around his head to ensure she didn't look at text messages while listening to his rant. Some drivers must like the idea of a captive audience. Does this happen to men?

Last time I was in Barcelona a taxi driver literally cried on my shoulder about her mother's cancer. It was terribly sad and odd at the same time. Then there was the Russian ice hockey player on Facebook the entire time he drove me from BWI to DC: One eye and one hand for the road.

How many times have I gotten into a taxi in a strange city, usually Berlin, and wondered if I was safe? I don't know where I'm going. There are no landmarks I recognize. It is often late. Sometimes I call to give someone in another country my location (dark highway, random city names). How would they find me? I know it is futile and yet it makes me feel better. And yet, nothing untoward has ever happened to me in a taxi.

My chatty driver this time did tell me he doesn't normally talk so much, and he thought I had a lot of positive energy. I'm sure he talks that much all the time but telling me I had positive energy made the whole monologue suddenly bearable.

Savoy boycott

My best friend and I managed to get a booking at the newly redecorated Savoy for afternoon tea. It looks lovely, although smaller than I remembered, with sensational, orchid arrangements in fuchsia, purple and shocking pink. We perched on a deep sofa and comfortable wing chair. The waiter was clearly nervous, hovering over us anxiously, uncertain when to bring tea or champagne but terribly kind. He bore down on us with sandwiches and scones. Both were passable but nothing inventive or extraordinary. He assured us we could have as much of anything as we liked. We lingered, chatting about Abu Dhabi, Chloe handbags and all other life essentials. Then he came with a parade of cakes: white chocolate macaroon, pistachio cake, hazelnut torte. None was remarkable. It has to be worth getting fat over, and none of these were.

The cakes look good but disappointed.

As we sat, happily chatting away, a hostess in severe black interrupted us to say, “You only have this table for two hours. The next guests will arrive in ten minutes.” No apologies. Two minutes later a man came over and said the same thing. I began to wonder if security was going to remove us from our sofa. Then our poor waiter arrived, obviously embarrassed to his credit, to confirm that yes, we were being thrown out of the Savoy. No one mentioned a time limit to us when we made the reservation. How rude they were! From now on I’m boycotting the Savoy.

The whole point of afternoon tea is graciousness and leisure. The Savoy goes to the bottom of my list with mediocre food and appalling service.