Wintery Wondering at Somerset House : LOCAL LOVES

Festive fun at Somerset House is probably the most horrendously over-blogged thing at the moment but...Hey guys! I went to Somerset House and had loads of festive fun!

I went with lovely Annie (of Telegraph Julie Madly Deeply review fame) and lovely Sophie (of graceful log reclining fame). Annie recieved a little invite to go and see the amazing ACM Gospel Choir singing some crimbo tunes under the tree so we tottered off there after work and had a lovely little evening!

At this time of year Somerset House is most well know for it's ice rink but there's actually a lot more going on there - especially on 'Glad Tidings Tuesdays'. On this particular Tuesday there was free mini manicures and hand treatments from Crabtree & Evelyn. Such a treat.

We arrived just in time for the start of the carols and a large crowd quickly gathered - I mean who doesn't like a gospel choir?! We hummed along with great gusto and managed to avoid the audience participation. Phew!

We then skipped down the steps to watch the skaters glide gracefully on ice/fall over. It's so beautifully lit and not at all over crowded - you can see why it's so popular.

As you can imagine watching all this zooming about was really quite tiring so off to the bar we went for some scrummy mulled wine in Tom's Skate Lounge and then for a wonder through the Christmas Arcade.

In the arcade was the Crabtree & Evelyn pop-up....

Somerset House is full of pop-up shops all year round but of course they're lovely and festive at the moment. We followed our noses and found ourselves in the hot chocolate room first.....and it was DREAMY. Quite simple the best hot chocolate I've ever had!

Please note the most sparkly festive manicure you've ever seen!

We then went for a little snoop around the building, it's just gorgeous. The place is packed full of shops, restaurants, bars, delis...so much to discover.

So lovely followers you really must...

- Get yourself over to Somerset House - it's cracking all year round and totally free to go in. The ice rink will be there until 5th January and you can get tickets here. Nearest tubes are Temple or Charing Cross. The main website is here.

- Pop along for lunch at Tom's Kitchen, located in the South Wing.

- Tell me what your favourite London festive activity is!

Nails and Cocktails, Hippodrome Casino : LOCAL LOVES

If you're lucky enough to work in the heart of London you qualify for the brilliant WOW Card - it's a privilege scheme that gives us little hard workers discounts and deals in local shops, restaurants, theatres etc. Now, up until recently I've only really been abusing the 25% off food at Busaba deal but I finally got round to doing something non food related!

The Hippodrome Casino on Leicester Square has teamed up with the WOW scheme to offer free manicures and 2 for 1 cocktails on Wednesday and Friday evenings 6-8pm for the foreseeable future. Details of the 'Spa in the Bar' can be found here. So, having spotted this, the girls and I promptly booked ourselves for an evening of after work indulgence.

You can't see them very well but my rings are from the lovely Monica Vinader - she makes fantastic stacking rings and beautiful fiji bracelets.

Bellinis - a girl's best friend

 

This was my first trip ever to a casino and it was exactly how I expected it to be - so much glitz! The floor of the bar is made out of shiny pennies and the bottles of spirits lining the walls sparkled just as much. The waiters and waitresses were impeccably turned out and the service is fantastic.

The manicure was fairly basic, more of a colour change than anything, but it was such a lovely little treat - especially as we got to hear about the beautician working on Labrinth's latest music video!

The cocktails on offer were scrumptious and included an Adam's Apple, a Strawberry Swizzler, Mojitos and of course, the Classic Bellini, which I believe is one of your five a day?

It was a great evening all round so the recommendations from this Londoner are:

- Get a WOW card! Just ask your office administrator to get in touch via their website and they'll send enough for you and you colleagues. It's free!

- Go to the Hippodrome Casino when you're determined to be part of the Straight Through Crew - it's open 24hours and the time just slips away. You'll come out blinking in the sunshine ready for the first tube home!