The Magic Cure

I forgot to mention one of the highlights of the breakfast extravaganza in my last post. The hotel we were in is renowned for it's brilliant Spa programs and even if you haven't signed up for one of their packages you still get to benefit from their 'Slow Life' philosophy.

So my best bit was a 'healing area' as I liked to think of it. Chaz wouldn't go near it with a bargepole so I would have his portion too to heal me twice as much. There was an ayurevedic bit with hundreds of little bottles full of magic tinctures to heal any ailment you might have. I would have 'stress' and 'balance' every other day and try and force Chaz to have 'detox'. They're bottled in Sri Lanka and am sure if we bought them back to London they would sell like hotcakes.

The proper star of the show though, hanging out next to the tiny tinctures was a dark, mysterious looking syrupy bottle of Noni Juice.

Noni juice hails from the French Polynesian islands where they've known of it's miraculous properties for years. All you need is one teaspoon a day and in that tiny amount you'll be giving yourself every vitamin, mineral, anti-oxidant, amino acids and cancer fighting compounds you'll ever need. Well maybe not everything you'll ever need but it's basically health in a bottle and I am quite obsessed with it. Enough with all these Gojis and Acais, from now on, it's Noni all the way.

Soneva Gilli resort on Langanfushi Island, North Male Atol, Maldives

Heaven is a place on Earth

Sitting at my desk, drinking hot tea, wondering where my thermals are, I cannot believe that 48 hours ago I was sitting on a sun bed, sipping fresh juices in Paradise - a.k.a the Maldives.

You know those pictures you see of the Maldives, impossibly white sand, crystal seas, tropical fish darting around? They are real. They haven't been altered or photo-shopped to make them look prettier. They are actually, really like that.

So for a week, our first time ever away without our cub, we sunbathed, swam, ate, bicycled and snorkeled in what I imagine heaven to be. Probably about 85% of our holiday was spent eating. The breakfast buffet is something I will dream about for a very long time. Anything you could possibly want, they had it; A patisserie section - croissants, wholemeal croissants, donuts, cakes, baby chocolate donuts (my best), banana cake. A bread station with about 12 homemade different loaves. A muesli section - I've been banned from saying 'Bircher muesli' I banged on about it so much. Every exotic fruit known to man. A sushi department , yes, for breakfast. A whole menu dedicated to all things egg related (eggs benedict for Chaz, pancakes for me) and another housing the Spa juice menu. They even had a curry area; fish curry when I wake is not at the top of my agenda but I can assure you it went down a storm with the Sri Lankan family next to us. The award for weirdest breakfast went to a Dutch lady who had a spicy fish curry with a mini chocolate donut every morning followed by vegetable noodles and job fish sashimi.

We all need Annina

One of my most treasured possessions is an Annina Vogel gold charm bracelet. A simple gold bangle with five charms chosen for me by Chaz. All the charms- I have a miniature dashchund to represent Alice, our real life daschund and cup and saucer representing my love of 'cosy time'- are vintage. London-based Annina creates her one-off masterpieces from pre loved charms from all over the UK and you can pick and choose which ones you want to create your very own, unique treasure.

www.anninavogel.co.uk

Also available in Liberty, Shop at the Bluebird and Selfridges in London

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Dont get me wrong, if someone wanted to give me a lovely box of Laduree macaroons I would be completely over the moon but I feel that they have slightly lost their allure now they're readily buyable in Harrods. There was something so special and rare about them when you could only get your hands on them by nipping across the Channel.

It's not the end of the world though because I've recently been introduced to Pierre Herme macaroons. They wouldn't look out of place in a museum they are so exquisite. I'm just not sure how people can bring themselves to eat such a thing of beauty.

Chaz took me to stay in the Metropole Hotel in Monaco for Valentines day a few years ago and one of the things I remember most was the complimentary Pierre Herme Valentine's day raspberry and cream macaroon waiting for us in our room. It was honestly in the top five most delicious things i've ever eaten. No joke.

Pierre Herme macaroons from 24 euros

www.pierreherme.com

Please not another bill...

I love hearing the postman putting the mail through my door every day. There's always the small hope that something unexpected and exciting might be waiting on the doorstep. Sadly I'd say that 99% of the time all that's sitting there are boring bills, airport taxi flyers and if we're especially lucky a new pizza takeout menu. I do secretly quite like these though.

Anyway I've found a genius new company called Not Another Bill to combat the disappointment of being greeted every morning by just a bunch of bills. You subscribe to this company for either a year, half and year or just a one off treat and depending on what you sign up for, they will sporadically send you a surprise treat in the post. What you'll get, who knows? But they guarantee you'll love it and it just adds to the excitement of getting something other than a bill to open.

I'm already excited about my first mystery package. Let me know what you get!

www.notanotherbill.com

Wrap me up

My love of scarves is something I have definitely inherited from my Mother. I remember playing with her neatly folded scarf towers when I was about seven thinking what a waste of time they all were and could not for the life of me understand why she needed so many of them. How things change. I too now have my very own scarf drawer.

We have exchanged scarves for Christmas for as long as I can remember.

Actually I lie, this year she went slightly off piste for the first time and gave me a seriously posh cashmere dressing gown instead, not that I'm complaining. I stayed on track and gave her a Brora red tartan chartouche that she still hasn't taken off.

Danish label Epice is always our number one scarf go-to. Mostly merino wool, their patterns are always gorgeous floral prints, stripes and spots in a wonderful rainbow of colours, making it a slight problem knowing which one to choose when faced with their whole collection. Much harder to find in the UK than they were in France but Fenwick on Bond Street always has a really good selection.

Some Epice scarves.

Fenwick. Bond Street. London. W1

I feel there's no such thing as a scarf season. One of my best scarf buys was in France, mid July when it was 34 degrees outside. The most gorgeous Virginia Johnson bright pink merino wool shawl with huge white sharks woven into it.

Definitely in my top ten list, textile designer Virginia's pieces are colourful, cool and different. She seems to have a thing for animals and birds and prints them on all her work. I long for her Camel print shawl pictured below.

My beloved pink shark print Virgina Johnson scarf

Bought from Netaporter.com

My brother Ned got ten points at Christmas with the Lem Lem striped scarf he gave our Mother. Bought from another scarf heaven, Liberty, it could be one of my new favourite makes. The company was set up in 2007 by supermodel Liya Kebede when she saw that the local weavers in her hometown in Etiopia were losing their jobs due to a decline of demand for their goods. She wanted to preserve the ancient tradition of weaving and help her fellow countrymen and so set up LemLem. Picture bright coloured stripes on wispy cream cotton. Dreamy.

LemLem scarves can be found at Liberty and www.lemlem.com

New Year Vision

A large percentage of my day is spent thinking about these Pierre Hardy visions.

Happy New Year

I quite like a New Year. The fresh start and mental wiping clean of last years slate. I dont make resolutions, the word alone makes me panic. I have hopes instead.

Each year I spend the days after Christmas running up to New Year wondering how to revamp my life come January 1st. I plan a new me. It's mostly the same each year.

New hair, new wardrobe - throw away all greying tshirts, cobweb knickers, too-ripped jeans and all clothes covered in baby wotnot.

Only wear cool things, maybe even a heel in the day.

Definitely join the gym. Or maybe dance classes. Salsa anyone?