My eldest brother lives with his wife and kids by Union square in New York. They’ve just finished renovating a loft that is now available for rent. It looks absolutely amazing. Hats off to them (it was primarily my sister in law who project managed this – congratulations Harriette!). If you’re travelling to New York anytime soon, it’s worth having a look. Just click here.

Here are a few pictures to give you an idea what it’s like. Next time we’re in New York, I know where we’ll be staying….

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We spent last weekend with friends in the New Forest where they have a second home. We went for walks in the forest where horses roam freely. There were lots of foals which we all loved seeing (we even encountered foals standing in the middle of the road a couple of times). We also went for a long walk on the very quiet beaches. We visited quaint old villages and the kids did some horse riding. The weather continuously went from one extreme to the other, gorgeous sunshine one hour followed by a downpour the next. We all caught some sun as well as got absolutely soaked. It is an absolutely beautiful area, one we will definitely come back to. Our friends thoroughly spoiled us with delicious food, drinks and spending time together. All in all, when it was Sunday evening, nobody wanted to go home.

A big thank you to our friends X

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Good friends of ours started dating when they were 17. Now, 25 years later, they are happily married with four children. To celebrate their 25 years together they invited friends to join them in Tuscany, Italy last weekend. So we took a few days off and had a four day mini break.

When we arrived in Pisa, we hired a Cabrio car which was perfect as we had great weather and the roof top down all days. The first day we spent roaming through Lucca. Throughout the trip we used the TripAdvisor mobile app endlessly to find great restaurants and places to visit. On our first night, via the app, we found a fabulous restaurant in Lucca. Excellent food and fabulous service. We enjoyed a bottle of wine called “Sebastiano” which we couldn’t resist as our second son is called Sebastian. The next day we drove the wine and olive oil route through Northern Tuscany. We got lost endlessly but it was only for the good as it is such a beautiful area and we ended up in beautiful villages where it felt like time had stood still.

In the evening the first party of our friends took place. It was very relaxed and great fun seeing people we know from our university days but also friends from London now. The dress code was informal so I wore a cream bohemian dress. All was good until just after 1am when someone bumped into me and a very large glass of red wine went all over my dress. Miraculously, we’ve managed to get the stains out.

The following day a group of us went to the seaside town called Forte dei Marmi. We strolled through the markets and shopping area and then had a late lunch on the beach. It is so gorgeous there, it was difficult to leave but we had to get back to the hotel in time for the second party – a more formal one where the dress code was black tie.

In the evening we all went to our friends’ party which they hosted outside the gorgeous villa they were staying in. We were all spoilt, drinks by the pool followed by a delicious dinner, dancing and fireworks. It was a fantastic night for everyone.

The next day we had a few hours in Lucca and then drove back to Pisa for our flight back home.

Even though we were only away for four days, it felt like a week holiday.

Thank you to our friends for getting us all together and letting us join in your celebrations (and spoiling us all). Here’s to your next 25 years, may they be as happy as the past.

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Last weekend we were invited to a fabulous party in Holland for my cousin’s birthday. We decided to take half a day on Friday and first go to Bruges in Belgium for a mini weekend and then on to the party Saturday evening. We left the office Friday midday and drove to Bruges via the Euro Tunnel. Four and a half hours later, we arrived in Bruges. It’s one of our favourite places. We stayed at the Pand Hotel where we had a gorgeous room overlooking the rooftops.

Before we set out for a walk around the town we had some tea which came with all kinds of delicious things. We then spent a few hours walking around the town and we were lucky it was a gorgeous day. Every 3^rd shop seems to be a chocolaterie, they love their chocolate! In the evening we had a gorgeous dinner followed by a walk again through Bruges. It really is beautiful. The next day we did some shopping and spent an hour in Het Bruges Theehuis (the Bruges tea shop). We left with bags of different kinds of tea. And then we went off to the party which was fabulous! A perfect weekend.

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On Friday Geoff and I flew to Amsterdam to spend a weekend with family. Before going to the airport we thought we would pop by the warehouse and bring cake to everyone working there so that they would share in the birthday celebrations. When we were on our way to the warehouse it was absolutely pouring down with rain and everybody was driving at a snail’s pace. Worried that we would miss our flight we changed our plans and decided to drive straight to the airport rather than visit the warehouse first. We had a very big pear tart with us that we didn’t want to just throw away so we packaged it well and took it to Amsterdam with us. We arrived at the airport too early and after we had checked in and gone through security we saw that our flight was delayed. Not by 10 or 20 minutes but by over 2 hours… Fortunately we had our iPhones, iPad and books with us and so we sat down in Pret A Manger and spent hours drinking tea. Once in Amsterdam we quickly dropped off our things, put the cake in the fridge and headed off for dinner. We stayed at the House of Finer which I wrote about last year here . Due to the delay we were late for dinner but fortunately no one minded too much and we had a lovely evening.

The next day we had planned a relaxed evening at Froukje and Andre’s house and so we went out and about in Amsterdam and bought shopping for the dinner that evening. In the cheese shop we must have tasted around 10 different cheeses. I took a few pictures of some of the shops. Late afternoon it poured down so we lit the fireplace, made a huge pot of tea and watched a film together called C.R.A.Z.Y. Not exactly a light hearted film but a very good one. Quite a few tears. Afterwards we had a delicious dinner cooked by Andre and enjoyed various wines he had selected. Sunday morning we had breakfast and then we flew back to London. A short but fantastic weekend in Amsterdam.

P.s. we totally forgot about the pear tart in the fridge so Froukje has taken it to her daughter who has just gone off to University and is settling in to her new student house. I think she has 15 female flat mates so hopefully they’ll enjoy it.

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