American Girl in Chelsea

{Mummy & Me} Lunch with Annabel Karmel

Christy Osborne — Wed, 15 May 2013 10:30:10 +0000

A couple of months ago I attended a charity evening for Wellbeing of Women. I was super inspired by the organization which is dedicated to improving the lives of women and babies in the UK. Every year the charity invests in special research projects and allocates funds towards the training of specialist doctors and midwives. Wellbeing of Women has enabled some major breakthroughs in obstetrics and gynaecology.

I wanted to share this upcoming event hosted by the charity, which I thought would be especially interesting to you young moms. The lunch will be held at Fortnum & Mason and will feature a special talk by Annabel Karmel. If you have a Mini, you know who she is. I followed her books to the letter when weaning Mini-AG. Annabel will discuss how improve children’s diets, and I personally am looking forward to how she advises handling picky-eaters!

{Beauty & Exercise} Lomax Ladies Day!

Christy Osborne — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:39:17 +0000

My favorite place to take a spin class, grab a healthy lunch, and treat myself to the occasional massage, Lomax, is having a day dedicated just to us girls next Tuesday the 21s of May.

This means that all massages booked on that day are half-price. Don’t have a ton of time? You can book a 30 minute massage for just £24!

Try an anti-cellulite cupping treatment for just £30 or try a Lava Massage, which uses self-heating lava shells to ease aches and pains, for half the normal price.

The Lomax blast classes, RealRyder Spin classes (my favorite!) and the Mat Pilates classes are all just £10! It’s a great opportunity to try the classes to see if you like them.

Finally book a PT session (try Hilary!) then you’ll get a free Purelosophy smoothie.

Call to book your classes and treatments now! Or you can visit the Lomax website.

{Eat & Drink} How to Make the Perfect Eton Mess

Christy Osborne — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:36:04 +0000

I am having a little dinner party this weekend, and so fingers crossed it stays warm, because I really want to eat in our garden. And I really want to make the quintessential English dessert, an Eton Mess. So here is one of my best girlfriend’s recipes. I’ve made it before and its delicious. And so pretty too!

Ingredients:

For the Meringues:

4 egg whites

225g caster sugar

(alternatively to cheat you can buy very nice ready made meringues from M & S)

For the rest:

Two punnets of strawberries (approx 800g), hulled and halved

600ml double cream

Tablespoon of icing sugar

1. If you are going for the non-cheating option then make the meringues first as it takes a bit of time. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Separate 4 eggs and put the whites in a spotlessly clean bowl (even a tiny bit of dust can stop the egg whites whisking properly.) Whisk until soft peaks form and then add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until you have a soft satiny peaks. (Nb. I always hate throwing away the egg yolks so if I am feeling very domesticated I make some lemon curd which needs plenty of yolks.) Then pipe or spoon the mixture into little domes on silicone paper and put on the oven. As soon as you have put the meringues in turn the oven down to 140 degrees. Bake for between 1hr and 1hr 30 (depending on how chewy you like the middle) and then switch off the oven. Then leave the meringues to cool completely in the oven whilst you do the rest of the prep. The longer they stay in the oven after it is turned off the yummier they will be. Once you take the meringues out of the oven break them into bitesize bits; too small and they will get lost in the mess.

2. Next make the strawberry puree. Using a hand held processor puree half the strawberries with the tablespoon of icing sugar. (If you can be bothered proper cooks say you should sieve the seeds out but I can never be bothered and have yet to have any complaints…)

3. Then whip the cream until soft peaks form (be very careful not to overwhip as it produces the most revolting consistency, it can sometimes be saved by adding some milk but once its gets grainy all is lost…)

4. In a large mixing bowl mix together the cream, the unpureed strawberries and the broken meringues. Then swirl in half of the puree. Once this mucky bit is done put the finished product in a pretty bowl (preferably glass to show the colours) and then pour the left over puree over the top.

Tip: It is best if this is mixed together just before serving as otherwise the meringue tends to sort of melt into the cream and you lose the lovely mixture of consistencies.

Serve in lovely little glass bowls.

{Mummy & Me} The Mount Street Deli Baby Box

Christy Osborne — Tue, 07 May 2013 11:05:30 +0000

I am always on the look-out for special prezzies for those lovely lady friends of mine who are about to have babies. Recently a friend recommended The Mount Street Deli Baby Box, and so I decided to order it for a friend. The Baby Box is such a great idea. It comes with an assortment of goodies including adorable baby onesies that are wrapped up to look like cupcakes, and baby socks that are made to look like an ice-cream cone. But the best part of this hamper is definitely the culinary treats from all of the Caprice Group restaurants.

If you are a fellow-mom you know that the first several weeks you and your newborn are basically restricted to your house- trying to figure each other out, while getting no sleep. There is definitely no time to cook, or prepare snacks for your well-wishing visitors. So the Baby Box includes Postcard Earl Grey Tea, Mount Street Deli Honeycomb chocolate and homemade Granola, Lavender Shortbread from 34, assorted chocolate truffles made at Scott’s restaurant, speciality honey and Ouse Valley Raspberry Jam.

However, the best part of the Mount Street Deli Baby Box is the “First-Week-at-Home-Take-Away-Dinners” Gift Card. This entitled the recipient to take some of your favourite dishes from our restaurants home with you. (Ah, hem. Send the Husband to pick them up.) The menu includes, The Ivy shepherd’s pie, Le Caprice salmon fishcake, Daphne’s meatballs, J Sheekey fish pie, Bam-Bou green chicken curry and rice, The Mount Street Deli lasagne, and Daphne’s parmigiana as main dishes. For dessert you can choose from Daphne’s tiramisu, The Ivy seasonal fruit crumble with custard, Scott’s Bramley apple pie with custard, 34′s slow baked vanilla cheesecake with griotte cherries and cherry sauce or The Mount Street Deli lemon meringue tart! Each dish serves 2 people.

The Baby Box also includes a gift card for tea and cake for two people at the Mount Street Deli. A perfect “first-outing” for a new mom!

To read more about The MSD Baby Box here and to order yours, click here.

{Practical Tid-Bits} You need a PA?! I do.

Christy Osborne — Mon, 06 May 2013 06:00:25 +0000

My day to day is crazy, and it appears to be getting more bonkers as we go on. Right now I am writing this blog post at 6 AM while Mini-AG is asking me if I can eat her boogers for her. Super glam, huh?

Every once and a while you just need a little help. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve yelled “I need an intern!” for this blog alone. Well, Vicky Silverthorn- who has the amazing organizational and de-cluttering services via “You Need A Vicky” heard the cries from ladies (and gents) like me and decided to branch out and also create “You Need A PA.” For those of you fresh off the airplane from the States- a PA is a Personal Assistant, and what they generally call secretaries over here.

Vicky brought in Polly Hadden-Paton, who is also an ex-celebrity assistant, and they have created a pay-as-you-go PA service for those of us whose “To-Do” list is growing out of control. The work can be done virtually or on-site depending on your needs. Services include:

*General admin
*Assisting with every day life management
*Booking appointments
*Sourcing staff
*Filing and sorting clients home offices
*Arranging travel & holidays
*Personal shopping
*Arranging house moves
*and more..

I contacted Polly because I had been meaning to compile a list of all you lovely readers. Some of you subscribe to the blog posts, and others just email me with comments and questions- and your contact emails were literally all over the place. I wanted to have everyone in one space so I could personally invite you all to a 4th of July event I am going to be throwing (more on that TBA), so Polly compiled an excel spreadsheet of all my readers, subscribers, and those who have come to my events in the past. I am sure it took her several hours, hours which I just didn’t have at the time. Thanks Polly!

Polly and Vicky would also be super helpful for you AG’s that have just moved to town, or who are moving back to the States. Need help selling all those UK appliances? Need to book movers? These girls will do it all.

To read more about the “You Need a PA” services, and see their prices, click here.

{Eat, Drink & Stay} A Dinner Party at The Wellesley

Christy Osborne — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 13:10:12 +0000

On Saturday evening we celebrated my Husband’s 30th birthday at The Wellesley Hotel in Knightsbridge. I told him that we were going out to dinner just the two of us, but in reality, I had arranged his parents and brother to fly over from the States and invited his closest friends and their wives to join us for a dinner party at the new boutique townhouse.

Our friends and family gathered in the Crystal Bar and as soon as my Husband saw everyone he was shell-shocked. I HAD DONE IT. SURPRISE!

The hotel arranged a beautiful set menu for us designed by Head Chef Stefano Stecca, but we also had a selection to choose from so there was a delicious starter and a main for each guest.

The meal was delicious and there was live jazz played throughout the dinner. The singer even performed “Happy Birthday” and the entire restaurant joined in.

After our meal, the boys wanted to enjoy the vast selection of cigars that The Wellesley has to offer so we headed back the Crystal Bar and the boys took their place on one of the heated smoking terraces. Apparently the humidor at the hotel has the most exclusive and expansive selection of cigars outside of Cuba!

After the party, I had one final surprise for the Husband, I had booked a room in the gorgeous hotel so that all we had to do was stumble upstairs. We checked into our gorgeous room and fell fast asleep.

We woke up in the morning to the beautiful views of the sun shining over Hyde Park…

And ordered a delicious breakfast in bed…

It was an amazing celebration, and an lovely stay. Thank you to everyone at The Wellesley for helping me throw a wonderful dinner party!

The Wellesley

11 KNIGHTSBRIDGE LONDON SW1X 7LY TELEPHONE +44 (0) 20 7235 3535

WWW.THEWELLESLEY.CO.UK

{Beauty & Exercise} A new kind of barrecore shake….rattle, and roll…

Christy Osborne — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 09:24:39 +0000

Every so often I am faced with the difficult decision about posting about something that I love. Because it’s happened before that after blogging about something, I myself can’t get an appointment. Well last week Grazia magazine beat me to it and told the world how fabulous and fun barrecore’s new barrdance class is, and now you can barely get a spot.

Well, last weekend I woke up to an email that I had GOTTEN OFF THE WAIT-LIST! I practically ran to the studio and took my spot at the barre. Peri, one of my favorite instructors, was teaching, and made the entire hour a blast. We began by warming up with some very basic ballet moves (trust me, you DON’T need to be a ballerina to take any of the barrecore classes, or I wouldn’t be able to hang), and then spent the remainder of the time learning several choreographed segments of one long dance routine. It brought me straight back to my high school cheerleading days.

The music was pumping, and we were having so much fun most of us forgot we were actually exercising. I’m definitely working this new class into my workout routine.
Book your classes online here.

barrecore Studio, First Floor, Atlantic Court, 77 Kings Road, London SW3 4NX

Follow @barrecore on twitter.

{Shopping} Jeanography’s Fit First Time

Christy Osborne — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 08:32:16 +0000

You avid readers know that I love me some Trilogy and Donna Ida, but sometimes you don’t have time to make it into the boutique of your choice. Sometimes work and commitments get in the way and the only time to try on a new pair of jeans is in the comfort of your bedroom after the shops are closed and the kids are asleep.

Jeanography are here to help.

The online denim retailer has a service called ”Fit First Time”, where they will send you 3 pairs of jeans of your choice. After selecting the ones that you think are best on their website, a denim stylist will email you and make further suggestions based on your size and style preference. Jeanography will then send you the pairs of jeans for you to try on at home. Your selection should arrive within 1 or 2 days of ordering, and you have 7 days to make a decision on which to keep and which to return. You’ll only be charged for what you decide to keep and the rest of the jeans will be picked up your house at a time of your choosing. Brilliant I say, brilliant.

After browsing the site I chose two pairs of MIH jeans and a pair of Hudson’s to try on. Deciding that I needed a little distressed denim in my life, I went with these…

Hudson Jeans, Cortney Mid-Rise Straight Leg in Anti-Establishment. Because obviously, I am super anti-establishment.

I wore them out this past weekend with a cute Splendid t-shirt a cardigan, and ballet slippers. A little bit of prep, a lot of rock and roll!

{Fashion Friday} Chandler Carr Cleans Out Bicester Village

Christy Osborne — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 16:25:38 +0000

Today’s Fashion Friday Post is courtesy of Chandler Carr, a fellow AG, who has her own fantastic fashion-focused blog, Hot Coffee with A Straw.

Ten days ago I went on an exploration, not only venturing outside the circumference of Chelsea, but past the London City Limits. Boarding a train at Marylebone Station, I made the pilgrimage, seemingly having become mandatory for English fashionistas, and knowing visitors to the area. Bicester Village, a mere 40-minute train journey away, greeted me with chilling winds and spitting snow. Did that stop me from shopping? Goodness no! I’m a professional after all…

In fact, I shopped (with my mother by my side) till we both nearly dropped. In Bicester you will discover last season’s product at a significantly reduced price… so, needless to say, you certainly feel that you’re getting the greatest “bang for your buck”. You’ll see all of the big names, and many of the smaller ones too. I found items that I simply “couldn’t live without” at places ranging from L.K. Bennett, to Lulu Guinness; Burberry to Cath Kidston; and even bought my dad’s birthday gift well in advance at Tod’s. But, where did I really clean up? Smythson. They carry in Bicester Village all of the current styles in colors which the company has retired, and even some styles that have been replaced, as well. (read: covers for outdated phones, kindles, etc. – if you can’t seem to give up that blackberry, and want to stay chic – this is the place to go.)

Two of the additions to my Smythson collection – see more about it here.

A coin purse to keep the plethora of coins normally floating through the depths of my handbag from Lulu Guinness

But that’s not to mention all of the other shops these two ladies perused: Prada, Gucci, Ted Baker, Max Mara, Coast, Coach, Fendi, Mulberry, Marni, Valentino, and more. We did take a lunch break choosing the Grand Café Villandry, of the five restaurants on site, not to mention Starbucks too, so there is no chance of feeling famished at the cost of fashion. All in all, an extraordinary experience I would recommend to others. You could indeed also heed the lead of those who drop a child at school to head straight out the M40 and return just in time to collect their little darling after classes: be certain you have a full day blocked off, or you’ll be disappointed with your time constraints.

Might I take the chance to also mention to those of you who are fashion fiend – travel aficionado hybrids, that Value Retail (the parent company of Bicester Village) owns 7 more villages across Europe with one more to open in China within the next year. Don’t miss the other retail experiences waiting in Dublin, Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Milan, Brussels, Frankfurt, and Munich.

Happy Shopping!

About Chandler Carr:

Chandler Carr writes a fashion blog entitled “Hot Coffee with a Straw.” A native of Texas, she in fact enjoys a hot coffee every morning, with a straw. Each Wednesday she features Words of Wisdom to inspire her fellow fashion-loving readers, and each weekend she writes an editorial commentary on a style, a trend, a brand, or current event in the sartorial world. Additionally she covers the shows of both men’s and women’s fashion weeks in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. We hope you will follow the link to her blog here : www.chandlercarrblog.com.

{Mummy & Me} A Sneak Peek at Mermaid Maternity

Christy Osborne — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 15:15:15 +0000

If you’ve had babies, whether in the US or UK, you know that moment when you are discharged from the hospital and are dying for your own comforts of home but aren’t quite ready to be thrown in the deep-end yet with a new baby. You wish there was a place where you and your baby could be looked after, but that didn’t involve hospital food, and round the clock disturbances.

Well, Nick Balfour, father of four girls, has heard our cries and will be opening Mermaid Maternity on Kings Road this summer. Mermaid Maternity will offer state-of-the art accommodation and support services for women who are expecting and after they deliver. The retreat centre will offer birth preparation workshops, antenatal yoga, Pilates and exercise classes, nutritional guidance, and antenatal physiotherapy.

After the birth, Mermaid’s 14 maternity friendly bedrooms are the perfect place to recover and bond in beautiful surroundings, undisturbed by the outside world. Partners are welcome to stay and share those precious first few days and friends and family are also welcomed to visit.

All meals are served either in-room or in the welcoming restaurant / bar area, and are freshly prepared by chefs who work under the watchful eye of Mermaid’s nutritionists to ensure the food is both delicious and nutritionally balanced.

There is also a 24-hour supervised Baby Zone where baby will be expertly looked after while mum catches up on sleep or enjoys a treatment or class.

I wish Mermaid Maternity was around after my two babies were born!