My friend Jodes and I have been friends for 10 years, we didn't realize it had been so long until it dawned on us that we started university where we met in 2003... Yes guys I'm 29 and yes it's been 10 years!
We decided we wanted to have some sort of celebration, so decided on a girls weekend away to London. Lucky for us London Fashion Weekend was on so combining that and our friendiversary was the sure start for a wonderful weekend. We decided we'd stay in the Travelodge Southwark which is only a few stops away from Somerset House, plus it would be a prime location for other top places in London we wanted to visit.
After a hectic week at work I got my train to London where I arrived to meet Jodes. We haven't seen each other since the Clothes Show in December, how awful is that?! Life just seems to have swept us both a long without realising it. We knew we were on a tight schedule so both of us had pre-planned our outfits for the evening. We were heading to Dirty Martini in Covent Garden for some cheeky cocktails, nibbles and a good gossip.
The hotel was really easy to find from Southwark station, literally crossed over the road, walked a little bit and we were there. We checked in to our huge rooms, ideal for for ladies like us that regardless of how long we were staying away for we packed the world! It gave us enough space to sort through everything. The room was spotless and perfect for our kind of trip, we wanted something clean and easy to get to but would only be there to rest our heads.
Dressed up and ready to go, me and Jodes left the Travelodge Southwark and headed to Covent Garden. Around the piazza is always busy in the day but it was great to see how buzzzing it still was. We headed down the stairs to Dirty Martini to find a table with a reserved sign for us.
The staff was so friendly and attentive that it made us feel really special.
We dived straight into the menu and I chose a delicious French Martini; Absolut Vodka shaken with Chambord raspberry liqueur and fresh pineapple juice, whilst Jodes went for a Chocolate Martini;Absolut Vanilla Vodka, Frangelico hazelnut liqueur, Crème de Cacao shaken with cream and cocoa.
I have never tasted any drink quite like it... as for Jodes hers was like desert in a class!
During our first set of cocktails we ordered a platter to nibble on as we hadn't had much to eat, you can get a sharing board and we went for mediterranean board which had; Parma ham, salami and Spanish chorizo, char grilled flat breadswith pesto hummus, caper berries, marinated artichokes & olives. Yum Yum!
For our second cocktail I decided to hop across the menu (there are so many to chose from it took me around 10 minutes to pick!) to look at what else was on offer.
You could select from the following:
The Martinis
The Dirty Designs
Prosecco Based
Skinny Cocktails
Contemporary Classics
The Classics
I went for the Elderflow Fizz; Elderflower liqueur and Peychaud’s Bitters, topped with Prosecco and Jodes went for the Cherry Blossom Martini; Beefeater Gin and Cherry Herring liqueur shaken with fresh raspberries, lemon juice and gomme syrup.
Prices for cocktails start from £8.50, but you really do get what you pay for as these are just delicious!
The time spent at Dirty Martini was fantastic and I'd highly reccommend it. It's perfect for having cocktails with the girls and maybe a few nibbles! There was a mixture of people there, some ready to start their night and others who were just finishing their after work Friday drinks. The beauty of a bar like this is that it's a happy inbetween venue, where you can get dressed up and having wonderful drinks without it being just a bar or just a nightclub.
After our tasty cocktail treats we jumped back on the tube and headed back to the hotel. We had a big day to look forward to for London Fashion Weekend so wanted to get some well needed beauty sleep!
After a beautiful night sleep me and Jodes hopped on the tube to Somerset House. We had a catwalk show at 12.30 but want to get straight into the London Fashion Weekend pop-up shops. We got to Somerset House and collected our LFWend show bags, full of goodies from the likes of label.m, BeautyUK, Maybelline and many more!
I wanted all the items I laid my eyes on!
The pop-up shops had lots to offer with collections of upcoming designers, vintage classics and must-have bargains. We loved walking around Somerset House and seeing all the stunning items for sale, the great thing about Fashion Weekend is that unlike Fashion Week you can actually buy some amazing items.
Next on out fashion agenda was going into the Trend Show to see what was going to be hot this season. I had already seen the newly designed BFC Showspace whilst I was at fashion week, but seeing it again made me realize what a great layout it was.
First up on the trend list was Pretty In Pink. I'm such a girlie girl so anything pink is my best friend, so finding out it would be in this season I was extremely happy about. Lots of bold pinks went down the catwalk but my particular favourties were the stunning winter coat, and pleated print maxi skirt in the photos above.
Next was Back To Nature, displaying earthy tones, animals prints, textured fabrics and faux fur additions to items. This collection was perfect for AW and was my favorite by far.
Bold colours and geometric inspired prints in monochrome and 60's color combinations. I can see the appeal to this collection but for me this is too much and comes across quite hard.
Last but not least was Victoriana which was all classically designed pieces in black and lace. High necks with buttons and lots of lace this collection was quite obviously inspired by outfits worn in the Victorian times but these had their modern interpretation.
After the show we went out into Somerset House Courtyard for a bit of StreetStyle.
I'm wearing:
Jacket - Miss Selfridge Biker Seam Jacket
Trousers - Next Floral Trousers
Bag - Fiorelli Vivi Grab Leather Bag
Bangle - Accessorize Black Gem Cuff
Necklace - Accessorize Black Plaited Necklace
There you have it my friendiversary weekend with Jodes!
Shopping, fashion and cocktails?! It was amazing!
Have you caught up with your friends recently? Did you go to London Fashion Weekend?
xoxo