harvey wallbangers on ice

The Hewitts love any excuse for a get together. This weekend was my little brother's birthday, so the Hewitts came from far and wide for a day heavily loaded with pimms, cake and sarcasm. My parents both have huge families so these gatherings usually involve catering for a small army. Handily i'd only touched down on British soil a few hours before so most of the food prep had already been done. Instead i was tasked with the cocktail bar. 

Early morning DIY and fruit chopping

Hannah's Bar. 

A quick pause for the obligatory family photographs

Unfortunately i only managed to document the first hour of the 12hr do. I put it down to being distracted by Harvey Wallbanger (a crackin' fella) and a frankly brilliant cheeseboard. But if the multiple trips to the bottle bank the next day say anything, the party was a success!

Happy Birthday little bro, haven't changed a bit!

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something classy and fizzy

Tis the season to have a birthday, tra la la la la la la la la. This time it was Jess's (this time being a few weeks ago but i've been a bit lazy). Nothing beats a birthday surprise. Me and Alice had gotten our thinking hats on and decided on something classy and fizzy. All Jess knew was that at 20h00 she would meet her date outside Hermès and that she should look chic.

Avec date.

The classy part involved a fabulous wine bar called Aux Quatre Coins. Think wine bar meets vending machine (it's much cooler than i've just made it sound). You get a card, top it up with €, choose which wine you want and how much of it. Then you keep going until your card's used up and you're nice and merry. Obviously there are some great and expensive wines to taste and obviously we pumped for the cheapest. 

Then we brought the fireworks to the party. Or the party to the fireworks if you're splitting hairs.

And then in came the mojitos like the animals in Noah's ark..

Two by two!!!!!!

At this point mystery glasses of raspberry champagne appeared on the table. No mindsweeping involved, nor did we accept drinks from strangers. I'll remind you that's a health hazard. However i may have accidentally concealed a bottle of champagne on my person for when the clock struck midnight and it was officially birthday time. In hindsight this was also a health hazard. And about the point where things started to go a bit downhill..

Jess's actual birthday was a much more chilled affair. Sitting in the park, hair of the dog-ing, eating our hangover, playing cards and listening to sounds of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 00s.

When in France...

The birthday bella with her birthday baguette

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storm's a brewin (birthday pt. 2)

I'm a harper. One of those people that see something they like and then don't stop harping on about it. A couple of weeks ago i walked past this restaurant and fell a little bit in love. Blackboard walls, gingham table cloths, neon lights, nice shrubbery - everything i look for in an eatery. Lucky for me, some little birdies picked up on my harping and booked the best table in the house as a birthday surprise.

First time oyster-er. 

We shared grilled sardines, fried squid, king prawns, a herring salad and a whole lotta moules. Now i know the salad looks a bit naf. We thought the same when it arrived. But ohmygoodnessgraciousme, never judge a salad by its limited selection of crudites. This was an absolute smoked herring taste sensation.

Alice showing us her mussels

And if you haven't got an accordion serenading you whilst you eat on your (almost) birthday what have you got?

They even picked up on the fact that each day i popped into sephora to do some 'perusing' i'd come out smelling of the same scent!!

For dessert we went back to the sorbet hut and then headed down to the quais to watch the sunset.

Not even the stubborn clouds cramping the sunset's style could dampen my spirits. 

Perfect day x 1000000

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