The sappiest of sappy posts incoming…
Jack and I recently celebrated our 10-year anniversary (so grown-up, right?!) with a trip to London.
We stayed in the Belvedere Hotel, a great base with amazing customer service. It’s lovely to stay in fancy hotels but I prefer to save my money for the activities I want to do while I’m away and this budget hotel is close to Hyde Park, Paddington station and two Greene King pubs if you’re looking to save money on food.
I apparently was not in a mood to save money because we went to the highly instagrammable Elan Cafe on our first day. I had the eggs florentine which is always tasty but Elan managed to make it beautiful too!
Often these cafes are style over substance but the food here was delicious. We went to the Brompton Road cafe which is about a 20 minute walk from Victoria coach station (another money saving tip - coaches are so much cheaper than trains!).
Once we’d checked into our hotel we went for a walk in nearby Hyde Park.
I’m wearing my Sloane skirt from Pretty Affluent (I actually walked along Sloane Street in it!) with my slouchy cream ASOS jumper to make it more casual. Obviously in London you want shoes you can walk in so I wore my snake-print ankle boots from Tory Burch. I completed the look with my white lacy tights from Natori. I loved how they looked but I wouldn’t wear them for a day walking again as they pressed into my feet and got quite uncomfortable as the day went on!
For the theatre, I really dressed up since it’s such a special anniversary for us. I wore the Cher bardot dress from Silkfred with a pair of Principles heels that I got off of eBay and Jack wore his blue tweed Marc Darcy suit (in true Jack style, he’s paired it with a dragonfly-print shirt and a fish tie).
Look at me trying and failing to channel Angelina Jolie!
If I were to wear this dress again I think I would pair it with a red lip as my makeup was nonexistent by this point and a bold red lippy would have made the look more coherent. I was so proud of myself for how far I walked in those heels though - I’m very out of practice these days.
The Book of Mormon was hilarious and we were in the mood for drinks afterwards. This meant I felt a little groggy for Kew Botanical Gardens the next day…
What a serene spot! I’ve never been to Kew before and now I wish I lived in London so I could go every Sunday! I honestly felt so zen which is not a word I would ever normally associate with the city.
I knew we were expecting rain (always check the weather when packing for a weekend away!) so I wore my trusty green shirt dress from Shein. Midi dresses are surprisingly temperature regulating! They’re long enough to add extra warmth but also keep you cool on hotter days. And it gets very hot in Kew’s greenhouses.
I paired my dress with the same Tory Burch ankle boots but let’s not forget I was in stilettos the night before! Luckily I had a little pair of fold-up flats with me so I was able to swap shoes when my feet started aching.
My essentials for a weekend in London:
- A pretty umbrella
- Fold-up flat shoes
- Portable phone charger
- Nail file
- The perfect red lipstick
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