Ringing in NYE 2015 at Home!

I have been a bit quiet around here this past week, since taking some time off before Christmas, I have really truly just been relaxing! Mr. Beau and I stayed in London for Christmas. My in laws visited and we ate a lot, went to Westminster Abbey for Christmas Eve service, drank lots of yummy champagne, did some shopping, went to see the Nutcracker, took a long walk, all in all, it was a nice Christmas. I missed my family in the States a lot, but the thought of not having to deal with Christmas travel was quite nice. Now that Christmas has flashed by, it is time to ring in the New Year ahead of and with some style! With such a fun filled busy year behind us, I think we may be celebrating at home with lots of bubbly and confetti at our own place. A few weeks ago I put together a few ideas on entertaining at home and added in lots of sparkle from West Elm and styled it with lots of glitter from me. 

Just because you are hosting a small at home party, does NOT mean your guests should not dress in sparkles and dance the night away! Jennifer with Jennifers Paper made me the pretty NYE invites to make the small get together a bit more formal and get guests excited. 

 I put together little bags for guests to bring home that included: homemade espresso doughnuts, chocolate champagne bottles, notepads to write down your dreams & wishes for 2016 and of course sparkly noisemakers for the bash! 

Happy Hour : Winter Spice Fizz

What a week I have had! I can tell you now, I can't wait to have a cocktail and celebrate the Christmas season! With a HUGE event behind me and lots of work going on with Glimmer & Threads  I am so ready for a break today and to take in the holidays!!! A couple of weeks ago I made some homemade citrus mulling syrup and created a cocktail with it. It is such an easy recipe, its tasty and it makes your home smell delicious! The beautiful Maxeen Kim was there to capture the pictures with yummy gingerbread cookies mixed into the afternoon. Find the recipe below. I hope that you find a little time over the next few days to make yourself a cocktail and toast the holiday season. 

Citrus Mulling Syrup 

250g of granulated sugar

2 oranges halved

6 whole cloves

6 whole allspice

2 cinnamon sticks

1/4 nutmeg grated

fresh ginger sliced

water

1. Put all of the ingredients in a saucepan with 1 Litre of water and bring slowly to a simmer. 

2. Make sure all ingredients have completely dissolved, allowing it to boil and turn down the heat. 

3. Allow to simmer for latest 20 minutes, longer to keep a delicious smell in your kitchen! 

4. Remove from heat to cool. Once cooled completed put it through a very fine sieve. 

5. Add a tablespoon of syrup, top with champagne and garnish with a sliced apple. 

 I think the mulling syrup also works as a great gift for a host. Bottle some syrup up and add the bottle with a bottle of champagne and tie a little recipe around the bag, voila. 

 

 Cheers! Merry Christmas! xoxo - Rebecca

{all photos by Maxeen Kim Photography | Styling by Me! Urban Flip Flops | Champagne Flutes by Waterford} 

A Sparkly Girlfriends Christmas Brunch

A few months ago West Elm asked me if I wanted to style some items for the Christmas season, well, what do you think I said....absolutely! West Elm has LONG been one of my favorite home decor stores. When I received an email from them I thought, who me? Really, of course I will style your products, of course! So with Christmas around the corner, and a reason to invite girlfriends over for a festive sparkly brunch, I sprinkled in West Elm products alongside glittery sequins and pink flowers. Today I am sharing with you the over all sparkling details and I will also be posting detailed recipes as the week goes on. I hope that this excites some inspiration for you when thinking of what to do with your friends during the Christmas season! Get dressed up and host a brunch of course! The talented Sanshine Photography stopped by to capture all of the images and with sunshine coming through the window, was able to get some stunning photos for the day! Enjoy the photos. 

 For a vase on the table I used one of West Elm's porcelain hurricane's. Buy the largest size hurricane and place a smaller vase inside the hurricane, to create an easier way to arrange your flowers. I also added a few platinum rim stemless wine glasses for some smaller bud vases around my flat. I have always believed in using what you have at your hose. Small glasses, jam jars, old bottles, they all make wonderful flower vases! Mixed in with the table linen from Glimmer & Threads and mercury votives, I think the table looked beautiful, pink and festive for the holiday season.

Even #siroliver added his fanciest of season attire on.......a stripey bow tie, he is just too cute.

Below are a few little suggestions on hosting your girlfriends for a festive brunch:

Send out an invitation!: It is a crazy time of the year where things do not seem to slow down, but there is nothing like a small get together of your favorite ladies on a winter day to catch up and laugh with. Jennifer's Paper created my beautiful stationery items, including the invitation. Who doesn't like to receive an invite in the mail!

 Create a drinks station: I chose to create three pre made cocktails where all my guests had to do was add champagne, easy and delicious. The syrups and cocktails may require you a bit more work to make ahead of time, but on the day, it will not take long to set up and will be a nice option for your guests.

Planning your Christmas Season

YAY! It is Christmas time! I absolutely LOVE this time of year! Christmas songs have been blaring on our speakers all weekend, I am writing a huge list of ingredients for Christmas cookies to bake  and the flat is decorated with lots and lots of Christmas sparkle {haha, because of this photoshoot it has partially been up since October! Weird blog photoshoot world!} That being said, with so many get togethers and activities during the season, not to count that I have one of the biggest high profile events I have had coming up mid way through the Christmas season, it is fun, but also a little stressful. Mr. Beau has made me promise to take care of myself and schedule "me time" during the season. It may sound silly, but it is so important. Sometimes you can get so caught up in saying YES to get togethers, shopping, entertaining etc. the fun becomes stressful. This Christmas I decided to make myself a plan for the month ahead to keep myself sane and enjoy it. Here are a few tips....

1. Sweat! - At the beginning of each week I have sat down Sunday night and scheduled in and signed up for my gym classes. I am still LOVING my Class Pass membership and it is great because so many options are available for me to get in a good workout at any time I can manage to squeeze in. Some of my favorite classes recently are: 1Rebel Reshape | Ten Pilates Beginners Reformer | David Lloyd Orange Theory   | Swift Fitness Bootcamp in Highbury Fields. Exercise, it is important and makes me feel way less stressed and better! 

2. Rest! - This weekend some of our plans were canceled and that was ABSOLUTELY fine with me. We slept in a bit, read a new silly book in bed with a mug of coffee, went to the flower market, watched Netflix wrapped in my new West Elm Faux Fur Throw and Yawn Sleep Socks , all while relaxing a bit. It was nice to really unwind during such a full on week.  

Working Women : Charlotte Mills

I love starting my week with a bit of inspiration! Over the past couple of years I have shared some amazing and inspiring women here on the blog in the series of Working Women. I find myself learning so much from women's personal stories of how they started their business, the least favorite part of running their business to their favorite bloggers and instagrammers they like to follow! Today I am excited to be featuring the lovely Charlotte with Charlotte Mills Bridal Shoes. I discovered Charlotte's gorgeous line of shoes soon after my wedding day and was lucky enough to feature them in a shoot I styled   last year. Charlotte's shoes are playful and fun and also gorgeous and beautiful. Keep on reading to hear how Charlotte started her shoe line to what is on the horizon. And if you are looking for a pair of shoes for you big day or maybe even a night out, make sure to head over to the site! 

{image by The Wedding Stylist}

When did you start your business?

I started in September 2013 and Launched the first collection in April 2014

{image by: Jonny Draper Link} 

How did you get started with opening an online shop?

My friend had worked on website builds and had lots of great contacts, firstly I came up with some initial ideas and then passed these over to my amazing developer. We are constantly changing the site. Its such a vital part of the business, every few months we have meetings where we go through the site and look at ways we can improve it. A lot of work also goes on behind the scenes to make the site work for the business side of things.

What advice do you have for younger women looking to start their own business?

Do it, follow your heart! But to succeed its hard work, you need to be prepared to give it your everything. It’s the best decision I ever made and I'm doing what I truly love everyday. No more Sunday night dread, it is exciting going in to work on a Monday morning.

Also there is so much help out there, don’t be afraid to ask. My local council and the goverments start up loan initiatives have been a great support.

{image by The Wedding Stylist}