Favorite Gift #5: A Lee Klabin Dress

Isn't this dress gorgeous? It's by Lee Klabin and was given to me by the lovely Alice. Though I'll have to rock it with some serious Spanx, it fits perfectly otherwise and is something I will definitely be bringing out once the weather gets a little warmer (i.e. Spring/Summer 2012). And since I have a few weddings to attend next year, this dress will do quite the trick.

My favorite part is the shoulder detail - here's a closeup:

It's incredibly quirky and beautiful, which is exactly what I love. Lucky me!

Favorite Gift #4: Birthday Dinner at Yauatcha

It's been a while since John and I have returned to Yauatcha, the brainchild of restauranteur Alan Yau (Hakkasan, anyone?), but it remains a firm favorite on our list of special places to eat.  I was, admittedly, a tad disappointed with my most recent visit, which was - oh, probably over a year ago - when it seemed that the chefs were more concerned with painstakingly shaping the har gau dim sum into animal shapes rather than using quality ingredients.  

But I'm happy to report that this had all changed when I went for my birthday meal with John this weekend: the prawns in the har gau were plump and fresh (minus the unnecessary bunny rabbit shape, thank goodness), the wrapping was paper thin, and the other steamed dim sum we ordered was worthy of Yauatcha fame (though, bizarrely, I noticed the chopsticks were now disposable and not dissimilar to those of a Chinese takeaway - not befitting of the type of establishment Yauatcha sets itself out to be, surely).  Another warning when being seated in the main dining room is how close in proximity you sit with your fellow diners, all the more opportunities for eager eyes to sneak surreptitious (or in our case, it was rather open gawking) glances at what you've ordered.

John and I selected a series of dim sum dishes, which included the prawn har gau (delicious), pork and prawn shu mai (a bit bland), char siu buns (John's favorite and a childhood favorite of mine as well), chiu chow vegetarian dumplings (the highlight and also named after the region my father is from), deep fried soft shell crab (over seasoned and over populated with a nut garnish), prawn and chive dumplings (beautifully encased in a green wrapper), served with a pot of white tea.  It was clear that Yauatcha had returned to its roots of preparing and producing high quality dim sum with fresh ingredients in a sleek, cool (at points, a little too cool) environment.

Though our stomachs were groaning with over-indulgence by the time all our bamboo steamers were cleared, we couldn't resist our sweet tooths and ordered two macaroons to share for dessert, as a small compromise.  Yauatcha, as well as for its Asian cuisine, is also famous for its incredibly crafted confectionery and cakes.  One visit to the sweet bar at the front of the restaurant will have you turning up your nose at sticky toffee pudding (though that would never happen to me).  

This was the perfect and sweetest ending to a wonderful birthday - courtesy of the ever-wonderful John.  

Favorite Gift #2: An Indulgent Birthday Cake

In my previous job, the birthday person was responsible for bringing in her own cake or treats and the department would sign a joint card, which I thought was perfectly fair and a nice practice.  However at my current office, not only did my manager present me with this decadent "curly wurly" chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting from Kastner & Ovens, but I also received several cards throughout the day and a lovely bouquet of tulips (!!!).  We enjoyed this with a cup of tea later on in the afternoon and I've been eating leftovers for breakfast ever since ...

Favorite Gift #1: Longchamp Balzane Wallet

On the morning of my birthday, I woke up to find the beautifully gift wrapped package above from John nestled next to me on my pillow.  And inside, was this:

I don't know about you, but I personally think it's pretty damn beautiful.  This is the wallet from Longchamp's newest collection, Balzane, and it also comes in black, dark green and red.  The first time I saw this wallet displayed in the New Bond Street store, I think I gasped audibly - I thought it was the most beautiful wallet I'd seen, beating even the classic Mulberry continental wallet I'd been originally lusting after.  Ladies and gentlemen, I fell in love.  John saw me drooling over it and must have taken note, since weeks later, I was busy transferring all my loyalty cards over from my now retired Ted Baker model.

Sorry, TB - it was time for an upgrade.

I felt guilty about this extravagant gift, but then again ... not guilty enough to return it!

It's My Birthday and I'll Brag If I Want To

So, for some reason, just because it's, you know, my birthday and all, means that I get some truly fabulous cards and totally fantastic presents.  Huh!  Who knew???  I'm so excited about these presents that I'll spend the next few posts highlighting some of my favorites.  Needless to say, I'm feeling very spoiled.  And also very lucky.

Happy ThanksChristmas: An Angloyankophile Holiday

So I know Thanksgiving is, like, way over with, but technically, I can still write about the feast I had last weekend because it wasn't Thanksgiving, but rather, ThanksChristmas (which I briefly explained below).

But first, I forced my British co-workers to acknowledge Thanksgiving last Thursday by circulating an email of an image of Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving at approximately 8:59 a.m., prompting a flurry of polite emails wishing me a happy Thanksgiving and tea-time talk that involved everyone asking me how I was going to celebrate.  I also guilt-tripped everyone into acknowledging the American holiday by bringing in a dozen Krispy Kremes (they're American, right?) and sharing them on my floor. Then I had to explain ThanksChristmas to a few people and how I was making candied yams/sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top while they looked politely interested and fascinated while inside they were probably retching with disgust.  It was awesome.

So here's what we made for side dishes at Alison's house:

See?  Totally Anglo-American.  Sweet potato casserole (with obligatory marshmallows), green bean casserole (with obligatory fried onion rings - and NOT from a can, might I add, though I can't take credit for them), mashed potatoes, roast potatoes, and roast parsnips.  Though we had two types of cranberry sauce (a luxury), I did slightly miss the traditional American cranberry sauce in a can that comes out all can-shaped and is served in slices.

Then for dessert, pumpkin pie:

It doesn't look as good as the one I made last year, nor does it look particularly appetizing here, I must admit, but it was pretty satisfactory taste-wise, and we topped it off with some hand-whipped cream.  Alison also made some lovely chocolate mousses, served with whiskey-infused blackberries.  Delish.

Afterwards, we did the Thanksgiving/Christmas thing of sitting around with indigestion, watching TV and playing games (against each other albeit on our respective iPhones/iPad).  It was the perfect ThanksChristmas.

Burp.

(Excuse me).

Happy Thanksgiving! Love, Waitrose

I was touched - I repeat, touched - that Waitrose devoted this rather large basket prominently placed in the baking aisle to Libby's pumpkin pie filling.  This could be that I was also in a bit of a panic mode when remembering that I had committed to making said pie for our ThanksChristmas dinner this Saturday.  Yes, I said ThanksChristmas - since John and I will be rockin' around the Christmas tree in Washington and Tom and Cristy will be dreaming of a white Christmas in Oz come December 25th, Alison came up with the great idea of celebrating two holidays at once in Leicester this weekend.  Sweet potato casserole topped with marshmallows, I'm so making YOU.

I'm excited to force everyone to eat my disgusting but wonderfully tasty American concoctions.  Pumpkin pie trumps Christmas pudding any day.