Not too long now and I’ll be moving into the Bermondsey mews house. It’s unfurnished – yes! – which means I’m now going a bit nuts in the summer sales & on eBay to buy furniture and homewares. The best purchase so far? This gorgeous Designer’s Guild fabric footstool for a sweet £100 on eBay. Nice!

A weekend in Melbourne or New York would feel incomplete without brunch in a cafe somewhere; so can you believe that after more than two years here, I’d never been out for a classic English breakfast? Well, now I have. And it was well worth the wait – yesterday morning I finally had one at SOS Cafe in London.

The place is owned by an Australian to be proud of – John Torode (of Masterchef fame) – the food was simple, classic stuff.  I had the number 2 – poached eggs, sausage, bacon, beans and toast. Tasty! The best bit was the atmosphere and staff -  totally warm, friendly and unpretentious. Just like the person I had breakfast with. I think I have found my No. 1 breakfast place in London!

Somewhat ashamedly, I think the fact that I LOVED this TV show ‘A Small Wonder’ when I was a little girl says a lot about who I’ve become today.

Yes, ladies and gentleman – meet Vicky, the robot child of a squeaky-clean all-American family in the 80s. I wanted to be her.

It’s soon to be the end of the garden flat

Katie is off to Zurich with her job, and I’m off to a lovely little mews house in Bermondsey (thanks to Jeff). To soften the blow of our cohabitation in London coming to an end, the most fabulous Miss Dinon organised for us – and a couple of handfuls of her closest friends – to spend two weeks in the sun in September.

Katie and Cassandra are hosting their 30th birthday party in a gorgeous villa named Chateauneuf de Grasse, near Antibe, and I’m going for ten whole days!

How about hells yeah?

The full collection of glamour shots are here – http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/France/Cote-dAzur–Riviera/holiday-villa-Grasse/p17445.htm#wrapper

Love this – can’t stop listening to it!

Right. So I don’t usually talk work on here, but I am aware of the guidelines for communication and talking about the BBC in public, so here goes. I’ve been working in Audio & Music Interactive for the last six months, it’s been such a fascinating experience, I felt I had to write about some of it. Soon I’ll be producing an internal “knees up” event and the plan is to do something around the theme Innovation.

Preaching innovation to a bunch of very talented interactive producers is going to be a tough one. The stuff they create each and every day is about the most innovative stuff out there – to name a few – the new Radio 1 Chart, Glastonbury website, and Big Mexican Wave (a much nicer way to celebrate the World Cup than those stupid Vuvuzela things – yes, I’m on that team).

Some things that have crossed my path while doing research have reminded me just how much more I’ve got to learn – and that’s exciting. I’ve seen some very cool stuff like this walk, IDEO, Engine, or this great talk by David Byrne over on the TED website. These might not form part of our final event, but it’s good to see so many possibilities. I hope to report back later on how it went and what else we discovered along the way.

p.s. I’ve been listening to these great mixes by the healing arts while researching… checkit.

Deadly Rhythm @ Plan B- 25th June

Present Kode 9′s K7 DJ Kicks Launch Party!

Featuring:

Room 1:
Kode 9
Hudson Mohawke
Rustie
Paul White
Deadly Rhythm Soundsystem

Room 2
Lil Silva
The Heatwave
Hard House Banton
Lego (Bricks)

http://www.plan-brixton.co.uk/

I haven’t been out dancing for aaaages. The hangovers kill me too much, and anything that resembles a night bus does as well. But I’m going to this – it looks like a great lineup. Take that Siddiq! xx

Lucky you, Melbourne peeps! The lovely Virginia Martin has opened her first Bul store – a haven of gloriously beautiful tailored clothing that are as charming as the woman herself.

Find it at:
Level 3
Curtin House
252 Swanston St
Melbourne
t: 03 9663-0390
curtinhouse@bul.com.au

Here’s the appeal for me; I can’t wear shoes with massive heels – and sadly that’s what is mostly on offer these days. But Bul’s collection is perfect for life in the city, sensible yet beautiful. These shoes are destined to be a keeper – especially when teamed with Bul’s tailored coat, oversized cable knit cardie, and pretty dresses. Lush!

When so much fashion (especially in London) is OTT, it’s refreshing to see something that looks like it’d actually be comfortable, as well as super stylish.

Maybe I’ll see a collection at Liberty of London soon? I want!

This weekend I visited Zurich for the first time, and I’ve instantly fallen in love with the city. It does help that it was an unusually sunny and beautiful 27c on both days, but still – the place is gorgeous in every way. It’s noticeably lacking in hawkers, rubbish and unsavory humans; instead teeming with happy types, cute little independently-owned cafes and bars. It’s  lush with trees, and then it’s got THAT lake. It was perfect for what I love to do most – eat, wander, drink, chat, nap… repeat as desired.

After a quick glass of Perrier Jouet in our suite (with terrace!) we headed out to dinner at Restaurant Seerose, right on the lake. We ate all manner of delicious seafood and met some lovely Zurich locals at the next table. One of these gorgeous locals has the most envious job of all time – he travels the world making over hotels. His latest project is the Hotel Eden Au Lac, a palace of a building right on the lake. We went back there and enjoyed a cocktail on the hidden roof terrace that has views of the city and lake – divine.

The next day just got better with some lovely macaroons from Sprungli, a wander through the flea market, a walk around the lake AND a bratwurst! That evening saw the BEST steak sandwich ever (I’m suspecting it’s all in the chive and garlic butter…) from the Park Hyatt, and a visit to Katie’s soon to be new house.

Zurich – what’s not to love?!

Lately I’ve been a bit lazy about using my digital camera. Taking photos with it is fine, but it’s the plugging in to my ancient MacBook, dealing with Picasa taking 10 minutes to load, then downloading the photos, then editing etc.. Le Sigh. I’ll just use the iPhone instead. Even if the picture quality is a bit crap.

I hear there are apps out there to make iPhone pictures look fabulous – anyone care to email me to give me some pointers? clareATbellaphonicstudiosDOTcom