Brunch New York Style

It's a cold and rainy Saturday morning and brunch calls, so dance through the rain to TriBeCa!

When it's blowing a gale outside there's nothing better than a knitted polo. I've found myself wearing this one constantly throughout the Winter. The black, fine-knit makes me feel a little like the fabulous Audrey Hepburn - or I at least like to pretend I can be as chic. I'm hunting for the perfect grey version as well, so that I can be as snug as a bug all the time.

Black over the knee boots are perfect for when the weather outside is frightful! The gold buckle on these add a little detail, and I must admit I've had so many compliments on these pair whenever I've worn them. People always expect them to be from an expensive brand, but I actually found them in New Look. They are perfect for when the weather isn't so cheery.

Pop on a pair of jeans and a gold chain and you're pretty much sorted! But don't forget to drap a tartan scarf round your neck for an extra bit of cosy indulgence. This is actually a mans scarf, but always check out the men's section when looking for a scarves you can find some pretty great ones and I love this one as the tartan colours are a little more muted.


So off we trotted to TriBeCa.

"The Original New York Kitchen"began it's life in 2003 when a chef returned from New York to Glasgow and wanted to bring some of the American spirit with him. And lets be honest no-one does Brunch better than the New Yorkers!

The West End TriBeCa that I've visited before is a small cafe on Dumbarton road - easily spotted by the queue spilling out the door, everyone with rumbling tummies, preparing to be filled to the brim. The NYPD Cruiser marks the spot and you are welcomed into a "little slice of the Big Apple".

I was pretty chuffed when I found out TriBeCa was taking over a new spot, just off Gibson Street, in a premise with a lot more space, meaning the huge queue wouldn't be an issue! The Dumbarton Road cafe definitely seems to be trying to replicate a grungy, downtown vibe - it does feel different and like a unique little spot in the city. With this is mind I was slightly disappointed with the decor in the new spot and felt it could be given a bit more signature style.

The menu, however, didn't disappoint. And we poured over the 'Merican style menu of bright red, white and blue. I'd been craving a hot chocolate and loved the bold black cup and saucer it arrived in with the TriBeCa brand on the outside, to be honest I quite fancied one if my own! But I couldn't help but get food envy when a truly magnificent milkshake arrived opposite me - look at the sprinkles!

After indulging my cravings for a deliciously sweet chocolately drink a huge plate of french toast, bacon and a generous helping of maple syrup appeared in front of me. You definitely get a taste of New York portion-size! It was all amazing, but take it slowly, this is a marathon not a sprint and I didn't want to leave a morsel!

It's a really nice place to while away a rainy morning and although I do think the decor could do with a bit of Big Apple magic, I love all the cute touches, like the jelly beans in the heart with your bill. I'll be back for more as soon as the food coma lifts!


Polo - H&M

Jeans - Miss Selfridge

Boots - New Look

Scarf - Primark (mens)

Necklace - Primark

Insta-Week

There's been lots of Christmas prep and festive times happening!


A little #tbt to a fabulous holiday last January. Every year Wengen holds the Lauberhorn FIS Ski World Cup and it's a whole load of amazing MAYHEM! The beers start at 8.30am in the queue and you carry on from there with sloe gin and dancing. We headed up a bit earlier in the week to get some practice in first and pretend that we could be competing (ehhmmm maybe not...) However the party atmosphere catches up with you and sometimes the beers prove distracting!

Last week I spent a Friday night in the iconic place - the Barrowlands! You know you're going to have a good night when you see that sign lit up the night sky. We went to see The Vatersay Boys - a traditional band that ask you to get ready to "project yourself into insanity!" And believe me, most people do! It's an amazing mixture of ages from old to young and everyone ceilidh dances or goes "insane" when their showstopper, The Rammy comes on. I recommend you see them if you get a chance!

Christmas lunches call for sparkles don't they? Of course they do! I caught up with some friends from school over an overwhelmingly, deliciously filling Christmas lunch, and at this time of year you can't go wrong with a bit of daytime sparkle so I popped the sequins on along with a cosy jumper, everything I love about dressing in the festive time.


A friend dropped off some gorgeous flowers and I've obsessed over them all week! Roses, in yellow, orange and red - the best colours! - and lilies all in a stunning arrangement, you can see why I was so pleased!

So I received lots of lovely Christmas cards this year, but none rang more true that this one - "Tis the Season to be Trollied" fa lal la la and all that jazz! And since coming home in the run up to Christmas 11am means hot chocolates with a spike on the slopes, wine filled lunches, gins for the evening, more wine for dinner and sloe gin to finish us off. If Rudolph says so then I'm with him!

Another great thing about Christmas is the coffee shop cups! Before the getting "trollied" started I must say I treated myself to a gingerbread latte or two!


Soon it was time to travel home for Christmas yaaaa! My parents live in Switzerland and we spent the time skiing, eating, drinking and playing silly games. We travel up to the Swiss Alps and hide away in a gorgeous apartment for Christmas with no Christmas telly to distract us and fall out and laugh over games of Trivial Pursuit and Charades. Later that day, after setting off to Edinburgh airport full of festive excitement, I soon arrived home to be greeted by a sparkling Christmas tree and a glass of bubbly - I couldn't think of anything better.

Christmas is a time to fill your house with tinsel, santa's present, cards and baubles, but to top it all off you should really think about investing in a Christmas candle and I have the perfect one for you! I reviewed Lily-Flame's Festive Cheer candle HERE. It fills the room with a delicious and nostalgic Christmas scent, making even the most begrudging Scrooge feel a little bit Christmassy. It really is gorgeous and I would thoroughly recommend trying out their scents!

REVIEW: Lily-Flame - Festive Cheer Candle

Looking to fill a room with the scent of a gorgeously indulgent Christmas?

Well here you go....

The handmade candles by Lily-Flame are manufactured in Somerset and come in cute little tin pots, with mountains of scent on top of the candle to make them stand out and add something a little unique. These also all melt together as the candle burns and make a gorgeous colour to sit on top of the wax. The brightly coloured pot is also really nice for something different around Christmas - standing out from the usual greens and reds.

I received a Festive Cheer Candle to get me in the mood for christmas and chocolate, gingerbread, tangerine and nuts all meld together to form a perfectly delicious smell. As soon as you open the lid the scent escapes bursts into the room. As soon as it's lit the room is filled with Festive Cheer.

It really is charmingly Christmassy and reminds you of all the indulgent treats from this time of year, filling the room with an air of nostalgia for Christmas's past. It's highly scented and makes an impact straight away with the warm and welcoming scents of deliciousness, bringing a luxurious Christmas pudding to mind. All the smells mingle together in a comforting way, with a spicy but sweet smell.

The flame should burn for 30-35 hours, so will last you right through the Christmas period! The only thing I would say though is that the smell is quite a strong one so I've found that I can't leave it burning for quite as long as I usually would in the evening, which is a shame as I quite like a flame dancing away in the background. It is good in all other ways though, and I did notice that theirs no waste of wax on the side which is brilliant.

I can't wait to try Lily-Flame candles for all the other seasons too!

Insta-Week

What's been going on...


Well, November was a busy month for the lil ol' blog here! There was Liebster Awards, offers on NKD SKN tan - which I loved by the way - and of course some candles and winter outfit inspiration thrown in for good measure. Have a scroll back and pick your favourite!

The countdown to Christmas is officially on! And what can be better than eating chocolate for breakfast every day as you prepare for Santa Claus to come down the chimney with some treats? Have you all got your Advent Calendars sorted? There's some pretty amazing homemade ones or beauty ones with special presents in every windows, but you can't really go wrong some Cadburys chocolate Santas!

How cute is my little Brazilian heart?! One of my good friends has been away travelling around South America and she returned all bronzed and bearing gifts, with a newly found penchant for steak and red wine - to my delight!

What better way to spend lazy, rainy Saturdays than over big breakfast and gossip. We trundled through the downpours to the new TriBeCa that has opened up just off Gibson street, the big brother to the original on the other side of Kelvingrove. The original is so good you're extremely lucky to visit without having to wait in a queue, so we were delighted to try out the new one with more space. Order of the day was frothy hot chocolates to warm chilly fingers. Keep an eye out for a post all about it coming soon!

After breakfast/brunch/lunch we wandered round the Westend picking up little presents to wrap up for Christmas. Soon though I was in hiding from the winter weather and if Saturday mornings can be spend with hot chocolate, Saturday nights are  definitely meant to be spend with chilled glasses of white wine and big glossy magazines.

I've been spoiled again! My last bunch was just beginning to look sad when some pinks and purples took there place.

Insta-Week

I've been getting very excited about Christmas - counting down the days!

I felt very privileged to be a part of Pretty Green Tea's Career Inspiration series. The lovely Daisy is running a series all about helping get people motivated and inspiring them in their working lives. I work as a Marketing and Communications Executive with a company called Squareknot - but it wasn't an easy road. Hopefully my interview with Daisy can help inspire people who struggling to decide what to do after University, check it out HERE if you fancy a read.

I AM COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS TILL I GET TO GO BACK HERE! This is where I spend Christmas with my wonderful family. My parents have a place hidden high up in the mountains of Switzerland. Isn't is gorgeous? The snow-capped mountains and glistening, glittery trees make it the perfect winter wonderland where we spent the days skiing and the nights eating mince pies, drinking wine and playing cards. Is is the holidays yet?

I reviewed this amazing NKD SKN self-tan mousse, see what I had to say HERE. I absolutely loved it! It dried straight away, left a gorgeous bronzed colour to my skin and didn't have a nasty tell-tale smell - it was one of the most perfect tans I've tried. And it gets better - if you fancy some holiday-inspired skin you can get a massive 45% off NKD SKN with my unique code - LETTERS45 - it's soon to run out so make sure you make the most of it!

A wee #tbt to the first time I visited my parents new home in Switzerland. This is at the local brewery where the whole village gathers on a Friday evening and fill up their glasses from a tap directly from the brewery. People bring tankards down and sort themselves out for the weekend. Such a nice Friday tradition!

My first Christmas card arrived! Woooo!

There was a new blog post as well, Wandering Weekends. I donned my new favourite trousers, in a monochrome look with a splash of red and wandered through Glasgow Green until we reached People's Palace. We then spend a few hours immersing ourselves in the history of Glasgow and searching for bananas as the rain knocked on the glasshouse. Have a wee read HERE.

Wandering Weekend

While a way a Saturday exploring the city...

My sister is a bit of a history geek and she won't mind me saying so, therefore when she came to visit we decided to soak up a bit of history and explore Glasgow's People's Palace.

It was gloomy day so long boots and wooly jumpers were calling.


I spoke about how to dress up my new go-to trousers HERE. But, leather trousers are also a great daytime alternative to jeans. Worn with matching black, over the knee boots, they become an amazing autumnal treat that can be paired with oversized jumpers and fluffy cardigans. They easily turn an everyday outfit it to a look that instantly seems more polished, styled and chic. If you hadn't already gathered - I love them.

The best bit about the weather getting chillier is that it's an excuse to through on as many layers as possible and fully bundle yourself up against the elements. I opted for a cosy knitted jumper - another item that I wear constantly - a big chunky wraparound tartan scarf and gorgeously textured jacket. Throw on a slick of red lippie and some big gold rings and you're all set to go exploring.

We strolled through Glasgow Green to the People's Palace and Winter Gardens.

The magnificent red-stone building has an elegant glasshouse attached and was opened way back in 1898, intended to be a cultural centre for the people of the East End to give them some relief from the awful overcrowding in this part of the city. They could come to read and wander round the picture galleries. You could even spy our Glaswegian ancestors attending a concert in the Winter Gardens in a grainy black and white photo.

Now it's filled with a range of historic artefacts to show how Glaswegians lived in their city from the 18th to 20th century- including photos and quotes collected from people throughout the ages. It's amazing to see everyones stories and I loved the memories covering the walls in the peoples own words.

And there was some amazing tales, such as the soldier who was shot and survived, and as you can see the bullet went through his bible and hit the metal mirror behind, ultimately saving his life. We also discovered an beautiful collection upstairs by "Fred A. Farrell - Glasgow's War Artist". The collection was hauntingly beautiful and sobering , humbling you with sketches and watercolours.

We also had some fun, playing at being donkeys and following the dance steps at The Barrowlands Ballroom!


After we went for a walk round the Winter Gardens.

It was lovely wandering around the exotic plants and palm trees as the rain pitter pattered on the glass outside. It was like a secret garden filled with curious delights - like the wire birds, chirping at you filled with greenery and the cute, mini, Japanese gardens hidden in amongst the large leafy wonderland. We even spied some bananas hiding high in the trees as we relaxed under graceful iron frames. The large red-sandstone of the museum loomed behind the bushes and made it look even more grand.

It's the perfect place to take an afternoon wandering around and learning a little bit more about Glasgow.

Coat - Primark
Scarf - Primark 
Jumper - Forever 21
Trousers - River Island
Boots - New Look 
Bag - Mango
Ring - Forever 21