My Brilliant Plan

Sunday, December 4, 2011

tea and coffee festival @ southbank centre

best way to let the sugar and caffeine addiction run rampant: the tea and coffee festival (which really turned out to be a dessert festival).

My favorite vendor, Outsider Tart. Planning on visiting their store before leaving for the states to stock up on sustenance during the long flight.

A pumpkin brownie from Outsider Tart. Twas my first pumpkin dessert of the holiday season and certainly not the last.

Another christmas fair that popped up along Southbank Centre!

best place to ring in the christmas season: england (and apparently, germany). coming to london has opened my eyes to many things, including the fact that the british and the germans take christmas extremely seriously. i suppose this isn't surprising since both seem to excel at delicious hot drinks, such as mulled wine, mead, "special" hot chocolate; hearty meat dishes; and rich desserts. in the past couple of weeks, christmas fairs and outdoor ice skating rinks have been popping up all over town. the lovely P recently visited and we went to the christmas fair in hyde park.

Nick Mulvey @ the London Jazz Festival

ben l'oncle soul's opening act, nick mulvey, was the aesthetic opposite of the main act. this native londoner had a very simple, jose gonzalez-esque sound and something i'm much more used to. i loved it.

no pictures, but his music can be found here. Highly recommend "venus come to share"

Ben l'Oncle Soul @ the London Jazz Festival

best dancing, singing, and sartorial inspiration: ben l'oncle soul. had the opportunity to check out his november 12th show at queen elizabeth hall in the southbank centre. he was the definition of "electrifying." in addition to singing a bunch of original songs, he did some wonderful covers of the white stripes, prince, marvin gaye, and gnarles barkley. (sorry for the low quality photos. my questionable photography skills + boyfriend's intense choreography = blurriness)

Perhaps his most famous cover, "Seven Nation Army":

Friday, November 11, 2011

hot chocolate + sweets = happy jen

best place to end the day: fleet river bakery. This lovely corner of the earth happens to be hosting a hot chocolate festival this month for which each day a different hot chocolate flavor (white chocolate, toasted hazelnut, coconut, etc) is served. i've found that attempts to stop by and "check out" the flavor of the day usually end up with me 2.5 pounds poorer and 5 minutes late to class (but oh sooo happy!)