Lymington, England - A Day in the New Forest

Woke up Saturday morning at Lime Wood and had a warm porridge breakfast in The Scullery (photo above) before heading out for a drive through the New Forest to the neighboring seaport town of Lymington. The New Forest covers an area of about 145 miles of shrubby lowland, open pastures and forest, and is an area of outstanding beauty. There are wild horses and cows everywhere you look and I was particularly struck by how many brand new foals were around. You can literally pull over to the side of the road and be right next to them.

We were lucky enough to get to Lymington in time to see the Olympic torch run through the center of town.

A beautiful, Georgian market town, Lymington is world renown as a sailing resort. From the bottom of the High Street a cobblestone road leads down to the Old Town Quay, still used as a base by commercial fishing boats. The Quay is filled with quaint little shops and many delicious bakeries, some also serving New Forest ice cream.

We stopped at the Ship Inn, right smack on the harbor, and had a pint of beer on their outside patio. It is a cosy little pub that is perfect for a drink and a small snack. Locals say the best restaurant however, is Egan's. 

The winding roads through the forest are easy to drive and so picturesque. I loved the thatch roof homes.

British weather is wet and the countryside can be muddy, so come prepared. What I'm wearing: Barbour Bedale Jacket, London based denim label PDA (Public Display of Affection) jeans, lots of layering t-shirts from Gap Body and Hunter Wellington boots.

Once back at the hotel, we spent the rest of the afternoon reading magazines and lazing around the indoor pool and drinking blueberry and banana smoothies from their smoothie bar called Raw and Cured. 

Around 5:30pm we headed into the main house and sat in this beautiful purple room while sipping Bellini cocktails. The great thing about Lime Wood is that you can literally sit in any part of the building and they will serve you food and drink. You can have a meal on the couch if it so suits you! 

What we ate: 

Baked crab with toast points

Smoked salmon, new potatoes, mint and peas

Scullery Chicken Club with french fries

Steak sandwich with french fries

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Lyndhurst, England - Lime Wood Hotel

Lime Wood, a boutique country house 5 star hotel in England, is set in the heart of the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, 1.5 miles from the small town of Lyndhurst and just an hour and a half drive from London.

The original building is a Regency country manor house on the site of an earlier property originally established as a hunting lodge in the 13th Century. Before becoming a hotel it was a prep school for royalty and aristocracy.

This Relais & Chateaux property was stunningly decorated by the famous interior designer David Collins. David's style is both luxurious and relaxed - an elusive and enticing balance that has earned him a stellar reputation. He's made the most of local materials like ash and stone and has used a simple and subtle palette so that the interiors ‘go' with their surroundings.

 

I just spent an amazingly relaxing two days here this past weekend in a luxury duplex Forest Suite in the main house and would highly recommend Lime Wood to anyone looking to get a taste of the English countryside. The adorable sea port of Lymington is just down the road and the beauty of the New Forest, with its greenery and wild horses, is simply stunning. 

My next two blog posts will cover what I did over my weekend stay here at Lime Wood, so you can get a flavor for what sorts of activities a jaunt out here affords.

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New York City, New York - Day Two of Fun

Day two got off to a slow start as I spent the whole morning on my blackberry trying to coordinate my factory, the press release, the invites and press party logistics, the photo shoot fabric for international design magazines, and so many other things for the launch of our furnishing fabrics range at Liberty in London! It is all finally happening next week, so more on that to come. I did make it for a 1pm carb-filled lunch at Cipriani Downtown in Soho. It was another 90+ degree day in the city and I couldn't wait to get my hands on the Harry's Bar specialty: a chilly peach bellini. 

Lunch consisted of a fresh spring pea tagliatelle pasta and eggplant parmigiana ... 

... followed by a giant slice of zabaglione cake. From the Harry's Bar Cookbook: "I always call this a Venetian cake because of its fantastic appearance and also because zabaglione is the main ingredient of another well-known Venetian speciality, tiramisu, which means "pick-me-up." Our zabaglione cake has a similar taste to tiramisu, but it is much lighter".... Ariggo Cipriani. For the recipe click here. 

These biscuits came with the bill, so I dipped them in my tea. Why not? 

The next stop was Bryant Park to meet up with my dear friend Mario, who now resides in the Bahamas and was also, luckily, in NYC for the same two days as me. He is the personal assistant to someone I obviously can't mention, but suffice it to say his pay check is signed by someone whose title begins with H.H. (His Highness). We met up for a cool drink and some chilli spiced watermelon on the rooftop of the Bryant Park Grill. 

What I'm Wearing: Dress Theyskens Theory (buy here), Flower Pins Chanel, Sunglasses Chanel

Chanel pins and Essie nail color: Nice is Nice

From there we made our way to the Upper East Side to The Surrey Hotel, a posh little lodging with a celebrity clientèle that includes Oprah as a regular. We headed to the 17th floor private roof deck garden with its beautiful view framed by rows of lavender (entry is exclusive to guests of the hotel).

BASIL BLEU: Stoli Blueberry Vodka,fresh blueberries, Rose champagne, basil, simple syrup ... 

Make your own muddled fresh lemonade. Choose from a variety of fruits, herbs, spices and alcohol and the bar will muddle them together for you. Mine was lemonade, lime, mint and lemongrass: 

A shower (gosh it was HOT in NYC!) and an outfit change and onto the next stop: the Polynesian-inspired Hurricane Club. Created in partnership with designers AvroKO and Fourth Wall Restaurants, the 10,000 square foot space includes dining and lounge areas, and five private dining alcoves. The dramatically lit space transports guests from the streets of New York into an elegant South Pacific supper club, filled with curiosities. 

Go for the amazing interior design, festive (loud!) atmosphere and pre or post dinner cocktails, but skip the food, trust me. They have a great rum selection, so many inventive tipples, and if you are a small group (with no communicable diseases, ha ha) the shared drinks served in whole watermelons are fun. 

Drinks to share: The Watermelon: Vodka, fresh lime, mint, rhubarb 

Thank you New York City, I had a blast!  Pin It