American Girl in Chelsea — A chic guide for American women who have relocated to London, England.

{Travel} An American Girl in Cyprus, Part 1- The Almyra

May 23, 2013 by Christy Osborne Leave a Comment

Husband, Mini-AG, and I just returned from a beautiful mini-vacation to Cyprus. Forget everything that you’ve heard about the financial woes of the country, the truth is the island is gorgeous (and warm!) and is ready to welcome you for a sun-soaked holiday full of family fun.

Ok, so first off, the flights are weird. British Airways only flies to Paphos (where you need to fly to go to either of the resorts we stayed at), on a Monday and a Friday- so unless you can come and go those days, you are stuck with Easy Jet. We wanted to take Mini-AG so she could have a little sandcastle building time, and that meant taking the later Easy Jet flight and therefore not getting in until about 10PM. Our ultimate destination was the Anassa, which is about an hour drive, but our first stop was the super trendy and family-friendly Almyra Hotel. Being only about 15 minutes away from the airport, it was the perfect place to spend the first couple days on the island.

The Almyra, used to be the Paphos Beach Hotel which was the very first beach hotel in the town. The family-owned property was then transformed into a design hotel, with sleek and modern furnishings. After checking in, we were shown to our room. A crib had been set up for Mini-AG, and there were adorable little cookies for her, along with a light selection of sandwiches for us.

Our room had a huge patio with direct access to a big grassy lawn overlooking the beach. We also had access to a giant rooftop which overlooked the entire resort. The views were spectacular!!!

Upon waking up on Day 1 we walked to breakfast at Mosaics. The entire restaurant was busy with families. We felt so comfortable. High-chairs were easily accessible, and the staff were very accommodating for children. After the yummy buffet breakfast we made our way to the Scott Dunn Adventurer’s Club for Mini-AG!

What can I say about Scott Dunn? Their staff is amazing, and so are their kids clubs. Mini-AG spent the morning having her nails done, face painted, playing games in the playground, and basically running amok.

The Almyra has two main pools, one for families, and the Eauzone pool for adults only which is located by the spa. We opted for the adults-only pool and spend the morning reading in the sun, and having a cocktail (or three.)

Family-friendly pool

Eauzone, Adults only!

The Eauzone Restaurant

We picked up Mini-AG for lunch at Ouzeri, which is traditional Greek meze. The tables are literally located on a little deck overlooking the water. We had delicious fried calamari and a selection of hummus, tzatziki, and other local specialities. With live music playing, it was simply a lovely family lunch.

If you’re all Greeked-out then then you can check out Notios, which offers Japanese cuisine with Mediterranean influences and flavors. There are also additional dining options, including a light spa cuisine at Eauzone and Mosaics, which has family-frendly buffets.

The afternoon meant more Scott Dunn kids club for Mini-AG, and a little trip to the spa for yours truly. The Almyra spa stocks my absolute favourite skincare brand, QMS MediCosmetics. There was no question on which treatment I wanted, it was all about their bespoke Oxygen facial. Truth be told, I fell asleep at the hands of the wonderful therapist, and woke up looking and feeling refreshed, as I always do after a QMS-facial-pick-me-up.

After our eventful afternoon, Mini-AG was so worn out from the kids club that she passed out in our bed, which gave Husband and I the excuse to order room service on our patio (make sure you try the spinach and feta spring rolls). A nice local wine ensured we weren’t far behind Mini-AG for bedtimes.

If you happen to forget anything for your holiday wardrobe, don’t worry there is a boutique stocked with the best European designer brands. Heidi Klien bikini’s, Mui Mui bags, you name it. Room charges don’t count as real spending, right?

The first few days of our trip at the Almyra were just simply lovely. I love that the hotel was relaxed, and super family friendly, all while having a hip and modern vibe to it, and of course being located in a beautiful beach town.

Stay tuned for more on our trip to Cyprus… next up, The Anssa, also known as, heaven on earth!

Filed Under: Eat and Drink, Travel Tagged With: Cyprus, Paphos, QMSMediCosmetics, Scott Dunn Travel, The Alymra, The Anassa, vacations with kids

{Mummy & Me} Lunch with Annabel Karmel

May 15, 2013 by Christy Osborne Leave a Comment

A couple of months ago I attended a charity evening for Wellbeing of Women. I was super inspired by the organization which is dedicated to improving the lives of women and babies in the UK. Every year the charity invests in special research projects and allocates funds towards the training of specialist doctors and midwives. Wellbeing of Women has enabled some major breakthroughs in obstetrics and gynaecology.

I wanted to share this upcoming event hosted by the charity, which I thought would be especially interesting to you young moms. The lunch will be held at Fortnum & Mason and will feature a special talk by Annabel Karmel. If you have a Mini, you know who she is. I followed her books to the letter when weaning Mini-AG. Annabel will discuss how improve children’s diets, and I personally am looking forward to how she advises handling picky-eaters!

Filed Under: Mummy and Me Tagged With: Annabel Karmel, charity, Fortnum & Mason, Wellbeing of Women

{Beauty & Exercise} Lomax Ladies Day!

May 13, 2013 by Christy Osborne Leave a Comment

My favorite place to take a spin class, grab a healthy lunch, and treat myself to the occasional massage, Lomax, is having a day dedicated just to us girls next Tuesday the 21s of May.

This means that all massages booked on that day are half-price. Don’t have a ton of time? You can book a 30 minute massage for just £24!

Try an anti-cellulite cupping treatment for just £30 or try a Lava Massage, which uses self-heating lava shells to ease aches and pains, for half the normal price.

The Lomax blast classes, RealRyder Spin classes (my favorite!) and the Mat Pilates classes are all just £10! It’s a great opportunity to try the classes to see if you like them.

Finally book a PT session (try Hilary!) then you’ll get a free Purelosophy smoothie.

Call to book your classes and treatments now! Or you can visit the Lomax website.

Filed Under: Beauty and Exercise Tagged With: Lava Massages, Lomax, Real Ryder

{Eat & Drink} How to Make the Perfect Eton Mess

May 8, 2013 by Christy Osborne Leave a Comment

I am having a little dinner party this weekend, and so fingers crossed it stays warm, because I really want to eat in our garden. And I really want to make the quintessential English dessert, an Eton Mess. So here is one of my best girlfriend’s recipes. I’ve made it before and its delicious. And so pretty too!

Ingredients:

For the Meringues:

4 egg whites

225g caster sugar

(alternatively to cheat you can buy very nice ready made meringues from M & S)

For the rest:

Two punnets of strawberries (approx 800g), hulled and halved

600ml double cream

Tablespoon of icing sugar

1. If you are going for the non-cheating option then make the meringues first as it takes a bit of time. Preheat the oven to 140 degrees. Separate 4 eggs and put the whites in a spotlessly clean bowl (even a tiny bit of dust can stop the egg whites whisking properly.) Whisk until soft peaks form and then add the sugar one tablespoon at a time until you have a soft satiny peaks. (Nb. I always hate throwing away the egg yolks so if I am feeling very domesticated I make some lemon curd which needs plenty of yolks.) Then pipe or spoon the mixture into little domes on silicone paper and put on the oven. As soon as you have put the meringues in turn the oven down to 140 degrees. Bake for between 1hr and 1hr 30 (depending on how chewy you like the middle) and then switch off the oven. Then leave the meringues to cool completely in the oven whilst you do the rest of the prep. The longer they stay in the oven after it is turned off the yummier they will be. Once you take the meringues out of the oven break them into bitesize bits; too small and they will get lost in the mess.

2. Next make the strawberry puree. Using a hand held processor puree half the strawberries with the tablespoon of icing sugar. (If you can be bothered proper cooks say you should sieve the seeds out but I can never be bothered and have yet to have any complaints…)

3. Then whip the cream until soft peaks form (be very careful not to overwhip as it produces the most revolting consistency, it can sometimes be saved by adding some milk but once its gets grainy all is lost…)

4. In a large mixing bowl mix together the cream, the unpureed strawberries and the broken meringues. Then swirl in half of the puree. Once this mucky bit is done put the finished product in a pretty bowl (preferably glass to show the colours) and then pour the left over puree over the top.

Tip: It is best if this is mixed together just before serving as otherwise the meringue tends to sort of melt into the cream and you lose the lovely mixture of consistencies.

Serve in lovely little glass bowls.

Filed Under: Eat and Drink Tagged With: Eton Mess Recipe

{Mummy & Me} The Mount Street Deli Baby Box

May 7, 2013 by Christy Osborne Leave a Comment

I am always on the look-out for special prezzies for those lovely lady friends of mine who are about to have babies. Recently a friend recommended The Mount Street Deli Baby Box, and so I decided to order it for a friend. The Baby Box is such a great idea. It comes with an assortment of goodies including adorable baby onesies that are wrapped up to look like cupcakes, and baby socks that are made to look like an ice-cream cone. But the best part of this hamper is definitely the culinary treats from all of the Caprice Group restaurants.

If you are a fellow-mom you know that the first several weeks you and your newborn are basically restricted to your house- trying to figure each other out, while getting no sleep. There is definitely no time to cook, or prepare snacks for your well-wishing visitors. So the Baby Box includes Postcard Earl Grey Tea, Mount Street Deli Honeycomb chocolate and homemade Granola, Lavender Shortbread from 34, assorted chocolate truffles made at Scott’s restaurant, speciality honey and Ouse Valley Raspberry Jam.

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