"My cleaner home"

So the last 3 weeks of December for me included organizing a hen party, finishing up at my old job, having an operation, being a bridesmaid, that little thing called Christmas, oh and I set up a new business in Stow-on-the-wold. So it was safe to say the house took a back seat and my goodness was it getting grim. I had never had my house cleaned before by somebody else ( I enjoy a Saturday clean up or a midweek stress buster clean!) but not being able to move properly (operation) I really needed some help.

So in comes "My Cleaner Home" a  green, domestic cleaning company, founded by Cheltenham mum-of-two and city worker turned domestic goddess, Rachel Brierley-Jones.in 2016. What caught my eye about this company was that Rachel doesn't used harmful toxic substances and instead works her magic creating her homemade and bespoke "green" products.

18 hours at Ellenborough Park

 

In the week of Millies' Birthday, a trip to Sussex for Goodwood Festival of Speed, manic normal working life and the unmentionable EU referendum we managed to squeeze in a pretty spectacular 18 hours at Ellenborough Park Hotel, Southam.

David Kelmans' BBQ Marinade's

Supper with Petersham Nurseries

Margaret Dabbs Cheltenham

Last week we were lucky enough to get out of the rain to give our hands and feet some much needed TLC at the new Margaret Dabbs London clinic in Cheltenham. Just what was needed stepping into the warmer months (newly polished fingers and toes crossed!)

The Stable, Cheltenham

It was only a few months ago that we were chatting to fellow bloggers about how far Cheltenham has come restaurant wise in 2015 yet there was still nowhere to go for good pizza... welcome The Stable! Exactly what we wanted and Cheltenham still needed but with an added bonus, Cider too. How'd you like them apples?

Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon

It's very rare these days that we actually get some time to hang out together, usually we're frantically catching up in-between yoga moves at Ella & Fleur (see blog post here) but it's a real treat when we have girlie time to blog together. So, we took full advantage of two days off before the Christmas chaos really began. We started our Monday with hot yoga, then lunch at The Stable, the new pizza and cider restaurant in Cheltenham (blog post coming soon!)... we figured we earned it after yoga, plus it's Christmas! Then we were lucky enough to be invited to see the Audrey Hepburn exhibition at The Wilson Museum. 

Audrey Hepburn photographed by Norman Parkinson for Glamour Magazine, 1955. © Norman Parkinson Ltd/Courtesy Norman Parkinson Archive (taken from The Wilson website)

AquaVitae

Well cocktails are our water of life, especially when they are gin based. So we were really pleased to hear that AquaVitae, a new and very cool cocktail bar was flinging open its doors last week. 

The Old Dame

We were lucky enough to start off November with an invitation to the reopening of the stunning Queens Hotel in Cheltenham.

The Only Way is Chelts...

 With four weeks to go until the big 'I Do' it was time to head back to the 1920's, complete with my hens, nay, flappers for a jolly hen do darling.

Supper Club at Brew And Bake

I always talk about opening a café in a little Cotswold town holding an exclusive supper club on a Friday night. Crazy business idea when you've never even been to a supper club. But I love the mysterious underworld vibe that the title gives out and have been obsessed with likes of Rachel Koo for a few years. 

So when our friends mentioned a Thursday evening supper club at our fave café in Cheltenham, we were in!

Deliveroo

Deliveroo have finally cycled their way to Cheltenham! We were warmly invited to welcome them with open arms and hungry stomachs.

The Chef's Pantry

Our favourite go to for dinner, jazz and cocktails (and of course engagements), The Daffodil, has opened it's doors to their latest venture. Aptly named The Chefs Pantry, this new, trendy and modern deli offers produce made by their very own chefs in addition to some of owner, Marks', favourite produce from across the country and further afield. 

All You Can Eat Sushi at WholeFoods

When I was in Australia, Sushi became part of my staple diet. With a little sushi bar on every corner it was hard to resist. Not exactly the same vibes in The Cotswolds however, we are really lucky to have a few amazing sushi restaurants in Gloucestershire but our go to when we get a sushi craving is always WholeFoods Market in Chelteham - actually, WholeFoods in our go to for all food cravings! Seriously love it there. Don't even get us started on the coffee and peanut butter. As you know we love local produce and WholeFoods Cheltenham has an incredible range of Cotswold goodies! But when we spotted an 'All You Can Eat Sushi' Event on Twitter, our excitement hit a new level! 

30 days with Ella & Fleur

Happy baby, pigeon, rotated chair, warrior II, cobra... a few months ago, none of this would have made any sense to us. & if you mentioned a good 'hip opener', we would have run a mile! But now, all of this has become part of our weekly routine and we love it! 

If you remember, we went to our first Ella & Fleur Hot Yoga session back in July 2014. We were complete yoga virgins back then but loved it from the word go. Over the last month we decided to give it another real go & signed up for a 30 day trial. We are now completed obsessed! and here's why. 

The Montpellier Cafe

If you read our blog regularly or follow us on Twitter & Instagram, you'll know by now, we like to eat! & drink coffee. A lot! We're so lucky living in Cheltenham (well, just outside now) that we have an abundance of brilliant coffee shops, cafes and restaurants. We're spoilt for choice. But when we saw a foodie snap taken by friend Angie B on Instagram, we were excited to try out the newest cafe in town. The Montpellier Cafe. 

Hotel No.131

For the two years we lived next door to each other in Montpellier, our daily walks into Cheltenham to shop, eat, drink and see were met with this old Georgian, empty, sad looking building. We used to say if we had the money we would buy it and turn it into an exclusive members club or just a really good jazz club and bar, something Cheltenham is missing!

Alas, 3 years later, the brilliant Lucky Onion chaps have worked their magic again. Transforming a huge empty regency building into the luxury and very trendy Hotel No.131 and Crazy Eights club and bar. 

So we decided to try it out for Soph's Birthday. She fancied something different so she booked 12 of us in for a brunch. We met at 11 and had a big table down in the conservatory room, complete with feature fireplace, heaters and a real indoor outdoor feel. We ordered Bucks fizz, served in  champagne sauces, sharp bloody Mary's (Meg was hung over...hair of the dog!) and although 11am the boys couldn't resist some classic Bobby Beer.

The menu choice was a mixture of classic breakfast dishes, done in the typical style of the Lucky Onion group...a bit rustic, locally sourced ingredients and good sized portions!

Most of us went for the English Breakfast. Deliciously thick bacon, creamy scrambled eggs and a slice of sour dough fried bread to go with the rest of the dish. Scrummy! Others went for something a little different including smoked haddock and poached eggs, avocado on buckwheat risotto with poached eggs. For those real adventurous types Oysters or steak were also contenders!

We loved the crockery they were served on, each plate being totally unique...and there were 12 of us! The coffee cups we recognised from cosy stop off's at the Wheatsheaf in Northleach, another one of our faves from The Lucky onion.

 

 

 

We spent a couple of hours in our little indoor/outdoor nook of the building. Listening to the array of jazz they had on the sound system, drinking coffee and a few more glasses of fizz, eating a birthday cake brought to us by the staff for Soph and in general spending a perfect Sunday morning together in a beautiful Georgian hotel that we once dreamed of owning!

The food was delicious, the atmosphere relaxing, the décor enticing... this is fast becoming one of our favourite places to be!

A Sunday well spent...

  

Sunday... Our favourite kind of day! Particularly when you throw friends, food and laughing into the mix. After a heavy night for both of us on Saturday, starting Sunday off with a big brunch at Hotel No.131 was nothing less than perfect! (Blog on No.131 to follow.) Luckily for us it was the Birthday weekend of our bestie Soph and she did a cracking job of organising a day for us all to get together. So we threw our perfect Sunday ingredients into a big pot and spent the whole day together...After all, a Sunday well spent is a week of content...although some would say that's debatable (currently writing this after a rather horrid Monday)! 

After a scrummy brekkie us girlies let the gents go home for the dogs whilst we went to try on and choose Bridesmaids dresses in Cheltenham. We found them and they are perfect! Can't believe they aren't coming out again until OCTOBER!  

We headed back home for endless pots of tea and chatter and then donned our wellies for a lovely Cotswold walk to burn of the breakfast. Although a flask of coffee and the Huffkins Cakes We took with us piled the calories back on, (two wise women once told us calories don't count at weekends! @photosbystef @ss_flowers) 

Back to Millie's for more tea, a toasty fire and a film, before deciding a Chinese might be a good idea. Chinese is always a good idea, no? So the boys had the job of laying the table and we popped into Bourton On The Water to our fave take away China Town the 20 min waiting time gave us a good excuse to have a quick drink at the Kingsbridge.  

 Candles lit, fire still roaring and Sunday night films on the sofa to finish off the weekend. Day's like these make the hard week of work so worth while! 

What makes your perfect Sunday?

Millie and Meg x

Tonic

Usually when we mention tonic it's of the gin variety. This time... there was no alcohol involved. In fact, quite the opposite. After a seriously busy week for the both of us we headed to Cheltenham for some TLC in the form of massages and facials at new beauty salon, Tonic.

The Tavern, Cheltenham

Having lived practically just around the corner from The Tavern, in the centre of Cheltenham for many years, weirdly enough we had never visited. Now, you all know we are big fans of The Wheatsheaf in Northleach (see our blog post here) so thought it was about time to try out The Lucky Onion's little sister.