Christmas came early this year… Our little miracle is almost 12 weeks old and wiggling in my womb as we speak! Frenchie and I could not be more excited – and I am already completely in love with my little princess!

So what better way to celebrate this beautiful new chapter in our lives, than to go out and enjoy London in preparation for Christmas?

Last weekend we were invited to The Spirit of Christmas Fair – and Condé Nast Luxury Travel Fair in Olympia!

Safaris, Cruises, Champagne Bar, Luxury retreats… you name it! Everything was SO tempting – and the idea of a forthcoming “baby-moon” suddenly seemed like a VERY good idea!

I have always wanted to go on a cruise – especially the ones, that Cunard offers! (so Frenchie and I entered the competition to win a cruise! Keeping our fingers crossed! )

Moving on to the Christmas Fair…  It was much bigger, than expected! More than 800 independent boutiques were ready to sell the most extraordinary gifts! Oh joy, oh joy! 

The most popular area was the of course the food hall! We all know, that Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a delectable selection of food & drink, right? 

The Fair presented an entirely delectable mix of leading artisans, independent producers, Royal Warrant holders and Great Taste Award-winners  – it was such an inspiration for festive banquets and gift giving ideas

Both Frenchie and I were quite tempted by the hot sausage cobs…

– but it was hard to choose, because everything looked so yummy! (I tried to tell myself, that I was allowed to have a food-feast, since I am eating for two! Ahemmm…)

There were lots of irresistible mouth-watering food and drink to taste! 

How about an edible version of Big Ben? 

One of my favourite stall was this one! I have always been in love with Biscuiteers 

Biscuiteers are know for their high quality products. Their biscuits are hand-iced in London and each one is unique

I honestly wanted to buy it all! (Bonus-info: Along with their much loved iced gifts, you can also pop in to ice a biscuit in their adorable icing cafes in Notting Hill or Battersea-  and learn to become a Biscuiteer at the School of Icing or enjoy a coffee and cake! I need to try this!) 

Downstairs I had a serious attack of Christmas craziness!  (Thank God, it was Frenchie and not my mother I had brought to the fair – otherwise we would have bought it all!)

This stall was also on my top ten list! I ended up bying the big snowman, who is now standing next to my fireplace! (www.the12daysofchristmas.co.uk)

Simply adorable…

Animal prints were extremely popular here…

Probably the highlight of my day! Will you just take a look at these little baby bunny slippers from www.jomanda.co.uk (I was literarily jumping up and down when I saw them)

“From Babies with Love is a baby brand that donates 100% of its profits to orphaned and abandoned children”!

These words truly touched my heart! Cecilia, who represented www.frombabieswithlove.org, was in no doubt really devoted to this idea! “Too many babies in the world have no one to give them clothes – or anything else! But here we do things differently!” So in the spirit of Christmas, maybe you should pay their website a visit – and you might just get to make more than one person happy with your gift!

 

Just a few of the many stalls from the fair! Let’s just say, that we didn’t leave empty-handed! 

This is Winston! Unfortunately he was too heavy to carry – otherwise I would have taken him home too!

Winston is a rocking horse who has been handmade by Stevenson Brothers, a family run business who have been hand-crafting traditional rocking horses for more than 35 years. Based on the same rocking horse which HRH The Prince of Wales played on as a child, this reproduction has been affectionately named in memory of his Grandfather’s – King George VI’s – favourite horse Winston! (since my daughter is going to be a princess too, it is only fair that she gets her own “Winston”. Unfortunately he doesn’t come cheap, so we might have to win a race or two before bying him!)

Before leaving the Christmas Fair I simply had to buy these little baby socks from www.dotcomgiftshop.com  

Thank you taking the time to come with me to The Spirit of Christmas Fair! The fair might be over, but you can always go online and buy your presents from some of the places I have mentioned! London is such a beautiful city at Christmas, so I promise the blog will be very “Christmassy” in the next couple of weeks.

X Louise