This, my friends, is what North London types would call an “ice cream van”. It’s a deconstructed cone, man, and it marked the climax of a fantastic weekend that has involved: Spending hardcore quality time with my family before a fortnight of intense assignment marking. PUMPING IT UP with a Ministry of Sound fitness video …

Warning: if you’ve not had your tea, this post is going to make you hungry. We nipped down to Clapham Junction (or Battersea, if you’re a purist) this lunchtime, to sample the fashionable culinary delights of Dip & Flip on Battersea Rise… If you read the Independent on Sunday you may have spotted that editor …

It’s now around that time of the holidays, when I normally start getting stuck for ideas of how to keep El entertained. This year, given I have only spent four full days with my laddo since he broke up in July (*sob*), it’s not been as much of an issue – instead I have simply …

On Saturday, my fella did a very dangerous thing: he took me to a furniture store of epic “shabby chic” proportions and then suggested that we blow some of our precious renovations budget on the funky shiz… The shop in question is Barker & Stonehouse, a Northern brand that has just opened its first London …

Huge steaks and burlesque cabaret: that’s got to be a good combination for date night, right? And last night, that’s exactly what me and my fella-me-lad got at the fabulous Hippodrome Casino in Leicester Square… It wasn’t our first visit to this unique and buzzing venue. We originally popped in late one night last October. …

Before I tell you about the amazing evening I’ve just had at the Hippodrome Casino (think prawns like fingers, battered oysters, “snake eyes” cocktails, a steak bigger than my stomach and a full-on burlesque revue), let me tell you about the special dress I was wearing… Embracing my love of pale pink – and my …

Here’s just a little tip for the Londoners…if you’re anywhere near Hyde Park tomorrow or Thursday afternoon, consider popping to the v cute open air cinema experience that’s screening four films a day… The Sky Movies Screen with Disney is brill for families and if today is anything to go by, it’s a hidden little …

So, it’s a good job I gorra bit glammed up this morning to teach my training course, because my bloke done surprised me by turning up unannounced   (well, unless you count a text 10 mins before I finished work as “announced”) and whisked me off for a pub crawl in deepest Bankside. We’ve been …

Rumour has it, I’m going to chance my arm for a last minute grounds ticket into Wimbledon this week. I’ve done it before: it can happen. If I do make my way onto that hallowed SW19 ground, I’ll be needing a suitably tennis-tastic frock (see above for starters). And, with a fresh, bright and funky …

What. A. Weekend. After (the superb) Man of Steel on Friday night we whizzed off to Windsor on Saturday evening to stay at the Legoland Hotel… I was expecting something special, but this place really is the bomb. The “Adventure” room was eye-popping (genuinely themed – not just a cursory bit of Lego carpet, or …