• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet

Northern California Style

Northern California Style

  • Home
  • About
  • Californians at Home
  • Home & Decor
    • Our California Remodel
    • Shop My Home
    • Lake Tahoe Cabin Style
    • Books I Adore
  • My California Closet
  • Shop My Home
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

#London

Weekend Meanderings- Travel Edition!

July 22, 2022 By kimwheeler 25 Comments

It’s time for our Weekend Meanderings with Elizabeth and Juliet. I hope your week has been good. This weekend I am away at the Haven Conference , so I thought this would be a good time to share all my best travel themed posts..

First I want to share a beautiful book Resort Fashion, that was a gift from my friend Erin who loves travel too. It’s vintage from 2007, but a wonderful book filled with gorgeous photography from Toni Frissel, Louise Dahl-Wolfe and others. There are sections on stripes, all white and color, and other themes and it’s probably one of the loveliest photography books I’ve ever had… You can still find it on this link and here.

This is my most popular post ever, What to pack for Carmel and Monterey. I try and update it every few months.

This was the last Signature Style on Travel, and what to pack and how to do it.

This edition of weekend Meanderings had what I pack for Hawaii..

This post was How to Bring a Hawaiian Vibe to Your Home..

This was one of my all time favorite posts –Traveling Abroad With Children .. I think it’s a wonderful idea. We did it and loved it. Some of my tips and photos of the trips we have done over the years with my sons in Europe are on this and I’m so glad we started them out traveling young. Grif below in London!

This was my post on our 25th Wedding Anniversary trip to Bora Bora …

And lastly, written right before the pandemic, A Week in London. London is my most favorite city in the world!

I’ll be back to my usual weekend posts next week… Please stop by Elizabeth and Juliet’s blogs and see what’s on their minds this week..

PINECONES AND ACORNS

MAKE MINE A SPRITZER

Thank you for being here!

Kim

If you missed my last Weekend Meanderings, I shared a white dresses and decor pieces, my new kitchen pendants, a San Francisco townhouse that is a beauty, my favorite sunscreen and summer foundation.. read the post here.

If you’d like to get an email when I post, please subscribe to the blog here for a post in your inbox a few times a month and every Saturday for Weekend Meanderings.

Some links will generate a small commission here, which helps make this blog possible. Thanks so much for your support!

Filed Under: travel, weekend meanderings Tagged With: #boraboratravel, #hawaiitravel, #London, #londontravel, #resortfashion, #travel, #travelingabroadwithkids, #tripplanning, #vintagetravel, #weekendmeanderings

A Week In London

August 21, 2019 By kimwheeler 15 Comments

Sorry monster post here.. You may want to check out now..I’ve been away so I owe you guys and am trying to make up for it with my next few blogs. Hope you’ve all had a good summer!

Earlier this month Max and I spent a week in my favorite place on the planet, London. Our kids were busy with camps and other things so we took the opportunity to make a quick trip without them. Though I love traveling with my guys, it was freeing to go not worrying about what everybody’s needs were for sleep, eating and preferences each day of vacation. I had forgotten how it is to do just what we wanted and I have to say it was really nice for a change.

Arriving in Heathrow after what seemed a pretty easy overnight 9+ hour flight on British Airways from San Jose to London. Love the umbrellas!

We woke when we wanted, wandered the city all day. We ate lunch when we wanted. We had late dinners and early cocktails. We sauntered through the National Portrait Gallery, poked around at the V&A and immersed ourselves at The Imperial War Museum, had scones and tea every afternoon, perused Portobello Road antique shops, and browsed for English treats at Fortnum & Mason and Liberty- all things that I love and would not have been as appreciated by our sons.

I thought I’d share the highlights and photos as it’s just the loveliest city to me architecturally and aesthetically. London loves flowers and they are everywhere for those who appreciate that sort of thing like myself. They also always have some wonderful exhibition going on. This time it was the Dior show at the V&A.

We stayed at The Ham Yard Hotel a beautiful and unique spot right in the center of Soho. It is a Firmdale Hotel and I’ve been lucky to stay their Covent Garden Hotel also a few years ago.

Kit Kemp, owner and designer has fashioned all her properties in a distinctly English way with a beautiful mix of prints, antiques and modern art along with the most luxurious appointments in each room. She creates eclectic and inviting gathering spaces in her hotels along with wonderful bars and restaurants. London has five of their hotels, and New York is lucky to have two.

I have her books and I love how she decorates. More of her books here.

The Ham Yard was nestled right into the action in Soho, at the end of a charming lane and just steps from a historic pub, Regent street and the Theatre District. It’s a gathering spot for the whole area as people come to the Ham Yard’s charming front patio in the evenings for drinks and conversation.

The area surrounding it is called Ham Yard Village and there is also a Japanese restaurant, a tea shop, a hair salon and some beautiful clothing stores.

On top of The Ham Yard is the rooftop garden which runs the expanse of the building and also holds an apiary. It’s also used for private parties and you can order food and drinks up there too if you wish.

One thing I love about the Firmdale Hotels is personal attention and kindness from everyone.

How fun is this? An Honesty bar tucked off one of the two libraries.. You can make yourself a nice G&T after a long day out or try one of their house made cocktails in a bottle- or just grab a coke and chips. You just write it down on the list and go. In the basement there is a bowling alley and they also have a spa, a fitness center and a theatre that has fun film events.

A few pics of our room which had a very large balcony with a quintessential London view.

How cute is this headboard? I want one! Kit mixes fabrics and prints like no one else.

Every night you get a glass bottle of water and they give you a relaxing pillow spray to keep from Kit Kemp’s bath collection.

The Orangery at The Ham Yard where you can have high tea or just a cocktail.. We did the High Tea.

The breakfast buffet with the most delicious yogurt, granolas, and fruits.

Breakfast! I was in love with the china which was specially designed by Kit for her hotels. This pattern is Wedgwood’s Sailor’s Farewell which is so darling. I also love her Mythical Creatures China that The Covent Garden Hotel uses. Both patterns can be found here on Wedgwood, which incidentally ships free to the U.S.! I would love to have a set of one of these someday. Also how cool are those English toast holders?? More about those in Part 2!

So many pretty spaces in this hotel.

Drinks by the fire on a rainy evening.

When we could drag ourselves away from the hotel we did a few cool things. One was seeing The Dior show at the V&A.. I will do a separate post about it.

Another morning we dashed through a little rain to The National Portrait Gallery, something I always have wanted to do, but the boys did not.

Too many stunning and historic paintings to see. We had time for only a few floors. It’s also a lovely place to have lunch as they have a great space with one of the best views in London looking right at Big Ben and the Thames.

You can see Big Ben is still under construction. It’s costing 61 million pounds and supposed to be done in 2021!

I especially loved the portraits of Elizabeth the First – or do I say Elizabeth I?

Then there were some beautiful old portraits of families from the 1500s that I was especially taken with.

And the 1600s.. Can you even believe they have survived this long and still look this good? This portrait is the Family Vyner in 1673 and he was a wealthy Lord Mayor of London at one time and lent the government money, but died penniless when he was not repaid.

The stories accompanying the portraits were almost as interesting as the paintings themselves. You can learn so much with just a stroll through here.

This family was very musical and commissioned a portrait of themselves. Much more to love here and modern paintings as well as terrific photography.

I also loved the portraits of The Queen.

After the portrait gallery, Max had booked us high tea at a London hot spot called Sketch. His work colleague sweetly recommended it and I had seen it before as it’s VERY instagrammed. When you arrive you can understand why. Don’t you love the dusty pink booths? It’s like traveling back the London of the 1930s.

It is run by a French restauranteur and encompasses four different dining rooms in a beautiful historic building.

I felt so elegant sipping champagne from a coupe while a three piece string ensemble played in the background.

This pink room is the Gallery and where you have your high tea.

The bathroom is a must see with space like pods up a circular staircase. More people Instagramming than using the facilities! A cool sunken bar is hidden between the stairs- should you wish to hang and have a drink in the bathroom!!

The pod toilets!

So not let all this pretty dissuade you from the food and service..It was superb! The food was as yummy as it was gorgeous. They have 2 Michelin stars so the service was very orchestrated, even the pouring of the tea.

We thought it was all the best tea and food of trip. We paid a bit more to have champagne tea and Max got a cocktail called a Basilco. Their cocktails are superb, so amazing and specially crafted.

They said dress ‘Art Smart, with a sense of style and character.’ I love that. I decided on a pink floral number so I matched. You can find more photos of the other gorgeous rooms and menus on their Facebook page.

On our another day we made it to the The Imperial War Museum, which has been on our list. This was a bit farther on the tube, but worth doing. The WWI floor is the best interpretive experience I’ve ever been through. If you have done the Churchill War Rooms, you’ll like this as it’s similar, but on a larger scale. Housed in the original Bethlehem Hospital (nickname Bedlam), it was begun in 1917 before the war was even over and has survived and recently been through a wonderful restoration. Much more about the IWM here. A must do if you are in London.

So much to write about it, but these photos say a lot. There is a vast collection here that brings the war experience to you on every level and viewpoint.

I could personally relate to the parts showing how much women contributed to the war efforts and also how they were affected.

These two things- the dogs given up for WWI, and the masks below were sad, but drove home how much the war affects every member of a family.

War time scarves to boost the war effort and bands worn by women during WWII.

The WWII posters made into postcards. So creative and eye catching and effective.


Before you leave you can see a section of The Berlin Wall.

Right across the street from the museum I passed by this door. Only in England! I’d like to enroll.

Another night Max booked us a gin tasting at The City of London Gin Distillery which is right by St Pauls Cathedral. I wasn’t so sure how much I would enjoy it, but it was one of the most fun things we did.

The City of London is the area that encompasses the financial district and includes St Paul’s Cathedral which the distillery’s bottles were modeled on. The distillery has been in operation since 2012 and won all kinds of awards and gold medals. They make a variety of gins and we tasted 4 while we were there and learned about the making of gin, and its history in London.

When you get to their cool bar for the tour, which is like a speakeasy, they start you with a gin and tonic with a big slice of grapefruit.

Of the gins we tasted I liked the Christopher Wren, which is named after St Paul’s famous architect. It’s creamy and tastes unlike any gin I’ve tried before. They also had a Rhubarb and Rose gin, which was very good and popular in summer. The Sloe Gin, which some drink straight, was delicious with tonic… Something else I never had.

It’s a cool cozy place and it got quite busy later. The stills in which they make the gin are called Clarissa and Jennifer after the Two Fat Ladies cooking show. Anyone else ever watch that? I loved it.

We had the luck to meet the nicest couple, Kate and Tim from Richmond who bought us a drink afterwards in the cute bar. It was altogether the most enjoyable evening and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in more London history and to experience a real G&T London style!

Kate took our photo and sent it later. I wish I had taken one of them. You never know who you will meet doing these little tours! They had kids similar ages, and we had much in common.

Tim’s great photo of the beautiful bar here they sent me. Thank you Tim! He’s a photographer in his spare time which you can probably tell.

Stay tuned in for Part 2 – What I wore, shopping on Portobello Road, a day at Kew Gardens, The Dior Exhibit and Liberty, my favorite shop on the planet…and other bits I couldn’t squeeze into here!

Cheers Luvs,

Kim

Photos property of NorthernCalStyle unless noted.

Filed Under: travel, Uncategorized Tagged With: #england, #Firmdalehotels, #hamyardhotel, #Kitkemp, #London, #sketchlondon, #UKtravel

Primary Sidebar

Featured Posts

Fun Kitchen Styling Tips!

Asian Noodles & Other Main Dish Salads

Signature Style- Fall Edit & New Season Wishlist

Remodeling – The Social Front Patio

Loving Rattan and Serena & Lily

My Favorite Sheets, Duvets & More- Refreshing Your Bed

Get My Posts by Email!

Find Me on Facebook

Northern California Style

Archives

Categories

Footer

Don’t Forget to Follow!

Blogger, writer and explorer sharing about my native California, and parts farther afield. Join me here where I chat about things to love in the worlds of design, fashion, home, travel and culture.

Currently Pinning

  • valentines ideas collage
  • Heart shaped cookie cutter and boxes of cookies.
  • Heart shaped cookie being decorated.
  • Valentine Cookie post collage.
  • Valentine's Day Roll Cookies with Decorative Icing
  • Valentine cookie bark is the easiest, prettiest heart day treat you'll ever make!
  • valentine cookie bark l sheri silver
  • valentine cookie bark l sheri silver
  • How to Create a Collected Valentine Tablescape
  • Cindy Hattersley Valentine Tablescape
  • Valentine Table Scape Cindy Hattersley 2-23
  • carved taper candle and flowers in glass vases
Today, on the blog, some Valentine fun. 💗I’m Today, on the blog, some Valentine fun. 💗I’m joining a group of talented women and we all have some Valentine ideas for you. My blog is about an easy Valentine or Galentine‘s dinner you can recreate. I tried to make this super simple because the whole point is gathering with your people and having a good time. 

I did make ahead dishes and used pink items already in my home for the table. I added primroses from the hardware store for extra prettiness and for take home favors. 💕

Stop on by the blog to get all the details. 
@northerncalstyle link in my bio.
And don’t forget to go to these lovely blogs:

@most_lovely_things 
@cindyhattersley 
@classiccasualhome 
@makemineaspritzer 
@sherisilver

#valentines #valentinestablescape #valentinesdinner #galentinesparty
Styling idea of the week…February dressing inspi Styling idea of the week…February dressing inspiration from Princess Diana.. Try a puffer vest or jacket paired with ruffles or florals and a skirt. A pretty transitional look with a romantic February vibe. 💗 Maybe you already have these items in the closet? See what you can create!

This pic is from the fun account, @lostinvintagefashion which is a wonderful rabbit hole to drop into should you need some sartorial inspiration.

Happy first of February friends!

#winterdressing #stylingideas #princessdianastyle #puffervest
The weekend post is up with chat about the trendin The weekend post is up with chat about the trending colors for 2023 in home decor and fashion.. Did you love the 80’s? If so this is perhaps a more sophisticated version with sherbet tones and bits of magenta, greens and navy.  Here I added a bit of these Easter tones to the coffee table with a grass cloth box, one of my books and a candle. I think the best way to update things is to add touches to the home and closet that appeal to you and mix them in with neutrals.. 
What do you think of these colors? I think they’re fun. Some clothing pieces bring me back to my Esprit loving days. It could be fun to add a shirt, shoe or bag in these tones and I selected a handful to consider..

Also on the blog, a few good white jeans, skin cleansers you may need and more! 

Stop on by our blogs- links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns
 Happy Sunday!

#color2023 #springcolors #trending #serenaandlily #coffeetablestyling
A January PSA- get in your closet and get those wh A January PSA- get in your closet and get those white jeans out! I found mine at the bottom of my closet today in a basket and thought -yes! I love the look of a classic white jean, paired with a chunky sweater or turtleneck in black, beige, tan, creams-  neutral colors always look fantastic. Today it was warm enough that I could go sockless and wear my Madewell loafers with them and a little jacket I have from Anthro. Get your white jeans out. it will give your winter wardrobe have a little kick. White jeans can be worn all year and they even look great with winter boots and coats. 

This is also a great time to look at your white Jean inventory. 🤍If you don’t have a pair that’s comfortable and straight leg, in a thicker material…this might be a good time to look. I’ll share some on the weekend blog as well.

if you missed our LIVE this morning, you can watch it on Juliet’s @makemineaspritzer Instagram and I’ll link to it on my stories ! Thank you everyone for tuning in in for the fun questions and comments. We love doing this with you all weekly! Let us know in comments if there are any other topics you want to hear about. Today we talked trending colors, exercise classes .. finding art and pillows and more..

#whitejeanseason #januaryclosetremix #winterwardrobehacks
I love the sunshine in the morning streaming throu I love the sunshine in the morning streaming through the kitchen.. My baby daffodils are blooming to make it even happier. This is one of my favorite things about the new year, the bulbs and daffodils and California poppies that hint spring it on the way.💛 If you don’t have a few blooms in the kitchen, maybe you can add a few?

Hope your having a beautiful week!

#kitchensun #californialife #januaryincalifornia
I love this of Liz Taylor at her first wedding to I love this of Liz Taylor at her first wedding to Richard Burton in 1965. She’s wearing a empire, knee length dress and orange blossoms in her hair, which must have smelled heavenly. I want yellow in my closet this spring!

This is the center of my spring vision board! 💛 Link to all Elizabeth’s wedding dresses on the weekend post -and a few yellow things I added to the house if you missed it! 

#yellow #yellowaesthetic #liztaylor #thebrideworeyellow #springfashion #spring2023 #vogue
Sunday beach trip… We made it to Santa Cruz to c Sunday beach trip… We made it to Santa Cruz to check out the coast after these rough last weeks. Aptos looks pretty good and poor Seacliff is terribly battered. So sad to see what people have lost. My heart goes out to them.

We had the beach to ourselves and the weather was winter perfect. ☀️Cold and sunny. We had a picnic of sandwiches from Zoccolis deli and took in the sun and sea air while watching surfers and birds.

This song just seemed to fit -and relatable as I could not sleep last night! No idea why. Isn’t it maddening? 

Hope you get a chance to take a winter beach walk.. They are the best. 

#santacruz #aptos #california #northerncalifornia #winterbeachwalks #seacliff #norcal #seascapebeach
Happy Sunday! The weekend post is up and I’m sha Happy Sunday! The weekend post is up and I’m sharing a few good ideas for a dining room refresh, pops of yellow, my favorite winter skin care essentials right now, a beautiful and unique San Francisco house in @archdigest, online yoga, and the story behind a historic San Francisco home I came upon last week.. Head to the blog for all the deets! 

I hope its a wonderful weekend.☀️

Don’t forget to visit Juliet and Elizabeth blogs ..links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns

#northerncalifornia #weekendpost #yellow #diningroomdecor #bernardmaybeck #sanfranciscohomes #architecturaldigest #potterybarn #serenaandlily #californiastyle
Our dear friend Contessa @contessa_and_her_pig has Our dear friend Contessa @contessa_and_her_pig has been seriously sick and fortunately is back home now, but still struggling with pneumonia. If anyone wants to send her a snail mail note please dm me and I will share her address. She loves unique cards and pretty postcards you’ve saved from travel, so she would be thrilled to get a little note!

It seems like just yesterday we were in her gorgeous yard taking photos for my Californians at Home series. It’s still one of my favorite photo shoots and if you want to read it again -or missed it I will link to it in my bio today. She’s one of a kind, so let’s get her well soon and bolster her spirits!!💛💛

#californiacontessa #californiansathome
I have to share a snippet of just some of the wisd I have to share a snippet of just some of the wisdom that was Martin Luther King. He will always be one of my biggest heroes and ten years ago I wrote a small post highlighting some of his very meaningful words and quotes that we could all use as a life guide. Link to the post in my bio and more on my stories. 

Do you know he is the only American to have a holiday for him that hasn’t been a president? He also had a low approval rating when he died. That has changed. Now people around the world use his teachings of living in peace and the fight for justice as a model we can strive for. I find his words so very needed in a world that is polarized more than ever. ❤️

#mlkday #mlkquotes #whatareyoudoingforothers
It’s still raining here! In an effort to use som It’s still raining here! In an effort to use some beautiful citrus and boost morale, I made these chocolate chips with a California twist. They have orange and walnuts -and for fun I added macadamias from my Hawaii trip and coconut flakes. I also switched out brown sugar for moscavado which is less refined and had more depth and flavor. So far response has been thumbs up from the home crew! 
The recipe and all the weekend fun- along with some cozy coats for this weather, and a recap of our SF meander are on the weekend blog. Juliet and Elizabeth also have great ideas this weekend.. links as always, in our bios or stories:
@northerncalstyle 
@makemineaspritzer 
@pineconesandacorns 
Have a great weekend !

#californiacookie #californialiving #californiachocolatechipcookie #weekendpost #chocolateandorange
Just a little peek at some of the homes in San Fra Just a little peek at some of the homes in San Francisco’s Laurel Heights and a little walk through the Presidio to the Lyon Street Steps. We had an unbelievably beautiful day after so much rain and darkness. I highly recommend walking through this neighborhood, through The Presidio and grabbing lunch and checking out the lovely shops like the new Emily Joubert! The views are amazing all the way to the Golden Gate, and I am in love with all the beautiful homes of San Francisco. ❤️

#sanfranciscolove #presidioheights #lyonstreetsteps #sanfranciscowalks #housesofsf #visitcalifornia #ourgoldenstate #sanfranciscomansions #citybythebay #prettycity

Copyright © 2023 · Northern California Style· Blog Design by Little Blue Deer