bloom & wild

Spring has sprung and I couldn't be happier - winter seemed to have lasted a life time and a little bit longer but now I think we can safely say summer is on its way. Hurrah! In celebration of this, Sophie and I went to a flower arranging event held by Bloom & Wild, the flower delivery service. We actually booked this back in February so it was a nice little surprise to see it jotted down in the diary, having forgotten I booked tickets all those years ago. 

We met at Lombok on Tottenham Court Road - the table was all set out ready for us to dive into the evening. Each guest had their own pair of scissors, some twine, a carrier bag and a tub of cut flowers, not to mention a cool glass of fizz too. The perfect sight after work on a Thursday! 

We were guided step by step through the process of creating your own hand-tied bouquet, using the spiral technique. Now, I have long aspired to have my own florist shop so I rather cockily went into the evening thinking it'd be a breeze. How wrong I was! I actually have very small hands and found holding the ever-increasing bouquet really painful with my thumb constantly cramping! My dreams have been dashed. However, I worked through the pain and after having a quick demonstration from Sarah, I found a more comfortable way to hold the bouquet and turn it to add more flowers, whilst maintaining a rather satisfying spiral effect. 

Sophie was a natural and created a beautifully relaxed bouquet - the flowers we used were seasonal and English; the main stems being roses and snap dragons in tones of cream, pink and yellow with a hint of purple from a filler flower (I cannot remember the names of them!). 

We were very proud of our creations and gladly posed with them in hand having awkwardly tied them off and covered the stems in cellophane filled with water (a process much harder than you think!). 

Having had our paparazzi moment we dashed off to Bao which is hardly located round the corner from Lombok. I have been a few times before and literally  drool at the thought of a soft billowy bun entering my mouth so had booked (Yes! You can now book here! Miracle of miracles) a table for two once the class had finished. We were seated at the bar and started with drinks; a whiskey sour for me and a gin and tonic for Miss. K. We then proceeded to order a selection of goods, including those famed buns and the beef tendon nuggets. 

I think it's safe to say, we nailed our Thursday night and have now set a rather high bar for future Thursdays together. Bao is an absolute must if you haven't been already (Sophie hadn't and  think she felt in heaven) and I would really recommend an evening of floristry too if you fancy flexing a creative muscle or two! 

Now, I think it's time to open the aperol...



L.