Afternoon tea at the Berkeley

G'day everyone. Today's post recounts a delightful afternoon tea in London with two fellow fashion bloggers (above). It was lovely to see Michelle from Fifty and Fab and Anna from Mutton Style (on the left). It was Anna's first outing for several weeks as she has been unwell since Christmas, so everything in London looked very big.

We had the famed Prêt-à-Portea at the Berkeley Hotel in Knightbridge. Twice a year, they take the catwalk trends and translate them to the cakes and biscuits in a very imaginative way.

We started with sandwiches and savouries followed by the gorgeous display of cakes - including Victoria Beckham's celebrated "legs coming out of the carrier bag!"

Prior to meeting up, I had a quick walk round the Courtauld Impressionists exhibition at the National Gallery. The Courtauld Gallery is closed for at least two years and has loaned out most of its iconic works. It was amazing to see such familiar masterpieces from Monet, Manet, Renoir, Van Gogh and others up close.  I will share some of those in my Sentence a Day post, first Thursday of Feb.

Back to the tea, and what did we discuss?  Well, blogging - experiences of working with brands; the problems with Instagram; migrating to WordPress. But also personal stuff about our lives and careers, and how we manage our time.

It was the first time I'd eaten any sugary foods since Christmas. I'm not normally very tempted by cake or chocolate, I much prefer savoury food, but over the afternoon tea I consumed a few cakes and a biscuit.  By the time I got home I felt very fatigued, and the next day, tired and achey with the return of a "fat bag" under my eye on my right cheek.

These are all symptoms for me of a sugar overload. I think of sugar as a poison, and the devastation it wreaks on the body is very visible from most people's faces.  My skin becomes more slack, my contours less defined.  It doesn't happen after one delicious afternoon tea, but consume sugar every day and you'll see it.

Anyway - aside from that, it was a lovely afternoon (with two glasses of champagne to round it off). I'll be organising more outings in London over the next few weeks, so if you're interested (and you don't need to be a blogger, just someone who likes the chance to meet women of a similar vintage!), drop me a line at isthismutton96@gmail.com giving me an idea of what you like to do - art galleries, museums, lunches, trips to cultural attractions?

Sharing this post with #AnythingGoes at My Random Musings, Creative Mondays at Claire Justine, #Spreadthekindness at Shelbee on the Edge and  #ShareAllLinkUp at Not Dressed as Lamb.

For More Mutton

Don't miss a post -  follow Is This Mutton? on Bloglovin or Feedspot. I post extra goodies (handbags and shoes) on the Is This Mutton? Facebook page. Check out the Is This Mutton? Pinterest boards, including boards on other bloggers in fab outfits plus beauty, jewellery, hairstyles and fashion picks. Is This Mutton? is also on Twitter.