Silvana’s Surprise mini Hen do

{28th July 2011}

Silvana and I (Funmi) have known each other since 2004 when they shared a house in Birmingham as students. It’s been such a joyous privilege to get to know Silvana and her now-fiance, Diogo. They will get married in a few weeks in Portugal but unfortunately, we’re unable to join them there *sobs*. Silvana’s friends over there are planning a really cool Hen party for her but I thought that I’d do something here in the UK to show her how much we care for her & Diogo.

So when my sister, Seun & her husband, Tolu, bought us a Spa day voucher as a birthday gift for me (& because Adrian would rather keep busy than be pampered!), I offered the 2nd ticket to Silvana. She was so excited and proclaimed that it could be her UK mini Hen do. Little did she know that I was already trying to devise a surprise with the help of Diogo. Her excitement confirmed that she’d be up for a grander surprise. Diogo introduced me to some of Silvana’s friends and we set about planning the surprise mini hen do. The general plan was that Silvana & I would spend the morning exploring Chiswick in London before heading to the Spa in Chiswick. She thought we’d just hang out in the lovely sunshine and eat good food. Then I’d take her to a restaurant where her other friends would reveal that the whole day was a ruse to get her there!

On the evening of the 27th July, I met with Lucy Williams of My Heart Skipped Photography for dinner. It was so nice to hang out with Lucy and chat about photography and other things. I mentioned the surprise mini Hen do in Chiswick and Lucy helpfully suggested that Silvana & I should visit High Road Brasserie for their delicious food and excellent service. Thanks Lucy because Silvana & I went there and were blown away by the warm welcome, beautiful decor and scrummy food! Definitely intend to visit again.

These images were taken at High Road Brasserie.

Isn’t the mosaic flooring amazing?!We were so spoilt for choice that we couldn’t decide what to have so we asked if the staff would split one Full English Breakfast across two plates so we could try the French Toast with Strawberries and cream. Thankfully, they agreed. Just as well, as if we’d had a Full English Breakfast each we would have been unable to move. Their portions were very generous.This half portion of Full English Breakfast was super delicious!French toast with Strawberries and cream, which we halved again……but that didn’t halve the taste… *excuse me while I drool at the memory of it* … ok back to typing this.I adore attention to detail!Freshly baked bread.Thanks to Barbara & her lovely team at High Road Brasserie for the food, service and kind permission for me to take photos.As Silvana & I waddled along Chiswick High Road after the sumptuous brunch, we noticed Wheelers flowers stall and just had to take a few photos.How cool is this mirrored birdcage?We finally arrived at the Tranquility Health & Beauty Spa, where we received back exfoliation, a full body massage & an ESPA facial with scalp massage. Bliss. I *may* have made funny snorty noises as I fought to stay marginally awake ha! No comment… Well, the masseuse made me do it.If Silvana looks a bit unimpressed here, it’s because I’d just told her that we were going to make an impromptu visit to my other sick friend’s home. The friend I mentioned is Emma and she was actually one of Silvana’s friends who’d had to change the plans for the evening a bit due to slight illness. This meant that restaurant venue changed from one in Chiswick to one in Arsenal near Emma’s place. Silvana, you’re beautiful.When we arrived at Emma’s place, Silvana declared that door looked similar to her friend’s who lived near there (she’d only visited once previously), cue silence from me as I admired the door to avoid giving it away. When Emma opened the door, Silvana was incredulous and tried to work out how Emma and I knew each other (we didn’t). After the initial surprise, we went in for a quick snack before heading to restaurant. Realising that all the things I told  her before was all to get her to her surprise… She loved it!Silvana & Diogo opening their gifts…love the difference in their reactions ha!It turned out that Emma lives near Little Sardegna, a restaurant that serves authentic Italian food so we went there for dinner. Silvana had Linguine Salmone….Diogo & Susannah ordered Linguine Marcello, which was Linguine with crab meat, chilli, garlic, lemon & bottarga….… Emma had Linguine Mare (Mixed Seafood Linguine)…

Jeff had Tortelloni with pumpkin, pistachio and sage sauce….I had Pappardelle al Ragu de Agnello (Pappardelle with Lamb Ragu). All dishes were massive and delectable!Diogo took this shot of Silvana & I, said he wanted to ensure that there was at least one photo of me teehee.

Thanks to Emma, Susannah, Jeff & Diogo for helping to plan this wonderful day. Thanks also to Seun & Tolu for providing the ignition for this surprise, mwah!