All aboard the Hogwarts Express!

On the week after our wedding we traveled to London and Paris from Tuesday to Saturday. We only had a couple days in London, but they were enough for me to fall in love with the city. I hadn't been to the English capital for several years and, truth be told, I remembered very little about it. The weather during our visit was most appealing, with warm temperatures and a clear sky, which I truly appreciated, seeing how rain is not tourists' best friend.

Being a huge fan of Harry Potter, {it didn't take me longer than a couple days to finish each of the books}, I was really looking forward to visit platform 9 3/4 in King's Cross. J tried to stop me from leaving aboard the Hogwarts Express and look what good it did to him! I sent him flying high hahaha At the last minute I felt sorry for him, I mean he is my newly wedded husband after all, so I decided not to go on the Hogwarts Express and continue our London tour together :p Have you noticed how I purposely dressed myself that day all in burgundy to match Gryffindor's scarf? :D

Poor hubby, luckily I came to my senses before it was too late

We had a wonderful time in London, alas too little to make room for afternoon tea! I guess we'll have to go back soon :) We did have yummy full English breakfasts which J loves, and other very good food, which I didn't expect! Can't wait to go back! 

Me being silly

We love you London xx

Afternoon tea at Ladurée - Paris

While some people might be excited about visiting Paris for the architecture, the wine, or Paris Fashion Week, my favorite thing of the French capital are undoubtedly its pastries and teas. Croissants, pain au chocolat, macarons, petits fours... you name it, I love them all! And a brand that holds a very special place in my heart is Ladurée, for its consistent good quality and overall  elegance. I've been to Ladurée at the Champs Elysées several times in my life, and I couldn't leave Paris this time without visiting it once again. 

All their pastries and teas are delightful, an amazing little treat to feast on. Of course I had to have my beloved Ispahan, my favorite cake ever, ever! I used to like the one at Pierre Hermé better but during this trip to Paris I tried both and the one at Ladurée was most certainly superior in many ways, mostly regarding the macaron shell, which was a bit to dry at Pierre Hermé. Look at this big Ispahan Ladurée has for sale! I would LOVE this as birthday cake, it is oh-so-my-kind-of-cake!!! {My birthday happens to be tomorrow, by the way! Too bad we're not in Paris anymore!} Simply gorgeous and undeniably delicious.

I forgot which tea I had at Ladurée but all the teas they serve are from their own collection, which you can also buy at the counter to drink at home. It was definitely good, although in my honest opinion there's no tea in the world as good as the ones from Mariage Frères, where I did buy several kinds that I took home with me. Mariage Frères is THE place to go for tea in Paris, and they have a tea saloon which I'm dying to try as well. I might even like it better than Ladurée, who knows! Oh well, it will have to be for my next trip to Paris!

Visited on: October 10, 2013

Overall Quality: 5*

Price: Pricey! A tea costs around 7 euros and that Ispahan more than 10 euros, excluding tax!

Value for Money: 4.5*

Would I recommend it? Most certainly :)

Wedding Wednesday: My wedding: The day after {Brunch + Limo!}

It may sound weird that I write about the day after my wedding when I didn't even start sharing the details about the wedding itself yet... But since our wedding photographer was not there anymore on the following day, I figured the best pics we'll have of that day are ours anyway, so why not start here while we wait for the professional wedding pics?

The place where our wedding was held, La Garriga de Castelladral, has an 8-room cozy hotel, so we booked the whole place on our wedding night and invited the closest family and friends to spend the night. We slept in until 10 and had a delightful brunch at 11.

After the brunch, an amazing surprise was yet to come... My mom had arranged for a limo to bring J and I all the way back to Barcelona!!! I was speechless. I had no idea we were in for more surprises after the wedding! The limo was supposed to be for J and I only but J insisted on bringing his family along, which was definitely not a good idea seeing how all of them were sleeping 5 minutes after the engine started. Good thing is my brother came along as well, and the three of us had a great time playing around with the cava and the music.

A perfect start to our life as husband and wife :)

Mrs. Lau

We're just back to Hong Kong after two unforgettable weeks in Europe, the most memorable moment being the happiest day of my life: my wedding day. Three years after we first started going out together on the 6th of October, 2010, we tied the knot on a really warm day under a blue sky with white cotton-like clouds, surrounded by our family and friends,  just as I had pictured it in my mind all along. Simply put, it could not have been better. I'm looking forward to share all the details about that magical day with all of you, but there's so much to talk about, I'd rather share it with you little by little in the days to come. As you can see from the picture above, my wedding dress had beautiful 3/4 lace sleeves. If you want to see more, you can take a look at my Instagram, where I uploaded a gorgeous pic of the back of my dress, from when J and I were walking on the red carpet after signing the papers for the marriage registry.

PS. Today we're celebrating  the 1 year anniversary of J's wedding proposal... as husband and wife! :)

xx, Mrs. Lau

Wedding Wednesday: I'm getting married this week!

Hello everyone! I'm back home in Barcelona since last Saturday getting ready for our big day THIS SUNDAY! I can't describe the happiness I feel at this moment with Jeff being here with me {and his family, too!}, and getting to relax for a bit before our wedding. These two weeks we'll be staying in Europe are quite packed with trips as I already told you, and I'm so looking forward to all of them! We're leaving for Madrid today and will be coming back tomorrow night, since I didn't want to travel too much this week. We'll have plenty of that in Paris and London next week as husband and wife. Woohoo! 

This is a picture from Sunday, exactly a week before THE DAY, in our summer house. The weather is amazing here, thank God! We're having fun while sorting up some last minute things... I can't wait for Sunday to be here. I want to enjoy it so much so much so much!!! Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I can't believe I haven't uploaded a single picture to my instagram ever since I got here but everything has been just so intense!