R-Rated | Everything I've Loved of Late

Crime dramas, repeat outfits, garden updates, stuff on my wishlist and a bingeable podcast.

Bit of a bumper one today but feels like it’s been a while so let’s catch up. The last few week’s have included one trip, one wedding, one christening, two (potential) personal projects set in motion, one mini home renovation project and three house guests. Oh and my job! Here’s some of my recent highlights from the good stuff.

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Staying
The aforementioned trip was to Formentera with two of my best girl friends. We stayed at Teranka, the latest hotel from Jennica Arazi who’s behind the legendary Marbella Club. Formentera is much more chilled than Ibiza so if you’re expecting a buzz and a party, this is not the spot. You can find more vibey spots on the island but the hotel itself is seriously mellow which we loved. The food was delicious (the included breakfast was great), the rooftop bar is hard to top in terms of sundowners, the staff are on hand to help with just about anything and you’re steps away from the sea and a great chirringuito for lunch (10.7 for really, really great sushi). Me and Heather also had seriosuly great lympathic massages while there too. Little touches like fresh fruit and tea after your treatment, hessian beach bags and water bottles in the rooms and complimentary yoga make such a difference to your overall experience I think. The last ‘luxury’ hotel I stayed at in Greece on Folegandros was so bad we left two days early (only ever done that once before in my life) so I was relieved this really had a good feel to it from the moment we arrived. Make sure you go to lunch at Es Codol Feradat if you find yourself on the island too - the tunar tartae is the best I’ve ever had.

Mermaid’s Happy Hour

Massimo Dutti dress

If Only If nightie over bikini

Reading
A friend replied to an IG story while we were in Greece saying ‘did you take the bible on holiday with you?!’ and she’d be forgiven for thinking so; Andrew O’Hagan’s Caledonian Road is one chunky tome and incredibly hard to summise here. I’ve seen lots of reviews compare the novel to Dickens and it’s easy to see why with its wealth of intricate characters across the breadth of London society with art critic, professor and man about town Campbell Flynn serving as our protagonist and tourguide as the book jumps from Russian billionaires and landed gentry to people smugglers, gifted hackers and drug dealers. It’s a state of the nation novel that unpicks everything from privilege, cancel culture, what it means to be complicit, generational trauma and the most sordid shadowy parts of politics. Yes there are some characters that feel a little 2D in a stereotypical baddie and goodie way (but perhaps that’s me being generous presuming every human on the planet has *some* grey areas), but there’s no end of thoughtful observations to be had and a lot to get your teeth and heart stuck into. 100% worth the 656 pages.