There are books you admire, and then there are books that quietly shape the way you see the world. For me,The Odysseybelongs firmly in the second category. I first met Odysseus, or Ulisse, as we called him in my Italian classroom, as a teenager, and I’ve been slightly in love with the crafty old wanderer ever since. So when I heard Christopher Nolan was taking a crack at it, I…
Most of us have barely made it to the end of the M25 without a back seat meltdown. So the idea of taking a month long train journey across Russia, Siberia and Mongolia might sound either thrilling or completely mad. But Martin Kyrle, a seasoned traveller with seven decades of globe-trotting under his belt, has done exactly that, and he has written a book about it that will make you laugh out…
World Cup 2026. Semi final: England v Argentina. I’m not a footie fan and was about to go home but back-tracked at the last minute to the Jolly Gardeners in Putney, an unremarkable pub just round the corner which I have been in only a handful of times in 30 years, and never to watch sport.During the World Cup, I haven’t needed to, the pub fans have kept the score. It’s standing…
A memorable firework display is rarely about sheer volume. Bigger bangs and longer runtimes can impress for a moment, but the displays people genuinely remember tend to feel carefully shaped. They build anticipation, vary their pace, use colour with intention, and leave the audience with a clear sense that they have seen a complete performance rather than a random sequence of effects.
That…
Corporate celebrations can look deceptively simple from the outside. Book a venue, arrange catering, send invitations, and let people enjoy themselves. But anyone who has planned one knows the atmosphere doesn’t take care of itself. The energy in the room, the ease of conversation, the timing of key moments, and even how long people stay all depend on one often underestimated factor: the…
If summer in London had a pulse, it would thump straight through Hyde Park every July. I’ve become a proper BST superfan over the past five years. No exaggeration, if I don’t spend at least a couple of evenings dancing on damp grass with a lukewarm drink in my hand, summer hasn’t officially started. This year the whole shebang ended on Sunday night with Lewis Capaldi, and oh my days, what a…
Every parent knows the feeling. You have just mopped the floor. Then someone spills juice everywhere. Or a well-aimed muddy boot leaves its mark on the clean sofa. In those moments, it is hard to remember that mistakes can be wonderful learning opportunities. But that is exactly the message at the heart of Dino School, the latest Giggly Furbottom Adventure.
Deep in the emerald Great…
If you’ve caught even a whisper of the Frida fever currently sweeping London, you’ll know we’re in the grip of a full-blown Fridamania. Murals of her iconic unibrow are popping up on Shoreditch walls, flower crowns are back with a vengeance, and the new Tate Modern exhibition (which I had the absolute pleasure of reviewing for London Mums Magazine recently – read my show review here)…
Pizza Bit Competition lands in the UK - CALLING ALL DOUGH-SLINGING, MOZZARELLA-DREAMING PIZZA CHEFS!
Listen up, London mums and dads and beyond, because this is dough-lightful. The legendary Pizza Bit Competition has crossed the Channel for the very first time, and it’s hunting for the UK’s pizza royalty. And guess who’s been asked to be a judge? Me, Monica Costa, your London Mums Magazine editor! I’ll be bringing my world-class pizza-eating credentials (years of “just one more slice”…
Launch nights can get oddly polite when the room does all the talking. Guests arrive, find the bar, nod at the logo wall, listen to a speech and leave with a sample bag that does more work than the event.
A better launch gives people something to feel part of. It might be a supper, a tasting, a working studio or a garden party. The point isn’t to be strange for the sake of it. It’s to make…