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by yablon | July 19, 2013

Kit out the kids in Sunuva

Before you jet off for your Summer holidays, kit out the kids in some of Sunuva‘s stunningly chic beach and swimwear.

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Mini (in Sunuva) heads into the pool

The lovely team at Sunuva has given Life of Yablon readers a real summer treat: a chance for one of you to win £100 to spend on your kids! To enter, all you need to do is enter your name and email address here.

…and back in the pool she dives…

COMPETITION ENDS 31ST JULY 2013. WINNER WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM AND NOTIFIED 1ST AUGUST 2013.

The FAB EDIT

It all started with a can of magic. And then it ended less magically as I had tossed this can of magic (idiotically) into my hand luggage instead of my suitcase only to find it being confiscated by Heathrow airport security. But,in short, if you have seen my hair looking big, full and bouncy over the last few weeks, it’s all down to 2 girls and their Fab Edit.

Susanna & Arabella and their FAB EDIT

Susanna Cohen (formerly Beauty & Style Director, Marie Claire) and Arabella Greenhill (formerly Senior Fashion Editor, Marie Claire) are the online editors of this recently launched fashion and beauty hit list. Oh and their Daily Edits are all – tantalisingly – only one click away from your purchasing fingers.

big-hair Oribe

Yes, I was a little cynical too when I first read about the new site but it really is good. Why? Well, I (for one) would never have known about Oribe’s dry texturising spray which transforms even the flattest, dullest, dirtiest hair. And I suppose it wasn’t their fault that I packed it in the wrong bag en route to Tuscany…

The site layout is clean and simple yet elegant so I was impressed enough to get in touch and ask my usual nosy drill…

when did you launch Fab Edit? We are currently soft launching by word of mouth.

where did the idea first come from? A feeling that there was a gap in the market. Most online editorial is paid for. Matches and Net a Porter have their own magazines, but they are also pushing their own product. We take a very impartial standpoint and use our fashion and beauty expertise to pull the best items and products that we believe in from across all online marketplaces.

where do you source your edit from? We test and try everything, attend the fashion shows, launches and press days.

what makes Fab Edit different from Cult Beauty or Beauty Mart? We are utterly impartial, take no advertising, and do not sell our own product. We also cover fashion and beauty.

Whistles’ Wooster tote

what’s in your beach bag? Ipod, Ray bans, Lem Lem cover -up, Sisley sun protection, Kerastase Huile Celeste for hair, Evian water.

Have you featured a beach bag yet (I am currently looking for a new one!)? The Wooster tote, £85, Whistles

Susanna – which beauty product can’t you live without? Rodin Olio Lusso

Arabella – what is THE killer fashion item for summer 2013? Chanel Leather Espadrilles

where have you eaten recently and loved? Balthazar, Balthazar and Balthazar!

what would you change about the world we live in? Everyone should have a night with Ryan Gosling.

how long does it take you to get ready in the morning? Half an hour when it’s the school run – one hour if it’s for work.

Sign up for your Daily Edit here.

My night with Alan Whicker

Last week the celebrated broadcaster and globetrotting TV presenter departed Whicker’s World-at-large. Aged 87 and living with Valerie Kleeman, his partner of more than 40 years, I was reminded of the night I spent at his home in Jersey some 13 years ago.

take this every day. Helps with keeping things moving and feeling good. Online pharmacy cialis? Our company is a professionally managed distributor of generic drugs.

I was working at AOL all those years ago heading up a PR team responsible for communicating the benefits of the proprietary internet service, with its endless channels of ‘exclusive content’. I had an idea. Maybe we could link the Travel Channel to a semi-retired Alan Whicker, who the media would be keen to interview. He would then be fully briefed to weave in the internet service provider on cue wherever possible.

There was one issue. Actually two. Not only had Mr Whicker never used the internet, he didn’t even own a computer. Living a quiet life in Jersey, he hadn’t seen the need to plunge himself into ‘new media’.

Mr Whicker and his partner of more than 40 years, Valerie Kleeman

And so I was sent for, along with my friend* the editor of AOL’s Travel Channel. We were asked to spend 48 hours with the national treasure with trademark moustache teaching him how to get online or at least appear au fait, in front of any questioning journalists.

His home was full of memorabilia together with his numerous broadcasting accolades. It felt like a tribute to his career with every inch of every wall covered with photographs, newspaper articles and artifacts from the many countries he had visited.

After an early start to travel from London to Jersey and then a long day of mouse clicking, my colleague and I were ready for an early-to-bed as we were shown to our respective ensuite bedrooms. Unfortunately, this was not how Mr Whicker had seen the evening would play out. We were asked to ‘dress for dinner’ before meeting for a pre-dinner cocktail in the drawing room. I panicked, as had only packed jeans for my night away. But my colleague panicked more when she found herself locked in her musty bedroom with only magazines from the 1980s picturing Whicker on the cover to keep her company.

Alan and Valerie – dressed for dinner

Finally, as we descended the staircase, we found Alan and Valerie dressed as if for a Hello magazine photo-shoot in their drawing room. Dinner was a lively affair as Mr Whicker told many tales of his adventures.

Aged 74, it can’t have been an easy transition for this old-timer to make the shift from old to new media and it could have extremely uncomfortably staying in his quirky home – but instead we left having taught the horn-rimmed glassed broadcaster a thing or 2 about the world wide web as we giggled all the way back to the airport.

*The then editor of AOL’s Travel Channel is now a pretty well-know illustrator and cartoonist. Check out her work here.

Girlie catch-up at Grain Store

Granary Square, just North of King’s Cross station

3 girlies and some gentle watering was exactly what we were in search of. One of the girlies, now a very successful TV/film art director, and I hadn’t seen each other since she was more Brother’s friend than mine, a good 20 years ago. As Brother and I were only a year apart, all our friendships were mutual and I remembered how much I enjoyed hanging out with her. Anyway, Brother moved to the US all those years ago and all our lives moved on so we had unfortunately and inevitably lost touch. The other girlie, her great friend, and I had seen each other more recently in Ibiza but, either way, a catch-up was long over-due.

Grain Store, Granary Square

I selfishly suggested Grain Store as I had heard and read so much about Bruno Loubet’s new restaurant and was also keen to drink at Tony Conigliaro’s bar there. Located on one-time industrial wasteland north of King’s Cross station, the vast former Victorian warehouse on Granary Square has been transformed into … well, a vast foodie warehouse.

vast foodie warehouse – Grain Store

Getting a table at a reasonable hour proved impossible. The online and telephone booking system redirected me to Top Table, which showed an opening at 6pm and 930pm – on every single date I punched in. Finally after some furious tweeting, I got hold of the manageress who explained that 70% of the tables are held back each day for walk-ins. So, we walked in and found that even better than a table would be to sit at the bar.

Kings’s Cross cranes still linger outside Grain Store

I drank Twinkle, my cocktail, as if it was a spritzer. In fact it was a cunning mix of Champagne, Vodka, elderflower cordial and a twist lemon. The other two sipped a bottle of Prosecco. So much to catch up on and, after a couple of hours, we looked up to find the warehouse had emptied out.

infused bottle of wine

One more drink for the road and a taste of the big bottle on the bar.

Conigliaro, it seems, has gone a little Greco-Roman in his wine flavouring, adding herbs and spices…

Leaving Kings Cross later than perhaps expected, one of us jumped on her bike. The other two took cabs.

Grain Store, Granary Square, 1-3 Stable Street, W1

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Kit out the kids in Sunuva

The FAB EDIT

My night with Alan Whicker

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