Today I’m so excited to be introducing you to Angie, of Silverspoon London! You might already have noticed Angie’s advert in my sidebar and read a little about her in my monthly advertiser round up posts over the past few months, and so I’m super excited to be sharing a fun Q&A with the lady herself today! Silverspoon London is a luxury travel and lifestyle blog, and is always such a good read. Angie’s posts document her incredible travel and dining experiences, and reading them is such an amazing form of escapism! And so, without further ado, let me introduce you to…Silverspoon London!

1. Will you tell us a little about how you got started writing Silverspoon London? What brought you to blogging, and how did you pick out the name?

I actually started writing a blog as part of a business but I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to do it more for myself so I decided to start a new personal one. I was always going on different travel adventures, trying new restaurants and going to fun events and I wanted a place to record it all. Plus I had lots of people asking me for recommendations all the time, now I can easily direct them to my favourite places and show them pictures of what to have! I started on blogger (the free platform from Google) with a very simple and standard design and then worked on improving it with a template from Etsy and a new logo.

For the name I was about to get married and my new surname would be Silver so I wanted it to tie in with that. I drew up a short list and when I thought of SilverSpoon it was kind of a eureka moment as it reflected everything that I wanted it to be.

2. What three words would you use to describe your blog?

Luxury, travel, food

3. Would you tell us a little about your blogging process? What comes easiest to you- the words, or the pictures? And do you like to plan your posts well in advance, or just strike when the iron’s hot? :)

I generally start by going through all my photos and choosing the ones I’d like to put in the post and then editing them. Seeing the photo gives me inspiration and reminds me of the experience; such as the taste of a meal and the memories of a beautiful place. I love the writing process and photography didn’t come easily at first but I’ve really worked on my composition and style over the last two years and I’m really seeing a great improvement.

I blog most week days so I have to pretty organised about it and I like to stick to a schedule. I have an excel spreadsheet where I record every day of the week, what I’m going to publish and what category it fits into. I like to keep my content really varied but my schedule is pretty fluid and I’m always moving things around. If I’m going on a trip I’ll write lots of posts in advance so I don’t have the pressure of writing on the go but I still have plenty of content to publish.

4. Has blogging brought about any major changes in your life? Anything especially exciting, or challenging?

The greatest thing about blogging is that you start thinking more out of the box and do different things in order to create new and exciting content. I love travel but I’m really unadventurous and I don’t really like going out of my comfort zone but owing to the blog I force myself to do it because I think it’ll make an interesting story. For example, I’m terrified of heights but I couldn’t visit South Africa without ascending Table Mountain; this meant getting into a cable car to go to the top. I was so scared but so proud that I did it!

Before the blog I was never interested in photography but now it’s become one of my favourite hobbies. After purchasing my first DSLR camera and attending various classes, I’ve seen my photos grow and grow – the progress is exciting and encourages me to keep working on it and getting better and better.

5. We can’t not talk about travel, in this little interview! Okay, let’s play favourites- what’ve been your top 3 places you’ve ever visited, and why?

The best trip I’ve ever been on was our five week tour of Australia. It’s such an incredible country with a diverse landscape. I’ve never been to a place where I can visit the city, the beach, the rainforest, the mountains and the desert.

I fell in love with South Africa during my recent trip there. We visited Cape Town and the Winelands and drove the Garden Route before finishing off with a safari in Kruger Park. I loved the beautiful scenery, the incredible food and wine and the wonderful luxurious hotels. The safari is one of the best things I’ve ever done in my life, seeing elephants bathe, rhinos play and lions stalk their prey is just an unbeatable experience.

The third is Thailand, as you know ;). Sadly, I think some areas have been ruined by tourism but there’s still lots of special unspoilt spots in the country. I love the exoticism of Thailand, the wonderful people and the beautiful sunshine.

6. What’re some of your favourite spots in London? Any hidden, or under-rated restaurants or destinations you wouldn’t mind sharing with us?

One of my favourite areas of London is where I live in Victoria. It’s really under-rated because people still see Victoria as a transport hub or just full of offices but actually it been recently redeveloped and now there’s lots of new bars, restaurants and shops. I would highly recommend trying Kouzu for sushi, UNI for Peruvian food and the stunning Goring Hotel for afternoon tea. Also head down to the gorgeous pink bakery Peggy Porschen which sells the best ever cakes! It’s where I got my wedding cake from. Whilst in Victoria there are so many wonderful sights to see including The Houses of Parliament, Westminster Cathedral and Buckingham Palace it’s literally a tourist’s dream.

7. Will you tell us a little about how you met your husband? And, since you’re a few years ahead of me in this whole marriage lark- any advice for how to keep a happy marriage? :)

We started off with just a few casual dates and then it started to get mores serious, and moved in together after a year. After two years we were engaged and after a year and a half of planning we had our dream wedding! As we’re both Jewish we have a similar background and a shared culture but we have lots of other things in common too like our love of food and travel! It sounds obvious but a happy marriage is definitely all about compromise. I’m a planner whereas my husband is spontaneous and we work at finding a happy medium. I also think that when you’re married it’s important to still have date nights and make sure you keep the romance very much alive.

8. And finally, it’s our old favourite Desert Island Discs! If you were stranded on a desert island, what would you bring along for the ride? You can bring two albums/CDs, two books, two films, ingredients to make a meal, and one luxury item!

For my albums I’d probably choose Beyonce for something fun that I can dance too and Take That (don’t judge…) for nostalgia purposes.

For the film I’m total sucker for a chick flick so I would I’d probably go with two of my favourite modern classics: Pretty Woman and Mean Girls

For food, I’d forget about ingredients and just have some trays of sushi paired with champagne.

My luxury item would be a photo of my husband and I on our wedding day.

~ Thank you so much Angie! You can find Silverspoon London here, and don’t forget to follow along via Bloglovin‘! ~

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