London Turns On Its Christmas Lights
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Central London! This is the big week for London’s Christmas lights. Following Harrods’ Christmas Parade last week, look out for festive twinkles coming to Oxford Street, Regent Street, Carnaby, Covent Garden, Westfield, and Greenwich Market to name but a few. From now until Christmas, shopping in London after dark will be a real treat as all the main shopping areas show off their finest festive trimmings. Enjoy!

Superga Opens in Carnaby
Italian shoe brand Superga has opened its second London store. Superga’s trademark vulcanized rubber soles can now be browsed and bought at 13 Newburgh Street in Carnaby. The brand was born back in 1911 Turin under the stewardship of Walter Martiny. After the war Superga reopened with a new mission to bring high-quality footwear to the people of Italy. Look out for the 2750, the so-called “People’s Shoe of Italy”. British Superstar Rita Ora is the face of their Spring/Summer 2013 campaign; if you can’t wait til then, pop into the new Carnaby store for fantastic shoes galore.

Lucy in Disguise Launches The Drama Parlour
On Thursday there’s a new hair studio opening inside Lucy in Disguise in Lexington Street. Billed as a one-stop shop and salon, tucked away in the eclectic comfort of the vintage boutique, you can have your hair tamed, teased and whipped into shape by Victoria Saunders, with her individual, one-to-one service. Working alongside her will be Sarah Hill, a fantastic hairdresser, if you are bored with your barnet or frustrated with your fringe, the Hair Mistress and team are here to revamp and revitalize your look! There will also be a “Menu of Make-up looks” inspired by styles from the 1920s to the 1960s for you to choose from, created by make-up artist Holy Silius. Click here to find out more.

Keith Brymer Jones in Seven Dials
Another week; another fab Seven Dials pop-up shop. This time, British ceramicist Keith Brymer Jones is showcasing his full collection of beautiful, useable and practical objects at 15 Shorts Gardens. I really like his Word Collection: classic typewriter font stamped objects, with honest descriptors like “coffee” or “bowl”, and more quirky statements like “don’t panic” and “overworked and underpaid”. Look out, too, for the Punk range, where famous rock quotes are cleverly re-worded (“Sex, Mugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll”), and printed on safety-pin pierced mugs. As well as plates and mugs, the pop-up stocks baby gifts, pet bowls, kitchen items like aprons and jugs. There’s also the first home fragrance collection from the brand including soaps, scent diffusers and candles. Keith Brymer Jones is in Seven Dials until 27 November.

Carl Warner at Westfield Stratford City
If you’re shopping at Westfield Stratford this weekend, don’t miss your chance to check out some free food art while you’re there. Food artist and photographer Carl Warner will be at Westfield Stratford City from today until Sunday 11 November. Carl will also be making an appearance, showing how he puts his work together in a series of demonstrations from Friday to Sunday, between 1pm-5pm each day in the Great Eastern Market on the Lower Ground Floor.

 Click here for more images and info.

Carnaby Street’s Record Breaking Games
From today, Guinness World Records is challenging the public to become Totally Bonkers Sporting Champions live in Carnaby Street. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, Guinness World Records will unveil an exclusive sporting challenge and offer you the chance to claim a world record title. Forget about the athletes breaking records in the Olympic Park for the moment: here’s your chance to become a world champion at the fastest tying of shoelaces wearing boxing gloves, for example, or the most bounces on a spacehopper. The Carnaby Street Games take place between 12.30 and 1.30pm on Carnaby Street. Every participant will receive a Carnaby canvas shopping bag, so even if you don’t break the record you won’t go away empty handed.

Greenwich Market’s Special Summer
If you’re visiting Greenwich during the London 2012 Olympic or Paralympic Games, don’t miss your chance to visit Greenwich Market too. As well as the usual brilliant shops and stalls, there are new heart-shaped art installations and a number of pop-up shops just for the summer. Look out for Pop Up@SE10, a new designer-maker venture on Nelson road, featuring local and London-based designers, makers and artists’ fashion, furniture, jewellery, glass and ceramics. It’s open from 12-8pm during the Games. RN@Greenwich is another pop-up. PO CIS Gunton and I CIS Reffell run and manage the shop on board HMS Ocean for their welfare fund, which is spent on morale-building events for the crew such as barbecues or film nights. The shop will be open daily from midday ’til late, until they sail after the Games.

Get Into the Games at Westfield London
There are even more reasons to visit Westfield London this summer. Every Monday and Thursday, there’s live music in the centre; visit with the kids on Tuesdays and you can meet Fireman Sam, Fifi and Bumble, Postman Pat, Angelina Ballerina and more. There are also arts and crafts activities at the Disney Store for little shoppers with big imaginations. If you hit the shopping centre on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you can have a go at various sports in and around the centre, including table tennis, gymnastics and even free running. Shopping hours have been extended until 10pm, Monday to Saturday and til 9pm on Sundays. If you can’t bear to be away from the Olympic Games action, you’ll be pleased to hear there are big screens set up inside the centre too, so you won’t miss a thing!

Read more about shopping in London here: visitlondon.com/attractions/shopping

Get everything on your Christmas wish list (for once!) on a festive shopping spree at Westfield.

Enter our competition and you’ll win a £250 gift card to spend at Westfield London or its sparkling new sister mall, Westfield Stratford City.

And thanks to Westfield’s hands-free concierge service, you won’t have to lug your bags around – just pick them up on your way out.

After you’ve indulged in all the fantastic shops Westfield has to offer, you and a friend can skate under the twinkling fairy lights of Westfield London’s ice rink or under the stars at Westfield Stratford City’s outdoor rink – for free.

This competition closes on 8 December 2011 - just six days away – so enter now, before it’s too late…

Enter now to win a Christmas shopping spree at Westfield

Here’s a great video from Westfield’s YouTube channel to celebrate the arrival of Westfield Stratford City later this month.

There are so many fantastic things about this vid. I love the music, the dance, and of course, seeing all the brilliant, iconic East End fashions through the ages.

A wedding is a great excuse to go shopping, whether you’re a guest, member of the bridal party or just getting into the festive spirit! The royal wedding in London is no exception, in fact, it’s possibly the ultimate “shopportunity”, especially if you win this excellent prize.

Visit London and Westfield will reward one lucky winner with a £100 Westfield gift card to spend on anything you like at Westfield London. With loads of luxury brands, all your favourite high street stores, a huge food court and the Vue Cinema, it’s a shopaholic’s dream.

But you’ve got to be in it to win it! Enter the Westfield £100 Gift Card Competition here.

• Try some tasty Malaysian cuisine in Trafalgar Square. 24 Sep 2010
• See some beautiful art. Treasures from Budapest and Diaghilev both open this weekend. From 25 Sep 2010
• Submit your own seven second movie at Westfield and it could be shown at the BFI Film Festival. 10am-6pm, 25 Sep
• Go back in time to the hedonism of 19th-century Paris at La Belle Epoque. 25 Sep 2010
• Enjoy traffic-free shopping at the Regent Street Festival. 25 Sep 2010

The powers that be aren’t giving away much about the plot, but there are a few things we can be sure of seeing – clothes, shoes, more clothes, cocktails, and of course, our four favourite Manhattanites!

And despite five long days of waiting ahead of us, there’s still plenty of SATC-inspired fun to be had in London in the meantime:

SATC Hits the Square Mile: Pop on your Manolos and had to City-bar Anise on Monday for a free fashion and beauty event. Pamper yourself with a range of treatments including free makeovers from Benefit Cosmetics, free mini manicures from Wah Nails, and £5 massages from Cucumba. There’ll also be fab product discounts, cocktails and canapés courtesy of the Cinnamon Kitchen. To register, send your name (and a friend’s) to events@cinnamon-kitchen.com

Sex and the City Monday at Prism: Can’t remember what happened in the last film? Head to Prism on Monday for a screening of the first Sex and the City movie. A £15 ticket also gets you a SATC-inspired cocktail and snacks. For tickets call +44 (0)20 7256 3876 or email prism.events@harveynichols.com

Sex and the City Par-Tea: After shopping like Carrie, refresh yourself with this Sex and the City afternoon tea. The tea includes sweet and savoury treats NYC-style and a selection of cocktails to choose from, including of course, Manhattans. Available from 28 May 2010 at Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill

The Hummingbird Bakery: Just as the girls love The Magnolia Bakery in New York, we can’t get enough of  The Hummingbird Bakery‘s scrumptious cupcakes here in London. Yes, you have to queue, but they’re worth waiting for!

The Village at Westfield: Sex and the City is all about love and labels! Let Prada, Dior, Jimmy Choo and Gucci take care of the latter at the West London shopping destination.

Sex and the City 2 opens 27 May. London cinema times

Noodles, rice, sweet and sour, fireworks, and… tigers?!

What a combination! Strange I know, BUT it’s Chinese New Year: the Year of the Tiger, and it falls on Valentine’s Day, 14 February. Now, I know I’ve already mentioned you should take part in Magic 105.4′s charity Gala Performance of Dirty Dancing on Saturday… so why not go for it this weekend, and join in the Chinese New Year Celebrations on Sunday as well?

If staring into your loved-one’s eyes in the privacy of your own home or over dinner at a romantic London restaurant is top of your list, you can still join in the China Town Association’s celebration on Sunday 21 February. There’ll be an amazing display in Trafalgar Square celebrating the New Year. It’ll be so much fun for the kids. My two daughters are doing a project on Chinese New Year at school, so you know where I’m going to be next Sunday! 

Firecrackers, dragons, lions… the one thing I’m really looking forward to are the Chinese acrobats. They always put on such a spectacular show, full of colour, vibrancy and energy; I can just imagine children wanting to join in the fun.

The great thing about Chinese New Year is that there’s so much for the whole family to do. The two events I’ll be taking my girls to over half term are workshops at the following :

• National Maritime Museum – arts and crafts workshops making Chinese head dresses, good luck flags and watching performances from the Greenwich Chinese Community School

And

• Straight after my show on 20 February, I’ll be making my way down to Westfield’s Shopping Centre where the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China, having officially opened the Spring Festival, will be putting on a display of Chinese dance, acrobats, and plays performed by children of Chinese origin

Now, the one thing I haven’t mentioned is food. You can’t celebrate Chinese New Year without having a good Chinese meal! So it’s prawn crackers, chicken in black bean sauce and special fried rice for me, in the heart of Chinatown!

Happy Chinese New Year (and happy half-term) to you all, and let me know what you get up to!

But where in London will you be heading to buy your gifts?

Will the prospect of a traffic-free Oxford Street and Regent Street lure you to the West End this weekend? Or would you prefer to shop undercover (and safe from whatever the weather has in store) at Westfield?

Are you a bargain-hunter who’ll be after unique gifts at one of London’s markets? Or an eco-conscious shopper, having a green Christmas?

We’d love to hear your Christmas shopping tips and recommendations, so let us know where we should be shopping in London this year.

It’s the festive season, and London’s lit up like a, well, Christmas Tree…

From presents to snowflakes to classy twinkly Victoriana to psychedelic reindeer, it’s a varied bunch for London’s Christmas lights this year.

We want to know which you think are best!

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