A slap in the face for Gino D’Acampo?!
Last week Beanie Boy and I made our way down to London for Boots Christmas Press event to see all the gorgeous new gifts and collections which will be available this Christmas to treat our loved ones (and yes most likely ourselves too!). I always like attending these events since becoming a Mummy I seem to have less and less time to prepare for Christmas shopping so this little insight gives me a head start and helps me get my thinking cap on early. The event didn’t disappoint one bit, it was set in a beautiful location in Portland Place and made to look like home on a Christmas morning, if only I had a fireplace so big and regal. It really did look like something out of a Christmas movie.
As we made our way around the collections downstairs many a gift caught my eye, especially a collection with a rather handsome face emblazoned on it – the face of Celebrity Chef Gino ‘Fantastico’ D’Acampo himself. I remember saying something like “ooh do you get Gino free with this collection?” to be told “oh he’ll be here in the next 10 minutes, he’s doing a cooking demonstration for us. Queue my beating heart! I do have a bit of a ‘thing’ for Mr Fantastico, I think it’s the cheeky Italian in him and yes of course, he’s a bit of a looker!
We carried on weaving our way around the collections available and popped upstairs to see all the hair and beauty ranges to be met at the top of the stairs by the lovely Mark Hill, Celebrity Hair Stylist. You may recall that I met Mark Hill last year at the Boots Christmas in June and he was quite taken with my little Beanie Boy, so much so in fact that as we met at the top of the stairs he remembered us straight away and greeted us like old friends. He commented how he couldn’t believe that it was already a year since we last met and how much Beanie Boy had grown. Beanie Boy responded by giving Mark a kiss and a cuddle which Mark was very touched by. Honestly, if you ever get the chance to meet Mark Hill, do, he is one of the nicest, most down to earth men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting, a true gentleman.
Beanie Boy, as always, was the perfect companion for such as event. As I picked up bottles of lotions and potions to smell he would say “sniff” and proffer his nose so that he too could have a smell. He was quite taken with all the lovely ladies from Red Consultancy looking very chic in their Little Black Dresses, he particularly loved all the attention he received from them and fluttered his eyelashes accordingly.
Finally once we arrived back downstairs, we were told “Gino is here now” so Beanie Boy and I made our way over to say hello. Gino was far taller than I expected him to be, I always had him down as being quite a shorty but I was wrong. He greeted me with a very warm and hearty hug, queue my trembling knees, before bending down to ask “and who is this handsome young man – is he mine?” to which I replied “believe me I think I would know if he was”. I asked Beanie Boy if he wanted to give Gino a high-five, “yes” said Beanie Boy and proceeded to slap Gino square on the nose, queue Mummy going bright red with embarrassment! I apologised to Gino who was already laughing it off and offering his hand so that Beanie Boy could give him a proper high-five, which he did, followed by a kiss, a hug and a quite “sorry” from Beanie Boy. Gino was quite taken with Beanie Boy and hugged him back before spotting his beautiful long eyelashes and insisting that his team checked them out too “they are amazing” he declared. We spoke to Gino for about 15-20 minutes and he was every bit as charming as I expected him to be. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to stay to watch his cooking demonstration as I needed to get home to pick up Little Bean from pre-school but we had a fabulous day and I can’t wait to share all the cool Christmas Gifts and collections with you in my Christmas Gift Guide a little later in the year.