If your New Year's resolution involves cutting down on carbs, well, time to rethink that one. When I lived in London, one of my favorite places to stop and get a pastry, coffee or a heaping slice of bruschetta for lunch was Del'Aziz. Yes, it is a chain (with six locations in London) but it is hardly generic. The pastries are drool worthy and seriously enormous - it takes at least two, maybe three people to polish off one slice, depending on how polite you are. Try the meringues, fig tart or pear and banana cake. But Del'Aziz does more than just satisfy a sweet tooth. It serves breakfast, lunch and dinner, with everything from Berber pancakes to gourmet sandwiches (try the brie, fig and date with cumin chutney) and Middle Eastern-inspired dinners (Persian chicken marinated with saffron).

­If you can't bear the ­thought of battling crowds to get your holiday shopping done, here is an altogether more civilized way to shop. This December, Orient-Express’s British Pullman will debut the inaugural "Shopping on the Rails" trip, where the venerable train will play host to some of the most luxurious retail brands in the world.

­­Want to visit the British countryside without leaving London? Check out the rooftop garden at the swanky Berkeley Hotel. The pool area has been transformed into a beautiful English garden, complete with birch trees, lavender and tweeting birds, as well as a special picnic menu featuring strawberries and cream. Also on offer is a new Green & Spring Cottage treatment room which has been designed to bring the outdoors in. For more informati­on call +44 (0)20 7201 1699. 

­This spring, all eyes are on London for the Royal wedding - although all the Brits we know aren't sticking around for it. They're taking advantage of the bonus vacation days to travel. But if your travels are taking you to London, there are a handful of new places to park your bags.

­­London in late November isn’t usually considered a romantic destination. Nevertheless, that’s where we decided to spend our belated honeymoon. While my husband (for whom this was a first visit) was interested in the city’s history and tradition, I love London for its cutting edge modernism. So we decided to experience both by way of The Dorchester and One Aldwych hotels.

­It figures that as soon as I leave London, many of my favorite American stores open up there. Now Londoners can enjoy Abercrombie & Fitch, Banana Republic and the latest, Anthropologie, which is the grown up sister to Urban Outfitters. The new store, located on Regent Street, is housed in the former Wedgwood shop and the window displays features lots of tea bags in a nod to the store’s heritage. Like its States-side branches, the London Anthropologie (UK website here) sells quirky clothing, housewares and jewellery. A second branch is due to open on the King’s Road in Chelsea in 2010.

­If I weren’t living in a rental, I think I could go seriously nuts with wallpaper. I’m a huge fan of contemporary wallpaper from the likes of Timorous Beasties, Cole and Son (my favourite is their Jaipur paisley print) and Designer’s Guild. Yup, they are all British companies and the Brits have cornered the market on cool, contemporary prints – and they are about to get some stiff competition. One of the newest companies to enter the market is Barneby Gates. It was launched by former Vogue journalist Vanessa Barneby and her artist pal Alice Gates.

You know how some occasions call for a five-course meal with caviar, truffles and champagne, and other times you just want a really good, homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner? I see base2Stay’s budget-boutique style as the comforting mac ‘n’ cheese of the hotel world – not the fanciest thing around, perhaps, but it sure does the job, maybe even better than its upscale counterpart.

It was a cold, pouring-rain November evening the night I stayed at the “aparthotel” in London, so I may have been biased, but the comfy-factor seemed high from the moment I arrived.

Here’s a great idea to dress up your walls. Surfaceview sells bespoke murals, blinds and even curtains using prints and images sourced from various British museums. The company has exclusive deals to recreate iconic paintings and images sourced from the Victoria and Albert Museum, The Natural History Museum, The Maritime Museum, The Land of Lost Content and many more. You can choose everything from Marvel comic images to butterflies and dragonflies (pictured) from the Natural History Museum, or close ups of textiles or ceramics. The innovative website lets you see your chosen print in a variety of room sets, from a living room to a bedroom. Although based in Britain, Surfaceview will ship worldwide.

­It figures that with only a few weeks left in London, I have only just discovered a truly fab hair salon. Last week I booked myself an appointment at the Covent Garden-based salon Windle, where many of the hairdressers have been trained at Bumble and bumble in New York, where I went religiously for almost 10 years (and made me think, why haven’t I discovered this salon before?) I absolutely loved Windle and it’s a shame I have only found it now. Unlike a lot of top London salons, they make no mention of any celebrity clientele, and the stylists focus on quietly delivering excellent haircuts and colour.