Happy New Year

This editorial sums up New Year's perfectly for me. The long sweeping dresses, bejewelled masks and, of course, the obligatory glass of champers. I still have absolutely no idea what I'm going to wear tonight. I need to take over the bedroom and have a mammoth dress-up session. The room will be carnage by the time we actually leave!

Hope you all have a lovely weekend and I hope all your dreams and wishes come true in 2010 xx

Images via here (Paris Vogue May 2007, photographer: Terry Richardson)

Rose & Grey

{Rustic drawers on wheels, £295 & Elm aged side table, £300}

{Glass door knobs, £2.50 & Owl doorstop, £15}

{Set of 6 kashmiri beakers, £30 & Antique style hook, £4.50}

Spent a good hour of my afternoon wistfully searching through Rose & Grey's website.

They have such beautifully chosen things for the home.

The owl doorstop is number one on my wishlist. Adorable.

Images all from Rose & Grey

Look what the boyfriend got me!

I am such a lucky girl.

Have been snapping away - can't wait to see how they turn out.

Hope you all had a lovely and magical Christmas.

Image via we heart it

Merry Christmas!

I'm back at my parents' for a week. I'm sooo looking forward to making my way through all the food and drink that my mum has got stacked up in the fridge!

I hope you all have a fantastic Christmas!

Image via Bohemian Musings

Once upon a time...

After a long trek through the snow to the station and then a four hour train journey, I'm finally back in London - but exhausted - so I thought I'd post these lovely pictures courtesy of Swedish photographer Magnus Selander.

They've been sitting patiently in my inspiration folder for a few months now. Each picture feels quite magical to me. They remind me of the homes I used to fantasize about living in when I was young.

I hope you enjoy them too xx

Genius

My friend's boyfriend bought her these genius ear muff speakers. Aren't they great?!

I think I'll be investing in these as this snow doesn't seem in any hurry to go anywhere.

Keeping my fingers crossed that I can make it home tomorrow!

Hope you all managed to make it home safely tonight xx

Image from Urban Outfitters

Snowball fight

We woke up to a winter wonderland today!

My friend and her little boy came over to have a big snowball fight at the park.

Hot chocs and croque monsieurs at the local French cafe made us all warm and toasty again.

Wouldn't it be lovely if we could have this weather again this time next week? Fingers crossed.

Image via We heart it

Keeping it simple

Why oh why didn't I buy, or even start thinking about, presents before this week?

I'm running around like a crazy woman trying to find gifts and bombarding my family with random questions like, "Does Brendan own a harmonica?", "Exactly how whacky is Neel's sense of humour?"

Next year it'll be different. Promise. I'm sure I said this last year...

In the meantime, my dress sense has been seriously dire. I've resolved from here on to stick to black and white only. Throwing random skirts with whatever coloured tights were washed and whatever jumper was thick enough to withstand this snow, has created some scary combinations.

I'm hoping that with black and white, I can't go tooooo wrong...

Images from Stockholm Street Style, Caroline's Mode & Jak & Jil

Dreamy

The combination of dusky pinks, metallics and pure whites, mixed with the beautiful antique pieces create such a fairy tale home. I love!

Images via Apartment Therapy

Hello my lovely...

Oh to have this lovely sparkly Paul & Joe number hanging in my wardrobe.

Image from net-a-porter

My weekend was filled with...

...baking Jamie Oliver's Victoria Sponge cake for my parents' visit over to us on Sunday - and making an almighty mess in the kitchen (why can't I cream without getting sugar and butter mixture all over the tiles?)

...watching - and loving - the latest Harry Potter movie (and chuckling at the evil Alan Rickman - he has the best part by far)

... going to my uncle's funeral. I've never been to a Humanist ceremony before. It was such a celebration of his life. On his request, they read out this poem. It summed up my uncle's sense of humour perfectly

... making more snowflake curtains (they're looking so pretty!)

Hope you all had a great weekend. Can't believe that its under a fortnight till Christmas. I really must get a move on with my present buying!

(Image via here)

Beautiful bedrooms

Ridiculously busy today so thought I'd quickly post some pictures of the bedrooms that I've been stashing away in my inspiration file.

Now that our living room is close to being finished, I've earmarked the bedroom for next.

Its so lovely to see the flat taking shape!

P.S. I'll be posting photos of my snowflake curtain attempt next week. Please note the word "attempt"!!

Photos via Desire to Inspire, Apartment Therapy & Ikea

Snowflake curtain

I've recently discovered Laura's Bugs and Fishes blog (via Apartment Therapy) and she has sooo many excellent ideas for handmade Christmas decorations.

I'm going to be spending today trying my best to replicate this snowflake curtain for the bedroom I think.

Let's just hope it turns out half as well as Laura's!

Christmas inspiration

These are the three photos that have inspired our decoration attempts this Christmas.

Our flat is so tiny that after much deliberating we decided to do without a tree this year and focus on using silver and glass baubles and lots of ribbon to Christmas-ify (I know, I completely made up this word!) our little home.

It actually looks quite magical, especially in the evenings when we light the tea lights.

(Images via Lovely Little Things, Apartment Therapy & Living Etc)

Chili

After a hunt that has lasted pretty much all of 2009(!), I have fiiiinally found a red lippie that actually suits me - Mac's Chili.

If you're on the hunt for the perfect red then I thoroughly recommend giving this one a try (especially if, like me, you're a brunette with skin that constantly needs bronzer to make you look less like an extra from the Twilight movies).

I can't stop wearing it. Every oufit suddenly looks a bit more glam.

A smile can brighten the darkest day

I decided to post a picture today that never fails to lift my mood.

My uncle passed away early yesterday. It was a shock.

To me, he was my genius uncle.

The Oxford educated mathematician with crazy wiry hair.

The man who absolutely adored my lovely aunt and their two gorgeous children.

The Arsenal fanatic.

The super chef (his curry last Boxing Day was out of this world).

The man who took his family to live in Thailand and Malaysia where they lived an extraordinary life.

I'll miss you xxxx

(Image by Toast)

Annie Schlechter

Beautiful photography by Annie Schlechter.

I can only dream of my wardrobe looking like this!

Playing dress up

{Pixie's frill dress, €155.00}

{Lula's twirly skirt, €95.00 & Lula's sweet blouse, €90.00}

These two outfits by British-based Nadinoo are exactly what I want to be hanging in my wardrobe.

How gorgeous are the Liberty of London prints?

(Via A Cup of Jo. All images from Nadinoo)

Changes?

I keep dreaming about moving to the countryside.

There's a farmhouse that we pass just before the train pulls into my parents' stop.

I can only see one road or track that leads to it.

Its white, topped with a thatched roof, surrounded by outbuildings. It looks like a real home.

I keep dreaming about living there...

Image by {this is glamorous}

A touch of blue

I'm still absolutely smitten with this bedroom that I posted about back in July. I just adore the light blue walls. So uplifting.

Here they are again - tempting me to just go for it this Christmas and liven up one of our rooms (bedroom or living room? I'm leaning towards bedroom...) with a slick of sky blue paint.

Photo via Apartment Therapy

Chocolate indulgence

There are some weeks when only chocolate can help.

I found this recipe for a simple chocolate fudge cake on the BBC's food website.

What can I say? So simple and so quick to make and sooooo tasty. I thoroughly recommend it.

Just don't think about the calories!

For the sponge:
85g/3oz self-raising flour
30g/1oz cocoa powder
pinch salt
115g/4oz light muscovado sugar
115g/4oz unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla essence
2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
2-3 tbsp milk

For the sauce:
85g/3oz light muscovado sugar
30g/1oz cocoa powder
225ml/8fl oz milk

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Butter a 1-litre (2-pint) ovenproof dish.
2. To make the sponge, sift the flour into a bowl with the cocoa powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
4. Beat in the vanilla essence and the eggs then fold this mixture in the flour mixture.
5. Mix in just enough milk to give a soft dropping consistency.
6. Spoon into the buttered ovenproof dish.
7. For the sauce, mix the sugar and the cocoa powder together and gradually beat in the milk.
8. Pour evenly over the uncooked cake mixture.
9. Place in the oven and bake for about 40-60 minutes until firm and spongy to touch.
10. Serve hot with or without cream.

Photo via We heart it

At last!

I've finally found the polka dot tights that I've been hunting high and low for. These are from Urban Outfitters at £10. I'm all about any accessories that will mean that I don't have to fork out for any new outfits this Christmas!

Making the most of what you've got

Too often I complain about the lack of space in our flat.

After seeing this house tour on Apartment Therapy, I realised that we're simply not making the most of what space we do have.

Look at how neatly he's incorporated a work area, lounge, bedroom and even a little reading chair - and it doesn't look squashed or forced at all.

Inspired, we had a quick reshuffle in our lounge earlier today and its already starting to look more structured - and more spacious.

This is why I love reading blogs - the ideas and inspiration they provide are priceless. Yay for blogging!

Chanel Iman for H&M

{Necklace £12.99, Braclet set (6 per set) £4.99}

Here is Chanel Iman looking ridiculously gorgeous modelling for H&M in their latest magazine.

She's not the only reason why I love this though. I adore the way that they have laden the pearls on so that she's literally dripping in them.

I've seen the braclets in the picture above in the store and resisted buying them as I wasn't sure if they looked too cheap. Now I realise that the key is to buy a load and layer them on up the arms. How amazing would this styling look with a simple black dress for Christmas parties?

{Feather headpiece £7.99, flower £3.99, necklace £7.99}

A real vintage inspired look. £7.99 for the necklace? Its mine...

{Chain braclet £3.99, solid gold bangle (set of 9) £5.99}

Again, above and below, mounds of braclets with simple black = stunning

{Hat £4.99, braclet (double strand) £7.99, braclet (single strand) £5.99}

All images by H&M