pot plant

I got a plant. I guess that makes me responsible now.

birthday surprise

It was my birthday a few weeks back and my brilliant friends surprised me in the middle of a bar with this delicious Ryan Gosling cake.  It didn't take long to devour that face.

bonfire night

Last night was Guy Fawkes night so off we went to Brockwell Park for our annual spot of firework-gazing.

homemade mess

Dripping back into action regarding 'the shop'. My desk is currently a mess of tinfoil, shrink plastic and highlighter pens.

lists

Procrastination: spending an hour looking for the perfect to-do notebook.

The Grand Tour: Rome

Being a smug Londoner, surrounded by history that seeps through every crack in the concrete, I may feel awed by new places but I'm always comforted by the thought, right there at the very back of my mind, that London can hold its own against anywhere else in the world. Rome is the only place that I have ever felt a slight twinge of jealousy. Walking down via Cavour, I came upon a brief opening, where all the buildings seemed to fall away and all that I could see in front of me was layer upon layer of history. London's Roman history is mostly confined to the ditches that sustained them; they are the hidden, buried under railway lines and banks; or the odd stone road marker, all but invisible now. But in Rome their ancestors stand proud and showy.  And huge. People often say that the Colosseum is much smaller than they expect but to me it was so much bigger. Everything is on a grand and unabashed scale. And for something so large and with such a violent and bloody past, it is unexpectedly serene.

Forgetting all the tourist-traps and the sense that sometimes we were in a city-sized amusement park, that feeling of calm will probably be my lasting memory of Rome.  Along with the sunset gelato *said in unconvincing Home and Away accents* on the Spanish Steps, just like Audrey and Gregory, drinking our body weight in Spritz, the heaviest rainfall I've ever experienced and the most beautiful Valentino dress imaginable (Alexa Chung looked characteristically gorgeous in it the other day. Lucky girl.)

St Pauls

Lunch time view from my bench, sandwich in one hand, camera in the other

Bows

I spent a shamefully long time on Sunday morning making cards and bows for a couple of birthdays that I have coming up. Bows from How About Orange via Oh Happy Day.

Potter

Yes, I did do this. And yes, it was amazing.

Guildford Cathedral

I have passed Guildford on the train many times and wondered about that huge cathedral sitting atop the hill, so a few weeks ago I convinced Claire to come with me to have a look-see.

A relatively new building, only consecrated 52 years ago, Guildford Cathedral is one of the less popular cathedrals in Britain, mainly because it doesn't drip with ostentatious ornamentation like other churches. Instead, I think it has a subtle beauty to it. Upon entering I was surprised to find a light, quiet and modern art-deco design. Most of the windows are high up and plain but the few stain glass windows there shine pink and blue against the limestone walls. Guildford's real treasure is the kneelers. There are over 1400 of them, each one of them individually cross-stitched with a different design.

Cable Cars

Instant Dover

. My weekend tipi adventure in Dover, as seen though an Instax Mini.

Sunday Roses

My cousin got married last week and gave my these beautiful flowers.

Keaton Music Typewriter

Thanks to Stacey for introducing this to me.

Alfred Barr, Cubism and Abstract Art

Since seeing this in one of my sister's study books I've become slightly obsessed with it. It's not the concept as such but the lines and the colours that I love.

Cassette Tap

I found an old cassette tape in a recent clear out. So naturally I ripped the whole thing open.

Hailstones

A rare occurance.

Spring

A few daffodils that have miraculously survived the snow

watching: The Killing

I rarely watch tv, preferring instead to watch films.  I know that I'm eons behind everyone else but this morning I finally emerged from a marathon run of the first series of The Killing.  It really is as good as everyone says.  I was completely hooked (and delighted to have guessed who the murderer was before Lund did).  But now I feel like I've been living in dark and drizzly Copenhagen for the past 20 hours.  It's time to return to London, swap the jumper for a t shirt and enjoy our rare day of sunshine.

Thorpeness

I spent Monday in Thorpeness. It took three hours to get there and a last minute detour via the pub meant I missed my bus. It is a tiny, fantasy holiday village built in the 1920s on the Suffolk coast. I loved it. Just before I left my friend suddenly announced that she could smell the sea and we took a turning behind a house and there it was, a hugely violent, deafeningly roaring sea. It was so windy we couldn't hear each other speaking. Having not looked at a map before setting out I had no idea we were near the coast. It was terrifying and exciting, the type of thing that reminds me of how small I am.

NOPI

Lunch at NOPI.