Summer Staycation Wishlist

As much as we'd love to, the chances of us having a proper holiday this year are looking unlikely. Whilst that may change, we thought we could just as well make the most of what is nearby. I'm not holding my breath for a warm summer in Edinburgh but perhaps there will be a few warmish days that justify lounging around nearby beaches? I've heard that Portobello beach near Edinburgh is quite lovely and so that may just be where we head to for a few summer day trips.  I was asked to create a mood board for Joules recently and I thought I might as well do that with our impending staycation in mind. In case you were wondering, of course you need a couple of nice things even for a staycation! Here are a few of my favourites...

Pretty flip flops:  I love nautical stripes so the Jenny flip flops (1) are a no-brainer for holiday feet.

The perfect t-shirt: White t-shirts are a summer staple but trust Joules to come up with a version that is just a bit more special. I'll be looking for Vivianne (2) this summer...

A nice bikini: Actually sod bikins, I'd rather have a lovely swimsuit hides my soft centre. Sayler (3) is pretty and it comes with bows! Joules also stock a range of lovely women's bikinis that are worth checking out.

A summery tote: I have far too many canvas totes but they are serve different purposes (in my opinion). I don't have a 'beachy' tote and I really like this number (4)

Driving shoes..a.k.a loafers,  are an essential if you staycation involves daily drives to the beach. Elna (5) is classy and will age well I think

A denim skirt: There is something very summery about a little denim skirt.. and Dani (2) looks like a good one. Wear it on top of you swimsuit and you have a beach to bus-stop outfit

The hat: Can you have too many straw hats? Probably not? I usually source and recycle mine at charity shops but every so often a high street one screams for attention... like Austiwick (7)

Where are you planning your holidays to this year? And is your wardrobe sorted? Ann x

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Refresh Rather Than Relocate: An Indian Summer

I was recently asked if I'd like to take part in Look Again's refresh rather than relocate campaign with an opportunity to win £750 worth of home goods. I know it's a bit ironic as we have only just relocated to Edinburgh but I decided to participate nevertheless and use a bit of imagination.  Despite Edinburgh being a wonderful city, the only reason most people relocate from here is for a bit more warmth. And if there is one memory I'd would always like to recreate at home, it is warm sunny afternoons along the Indian coast. So here are some of my favourite bits from Look Again's home section to help create this atmosphere and thus a virtual re-relocation...

Dressing table set: I'd love a proper dressing table in our bedroom! The Quebec dressing table (1) looks versatile and sturdy and looks like a long term investment. And then you need a little stool, which is where the Quebec stool (5) comes in rather handy with its matching white tones. I'd also like a mirror ( obviously) and this Quebec mirror works perfectly well! (2)

Quirky table lamps: My readers know I'm a sucker for a bit of quirkiness. I adore these crane table lamp! (3) And I'll have two please!

Bed linen: No bedroom transformation is complete without a good set of bed linen. I *love* white cotton sheets and the Yasmin set looks like the kind of thing I'd be interested in (4)

Sturdy curtains: Our bedroom has huge and draughty windows. I think a solid set of ivory curtains would be just right and withstand any future redecoration too.

Other essentials would be a piece of two of art from our travels, a lovely summer candle ( Diptyque or homemade), a few good books and my lovely husband!

Have you considered refresh your rooms to give them a new lease of life too? Ann x

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Highlights of Winter 2013/14

Whilst pingponging between London and Edinburgh over the last few weeks,, it has become remarkably clear to me that Scotland is a few weeks behind England on the seasons front. So whilst my blogger counterparts south of the UK are waxing lyrical about bare legs and daffodils, us lot in Scotland continue to be bundled up in multiple layers.  I figured that whilst it is still wintery where I live, I'll do a little post reflecting on the season that we are soon leaving behind. Don't be fooled by all the pretty pictures on my Instagram feed, its been a terribly heartbreaking and stressful few months for me (and us). Christmas was only three months ago and I spent most of the festive season in hospital and the rest of time outside of it trying to physically recover and reconciling myself with the fact that I may never have a baby again (naturally) and that any other interventions will still be fraught with risk. And to add to that we moved our entire lives several hundred miles north, changed jobs and battled other challenges...However, Ed and I figured that the move to Edinburgh, the culture and new experiences will help us with the healing.  So, here's a snapshot of all the fun things we've been up to...

The Edinburgh Christmas markets, spread across three different parts of the city, are an absolute delight. We wandered around them  every time we could, admiring all the seasonal goodness they had to offer. I particularly love the sight of happy carousels and sky high rides, even if I'm not a fan of getting on some of these rides myself.  Christmas lights, sparkly shop windows, Harvey Nic's during the holiday season, online sales have all been rather delightful. The flip side of being horizontal so much was that I was that much more susceptible to a naughty sale purchases: Charlotte Olympia, Agent Provacateur, Cire Trudon etc have somehow made it into my wardrobe and home ;) And then there was wool, lots and lots of it, with lots of knitting to boot. Who knew I'd one day become a knitter! The nuns that taught me at school would be so very shocked! And, I got published twice... not for knitting but simply because of the blog....my Rhubarb Creme Brûlée made it to a book published by the Princes Trust and my blog was featured in the Making Magazine! And then there was the millinery masterclass with Katherine Elizabeth... so much fun but so not easy!

Winter is also a time when I somehow always manage to gain a few chubby pounds...a lot of it was  because of Dosa ( a crispy south Indian pancake that I could live off)... something almost impossible to find Peterborough way but quite the contrary in Edinburgh.... and there always a session at Laduree every time I was in the big smoke, sessions at Sketch, Yauatcha, Coco Maya and other favourite London haunts.  And there was the London Chocolate Tour... a fabulous chocolate extravaganza... an experience worth trying..Valentine's day card making with Rosie and Hannah of the New Craft Society at Drink Shop Do, a beautiful Valentines day surprise by the husband at our favourite haunt in Exton, a random but interesting Mongolian barbecue of Taiwanese origin at Khublai Khan etc...

Then a month ago, we moved 'properly'... i.e sold every piece of furniture, decluttered a lot of our 'stuff' down south, and moved log stock and barrel to start a whole new phase of life in Edinburgh. I continue to work from England i.e. travel to Newcastle, London etc but hopefully that is all set to change soon..And before the snow could all go, we learnt ( tried to) ski! Looking back, its incredible how much we've been through and how much we've accomplished and experienced in such a short space of time... it reaffirms by motto in life..carpe diem as life's too short and there is no time like the present. 

I hope you've had a season full of life enriching experiences too... and that when Spring comes along, it brings happy, new and wonderful things with it. Ann x

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DIY Easy Cushion Cover

Hello folks! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Miracles do happen; I'm on my second blog post in two days! The reason for this is a combination of lack of time and procrastination. Not so long ago, I heard about the Hillary's Blinds Country Crafts Competition via the lovely ladies at The New Craft Society. Hillary's offered me a choice of  fabrics and I chose the Patina Pewter as it looked rich and versatile.  That said, I had *no* idea what I was going to make! I mulled over doing a patchwork jeans number but figured that was better done with floral fabric. Eventually, I decided to make two little cushion covers to replace a couple of very old charity shop sourced ones. I chose to make the covers pillowcase style ( i.e. almost envelope style but not quite)

For making the cover you will need the following

• fabric
• measuring tape
• sewing machine ( or needle and thread)
• scissors
• fabric pins
• tailor's chalk
• iron

Method:

Step 1: Measure the cushion that needs cover. Cut two pieces of fabric such that you allow a 2.5 cm allowance on each side for seam allowance and 10 cm allowance on on piece of fabric for the envelope cover.

Step 2:  Place the right side of the two pieces of fabric together  with the 10 cm of longer piece folded in to create the envelope cover. Iron and pin the fabric for sewing.

Step 3:  Sew the three 'closed' sides of the cushion cover together. 

Step 4:  Finish the edges of the 'open' side

Step 5:  Iron the cushion and turn the right side out. And its all done and ready to be used!!

I hope you give this DIY  a go; it is so easy to inexpensively upgrade a cushion covers and it feels so good when you make it yourself. Hope you have a lovely week! Ann x

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Apres Ski

There are many exciting things about moving to Scotland; one of them is being able to go skiing within a couple of hours of where we live. Ed and I have not skied before (my dry skiing lessons don't really count) and we didn't want to to spend a shed load on a ski holiday in Europe just to learn. So the other weekend we headed up to the Cairngorms with a couple of friends to get a bit of snow fun. The drive to Aviemore was very scenic and I kept remarking how it felt like we were in another country altogether ( I suppose Scotland is another country/nation, sort of?!)

Whilst the rest of the country hasn't seen much snow at all this winter, there was about 8ft deep snow on Cairngorm mountain, so much so that an excavator had to dig the ski cables out. We spent four hours learning to ski (and falling a lot) and were thoroughly knackered by the end of the evening. It was an incredibly busy weekend with  lots of locals ( i.e. people living within a few hours of the Cairngorms) trying to get the last of the snow before  Spring arrives in Scotland. We stayed in a lovely little B&B in Aviemore and spent the evening wandering around the little town before dinner at the randomly interesting International Starters restaurant ( whose menu was full of various international starters!).  Our dinner included a selection of Greek mezze, Thai curries, North American fast food and Chinese. Utterly random but all tasty nevertheless!

We decided to take the scenic route back to Edinburgh the next day, with a couple of stops along the way. Ed was super keen on visiting the Dalwhinnie so despite no having enough time for a proper distillery tour, we decided to have a little nosey around. The boys had a couple of cheeky tastings whilst I focused attention of the exquisite chocolates that were also on sale. The Dalwhinnie area is stunningly beautiful and I think we will visit again to explore the area a bit more. 

Our next stop was the charming town of Pitlochry where we explored the area a little before getting our friends on a customised charity shop appreciation tour.  As it happens, I found my favourite charity shop find ever, a vintage 1950 Scottish Artillery military jacket!! It even came with a 1942 three pence coin!  Post lunch we leisurely drove back to Edinburgh and to a jam packed week. Below is a little scene from our drive back, it was so atmospheric!

 I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. Ann x

Wearing: Karen Millen coat; Zara top; Longchamp Le Pliage bag; Uniqlo trousers; Ash ankle boots; Givenchy sunglasses

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DIY Wrapping Paper Art

I'm conscious that ever since the big move to Edinburgh a few weeks ago, I've had a very little time for most things, blogging included. It's been a time of massive change and we've had to downsize and sell most of our 'stuff' before moving up. On the positive, that felt quite liberating. Moving from a suburban house into a 100 something years old tenement flat in the centre of Edinburgh meant our style of decor needed a review too. The hallway in the flat has this quaint pew style sitting area and despite playing with a lot of our art and pictures, nothing seemed to work quite right there. I'd already bought these two beautiful sheets of  London print wrapping paper from Watermark (London Kings Cross) and was planning to create something arty with them: decoupage or framing were the two options I was exploring.  Framing these papers with an aged look felt like the perfect solution.  A trip to Ikea and £14 later, we got two super light frames and this was the result!

Items:

London print wrapping paper ( £2.99-£3.50 each from Watermark Kings Cross, Oliver Bonas or Stanfords.co.uk)

Frames (Ikea, £7 each)

Method:

Simply frame and find a suitable place! You could also try framing patterned wrapping paper ( paper chase stock some great ones too) and source frames from charity shops.

This is a really easy and affordable way to update your interiors and I hope you give it a go! Ann x

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Chocolate Tour of London

In case you were wondering, no I haven't given up blogging. Its been a long and manic few weeks (and I suspect will continue like that all of March) with the big move to Edinburgh and the lack of time off to do it all. Note to self, take a week off for the next big move, whenever that is! That said, in the midst of all the mayhem, I continue to seek out new adventures and experiences to draw energy from. One such fabulous adventure was the Chocolate Tour of London. My friend Katherine and I took an impromptu afternoon off to savour the chocolatey delights of the Big Smoke.

We met our lovely tour guide Lisa outside the Algerian Coffee Store on Old Compton Road who offered us a selection of coffee and raspberry flavoured chocolates to munch on whilst waiting for the remained of the group. We quickly figured that Lisa was a bit of a walkie-talkie chocolate encyclopedia of London. We listened on to Lisa's stories of the history of the Algerian coffee stores, Hotel Chocolat ( the next stop) and other nearby foodie establishments. The passion fruit flavoured Hotel Chocolat chocolates we sampled were scrumptious. I asked for seconds and that was the start of a pattern.

I was most impressed by the delectable creations at Paul A Young. The chocolates are made on the store premises itself and are available in a range of very unusual flavours. Stilton and port wine anyone? Marmite perhaps? Each of the chocolates we sampled were truly divine.  They also stocked Mast Brothers, Menakao and Duffys, winners all the way! I also loved the Prestat store ( bright colours, friendly staff and great chocolate) but was most impressed by the custom made Lulu Guinness bag on display.  We stopped by Freggo for ice-cream and I sampled far too many (as evident from the rainbow of spoons in the picture above). We passed by Laduree (Burlington Arcade store) but didn't go in. I didn't mind as I seem to go in to their Covent Garden outfit every time I'm in London!

The Charbonnel and Walker store was very swanky and the chocolates were amazing but the air there was perhaps a tiny bit too snooty for my liking? My favourite store of all on the tour was Fortnum and Mason; I love love love their wonderful window displays! Lisa then took us to the East India Company which was one of the friendliest stores by far. They even had snacks and tea out for visitors at various corners of the store; if I worked/lived in the area, I'd be visiting every day! Lisa stopped by a number of other shops along the along, proving a bit of history and gossip as part of the tour.  One such stop was Choccywoccydoodah and OMG, it bonkers. 

Our last stop was Liberty of London (another favourite of mine) where our group parted ways, so full of chocolate that we even took some samples home! Katherine and I headed back to to Paul A Young to buy some pressies for our boys before heading to Yauatacha for some nibbles, macarons and drinkies before taking a late old train back home.

We got our tickets through TimeOut London at 50% off but full price tickets are still available on the Great British Tours website. There is a similar tour in Edinburgh although I think I could try doing a self-planned version myself.  Hope you are all having a lovely week! Ann x