rust wedding

I stumbled across these beautiful pictures of the wedding of two jewellery designers- Artemis and Nao and had to share them. I love the relaxed garden setting of the reception and all the handmade details- everything from the calligraphy on the program to the hand painted signs and cute floral displays. See more pictures on their blog here.

Also check out their online jewellery store Rust- it has some very delectable pieces. Some of my favourites are below, I especially love the feather ring.

one year

I can hardly believe it's come around so quickly but today is our first wedding anniversary. We made it...yeah! Only kidding, overall it's been an amazing year with lots of big changes for us, namely a move to the other side of the world, and a totally new job/career for me. Though there was one big sadness which occurred for us earlier in the year, we've made it out on the other side, hopefully stronger as a family than ever.

We celebrated our anniversary yesterday and treated ourselves to a delicious brunch. Lila was absolutely delighted when she was presented with her own wine glass to drink water from, she thought it was the most grown up thing in the world! We popped in to an awesome local craft market called Kraft Bomb and picked up some goodies- hair slides, and brooches for me, a gorgeous hand made skirt for Lila and some prints for the husband. We also indulged in some cakes from our favourite cafe and then when the little one was all tucked up in bed we spent the evening at home with a movie and a bottle of champagne. Thanks for everything dear husband, looking forward to many more happy years to come.

cottage of dreams

Continuing on a bit of a theme from my post earlier in the week, I couldn't resist sharing another magical little hideaway which could have come straight out of a fairy tale. This little cottage located in the Catskills Mountains in America was lovingly transformed into a beautiful vision of Victorian style beauty by a lady called Sandra Foster. Although not entirely habitable as a full time home (it has no kitchen or bathroom), what a perfect place to steal away and read books, simply get away from it all or maybe even write a novel.

I found this little gem via a great new blog discovery- My Black Book, which is full of beautiful places and inspiration. It's definitely well worth a visit.

It's been a really hectic week of work for me in my new job, I've been doing lots of training and learning all the ropes of styling. Today I worked with my first real client (as opposed to just practicing on models!) It went really well but I'm exhausted and well ready to kick back and enjoy the weekend. Hope you enjoy yours.

cake

At the moment I am experiencing huge urges to get stuck into a serious baking session. I am at my happiest when in the kitchen creating sweet treats and whisking, mixing, generally getting flour everywhere and making a huge mess.

The fact that all of my baking equipment is still en-route from London is saddening me deeply. Plus the fact that I had to leave all my baking supplies and ingredients behind so I now have to build up everything from scratch. However the small light at the end of the tunnel is that our shipped possessions should (crossing all possible body parts) be with us at the end of the week. Yay for more clothes, all my books and my electric whisk!

Whilst perusing the archives of the amazing Smitten Kitchen food blog (so inspirational, but don't even think of hopping over there if you're feeling hungry unless you want to torture yourself), I came across the recipe for these awesome sounding peach cupcakes with brown sugar frosting pictured above. Also top of my list to make is bannana bread with cream cheese frosting and white chocolate grated on top. We sampled this delight in a cute Auckland cafe at the weekend and it was seriously incredible.

Image: Smitten Kitchen

hideaway

Spring is showing the first signs of appearing here in New Zealand, which is quite exciting. Although winter in Auckland seems to be in no way as long, cold and grueling as the winters are used to in England, the promise of long sunny days, blue skies and days at the beach is nevertheless a happy prospect. My mind is already drifting to daydreams of decadent picnics, road trips, and afternoons spend lost in a book under the shade of a secluded tree.

Imagine my delight when I stumbled across this treasure over on sfgirlbybay. Did you ever see such a beautiful place? A perfect summer time hideaway, I could spent hours here escaping from the world by myself or spending precious afternoons with my little family.

It is in the Isle of Wight, and if the pond with lily pads wasn't enough, the verandah also has a sea view! Sigh.

je ne sais quoi...

What is it about French women? The vast majority of them all seem to be born with an innate sense of undone style and incredible poise. They hold themselves in such an effortless and natural way and can look scruffy yet polished all at the same time. And crucially, they never look like they're trying too hard.

For all those of us not fortunate enough to be born on French shores, I thought I'd provide a hit of Gallic style inspiration, courtesy of some of my favourite French ladies...

Clemence Posey (above and below)- Actress and model

Lou Doillon- Actress, model and musician. Daughter of Jane Birkin.

Vanessa Paradis- Musician, actress and Mrs Johnny Depp

Valentine Fillol-Cordier- model and Parisienne hip young thing

Marion Cotillard- Actress

Images- I have to admit that I have had most of these images squirelled away on my computer for a while with no idea of where they initially came from so if anyone does happen know the sources please let me know and I will credit them.

magical

I am captivated by these magical images by Danish photographer Ditte Isager that could have come straight out of a fairy tale. Based in NYC, Ditte shoots interiors, personalities, lifestyle and travel in a simple nordic style. Working with contrasts in materials, light, colour and objects, inspiration comes from the light in the Dutch masters, storytelling and effects from motion pictures and and the style, characters and layers of New York. Check out more of Ditte's fabulous images here.