Sunday, 12 July 2009

wedding update



Thought it was about time for an update on how our wedding plans are all coming together as the day is now approaching at extremely high speed...only 6 weeks to go now (eek!) Firstly, above is a design incorporating elements of our invitations that my very clever sister created for us which has now been made into a stamp ready to decorate the paper bags for our candy buffet of old-fashioned sweets. I'm sure we'll also incorporate it into many other details of the day such as the menus. (Now having a mini panic that we haven't even thought about printing out the menus yet, or making place cards. Or sorted out a table plan...gulp).

We have however found a lady who makes very lovely and tasty cupcakes who will be creating our cupcake tower (which we've opted for instead of a traditional wedding cake), so I have been collecting inspiration images for her as to the kind of decoration and icing we'd like. Here are a few of my favourites cupcake inspiration pictures below- all images from Cupcake Land by ShamsD on flickr.






Small confession to make here- although I saw 'we' with regards to all matters of planning our wedding I have shamefully ploughed ahead and sidelined poor Curt on more than a couple of matters where my own personal ideas of taste and decoration have run away with me, combined with a flat panic that we now need to get things done as soon as possible which leaves no time for lengthy discussions or debates over alternative options. Which is really a load of rubbish as there is always time for making a joint decision, especially when it concerns such an important day as your wedding. And I am truly sorry for it. Smack on the hand for me! There'll be no more of that bridezilla behaviour here on in!

Anyhow, now I've got that off my chest, onto matters of the floral variety. I am making a trip back to my parents farm (the wedding venue) next week for a wedding related frenzy with my mother for five days where I'm hoping we'll manage to get some of the loose ends tied up. Chief priority is meeting with our floral designer and deciding what the heck we're going to do about flowers. Below are some images which caught my eye on a quick persusal of flickr.

Pretty display by cirasphotography

Gorgeous bouquet image from laura hanson

Another beautiful bouquet, this one from mamawolf111

One thing we can now tick off the list is sorting out the gift registry. This was really tricky for us because as I may have mentioned already, we are hoping to up sticks and leave the UK at some point next year (hopefully heading for Australia though this does seems a million miles away from actually being a reality right now). So, although to Curt's eternal dismay I reign supreme as the ultimate queen of clutter, I didn't seem wise to accumulate many more pots and pans or large items of furniture that we'd then have to ship overseas.

Our solution to this was to request monetary donations to our 'Making a New Life in Australia Fund' and for those friends and family members not keen or a little uneasy about the idea on writing us a cheque or handing over cash, which is of course totally understandable, we set up a small registry on the very lovely online site
Not on the high street. Our wish list mainly consists of small(ish), decoorative items which shouldn't prove too much of a bother to take with us wherever we should end up. Here is a small selection of some of the pretty things that we chose.

Crown embellished milk jug and sugar pot

Children's Suitcases- cute storage idea

Wood & chalkboard herb planter


Another exciting thing that we have recently sorted is our honeymoon. After literally months of deliberation (along the lines of, can we really afford a honeymoon right now?....If so, where should we go? etc..) we finally decided we will leave Lila in the hands of my wonderfully co-operative parents for a week, and two days after the wedding itself, head off to the beautiful island of Koh Samui off the southern coast of Thailand. We'd been throwing around destination ideas including the Maldives, Morocco and Bali but then came across the wonderful Centara Villas on Koh Samui and that pretty much had us sold.

I've been to Thailand before during my pre-University travels but Curt has never been so I'm really excited for him to experience it. Koh Samui can be a very busy, touristy place but we are staying on the quietest end of the island, away from all the hustle and bustle. According to the website, the villas "Cascade down a gentle hillside to the beach and oceanfront" and are "An idyllic vacation spot for the modern traveler seeking to get away from it all." Bring it on! Here are some pics below- if it does actually love up to these pictures then I will be one supremely excited newly-wed!





lady with a camera: sarah maingot



The work of photographer Sarah Maingot takes me to another place. These images have such a nostalgic air to them which I just can't get enough of. Not to mention how unbearably adorably that dear little rabbit is above (just wait til you see the teddy bear below too!)

They seem to conjure up days gone by, a forgotten era, and highlight the simple pleasures in life. At the risk of sounding hideously cheesy, they really do give me a warm, cosy feeling inside. Despite it being the height of summer here in London, they are almost making me look forward to autumn and the cold winter nights drawing in. And I am totally, definitely a summer not a winter person so that says a lot! Oh and how amazing is that tipee...

















Friday, 10 July 2009

bits of my birthday



...beautiful orchid from my friend Jo...



...much coveted heart pendant from Curt, woven chunky bangle from my friend Kathryn and turqouise and bronze necklace from my work...



...a copy of my favourite magazine sent over from Australia by my sister Jo...



Not one but in fact two cupcake recipe books from my friends..one from Natalie and one from Katie. So it's no secret that I like cupcakes then!



...inside the pages of my cupcake books...





...very happy sunflowers from Curt...

All in all a most wonderful day, celebrated with a relaxed evening picnic in our garden, some strawberries and cream and a few glasses of wine.

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

street style



Just been perusing The Sartorialist for some street style inspiration and here are some of my favourite outfits from 2009 so far. Although each of these ladies has a very different style, I have noticed a running theme- I'm drawn to dishevelled hair, dresses, femininity with a touch of grunge, opaque tights or tanned legs and maybe a hint of vintage thrown into the mix.

I feel that I should add that on a personal note, I manage to pull together outfits which are sadly nothing like this on a daily basis which probably has something to do with the fact that I usually end up throwing on whatever is closest to hand from the heap of clothes I have accumulated on the sideboard at the end of our bed. And my hair is dishevelled (not in the arty way, but the actual way) because that's how it looked when I woke up and I'm too rushed to be able to do anything about it! One day I'm hoping things might be different...


Thursday, 2 July 2009

pretty plümo



Just been alerted to the wonders of the exquisite online shop Plümo via the always excellent decor8 blog. It is full of gorgeous bits and pieces of clothing, accessories, jewellery and homeware. I have already fallen in love with some of the dresses- see more of my favourites below. I pretty much live in dresses or depending on the length I guess you could call them tunics. Either way, I'm sure you'll agree these are beauties! Oh and even better, there is a sale on now so nearly all of them are reduced...yay!

Though the bad news for international readers is that they only ship in the UK ...booo.








Monday, 29 June 2009

another year older



(little me!...I'm the Queen of Hearts)

This idea behind this post is inspired by Andrea at the fantastic and ever wonderful blog Hula Seventy, and I'm sure she has inspired so many others before me to do something similar. She, like myself is a prolific list writer and every year she makes a list of things she wants to do before her next birthday, however life changing or small, random or even mundane they might be.



I have loved this idea since I very first stumbled upon her blog. It seems to be a great way of taking stock of things as they stand and creating some kind of structure for the year ahead so you just don't bumble along day to day without ever particularly achieving or setting your mind to anything, and then realising when it's too late that your life has passed you by and you haven't actually done anything you really wanted to. So on that note, this year I thought I would try something similar for myself.


Tomorrow I will be turning 26 so here is my list:

26 things to do before I turn 27.

1. Devote more time to designing and creating hair accessories.
2. Relocate to a different country (preferably Australia).
3. Enrol Lila in a course of swimming lessons.
5. Learn how to cook a thai green curry and pad thai.
6. Rescue the sewing machine from under our bed and sew Lila a dress.
7. Visit Columbia Road Flower Market in London's East End.
8. Print out all of the photos of Lila and finish the photo album of her first year.
9. A weekend away to celebrate mine and Curt's first wedding anniversary.
10. Start growing something...even if it is just herbs in a window box.
11. Make regular library visits with Lila and start reading a bedtime story to her.
12. Start writing the novel I have been planning to write since I was 10 years old.
13. Visit Morocco.
14. Spend more time at my parents farm.
15. Start surfing again after the pregnancy and post baby hiatus.
16. Improve my efforts at staying in touch with distant friends and family.
17. Cut my hair shorter...just a little bit (maybe...gulp)
18. Watch 'Into The Wild'.
19. Get a magazine subscription to one of my favourite magazines.
20. Obtain a polaroid camera and some stocks of film from somwhere.
21. Make a home.
22. Bake fairy cakes with Lila.
23. Go on a trip to Cornwall.
24. Live by the ocean.
25. Invite the girls round for a night of ice-cream, wine and weepy movies.
26. Take an afternoon by myself and wander around South Bank and the Tate Modern.
All photos are of me (and my sister) taken, I imagine, by our parents, way back when.

Sunday, 28 June 2009

last holiday as a single lady



























Here is an account of our trip to Ibiza for my hen do in pictures (some taken by me and others by my very talented friend Jo.) Oh and one from a German website- the group shot- wooo, we're famous! Well I'll let the pictures tell the story and just say that I had an entirely wonderful time, I haven't laughed so much, danced so much, lazed around on the beach like that in a very long while. I will remember this trip for ever and it was so special beacause of the ladies who were there with me.
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