Sofia Coppola's Hotel

... well, her Dad's hotel, but she has her own room. You can really see a lot of her films in this beautiful space, namely, the soft colours and tranquility. The courtyards and large windows are filled with romance and the place is filled with sophistication.
Amazing. It's in the Coppola family's hometown in Italy and the building is a transformed 19th century palazzo. Imgaine how fabulous summers spent here would be... ahh.




(Photos found in WSJ magazine)

Scandinavian Home Inspiration

I'm really lapping anything and everything to do with Scandinavia right now. I don't normally feature interiors on this blog - but check out this inspiring house.

I love the bright flashes of colour among the natural materials and white walls; the light in the house is absolutely beautiful. Most of the items in the house are second hand, and it has such a lovely organic feel. I am so excited about soaking up some Scandinavian design.






(All photos are from Oct 2011 Easy Living magazine.)

Happy Friday!

Hit delete on negative thoughts ...
Upon the advice of a friend I'm taking 'CAN'T' out of my vocabularly.

Have an enjoyable and productive weekend everyone! Much love.

(Picture source T Y P O R E T U M)

Live Alone and Like it.

You may recall a few months ago, (here) I mentioned a book by Marjorie Hillis. And I have gotten around to reading 'Live Alone and Like It,' (was there ever such a great title?!)

Despite originally being published in 1935, this book isn't as dated as you may imagine. Yes, there are some archaic notions, mostly involving servants and bed jackets, but on the whole this book contains advice which is worth it's weight in gold. The bottom line of the book - self reliance. Yes, a girl will have great family, friends, and suitors however above all else, she sustains herself alone.

Marjorie Hillis is often quite stern, and the preface contains this great little quote: 'Everybody feels sorry for herself (to say nothing of himself) every now and then. But anyone who pities herself for more than a month on end is a weak sister and likely to become a public nuisance besides.'

There is advice in here from setting up your home (or room) in good taste, to advising on how to make friends in a big city, and throwing dinner parties. Every chapter is absolutely brilliant, however I found 'Pleasures of a single bed' particularly enjoyable (and, no.. this chapter isn't about sex.. that comes next, in the euphemistically named chapter 'Will you or won't you.') 'A lady and her liquor' has great advice for cocktail making (and drinking) - very important to any young lady!

I would strongly suggest this to any gal with a inclining towards independence.

PS: It has funny illustrations too - love the front cover, smoking in bed - the height of decadence!

Happy New Year everybody!

Go forth and be awesome. Cheers everybody!

Here are a few sentiments I am planning to take with me into 2012..
The first comes from a dear friend who said something profound to me yesterday. And, the second, from Spring Greens, who I have gotten to know remotely over the past year... and she's awesome...

"We all have the same 24 hours, it's what you do with them that matters..."

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself." via Neil Gaiman

The image is linked to 'Note to Self' - a very cool blog, check it out, here!)

Yuletide

Working or not, as far as I'm concerned, this period in-between Christmas and New Years is still part of the festive period. So, continue to eat, drink and be merry.. no matter what you're doing.

Happy Yuletide all!

(Top image from Lobster and Swan, second: tumblr.)

Christmas Cards

These are the images I'm using on my Christmas cards this year. I either scanned the images or found them on Tumblr.

I usually open them in a word document with the margins widened and two columns set. I line up the picture on the right hand side and usually fit two on one page. Once they're printed I use a guillotine to slice them to the right size and add some glitter and sequins.

Last year I printed my images onto photo paper and cut the pictures out and stuck them onto card, this years method is far neater and easier, although I quite miss the glossy-ness of the photo paper!

Gifts from across the Pacific

Last week, I received a some awesome things in the post from the lovely Luan over at Green Tea and Cupcakes.

This included a copy of Frankie magazine, which I loved! This magazine is incredibly cool and right up my street. It contained lots of insightful and funny articles, great photography and illustrations all along the theme of cool indie and vintage stuff, which I can't get enough of. I don't think there's a magazine like this in England; nothing quite as twee, but there should be!

As well as that, she sent me a paper bunting, and some matching paper flags which I plan to decorate cupcakes with come spring. She also sent me an awesome flowery headband and a mix-tape with a cool cover, which I love!

I will be sending Luan some things in return, make sure you check out Luann's fantastic blog, it's full of cool stuff written by a lovely lady with a great eye.

Christmas Present Wrapping

Over the past few weeks I been getting some of my Christmas shopping underway. So, I spent some time over the weekend doing some wrapping.

I have been reading everywhere how important good wrapping is, so I got some bright pink ribbon for my sisters presents. Last year I used some old song sheets and maps for some of my wrapping and used pretty bows to make them pretty. (One of the felt boot Christmas tree decorations I made last year is also pictured.)

I also like the idea of using newspaper (the bottom image isn't mine,) but I love that sprig of rosemary tied to the present with string. I've also always thought that plain brown pacel paper, tied with white string and an old luggage label would look lovely..

Sweet Paul Magazine

Check out this awesome digital mag, Sweet Paul.

The photos are beautiful and there are lots of great Chritsmas ideas in there. I especially like the 'Hot Chocolate for two in a jar' idea (pgage 156.)


All photos via Sweet Paul Magazine

Orchids on a Budget

Actually.. candles on a budget.(I don't actually own this book, but I really want it.. perhaps as a Christmas present..)

Diptyque is the brand of candle I really want, but there's no way I can afford one whilst trying to build my career and working internships, it's just one of those things. But I don't have to be deprived of high quality candles and I have learnt that the best place to buy them is TKMAX.
They sell candles that usually retail at £25 - £30 for about £5, sometimes they are reduced to £4/£3 which is always an extra exciting moment.

Bahoma is my favourite brand, although there are other nice ones. I usually go for the floral or musky scented candles, they're really lovely and I've seen them in John Lewis for about £25.

Second Hand Junkie supplied me with a tip a few years ago now, which is: to only buy the candles which were really expensive in the first place. So now matter how pretty the jar is, only buy the ones which normally retail at over £20 because any less and they simply won't be as good as the more expensive ones.. and in these hard times a girl should get the very best her budget allows.

#feministwishlist

#feministwishlist on twitter - Just some food for thought

I have always been upfront about the fact that I am a feminist. This can get peoples backs up. And by the same token, few things irritate me more than when a fellow female says - 'I am in no way a feminist.' By saying that, you mean that you do not support equality across the sexes.

Being a feminist does not mean you hate men. Being a misandric does. (See, big difference.)

A anecdote on the subject I sometimes relay is the time when I was in a university class about Women in History.. and the lecturer went around the seminar group with one question:
'are you a feminist?'
Few people said 'yes.' And this was a group of people interested in women's history. The lecturer then explained the dictionary definition of a feminist is a person who believes in gender equality.
It does not mention hating men / women / transgender / ANYONE.
Neither does it mention bra burning.

Feminism gets a bad rep. But it's nothing to be ashamed of, everyone should be a feminist and it shouldn't be a big deal, why not treat it as a given?
What do you think?

(Image via http://www.ellenvanengelen.be/)

November

Nothing says Autumn / Winter like a Toast catalogue. I have been feeling under the weather for the past few days but nothing fuels my desire to stay in and rest up like a Toast catalogue does.



(Photos scanned from the latest Toast House and Home catalogue.)

Something Silly

This quote just tickles me for some reason, I hope you like it too.. happy Friday!

Victoria Wood on a date in a crêperie:

'You creep in,
Get a crêpe ,
And creep out.'

(Image via: paris by pearled on Flickr.)