Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Sunday tea




When the temperature drops and it becomes grey and rainy, one of the best things you can do is to find a cosy tea room and indulge in some afternoon tea.

We went to the Tea Rooms in Stoke Newington. A tea set as pictured costs £12.50.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Kay Nielsen illustrations


I grew up on a diet of nursery rhymes and fairy tales, packaged in beautifully illustrated books, of which  the Edmund Dulac and Andrew Lang books were my favourite. Even though I'm now an adult, I still have an eye out for beautiful books, and take great pleasure in keeping and building my collection of fairy stories.

Today, I discovered Kay Nielsen, a Danish illustrator who was around the same time as Edmund Dulac. Just like Dulac, I love his beautiful use of colour and detail to build a fantastic fairy world. The pictures here are from 2 of his books:

East of the Sun and West of the Moon



Twelve Dancing Princesses




See more illustrations for East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Twelve Dancing Princesses, and other fairy tales.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

That lace skirt from Coffee House


L: As seen in Coffee House. R: On Queen's Wardrobe. Pictures from Dramabeans and Queen's Wardrobe

I've been getting back into Korean dramas recently, and my new favourite is Coffee House. One of the lead characters, played by the gorgeous Park Shi Yeon, has quite an interesting wardrobe. The one that really caught my eye was a casual-feminine mix of T-shirt and pretty lace skirt (above left).

Quite by accident, I was browsing Queen's Wardrobe and came across a very similar lace skirt (above right). I've gleefully ordered it and am now waiting for it to arrive so I can recreate the look.

P.S. I long for these Miu Miu-esque Mary Janes!

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Cake is art (or art is cake)

The people at Martha Stewart are absolutely genius. This time, they've taken inspiration from works of art and recreated them into wedding cakes. Love love love.





See the full gallery

Carl Kleiner's portfolio

Carl Kleiner is a photographer based in Stockholm, and I'm in love with his quirky portfolio. Go have a look.







Monday, September 13, 2010

Late summer in Lake Garda (due)

Renting a car around Lake Garda was a great decision, as it allowed us to drive around and explore the little towns around the Lake. We particularly liked Limone and Malcesine, both very picturesque and charming in their own ways.

Limone










Malcesine







Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Getting figgy with it



Growing up in a tropical country means I wasn't exposed to figs until much later in life. I'd eaten dried figs before, but never really took to the taste. I've got a pretty sweet tooth, but I found the sweetness way too cloying. That all changed when I finally tried a fresh fig. So that's what I've been missing out on all these years. And now that I've started, I can't stop. We've got a fig tree in our garden, and for a few weeks over summer, I've been enjoying freshly plucked green figs for dessert.

I know there are recipes that incorporate figs, but I'm too greedy and impatient to assemble them into the dish. My favourite way to eat them is to pluck the stem off, and eat them whole, like an apple.


During our trip to Italy, I managed to try some black figs on a bed of parma ham. And I'm in love all over again. Now that I'm back in London, I'm looking out for them everywhere I go.

Friday, September 03, 2010

Late summer in Lake Garda (uno)


Sunning myself by the Lake

Back from my trip. It was a wonderful holiday, with everything I hoped for: lots of sun, cool nights, gorgeous views, time to relax and read, amazing food.

We stayed at a charming B&B up in the hills of Albisano in Torri del Benaco. Each day, we woke up to a beautiful view of the lake and breakfast outside on the terrace. It was a very idyllic few days. All the following pictures were taken in Torri del Benaco.