keep the good things going

These shots were taken while England was still basking in the heat of the Indian summer and I lost whole afternoons tooling around London town with my sun hat and camera.

I don't know how, but Autumn passed me by in the rustle of a leaf. I swore I had it, but before I could say "pumpkin spice latte", it was gone ;)

Now here I find myself staring at the ass end of November and the mercury has sunk to below 8°.  

 Frozen fingers and bottle-warmed beds are now the flavour of the day.

 I've got a thirst on for thick wooly tights, Christmas get-togethers, tree decorating with Vince Guaraldi band and much anticipated dustings of snow powder. Also I'm making mental notes to stock up on mulled wine and gingerbread ingredients and surviving the winter months via self-induced food coma!

The season is almost upon us, friends, and it has a habit of keeping things sweet and light.

 I hope yours is a happy one x

london trip//borough food market

My first day in London I scooped my cousin Finn out of work early and we took ourselves to the beautifully archaic London Borough Market, a unique corner of the capital which is also one of London's oldest marketplaces.

Walking in to the market is like stepping into a time capsule and each stall is beautifully arranged with seasonal, gourmet fare.

It's a one stop shop for foodies, traders, restauranteurs and cafe owners to source delicious artisan cheeses, bread, meats, pastries, wine and every tasty morsel under the sun.

We spent a few golden hours wandering through the market, fingering goose eggs, sampling cheeses and chutneys and hot tea brewed up right in front of us.

We lunched on pancetta with mozzarella and tomatoes out in the afternoon sun surrounded by the bustle of tourists and baby strollers and the smell of fresh chorizo.

My favorite stalls were the ones laden with beautifully packaged tea leaves and the fabulous meat and game pies. I scooped up some organic chai tea and a wedge of goats cheese salami which may or may not reside in my belly now.

If you ever find yourself in Southwark on a lazy Friday afternoon this is the place to be.

We ended the day with a trip to the Cortauld museum on the Strand for a viewing of the Picasso exhibition.

I was quite taken with his early pieces showing bawdy can-can dancers and absinthe drinking patrons of early twentieth century Parisian cafes.

It was a day of good food and culture and stepping back in time to old Paris and London.

What more do you need from an afternoon?

x

my kinda therapy

My auntie whisked my mother and myself away today to treat us to lunch and a spot of much needed retail therapy!

We ate at a beautiful little Italian Deli which also had a grocery section where I scooped up these delectable little macaroons and splurged on my porridge addiction by purchasing this lovely bottle of Irish porridge flavored with Madagascan vanilla~ I literally cannot wait till tomorrow morning when I can eat this with bananas and blueberries, although the packaging is so pretty I feel it's almost a shame to break the seal and use it!



We then proceeded to browse the shops and I immediately spotted this beautiful little bed buddy, she looks sweet as can be nestled between my pillows, I feel like she was just waiting in that shop to be bought by me!

I can't wait to snuggle with her tonight!

 



We then found this darling farm shop that sold fresh produce and I stocked up on brie, strawberries and dark chocolate for a recipe I've pinned that I'm dying to try out~ I'll post the results if it turns out right!

While we were there I couldn't resist adding this creamed coconut and dark chocolate fudge to my straw basket of goodies~ again, packaging, I fall for it EVERY time!

I honestly almost squealed with delight when i popped into a stationary store and found this scalloped paper punch~ i have been hunting one of these down for the longest time and cannot wait to scallop the lips of all my future snail mail envelopes ^.^

Then I almost squealed again when I saw they stocked washi tape! I told the sales girl how popular they are in Asia and she said they had only just arrived in stock the week before and they were baffled by what people would use them for!

Finally, I have to say I have the best Momma in the world who bought me a few wee treats as an early Thirtieth birthday present~ this beautiful patterned scarf and wedge sandals. my heart skipped a beat when I spotted these sandals as they are so close to the Blowfish Gypsy sandals which I couldn't get my hands on last summer.

I love you Mom!



It's been such a long time since I've been able to go out and splurge like this.

There's no doubt in my mind that a little retail therapy is good for the soul ^.^

Happy Friday, friends!



3 little things//matryoshka love

Nesting doll, Russian doll, Babushka, Matryoshka...

These beautifully rotund and rosy-cheeked peasant women hide under many pseudonyms but no matter what you like to call them their quirkiness and cute cannot be denied.

Their colorful hand-painted flower designs, so detailed right down to the tiny baby doll-prize in the centre, are one of my favorite aspects of these wooden creations.

When I visited home last Christmas I brought my little cousin up to my bedroom and had the pleasure of peeking through a 5 year old's mind when reacting to my Matryoshka: "a doll, inside a doll, inside a doll!"

The history behind these dolls is also so interesting: "Matryoshka" comes from the latin "Mater" meaning "Mother", so these plump and colorful Earth Mothers are actually symbolic of family and fertility.

I've built up quite the collection of all things Russian Doll-related and lucky for me Korean stationers love to use these purdy doll designs on their paper goods!

1. Matryoshka Card & envelope

I bought several of these card sets when I discovered them in the Lotte stationary store~ what's even cuter is that the card opens out to reveal more Matryoshka's "nesting" inside it ^^

 2. Matryoshka post-it memos

Another stationary store find. 

5 cute little post-it stickers with different colorful little mamas on each one!

3. Matryoshka ceramic jewelry beads

I found these three little darlings in a Christmas package my Mom sent which was full of wooden, glass and ceramic beads for jewelry making.

What do you think for these~ necklace or bracelet?

Treasure Hunt~ thrifting for vintage in Seoul

The lovely Whit and myself dedicated our Saturday afternoon to to hunting down the seemingly mythical vintage clothing market in Seoul. We had heard whisperings about its existence, even seen evidence of it's gorgeous treasures modeled on a girl we met at a concert. But I was a little skeptical.

Vintage clothing? Inexpensive? Korea??

But we were delightfully surprised when we found the place 5 minutes away from Jongno 5 ga subway station on line 1. As we walked up to the second floor of this unassuming looking market building we smelt that old clothes smell and knew we'd hit home:  inside lay a life size dress up box packed floor to ceiling with vintage items.

Everything was present and correct~ dresses, shoes, bags and belts. Isles upon isles of so many wonderful threads to sift through. You really had to be dedicated to sifting to weed out the good stuff but that's all part of the fun of thrifting right?

Within 30 minutes I had bought 5 items and spent all of my budget, it was time to leave! Here's a little peek of my purchases~ lot's of Winter ready Christmas patterned knits, a maxi skirt, the most darling red embroidered rain coat and a "Hawaiian" (so the salesman claimed) embossed leather satchel which clearly has Mexico stamped on the inside. I managed to haggle that bag down by a whole 5,000 won and was more than a litttle proud of myself.

Two rounds in India and months of travelling through SE Asia have still done little to improve this gals bartering skills!

How was your weekend folks?

Did you find any treasures?

x