The weekend...

Had a nice weekend and hope you did too. We got up early on Saturday and drove up to Belfast …we had made an appointment at the “Genius Bar” at the Apple store (still none in Dublin) for 12:40 and we arrived at 10:00 so had a little time to enjoy coffee and muffins and do a little shopping!! Was really surprised and delighted to find a Comptoir des Cotonniers concession in Victoria Square – I first came across this store in the south of France and bought a bunch of stuff. Of course, I was a lot more flush with cash back then and so, it was with great trepidation at my potential spend that I approached the counter to make my purchases…however, I have been putting a little aside for winter gear and that is what I used…I bought a gorgeous parka (granite colour - doesn't really show up well in my crappy photos!)…really cosy and snuggly, and a dress..I also bought a dress in the sale in Jigsaw..bargain! The lighter coloured dress is the one from Jigsaw. We then spent an hour sorting out all our Mac issues (it’s so great having this free service available!) and followed that up with a yummilicious Pizza at Pizza Express…my all time favourite pizza place..I had the Fiorentina…my mouth is watering thinking about it!






I forgot to bring my camera so no snaps of some of the beautiful old buildings in Belfast – sorry…next time! On Sunday, we lazed around watching TV and reading the newspapers - it turned into a bit of a “period drama” day, with “Sense and Sensibility” in the afternoon, “Becoming Jane” (the life of Jane Austen) last night and I recorded Wuthering Heights too. That was it and now it’s back to work on a miserable Monday..poo!!

Oh...and, we bought a Fret Saw along with some lovely walnut and birch woods…am planning a little project …will let you know more about that later.

Sigh...

Hello...the a/w Cabbages and Roses collection is available to see (and buy!) online today..gorgeous as always...love this picture...reminds a little of the Coco avant Chanel movie...happy weekend.

Getting around...

I usually cycle to work but in the past few months, because there has been parking available at work and because the weather hasn't been too great, I have been really lazy and have been taking the car...boo to me on all fronts...however, we are moving to a new location at the end of September which we are all looking forward to (I work for an architectural practice and we have designed a great new building for ourselves - of course, we might not all make it there what with potential redundancies etc..boo again!)...I digress...so, once we move, there will be no parking at all so I will be back on the bike. My bike is fine and I definitely don't need a new one but, if I did, wouldn't I like one of these? Yes, I would...so cute - from the Electra Bike Co (designs by Alexander Girard).




So, I don't need a new bike BUT am seriously thinking about a Vespa...can't afford one right now but if things pick up, I think this just might be the way to go for me...have checked out the various models and quite fancy this one...nice, right??

Lovely...

I stumbled (can't remember what I was looking for at the time) across the Gennine's lovely blog and was completely captivated by Gennine's work so promptly headed straight over to her Etsy store and spent the longest time trying to choose some prints...I think she is an amazing artist, I love her subject and her beautiful use of colour....here's what I am expecting in the post (all the way from Mexico so it could take up to four weeks)...check out Gennine's Etsy store...I hope you will be as wowed as I was :)

Sweet shop...

Beautiful, old-style sweetie shop, Hope and Greenwood, in Covent Garden. Looking forward to a little spree in here!

(via lightlocations)

Orla Kiely a/w 09...

I am a BIG Orla fan and have been checking her website every day in eager anticipation of her a/w 09 collection and it doesn't disappoint...below are some of my favourites...sigh...I am planning a visit to London in October and have a voucher to spend in her flaship store in Covent Garden...the range is much bigger than we get to see on the website...looking forward to that trip just a little bit!! It's a very happy Friday here in Dublin...sun is shining ...yay! Have a lovely weekend :)

Beautiful blankets....

I have been drooling over these 2 crocheted blankets by SiMakery (at Etsy) for weeks now and am planning to buy them and use one or both in my newly sorted out study/snug! Aren't they beautiful? Also will be buying 2 of these pretty white armchairs from Ikea (well probably one for starters!)...

Stylish space...

Am really liking this beautiful Brooklyn Brownstone featured in the September issue of Living etc...owned by J Crew's Creative Director, Jenna Lyons...love the bright yellow sofa (which looks much brighter in the magazine) and the grand entrance to the bathroom (from bedroom). Just one thing tho...I am seeing a lot of these mounted antlers around design/interior mags...I am not so sure about this as a decorative statement...bit creepy? Any thoughts?






images from Living etc

More Ikea...

Our house, as you may have gathered, is small (maybe bijou?!) ...when we visited Ikea recently to get our hallway sorted out we also bought a Billy bookcase...we were running out of storage space in our wee kitchen so bought this cupboard which now sits just outside the kitchen and holds a bunch of stuff that was really cluttering up the worktop space...it's made such a difference and it fits in very nicely...am pleased! Cost E45.

What styling!!

I love this ....check out more shots on Emma's Design Blog

Smile!!

So, I am in a total funk since I came back from holidays and am really struggling to get out of it...as the weekend approaches, I feel a little more smiley and when I saw this again today (first watched when on hols recently and meant to post about it then!)...I smiled and chuckled...I love it..enjoy!

I like...

These are cool..."based on the original 17th century Dutch canal houses", storage boxes..."white on the outside so you can decorate it yourself in order to make your own little street with the inside printed in bold colours." I think I would leave them white...3 for 23quid...might just have to make me a little purchase.



from Dutch by Design

The weekend....

Well now, I had a lovely weekend and I hope you did too! We went out for a very pleasant (and good value) meal on Friday evening, met a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning (french toast, bacon and maple syrup...scrummylicious!). On Sunday afternoon, we went to see Coco avant Chanel at the Lighthouse Cinema (a very cool cinema, beautiful new building, really interesting design, nice use of colour etc). I really enjoyed the film and would recommend it - she was an amazing woman. Audrey Tatou is fantastic and my goodness, she is so beautiful!! I also saw Man on Wire, which we had recorded a few weeks ago...really good - mind-boggling in fact! Read lots of magazines too! Am liking...






Stripe tee and linen jacket both from Cabbages & Roses sale. Wool cushion and mirror from Red Direct.

Enamoured with enamel...

I have had my eye on a pink or blue milk pan in enamelware for some time...the only place I was aware of that sold them was Cucina but when I recently visited their website to have a look there wasn't much there. However, since then I found that Labour and Wait now stock these products. I love the country feel and the pastel colours. I know my home is very contemporary in style but I still like touches of country/vintage - I'll go crazy on this look when we eventually buy our dream cottage! Oh and of course the last shot isn't enamel but I love this cook's measure - I remember my mother had one year's ago :)

Back to Reality!

Back at work today (boo!) after a wonderful holiday that really seemed to last forever...had a fantastic time :) We arrived in Dublin on Friday evening and as we had a bank holiday yesterday, we had a nice long weekend to get back into the swing of things! Made some brownies (a last hurrah before I start trying to lose the few pounds piled on whilst away!). We also went to IKEA which just opened recently in Dublin. We were very focused and knew exactly what we wanted so were not too bothered by the teeming throngs of people and managed to get in and out quite quickly! So, I mentioned before that I needed to do something with our hallway. It is very short and narrow and it was a mess...see before and after below. Am very pleased to have all our shoes and bicycle gear neatly tucked away now!



Hall before...



Hall after...




And just because I really like this picture of Oscar and Sadie!