Saturday I’m smitten… with NYC

Back in September
I uttered those exact words
(without the asterisks).

We’d just discovered that the other half
had not one but two weeks less holiday
than we’d thought. So any idea of a big
long honeymoon/sunnymoon/whatever
was totally fubarred.

Then I started thinking… where can you go
for a week that will be blooming brilliant?

Simple. New York City.

So we went. We ate, walked, laughed.
We got a little sunburnt. We got blisters.
We had what we called ‘the best holiday ever’.

Here’s part 1 of my favourite snaps.
They make me want to go back
there right now. Oh f*** it.

View from the top of The Rock.
(Much shorter queues and a better
view than going up the Empire State.)

Loved the design of this coffee place.
Can’t imagine it would be good with a hangover though!

One thing I remembered from previous NYC visits
was how good the thrift/junk is… I’d been stalking
Brooklyn Flea on twitter before going. And then Thriftola
said it was a must-visit so it would have been rude not to!

Owl cookie jars, vintage suitcases, retro pots…
all sitting on a wooden door table!

The vintage crates which I was seriously considering
trying to put in my carry-on luggage to take home!

The oh so covetable blue Mason jars…
for only a couple of dollars each. Sob.

Vintage milk bottles… I had to buy something
so I bought one of these. Oh yes, I went all the
way to NYC and bought a milk bottle!

He he… didn’t see any puppies though.

So many letterpress blocks…
so little room in my suitcase.

Was quite taken with this old movie poster…
even though I plan on living until
I’m rather old thank you. 

The best veggie hot dog ever… Honestly.
This one had spicy ketchup, jalapeno mustard
and crushed salt and pepper crisps on it!
We came back for seconds later in the day.

A little hipper than the usual ‘I ❤ NY’.
Or a little more hipster?

More graffiti… including a slightly scary fox.
I also so loved these big frogs!

One mighty strange thing about this trip
was that I drank coffee… every day.
Which is more coffee than I’ve ever
drunk in my entire life. Ever.
But how could I not when the logo
is so darn funny?!

I love NYC. Word.

Next time… a bit more of Manhattan.
Plus maybe some Diana shots if they come out!

Happy Weekend everyone xx

*****

First image by junkskull

Thrifty finds… and a shifty tiger cake

I have a cold. The kind that means you can still get on with life
as long as you have a lifetime’s supply of tissues by your side
and copious cups of yucky blackcurrant yuckness.
So if this post makes less sense than normal,
I’m blaming the Beechams or the cold bugs!

*****

Anyhoo…the other weekend, we did a spot of charity shop hunting.
And for a girl who’s technically intolerent of milk, I appear
to be acquiring milk jugs. And the odd sugar bowl.

And the odd sugar jar too.

The woman in the charity shop did not get
why I wanted this… always a strange one that.

But I think it makes a great new vase.

Even if I do say so myself!

Not from a charity shop the next set…

In fact, this is a Japanese tea set that belonged
to my other half’s Aunt. It looks like it’s never
been used, it’s that pristine.

It’s left us wondering though…
did his Aunt visit Japan and buy it there?
We really don’t know. If anyone’s relative
has a similar set, do let me know.

We also have a second Japanese set from her too.
And again no idea where or who she got them from.

Not strictly a vintage find here…
except that we got these cakes from
an old school bakery.

One of the advantages of feeling under the weather
is that you ‘need’ a shifty tiger cake of course.
Its expression makes me laugh so much.

Of course, after this much sugar, I had a temporary high
and put up my new print. Yup, I’ve had enough of the
‘everything is going to be ok’ style prints.

Ok, so maybe I don’t feel fantastic right now
but the print makes me chuckle
(in amongst the coughing and spluttering!).

Right, I’m off to watch Downton Abbey
with a hot chocolate and a blanket.
Actually that’s quite fantastic after all!

*****

Anyone found any thrifty finds recently?
Or have a sensible suggestion for
my burgeoning milk jug collection?
(Or a nicer suggestion for a cold remedy
than blackcurrant bluckness?)

P.S. I will be getting back to the Weddingnesday
and I Do DIY posts when I have half a brain again.

Friday I’m in love… with caravans

Since we came back from minimoon,
I’ve developed a bit of a crush on caravans.

Just after we got back, I opened up the Cath Kidston
magazine to discover an article on buying caravans.

It seemed like a sign.

(Despite the fact it was also the same weekend
as some tossbag trashed our car. Ahem.)

The problem is… we live in a flat.

In the middle of Edinburgh.

Not ideal for keeping a caravan I know
but sometimes it’s nice to dream about these
things without worrying about the logistics.

Anyway, I was pondering what
it is I like so much about caravans…

And I came up with two reasons. (Well, three really.)

1. Very happy childhood memories of caravaning
with my Nana, my Papa, my cousins, my cat.
Fuzzy felt, listening to the rain on the roof
and drinking sweet tea with nettle stings on my knees.

2. And this one came from the same Cath Kidston mag…
“a caravan is another room to enjoy doing up,
without moving house”. Well, if that doesn’t
just sound like something I would say!

3. As well as my very happy childhood memories,
a caravan is now where I have been
at my happiest as an adult too.

In my Dad’s wedding speech, he wrote a sonnet
(yes he made people cry with his speech!)
that ended with the words
“It sounds like rain on a caravan roof.”

And then he spoke about how my Nana
would have loved that we were starting
our married life in a caravan.

Not only because she loved caravans but
“because it’s also a perfect metaphor for a long successful married life.
She would have agreed it’s about joy and disappointment shared,
up close. That’s a real test of any relationship
but the key thing to remember is, come rain or shine,
all you need is those you love and those who love you back.”

(I said he made people cry.)

So this Friday, I’m truly utterly, smitten
with the idea of us having a little caravan
of our own… and you know one day
we might even make it a reality.

Happy Friday everyone xx
Hope you all have lovely weekends.

*****

P.S. That little yellow caravan?
It has the most stylish interior
I’ve ever seen for a caravan!

*****

1. and 3. via snailtrail (via guardian)
2, 5 and 6 scanned from cath kidston mag
4. caravanolic (via pinterest)
7. and 8. enjoycupcakes (via urbanfarmgirlandco)

Weddingnesday… wishful thinking

In around 6 week’s time, I’m meant to look presentable.

Bridal even…

Which might explain why my rebel without a cause self
is hankering after the following things that  I kind of wish
I was brave enough to do for our wedding.*

(*I may still do them one day.)

1. My something blue?

How gorgeous is Doe Deere’s hair?
Every time I see this picture it so makes me want blue hair… and curls.
(Damn, my naturally straight, dark hair!)

2. My something daring?

I do love this dress by LoveJune.
(With a back that low and a bust like mine it would be daring!)
But what I love is that tattoo… not everyone’s cup of tea I know
but I’ve been looking for an excuse to get a second one for some time,
and getting married seems like a reason to do something permanent!

3. My something fun?

I wear tights all year round. I love tights.
I love one with hearts, dots, patterns, colours… if I could find
a pair that went with my dress I would so do this. (That said,
I don’t want to look like a children’s TV presenter on the day!)

*****

What about you all? Is there anything
you kind of wished you could of done
(or wish you could do) on your day?

*****

1. DoeDeereBlogazine  via here 2. LoveJune via here
3. Alison Conklin via Ruffled via here

Meet my new typewriter, vintage china… and, um, butter churner

Last Sunday, I spotted an army green typewriter at a car boot sale,
decided not to buy it and then regretted it as soon as we left.

This Sunday, the other half went ‘booting’ on his own and bagged
this lovely blue (and still working) typewriter. The boy done good!

We’ve also (for reasons some of you might guess) been collecting
more vintage china – from car boots, charity shops and junk places.

These little beauties came from a charity shop… the insides of them are so pretty.

A little yellow lady… me in another time perhaps?

The fox-owl-cat guards some of our new finds…

We’ve also been acquiring some vintage suitcases of which my favourite
is this Spartan number… I think we should use it for our mini moon.

And we found a little 3D view master…

With a reel of brilliant bird images.
Love this one so much!

As well as the car booting, I bought us this rather gorgeous drinks set
from Thrift-ola… if you haven’t checked out Leona’s new shoppe, you should!

I also came across this yellowy vintage teapot in Curiouser and Curiouser.
I’d only gone in to get some baker’s twine but how could I resist?

And in a junk shop in Glasgow, I found a vintage butter churn!
A crazy looking thing that  I just fell in love with…

No idea if we’ll ever try and churn butter with it of course!Between now and the wedding, we’ve got quite a few more booting
mornings planned, I do wonder what we’ll come home with next?

****

Found any lovely thrifty finds yourself lately?

The loved and lost list…

Anyone else do this?

You spot something you like on Etsy (or ebay).

You bookmark it, pin it, whatever you do.

Then promptly forget about  it.
(Or assume that no-one else will have
spotted it before you can afford to buy it.)

Of course, once it’s sold, you’re gutted.

And you thus begin a life-long quest
to find a replacement version that
will never be quite the same.

*****

Here’s some of my loved/lost list:

(Also known as the “hurry up universe
and throw one of these my way” list!)

I really do wish I’d bought this school map.

Yes, it’s Canadian and I’ve never been there
but look at the colours and the size of it. *sigh*

This is the thing that inspired this post.

Do I need a Vintage Portable Music Air Organ?

Um, no.

Did I want this a Vintage Portable Music Air Organ?

Yes. A lot.

(Again might be something to do with the colours!)

My other half’s surname (and mine to be) has the word ‘pear’ in it.

So I thought about buying this pear money bank
(from the lovely Tales of a Junkaholic).

And then I thought about it some more
until some lucky soul snapped it up.

I owned a Fisher Price record player when I was little.
It looked sort of this (but without the ‘from Santa’ message.)
I’m still stalking similar ones on ebay.

Again this is sort of just a colourful map.

Well, a colourful map of the inside of a frog.

I couldn’t decide if this would be too disturbing in real life.
And I still have no idea where I would have put it.
(Not in the kitchen I’m guessing!)

Yes, another globe.
But look at the stand!
Lovely.

It’s not a map or a globe or even colourful
but this gorgeous vintage dress still gets
a place on my ‘lost’ list.

Isn’t it just perfect?

******

So how about you all?
What are your loved/lost things?

Maybe between us all we can track
down some replacements!

****

1. ethanollie 2. daindain 3. Tales of a Junkaholic
4. Thrush 5. luckylittledot 6. sweetshorn 7. Vintageous

P.S. Yes I do have a bit of a thing for maps and globes!

 

Happy best year ever…

So 2011. Otherwise known as the year of our wedding.

Pretty much as soon as the bells struck people
started shouting ‘you’re getting married this year!’

But with 364 days when we’re not getting married
I’m hoping that lots of other exciting things
are going to happen to us this year too.

This will be our first year when we’re not doing major DIY
so we’ll get to find out what life is like without paint,
wallpaper paste, caulk, plaster and dust.

(We won’t be totally DIY free though – as there’s still lots
of wedding DIY to be done but let’s skip over that detail!)

It’s also nice to get a bit of a fresh start.
The second half of 2009 was in a word: tricksy.
Some really great things happened to us but some
not so great, non-bloggable things happened too.

So it’s nice to draw a line under it all and say well, that
was then and this is now. Onwards, upwards…

Basically, we’re hoping for our best year ever, not just the best day ever.

And if none of our plans pan out, well, we still have a mini moon
and then hopefully a honeymoon to Japan to look forward to.

Happy New Year everyone.
Here’s hoping it’s your best yet.

 

(calendar via spreadthelove)

Because it’s (another snowy) Monday…

Right now I am obsessed with 3 things:

1. Mint hot chocolate

2. Cosy cuteness

3. Trying to find my wellies

Yes my life is currently a blur of coveting Costa’s
hot chocolate and trying not to succumb too often.

Craving cosy cute stuff to compensate for the fact
that I’m dressing like the Michelin man!
(I have already asked Santa for one
of Hilary Grant‘s lovely scarfs.)

And obsessing over where the heck my darn
wellies can be… typical they should go missing
when there’s the most snow ever!

****

1. my extreme measures 2. a Yes Jess
2. b Hilary Grant 2. c little fille 3. sloe gin fizz

Green with coat envy…

I’m having a bit of a coat obsession moment. Can you tell?

On my quest for the perfect coat, I came across this gorgeous number…

Ok, so that’s real fox fur on the collar (yuck) but how lovely is that green?

I could definitely do a green coat if I can’t find a yellow one.

(Thanks for all your yellow coat suggestions…
especially the person who found the exact yellow
duffle on ebay for me… which I then got outbid on. D’oh!)

But best of all is that having a green coat would (might)
look this good with some bright yellow accessories.

Let’s just ignore that, with 6 inches of snow outside, heels like
these are totally out of the question!

Friday… I’ve got yellow coat envy

On Wednesday I wore the yellow Orla Kiely cardigan my sis got me for my birthday.

I felt like a little ray of sunshine in a cold, grey world.

Then on the same day I spotted this yellow duffle coat.

Instant coat envy!

And how adorable is Taza’s coat?

(Such a cute pic too.)

Or how about this wee beauty?

Now I really really really want a yellow coat.

The only condition is that it must be super cozy.

(And super affordable too.)

(And flattering… ok that was more than one condition.)

A quick peek in the shops lots of grey, black and khaki green.

No yellow to be seen!

Darn.

Anyone else cursed with coat envy?

Friday I’m love… with this Morning and Night print

I absolutely adore this print by Dolce Press. It’s just so sweet and clever.

During the day, the print tells you to ‘have a good morning’.

But that’s only the top half of the print… the second half a secret message for you too.

Can you guess what it is?

Yup, at night, when the lights go out, the print tells you to ‘have a good night’. Genius!

They’ve sold out their first run but I’m hoping they’ll do more
so I can buy one for our bedroom. Too cute not to!

Have a good morning/night/weekend everyone xx

UPDATE: Just got word from Dolce Press that they’re not reissuing the print 😦
What do you think the chances are that I can make my own version?!

UPDATE UPDATE: Dolce Press have been in touch to say they
are making another version. Whoop!

Found via here

Just a quiet birthday night in…

For this year’s birthday, the OH had planned (at my insistence) a quiet night in for me… just a few friends coming round, some cupcakes and a glass of fizz.

No big Halloween bash, just a chilled, casual evening – but old habits die hard.

Especially when your OH has bought you an official bottle of Tru Blood to drink!

And has made you some ceramic fangs to wear…

… which look rather dapper with your fake moustaches…

… and then a friend brings you a pumpkin piñata (the video footage of us all trying to ‘bash’ the piñata makes me cry with laughter!)

… and then you decide that Tru Blood tastes better with a little vodka (in the cup your OH has made you especially)!

So all in all, the quiet night in turned out into a mini Halloween giggle-fest… .

… complete with very yummy blood red velvets that the OH baked too…

… and his rather superb owly and dapper dude pumpkins…

Thank you everyone… the girl who didn’t want to party happily admits a party was just what she needed. For once, I’ll forgive you all for not listening to me!

Friday I’m in love… with Autumn

Ok, so it wasn’t that long ago I was bemoaning the end of Summer but I really do love Autumn. Mainly because it’s nearly time for Halloween, Bonfire Night and, oh yes, my birthday. (Whoop!)

So when a very charming Helen from Most Wanted got in touch to ask if I could come up for a few things under £50 for their Autumn Styling Challenge, I thought it sounded like fun.

So here’s my Autumn adds that I would pick to brighten up my home if I had a few more pennies:

1. This gorgeous owl cushions from Roddy and Ginger… partly because most of our cushion are dressing our for sale flat. I miss having funky cushions to recline on – or to hide behind when I’m watching Dexter!

2. Pretty coloured light flexes from Rockett St George.co.uk… because a little pop of colour on a grey day or a dark night can’t be a bad thing.

3. A Pet Sounds tea towel from To Dry For… because it matches my hall wallpaper (and because you can’t dry your dishes with wallpaper!).

4. A wee mountain (or two) by Hilary Grant to brighten up my white duvet cover.

5. This gorgeous screen print by Nikki Williams which reads “A house full of teacakes is a happy one”… because it makes me smile.

6. This amazing Squirrel Tea Cozy from Fuzzy Logic Felt… because it would not only keep my teapot warm but co-ordinate with my green tea!

7. This Sleeping Foxes print by Dee Beale… because doesn’t it make you feel cosy and snuggly?

8. A Snail Plate from Welcome Home… Why? Because I have no doubt that this (complete with a cupcake) would make me grin from ear to ear on dreich, blustery day (there’s a few of those in Scotland!).

9. More fairy lights from Habitat… to make our place sparkle a bit more when it’s dark outside. Currently my favourite ‘string’ is wound round the top of our yellow 4 poster bed which makes it look like our little den.

10. And finally (breaking the rules here!) if money was no object, I would get one of these…

… a Donna Wilson House blanket! (Hint: this costs a quite a lot more than £50!) I have one her mini blankets at home and it’s fab for putting over you when watching TV but a bit too small (perfect for the cats to cuddle up in though!). So this one would be extra cosy and you can put it over a clothes horse to make a house… amazing!

Have a lovely Autumn weekend my dears x

First pic via here

Can I live here please?

Ok, so I love my flat. I really do. But if I was only a couple of centimeters tall, then this doll house would be my dream house! Isn’t it adorable?

Dolls’ house from the home of the people behind CharlieCharlie – spotted on Dos Family

Kitchens… my other obsession

God I love this kitchen… the integrated handles, the little cubbyholes, the shiny, bright whiteness…

Yup along with my ‘slight’ wedding obsession, I have a ‘getting a new kitchen’ obsession again.

It’s pretty much the last thing to do in our dusty old flat (other than putting a fireplace in the living room) and then we’re done.

Up until recently we couldn’t face having workmen etc back in the flat and having life disrupted again… so we’ve made do with some freestanding bits and bobs from Ikea and Habitat… but after planning a wedding and looking at the costs involved (eeek!) suddenly putting in a new kitchen seems really easy!

So here’s a few of my favourite kitchen references of the moment… I don’t think our kitchen will end up as ‘interesting’ as these but who cares, I’ll finally have a kitchen!

How fab are the round hole door handles… also crushing on the green table just a bit!

Love love love the yellow… not sure it’s that sanitary to have your cat on the worktop though!

Ooooh… I think that’s all I have to say on this one!

This one is maybe more ‘normal’ than the others but if I woke up tomorrow to discover the kitchen fairies had put this in my flat, I’d be pretty happy!

All yummy kitchens found via one of my fav blogs: The Seventy Tree

Pillow talk

I adore these pillows by Miranda July. I think I would have to be bad and keep the endless kissing one for me and make the OH have the fraudulence one. (Is that too mean?) I wish she did ones with two sweet sentiments instead.

Of course I could just take a permanent marker pen to some plain pillows…

Friday I’m in love… with bird boxes

Yes, an unlikely post title for a person who owns two cats, but this Friday I’m loving bird boxes.

Why? Well, two reasons.

One… I was having a peek at what’s new on Urban Outfitters and stumbled across this wee beauty:

How funny would that be to see the little birds coming in and out?

(Tell me it’s not just my sick sense of humour!)

Two… stumbling across the cat bird box reminded me of an exhibition I saw in San Francisco that I’ve been meaning to share.

It was called ‘For the Birds’ and was being exhibited at the very lovely The Curiosity Shoppe.

How brilliant are they? Not surprisingly they’re not cheap (or cheep!) but it would great if they were real birds’ homes.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend. We’ve got a packed one of catching up with friends, searching for venues and, eh, watching Eurovision. (Yes I have no shame!)

The San Fran trip… part 1

So some of you may remember I recently went to San Francisco…

(I also went to Yosemite, Vegas, the Grand Canyon and some wee places outside of SF but I’ll save them for future posts.)

Anyway, we’re very lucky to have some lovely friends who now live over there – and who very much looked after us while we were there.

After they’d picked us up for the airport, we drove past the Golden Gate Bridge and a very jetlagged OH said to me “Doesn’t it just look like a red Forth Road Bridge?”

Which it has to be said it really does!

However the rest of San Francisco looks nothing like Scotland…

I fell in love with the colourful houses… how cheery would it be to live in one of these?

Doesn’t this house look like something from a movie set?!

And the original coloured houses… the Painted Ladies…

All of which is a bit of a contrast to Downtown!

In our first week out there, we also went to visit Wine Country…

Has to be said ‘sampling’ wine for a whole day is a lovely way to pass the time!

Coming back from there, we stopped through Sebastopol to check out a very strange little street where every second house has these crazy sculptures in the gardens. I took lots of shots of them so I think I might have to do a proper post on just them!

Pretty much the next day we went off to Yosemite (more of that later) but the night we came back to SF, we went to the Palace of Fine Arts to see Jonsi…

I’m a huge fan of Sigur Ros and it has to be said their lead singer did not disappoint! Go and see him if you can!!

The next day did one of those bus tours… always good to get your bearings and to hear a bit of the bus driver’s banter!

The next day (before we went to Vegas) our friends persuaded us the best way to do the Golden Gate Bridge was to cycle it.

So it was that we agreed to an epic bike ride that went from near Golden Gate Park, to the Golden Gate Bridge, over it and then up the hill above it, then to Sausalito… and then back again.

There was also no way my OH was letting me do the trip without wearing this rather glam cycling helmet – just as well San Fran is a colourful place!

Actually he turned out to be right as I actually did come off the bike on one of San Fran’s notoriously steep hills – at 5’3 I couldn’t get my feet on the ground when I stopped the bike and I just toppled off instead. I still have the bruises!

The views were worth it though…

As well as checking out the views, we also spotted this bride in flip flops and her rather harassed-looking new husband. I took a couple of more pics of them before realising I was probably getting in all their wedding shots!

And what should you do after a hard day’s cycle… why go and drink copious amounts of sangria!

(So that’s what I’m doing in the new blog picture in case you were wondering!)

Perhaps not such a good plan when you have to get up the next day for a flight to Vegas… but hey it was very good fun at the time!

Especially as we got to meet all our friend’s Irish friends – all of whom can handle their sangria better than me.

Ok that’s part 1 of San Fran over… will show you Alcatraz, trams and street art in the Mission later. Tomorrow a bit of Yosemite, Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

You’ll probably all feel like you were there too by the time I’m done!

Would you rather… have a sugar mouse or a chocolate chunk?

Have I mentioned how much I love sugar mice?

Well, I do. Like crazy, insanely love them.

I suspect it’s due to my mother’s very strict no sweets policy when I was a kid…

Strict except every now and then (in a blue moon) she decided to allow me either a bag of sugar letters or a sugar mouse.

(As you might guess, I have a thing for sugar letters too.)

Anyway, so when I saw a tweet by Little Doodles mentioning a sugar mouse necklace, I was sold.

And so I came across Laura Tabor’s jewellery…

Now the sugar mouse may have brought me to this collection but then I saw the gobstoppers, the cola bottles and the chocolate ring.

Oh my, I was like that big-eyed kid in the sweetie shop all over again… a rather expensive sweetie shop it has to be said!

So what’s your favourite? And why?

Are you a  chocolate girl or just a sweetie at heart?

Because it’s Monday…

It’s cold, wet and miserable outside… But hey I got my deadline done so life is a little bit more sunshiney again!

So what better way to celebrate than with some random pretty things?

Love this bunny print from ThisYearsGirl … he’s cute and quizzical.

I so so so want this dress from Nadinoo. I have two weddings to go to soon so part of me is thinking I could maybe get it for them. The other part of me is thinking that no-one wants a bright yellow girl in their wedding pics!

I could wear this necklace from CuteAbility with the yellow dress and run about in meadows barefoot… does anyone else find pieces of jewellery make them want to do things they wouldn’t do otherwise?

J’adore! (That’s how much I love these cups from prelovedpennylane – I’ve switched to French!)

And these little kitty crayons from kittybblove… well, I think their adorableness speaks for itself.

P.S. Thanks for all the good luck wishes – and the ‘get to work’ messages – much appreciated! x