Easter lunch

I have to say I'm so much more tempted by Easter decorations than by Christmas ones. Lovely spring flowers, birds nest, lilacs and soft yellows.

I also love the food. My baking skills are definitely not the best, but this year maybe I'll attempt to make some simnel cake, from the recipe here,a lovely ham, quail's eggs, and champagne and I'll set the table as featured on this classic clip from Brideshead Revisited

Images: Martha Stewart, RSH via coterie blog, unknown, browners82 stream on flickr, Granada television

Ballet

A rather girly post I'm afraid. A kind person recently sent me a ballet photo that was just beautiful and I wanted to post some pictures I'd come across and saved. Above is Pavlova in all her glory.

A Christmas shop window in Paris, via the cherryblossom girl blog

Baranova

A ballet dress worn by Pavlova

Love the look of this book

and finally our Anzu ballet card based on shoes I bought just for decorative use (never done ballet in my life!) from the Freed shop, St. Martin's Lane

Images: Unknown, cherryblossomgirl blog, unknown, image via tututoday.com, via parishotelboutique.blogspot.com, Anzu

Saipua

It's just as well I don't live in Brooklyn or I think I'd be spending a fortune on flowers from the florists Saipua. Their arrangements are stunning.

Love the rustic look of the shop too

The following images are from the their gorgeous website, click here to see more.

Creative workspaces

I love looking at the workspaces of creative people and thought I'd do a few posts on it, starting with some fashion designer's studios. Above, my personal favourite designer Erdem - love the big E and the screen.

Anya Hindmarch's office. Rather coveting the giant anglepoise.

A corner of Yves Saint Laurent's office

The fitting room of the Boudicca studio

Alice Temperley's London getaway studio - a place she goes to to create without interruption.

Are they what you'd expect - does the taste of the studio decor reflect the designers' clothing lines do you think?

Images 1,2 and 5 via the Guardian, 3 via Daily Mail, and 4 unknown

Start at Liverpool street station...

on a Sunday morning and grab a delicious bite to eat in one of the many cafes,

be surprised at whatever event is going on such as the Harvey Nichols pop-up shop selling everything from ipods to Opening Ceremony dresses,

walk by the traditional Georgian streets surrounding Brick Lane and stop off at Cheshire street and treat yourself to a stunning vintage lace embellished dress created by the charming designer Louis de Gama,

pop into the Comfort station jewellery shop and admire the jewellery and cool shop design

stop by the quirky Luna and Curious where you can stock up on naval style teacups and delicate pendants

before ending up at Columbia Rd flower market for tea and cake and armfuls of roses for £10.

www.louisdegama.com

www.comfortstation.co.uk

www.lunaandcurious.com

Gypset

I am having fun leafing through the latest sumptuous addition of Assouline, Gypset Style. Looking at groups of free-spirited individuals who love to jet set in nomadic gypsy style and roam the world in search of adventure it makes for interesting and quite different reading.

It has classic iconic pictures like this one of Talitha Getty on a Marrakech rooftop, or Yves Saint Laurent in his Marrakech home.

Interior shots such as this one in Madrid

and looks at 'gypsetters' such as designer Alice Temperley (seen above), Jade Jagger in Ibiza, and Damien Hirst in London.

On a separate note I came across these award winning photographs of Gypsy interiors by Carlo Gianferro. They're like nothing I've ever seen before with some pretty strange designs. Click here to see more.

Office accessories

Yes my dirty secret is out and don't ask me why but I am always partial to office accessories. At the moment I'm coveting this address file from www.lovelydesign.com It comes in maple or dark walnut and uses recycled cards.
I also like this brass pencil holder from www.greenergrassdesign.com via the bloomsburylife blog.

I shall be re-ordering some of these. They are actually barrister files but I like the pink ribbon! You can buy them here

And finally I can't get enough of these Hermes notebooks - soft leather and a great colour. I first saw them on tv as they are the favourite of the Donald Sutherland character in Dirty Sexy Money and I think they're gorgeous.

Hummingbirds

On such a gorgeous day as this, I thought I'd do a post on hummingbirds. They get to sip nectar from tropical flowers all day and are the only bird to fly backwards - doesn't sound like a bad life to me!
I liked them so much I put one on a card - this is the Anzu Patchwork Hummingbird card.

I love this exuberant illustration from 19th century naturalist Ernst Haeckel

Images: first two photographs - Flavio Cruvinel's photostream on Flickr, Anzu Hummingbird, photo from www.faqs.org, Ernst Haeckel

Bring back the bowler hat

These bowler hat lights are very tempting for the office, from here. Would love to see the days back where the city was full of men in bowler hats carrying umbrellas...

Images via Ancient industires, others unknown