I'm hooommmmeee!! After a mere 8 hour delay at the airport (thanks, Mr. Volcano) we were finally cleared to fly back to sunny blighty last night. Awesome trip! From the craziness of Marrakech to the beautiful seaside town of Essaouira... We ate and ate and shopped until we popped. Feel like I haven't slept for a week! Man, it feels good to be home.
The whole of the fashion world has gone gaga for exotic prints and embellished, floatly numbers of late - think intrepid backpacking explorer mixed with the twinkling sparkles and timeless glamour of designers such as Matthew Williamson, Roberto Cavalli and Marc Jacobs.
I fly out to Morocco with my boyfriend in less than four hours - volcano ash permitting - so will have my peeking tom eyes out for some wonderlust prints of my own. This may be the last holiday I have in a loooong time (SEVERE lack of monies scuppering any future plans, *boohoo) so I'm going to make the most of it. Soooo excited!!!!
I always have such a lovely time when I go home. This weekend my boyfriend and I were utterly spoilt. It was a countryside extravaganza. We fed the baby calves (teeny tiny fluffy things that sucked and pulled on our fingers), had lunch in a lovely pub with a New Orleans jazz band playing, ate MOUNTAINS of delicious food, snoozed in front of the fire, ate again, slept some more, and even though it poured with rain for the whole weekend, the sun shone so brightly as we drove back to London this morning that our dampness melted away. But now the house hunt is on again like a speed-freak juggernaut. I think I need another holiday.
Phew, what a day. I'm e.x.h.a.u.s.t.e.d. But fun times ahead now. Going to London Fashion Weekend tonight (thank you, Jemma!) and then homeward bound to the countryside with my lovely boy on the weekend. Happy days!
Sometimes I look at these pictures and forget it was me that took them; me that is in them. Life's too short not to embrace every single day and chase that beauty that can so easily be forgotten as our working lives take over. As amazing as life is at the moment, I can't wait until I can go travelling again.
[Pics from Thailand 2007 and my trip to India last year with my lovely, lovely boyfriend]
This time next week it will be Valentines Day. The day where Mr Paper-Chase and little Miss Scribbles rub their inky fingers together with glee as the bumper crop comes in from their annual paper harvest. I'm not a particular fan of Valentines Day. Even moreso than Christmas (just...) it reeks of commerical smultz, money pilfering and cheese. A helluva-lotta cheese. And, the greatest argument against it is that surely, if you love someone you should tell them every day, not just on February 14th?
I may not be sprinting to the shops to load up on bucket-loads of chocolatey hearts and mini cupcakes that say "I ♥ U" on them (puke). But I'm still excited about having a lovely, special day with the boy I love. Which will hopefully include watching back-to-back horror films, cooking spag bol, and munching on sweets - with not one shiny balloon or Care Bear in sight. I cannot WAIT.
Paris, Paris, Paris... ahhh, it was everything that I hoped for and more! I had the most wonderful day. I felt like we walked for miles around the whole city, from the ramshackle, shutter-lined streets of the Latin Quarter, to the brilliant, bright lights of the Champs-Élysées and everything inbetween. Having little or no plan, we popped into cafes for cups of tea when our fingers became too numb to move and to warm our rosy, chill-bitten cheeks, before dashing outside again to embrace the icy cold air and meander through the beautiful streets once more, chasing landmarks from their rooftops in the distance and sucking bon bons to keep our energy high… amazing! And it was so romantic being with my favourite person in the whole world. One of my best birthdays, ever!
I've just had the loveliest birthday weekend, ever! Spending it back home in the counryside with my family and my boyfriend... Mulled wine in front of the fire, mountains of delicious food, presents galore, and snow-capped cycle rides to our local country pub... bliss! And my boyfriend has just surprised me with a trip to gay Paris tomorrow. I feel very loved ♥ ♥ And awfully spoilt!! Merci beaucoup to everyone in my life :)
There are a million, billion, trazillion reasons why my boyfriend is the loveliest, most wonderful human being in the whole world. But recently, after a particularly cocktail-heavy work party at Shoreditch House the night before, he surpassed himself... Everyone in my office was treated to a day off work the next day to die quietly, while I was treated to THIS:
Fish and chips breakfast Yet more chips Crisps Fizzy sweets Lollipops Fruit Tropic Thunder DVD A huge bunch of flowers And enough hugs and kisses to soothe my throbbing head away to Kingdom come… All while curled up in his yummy bed with Jeremy Kyle and other benefit-busting TV programs blaring away in the background… THE CHAV IS BACK.
*Duvet day: [Americanism] Two of the finest words in the human language when written side by side.
