Monday 30 December 2013

Marriage ~ 380 days later.

We recently celebrated our first anniversary. It has been an exhaustingly busy year, and one which has seemingly disappeared on us in the blink of an eye. Reaching our first marital milestone, as wonderful as that feels in the context of our relationship, has reminded me just how much I miss the wedding planning process, and I have been filling that little void of late with poring over our wedding albums!

Saturday 28 December 2013

Sous Le Ciel De Paris

The week before Christmas, I took one of my best friends to Paris as her 30th birthday present. I love Paris, and we had such a lovely day together roaming the rues and ambling along the avenues. Since we've both been fortunate enough to have spent time in Paris on previous occasions, we didn't visit the tourist hotspots, though we did - as you will see - find a lovely carousel in the Christmas market near the Eiffel Tower, and enjoyed a sunset sail on a bateau mouche. I didn't take too many snaps on this visit, as this was a day for girly chats, over indulging and soaking up the magical atmosphere sous le ciel de Paris...

La Tour Eiffel

Magpie Make & Do ~ Home-baked Bread

There is nothing quite so deliciously comforting as the smell of fresh-from-the-oven, home-baked bread wafting from the kitchen. Today I made my own bread for the first time since my school days. My amazing husband's amazing Christmas gift to me - a beautiful Kitchenaid - was my initial inspiration, and we had family visiting for lunch today, so it seemed to me the perfect day to attempt my first loaf. It was so much more fun and so much less hassle than I'd anticipated!

I followed Paul Hollywood's bloomer recipe, and it turned out beautifully, even if I do say so myself.

Supremely simple ingredients.

Friday 27 December 2013

Seasonal sale picks

Below are a handful of treasures I came across while browsing through various online sales. Happy shopping!

Hobbs, Parisa Jacket

L.K. Bennett, Petunia Dress

Kurt Geiger, Belgravia High Heel Sandal

Lulu Guinness, Tiny 2 Two Of A Kind Umbrella

Reiss, Gigi Dress

Zara, Leather Shopper

J.Crew, Postage Stamp embroidered cotton-blend mini skirt








Thursday 26 December 2013

Festive Well Wishes

Now that the main event of the season has been and gone, I am so looking forward to having the time to post lots for you! I hope you have all had a very Happy Christmas, and that Santa brought you everything you hoped for and more. Here are a few snaps of the festivities chez nous...

Dorothy style nails, courtesy of Gelish - Good Gossip over Hot Rod Red

My Christmas centrepiece, made by my own fair hands at Jay Archer's
Crafternoon Tea. Featuring, amongst other plants, eucalyptus,
anemones, ranunculus, succulent, contorted hazel.

Festive bunnies!

Christmas cupcakes! Reindeer toppers via sellers on Etsy.

This year's tree! Can you spot the Mickey and Minnie baubles we bought
 on our Christmas Disney honeymoon last year..?

Cheers, everyone! Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, pp x




Saturday 16 November 2013

Snug & Snout

Introducing our adorable fur babies, Snug & Snout...

They are lionhead rabbits, currently 15 weeks old and the funniest, fluffiest bunnies alive! They are named after two of the mechanicals in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, in which the character Snug plays a lion (lionhead rabbits...).

Snout (left) is a mischievous ginger escape artist with bumble bee stripes, one white sock and always with his little white nose into something naughty. Snug is his darker, quieter sister; she has a ginger diamond shape on her face and a 'seam' running down her back that makes her look as though her left and right sides were stitched together! They love basil, kale, cabbage and, of course, sweet treats like apple, pear and carrot. They were very cuddly as babies, but now they dislike being picked up in favour of running around the flat like mad things and doing binky, which we just love to watch. Total time wasters!

They have a two-storey abode in our living room, with space caged off around it, which gives them a lot of room to run and jump. We let them out every evening so that they have more space to get up a bit of speed. They run super fast and jump astonishingly high! After only a couple of months, we really can't imagine life without them...










 










Friday 15 November 2013

Five months


Goodness me, the little magpie's been away an awfully long while! Moving home, holidays, job interviews, decorating, entertaining and life in general have all been rather demanding over the past five months and not left much time at all for blogging. Anyway, attempting to resume full service as of now...


Bringing autumn colours indoors. Roses, ruscus,
brassica, pussy willow and dyed gypsophila.

Skate King's X. Old school birthday fun! Many thanks
to Rosie over at The Londoner for the recommendation.


Go and see Charlie. Visually stunning.


Lighting is everything in creating ambience. These ethically created
little beauties are from Blaze On and look fab in our living room.

Delicious lobster dinner at Christopher's.

Martinique neon pink multiway bikini from Boux Avenue.

Ted Baker bikini with the cutest bows and rose gold hardware.

Flambéed strawberries, one of our all time
 favourite desserts. Recipe coming soon!

Enormous candyfloss!


Birthday Baked Alaska at Plum + Spilt Milk. Reserve
a table now. Excellent food, location and service.

Beautiful King's Cross.

Recent purchase: 'little things' trinket box from Homebase. Perfect
 for simultaneously tidying away and displaying jewellery.

Anthro has landed in Guildford! I attended the opening and attempted
to make the most of the generous 20% discount without overspending...

Incredible steak from Coverwood. Quite possibly the best I've ever eaten.

Deliciously calorific Snickers milkshake at JB's in Brighton.

Standing in the Hogwarts Great Hall on the HarryPotter Studio tour.
More on that another time...

Incredible double rainbow!

Chocolate truffle cake at Choccywoccydoodah Bar du Chocolat in Brighton.

Halloween décor - kept it simple with mini pumpkins,
 cobwebs, dried leaves and glittered spiders.

Yankee Pig Dog from The Diner on Carnaby Street. Filthy good.