auntie peggy has departed x

lovely art installation of crochet doilies hung in disused telephone booths at london's aldwych tube station........

doilies are like dreamcatchers
each knot holding a thought
a memory
xx

auntie peggy has departed
*soundtrack*

found via pia jane bijkerk

my sunday
a morning of shopping for wool for a cable knit throw
&
lots of new fairy lights
sunday lunch with mum & dad
afternoon of tidying
quiet evening curled up on sofa
surrounded by tea lights
&
a few sneaky baubles have magically appeared
(i know, i know, it's not even december yet, & i'm not usually like this at all but just feel very xmassy very early this year!)

enjoy the last moments of your weekend
xx

figs & espresso x

one of my favourite parts of my job is putting together mood boards, searching for that one image that is just perfect to sum up everything you are trying to convey......i really love the colour boards on 100 layer cake; their colour combinations are gorgeous, the images really simple but just right....here's one of my favourites from earlier this year.......

*modern fall* from 100 layer cake

and
a few complimentary lovelies from anthropologie

fluffy floral beret

smoky petal necklace

head in the clouds cardigan

always a lady skirt

pizzazz tights

stacked smoke heels

hope you're having a lovely & not too chilly week
xx

tidy x

most weekends cleaning & tidying are the very last item on my *to do* list, but this weekend marked the start of my christmas cleanup.......i get to the point where i can't bear any mess and clutter and go through the house like a whirling dervish......so today, downstairs got the full tidy treatment, and i'm now sitting in my very tidy living room, with tealights & candles lit, enjoying this sunday evening....

gorgeous tealights on stairs
from
*weheartit*

i hope you have all had a lovely weekend
and enjoy your sunday evening
xx

(only) 5 and a bit weeks to xmas..... x

.....and i am absolutely in love with this tree from john lewis......

hope your week is going well....only 2 days till the weekend.....
xx

treats for a tuesday x

a few favourites from etsy today.....

gorgeous round travel case from sadieoliver

flowered mohair shawl by elde

seam series bottles by taylorceramics

divine tapestry clutch from sadieoliver

(one for my xmas wishlist)

leather ruffle bag by stacyleigh

true fairy stories from sadieoliver

handmade round bud vases by chezdanisse

have a truly lovely tuesday
xx

odd molly x

i love *oddmolly*.....their website alone is just so much fun and lovely to look at.....and the clothes are joy, unashamedly girly, beautifully embroidered & embellished, gorgeous colours & detailing you find on only the most considered of clothing ranges.....my wishlist this season would include....

butterfly embroidered smock dress

indy dress

in
khaki rose print
or cream butterfly print

pink smock blouse

all images from *odd molly*

have spent an incredbly quiet sunday thinking about xmas
about cards.....handmade or bought ones?
about decorations.....save & use last years, or splurge & buy new ones
xmas trees.....real or artificially kitsch
and
fairy lights.....how many are too many

hope you've had a lovely weekend whatever you chose to do
xx

sleep x

over.the.hills from we heart it

my sleeping patterns are a little haywire......not quite still on hk time, not really on uk time, in some strange halfway house between the two.....i have a great knowledge of early morning telly, and do you know the hours between 3 and 7 in the morning seem so much longer than hours you have during the day? then i can't keep my eyes open after about 7 in the evening......having a very cosy couch is not helping at all, as i snuggle further and further promising myself i won't shut my eyes & failing miserably....!

today i'll leave you with a lovely collection of images found on *we heart it*......roses, teacups, cupcakes & those dear little deers....

all images from *we heart it*

have a lovely saturday
xx

it's cold x

i am back home
& even though it's colder, wetter, greyer than china, i am so so so pleased to be home.......

i love the autumn and the winter....
i love the early dark nights (you can sing to your hearts content in the car without everyone thinking you're a complete nut)
you have the perfect excuse for curling up on the sofa (well if it's raining out, why go out?)
and you can wrap up in cardi's and scarves and gorgeous winter coats

i love this coat from *cabbages & roses*

a soft puffball dress & opaques - just add oversized cardi

all from *cabbages & roses*

oh
and another great thing about the autumn
it means it's nearly
xmas
xx

still here.....not there x

going the wrong way

by ianton via flickr

a beautiful foggy picture of china which completly sums up my feelings at the moment......i was hoping very much to be home by now, but work commitments mean i should stay an extra week. feel very torn between wanting to be home amongst family & friends and feeling the need to stay to finish a job properly......i hope you are all very well and forgive me for neglecting you a little longer.....i miss not being able to chat every day & am so looking forward to sharing new finds and thoughts on a more regular footing from next week

crossing all fingers & toes

xx

sunday again x

a thousand lanterns by irenes via flickr

still in hong kong....the weather is warm but the sky is dark and looks suspiciously full of rain, though i wouldn't be completely adverse to a great big humdinger of a thunderstorm if we had one....

i'm in a quandry today, whether to venture out and explore or just to sit still and enjoy the peace & quiet? sometimes i feel as if i should be out seeing everything hk has to offer, then i remember i'm not exactly on holiday here, and the normal thing to do after a long week at work is to take time out for me, enjoy the simple pleasures of reading, eating good food, indulging in tv watching and doing very little, and why should it be that different here?

i'm back in china for another week next week, & then hopefully back home in the uk sometime next weekend, where more regular blogging should resume (fingers crossed xx)

sweet x

all images from *we heart it*

sorry, i feel like i'm not paying enough attention to my blog & all you kind followers at the moment, but i'm in china still & it's a little bit busy.....promise to be a bit more attentive & creative when i get back home
xx

bring on the clowns x

images from *we heart it*

have a lovely monday
xx

tulle x

i wish i was still a little girl with dreams of being a ballerina and dressing in layered pretty tulle dresses.......

all images from *we heart it*

looking forward to the weekend
to dressing up & dancing
xx

lily & chanel x

love, love, love
the chanel adverts featuring the lovely lily

walking up to the chanel in hong kong, you're greeted with this wonderful image, a great homage to the equally lovely miss hepburn.......x

hope your week is going well
xx

lace x

i love the ethereal quality that all these photos have

and
would love to have lace like this in my home

credits for photos clockwise from top left
*we heart it *danske
*lobster&swan *we heart it

"i consider lace to be one of the prettiest imitations ever made of the fantasy of nature: lace always evokes for me those incomporable designs which the branches and leaves of trees embroider across the sky, and i do not think any invention of the human spirit could have a more graceful or precise origin"
coco chanel, 29th april 1939

xx

....and they all lived happily ever after x

...actually i'm not sure this trip will have a fairytale ending, but i'm feeling a lot more hopeful than when i stepped on the plane to fly out. i had managed to get myself in an absolute state about how terrible i had been at my job & how everything was a disaster and falling about around my ears.....why is it that when everyone around you, (well, mostly everyone, there was one loud voice of dissention, the one person who has the ability to put the fear of god into me!) is telling you it will all work out fine, and somewhere deep down you know it will be, why is there a persistent little gremlin sitting on your shoulder telling you that you will fail, miserably, horribly?

for now, however, i have hope that everything will be ok......x

image from "we heart it"

xx

ps. this is a scheduled post which i wrote on sunday.....am hoping i am still feeling "alright" today x

shoes x

so many shoes

so little time
x
all images from *we heart it*

"the time has come," the walrus said, "to talk of many things: of shoes & ships - and sealing wax - of cabbages and kings"
lewis carroll *alice in wonderland*

have a wonderful monday
xx

a hong kong sunday x

a leisurely breakfast of tea & toast
catching up on work
reading my favourite blogs
possibly
a little bit of shopping
tapas over on central
and
an early(ish) bed.......x

have a lovely, relaxing, sunday
xx

a hong kong saturday x

all images by me

a lovely sunny, relaxing day in hong kong
took a taxi ride to the markets
long lunch with a view of the star ferry
&
hong kong harbour
finished shopping just as the sun was setting

hope your weekend has been just as lovely

xx

autumn x

today has been blustery & showery, and although i'm flying to warmer climates tomorrow, today i'm thinking about cuddly, furry blankets, cosy cardigans and winter coats....

....i quite fancy a raincoat type of thing before buying a full on winter coat....could i stretch to one of these gorgeous burberry raincoats, and more importantly, could i ever look as stunning as emma watson....?

all photos from here
(ps. my favourite coat is the one in the first photo)

enjoy the rest of your saturday
xx