The Sneaky Magpie

Finally finished Celebrity by Marina Hyde, the brutal truth about celebrities. On to the next tube book – think Accidental by Ali Smith, this is one of the birthday gifts from my very good friends.

My birthday is not over yet it seems, my dear friend Ewa got me the first series of Mad Men. I find it visually impeccable, the story line is intriguing and the slow pace adds to it. I only saw few episodes from the second series and got hooked. The attention to detail is amazing be it with the interior or with clothing, down to ashtrays and underwear. The leading ladies are beautiful and men are handsome. Crazy world of advertising in the 60s. Being in advertising myself I find it fascinating. Kind of glad the good weather is gone, feel less guilty about staying at home and gorging on the show.

Joan, had to upload her as big as possible, the woman is stunning

July’s Vogue is so dull, it seems to be exactly the same as last time they did the Ageless Issue. Yawn….Elle vs Vogue 1:0.

Totally forgot that Mary Queen of Charity Shops started last week, had to catch up on Iplayer (thank you BBC for this wonderful tool), watch it here if you haven’t seen it. Mary looks amazing as usual with her structured jackets and statement jewelery. Next episode on Tuesday at 21.00, cannot wait. She is getting very important message across too – don’t drop off your rubbish to charity shops, they won’t be able to sell it and will end up spending lots of money to dispose of it. Can’t believe people actually give away dirty pants.

This week’s film is Anotnioni’s Blow Up. It’s a really good story but they haven’t executed is properly or didn’t manage to develop it cause it could have been very exciting, Hitchcock-esque almost. I found it bit strange, even boring at times. I shall read Julio Cortazar’s short story the film is based on to find out what went wrong. Vanessa Redgrave is great though and so amazingly beautiful.

Sunday was spent round Shoreditch, I popped to the newly revamped Whitechapel Gallery, they have some very interesting stuff there. They also opened a swish restaurant next door – Whitechapel Gallery Dining Room,  looks good however it got a luke warm review from AA Gill. Will go on my ‘places to eat at some point in not too near future’ list.

Had such a nice sushi last night, went to So Sushi (nothing to do with Yo, Hi or similar bad sushi places!). The restaurant is in Soho’s Warwick Street and serves one of the best Japanese food I ever had in London. The fish is incredibly fresh, we had a sashimi selection with fish, prawn and amazing scallops, followed by spicy tuna and salad roll and scallop and avocado roll. All to die for. Friendly staff too. I stuck to green tea however the cocktails looked fab. Love the place.

The Observer listed 50 best places to eat and hang out by Erin Wasson, read it here. They all sound pretty good and very unpretentious. Given how cool she is you can only expect the best. What really caught my eye was at no 9 the Brixton Market, I never go there even though it’s probably only 15 minutes away on my bike. Rosie’s Deli Cafe sounds especially good, there is a piece on her in the Observer and her Brixton Market tips here. She seems so lovely. This Saturday she is launching her cook book, more on her blog. This is a Saturday must do.

Moving on, still reading Vonnegut’s stories, Welcome to the Monkeyhouse and The Foster Portfolio are the best ones so far but I am only half way through and have still few stories and Palm Sunday to read. This is my bedside book. The tube book is Celebrity: How Entertainers Took Over the World and Why We Need an Exit Strategy by the witty Marina Hyde whose hilarious column you may know from The Guardian. Highly amusing, brutal truth about world’s obsession with celebrity, their charities, religions, adoptions and political activities.

This week’s sartorial issues:

1.  I made it to the almost newly open Marc by Marc Jacobs shop. As I walked in I felt like in a pound shop, beautiful, expensive clothing packed tight on hangers and the whole space flooded by cheap cheap plastic trinkets, bags and t-shirts. The shop sells a fair amount of books and the Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton DVD - all of it is displayed in a really horrible fashion. Wanted to run away from this chaos however I did grab a pair of wellies and a jolly brolly on my way out. The brolly is useful but the wellies are pretty uncomfortable and might end up on ebay. These look like they could cheer people up on a rainy day with their colorful soles. Another major problem I have with the shop is the banister – horrible brown lacquer. Come on Marc, give it some style!

2. Got a really good pair of peg trousers from H&M, something like Chloe or YSL. But in black.

3. None of the above were from my summer shopping list!

4. Mary Portas is back next week, this time sorting out charity shops.

Picture of Rosie by Antonio Olmos