The Sneaky Magpie

I have been searching for a nice fabric for bedroom curtains. Ideally flowers in Bloomsbury Group style, something that would complement this 1930s house. I have looked over and over again through the curtain department at John Lewis but there was nothing that really stood out and felt right. I even fell in love with this Sanderson Dandelion Clocks pattern and then decided it is not right and also so overused everywhere else. My bedroom is in a desperate need of soft fabric and nice pattern, is is way too stern at the moment and bit echo-y too. So I am thinking flowers on the windows and navy stripes on the bed….

Anyway, the new Liberty fabrics are out and they are oh, so lovely. There is one in particular that I like so it’s time to save the pennies as I need a lot of them!

Here are my favorite ones:

Just imagine big Prada-esque skirts made of these?

My curtain number one is this Glencott House D Tana Lawn fabric:

And a major bed crush is this lovely Toast duvet cover mixed with white pillow cases and a contrasting throw:

Oh, it is this time of the year when I have to start purchasing gifts in order to post them in time! I have been visiting quite a lot of websites and gathered few suggestions so expect few posts about gifts. I was going to wait till December but one must get organised so here is part 1.

This one is for home items.

I got stinking cold and really wish to get better now, everyone is sneezing around me and I bet the few necessary tube trips contributed to getting it.

I started to read The Accidental by Ali Smith and I haven’t decided how I feel about it yet but perhaps I should read bit more than 2 chapters.

When the weather gets windy and chilly I like to surround myself with things that make me feel good and cozy so I engaged in a little Polyvore fun and here are the results.

These fabulous items could brighten up dark cold winter days especially if made of cashmere like the cardigans.

Dress and black top with star detail by Malene Birger, navy blue cardi by Vanessa Bruno, gold waistcoat and stripy top by DAY Birger et Mikkelsen, beige cardi with pearl detail by Moschino Cheap and Chic, scarf-y black top by Camilla and Marc Meek.

And few more mood enhancers wouldn’t hurt.

Boots and scarf by Toast and jewelery by Alex Monroe. Some books, film, beauty products and hot chocolate.

Feeling better already. Might cook up some chocolate bisque tonight.

I am very annoyed as my June Vogue got lost in the post and they told me it will take up to 28 days(!) to resend it as they are out of stock at the moment. I am going to be so out of fashion. I thought the whole point of having a subscription is to receive it before anyone else, not a month later. This is not the first time this happened either.

Enough complaining, the Guardian has got an interview with the wonderful Carine Roitfeld of French Vogue, read it here. And I have way too many books to read anyway, almost finished The World of Coco Chanel: Friends, Fashion, Fame by Edmonde Charles-Roux. I am enjoing it immensly, it’s very factual, peppered with great photographs and stories about her friends and artistic collaborations.

Found these boots on Toast website, these could be my summer boots since the sun refused to give us any warmth this year.

My summer wardrobe is nicely coming together but where is the sun? After wonderful April we are being punished with pretty bad May. I do understand that we have TWO bank holiday weekend so the temperatures were bound to drop and some rain was necessary but come on, give us something!

This is my summer hit list. I have got the stripey skirt already, a Vivienne Westwood wondeful ebay hunt; I also have got the Anya Hindmarch canvas bag, such a great purchase. The next item has got to be the Toast sandals, I will go for brown ones not gold me thinks…. The leather jacket is All Saints, it’s called Daria, not my first choice which is Feathers but it seems to be sold out! The two tops are also All Saints. The blue dress is APC and I truely love it, the other dress is See by Chloe. Little basket is from Toast and would be perfect for farmers market. The military jacket is from Jigsaw and pretty pricey, not sure whether I should risk it and wait till sales. Jewellery is by Zoe&Morgan. Add some basic tees, converse trainers and H&M boyfriend jeans and I am prepared…well till I see another object of desire.

To improve my mood I will start the self tanning process and make some summer food like the sea bass recipe by Nigel Slater. Sigh.

*EDIT the clothes came out all stretched upwards once uploaded, weird.