IT HAS BEEN amazingly blustery for the past two days and nights, the beginning of two separate storms set to hit England this weekend, we're told, so the desire to stay in and avoid being blown away has been strong this week. To encapsulate the vibe that is this time of year, we've created a moodboard for cosy February days ...
WOKE UP YESTERDAY morning thinking that it was Monday and thought about getting back on track after Christmas‘s excess of trifles and puddings and cava and far too much food and thought about Weekend Links and workouts. Of course, that was until I realised shortly after that it was actually Sunday, and then it was back to lounging about, a late breakfast and drinks in the evening by the fire.
YOU MAY HAVE noticed that aside from last week's Links and one set of articles on Monday, there were no new posts this past week. We spent the entire week in London, taking time off from everything and it was wonderful. We ate Italian food in Marylebone and discovered a wine club housed in bare-brick vaults and lit by candlelight ...
ON FRIDAY NIGHT enormous fluffy snowflakes fell furiously here in the countryside, covering everything in a mesmerising blanket of wet snow. You may have watched it falling on our Instagram Stories, for we knew we had to capture it as it would not last. Within an hour or so, the rain fell, and by morning, it was gone, but for a little while, things felt rather festive ...
HAPPY DECEMBER! Can you believe that it's already the last month of the year? Feel like 2021 just flew by and don't really know what I did in all this time. Know that had meant to get through more books. I did complete a web design and launch that had been planned long ago, and definitely got a lot of decorating done at the cottage since we've been homebound for the last two years ...
A SCHOOL FRIEND once remarked that I was good at seasons, and when I thought about it, I realised that she was right. I actually really do love to capture the feeling and moods of the changing seasons, the excitement that comes with arrival of the first snowdrops in winter, just as the days start to get longer, the way the sun's rays deepen in colour at sunset. And at the other end of the spectrum, when summer fades into autumn, we realise with the changing leaves and cosy evenings with their flickering firelight, that endings can be beautiful too. We learn, every autumn what it is to let go...
A LITTLE LATE with this week's links (for the first time in a very long time), as have been busy with new projects and new content for TIG, including the Talking Points series. We've also been getting things ready at The Shop for the holiday season and organising things in general, for autumn always seems like the perfect time for such things ...
SUNDAY MORNING was spent on the sofa with a 15-minute sheet mask on, poring over the FT Weekend. There was an interesting article about the concept of time, and how not to waste it by using the time you have now to do at least a little of what you care about, instead of banking on finding time for it in the future. That novel that you always wanted to write? Now is the time.
AT THE BEGINNING of the summer, P & I bought folding bikes and on every sunny day over the past few weeks, we went on as many bicycle rides along the English countryside as we could, often ending up in charming, cosy pubs, places with names like The Wallace Arms and Rose & Crown; The Black Bull and Robin Hood. On one trip, our longest, we went from the city all the way to the seaside ...
I READ SOMETHING recently that stated that the sales of colour cosmetics dropped 33% in 2020, and that sales of cosmetics overall dropped by 15%. While I did buy a few new eyeshadow palettes during that time despite not having anywhere to go (perhaps it was for the odd Instagram selfie), I did actually reduce spending on these items ...
According to recent studies, the number of people complaining of insomnia skyrocketed during the pandemic, rising from 20 percent of adults last summer to nearly 60 percent in March. If you’re one of those people who’s been plagued by poor sleep, the Well desk is here to help. Recently, we asked our readers to tell us two things: What’s keeping you from getting a good night’s rest? And what are the most pressing questions you would ask a sleep expert?
His relationship with social media is a striking manifestation of the worries expressed by the French philosopher Guy Debord, in his classic work The Society of the Spectacle (1967). Social life is shifting from ‘having to appearing – all “having” must now derive its immediate prestige and its ultimate purpose from appearances,’ he claims. ‘At the same time all individual reality has become social.’
Aqua blue, acid lime and grape purple. Electric orange interspersed with neon pink. Gray suede and cheetah print mixed with white and gold. These are not descriptions of a minimalist’s worst nightmare, but rather new color combinations from Adidas, Reebok and New Balance. And they are jarring by design.
If you are not one of those sartorial masters for whom choosing the right fine tailoring and the right footwear and every last finishing touch comes easily and naturally, there are effortless pieces you'll need to have in your wardrobe to help make styling less of a conundrum.
ON MONDAY WE went into the city for the first time in a long time, stopped for oat milk flat whites at our favourite coffee shop (so nice!), browsed flower stands and shopped for champagne truffles. We had take-away sushi for lunch and ended up on a sun-drenched terrace overlooking the river where we sipped drinks in the spring air ...
