We live in a quintessential English countryside village, the kind that looks like it’s a movie set, a beautiful place with stone cottages that have names like Rosebank and Appletree Grange. It's the kind of place where there are cosy pubs and a greengrocer for fruits and vegetables ...
WE MISSED LAST week's links completely, for the first time in a very long time, if ever. The site was down for a couple of days due to technical difficulties, and the rest of the time we were having difficulty focusing on work or anything really, while the world was out en force, protesting the gruesome murder of George Floyd two weeks ago. It's difficult to put inspiration out into the world when you're feeling sad and overwhelmed ...
IT’S FINALLY BEGINNING to feel like summer is on the way, and already, there are roses in bloom all around town. With all the bright sunshine comes a feeling of hope, and daydreams of road trips to see castles and visits to quaint village pubs and trips to new places we’ve never been ...
THE WEATHER HAS been all over the place lately, warm and spring-like on some days; overcast, windy and "unseasonably cool" on others. The days are getting longer and tonight, it was still light until around 9:30, with no where to go, P remarked.
SO WE FINALLY ordered a projector, which arrived just in time for the weekend. We spent the entire weekend watching films projected huge on a blank wall, some of them flipped backwards before we could figure out the settings to flip them the right way around. We ate fattening foods and slept in and I finished another book ...
IF YOU EVER WANT a challenge, try explaining to a 93-year-old grandmother by telephone how to use an iPhone. P's grandmother had everything set up just so before there was a global pandemic. She's not very mobile anymore and so doesn't get out of the house very often these days ...
WE HAVE BEEN a little light on the articles this last week as we're in the midst of a few (all-consuming) projects, one of which has been revealed in the links below, and another that will be soon but is still in the finishing up phase, which, as you know, can drag on a bit ...
ATE LAST WEEK we were back in Edinburgh to pick up the last of our things from the storage unit we’ve had there since our move from the city over four and a half years ago. After carting off bamboo chairs (once painstakingly hand-painted in eggshell Farrow & Ball and reupholstered in Sanderson chintz) ...
It's time again for introducing the new arrivals at The Shop, and this week, there are so many beautiful things. At Belgrave Crescent, there is the Brontë Small Duffle Bag, a sleek and modern design that comes with two thin handles fastened with gold Chicago screws; there is the Alcott Small Leather Tote, which is the perfect size for everyday, yet strong enough to carry as much as you can fit into it, even two bottles of champagne.
WE HAVE LONG been fans of white, for summertime, for wintertime, and of course, for autumn. This season, however, it seems as if everyone else has fallen for it as well, for on the streets of New York, London and Paris, there flashes of eggshell and ecru, glimpses of ivory and cream, flutters of pearl and beige.
FOR MANY, THIS PAST WEEKEND marks the unofficial start to summer: to long, golden days, the beach, road trips and warm bronzed skin. For us, it will be an awakening of sorts, after when seems like a never-ending winter of never-ending projects and impending deadlines. We're not complaining, of course, for we know that we are lucky to count what we do everyday as work. Nevertheless, it is always good to take a little time away to relax and recharge, do nothing but listen to the sound of crashing waves and sip good rosé if the mood strikes. And we are very nearly there! So very close now and so very perfectly time with summertime, our most favourite time of year...
"Have you ever thought that you would be living in Spain?" It's a question that P asks often, and my answer is always the same: no, never in a million years had I ever imagined that we would, on a whim, move here, having never visited before, and to this particular city, as opposed to the more predictable choices of Barcelona or Madrid. Not because it's not a wonderful place to live, to be sure, but because I (like many others, it would seem) had never even heard of Valencia before.
THERE IS SOMETHING ABOUT wicker that just seems to usher in summertime like nothing else. And to pair with wicker, nothing is more perfect than crisp whites, especially tiny ruffly little white dresses, with pretty necklines or thigh-high slits up the side. From the Algarve Birkin Wicker Basket to the Barcelona Mini Wicker Bucket Bag, we've selected some of our favourite wicker pieces for the summer, along with the prettiest selection of white dresses to go with them.
THERE ARE THINGS that we always come back to, despite the unending onslaught of trends and fast fashion. Things that we've worn in with memories and adventures, and taken with us on special occasions such as that little out-of-the way boutique hotel at the top of the hill in Lisbon, or that beautiful Saturday morning at the market in Spain last summer, the sunlight pouring in through the domed Art Nouveau roof above.
It was a regular weekday morning, much like any other — coffee, perhaps a croissant while scrolling through our Instagram feed at the start of the workday, when we came across a post by Ramona @monalogue, a Blogger/Instagrammer from Somerset.
