The things on my mind today...

Firstly, for all of your lovely and generous comments to my last post, a sincere thank you. You are what balm is to chapped lips. Calmer now, I move to other things to ponder, of much less weight, such as:

The fact that Lurpak thought of making butter with crushed sea salt in it. Inspired and oh-so-Danish.

The very cool sunglasses I saw someone wearing yesterday. I so wish I had asked her where they were from? But I was put off by her coltish look; and now I'll never know!

Zooey Deschanel via evabreath

I don't recall being this interested in the arrival of summer for years. Has it been a really long winter? I want to feel the sun on my skin.

via pretty stuff

We start now on 4 weeks of school holidays; I really did try to get the house in order beforehand as I know...within a matter of mere days we will be living as if we emptied out every drawer and cupboard. I like the lined-up slippers here...

Photograph by Edina Van Der Wyck

I am going today to visit another of my oldest friends (I have alot of old friends don't I? I am all about longevity). I smiled as I read an article in this month's UK Vogue (all inspired by the Royal wedding) about how bridesmaids have to endure dresses they did not choose.

I was this old friend's bridesmaid a few years back. I was not able to go to any dress fittings (distance, rapid wedding-planning and small children conspired against it) so she promptly visited Selfridges, tried on two options as if she were me, bought them both and presented me with a choice. I opted for the silver satin, slinky red carpet-esque, backless number. Now that was a bridesmaid's dress! Not for the first time, I knew we would be friends for life.

via pretty stuff from Noa Noa

Finally, a blogger who has been with me more or less since the start - Chania of Razmataz sent me some wonderful treats. I won a 'pay it forward' on her blog and received the most beautiful delicate little Easter trinkets from her shop in Canada. Just preciousness in the post....so thank you kindly :-)

Things of beauty...

Morning all. Happy end of the week. A week of way too much business; my project at work has gathered a pace and is so technically difficult I am having to 'think on my feet' every time I speak. Ugh. Trying my best though...characteristically.

This weekend I am doing some corporate wifery, dinner in a swanky hotel with my husband and his colleagues. Will report back next week...my thoughts at the moment: what to wear?!

The Boos are both singing in a choir competition on Saturday; children singing is innocence personified so I shall try to hold it together as we watch! There are rare times when my two children with a four year age gap between them get to do something together.

So in amongst weekend activities, hopefully some time for a run and a bit of down time. And here for you on a Friday are some things of beauty...as well researched as I could manage!



love this smile - photograph by Jamie Beck via Cup of Jo



via cabbages and roses

Nothing like a sleeping boy...

photograph by Caroline Arber

photograph by Natasha via this flickr

photograph by virginia macdonald

Impossibly perfect hair...how does she do it?

Olivia Palermo

via ginalouisadesigns via crush cul de sac

Zooey Deschanel

photograph by Olivia Graham

Spring greens...

Style Queen...fashion editor of Italian Vogue...

Giovanna Battaglia

photograph by Jamie Beck on her blog from me to you

via zoeclaudia tumblr 

Bye bye friends...Mwah!

Lou x

Things of beauty...the return

I wake to another cloudy, rainy day here...did I miss something or did October arrive without me noticing? Seriously. To go from the arid heat of Portugal to this? My suntan is well and truly under wraps. I know I am weather-obsessed but really - can you sense my disappointment? I think I must embrace it; think Sunday roasts and Ugg boots and windfall from our apples trees (which by the way are literally aching under the weight of apples this year).

Post holiday blues? Ummm not me...well, not completely. Missing that light and breeziness. I came home and was so relaxed I forgot all of my work-related passwords. Really. So I can't get into my laptop, let alone work. It's strangely liberating ;-)

I am sensing the kids need to go back to school soon; that feral element is setting in! We have a quiet weekend planned; it's a bank holiday so that means family time...

Meanwhile some prettiness...there is after all, so much of it in the world.

Really must try my hardest to hang on to this sentiment!

Whenever I get into post-holiday planning mood, my thoughts turn to Florida, which still represents my ideal family holiday, having spent so much time there as a child. Seashell love...

Ribboned wreath...just simple and gorgeous...

Icy blonde...

Late summer croquet with my favourite Adirondack chairs. I was just meant to spend summer in the Hamptons...

Country Living

Are floaty dresses really over for another year?

via Vintage Home

I have white-washed longing...

And while we are here I adore this retro-print skirt on Zooey Deschanel...

Royal Copenhagen blues...

Palm tree heaven and brogues...unlikely combination!

Blue and white crispness. Doesn't this look so inviting and clear?

via it's mary ruffle

Must stop thinking of sandy beaches...time to move on...

Clear the decks...

Just one more...'Promenade at Skagen' by Danish artist Peter Severin Kroyer in 1893.

Thank you, thank you, thank you...

My blog and I (for we are one and the same) been given some awards. Always such a pleasure to see my name on someone else's post. Anyway, here goes...

The gorgeous Julia Roberts

From the lovely Chania at Razmataz, a versatile blogger award. Chania has been following my blog and I hers, since I started this year. She has her own shop, which I think looks absolutely dreamy when she share shots of it. Chania is one of those blog friends who always leaves some wisdom for me...drop by drop, I think she has a life lived if her insights are anything to go by. There is so much to be said for quality life experience...

This award requires I list seven things about myself, so being versatile, I will list 7 wishes of mine; things I wish I had done had I known better!

One
I wish I'd have bought a bright cherry red Kitchen Aid instead of a black one. To be fair it was a gift for my husband who cooks - but deep down I knew it was for me.

 

Two
We once viewed a wonderful Art Deco house that I always wished we had been brave enough to buy. It needed so much work, but was going for so little, it would have been amazing. At the time I could not get past the old fashioned brown decor. But then, if we had of bought it, we would never have got this farmhouse.

Three
I wish I had listened to my Mum's advice that being tall was a good thing; instead of spending years feeling gangly and having slouched posture. Now I stand tall.

Four
I really wish I had taken better care of my teeth! Enough said.

Five
I wish I was one of those party all night, last one home girls. But I never have been. Even at University I had a friend who used to feel the same as I did and we would slip away before the rest (N - you know who you are!) We had this unspoken agreement that if there was a chance to go home, we would grasp it! I remain eternally attached to my bed...singular favourite place to be.

Six
In my first job in Publishing I really did think I knew it all. Looking back it actually makes me cringe now; I was fresh out of University, at the grand age of 21 and full of newly-graduated bluster. I wish I had been slightly more gracious. I wish I could have seen what I had to learn, not what I had to tell! Suffice to say when my temporary contract was due for renewal there, it was not renewed. A big lesson learned.

Seven
I do wish I had never had that Zooey Deschanel fringe cut. It's taking forever to grow out.

I pass this award on to:

Jeanne at Collage of Life
Alison at Cowparsley
Mary at Mary Loves

The second award is from Carrie at This Free Bird, she gave me a blog with substance award. Carrie and the word 'substance' go together like peas and carrots. Almost immediately I felt an affinity to Carrie...it's funny how that happens, given that I am a country bumpkin in rural England and she is an achingly cool Californian fashionista.

Here I detail my feelings, motivations, philosophy about blogging in just five words! Now that's a big ask for me; you know I am usually quite verbose..

Firstly I am grateful that I 'found' blogging. It has rocked my world.

I never thought that friendship would stem from blogging in the way it has for me. For all that people scorn making friends in the virtual world and not the real one, I have found more compassion, openness and interest through this blog than I have at the school gates. Strange but true.

Blogging has formulated what I like, it has drawn out the aesthetic side of my brain. As one lovely commenter said, my blog posts are like a scrapbook of me. The things of beauty that move me.

Blogging has shrunk the world for me. I now have a much deeper appreciation of which country people come from and how that forms their thinking.

Blogging has made me write again and has made me see that I like it, that I can do it and that others like reading what I have to say.

I pass this award on to:

Simone at The Bottom of the Ironing Basket.
Amanda at Forty not out.
Natasha at She Left on a Monday.

From Melissa at Miss Sew and So, a Sunshine award. Now similarly Melissa and I had a connection from the start. We are living parallel lives but she has done the one thing in life that scares me - leaving her homeland! She asked me to chat about seven random things as if we were having a cuppa tea at her kitchen table. Earl grey for me...

One
I am superstitious, I apply this to certain areas of life and not others. I don't mind walking under ladders but I always, always touch wood when I feel I need to! Lilacs should not be brought inside the house. And on no account, under any circumstances should shoes ever be placed on the kitchen table.

Two
The first single record I ever bought was 'The Lovecats' By The Cure. I was an 80's child...

Three
I am Louise Elisabeth - with an 's' not a 'z' - it's a Danish thing and causes all sorts of problems on passports, driving licenses etc. I was going to be called Susanna after my aunt, but my Mum changed her mind at the last moment.

Four
People who know me think I am a complete shopper but I have stuff in my wardrobe that I bought 10-15 years ago. I do that test of 'have I worn it in the past year?' when I sort through and then think 'might I wear in the next year?' and decide to keep! I like to think I am not a hoarder - more than I made a good choice when I bought the item in the first place...

Five
Talking of being an 80's child, I can pretty much recite the script of every John Hughes film...from 'Ferris Bueller' to 'Breakfast Club'. Literally.

Six
I am not sure if you guessed, but I am ridiculously nostalgic. I see value in shared history, the fact that my kids are growing up in the same town as me pleases me. That my daughter is starting to take footsteps that I took. That my husband and I have this shared appreciation of where we are in life. I do wonder whether we should have left - gone away - made a new history. But there is something wonderful and sentimental in seeing your family grow in a way you did, but with a chance to edit out the less favourable bits!

Seven
In my job, I advise on risk - when to take it, what happens if you take it, consequences, ramifications. I spend my time weighing things up, considering. Over time this has become a trait that has spilled over into how I think about everything, so I am now making an effort to stop thinking about risks and start just doing it!

I pass this award on to:

Amanda at Small Acorns
Marcie at Lemons and Laundry
Annelise at A Box of Crayons