Stop and smell the daisies

'Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had.'

I think too much about the future and linger too much on the past, sound familiar? Yes, we all have that problem.
Life moves so quickly and we all get so caught up in the future that sometimes we forget to stop, take a deep breath and appreciate all the things we have at that moment.

I do all my best thinking outside, I don't know why but in a big open space in the country surrounded by beautiful flowers and tranquility, I have all of my best ideas, most impressive revelations and deepest thoughts. Every once in a while I'll go for a walk by myself and just enjoy being my age, appreciate what I have and not care about anything but that one moment.

A very wise man once said...
'The past is already gone, the future is not yet here. There's only one moment for you to live, and that is the present moment.'

So don't try to grow up too quickly or to plan too much for the future.
 Every now and then just stop and smell the daisies, live in the moment because you never know if it's going to happen again.

♥

Floral fever

#Fashion

May is almost here and it just happens to be my favourite month of the entire year, partly because it is my birthday month but also because May marks the start of summer in the UK and as a lover of S/S fashion, May is the month when you can dig out your floral and french pastel dresses.

As a true girly girl I have always loved my floral prints. Classic, timeless and summery, a floral summer dress works whether you're twenty two or two years old (as your can see I've been working my florals from a young age.)

I've always styled my summer wardrobe on floral prints so having recently re-watched ALL of Gossip Girl (probably for about the 20th time), my love and admiration for the fashion goddess that is Blair Warldorf has only thickened. This summer my wardrobe is going to be inspired by a mix of BW florals and elegant pastel shades inspired by her and my love of pastel macarons and all things french and stylish.

 

 Inspired by the beautiful Blair and her love of french themed pastel treats and bright but classy florals, I went in search of pretty floral summer dresses and after a long search, I finaaaaaaaally found my Blair-spiration in Jack Wills.

Here's what I bought...

Oldbrook Dress £59.50

 Cadmore Dress £59.50

 Edenfield Dress £46.00

I am now looking forward to a summer filled with floral brights and pastel shades inspired by the colour scheme of my favourite macaron shop in Paris - Laduree. 

Nomnomnom.

♥

Cookie Cushions...good enough to eat!

#Lifestyle

As my year in Paris is coming to an end, I am beginning to look forward to moving back to good old England in a month or so and moving into my new house with some gorgeous girlfriends. In my opinion the best thing about moving into a new house, (aside from popping the Prosecco open on housewarming) is the decorating and the endless dream lists of beautiful home furnishings that I want to buy yet never will be able to afford.

It was through the endless online furniture browsing with many a glass of Sauvignon that I stumbled across my new obsession.

Biscuit Cushions designed by Nikki McWilliams

Nikki McWilliams is a 28 year old designer and creator of Scottish based company,

 Nikki McWilliams Ltd.

I knew I would love her beautiful products the minute I read this...

'Nikki's designs are inspired by a love of British culture, contemporary Pop-Art and her fascination with the ritual of the Tea Break.'

As a true British girl, that sounded pretty bloody perfect to me, any decoration involving my favourite hobby (eating biscuits) is exactly my cup of tea! (Get it?!)

Nikki has a sensational selection of produce on her site, everything from accessories, jewellery and wrapping paper (god the wrapping paper is gorgeous!) to prints, iphone cases and the classic cushions. .
For me the best part of her designs is the running theme of classic English tea-time treats.
 Imagine any biscuit-y treat you loved to eat when you were younger...Party Rings, Bourbons, Custard Creams, Tunnock's, Malted Milk's...

You name it, she's made a cushion out of it.

Her collection of English biscuit inspired cushions are my personal favourites and the new additions to my 'to buy' list! 

Excellent attention to detail. Fantastic quality. 100% recommended.
I bought a Custard Cream cushion earlier this year and it arrived very quickly wrapped beautifully in her biscuit wrapping paper with a wrapped gift included, two of her beautiful biscuit themed greeting cards which I have now bluetacked to my kitchen wall by my biscuit tin. It was such a lovely touch and   I can't wait to order more cushions from such a lovely business.

Here is a list of the Nikki McWilliams haul that is going to make my house a home next year!

I hope this inspires you all!

Tunnock's Dark Chocolate Caramel Wafer Printed Cushion £44.50

A Cup of Tea Solves Everything - Printed Cushion £29.50

Chocolate Malted Milk - Printed Cushion £29.50

The Bourbon Iphone case is reason alone to get an iPhone! 

Custard Cream - Printed Cushion £29.50

Check out her wonderful creations now or have a hungry sofa forever.

http://www.nikkimcwilliams.com

♥

Champagne at the Lido

I recently went for a champagne meal and late night swim at The Lido in Bristol. 

It was my first trip to Bristol and after a three hour boat trip down the river Avon with friends and before the Balloon fiesta, we thought we'd nip in the Lido for a bit of luxury.

The Lido in Clifton, Bristol is a wonderful restaurant and spa, you're given a fluffy dressing gown and fuzzy slippers to stroll around the outdoor heated pool in late at night, and that's exactly what we did. 

We then went upstairs to the balcony overlooking the gorgeous water and sipped on bubbly.

The restaurant is beautiful and filled with wood burning stoves where they wood roast for you anything from scallops to steak, cuttlefish to veal, chicken to squid.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the Lido I had a wonderful meal and a gorgeous day.

♥

Chalk Board Obsession

Yes it's anotheeer chalk board blog post....Sorry team!

I don't know why I have developed this sudden obsession with chalk boards...but I have...call it an early twenties crisis maybe?

I have seen a few of these around recently: chalkboard trays or food boards. They're fantastic because as you can see, you can label the foods! I am on the hunt for one of these to use as a cheese board, it would be fantastic. Or if you had guests with a variety of dietary requirements you can label what is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free etc! The list is endless!

You can get chalk boards everywhere at the moment and they are so cheap! 

SO invest in some chalkboards and chalk pens because they are SO versatile! One of my favourite things to do is making lists (god that's lame), so primarily I use chalk boards for that but I really love the artisan feel of these food chalk board trays!

♥ 

Meet my puppies.

   ♥