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It's a momentous day for us, because after almost two years of dating, and four months of being engaged, our mothers are finally meeting. I completely adore my mama - a brilliant, spirited, beautiful woman, who I could happily (and do often) while away hours with over a bottle of wine or a pot of tea. I know my chap feels the same about his ma. Tonight, they will both stay at our house and together we will whip up a celebratory feast for them. After a glass of bubbly, we'll dine on Jamie Oliver's fig, mozzarella and parma ham salad, followed by a pea risotto with scallops (which my chap stole from a friend and has been recreating faithfully ever since) and to finish, Skye Gyngell's walnut tart (using the sackload of nuts my mum harvested from her French walnut tree) with homemade coffee ice cream (it's my second attempt - first time around I made it by infusing milk with fresh coffee, but the end result was weirdly powdery, so I made a second batch with instant coffee. Sounds declasse, but at least this time around you don't feel like you're slurping on the remnants of a cafetiere!). I'm hoping the conversation will flow and they'll be as smitten with each other as we are. I'm hoping for tipsy indulgent exclamations about how proud they are of us/how fabulous the nuptials will be/how well they'll co-ordinate their mothers-of-the-newly-weds outfits. But we may get handbags at dawn instead - we'll see...!
This is my do of the moment - a Prada-inspired bun. It's simply a ponytail, backcombed to within an inch of it's life, curled into a bun and pinned on the top of head. It's prim and a little retro, but slightly eccentric too due to the size of the bun (bigger is better). Great tied with a head scarf - or if you're Doutzen Kroes a cable knit headband.
Today, Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP was all about her favourite food bloggers. Of course I was fascinated to read her picks. Ever since discovering she has a brick pizza oven in her back garden and makes her own stock I've loved her with new eyes (and that blonde/frosty/ice queen/Grace Kelly thing had already made me a loyal devotee). One of her top choices was the simply divine Cannelle et Vanille. It's practically food porn. Her images are so elegant they make you salivate with longing. I think I'll work my way through her blog, recipe by recipe...
Just spied these rather lovely Beatrix Ong flats on the Outnet, and just as I was debating whether I could justify them/how I'd explain their spot on the shoe rack to my chap/what they'd go with/whether I am more a flats girl or a heels girls... my size disappeared!! If you love them too, don't wait a second longer!!
How whimsical is this Wonderland Cutlery from Hidden Art? It's probably a snazzy step too far for real life but it would be so cool at a themed party...
... Again. But this book is top of my must-read-when-I-finish-Jilly-Cooper-and-this-month's-British-Vogue list. Sloane Crosley is supposedly a mix of Dorothy Parker and David Sedaris and enough people have told me that her essays are a fresh and witty perspective on the same stuff that we all dwell upon, to make me hit up Amazon for a copy...
And here I am in my rose and gold finery, complete with a powdered decolletage, towering wig (in which I affixed an assortment of bows and a tiny pink bird), beauty spot, oh and a pair of gold Jimmy Choos (I think Marie Antoinette would have approved). My chap did a dashing turn as D'Artagnan. A few guests commented that we should just walk down the aisle in these get-ups. Well if the wedding dress shopping doesn't pan out... The party was a riot with more Breton and berets than the banks of the Seine. I also whipped up a vanilla cake with blue berries and raspberries to represent the French tricolor flag, which went down a storm too (it was from the Magnolia Bakery Cookbook - decidedly moreish!). Vive le France!
This weekend my chap and I went to a fancy dress party with a French theme. My first thought was to become a can can dancer, naturally (who doesn't love an excuse to pile on the plumage?!), then I decided to choose a character with even more girlie decadence...
It's pouring with rain outside. And cold. Seriously Autumnal. This morning leaves in shades of gold, chestnut and amber swirled around my mustard Georgina Goodmans as I walked down Old Bond Street. We have pals coming to dinner tonight and there's only one thing for it. Comfort food. We received the new Nigella Kitchen cookbook at the GLAMOUR office last week and I've decided to whip up her Thyme Toad in the Hole for the four of us. The addition of a sprinkling of fresh thyme apparently makes this a small step up from the British classic, but there's nothing like a pile of pillowy Yorkshire pudding, drowned in onion gravy to restore you back to your former self. I'll be serving it up alongside red wine and Strictly Come Dancing. Okay, I know it's not a night at a chi chi cocktail bar, but just right now, I couldn't think of anything nicer.
