Meri Meri Cute Kittens

What's cuter than kittens OR cupcakes? Kitten Cupcakes!

Spotted on Babyccino.

Fashion Duet :: Mikli & Tibi

I had an eye test yesterday and was recommended to wear prescription glasses more often, especially when working on the computer. I own a pair of Philippe Stark for Mikli frames, and I love them to pieces but not as much as my first Alain Mikli pair. Both of them were/are red, in acetate and bold. I am now thinking of getting a new pair. I would like to say, this time I will go for a lighter model, but I always end up  lusting over statement frames. Not only. My interest is always drawn back to the Mikli brand. A long standing love affair. I fully convene with their philosophy that spectacles are to see and be seen, and Alain Mikli frames are works of art: handmade and sturdy, they can look retro or futuristic; bold in look and light in feel {thanks to a clever balancing system}; and always, always larger than life.

They are so glam that can be easily paired up with the most flattering dresses. I LOVE Tibi Spring collection and would very happily wear these floaty dresses with my bold Alain Miklis.

Design Duo :: Karmic Mood

I am completely immersed in the study of the yoga tradition which inspired this design and fashion combination. I can't decide whether this colour is pink or purple.

Elle Deco, as seen in Mimi and Meg + Tory Burch Tunic

Late Shopping Ideas :: Trunki for Globetrotting Toddlers

I presented my friend's baby with one of these Trunkies. I see them in airports  all the time and thought it would be perfect for baby Adriano, an almost one year old baby born in the UK from Italian and Brazilian parents. He is bound to be a travelling trotter, and I really hope he and his mother will make good use of this multi-use trolley which also serves as a tricycle and chair.

Last minute gift ideas :: LOMOs {from £35}

The countdown to Xmas is on: -7. Yesterday it was my niece's 6th birthday, and today my younger cousin turned 19. Two Christmas angels!

Because I am pretty sure that my older niece {who is only 7} won't be browsing my blog, I feel free to post the present we bought her: a Lomo camera. I would be so excited to be getting one and I hope she will equally appreciate this gift, aimed at stimulating her creativity, sense of space, visual sense. I have explained in another post how Lomos are all about framing the subject creatively and let the camera surprise you. The real surprise for her will indeed be the unexpected end-result: 

 

Photo found here

More Unconventional X-mas Trees

As seen on Design Tag and Mimi & Meg

Gift Ideas :: GIFT TAGS

I don't see very much the point of sending Xmas cards on their own, especially with an empty content. A card should be sent with a meaningful message or to accompany a gift. In Liberty I found retro safari-inspired gift tags which make an eco alternative to the booklet format cards - unless of course you have a lot to say or write. Their design sets me in the mood for old-fashioned travel.

Cavallini & Co. San Francisco

Xmassy Finds

Someone reminded me this morning that Xmas is only 38 days away. And my Roman holiday is only 15 days away (yippie!). And today is my dad's birthday! Happy Birthday, DAD!

WeeBirdy, my new London shopping bible for quirky things, introduced me to the lovely Mibo's designs. I picked two Xmassy themes for you:

These cute DIY Xmas creatures could be used as place names for a Xmas dinner party.

This 2010 planner with flowers resembling baubles and poinsettias is a freeby you can download from their website.

Small is Beautiful :: Paris Box Apartments

Red and bold prints seem to be a popular choice in these fictional Parisian apartments. It does makes a statement and it is the main difference from the bright and minimal NYC apartments.


{Click on the photos to enlarge}

Céline's Pad {Before Sunset}

I still can't decide whether I prefer Before Sunrise or Before Sunset. {I have just permanently deleted the review I wrote at the time! Dumb!}

Because I only watched them a few years ago, under my sister-in-law's recommendation, I have to go with the latter, which is maybe less passionate but  more mature and with a brighter future sealed by the happy ending in Celine's funky studio. 

Amélie's home in Mont Maintre {Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain} 

Audrey Tautou may not be a great actress, but she is just fit for purpose for this character determined to change the world with her kindness and strong sense of justice.

 Stephanie's Apartment {La Science des Rêves}

"Tonight I am going to show you how dreams are prepared: love, friendships, relationships and all those ships." Stephane

Read my full review here. 

Cyril Aouizerate's family flat in Les Marais {Real} 

Cyril, an urbanist by profession, lives in this apartment with his wife, two children and a dog!

Sources: Still films, Apartment Therapy

Small is Beautiful :: NYC Box Apartments

I am a big fanatic of classics like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Une Femme est une Femme and Barefoot in the Park, which I watched for the first time at an early age. So, I can say that they shaped my taste for a quirky urban life and vivacious relationships. Yesterday, Steve and I watched Barefoot in the Park. it was the first time for him and the 10th time for me. For an ironic turn of the fate, we both agreed that their story speaks, to a certain extent, about our relationship and relative personalities {she is a bit nutty and he is a bit *restrained*} ~ who would have thought that 18 years ago! Their tiny apartment, a quasi perfect love nest, reminded me our flat hunting almost four years ago. Next year we will most likely move into a bigger house, and my nostalgia is already kicking in. So, this post is a homage to all the studio e one bedroom apartments out there. Let's start with one of my beloved cities: NYC. 

{Click on the photos to enlarge}

Half/Bedroom Apartment, Greenwich Village 

{Barefoot in the Park}

Carrie Bradshaw's Studio with Walk-in Wardrobe 

{Sex and the City}

Holly Golightly's One Bed Apartment, Unfurnished 

{Breakfast at Tiffany's}

Michael Bargo's Studio 

{Real}

Here you can see another small, yet well formed, gem of NYC. Incidentally, it has been inspired by Breakfast at Tiffany's. Really lovely. And in this article, Small is Back, you can find useful tips on how to make the most out of a cramped space. 

I would love to own a studio in NYC or Paris... A kind of pied-a-terre where I can hide to whenever I want... One day, one day. 

Sources: Mimi & Meg, One Simple Addition, Stil Films

** London and Parisian box flats, including mine, to follow! **

Wicked Parents

My child-like attitude to life is well renowned and, when it doesn't turn into child-ish, one of my happiest traits. I have been an occasional collector of beautiful picture books for years, so I can't describe my enthusiasm when, today, I got the first issue of Great Fairytales in my hands. It is a seven-part series of traditional fables offered by the Guardian from today, 10th, to Friday, 16th October. And if you miss a trip to your local newsagent, you can order them from here. 

I really like the print campaign by Wieden + Kennedy, featuring Red Riding Hood and The Three Little Pigs, two milestones of children's upbringing.

The stories have been selected by a panel of critics, writers and experts on children's literature {the like of Salman Rushdie, Philip Pullman and Antony Browne}.

(c) Paolo Domeniconi

The content of the future releases hasn't been revealed yet, so I am too curious to see what they have chosen! I really hope my favourite childhood tale, the alledgedly immoral Puss in Boots, is featured!**

What makes this collection attractive is that the stories are grouped into universal topics {love, justice, quests} and commented with an afterword exploring the morals, psychoanalysis and historical reality behind the fiction. 

The first topic is *Wicked Parents*, the nightmare of each and every child, and the text is framed by monochrome illustrations which are undoubtely evocative. The only lowlight is that, being a freeby, they are printed on perishable paper and not bound with a proper cover.

Baby in front row, (c) Sartorialist

UPDATE: I just got my second booklet, and the illustrations by Heisuke Kitazawa are even better than the first issue. Influenced by Japanese manga culture, they are tersed,  tintied with tenuous colours (grey, olive green and antique rose) and vivified by splashes of stylish yellow.

Saturday Wicked Parents (Hansel & Gretel, Snow White and The Tale of the Juniper Tree with an afterword by Hilary Mantel)

Sunday Rags to Riches (Cinderella, The Tinderbox and Mossycoat with an afterword by Philip Pullman)

Monday Love (The Steadfast Tin Soldier, Rapunzel and The Little Mermaid with an afterwords by AS Byatt)

Tuesday Quests and Riddles (?)

Wednesday Wisdom and Folly (?)

Thursday Justice and Punishment (?)

Friday Beastly Tales (?)

Some of them are to me unknown, so it will be an oppurtunity to catch up. Thirty years later. It's never to late to feel reborn.

** I had an epiphanic moment when Wiki reminded me Puss in Boot's morals: "one stresses the importance of possessing industrie and savoir faire while the other extols the virtues of dress, countenance, and youth to win the heart of a princess".

Meet Holga...

Holga is a lomography camera from the sixties. Virginia, who proudly owns one, explained that it was born as a faulty camera: light filters through, ruining the photos. But instead of withdrawing the product from the market, the manufacturers reinvented the concept of art photography with an element of surprise. The camera comes with black sellotape to try and prevent light from coming through, a rudimentary device which not always works. To make things *messier*, the viewfinder is dislocated from the lens, and there is no interruption when switching from photo 1 to photo 2, 3, etc., so if you don't centre the film's margins correctly. photos may come up overlapped. Their format is squared, the flash is colourful and the lens is fixed. The idea is that you don't spend time worrying about the technicalities, such as exposure, light or zoom, but concentrate on the subject. Their motto is: DON'T THINK, JUST SHOOT. The result? CRAZY and FUN:

(c) nadrocks

To learn more about the philosophy of Lomography, read here.

Holga is available here. Straight into my Wish List.

LOVE IT

Incredibly stylish and flattering candleholder, designed by Xavier Lust... And I own one! Wedding courtesy of my friend Ile. Thanks, Ile!

Diamantini & Domeniconi

Diamantini & Domeniconi's clocks, my friend's family creations, are cutting edge design pieces, functional and decorative at once.

The revisited cuckoo clock becomes bi-dimensional, and its jagged shape and grainy wood mimic so aptly the natural world that you can almost single out reindeer, snow flakes, open forests and Norwegian fjords on it? The peeking bird could not find a better nest!

The butterfly clock is my second pick from the collection. I just love how these colourful butterflies, forged from the clock, come to life and take off to fly free in the sky. [The rhyme was totally unintentional.]

Butterfly Round

The irony and playfulness of these models simply inject a dart of good mood in me:

Uomino Wall Showtime

I love the name (Forget Me Not) and symbolism of this post-it clock. It is a great gift for your beloved.

Non ti Scordar di Me

They are creative accessories which can also be creatively arranged in your house:

Check out more incredibly original models on their super-sleek website: www.diamantinidomeniconi.it

DIY Mini-Project ~ Before and After

Here my Hotel Chelsea inspired bathroom!

BEFORE

AFTER

Flourishing Mood

I was devastated when I saw my plant dying. It was the plant I bought 7 years and 4 months ago, as soon as I moved to the UK. I kept watering it hoping in a miracle. A few days later my phoenix flourished back. I was amazed by the power of nature.

I am wearing an Orla Kiely knitted dress with a retro floral print, the designer's trademark graphic pattern. The floral silver necklace comes from very far away. I bought this gem and two other designs (photo below) in the remote Ibo Island, the ex-Portuguese colony of the Quirimbas archipelago (northern Mozambique). Skilful silversmiths sitting on the floor at the entrance of the ex-Portuguese fortress patiently melt old Portuguese coins to forge stunning designs, injected with Arabic influences. Every little piece is artfully crafted and assembled together with very little tools and a sight compromised by years of repeated stress. It's a real labour of love.

On Sunday we went to Vale's for a brunch. On the way to her house I bought her three hydrangeas. I carefully picked two powder pink and one purple/blue, and the florist, a lovely French young lady, arranged them into a lovely composition which matched my blouse!

This vase was also bought during our honeymoon. During our self-drive tour around South Africa we stopped in a little village inhabited by wild horses. In a craft shop selling glass artwork I saw this vase. Instead of real peonies, which they only grow in the month of May, I adorned it with silk magenta peonies.