Spring Break or Bust

Ahhhh I should be doing massive amounts of homework but all I can do is daydream about my future destinations for my spring break in 3 weeks!!

Image Courtesy of Flickr.com

I am starting out venturing to Florence for several days to meet up with some of my dearest sorority sisters for some good ol' fashioned fun, then flying to none other than Malta to visit the love of my life Sarah Landerholm and soak up some maltese sun, culture and beaches!

After several days on the island of Malta (off the tip of Italy) I will be flying into Rome for a day of sightseeing and then meeting up with a couple lovely Kappa Shmelts to finish up my holiday in the infamous city of Barcelona.

Only 3 more weeks of interning, wrapping up my studio project and numerous essays to be written. But it always gets done and before I know I will be residing with good friends, good fashion and good food!

Wish me luck on my adventure, hopefully all my flights are in order and I will make it to all my destinations without too much havoc ;)

Until next time, Ciao Bella!

Globally Eclectic

Images: Habituallychic.blogspot.com

After taking another trip over to Portobello Market in Notting Hill, this week I realized how in love I am with the 'global-ecletic' style, if that is such a thing. Lately I have been gravitating towards the look of mix and matched antiques from all different time periods and places but together it can just flow so nicely. I love plain walls and a wood floor which is such a great blank canvas to start placing all your lovely finds. This style would definitely need some perfecting over the years but it'd be so fun to be surrounded in such a lively room filled with pieces that are full of such special memories. Antique resourcing is definitely where it is at, I can not wait for the day I can have a client that will send me off, letting me pick out the perfect pieces for their space :)

I really should start on some homework but this is just way more fun, hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Delightful Fridays

Waking up on Fridays is sometimes a challenge since I have to make it to school by 8:30 for my five hour history of design class. I am always dreading the long academic day when my alarm goes off but every Friday has turned out to be my favorite day of the week. Not to mention our walk to class always cheers me up.

AIU is located on Marylebone street, which is a darling street of high end clothing, home, jewelry boutiques as well as charming cafes and bakeries sprinkled in throughout. The facade of our school literally blends right in within all the shops so it's easy to "lose" my way to class and end up in a clothing store...This happens quite often matter of fact...

Jane Packer is located right down the street from the bus stop and is probably the most beautiful flower shop I have ever laid eyes on--if you can even call it a flower shop. More like pieces of art, absolutely beautiful and creative displays. Today they had the most tasteful as well as adorable Valentine's day display. If only I had fifty pounds to drop on a sophisticated rose bouquet....

Images:Janepacker.com

Our class is only a few people and we always travel around the city to different museums or cities plus we get about an hour for a coffee break which I do not mind--at all...

Today we headed over just a few blocks from school to see the Wallace Collection; a collection of a wealthy Irish families furnishings, art, china and every other knick knack possible. All of which are incredibly beautiful and intricate pieces, many of the artwork famous renaissance pieces (today's lecture topic). The Wallace Collection is displayed in their original home (mansion) from the 19th century. I would kill for one of their brightly colored tea sets and of course a massive crystal chandelier.

Even though the interior is quite over the top glamourous, heavily inspired from France (reminded me of a smaller scale of Versailles decor), I could definitely work with a few pieces such as the gold, baroque mirrors and beautifully lavish couches.

A nice mix of traditional touches (Willamson Designs)

I ended up having a wakeup class today for studio right after so it is has been an actually quite long academic day for a day when I wasn't even supposed to have classes. It's quite quiet on Fridays since everyone else gets the day free to explore and travel...That better be me next semester :)

I am actually getting quite excited and inspired over my retail studio project now that I have a pretty set floor plan and all my materials picked out. Being in London I have endless inspiration that I so severely was lacking in Spokane. I can't get enough of it, design over here really is just top notch everywhere you look!

On the way back home I wandered into the Conran shop which is a homestore that has a mixture of modern, traditional and rustic items. It is 3 stories full of furniture, accessories, lighting and some fabulous coffee table books which always end in my downfall.

Well it is Friday night and I am off! Wishing you all a wonderful Valentines day from across the pond!

With Love, Courtesy of Marlyebone Valentine Display Windows. XOXO

A Short List of Things I am Loving Right Now

While being in the U.K. for over a month now, there are so many wonderful little things that I have a fond appreciation for--

Here are the ones I am adoring at the moment...

*Walking to work during the "Rush Hour" of pedestrians--I play a game with myself to see how many people I can pass or squeeze by before I get stuck behind someone or a light.

(I tell ya it real gets the heart rate going especially since its my only form of exercise currently since it is too cold to run outside slash I am not willing to fork over 70lbs a month for a gym pass)

*The new Corrine Bailey Rae and Norah Jones CD--such a great new addition to my ipod.

images by google.com

*The slightly frizzy hair & pale skin combo--saves money and time not having to hit up a tanning bed or the extra 10 minutes it takes to straighten my hair.

*Paperchase-It is a 3 story floor right down the street from my work that is full of beautiful cards, wrapping paper, books, journals, a majority covered in dainty and floral prints! Incredibly dangerous, because mostly every item in there is nothing I need but EVERYTHING I WANT!

papershopink.com

*Oxford shoes preferably with tights and a great floral dress or even jean shorts--so fabulous right now...a definite spring time must :)

( One of my favorite posts from the Sartorialist.com)

*Being able to buy a bottle of wine legally after a hard day at the office, I am really becoming quite the conseviur--on the cheapest four pound wine I can get haha.

*My Internship--I have been really lucky to be placed with such a great firm that is letting me do a lot of hands on tasks. They may be small but I am happy to do anything they give me. I mostly have been working on photoshop, designing textiles and organizing the materials library. All fine by me :)

*My upcoming spring break to Florence, possibly Rome and Barcelona to visit some special KD sissys. Needless to say we will be doing what we do best, sorry for partying in advance (plus shopping and sightseeing naturally)

*The rare glimpses of sun, usually between snowfall that makes me realize how happy sunshine makes me...I can not wait for spring, however it may be a while.

*Knowing that a majority of my friends have crossed the pond safely and now are on the same time zone as me! So convenient!

I could go on and on but I will update as I continue on my journey. One month down, four more to come :)

LOVE AND MISS YOU ALL, CHEERS FROM LONDONTOWN!!

Out of the City, Into the Country

A Quick Summary of my Trip to Stonehenge & Bath

On Sunday, we had a school trip out an two and a half hours out to the town to Bath, England. On the way we stopped by the infamous Stonehenge--which I had been earlier informed by my father it is not STONE-HEDGE. That was a nice fact to know prior :)

We were at the actual Stonehenge for about an hour, enough to walk around the site and say I had been there. I was given a audio player but I was a little too distracted by all the sheep near by to listen-haha.

Bath was absolutely beautiful though, its a charming town with a population of around 80,000 and architecture that dates back to the 15th century. We started out at the original Roman baths which was beautiful and then had time to go explore around the city. It was such a relaxing Sunday to just roam around this peaceful area and not be in such a hurry. A couple of us girls went to the 'Bath Tub' cafe for lunch which was right over the river that runs right down the center of the town.

We wandered up to the circus which was were a majority of the original townhouses are placed in a crescent formation facing out into the country. As usual I found some picture perfect vintage doors--I'm just waiting for the day when I snap a picture of someone's entrance and they come out right when I am doing so--oops!

I don't know what my fascination is with colored doors is but I keep finding myself taking a picture of almost every residential door around here--I think I am going to collage them all on a poster of some sort at the end of my 5 months. Just a thought...

This day trip was the perfect way to spend my Sunday after a busy week of working and catching up on schoolwork. If I had my way--I'd spend every Sunday in Bath. Just saying that makes me feel relaxed and unstressed already.

If you ever venture over this way, definitely take a day trip to the town of Bath--filled with history, sweets, darling boutiques and even home of the Jane Austen visitor centre if you are a fan :)

Paris en Bref

I am finally home sweet home back in London after an absolutely picture perfect trip to Paris. I have to admit I was quite nervous walking out of my flat all by myself, praying that I would be able to meet up with my 4 good friends at our hotel in Paris. I booked a round trip from easyjet thinking it would be a snap, what I didn't realize the airport in London they fly out of is an hour and half out of London. Oops! However, I found the right bus that was similar to a shuttle express and ventured out in to the country side to catch my flight.

My flight was only an hour and a half and I arrived right when it was beginning to become dark out...I headed down to get on a metro out of the airport and into the city. Luckily the Paris metro is almost identical to the London underground so I was able to figure out how to get to the stop right by our hotel. Our hotel was on a really small side street right near the Moulin Rouge--which was only 150 euro a ticket! Guess we wouldn't able to do that...

I had a couple of hours before the rest of the girls got there, so I wandered the cafes nearby and finally found one that wasn't too expensive and still had at least 3 hours till they arrived so I ordered a glass a wine and bruschetta and then a couple more glasses and tiramasu--haha I had a lot of time to kill. I love the fact that Europe has such late dinners around 8pm and even despite the cold weather everyone sits outside the cafes, socializing, eating or even checking email.

Luckily when I got back I just waited a little while and Michelle, Erin, Tenessa and Kathleen had made it back safely! We walked around a bit and then hit the day after such a long day of traveling.

We woke up every morning to a complimentary breakfast of coffee, orange juice, a crossiant and a BAGUETTE! haha I didn't hate this one bit...but it literally baffles everyone still stays so skinny??? Atkins is nonexistent in Paris that is for sure. Awww I also tried a crepe and an eclair--sooo divine!

We did not waste a minute in Paris, we were all so proud of getting up at 8:30 every morning and going out and exploring the city! Despite the rainy weather and a tiny bit of snow we managed to see the Arc De Triumph, walk down the Champ de Elysee straight to the Lourve where we saw the one and only Mona Lisa. We grabbed some bagette sandwichs by a cafe nearby and then went on to see Notre Dame and the Muse de Orsee. I really enjoyed seeing all the impressionist paintings in person after learning so much about them in classes.

Afterwards we decided to head out to the eiffel and be there to see it light up at dusk. Paris is such a low lined city skyline so it's easy to spot the eiffel almost anywhere. We followed it and literally turned a corner and it was just stand there, literally in someones backyard! It was sooo amazing to see it in person because it is so much larger then I imagined, especially standing underneath it--it really is massive!

We spent a while taking hundreds of pictures of it from every angle and then decided to go home for a bit and then come back at night to see it go off with all the different lights!

On Saturday we headed an hour out to see the palace of Versailles which was actually one of my favorite things to see in Europe so far. The architecture in Paris is absolutely stunning, it is so detailed and ornate and I love that every window is adorned with shutters and a wrought iron faux facade style porch! Perfection:)

Versailles was King Louis XIV's and Marie Antoinnette extravagent (to say the least) estate. Inside was filled with his thousands of portraits, sculptures, furniture, books, etc. Versaille literally was never ending, we wandered through easily almost a hundred room all decorated to a T with ornate molding, painted cielings, damask wallpaper and glamourous furniture. This was only the inside!

The gardens can take you 50 minutes on a small car to drive out to the end--its full of fountains, ponds, islands on the ponds, arboretums, coliseums, amphitheaters throughout. You could easily spend a week just wandering through his "back yard". I definitely would love to see it in the spring when everything is in full bloom!

The next day my friends had an earlier flight out so I decided to go explore. The one thing I have been dying to do in Paris was to go to an authentic Parsian flea market, so I headed out to Bastille and was hoping to find the one that was mentioned in my book. I walked several blocks and began to hear a lot of commotion, I walked straight up to the hustling market! They had vintage goods, a farmers market and live music. Not to mention Sunday we woke up to a beautiful, sunny day--I was in heaven. I wandered throughout the different tables filled with old vintage books, clothing, jewerly, antiques, plates--you name it they had it! I found a huge turquoise cocktail ring that I have always had my eye on and I also found a vintage swatch gold watch that has been on my wish list :)

I wandered down several more side streets which just happened to be high end interior boutiques so that was nice eye candy until I reached the center of Bastille and saw another lively market that I checked out. It was bustling with people getting there weekly groceries--meats, cheeses and bread. I love the way they eat here, I definitely could used to this.

I headed back in to town with still some time to kill and sat outside the most picture perfect cafe outside of the Eiffel Tower and had another sandwich and a latte (literally the only meal I had all weekend) and people watched. After my meal I headed over to try and sketch the Eiffel for a bit. I am a bit rusty when it comes to sketching so I figured drawing the infamous Eiffel Tower was a good place to pick up! I was there for a good while before it got really chilly and I wandered back to the Arc de Triumph to catch the metro back to my hotel and get ready to go home. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better day to leisurely enjoy the Parisian lifestyle :)

I had no problem heading back to the airport and was so proud of myself for getting around without any problems UNTIL I tried to check in for my flight back to London and realized I had booked it for the NEXT day at 10pm. MINOR DETAIL with a MAJOR PRICE TAG!! Fortunately I was able to get a spot and headed back to London safe and sound.

I can easily say this was one of the best weekends I could have ever asked for, I got to see so many famous Parisian landmarks, artworks and got to experience all of this with some of my greatest friends!

I am so happy I get the opportunity to go back to see Paris in SPRING with my family. It was all I could ask for and more :)

Now I'm back to the daily grind, class and work. I am actually really enjoying my internship, I have been busy on photoshop designing custom rugs and putting together presentation boards for their current cruise line refit. Not too shabby for a 9 to 7 workday...Until then ALL MY LOVE FROM LONDON!