Friday afternoon, just been listening to Declan Kelly’s Against the Arctic mix #225, and this tune comes on…

It’s absolutely looooovely!

The whole EP from a first listen on bandcamp is  more glitchy, less floaty, but nice nonetheless…

Since moving into the mews house, I’m all about interior design and homewares. My bank holiday weekend is even going to be spent exploring the first steps of reupholstering furniture (must find a beautiful chair to start with!).

My inspiration has come from many places – mostly tips from my lovely friend Katie (check out her blog here) and from various hotels from around the world… namely the Firmdale Group ones.

Kit Kemp is the genius behind the Firmdale hotels, and I find them lush. All clashing prints and beautiful lighting, and so much attention to detail. Opening today is a new exhibition space at the Contemporary Applied Arts Gallery in London, of which Kemp has designed a room to illustrate the vast possibilities of commissioning art and craft for the home environment and how it can transform a room.

CAA Gallery

2 Percy Street, London W1T 1DD

Open 10-6 every day except Sunday, entry FREE

It’s soon to be the end of the garden flat

Katie is off to Zurich with her job, and I’m off to a lovely little mews house in Bermondsey (thanks to Jeff). To soften the blow of our cohabitation in London coming to an end, the most fabulous Miss Dinon organised for us – and a couple of handfuls of her closest friends – to spend two weeks in the sun in September.

Katie and Cassandra are hosting their 30th birthday party in a gorgeous villa named Chateauneuf de Grasse, near Antibe, and I’m going for ten whole days!

How about hells yeah?

The full collection of glamour shots are here – http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/France/Cote-dAzur–Riviera/holiday-villa-Grasse/p17445.htm#wrapper

Lucky you, Melbourne peeps! The lovely Virginia Martin has opened her first Bul store – a haven of gloriously beautiful tailored clothing that are as charming as the woman herself.

Find it at:
Level 3
Curtin House
252 Swanston St
Melbourne
t: 03 9663-0390
curtinhouse@bul.com.au

Here’s the appeal for me; I can’t wear shoes with massive heels – and sadly that’s what is mostly on offer these days. But Bul’s collection is perfect for life in the city, sensible yet beautiful. These shoes are destined to be a keeper – especially when teamed with Bul’s tailored coat, oversized cable knit cardie, and pretty dresses. Lush!

When so much fashion (especially in London) is OTT, it’s refreshing to see something that looks like it’d actually be comfortable, as well as super stylish.

Maybe I’ll see a collection at Liberty of London soon? I want!

A talented musician and a really lovely guy. He will be missed.

Some lovely thoughts here from Bruce at Raves Raves

One of my goals for twenty ten is to do something very adult – I’m going to buy a piece of art for myself. It’s going to have a ltd. edition number on it, something like 10/30. It’s also going to be from Jeremy, the lovely man behind The Jacky Winter Group, which represents Australian illustrators.

I’ve already purchased a print of his for a friend a while back, but I find his illustrations so beautiful, the lines are so amazingly detailed and colours are fantastic – I want one for myself.

Take a look at the full roster of Jacky Winter illustrators here or read the Jacky Winter Peter Peter blog , it’s like porn for those of you interested in the latest illustration gossip and amazing images.

I was… umm… still watching Care Bears and my favorite toy was my Cabbage Patch doll. In 1985, James Reitano was getting busy painting walls in and around his hometown of Santa Cruz, CA. 

This semi-autobiographical graphic novel (try saying that five times fast!) is set in a Cali beach town, the protagonist is a graffiti artist whose constant run-ins with anti-graffiti locals, cops and rival crews sees him getting into mischief at an unstoppable rate. But it also recalls the characters and art influences of a 80s street art scene, that, if you trace it forward to today, probably has something to do with the artwork on your t-shirt, skateboard or favorite CD.

James Reitano is a wonderfully talented artist and animator & is one of those people who does what he does because he truly loves it. He started out as a graphic designer for Santa Cruz Skateboards, spent a short time with the corporate behemoths in LA, then went freelance in animation, graphic & web design under his studio, TFU Studios. His productions include Madvillain – ‘All Caps’, Cut Chemist ‘Spat’, Quasimoto ‘Bullyshit’, an ad for HP/Serena Williams that was shown in Times Square NYC, and many more that you can view on his TFU Studios YouTube page. 

Props to James for doing this graphic novel (and thanks for posting me a copy!). You can buy nineteen eighty five at the Stones Throw online store or the nineteen eighty five website.

This weekend my old friend ben frost visited me at the GF en route from reykjavik to adelaide – first time we’d seen each other in years… so exciting!

london graced us with a spectacularly sunny and warm day, so we walked over to primrose hill. i somehow managed to get us lost but it was to our fortune – as we accidentally stumbled across l’absinthe, a cute little french bistro on chalcot street. it was lovely from the get-go. we sat at a little table out on the pavement in the shade, our waitress was cute and friendly and the host-chef guy was endearing.

We had the goats cheese and walnut salad to start, then the duck confit with potato gratin for the main, and espresso chocolate mousse for sweet. it was all delicious, huge servings, and the service was warm and non-intrusive. i have walked past this place so many times but never eaten there, but now i think now they’ve won themselves a new regular. i want to try so much on their menu… all the classics: french onion soup (4.75), steak frites (14.95), apple tarte tatin (4.65) – or just go there to hang out and enjoy some cheese and wine. so beware to those visiting me in london soon, I will be taking you there for brunch/lunch/dinner!

and the picture above? ben’s new album ‘by the throat’ will come out in just over a month on the bedroom community label.

listen & free download here

yet another gf bbq has been and gone and as usual – was good times! on the cooking side, i’d wrestled with the idea of making a pavlova for aages but was always afraid something would go wrong… it somehow seems too easy to mess it up. but, i’d been eating lovely peaches for a few weeks (they’re in season and super sweet!) and i saw a recipe for a peach melba pav and decided. it was time. check out the photo – it was gorgeous!

Peach melba pavlova

GF BBQ peeps

And finally, i just wanted to share this recipe that’s been on high rotation lately. i love it because it takes about 10 minutes to prepare, it makes you feel good ‘cos it’s healthy, and even my little brother liked it (after saying it would taste better with meat).

Chickpea curry

Chickpea curry

ingredients
- chana masala spice mix (buy from asian supermarket)
- 1 brown onion
- 1 can chickpeas
- 1 clove garlic
- green beans
- mushrooms
- shallots
- red chilli
- cous cous

directions

this is assembled in three parts – the chickpea curry, the side of beans and the cous cous.
chickpea curry
- chop onion roughly, brown in butter in a medium saucepan
- once soft and brown, take out half of the onion and put aside for the cous cous
- add the can of chickpeas to the pan along with one and a bit cans of water
- let chickpea mixture come to the boil, lower heat and add spice mix (to taste, usually 1-2 tablespoons)
- simmer for anything between 30 mins to a few hours – however long you’ve got – stir occasionally and mash some of the chickpeas to thicken sauce

green beans
- slice 2 shallots, one red chilli & the garlic clove
- add to frying pan with butter or oil
- add green beans roughly chopped into thirds
- toss about on a medium heat until brown, the lower heat and let brown for about 10mins
- slice mushrooms thickly – about the same width as the green beans, leave whole or halved if small ones
- when about 10 mins away from finish, add mushrooms to beans along with some more butter if needed

cous cous
- if feeding 2 people, it’s about 150g couscous to 300ml water
- boil kettle
- add 1/2 tablespoon of oil to boiling water in a glass pyrex bowl
- add couscous, cover with plastic wrap and let sit for 5 minutes
- take off plastic wrap, fluff with a fork and mix in the cooked onion from before

serve in a bowl – cous cous in the middle, curry on one side and beans & mushrooms on the other

here’s a similar recipe if you want to make on your own.

A friend’s response to my statement “I’ve sworn off idiots”.

Chaka Khan – I Feel For You