Christmas Quest

Some people may want to punch me right now but I'm already starting to prepare for Christmas. Dave and I have always been lucky enough to spend Christmas at other people's homes. When I was single, I basically went wherever my mum and dad were. This year we're having Christmas at our place!

I'm quite excited about it and have been coming up with some ideas which I've been dying to blog about but wanted to wait until Halloween and my birthday was gone. Now that Guy Fawke's Day has also passed, I'm letting loose!

I'm in charge of decoration and atmosphere and Dave is in charge of the food (phew!). I've pretty much decided on a winter wonderland theme with splashes of colour - which basically means lots of white background stuff and some multicoloured accessories. The table in this picture would be perfect! Pity it's about £500.

I'm also trying to limit tinsel and overly Christmasy decorations. The reasons being; a) I think they're easy to overdo, b) David moans about them and c) lack of storage space for things only used once a year.

These snowflake stickers were my original inspiration:

I love snow and I think these have got a pretty modern feel to them. I plan to concentrate them on a corner of the window. I should mention athat the space I've got to work with is very small. It basically consists of one rectangular shaped room about 5m by 3m (my living room). I live in a tiny flat and it's quite funny we're considering having six people for dinner here at all - but I'm up for the challenge!

The white with multicoloured highlights idea was basically the theme of my wedding so I've already got a few resources stashed away in the garage. I'm going to pull out some round fish bowl style vases which I've decided to fill with multicoloured baubles. I am surprised at how hard it is to find multicoloured packs of baubles. They tend to sell them as packs of one or two colours with only a very limited pallette. This year they want people to decorate with silver and red it seems. Luckily, I managed to pick these up on my visit to Heal's last weekend:

I would have preferred smooth and shiny rather than glittery but I think these will look great on a white tablecloth.

Now, as I am not made of money, my quest has led me to many things that I've had to pass up along the way. I love this wooden reindeer advent calendar. It has little drawers to store treats.

Not only is it hard to find multicoloured baubles this year but it is also hard to find multicoloured Christmas crackers. These would be perfect but at £40 for six, they're a bit too rich for my blood.

Whew! This turned into a mammoth post. Thanks for sticking with me. I'll update with more ideas as they happen.

Tiki Tank

I want one of these for my Tiki Bar!
When I get one, that is.
The Aloha Tiki Treasures aquarium has been around for a while apparently but the price seems to have dropped a bit. I think it looks the business.

Heal, Girl!

I wrote a post last week about whether the quality of sofas found in places like Heal's was worth the price tag (you can read that post here). While in London last weekend, I popped in to get some 'Christmasy' items (more on that later) and decided to test some of the sofas out for myself.

I particularly liked the Opera sofa - sitting on it felt like sitting on a soft, yet supportive cloud. I suppose no one can really tell without having one in their home for a while but it was very comfortable and I am now lusting after one.

Heal's Opera Sofa - I want that shag rug too!

This was my first Heal's experience and I have to admit I was very impressed. It was like a mid mod paradise to me. I walked and sometimes skipped about, squealing with delight at each new treasure I found.

Even before I stepped inside I was excited - the shop display windows featured my favourite Kartell FL/Y lights.

After walking past loads of lush Orla Kiely cushions, I was soon to find a whole Kartell department. The colours were amazing and I have more Kartell items on my wish list now. I'm not sure about the metallic colours in my home but these Cindy lamps were so effective on display.

Gorgeous sofas everywhere and many arco floor lamps (my dream lamp) scattered around the place.

As I was about to leave, I caught sight of this Vitra Baobab desk, reminiscent of the Calka desk I blogged about back in April. More affordable but still out of my price range.

I'm aware that this post sounds a bit like an advertisement, which was not my intention, but if anyone from Heal's would like to repay me with a spending spree in their store - I'm more than up for it!

In the Presence of Presents

I know I promised to blog about my birthday adventures but unfortunately I still haven't got any photos yet. I stupidly forgot my camera and am waiting for my fellow revellers to send me some pics. I thought I'd post some photos of some prezzies instead.

I got a funky liquid centred ring from the funky Octopus in Carnaby Street (Sorry no pic at this time). I then picked up this sweet memo pad designed by Shinzi Katoh at Lazy Oaf.

After a scrumptious dinner and a few cocktails at the Hard Rock Cafe, we headed to the Trader Vic's underneath the London Hilton (Will hopefully get some pics soon). My lovely cousin bought me this pair of salt and pepper shakers:

Dave and I shared a tiki bowl cocktail and I decided to buy the bowl to expand my budding tiki collection:

Throwing caution to the wind, I also thought, 'What the hell, it's my birthday' and also bought this Trader Vic's coconut mug:

My most unexpected present was David's new found interest in tiki since he found out how much alcohol is involved. He is now planning our home tiki bar (for when we actually get a home) and is keen on another trip to Trader Vic's or Mahiki soon.

Hooray for birthdays!

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

I've been a bit busy to post but just found out through twitter that Sesame Street turns 40 today and couldn't let it go by.

I am a BIG Sesame Street fan!

I've loved Sesame Street since I was a child and so have formed a few opinions along the way. Indulge me.

I'm glad Big Bird grew more feathers on his head - his first look was a bit offputting for me.

Big Bird: Then & Now

I remember when Mr Hooper died - my mum said it was handled very well by the show.

Mr Looper, I mean... Hooper

I don't think Mr Snuffleupagus should have ever have been seen by the adults - that was part of his charm.

Remember Snuffy's theme? You always knew he was coming.

My friend and I developed a theory that your favourite Sesame Street character reveals a lot about your personality. My favourite has always been Ernie and I do think we're quite similar. Who was yours?

The Irrepressible Ernie

Happy Birthday to Me

image via photobucket

I've had a lovely weekend and have a lot to blog about - but not today... I'm still celebrating!
Will try to blog as soon as possible.

So-fa Pricey

How much would you pay for a sofa?

I ask because as it is with most things, the sofas I really like are expensive. And I'm not talking about the 'super designer' brands that we mid century modern lovers covet.

Do you really get what you pay for? Or is it madness to shell out a lot of money for something that will most likely be spilled upon, marked, damaged (at least in my home) and inevitably replaced due to wear and tear.

Take some I've been looking at from Heal's. Heal's has some great looking stuff but it comes at a price. I am well aware that good design doesn't come cheap but £2500 - £3000 seems a tad excessive when dfs and other sofa/furniture shops very rarely exceed a £1000.

All available from Heal's