New York, New YOOOORRRRRRKKKKK - My favourite food spots

I have only been to New York once, and it was 18 months ago now, but a few of my friends have been heading over that way for holidays recently and it got me reminiscing about the wonderful time my husband and I had there (when we were still only engaged to be wed!). We were lucky enough to stay with friends (thanks Ali and David) and that some other friends of ours happened to be visiting the city all the way from Australia at the same time. It meant we did a lot of eating out and street stomping together. Here were some of my favourites.

Breakfast / Brunch

Sarabeth's Central Park South
http://www.sarabethscps.com/
My American friend Meagen recommended this place. She said "The oatmeal is great, the eggs benedict is fantastic and the portions are HUGE." If only I had listened. Instead, I went for the massive serving of hotcakes! It was amazing, delicious, scrumptious fantastic! I probably put on about 5kgs from that one sitting, but my word was it worth it! The decor is a bit old, but I found it very 'American' and cool anyway. Luckily, you are just across the road from Central Park so you can walk it all off after you are done. Not to mention the calories you burn whilst shopping. There are a few Sarabeths around as well as a bakery, so if you cant get into this one, try one of the others for sure.

Lunch

Mandarin Court
Mott Street
With such a vibrant China Town, it was imperative we sampled some of the Yum Cha - I have trouble finding authentic Yum Cha's in London. You know the ones I mean, with the lobster tanks near the front door, and the trolley women with major attitude, where you are like the only "westerners" in the restaurant? Like when you were a kid (a lot of my Saturday mornings were spent at Yum Cha, my dad is a huge fan). Well, I found one, it was brilliant, proper authentic Yum cha, complete with all the dishes you cant bring yourself to say yes too. All the old faithful items were there, pork buns, dumplings, those big fat flat noodles with the beef inside.  Our live-in-NY friends take other visitors there now too. So yum.

Dinner

Ok I have a few places that were amazing for different reasons.

Schiller's
www.schillersny.com/
Wow. Can you get any cooler than this place? I loved the fans. Seriously, if you go, look up and check them out. And the bar, so brassy and glittery and gorgeous. It was almost colonial in style, but crossed with a French brasserie. A real treat. I think the food was good, I cant quite remember, it certainly wasn't bad cause I would remember that. I'm sure I had something pasta-ry. The cocktails were good. And we saw Owen Wilson a few tables away. Really cool bathrooms too in a colonial way (don't worry, they flush). I think I spent the whole time there gushing like an idiot cause it just is so COOL!

Megu
TriBeCa
If you want to feel like you are in an episode of Sex and the City - go here. Just make sure you have a bit of cash to burn too cause even though I wasn't paying, I remember it was pricey. First of all, we were directed to the bar which had this grungy vibe crossed with 'pretty', and when I say pretty, I mean the most amazing beautiful patterned papers lining the walls (perhaps this was the inspiration for my wedding invites? Don't know what I am talking about - click here). We were in a booth drinking lovely cocktails for about 30 mins before a woman came to collect us to take us to our table. I remember a lot of cream coloured marble and very carefully making my way down a few sets of stairs (I was wearing shoes a la Carrie Bradshaw) to a huge, heavy, possibly velvet curtain. It was pulled back and the woman leading us gave an almighty yell (something I assume in Japanese) and the chefs (what do you call sushi chefs?) and other diners responded with a shout of their own - AWESOME! There is a massive pond / water feature type thing in the centre of the cavernous room, you can see all the chefs slicing and dicing their way through all types of sashimi, sushi and wagu in their open kitchen (if I remember correctly you can sit up right next to them at the counter and watch - although im sure you would need to book a place). I remember thinking the food was fantastic, and just what I needed to counter the hotcakes with lashings of maple syrup I had been devouring. Its an experience I will remember for a long time.

Odeon
145 West Broadway, TriBeCa
Yum yum yum, this place was very much reminiscent of a French Brasserie, with all the brass and service that comes with it. I remember eating amazing Dauphine Potatoes. This was before I got beside myself with jetlag and being over tired and burst into tears at the table - not brilliant, but I still remember this place very fondly, so it was pretty good! My friend Meagen said "They serve fantastic Bloody Marys and the BEST mashed potato I have ever in my life eaten.  It gets really busy so I would suggest reserving a table." She is a wise woman, follow her advice.

Snacks

There were some amazing cup cake places, that of course I can't remember a name for, but those sorts of things are fun to find yourself anyway.

Bon appetite

A Children's Apron for Isla

I whipped up a quick little apron for my friends daughter the other week. I didn't make a pattern or anything, just drew the basic shape on half the fabric and cut it on the fold. I think the fabric was by Amy Butler from memory with some matching lime binding tape sewn around the edges to create the tie.

I left the ties around the neck and waist open so they can be adjusted as Isla grows.

Super cute!

My girl-crush on Sophie Dahl

I have had a fair few girl crushes lately, there are so many super girls out there doing their crafty, clever, and creative things that makes me want to be their best friend and follow them around like Mary's Little Lamb. One such recent crush was on Sophie Dahl, and not for her risque modelling (which was pretty cool anyway! Love that Dior ad). It has been for her cooking and writing.

Recently the BBC presented the Delicious Miss Dahl (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00rs7c9), a cooking show overflowing with prettiness. What a kitchen! I'm sure it was in a studio somewhere (my husband used to work in the office where Nigella's supposed "home" kitchen is now settled! Big illusion bubble popped!), but if that was in my house i would be in heaven! I am completely converted to the French white brick tile, it will be the only tile i ever buy in future - i wish i had listened to my mum about this years ago now! Not to mention the beautiful wall papers, and the island bench and enormous stove!

And then her clothes, so gorgeous and comfortable looking whilst still being ultra gorgeous and girly. The photography in the show and in her recipe book is lovely, it could be a coffee table book its so nice to flick through. She has little passages at the beginning of each section (broken down by the seasons, something i am quite into at the moment as i am trying to eat food that is in season) that are about her life and experiences she associates with certain dishes. She is funny and has lived quite an interesting life. Her stories might be perceived as being a bit "wow me", but i don't think so, she is charming, and her self effacing tone seems genuine to me. I think she is aware that she has had a very blessed and lucky life and is exceedingly grateful, well that's what i think anyway!

I bought her cookbook at the same time as i bought her novel Playing with the Grown-Ups (don't you just love Amazon recommends?), and i have to say i was impressed. It was a great read! I really didn't want to put it down. I was intrigued as to how much of the story she had drawn from her own experience, indeed there were some similarities between the stories in her cookbook to those in her novel. Ultimately it is a coming of age story about a girl whose mother acts like an irresponsible teenager. The descriptions of New York and London as well as her time in a boarding school had me very interested and i could see it all playing out before my eyes. It's not going to win the Booker Prize or anything like that, but its a great holiday read, a guilty pleasure if you like.

Finally i should mention her food! In a word, divine! I have tried a few recipes, most notably a Tom Kar soup - it was gorgeous. And filled the kitchen with the most amazing smells as i cooked. I am looking forward to trying more.

So there you have it, a clever, creative, talented, gorgeous girl - Sophie if you ever read this we should definitely go for coffee sometime!

My quilts

Following on from my Reading for Quilters post, i thought i would share some pictures from my first attempts at quilting. I went to a short course at The Make Lounge and had a brilliant time picking up the basics.  I'm sure i have raved on about The Make Lounge before, but it really is fantastic and i highly recommend courses there for anyone in London. I have been to a fair few of them so if anyone ever wants a review on any of the courses, just let me know.

The lighter one on the right was my first quilt, made at the Make Lounge, and the darker one on the left is my second. I am making the second as a baby quilt for a friend who is 7 months pregnant. By far the trickiest thing i have found about quilting is picking the right fabrics, and i wasn't sure i had got there with the 2nd quilt, but i think it all came together when i picked the backing fabric (in the last picture). Let me know what you think.

From my tiny bit of experience, i have found every aspect of quilting incredibly fulfilling, and creating something so beautiful, that have traditionally been passed down as family heirlooms gives such a sense of achievement. 

Both are still incomplete but i will post some more pictures once they are finished.

Reading for quilters

I have been learning the beautiful and relaxing art of quilting of late. Whilst searching the internet for help and inspiration, I have come across some lovely blogs as well as purchasing a wonderful book with one of the most beautiful covers I have ever seen.

I will start with the book first as it neatly segues into the blogs.

Jane Brocket's book, The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking is just beautiful, there is no other word. Her words are wonderful. I find her writing so enjoyable in fact, I actually read the instructions and notes contained within her book, instead of my regular morning novel on the tube. I think her quilts are amazing. I haven't had the opportunity to attempt one of her designs yet, but I can see they are not going to be terribly difficult and leave me feeling like a lost failure. Her focus is on enjoying quilting and she is very practical in her advice. I read more than once, lines like, "They say you should do x, but I just do y and it works just fine". As a beginner, it is lovely to be guided by someone not too hung up on the fiddly traditions, and focus instead on what makes it an enjoyable past time. The recommended retail is £20, but I picked up a copy on Amazon for almost half that.

http://yarnstorm.blogs.com/

Jane Brocket's blog, Yarnstorm, is another gem. Living in England with her family, Jane writes about wonderful European holidays, shares amazing and inspiring photos as well as reviewing books and recipes. She often posts pictures of quilts she has made, or blankets she has crocheted. I visit her blog every few days now to read her latest posts. Her photos are always amazing to look at.

http://annamariahorner.blogspot.com/

Anna Maria Horner's blog is another I love to look at. She loves her photography, and her kids and house feature prominently in her posts as well as cacophony of colourful shots of her materials and and sewing project she has on the go. Again I love the style of her writing. She has recently seen her eldest daughter off to university and I got a tear in my eye reading it. Makes me wish i had her life!

http://heatherbailey.typepad.com/

I used some of Heather Bailey's fabric in my first quilt, Nicey Jane, and instantly wanted to know more about the woman who had created patterns and motifs that took me straight back to my childhood. Again Heather shares wonderful pictures and inspiring words and looks set to take on the world with her creative empire.

Happy browsing!

Autumn

I do like Autumn. I love getting rugged up, putting the big doonah on the bed, sinking into feather pillows, and wrapping up in blankets on the lounge. I love that the sun is still up when i get home from work, and the chill in the air in the evenings. I love when the sun comes out during the day and temperatures reach a comfortable 20'c.

But still my heart sinks a little when i see the brown leaves falling on the grass and i am sad to be saying good bye to summer for another year.

Upholstery update!

Here is my bed head!

It took me almost exactly a year to finish, although I did miss a term and I did spend most of my class time talking. Hopefully that will be cured as I have enrolled in a different class this semester (the wonders of part time work) so hopefully I wont be as tired as I was getting there after work at the end of the week.

I used all the traditional methods including using horsehair to build it up. I was pretty proud of my stitching, I created a very firm edge by keeping the string very tight and the horse hair nicely packed in. All this said, it wasn't the best stage for me in terms of allergies! Nothing sets off my nose and eyes like Hessian and horse hair.

I finished the bed head by using double-piping, which I made myself. It was fairly easy, the only trouble was when the sewing machine kept running over the cord inside the material (enter the dreaded unstitcher thingamajig) but otherwise I think it has come up a treat and I am pretty pleased considering it is the first piece I have ever upholstered. I posted the completed piece on my Facebook and was very flattered by the response it received - thanks guys!

I have already started on the foot board which should *hopefully* go much quicker. I am already much more confident which takes away a lot of the time wasted hesitating, asking 'is this right?'. Maybe we will be in the bed by the end of the year?! It has taken a bit longer than my initial 3 day estimate to be sure.

I am really looking forward to starting on this small armchair I found when we were clearing out the loft. I have already stripped it in preparation. Will need to get thinking about fabric soon.

Here are some pictures from along the way.

Poise of the angular kind

Is anyone else hankering after an Anglepoise lamp?? Oh be still my beating heart!

Typewriting

Note the obligatory typo!

Recently, I acquired an old Olivetti Lettera 32 typewriter. I don't know what it was that got me thinking about one, but I found myself bidding for them on eBay when I was home for my wedding in February. I was eventually successful (back in the UK - I don't know what I was thinking, it was never going to fit in my suitcase along with everything else!) and got one for a good price, complete in its original case, with original instructions and care kit. I purchased a new ink ribbon for it, very carefully installed the new ribbon and off I went, carefully inspecting each of the little function levers and trying out old school typing. I have found the actual keys need to be pushed almost like piano keys, and my lazy flat hand approach to typing (from laptop keyboards I think) no longer cuts it.

The noise it makes feels so substantial and almost musical in a chaotic machinery type way. I have always found the sound of typewriters very appealing. I am one of those annoying people who hasn't turned off the type noise on her iphone, and I have a vague memory of being able to have a typewriter sound effect on something like ICQ when I was a teenager? I find the noise incredibly cathartic and loud ringing an indication of what I am creating. Although, I don't know how people typed all day on them, I guess you would end up with very sore, and eventually very strong fingers. I whole 'no delete' things must have been a bit annoying, but then again, people would have had the opportunity to 'paint' with white out (or tipex for my English friends) - another creative pursuit.

I love the shape of the typewriter itself - its whole look is very retro cool. Perhaps its all the MadMen I have been watching that is attracting me to this style, as I have definitely seen a shift in the types of fabrics I have been purchasing and using in recent projects. I even started to embroider typewriters on my pillowcases! I can't wait to try out my Olivetti on a few paper / printing projects I have in mind. One includes typing on old library cards, I have taken inspiration from this wonderful book, Handmade Hello's, from my letterpress hero's at Hello,Lucky!

The next think I want to do is clean it up and get it looking like new again - its not in bad shape but could do with a bit of dusting and I think the actually little letter stamps could do with a clean. The instructions suggest typewriter cleaning fluid, but I don't know how much of that stuff is still kicking around that hasn't expired. Will see how I go! Here is to some hand-typed love letters and maybe even my first novel!

*Cue Murder, She Wrote theme music please.

I'm back!

I haven't posted anything in ages! Because...

1. I got married in February to the best boy in the world

2. I planned the wedding from the other side of the world

3. At the same time, we undertook a loft conversion (in the middle of the coldest winter in decades, with no roof = freezing)

4. My sister and her boyfriend came to stay for a month

5. I have been busy starting and finishing a few day jobs

6. ... and just living life I suppose!

But I am back on track now.

There is lots to get up to date on, I need to show you my recent upholstery exploits and my finished bed head! It is simply gorgeous! It took a lot of hard work and a lot of hammered fingers and thumbs (and nails through fingers) but it finally got there.

Now for the footboard (not to mention the second bed, and small arm chair I found when we cleared out the loft).

I am starting a small letterpress operation called Phoebe and the Letterpress. Still in its infancy, in fact, still a new born. But the hope is to do custom letterpress for people who want things like wedding invitations, birth announcements and any little bit of custom papery-ness. Find out more here http://phoebeandtheletterpress.wordpress.com but please be kind - its still a work in progress!

On a similar note, that page also has some pictures and information about my wedding invitations and all the hard work that went into them - All hand pressed!

My beautifully restored fireplace I bought for a bargain £50 from a reclamation yard. Complete with vintage tiles (care of Portobello Road markets - eek, but it was the cheapest way I swear!) It is in position now in the brand new loft room.

Going to the cinemas on my own - apparently it is the new black.

Sewing and the few articles I have made including one skirt that I have deemed a success because I have worn it so many times now.

The bits of antique scrounging I have been allowed to do under our new strict financial regime (loft debt)

My latest Make Lounge visits, including extraordinary embroidery and the quilted baby blanket

Tea time in Penshurst (Kent countryside village)

Evenings at the British Museum - all things Renaissance, including printing and papermaking

Gosh, I have a fair bit of writing to do! Stay tuned!

Loved the Secret in Their Eyes

I know I haven't been on here in a while, but I just had to share this. My new husband (its only been 7 months!) and I went on a 'date' on Saturday night to the relatively new HMV Curzon (its the only place I go for movies now! It is small with only about 70 seats in the cinema, maybe less!) and its so clean - not smelly at all! And to make the whole experience even more enjoyable, you can order cocktails and other non-usual-cinema beverages and take them in with you. Even better is the list of movies they show. You get a nice smattering of some more mainstream flicks and some less mainstream and foreign films.

We went and saw the BRILLIANT 'The Secret in Their Eyes' (IMBD). It was just great in my opinion and my husband loved it too. He turned to me at the end of it and said "thank you for taking me to see amazing things". This made me feel very pleased with myself for picking to see it as it was the type of film my husband probably would never have gone to seen on his own volition. The film is Argentinean, won the Oscar for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Film of the Year.

Not only is the film shot and acted beautifully and convincingly, in fact the whole movie just feels genuine and authentic, but the story is a gripping one, and although extraordinarily sad in parts, there are lots of laughs. Some of the scenes left me with tears in my eyes, they were so heart warming, and at the end of the film I was left feeling incredibly elated and content, despite the difficult justice issue you are forced to ponder. The message to me was no-one can be happy living an empty life.

I cant finish without mentioning the makeup, which, again I thought was amazing. For a movie covering several years you will see what I mean. Who ever sourced the furniture for the sets did an amazing job as well. I got a thrill of delight when the Olivetti typewriter was given centre stage. Very amusing!

Definitely one to see.

Silk screen printing

A few months ago, i took a short course on silk screen printing at Cockpit Arts in London. It was great fun and i now have my own sillkscreen printing frame, just waiting to finish our extension so i will have my own space to get working on some designs and projects. I thought i would post a few pictures of some of the lovely images my class and I created:

Bed upholstery update

It's been ages since i posted on here and i wanted to give an update on the french antique bed i have been working hard to revamp. One summer school and a full semester later, it has gone from looking like the posting below to this ---->

The first picture shows the back of the headboard and the fabric i am using to recover the bed. Its by Joel Dewberry and i LOVE it. 

I have painted the frame using Farrow and Ball's James White in eggshell. Its a lovely in between matte and gloss paint, and has a lovely vintage feel. 

The second picture shows the front of the headboard. I have kept the original horsehair, but i have made a new hessian cover for it. Once i have finished nailing this in, i need to sew around the edges to give a nice firm edge. This is time consuming, but will be well worth the effort. 

Hopefully, i will have a headboard to stand behind our bed whilst i get cracking on the footboard!

Upholstery = time consuming, but fun and rewarding!

Crafty cuts

Well i have gone into craft over drive recently! My fiancee and I have decided to do a loft conversion in our flat and i am going to decorate. So i have been bidding furiously on eBay trying to snag some bargains, and boy have i found some. 

But whats so crafty about this i hear you ask? 

Well, its what i am going to do with these purchases. Inspired by The Make Lounge, i am going to learn to sew properly and do an upholstery course! And transform the following into fabulous French furnishings.

The first bed you can see is a Vintage French Demi Corbeille upholstered bed. And its gorgeous. I picked it up on eBay for only £175 which i think is a bargain seeing as there are places selling them for close to £2000. Obviously theirs are restored, which is what i am going to do to mine for a fraction of the prices. So how am i going to learn to upholster?

Well a friend of mine told me about this website called Floodlight that searches for courses and learning in your area. Lucky for me i have found what looks like a great course right in my borough, and seeing as i am going to learn how to upholster, i

 thought why not look at another course too 

- and so i have also decided on Interior Design which i think will be really cool and i even get a level 1 qualification afterward. Both courses are available i

n the evenings and only run over approx 10 weeks, so i think it is very do-able. 

Another piece i managed to salvage for only £7 (I was sooooo pleased with this as i had been looking at others that went for £80!) is this lovely old fashioned floor lamp, that i am going to give the Cath Kidston / Laura Ashley treatment and redo in white and some lovely prints on the shade. 

I am also hopping to nab a gorgeous fireplace, but I'm not putting it in here until its definitely mine cause i don't want anyone else nabbing it for themselves!! 

Keep checking in, cause over the next few months I will post pictures showing my progress and the finished products.

p xo