Finishing Touches...

I recently moved into my other (I'll never say better!) halves flat. He has a lovely, grown-up home as we have both waved goodbye to our hazy Uni days - but you've gotta make a house a home and as a hoarder of all sorts of bits and bobs my collection has slowly crept up on the flat.

To be fair when I left my student-days flat behind me I did throw out quite a lot - mainly an assortment of fancy-dress and beer trophies. But I do like to keep things that mean something to me and have a story to tell. Thankfully W wasn't too fussy when little girly touches where made and his flat became my home too.

First to make an appearance was this gorgeous print of Paris, from my old and good friend Morag. This came about from a summer of Euro-tripping, said friend in toe, which ended in in the French capital. After an evening of wining and dining and being wooed by French boys and roses (Morag not me I might add) we stumbled across what is known as 'The White Dinner'. Story goes that every year all the diners know the date, but not the location of the dinner. To keep it absolutely secret everyone gets a text just an hour before the event before they gather up their white utensils and off they pop - the only rule is everything is white. The year we pretended to be invited it was a magnificent setting - in front of Notre Dame.


As you can tell Morag's a pretty darn good artiste so have a look - Morag Cullens

We both goggled at the oh-so-chic diners for ages. Some groups had gone all out and hired a white-clad chef - complete with hat - to cook them up amazing treats on a portable stove, others had just filled picnic baskets with all their favourite things. The best moment came though, as on the corner, leaning over a wrought iron balcony an admirer of the spectacle waved his white napkin at the crowd and everyone stood up, waving their pristine white lace napkins back in salute - a truly magical Parisian moment that has now been immortalised beautifully by Morag.



The decorations didn't stop there though as some extra special empty bottles came out of hiding. Of course every girl needs a glass or two of fizz on their 21st and the bottles I guzzled were extra special as they were named after me - or so I like to say! But in actual fact they were spotted in a German vineyard. My Dad has whiled away many an hour wine tasting and building up his collection so it seemed like fate when he found these unsuspectingly named bottles just in time for a special persons 21st birthday - of course these are a keeper!



Next up is another family addition. I'd been hunting for the perfect tea-set for a while, with nothing quite right coming up.  Of course my two sisters knew about my fruitless hunt - hours scouring vintage shops and less than moral contemplations about stealing from tea-shops. However the perfect teapot turned up in the most unexpected place - a small shop hidden away in the streets of Bern. It was spotted and quickly snapped up by my tea-savvy sisters. I swear to you there were actual tears on Christmas morning - before some clever packing had to be thought out to ship the beauties home.




However, the biggest battle came when I thought my bed sheets would look lovely in his man-cave bedroom. I have a thing about a made bed - it's not an obsession but I don't like to leave the house until the bed is looking pristine. The poppy picture, the decorative cushions and the themed sheets all came from a trip to Ikea with my mother. The year I moved into my very own flat at Uni was at the same time that my parents moved country. So my ever-clucking mother hen decided that my bedroom in the big city had to be as homely as possible - so we made it extra cosy with fleecy throws, patterned sheets and big red poppy prints. Again these have followed me on and now remind me of home comforts.

In Scotland a hot water bottle is also needed and this one was from a worried little sister when I moved into halls - who was concerned that her always-cold-sister would struggle. What a cutie eh! And of course it doesn't matter how old you get everyone needs a teddy to cuddle...