Good Morning

Woke up early (super early - before 5am) this morning, picked up my good friend Sam and headed to the beach to catch the sunrise before breakfast. The air was cool and crisp, and the sun- warm and pink. I felt overdressed wearing boyfriend jeans and a knit, but it was a beautiful way to start the day and well worth the early rise out of bed!


(Images: Own/Sam)

Fresh Arrangements

Simple fresh greens or overflowing pink florals...?



(via Elle Decoration South Aftrica, Grandfloria-Celebrations)

Ping Pong, Nap, Repeat

I'm loving this kiddy sized coffee table by Mike Mak - which not only doubles as a ping pong table, but also has a chalk surface to allow for hours of entertainment. Clever, simple and super cute!

(via co.design/Mike Mak Design)

Metallic Mermaid

This editorial with fresh-faced actress Sophie Lowe caught my eye over the weekend. Love the mix of dark water and metallics.. and the whole mermaid vibe in general.

(via sundaylife)

Lately: Flying Edit

01 Ordered what I thought would be a boring fruit salad.. ended up with 4 mystery fruits!
02 Flying over Mars? No. Just the Australian Outback.
03 Cafe at Helsinki Airport.
04 Flying over Pluto? No. Just Arctic Norway.
05 A vertical garden at Singapore Changi Airport- which I must admit, was a nice change from all the Orchids.
06 The last hour of any flight- no matter how good the selection of movies, is always spent staring at the flight path screen.

Sheer

A glimpse, a peek, a veil.  Fragile, feminine hints within an otherwise masculine world.

(via Transluscent skin- Atherton Keener House/Dwell, Ecker Architects/Homeedit, Coffey Architects/Minimalissimo, Yo Yamagata Architects/ArchDaily, Sheer Skirt/Choies ,Yang Li SS/13)

Lately

My trip to Scandinavia came with a side visit to the Big Apple. As usual, so much to see, so little time, but thankfully, there will always be a next time. 

So New York, until we meet again. x

01 Filament Bulb lamp at CB2 (obsessed) 

02 Our glamorous night at the Oscars.

03 Ice Skating at Bryant Park with my friend Amy

04 Stumbled upon this whimsical burger joint in the Flatiron District (its right near the Broadway/E23rd St Subway)

05 A drizzly day in the meatpacking district

06 ABC Kitchen- it was hard to get a table, but I loved this place!

Lately

I know that a lot of people choose to visit Europe in Summer, but visiting in Winter is a completely different experience, and is something you should absolutely consider. It is a delight to be able to wander through an old, historic town, then wake up the next day to see the same streets dusted in fresh white snow. It is also much less crowded and getting into attractions and museums is a breeze- no ques like there are in June/July

We traveled around Northern Europe - and I particularly enjoyed Tromso, Stockholm (so much Scandi Style) and the Lofoten Islands- which without doubt had the most beautiful scenery I have ever witnessed. Tallinn was also a lovely surprise (think Prague, but even older and with medieval roots). 

The highlight, throughout the entire Scandinavian trip would have to be seeing the Northern Lights. I'm convinced that it is the most spectacular natural phenomenon on earth. We were lucky enough to see them on three different nights- with each one more vivid and colourful than the previous. If you are wondering what it actually is, there is a very clear and simple scientific explanation. The light is caused by charged particles from the sun reacting with gas atoms in our upper atmosphere. The colour of light emitted corresponds to the type of gas the electrons are reacting with and the height of this reaction (Oxygen = green/red, Nitrogen = Purple).  But as it happens before your eyes, you can't help but to let go of this information, and feel its spirited presence as it takes on a life of its own. A mysterious, shape shifting band/curtain/wash of green colour that appears amongst the endless starry sky and disappears silently.. only to reappear again several minutes later, while all you can do is watch in awe.

If you are planning a trip North to see the Aurora: please, please take a decent camera and a tripod and learn the manual settings! The amount of people I saw struggling to position tiny digital cameras in the snow was shocking. Its a once in a lifetime opportunity people! Go prepared!

01 Signage love

02 Architecture in Helsinki

03 Blue Eyed Husky

04 Annual Reindeer Race down Tromso's main street (as part of Saami Week)

05 Traditional fishermans cottages in Lofoten.

06 A poster showing Northern Norwegian Mythology in a town simply named A 

(All photos, own)

Digital Drawings

Have you tried the Paper App by FiftyThree? I think it has been out for a while now, but I only just discovered it. You can watercolour and sketch on the go in cute personalised notebooks-a  handy app for creatives, designers and people who always need to write things down (like me).

This was a dodgy pic I drew on a recent SAS flight- love the signature cobalt blue of Scandanavian Airlines. 

(Available from the App Store- the base notebook is free, but you have to buy brushes & tools)