After our lovely tea we wandered around Granchester and stopped in to have a pint…

Then we took a short cab ride back to Cambridge proper where we watched people punt down the river Cam…

And for the last stop of the day, we visited one of my favorite English Gothic chapels… the amazing King’s College.

If you’re in London, you must check out Brunswich House. Its right by the flower market and the store is a treasure trove of all sorts of goodies. They have loads of old medicine bottles (gotta love the old labels) and the most adorable collection of old children toys. How cute are the kid-sized chairs and the old fire truck?

And of course, the antique hardware is to die for. Oh yes, and if you need some manly horns and skulls for your home, they have you covered.

Photos by me.

Monday: I revisited the reception location and confirmed table layout, made sure my husband’s morning suit fit him (this was an English wedding after all), transplanted toparies, folded napkins, and basically banged through some of the more tedious tasks.

Tuesday: I hit up Alfie’s which is another antique market that ranges from 19th century up to the 70′s. Lots of glass, silver sets, vintage ad posters, and a post modern bench made of pencils,

Wednesday: My flowers arrived from the market and I cleaned and prepped them. The hydranga in England is seriously jumbo (each indiviudal bloom is like 2″ accross) and the garden roses were super fragrant. With flower prep complete, I met my dad and husband and we hit up the National Galley and British Museum. From there we met the rest of the family in Covent Garden and had a proper curry (after many proper pints to be sure).

Thursday: I met Kirsten and we went up to Cambridge and walked to the little village of Granchester to have tea in The Orchard. I studied in Cambridge for a summer when I was in school and I loved the countryside walk from Cambridge to Granchester. You walk along the river cam, the cows hang out with you on the foot path, there are weeping willows, white swans, its basically idyllic England.  Its one of my favorite places in the world and its been a hang out spot to just about every major English literary writer for the last hundred years (this is the spot called “Forever England” in Rupert Brooke’s poem.). Also, the scones there are so freaking good.

On Friday, I arranged all the flowers in the various containers we had collected over the last week, had my nails done (very necessary after you’ve been playing with flowers) and packed up all the decor.

Saturday, was wedding day! I got my hair and makeup done early so I can run over to the reception and set everything up. I met my sister over at the ceremony site and watched her marry her sweet husband. The English registry marriage service is short, but sweet. I loved the tradition of showering with confetti the bride and groom as they leave the register’s office. I might have to steal that idea. The reception was quite the party, the groom’s family is Irish and they are certainly not shy about their love of Jameson (but then neither am I).

Sunday, I flew home exhausted. I had a wedding that following Friday, 9/16, so needless to say I’m still quite tired. Its been a busy three weeks. Anyhoo, I’ll share photos of Cambridge and the wedding when I can. It was so much fun to design my sister’s wedding especially since we have similar tastes, the man she married is a total sweetheart, and  England is one of my favorite countries. A big congrats to my sister and her husband!

All photos by me and my crappy cell phone camera.

Thursday: We went to visit my sister’s ceremony location, scoped out some good photography spots for bride and groom photos and then we headed to Camden Passage. It was mostly closed, and the shops that were open were really expensive.

We wandered down a ways and happened upon After Noah. We found some awesome rusted vintage tea tins that they had a ton of and were also a good price.

Friday: We met my sister’s fiance, Mark, and had lunch at Borough Market which is an open air food market. I got steak and ale pie for lunch. From there, we hit up Portebello Road. We had really good luck at Alice, we found a bunch of pretty pottery, vintage tea tins, and I bought some vintage ink wells to add to my collection.

Saturday: We hit up Portebello Market which was mind blowing. Vintage coins, prints, more silver tea sets then you can shake a stick at, tons of letterpress type, vintage jewelry, doll house furniture… Let’s just say its reputation as the biggest antique market is well deserved. We finished out container shopping here and then I went to pick up my husband from the airport.

Sunday: I made reservations for us to have high tea at Fortnum & Mason’s. A department store that’s been there since 1700, its tea and biscuit packaging is gorgeous and their merchandizing displays are amazing. Seriously, the whole store is so darn pretty. Tea started with a few savory bites and then the staff brought out tiered trays of tea sandwhiches, scones, and madelines. The madelines were incredible, fluffy and light with a touch of lemon zest.  After that the staff came around with a dessert cart filled with rows of pretty bites.

All photos by me and my crappy cell phone camera.

I went to England for my sister’s wedding, Tracy, (she’s married a Brit, hence the location) but of course I couldn’t not design and plan her wedding. She did most of the leg work there, sorting out the venues for ceremony and rehearsal and booking most of the vendors on her own. I brought a photographer from LA, Kirsten of Beaux Arts Photographie to shoot the wedding. I packed one suitcase full of custom napkins, a runner, floral supplies, craft punches, paper, various forms of glue, ribbon, basically anything I could pack, I did. I landed on a Friday and the following day was her hen do (aka her Bachelorette). We drank Pimm’s Cups and danced to the Spice Girls.

Monday: I checked out her reception location so I can start figuring out what kind of containers to buy and how many. After that we went fascinator shopping at Oxford Circus and then hit up Top Shop. I got some awesome black oxford heels there, the shoe department is freaking huge and fabulous.

Tuesday: We went to Covent Garden Flower Market and figured out a flower purveyor (Alagar). I also ordered garden roses direct from David Austin (both vendors were very pleasant to work with).

From there we happened upon an architectural salvage store, Brunswich House, accross the street from the flower market. It was way too much fun in there, vintage hardware, old children toys, serious period clothing, awesome books, dollhouse furniture and so on. If you’re in the area definitely make a stop there.

After that we ran over to Sunbury Antique Market at Kempton Park Racecourse which is open the last Tuesday of every month. The website says its closes at 2pm, but it in fact closes at 12pm. We got there at 12:30pm and did a speed antiquing job second to none. In 45 minutes, we bought 25 containers for the wedding. There were swords, knights’ masks, (still regret not buying one, especially since they were asking only 55 pounds!) amazing furniture, I mean seriously, even half closed it was the best antique market I’ve ever been to and the prices were really good. We got a ton of awesome tarnished silver pieces, mostly from the 1890′s, goblets, these awesome brass urns that I’m totally obsessed with and which I lugged back in my suitcase.

Wednesday: We hit up the hardware store and got buckets for flowers, I found an awesome tool belt thingie, and of course, the most exciting plant ever: a venus fly trap. For 4 pounds, we had to bring her home.

All photos by me and my crappy cell phone camera.

I love a good old door, lining a cobblestone lane….

Perhaps made of rough hewn wood…

Or painted a shocking hot pink.

Photos from top: 1. Right, Caroline Arber Left, Adrienne Page 2. Gemma Comas 3. Polly Eltes

I’m feeling a bit frazzled this week (already) and a beachside vacation sounds so perfect.

I’d find some shade and read a book, or maybe just stare at the water for hours.

Doesn’t that sound perfect?

Photos by Amanda Pratt.

Needless to say, I was really inspired by Kelly’s post yesterday. Early methods of color photography are fascinating.

My first exposure to the autochrome was at the California Museum of Photography at UC Riverside. One of my best friends curated a small exhibit of photographs that revolved around this early type of photography.

This is one from their collection. I’m still a little iffy on how this process actually works, but I know that it involves microscopic grains of potato starch dyed shades of red, green and blue that create a screen on a glass plate for light to pass through. When you look at an autochrome up close, you can see the individual grains of starch, which makes it look almost like a microscopic pointellism painting.

This image, and the ones that follow it, were taken by Albert Kahn. He was actually a very wealthy French banker, and in 1909 decided to set out on a trip around the world to photograph people from various cultures. This is a woman who was living in Vietnam at the time.

This was taken in Norway.

This was taken in Ireland.

The thing that really strikes me about this project is that it was never intended to be artful. It was simply a documentation project which he hoped would promote peace and understanding.

The images and information are from the California Museum of Photography and the Albert Kahn website.

I love libraries and I would be so happy if I had one in my home. This one is just about perfect– fireplace, check, aqua bookshelves, check, comfy velvety couch perfect for relaxing and reading a book, check.

Oh yes, and there’s even a window seat, to boot.

While this space maybe a bit over the top and grand for me, I still love the aqua bookshelves and the gold detailing is so pretty. Happy Wednesday!

Photos by Simon Watson.

Its rather gloomy and rainy here in Santa Barbara, and its times like these I wish I had a little cottage retreat in a wooded countryside. I’d cook up some awesome butternut squash soup in this kitchen. How amazing are the painted wood floors in contrast to the industrial range and the warm wood tones of the sideboard?

I’d invite my friend who’s an incredible pianist to provide the music for the festivities. After the party, I’d need to take a very long hot bath in this gorgeous bathroom. I love the two types of tile, on the floor and the wall, mixed with more of that gorgeous painted wood paneling. The tone on tone white is so serene.

Oh yes, and we’d definitely need to use the outdoor fire place and drink lots of hot chocolate around it. Happy Wednesday!

All photos by Trine Horsen.

I know its only Thursday, but I’m so excited for a non-working weekend that I’m already plotting an al fresco dinner party.

A farmhouse table setup under a tree? Perfection.

Linen tablecloth? Benches? An adorable puppy head? The countryside? Yes, please!

Photos from top: 1. via House & Garden 2. Miki Duisterhof 3. Alexandra Rowley

The sun is finally shining and the beach is calling my name.

I’d bring a picnic and decorate in a palatte of sunny yellows and cobalt blues.

And, of course, I’d bring a beach ball and a good book. Happy Monday!

Photos from top: 1 & 2. Amanda Pratt 3. Roland Bello

I love the idea of escaping to Lake Como for an extended vacation. I could stare at the view for hours…

Take a dip in the pool and setup an outdoor lunch of amazing local ingredients…

Like fresh mozzarella and pesto…

And of course, strong Italian espresso would be served on a carrera marble table.

Images: 1 & 2: via Home in Italy 3. Alexandra Grablewski 4. Jim Franco

I don’t know about you, but sometimes its hard to deal with reality of Monday and all I want to do is just escape for a bit. I thought maybe a new series highlighting some awesome vacation real estate might just do the trick. Shall we a hop a plane to Italy today?

The idea of staying in a 12th century castle with 30 of your closest friends sounds like a rocking good time to me.

We could admire the old wood beams in our bedroom or read a book on the hot pink couch…

We could ride bikes to the village…

And setup dinner in the courtyard…

And then perhaps a nice walk after a dinner filled with local wine and cheese? Yep, that sounds just about perfect. Available here to rent, if you’re so inclined.

Images: 1, 4, 6: Phil Poynter 2, 3, 5: via Home in Italy