| Too fast to live, too young to die... |
[Feb. 8th, 2010|07:14 pm] |
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On a whim yesterday, I decided I'd have a go at sewing a Vivienne Westwood style dress. I finished it today and, as this was the first dress I've ever made, it went really well. It ties around the middle and has pockets at and flaps that fold around.
The design is based on an Anglomani dress but as it cost over £300, I couldn't afford it, so I took a trip to Goldhawk Road and for £5 worth of fabric + a £3 zip + 2 days of sewing, here's my £8 dress, just in time to wear to New York!
It goes really nicely with my Lady Dragon shoes and my new Vivienne Westwood necklace, which Tom surprised me with when I got to the airport after my trip to Tenerife.
 Tom also got himself some socks and a set of offensive coasters.
My next update shall be from NYC, so in the meantime, keep yourself busy by watching the Whip It! movie, which is so awesome. |
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| Keep calm and carry on... |
[Feb. 7th, 2010|10:08 am] |
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This week I've been super crafty. My first project was a couple of Union Jack pillows for the bed. "Someone" brought me a heap of Chanel ribbons to use and they worked really well.
I made a mermaid tail as my costume for Mardis Gras. It has a zipper up the back at the bottom, so I can unzip my feet and walk. My favourite movie when I was a kid was The Little Mermaid, so I've always wanted a tail and now I have one :D
The secret cafe at Westfield has closed down but we discovered a new little place called Ca'puccino which serves yummy Italian food.
There were floating shelves of books everywhere, which made me feel at home.
The mugs and napkins had a lined paper pattern and now I really want a set.
CO+K has been getting lots of press this week and has been in a bunch of magazines. This article was in Craft Business - they call me a well-known journalist, hehe.
There was also a little mention in MakeJewellery magazine. We're also in the new issue of Sew Magazine, so if anyone has a copy, could you please send me a scan with the bit about us? I'd love to know what it says.
Finally, someone else has made a version of my kitty hood scarf, I'm going to have a little army soon.
Time to start packing, we leave for New York in less than 48 hours and I'm so excited. If anyone has any NY tips, please send them this way! |
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| Goodbye sunshine... |
[Jan. 31st, 2010|11:07 pm] |
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I'm back in London now. Tom met us at the airport which was such a nice surprise. I'm going to miss the sunshine.
I forgot to post photos of the hotel before. It was really nice and right next to the pool, which was the best bit. We would sit out on the balcony at night and watch movies on my laptop.
Someone on CO+K has already made a version of my Kitty Hood Scarf. It took me over a year to finish and they did it in just 1 week! It looks fantastic too.
Today we brunched with Lynz, Claire & Emma at Plan 9, had the cheapest round ever at the Warrington and then went for cupcakes at Hummingbird.
On the way home I spotted this shop covered in bows. I want to do the same to the Mews! |
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| Monkey Park... |
[Jan. 28th, 2010|10:41 pm] |
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Today was amazing, we went to Monkey Park (which my Dad has named monkey farm), which turned out to be the best zoo I've ever been too.
We went early, so we had the whole park to ourselves and you were free to walk through the enclosures with all the animals running around you.
We were given mixed bags of food to feed them with, but you had to work out which animals liked which food.
The squirrel monkeys were the friendliest animals in the park.
They liked crawling all over us and standing on our heads.
This one loved my Dad's iPhone and managed to take a photo.
The lemurs were my favourite, with their super fluffy tails.
There were turtles too and lots of lizards.
There were hundreds of little guinea pigs running around, you had to be careful that you didn't step on any of the animals when you walked.
Zoos are always so much better in foreign countries because of the lack of health & safety laws.
The park also had chimpanzees, panthers and a lot of parrots.
We got to cradle this one like a baby, it was so soft and light. |
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| At the top of the volcano... |
[Jan. 27th, 2010|10:11 pm] |
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Today we headed up to the top of the volcano. It looked like a different planet.
You're so high up that you're above the clouds, which makes the roads even eerier.
We stopped for soup before the top. It was onion soup which had a fried egg and bits of bread in it.
The volcano looked like a desert but it was really cold.
There was a jogger who kept managing to overtake us every time we stopped, he must have been very fast. Afterwards we headed back to the hotel and went swimming.
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| Santa Cruz, you're not that far.... |
[Jan. 26th, 2010|09:51 pm] |
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Today we went to Santa Cruz, which is the main city of the island (Tom sang The Thrills song at me).
It's crazy seeing the old buildings mixed in with the new.
There was lots of awesome graffiti. We didn't stay too long, just enough time to grab some lunch and go to a bookshop - I'd finished reading the first Twilight book and needed to get the second.
Afterwards we headed to Icod de los Vinos to see Dracaena draco, the Dragon Tree.
It's the the largest and oldest tree of it's kind and it has crazy looking roots and branches.
The locals believe that it bleeds blood because it's sap is so red and that it's made up of human bodies (as the poster shows).
There was also a volcanic cave, which was kind of creepy.
There was a mummy inside - very creepy.
Icod de los Vinos is also the main wine town on the island (the name gives it away), so we went to a little shop where we tried lots of different liqueurs.
Dad got us cute cookies.
I befriended a couple of parrots.
This one tried to speak to me but it only knew Spanish.
We then went for churros and hot chocolate, one of my favorite Spanish snacks (I posted a recipe for these ages ago) before heading home.
Tonight someone was singing Duffy's Warwick Avenue song at the karaoke bar over from our hotel, which made me miss home. Also, worst news ever - Mr Warwick Avenue's Service Information board has been replaced by an electronic one. How's he going to write his witty signs now?! |
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| Going down to pirate town... |
[Jan. 25th, 2010|08:58 pm] |
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Today we decided to escape the tourism of the resort by driving up the mountain to Masca, a lovely little hilltown that was once overrun by pirates.
I don't think the pirates would have stopped for tea and cake like we did though.
There was the most amazing sink made from driftwood in the cafe's bar, I really want someone to make me one.
We walked around the town for a bit, it can get a lot colder up the mountain.
And then we had Canarian potatoes, one of the traditional dishes. There are hundreds of different dips that they serve them with and it depends on which part of the island you're on as to which one you get.
The roads are so windy and scary up in the mountains, they're even worse when it's dark.
We spotted this odd couple sitting on stones by the side of the road. They were doing exactly the same pose as each other and had the same movements. We thought they looked like gnomes and Tom said they thought they were on a train, tee hee! |
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| Flowers sleeping in their beds... |
[Jan. 24th, 2010|08:36 pm] |
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Ola! Our first day of the holiday was spent around the town we're staying, Adeje. We went swimming in the hotel pool in the morning and then took a walk along the coast - dipping our feet in the sea, which was surprisingly a lot warmer than the pool.
It's so nice being able to walk around without a jacket, gloves, scarves and earmuffs, like you would in London at the moment.
The volcano is quite intimidating over the town. We're staying in the south of the island, which is hot but very touristy, filled with British pubs and chip shops.
We decided to give Gordon Ramsay's restaurant a try in the evening, it has nothing to do with him (which is legal here) but the food was good and very cheap.
We miss Tom but it's not been too bad because we can chat to him on iChat in the evenings and show him photos. I've been collecting a range of foreign beers for him to try when I get back. |
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| Read music / speak Spanish... |
[Jan. 24th, 2010|01:15 am] |
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After a super tiring flight (screaming kids and snoring old men - I slept while drowning them out with Bright Eyes), we finally made it to Tenerife in the Canary Islands, just off the west coast of Africa. It's lovely and hot at this time of year, which makes a pleasant change from rainy London. The island looked quite ominous from the plane, with it's huge volcano (which my Dad tells me is still active) sticking up through the clouds.
We hired a car and heading for the hotel, which was quite hard to find as they all looked so similar. I crashed out as soon as we got in and slept straight through until the evening.
When I woke up, we headed out to get some dinner. We're close to San Miguel, so that's was the obvious beer of choice.
It was only €6.50 for a 3 course meal! I had a tuna salad, fish and creme caramel for dessert. There was a "Gordon Ramsay" restaurant next door, but as they were also serving 3 courses for €6.50, I couldn't work out if it was for real or if they were just using his name. We'll have to check it out. I think food is going to play a big part in this holiday.
Right now I'm catching up on my CO+K work with the sound of crickets in the distance and making friends with the locals. |
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| A heavenly day at Ladurée.... |
[Jan. 22nd, 2010|11:34 pm] |
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My Dad gave me a voucher for Christmas to go and have as many macaroons as I could eat. My parents have been down visiting for the past week, so we headed along to Harrods today to have some at Ladurée.
I had a pistachio milkshake and my Dad ordered hot chocolate which was literally thick chocolate melted into a liquid. Tom ordered a tasty praline cake.
We got a big box of macaroons to share. My favourites were the praline, black liquorice, chestnut, salted caramel and pistachio flavours.
No sleep tonight - we're flying to the Canary Islands early tomorrow morning, so I have to leave for the airport in a few hours. I added my Kitty hooded scarf pattern to CO+K incase anyone wants to knit one too...
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catmorley's journal
