home from home (fox & mattress)

mmm...cozy....on Arlington Road, NW1

my old friend Foxy...on Delancy Street, NW1

i started a new job recently and spend my lunch breaks pootling around the back streets of Camden Town - so i was naturally delighted to have spotted a few familiar faces!

on the way to work (from the top of the 18 bus) - Harrow Road, NW10

hidden in beside a garage on Parkway, NW1

mattress-nest

 sunlight becomes you...Buchanan Gardens NW10...and a bit of bin-art

popped out on the bike earlier and it was a bumper mattress-spotting day - i think i found a nest on Buchanan Gardens....

 i think i've found a nest...

 

 cast out? or just an airing? Tiverton Road, NW10

abandoned on Wrottesley Road, NW10

spring wish list

i am coveting these sandals and this bag from Plumo...but at those prices i could go on holiday. also i'm not sure if those shoes might make me look like a teacher circa 1970 something....geography or art...my worst fear!

STIK

 here

just popped down to Subway Gallery beneath Edgware Road to see street artist Stik do some live painting and to view his work on show there (read more about him via street art london)- he was very friendly and i promise to go back again next saturday and might even treat myself to one of his mini canvas pieces. 

 go down here (the subway under Edgware Road)

 into here....

 for a little bit of live painting like this 

(admittedly tho he said he was mostly whiting out and repainting 

the eyes when the press showed up for more pics!)

 a little bit of this in the gallery....

and bit of that...with the roar of traffic above your head.

dirt

the upcoming exhibition at the Wellcome Collection Dirt: the filthy reality of everyday life begins on the 24th March promising to reveal the fascinating world of filth!  a flickr pool has been set up so naturally i had to leave a mattressland contribution...i think this beauty fits the bill perfectly....

MARTIANS....live from the red carpet...oscars 2011

separated at birth? martian chick / sharon stone at 2011 oscars red carpet

just been watching the Oscars Red Carpet on E!...gawd, thinks i, that Kelly Osborne looks like the martian from Mars Attacks with her massive blonde beehive...and then 2 seconds later along comes Sharon Stone  with the same look - sack the stylists!  fave outfits of the night so far tho are Gwyneth Paltrow in Calvin Klein, Hilary Swank in Gucci, Reese Witherspoon in Giorgio Armani Privee and Jennifer Lawrence also in Calvin Klein.

Gwyneth Paltrow via  here

Hilary Swank (& Sharon Stone above) images via here

Reese Witherspoon via here

Jennifer Lawrence via here

special mention to Mandy Moore for her sparkly Monique Lhuillier number (shame she looks so stiff in the photos), too bad Scar-Jo's hair looked like she'd been dragged thru a hedge backwards and Jennifer Hudsons boobs were uncomfortably squished into her dress - ouch!

Mandy Moore via   here

oh ...and cutest couple goes to (as always) the delicious Mark Ruffalo and his kooky cute wife Sunset...please take me home and adopt me...!

 via here

wish list

two great items spotted via swiss miss - fab desk organiser from here (not in production yet) and this brilliant goggles umbrella from here.

eggs rothko

mmmmm....how delicious do these look -  Eggs Rothko from the brilliantly named crepes of wrath - all you need are some brioche, eggs and a hunk of chedder/gruyere cheese....yum yum yum melty cheesey goodness....i know what i want for breakfast!

the cheesy garlic potatoes look pretty delicious too!

absinthe

image 

having just found a vintage absinthe spoon in a cluttered antique shop in Arundel...it got me thinking about trying  la fée verte (or "green fairy") again - favoured tipple of bohemian artists of the late 19th/early 20th century such as Baudelair, Rimbaud, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde and Aleister Crowley - to name a few. absinthe is a spirit made from the distillation of herbs including wormwood, green anise and sweet fennel, which originated in Switzerland in the 18th century (tho wormwood was used medicinally in ancient Egypt).

Albert Maignan "La muse verte" 

   the virtual absinthe museum 

following its popularity and eventual ban 200 years later, spurred on by the temperence movement who thought it drove people crazy, it had a resurgence of popularity in specialist bars in London in the 1990s and i remember trying a few times to experience the mythical hallucinatory trip following the ritual (or "louche") of dripping cold water over a sugar laden spoon (tho not to be burned like sambuca - this is an abomination to absinthe afficionados!) into a glass of the green liquid - but always with limited results; mostly just getting a lot drunker, a lot quicker.  it turns out the hallucinatory effects are in fact mostly an exaggeration (those pesky poets) tho it does provide a clearer, cleaner state of drunkeness - it pretty much gives you the effects you would expect from the super strength spirit that it is. however, in the '90s there was only a poorer quality czech product on the market and nowadays there are a lot more higher quality varieties available.  so i think it is time to experiment again soon.

i have been checking out various websites that rate absinthe and give you full and detailed instructions on how to perform the rituals.  i came across a few articles via  liqurious which definitely warrant further investigation, including some interesting cocktail recipes that contain absinthe. of the absinthe products listed i do like the vintage look of the Stranger & Stranger bottle, with it's eye on the bottle top - sadly unavailable to purchase - it was just a christmas promotional bottle. 

Tenneyson Absinthe Royale apparantly has hints of gin and is perfect with tonic - so definitely sounds worth a try.  i am also drawn to the mirror-bottle modern absinthe Fenom - i am such a sucker for packaging - blimey, this one is lo-cal...hmmmm...not so sure about that!?!

i bought a bottle of Pandor for my brother's 40th - purely on the strength of the great packaging and must ask him whether he has ever sampled it and can comment on its quality.  i'm tempted to buy some myself - i just love that cheeky bottle!

 

Lucid, producers of a grande wormwood only recently available in the UK, have declared March 5th National Absinthe Day (tho i have a feeling this is primarily aimed at the US market!) - so it is certainly timely to sample this mysterious tipple....but with care...an interesting fact: the Russian word for wormwood is chernobyl!!

windmills

how gorgeous are these tiny windmill/pinwheel earrings (spotted via i am a greedy girl)....perfect for summer!

spring fresh

here 

spring fresh looks via bettyjoy - can't wait! it was sunny and bright here in London yesterday and this morning, tho there are more cold spells ahead according to the weather men...but bulbs are popping up, daffs are about to bloom...spring is most definitely in the air....

tea for one

since coming back from the wet and wild coast (and snotty children!) i seem to have developed a chill - so am on hot lemon, ginger, honey by the bucket load.  thankfully i decided to buy one of these bodum tea for one cups - ideal for the healing concoctions and available in lots of pretty colours!

vintage finds

 

just a few other items i picked up while trawling charity and antique shops in West Sussex: a beautiful large serving plate with bright green & gold edging, some flower motif large bowls (just what i'd been searching for to eat pasta from) and a collection of knives, forks, spoons and even a few extra special spoons.  the top one is definitely an absinthe spoon (which i've been looking for for ages now and can be quite pricey) and the other two are possibly mote spoons - which have caused much debate over their use - possibly as a fruit/olive spoon, a lemon strainer or even to skim the top from tea.  i managed to get all items for only a few pounds...bargain!

holiday mattresses

live and direct from Tel Aviv!

while away in Sussex my friend Bart sent me this beauty from his holidays in Tel Aviv.  then when i got home i found this one outside the house opposite my front door.  double holiday mattresses!

Mattressland special - Park Parade, NW10