Don't forget about your laptop this Christmas

'Falling' Laptop skin by Cassia from Society6

I have this crazy love affair with my MacBook. On the one hand, I have heart palpitations whenever I find myself more than 5metres away from it. This 2kg sliver of gleaming white plastic has my life on it - music, photos, videos, portfolio, scripts...the lot. 

On the other, I frequently drip coffee on it, toss it in my handbag without a second thought, and laugh as my toddler bangs away at the keys 'sending emails'. To be blunt, I'm married to my laptop - I love it to bits and can't imagine life without it, but I'm usually taking it for granted.

So, this Christmas there will be a little present under the tree for Mackie...a beautiful book print laptop skin from Society6. If you haven't seen this website before, prepare to spend money the moment you do. Independent artists upload their works, and Society6 turns them into anything from laptop or iPad or iPhone skins to framed prints to hoodies and t-shirts. Genius! And a great last minute gift option if you still haven't started your Christmas shopping.

Whoops...coffee drip...gotta dash.

x

Crafty, Happy People

I'm really excited for this weekend, in fact I've been looking forward to it for weeks!


The Auckland Craft Fair is taking place again, at the Aotea Centre. We ventured out of the house for one of the first times with our new baby to attend last year's fair, and it was so worth it I can't wait to go again.


The number of talented crafties in New Zealand is staggering, and the ACF gives them well-deserved exposure. I'm on the hunt for some cute pictures for our walls, some new pottery, a dress for my daughter to wear to an upcoming wedding and something that blows my mind so much I can't go home without it. Read the ACF blog to find out about some of the designers and get all the details you need.


Hope to see you there! Please come up and say hello.


x

Saturday Scrapbook : Dreaming of a white Christmas

Miss Marc Headphones from Shopbop.com

One of the things I feel nostalgic about is the cold, sometimes snowy Christmas you get in Europe. Wrapping your hands around a steaming cup of mulled wine and perusing the Christmas markets is so traditional it feels like you're in a Hans Christian Anderson fairytale.

The last Christmas I spent in London, it was so cold and snowy we finished a packet of toffee pops and a bottle of Champagne before even getting out of bed, and that was just to stumble up to our local pub for a 7 course Christmas lunch. Needless to say, we were in bed again by 4pm (it was dark anyway, and Santa Claus the Movie was on - the real one, with Dudley Moore). So, although my photos of the day are beautiful (it was the only snowy Christmas Day I spent in London), I actually found myself wishing for strawberries and cold chicken salad in the sun. 

So, today's Saturday Scrapbook celebrates a different kind of white Christmas. One that can be enjoyed wherever you are in the world; the white Christmas wishlist.  

White bag from the Saben colab with Madeleine Harman

Moochi Hideaway Hat

Snowberry Instant Deep Cleanser from MyBeautyStore

Karen Walker Double Frill Cuff Shirt

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This mug's a keeper

Ceramic Cup by Porcelain Rove

I love morning's first hot drink. From the moment my sleep fog starts to dissipate the internal debate begins. Coffee? Or tea? Tea? Or coffee? Whichever I decide, I always drink it from the same mug, which fits snugly in my hand like an old friend and gets carried with me around the house as I go about my morning routine.  


A good drink mug is like a favourite old pair of jeans. Comfy, worn in all the right places, and just yours. We have a matching set of eight beautiful white mugs, but they're stacked in the cupboard, unused unless we have visitors. I like my little lost hobo mug, which doesn't match anything else in our house and wouldn't look out of place at an Op shop.


I've had that particular mug for three years, since my last one smashed (there were tears... I attempted superglue surgery...she was too far gone) but this morning tragedy struck, once again leaving me mugless and in need of a replacement.


After a quick browse online, I soon discovered Porcelain Rove, a line of handmade ceramic vases and cups made by local artist Jamie Young. Even brand new, they look rumpty and worn enough to slip right into the space left by my previous mug (may she rest in peace). This time I'll be smart and buy more than one. No such thing as mugnonomy, thank goodness.


x

Vintage, and jewelry, and clothes! Oh my!

Yellow Brick Road Boutique, Parnell

I have wandered up and down Parnell Road hundreds of times, and for whatever reason, today I chose to venture left into a tiny cobblestoned path I hadn't noticed before. 

The first discovery was an Ice Cream bar. In Parnell! I lived here for two years, ate ice cream (at least once) every day I was pregnant. How did I not know it was here? 

I would have been happy enough with my ice cream discovery, but I spied pretty vintage fabric and some whimsical window decals and was lured even further down the path. Oh, my. There she was...The Yellow Brick Road Boutique. I know I have suffered terribly from baby brain this past year, but really? How have I not known about this treasure trove? Am I the only person in Auckland that hasn't been here?

Owned by Ruth (and her gorgeous dog Frankie, with his colour-blocked ears), the YBRB is quite simply a chocolate box of girlie delights. Jewelry, books, clothes and more, merchandised to higgeldy-piggeldy perfection. Skull cameos hang next to hand-knitted bow necklaces, 1940s inspired tea dresses brush against dog printed sweatshirts. 

It's all the pleasure of vintage shopping, without the mothballs.

x

Every (big) kid's room needs a toadstool

Toadstool Lamp from Nature Baby

Overnight, very

Whitely, discreetly,

Very quietly

Our toes, our noses

Take hold on the loam,

Acquire the air.

We shall by morning

Inherit the earth.

Our foot's in the door.

Sylvia Plath

I have a confession to make. Until I started writing this post, I thought toadstools, like the fairies that sit on them, were a thing of fairytales. Who knew they actually exist and are a type of mushroom? I feel like someone just told me that smurfs are a species native to outer Mongolia. No? Darn.


Shiny, red and spotty in an almost comical way, toadstools lend an air of folklore to their surroundings. I have been looking for a toadstool cushion for my daughter's room, but this lamp from Nature Baby is infinitely cuter.  It emits a soft, cosy light that is perfect for when you need to be able to see what you're doing but don't want to wake your baby.


And let's be honest, even if I didn't have a child I would find a place for this sweet little lamp in my home. We could all use a little more fairytale.


x

Put a Peppin your baby step

I have driven past Peppin Boutique on Jervois Road countless times and thought how cute it looked, but it wasn't until this week that I actually parked and went in (via Icing on the Cake for cupcakes of course - more on that next week). Quelle surprise! This tiny shop punches well about its weight in browsing pleasure.

Run by the lovely Kathleen, of the Skylark label, Peppin is a perfectly curated selection of locally made, organic clothes (in fact Kathleen makes them all herself on location), French label Petit Bateau, sweetly off-beat children's books and a few wooden Janod toys thrown in for good measure.

Best of all, a well stocked play corner kept my inquisitive toddler enthralled while I indulged my magpie-mother tendencies. 

On my Christmas shopping list...the wooden cheese lacing toy,  Petit Bateau's wild animals t-shirt and the black and white cuffed organic leggings. I'm no longer eating for two, but at least I can shop for two!

x

Pretty pretty pretty at Tessuti

Primrose singlet by Ingrid Starnes

I have a new guilty pleasure: Tessuti in Herne Bay.


I say guilty because I spent the money I was saving for a sensible pair of new running shoes on something much more delicate and, shall we say...wanton. The exact details will remain a mystery so that I can slide said new purchase into my wardrobe on the quiet (and hopefully escape the wrath of my beloved).


Tessuti never fails to woo me with something unashamedly girly and gorgeous. Today I may have found at least part of my summer wedding wardrobe, in the form of the beautiful Primrose singlet (above) by Ingrid Starnes. It comes in cream and 'ink' (navy) and is the prettiest top I have seen in ages. I also fell in love with a ring by kiwi jeweler Charlotte Penman, stay tuned for tomorrow's post.


Regardless of whether I have money to spend, browsing there always leaves me inspired and plotting how to make my own home look more 'Tessuti-like'.


How about you, lovely readers? Where do you go for guaranteed girly inspiration? 


x

To Mrkt, to Mrkt

MRKT

For shops to survive the current economic environment and hold out the threat posed by online sales, they have to be offering something pretty special.


My absolute favourite shop, MRKT, is a veritable candy shop of covetable, hard-to-find brands. Everything is beautiful quality, perfectly merchandised and delicately scented with Commes des Garçons, the change rooms are huge with great lighting and mirrors, and the staff are always charming and helpful. I know that every time I visit I am guaranteed to fall in love with at least three things, lucky my husband bought me MRKT vouchers for my birthday! The icing on the cake is the blink-and-you'll-miss-it Petal Cupcakes next door, to replace all those calories burned pulling clothes on and off. 


Even if MRKT offered online shopping, I would battle traffic and parking to visit them in person. I realised today just how many times I have been there when my one-year old daughter made a beeline for the hidden toy box, via the SpongeBob picture on the wall. Call me sad, but I'm already looking forward to my next visit.


How about you, lovely readers? What are your absolute favourite shops?


x