Shiny new stuff

Years ago, when I was a callow youth in London, a flatmate and I visited a fortune teller in Covent Garden.

It was the perfect storm: a wet Sunday, a hangover, boredom. It was also a lark and, predictably, most of what this faux gypsy predicted was a load of old cobblers; a waste of a tenner but an entertaining waste.

Actually, the only thing I can remember her telling me was that I was a magpie, a collector of shiny baubles and pretty things: "Your surroundings are important to you and you're always seeking to surround yourself with beauty," the charlatan said.  

She was right on that count: it's not for nothing my nickname is Martha Stewart (minus the jail-time and dubious political leanings, of course). Wherever I live, I love to 'nest', as the glossy interior magazines I write for like to call it.

Sadly life and work have conspired to rob me of my nesting instincts this year but I've managed to redeem that over the past few weeks. The Animator finally finished painting the banister at the rear of the house black (begone, wood!) to match our efforts with the main staircase over Easter. I also had a gorgeous linen cover made for the leather-is-so-last-year sofa and we finally collected these two pics from New York from the framer (check out the vintage map of Manhattan - I'm so in love with it which is just as well, given we miscalculated the exchange rate and got a monster of a fright when the credit card bill rolled in!) But whaddya gonna do, right?   

Bilbao story

My story on this glorious Spanish city is published in the Flight Centre blog (click here to read).

Toronto

Yes, yes I know I've been back over a month but in the nightmare that has become my life, I forgot to share photos of our three nights in Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America.

It was the rump end of our Adventure World media trip and we were a bit shattered but had a fabulous time (how could you not in this city?) with lots of sight-seeing, a food walking tour for a food magazine story and lots and lots of eating and shopping. It should come as a surprise to exactly no-one why Toronto is regularly voted one of the world's most liveable cities.  

Here's a few of the zilllions of photos taken by the Animator.

Check out us, sitting in the 'O' (there's a sentence you don't get to type every day).

More lovely review books

Just when you think it's all turned to crap, you get home to find these on your doorstep.

If only I had time to read them all...

Light relief

The world, it seems, has gone mad. Currencies are tumbling off the cliff and aftershocks from political earthquakes on the other side of the globe are being felt everywhere (including here, as far as you can go before you fall off the planet).

I'm supposed to be writing about art trails and luxury accommodation, about a landscaping firm and an amazingly successful skincare company whose tendrils reach into global markets. Instead, my gaze keeps returning to the car crash that's currently happening in Europe. Is there anyway to stop the world and get off?

Because today, of all days, we need something beautiful to rest our eyes upon, here's a story I did on a gorgeous Kelburn house in this month's Your Home & Garden Magazine (click here to read).

#shakesherheadandwondersabouttheworld

          
   

The launch of the film festival programme

How did it get to this time of the year already? Tonight we've been invited to the launch of the NZ International Film Festival, the two weeks of every winter when film buffs gorge themselves silly on quality films that don't feature car chases or meat-head story arcs (usually).

It doesn't seem so long ago that we went to the 2015 launch. This year is going far too fast.

     

A staycation

Tomorrow night we get to play hooky from the week with a night at this gorgeous place up the coast. And on Wednesday our dance card is filled with activities for a story.

It's just what I need to get me through a wintry week.

   
(Pic credit: Atahuri)