Séléctionnée! / Chosen!

Un grand merci au super site de marketing de bouche-à-l'oreille trnd, qui m'a séléctionnée de tester un Nespresso Citiz machine... et de la garder après! On l'a choisi en couleur crème vintage, bien sûr.

Plutôt thé comme une bonne anglaise, est-ce que le fait d'avoir une Nespresso à la maison va me transformer en caffeinomane? Watch this space...

A big thank you to the team at word-of-mouth-marketing site trnd, who are sending me a Nespresso Citiz machine to test. (And keep afterwards. My mornings just got easier!) Obviously, I went for the retro cream option, which I am hoping will go splendidly with the new kitchen we have planned, courtesy of the upstairs neighbour's insurance company after water started pouring through the ceiling a couple of weeks ago.

Generally more a tea girl, I'm hoping I won't be transformed into a caffeine-craving mess in the weeks before my wedding. Not a good brdial look.

In three weeks' time...

...we'll be married and heading for the beach. Before then, a few more things to sort out and a crazy-looking four-day action plan where everything is timed to the last minute. Almost.

Here's a blog I wish I had found six months ago, Parisian Party, by expat wedding planner Kim Petyt, who was at the Cupcake Camp this weekend (sugary sweet photos to come!). I'm too late for the beautiful decoration ideas, and the practical advice for foreigners daring to brave the administration and get married here would have been just what I was looking for last November, but her post on wedding money boxes is just what I'm looking for.


It is accepted and in some parts of France, traditional, to give money as wedding presents. As this seems a bit full-on for our British sensibilities, we deliberated for a long while before choosing to do the same - the idea of a package honeymoon just isn't us, so we've asked for guest contributions directly. So I need to make a box for guests to put their cards in... Kim has picked out some great ideas from Mains et Merveilles, designed and made by hand for a rather reasonable fee by Fanny.

I'll be off to investigate hat boxes and decoration ideas in mint green, dove grey and fuschia pink on Friday...

Cupcake camp

Cupcakes hit Paris a while ago, with Parisian and expat bakers and patissiers following big New York and London names like the Magnolia and Hummingbird bakeries onto the bandwagon, with varying results. Spongey cake is not the French baker's natural medium but Berko, Chloe's and Synie's Cupcakes represent the designer end of the market. *Without trying all of them* a general observation from a real-live Anglo Saxon is that more needs to be more in terms of icing. Do not forget that this is the simplest of baked goods to recreate at home, bakers will find the bandwagon may well run out of steam if prices touch the €5 mark they are currently grazing. Before it does, we will be checking out the first Cupcake Camp at the Bistro Vivienne for a sweet Sunday afternoon.

Individual wedding cakes are where it's currently at for me, courtesy of Meg Rivers, an organic baker from my home region in the UK.

Are you a bored fifties housewife?

Take a look at our latest listing, False Idol, the Story of a Mother's Deception. Featuring classic fifties cover art and ads, plus chapter headings like 'Peter learns the truth' and 'You lied to me!' this is guaranteed to help you wile away the hours between pegging out the handwashed terry towelling nappies, and cleaning the oven with a toothbrush. Put your feet up and dream of dishwashers...

Found in a Brighton antiques market, last weekend...

English seaside weekend par excellence

So, my hen weekend was the perfect English summer seaside weekend. Beautiful weather, sunburn and laughs with some of my favourite girls. It started with fish and chips on the beach.

It also featured the funfair on the pier, beach picnics and an early-morning run along the promenade.

Plenty of shopping along the way, including some beautiful turquoise sandals with gold trim, from Yoma in North Laines, and some Space Invaders at 3am on Sunday morning.

Champagne-fuelled pottery painting at the Painting Pottery Cafe, with the theme of... me....

It ended with fresh prawns, cockles, whelks, mussals, a couple of oysters and a pickled herring for good measure, on the front. And a sunburnt back.

When can I come back? A vintage weekend.