The bride’s fantastic lace sleeved dress that channeled Grace Kelly.
Looking up Chelsy’s outfit online and declaring her unfit for public consumption.
THAT hat! (Although, I suppose if you are seated behind the queen, you must turn to extreme measures.)
Cute double kiss action.
Waving to the crowd 101. It’s from the wrist, not the elbow.
We had so much fun. In the end there was about 20 of us in my lounge, huddled around a small TV. Looks like I’ll have to stay home tonight, I am exhausted from all the festivities!
In preparation for the Royal Wedding TV Special, tonight I’ll be making elegant cupcakes in a jar (red and blue cake, with white icing) – oh and a banana cake for luck. There’s no time, sadly, to knit my own corgi. Super cute.
It’s April and winter is undeniably bearing down upon Auckland. Dreary! These are a few of the things I’m lusting after right now, that might make it a bit more tolerable & stylish. There seems to be a strong animal theme running through this collection.
I live in a place called Newton. I am very fond of the name Newton – it was my great grandfather’s English name. I also adore the names of the streets. The neighbourhood centers around one long strip – Karangahape Road (K Rd), and then there’s Mercury Lane, Cross Street, East Street, Pitt Street, Poynton Terrace… So without further ado, here is a selection of type and letters spotted around my favourite neighbourhood:
Speaking of gin in teacups, my favourite brand Hendricks have already made their own cups with delightfully quirky illustrations, complete with matching saucers!
Along with ‘Hendrick’s & Tonic’ and the ‘Floradora’, the recipe for a ‘Tea Time Martini’ sounds awfully good! I have transcribed it here for your reading pleasure:
Tea Time Martini
50ml Hendrick’s Gin
15ml fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon rose petal jam
6 large mint leaves
Add all ingredients to a teapot and fill with ice. Stir vigorously and leave to brew. Serve with panache in your Hendrick’s teacup.
{Images via NotCot. Thank you Emma for the heads up!}
I’ve mentioned a few times before that my friend Tessa is a talented print designer, but it turns out she is also an incredibly talented CAKE maker. She fronted up to my recent house party with a magical narhwal cake. It features a blue jelly ocean, with chocolate fish swimming in it, crocodiles circling the outer ring, a hokey pokey iceberg, and two narwhals (which were individual cakes). Oh and the kicker? Once you cut a slice it was revealed to be a rainbow cake inside!
I have a narwhal tattoo emblazoned across my left gun, which I like to think served as the inspiration. Tessa says she wanted to “smash together the idea of a ‘pool party’ and ‘under the ocean’ensemble, with a nod to the traditional unicorn/rainbow combination.”
It was delicious as well as pretty. Thank you so much Tessa!
I love this jaunty little map of the Royal Wedding Procession. I just wish I knew who made it! That’s one of the problems I have with Tumblr, credit gets lost in the sea.
New Zealand, while part of the Commonwealth, is tucked down the bottom of the world, and the monarchy doesn’t have much sway on our everyday lives, save supplying the trash mags with fodder. Despite that, I’ve always had a soft spot for those bumbling royals. And now one of them (we can’t be sure which though) is getting married. Viz:
Teehee. Collectible!
THE ROYAL WEDDING TV SPECIAL
I had already decided I was going to watch 2011′s biggest television spectacle, so when Kate mentioned she had invites to not one, but two Royal Wedding parties, I got a little bit green-eyed. Why not host my own? Thus the ‘Royal Wedding TV Special’ was born. Here’s what I think are the most important elements of any decent wedding gathering:
A large teapot. I’ll be dusting off my Big Ben teapot. Well now, I knew there was some reason I purchased this way back in 2009. At the time I was nomadic, and didn’t have any reason whatsoever to justify this purchase. Now I am smug. Cup o’ tannin, anyone?
Tea sandwiches. Crustless and dainty, the best sandwiches combine a soft filling (cream cheese) with a flavoursome kick (scallions, salmon, cucumber, chilli, ginger). Think savoury, not sweet!
Novelty teaspoons. I am just a tiny bit excited to get my best British teaspoons out. Once upon a time I thought I was going to have them made into a charm bracelet (this may yet happen), but for now they are in our cutlery drawer.
Decorations. Fly the flag! I particularly like the “aged” style of this Union Jack Bunting.
Hats. Just like race day, everyone must be wearing something on their crumpet. Enforce this dress code strictly.
Gin. The party won’t be complete without lashings of gin! Serve in fine china and ensure there’s plenty of tonic. My gin of choice is Hendricks, yum. Just make sure you’ve got tissues on hand, as some people seem to get weepy whenever there’s gin in the house. Seriously. My darling friend Mon can’t even nibble on a piece of gin soaked cucumber without the tears welling up (we all still love her though).
A lucky dip. Not mandatory but I think it’ll be fun. One lucky plucker will fish out a Faux Sapphire Royal Engagment Ring, while the rest of the mob might just get some Grandmother’s Teeth. Speaking of faux royal engagement rings, my mum actually bought a replica one way back in 1981. Her bling is the real deal though – gold, sapphire and diamonds. I’m definitely borrowing it for the TV Special!
Of course, any good monarchy needs dissidents. Not into the Royal Wedding? Hanging out in your own personal republic that day? Well how about one of Lydia Leith’s hilarious screen printed sick bags?
I am in awe of how offended those old ladies are, but personally, I think humour helps. As does gin, so bring on April 29!
Currently cracking into Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita. It’s the next read at Book Club For Drunks, and I look forward to gleefully yakking about it with my tipsy comrades.
Spotted outside a dairy in sunny Grey Lynn on my lunch break. I love this sign so much. I want to scoop it under my arm and run swiftly down a side street with it. The hand painted type, the damage, the message:
PS. The photo was taken with my new cellphone – 5 MPs worth. Holy moly. I am so impressed with the quality Is the compact purse camera dead?
“I shot a photo roughly every two miles between take-off in San Francisco and landing in Paris CDG to make this airplane time lapse”:
The northen lights look amazing! I hope to fly over that part of the world sometime soon, or even better, leg it to Finland and stay in a glass igloo. In the mean time, this swish little time lapse makes me happy.
The last few days have been a lot chillier here in Auckland. Time has snapped back one hour and the autumn rains have started. Despite rugging up in my deliciously warm shearling jacket and winter boots, I have still managed to catch the sniffles. One of the things that has been helping me feel better, alongside cuddles on the couch and watching lots of Antiques Roadshow, is bowls of apple crumble. It’s the ultimate comfort food – working well at breakfast, lunch, and dinner time.
The recipe is from my friend Leon. He says that personally he always doubles the crumb mixture, but I have made it both ways and it is fine. It really depends what ingredients you have on hand – it truly is a ‘throw-it-together’ recipe it). And on that note, it works a treat with berries or peaches thrown in with the apples.
For the apples:
6-8 apples (of any variety)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
¼ cup of water
For the crumble:
1 cup caster sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup of melted butter
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp ginger – optional
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Peel and core the apples, chopping the flesh into large chunks. Then boil with brown sugar and a little water until you reach the desired consistency – softened but still solid.
In another bowl, coarsely mix the melted butter together with flour, caster sugar and cinnamon to make crumble.
Put the apples in an oven proof dish, and then spoon the crumble evenly on top. Cook the crumble at 180C for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve warm, or at room temperature, with a helping of ice-cream or thick yoghurt if you please.
Hello! My name is Amber Parkin. I'm a New Zealander living in London. I'm a writer obsessed with fondue, chesterfield sofas, vintage dresses, foxes, and 35mm.
