Zen and the Art of the Blowout

(Image from Allure) After decades of never owning a blowdryer, much less using one, I now have two hair dryers. One is a salon grade tourmaline heat gun, and the other a Babyliss Big Hair. I got...

Gone Girl

Sunday Drive to Eastbourne

The sun finally FINALLY came out yesterday, and it was still out today despite a bit of haze. Even though it is still quite cold, we decided to take a break and go for a Sunday drive down to the …...

Packrat

A confession. Here are the the things that I hoard, relentlessly ever in pursuit of perfection: * Lip balm * Tea * Striped tops (a la breton/mariniere) * Scarves * Skinny jeans * Men’s button up...

Freedom Palette: Think Outside the Box

About a month ago, I ran across the cutest thing online: the Unii Palette. It is basically a little magnetised makeup case, a palette that can hold a few of pans of your most essential cosmetics so...

A Wintry Wander + Recipe

I don’t know why people expect it to be all glorious and spring-like in the UK in March. This is just simply unrealistic. I know it’s frustrating, but the reality is no flip-flops until May. Right...

Cat Fight: French v. American v. British Style

Let me tell you about something that initially interested me but I’ve since come to find a little tiresome. Basically, I’ve gotten quite bored of a) the Anglo-American fascination with all things...

Comfort reading for a winter’s day

Completely not by surprise, the weather of late has made London a bit less of a des res than usual. I don’t know why everyone gets caught out by the March crapness every year. It’s almost like...

Best £5 I ever spent: Grey Sweatshirt

Just before Christmas, I went to some not inconsiderable pains to acquire your basic all-American grey heather Fruit of the Loom sweatshirt from Amazon marketplace. I wanted one purely for a yoga...

Enter the WeddingDome

Want to be queen for a year? Get engaged. Go shopping. EVERYONE and I mean every last person at the wedding fair will coo over your engagement ring and that pic of your dress that your mom snapped...

Blend Your Own Perfume in Paris

While I was looking for the Mariage Freres tea emporium in the Marais in Paris, we ran across a very intriguing-looking perfum shop at 23 Rue du Bourg-Tibourg (Tel: 01 40 29 90 84) called Le Studio...

Up The Shard: Mmmm Skyscraper…I Love You

So the viewing platform at the top of The Shard (aka The View) has finally opened and we availed ourselved of it yesterday just before sunset. Here are the photos of London looking a bit like a...

Illin’ Like A Villain

So you’re ill. Congratulations, like me, you failed to get a flu shot. As a result, among the myriad lovely presents that I brought home from Paris was none other than the influenza monster. And...

A Safe Place: Ring Dishes

While staying at the George V this past weekend, I fell in love with the little pressed glass ring holder that was left in my bathroom to give me a safe place to perch my bling during my ablutions....

Bonjour, Paris!

My birthday was this past weekend, and Mr Man had been telling me all month that he’d gotten me nothing for my birthday. Well, it turned out that he indeed got me nothing, in that he got me no...

Jo Malone Earl Grey and Cucumber

Almost exactly a year ago I posted about my love for perfumes that smell like Earl Grey tea. That love has continued unabated, of course, but in that post I lamented that the absolute best Earl...

Snow days

It doesn’t snow very often in London, but it sure came down this weekend! Where we live looks like a winter wonderland right now. Of course, I am currently stranded in the house until this clears...

Home is NOT where the heart is.

Despite my last post made WEEKS ago (shocking, I know) saying how delighted I was with London, I ended up going home to Mississippi for a couple of weeks anyway. Well, I have learned a lesson here,...

London Love

Normally, around this time of year I start feeling a bit homesick for Mississippi and start pricing flights for January. So far, though, this holiday season I am really feeling the love for London...

Yoga: Room to Breathe

There’s another thing that I have been filling my days with for the past month or so: yoga. Before we went on holiday, I was doing the whole bikini body 30 day shred thing, but seriously that...

Nanowrimo: Mission Accomplished.

I haven’t posted for nearly a month. That’s pretty poor of me. Between nanowrimo and astrophysics, though, something had to go. Yes, I did nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) this year: the...

Moment of Zen

Life. One minute you’re lazing on a beautiful tropical beach, getting ready to go for a frolic in the crystal blue water. The next minute…a shark appears. And that’s how things are for me right...

Brunch in London: Christopher’s Grill

I have been having a thing about brunch lately. I think it’s because I was spoiled with eating french toast every morning for breakfast while on holiday, and I got a little addicted. French toast +...

Doom and Gloom

Speaking of autumnal gloom, this is how it looks around here right now. If this keeps up it will be a very spooky Halloween!

Winter SADness

Since I got back from holiday, the weather has been decidedly v. British October. The thing that people that don’t live in the UK don’t understand about the weather here is that it isn’t...

Life’s a Beach: What to Pack

Not only do I *love* checking out posts about packing for various types of travel, they also seem to get a lot of hits. Since I like to be helpful, I thought I’d do a quick post about what we …...

A Week in the Maldives: The Life Aquatic

A fortnight ago, I was busily packing my bags to make an escape to the tropics. Mr Man and I decided months ago that we were in dire need of a holiday, especially him as he’s been exhausted. I did...

AWOL

Sorry I’ve been quiet. We just got back from the Maldives. Rough life, I know. More on this later…

Bikini Body

We booked our holiday about a month ago, and ever since then I’ve been vaguely trying to tone myself up and get a little ripped since this holiday is going to be 100% lounging about in bikinis....

New Scent: Diptyque’s Volutes

OK, I make no secret of the fact that I am a bit of a perfume lush. I also make no secret of the fact that I have particular weaknesses for three perfume houses: Hermes, Chanel, and my absolute...