Three non-glossy magazines I'm loving right now...

Those of you who have read my blog for a little while know that I love a good magazine, and lately I have encountered a bounty of printed lovelies!  Kicking of with Remedy Quarterly, a little tome dedicated to 'stories of food, recipes for feeling good'.  I haven't yet delved too deeply into these yet - you could safely say that I have judged Remedy by it's brightly hued covers - but I am already loving the gorgeous colours, layouts and fonts; and the understanding Remedy seems to have that food is more than sustenance, that it's linked to our life and our memories.

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Next on my reading list has been Issue No 5 of Anthology - 'living with substance and style'.  I am constantly tearing sheets out of my lifestyle/decor magazines and whacking them in scrap books, but although I am rather inspired by much of Anthology's pages, I don't have the heart to deconstruct it.  It's too pretty and too 'complete'.  

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And saving my favourite till last, here's volume one of Kinfolk, 'a guide for small gatherings' (available online, for iPad, and in print - if you're lucky!).  Kinfolk is 134 thick pages of stunning imagery and beautiful layouts featuring recipes, menus, table settings and more. Volume one includes a Summer playlist, a tribute to the cloth napkin, and a 'darn good sandwich'.  Seriously gorgeous stuff.

Three (by three) pairs of shoes I'm loving right now...

[Image of total loveliness by Lola's Room]

So yes.  I am a female.  And I love shoes.  Oh it's all just so terribly typical and cliched and predictable, isn't it?  But, there it is.  Sigh.  I love shoes to the point that I acquired three new pairs this week (it doesn't happen every week, I promise).  I love shoes to the point that I have some in my collection that I can't even wear, they are just so darn pretty it makes me smile to look at them.  I loves shoes to the point that when the step-sons are drawing humorous caricatures of their nearest and dearest they always draw me standing next to my giant cupboard of shoes, or doing some other shoe related thing.

Here are some that are currently in my shoe-dreams:

The lovely Pip from Meet Me At Mikes has written before about her penchant for a pair of Swedish Hasbeens, but it wasn't until this morning, when I saw a photo of her in mid-craft sporting a pair of these 'Jodhpurs', that I decided I needed to add them to my shoe wish list.

Woah!  Check these out!  Is there anything more beautiful than a perfectly formed boot?  To me these are perfectly formed - just the right amount of buckles and straps, curves in the right places, toes that aren't too pointy or too round.  One of each please, Mr Lauren!  Yes, these are from Ralph Lauren!  Not normally the first name I think of when I dream of shoes but their current boot collection is very swoony I think.

And lastly, some sparkly shiny color-bursting fun from Miu Miu!  I swear if I owned that sparkly yellow pair I'd wear them every single day, they are so very happy! (And so very expensive.  Hence that is why they are in my shoe dreams, and not in my shoe cupboard.)

Three bicycle accessories I love right now...

[Bicycle by hilaryupton]

So first up, let me get the obvious issue out of the way - I do not currently own a bike.  But, despite the overwhelming deluge of advice suggesting that riding a bicycle in Seoul is a short cut to serious bodily injury and quite possibly death, I really really want to get one!  Preferably one of those simple yet stunning numbers from Japan, in a delightful aqua hue.  And when I do get my bike, here are some things I'd like to help make it look extra special...

To carry all my essentials in style, I'm liking this handlebar bag by Death and Texas on Etsy. Plus, their shop name is a pun.  Brilliant!

If this isn't reason enough to risk life and limb on the roads of Seoul then I'm not sure what is. Crochet dress guards for your bike, by Simeli (found via / available from Lark).

[Amazing doxie goodness from my most favourite pet photographer ever - Serenah Photography]

Lately my Instagram obsession has pretty much reached mammoth proportions, especially since I realised you can search everyone's photos for say '#dachshund' and you instantly get pages and pages of heart melting cuteness to look at.  Especially Japanese heart melting cuteness - they love their doxies and they especially seem to love taking them for bike rides.  So a wicker basket complete with lining and roll cage is a must - something like this, or this, perhaps?

Three dresses I love right now...

[Image by dhammza / off]

When I was a kid I was a bit of a tom boy.  And by 'a bit' I mean 'a lot'.  To the point where I can clearly remember being mistaken for an actual boy at several points growing up.  Dresses, make up and hair styles were a foreign language to me.  And to some extent they still largely are.

I definitely still don't get hair (can pulling it in to a ponytail every single day count as a 'style'?), and my excursions into the land of makeup tend to be limited to a subtle blush and a not-so-subtle layer or three of mascara.  But I do most definitely get dresses now.  Some might even say I'm frock obsessed.  I love how a good dress can make you feel feminine and fashionable and flirty, even on days where you start out feeling blergh.  I love how a dress is basically a complete outfit, no thinking about what goes with what.  And I love how a dress can work with you at any age, at any weight.

Here are three beauties that are tempting me at the moment:

There's a reason that Lana Stepul is featured on the Etsy front page every second day, and that's because her stuff is gorgeous!  This is her open back dress and I heart it a lot.  The fabric, the colours, the nod to the 50s.  Sigh.

This maxi dress from M Missoni has me weeping softly, just a little bit.  I am very, very far from a fashionista but there are a couple of labels that I consistently covet and that I try to 'invest' in.  I have a dream that by the time I'm 60 my wardrobe will be wall to wall M Missoni, DVF and Kate Spade (I am going to be the best dressed step-grandma ever!).  It would be nice to add this to the collection. Sigh.

After an initial wariness, I've become quite a fan of ModCloth. I like that I can find dresses on there that hit my knees (I've realised I can't quite pull of the mini-dress any more), and that also fit perfectly around my enormous ribs (yes, I said ribs.  I have a very big rib cage, comes from my father's side of the family. *cough*).  Plus they deliver within a week and aren't prohibitively expensive.  This gorgeously bright little number is one of the samples from a co-lab they might do with a designer called Eva Franco. I do hope they go ahead with it.  Sigh.

Long live the frock!

Three cook books I love right now...

I've long been a fan of food porn - I pick up Australian Gourmet Traveller whenever I can, I have a significant relationship with Amazon's 'cooking, food and wine' section, and I covet my sister's substantial cook book collection.  And these days, now that we live in an apartment with a seriously good kitchen, I'm actually not just looking at the pretty pictures!  No, these days I'm actually putting some of this ogling to good use and (heaven forbid!) following the recipes, or at the very least using some of the ideas in the recipes...

So here are three cook books I'm thoroughly enjoying right now (all going well I'll hopefully post some recipes from them down the track too).

India by Pushpesh Pant (published by Phaidon) is to Indian what The Silver Spoon is to Italian.  It is ridiculously comprehensive (the pickle and chutney section alone is 25 pages long), and it also has a great introduction which gives you a bit of history and an overview of the tastes and styles across different regions.  Plus, it's designed to look a bit like a bag of rice - cool, yes?

Salad as a Meal by Patricia Wells (published by Harper Collins) was recently added to the kitchen cupboard as part of my ongoing attempt to not get any bigger and to be a little bit healthy (or at least to feel a bit healthy).  I love Patricia's straightforward, no nonsense approach mixed with what seems to me to be a frightfully English upper middle class sensibility.  When I read about her favourite 'haunts in Provence' and how she uses 'antique French molds' for cheese making, I can't help but think of a voice not dissimilar to Prue and Trude.  And I do love her generously wide definition of what constitutes a 'salad' - roast beef on buttery toast as a salad?  This woman speaks my language!

The Flavour Thesaurus by Niki Segnit (published by Bloomsbury) is I guess not, strictly speaking, a cook book (although it does have recipes in it).  It's more a flavour pairing guide, a source of inspiration that's full of interesting tidbits about food.  It's written with a large dose of wit and humour too, so it's fun to read even when you're not about to cook (although it might make you a bit peckish).  

This book is perfect for when you want to experiment a bit, or if you're a bit like me and consider recipes as rough guides rather than strict orders to follow.  It's perfect for when you're at the market and spy some freshly shelled Spring peas that you have to have.  Just look up 'pea' and you'll find such wonderful pointers as: 'liking pea and chicken is about as interesting as liking warm sunshine...' and 'Pea & Pork - as fitting a pair as legs in breeches...' and 'Surf 'n' Turf is all very well but fish goes best with ingredients that truly taste of turf, not just graze on it...'

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Do you have any favourite cook books at the moment?  I'd love to know if you do!  Tell me in the comments below, and if you do your own post on your own blog, make sure you leave the link in the comments too!

Three vases I love right now...

I am slowly, slowly building a collection of white vases and I would very much love this stunning piece to be the next addition.  It's by German porcelain manufacturer Kaiser, and it can be found in the truly amazing vintage decor store 1001 Vintage (but don't you go and buy it ya hear?  It's mine, all mine!)

Even though I can't buy Jonathan Adler anywhere (not in Hong Kong! not in Seoul! and only the tiniest bit in Australia!) I torture myself by getting his updates delivered right to my inbox, where I can dream of what I might buy if they didn't charge US$300 for shipping one table cloth (you think I'm joking about that shipping cost? I looked in to it and unfortunately I'm not...).  First on my list would be something bright and cheerful from the Carnaby range, the blue scale vase perhaps?

And then, because it's all about bits of greenery floating in the air right now, there's these lovely test tube vases from Pigeon Toe.

Three photographers I love right now...

You may have noticed that when I choose to use other people's photography on this blog it tends to be of the soft, vintage feel variety - muted tones, vaseline smeared lenses, filters, layers, scratches.  Which is kind of strange because the kind of photography that really gets my heart pumping, that makes me feel a bit tingly all over when I stumble across it, is the exact opposite of that.  The stuff I really get excited about is fleeting, raw moments captured; it's strangers on the street; it's often stark, urban, beautiful and a little bit bleak (a bit like a Jeffrey Smart painting I guess).  

Here are three photographers that I really love right now:

Matthias Heiderich who is based in Berlin.  That's his photo up there.  He has the most amazing eye for form, colour and texture.  His urban landscapes are beautifully framed, the way he picks out pattern and symmetry and bright pops of colour really bowls me over - what skill, what talent (and he's self taught)!

David Runacres (aka RunnyInHongKong) who is, unsurprisingly, based in Hong Kong (and I just realised originally from Melbourne, Australia!).  David plays with a wide range of cameras to capture Hong Kong, and he really does exactly that - capture Hong Kong.  Each of his beautiful street shots are a little slice of that most fabulous city.  I especially love the black and white ones, so much texture and movement and life!

Dayv Matt is a new favourite, currently based in Seoul (I stumbled upon him via Twitter).  His webpage says he's 'addicted to cursing, simple white dress shirts, and shooting street photography.' His images are not about fancy post-production, they are about capturing moments - revealing, funny, sad, romantic...

Who are your favourite photographers?