Dyeing of love (see what I did there?) for these beautiful little jumpsuits and culottes from Wolfechild. Is $58 for some dip dye culottes a little silly? Yes....in fact, in my world, it's a lot silly. But aren't they beautiful!? When I next have acres of uninterrupted spare time, preceded by a full night's sleep and the foresight to buy all the materials, I absolutely plan on forging ahead with some home made ombre jumpsuit creation. Watch this space.
We went on holiday! It was the beginning of a very long enforced holiday from updating this blog, too, but I'm finally getting round to posting about it. I booked it on a whim, being desperate for a getaway and having the vague excuse of Konch's birthday being nearby-ish. A friend who'd been before couldn't stop singing its praises and it was so temptingly affordable that I couldn't resist. After the initial excitement of booking had passed, I began to panic a bit. What had I done? As the dark days of January and February kept us locked inside and longing for long afternoons on hot beaches, I suddenly realised, to my horror, that this was the first time I had ever booked us (or even just myself) a holiday somewhere cold. Very cold. With snow. WHY WOULD I DO THAT? The looks of confusion I was met with when I mentioned we were off on a springtime family jaunt to snowy Poland were also a bit off-putting. But once we got there all faith was restored.
We flew to Krakow, rented a car (complete with snow tires) and started off up into the Tatra Mountains for the two hour trip to Zakopane. We arrived in a winter wonderland - valleys of snow three feet deep and dark blue skies, air so fresh I immediately looked ten years' younger (probably), houses that looked carved from gingerbread. We each had apartments in Villa Dorota, a fairytale alpine lodge with loads of space and views across to snowy peaks. The weather was so sunny and gorgeous that I managed to snatch a full twenty minutes of reading on the terrace one morning and got an actual suntan.
A highlight for me was epic sledding in our own garden , but when we weren't doing that (or gorging on Kinder-bars by our wood fire, or eating VERY big sausages) we mostly went skiing. Pablo was zooming down the beginner's slope like James Bond (sort of) by day three, and afterwards there were infinite apres ski options - hot wine, big jars of lard to smear on your potatoes, and many raw, organic beetrooty salads. Most restaurants had built in play areas for the kids to frolic about in their long johns arguing over arcade games whilst we grown ups compared skiing aches and dared each other to try "hot beer" . We also visited vast indoor hot springs with multiple water slides, jacuzzi jets, whirlpools and outdoor relaxation zones steaming in the snowy wonderland. Everything was confusingly affordable - a grown-ups dinner out with vodka galore, wine, and three BIG courses of delicious, fresh food (+ atmosphere) came to £20 per couple. Ski hire was £20 for the week, lessons only £10 a pop. We didn't manage horse and sleigh rides, which are everywhere, or snowmobile hire, though I would love to if I ever end up there not with tiny children. The absolute highlight was just the fresh air itself - I had forgotten what that felt like after relentless London and it was incredibly energising. We are keen to go back one summer, when the hills are apparently alive with the sound of goat herding and the scent of wildflowers, and there are stunning lakes to visit for swimming.
It feels like it has taken ages for someone to come up with an idea as rad as this. Polaboy take your photo and turn it into an awesome giant Polaroid-shaped LED light installation! Who doesn't need one of those? They are fully customisable down to the cable design. Lightboys, the folk responsible, also make some incredible ceiling light photo-frescoes and huge LED photo light-walls. Very cool.
I've had a holiday from blogging whilst we had two actual holidays, with some lovely family-wide flu and birthday mayhem in between. But now I'm determined to get back on track - though we have been in the UK two days and already both the squids are up to their eyeballs in snot and I'm spending most of my time fixing hot lemon, cinnamon & manuka honey drinks for them (Indy is most perplexed by these concoctions...)
photos from The Selby
Meanwhile, in my fantasies, I shall be purchasing these dreamy sheets from D. Porthault seen in the snaps of Rita Konig's magical little home on The Selby. I'm trying to hunt them down in the UK - God forbid I have to end up making a trip to Harrods. Also I have discovered they cost an extremely large amount of money and were inspired by the Duke & Duchess of Windsor. Visit the D. Porthault site at your peril - pretty much everything on there is gorgeous and you'll probably end up contemplating selling one of your own children to own a crisp new set of their sheets. Or even just a washcloth.
Pablo: "Mama look, me and Indy are in love!"
ALARM....oh so many alarms....the new Mini Rodini collection features a tiger print skirted swimsuit. It's not cool that someone of my age get this excited about tiny swimwear. Also adoring this little t-shirt. Both added to my wish wish wish list.
available from Shak Shuka
My gorgeous husband had his latest birthday on Monday, and we were under strict "no presents" instructions, so Pablo & I conjured up a home made gift of his favourite raspberry ripple ice cream and a hand-crafted card. Then I decided that if we were making ice cream we may as well make an ice cream cake (a first for me!) Our freezer is now full to bursting with raspberry ripple but Konch had a lovely birthday and we all made ourselves feel a bit sick eating too much cake.
WALKING...on her own, across the room, like a drunk...in love with brushing her teeth...favourite food: risotto...favourite activity: putting lids on things and taking them off again - she can unscrew lids!...waking up at least twice a night and screaming like a crazy pterodactyl...
Pablo's much loved childminder, Lucinda, moved away a year ago and we were very excited when she asked if she could pop down for a visit. Obviously we had to make a cake, but with a miserably poorly baby a trip to the shops was not going to happen. I scoured the cupboards and we had just the right amount of this and that to make this delicious apple cake. It was extremely easy and Pablo helped me lots. Indy did the opposite by tugging on my leg and looking pathetic throughout, but we got there in the end...
100g butter + 1 tbsp
175g brown muscovado sugar + 1 tbsp
2-3 dessert apples
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
100ml milk
TOPPING:
25g flour
85g demerara sugar + 1 tbsp
0.5 tsp ground cinnamon
50g butter
3 tbsp toasted sliced almonds
recipe adapted from BBC Good Food
Heat oven to 160C. Mix the topping first - flour, demerara sugar, cinnamon butter with your fingertips to make sticky breadcrumbs. Pablo did half of this, but once he began threatening to eat hunks of sugary butter from his fingertips I chucked it all in a food processor. Stir in 2 tbsp of the almonds and set aside.
Cut the apples into 1.5cm-ish squares. Melt the 1 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp sugar in a non stick frying pan and then add the apples and cook for about 5 minutes until everything is brown and gooey and yummy smelling.
Make the cake by creaming the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and mix well, then add the vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients and alternate adding them and the milk until all is well combined. Grease a springform 8in/20cm tin and line with a circle of parchment on the bottom. Spoon in your cake mix and then sprinkle with the topping. Mix your remaining 1 tbsp demerara and almonds together and sprinkle these on top. Bake for 45ish minutes. Cool ten minutes in the tin before removing, then cool on a wire rack until it's time to indulge.
