paris.

it was love at second sight. the idea that I would be heading back to paris with two of my best girlfriends was something i had only dreamt about. this was until it became a reality last month and i was wandering the streets of montmartre, eating the most delicious pastries and practicing my french at one of the world’s best flea markets. i got so used to greeting people in french that it almost felt wrong to be back in London and not using another native tongue. not only is the french language beautiful, but the men, the desserts and the vintage, blew.my.mind. rather than hitting all of the museums and spending most of the day in a queue or 12, we decided that as we’d done the favourites before, that we would spend our days wandering the arrondissements, using the metro like locals and practicing our skills as flaneurs in the beautiful old arcades. of course our tastebuds also got a work out and were officially ignited by an incredible dinner in Montmartre and the funnest picnic i’ve ever attended right infront of lady eiffel. catching a glimpse of her through the trees had my eyes bubbling over, she was incredible and i, was in paris. we were treated like princesses in chanel, indulged in only the best kind of macaron there is at laduree and had endless afternoon fun playing vintage dress ups in some of the best vintage shops around. there were moments I had to stop and pinch myself, or eat another croissant, just to prove i was in paris. paris is definitely a city for lovers and I was lucky enough to be there with two of my favourites. i’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but please do yourself a favour and check out trudy’s blog, soon she'll post her parisian delights that will ensure your next holiday will be to only one place. i’ll be back soon with flea market pics…you’ll want to prepare your vintage adoring hearts for that one.

kit.

i've been back in australia for just 11 days and my heart already seems to have packed itself back up, destined for faraway places. there's no sign of escapism here, as my love for australia is truly hard to top but ever since spending valuable time with my british family, wandering the familiar streets of london town and getting a taste for the dutch and danish lifestyle, my heart just won't sit still. my head feels the lightest it's been for ages and i feel ready to take a leap of faith and make some changes. i'm letting go of some possessions (don't worry trudy, the johnson collection isn't going anywhere!) and lightening my load at the same time. opportunities have presented themselves and new faces have enlightened my outlook. a certain woman has also made me look long and hard at the year ahead and i have made the decision that she will be in it. this brings me to the lady in question, my incredible nanny kit. chatting over tea, ham sandwiches and the odd bakewell tart, has truly nourished my heart. the more time i spend with her, the more i begin to realise that we are 2 sensitive, soft skinned, sometimes stubborn, peas in a pod. i get her now more than ever before and i don't think i can ever do our relationship justice by trying to put these feelings into words. my grandmothers have always played an integral part in my life. it was therefore a given that my blog would be dedicated to these two incredible women. i spent the first ten years of my childhood living in australia having my nanna, nancy and my pa, max closeby. i hold some of the fondest memories close to my heart and those continue to inspire me today. relocating to the UK at the age of 10 until age 20 meant i was able to spend a beautiful 10 years learning to bake and craft with my nanny, kit. my grandfather charlie, although sadly passing too young, has left a huge impression on me and the woman i am today. family has always been number one for me, and so this post i dedicate to them, wherever they may be in the world and especially to my nanny kit, one half of that incredible driving force that continues to inspire my personal endeavour ‘kit & nancy’ every single day.

some special belongings in my nanny's flat.

vintage heaven.

with a girls weekend planned in paris and a 4 day weekend in denmark and holland on the cards, i was only left with one weekend to play in london. arriving early thursday morning i soon got into the wandering mindset and set off to explore. the next few days would see me vintage clothes shopping in covent garden, wanting to spend far too many pounds in orla kiely, beginning a love affair with liberty, reuniting with my old love anthropologie, visiting vintage heaven that completely blew my mind, conversing over scones and devonshire tea, impressed by incredible looking brownie stacks at the borough markets and eating some of the freshest british strawberries, ever.

it wouldn't be fair to overload you with a million photos, because let's face it, that's what instagram is for....so i'm going to spend the rest of this post sharing my love for a little place called 'vintage heaven'. if you've got yourself a copy of 'spaces' (if you haven't, then please, your life will be richer for it) then you may just know where i'm talking about. my new favourite companion 'london style' describes VH as 'a hoarders paradise, where every possible surface is packed with vintage glass, china, cutlery, books, fabrics; you name it, if it's from the 1940's- 1960's, chances are you'll find it here'. as it's only open on weekends to coincide with the infamous columbia road flower markets, my best friend and i hit VH around 3.30pm on my first saturday in town. as soon as we turned the corner onto columbia road, a collective of secondhand homewares stacked neatly out front had my eyes popping. inside staffordshire potteries were nestled comfortably with meakin, above mounds of vintage floral fabric and decorative teapots. crockery was stacked in colours and even themes, this place soon became my most favourite place on earth. london style says 'it may be hard to take it all in, but it will be harder to leave without buying at least one thing', my thoughts exactly. i could only surrender to the beauty and let my eyes devour the delights stacked before me. it wasn't long before my name was being called to a mound of vintage linen. a large purple floral curtain grabbed my attention first up so as any vintage lover scrambling madly amongst layers of treasure would do, i bundled it under my arm at the speed of light to ensure it would be mine.

i could have easily bought everything i saw, but with a 20 kilo limit, a holiday budget and a little voice of reason, i behaved myself. half of me rejoiced in the thought that i would most probably be returning to london next year anyway. sneaky. a cake plate and vintage curtain piece later and i was sold. vintage shopping is hungry business so it was soon time for afternoon tea in a little nook ajoining the shop called 'cake hole'. vintage florals, kitchenware and crockery had overflowed into this cutie pie hole in the wall and for a few moments i was wishing it was mine. devonshire tea and scones were on the menu for us, after deliberating and drooling for several minutes over the incredible looking victoria sponge. chats over vintage china, milky tea and clotted cream ladened scones was an experience i know i'll still be talking about well into my late 80's. this little treasure with a big and beautiful vintage personality is somewhere i'll be heading back to as often as possible when my feet next land on london turf.

i was in love before i'd even entered.

scenes from inside. uh-maze-ing.

many, many stack-o-plates.

perfect combo.

the view from our afternoon tea possie.

there is nothing quite like a british scone.

hello.

the tapestry wall.

my curtain prize.

london 2012.

every time it was mentioned that i'd be globe trotting over to the UK for a few weeks in june/july, the subject of the olympics always semed to present itself. thankfully, this trip had nothing whatsover to do with a sporting extravaganza. it was about reuniting with my most beloved, it had been almost 7 years since i was last in their presence. i was an emotional mess before i left, i was unsure of my nanny's health situation and so mountains were made out of mole hills and as the leaving day approached, i was left feeling deflated and nervous. the excitement had been supressed and i wasn't sure what feelings would be greeting me on the other side. a 24 hour flight is never appealing, no matter the opportunities that lay in waiting at the end. i was blessed with a seat on the 7 hour jaunt with copious amounts of leg room, next to a cute faced and well behaved 4 year old. the 13 hour flight post 3 hour standby at singapore was nothing less than horrible. stuck inbetween two serious faced germans who proceeded to fall asleep as soon as we boarded. i swear one of them used me as a pillow for at least 3 hours of that flight. this is when thoughts of family and friends and my english childhood was good enough to stop by and save me from this awkward plane sandwich. this was inbetween filling my eyes with horror films and copious amounts of the walking dead. it had me utterly engaged and probably too frightened to sleep. helped pass the time perfectly so i am offically converted. an hour on the tube once hitting heathrow, lugging my vintage blue suitcase minus rollers, a headache that could have been granted it's own life and soon enough i was greeted by my beautiful bestie's face at her local station. it instantly made the whole experience worth it. to avoid napping i made my way out into the city as soon as i'd refreshed and unpacked a little. within minutes i was walking the streets like a local. the familiarity of the tube and weekends spent trawling oxford circus made me feel immediately at home. it wasn't long before h&m, anthropologie, m&s and topshop were in my sights. the next day read very similar, with vintage shopping, orla kiely loving and cupcake consuming in covent garden. i was home and i was in love. spending saturday wandering markets, visiting vintage heaven (literally), afternoon tea taking and dancing till 2am all whilst having my bestie by my side was pure bliss. i was in the state of mind that i'd only hoped i would be settling into, and i was really loving it there. sunday was my family reunion. first stop was meeting my gorgeous sister at liverpool street, and then onto columbia road markets for fresh flowers and a vintage poke around in brick lane. being caught in the biggest downpour ever experienced made us laugh beyond crying as we made our way to the reunion. a beautiful morning i will never forget. arriving at my aunty's house would be the first time i'd seen my parents in a few months and my english family, who i'd spent ten years with growing up and it soon became the day that i settled a piece of my heart in london permanently. it was tears-a-plenty central when my parents arrived with my nan. it was a day filled with love, conversations, kisses & cuddles, cups of tea, cupcakes, my aunty's famous sausage tart, scotch eggs, a late bbq, behaving like a 5 year old with my little cousins, photographs, champagne and trifle. i have never felt so blessed to be part of my family. today, i still sit here beyond belief that i was able to share in such a special day. i left that day knowing i'd return, and that this time it wouldn't take me 7 years to do so.

my beautiful nanny kit soaking in her birthday celebrations.

we feasted on incredible cakes...

and drank copious amounts of tea.

the birthday spread.

peonies at columbia road.

london knows flowers, i was besotted.

i wanted them all.

reunited and loving it.

some of the delights that confronted me in brick lane.

bethnal green beauty.

heart wanders.

i've been in the UK for exactly 2 weeks today. it feels more like 2 years...it feels like home. in just over a week i'll be back in australia filling you in on what i've discovered, eaten, bought and sharing more paris photos than ummm, fabric snaps....and that's a lot. london, it won't be so long between visits next time, i've missed you.