baked love.

it’s no secret that i’m a sucker for a sweet treat or two. 80% of the time i’m the one baking not devouring but the remaining 20% tries to steal the limelight at every available opportunity. one of the factors in my decision making process for europe was that i’d do a little sweet treat ‘research’ whilst i was there. it was a given that i would eat croissants every day in paris and if approached, argue that it was a right of passage. luckily i was with two beauties that had exactly the same idea, so mission accomplished. however, a few days into my trip i unearthed a little gem by the name of ‘tea & cake london’. anything with a pretty pastel front cover adorned with sweet delights was bound to end up on my book shelf, but this pocket sized delight had my stomach rumbling before i had even got three pages in. i had lots of recommendations of places to go for the perfect cupcake from friends and cake lovers, but instead i enjoyed the rather randomly inspired approach that this book had to offer. it wasn’t long before ‘violet' and ‘primrose bakery’ were set in my sights. it was important that the bakeries i visited reflected and respected the same ideology that my own cake shop would one day represent.

the first beauty, violet, sits nestled amongst the homes of hackney’s residents. with it’s cute cottage business style approach, it was hard not to fall in love before i’d even stepped inside the door. no fancy signage, a small back yard and a spacious upstairs seating area provided the perfect invitation on the rainy day that my cake crew and i decided to visit. i’d wanted a cosy spot where my mum, dad, sister and i could chat leisurely over pots of tea and slices of homemade cake. stepping inside the small front door, i was presented with the most delightful array of hand crafted made-in-house treats. to my left, the small team of bakers were busy icing cupcakes, preparing chocolate whoopie pies for a photoshoot upstairs and packing orders for an obviously well educated cake clientele. a stunning victoria sponge took centre stage on the front counter, but much to my mum’s sadness, was only available as a whole. laden with fruit and piled high with cream, this beauty was a little too much for our afternoon tea sized appetite. a slice of carrot cake, red velvet, chocolate salted caramel and a strawberry cupcake were ordered and we soon took refuge upstairs to indulge in our delights. not before a million instagram photos were snapped of the busy bakers at work downstairs and the incredible attention to detail that had violet pulling at my heart strings from the very first moment. 'tea & cake london' says ‘pop in and you will find claire (a former pastry chef from california) and her helpers sending flour flying from a large open workstation, while a vintage cabinet houses seasonal-inspired treats from rhubarb filled scones to a coconut cream sponge’. a tiny little shop with a beautiful personality and an offering that i think any cake lover will find hard to beat. violet, you gorgeous thing, you had me at hello.

the best red velvet cake i have ever eaten. fact.

proof is in the cupcake.

our afternoon delights.

no explanation needed.

mint and lemon english china, the perfect cake compliment.

back in 2004, a little café by the name of ‘primrose bakery’ opened it’s doors in london's primrose hill. this was the time when the world was going cupcake crazy and many bake at home mama’s and their friends were setting up shop. primrose had one thing right from the very start, be true to the american cupcake origin and you’ll be onto a winner. people soon became besotted by the pretty little delights taking over london’s trendy neighbourhoods. i visited the primrose hill location on a cold and miserable wednesday afternoon, tempted by the formica tables and retro styled interior the bakery was well known for. i was instantly impressed by the pretty pastel tones and sweet smell of freshly baked cupcakes. it reminded me of my magnolia experience in nyc but took the cake for it's proud british flair. saying that, primrose describes itself as being more than just cupcakes. 'we make our own croissants by hand and have a huge range of layer cakes, biscuits and cake slices.' not only do i have the charming experience to remember, but i was able to take away primrose's own cook book, full of the most delicious british treats and an entire chapter of icing techniques and baking tips. impressive. next on the must see cake shop list for next year? beas of bloomsbury, treacle and rose bakery. my stomach is getting ready to rumble.

cute setup alert.

my fix.

perfect.

my bible.

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.

found.

twas the week before europe and all through the house, new treats were being collected and sunday was spent snuggled up in bed. hasn't got the same ring to it, but it is eerily quiet around these parts today, and with chilly temps and the odd rain shower...it makes for a perfect sunday in bed. i've had a busy week full of late nights (at work and icing cakes!) and after a gorgeous 3 year old's birthday yesterday, i was ready for a much needed nap. instead post party, i pottered about a couple of oppies, did some washing, cleaned my room, sorted more clothes for the suitcase and was up till 1am booking copenhagen & amsterdam flights. nowhere in that sentence was that much needed nap. so when i woke to rain this morning i knew an epic sleep in was the only answer. it's just after 1pm now and i'm still in bed, pajamas on, peanut butter leftovers on my face and a new episode of friends about to commence. i COULD tend to my washing attempting to dry under the house but i feel boiling the kettle again for the umpteenth time and showing you some of my opshopped finds from the week will be more beneficial, for everyone. i am officially ready for my europe adventure and will be back in the week to show you some of the pretty patterns filling my suitcase and the treats on my anthropologie/liberty/retro villa shopping list. i feel making a rough list now will save me from going a little too crazy when confronted with so much beauty. although it's quite obvious that the crazy levels are already at an all time high due to the fact that i'm flying into copenhagen for a grand total of 6 hours so that i can visit what can only be described as my mecca. somewhere, deep within my pattern adoring heart i am being called to such an amazing place. hundreds of dollars later means logic is clearly nowhere to be seen in this equation but i am finally making the trip to THE most amazing vintage wallpaper shop on earth. if you're following me on instagram/ or know me in real life, you'll have a small inkling of what i'm talking about. here's wishing you a happy week ahead. thanks for listening to my crazy ramblings, or at least...looking at my pretty pictures.

found for me by a lovely lady at work. is my obsession THAT obvious? ;)

german teacups found for a mere few dollars on my way to the party.

possibly THE most pristine piece of pyrex i have ever found. it's no turquoise beauty but this gigantic casserole dish now takes pride of place in my kitchen.

some johnson, staffordshire and parisian plates found and loved.

this beauty still astounds me. found amongst a pile of crappy china plates and priceless. i was almost scared it would evade my grasp.

still unsure about this beauty. looks good here, but on, it's really not my style. being handmade and an absolute steal, i just had to snap it up. i mean, check out the green floral!

gorgeous detail.

what IS it with me and baby knits?

treasure.

a budget was set and promptly kept to. surprised? i still am. it's time to share some of the treasures that the coast unearthed for me yesterday. one or two of them will be gifts, perhaps a couple for sale and then the rest, the johnson, are mine to love. i was reminded just how happy these pre-loved goodies make me whilst neck deep in floral fabrics and up to my eyeballs in retro crockery. thank you to the grandmas whose life long collections are now treasured by a very grateful, freckle faced, rainbow cake baking young lady (me, if you were wondering.) sharing the love over at sophie's too. get on it gorgeous people.

pretty pansies.

there was squealing involved.

high pitched screaming ensued when discovering this gorgeous johnson family.

my new florals.

more mismatched j-love.

a set of quaint english metal placemats. perfect.

just when you thought the j-love had ended....

the quirkiest johnson piece i've discovered. cheese and wine night anyone?

westminster love.

pretty turquoise pyrex, enough said.

another apron for the collection? hell yeah!

a beautiful bessemer platter.

a villeroy & boch beauty. i literally bowed to this one.

this still makes me smile. the perfect little tea and cake platter. 50c? you bet.