well read

Out-takes by Rachel Kara for Brace . See the full article here.

Working with RKB is always a dream. There's an instinctiveness to the way she shoots that makes her the ultimate partner in crime; who would you rather have driving the getaway car? The person who asks you if it's time to go or the one who's had the engine running since you ran into the bank? This piece we shot for Brace Digital with Brenda, the creative director behind my favourite Australian label Benah, was my favourite kind of work. Friends coming together, talking about nothing but books, bottomless pots of tea and wishing hopelessly for cake. I feel like I always say this when Rachel is involved, but if only it could always be this good.

X
You have read this article apartment / benah / cake / friends / home / houses / tea / work / writing with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/well-read.html. Thanks!

the start of things

'I remember the rain - how it hammered day and night against the windowpanes; how my grandmother left a hay bale outside the back door to act as a dam; how Mrs Maddox came to us for buckets when her porch began leaking... My grandfather's hair plastered itself down over his forehead, like weed. And I remember how, by Valentine's Day, the heaving ewes were huddled in the barn, the Brych finally burst her banks, and the mud came. Mud - such a small word. It looks weak, bashful, what harm can three letters do? The answer is more than you think. That mud was the start of things.' 

Susan Fletcher, Eve Green


X
You have read this article books / cold / photos / picture / pictures / quotes / scotland / travel / vanessa jackman / weather / winter / writing with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-start-of-things.html. Thanks!

a kitchen of one's own



 Talisa always has the best interiors inspiration because she is the gal I know with the best house. It's like anything - fashion, movies, books, chocolate - if you want inspiration ask the people whose taste you admire. Well, I spent hours trawling this website last night (despite and found this apartment, which I love not for its reality (bottles on top of the fridge and a mis-matched book case, you are too good), but for its kitchen. It doesn't all work together - blue chairs, and two different kids of wood, and mis-matched crockery - but that's life isn't it? We don't always have things that go, or colours that work, or furniture that we bought especially for that room. I can't wait to have a kitchen of my own. I think because I've been cooking a lot more that I've started to think about what I want, what works for me, what I need. My kitchen at home is pink. It's wonderful. It's so my mum it's not funny. But when I have my own kitchen it's gong to be white and wood, with pictures on the wall (who said that you should hang art in the kitchen? because they're brilliant), and a place to eat breakfast on a weekend, and lots of bench space for when I want to make coconut dream cake or nougat for christmas, and windowsills to store cook books and plants and everything in between, and best of all, it's going to be all mine.

X
You have read this article apartment / dreams / future / home / houses / photos / picture / pictures / want with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/a-kitchen-of-one-own.html. Thanks!

life in a tiny room




Today a package arrived containing a set of sheets so fresh, so clean, so light and bright, I had to put them on straight away. Of course they were from IN BED store (thank you, thank you, thank you!), that delicious purveyor of dreams, and it was such a treat I almost crawled straight back into bed again (on a Monday morning, very bad). One of my favourite blogs to actually read is Read My Tea Leaves, and she has a lovely section where she shares the trials and tribulations of her life in a tiny new yawk city apartment. Well, those who have seen my room know that I live in a tiny room. It's not even a real room, it's like a sunroom annexe to my house, and though that means that while it is gloriously light-filled the whole year round, it is also very, very small. One of her tips? Use white sheets. Because it makes the room seem bigger and they're also a dream to sleep in. Well, Consider this suggestion well and truly observed. Now to get some low-maintenance house plants and actually start to take proper care of them...

X
You have read this article home / houses / love / me / photos / picture / pictures with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/life-in-tiny-room.html. Thanks!

saturdays are for love




Who would have thought that we could have pulled it together, after cancellation after cancellation, and all of it a SURPRISE? Only for you, RKB. A kitchen tea for the ladies, at our favourite place, with our favourite people, just before you get a(nother) ring put on you. Who would have thought we could have done it - betterthanchiswick lamb, nigel's mistress chicken, a coconut dream cake, and pavlova with all the trimmings, just the way it should be - and all with maximal minimal stress. We pull out the stops when we do it for love. Afternoons like this are the ones that make the working week worthwhile, the ones that you get up every morning at 6.45 for. They're the ones that never end, even when the rain starts to drizzle down mere metres away and the staff start to get out the mops and clean up around you. Lucky we have friends in high places that let us linger, eh? If only it could always be just like this.

X
You have read this article blogging / cake / cooking / family / food / friends / future / love / me / sydney with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/saturdays-are-for-love.html. Thanks!

something new


I hate to get all consumerist on you guys but... I've got some new stuff and at the moment it's ruling my world. New candle, new throw, new moisturiser, new book, new glasses. Just let me laze about all day, please!

X
You have read this article beauty / books / candles / glasses / me / photos / picture / pictures with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/something-new.html. Thanks!

in the kitchen



The first time I went to the Nordic Bakery I didn't care about cinnamon buns or prawn sandwiches or elderflower tea. I was meeting Stevie for the first time and was so excited and so cold and (so) late. Happily, so was she, and we spent a couple of hours chatting about nothing and keeping warm. I remember Stevie tried to get a sneaky picture of the girls in their aprons (and cos she loves a good pinnie) because they were just that cool. Seeing these pictures of chef Soli Zardosht in London brings it all back. This is how all aprons ought to look if they possibly can. Thick straps, low armholes, big pockets, and a slip-into-it pinafore quality. I'm a messy cook - aren't we all? - and I need an apron. I need an apron to keep a tea towel in, to protect my clothes, to wipe my hands on when they're sticky with the residue of peach juice or tomatoes or olive oil, to leave on when you have to dash down the road to buy more golden syrup, to let the straps slip comfortably off your shoulder. But I want an apron because they're just that cool.

X
You have read this article blogging / clothes / clothing / cooking / denim / food / friends / london / photos / picture / pictures / want with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/in-kitchen.html. Thanks!

only a game

"With Mike it was different. There was no pitying smile on Adair's face as he started his run preparatory to sending down the first ball. Mike, on the cricket field, could not have looked anything but a cricketer if he had turned out in a tweed suit and hobnail boots. Cricketer was written all over him - in his walk, in the way he took guard, in his stance at the wickets." 

P.G Wodehouse, Mike: A Public School Story

Isabel Lucas in Vogue Australia December 2013

Not only because I just spent the last year reading all about it, but I find cricket very, very interesting. The love of the game - one quote I particularly like is, "it was only a game... but it was life!" - and the historical legacy, spread out across the colonial diaspora, that sound of leather on willow reverberating everywhere from Sydney to Simla (and yes, even Hong Kong, as my thesis went into great lengths about), the sheer illogicality of it, its convoluted, elaborate, maybe, yes, archaic set of rules, and, most of all, the ritual. I remember that ritual well; watching my brother in pristine, freshly laundered whites, grubbied only by a bit of sweat and grass patches on the knees ('I had to dive mum, to get the catch!'), swapping his sneakers for shiny school shoes, donning his bright cerulean blazer, and walking into the hall for tea break with his team-mates. Gathered around a table, shaking hands with the opposition over cucumber sandwiches and early grey. Where did this sport come from? That year when the cup was in question and it took a whole day before the points could be accurately tallied up I remember my brother's tense, tightly wound psyche bringing us to the brink of exhaustion. 'It's only a game', I wanted to say, loudly, often. Oh, I didn't know then, not quite. It is only a game. But it is life.

X
You have read this article books / editorial / photos / pictures / quotes / sport / vogue / vogue australia with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/only-game.html. Thanks!

Uniform (2)




Maybe it's the sudden cold snap that we've had, but I've rediscovered my overalls, in a big way. I put them to the side for a little bit once I fell (truly, madly) deeply in love with birkenstocks, and feared that pairing the two together might be somewhat of an unforgiveable fashion faux pas. Not that I care about things like that, but... well there are only so many questioning stares that a gal can take. But over the weekend, as the chill creeped in - over blankets and through thin cardigans - I realised that what I really wanted to wear was something all in one, with deep pockets and thick straps and a bracing, reassuring sturdiness. I curled up in my parent's bed, electric blanket set to HIGH, and read books and drank tea and furled and unfurled my toes and played with my hair and thought about painting my nails. A few times I had visitors, they came with cake and left with none, and I sat cross-legged on an armchair, plotting international trips and gossiping. Overalls are so comfortable, so effortless, so easy, in all situations. They are made for the weekend. And that is what we really talk about when we talk about overalls. 

X
You have read this article bags / clothes / clothing / cold / denim / knitwear / perfume / polyvore / sandals / spring / weather with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/uniform-2.html. Thanks!

Stay IN BED



I wrote a profile on new lifestyle store IN BED for Broadsheet, and I fell completely, unashamedly in love. If you - like me - are a fan of clean sheet days, cottony throws that double as wraps that double as towels that double as blankets, breakfast in bed and spending whole weekends in your pyjamas, this is the site for you. Dreamy.

X
You have read this article apartment / breakfast / dreams / editorial / future / home / houses / inspiration / look books / models / photos / picture / pictures / want / writing with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/stay-in-bed.html. Thanks!

today is cancelled


I wish. I'm at work in a big sweater and ill-advised birkenstocks (it's pouring down outside, and a little bit inside too, hmmm), and just trying to stay warm. The only upside? My work is inside sydney's best new cafe. Now that definitely helps.

X
You have read this article food / garance dore / knitwear / photos / pictures / sunday / sydney / weather with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/today-is-cancelled.html. Thanks!

cinematic style - goin' to the chapel in various



Rachel McAdams in About Time // Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama // Andie Macdowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral // Keira Knightley in Love Actually // Amanda Seyfried in Mamma Mia

Soon a few friends will be goin to the chapel, cos they're gonna get married. Excited doesn't even begin to cover it. All good things in life end in weddings. Also, three richard curtis movies? It must be time to watch Notting Hill again...

X
You have read this article films / friends / future / inspiration / love / movies / photos / pictures with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/cinematic-style-goin-to-chapel-in.html. Thanks!

I just don't know

'I wrote my first novel because I just got married and I was living in Stratford-upon-Avon and there was nothing else to do. I was very bored. I had no particular friends there. I'd been very busy up until then—at university, passing examinations—I very nearly took a job that summer and if I had taken a job, I probably wouldn't have written the book. So in a sense it was accidental. Whether I would have written a novel later, I just don't know.'



Just thinking.

X
You have read this article books / dreams / future / me / photos / picture / pictures / quotes / writing with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-just-don-know.html. Thanks!

where


Pink for the wardrobe but green for the house. Even back in February I knew this was the life I wanted (with Ashley's wardrobe, natch). But revisiting it now only drives the point home. I don't know what I'm going do, I don't know who I'm going to do it with, I don't know when, or how, or what, but I do know where

X
You have read this article apartment / colour / dreams / home / houses / inspiration / magazines / New York / photos / pictures / style / vogue / vogue us with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/where.html. Thanks!

think pink


Emilia Clarke in Vogue UK December 2013 // Fjura by Luisa Brimble // Protagonist by The Line


I almost can't believe I'm saying this but... I really want some pastel pink in my life. It's almost not even pastel, it's like that suede-y, blush colour of young peonies. I blame you, Jessie.

X
You have read this article colour / flowers / inspiration / look books / magazines / models / photos / picture / pictures / vogue / vogue uk with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/think-pink.html. Thanks!

uniform

Untitled #359



At the moment I can't seem to stop wearing this. It's comfy and a little off kilter - the cropped sweater and xxlong tee make for an odd partnership, and let's not get started on the stocks - but there's something about it that I'm finding strangely compelling. I'm glad that I've got one more week of sweater weather ahead of me so I can enjoy the simplicity of this, five days in a row. 

X
You have read this article aesop / denim / me / nail polish / outfit / outfits / perfume / picture / polyvore / sandals / shoes with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/uniform.html. Thanks!

lonely girl

'Already a vital conflict had set in, which frightened them both. But he was alone, whilst already she had begun to cast round for external resource. When Ursula had gone, Gudrun felt her own existence had become stark and elemental. She went and crouched alone in her bedroom, looking out of the window at the big, flashing stars. In front was the faint shadow of the mountain-knot. That was the pivot. She felt strange and inevitable, as if she were centered upon the pivot of all existence, there was no further reality.'

D.H Lawrence, Women In Love


Spending the last dregs of sunday doing a little bit of healthy, 'me, me, me' moping

X
You have read this article 90s / books / love / photos / pictures / quotes / writing with the title November 2013. You can bookmark this page URL https://startthefire-cafagesta.blogspot.com/2013/11/lonely-girl.html. Thanks!
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...