A Winter Playlist

(My illustration: 'A Rainy Evening in London' watercolour and gouache)

1. People Help The People by Birdy

 'People help the people
And if you're homesick
give me your hand and I'll hold it'

2. Bookends by Simon & Garfunkel

'Time it was
And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence
A time of confidences'

3. Don't Read The Classics by Owl & Mouse 

'There's a bookshop on my highstreet
full of novels I'd like to read'

4. Growing Up by Run River North

 

'Well I know I have lived

Just a wrinkle of this life'

5. Put on Cologne by Donovan Woods

'And all your letters written in your tiny voice
Telling me to come back home as if I had another choice'

6. Down in the Valley by The Head and the Heart

'I wish I was a slave to an age-old trade
Like ridin' around on railcars and workin' long days
Lord have mercy on my rough and rowdy ways'

7. Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

Can I sail through the changing ocean tides?
Can I handle the seasons of my life?

Girl Crush: Jeanne Damas

Jeanne Damas personifies everything that is so elusively chic and covetable about the Parisian. Dubbed as 'France's answer to Alexa Chung' it's clear this femme fatale has style in spades. Blogger, model and sometimes-actress, Jeanne is quickly becoming something of a street-style icon making appearances on Garance Doré's blog and coffee table favourite How To Be A Parisian Wherever You Are. Her signature look is effortlessly unkempt hair, berry-stained lips and the kind of flawless skin belonging only to the genetically blessed. Her low-maintenance beauty reflects her nonchalant approach to fashion; vintage band tees that may or may not be stolen from her boyfriend, the classic trench coat and plenty of slouchy knitwear. All of which makes for some major girl crush material!

Polaroids of London

I wanted to share a collation of some of my favourite snapshots capturing the beauty that lies around every corner in London...

(From top left to bottom right)

1. I found the weathered facade of this shopfront in Spitalfields utterly charming. It seemed to me to offer an insight into what this street would have looked like some 200 years ago.

2. I couldn't resist capturing these vibrant blooms floating in water outside a florist! 

3.  The streets in and around Portobello Market, Notting Hill, are lined with chocolate-box houses such as the above. The rambling foliage and wild roses is straight out of a fairytale.

4. L. Cornelissen & Son is an enchanting art supplies shop in Bloomsbury dating from 1855.  I love the way this elderly couple are peering inquisitively at all the beautiful materials for sale in the window.

What are your favourite London haunts? 

 

.