blue monday

According to some, today is the most depressing day of the year. The 3rd Monday of a new year has in recent times become known as Blue Monday. Today, for several reasons, happens to have been pretty good for me. Yesterday was good, too. We went on a trip to the seaside on the first proper wintry winter day of the 2011/2012 season. Bonne Année, Bonne Santé à tous!

les frères Bouroullec

Looking back at the work of Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec for the past few years, 2011 appears to have been a vintage one. With a number of real design winners, I find their work this year particularly stunning and pleasing. The lines, colours and tones have been perfectly researched. The Pico tiles have already been imagined into our overhauled bathroom and the Ploum sofa I know will look terrific in our bedroom or livingroom. With talent abound, this family team currently has a retrospective running in the Centre Pompidou-Metz, devoted to their work. The exhibition runs til 20 July 2012.

 Image via bouroullec.com - Pico tiles

 

Image via bouroullec.com - Pico tiles

Image via bouroullec.com - Osso chair

Image via bouroullec.com - Textile Field, London Design Fesival

Image via bouroullec.com - Ploum 2011

Maison Labiche

Maison Labiche is my latest petite découverte.  A bit too late for Christmas, I know, but a good tip for updating your wardrobe, just a tad. I am liking their well-cut, crisp white t-shirts, hand embroidered in France - with a special little name or message. A selection of beauties appear on the website, but you can have whatever you want on there.

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Image via maisonlabiche.com

Goude stuff

The recent speedy festive trip to France involved a lot of countryside, plus peace and quiet. I had mentally pencilled-in a visit to the museum, Les Arts Decoratifs, in case we made it up to Paris. It is currently hosting the Goudemania exhibition, until 18 March 2012, and looks well worth a visit. Jean-Paul Goude is master of visual-brilliance and the brains behind some memorable advertising, for some of the world's biggest brands. A French graphic designer, photographer, illustrator and advertising film director, he was once also married to Grace Jones, with whom he collaborated on many projects. The exhibition is the first ever retrospective exhibition of the artist's work. Take a look at the attached overview of his creations below. Genius.

You Tube: Jean-Paul Goude - Retrospective

noël x 2

Our unseasonably mild Christmas celebrations are over. The pre-Christmas Christmas in Burgundy, has been and gone. The bone fide Christmas day in Edinburgh is also behind us. Both quiet affairs and spent with family and friends, just as it should be. We are all now speeding towards 2012. Let us hope it is a good one. Bring it on. Joyeux Noël à tous.

a storm and something savoury

That is an aerial at a jaunty angle, because it is about to be blown off a roof. There have been severe weather warnings for Scotland throughout the day and it has been particularly stormy in Edinburgh. The radio warned people to stay at home - so I did. I got my head down and made good progress on an editing deadline for next week. I also did some baking. My husband and I had a cook-off a couple of weeks ago. It was our daughter's birthday party and we decided to make some treats for our guests. One of my contributions was a cake aux olives and it went down a treat. This is what I baked again today, while the storm was raging outside.

Cake aux olives

180g flour
1 tsp baking powder
3 eggs
150g cheese (my favourites are comté, mature cheddar, cubes of blue cheese)
100ml olive oil
100ml milk
300g pitted olives (green, black or mixed)
100g nuts (optional)
salt, pepper

Preheat the oven at 180 degrees. Mix the flour with the baking powder. Separately mix the eggs, olive oil and milk. Mix altogether with the olives and cheese. Place the mixture in a loaf tin and bake for 50 min. Best left eaten slighty warm, so try to resist the temptation to eat straight out of the oven.


Source: Author's own.

here comes the summer

Image via apc.fr

Designers must be applauded for bringing out their Spring/Summer collections, in the dead of winter. This last week or so, Edinburgh has suddenly become properly cold and with it has come the ritual of layering and hat, scarf and mitt-wearing. Whilst it is chilly there right now too, I am impatient to get to France and smiled when I opened up an email from apc today. I smiled when I saw the photograph above, which looks to have been taken in the Jardin du Luxembourg, in Paris. I smiled too because it is sunny and looks warm. When the weather is good, I love sitting and lazing around in the iconic green metal chairs. I've earmarked a few pieces from the S/S 2012 collection already and have found myself wishing away the winter, already.