Last week was a wintry week of knitting, hotpot, pancakes and new sweaters, with a haircut, a pedicure and some new pencils thrown in.
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On the 1st January I started posting daily photos to Instagram. I’m @mirrormirroxx. Come and be my friend.
One of the projects we’ve got lined up for this year is remodelling our horrible downstairs kitchen.
The good news is that we have two kitchens in this house. The bad news is that they’re each as ugly as each other – the downstairs one is a relic from the seventies, complete with crumbling cabinets, laminate countertops, ancient linoleum, probably an asbestos problem. I’ll show you pictures one day when I’m feeling especially mean.
I’m starting to consider design ideas and am very tempted to include lots of open shelves. They look good and of course are WAY cheaper than cabinets. 
I’m loving these open steel shelves shown in last month’s Livingetc. I suspect they only look this good though, because they’re carrying half a ton of gorgeous vintage tea plates and spoons.
Source unknown. Love the juxtapostion of white shelves with dark wood counter tops.
I could never keep shelves as tidy and uncluttered as these. From a this tour on Houzz.
It would be nice to have a least some of my two hundred and fifty-odd cookbooks on display. From The Kitchn.
I am, however, intrigued to know what open shelves are like to live with. How easy is it to keep everything clean? Do you have to go out and buy tons of fancy plates and crockery to make them look good? (This is not necessarily a problem). Is it easy to keep them tidy or do they end up with piles of stuff just shoved on them? What are your tips and tricks for keeping them organised?
Tell me all your deepest, darkest, most sordid secrets. No one reads this blog anyway.
The above is from the Seattle house of the architects we’re hoping to use, which I previously blogged about here.
This pantry makes my inner Martha squee with delight. However I have more chance of flying to the moon than achieving such perfection. From here.
Finally, as Brit, it warmed the cockles of my heart to see Her Majesty take a break from her busy year of Diamond Jubilee festivities to bring her own special magic to the Oscars ceremony.
(And yes, I do know Billy Crystal isn’t gay, but that would have spoiled the joke. And besides, I still have very fond memories of him as Jody in Soap).
A couple more Oscars posts I think and then we’ll get back to talking about knitting.
What was with all the nuns on the Oscars red carpet? Are they doing a remake of the Sound of Music or something?
Gwyneth went all Mother Superior on us – an utterly gorgeous dress though she’s not a good enough actress to make the born again virgin stuff convincing.
While Shailene Woodley turned up as the demure young penitent.
Gloriously, and rather randomly there was even a real nun walking the carpet. Mother Dolores is a former co-star of Elvis’ who now stars in a documentary about her life as a nun.
And speaking of the Sound of Music there were huge cheers at our Oscar party when Captain von Trapp FINALLY received his Oscar – a moment spoiled only by his refusal to lead the auditorium in a rousing chorus of ‘Edelweiss’.
(With honourable mentions to Princess Charlene and Gwen Stefani).
Appalling things obviously happened to the original dresses the following three ladies were going to wear, but adversity couldn’t dampen their determination to attend as they fashioned replacements out of stuff they had lying about round the house.
Fortunately Vicky Beckham is tiny enough to fit into one of David’s knee bandages without any need for alterations.
Melissa McCarthy did extraordinary things with waxed paper lunch bags, unbleached of course for added eco-friendliness.
Anne Sophie Bion resorted to that old friend the bin liner (trashbag if you must) and didn’t even try to disguise it. She’d be terrible on Project Runway.
Princess Charlene must have suffered some sort of awful accident as she made yet another attempt to escape her loveless marriage, but she still made it to the ceremony while wearing a neck brace.
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And poor, poor Gwen Stefani clearly had a terrible accident with the ketchup bottle at the Vanity Fair party itself but still soldiered womanfully on.
Every year many starlets model themselves on other, more successful, movie stars, hoping that a little of the magic will rub off on them.
Mena Suvari covers as many bases as she can by copying both a cartoon character AND a bird.
Some of the ladies took their inspiration from further afield. Both Michelle Williams and Angelina Jolie decided to channel icons of 19th century British literature.
It sort of doesn’t matter what Michelle wears, while she keeps with that gamine cut she will always be Oliver to me.
Angelina, poor girl, tried at every opportunity to divert attention from the wooden stump under her black velvet gown. Seriously, what was she thinking with all that ridiculous posing? Please tell me she was having a laugh.
Many ladies of course take their inspiration from birds for their Oscars attire.
Heidi Klum would be all kinds of useful if you were trapped in a coal mine.
While Anna Faris had struggled her way through an oil slick to be with us.
Unfortunately for Anna, Rose Byrne did oilslick black sequins much better than she did.
Yay it’s that time of year again, when we break off from the normal serious business of this blog and have fun at the Oscars.
First up, two ladies who this year took inspiration from the kitchen.
Jennifer Lopez decided to pay homage to the great British baking revival by coming as a cottage loaf, albeit one who needed who needed stronger tit tape.
Whereas Rooney Mara clearly had a team of Michelin-starred waiters fussing over her bosoms for days.
So there’s this adorably crazy lady out there who custom makes soft toys for kids based on their own drawings, which are totally and utterly and completely awesome. And I desperately want one for the Minx.
The only problem is that she can only make four toys a week, has a waiting list as long her arm (well, duh!) and is so swamped she’s not taking any new commissions until she’s found some other softie makers to help her. So if that’s you, please contact her pronto quick.
If it’s not you and you just want to commission one of her toys, please forget you ever saw this post. At least until the Minx and I are on the list.
Child’s Own Studio can be contacted here.
Are you watching the Oscars tomorrow? I’m going to an Oscars party, and hoping there’ll be enough crazy dresses for some ‘Separated at Birth’ posts on Monday. Have fun and keep your fingers crossed!
