bittersweet and beautiful

this is going to be last post for about ten days or so - hurricane fashion week is coming to town and so i'll be spending friday through wednesday negotiating the cobbles at somerset house, living off espressos and canapés, chasing designers with my dictaphone and generally getting stuck in. i'm covering the event as a fashion writer at time out, so be sure to check my twitter feed (@danielakate) for details about which platform my coverage'll be on! but, before all that, here's some nice homely pictures. i've moved twice in the last few months (and i'll be moving again in april, but that's another story), and not necessarily in the nicest of circumstances. when you have a lot of upheaval in your life, being surrounded by familiar faces and favourite objects is worth it's weight in gold. after all, home is where the heart is. when i moved in to flat #1 in september, the homewares people at urban outfitters hooked me up with some housewarming gifts, and i never got to show you! i'm in flat #2 now, but it's a little less than photogenic, so i'd like to thank the lovely lucy and carrie for opening their adorable, cottage-esque home to me to shoot these lovely items.

i do a lot of baking, so these cake tins were a must-have for me. also, i keep my jewellery that doesn't fit on my tree in them.

i loved the vintage look of this mirror - a proper old school looking-glass. also, for a hot drink addict like myself, this huge, alice in wonderland mug went straight to the top of my list. it's so comforting!

urban outfitters have a pretty impressive selection of homewares, with everything from crazy wall clocks shaped like records to wirey, pretty coat rails and my other love, lomography cameras. the prices are good, too - the most expensive thing was the mirror at £34.00. they have some huge glossy, coffee-table books which make excellent gifts. definitely, check it out!

alabama, arkansas, i do love my ma and pa.

i think you probably only need to spend a few minutes in my company to know that i love afternoon tea. i mean, i have an entire running feature that is basically just me eating scones in various corners of london. so when the guys over at next offered to treat myself and some other blogger buddies to a little tea, you can bet i was there right away. the tea itself came at the end of a pretty manic day of running around press events, looking at everything from sunglasses to spray tans (yep, as far as the fashion world's concerned, it's already summer) i'm going to a sort of mega-post of my favourite bits and pieces to look out for - pro tip: warehouse's separates are pretty killer this season - but the tea itself warranted a post of it's own. i knew it was a pretty fancy do, so i wanted a kind of old-school tea dress for the occasion. motel hooked me up with this adorable, floral-print day dress that took me from work to play really seamlessly.

heidi dress, from motel rocks. pumps, french sole. watch, marc by marc jacobs.

the lovely sherin snapped these for me in a fancy looking town house on cavendish square - which just like portland place, is hidden behind the hustle and bustle of oxford street and is completely idyllic, and looks like it should be in a richard curtis film. do you think there's money in a "richard curtis sightseeing tour of london"? from primrose hill to portland place! we're onto a winner here. the afternoon tea was at the covent garden hotel, and i can't recommend it highly enough; everything was delicious, and modern, but still had that lovely classic feel. the choux buns were particularly good...

and to finish up - at the traffic people press day, some amazing hair genius lady managed to whip my unruly blonde mop into this cute 1940's do. what do you think of my victory rolls?

s

a very french affair

ah, net-a-porter. if i wasn't worried about being slightly judged by passers-by in coffee shops, you'd be my homepage. (it's style.com instead) i check their new arrivals at the very least bi-weekly and have a wishlist on there longer than a cringy oscar acceptance speech. so when their january sale rolled around, you can bet your bottom dollar - and mine, coincidentally - that i'd be all over it. a quick bit of trawling, and BAM, i struck gold. i love the french label A.P.C - there's something distinctly parisian and cool about them. they're not try-hard, and they know they excel at basics, but they do them with exquisite tailoring and a cheeky, fashion-forward nod. lots of cool, neutral tones and cute, quirky prints with a very masculine-meets-feminine feel. their collections exude a kind of androgynous cool, yet even a super-feminine dresser like myself feels at home in their pieces because there's just this softness to their collections. this jumper was a steal at £35 down from just over a £100 - it's the softest fabric ever, and my partner in crime kristabel bought one too! pause for the obligatory "twinsies!". all i could moan about was that my order was really late being delivered, but net-a-porter gave me £25 credit to say sorry. goodness knows what i'll buy with that. diane von furstenberg iPhone case, anyone..?